The domestic management of the sick-room : necessary, in aid of medical treatment, for the cure of diseases / by Anthomy Todd Thomson.

  • Thomson, Anthony Todd, 1778-1849.
Date:
1845
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The domestic management of the sick-room : necessary, in aid of medical treatment, for the cure of diseases / by Anthomy Todd Thomson. 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.)

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    flannel next the skin in winter, and, at the same time, giving tone by the use of the shower bath ; or by sponging, daily, the trunk of the body with water, or with vinegar and water, or salt and water, either cold,or tepid, accord- ing to the season of the year. Many a fatal issue, in those hereditarily predisposed to Consumption, has followed a cough, caused by remaining near an open window in a neated ball-room ; or by standing to converse with a friend at the corner of a street, during the prevalence of east or north-east winds, whilst the body is heated by walking: and many an Asthma, also, has been the result of an au- tumnal evening's expedition in an open boat. It is not easy to guard against atmospheric-electrical variations, and other vicissitudes, which influence the ner- vous rather than the vascular system, and which cause de- pression of spirits, and even a feeling of despondency, in the absence of misfortune, anxiety, or any occurrence likely to produce such a state of feeling. The best method, how- ever, to repel such injurious influences, is to invigorate the body by exercise, proper clothing, and diet; and to with- draw the attention from the personal feelings by occupa- tions which can fully engage the energies of the mind. 2. The causes of many diseases, again, are found both in the nature and the quantity of our food. Under the first may be placed its over-stimulating properties; under the second, its excess or deficiency. It should be fully under- stood, especially by mothers, that strength is not the result of stimulating diet: on the contrary, the use of such food is rapidly followed by exhaustion: this is also the effect of over-feeding; the strength fails in a manner nearly similar to that which is the consequence of too scanty a supply of food. It is difficult to define what is enough in reference to food ; but the rule is, never to eat so much at one meal as to cause a sensation of fulness and oppression at the stomach. In maintaining health, not a little depends on diversifying the food ; on the regulation of the periods at which it is taken ; and the exercise which precedes and follows it. The teeth, as well as the stomach and the intestinal canal, of man, point out that a mixed aliment is that destined for