Pears' shilling cyclopædia.

Date:
1898
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Pears' shilling cyclopædia. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Leeds Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Leeds Library.

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    round-worms the best remedy is santonine, in doses of from 2 to 4 grains, given at bedtime (the child having no supper that night), followed by a close of castor ou in the morning before breakfast. This may be repeated every third night for three times. This drug some- times gives rise to giddiness, disordered vision, sickness, and a peculiar tint to the urine, all of which symptoms soon pass off. Tape-worms are sometimes very difficult to remove, from the fact that the head is not easily dislodged from its attachment, and if every vestige of the worm is not got rid of it will grow again. One of the most popular remedies is oil of inale-fern, cf which ten to thirty drops may be given in milk or gum mucilage. Beforehand the patient should fast for some hours, then a dose of castor oil be given at bed- time, and in the morning the oil of the male-fern administered, and in four or five hours afterwards another dose of castor oil. Turpentine and castor oil are also useful remedies, but it requires a large dose of each, from a half to two teaspoonfuls of the former mixed with a dessert to a tablespoonful of castor oil. The oil of male-fern and turpentine frequently succeed in dislodging the round-worm also. Kousso in drachm or two-drachm doses, succeeded by a good dose of castor oil six hours afterwards, is my favourite remedy. I have found it often to succeed when all other remedies have failed. When worms have been got rid of it is always wise to advise the patient to take a tonic of tincture of iron and infusion of quassia for a few weeks afterwards. Instructions should be given that no raw meat, especially pork, be partaken of. In conclusion, we must always bear in mind that many distressing and apparently alarming symptoms may be due to the presence of worms—such as epilepsy, convulsions, giddiness, fainting, perversion of vision, squinting, dysenteric diarrhoea, etc. Thread-worms are indicated by itching around ^the anus; straining at stool and giddiness point to round-worms ; and gnawing pain, usually felt above the navel, to tape-worm. Wounds are injuries to the human body which invariably produce the separation of the parts involved. They are classified as incised wounds, lacerated wounds, punctured wounds, poisoned wounds, and gun-shot wounds. The treatment in every case should involve the one idea of preventing decomposition taking place within the injured part. The first duty then of those in attendance is to apply antiseptics, at the same time taking care to prevent haemorrhage by securing any bleeding vessels that may present themselves, especially is this necessary in the case of haemorrhage due to division of an artery. Pressure, in the absence of the medical man, will be sufficient temporarily, but in any case where the haemorrhage is severe it will be well to call in medical assistance. When the bleeding has been thoroughly stopped and the edges of the wound brought together, either by strips of plaster or stitches, the parts should be thoroughly cleansed by the application of an antiseptic fluid—such as carbolic acid in water in the proportion of one to twenty or forty, or a lotion composed of one part of bi-chloride of mercury in one thousand of warm water. The surface of the wound should then be dusted over with a substance which also possesses antiseptic properties—such as iodoform, aristol, or boracic acid. The great point to be attained in the treatment of a wound is to endeavour to obtain union by what is termed first intention, that is union without suppuration intervening. As a rule this can usually be attained by the careful and efficient use of antiseptics; even when the parts are very much bruised this desirable end may be obtained if anti- septics are efficiently employed. In wounds on the face or any part which is highly vascular, stitches will not be so essential as in wounds upon the limbs or trunk, strips of sticking plaster being sufficient to keep the parts m approximation. If the wound is poisoned it will be necessary in such circumstances to take mea- sures which shall either destroy the poison or at least extract it. If the poison is due to snake bite or the sting of an animal the application of ammonia to the part will usually act as a neutralizing agent. If, how- ever, this is not at hand it will be necessary to exercise the injured part so as to remove the deleterious sub- stance] which has been injected into the tissues. In bites from dogs it is usual to cauterize the parts with a view not only of destroying the poison, but at the same time producing death ot the part which has been affected. In many instances where the wound is lacerated or contused dirt is liable to become adherent to the wound, and in such circumstances it will be necessary to induce suppuration by the free application of poultices or water dressing, and, if need be, keep the wound open by means of some irritating substance, such as blistering ointment. Suppuration frequently takes place in lacerated or contused wounds, and in such circumstances it is absolutely necessary that the part be kept perfectly at rest and in the horizontal position, while the surface of the ulcer may be dusted over once in twenty-four hours with aristol, when healing will usually be encouraged to the utmost. Wry Neck. This well-known deformity is caused by a spasmodic contraction of the sterno-inastoid muscle, which is the principal muscle concerned in the movements of the head from side to side. It may be congenital, but in most instances it is an acquired de- formity. It can almost invariably be remedied by dividing the muscle, or by wearing an apparatus which keeps the head in its normal position. Yellow Fever is essentially a tropical disease, arising from an unsanitary condition of the localities in which it prevails. It is somewhat of an intermittent character, and its virulence seems to expend itself directly upon the liver. In olden times, Defore the action of antipyretics was thoroughly understood, it was a most fatal malady ; now, however, it is amenable to treatment to a considerable degree. The great oint to attend to is to keep the temperature reduced y antipyretics, at the same time paying particular attention to the evacuation of the Dowels, thorough ventilation of the apartment in which the patient is living, and administering a liberal diet of the most simple description. Zinc. The salts of this well known metal are largely used in medicine, the principal of these being the oxide, sulphate, and chloride. The oxide of zinc is a white, tasteless heavy powder, and is employed largely in the form of ointment, and also for dusting excoriated surfaces. It acts as an absorbent of un- healthy secretions, and thus is most valuable in the treatment of eczema, scald, ulcers, etc, Zinc ointment, combined with one part of carbolic to twenty of the ointment, is one of the best healing ointments that can possibly be prescribed. Intemally, it is given in diseases such as epilepsy and St. Vitus’s dance; but in such affections the best preparation is the valerianate of zinc, which may be administered in 2£-grain doses, three times a clay, in the form of pill; and in such circumstances, when combined with two grains of the extract of conium, it is a useful and efficient nerve tonic. The sulphate of zinc, or white vitriol, resembles very much in its appearance ordinary Epsom salts, so that great care should be taken when administering the latter internally to ascertain that the one is not mistaken for the other. This preparation has power- ful emetic properties, and is frequently given to produce vomiting when poisons have been inadvertently or in- tentionally partaken of. It is also employed in the preparation of an eye-lotion, when five grains to the ounce is the strength usually made use oh It is again employed in the treatment of ulcers and in inflammation of the mucous membranes, especially those of the vagina and urethra. The dose as an emetic is from to 20 grains in a wine-glassful of water ; but when taken as a tonic, it should be administered in the form of pill as before indicated. Chloride of zinc is a powerful caustic as well as an antiseptic, and is employed in the de- struction of malignant and other growths. The acetate and carbonate of zinc have very much the same pro- perties as those possessed by the oxide and sulphate, but they are not such popular remedies as the latter substances. . . ^ . Zymotic is the term which is applied to those diseases which are of an epidemic nature—such scarlet fever, measles, small-pox, chicken-pox, typhoid fever, mumps, etc.