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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 
 
 ChapaLir/ Copyright No 
 
 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 
 
A COMPENDIUM OF 
 
 Domestic Medicine 
 
 and Health Adviser 
 
 CONTAINING 
 
 A Statement of the Modes of Curing the 
 
 Diseases to which Man is liable; and 
 
 Directions in case of Accidents on 
 
 the Road or at Sea; 
 
 WITH 
 
 A full Account of Epidemic Cholera, of 
 
 Dyspepsia, and of Sick-Headache; 
 
 their Causes,Cure and Prevention ; 
 
 AND 
 
 A popular Description of the Human 
 
 Teeth; their Formation, Diseases* 
 
 and Treatment. 
 
 BY 
 
 HENRY McMTJRTRIE, M. D. 
 
 PUBLISHERS 
 
 ALHAMBRA BOOK CO. 
 
 CHICAGO. 
 
D 
 
 U.ibr*" y *»* Com** 
 
 Pv.v tarns Kta^eo 1 
 * SEP 28 1900 
 
 Com"?** «*j 
 8£CC«0 COPY. 
 
 0«<ttw*** *• 
 
 ORDt* DWtSKW, 
 
 OCT 18 1900 
 
 
 i* 
 
 \°\ 
 
 Copyright 1900, 
 Alhambfa Book Co. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The practice of medicine should be conducted on 
 those general principles, which are drawn by sober 
 experience, from a careful observation of the effects 
 of remedies upon the human body, in its different 
 stages of disease. These great leading principles are 
 few, short, and easily understood ; they are applica* 
 ble in every disease to which the human body is 
 subject, although they may not always prove equally 
 successful. It is the judicious use of them which con- 
 stitutes the great merit of the enlightened physician. 
 
 In a matter of such immense importance to every 
 individual, it would seem necessary then, that these 
 principles be as widely disseminated, and in as plain 
 words as possible, in order that every one may know 
 and understand them. To do this, is every man's 
 duty, as well as interest; for, independently of his 
 own life, which is frequently jeoparded by the want 
 of such knowledge, that of his neighbour is often by 
 accident placed in his hands. 
 
 To some particular sections of our extensive coun- 
 try, and to travellers especially, this consideration is 
 of the utmost importance. I have known a consider- 
 able district in one of our western states, which con- 
 tained but one doctor, and him I have met on his 
 way to his patients by eight o'clock in the morning 
 so drunk, as to render it necessary to lift him into his 
 gig! Sometimes there is no physician of any kind to 
 be obtained ; or if there be, after waiting until the 
 complaint has got to a height that baffles all reme 
 dies, he arrives in a state similar to that described ! 
 What becomes of the sick, under such circumstances ? 
 3 
 
4 Preface. 
 
 It was on some such occasion, that the necessity 
 of a cheap, plain work, like the present, first sug 
 eested itself to my mind. Those books that have 
 been intended for like purposes, seem to me toe 
 bulky, too learned, or too expensive. In this work, I 
 have endeavoured within a small compass, and in a? 
 plain a manner as possible, to lay down such rules 
 and give such directions, as will enable every one 
 who reads them to adapt to his (or his friend's) case, 
 the plan of treatment most proper for it. 
 
 As these pages are intended exclusively for the 
 use of men, no diseases peculiar to women or children 
 are treated of in it. 
 
 To the various writers to whose works J am in- 
 debted, I have made no reference ; I have, however, 
 made free use of the most valuable of such as are 
 considered authorities, and in some instances have 
 adopted their very words. 
 
 The Publisher has issued " Plain Medical 
 Talks to Women" — intended as a companion 
 to the present work. See advertisement of title 
 and contents at the end of this volume. 
 
SKELETON OF MAN. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PART FIRST. 
 
 Introduction . . . . • .15 
 
 1. General Rules for Treating Diseases . 15 
 
 2. Hints to Travellers in Health . .17 
 
 3. Hints to Invalids Travelling . .21 
 Division of Diseases .... 23 
 
 (Efjapter £. 
 
 Of Fevers. 
 
 Of the Pulse 25 
 
 Of Fever 26 
 
 Simple Inflammatory Fever . . 27 
 
 Intermittent, or Fever and Ague 28 
 
 Remittent Fever .... .30 
 
 Bilious Fever .... .30 
 
 Typhus, or Low Nervous Fever . . 32 
 
 Putrid Fever 34 
 
 Hectic Fever 36 
 
 Chapter EX. 
 
 Of Diseases, commencing in, and chiefly confined to, 
 particular parts. 
 
 Inflammation of the Brain .... 37 
 
 Headache 38 
 
 Inflammation of the Eye 38 
 
 Dimness of Sight 39 
 
 5 
 
6 Contents. 
 
 Night Blindness 40 
 
 Inflammation of the Ear . . . . .40 
 
 Bleeding from the Nose 41 
 
 Polypus .41 
 
 Cancer of the Lip .... .42 
 
 Mercurial Ulcers in the Mouth . . . .42 
 Ulcers and Pimples on the Tongue . . .42 
 
 Cancer of the Tongue 43 
 
 Venereal Ulcers 43 
 
 Enlargement of the Uvula . . . .43 
 
 Swelling of the Tonsils 44 
 
 Inflammatory Sore Throat 44 
 
 Putrid Sore Throat or Diphtheria . . 45 
 
 Strictures in the Throat 46 
 
 Catarrh, or Cold 47 
 
 Asthma 47 
 
 Pleurisy . .48 
 
 Spitting of Blood 49 
 
 Consumption . . .... 49 
 
 Palpitation of the Heart 60 
 
 Dropsy of the Chest . . ... 51 
 
 Inflammation of the Stomach . . .52 
 
 Cramp in the Stomach 53 
 
 Hiccoughs ....... 53 
 
 Heart-Burn ....... 54 
 
 Indigestion 54 
 
 Vomiting of Blood . 56 
 
 Inflammation of the Liver 56 
 
 Jaundice . ...... 57 
 
 Ague Cake 59 
 
 Inflammation of the Intestines . . . .59 
 Cholera Morbus, or Vomiting and Purging . 60 
 
 Dysentery 61 
 
 Diarrhoea ... .... 63 
 
 Colic . 64 
 
 Painter's Colic 65 
 
 Worms: the White Thread Worm— the Round 
 
 Worm — the Tape Worm .... 66 
 Inflammation of the Kidneys . . . .69 
 Gravel . 68 
 
Contents. 7 
 
 Inflammation of the Bladder . .70 
 
 Difficulty of Urine 70 
 
 Suppression of Urine . .... 71 
 
 Incontinency of Urine 72 
 
 Stone in the Bladder 72 
 
 Diabetes, or an Immoderate Flow of Urine . 73 
 Dropsy of the Abdomen . . . ,73 
 
 Tympany , 75 
 
 Gonorrhoea . 75 
 
 Gleet . 76 
 
 Involuntary Emissions 77 
 
 Strictures 77 
 
 Syphilis 77 
 
 Cancer of the Penis 78 
 
 Venereal Warts 79 
 
 Mercurial Disease 79 
 
 Dropsy of the Scrotum 79 
 
 Enlarged Spermatic Vein 80 
 
 Cancer of the Testicle .80 
 
 Impotency . 81 
 
 Gout . . . .... 81 
 
 Inflammatory Rheumatism . . . .82 
 
 Chronic Rheumatism 83 
 
 Hip-Joint Disease 84 
 
 Dropsy of the Knee Joint . ... 84 
 
 White Swelling ....... 85 
 
 Pieces of Cartilage in the Joints . . .85 
 Scrofula, or King's Evil .86 
 
 Inflamed Glands .... .86 
 
 Surrhus . . 87 
 
 Cancer 87 
 
 Goitre 88 
 
 Fainting . .... .88 
 
 Apoplexy . » .88 
 
 Stroke of the Sun 89 
 
 Epilepsy ........ 90 
 
 Palsy 91 
 
 Tetanus, or Cramp 91 
 
 Locked -Jaw 92 
 
 Painful Affection of the Nerves of the Face . 93 
 
8 Contents. 
 
 Angina Pectoris . 94 
 
 Dance of St Vitus 95 
 
 Scarlet Fever .95 
 
 Erysipelas, or St Anthony'g Fire . .96 
 
 Mercurial Erysipelas 98 
 
 Measles 99 
 
 Chicken-Pox 100 
 
 Cow-Pox 100 
 
 Small-Pox 101 
 
 ftch ... 103 
 
 Herpes 103 
 
 Scald Head 104 
 
 Ring Worm 105 
 
 Nettie-Rash 105 
 
 Blotched Face 106 
 
 Scurvy 106 
 
 Of Tumours 108 
 
 Of Ruptures: Reducible — Irreducible — Stran- 
 gulated 108 
 
 Aneurism Ill 
 
 Tumours: Fleshy — Steatomatous — Encysted . 112 
 
 Ganglion . 113 
 
 Boils 114 
 
 Carbuncle 114 
 
 Whitlow, or Felon 115 
 
 Piles: Blind— Bleeding 115 
 
 Of Abscess 116 
 
 Psoas Abscess 117 
 
 Of Fistula . 118 
 
 Of Ulcers : Inflamed — Fungous — Sloughing — In- 
 dolent — Carious — Scorbutic — Scrofulous — 
 Venereal 119 
 
 dCfmjrter EK& 
 
 Of Accidents, 
 
 General Directions .... . 122 
 
 Of Contusion .... .123 
 
 Of Sprains . 124 
 
 Concussion of the Brain ..... 124 
 
Contents, 
 
 9 
 
 f Mosq 
 
 Compression of the Brain . 
 Of Wounds 
 
 To Stop the Bleeding 
 
 Incised Wounds . 
 
 Punctured Wounds 
 
 Contused Wounds 
 
 Poisoned Wounds, from Bites of Mad 
 Rattle-Snakes, &c. . 
 
 Stings of Bees and Wasps, Bites oi 
 
 toes, &c 
 
 Wounds of the Limbs, &c. 
 
 Of the Ear, Nose, &c. 
 
 Of the Scalp 
 
 Of the Throat . 
 
 Of the Chest 
 
 Of the Abdomen . 
 
 Of Joints .... 
 
 Of Tendons 
 Of Fractures .... 
 
 Of the Bones of the Nose . 
 
 Of the Lower Jaw 
 
 Of the Collar Bone . 
 
 Of the Arm .... 
 
 Of the Bones of the Fore-Arm 
 
 Of the Wrist, &c. 
 
 Of the Ribs .... 
 
 Of the Thigh 
 
 Of the Knee-Pan 
 
 Of the Leg . 
 
 Of the Bones of the Foot 
 Of Dislocations . 
 
 Of the Lower Jaw 
 
 Of the Collar Bone 
 
 Of the Shoulder . 
 
 Of the Elbow . 
 
 Of the Wrist, Fingers, &c. 
 
 Of the Thigh 
 
 Of the Knee- Cap 
 
 Of the Leg . 
 
 Of the Foot . 
 
 Dogs, 
 
 125 
 125 
 125 
 127 
 
 129 
 129 
 
 130 
 
 . 131 
 . 131 
 . 131 
 . 131 
 . 132 
 . 132 
 . 132 
 133 
 . 133 
 . 134 
 . 134 
 . 134 
 . 135 
 . 135 
 . 136 
 . 136 
 . 136 
 . 137 
 
 .137 
 . 138 
 . 138 
 
 139 
 . 140 
 . 140 
 . 140 
 
 141 
 . 141 
 . 142 
 . 142 
 
 142 
 . 142 
 
10 Contents. 
 
 Of Compound lecidents 143 
 
 Of Amputation 143 
 
 Of Suspended Animation 143 
 
 From Drowning . . . . • . .143 
 
 From Cold 145 
 
 From Hanging ...#.. 145 
 
 From Foul Air 145 
 
 Of Swallowing Poisons 146 
 
 Acids 146 
 
 Alkalies ... ... 147 
 
 Mercury 147 
 
 Arsenic 147 
 
 Copper 148 
 
 Antimony 148 
 
 Salts of Tin 148 
 
 Salts of Bismuth, Gold and Zinc . . 148 
 
 Lunar Caustic 148 
 
 Salt-Petre ... ... 149 
 
 Sal Ammoniac 149 
 
 Liver of Sulphur .... 149 
 
 Phosphorus 149 
 
 Spanish Flies .... .149 
 
 Powdered Glass 150 
 
 Lead 150 
 
 Opium, or Laudanum . . . . 150 
 
 Mushrooms 151 
 
 Tobacco, Hemlock, Night-Shade, Spurred 
 
 Rye 151 
 
 Poisonous Fish 151 
 
 Foreign Bodies in the Throat . . . .151 
 
 Of Burns and Scalds 152 
 
 Of Mortification 153 
 
 Directions for Bleeding 154 
 
 Directions for Passing Catheters — Bougies 154, 155 
 
 Otfjaptcr XV. 
 Prescriptions referred to in the work. 
 
 Prescriptions . . • . . 156—160 
 
 Mixtures, Saline— Effervescing. . . . 156 
 
Contents. 11 
 
 Wine or Vinegar Whey . . 15? 
 
 Scudamore's Lotion for Gout . . .159 
 
 Poultices of various kinds .... 160 
 
 Clysters of various kinds . . . .160 
 
 Hartshorne's Decoction of Spanish Flies in Spirits 
 
 of Turpentine . ... 160 
 
 PART SECOND. 
 
 EPIDEMIC, or ASIATIC CHOLERA . . 163 
 
 Causes 164 
 
 Predisposing and Exciting Causes . 164 
 
 Prevention 16& 
 
 Symptoms 167 
 
 1. The Stage of Diarrhoea . . .167 
 
 2. The Stage of Spasm . . .168 
 
 3. The Stage of Commencing Collapse 168 
 
 4. The Stage of Confirmed Collapse . 169 
 Treatment in the different Stages . 169 
 
 PVSPEPSIA, or INDIGESTION . . .174 
 
 175 
 178 
 180 
 181 
 183 
 185 
 
 Causes 
 Symptoms . 
 Prevention . 
 Treatment . 
 
 1. Costiveness 
 
 2. Flatulence 
 
 3. Violent Pain of Stomach and Bowels 185 
 
 4. Nausea and Vomiting . . . 186 
 
 5. Constant Soreness and Pain of the 
 
 Stomach 186 
 
 General Remedies 187 
 
 1. The Warm Baih and Frictions . 187 
 
 2. Mr Halsted's Method . . .188 
 
 3. Mineral Waters ... 189 
 
 4. Tonics and Bitters . .189 
 vTonrlusion . . 190 
 
12 
 
 Contents. 
 
 SICK-HEADACH 191 
 
 Symptoms ... ... 192 
 
 Medicines . . .... 193 
 
 Diet ...... .196 
 
 L>.>ks ... .... 203 
 
 Exercise . .... 206 
 
 Change of Air 207 
 
 Other Cautions 207 
 
 Treatment of an Attack of the Complaint . 210 
 
 THE TEETH . ... .212 
 
 Structure, Number, Form and Articulation 213 
 Formation of the Teeth . . . .218 
 
 1. Formation of the Milk Teeth . . 218 
 
 2. Formation of the Permanent Teeth 220 
 
 Shedding the Teeth 220 
 
 The First Dentition 223 
 
 Diseases attending Difficult Dentition . . 226 
 Diseases of the Teeth ... .229 
 
 Caries or Rottenness . . . 230 
 
 Diseases of the Fangs of the Teeth . 233 
 Toothach . . . . .234 
 
 Tartar, or Scurvy of the Teeth . . 236 
 
 Diseases of the Alveolar Processes . . 238 
 
 Diseases of the Gums 240 
 
 Inflammation and Sponginess of Gums 240 
 Gum-Boils ... . 241 
 
 Tumours of the Gums . . . 241 
 
 Cleaning the Teeth 242 
 
 Excellent Tooth Powder . . .245 
 
 Operations on the Teeth .... 245 
 Extraction of the Temporary Teeth, 
 
 when Diseased .... 245 
 Lancing, or Cutting the Gums, at the 
 
 time of Teething . . . .246 
 Filing or Sawing the Teeth . 248 
 
 Filling Teeth with Gold or other Metals 249 
 Scaling: the Teeth, or Removal of Tartar 250 
 Extracting Teeth . . . .250 
 
 Artifirial Teeth . .... 252 
 
ARTERIES OF THE HUiMAN BODY. 
 
 6. Iliac. — 7. Sacral. — 8. Renal. — 9. Intercostal. — 10. Aorta. 
 11. Subclavian.— 12. Carotid.— 13. Vertebral.— 14. Tem- 
 poral. — 15. Curvature of the Aorta. — 16. Axillary. — 17. 
 Brachial. — 18. Coeliac— 19. Mesenteric arteries. — 20. 
 Radial. 
 
PART FIEST. 
 
 A STATEMENT 
 
 OF THE MODES OF CURING THE DISEASES 
 TO WHICH MAN IS LIABLE; 
 
 DIRECTIONS 
 
 FOR HIS CONDUCT IN CASE OF ACCIDENTS 
 ON THE ROAD OR AT SEA 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 GENERAL RULES FOR THE TREATMENT 
 OF DISEASES. 
 
 All diseases might, with great propriety, be arranged 
 under three heads, viz. 
 
 Inflammatory diseases, or those attended by in- 
 creased action, as shown by a .quick, full, hard or 
 strong pulse, — great thirst and heat, — white, or red 
 tongue, — flushed face, — bloodshot eye, &c. &a 
 
 Diseases of debility, accompanied and marked by a 
 small, soft, feeble, slow, or intermitting pulse, — a 
 shining white or dark tongue, — languor and weak 
 ness, — cold clammy or burning skin, and an internal 
 sense of sinking. 
 
 Diseases either of increased or diminished action, 
 producing particular effects, and requiring peculiar 
 remedies. 
 
 Although I have not thought proper, (for reasons 
 presently to be mentioned) to adopt this arrangement, 
 I. have been induced to glance at it, as giving rise to 
 those great leading principles or rules, which should 
 govern us in the management of all diseases, and 
 which, if attended to, will be followed by conse- 
 quences as beneficial as the nature of the circum- 
 stances will admit 
 
 In every complaint, whatever it may be called, if 
 you find tne pulse quick, hard, full, and strong, — the 
 nead ache, — tongue foul, — skin hot, or those marks 
 15 
 
16 Compendium oj Domestic Medicine. 
 
 which denote it of an inflammatory nature, reduce 
 it by purging, — low diet, — drinking plentifully 
 of cold water and lemonade, — rest, Ac. 
 
 RULE II. 
 
 If on the contrary, the pulse be small, soft, feeble 
 and intermitting, — trie tongue dark, and great debility 
 or weakness is evident, reverse the whole plan , the 
 diet must be generous and nourishing, — the bcwela 
 opened with gentle laxatives, — and the strength sup 
 ported by bark, sulphate of quinine, wine and tonic* 
 of various kinds. 
 
 If in addition to those symptoms mentioned in the 
 second rule, the tongue be covered with a black coat, 
 — foul dark looking sores form about the gums and 
 insides of the cheeks, — the breath be offensive, &c. 
 the same class of remedies is to be vigorously em- 
 ployed, with a free use of acids and other antiseptic 
 articles 
 
 RULE IV. 
 
 Severe local pains, as in the head, side, &c., re- 
 quire sometimes the use of purging, and blisters 
 to the part. 
 
 Incessant and earnest entreaties on the part of the 
 sick, for any particular article of diet, if steadily per- 
 severed in, may be safely indulged, whether ihe use 
 of it agrees or not with our preconceived ideas on the 
 subject 
 
 RULE VI. 
 
 In all fevers, where the pulse is quick, full and 
 strong, — the skin burning to the touch, and there is 
 
General Rules 1; 
 
 no perspiration, dash cold water over the head and 
 shoulders of the patient, wipe him dry and put him 
 to bed. If in consequence of this, a chill be experi- 
 enced, and the pulse sink, give warm wine, &c. and 
 omit the water for the future. Should a pleasant 
 glow, over the whole frame, follow the affusion, and 
 the patient feel relieved by it, repeat it as often as 
 may be necessary 
 
 Observe carefully, the effects of various articles of 
 food, as well as physic, upon your own body, and 
 choose those which experience proves to agree best 
 with you. It is a mlgar but true saying, that " What 
 is one man's meat, is another's poison." 
 
 Keep a sick room always well ventilated. Plenty 
 of fresh air is ar \mportant remedial agent in all dis- 
 eases. 
 
 HINTS TO TRAVELLERS IN HEALTH. 
 
 The sudden changes of weather, which so particu- 
 larly characterize the climate of the United States, 
 render a supply of flannel to be worn next the skin 
 a matter of much consequence to the health and 
 comfort of the traveller, who is more exposed than 
 others to the morning and evening damps, as well as 
 the meridian heat. 
 
 As a general preservative of health, I know of no 
 habit more valuable than this; the disagreeable irri- 
 tation of tb^ skin it occasions at first, soon wears off 
 P 
 
18 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 and it then becomes pleasant. The objections to it 
 during the summer months, are more specious than 
 solid. Accustomed to be cased in it from head to 
 foot, in the East and West Indies, as well as in the 
 southern parts of America, I have uniformly had oc- 
 casion to remark that I suffered less from the hea f 
 than such of my friends as wore none. This Is now 
 generally admitted to be the consequence by scien- 
 tific men, and is easily accounted for on principles, 
 with which my limits do not permit me to meddle. 
 I merely mention the fact, and again seriously recom- 
 mend every one who wishes to preserve his health 
 in this climate, to have immediate recourse to flannel, 
 and never to leave it off 
 
 A phial of laudanum, one of strong essence of 
 peppermint, with a bottle of brandy, and a box 
 of vegetable cathartic pills, should always have 
 a corner in every traveller's trunk : they take up 
 but little room, and should he proceed without 
 them, a few days, perhaps hours, may give him 
 serious cause to regret it. 
 
 While in a high healthy country, there is no abso- 
 lute necessity for observing the following rules, which 
 become indispensable while in a low, marshy, and 
 consequently a sickly one. Never leave your sleeping 
 place in the morning, until the fog and damp have been 
 dispersed by the sun ; if, however, you are not master 
 of your own movements, and cannot avoid it, always 
 endeavour to have a cup of coffee and a crust of 
 bread before you set out; this can generally be had, 
 by speaking to the landlord the preceding evening. 
 If you are disappointed, a glass of wine with a few 
 drops of peppermint and a little sugar in it, will an- 
 swer; and in default of the wine, spirits of any kind 
 prepared in the same way, with or without bitters. 
 By these means your stomach will be fortified, and 
 one great avenue to disease be blocked up, alway? 
 
Hints to Travellers in TfenUh. 19 
 
 recollecting that it is as a medicine yon aro to take 
 it, not to gratify your palate. The practice is unfor- 
 tunately too apt to be continued, \* hen all necessity 
 for it has ceased, and mint julept, like some other 
 good things that are abused, have wrecked many an 
 honest and good man: coffee should always be pre- 
 ferred if it can be obtained. 
 
 To mention the propriety of examining closely, the 
 beds you are to sleep in, may at first sight seem su- 
 perfluous, to say nothing more of it. It is not, how- 
 ever, the refreshing luxury of clean sheets, that is 
 the principal inducement to caution, but the great 
 risk you run of contracting disorders by sleeping in 
 dirty ones. I have known a want of care in this 
 point, punished by a severe disease. Many trouble- 
 some and disgusting diseases of the skin, are com- 
 municated in this way, without any idea being enter- 
 tained of their origin. For my part, a great coat and 
 a clean plank, a sofa or three chairs, would be pre- 
 ferred to running any risk whatever. 
 
 TOWELS AND SOAP. 
 
 Every one should carry towels and soap with 
 them when travelling, for the simple reason that 
 at many stopping-places no soap is to be fo^nd, 
 and towels are so scarce that many persons use the 
 same ; which is a pernicious habit, as many con- 
 tagious diseases of the skin and eyes have been 
 transmitted in this way. 
 
 Change of water is very apt to produce some little 
 disturbance in the bowels, and this to a stranger is 
 one of the sure marks of being in a lime-stone coun 
 
'10 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 try. If it act gently, it need not be minded, if other 
 wise, mix wine, porter, or brandy with it, or omit the 
 use of it altogether, for a few days, when it may be 
 gradually resumed ; in this way its effects are dimin- 
 ished. 
 
 COLD. 
 
 To prevent as much as possible any danger from 
 frost, while travelling in excessively cold weather, 
 having well cased your whole body (and feet in par- 
 ticular) in warm clothing, avoid approaching the fire, 
 and the use of spirits, or hot drinks of every descrip- 
 tion. When you stop on the road, instead of seating 
 yourself by the chimney and calling for liquor, walk 
 about in the open air as rapidly as possible, and if 
 you are thirsty, take a glass of cider or cold water. 
 Three men (with one of whom I am personally ac- 
 quainted) set out from Boston for Upper Canada, 
 during the middle of a very severe winter, e ich one 
 •driving his own sleigh; two of them were in the 
 habit of stopping at eveiy tavern they came to, 
 warming their feet and drinking freely of hot toddy. 
 The other never entered a house, except for his 
 meals or to sleep ; while his horse rested, he stretched 
 his legs, and when he was thirsty he partook of the 
 same element with his beast. The consequence of 
 this was, that out of the three, he was the only one 
 who arrived at his journey's end uninjured. One of 
 his companions had his feet so badly frost-bitten, that 
 he lost them both, and the other was taken out of his 
 sleigh, at the door of a tavern, where his horse natu- 
 rally stopped, frozen to death! If, notwithstanding all 
 your care, you become much affected by the cold, 
 beware of going to sleep : no matter how strong the 
 inclination may be, resist it for your life — it is the 
 sleep of death! 
 
 NIGHT AIR. 
 
 On retiring, it is well to close the window over 
 the bed. One of the most fruitful sources of sick- 
 
Hints to Travellers in Health. 21 
 
 ness, is found in the night air, that is generally damp, 
 and loaded with poisonous vapours, and which, from 
 the relaxed state of the body during sleep, is more 
 apt than at any other time to produce the most mis- 
 chievous effects. 
 
 OCT Never let false delicacy, or any other cause, pre- 
 vent you from emptying the bladder as often as you 
 feel the inclination : a painful and lingering, some- 
 times an incurable disease arises from neglecting this 
 call of nature. 
 
 HINTS TO INVALIDS TRAVELLING. 
 
 Although the preceding directions apply to all tra- 
 vellers, they should be more particularly studied and 
 observed by invalids who, while travelling by land, 
 either for the restoration of their health, or from ne- 
 cessity, in stages or carriages, will find an advantage 
 in observing the following rules. 
 
 Never commence your journey m the morning 
 until you have breakfasted and emptied the bowels, 
 or endeavoured to do so. To obtain the wished foi 
 result, make it a regular practice to solicit the evacua- 
 tion directly after your meal. 
 
 During the summer, never pursue your journey, if 
 you can avoid it, in the heat of the day: it is better 
 10 borrow an hour or two from the morning, and one 
 from the evening, than to risk the excitement liable 
 to be produced by a broiling sun. 
 
 RULE III. 
 
 Make short stages ; always remembering that ever 
 
22 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 cise should never be pushed to fatigue — the latter 
 is as injurious, as the former is beneficial. 
 
 Be careful to have no ligatures about your 
 body — wear your cravat and garters loosely tied, 
 and let all your clothing be easy. The flannel 
 shirt is indispensable. 
 
 Always have an ample cloak in the carriage ; 
 early in the morning and in the evening, even of 
 summer days, you may find occasion to use it with 
 pleasure and profit. 
 
 Always have a complete suit of winter clothing 
 in your trunks, although you be travelling in the 
 month of July : if the weather becomes cool, on* 
 with your woollens, — stockings included. Inat- 
 tention to the simple rule of adapting the clothing 
 to the temperature of the air in its extreme 
 changes, kills hundreds yearly. 
 
 RULE VI. 
 
 Never hesitate a moment to comply with the 
 calls of nature; much mischief is occasioned by 
 deferring these evacuations. It is better to be 
 accused of a want of delicacy, than to have a 
 suppression of urine or a fever and headache. 
 
 This is the golden rule, and is of high authority. 
 Keep your body open, your feet dry and warm, and 
 your head cool ! ! 
 
A 
 
 COMPENDIUM 
 
 OF 
 
 DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 
 
 DIVISION OF DISEASES. 
 
 It is a matter of no consequence with what par- 
 ticular complaint we begin, since each one is to be 
 described. All systems are artificial and liable to 
 objections, but for the purpose of enabling every one 
 to find out his ailment, and to refer at once to its 
 mode of treatment, I have adopted. the following 
 plan. In some points of view it may be exceptiona- 
 ble, but it suits the purpose I intend it for, — the con- 
 venience of my reader, who may possibly care as 
 little as I do, whether the arrangement be scientific 
 or not In the first place, there are such diseases as 
 produce a general disturDance, that is visible through- 
 out the whole body. These are found in fevers. 
 
 Simple Inflammatory Fever. 
 
 Intermittent, or Fever and Ague. 
 
 Bilious Remittent Fever. 
 
 Typhus or Low Nervous Fever. 
 
 Putrid Fever. 
 
 Hectic Fever. 
 
 r 
 
 Next we have those whose effects, though extended 
 to the whole body, commence in, and are chiefly con- 
 fined to, particular parts, such as diseases incident tc 
 
 23 
 
24 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 1. The Head, 2. Throat, ~~"* 
 
 3. Chest, 4. Stomach, 
 
 5 Liver, 6. Intestines, 
 
 7 Kidneys, 8. Bladder, 
 
 9. Genital Organs, 10. Joints, 
 
 11. Nerves, 12. Glands, 
 
 13. Cellular Membrane,* 14. Skin, including Tu- 
 mours, Ulcers, &c. 
 
 Lastly, under the title "Of Accidents," will be con- 
 sidered all those unfortunate occurrences, which are 
 daily thinning the ranks of society, which human 
 prudence cannot always prevent, and to which all 
 who travel by land or water are more particularly 
 exposed. 
 
 * This is a kind of fatty net- work, lying immediate 
 iy under the skin, and covering the whole body 
 
ARTERIES OF THE HUMAN EXTREMITIES. 
 
 L Tarapl.— 2. PereimaE— 3. Posterior tibial.— 4. Anterior 
 
 til ial.— 5. Femoral.— 21. Ulnar. 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 Of Fevers : or those diseases which product a geneied 
 disturbance throughout the whole body. 
 
 OF THE PULSE. 
 
 The pidse is nothing more than the beating of an 
 artery.* Every time the heart contracts, a portion 
 of blood is forced into the arteries, which dilate or 
 swell to let it pass, and then immediately regain their 
 former size, until by a second stroke of the same or- 
 gan, a fresh column of blood is pushed through them, 
 when a similar action is repeated. This swelling 
 and contracting of the arteries then constitute the 
 pulse, and consequently it may be found in every 
 part of the body where those vessels run near enougn 
 to the surface to be felt. Physicians look for it at the 
 wrist, from motives of convenience. 
 
 The strength and velocity of the pulse vary much 
 in different persons, even in a state of perfect health. 
 It is much quicker in children than in adults, and in 
 old men, it grows more slow and feeble, owing to the 
 decreased energy of the heart The pulse is increased 
 both in strength and velocity by running, walking, 
 riding, and jumping; by eating, drinking, singing 
 speaking, and by joy, anger, &c. It is diminished in 
 like manner, by fear, want of nourishment, melan- 
 
 * There are two kinds of blood-vessels in the body : 
 arteries and veins. The arteries carry the blood from 
 the heart to the extremities of the body, where they 
 are connected with the veins which bring it back 
 *gain. An artery pulsates or beats; a vein does not 
 
 25 
 
26 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 choly, excessive evacuations, or by whatever tends 
 to debilitate the system. 
 
 In feeling the pulse then in sick persons, allowance 
 should be made for these causes, or what is better, 
 we should wait until their temporary effects have 
 ceased. 
 
 A fully tense and strong pulse, is when the artery 
 swells boldly under the finger, and resists its pressure 
 more or less; if, in addition to this, the pulsation be 
 very rapid, it is called quick, full, and strong; if slow, 
 the contrary. 
 
