The family doctor, or, The home book of health and medicine : a popular treatise on the means of avoiding and curing diseases and of preserving the health and vigour of the body to the latest period : including an account of the nature and properties of remedies, the treatment of the diseases of women and children, and the management of pregnancy and parturition / by a physician of Philadelphia.

  • Horner, William E. (William Edmonds), 1793-1853.
Date:
1859
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The family doctor, or, The home book of health and medicine : a popular treatise on the means of avoiding and curing diseases and of preserving the health and vigour of the body to the latest period : including an account of the nature and properties of remedies, the treatment of the diseases of women and children, and the management of pregnancy and parturition / by a physician of Philadelphia. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

    175/638
    The materials on which we sleep are of much consequence, both as it regards our health, and the soundness of our repose. The use of feather beds is almost universal in this country, yet there can be no doubt that, they are highly injurious to health, and have a tendency to prevent sleep, especially in the summer. To the invalid, and to young persons who are disposed to dis- tortion of the spine and shoulder, they are particularly hurtful. Such as consi- der them a necessary luxury in the win- ter, should invariably exchange them for a mattress in the spring and sum- mer. The injury resulting from feather beds is occasioned, principally, by their accumulating too much heat about the body, and in this manner causing a pro- fuse and debilitating perspiration, and predisposing the system to the influence of slight changes of temperature. By yielding unequally to the pressure of the body, the latter is thrown into a distorted position, which being resumed regularly almost every night, is liable to cause in the young and weakly a permanent deformity. Hair mattresses are superior to every other kind of bed for this country, and it is highly desira- ble they should be generally adopted. By those whose means will not permit the purchase of hair mattresses, those of moss or straw, or what are still bet- ter, those made from the leaves which surround the ear of Indian corn, pro- perly prepared and thoroughly dried, will be found an excellent substitute. Feather beds are more injurious to the health of children, than even of adults, and especially if they are weakly. In very cold climates feather beds are often necessary, and in the United States the aged may often require tbem, in order to preserve or increase their heat, which is sometimes inconsidera- ble, and if lessened would prevent their sleeping. The bed-clothes should also be as light and as cool as possible in the spring and summer; and in the winter they should be just sufficient to preserve a comfortable degree of warmth. Young people and invalids, in particular, ought to avoid many, and heavy, bed-clothes. The head should be only lightly, or rather not at all, covered. The use of curtains to the bed should be avoided ; at least, they ought not to hang down low, nor be drawn in any degree around the bedstead. It is impossible, indeed, to conceive what possible advantage can result from curtains to a bed ; they cannot with propriety be used to exclude light or cold, because the former should be excluded by window-blinds, or cur- tains ; and as it respects the latter, it is far better guarded against by a suffi- ciency of bed-clothing. Curtains are injurious, by preventing the proper cir- culation of the air breathed by those who occupy the bed, and by accumu- lating dust, cause it to be inhaled into and irritate the lungs., The bed, as well as the bed-clothes, should be kept strictly clean, and care- fully guarded against damp. Beds are apt to become damp for want of proper airing when not constantly used ; from the dampness of the room, and from the coverings not being perfectly dry when laid on the bed. Colds, rheuma- tisms, and even more fatal complaints may be caused by occupying a damp bed. It would be, in general, a more judicious practice if beds, instead of being made up soon after the persons rise from them, were turned down, or their coverings were thrown separately over the backs of chairs, and thus ex- posed to the fresh air from the open windows during the day. BED-CHAMBERS. A bed-chamber ought not to be situat- ed on the ground floor; and an elevated apartment is particularly recommended to literary and sedentary people. It should be airy, large, and lofty, and never a small confined room. Nothing can be more imprudent or absurd than the conduct of those who have splendid houses, preferring to sleep in small apartments. The more airy a bed- room is, the better; and it will be still better if it be also exposed to the in-