 A hard, corded pulse,, is that in which the artery 
 feels like the string of a violin, or a piece of tightened 
 cat-gut, giving considerable resistance to the pressure 
 of the finger. 
 
 T7ie sqft t and intermitting pulses, are easily known 
 by their names. In cases of extreme debility, on the 
 approach of death, and in some particular diseases, 
 the artery vibrates under the finger like a thread. 
 
 In feeling the pulse, three or four fingers should be 
 laid on it at once. The most convenient spot to do 
 this, as already mentioned, is the wrist, but it can be 
 readily done on the temple,— just before, and close to 
 the ear, — in the bend of the arm, — at the under part 
 of the lower end of the thigh, among the ham-strings, 
 — and on the top of the foot. 
 
 OF FEVER. 
 
 Fever is, by far, the most common complaint to 
 which the human body is subject It may be briefly 
 described as a combination of heat, — thirst, — loss of 
 appetite, — weakness, and inability to sleep. It makes 
 its appearance in two ways: either suddenly and vio- 
 lently, or gradually and gently. When it comes on 
 in the first manner, a cold snaking, attended with 
 sickness at the stomach, or vomiting, marks its access : 
 tl>c rold is more severe than in the latter, as is also 
 
Fever. 27 
 
 the pain in the head, and other symptoms. When its 
 attack is gradual, a feeling of soreness over the whole 
 body, such as is experienced after a hard day's work 
 by one not accustomed to it, shows its approach. 
 Nausea, pains in the head, chills, and more or less 
 heat and thirst soon follow. 
 
 As these symptoms vary infinitely in their degrees 
 of violence, the vigour of the treatment to be pursued, 
 must differ accordingly. Thus the same directions 
 that are given for simple inflammatory fever, must 
 be adhered to, in one whose symptoms are lighter, 
 though similar, only there is no necessity for pushing 
 them to so great an extent. 
 
 SIMPLE FEVERS. 
 
 A fever not due to any one specific cause, 
 lasting from one to ten days. 
 
 Symptoms. Chills, — flushed face, — skin hot, — 
 eyes red, — pulse quick, full, strong and regular, 
 — great thirst, — tongue white, — urine high col- 
 ored and small in quantity, — bowels consti- 
 pated,— and breathing quick, etc. 
 
 Causes. Cold, — violent exercise while ex- 
 posed to the heat of the sun. — intemperance,— 
 improper food, — deranged digestion,— the poison 
 of one of the continued fevers too mild to pro- 
 duce recognizable effects 
 
 Distinguish it from other fevers by the 
 abruptness with which it comes on, by the 
 absence of symptoms peculiar to other fevers 
 and by the rapid recovery. 
 
 Treatment. Rest in bed in a cool, quiet room, 
 Open the bowels with liquid citrate of mag- 
 nesia or epsom salts. If there be great pain in 
 the head apply cloths wrung out of cold wal^r, 
 changing them often enousrh to keep tn^^ 
 cold, or place an ice bag partially filled wiilr 
 broken ice on the head. If the heat of tbe body 
 be excessive and burning to the touch, and 
 there is no perspiration, sponge the entire body 
 
28 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 and limbs with tepid or cold water. This is to 
 be performed by removing all clothing-, wrap- 
 ping the body completely in a thick blanket, 
 and applying the sponge between the folds of 
 the blanket, in order to protect from draughts, 
 spending from ten to twenty minutes in the act 
 of sponging; then teither remain in blanket 
 until dry, or use towels, after which the cloth- 
 ing and bed covering may be replaced, always 
 practicing care not to wet the clothing or bed- 
 ding because by so doing a cold might be con- 
 tracted. There should be no fear of bad con- 
 sequences from sponging if done in this manner, 
 and it is an infallible and satisfactory means of 
 reducing almost all the different kinds of fever. 
 In addition to the sponging a tablespoonful of 
 the spirits of Mindereri may be taken every two 
 hours. These measures arejto be repeated with 
 sufficient frequency to keep the skin moist and 
 as nearly as possible to normal temperature, 
 until the disease is overcome. Moderate doses of 
 quinine should be taken during convalescence. 
 The diet should consist of cool drinks, milk 
 and beef tea. 
 
 INTERMITTENT OR MALARIAL 
 FEVER.— FEVER AND AGUE. 
 
 Of this fever, there are several varieties,, 
 which differ from each other only in the length 
 of time that elapses between their attacks. 
 There is one called quotidian, in which it comes 
 on every twenty -four hours; another named 
 tertian, in which it arrives every forty-eight 
 hours, and the third quartan, because the inter- 
 vals last seventy-two hours. 
 
 Sysiptoms. The symptoms of fever and ague 
 commence with yawning, stretching and 
 uneasiness; this is succeeded by slight chills 
 or shiverings, that end in a violent or con- 
 vulsive shaking of the whole body. This 
 is the cold fit, and is immediately followed by 
 
Fever and Ague. 29 
 
 the fever or hot fit. The pulse rises, — the skin 
 becomes hot, — pain in the head, — tongue white, 
 and all the marks of fever, terminating in a pro- 
 fuse sweat, which gradually subsiding, leaves the 
 patient in his natural state, though somewhat 
 weakened. 
 
 Causes. Is supposed to depend upon the influ- 
 ence of malaria, a poison emanating from decaying 
 vegetable matter in low marshy localities, and is 
 frequently developed in previous healthy localities 
 by turning up the soil, and clearing the lands of 
 new countries. Water absorbs and transmits this 
 miasmic poison to the system, and it is more 
 abundant during the night. 
 
 Treatment. This consists first in the prevent- 
 ive, by maintaining of as near a standard of health 
 as possible, by a properly regulated diet and pro- 
 tection from the night air. Sleeping in the upper 
 stories of houses in malarial districts, and the 
 closure of doors and windows on the side exposed 
 to marshes or stagnant ponds. As soon as there 
 are symptoms indicative of the approach of this 
 disease, give at once a large dose of sulphate of 
 quinine: to adults 10 to 20 grains, to children 4-6 
 years old 3 to 5 grains, and from 10-14 years 6 to 
 7 grains. When the fever comes on after the rigors 
 and chills, soak the feet in hot water with a little 
 mustard in, place in bed, cover lightly, and give 
 some sweet spirits of nitre; tr. aconite, largely 
 diluted, or a saline fever mixture. If the fever is 
 very high, sponge the spine and whole body with 
 tepid water. After the fever has passed off, renew 
 the dose of quinine to prevent the return of the 
 disease. If, however, it is not cut short by these 
 means, and 'he quinine has no effect, combine it 
 
30 Compendium of Domestic Medicine, 
 
 means, and the quinine has no effect, give 
 Fowler's solution of arsenic combined with 
 very minute doses, l-60th grain of strychnia. 
 Of the Fowler's solution give 5 to 8 drops, three 
 times daily to an adult. 
 
 YELLOW FEVER. 
 
 A fever which becomes epidemic in tropical 
 and subtropical countries and does not spread 
 at a temperature below 70°. As the sanitary 
 measures have been bettered in the southern 
 states the ravages of this disease have been 
 decreased. It is characterized by an orange or 
 bronze discoloration of the skin and in severe 
 cases by the black vomiting and tarry stools. 
 
 TYPHUS FEVER. 
 
 This is a contagious fever, which was 
 formerly known as ''jail fever," "camp fever," 
 "ship fever," "spotted fever," and which owing 
 to modern sanitary precautions has become 
 obsolete. 
 
 PNEUMONIA— LUNG FEVER. 
 
 An inflammation of the lung tissue. Two 
 clinical varieties are most frequently met with, 
 viz.: Acute or lobar, and broncho-pneumonia. 
 Lobar pneumonia has its starting point in the 
 air cells and involves one or more lobes of 
 either right or left lung or both, while broncho or 
 lobular pneumonia nearly always follows some 
 pre-existing disease and has its beginning 
 in the bronchial tubes, and involves one or 
 more lobules. 
 
 Symptoms. Acute pneumonia is usual!;' 
 ushered in with a chill, and a rapid rise :i- 
 temperature, — a dull pain on the affected side, 
 
THE EYE. 
 A, Lens. B, Aqueous humor. C, Yitreous humor. D, 
 Retina. E, Iris. F, Choroid. G, Sclerotica. H, Cor- 
 nea. I, Optic nerve. K, Ciliary process and muscle. 
 
Lung Fever. 31 
 
 —a dry hacking- cough, — cheeks highly flushed, 
 — tongue dry and coated, — breathiDg rapid and 
 shallow, — expectoration clear and tenacious, 
 at first becoming- bloody or rust-colored on 
 third day,— countenance anxious,— frequently 
 restlessness and delirium. The right side is 
 the most often affected, and there is an immo- 
 bility of the chest over that portion of the 
 lung- involved. The urine is dark and the 
 bowels are slightly constipated. In lobar 
 pneumonia, on about the 7th or 9th day, the 
 patient passes through the crisis, the tem- 
 perature falls to normal or below normal, and 
 the breathing- becomes clear. Broncho-pneu- 
 monia occurs in connection with some other 
 disease, and the primary symptoms are the 
 same as in bronchitis, though the respiratory 
 symptoms are as a rule the same as in lobar 
 pneumonia. 
 
 Cause. A specific micro-organism. Predis- 
 posing and exciting causes, — overcrowded and 
 improperly ventilated rooms, — exposure to 
 wet, or sudden changes of temperature, — in- 
 halation of irritant or foreign substances, — 
 injuries to chest, and some preceding affec- 
 tion. 
 
 Distinguish it by the sudden onset of the 
 fever, — the dry hacking cough, — the dull pain 
 in side, — the anxious countenance, — the rapid 
 and difficult breathing, — and by the brick dust 
 color of sputum after the third day. 
 
 Treatment. This is one of the most fatal of 
 acute diseases, and whenever possible the 
 patient should be cared for by a trained nurse, 
 under the close direction of a physician. A 
 majority of the cases that die, could be saved 
 by having a skilled and faithful nurse at the 
 bedside throughout the disease. Lobar pneu 
 monia is bound to run a definite course in 
 spite of remedial measures, while broncho* 
 pneumonia, under judicious management may 
 be cut short at any stage, though it is more 
 likely to be a prolonged illness. The patients 
 
32 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 bed should be in a well ventilated room, kept 
 at an even temperature of about 60° or 65°. The 
 external application of an oiled silk jacket 
 proves nearly always satisfactory. This is 
 made of a layer of cotton baiting or wool, y t 
 inch thick, held in place by a lining of cheese 
 cloth, and covered on the outside with oiled 
 silk. This should be cut and shaped so as to 
 make a close fitting jacket, extending 1 from the 
 last ribs to the throat, and fasten with safety 
 pins. Ice bags or hot poultices should never 
 be applied excepting under the special direc- 
 tion of physician, for they are irritating to the 
 patient, and because of their weight interfere 
 with the breathing. Parti cular attention must 
 be given to sustaining the vital powers by the 
 use of a stimulating liquid diet, such as will 
 not waste energy by taxing the digestion or in- 
 terfere with respiration by dilating the stom- 
 ach. The fever is to be reduced and the rest- 
 lessness and delirium quieted by cold spong- 
 ing or the cold wet-pack. The nourishment 
 should be given from an invalid's drinking cup, 
 or through a drinking tube; and the patient 
 should never be allowed to sit up to void urine 
 or evacuate the bowels, but should use a bed- 
 pan, because movements or exertion are 
 liable to spread the disease into healthy lung 
 tissue, and what is more to be dreaded, a clot 
 may be carried to the heart and produce in- 
 stant death. Inhalations of oxygen are to be 
 resorted to when the breathing becomes very 
 difficult. This gas comes in tanks prepared 
 for the purpose. 
 
 REMITTENT MALARIAL FEVER. 
 
 This name is applied to a type of malarial 
 fever, in which the fever occasionally abates, 
 but does not entirely cease, before a fresh attack 
 comes on, so that the patient is never com- 
 pletely free from it. The treatment is the same 
 
Typhoid Fever. 33 
 
 as in the intermittent form of Hit disease. If 
 there is vomiting, hold pellets cf ice in the 
 throat and let them dissolve, which serves 
 also furthermore to allay the burning thirst, 
 usually present. Diluted limewater is another 
 remedy for this purpose. And whenever this 
 state exists the best article of diet is milk and 
 limewater, and this may be given in the pro- 
 portion of equal parts of each if the vomiting 
 be persistent. Kumyss also agrees favorably 
 with the stomach. When the fever continues at 
 a high degree, the body may be wrapped in 
 sheets wrung out of cold water or the patient 
 may get into a cold bath. 
 
 TYPHOID FEVEE. 
 
 Symptoms. Languor, —debility,— dejection of 
 mind,— alternate flashes of heat and chills, — 
 loss of appetite, — disturbed sleep, — confusion 
 of ideas, — aching of limbs, — ordinarily there 
 are spells of diarrhea. These are succeeded by 
 vertigo, — pain in the head,- vomiting and pain 
 in abdomen, — fever, which grows worse toward 
 night,— tenderness in lower part of right side 
 of abdomen, with gurgling sound upon pres- 
 sure, — after a few days the stools become yel- 
 low, thin and very offensive. During the 
 second and third weeks, rose-colored spots fre- 
 quently appear on abdomen and chest, and 
 after a few days fade away and are replaced 
 by a new crop, — the tongue is covered with a 
 white, yellow, or brown fur, and is shining red 
 at the tip. The temperature runs a course 
 which is denominated the typhoid temperature. 
 The evening temperature is invariably 1° or 2° 
 higher than that of the morning, throughout 
 the attack, and for th^ Srst week there is in- 
 crease of S° ea^h day, then follows a period of 
 irors e<oi tsar.pe?atrr?, *vhich lasts until the 
 *<>ver £eclJT>es 
 
 Uausb. Tbe l-ypbo<d bacillus, which gener- 
 
34 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 ally gains access to the body in the drinking 
 water or food, and attacks the Peyer's patches 
 of the intestine, and sets up an inflammation 
 of the intestinal mucus lining. 
 
 Distinguish it by the character of the tem- 
 perature, which risss and falls every twenty- 
 four hours, and which has an ascending period 
 for the first five to ten days, and then a station- 
 ary period of from one to three weeks, followed 
 by the period of decline, — by the diarrhea and 
 offensive stools, — by the tender abdomen and 
 by the few red spots which may appear and 
 disappear over the body. Sometimes it is im- 
 possible to distinguish this fever from one of 
 the other lingering fevers, until a physician 
 makes a microscopical examination of the 
 blood. 
 
 Treatment. This is always a serious 
 disease and should, in every instance be 
 under the close surveillance of a physician. 
 More depends on the nursing and the careful 
 following of the physician's directions than on 
 the kind of medicine used. What has been 
 said about sponging, the wet pack, and cold 
 baths in the treatment of other fevers, applies 
 particularly well here. The remedies to be 
 given internally are intestinal antiseptics, in- 
 tended to destroy the micro-organisms, and 
 heal the inflamed mucus membrane in the in- 
 testine. The diet is the most important factor 
 throughout the disease. Cooling drinks must 
 be frequently given, care must be exercised 
 that the patient has a sufficient amount of 
 nourishment, and this must be of a quality not 
 to tax the enfeebled digestive powers, or be a 
 bulky irritant in the intestinal tract. To fill 
 these indications, milk, kumyss, beef tea, and 
 the meat broths are among the best articles. 
 This fever is bound to run a course of from 
 two to eight weeks, in spite of every effort 
 made to combat it. The convalescent patient 
 must continue on a restricted diet for one or 
 two weeks after fever is broken. The stools 
 and urine should be disinfected by being kept 
 
Appendicitis. 35 
 
 in a closed vessel for an hour, containing one 
 or two per cent, solution of chloride of lime, 
 and then buried ; and all bedding, clothing and 
 eating- utensils should be scalded each time 
 after the patient is through using them. 
 
 HECTIC FEVER. 
 
 This is never a primary disease, but is al- 
 ways found as a symptom of some other one, 
 as consumption. 
 
 Symptoms. Night sweats,— bowels costive 
 at first, then loose, — alternate chills and 
 flushes, — a circumscribed spot on the cheeks, 
 — a peculiar delicacy of complexion, and emaci- 
 ation to so great a degree that the patient 
 sometimes looks like a living skeleton. 
 
 Causes. The absorption of matter from ab- 
 scesses, as in consumption and scrofula. 
 
 Treatment. Remove the cause, by curing 
 the disease of which it is a symptom. 
 
 APPENDICITIS. 
 
 An inflammation of the appendix vermiformis, 
 or of that worm-like portion of the intestines 
 which is open at but one end. The character 
 of this inflammation may be catarrhal or ulcer- 
 ative to the degree of perforation. 
 
 Symptoms. Pain and tenderness of variable 
 severity in the right iliac region, most intense 
 at a spot located half way between the um- 
 bilicus and the crest of the hip bone ; and some- 
 times a swelling may be discerned in this local- 
 ity. The right thigh may be flexed, with 
 pain in right side of abdomen when extension 
 
36 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 is attempted. There may be an initial chill and 
 likewise vomiting. Usually the pain is acute, 
 and there is a fever of from 101° to 103°, together 
 with an accelerated pulse. A very rapid or 
 irregular pulse is an unfavorable symptom, as 
 is also sigcs of general inflammation of the 
 bowels. Perforation of the intestines is followed 
 by symptoms of surgical shock. It is impos- 
 sible for the most skilled diagnostician to dis- 
 tinguish this disease in some instances. 
 
 Cause. Usually fecal concretions, fruit pits 
 or seeds imprisoned in the appendix ; and con- 
 stipation and overeating seem to bring on an 
 attack. 
 
 Treatment. Whenever there is a suspicion 
 of appendicitis, the patient must remain quietly 
 in bed, an ice bag be kept over the region of the 
 appendix, large doses of olive oil repeatedly 
 administered, inducing frequently loose stools, 
 and opiates given sufficient to soothe' pain. 
 Under this treatment the majority of attacks 
 recover without surgical interference, but 
 where perforation is imminent a surgeon 
 should remove the offending appendix at once. 
 The life of the patient has been saved in a few 
 instances where the operation for removal has 
 been performed after perforation has taken 
 place. This is always a serious malady and a 
 physician should be in attendance upon the 
 mildest cases. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 Diseases, whose effects, though extended to the 
 whole body, commence in, and are chiefly con- 
 fined to, particular parts. 
 
 CEREBROSPINAL MENINGITIS 
 
 BRAIN AND SPINAL FEVER. 
 
 An inflammation of the membranes covering 
 the brain and spinal cord. This may be local- 
 ized or involve both the cerebral and spinal 
 portions. 
 
 Symptoms. Intense pain in the head, — eyes in- 
 capable of bearing light, — pupils dilated or con- 
 tracted,— restless delirium,— followed by stupor, 
 — vomiting, - face flushed,— pulse hard and very 
 rapid, — oppression of the chest, — head drawn 
 back,— spasms. 
 
 Causes. Exposure to the excessive heat of 
 the sun, — blows on the head, — infection of the 
 membranes by a specific germ. 
 
 Treatment — Where the disease is suspected, 
 the bowels should be opened by administering 
 £ of a grain of calomel or one teaspoonful of 
 epsom salts every hour until free movements 
 occur; an ice bag applied to the head, and a 
 physician sent for at once. If much nervous 
 irritation is present, liberal doses of bromides 
 are good. 
 
 37 
 
38 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 HEADACH. 
 
 Causes. Some particular disease of which it is a 
 symptom. Indigestion, — a foul stomach, — tight cra- 
 vats or shirt collars, — exposure to the heat of the sun, 
 —a rushing of blood into the head. 
 
 Treatment. This will vary according to the 
 oause. If it anses from indigestion, that must be 
 attended to. A foul stomach is one of the most usual 
 causes of headach : such is the connexion between 
 these parts, that the one is seldom out of order, with- 
 out notice being given of it by the other. In this 
 case, an emetic should always be administered, which, 
 at a day's interval, is to be followed by a purgative. 
 If from the beating of the arteiy in the temples and a 
 sense of fulness in the head, we suspect it to originate 
 from an undue determination to that part, apply 
 ice bladder or cloths dipped in cold water to it. 
 
 Pains in the head frequently originate from old 
 venereal complaints. They are also very often 
 caused by gout or rheumatism ; for such cases, see 
 those complaints. When it arises from acidity of 
 the stomach give five or six grs. of bicarbonate of 
 potash in dilute camphor water three or four 
 times daily. 
 
 See Sick-Headache, post, page 191. 
 
 INFLAMMATION OF THE EYE. 
 
 Symptoms. Pain, heat and swelling of the parte, 
 which appear blood-shot, — the tears hot and scalding. 
 — fever, — intolerance of light, — sometimes when the 
 lids are affected, the edges become ulcerated. 
 
 Causes. External injuries, as blows, — particles of 
 sand, &c. getting into them, — exposure to cold, — a 
 strong light, — intemperance. 
 
 Treatment. If trie complaint is caused bv fbreigr 
 
Inflammation of the Eye. 39 
 
 bodies, they must be removed with the point of 
 a hair pencil, or the end of a piece of wire cov- 
 ered with lint, or washed out by injecting warm 
 milk and water into the eye, with a small syringe. 
 If particles of iron stick in it, they must be re- 
 moved by an oculist. From whatever circum- 
 stance it may originate, the inflammation is to 
 be subdued by ice or cold applications, and bleed- 
 ing from the neighborhood of the eye, by a dozen 
 or more leeches. The bowels should be freely 
 opened with Epsom salts, and a cold-water poul- 
 tice, enclosed in a piece of thin gauze, be laid 
 over the part. The room should be perfectly 
 dark, and the diet extremely low. Any of the 
 lotions No. 9, may be used. If the pain is very 
 severe, a small quantity of equal parts of bella- 
 donna and water may be dropped into the eye. 
 If the eye-lids are ulcerated, touch them with the 
 white vitriol ointment. Bathing the eye fre- 
 quently with clear cold water is a refreshing and 
 
 useful practice.* 
 
 DIMNESS OF SIGHT. 
 
 Symptoms. The patient imagines he sees par- 
 ticles of dust, flies, and cobwebs, floating in the 
 air, and cannot distinguish clearly any object, 
 either near or at a distance. Though the pupil 
 sometimes does not contract, the eye is to all ap- 
 pearance unchanged. 
 
 Causes. Pressure on the optic nerves, within 
 the scull, by tumours, or other causes, or an error 
 or defect in the formation of the nerves them- 
 selves, — drunkenness, — blows on the head, — apo- 
 plexy, — excessive venereal indulgences. 
 
 * The best plan in all affections of the eye, 
 whether inflammation, dimness of sight, &c, is 
 to consult an oculist, as the least improper treat- 
 ment may cause complete loss of sight. 
 
40 Compendium of Domestic Medicine, 
 
 Treatment. Blisters, issues, or a seton to the 
 back of the neck. Electric sparks passed through 
 the forehead, and drawn from the eyes, if perse- 
 vered in for a considerable time, may prove effec- 
 tual. As many causes of this disease are seated 
 in the intestines and stomach, a light emetic may 
 be first given, and then a succession of purgatives 
 for several days or weeks. 
 
 NIGHT BLINDNESS .* 
 
 Symptoms. The sight is perfectly clear and dis- 
 tinct during the day, but completely lost at night. 
 
 Causes. Prolonged exposure to extremely 
 bright light, — general debility and exhaustion. 
 
 Treatment. The treatment must be directed 
 to strengthening the general health by tonics and 
 a generous diet ; give quinine, iron, and cod-liver 
 oil. At the same time keep in a darkened room, 
 going out only when there is no sun, and even 
 then with the eyes protected by dark glasses and 
 a shade. . 
 
 INFLAMMATION OF THE EAR. 
 
 Symptoms. Pain in the ear, which at last 
 either gradually ceases, or matter is discharged 
 through the opening. 
 
 Causes. The accumulation of hard wax, — in- 
 sects getting into it, — injuries from blows, &c. 
 
 Treatment. A little warm olive oil, with an 
 equal part of laudanum, dropped into the ear, and 
 
 * There are many other diseases incident to the 
 eyes, but none that can be managed by any but 
 an oculist. When, therefore, any alteration in 
 the structure of the eye is perceived, no time 
 ehonld be lost in having recourse to one. 
 
CAYITY OF THE TYMPANUM, OSSICULA AUDI- 
 TUS, AND THEIR MUSCLES. (Magnified.) 
 a a, cavity of the tympanum, b, membrana tympani, or 
 rather the osseous circle to which it is attached, c, 
 handle of the malleus, resting on the middle of the 
 membrana tympani. d, head of the malleus, articu- 
 lating with the incus, e, long handle of the malleus, 
 passing into the crenoidal fissure (the anterior mus- 
 cle of the malleus is attached to it). /, internal mus- 
 cle of the malleus, g, anvil. h t lenticular bones, i, 
 stapes, k, musculus stapedius. 
 
Bleeding from the Nose. 41 
 
 retained there by a piece of wool or cotton, will 
 frequently procure almost instant relief. If it be 
 caused by hard wax, inject warm water or glyce- 
 rine to soften it, and then, with care, endeavour 
 to extract it, when the oil and laudanum may 
 again be employed. In cases of great severity, a 
 blister may be applied behind the ear. A tem- 
 porary deafness frequently results from this com- 
 plaint, and sometimes, when matter is formed, 
 the bones of the organ are destroyed and hearing 
 
 is lost for ever.* 
 
 BLEEDING FROM THE NOSE. 
 Causes. Fullness of blood, — violent exercise, — 
 particular positions of the body, — blows, &c. 
 
 Treatment. Keep the patient erect, or sitting 
 with his head thrown a little backwards, take off 
 his cravat, unbutton his shirt collar, and expose 
 him freely to the cold air ; apply ice or cold vine- 
 gar and water to his testicles, and the back of the 
 neck. If these are not sufficient, moisten a plug 
 of linen with brandy, roll it in powdered alum 
 and screw it up the nostril. A piece of cat-gut 
 may, also, be passed through the nostril into the 
 throat, drawn out at the mouth, and a bit of 
 sponge be fastened to it and drawn back again, 
 so as to make the sponge block up the posterior 
 nostril. In doing this, it is necessary to leave a 
 piece of the cat-gut so as to be got hold of, in 
 order to withdraw the sponge. It is seldom, how- 
 ever, that the first remedies will not answer the 
 
 purpose. 
 
 POLYPUS. 
 The nose is subject to two species of this tumour. 
 The pear-shaped or pendulous polypus, and a flat- 
 us There are many affections of the ear which 
 cannot be mentioned ; however, in all cases, it is 
 best to apply at once to an aurist. 
 
42 Compendium of Domestic Medicine, 
 
 tened irregular excrescence, which is extremely pain- 
 ful, and is of a cancerous nature. As soon as any 
 affection of this kind is suspected, apply to a surgeon. 
 
 CANCER OF THE LIP. 
 
 This kind of cancer always commences in a small 
 crack, which, after a while, becomes exquisitely pain- 
 ful. If closely examined, this crack is found to be 
 seated in a small hard tumour, which soon ulcerates, 
 and if not checked, extends the disorder to the throat, 
 thereby endangering life. 
 
 Treatment. The knife is the only remedy for this 
 as well as every other species of cancer, and no time 
 should be lost in resorting to a surgeon. 
 
 MERCURIAL ULCERS IN THE MOUTH. 
 
 Large, dark looking ulcers in the mouth, are a 
 common effect of the use of mercury. They may be 
 known by the horrid smell of the breath, by the teeth 
 being loosened from the gums, and by a coppery taste 
 in the mouth. 
 
 Treatment. Omit all mercurial preparations, 
 wash the mouth frequently with sage tea or a solu- 
 tion of one drachm of chlorate of potash in five 
 ounces of water, and taking a table-spoonful of 
 the same mixture inwardly three times daily. 
 
 ULCERS AND PIMPLES ON THE TONGUE. 
 
 Small pimples are occasionally found on the tongue, 
 which at last form ulcers. Sometimes they are oc- 
 casioned by the rough and projecting edge of a bro- 
 ken or decayed tooth: when this is the cause, the 
 
Ulcers on the Tongue, 43 
 
 part must be rounded by a file or the tooth extracted, 
 when the sore will heal without further trouble. 
 Whitish looking specks, which seem inclined to 
 ipread, are also met with on the inside of the cheeks 
 and lips. They are easily removed by touching their 
 surfaces with burnt alum or borax. 
 
 CANCER OF THE TONGUE. 
 
 Cancer of the tongue commences like that of the 
 lip, being a crack or fissure in a small, hard, deep 
 seated tumour on the side of the tongue. 
 
 Treatment. No time should be lost in useless 
 attempts to cure it by medicines. The only safety 
 for the patient is in the knife, and that at an early 
 period. 
 
 VENEREAL ULCERS. 
 
 See Syphilis. 
 
 ENLARGEMENT OF THE UVULA. 
 
 The uvula is that little tongue-like appendage lhat 
 hangs down from the middle of the fleshy curtain 
 which divides the mouth from the throat. It is very 
 subject to inflammation, the consequence of which 
 is, that it becomes so long that its point touches, and 
 sometimes even lies along the tongue, which creates 
 considerable uneasiness, and is now and then the 
 cause of a constant cough, which finally ends in con- 
 sumption. It is commonly called the falling of ths 
 palate. 
 
 Treatment. Strong gargles of vinegar and watej 
 or a decoction of the black oak bark, or a watei 
 
44 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 Bolution of alum, will frequently cure the complaint 
 It happens very frequently, however, that in conse- 
 quence of repeated attacks, it becomes permanently 
 lengthened, and then the only resource is to cut on 
 the end of it If you aro near a physician apply to 
 him, if not, the operation is so simple that any man 
 of common dexterity can perform it, particularly as 
 little or no blood follows the incision. All that is 
 requisite, is to seat the patient, seize the part with a 
 hook, or a slender pair of pincers, draw it a little for 
 ward, and snip off its point with a pair of scissors 
 
 SWELLING OF THE TONSILS. 
 
 The tonsils are two glands situated in the throat 
 one on each side, which are very apt to swell Iron, 
 inflammation by colds. They sometimes become sc 
 large as to threaten suffocation. 
 
 Treatment. In the commencement, this is the 
 same as directed for Inflammatory Sore Throat, 
 which see. If it does not succeed, apply to a sur- 
 geon to take them away. 
 
 TONSILITIS — QUINSY SORE 
 THROAT. 
 
 An inflammation of one or both tonsils, which 
 may involve uvula and entire fauces. 
 
 Symptoms. Chills, followed by fever,— inside 
 of throat and tonsils inflamed,— white or 
 yellow spots on tonsils,— hoarseness,— tender- 
 ness,— swallowing painful,— darting pains in 
 throat. 
 
 Distinguish it by the severe swelling and 
 pain from diphtheria by the spots on tonsils 
 
VERTICAL SECTION OF THE MOUTH 
 AND THROAT. 
 1. Pendulous palate; 2. Base of the cranium; 3. Phar* 
 ynx ; 4. (Esophagus ; 5. Nose ; 6. Tongue ; 7. Salivary 
 glands; 8. Lingual bone; 9. Thyroid gland; 10. Tra- 
 chea or windpipe. 
 
Tonsilitis. 45 
 
 being small, and not having a bleeding sur- 
 face when removed, — from scarlet fever by 
 absence of pronounced eruption. 
 
 Treatment. If bowels are constipated give 
 calomel or epsom salts,— tincture of aconite in 
 drop doses every one or two hours,— 10 grains 
 of salicylate of soda in water every four hours, 
 — gargle frequently with No. 35, — ice pellets held 
 in throat, — ice bag on neck. Diet need not be 
 restricted but patient usually cares to swallow 
 nothing but liquids, and it is better to give 
 them cold. 
 
 DIPHTHERIA. 
 
 Symptoms. Diphtheria may exist with evi- 
 dences so mild that no one is aware of its 
 presence, and in many of the cases, which 
 terminate fatally, the illness had been regarded 
 as too trivial to demand special concern. In 
 the beginning there is usually languor, chilli- 
 ness, headache and the symptoms of fever. As 
 a rule, there is some pain and soreness upon 
 swallowing, and the breath is peculiarly 
 offensive. Upon examination, the interior of 
 the throat will appear red and swollen, and 
 generally there is a gray or ashen brown mem- 
 brane on the tonsils and uvula. This membrane 
 may form on any of the mucus membranes or 
 wherever the skin is abraded. 
 
 Cause. The Klebs-Loffler bacillus. 
 
 Distinguish it by having a bacteriologist ex- 
 amine the secretions and mucus membrane of 
 the throat for the diphtheria bacillus, — the only 
 positive method. 
 
 Treatment. While not nearly so fatal among 
 adults as with children, this is nevertheless a 
 
46 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 fearful and treacherous disease, and whenever 
 its presence is suspected, a physician should 
 be summoned as early as possible. Diphtheria 
 antitoxin is superior to all other remedial meas- 
 ures, and the earlier the physician injects this 
 the better; and repeated injections during the 
 course of the disease may be necessary. Mem- 
 bers of the family who have been exposed, if in- 
 jected with this serum, of proper strength, will 
 thereby be prevented from having- the disease, 
 and become insusceptible to it for several weeks. 
 Throughout the course of the attack, the mouth 
 is to be washed and the throat gargled with No. 
 35, every two to three hours. Calomel is to be 
 given in V Q or -J grain doses every hour and dis- 
 continued only at times when bowels are too free. 
 Plenty of liquids should be drunk, and one table- 
 spoonful of the infusion of digitalis taken three 
 times daily. If the membrane extends down 
 into the windpipe, closing it so that the patient 
 cannot breathe, then a tube must be inserted. 
 The patient must remain absolutely quiet for 
 three or four days after the membrane has dis- 
 appeared from the throat, for fatal heart fail- 
 ure sometimes results from not observing 
 this precaution. Tablespoonful doses of bitter 
 wine of iron should be taken three times a day 
 for three or four weeks after all symptoms 
 have subsided. The strictest quarantine must 
 be practiced, and after recovery the sick-room 
 must be fumigated and all clothing, utensils 
 and bedding either boiled or burned. 
 
 STRICTURES IN THE THROAT 
 
 Symptoms. The first mark of an obstruction or 
 stricture in the throat, is a slight difficulty in swal- 
 
LUNGS AND TRACHEA IN MAN, 
 
 showing the position of the windpipe and bromchial tubes, 
 relatively to the lungs. 
 
 A, Larynx and superior extremity of the trachea ; B, 
 trachea; C, division into bronchi; D, one of the lungs; 
 E, bronchial ramuscules. 
 
Strictures in the Throat. 47 
 
 iowing solids, which continues increasing for months, 
 or until the passage becomes so contracted that the 
 smallest particle of food cannot pass, but having re- 
 mained an instant at the strictured part, is violently 
 rejected. If the obstacle is not removed, the patient 
 starves. 
 
 Treatment. Meddle not with the complaint your- 
 self, for you can do nothing to relieve it, but apply 
 with all speed to a surgeon, and remember that your 
 life is at stake. 
 
 CATARRH, OR COLD. 
 
 Symptoms. A dull pain in the head, — swelling 
 and redness of the eyes, — effusion of a thin acrid mu- 
 cus from the nose, — hoarseness, — cough, — fever, &c. 
 
 Causes. Cold or damp air, — exposure to wet 
 
 Treatment. If the symptoms be extremely vio- 
 lent, give twenty drops of hartshorn in half a pint 
 of warm vinegar whey. (See No.l2.)Hoarhound and 
 boneset tea taken in large quantities, are very useful. 
 The patient should be confined to his bed, and be 
 freely purged. If there is great pain in the breast, 
 apply a blister to it To ease the cough, take two 
 tea spoonsful of No. 13, every fifteen minutes, or till 
 relief is obtained. 
 
 The influenza is nothing more than an aggra- 
 vated state of catarrh, and is to be cured by the same 
 remedies. No cough or cold is too light to merit at- 
 tention. Neglected colds lay the foundation of con 
 tumption, and every year send thousands to the grave. 
 
 ASTHMA 
 
 Symptoms. A tightness across the breast, — fre- 
 quent short breathing, attended with a wheezing, in- 
 
48 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 creased by exertion and when in bed. It comes 
 on in fits or paroxysms. 
 
 Causes. Spasm of the lungs. 
 
 Treatment. If the cough be violent and fre- 
 quent, with great pain in the breast, breathe the 
 smoke from burning paper saturated with salt- 
 petre, or the fumes of burning dried stramonium 
 leaves. The tincture of digitalis is highly recom- 
 mended in asthma. It should be taken in doses 
 of a very few drops at first, and cautiously in- 
 creased. If the pulse sinks under it, or giddi- 
 ness, &o. is produced, it must be laid aside. In 
 fact, it is hardly prudent to take this active and 
 dangerous article, except under a physician's 
 care. The Indian tobacco may be safely used in 
 place of it, in doses of a tea-spoonful of the tinc- 
 ture,* every half hour till relief is obtained. 
 The dried roots of the thorn apple and skunk 
 cabbage, are sometimes smoked through a pipe 
 for the same purpose. Asthma is a disease that 
 is seldom completely cured by art ; nature, how- 
 ever, occasionally affects it. 
 
 PLEURISY. 
 
 Symptoms. A sharp pain, or stitch in tne side, 
 increased upon breathing, — inability of lying on 
 the affected side, — pulse hard, quick and corded, 
 — tongue white. 
 
 Causes. Cold— all that produce inflammation. 
 
 Treatment. Apply at once 6 or 8 wet cups, or 
 place a large blister over the side and give a full 
 dose of Epsom salts. Repeat the cupping as often 
 as the pulse seems to demand it, and if expec- 
 
 * Take a sufficient quantity of the leaves, stem 
 and pods of the plant, put them into a bottle and 
 fill it up with brandy or spirits, and let it remain 
 for a few days. 
 
Pleurisy. 49 
 
 (oration does not come on, apply another blister close 
 to the first one. All the remedies for the reduction 
 of inflammation, must be actively employed. The 
 patient should be confined to his bed, with the head 
 and shoulders a little elevated, and a warm decoc- 
 tion of the common hemlock* taken frequently, and 
 in liberal quantities. The diet should always consist 
 of rice or barley water. 
 
 SPITTING OF BLOOD. 
 
 Symptoms. Blood of a bright red colour, often 
 frothy, brought up by coughing. 
 
 Causes. Consumption and its causes, — a fullness 
 of blood, — rupture of a blood vessel from any cause. 
 
 Distinguish it from vomiting of blood, by its bright 
 colour, and being Drought up with coughing. 
 
 Treatment. Give the patient at once a table 
 spoonful of common salt, and direct him to swallow 
 it. Apply cold to the chest. The sugar of lead 
 has much reputation in this complaint; 2 or 3 
 grains of it, with from a half to a whole grain of 
 opium, may be taken every 3 or 4 hours ; and in se- 
 vere cases, where the blood flows rapidly, 5 or 6 
 grains, with two of opium, may be taken at once. 
 The most perfect rest should be strictly enjoined 
 and the diet consist of cold mashed turnips or cola 
 rice water. 
 
 CONSUMPTION. 
 
 Symptoms. A short, dry cough, — languor and 
 gradual loss of strength, — pulse small, quick, and 
 soft, — pain in the breast, — expectoration of a frothy 
 
 * Twigs and leaves of the tree. 
 D 
 
50 Compendiuri of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 matter, that at last becomes solid and yellow, — the 
 breathing grows more anxious and hurried. — the 
 emaciation and pain increase, — hectic fever. — night 
 sweats and a looseness of the bowels come on, and 
 the patient, unsuspicious of danger, dies. 
 
 Causes. Receiving a disposition to the disease 
 from father or mother, — a flat chest, — spitting of blood, 
 — neglected colds,— dissipation, &c. 
 
 Distinguish it by the long continued dry cough, 
 — pain in the breast, and great emaciation, — by the 
 matter thrown up being pure pus. 
 
 Treatment. In a confirmed state of consumption, 
 nothing that art has hitherto been able to do, can 
 anord us any solid hopes of a cure. When once the 
 disease is firmly seated in the lungs, all that is possi- 
 ble, is to smooth the passage to the grave, and per- 
 haps for a while to retard it If, however, the dis- 
 ease is taken in its very bud, much may be done by 
 a change of climate, a milk diet, vigorous and daily 
 exercise on horseback, and by carefully avoiding cold 
 and all exciting causes. A removal to a dry cli- 
 mate should be the first step taken, if practicable j 
 a cold, dry climate is better than a warm, moist 
 one. A complete suit of flannel, worn next the 
 skin, is an indispensable article for every one who 
 is even inclined to this most fatal disorder. 
 
 PALPITATION OF THE HEART. 
 
 The symptoms of this complaint must be obvious 
 from its name. When it arises from a diseased state 
 of the heart or its vessels, nothing can be done to cure 
 it. The patient should be careful to avoid a full 
 habit of body, and abstain from violent exercise and 
 sexual indulgences. He should live low, and keep 
 as quiet and composed as possible. A fit of anger, or 
 any imprudence, may cost him his life. 
 
 There is a milder kind of this disease resulting 
 
THE HEART, (right side.) 
 
Palpitation of the Heai t. 51 
 
 from debility, which must be remedied by restoring 
 the strength of the general system. It is also symp- 
 tomatic of other diseases, and must be treated ac- 
 cordingly. 
 
 DROPSY OF THE CHEST. 
 
 Symptoms. Great difficulty of breathing, which 
 is increased by lying down, — oppression and weight 
 at the breast, — countenance pale or livid, and ex- 
 tremely anxious, — great thirst, — pulse irregular and 
 intermitting, — cough, — violent palpitation of the 
 heart, — the patient can lie on one side only or cannot 
 lie down at all, so that he is obliged to sleep sitting, 
 —frightful dreams, — a feeling of suffocation, &c. 
 
 Causes. Debility, — all those producing dropsy in 
 general. 
 
 Distinguish it by comparing carefully all the 
 symptoms together. It is most liable to be confounded 
 with a diseased state of the heart and its vessels. 
 
 Treatment. This is another of those diseases that 
 mock the art of man. To say it is incurable, would 
 be hazarding too much, but as vet, it has nearly al- 
 ways proved so. All that can be done is to follow 
 the same plan that is laid down for the treatment of 
 dropsy in general, which consists of purging, dia- 
 phoretics and diuretics.* When the water ap- 
 pears to be confined to one cavity of the chest, and 
 the oppression cannot be borne, some relief may 
 be obtained by a surgical operation. 
 
 * Substances that act on the kidneys, producing as 
 increase of urine. 
 
52 Compendium of Domestic Medicine, 
 
 INFLAMMATION OF THE STOMACH 
 
 Symptoms. A fixed burning pain in the stomach, 
 — smaVl, very quick, hard pulse, — sudden and great 
 weakness,— "the pain in the stomach increased on the 
 slightest pressure, — vomiting, — hiccup. To these are 
 sometimes added an erysipelatous inflammation, ex- 
 tending from the mouth to the stomach, — fainting, 
 clammy sweats, and death. 
 
 Causes. Cold suddenly applied to the body or 
 stomach, — drinking largely of cold water while very 
 warm, — the striking in of eruptions, — poisons, — gout, 
 — rheumatism. 
 
 Distinguish it from inflammation of the bowels, by 
 the seat of the pain, which is just below the breast 
 bone, in what is called the pit of the stomach, rhe 
 burning heat and pain there, — by the hiccup and 
 vomiting. 
 
 Treatment. If from an overloaded stomach, 
 or indigestible food therein, give an emetic ; but 
 if by examination it is found that the food has 
 passed out of the stomach into the intestines, give 
 no emetic, but a purge of senna leaves with mag- 
 nesia. A day or two afterward, to remove the 
 acidity of the stomach, give 6 to 10 grs. of bicar- 
 bonate of soda or soda water. If, however, the 
 inflammation is from general debility, give no 
 emetic or purgative, but beef tea, wine, quinine, 
 &c, and place warm emollient poultices on the 
 stomach. If from cold, give no meat, but farina- 
 ceous diet; 6 to 10 grs. of bicarbonate of soda 3 
 or 4 times daily, and keep the bowels open with 
 calcined magnesia and senna. Use no spirituous 
 liquors, but drink freely of ice water. If there is 
 much pain, give besides the warm poultice in- 
 wardly neutral mixture, with sulphate of morphia 
 every 1 or 2 hours. 
 
 When the inflammation is reduced, and the sto- 
 mach will bear it, a grain of solid opium may be 
 
« Til Tr/MfAfM^,.. "tehS^^*""ii ii 1 
 
 2 H\l// 
 
 CAVITY OF THE ABDOMEN. 
 
 1. Diaphragm. 
 
 2. Gall-bladder. 
 
 3. Right lobe of liver. 
 
 4. Duodenum. 
 
 5. Great end of stomach. 
 
 6. Pyloric end of stomach. 
 
 7. Spleen. 
 
 8. Omentum. 
 
 9. Pancreas. 
 
 10. Great intestine, (colon.) 
 
 11. Small intestine, 
 
 (jejunum.) 
 
 12. Small intestine, 
 
 (ilium.) 
 
Inflammation of the Stomach. 53 
 
 given occasionally with advantage, combined with 
 some bitter tonic, as tincture of cardui benedicti, 
 extract of absynthi. If the disease has been 
 brought on by poison taken into the stomach, apply 
 the remedies directed in such cases, as oleaginous 
 substances, to neutralize the poison ; if, however, 
 there is beginning paralysis, give an emetic and 
 put sinapisms on the stomach. If mortification 
 ensues, death is the inevitable consequence. 
 
 CRAxMP IN THE STOMACH. 
 
 Symptoms. Violent spasmodic pain in the stomach, 
 which is so severe, as nearly to occasion fainting. 
 
 Causes. Cold, — gout, — rheumatism, &c. &c. 
 * Treatment. Give 50 or 60 drops of laudanum, 
 in a tea spoonful of etherr, with a little hot wine. 
 Apply bladders or bottles filled with warm water to 
 the stomach and soles of the feet, or put the patient 
 into the warm bath. If the first dose of laudanum 
 does not relieve the pain, repeat it. 
 
 HICCOUGH. 
 
 Symptoms. A spasmodic affection of the stomach 
 and diaphragm,* producing the peculiar noise which 
 gives rise to the name. 
 
 Causes. Some peculiar irritation. 
 
 Treatment. When hiccoughs occur at the close 
 of any disease, they may be considered the harbin- 
 gers of death : they, however, frequently arise from 
 acidity in the stomach and other causes. A long 
 
 * A large, broad muscle that closes the chest be- 
 low, dividing it from the belly. It is one of the 
 agents in respiration. 
 
54 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 draught of cold water, a sudden surprise or fright, 
 puts an end to them. A blister over the stomach 
 may be applied for the same purpose. I have 
 succeeded in relieving a violent case of hiccoughs 
 that resisted every other remedy, by the oil of 
 amber, in doses of five drops every 10 minutes. 
 It may be taken in a little mint water. 
 
 HEART-BURN. 
 
 This common and distressing affection is most ge 
 nerally connected with indigestion. To relieve it 
 for the moment, magnesia, soda or seltzer water, and 
 water acidulated with sulphuric acid, may be em- 
 ployed. To cure the complaint, requires the diges- 
 tive powers to be strengthened by tonics, bitters, and 
 the different preparations of iron, &c. as directed for 
 indigestion. The application of a blister over the 
 stomach may be of use. The white oxide of bismuth 
 in six grain doses, three times a day, taken in milk, 
 has been found of service. 
 
 INDIGESTION. 
 
 S v mptoms. Want of appetite, — low spirits, — pains 
 and fullness in the stomach, — belching, — a sour water 
 rising in the mouth, — heart-burn, — the bowels are 
 irregular and generally costive, — weakness and ema- 
 ciation, — pulse small and slow, — pain in the head, — 
 gkin dry, — great uneasiness after eating. 
 
 Causes. All those which induce debility, — ex- 
 cessive indulgence in the pleasures of the table or 
 intemperance in any way, — chewing tobacco, — a 
 sedentary life, or want of exercise, — a diseased liver. 
 
 Treatment. In every case of indigestion, the first 
 thing the patient should do, is to abstain from what- 
 
Indigestion. 55 
 
 ever may have tended to produce it. Chewing and 
 smoking tobacco, occasion a waste of the saliva that 
 is necessary to the digestive process — they must be 
 abandoned. The diet should consist of animal food 
 that is light, nourishing and easily digested. Roasted 
 mutton is perhaps preferable to any other. Country 
 air and constant exercise on horseback, are invalua- 
 ble remedies in this disease, which, as it is generally 
 occasioned by a departure from natural habits and 
 employments, must be relieved by a return to them. 
 Flannel should be worn next the skin and care taken 
 to avoid cold or exposure to wet A wine glass of 
 the cold infusion of bark and quassia,* with ten or 
 twelve drops of the elixir of vitriol, should be regu- 
 larly taken three times a day, for months. The 
 bowels are to be kept open by some warm laxative, 
 as rhubarb, and the whole frame braced by the daily 
 use of the cold bath. Pepsin in ten to fifteen gr. 
 doses with bismuth just before meals is of much 
 use in the complaint of which we are speaking. 
 Weak spirits and water, or a single glass of sound old 
 Madeira, maybe taken at dinner, but all malt liquors 
 should be avoided. Much benefit has been found to 
 result from a long continued use of the wine of iron,+ 
 a glass of which may be taken twice a day. 
 
 But see post, page 174, for a much fuller account 
 of Indigestion, or Dyspepsia. 
 
 * Made by placing one ounce of powdered bark 
 and one of ground quassia in a close vessel, to which 
 is added a quart of boiling water — to be kept simmer- 
 ing near the fire until the whole is reduced to a pint 
 
 t Take of iron filings four ounces, and pour on it 
 four pints of Madeira wine, let it stand for a month, 
 shaking it frequently. 
 
56 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 VOMITING OF BLOOD. 
 
 Symptoms. A flow of dark blood from the stomach, 
 preceded by a sense of weight and oppression in that 
 organ. The blood is generally mixed with particles 
 of food, &c. 
 
 C a uses. Tumours pressing on the liver, blows, &c 
 
 Distinguish it from spitting of blood, by its dark 
 colour and being mixed with food. 
 
 Treatment. If the accompanying symptoms be 
 inflammatory, use some cooling purge : if other- 
 wise, try thirty drops of the muriated tincture 
 of iron in a glass of water, every hour till the bleed- 
 ing ceases. If the cause be a diseased liver, or tumour 
 in its neighbourhood, treat it accordingly. 
 
 INFLAMMATION OF THE LIVER. 
 
 Symptoms. A dull pain in the right side below the 
 rib, which is more sensible on pressure, — an inability 
 to lie on the left side, — pain in the right shoulder,* — 
 a sallow complexion. Such are the symptoms of an 
 acute attack of this disease. There is another species 
 jf it, called chronic, in which its approaches are so 
 gradual that it is a difficult matter to determine its 
 nature. It commences with all the symptoms of in- 
 digestion, and ends in jaundice or dropsy. 
 
 Causes. Long continued fe ver and ague, — inflam 
 mation, — acrid bile, — drunkenness or a free use of 
 spirituous liquors is a very common cause, — injuries 
 from blows, &c. 
 
 Distinguish it from pleurisy, by the pain not be- 
 ing so severe ; and by its extending to the top of the 
 shoulder, — by not being able to rest on the left side. 
 
 Treatment. If from injury, apply leeches, and 
 
 * This is owing to the course of the phrenic nerve. 
 
THE LIVER. 
 
 A, right lobe. B, left lobe, a, depression for colon, b, 
 depression for right kidney and capsule, cc, coronary 
 ligament, inferior layer, dd, surface uncovered by 
 peritoneum, e, gall-bladder. //, fissure for gall-blad- 
 der, g g, transverse fissure. /?, lobulus quadratus. i, 
 umbilical rein. 7,7iepatic duct, k, hepatic artery. I, 
 ductus venosus. m m, fissure for ductus venosus. n, 
 vena portae. o, lobulus caudatus. p, lobulus Spigelii. 
 q, inferior vena cava, r, fissure for inferior vena cava, 
 5 s, longitudinal fissure. 
 
Inflammation of the Liver. 57 
 
 afterward ice over the part. If from other causes, 
 warm emollient and narcotic poultices are better, 
 and antiphlogistics and calomel are dangerous, 
 The bowels should be opened by Epsom salts or 
 calomel and jalap. If this does not abate the symp- 
 toms in a few days, give a calomel pill of one grain 
 every five hours, or rub a drachm of the strongest 
 mercurial ointment into the side until the gums are 
 found to be a little sore, when the frictions or pills 
 must be discontinued until the mouth is well, and 
 then again resorted to as before. If an abscess points 
 outwardly, apply bread and milk poultices to the 
 tumour, omit the mercury, use wine, bark and a ge 
 nerous diet. As soon as matter is to be felt within 
 it, open it at its lowest and most projecting part with 
 the point of a sharp lancet, and let out its contents 
 very slowly, taking care not to close the wound till 
 this is completely effected. The nitric acid in doses 
 of ten or twelve drops, three times a day, gradually 
 increased, and steadily persevered in, will sometimes 
 produce a cure. The mercurial plan, however, is to 
 be preferred. 
 
 JAUNDICE. 
 
 Symptoms. Languor, — loathing of food, — a bitter 
 taste in the mouth, — vomiting, — the skin and eyes of 
 a yellow colour, — the stools clayey, and the urine giv- 
 ing a yellow tinge to rags dipped in it. There is a 
 dull pain in the right side, under the last rib, which 
 is increased by pressure. When the pain is severe, 
 there is fever, — the pulse hard and full, &c. 
 
 Causes. An interruption to the regular passage 
 of the bile, which is carried into the blood, — bile be- 
 ing formed in too great quantities. The first is occa- 
 sioned by gall-stones, a diseased liver, &c. Intem- 
 perance is a very common cause, hence tipplers are 
 more subject to it than others. 
 
58 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 Treatment. Place in a warm bath, and allow 
 to remain there some timt ; when removed to bed, 
 a grain or two of opium may be given every few 
 hours until the pain is relieved. Bladders partly 
 filled with warm water, or cloths wrung out of hot 
 decoctions of herbs, may also be applied to the seat 
 of the pain. If the stomach be so irritable as not 
 to retain any thing on it, try fomentations and the 
 effervescing mixture, or a blister to the part. As 
 soon as some degree of ease is obtained* by these 
 means, purgatives must be omployed, and steadily 
 persevered in; calomel and jalap, or Epsom salts, 
 in the ordinary doses, answer very well. The diet 
 ought to be vegetable, and should the disease 
 have arisen from a neglected inflammation of the 
 liver, it must be treated accordingly. Diaphoretics 
 and resolvents should be given to remove the bile 
 from the blood and tho discoloration of the skin ; 
 for which acetate and muriate of ammonia,rhubarb, 
 dandelion root, andchelidonium are recommended. 
 Turpentine is particularly good if there be gall- 
 stones or hardening of the liver. (See Inflam- 
 mation of the Liver.) If putrid symptoms show them- 
 selves, meet them with the remedies already directed 
 for such cases. Regular exercise (on horseback, if 
 possible) should never be neglected by persons sub- 
 ject to this disease. 
 
 * If, however, this cannot be done, and from the 
 pain being very acute at one particular spot, there is 
 reason to suppose that a gall-stone is lodged there, the 
 following remedy may be tried, of which one-fifth or 
 a little less may be taken every morning, drinking 
 freely of chicken broth, flaxseed tea, or barley water 
 after it. 
 
 Ether three drachms. 
 
 Spirits of turpentine two drachms. Mix them 
 
Ague Cake. 59 
 
 AGUE CAKE. 
 Ihis is the vulgar appellation of an enlarged 
 sp'een, and expresses with much brief meaning, 
 th 9 cause of the complaint, as it generally results 
 fr< m ill-treated or obstinate intermittents. It is, 
 however, not productive of much uneasiness, and 
 frequently disappears of itself. The plan of 
 tr *atment must be governed by the cause : by in- 
 t( nnittents, quinine ; by chlorosis, iron with qui- 
 cine; by anaemia, quinine with sulphur, auratum, 
 iodide of iron; by syphilis, mercury, &c. 
 
 INFLAMMATION OF THE INTESTINES. 
 
 Symptoms. Sharp pain in the bowels which 
 shoots round the navel, and which is increased by 
 pressure, — sudden loss of strength, — vomiting of 
 dark coloured, sometimes excrementitious mat- 
 ter, — costiveness, — small, quick and hard pulse, — 
 high coloured urine. 
 
 Causes. Strangulated ruptures, — cold, — accu- 
 mulations of hard feces in the bowels, — colic, &o. 
 
 Distinguish it from colic, by the pain being 
 increased by pressure, whereas in colic it is re- 
 lieved by it. 
 
 Treatment. Consists in warm narcotic appli- 
 cations to the abdomen; olive oil and laudanum 
 on a thick piece of flannel applied very warm 
 is good ; warm baths, oleaginous drinks and 
 emulsions, as oil of sweet almonds with gum 
 arabic ; strict diet, ipecacuanha and opium in 
 powder, £ gr. each, every 1 or 2 hours, — calomel 
 and opium, castor oil, <fcc. If there is sweating; 
 then warm baths are contraindicated. 
 
60 Compendium of Domestic Medicine 
 
 The diet should consist of small quantified of 
 barley or rice water only. If in the latter Sv.xges 
 of the disease, when the inflammation has 8 me- 
 what subsided, an obstinate costiveness be found 
 to resist all the usual remedies, dashing cold watet 
 over the abdomen will sometimes succeed, or better 
 still to place ice in a bladder over the abdomen. 
 
 Remember that this complaint frequently runs its 
 course in a day or two, and that, unless the proper 
 treatment be at once employed, mortification and 
 death will ensue. If a strangulated rupture occa- 
 sion the disease, attempts at reduction must be 
 tried, or operation at once. Great care must be 
 taken in trying to reduce the rupture if it be the 
 cause. It is best to call a physician. 
 
 CHOLERA MORBUS, OR VOMITING AND 
 PURGING. 
 
 Symptoms. A violent vomiting and purging of 
 bile, preceded by a pain in the stomach and bowels, 
 — quick, weak and fluttering pulse, — heat, — thirst, - 
 cold sweats, — hiccups, and sometimes death in a few 
 hours. 
 
 Causes. Exposure to sudden changes of weather, 
 — not wearing flannel, — unripe fruit, — acrid matters 
 of any kind in the bowels, — cold moist air, &c. 
 
 Treatment. Wash out the stomach and bowels 
 with copious draughts of chamomile tea, barley or 
 chicken water, &c. and inject clysters of the same 
 
Cholera Morbus. 61 
 
 articles. Bladders or bottles containing hot water, 
 should be applied to the feet, and flannel cloths 
 wrung out of hot spirits, be laid over the stomach. 
 When from the quantity of barley wa'er, <fec. that 
 has been taken, it is supposed that the stomach is 
 sufficiently cleared, give one-half grain of powdered 
 opium, and repeat it every few hours as the case 
 may require.* If the powder will not remain in 
 the stomach, give 80 or 90 drops of laudanum, in 
 a table-spoonful of thin starch, by clyster, and 
 pieces of ice on the tongue. Fifty or sixty drops 
 of laudanum in a small quantity of strong mint tea, 
 or the effervescing draught, will frequently succeed 
 in allaying the irritation. If all these means fail, 
 apply a blister to the stomach. When the violence 
 of the attack is over, give castor oil or the oil mix- 
 ture, No. 14, to carry off the bile that may remain in 
 the bowels. To complete the recovery and to guard 
 against a second attack, a complete casing of flannel is 
 requisite, with the use of vegetable bitters and tonics. 
 Persons subject to this disease should be cautious in 
 their diet, and avoid exposure to moist cold air. 
 See Asiatic, or Epidemic Cholera, post, p. 163. 
 
 DYSENTERY. 
 
 S ym ptoms. Fever, — frequent small stools, accom 
 panied by griping, bearing down pains, the discharge 
 consisting of pure blood or blood and matter, some- 
 times resembling the shreds or washings of raw flesh, 
 — a constant desire to go to stool, — vomiting. 
 
 Causes. Moist cold air, — unwholesome, putrid 
 
 * If the weakness be very great, and the spasms 
 so alarming as to cause a fear of the immediate re- 
 suit, the quantity of opium may be increased to 6, 8 
 or 10 grains at a dose. 
 
62 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 food, — noxious vapours from marshes, &c, — a 
 peculiar and unknown condition of the atmos- 
 phere. 
 
 Distinguish it from a diarrhoea or lax, by the 
 fever, griping pains, and the constant desire to 
 evacuate the bowels, — by the discharge itself 
 being blood, or matter streaked with blood, &c. 
 
 Treatment.* In case the dysentery should be 
 caused by hardened feces or something in the 
 intestines, give at the first onset of the disease a 
 dose of castor oil with 20 drops of laudanum, and 
 then the following day begin the remedies to cor- 
 rect the looseness of the bowels. If there is 
 blood diarrhoea, colic pain and tenesmus, give 
 Dover's powder or an emulsion of oil of sweet 
 almonds, nitrate of soda with laudanum. Make 
 warm fomentations on the abdomen. If this does 
 not cure, give every 2 hours small doses of calo- 
 mel and opium, and in the evening 5 or 10 grains 
 of Dover's powder, — and morning and evening a 
 clyster of nitrate of silver, 2 gr. to 5 oz. water, 
 with 10 drops of laudanum therein. The diet 
 should consist of gum arabic dissolved in milk, 
 arrow-root jelly, barley water, &c. Clysters of 
 the same articles, with the addition, of an ounce 
 of olive oil, and twenty drops of laudanum, may 
 be likewise injected several times in the day. — 
 If severe tenesmus (or constant desire to go 
 
 * I have known several cases of dysentery, 
 when taken in the very beginning, cured in one 
 or two days by a free use of the common black- 
 berry syrup. 
 
Dysentery. 63 
 
 to stool) remains, anodyne clysters will be found use- 
 ful, or what is more effectual, a couple of grams of 
 opium placed just within the fundament The vari- 
 ous astringents which are proper for dysentery in its 
 latter stages, are found in Nos. 15, 16, and 17, which 
 may be used with port wine and water, as a drink. 
 
 DIARRHEA. 
 
 Symptoms. Repeated and large discharges of a 
 thin excrementitious matter by stool, attended with 
 griping and a rumbling noise in the bowels. 
 
 Causes. Cold, — suppressed perspiration, — acrid 
 matters in the bowels, — unripe fruit, &c. 
 
 -Treatment. If the disease arises from cold, a 
 few doses of the chalk mixture, No. 18, will fre- 
 quently put an end to it It is, however, sometimes 
 necessary to begin with an emetic of twenty grains 
 of ipecacuanha, and then open the bowels by some 
 mild purgative, as castor oil or rhubarb. Bathing 
 the feet in warm water, and copious draughts of 
 boneset tea, will be found of great benefit, if it ori- 
 ginate from suppressed perspiration. For the same 
 purpose also, from 6 to 10 grains of Dover's powder 
 may be taken at night, being careful not to drink any 
 tiling for some time after it If worms are the cause, 
 treat it as directed. When it is occasioned by mere 
 weakness, and in the latter stages of it (proceed from 
 what it may), when every irritating matter is expell- 
 ed, opium, combined with astringents, is necessary, as 
 in the similar period of dysentery. The diet should 
 consist, in the beginning, of rice, milk, sago, &c. and 
 subsequently of roasted chicken. Weak brandy and 
 water, or port wine and water, may accompany the 
 chicken for a common drink. Persons subject to 
 complaints of this kind, should defend their bowels 
 from the action of cold by a flannel shirt ; the feet and 
 other parts of the body should also be kept warm. 
 
64 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 COLIC. 
 
 S ymptoms. Violent shooting pain that twists round 
 the navel, — the skin of the belly drawn into round 
 balls, — obstinate costiveness, — sometimes a vomiting 
 of excrement. 
 
 Causes. A cold, — indigestible or acrid food, — 
 wind in the bowels, — poisons, — gout, — rheumatism, 
 — worms, &c. &c. 
 
 Distinguish it from inflammation of the bowels by 
 the pain being relieved by pressure, and from other 
 diseases by the twisting round the navel, — the skin 
 being drawn into balls, &c. 
 
 Treatment The first thing to be done in this 
 disease, is to give a large dose of laudanum in a little 
 peppermint water or warm brandy, and apply a 
 mustard poultice below the navel. Fifty, sixty or 
 seventy drops of laudanum may be given at once, 
 as the pain is more or less violent, and the dose 
 be repeated in half an hour, or less time, if ease is 
 not procured, while some warm fomentations on the 
 abdomen will afford much relief; when this does 
 not help, try ice. During this time, if the first 
 doses of laudanum are found ineffectual in re- 
 ducing the pain, and it is very great, eighty or ninety 
 drops may be given as a clyster in a gill of gruel, or 
 warm water. One great rule in the treatment of 
 colic where the pain is excessive, is, to continue the 
 use of opium in such increased doses as will relieve 
 U ! — When this is obtained, castor oil by the mouth 
 and clyster must be employed to open the bowels. 
 
 In bilious colic when there is a vomiting of bile, 
 the effervescing draught, with thirty drops of lauda- 
 num, may be taken, to quiet the stomach, to which 
 flannels wrung out of warm spirits may be applied. 
 When the vomiting has abated, the oil mature. No 
 
Colic. 65 
 
 14, or the pills, No 19, should be taken until a free 
 discharge is procured. If, notwithstanding our en- 
 deavours, the disease proceeds to such an extent as 
 to induce a vomiting of excrement, the tobacco clys- 
 ter* must be tried, or an attempt be made to fill the 
 intestines with warm water. This is done by forci bly 
 injecting it in large quantities, at the same time the 
 patient swallows as much as he is able. In this 
 way, with a proper syringe, two gallons have been 
 successfully introduced. In all cases of colic, when 
 there is obstinate costiveness, an examination of the 
 fundament should be made with the finger If there 
 are any hard, dry pieces of excrement there, they 
 may be removed either by the finger or the handle 
 of a spoon. 
 
 Those who are subject to colic, should avoid fer- 
 mented liquors, and as much as possible, vegetable 
 food ; be always well clothed, and take care not to 
 expose themselves to cold and wet. The bow r el* 
 should never be allowed to remain costive. 
 
 PAINTER'S COLIC. 
 
 Symptoms. Pain and weight in the belly, — belch- 
 ing, — constant desire to go to stool, which is inef- 
 fectual, — quick contracted pulse, — the belly becomes 
 painful to the touch, and is drawn into knots, — con- 
 stant colic pains, — the patient sits in a bent position, 
 — after a while palsy of the whole body or a part. 
 
 Causes. The fumes of lead, or the handling of 
 its different preparations. 
 
 Treatment. This disease is but too apt to end a\ 
 palsy, leaving the hands and limbs contracted and 
 useless. In every case of colic, whose symptoms 
 reserible the above, if the person has been exposed 
 
 * See Clysters. 
 
66 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 to lead in any of its shapes, all doubt on the sub- 
 ject vanishes. 
 
 If from the violence of the attack an inflamma- 
 tion of the bowels be feared, give hourly a table 
 spoonful of castor oil. Give laudanum in large 
 doses, and rub the belly well with warm spirits, 
 and place him in a bath as hot as he can bear it. 
 As soon as he is well dried, and has rested in bed 
 a few minutes, take him up, and dash a bucket 
 of cold water over his belly and thighs, or mix 
 an ounce of calcined magnesia in a pint of milk, 
 and give a wine-glassful every half hour, until 
 ease is obtained. If this, with castor oil by the 
 mouth and in clysters, will not produce a stool, 
 apply a large blister to the belly. As soon as the 
 symptoms are somewhat abated, castor oil or 
 laxative clysters may be resorted to for the pur- 
 pose of keeping the body open; and to guard 
 against a return, small doses of opium should be 
 taken from time to time. Bitters, the different 
 preparations of iron, bark, &c. are necessary to 
 restore the strength of the system. According to 
 modern times, let those who work in lead or paint, 
 drink of skimmed milk with their meals, and 
 lead or painter's colic will be warded off. 
 
 WORMS. 
 
 Symptoms. Intolerable itching at the nose, some- 
 times at the fundament, — disagreeable breath, — 
 grinding of the teeth and starting during sleep, 
 — hardness of the belly, — gradual emaciation, — 
 . colic, and sometimes convulsions. 
 
 Causes. Unknown. 
 
 Treatment. This will vary according to the 
 kind of worm that is to be destroyed. They are 
 of three kinds : 
 
Worms. 67 
 
 THE WHITE THREAD WORM 
 
 Resembles a small piece of white thread, and is 
 usually found near the fundament, at the lower end 
 of the guts, where it produces a contraction of the 
 parts, and a most intolerable itching. Clysters of 
 lime water will frequently bring whole nests of them 
 away, and procure instant relief. The tincture of 
 aloes, No. 20, how T ever, is by far the best remedy 
 known, for not only this, but the round worm. 
 
 THE ROUND WORM 
 
 Occupies the small intestines, and sometimes the 
 stomach. It is of various lengths, from 3 to 8 or 
 more inches. If the tincture of aloes fail to remove 
 it, the pink root may be taken in decoction, or in 
 powder, in doses of 60 or 80 grains, to be followed 
 after three or four days by ten or fifteen grains of 
 calomel. Cowhage in molasses or honey, with a 
 dose of castor oil every third day, has been very 
 highly extolled. In cases where all other means 
 have failed, tobacco leaves pounded with vinegar 
 and applied to the belly, have produced the desired 
 effect.* 
 
 THE TAPE WORM 
 
 Inhabits the whole of the internal canal, and fre- 
 quently defies all our efforts to get him out of it 
 Large doses of spirits of turpentine, from one to two 
 ounces, in barley water, have been advantageously 
 employed for this purpose, and are the very surest 
 remedy that we possess. A remedy formerly much 
 celebrated, is that of Madam Noumer, the basis of 
 which is No. 21 ; after two doses of which, 15 or 20 
 grains of jalap with 8 or 10 of calomel should be 
 taken. If the spirits of turpentine be tried, large 
 
 cession. 
 
 All the prescriptions, No. 22, maybe tried in suc- 
 tion. 
 
68 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 quantities of gruel or barley water should be used 
 with it, in order to prevent its irritating the stomach 
 and kidneys. 
 
 By whatever means these troublesome guests are 
 got rid of, the patient should be careful to strengthen 
 his system and bowels by a course of bark, bitters, 
 wine, &c. and to use a great proportion of animal 
 food in his diet. 
 
 INFLAMMATION OF THE KIDNEYS. 
 
 Symptoms. Deep seated pain in the small of the 
 back, — urine high coloured and small in quantity, 
 sometimes bloody, — sickness at the stomach, — vomit- 
 ing. 
 
 Causes. Gravel in the kidneys, — Spanish flies, — 
 straining the back, — hard exercise by riding, walk- 
 ing, &c. — cold, — intemperance. 
 
 Treatment. This will depend upon the cause. 
 If it proceed from gravel, the plan to be pursued will 
 be detailed under that head. If it arise from any of 
 the others, place warm emollient narcotic fomen- 
 tations over the region of the kidneys, or put 
 him into a warm bath. Twenty grains or more 
 of the uva-ursi, with half a grain of opium 
 three times a day, accompanied by small quanti- 
 ties of warm barley or rice water, is one of the 
 most valuable remedies we are in possession of. 
 The diet during the attack should consist of muci- 
 laginous drinks only, which must be frequently 
 taken, notwithstanding they may be rejected by 
 vomiting. 
 
 GRAVEL. 
 
 Symptoms. A fixed pain in the loins, — numbnesa 
 of the thigh, — constant vomiting, — retraction of the 
 
VERTICAL SECTION OF THE KIDNEY. 
 
 3, supra-renal capsule, b b, cortical substance of kid- 
 ney, c c, medullary substance of kidney, e e e, the 
 sinus or pelvis. /, the ureter, proceeding to tht 
 bladder. 
 
Grai el. 69 
 
 testicle, — urine small in quantity, voided with pain, 
 and sometimes bloody. As the gravel passes from 
 the kidney into the bladder the pain is so acute as to 
 occasion fainting, &c. &c. 
 
 Causes. The formation of a peculiar acid in the 
 kidneys. 
 
 Treatment. Chloroform inhalation, or put him 
 into a warm bath, where he should remain some 
 time. Meanwhile an emollient and anodyne clyster 
 should be got ready, which must be given to him as 
 soon as he leaves it. Cloths wrung out of decoctions 
 of herbs or warm spirits and water, should be ap- 
 plied to the part, and small quantities of warm gum 
 arabic tea or barley water be taken frequently. 
 A grain of opium every two hours, will be found 
 useful. Strong coffee, without sugar or cream, some- 
 times acts like a charm in soothing the pain: tw T enty 
 drops of the spirits of turpentine taken on a lump of 
 sugar every half hour, is said, by high authority, to 
 do the same. If the irritation of the stomach is very 
 great, the effervescing draught, with 30 or 40 drops 
 of laudanum, may be tried. When ihe pain, &c. is 
 somewhat abated, the bow r els should be opened, either 
 with castor oil or Epsom salts. The uva-ursi, as be- 
 fore mentioned, is one of the most valuable, remedies 
 in all diseases of the kidneys that we have. Blisters 
 in all such cases are never to be applied. Persons sub- 
 ject to this distressing complaint, should be careful to 
 avoid acids and fermented liquors of all kinds, in- 
 cluding the red wines, beer, pickles, &c. For a com- 
 mon drink, soft-water, or the seltzer and soda waters 
 are to be preferred. When any threatening symp- 
 toms are perceived, recourse should be had to the 
 uva-ursi, in small doses of ten or twelve grains, with 
 half a grain of opium three times a day, to be c an- 
 ♦inued for weeks. 
 
70 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 INFLAMMATION OF THE BLADDER. 
 
 Symptoms. Pain and swelling of the bladder, — 
 the pain increased by pressure, — a frequent desire to 
 make water, which either comes away in small 
 quantities or is totally suppressed. 
 
 Causes. Inflammation of surrounding parts, — 
 stone in the bladder,— suppression of urine. 
 
 Treatment. Make warm application of water 
 and narcotics over the bladder: put him into the 
 warm bath. Inject mucilaginous and laxative 
 clysters, and pursue the exact plan of treatment 
 that is recommended for the cause from which it 
 may proceed. See Suppression of Urine, &c. 
 
 DIFFICULTY OF URINE. 
 
 Symptoms. A frequent desire to make water, at- 
 tended with pain, heat, and difficulty in doing so, — a 
 fullness in the bladder. 
 
 Causes. The urine having been retained too long 
 —Spanish flies taken internally, — gravel, — blisters, 
 and all the causes of inflammation of the bladder, — 
 inflamed prostate gland, &c. 
 
 Treatment. If it arise from simple irritation by 
 blisters, &c. plentiful draughts of warm liquids, as 
 gum arabic or barley water, will be sufficient to re- 
 move it. If from any other cause, a bladder half 
 filled with warm water, or cioths wrung out of a 
 warm decoction of herbs, should be kept constantly 
 applied over the parts, and mild clysters of thin starch 
 be frequently injected. 
 
The Ureters, running from the Kidneys to the Bladder. — 
 a Aorta, b Bifurcation, c Abdominal muscles turned 
 down, d The rectum cut and tied, e Bladder. //Ure- 
 ters, g g Kidneys. * 
 
Suppression of Urine. 71 
 
 SUPPRESSION OF URINE. 
 
 Symptoms. Pain and swelling of the bladder,— 
 violent and fruitless attempts to make water, attended 
 with excruciating pain, &c. 
 Causes. The same as in a difficulty of urine. 
 Treatment. As a total suppression of urine is 
 always attended with considerable danger, there 
 should be no delay in endeavouring to remove it. 
 Chloroform the patient to relieve the spasms, or he 
 should be placed in the warm bath. While he is there 
 a laxative and anodyne clyster must be got ready, 
 which is to be given as soon as he leaves it, and fre- 
 quently repeated. In the mean time the warm 
 fomentations, and a bladder of hot water must be 
 kept applied, and No. 23 be taken every three or 
 four hours. If there be any difficulty in procuring it, 
 twenty drops of laudanum in a little warm barley or 
 rice water, or a decoction of the dandelion will an- 
 swer in stead. Warm sweet oil or milk and water 
 may be injected up the urethra, and 6 or 8 grains of 
 camphor in a little milk be taken every hour. 
 
 If no relief is obtained by these means, con- 
 sult a physician, and ascertain whether the 
 trouble is located in the kidneys, in the passage 
 from the kidneys to the bladder, in the bladder, 
 or in the urethra. There are instruments, called 
 catheters, of various kinds, sizes and shapes, 
 made to draw off the urine from the bladder; 
 and by having an experienced hand pass one 
 of these up the urethra, into the bladder, and if 
 several ounces of urine is drawn off, it will be 
 recognized that the trouble is with the urethra 
 or bladder, but if no water is obtained, then the 
 trouble is above the bladder. In cases where 
 there is retention in bladder, the longer the 
 urine is allowed to remain, the more the blad- 
 der is distended, and the more irritating the 
 urine becomes to the mucus lining ; and accord- 
 ingly the more aggravated the condition 
 grows, and the chances of relief are more dim- 
 
72 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 cult; therefore by having the right kind of 
 catheter selected, and passing it early, the 
 patient is spared much discomfiture, as well as 
 the risk of a more serious termination. In 
 suppression of urine from any cause, the 
 patient will die in a few days unless the flow 
 of urine can be re-established. 
 
 INCONTINENCY OF URINE. 
 
 Symptoms. An involuntary dribbling or flow of 
 urine. 
 
 Causes. A relaxative or paralytic affection of the 
 bladder, — excessive venereal indulgences, — a dis- 
 eased state of the bladder, — stone in the bladder. 
 
 Treatment. If it arises from a relaxation or weak- 
 ness of the parts, use the cold bath daily, apply blis- 
 ters between the fundament and the bag, and have 
 recourse to bark and the different tonics, as iron, &c. 
 recommended in indigestion. Twenty or thirty grains 
 of the uva ursi, twice or three times a day, with half 
 a pint of lime water after each dose, may also be 
 tried. If the disease is occasioned by a palsy of the 
 parts, the tincture of Spanish flies may be of service, 
 [f a stone in the bladder is the cause, apply to a sur- 
 geon to cut it out. In the mean time, some kind of 
 vessel should be attached to the penis, to receive the 
 urine, in order to prevent it from excoriating the 
 
 STONE IN THE BLADDER. 
 
 Symptoms. A frequent desire to make water, 
 which comes away in small quantities at a time, and 
 is often suddenly interrupted, the last drops of it oc- 
 casioning pain in the head of the yard, — riding over 
 *i rough road, or any irregular motion, or jolting 
 
Stone in the Bladder, TS 
 
 jauses excruciating pain and bloody urine, accom- 
 panied with a constant desire to go to stool, — itching 
 of the fundament, — a numbness in the thighs, &c- 
 retraction or drawing up of the testicle. 
 Treatment. Apply to a surgeon. 
 
 DIABETES, OR AN IMMODERATE FLOW OF 
 URINE. 
 
 Symptoms. Frequent discharges of large quanti 
 lies of urine, which is sometimes of a sweet taste, — 
 .skin dry, — bowels costive, — appetite voracious, — 
 weakness, and gradual emaciation of the whole body. 
 
 Causes. A shattered constitution, — immoderate 
 venereal indulgences, — spirituous liquors,— cold — 
 suppressed perspiration. 
 
 Treatment. The principal remedy for the cure 
 of this disease, consists in confining the patient to a 
 diet composed exclusively of animal food. Blisters 
 may. also, be applied over the kidneys and kept open 
 with ihe savine ointment. The prescription No. 24,* 
 has proved eminently successful. The carbonate of 
 ammonia, in doses of 11 or 12 grains three limes a 
 day, is strongly recommended, upon high aulhonty. 
 In addition to these, opium in liberal doses, exercise 
 on horseback, the flesh-brush, and flannel next the 
 skin are not to be neglected. The bowels should be 
 kept open by rhubarb. 
 
 DROPSY OF THE BELLY. 
 
 Symptoms. A swelling of the belly, from water 
 contained in it, preceded by a diminution of urine- 
 dry skin, and oppression at the breast. 
 
 * Of Dr Ferriar, of Manchester, England. 
 
74 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 - Causes. Diseases of various kinds, — intemper- 
 ance, — a dropsical disposition. 
 
 Distinguish it from tympany by the absence of 
 rhe rumbling of the intestines, belching, colic, and 
 hollow sound which characterize the latter : 
 
 From other diseases, by placing one hand on the 
 belly, and gently striking it on the opposite side with 
 the other, when a wavy or tremulous motion will be 
 felt, resembling that occasioned by the agitation of 
 water in a basin 
 
 Treatment. One of the most valuable remedies 
 for dropsy is found in the elaterium, (the dried ex- 
 tract) one fourth of a grain of which is a dose. As it 
 is a most active article, it is proper to begin with one 
 sixteenth of a grain daily, which may be cautiously 
 increased to a fourth, or till it is found to exert its full 
 powers by bringing away large w r atery stools. From 
 an ounce to an ounce and a half of cream of tartar, 
 dissolved in water, and taken daily, has frequently 
 succeeded in removing the complaint. As objections 
 are sometimes made to the quantity of this latter arti- 
 cle it is necessary to use in this w r ay, half an ounce 
 of it, w 7 ith one or two grains ofgamooge, every other 
 day, may be substituted for it. Six grains of calomel, 
 with one or two of gamboge, taken twice or ihree 
 limes a week, have cured the disease. Bathing the 
 feet before going to bed, and taking immediately 
 after 20 grains of Dover's powder, by producing copi- 
 ous sweating, has had the same effect. 
 
 Dropsy is, notwithstanding, a difficult disease to 
 cure. It must r±e attempted, however, by the use of 
 such articles as we have mentioned, beginning with 
 the first, and if it fail, proceeding to the next and so 
 on. If the swelling increases to such an extent as to 
 be absolutely insupportable, send for a surgeon to 
 draw off the water. At the decline of the disease, 
 the strength must be supported and restored by bark, 
 wine and the tonic plan recommended for indigestion 
 
Tympany. 75 
 
 TYMPANY. 
 
 Symptoms. The symptoms of tympany or a col- 
 lection of air either in the intestines themselves, or 
 in the cavity of the belly, are more or less gradual in 
 their approach. When the disease lies within the 
 intestines, it commences with wind in the stomach 
 and bowels, which keeps up a constant rumbling, 
 belching, &c. — colic, — costiveness, — diminution of 
 urine, — want of appetite, &c. When it is in the 
 cavity 'of the belly and outside the intestines, the 
 swelling is much greater, and very elastic, when it 
 is struck, giving a hollow sound like a drum, — there 
 is no belching, &c. 
 
 Causes. Weakness of the bowels, — intemperance, 
 —a vegetable diet 
 
 Distinguish vrfrom dropsy, which see. 
 
 Treatment. If the complaint is within the intes- 
 tines, keep the nozzle of a clyster pipe up the funda- 
 ment, to permit the wind to pass through it, in order 
 to diminish the pressure on the bowels. Warm mint 
 tea, ginger, horse-radish, ether, Cayenne pepper, 
 spices and essential oils, with laxative medicines and 
 clysters, should be freely used, with a moderately 
 tight broad bandage round the belly. If these means 
 do not answer the end, warm and active purges must 
 be resorted to, such as the compound tincture of 
 senna, or jalap, or any of the Nos. 25, 26, or 27. If no 
 relief is obtained and the costiveness continues obsti- 
 nate, apply pounded ice to the belly. Rubbing .t 
 with turpentine may, also, prove useful It is very 
 apt to terminate in death. 
 
 GONORRHOEA. 
 
 Symptoms. A tingling sensation at the end of the 
 penis, which swells, looks red and inflamed, followed 
 
76 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 Dy a discharge of matter that stains the linen, first of 
 a whitish, then of a yellow or green colour, — a scald- 
 ing pain in making water, — involuntary and painful 
 erections. 
 
 Treatment. There are two kinds of this affection, 
 the mild and the virulent. The first is of so trivial a 
 nature, that plentiful draughts of any soothing liquid, 
 as barley water or flaxseed tea, with a low diet, are 
 sufficient to remove it. The second produces effects 
 more or less violent on different persons, and occa- 
 sionally resists for months, every remedy that can be 
 thought of. If the disease resist the low diet, &c. 
 apply to a surgeon, and beAvare of trusting to the 
 recipes of friends, or of employing their injections. 
 Strictures and other horrid consequences are the most 
 probable results of tampering with this disorder. If 
 at sea, however, you may use an injection composed 
 of five grains of sugar of lead and eight or ten of 
 white vitriol, dissolved in half a pint of soft water. 
 
 GLEET. 
 
 Symptoms. The weeping of a thin glairy fluid, 
 like the white of an egg, from the penis, caused by a 
 long continued clap. 
 
 Treatment. A gleet is exceedingly difficult to 
 get rid of, and frequently defies every effort that is 
 made for that purpose. It must be attempted, how- 
 ever, by the daily use of the cold bath, and 30 drops 
 of the muriated tincture of iron, taken three times a 
 day, for months, in a glass of the cold infusion of bark. 
 
 N. B. This complaint if let alone or badly treated 
 is apt to end in an exhausting and incurable disorder. 
 You had better seek the best medical advice within 
 your reach. 
 
Involuntary Emissions. 77 
 
 INVOLUNTARY EMISSIONS. 
 
 Symptoms- An involuntary emission of semen 
 during sleep, inducing great emaciation and debility. 
 
 Causes. Excessive venery, — onanism, — every 
 thing that weakens the seminal vessels. 
 
 Treatment. Abstain from all sexual indulgence 
 and lascivious ideas or books, — sleep on a hard bed, 
 — use the cold bath daily, with a generous and 
 nourishing diet. Chalybeate water and all the dif- 
 ferent preparations of iron, with the cold infusion of 
 bark and elixir of vitriol, as directed for indigestion, 
 should be freely employed. 
 
 STRICTURES. 
 
 Symptoms. A difficulty in passing water, which, 
 instead of flowing in a full stream, either dribbles 
 away, twists like a corkscrew, or splits and forks in 
 two or three directions. They are occasioned by 
 strong injections, — long continued or ill treated clap. 
 The cause, however, is not always to be satisfactorily 
 ascertained. 
 
 Treatment. Apply to a surgeon: you can do no- 
 thing to rid yourself of the disease but this, — terrible 
 are the consequences of meddling with it yourself. 
 
 SYPHILIS. 
 
 Symptoms. Chancres and buboes are among tho 
 first symptoms of this dreadful malady, which, if not 
 checked, goes on to cause an ulcerated throat, nodes, 
 a destruction of the bones and cartilages of the nose, 
 and the palate. The voice is lost, — the hair falls off, 
 —foul spreading ulcers show themselves all over the 
 
78 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 body, the stench of which is insupportable, and be- 
 fore he dies, the miserable victim to it becomes a 
 loathsome mass of corruption. 
 
 A Chancre at first resembles a pimple, with a 
 little pit or depression containing matter, which soon 
 becomes an ulcer, with an irregular thickened edge, 
 covered with a tough, ash-coloured matter, the basis of 
 which is hard and surrounded by inflammation. It is 
 generally found on the foreskin or head of the penis. 
 
 A Bubo is an enlargement of a gland in the groin, 
 beginning in a small hard lump, not bigger than a bean, 
 aiui increasing to the size of a. hen's egg. 
 
 A Node is a hard tumour formed on a bone. 
 
 Treatment. N.B. Apply to a surgeon on the 
 first indication or even suspicion of this most horrible 
 disease, — if taken at an early period, and properly 
 treated, it is soon cured, — but if neglected, or impro- 
 perly attended to, its consequences are too dreadful 
 to be detailed: a lingering death, and a putrescent 
 body, are what you may expect. Give no confidence 
 to the recipes of friends, but apply to a physician at 
 once. 
 
 CANCER OF THE PENIS. 
 
 Symptoms. A small tumour like a wart, upon the 
 head of the penis or foreskin, followed by inflamma- 
 tion and ulceration, which discharges a thin dis- 
 agreeable fluid, — after a time, a cancerous fungus is 
 produced, attended by a most intolerable burning 
 and darting pain. 
 
 Treatment. Apply at once to a surgeon, whi 
 will amputate it. Death is the onV alternative. 
 
Venereal Warts. 79 
 
 VENEREAL WARTS. 
 
 Crops of these animal mushrooms sometimes spring 
 up round the head of the penis, or on the foreskin. 
 l£Jlat, they may be destroyed by caustic; if mounted 
 on a stem or foot-stalk, by tying a piece of thread 
 tight.li/ round it 
 
 MERCURIAL DISEASE. 
 
 This is a complaint whose symptoms nearly re- 
 semble the secondary ones of pox, consisting of 
 blotches on the skin, — pains at night, — ulcers in the 
 mouth, &c. &c. Owing to the liberal use of calomel, 
 it is now a very common disease, which is frequently 
 confounded (even by medical men) with genuine 
 syphilis. 
 
 * Treatment. Abandon every mercurial prepara- 
 tion, — use the decoction of guaiacum and sarsaparilla, 
 — the warm bath, and a mild nourishing diet. If 
 possible, remove to a healthy situation in the country. 
 It is also necessary to take an occasional purgative 
 of the flowers of sulphur or of rhubarb. 
 
 DROPSY OF THE SCROTUM. 
 
 Symptoms. A collection of water, which is first 
 perceived at the bottom of the scrotum, increasing in 
 size as it advances upwards, and forming a tumour 
 of the shape of a pear. If examined as directed 
 for dropsy of the abdomen, the wavy motion may 
 be felt, and if a candle be placed behind it, i* 
 becomes partly transparent. 
 
 Distinguish it from a rupture, by the tumour not 
 
80 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 swelling when the patient coughs, — by the tumour 
 having commenced at the bottom of the scrotum, <feo. 
 
 From a diseased testicle, by its softness, — the natu- 
 ral colour of the skin, — absence of pain, — transpa- 
 rency, &c. &c. 
 
 Treatment. When it is first discovered, attempt 
 to disperse it, by bathing it frequently with No. 2a 
 The only certain cure is an operation, for which, as 
 there is no pressing danger, apply to a surgeon. 
 
 ENLARGED SPERMATIC VEIN. 
 
 Symptoms. A hard knotty and irregular swelling 
 of the vein, which sometimes increases to a large 
 size. When lying down, the swelling diminishes, 
 which distinguishes it from a dropsy of the parts. 
 
 Treatment. Suspend the testicles, or keep the 
 patient on his back, — apply the lotion No. 28, to the 
 parts, — the cold bath. 
 
 CANCER OF THE TESTICLE. 
 
 Symptoms. The testicle is enlarged, — hardened. 
 — craggy and unequal in its surface, — painful on be- 
 ing handled, with irregular pains shootuig up the 
 groin, into the back, without any previous inflamma- 
 tion, disease, or external violence. 
 
 Treatment. Apply immediately to a surgeon. 
 Castration, and that at an early stage of the disease, 
 is the only remedy that can save life. Be careful, 
 however, to distinguish it from simple swelling of 
 the testicle by inflammation, blows &c. Which see 
 
Impotency. 81 
 
 IMPOTENCY. 
 
 This is of three kinds. The first arises from an 
 original defect in the organs of generation. The 
 second, from local debility of the parts, brought on by 
 excessive venery, onanism, or some preceding dis- 
 ease : while the third originates from fear, excess of 
 passion, or want of confidence at the moment of 
 coition. 
 
 The first is incurable. The second must be treated 
 by the general principles and remedies already 
 pointed out for restoring the strength of the system, 
 consisting of the cold bath, preparations of iron, bark, 
 elixir of vitriol, generous diet, exercise, and by steadily 
 avoiding the causes which may have produced it. The 
 remedies for the third, must be sought for, in calm- 
 ing excessive agitation, and acquiring, by habits of 
 intimacy, that confidence they are sure to produce. 
 
 GOUT 
 
 Symptoms. Pain in the small joints, generally m 
 the ball of the great toe, — the parts swollen and red, 
 —the attack coming on in the night. Such are the 
 striking symptoms of this disease, and generally the 
 first that are noticed. It is occasionally, however, 
 preceded by all those attendant on indigestion. In 
 the advanced stages chalky lumps are formed in the 
 joints. 
 
 Causes. A too free use of the good things of this 
 world, — a disposition to it from parents. 
 
 Distinguish it from rheumatism, by the pain, &c 
 being in the small joints, &c. 
 
 Treatment. If the patient be young, vigorous, — 
 
 having the disease for the first time, give citrate of 
 
 magnesia, confine him to a low diet, and treat it 
 
 exactly as an inflammation arising from any other 
 
 F 
 
82 Compendium. of Domestic Medicine, 
 
 cause. To procure sweating, Dover's powder may 
 be taken on going to bed. As soon as the inflam- 
 mation, by these means, is reduced, use the cold 
 bath, and take strong exercise on foot, daily, — avoid 
 high seasoned food, feather beds, wine, acids and 
 fermented liquors, for the remainder of your life ! 
 Gout is the child of indolence and intemperance, 
 and to avoid it, the above means must be em- 
 ployed, and steadily persevered in. 
 
 It) however, the patient is old or infirm, and sub- 
 ject to regular fits of it, he must not be handled so 
 roughly. The most perfect rest should be observed, 
 and the parts lightly covered with fleecy hosiery, and 
 flannel cloths wetted with the lotion No. 29, made 
 milk-warm. The bow T els should be opened with 
 some warm laxative. In a regular fit of the gout, 
 this is all that can be done. The degree of warmth 
 that is applied to the part, must be regulated by the 
 feelings of the patient, who if weak, may use a nour- 
 ishing diet, if strong, a more abstemious one. 
 
 If from any cause, the disease leaves the extremi- 
 ties and flies to the stomach, apply mustard poultices 
 and blisters to the soles of the feet and ankles, — give 
 Jarge doses of ether and laudanum, hot wine, brandy, 
 &c. and endeavour by all such means (including the 
 hot bath) to send it back again; 
 
 If the head be the part it is transferred to, and 
 apoplexy is produced by it, take away 15 c. 20 ounces 
 of blood immediately, and give active purgatives, as 
 10 or 15 grains of calomel, followed by senna tea, or 
 Epsom salts. If in a few hours, the patient is not 
 relieved, the head continuing confused and painful, 
 and the pulse full and throbbing, apply cold vine- 
 gar and water constantly to the part. 
 
 INFLAMMATORY RHEUMATISM. 
 
 Symptoms. Pain, swelling and inflammation in 
 
Inflammatory Rheumatism. 83 
 
 some one (or several) of the larger joints. The 
 pain shifting from one part to another, — all the 
 symptoms of fever, — pulse full and hard, — tongue 
 white, — bowels costive and urine high coloured. 
 
 Causes. Cold, — suppressed perspiration, — wear- 
 ing damp clothes, &c. 
 
 Treatment. If fever is present, reduce it and 
 the acidity of the urine and system by doses of 
 5 to 8 grs. of bicarbonate of potash. If consti- 
 pation be present, give a saline purge. After the 
 fever is removed, give 5 grs. of iodide of potas- 
 sium and 10 drops of tr. colchicum 3 times 
 daily, — if much pain is present, add a £ to £ of a 
 grain of sulphate of morphia. If there are pe- 
 riods of intermission in the disease, give large 
 doses of quinine, 20 to 30 grs. in 24 hours. Lemon 
 juice and sugar, half ounce hourly, has been 
 found to be good. If the heart becomes affected, 
 give 5 gr. doses of the iodide of potassium mix- 
 ture with tr. of digitalis, and apply cups over 
 the region. 
 
 CHRONIC RHEUMATISM. 
 
 Symptoms. A chronic rheumatism is nothing 
 more than one of long standing. It is unaccom- 
 panied by fever, and makes its attacks on every 
 change of weather, on getting wet, &c, &c. It 
 is frequently caused by inflammatory rheumatism, 
 and sometimes seems to exist as a primary affec- 
 tion. 
 
 Treatment. I have found no one plan of treat- 
 ment in this species of the disease, so effectual as 
 the following : purge with senna and salts, every 
 other day, — rub the parts well with the liniment 
 No. 30, apply a blister of the parts affected, or paint 
 with tr. of iodine, and on going to bed 30 drops of 
 laudanum, with a tea-spoonful of the tincture of 
 
84 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 g uaiacum. It is to be recollected, that this is applica- 
 ble only to chronic cases; if there is fever, &c. it will 
 io much damage. The best safeguard against the 
 complaint is the use of flannel next the skin, winter 
 ind summer. 
 
 HIP-JOINT DISEASE. 
 
 Symptoms. Excruciating pain in the hip-joint and 
 knee, — the leg becomes first longer, then shorter than 
 its fellow. When lying down the foot rolls outwards, 
 the buttocks appearing flatter than usual, — lameness, 
 — after a while abscesses in various parts of the thigh, 
 — hectic fever, &c. 
 
 Causes. Scrofula. 
 
 Treatment. This should be treated carefully 
 and constitutionally; the limb must be kept at 
 rest, and put into a proper machine. Cod liver 
 oil and tonics must be given freely, with all the 
 remedies necessary for the treatment of scrofula. 
 A generous diet of good food, beef and wine, must 
 not only be allowed, but insisted on. Reducing 
 the system by purging or bleeding should never be 
 allowed, as the system of all scrofulous patients 
 should be built up and not reduced if a cure is 
 wished to be arrived at. 
 
 DROPSY OF THE KNEE JOINT. 
 
 Symptoms. The joint swells, the skin remaining 
 of a natural colour. By placing the hand on one side 
 of it, and striking it gently on the other, the wavy or 
 fluctuating motion is perceptible, — steady pressure on 
 one side will raise the other above its natural level. 
 
 Causes. A dropsical disposition, — debility, — rheu- 
 matism, — scrofula, — syphilis. 
 
 Treatment. Keep a perpetual blister on the joint, 
 
Dropsy of the Knee Joint. 85 
 
 or make a caustic issue below it, on the inside of the 
 leg, — cold water from the spout of a tea kettle, is a 
 useful application. Camphorated mercurial oint- 
 ment to the knee, and mercury taken internally 
 have sometimes been of service. 
 
 WHITE SWELLING. 
 
 Symptoms. Deeply seated pains in the knee, un- 
 attended at first by swelling, which at last comes on 
 with increase of pain. After a while the joint en- 
 larges, — matter is sometimes discharged,— hectic 
 fever follows, and cuts off the patient. 
 
 Causes. Scrofula, — blows, — inflammation from 
 any cause. 
 
 Treatment. If from scrofula, use the general 
 remedies directed for that disease, and apply a blister 
 to the part, which must be kept open by the savine 
 ointment, for months: if from blows, apply the blister 
 as before, keep up the system with tonics, and give 
 a good generous diet. If in spite of these pre- 
 cautions, the disease continues to advance, amputa- 
 tion is the only resource. 
 
 PIECES OF CARTILAGE IN THE JOINTS. 
 
 Portions of cartilage are sometimes formed in joints, 
 where they act like any other foreign body of a simi 
 lar texture. While in the hollows of the part, they 
 give no uneasiness, but as they frequently slip m 
 between the ends of the bones, causing excruciating 
 pain, it is sometimes necessary to cut them out. Foi 
 this purpose apply to a surgeon. As all openings into 
 the cavities of the joints are attended with much 
 danger; unless the pain be insupportable, it ; s better 
 
86 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 to endure the inconvenience than to run the risk of 
 the operation. 
 
 SCROFULA, OR KING'S EVIL. 
 
 Symptoms. Hard and indolent swellings of the 
 glands of the neck, thai when ripe, instead of matter, 
 discharge a whitish curd. It mostly occurs in per 
 sons of a fair complexion, blue eyes, and delicate 
 make. In bad cases, the joints swell with great pain, 
 — the limbs waste away, — the ligaments and bones 
 are destroyed, when hectic fever soon relieves the 
 patient from his misery. 
 
 Causes. Inheriting the disease from parents,— 
 moist cold air, — a poor diet, &c. 
 
 Treatment. Sea-water is a great remedy in 
 scrofula. It is to be used daily as a bath, and a 
 small portion of it taken internally. Made milk- 
 warm, it forms one of the most excellent local 
 applications that we have. Against the enlarge- 
 ment of the glands, paint with tr. of iodine and 
 give iodide of potassium inwardly. The diet 
 should be mild and nourishing. Scrofula is sel- 
 dom, if ever, cured. If the glands become perma- 
 nently enlarged, and by no means can be reduced, 
 then apply to a surgeon for their removal if un- 
 sightly or troublesome. 
 
 INFLAMED GLANDS. 
 
 Every gland in the body is subject to inflammation 
 Whenever one of them is perceived to be in this 
 state, Which may be known by the swelling and pain 
 measures should be taken to reduce it, for fear of its 
 proceeding to what is called scirrhus, and finally to 
 cancer. Leeches, blisters, and all the- remedies 
 directed for such purposes, should be actively em- 
 
GLANDS. 
 
Inflamed Glands. 87 
 
 ployed, among which tr. iodine and a good diet 
 must not be neglected. 
 
 SCIRRHUS. 
 
 Symptoms. A hard tumour, unequal on its sur- 
 face, and not very sensible, giving but little or no 
 pain on being handled. 
 
 Treatment. Apply to a surgeon without loss 01 
 time for fear of a cancer. 
 
 CANCER. 
 
 Symptoms. A tumour, differing from the preced- 
 ing one by being surrounded with enlarged veins. 
 It is, also, more painful, the skin being sometimes 
 discoloured and puckered. The whole tumour is 
 particularly heavy, and at last breaks into a malignant 
 ulcer or sore, whose edges are raised, ragged, un- 
 even, and curl over like the leaves of a flower, — 
 white streaks or bands cross it from the centre to the 
 circumference. Acute and darting pains accompany 
 ooth this and the preceding stage of the disease. 
 
 Treatment. There is but one remedy that can 
 be depended on for the cure of this painful and in- 
 veterate complaint, and even that should be resorted 
 to early, in order to ensure success. All the diseased 
 parts must be cut out. Arsenic, corrosive sublimate, 
 phosphate cf iron, and a thousand other articles, have 
 been recommended, both externally and internally, 
 but without any effectual advantage. To relieve the 
 
 f)ain, opium may be taken in large doses. A very 
 ow diet (such as is barely sufficient to support life) 
 of milk and vegetables, will produce the same effect. 
 The sore should be defended from the air, by some 
 mihi ointment. Powdered chalk, scraped carrots, 
 
88 Compendium of Domestic Medicine, 
 
 fresh hemlock leaves, and powdered charcoal, may- 
 be used for the same purpose. 
 
 GOITRE. 
 
 Symptoms. A tumour in the fore-part of the t hroat 
 seated in a gland close to the projection called 
 " Adam's apple." 
 
 Causes. These are not ascertained. They are 
 supposed to consist of some peculiarities in the water 
 of those places where it is common. 
 
 Treatment. Goitre is incurable. When taken 
 at the very beginning of the complaint, however, and 
 in young persons, it is said to have been dispersed 
 by a course of mercury, joined to frictions of the part 
 with strong mercurial ointment. 
 
 FAINTING. 
 
 Causes. Sudden and violent emotions of the mi rut, 
 —bleeding,— diseases of the heart and its great vessels. 
 
 Treatment. Lay the person on the back, and 
 raise the feet, then open the doors and windows, 
 and sprinkle cold water in the face. Smelling 
 salts may be held to the nose. 
 
 APOPLEXY*. 
 
 Symptoms. Falling without sense or motion, — 
 profound sleep, — face livid or flushed, — eyes wide 
 open or half closed, and immovable, — breathing low 
 labouring and irregular. 
 
 Ca uses. A rushing of blood to the head , excessive 
 <at in persons with a short nee k, — gluttony, — violent 
 
Apoplexy. 89 
 
 exercise, — intense heat, — anger, — hearty meat sup- 
 pers, — blows on the head, — intoxication, &c. &c 
 
 Treatment. If the pulse remain full, — the face 
 flushed, &c. take away twenty ounces or more of 
 blood on Hie spot, remove the cravat, unbutton the 
 shirt collar, and place the patient in bed, with the 
 head and shoulders a little elevated. The windows 
 and doors must be thrown open, and no more persons 
 than are necessary, be allowed to remain in the room. 
 The head is to be shaved and cupped, a blister ap- 
 plied to the back of the neck and the head, and mus- 
 tard poultices to the feet. An active purgative* 
 should always be administered, as soon as the patient 
 is bled, and its operation assisted by repeated clysters. 
 If by these means, the breathing is not easier, and the 
 pulse softer, bleed again, and again. 
 
 I£ however, the patient is old and infirm, and the 
 attack has come on more gradually, if the pulse is 
 weak, and the face pale, do not bleed, but give 
 immediately a warm purgative, apply the blisters, 
 &c. If it arises from swallowing vegetable poisons, 
 give an active emetic, as 30 grains of white vitriol, 
 and act as directed in cases of similar accidents. In 
 this second kind of apoplexy, stimulants, as hartshorn 
 to the nose, &c. may be used ; in the first, they are 
 very injurious, and should never be employed. 
 
 SUN-STROKE. 
 
 This proceeds from exposure to the sun's rays, and 
 exlubits the same symptoms as apoplexy, commencing 
 with vertigo, loss of sight, ringing in the ears, &c- 
 and must be treated by large and repeated bleedings, 
 and in every other respect as directed for apoplexy. 
 
 * If the patient cannot swallow pills, try liquids ; if 
 neither, have recourse to a strong purgative clyster 
 
90 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 EPILEPSY. 
 
 Symptoms. A lit, in which the patient falls to the 
 ground in a convulsion, — the eyes are distorted and 
 turned up, — hands clenched, — foaming at the mouth, 
 — convulsions, — the whole ending in a deep sleep. 
 
 Causes. Sudden fright, — anger, — injuries done to 
 the nerves, — unknown. 
 
 Treatment. Keep the patient from hurting him- 
 self, by holding his hands, legs, and particularly his 
 head, which he is apt to dash violently against the 
 ground or surrounding objects. A piece of soft wood 
 should be placed between his teeth, to prevent his 
 tongue from being bitten. This is, in general, all that 
 can be done during the fit. Give twenty gr. doses 
 of bromide of potassium three times daily. 
 
 CATALEPSY. 
 
 Symptoms. A sudden suspension of the action 
 of the senses, and of volition, the body and limbs 
 preserving the position given them, while the 
 action of the heart and lungs continues. 
 
 Treatment. Electricity, cold douches, chloro- 
 form inhalation, and irritation of the skin during 
 the spasm. In the intervals, if from intermittents, 
 quinine, if from cold, warm and sulphur baths, if 
 from hysteria or catamenia difficulties, anemia, &c, 
 use the general remedies recommended therefor. 
 
Palsy. 91 
 
 PARALYSIS OR PALSY. 
 
 Symptoms. A partial or complete loss of the 
 powers of motion, and the sensibility of particular 
 parts of the body, — the pulse soft and slow. 
 
 Causes. Apoplexy, — pressure on the nerves, from 
 blows, wounds, &c. — the fumes of lead, mercury, <fcc. 
 
 Treatment. The treatment must be according 
 to the cause. By the idiopathic and pure nervous 
 palsy, attention must be called to the spinal column 
 as the seat of the disease, for which nux vomica, 
 zinc, stramonium, steel baths, cold baths, and moxas 
 down the column, are of service. Magnetism down 
 the back, from the back of the head to the end of 
 the back-bone, is often of use. It is well always in 
 the use of electricity to begin with a weak current. 
 The continual electrical stream upon the limb has 
 produced cures. After the misuse of mercury or 
 mercurial preparations a palsy of the limbs takes 
 place, for which opium or morphium is recom- 
 mended ; also electrical baths. If occasioned by 
 pressure on a nerve or by the misuse of too strong 
 coffee, tea, or tobacco, the cause must be removed. 
 
 TETANUS, OR CRAMP 
 
 There are several very long and very learned 
 names affixed to this disease. When it is confined 
 to the muscles of the neck and jaws, locked-jaw is 
 the common and expressive term for it. The affec- 
 tion, however, is always the same, requires similar 
 treatment, and consists in an involuntary contraction 
 and stiffening of a part of the muscles, the senses 
 remaining perfect. 
 
92 Compendium' of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 LOCK JAW— TETANUS. 
 
 Symptoms. Pain and stiffness in back of neck, 
 — eventually head cannot be rotated,— difficulty 
 in swallowing- and speaking, — lower jaw be- 
 comes stiff and cannot be opened, — spasmodic 
 rigidity or cramping of nearly all the muscles 
 so that they feel hard and knotty, — body be-, 
 comes rigidly straight or bent backwards like 
 a bow. 
 
 Cause. Bacillus tetani found in soil of many 
 localities, which gain access to the body by 
 way of a wound or break in the skin. 
 
 Treatment. The feet should be perfectly clad 
 to insure against scratches and injuries. AIL 
 wounds, no matter how trivial, made by nails 
 or splinters, or by anything which might carry 
 a particle of dirt beneath the skin, should be 
 carefully cleansed. In this way the disease 
 maybe prevented. If disease is recognized to 
 be coming on place pieces of soft wood between 
 the grinders, on both sides, so that the jaws 
 will not close entirely. Perfect quietude. Feed 
 the patient liquid foods by means of a rubber 
 tube inserted between the teeth, or through the 
 nostrils, or by giving rectal enemas. Have the 
 antitoxin for tetanus injected by a physician. 
 This comes nearer to arresting the disease 
 than any other treatment. Other remedies are 
 given merely to relieve distressful symptoms, 
 without hopes of a cure; if, however, the patient 
 is relieved for a time, physical indurance may 
 tide till recovery. Ten grains of chloral hydrate 
 and 15 grains or bromide of potash may be 
 given every two hours for several doses. When 
 the muscles are contracting give a few whiffs 
 of chloroform until the muscles relax. Opium 
 and morphine often do excellent service in this 
 disease. Burn all dressings, to prevent others 
 from being infected. 
 
DISTRIBUTION OF THE FACIAL NERVE AND OF 
 THE BRANCHES OF THE CERVICAL PLEXUS. 
 
 1, The facial nerve at its emergence from the stylo- 
 mastoid foramen. 2, temporal branches communicating 
 with (3) the frontal branches of the fifth or trifacial 
 nerve. 4, infra-orbital branches, communicating with 
 (5) the infra-orbital branches of the fifth nerve. 6, 
 "maxillary branches communicating with (7) the mental 
 branch of the fifth nerve. 8, cervico-facial branches. 
 9, the spinal accessory nerve giving off a branch to 
 the trapezius muscles. 
 
Facial Neuralgia. 93 
 
 FACIAL NEURALGIA. 
 
 This disease is also called tic- douloureux, 
 and varies in severity from a moderate distress 
 to that of an unbearable intensity. 
 
 Symptoms. Darting pain in the region of one 
 or more branches of the facial nerve, usually 
 affecting only one side of the face at a time, 
 and remains in a circumscribed area, over the 
 temple, cheek or side of chin. These paroxysms, 
 as a rule, last not more than a second, recurring 
 rapidly, with intervals, in some cases, when 
 there is no pain whatever. It is rare that swell- 
 ing occurs and all signs of inflammation are 
 absent. Occasionally there is intolerance of 
 light; the eye on the affected side is blood-shot; 
 and there is an extra flow of saliva. 
 
 Cause. Debility, — anemia, — malarial poison- 
 ing, decayed teeth, — exposure to cold, etc. 
 
 Treatment. Seek to find the cause, and re- 
 move that as early as possible. If there are 
 decayed teeth, have a dentist treat it; if there 
 is malaria, take large doses of quinine; if 
 anemia, take iron and arsenic; and if debility, 
 endeavor to build up the general physical con- 
 dition. To relieve the pain, large and frequent 
 doses of castor oil act more satisfactorily than 
 any other remedy. This is harmless and worthy 
 of a trial in every instance. It should be taken 
 in not less than two tablespoonful doses every 
 two to four hours. It may be taken in foaming 
 porter or in brandy, to avoid the disagreeable 
 taste. Antipyrine in 5 to 10 grain doses repeated 
 every hour for four or six doses will generally 
 soothe the pain ; but sometimes it may be justi- 
 fiable to use an opiate. Warmth applied ex- 
 ternally generally affords some relief, and this 
 may be done by means of a rubber hot water 
 bottle or cloth bag filled with dry bran which 
 has been heated in an oven. It is always ad- 
 visable to rapidly saturate the system with 
 
94 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 quinine; take 10 drop doses of the tincture of 
 the Chloride of iron in an empty gelatine cap- 
 sule before each meal, and 5 to 8 drops of 
 Fowler's solution of arsenic in water, also at 
 meal time. Eat plentifully of dark meats. 
 
 SCARLET FEVER. 
 
 Symptoms. Langour or restlessness, followed 
 by chilliness, — headache, — sore throat, — fever, 
 — skin hot and dry, — tongue moist and white, — 
 bright red at tip and edges, — papillae swollen 
 and red, giving the appearance of a straw- 
 berry to the tongue ;— rapid pulse, great thirst, 
 frequently nausea and vomiting. The eruption 
 first appears as bright-red pin-head spots, 
 which gradually run together and make the 
 skin of uniform scarlet tint. After four or five 
 days' duration the rash disappears and a bran- 
 like peeling off of the skin takes place — the skin 
 sometimes coming away in large flakes. 
 
 Cause. A bacteria peculiar to the disease 
 found in the secretion of mouth and throat 
 and in the scales from the skin. 
 
 Distinguish it from measles by the spots com- 
 ing out on the second day of the fever (in 
 measles they seldom appear until the fourth 
 day) ; by their color which is that of a boiled 
 lobster, whereas in the measles it is of a dark 
 red. 
 
 Treatment. This being a contagious disease, 
 the first thing to do is to isolate the patient in 
 a room free from draughts and inequalities of 
 temperature, give hot lemonade or hot drinks 
 at intervals to bring out eruption, with plenty 
 o± cool drinks between times. Use liquid 
 citrate of magnesia if bowels are constipated, — 
 sponge with water to relieve restlessness and 
 reduce fever, following the directions for spong- 
 ing given for simple fever. Where there is 
 
Scarlet Fever. 95 
 
 itching add one teaspoonful of carbolic acid to 
 each quart of water that is used for sponging. 
 If there is much fever take one tablespoonful 
 of the spirits of Mendereri every two hours. 
 After the peeling off has begun, annoint the 
 body twice daily with carbolized vaseline, 
 which prevents the scales from flying and 
 allays the itching. Serious complications are 
 liable to set in at any stage of this disease, and 
 for that reason they must constantly be 
 guarded against. Acute inflammation of the 
 kidney and of the middle ear, are two of the 
 most frequent complications. The best pre- 
 ventive against kidney trouble, is the copious 
 drinking of water throughout the disease; and 
 the best against ear complications, the fre- 
 quent cleansing of the throat with No. 36. On 
 account of Scarlet Fever being very contagious, 
 the utmost precautions regarding disenfection 
 must be followed. 
 
 DANCE OF ST. VITUS. 
 
 Symptoms. Irregular and convulsive motions 
 of the limbs and head, generally of the arm and 
 leg of one side only. It varies, however, in dif- 
 ferent persons, and is frequently counterfeited 
 by beggars. 
 
 Causes. Weakness of the nerves, — worms, — 
 posions, — fright, &c. 
 
 Treatment. The daily use of the cold bath, 
 with the Peruvian bark^ has often succeeded 
 in curing the complaint in young subjects. In 
 addition to these, any of the preparations of 
 iron, No. 41, combined with large doses of musk, 
 opium, camphor, &c. may be tried. Active and 
 long continued purging sometimes produces 
 the happiest results. 
 
96 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 ANGINA PECTORIS. 
 
 Symptoms. An acute pain at the lower end of 
 the breast bone, shooting into the left arm, — 
 great difficulty of breathing, — anxiety, — palpi- 
 tation of the heart, — a feeling of suffocation. It 
 usually comes on while ascending a hill, or 
 going up stairs. 
 
 Causes. The vessels of the heart being 
 turned into bone, — an accumulation of blood 
 in the heart and its vessels. 
 
 Treatment. During the fit, let the patient 
 inhale sulphuric ether. If fainting, dash cold 
 water in his face. Should this not arouse him 
 in a few minutes, apply a blister to the chest. 
 Strips of linen, moistened with the solution 
 below,* applied several times a day to the 
 breast bone, for a month, are said to have 
 effected complete cures. They act by produc- 
 ing a crop of pimples, on the appearance of 
 which, the disease declines. 
 
 Persons subject to this complaint, should 
 avoid all fermentable food, an excess in eating 
 or drinking, taking care to live quietly, and to 
 keep the bowels open. Saline purgatives, fol- 
 lowed by opium, to lessen the spasm, with the 
 warm bath, and a perpetual blister or plaster 
 of the tartar emetic ointment to the chest, are 
 perhaps the best remedies that can be employ- 
 ed. 
 
 ♦Tartar emetic, one drachm. Spirits of cam- 
 phor, half an ounce. Boiling water, one pint. 
 Mix. 
 
Erysipelas. 97 
 
 ERYSIPELAS, ST. ANTHONY'S FIRE. 
 
 Symptoms. In the beginning the symptoms 
 are the same as in nearly all infectious fevers, 
 viz.: Shivering, headache, — quickened pulse, — 
 furred tongue and sometimes deranged stom- 
 ach, then there follows a line of manifestations 
 peculiar to this affection. There is a tingling 
 and burning sensation, with stiffness and 
 swelling of some particular part; and here a 
 bright red spot appears, which soon spreads 
 and turns to a dark purple. If the face is at- 
 tacked, it extends itself on the scalp, and the 
 eyelids generally swell so that the patient can 
 hardly see, and often the features are obliter- 
 ated. The swelling may be superficial, not 
 causing a great amount of distress, or it may 
 be deep seated and diffuse and produce intense 
 suffering, owing to the tension on the skin. In 
 the severe cases delirium is commonly present. 
 After a few days the redness and swelling begin 
 to fade away over the region first attacked. 
 The duration of the disease varies from 7 to 10 
 days, to several weeks, and at the termination, 
 watery vesicles, blisters or scales appear 
 where the inflamed cuticle existed. 
 
 Cause. The streptococcus erysipelatous, which 
 infects the attacked part through a break in 
 the skin or mucus membrane. 
 
 Treatment. Special care should be observed 
 that the germs of the disease be not conveyed 
 to those having wounds, or to women about to 
 be or who have recently been confined, for if 
 
98 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 they should become infected, dire consequences 
 would surely ensue. The fever may be reduced 
 by one to two drop doses of the tincture of 
 aconite and by the spirits of Mendereri. In case 
 the bowels are constipated, keep them open 
 with the liquid citrate of magnesia. When 
 there is delirium, give calomel Y 8 to I grain 
 doses every hour, until bowels are too free' 
 and apply an ice cap to the head, lo the 
 parts affected, apply lintine, which is kept 
 saturated with the following mixture: ichthyol, 
 Y 2 ounce, camphorated oil, ?% ounces. When 
 the face is affected and the camphor vapor 
 distresses the eyes, use the same proportions 
 of ichthyol and cottonseed-oil. Carbolized 
 vaseline spread over the part, also makes a 
 satisfactory dressing. This disease if at all 
 severe should be under the care of a physician. 
 
 GERMAN MEASLES — THREE-DAY 
 MEASLES— ROTHELN. 
 
 Symptoms. Much the same as true measles, 
 though considerably milder. Slight sorness of 
 throat. A rose colored eruption appears, with 
 the first symptoms of illness, which usually 
 lasts but three days, hence the name three- 
 day measles. 
 
 Cause. A contagion identified solely with 
 this disease. 
 
 Treatment. Rarely any is needed, beyond 
 remaining quietly within an evenly heated 
 apart lent. 
 
Measles. 
 
 MEASLES. 
 
 Symptoms. Usually about eight days elapse 
 after exposure before the disease shows signs 
 of development. The early symptoms are 
 weariness,— aching of head, back and limbs,— 
 soreness of muscles, — chilliness, — fever comes 
 on rapidly, — eyes red and watery,— sneezing, — 
 nose running — cough, — and frequently vomit- 
 ing. On the fourth day, small crimson points 
 break out, first on the face, then gradually 
 over the body. They are in clusters, running 
 together, and on passing the hand over them, 
 are found to be a little raised. On the fifth or 
 sixth day, the vivid red is changed to a brown, 
 the eruption fades, the fever abates, and a 
 dandruff-like peeling off may follow. 
 
 Cause. A particular contagion— of the erup- 
 tive fevers, this is the most contagious. 
 
 Distinguish it from small pox and all other 
 diseases, by the dry cough and hoarseness, — 
 by the appearances of the eyes, which are red, 
 swollen, and loaded with tears. 
 
 Treatment. Confine patient in bed in a well 
 ventilated room, free from draughts, kept at 
 a temperature of from 68° to 70°. The room 
 must be darkened because exposure of the eyes 
 to light may cause them to be permanently 
 weakened. Give plenty of cool drinks, and. 
 feed patient on liquid foods, chiefly milk. If 
 eruption does not come out freely, give hot 
 drinks until perspiration ensues — hot mustard 
 foot bats accelerates this. Regulate the bowels 
 with magnesia. The fever is to be treated the 
 same as a simple fever without any fear of 
 evil effects from the tepid sponging. Guard 
 against taking cold, and any signs of lung- 
 trouble are to be regarded as possible premo- 
 nitions of a serious complication. For cough, 
 inhale the steam from boiling vinegar, for five 
 to ten minutes every one to four hours. 
 
 Lift. 
 
100 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 CHICKEN-POX. 
 
 Symptoms. Fever, — inability to sleep, — pain in 
 different parts of the body, — a crop of small pimples 
 or points on the back, which by the second day are 
 changed into little blisters, which are ripe on the 
 third and disappear before the fifth day, without 
 forming true pus or matter, and leaving no marks or 
 pits behind them. 
 
 Distinguish it from small-pox, by the eruption 
 coming out on the back, — by the mildness of the 
 fever, — by the fluid contained in the vesicles or blis- 
 ters not being true pus, and by the whole falling off 
 in scales on the fifth day. 
 
 Treatment. Confine the patient to his bed, — 
 keep him cool and quiet, and give him a dose of salts. 
 This is all that is necessary. 
 
 COW-POX. 
 
 Symptoms. A pimple at the spot where the mat- 
 ter was inserted, which gradually undergoes certain 
 regular changes, that characterize the complaint. 
 
 CHANGES OF GENUINE COW-POX. 
 
 On the second day, or sooner, from the time of the 
 operation, a small speck of inflammation is to be per- 
 ceived, which, on the fourth day is a pimple, sur- 
 rounded by a circle of inflammation. On the fifth, 
 this pimple changes to a vesicle containing a thin 
 fluid. Cm the sixth, this vesicle is more perfect, its 
 margin forming a regular circle; it is also a little flat- 
 
Cow-Pox. 101 
 
 tened on the top, the centre of which is of a dark colour. 
 On the eighth or ninth day, slight chills, flushes of 
 heat, &c. are sometimes felt, accompanied by swell- 
 ing of the pustule, and pains shooting up into the arm 
 pit, the glands or kernels of which occasionally swell. 
 On the tenth or eleventh day, the pustule is sur- 
 rounded by a circular, vivid, inflammatory blush that 
 is very beautifu I. This is regarded as a decisive proof 
 of the presence of genuine cow-pox. On the eleventh 
 day, the centre of the pustule begins to grow of a 
 dark colour, which gradually increases to a brown or 
 mahogany one by the end of the second week, when 
 it begins to leave the skin, from wluch it is finally 
 
 Treatment. If the pain, inflammation and swell- 
 ing, are excessive, reduce them by cold applications, 
 a dose of salts, low diet and rest. 
 
 SMALL-POX. 
 
 Symptoms. Inflammatory fever, — drowsiness, — 
 pain in the pit of the stomach, increased by pressure, 
 — pain in the back, — vomiting, — on the third day the 
 eruption breaks out on the face, neck and breast, in 
 little red points that look like flea-bites, and which 
 gradually appear over the whole body. On the fifth 
 day, little round vesicles, filled with a transparent 
 fluid, appear on the top of each pimple. The erup- 
 tive fever now declines. On the ninth day the pus- 
 tules are perfectly formed, being round and filled 
 with a thick yellow matter, the head and face also 
 swelling considerably. On the eleventh day, the mat- 
 ter in the pustules is of a dark yellow colour, the 
 head grows less, while the feet and hands begin to 
 swell. The secondary fever now makes its appear- 
 ance. The pustules break and dry up in scabs and 
 crusts, which at last fall off, leaving pits, which suffi- 
 ciently mark the cause 
 
102 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 Such are the symptoms of the distinct or mild 
 small-pox, but it frequently assumes a more terrible 
 shape, in what is called the confluent. In the latter/ 
 all the symptoms are more violent from the beginning 
 The fever is a typhus, — there is delirium, preceded 
 by great anxiety, — heat, — thirst, — vomiting, &c. The 
 r-ruption is irregular, coming out on the second day in 
 patches, the vesicles of which are flatted in, neither 
 does the matter they contain turn to a yellow, but to 
 a brown colour Instead of the fever going off on 
 the appearance of the eruption, it is increased after 
 i\\e fifth day, and continues throughout the complaint 
 The face swells in a frightful manner, so as to close 
 the eyes, — sometimes putrid symptoms prevail from 
 the commencement. 
 
 Causes. Contagion. 
 
 Distinguish it from chicken-gox, which see. 
 
 Treatment. Place the patient in a cool airy 
 room, and let him be but lightly covered with bed 
 clothes. Purge him every other day with salts, and 
 give him twenty or thirty drops of laudanum every 
 night The diet should consist of panada, arrow 
 root, &c. and his drink consist of lemonade or water. 
 If from any cause, the eruption strikes in, put him 
 into the warm bath, give a little warm wine-whey, 
 or the wine alone, and apply blisters to the feet 
 Obstinate vomiting is to be quieted by the effervesc- 
 ing draught, with the addition of thirty drops of 
 laudanum. 
 
 In the confluent small-pox, the treatment must be 
 varied as it inclines more or less to the inflammatory 
 or putrid type. If it inclines to the first, act as 
 directed for the distinct kind, if to the last, employ 
 all those means directed in putrid fever. If the eyes 
 are much affected, it will be necessary to bafhe them 
 frequently with warm milk, and to smear the lid* 
 with some simple ointment 
 
Itch. 103 
 
 ITCH. 
 
 Symptoms. An eruption of small pimples between 
 the fingers, on the wrists, and over the whole body, 
 which form matter, and are attended with an intoler- 
 able itching. 
 
 Causes. Contagion. 
 
 Treatment. There are several varieties of this 
 troublesome complaint, as the rank, watery, pocky, 
 scorbutic, &c. A very bad kind of it is contracted 
 by touching dogs that have the mange. The remedy 
 is sulphur. It should be used internally with cream 
 of tartar, so as to purge freely, and at the same time 
 be applied externally, in the form of an ointment. 
 Equal portions of white vitriol, flour of sulphur, and 
 laurel berries, made into a thin liniment with olive 
 oil, is highly recommended as a local application. 
 The following practice is said to be effectual. Take 
 of flour of sulphur two ounces, and mix it well with 
 two drachms of nitre, throw the mixture into a warm- 
 ing pan containing live coals, and pass the pan be- 
 tween the sheets in the usual manner. The patient, 
 stripped to his skin, now gets into bed (taking care 
 not to let the fumes escape), when the clothes should 
 be tucked in all round him. Repeat the process ten 
 or twelve times The diet in all cases should be 
 very low. 
 
 HERPES. 
 
 Symptoms. Broad itchy spots of a reddish or white 
 colour, breaking out in different places, which at last 
 run into each other, forming extensive ulcers, — after 
 a time they become covered with scales, which fnV, 
 off, leaving the surface below red, — while the dis- 
 ease heals in one part, it breaks oit m another 
 
104 Compendium of Domestic Medicine, 
 
 Causes. Want of cleanliness, — low diet, — living 
 in low damp situations, — a peculiarity of constitution. 
 
 Treatment. The ointment of the oxide of zinc, 
 is a very common application. Washing the parts 
 with a solution of corrosive sublimate in water, one 
 grain to the ounce, is, however, to be preferred. 
 The citrine ointment may also be tried. If these fail, 
 apply a strong solution of blue vitriol to the ulcers, 
 and take a grain of calomel morning and evening. 
 The decoction of sarsaparilla and guaiacum, may be 
 used with them. If the disease resists the mercury, 
 try Fowler's solution of arsenic, in doses of five drops 
 three times a day, to be cautiously increased as 
 directed for intermitting fevers. The warm bath 
 should never be neglected in cutaneous complaints. 
 
 SCALD HEAD 
 
 Symptoms. Inflammation of the skin of the head 
 which ends in a scabby eruption that extends over 
 the whole scalp. 
 
 Causes. Want of cleanliness, — putting on the hat, 
 — using the comb, or sleeping in the bed of a person 
 who has it. 
 
 Treatment. Shave the head close, wash it well 
 with warm soap and water, and cover it thickly with 
 fresh powdered charcoal. One or two of the pills 
 No. 32, should be taken every night, on going to bed. 
 The bowels must be kept open by magnesia or Epsom 
 salts. If this fails, try the citrine or tar ointment to 
 the parts, with a liberal use ol the compound decoc- 
 tion of sarsaparilla. The diet should be wholesome 
 and nourishing, avoiding spirituous liquors and salted 
 meats. The warm bath should not be neglected 
 
Ring Worm. 105 
 
 RING WORM. 
 
 Sy aiptoms. An eruption running in curved lines, 
 —generally in a circle, that itches when rubbed or 
 when the body is heated. 
 
 Treatment. Into one ounce of water, throw more 
 blue vitriol than it will dissolve, so as to form what 
 is technically called a saturated solution. Touching 
 the ulcerated parts with this liquid several times 
 through the day, will alone frequently cure it. If 
 this fails, apply the citrine or tar ointments. In very 
 obstinate cases, recourse may be had to the pills No. 
 32, or to the usual doses of Fowler's solution. If it 
 affects the head, shave it. In this as well as all other 
 diseases of the skin, the greatest cleanliness is ne- 
 cessary. 
 
 NETTLE-RASH. 
 
 Symptoms. An eruption similar to that caused by 
 the stinging of nettles, whence its name. On rub- 
 bing the skin which itches, the eruption will sud- 
 denly appear, remain for a moment and then vanish, 
 breaking out in some other spot. The parts affected 
 are swelled, — at one time presenting the appearance 
 of welts as from the stroke of a whip-lash, and at an- 
 other, that of white solid bumps. 
 
 Causes. Supposed to be some irritating matter in 
 the stomach or bowels. 
 
 Treatment. A few doses of Epsom salts, and a 
 little attention to the diet, which should be mild, are 
 generally sufficient to remove it. If it proceed from 
 eating poisonous fish, on any unwholesome food, tak? 
 an emetic, &"c. as directed in such cases. A 
 bath in a very mild solution of washing soda 
 will allay the itching. 
 
106 Compendium of Domestic Medicine, 
 
 BLOTCHED FACE. 
 
 Symptoms. An eruption of hard, distinct tubercl es 
 or pimples, generally appearing on the face, but some- 
 limes on the neck, breast and shoulders. 
 
 Causes. A peculiarity of constitution, — irregu- 
 larity or excess in eating or drinking. 
 
 Treatment. There are a great many varieties of 
 this affection, some of which have been separately 
 treated of by Willan and other writers on diseases 
 df the skin, to whom I would refer any one w T ho is 
 particularly interested therein. Notwithstanding all 
 ihat has been said on the subject, there is no disease 
 wore difficult to get rid of than this. Where it arises 
 from supuressed perspiration, high seasoned food, or 
 intemperctnce, it may indeed be relieved by the warm 
 bath, by sweating, purging, and a low diet; but when 
 it exists in persons who have always led temperate 
 lives, and in whom it seems constitutional, medicine 
 nas but little effect on it. In all cases, however, the 
 following plan may be adopted : take a dose of Epsom 
 salts twice 01 thrice a week, use the warm bath daily, 
 live on plain, mild food, and drink nothing but water. 
 If after a fair trial of several months, this should not 
 succeed, try Fowler's solution, or the pills No. 32. 
 with the decoction of guaiacum and sarsaparilla. 
 The various cosmetics and astringent applications 
 recommended for these affections, are always preju- 
 dicial, for although they sometimes repress the erup- 
 tion, they occasion more severe and dangerous com- 
 plaints. 
 
 SCURVY 
 
 Symptoms. Bleeding of the gums, — teeth loose, — 
 
 spots of various colours on the skin, generally livid, 
 
 debility, — countenance pale and bloated, — pulse 
 
Scurvy. 107 
 
 small, quick, and intermitting. In its advanced stage 
 the joints swell, and blood bursts out from different 
 parts of the body. 
 
 Causes. A long exposure to cold moist air, — a diei 
 consisting exclusively of salted animal food, — want 
 of wholesome nourishment. 
 
 Treatment. Remove the patient to a new and 
 healthy situation, where the air is dry and pure ; give 
 him plenty of fresh vegetables, such as spinage, let- 
 tuce, beets, carrots, and scurvy-grass. A small pro- 
 portion of fresh animal food should be taken with 
 them. This, with oranges, lemons and sugar, or 
 lemonade, spruce beer with wine and water, are 
 generally sufficient to cure the complaint. The nitric 
 vinegar* is strongly recommended for the same pur- 
 pose. If there is much pain in the bowels, laudanum 
 must be used to relieve it. If the breathing is diffi- 
 cult, or there is much pain in the breast, apply a blis- 
 ter to it, for on no account should blood be drawn in 
 scurvy. A tea spoonful of charcoal well mixed with 
 half a pint of vinegar, forms an excellent gargle to 
 clean the gums and ulcers in the mouth. Those on 
 the body may be washed with the same, or lemon 
 juice, pure, or mixed with water. The yeast or char- 
 coal poultice, may also be applied to them with ad- 
 vantage. To restore the tone of the system, recourse 
 must be had to the Peruvian bark, with the elixir of 
 vitriol, the muriated tincture of iron, exercise, &c. &c 
 
 * It is made in the following manner. Dissolve 
 three or four ounces of nitre (saltpetre) in one quart 
 of vinegar. The dose is from half an ounce to an 
 ounce. If the strength of it occasions any inconve- 
 nience, add a l'ttle water, or diminish the quantity 
 of the dose. 
 
108 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 OF TUMOURS 
 
 By the word tumour is meant a swelling of* any 
 part of the body. They are of different kinds, ariso 
 from various causes, and are more or less dangerous 
 according to the nature of their contents and the spot 
 they occupy. 
 
 OF RUPTURES. 
 
 Ruptures are tumours caused by the protrusion of 
 a part of the bowels through certain natural openings. 
 They are divided into reducible, irreducible, and 
 strangulated. They mostly occur in men in the groin 
 and bag. 
 
 Causes. Straining in any way, as at stool , — vomit- 
 ing, — lifting heavy weights, — violent exercise, as 
 jumping, running, &c. — a natural weakness of the 
 parts. 
 
 REDUCIBLE RUPTURES. 
 
 Symptoms. A small swelling, free from pain, and 
 generally soil;, the colour of the skin over it remain- 
 ing unaltered. While standing up, the swelling in- 
 creases, on lying down, it decreases, the patient being 
 able to return the parts himself, while in that position. 
 The swelling is also increased by coughing, sneezing, 
 or straining as if at stool. If he is flatulent, a rum- 
 bling sensation may be felt in it. 
 
 Treatment. The patient should place himself on 
 his back, with his head and shoulders a little ele- 
 vated, draw up his knees to his belly, and (if in thii 
 position, the parts do not return of themselves) en- 
 deavour to push or knead them up into the belly 
 
Reducible Ruptures. 109 
 
 through the opening at which they come out, and 
 which, if the tumour be in the groin or bag, is an oval 
 ring or slit, in the groin, at the precise spot where 
 the swelling first appeared. When this is effected, 
 he should remain quiet until a truss can be procured, 
 the spring of which must be passed round his body 
 the pad be applied directly over the spot just men- 
 tioned, and held there with one hand, while the other 
 passes the strap into the buckle and draws it suffi- 
 ciently tighu Having done this, he should get up 
 and walk about. If the swelling no longer appears, 
 the truss is properly applied, if otherwise, take it off, 
 return the parts as before and apply it again ; when, 
 if on rising, walking about, slightly coughing, &c. the 
 parts are found to be well kept up, he may resume 
 his ordinary business. The truss should be worn 
 nigh i and day, as long as he lives. 
 
 IRREDUCIBLE RUPTURES. 
 
 Symptoms. A rupture in which there is no pain, 
 yet that cannot be returned into the belly, caused by 
 an increased bulk of the parts, or their having formea 
 adhesions, or grown fast to adjoining parts. 
 
 Treatment. A rupture thus situated must be left 
 to itself. The patient should be extremely cautious 
 in his diet, and in avoiding costiveness, by the use 
 of clysters, or if necessary, laxative medicines. He 
 should also be very careful to protect the tumour 
 from blows, always recollecting that it is in danger 
 of strangulation. 
 
 STRANGULATED RUPTURES. 
 
 Symptoms. The first mark of a rupture being 
 strangulated, or of pressure being made on it, is cos- 
 
110 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 tiveness. The tumour, which before was insensible 
 becomes painful, the pain being most severe at the 
 soot where the strangulation or stricture exists, and 
 extending from thence across the belly, which be- 
 comes swollen and hard. The pain resembles that 
 which the patient would suppose to arise if a cord 
 was drawn tightly across it. The pain continues to 
 increase, and is augmented by pressure ; sneezing, 
 coughing, nausea and vomiting, first of the contents 
 of the stomach, and afterwards of the intestines ensue, 
 —great anxiety, — restlessness, and a quick hard pulse. 
 Hiccups, — cold clammy sweats, — weakened respira- 
 tion, and a pulse so feeble as hardly to be perceived, 
 announce the approach or presence of mortification. 
 
 Treatment. Lose not a moment in sending for 
 the best medical aid that may be within reach. In 
 the mean time, having placed the patient as directed 
 for reducible ruptures, apply both hands on the tumour 
 with gentle, but gradually increasing pressure, or 
 grasp the tumour gently but steadily with one hand, 
 while with the fingers ofthe other you endeavour to 
 knead or push up the parts nearest the ring in the 
 groin, applying the pressure in the same course the 
 parts have taken in their descent. If this fails, seize 
 the tumour between the finger and thumb of the left 
 hand, close to where it enters the belly, and carry 
 them downwards, with a moderate pressure, so as to 
 dislodge any excrement which may be there, while 
 with the ri b ht you endeavour to push in the gut. 
 
 If you cannot succeed in two or three attempts, 
 place the patient in a warm bath and try it again. If 
 still foiled (you have no time to waste in unavailing 
 attempts), cover the tumour with pounded ice, snow, 
 or any very cold application. Should this fail, let 
 the patient inhale ether or chloroform to perfect 
 narcotism, and when thoroughly under the anes- 
 thetic, seize that moment to return the parts, as 
 before directed. 
 
 Should the rupture still remain irreducible, there 
 are but two resources left, the tobacco clyster, and 
 an operation One half of the clyster should be in- 
 
Strangulated Rupture*. Ill 
 
 jected ; if it occasions sickness and a relaxation of the 
 parts, endeavour to return them: if the first half does 
 not produce these effects, throw up the remainder of 
 it, and when relaxation comes on, endeavour, as be- 
 fore, to push up the gut. As regards the operation 
 no one should ever attempt it but a surgeon. Large 
 doses of laudanum allay vomiting, and are otherwise 
 beneficial; in all cases of this kind, they should never 
 by omitted. 
 
 Ruptures are liable to be confounded with some 
 other diseases, as dropsy of the bag, enlarged sper- 
 matic vein, &c. The modes of distinguishing them 
 have already been pointed out, although it must be 
 confessed that with respect to the latter, considerable 
 difficulty exists. If the disease is a rupture, by plac- 
 ing the patient on his back, returning the tumour and 
 holding the fingers firmly over the opening, and then 
 desiring him to rise, the swelling will not appear. It', 
 on the contrary, it is an enlarged spermatic vein, it 
 will be found to be greater than ever. The latter 
 has also a peculiar ropy feel, as if a bundle of cords 
 were in the bag. 
 
 ANEURISM. 
 
 Symptoms. A small tumour without pain or red 
 ness, attended by a peculiar throbbing, — it disappears 
 on pressure, and returns the moment it is removed. 
 As the tumour increases in size, the throbbing or 
 beating of the artery grows less perceptible. It is 
 generally found in the ham, thigh, neck, groin and 
 arm. It is divided into true and false. 
 
 Causes of the true are unknown, those of the false 
 are a wound or rupture of an artery. 
 
 Distinguish it by the beating or throbbing, which 
 
112 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 is diminished by pressing on the artery above the 
 tumour, and by the latter disappearing on pressure 
 and returning when it is removed. 
 
 Treatment. In the early stage, apply a soft and 
 elastic cushion to the tumour, and bind it tightly over 
 it by a bandage. The diet should in all cases be 
 extremely low, just sufficient to preserve life, and no 
 more. If the patient is of a full habit, it would be 
 well to reduce. This plan steadily and vigorously 
 pursued for a long time, has sometimes effected com- 
 plete cures. There is nothing, however, but an 
 operation that can be depended on, wherefore, as 
 soon as any swelling of this nature is perceived, no 
 time should be lost in procuring surgical assistance. 
 If the tumour is left to itself) it will finally burst, and 
 death be the inevitable consequence. 
 
 FLESHY TUMOURS. 
 
 Symptoms. Small warty projections, which, as 
 they increase in size, drag down the skin from the 
 neighbouring parts, which forms a kind of stem or 
 foot-stalk on which the tumour hangs. They are 
 hard, full of vessels, and are neither painful nor in- 
 flamed. 
 
 Treatment. When very small, they may be fre- 
 quently touched with caustic, which will destroy 
 mem. If large, the ligature or knife must be em- 
 ployed, for which purpose have recourse to a surgeon. 
 
 STEATOMATOUS TUMOURS. 
 
 Symptoms. A small, doughy swelling, which 
 gradually increases, and sometimes grows to an 
 enormous size. It is soft and free from pain, — the 
 colour of the skin eraaining unaltered. 
 
Steatomatous Tumours. 113 
 
 Treatment. These tumours, technically called 
 steatomatous,* are merely inconvenient from their 
 bulk. They can only be removed by the ligature o? 
 knife, for which purpose apply to a surgeon. 
 
 ENCYSTED TUMOURS. 
 
 Symptoms. A distinct, hard, circumscribed swell- 
 ing, gradually growing larger until a slight inflam- 
 mation comes on, when it becomes a little painful, 
 soon after which, a fluctuation is distinctly to be per- 
 ceived. As it progresses the vessels become en- 
 larged, — it seldom exceeds the size of an egg. 
 
 Distinguish it from an abscess by the absence of 
 pain and inflammation. 
 
 Treatment. Pass a seton through the tumour 
 when matter is formed, or apply to a surgeon to dis- 
 sect it out. 
 
 GANGLION. 
 
 Symptoms. A small, movable, elastic swelling, 
 with little or no pain, or alteration in the skin, situ- 
 ated under or between tendons or sinews, and gene- 
 rally near to a joint, — it sometimes hinders the mo 
 tions of the part. 
 
 Causes. The collection of a fluid within the sheath 
 of a tendon. 
 
 Treatment. Apply pressure, blisters, or frictions 
 of strong camphorated mercurial ointment to the tu- 
 mour. If these are of no avail, make a small punc- 
 ture in it with the point of a sharp lancet, let out its 
 
 * P rom a Greek word which means suet, the con- 
 tents of the tumour rersemblins that substance. 
 H 
 
114 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 contents and apply pressure to the part, so as to make 
 the two sides of the sack or bag grow together. 
 
 BOILS. 
 
 Symptoms. A hard, circumscribed, inflamed and 
 very painful tumour, of a conical shape, seldom ex- 
 ceeding in size a pigeon's egg. 
 
 Treatment. If the patient is of a full habit, bl eed 
 and purge him with Epsom salts. A soft poultice of 
 warm bread and milk, or rye meal, should always be 
 applied to the boil, and frequently changed. If the 
 pain is excessive, a tea spoonful of laudanum may be 
 mixed with each one. In a few days matter will be 
 formed, when it may be let out with a sharp lancet 
 
 CARBUNCLE. 
 
 A deeply seated, hard, immovable and circum- 
 scribed tumour, which appears generally on the back, 
 shoulders, &c. About the middle it is of a dark red 
 or purple colour, being much paler or mottled round 
 its edges. It is attended with an intolerable itching 
 and burning pain, and at last becomes a kind of 
 sloughing ulcer. 
 
 Treatment. This will depend upon the state of 
 the constitution. Most generally there is great weak- 
 ness, in which case, the diet must be generous. 
 Bark, with the elixir of vitriol and opium to relieve 
 (he pain, are to be frequently employed. As a local 
 remedy, a blister ranks very high. It should be 
 placed directly on the part. After being cut, it may 
 be succeeded by a basilicon plaster. A modern writer 
 strongly recommends the solution of arsenic, as a local 
 remedy in this disease. Pledgets of linen dipped in 
 the liquor, are to be laid on the swelling, and fre 
 
Carbuncle. 115 
 
 quently renewed. When matter begins to form, 
 apply a bread and milk poultice, and treat it in every 
 respect as a common ulcer. 
 
 WHITLOW, OR I ELON. 
 
 Symptoms. An inflamed tumour at the end oi tne 
 linger. It is of three kinds. The first is situated im- 
 mediately under the skin, around the nail. The 
 second in the cellular membrane, the pain and swell- 
 ing of which are much greater than in the first, and 
 the matter much longer in forming. The third lies 
 under the sheath or covering of the tendons of the 
 fingers, and is infinitely more violent, painful and 
 dangerous, than either of the others. 
 
 Treatment. If of the first description, open the 
 little abscess with a needle and let out the matter, 
 which should be prevented from forming, if possible, 
 by bathing the part with camphorated spirits. The 
 second shouJd be dispersed by purging, and by leeches 
 and blisters. If the inflammation is not reduced by 
 these means, with a very sharp penknife, make an 
 early and free incision in the sides of the last joint 
 of the finger down to the hone. Suffer the blood to 
 run for a few minutes, and then treat it as a common 
 cut The same practice should be followed with 
 regard to the third. 
 
 PILES. 
 
 Symptoms. A pain in the fundament when gome 
 to stool, — on examination small tumours are perceived 
 to project beyond its verge. They are of two kinds, 
 the blind and bleeding. They may also be internal 
 and external. 
 
116 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 Causes. Costiveness, — sedentary habits, — aloetic 
 purgatives, — riding on horseback. 
 
 BLIND PILEfe. 
 
 Treatment. A diet of rye mush and milk, strictly 
 adhered to for a length of time, will very frequently 
 cure the disease. If they project, are swelled and 
 painful, apply twenty or thirty leeches to them, and 
 cold applications. The common gall ointment is a 
 very soothing application. Balsam copaiva in doses 
 sufficiently large to purge freely, is also highly re- 
 commended. A radical cure, however, is only to be 
 sought for in the knife or ligature, for which apply to 
 a surgeon. If the pain is very great, laudanum may 
 be taken to ease it. 
 
 BLEEDING PILES. 
 
 Treatment. If the bleeding is considerable, inject 
 a solution of alum or a decoction of oak bark, or make 
 pressure upon the vessels by introducing a sheep's 
 gut, tied at one end, into the fundament, and then 
 filling it with any astringent fluid by a clyster pipe. 
 This evacuation is sometimes salutary, arid it often 
 requires much judgment to know if it should be stop- 
 ped or not. 
 
 OF ABSCESS. 
 
 Symptoms. The formation of matter under the 
 skin, or in any part of the body, preceded by inflam- 
 mation, and marked by a dull heavy weight, — by the 
 pain booming more acute and darting, — by a pecu- 
 
Abscess. 117 
 
 liar throbbing, — by the swelling becoming more ele- 
 vated and soft to the touch. If the tumour is not 
 opened it bursts. 
 
 Causes. Inflammation from injuries, or stimulus 
 of any kind. 
 
 Treatment. Apply a soft and warm bread and 
 milk, or linseed poultice to the part s and endeavour 
 to hasten the formation of matter. When this is evi- 
 dent, let it out with a sharp lancet. If the patient is 
 weak, let him have a generous diet with wine, por- 
 ter bark, &c. 
 
 PSOAS ABSCESS. 
 
 Symptoms. A weakness across the loins accom- 
 panied by a dull pain. After a while, the pain shifts 
 from the back to the thigh and hip, becoming more 
 darting and severe. The glands in the groin swell, 
 and at last a soft tumour is perceived at the lower 
 edge of the groin, or by the side of the fundament, — 
 the swelling increases to a large size, and sometimes 
 extends itself down the thigh. 
 
 Causes. Scrofula, — straining of the back, — blows, 
 &c. 
 
 Distinguish it from a rupture, by the preceding 
 pain in the loins, and by the fluctuation. 
 
 Treatment. In the early stage, bleed and purge 
 the patient, keep him on a low diet, and apply a large 
 blister over the lower part of the back. Confine- 
 ment in bed is absolutely necessary. When matter 
 is formed, make an opening into the tumour in the 
 following manner — push a sharp lancet first through 
 the skin, then obliquely upwards under it, and then 
 by depressing the point pierce the swelling itself. 
 In this way the abscess is opened without the danger 
 that attends wounds of large cavities. If it is small, 
 the whole of the matter may be allowed to flow away 
 at once; if large, after drawing a pint, close the wound 
 
118 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 for a few hours and then finish the operation. The 
 lips of the wound must be kept together by sticking 
 plaster. As there are many vessels of importance in 
 the groin, care must be taken to avoid wounding 
 them, and if a surgeon can be had, he should always 
 be applied to for this purpose. The disease is said 
 to have been cured by blistering the tumour, and 
 keeping it open with the savin ointment. ■ 
 
 OF FISTULA 
 
 Symptoms. An abscess or ulcer in the neighbour- 
 hood of the fundament, preceded by an inflamed hard 
 swelling, which gives much pain. If there is no 
 communication between the gut and the sore, it is 
 called an incomplete, if there is, a complete fistula. 
 
 Treatment. As the tumour is often taken for 
 piles, attention should be paid to distinguish them. 
 In all cases apply forty or fifty leeches to the part, 
 keep the bowels perfectly loose by a diet of rye 
 mush, and confine the patient to his bed. If, how- 
 ever, the formation of matter cannot be hindered, 
 the swelling must be opened early and a poultice 
 applied to it, when the disease occasionally heals 
 like any other sore, but nine times out of ten it forms 
 a callous winding abscess, through which (if it is 
 complete) excrement, &c. often pass. When it ar- 
 rives at this point, nothing but an operation can 
 ever be of any service. 
 
 There is another species of fistulous opening, 
 which follows the obstruction, caused by strictures. 
 &c. in the urinary passage. The water not being 
 able to flow through the natural canal, makes its 
 way out between the bag and the fundament, con- 
 stituting what is called fistula in perineo. It may 
 almost be called an incurable disease; at all events 
 none but a surgeon can do any thing to relieve <L 
 
Ulcers. 119 
 
 OF ULCERS. 
 
 • By ulcers are meant holes or sores in the skin 
 and flesh, which discharge matter. They are 
 divided into inflamed, fungous, sloughing, and 
 indolent, ulcers in the neighbourhood of carious 
 bone, and those attended by a peculiar dis- 
 eased action. 
 
 INFLAMED ULCER. 
 
 Symptoms. The margin of the sore is ragged, 
 —the skin ending in a sharp edge around it. 
 The neighbouring parts are red, swelled and 
 painful, the bottom of the ulcer is uneven and 
 covered with a white spongy substance. In 
 place of a healthy yellow matter, it discharges 
 a thin fluid; the surface of it bleeds on the 
 slightest touch. 
 
 Treatment. Keep affected part elevated so 
 that it is on a level with the body, and amend 
 the general health. For local treatment, put two 
 teaspoonfuls of the 50 per cent, solution of 
 carbolic acid into a pint of water that has been 
 previously sterilized by boiling, and wash the 
 ulcer, then dry it with plegets of aseptic cot- 
 ton, dust over it a complete layer of boric acid, 
 cover it with aseptic gauze, and wrap with 
 bandage. To remove dressing, unwind band- 
 age, cut away all gauze that is free, and then 
 soak loose all that is adherent, in a carbolized 
 solution prepared as above, and dress as be- 
 fore. Renew dressing every day to every fourth 
 day according to the discharge and the way 
 dressings are soiled. By following these direc- 
 tions, and never using any ointments, or greasy 
 condiments to come in contact with the ulcer, 
 it will generally improve rapidly, and the 
 fungous and indolent varieties of ulcers will 
 rarely be met with. 
 
120 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 UNGOUS ULCERS. 
 
 Symptoms. The presence of large round, 
 granulations rising above the level of the ad- 
 joining parts, or what is commonly called 
 proud flesh, marks this species of ulcer. 
 
 Treatment. After washing and drying the 
 same as in inflamed ulcers, touch the granula- 
 tion with caustic, and then apply the same 
 dressing as for inflamed ulcers. 
 
 SLOUGHING ULCER. 
 
 Symptoms. The death of parts of an ulcer 
 which mortify and fall off, — generally attended 
 by fever and pain. 
 
 Treatment. The diet should be generous, 
 and take some alterative tonic, such as 20 drops 
 of the syrup of the iodide of iron, in water, 
 three times daily at meal time. Wash and 
 dress as in inflamed ulcers, removing all the 
 dead portions whenever possible. 
 
 INDOLENT ULCER. 
 
 Symptoms. The edges of the skin are thick, 
 raised, smooth and shining. The points of new 
 flesh are glossy, and the appearance of the 
 whole ulcer is that of an old one in which the 
 healing process is at a stand. 
 
 Treatment. Follow the directions for fung- 
 ous ulcers, touching the caustic to all the in- 
 dolent parts, then waiting several days or un- 
 til the ulcer becomes indolent again, when it 
 should be touched as before. Take the syrup 
 of the iodide of iron. 
 
Carious Ulcer. 121 
 
 CAEIOUS ULCER. 
 
 Symptoms. Ulcers situated over or near 
 carious (or dead) bone, they are thereby pre- 
 vented from healing-, — they frequently pene- 
 trate deep into the parts, forming a canal with 
 hard and indolent sides, that discharges an 
 offensive unhealthy matter. 
 
 Treatment. Sometimes the dead bone may 
 be thrown off and come away itself; but there 
 is always danger of the caries spreading into 
 the healthy bone and doing extensive damage, 
 and for this reason it is advisable to have a 
 surgeon remove all the diseased bone, at once, 
 which has the advantage of cutting short the 
 patient's suffering and having the ulcer healed 
 within a few days. 
 
 SCORBUTIC ULCER. 
 
 See Scurvey. 
 
 SCROFULUS ULCER. 
 
 See Scrofula. 
 
 VENEREAL ULCER. 
 
 See Syphilis. 
 
122 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Of Accident*. 
 
 GENERAL DIRECTIONS. 
 
 Whenever, a blow has been inflicted, whether by 
 being thrown from a horse, — out of a carriage, — by 
 falling from a height, or in any other way, the first 
 thing is to examine for any bruised or wounded 
 places or broken bones, and apply ice or cold water 
 cloths over the parts. This rule admits of but one 
 exception, and that is, when the violence has been 
 so great as nearly to extinguish all the powers of life, 
 in which case it is proper to wait for symptoms of 
 returning animation. To hasten these, a little wine 
 and water, or other stimulus may be given. 
 
 If, in consequence of a broken bone or other inj ury, 
 the patient is unable to walk, take a door from its 
 hinges, lay him carefully on it, and have him carried 
 by assistants to the nearest house. If no door or sofa 
 can be procured, two boards, sufficiently long and 
 broad, should be nailed to two cross pieces, the ends 
 of which must project about a foot, so as to form han- 
 dles. If in the woods, or where no boards can be 
 procured, a litter may be formed from the branches 
 of trees. In this way a hand-barrow may be con- 
 structed in a few minutes, on which the sufferer may 
 be properly carried. 
 
 If he has been wounded and bleeds, the bleeding 
 must be stopped before he is removed. 
 
 Having reached a house, lay him on a bed, and 
 indr3ss him with care and gentleness. If any diifi- 
 
MODE OF BANDAGING. 
 
General Directions, 123 
 
 culty arises in getting off his coat or pantaloons, rip 
 up the seams, rather than use force. This being 
 done, proceed to ascertain the nature of the injury. 
 
 This may be either simple or compound; that is, it 
 •nay be a contusion or bruise, a wound, fracture or 
 dislocation, or it may be two or all of them united in 
 one or several parts. 
 
 A contusion is the necessary consequence of 
 every blow, and is known by the swelling and dis- 
 coloration of the skin. 
 
 Wounds are self-evident. 
 
 Fractures are known by the sudden and severe 
 pain, — by the misshapen appearance of the Jimb, — 
 sometimes, by its being shortened, — by the patient 
 being unable to move it without excruciating pain, — 
 but most certainly, by grasping the limb above and 
 below the spot where the fracture is supposed to 
 exist, and twisting it different ways, when a grating 
 will be felt, occasioned by the broken ends of the 
 bone rubbing against each other. If the swelling, 
 however, is very great, this experiment should not 
 be made until it is reduced. 
 
 Dislocations, or bones being out of joint, are 
 Imown by the deformity of the joint when compared 
 with its fellow, — by the pain and inability to move 
 the limb, — by its being longer or shorter than usual, 
 and by the impossibility of moving it in particular 
 directions. 
 
 OF CONTUSION. 
 
 if slight, bathe the part frequently with cold vine- 
 gar and water for a few hours, and then rub it well 
 with brandy, or spirits of any kind. Should it be 
 very great, or so as to have affected the whole body, 
 which may be known by a general soreness, bleed 
 and purge the patient, and confine him to a diet of 
 rice water, lemonade, panada, &c. If fever comes 
 
124 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 on, repeat the bleeding, purging, &c. In all cases of 
 this nature, be sure the water is regularly evacuated, 
 for it sometimes happens that in consequence of the 
 nerves of the bladder being palsied by the blow, the 
 patient feels no desire to pass it, though the bladder 
 be full. If a suppression ensues, pass a catheter, if 
 possible, or procure assistance for that purpose. 
 
 OF SPRAINS. 
 
 Plunge the part sprained into very cold water, and 
 hold it there as long at a time as you can bear it — 
 for several hours — then rub it well with camphorated 
 spirits If the accident has happened to a joint, as 
 in the ankle, and it remains weak, pour cold water 
 on it from the spout of a tea kettle, held at a distance, 
 several times in the day. The most serious effect, 
 however, resulting from contusion, is when the blow 
 is applied to the head, producing either concussion 
 or compression of the brain. 
 
 CONCUSSION OF THE BRAIN. 
 
 Symptoms. The patient is stunned,— his 
 breathing- is slow, drowsiness, — stupidity,— the 
 pupil of the eye rather contracted, — vomiting. 
 After a time he recovers. 
 
 Treatment. Confine the patient in a quiet 
 room, — apply ice bags to his head, — and open 
 his bowels with liquid citrate of magnesia or 
 epsom salts. He should be kept in a quite 
 situation, and every measure taken to prevent 
 inflammation of the brain. 
 
 For inflammation of the brain see cerebro- 
 spinal meningitis. 
 
Compression of the Brain. 12c 
 
 COMPRESSION OF THE BRAIN 
 
 Symptoms. Loss of sense and motion, — slow, noisy 
 and laborious breathing, — pulse slow and irregular, 
 — the muscles relaxed, as in a person just dead, — the 
 pupil of the eye enlarged and will not contract even 
 by a strong light, — the patient lies like one in an 
 apoplectic fit, and cannot be roused. 
 
 Treatment. Open a vein and draw off sixteen 
 or twenty ounces of blood, shave the head, and if 
 possible, procure surgical assistance without delay, 
 as there is nothing but an operation that can be of 
 any avail. 
 
 OF WOUNDS. 
 
 Wounds are of three kinds, viz. incised, puncturea 
 and contused, — among the latter are included gun- 
 shot wounds. The first step in all wounds, is 
 
 TO STOP THE BLEEDING. 
 
 If the flow of blood is but trifling, draw the edges 
 of the wound together with your hand, and hold them 
 in that position some time, when it will frequently 
 stop. If, on the contrary, it is large, of a bright red 
 colour, flowing in spirts or with a jerk, clap your fin- 
 ger on the spot it springs from, and hold it there with 
 a firm pressure, while you direct some one to pass a 
 handkerchief round the limb (supposing the wound 
 to be in one) above the cut, and to tie its two ends to- 
 gether in a hard knot. A cane, whip-handle or stick 
 of any kind, must now be passed under the knot (be- 
 tween the upper surface of the limb and the hand- 
 kerchief) and turned round and round until the stick 
 is brought down to the thigh, so as to make the hand- 
 kerchief encircle it with considerable lightness. You 
 ttiay then take offvour finger: if the blood still flows 
 
126 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 tighten the handkerchief by a turn or two of the stick, 
 until it ceases. The patient may now be removed 
 'taking care to secure the stick in its position) with- 
 out running any risk of bleeding to death by the way. 
 
 As this apparatus cannot be left on for any length 
 of time, without destroying the life of the parts, en- 
 deavour as soon as possible to secure the bleeding 
 vessels, and take it off Having waxed together 
 three or four threads of a sufficient length, cut the 
 ligature they form, into as many pieces as you think 
 there are vessels to be taken up, each piece being 
 about a foot long Wash the parts with warm water, 
 and then with a sharp hook, or a slender pair of pin- 
 cere in your hand, fix your eye steadfastly upon the 
 wound, and direct the handkerchief to be relaxed by 
 a turn or two of the stick; you will now see the 
 mouth of the artery from which the blood prings, 
 seize it with your hook or pincers, draw it a little 
 out, while some one passes a ligature round it and 
 ties it up tight, with a double knot. In this way take 
 up in succession every bleeding vessel you can see 
 or get hold of. 
 
 If the wound is too high up in a limb to apply the 
 handkerchief, do not lose your presence of mind,* the 
 bleeding can still be commanded. If it is the thigJi, 
 press f.rmly in the groin, — if in the arm, with the 
 hand-end or ring of a common door key, make pressure 
 above the collar bone, and about its middle against 
 the first rib which lies under it. The pressure is to 
 oe continued until assistance is procured, and the 
 vessel tied up. 
 
 If the wound is on the head, press your finger firmly 
 
 * A little practice on himself or others, would soon 
 enable any one to compress the great arteries in these 
 f\vo situations. And it is well worth the time spent 
 in doing so. Many a man has bled to death before a 
 surgeon could be procured, although surrounded with 
 persons who, by the simple process above mentioned 
 might have preserved him 
 
MODE OF BANDAGING, 
 
W( unds. 127 
 
 on it, until a compress can be brought, which must 
 be bound firmly over the artery by a bandage. If 
 the wound is in the face, or so situated that pressure 
 cannot be effectually made, or you cannot get hold 
 of the vessel, and the blood flows fast, ph.ce a piece 
 of ice direcihj over the wound, and let it remain there 
 till the blood coagulates, when it may be removed and 
 a compress and bandage be applied 
 
 INCISED WOUNDS. 
 
 By an incised wound, is meant a clean cut. 
 Attempt to stop the bleeding, wash away all 
 dirt, and cleanse the wound perfectly clean 
 with water which has been sterilized by boil- 
 ing. If possible, add some antiseptic to this 
 sterilized water, such as two teaspoonfuls of 
 the 50 per cent, solution of carbolic acid to 
 each pint of water; or some boric acid or cor- 
 rosive sublimate. If the wound is too trivial to 
 require suturing, cover with aseptic or anti- 
 septic gauze and bandage. If suturing is neces- 
 sary, summon a surgeon. Suturing is per- 
 formed with cat-gut, kangaroo tendon, or silk, 
 specially prepared for surgeon's use. After the 
 wound is sutured, cover with gauze and band- 
 age. By observing the strictest cleanliness, and 
 letting nothing come in contact with the wound, 
 except what has been sterilized, or made free 
 from germs by antiseptics, there is usually a 
 satisfactory healing, and very slight danger of 
 blood poisoning, lock jaw, etc. 
 
 From what has been said, it must be evident 
 that in all wounds, after arresting the flow of 
 
128 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 blood and cleansing the parts, if necessary, 
 the great indication is to bring their sides into 
 contact throughout their whole depth, in order 
 that they may grow together as quickly as 
 possible, and without the intervention of mat- 
 ter. To obtain this very desirable result, in 
 addition to the means already mentioned, 
 there are two things to be attended to, the po- 
 sition of the patient and the application of a 
 bandage. The position of the patient should 
 be such as will relax the skin and muscles of 
 the part wounded, thereby diminishing their 
 tendency to separate. 
 
 A common bandage of a proper width, passed 
 over the compresses moderately tight, not only 
 serves to keep them in their place, but also 
 tends by its pressure to forward the great 
 object already mentioned. If, however, the 
 wound is so extensive and painful that the 
 limb or body of the patient cannot be raised 
 for the purpose of applying or removing it, 
 the best way is to spread the two ends of one 
 or two strips of linen or leather with sticking 
 plaster, which may be applied in place of the 
 bandage, as follows: attach one end of a strip 
 to the sound skin, at a short distance from the 
 compress, over which it is to be drawn with 
 moderate firmness, and secured in a similiar 
 manner on its opposite side. A second or third 
 may, if necessary, be added in the same way. 
 
 In all wounds, if violent inflammation comes 
 on, reduce it by cold, purging, &c. ; but if there 
 is any reason to fear locked-jaw, give wine, 
 porter, brandy, opium, and a generous diet. 
 
Punctured Wounds. 129 
 
 PUNCTURED WOUNDS. 
 
 These are caused by sharp pointed instru- 
 ments, as needles, awls, nails, &c. Having 
 stopped the bleeding, withdraw any foreign 
 body, as part of a needle, splinters, bits of 
 glass, &c. that may be in it, provided it can be 
 done easily; and if enlarging the wound a little 
 will enable you to succeed in this, do so. 
 Though it is not always necessary to enlarge 
 wounds of this nature, yet in hot iveather it is a 
 mark of precaution, which should never be 
 omitted. As soon as this is done, pour a little 
 turpentine into the wound, or touch it with 
 caustic. This practice may prevent locked-jaw, 
 which is but too frequent a consequence of 
 wounds of this description. Cover the part 
 with antiseptic dressings, as in incised 
 wounds. 
 
 CONTUSED WOUNDS. 
 
 Wounds of this nature are caused by round 
 or blunt bodies, as musket balls, clubs, stones, 
 <fcc. They are in general attended by but little 
 bleeding; if, however, there should be any, it 
 must be stopped. If it arises from a ball 
 which can be easily found and withdrawn, it is 
 proper to do so, as well as any piece of the 
 clothing, &c. that may be in it; or if the ball 
 can be distinctly felt directly under the skin, 
 make an incision across it and take it out, but 
 never allow of any poking in the wound to 
 search for such things. Should the inflamma- 
 
130 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 tion be great, apply ice bladder. Pain may be 
 relieved by laudanam, and if the part3 assume 
 a dark look, threatening a mortification, cover 
 them with a blister. 
 
 If the wound is much torn, wash the parts 
 very nicely with warm water, and then (having 
 secured every bleeding vessel) lay them all 
 down in as natural a position as you can, 
 drawing their edges gently together, or as 
 much so as possible by stitches, if necessary. 
 
 POISONED WOUNDS, FROM BITES OF MAD 
 DOGS, RATTLE-SNAKES, &c. 
 
 The instant a person is bitten either by a mad dog, 
 rattle-snake, or any rabid animal, or reptile, he should 
 apply a ligature, by means of the stick (see directions 
 to stop bleeding, ante p. 125), above the wound, as 
 tightly as he can well bear it, and without hesitation 
 jr delay cut out the parts bitten, taking along with 
 them a portion of the surrounding sound flesh. The 
 wound should then be freely touched with caustic, 
 or have turpentine poured into it. By these means 
 inflammation will be excited, and suppuration follow 
 which may prevent the usual dreadful consequences 
 of such accidents. As soon as the parts are cut out, 
 take off the ligature. 
 
 Should the patient be too timid to allow the use ot 
 the knife, burn the wound \ery freely with caustic, 
 and place in it a tuft of tow or cotton, well moistened 
 with turpentine. The discharge of matter that fol 
 lows, should be kept up for some time, ^he only 
 reasonable chance of safety, is found in the above 
 plan, all the vegetable and mineral productions tha 
 have been hitherto recommenced as internal rem? 
 \lies being of verv doubtful, if of any efficacy 
 
Stings. 13i 
 
 STINGS OF BEES AND WASPS, BITES OF 
 MOSQUITOS, &c. 
 
 Nothing relieves the pain arising from the sting of 
 a hornet, bee, or wasp, so soon as plunging the part 
 in extremely cold water, and holding it there for 
 some time. A cold lead-water poultice is also a very- 
 soothing application. If a number of these insects 
 have attacked you at once, and the parts stung are 
 much swollen, lose some blood, and take a dose of 
 salts. 
 
 Mosquito-bites maybe treated in the same man- 
 ner, although I have found a solution of hartshorn 
 ami water, made very strong, the most speedy and 
 effectual in relieving the pain. Camphorated spirits, 
 vinegar, &c. may also be used for the same purpose 
 
 WOUNDS OF THE LIMBS, &c. 
 
 OF THE EAR, NOSE, &C. 
 
 Wash the parts clean, and draw the edges of the 
 wound together by as many stitches as are necessary. 
 If the part is even completely separated, and has been 
 trodden under foot, by washing it in warm water, and 
 placing it accurately m its proper place by the same 
 means, it may still adhere. 
 
 OF THE SCALP. 
 
 In all wounds of the scalp it is necessary to shave 
 off the hair. When this is done, wash the parts well, 
 and draw the edges of the wound together with stick- 
 ing plaster. If it has been violently torn up in seve- 
 ral pieces, wash and lay them all down on the skull 
 again, drawing their edges as nearly together as possi 
 
132 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 ble by sticking plaster, or if necessary, by stitches. 
 Cover the whole with a soft compress of cotton 
 and antiseptic gauze. 
 
 OF THE THROAT. 
 
 Seize and tie up every bleeding vessel you can get 
 hold of. If the wind pipe is cut only partly through, 
 secure it with sticking plaster; if it is completely 
 divided, bring its edges together by stitches, taking 
 care to pass the needle through the loose membrane 
 that covers the wind pipe, and not through the wind 
 pipe itself. The head should be bent on the breast, 
 and secured by bolsters and bandages in that position, 
 to favour the approximation of the edges of the wound. 
 
 OF THE CHEST 
 
 If it is a simple incised wound, draw the edges of 
 it together by sticking plaster, cover it with a com- 
 press of linen, and pass a bandage round the chest. 
 The patient is to be confined to his bed, kept on a 
 very low diet, and to be bled and purged, in order to 
 prevent inflammation. If the latter comes on, reduce 
 it by copious and frequent bleedings. 
 
 Should it be occasioned by a bullet, extract it, and 
 any pieces of cloth, &c. that may be lodged in it, if 
 possible, and cover the wound with a piece of linen 
 or preferably antiseptic gauze, LaKmg care that 
 it is not drawn into the chest. If a portion of the 
 lung protrudes, return it without any delay, but as 
 gently as possible. 
 
 OF THE BELLY. 
 
 Close the wound by strips of sticking plaster, and 
 stitches passed through the skin, about half an inch 
 from its edges, and cover the whole with a soft com- 
 press, secured by a bandage. Any inflammation that 
 may arise is to be reduced by ice, purging, and 
 u blister over the whole belly. 
 
 Should any part of the bowels come out at the 
 
Wounds. 133 
 
 wound, if clean and uninjured, return it as quickly 
 as possible; if covered with dirt, clots of blood, &c. 
 wash it carefully in warm water previous to so doing. 
 If the gut is wounded, and only cut partly through, 
 draw the two edges of it together by a stitch, and re- 
 turn it; if completely divided, connect the edges by 
 four stitches at equal distances, and replace it in the 
 belly, always leaving the end of the ligature project- 
 ing from the external wound, which must be closed 
 by sticking plaster. In five or six days, if the threads 
 are loose, withdraw them gently and carefully. 
 
 Bring the edges of the wound together by sticking 
 plaster, without any delay, keep the part perfectly at 
 Test, bleed, purge, and live very low, to prevent in- 
 flammation. Should it come on, it must be met at its 
 first approach by applying an ice bladder or cloths 
 dipped in cold water, over the joint, and by a blis- 
 ter covering the whole joint. If a permanent stiffen 
 ing of the joint seems likely to ensue, keep the liml 
 in that position which will prove most useful, that is, 
 the leg should be extended, and the arm bent at the 
 elbow. Wounds of joinis are always highly danger- 
 ous, and frequently terminate in death. 
 
 OF TENDONS. 
 
 Tendons or sinews are frequently wounded and 
 ruptured. They are to be treated precisely like any 
 other wound, by keeping their divided parts together. 
 The tendon which connects the great muscle form- 
 ing the calf of the leg, with the heel, called the ten- 
 don of Achilles, is frequently cut with the adze, and 
 ruptured in jumping from heights. This accident is 
 to be remedied by drawing up the heel, extending 
 the foot, and placing a splint on the fore-part of the 
 leg, extending from the knee to beyond the toes 
 which being secured in that position by a bandage, 
 keeps the foot in lhe position just mentioned. The 
 
134 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 hollows under the splint must be filled up with tow 
 or cotton If the skin falls into the space between 
 the ends of the tendon, apply a piece of sticking plas- 
 ter, so as to draw it out of the way. It takes five or 
 six weeks to unite, but no weight should be laid on 
 the limb for several months. 
 
 OF FRACTURES. 
 
 The signs by which fractures may be known, hav 
 ing been already pointed out with sufficient minute- 
 ness, it will be unnecessary to dv ell thereon ; it will 
 be well, however, to recollect this general rule: in 
 cases where, from the accompanying circumstances 
 and symptoms, a strong suspicion exists that the bone 
 is fractured, it is proper to act as though it were 
 positively ascertained to be so. 
 
 OF THE BONES OF THE NOSE. 
 
 The bones of the nose from their exposed situation, 
 are frequentlyaforced in. Any smooth article that 
 will pass into the nostril should be immediately intro- 
 duced with one hand, to raise the depressed portions 
 to the proper level, while the other is employed in 
 moulding them into the required shape. If violent 
 inflammation follows, apply ice, and live on a low 
 diet. 
 
 OF THE LOWER JAW. 
 
 This accident is easily discovered by looking into 
 the mouth, and is to be remedied by keeping the 
 lower jaw firmly pressed against the upper one, by 
 means of a bandage passed under the chin and over 
 the head. If it is broken near the angle, or that part 
 nearest the ear, place a cushion or roll of linen in the 
 hollow behind it, over which the bandage must pass, 
 so as to make it push that part of the bone forward 
 
Fractures 185 
 
 The parts are to be confined in this way for twenty 
 days, during which time, all the nourishment that is 
 taken, should be sucked between the teeth. If in 
 consequence of the blow, a tooth is loosened, do not 
 meddle with it, for if let alone it will grow fast again. 
 
 OF THE COLLAR BONE. 
 
 This accident is a very common occurrence, and 
 is known at once by passing the finger along it, and 
 Sy the swelling, <fec. To reduce it seat the patient 
 in a chair without any shirt, and place a pretty stout 
 compress of linen, made in the shape of a wedge, 
 under his arm, the thick end of which should press 
 against the arm-pit. His arm, bent to a right angle 
 at the elbow, is now to be brought down to his side, 
 and secured in that position by a long bandage, which 
 passes over tne arm of the affected side and round 
 the body. The fore-arm* is to be supported across 
 the breast by a sling. It takes from four to five weeks 
 to re-unite. 
 
 OF THE ARM. 
 
 Seat the patient on a chair, or the side of a bed, let 
 one assistant hold the sound arm, while another 
 grasps the wrist of the broken one and steadily ex- 
 tends it in an opposite direction, bending the fore- 
 arm a little, to serve as a lever. You can now place 
 the bones in their proper situation. Two splints of 
 shingle or stout pasteboard, long enough to reach 
 from below the shoulder to near the elbow, must 
 then be well covered with tow or cotton, and laid 
 along each side of the arm, and kept in that position 
 by a bandage. The fore-arm is to be supported in a 
 sling. Two smaller splints may for better security 
 be laid between the first ones, that is one on top, and 
 
 * By the fore-arm is meant that part of it which 
 reaches from the elbow to the wrist The arm ex 
 lends from the shoulder to the elbow. 
 
136 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 the other underneath ihe arm, to be secured by the 
 bandage in the same way as the others. 
 
 OF THE BONES OF THE FORE-ARM. 
 
 These are to be reduced precisely in the same 
 way, excepting the mode of keeping the upper por- 
 tion of it steady, which is done by grasping the arm 
 above the elbow. When the splints and bandage 
 are applied, support it in a sling. 
 
 OF THE WRIST, &C. 
 
 This accident is of rare occurrence. When it does 
 happen the injury is generally so great as to require 
 amputation. If you think the hand can be saved, 
 lay it on a splint well covered with tow; this extends 
 beyond the fingers; place another splint opposite to 
 it, lined with the same soft material, and secure them 
 by a bandage. The hand is to be carried in a sling. 
 
 The bones of the hand are sometimes broken. 
 When this is the case, fill the palm with soft com- 
 presses or tow, and then lay a splint on it long enough 
 to extend from the elbow to beyond the ends of the 
 fingers, to be secured by a bandage, as usual. 
 
 When a finger is broken, extend the end of it until 
 it becomes straight, place the fractured portion in its 
 place, and then apply two small pasteboard splints, 
 Due below and the other above, to be secured by a 
 narrow bandage. The top splint should extend from 
 the end of the finger over the back of the hand. It 
 may sometimes be proper to have two additional 
 splints for the sides of the finger. 
 
 OF THE RIBS. 
 
 When after a fall or blow, the patient complains 
 of a pricking pain in his side, we may suspect a rib 
 is broken. It is ascertained by placing the tips of 
 two or three fingers on the spot where the pain is, 
 and desiring the patient to cough, when the grating 
 sensation will :>e felt. All that is necessary, is to 
 
Fractures. 137 
 
 pans a broad bandage round the chest, so tig ht as to 
 prevent the motion of the ribs in breathing and to 
 observe a low diet 
 
 OF THE THIGH. 
 
 A fracture of this bone is known by the deformity 
 of the thigh, the shortness of the whole limb when 
 compared with its fellow, and by a great swelling at 
 the fractured part. All that can be done in the event 
 of this serious accident, is to send for the nearest 
 physician. The apparatus to reduce it is so complex 
 that none but a surgeon can apply it. 
 
 OF THE KNEE-CAP. 
 
 This accident is easily ascertained on inspection. 
 [t may be broken in any direction, but is most gene- 
 rally so across or transversely. It is reduced by 
 bringing the fragments together and keeping them 
 in that position by a long bandage passed carefully 
 round the leg, from the ankle to the knee, then press- 
 ing the upper fragment down so as to meet its fellow, 
 (the leg being extended) and placing a thick compress 
 of linen above it, over which fhe bandage is to be 
 continued. 
 
 The extended limb is now to be laid on a broad 
 splint, extending from the buttock to the heel, thickly 
 covered with tow to nil up the inequalities of the leg. 
 For additional security, two strips of muslin may be 
 nailed to the middle of the splint, one on each side, 
 and passed about the joint, the one below, the other 
 above, so as to form a figure of eight. ' In twenty or 
 thirty days, the limb should be moved a little to pre- 
 vent stiffness. 
 
 If the fracture is ihrough its length, bring the paru 
 together, place a compress on each side, and keep 
 them together with a bandage, leaving the limb ex- 
 tended and at rest. Any inflammation in this, or 
 other fracture, is to be combated by cold applica 
 tions, &q. &e. 
 
138 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 OF THE LEG. 
 
 From the thinness of the parts covering the princi- 
 pal bone of the leg, it is easy to ascertain if it is bro- 
 ken obliquely. If) however, the fracture be directly 
 across, no displacement will occur, but the pain, 
 swelling, and the grating sensation, will sufficiently 
 decide the nature of the accident. 
 
 If the fracture is oblique, let two assistants extend 
 the limb, while the broken parts are placed by the 
 hand in their natural position. Two splints that 
 reach from a little above the knee, to nine or ten 
 nches below the foot, having near the upper end of 
 each, four holes, and a vertical mortice near the 
 lower end into which is fitted a cross piece, are now 
 50 be applied as follows. Lay two pieces of tape, 
 ibout a foot lung, on each side of the leg, just below 
 he knee joint, and secure them there by several turns 
 )f a bandage ; pass a silk handkerchief round the 
 inkle, cross ic on the instep, and tie it under the sole 
 A' the foot. The two splints are now placed one on 
 each side of the lejg, the four ends of the pieces of 
 tape passed through the four holes and firmly tied, 
 and the crosa piece placed in the mortice. By tying 
 (he ends of the handkerchief to this cross piece the 
 business is finished. 
 
 If the fracture is across, and no displacement exists, 
 app t y two splints of stout pasteboard, reaching from 
 the heel to the knee, and well covered with tow, one 
 on each side of the leg, securing them by a bandage 
 passing round the limb, and outside the splints. 
 
 OF THE BONES OF THE FOOT. 
 
 The bone of the heel is sometimes, though rarely, 
 broken. It is known by a crack at the moment of the 
 accident, a difficulty in standing, by the swelling, and 
 by the grating noise on moving the heel. To reduce 
 it, take a long bandage, lay the end of it on the top 
 
THE DORSAL SURFACE OF THE LEFT FOOT. 
 
 1, the astragalus, its upper articular surface. 2, its an- 
 terior extremity, which articulates with (4) the sca- 
 phoid bone. 3, the oscalcis, or heel-bone. 4. the sca- 
 phoid bone. 5, the internal cuneiform bone. 6, the 
 middle cuneiform bone. 7, the external cuneiform 
 bone. 8, the cuboid bone. 9, the metatarsal bones of 
 the first and second toes. 10, 11, the first and second 
 phalanges of the great toe. 12, 13, 14, the first, second, 
 and third phalanges of the second toe. 
 
Fractures. 139 
 
 of the foot, carry it over the toes under the sole, and 
 then by several turns secure it in that position. 
 
 The foot being extended as much as possible, carry 
 the bandage along the back of the leg above the 
 knee, where it is to be secured by several turns, and 
 then brought down on the front of the leg, to which 
 it is secured by circular turns. In this way the bro- 
 ken pieces will be kept in contact, and in the course 
 of a month or six weeks will be united. 
 
 Fractures of the foot, toes, &c. are to be treated like 
 those of the hand and fingers. 
 
 OF DISLOCATIONS. 
 
 The signs by which a dislocation may be known, 
 have been already mentioned. It is well to recollect 
 that the sooner the attempt is made to reduce it, the 
 easier it will be done. The strength of one man, 
 properly applied at the moment of the accident, will 
 often succeed in restoring the head of a bone to its 
 place, which in a few days would have required the 
 combined efforts of men and pulleys. If after several 
 trials with the best apparatus that can be mustered, 
 you find you cannot succeed, make the patient drink 
 strong hot toddy, of brandy or other spirits, until he 
 is very drunk. In this way, owing to the relaxed 
 state of the muscles, a very slight force will often be 
 sufficient, where a very great one has been previ- 
 ously used without effect. 
 
 If any objections are made to this proceeding, or 
 if the patient will not consent to it, having your ap- 
 paratus (which is presently to be mentioned) all 
 ready, let him inhale chloroform or ether until com 
 pletely under its influence ; the iustant this happen? 
 apply your extending and counter-extending forces 
 Another important n le is, to vary the direction of 
 the extending force A slight pull in one way, will 
 
140 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 often effect what has been in vain attempted by great 
 force in another. 
 
 OF THE LOWER JAW. 
 
 This accident, which is occasioned by blows, or 
 /awning, is known by an inability to shut the mouth, 
 and the projection of the chin. To reduce it, seat 
 the patient in a chair with his head supported bv the 
 breast of an assistant, who stands behind him. Your 
 thumbs being covered with leather, are then to be 
 pushed between the jaws, as far back as possible,, 
 while with the fingers, outside, you grasp the bone, 
 which is to be pressed downwards at the same time 
 that the chin is raised. If this is properly done, the 
 bone will be found moving, when the chin is to be 
 pushed backwards, and the thumbs slipped between 
 the jaws and the cheeks. If this is not done, they 
 will be bitten by the sudden snap of the teeth as they 
 come together. The jaws should be kept closed by 
 a bandage for a few days, and the patient live upon 
 soup. 
 
 OF THE COLLAR BONE 
 
 This bone is rarely dislocated. Should it occur 
 apply the bandages, &c. directed for a fracture of 
 the same part. 
 
 OF THE SHOULDER. 
 
 Dislocation of the shoulder is the most common 
 of all accidents of the kind. It is very easily known 
 by the deformity of the joint, and the head of the 
 bone being found in some unnatural position. To 
 reduce it, seat the patient in a chair, place one hand 
 on the prominent part of the shoulder blade, just 
 above the spot where tne head of the bone should 
 be, while with the other you grasp the arm above 
 the elbow and puli it outwards. 
 
 Should this not succeed, lay the patient on the 
 ground, piace your heel in his arm-pit, and steadily 
 
Dislocations. 141 
 
 and forcibly extend the arm, by grasping it at the 
 wrist. The same thing may be tried in various posi- 
 tions, as placing yourself on the ground with him ; 
 laying him on a low bed, while you are standing 
 near the foot of it, &c. 
 
 If this fails, pass a strong band over the shoulder, 
 carry it across the breast, give the ends to assistants, 
 or fasten them to a staple in the wall ; the middle of 
 a strong band or folded towel is now to be laid on the 
 arm above the elbow, and secured there by numerous 
 turns of a bandage. The two ends of the towel be- 
 ing then given to assistants, or connected with a 
 pulley, a steady, continued and forcible extension is 
 to be made, while with your hands you endeavour 
 to push the head of the bone into its place. 
 
 OF THE ELBOW. 
 
 If the patient has fallen on his hands, or holds ni& 
 arm bent at the elbow, and every endeavour to 
 straighten it gives \im pain, it is dislocated back- 
 wards. Seat him in a chair, let one person grasp the 
 arm near the shoulder, and another the wrist, and 
 forcibly extend it, while you interlock the fingers of 
 both hands just above the elbow, and pull it back- 
 wards, remembering that under those circumstances, 
 whatever degree of force is required, should be ap- 
 plied in this direction. 
 
 The elbow is sometimes dislocated sideways or 
 laterally. To reduce it, make extension by pulling 
 at the wrist, while some one secures the arm above, 
 then push the bone into its place, either inwards or 
 outwards, as may be required. After the reduction 
 of a dislocated elbow, keep the joint at perfect rest 
 for five or six days, and then move it gently. If in- 
 flammation comes on, apply ice bladder, &c. Ac. 
 
 OF THE WRIST, FINGERS, &C. 
 
 Dislocations of the wrist, fingers and thumb, are 
 readily perceived on examination; they are all to be 
 
142 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 reduced by forcibly extending the lower extremity 
 of the part, and pushing the bones into their place. 
 If necessary, small bands may be secured to the fin- 
 gers by a narrow bandage, to facilitate the extension. 
 These accidents should be attended to without delay 
 for if neglected for a little time, they become ir 
 remediable. 
 
 OF THE THIGH. 
 
 Notwithstanding the hip joint is the strongest one 
 in the body, it is sometimes dislocated. When this 
 accident occurs, which may be readily ascertained 
 by comparing the limb with its fellow, &c. send foi 
 a surgeon as soon as possible. 
 
 OF THE KNEE-CAP. 
 
 When this little bone is dislocated, it is evident en 
 the slightest glance. To reduce it, lay the patient 
 on his back, straighten the leg, lift it up to a right 
 angle with his body, and in that position push the 
 bone back to its place. The knee should be kept at 
 rest for a few days. 
 
 OF THE LEG 
 
 Procure a surgeon as quickly as possible. 
 
 OF THE FOOT. 
 
 The foot is seldom dislocated. Should it happen, 
 however, let one person secure- the leg, and another 
 draw the foot, while you push the bone in the con- 
 trary way to that in which it was forced out The 
 part is then to be covered with compresses dipped 
 in lead water, and a splint appi ed on each side of 
 the leg that reaches below the foot Aer«dents of 
 this nature are always dangerous, an mat can be 
 done to remedy them consists in the speedy reduc- 
 tion of the bone, keeping the parts at rest, and 
 subduing inflammation by cold, low diet, <fec. <fce. 
 
Compound Accidents. 14S 
 
 OF COMPOUND ACCIDENTS. 
 
 Having spoken of the treatment to be pursued for 
 a bruise, wound, fracture and dislocation, as happen- 
 ing singly, it remains to state what is to be done when 
 they are united. 
 
 We will suppose that a man has been violently 
 thrown from a carriage. On examination, a wound 
 is found in his thigh bleeding profusely, his ankle is 
 out of joint w T ith a wound communicating with its 
 cavity, and the leg broken. 
 
 In the first place stop the bleeding from the wound 
 in the thigh; reduce the dislocation next ; draw me 
 edges of the wounds together with sticking plaster: 
 *nd procure a surgeon as quickly as possible. 
 
 If, instead of a wound, fracture and dislocation, 
 thero is a concussion or compression of the bram, a 
 lislocati^n and fracture, attend to the concussion 
 first, the dislocation next, and the fracture the last 
 
 OF AMPUTATION. 
 
 This operation should never be attempted except 
 by a surgeon. 
 
 If a limb be nearly severed from the body by ac- 
 cident, and hang merely by a slip of skin or muscle, 
 it may be divided with a sharp knife. 
 
 OF SUSPENDED ANIMATION 
 
 FROM DROWNING. 
 
 The common methods of rolling the body oi a 
 drowned person on a barrel, or holding it up "by the 
 
144 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 heels, &c. are full of danger, and should never be 
 permitted. If a spark of life should happen to re- 
 main, this violence would extinguish it for ever.* As 
 soon, therefore, as the body is found, convey it as 
 gently as possible to the nearest house, strip it of the 
 wet clothes, dry it well, and place it on a bed be- 
 tween warm blankets, on the right side, with the 
 head elevated by pillows. Every part is now to be 
 well rubbed with flannels dipped in warm brandy, or 
 spirits of any kind, while a warming pan, hot bricks, 
 or bottles or bladders filled with warm water, are 
 applied to the stomach, back, and soles of the feet. 
 During these operations a certain number of the as- 
 sistants (no more persons are to be allowed in the 
 room than are absolutely necessary) should try to 
 inflate the lungs, by blowing through the nozzle of a 
 common bellows, or a pipe of any kind, placed in 
 one nostril, while the other with the mouth is kept 
 closed. An assistant standing at the head of the 
 body should take hold of the arms at the wrists, 
 and raise the arms up to the head, and then throw 
 them forward on the chest, thus dilating and con- 
 tracting the thorax, making artificial respiration. 
 
 All these operations, particularly rubbing the body 
 and trying to inflate the lungs, should be continued 
 for six or eight hours, and when the patient has come 
 to himself, small quantities of warm wine, wine- 
 whey, brandy and water, &c. may be given to him, 
 from time to time 
 
 Should the accident occur in winter, and the body 
 feel cold, as if frozen; previously to applying warmth, 
 rub it well with snow, ice, or very cold water 
 Above all things remember that perseverance for 
 many hours in the remedies pointed out, may give 
 
 * The seal of the Humane Society beautifully* ex 
 presses this fact. It represents a little boy blowing 
 a coal, the motto 'If I mistake not> " a spark may re 
 
Suspended Animation. 145 
 
 you the unspeakable pleasure of restoring & fellow 
 Creature to life. 
 
 FROM COLD. 
 
 Take the body into a room, the doors and windows 
 of which are open, and where there is no fire, and 
 c ub it with snow,* or cold water. After a while, fric- 
 tions with flannels and hot spirits are to be used, as in 
 the preceding case, and warmth very gradually ap 
 plied. The lungs are 10 be inflated as directed in 
 cases of drowning, and when the pau>nt i& able to 
 swallow, warm wine, &c. may be given in small 
 quantities. 
 
 If a limb is frost-bitten, the cold applications shoulc 
 be continued longer, and warmth be more gradually 
 applied than when the whole body is frozen. Care 
 should be taken to handle the parts carefully, so as 
 not to break off the ear, tip of the nose, <fec. 
 
 FROM HANGING. 
 
 The remedies for this accident are the same as in 
 drowning, with the addition of taking away a small 
 quantity of blood, by cupping glasses, from the neck, 
 or by opening the jugular vein. 
 
 FROM FOUL AIR. 
 
 Throw open the doors and window's, or take tne» 
 patient into the open air, and seat him, undressed, 
 well wrapped in a blanket, in a chair, leaning a little 
 to the right side, place his feet or whole body in a 
 bath, and sprinkle his stomach w 7 ith cold vinegar oi 
 w 7 ater, and rub it immediately with flannels dipped 
 in oil. Clysters of vinegar and water are to be in- 
 
 * If this can be procured in plenty, the patient, 
 with the exception of his face, which should be left 
 out, may be completely covered with it to the thick- 
 ness of two feet. 
 K 
 
146 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 jected, and when animation returns, continue the 
 frictions, and give warm mint tea, &c. 
 
 OF SWALLOWING POISONS. 
 
 The first thing to be done when a person is dis- 
 covered 10 have swallowed poison is, to ascertain 
 what it is he has taken: the next, to be speedy in 
 resorting to its appropriate remedies. If any one of 
 these cannot be had, try some other without loss of 
 time. 
 
 Oil of Vitriol, — Aqua Fortis, — Spirits of Sea Salt, 
 — Oxalic Acid. 
 
 Symptoms. A burning heat in the mouth, throat 
 and stomach, — stinking breath, — an inclination to 
 vomit, or vomiting of various matters mixed with 
 blood, — hiccups, — costiveness or stools more or less 
 bloody, — pain in the belly, so great that the weight 
 of a sheet cannot be borne, — burning thirst, — diffi- 
 culty of breathing, — suppression of urine, &c. 
 
 Remedies. — Mix an ounce of calcined magnesia 
 with a pint of water, and give a glassful eveiy two 
 minutes. If it is not. at hand, use flaxseed tea, rice 
 water, or water alone in large quantities, until the 
 former can be procured. If it cannot be obtained, 
 dissolve an ounce of soap in a pint of water, and take 
 a glassfu. every two minutes; chalk or whiting may 
 also be taken by the mouth, and clysters of milk be 
 frequently injected. If the patient will not vomit, 
 put him m the warm bath, bleed him freely, and 
 apply leeches and blisters over the parts pained. If 
 the cramps and convulsions continue, give him a cup 
 cf common tea, with an ounce of sugar, forty drops 
 of Hoffman's anodyne and fifteen or twenty of lauda- 
 num e^ ?ry quarter of an hour. No nourishment but 
 
Sicallowmg Poisons. 147 
 
 weetened rice water is to be taken for several days. 
 In these cases never give tartar emetic, ipecacuanha, 
 or tickle the throat with a feather; they only increase 
 the evil. 
 
 ALKALIES. 
 
 Caustic Potash, — Caustic Soda, — Volatile Alkali. 
 
 Symptoms. These substances occasion the same 
 effects as acids, producing dreadful convulsions. 
 
 Remedies. Take two table spoonsful of vinegar 
 or lime juice in a glass of water at once, follow it up 
 by drinking large quantities of sugar and water. 
 Pursue the same treatment as in poisons from acids. 
 
 MERJ'JRY. 
 
 Corrosive Sublimate, — Red Precipitate, — Vermilion. 
 
 Symptoms. Constriction and great pain in the 
 throat, stomach and bowels, — vomiting of various 
 matters mixed with blood, — unquenchable thirst, — 
 difficulty of urine, — convulsions. 
 
 Remedies. Mix the white- of a dozen or fifteen 
 eggs with two pints of cold water, and give a glassful 
 every two minutes, with as much milk as can be 
 swallowed, and large doses of ipecacuanha. If aftei 
 the egg mixture is all taken, the vomiting does not 
 stop, repeat the dose, with the addition of more 
 water. Leeches, the warm bath, blisters, &c. are to 
 be used to reduce the pain and inflammation, as be 
 fore directed. 
 
 Symptoms. These are the same as produced by 
 the mercurial poisons. 
 
 Rejiedies. Give large quantities of cold sugar and 
 water, until a plentiful vomiting is induced, to assist 
 which, ipecacuanha* may be taken in considerable 
 
 * To render it more active, ten grain? of sulphate 
 of zinc may be added to it. 
 
148 Compendium of Domestic Medici?ie. 
 
 doses at the same time ;* barley, rice water, flaxseeu 
 tea, milk, &c. should afterwards be employed. Oil 
 is never to be used in this case until the symptoms 
 have considerably abated, or the poison has been 
 ejected. 
 
 corPEit. 
 The symptoms occasioned by swallowing verdigris, 
 are nearly the same as those of' the mercurial poisons. 
 The great remedy is large quantities of sweetened 
 water. In addition to this, use all the means recom- 
 mended for corrosive sublimate, &c. 
 
 ANTIMONY. 
 
 Antimonial Wine, — Tartar Emetic, — Butter of An- 
 timony, tyc. 
 
 Symptoms. Excessive vomiting, — pain and cramp 
 in the stomach, — convulsions, &c. 
 
 Remedies. Encourage the vomiting by sugar and 
 water, and if after a while it does not stop, give a 
 grain of opium in a glass of the sweetened water, 
 every fifteen minutes. To relieve the pain, apply 
 leeches to the stomach, throat or parts affected. 
 
 SALTS OF TIN. 
 
 Give as much milk as can be got down, and if it is 
 not at hand, use large quantities of cold water to in- 
 duce vomiting. If the symptoms do not abate, pursue 
 the plan directed for acids. 
 
 SALTS OF BISMUTH, GOLD AND ZINC. 
 
 Pursue the plan recommended for arsenic. 
 
 LUNAR CAUSTIC 
 
 Dissolve two table spoonsful of common table saU, 
 in two pints of water; a few glasses of this will in- 
 
 * Equal parts of lime w T ater and sugared water may 
 also be used. 
 
Swallowing Poisons. 149 
 
 duce vomiting If not relieved, drink flaxseed tea. 
 apply leeches, &c. as for acids. 
 
 SALT-PETRE. 
 
 Pursue the plan recommended for arsenic omitting 
 the lime water. 
 
 SAL AMMONIAC. 
 
 Symptoms. Vomiting, — pain in the belly, — a stiff- 
 ness of the whole body, — convulsions. 
 
 Remedies. Introduce your finger or a feather into 
 the throat to induce vomiting, and give plenty of 
 sweetened water. To relieve the convulsions give 
 the tea, laudanum, &c. as for acids, or the laudanum 
 alone, and to ease the pain in the belly, apply 
 leeches, &c. 
 
 LIVER OF SULPHUR. 
 
 Symptoms. They resemble those caused by salt- 
 petre. 
 
 Remedies. Two table spoonsful of vinegar in a 
 glass of water, are to be frequently taken until vomit- 
 ing is brought on, after whi(*h, havfi recourse lc 
 leeches, blisters, &c. 
 
 PHOSPHORUS. 
 
 The symptoms and remedies are the same as by 
 poison from acids. 
 
 SPANISH FLIES. 
 
 Symptoms. Great pain in the stomach, with obsti- 
 nate and painful erections, accompanied by a diffi- 
 culty or suppression of urine, or if any is passed, it 
 is bloody, — a horror of swallowing liquids, — frightful 
 convulsions. 
 
 Remedies. Make the patient swallow as much 
 sweet oil as he can possibly get down. Milk ana 
 sugared water are also to be freely used. In addition 
 
150 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 to the plan recommended for acids, solutions of gum 
 arable, or flaxseed tea, are to be injected into the 
 bladder. If no vomiting is induced, put him in the 
 warm bath, continue the sweetened water, and rub 
 his thighs and legs with two ounces of warm oil, in 
 which a quarter of an ounce of camphor has been 
 dissolved. Eight or ten grains of camphor may be 
 mixed with the yolk of an egg and taken internally. 
 If there is acute pain in the bladder, apply leeches 
 over it. 
 
 POWDERED GLASS. 
 
 Stuff the patient with thick rice pudding, bread, 
 potatoes or any other vegetable, then give him live 
 grains of tartar emetic to vomit him, after which, use 
 milk freely, clysters and fomentations to the belly 
 with the warm bath ; leeches, &c. are not to be neg- 
 lected. 
 
 Sugar of Lead, — Extract of Saturn, — White L-ead 
 — Litharge, — Minium. 
 
 " Symptoms. A sweet astringent taste in the mouth, 
 —constriction of the throat, — pain in the stomach, — 
 bloody vomiting, &c. 
 
 Remedies. Dissolve a handful of Epsom or Glau- 
 ber salts in a pint of water and give it at once ; when 
 it has vomited him, use sweetened water. If the 
 symptoms continue, act as directed for acids. 
 
 OPIUM, OR LAUDANUM. 
 
 Symptoms. Stupor, — an insurmountable inclina- 
 tion to sleep, — delirium, — convulsions, &c. 
 
 Remedies. Endeavour to excite vomiting by six 
 grains of tartar emetic, or four grains of blue., or thirty 
 of white vitriol. Thrust a feather down the throat 
 for the same purpose. Never give vinegar or other 
 acids, until the poison is altogether or nearly evacu- 
 ated. After this has taken place, a wine glassful of 
 
Swa'Jiwing Poisons, 15! 
 
 lemon juice and water may be taken every five 
 minutes, along with a cup of very strong coffee. The 
 coffee, &c. are to be continued until the drowsiness 
 is gone off) which, if it continues, and resembles that 
 of apoplexy, must be relieved by bleeding. The 
 patient is to be forcibly kept in constant motion. 
 
 MUSHROOMS, 
 
 Remedies. Give the patient immediately, three 
 grains of tartar emetic, twenty-five or thirty of ipe- 
 cacuanha, and an ounce of salts, dissolved in a glass 
 of water, one third to be taken every fifteen minutes 
 until he vomits freely. Then purge with castor oil. 
 If there is great pain in the belly, appPy leeches, blis- 
 ters, &c. 
 
 TOBACCO, HEMLOCK, NIGHT-SHADE, SPURRED RYE. 
 
 Remedies. An emetic as directed for opium. If 
 the poison has been swallowed some time, purge with 
 castor oil. After vomiting and purging, if the patient 
 seems drowsy, bleed him, and give vinegar and water. 
 
 POISONOUS FISH. 
 
 Remedies. An emetic. If it has been eaten some 
 time, give castor oil by the mouth and clyster. After 
 these have operated, twenty drops of ether may be 
 taken on a lump of sugar; vinegar and water as be- 
 fore mentioned. 
 
 FOREIGN BODIES IN THE THROAT. 
 
 Persons are frequently in danger of suffocation 
 from fish bones, pins, &c. which stick in the throat 
 The moment an accident of this kind occurs, desire 
 the patient to be perfectly still, open his mouth and 
 look into it. If you can see the obstruction, endea- 
 vour to seize it with your finger and thumb, or a long 
 
152 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 slender pair of pincers. If it cannot be got up, or is 
 not of a nature to do any injury in the. stomach, push 
 it down with the handle of a spoon or a flexible round 
 piece of whale-bone, the end of which is neatly 
 1 wered with a roll of linen, or any thing that may be 
 ai hand.* If you can neither get it up nor down, 
 place six grains of tartar emetic in the patient's mouth. 
 As it dissolves, it will make him excessively sick, and 
 in consequence of the relaxation, the bone, or what- 
 ever it may be, will descend into the stomach or be 
 ejected from the mouth. 
 
 If a pin, button, or other metallic or pointed body 
 has been swallowed (or pushed into the stomach) 
 make the patient eat plentifully of thick rice pudding, 
 and endeavour to prevent him from going to stool for 
 at leasL twelve hours. 
 
 OF BURNS AND SCALDS. 
 
 There are three kinds of remedies employed in ac- 
 cidents of this nature. Cooling applications, such as 
 pounded ice, — snow, — vinegar, — cold water, — lead- 
 water, &c. Stimulants, as w r arm spirits of turpen- 
 tine, — brandy, or any ardent spirits, and carded or 
 raw cotton. 
 
 Any one of these articles that happens to be nearest 
 at hand, may be tried, although the preference is due 
 to the turpentine or spirits, which being made as hot 
 as the patient can bear it, is to be applied to all the 
 burned surface (so as not to touch the adjoining sound 
 skin) until some common basilicon ointment can be 
 thinned with spirits of turpentine, to the consistence 
 of cream in which state it is to be spread on a linen 
 rag and laid over the part, taking care, as before, not 
 lo let it touch the sound skin. 
 
 * The small end of a common riding whip answers 
 very well. 
 
Bums and Scalds. 150 
 
 If, however, (the rule is general) this plan causes 
 great pain and inflammation, it must be abandoned, 
 and one of the others be resorted to, as the pounded 
 ice, which can be readily applied in a bladder. 
 Eq ual parts of lime water and linseed oil well mixed, 
 forms one of the most soothing of all applications. 
 Should much fever prevail, it is to be reduced by 
 bleeding, purging, &c. but if on the contrary, the sys- 
 *em seems to sink, wine, bark, &c. must be employed 
 
 OF MORTIFICATION. 
 
 From what has already been stated, it is evident 
 that in treating wounds, &c. as well as diseases, one 
 great and important indication is to repress excessive 
 inflammation, which, if allowed to proceed to a cer- 
 tain point, sometimes produces mortification or the 
 death of the parts. 
 
 Whenever, therefore, from the violence of the 
 fever, heat, pain, redness and swelling, you are fear- 
 ful of its ending in this way, apply ice bags or 
 cloths dipped in cold water over the part. If, how- 
 ever, the fever and pain suddenly cease, if the part 
 which before was red, swollen and hard, becomes 
 purple and soft, abandon at once all reducing mea- 
 sures, apply warmth over the whole of the parts, 
 and give wine, porter, bark, &c, freely and with- 
 out delay. If the warmth does not put a stop to the 
 disease, and the parts become dead and offensive, 
 cover them with a charcoal or fermenting poultice 
 until nature separates the dead parts from the 
 living, during which process a generous diet, bark, 
 &c, must be allowed. 
 
 There is a particular kind of mortification which 
 comes of itself, or without any apparent cause. It 
 attacks the small toes of old people, and commences 
 in a small bluish or black spot, which spreads to dif- 
 ferent parts of the foot. To remedy it, place a blister 
 rnrer the eoot, and give two gi \ins of opium night and 
 
154 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 morning ; taking care to keep the bowels open by 
 castor oil, and to diminish the quantity of the opium 
 if it occasions any unpleasant effects. 
 
 In extensive mortifications of the fore-arm, it is 
 necessary to amputate. This, however, should never 
 be done, until by the repeated application of blisters 
 to the sound parts adjoining the mortified ones, they 
 are disposed to separate, which may be easily known 
 by inspection. 
 
 DIRECTIONS FOR BLEEDING. 
 
 Tie up the arm, placing the bandage at least two 
 inches above the projections of the elbow joint, and 
 then feel for the pulse at the wrist. If it is stopped, 
 the bandage is too tight, and must be relaxed. Select 
 the most prominent vein, and feel with the tip of 
 your finger if an artery lies near it. If you feel one 
 pulsating so close to the vein that you are fearful of 
 wounding it, choose another. Having set your lan- 
 cet (of course a spring lancet), bend the arm to the 
 precise position it is to keep while the blood flows. 
 Now place the cutting edge of the lancet on the vein, 
 while you depress the handle or frame just as much 
 as you wish the cut to be deep ; by touching the spring 
 on the side with your thumb the business is dene. 
 To stop the bleeding, relax the bandage, press the 
 two edges of the wound together, place a little com- 
 press of linen on it, and bind up the w T hole with a 
 bandage passing round the joint in a figure of eight. 
 
 DIRECTIONS FOR PASSING CATHETERS. 
 
 Take the penis of the patient near its head be- 
 tween the finger and thumb of your left hand (stand- 
 ing beside him), while with your right you introduce 
 
VEINS OF THE ARM. 
 
Directions for Passing Catheters. 15& 
 
 the point of the instrument into the urinary passage, 
 its convex side towards his knees ; while you push 
 the catheter down the urethra, endeavour at the 
 same time to draw up the penis on it. When you 
 first introduce it, the handle will of course be near 
 the belly of the patient, and as it descends will be 
 *hrown farther from it, until it enters the bladder 
 which will be known by the flow of the unne. If 
 you cannot succeed while the patient is on his back, 
 make him stand up, or place hin: with his shoulders 
 and back on the ground, while his thighs and legs 
 are held up by assistants. If still foiled, place him 
 again on his back, and when you have got the cathe- 
 ter as far down as it will go, introduce the forefinger, 
 ,vell oiled, into the fundament, and endeavour to 
 push its point upwards, while you still press it for- 
 ward with the other hand. Force is never, on any 
 account, to be used. Vary your position as often as 
 you please, let the patient try it himself, but always 
 remember it is by humouring the instrument, and not 
 by violence, that you can succeed. 
 
 DIRECTIONS FOR PASSING BOUGIES. 
 
 Take the penis betw r een your finger and thumb, 
 and pass the point of the instrument (which should 
 be well oiled) down the urethra as directed for the 
 catheter; when it has entered three or four inches, 
 depress the penis a little, and by humouring the bou- 
 gie with one hand and the penis with the other, en- 
 Jeavour to pass it as far as may be wished. The 
 patient himself will frequently succeed when every 
 me els? fails. 
 
 The passing of catheters and bougies should 
 never be undertaken excepting by someone 
 skilled in the handling of them. 
 
 The flexible soft rubber catheters are used 
 almost exclusively now. 
 
156 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Prescriptions referred to in the preceding pages. 
 
 No. 1. Saline Mixture. R.* Salts of Tartar, 1 
 drachm, — Water, 4 ounces, — Essence of Peppermint, 
 3 drops. When the salt is dissolved, add very gradu- 
 ally lemon juice or vinegar, 1 ounce, or till the 
 tflervescence ceases. To be taKen every hour. 
 
 No. 2. R. Sulphate of Quinine, 13 grains, — Gum 
 iv^abic powdered, 1 drachm, — Loaf Sugar, J an 
 ounce, — Water, 6 ounces, — Essence of Peppermint, 
 5 drops. A table spoonful every hour, shaking the 
 bottle well before it is poured out. 
 
 No. 3. R. Calomel, 6 grains, — Antimonial Pow 
 ders, 3 grains. To be taken every three hours. 
 
 No. 4. Effervescing Mixture. R. Salt of Tartar, 
 20 grains, — Water, 2 ounces, — Essence of Pepper- 
 mint, 2 drops. When the salt is dissolved, add a 
 table spoonful of lemon juice, or good vinegar, and 
 swallow it immediately. 
 
 No. 5. K £halk Mixture, 4 ounces, — Tincture of 
 Kino, 1 drachm, — Lavender Compound, 1 drachm, — 
 Laudanum, 30 drops. A table spoonful every two 
 or three hours, as may be required. 
 
 No. 6. R. Cayenne Pepper, 6 ounces, — Common 
 Salt, 4 drachms, — Boiling Water, 1J pints,— Boiling 
 Vinegar, 1J pints. Let it remain in a close vessel 
 for an hour, then strain it through a fine linen cloth. 
 
 * R. stands for Recipe or " Take." The weights 
 used in these Prescriptions are troy or apothecary's 
 —not avoirdupois weight. 
 
Prescriptions, 157 
 
 Take a table spoonful every hour or two, according 
 Iq circumstances. 
 
 No. 7. R. Musk, 1 drachm, — Gum Arabic jiow- 
 dered, 1 drachm, — Loaf Sugar, 1 drachm, — Water, 6 
 ounces. Rub up tne musk with tb^ sugar, then add 
 the gum and pour on the water very gradually, so as 
 to incorporate the whole. Take a table spoonful 
 every two hours. 
 
 No. 8. R. Camphor, 30 grains, — Almonds blanch- 
 ed, 2 drachms, — Loaf Sugar, 1J drachms, — Pepper- 
 mint Water, 6 ounces. Moisten the camphor with a 
 few drops of spirits of wine, and reduce it to powder. 
 The almonds and sugar having been beat to a paste, 
 add the camphor, and pour on the water gradually, 
 rubbing the whole well together. Take a table 
 spoonful every two or three hours. 
 
 No 9. R. Sugar of Lead, 5 grains, — White Vit- 
 riol, 2 grains, — Laudanum, 2 drachms, — Rose Water, 
 6 ounces. -Or, Wine of Opium, \ an ounce, — Wa- 
 ter, 2 ounces. — —Or, Alum, \ a drachm, — Rose Wa- 
 ter, 6 ounces. To bathe the eye frequently. 
 
 No. 10. R. Barley Water, J a pint, — Vinegar, 1 \ 
 
 ounces. Or, Alum, 1 drachm, — Rice Water, l| 
 
 pints, — Honey, 1 ounce. Or, Vinegar, 2 ounces, 
 
 — Water, 1 pint. To gargle the throat. 
 
 No. 11. R. Barley or "Rice Water, J a pint,— 
 Tincture of Myrrh, \ an ounce, — Muriatic Acid, J a 
 
 drachm. Or, Sharp Vinegar, 1 ounce. Gargle the 
 
 throat frequently. 
 
 No. 12. Wine or Vinegar whey. R. Place a sauce 
 pan containing a pint of new milk, on the fire, and 
 while it is boiling add one gill of white wine or 
 half the quantity of good vinegar. As soon as the 
 milk is turned, take it off) strain the whey through a 
 cloth and sweeten it to your taste. 
 
 No. 13. R. Paregoric, \ an ounce, — Syrup ol 
 Squills, 1 ounce, — Antimonial Wine, 2 drachms,— 
 Water, 6 ounces. Take two tea spoonsful every fif 
 teen minutes, until the cough is relieved. 
 
 No. 14. R. The White of 1 Egg,— Castor Oil, S 
 
158 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 ounces, — Lavender Compound, 2 drachms, — Sugar, k 
 an ounce, — Water, 4 ounces. Incorporate the oil and 
 the white of the egg, by shaking in a bottle, then add 
 the water containing the sugar and lavender. Half 
 may be taken at once, and the other half in a few 
 hours, or a table spoonful hourly until it operates. 
 
 No. 15. R. Chalk Mixture, 4 ounces, — Tincture 
 of Kino, 1 drachm, — Cinnamon Water, 2 ounces, — 
 Laudanum, J a drachm. A table spoonful every two 
 hours, or oftener if necessary. 
 
 No. 16. R. Tincture of Catechu, 2 ounces. Take 
 two tea spoonsful in a little port wine, every hour, or 
 oftener if required. 
 
 No. 17. R. Extract of Logwood, 20 grains, — Cin 
 namon Water, 2 ounces, — Tincture of Kino, 1 drachm, 
 — Sugar, 2 drachms. To be taken at once. 
 
 No. 18. R. Prepared Chalk, 2 drachms,— Loaf 
 Sugar, 1 drachm. Rub them well together, and add 
 gradually of mucilage of Gum Arabic, 1 ounce, — 
 Water, 6 ounces, — Lavender Compound, 2 drachms, 
 — Laudanum, 30 drops. A table spoonful every hour 
 or oftener if necessary. 
 
 No. 19. R. Calomel, 10 grains, — Jalap, 12 grains, 
 — Opium, 1J grains, — Tartar Emetic, J a grain, — Oil 
 of Aniseed, 1 drop. Make the whole into a mass 
 with conserve of roses, and divide it into five or six 
 pills, all of which are to be taken at once. 
 
 No. 20. R. Socotrine Aloes, 1 ounce, — Liquorice, 
 2 ounces, — Coriander Seeds, J an ounce. Digest the 
 aloes and liquorice in 1 pint of brandy for a week, 
 shaking the bottle frequently, and add half a pint of a 
 very strong decoction of Carolina Pink Root. Dose, 
 two table spoonsful every morning, fasting. 
 
 No. 21. R. Powder of the root of the Male Fern, 
 1 drachm. This is to be taken in molasses early in 
 the morning, and for two days in succession, to be 
 followed with some very active purgative. 
 
 No. 22. R. Powder of Tin, 1 drachm, — Molasses 
 as much as will envelope it. Repeat the dose morning 
 and evening for three days, and then take some acti ve 
 
Prescriptions 159 
 
 purgative. Or, Bark of the fresh root of Pride of 
 
 China, 5 ounces , — Water, 2 pints. Boil it in a close 
 vessel to ono pin™ Dose, a table spoonful every two 
 hours till it operates. Or, Bark of the 'Cabbage- 
 tree, 1 ounce, — Water, 2 pints. Boil to one pint and 
 strain. Dose, a wine glassful or about tw r o ounces. 
 
 No. 23. R. Mucilage of Gum Arabic, 1 jounces,— 
 Olive Oil, 2 drachms. Mix them well, and add Ether 
 1 drachm, — Laudanum, 20 drops. Take at once. 
 
 No. 24. R. Peruvian Bark, 20 grains, — Uva Ursi 
 20 grains. — Opium, J a grain. Make a powder, to be 
 taken three times a day with lime water. 
 
 No. 25. R. Compound Tincture of Senna, 1 ounce 
 — Compound Tincture of Jalap, 2 drachms. 
 
 No. 26. R. Calomel, 10 grains, — Jalap, 15 grains, 
 — Oil of Aniseed, 2 drops. To be taken in molasses. 
 
 No. 27. R. Compound Tincture of Senna, 1 ounce, 
 — Wine of Aloes, 2 ounces, — Simple Syrup, 1 ounce, 
 — Water, 4 ounces, — Oil of Mint, 2 drops. A tabh 
 spoonful from time to time, as may be necessary. 
 
 No. 28. R. Muriate of Ammonia, J an ounce, — 
 Vinegar, 2 ounces, — Proof Spirits, 3 ounces,— Water, 
 3 ounces. Mix them for a wash. 
 
 No. 29. Scudamore's Lotion for Govt. R. Alcohol, 
 3 ounces, — Camphor Mixture, 9 ounces. Render the 
 whole milk vxirm, by adding boiling water. 
 
 No. 30. R. Water of Ammonia, 2 drachms, — Oli ve 
 Oil, 1 h ounces, — Laudanum, ^ an ounce. Shake well. 
 
 No." 31. R. Opium in fine powder, 2^ drachms, — 
 Soap Liniment, 2 ounces, — Spirits of Camphor, 2 
 ounces. Pour the liniment gradually on the opium 
 rub well together, and add the spirits of camphor. 
 
 No. 32. R. Sulphate of Quinine, 8 grains, — Syrup 
 of Rhubarb, 2J ounces, — Orange flower Water, 2J 
 ounces, — Sulphuric Ether, 10 drops. 
 
 No. 33. R. Muriated Tincture of Iron, 2 ounces. 
 Take twenty drops three times a day, in a wine glass 
 
 of the cold infusion of bark. Or, Extract of Bark 
 
 1 drachm, — Extract of Gentian, 1 drachm,— Greti 
 Vitriol, J a drachm. — Myrrh, 1 drachm,— Oil of Ani- 
 
160 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 seed, 10 drops, — Simple Syrup sufficient to make the 
 whole into a mass, to be divided into sixty pills, of 
 
 which take three twice a day. Or, Rust of Iron, 
 
 1 drachm, — Conserve of Roses, as much as will make 
 a mass, to be divided into sixty pills, of which take 
 two, three times a day. 
 
 No. 34. R. Calomel, J a drachm, — Tartar Emetic, 
 15 grains, — Opium, \ a drachm. Add syrup sufficient 
 to form a smooth mass, and divide it into sixty pills. 
 No. 35 R. Powdered Borax and Chlorate of 
 Potash, of each 1 drachm,— Thymol, 5 grains, — 
 Menthol, 1 grain, — Glycerine, 1H ounces, — Al- 
 cohol, 2% ounces, — two teaspoonfuls to six tea- 
 spoonfuls of warm water; to be used as gargle 
 for throat and wash for mouth every two to 
 four hours. 
 Emollient Clyster. R. Thin Starch, 1 pint, — Mo« 
 
 lasses, 1 wine glassful. Or, Molasses, and Sweet 
 
 Oil, each 1 wine glassful, — Warm Barley Water, 1 
 
 pint. Or, Flaxseed Tea, 1 pint, — Milk, J a pint. 
 
 Anodyne Clyster. R. This is formed by adding 
 40 50, 60, or more drops of laudanum (as occasion 
 may require) to the Emollient Clyster. 
 
 Purgative Clyster. R. Table Salt and Brown 
 Sugur, each a table spoonful, add half a gill of Mo- 
 lasses, and rub them well together. While you are 
 stirring them, gradually pour in two ounces of Castor 
 Oil, and a pint of warm Water. 
 
 Tobacco Clyster. R. Infuse 1 drachm of Tobacco 
 in a pint of boiling water for ten minutes. The one 
 naif to be injected first, and if this will not produce 
 the wished for effect in half an hour, throw up the 
 remainder. 
 
 Hartshorne's decoction of Spanish Flies in Spirits 
 of Turpentine. R. Spanish Flies bruised, 1 ounce, 
 — Spirits of Turpentine, \ a pint. Bcil for three 
 hours *nd strain. 
 
PART SECOND 
 
 EPIDEMIC CHOLERA : 
 
 CAUSES, PREVENTION, SYMPTOMS AND TREATMENT OF 
 EPIDEMIC CHOLERA. 
 
 DYSPEPSIA, OR INDIGESTION: 
 
 CAUSES, PREVENTION, SYMPTOMS AND TREATMENT OF 
 DYSPEPSIA, OR INDIGESTION. 
 
 S1CK-HEADACH: 
 
 CAUSES, CURE AND PREVENTION OF SICK-HEADACH 
 
 THE TEETH 
 
 STRUCTURE, FORMATION, DISEASES AND 7REATMENT 
 OF THE HUMAN TEETH. 
 
 161 
 
ASIATIC, OR EPIDEMIC CHOLERA. 
 
 As an epidemic, Cholera first made its appearance 
 m Bengal daring the month of August 1817. Since 
 that period it has continued to prevail, with scarcely 
 any intermission, up to the present time, spreading 
 itself over nearly the whole of India and the rest of 
 Asia, over a part of Africa, and over a considerable 
 portion of Europe. In 1832 it broke out in the 
 Canadas, and visited successively nearly all the 
 larger cities of the United States. By this terrible 
 epidemic, provinces have been ravaged, and districts 
 depopulated ; entire garrisons have been destroyed, 
 and victorious armies arrested in their triumphant 
 progress. Under every point of view Epidemic 
 Cholera claims the attention of every individual, and 
 of every community. Though attended with the 
 most violent symptoms, extremely rapid in its progress, 
 and in relation to the real cause by which it is pro- 
 duced, shrouded in the most impenetrable mystery; 
 yet there are few diseases-an attack of which can be 
 so readily and certainly guarded against— while no 
 one is so completely under the control of medicine 
 during its first stages 
 
 163 
 
164 Compendium of Domestic Medicine 
 
 Cholera, like all other epidemics, is evidently 
 dependent upon a morbid change in the condition 
 of the atmosphere. What is the actual nature 
 of this change it is impossible to ascertain. By 
 some it is referred to irregularities in the electrical 
 slate of the air ; others have presumed that the air be- 
 comes loaded with poisonous effluvia emitted from the 
 earth; while others restrict its cause to a change in 
 the sensible properties of the atmosphere, in other 
 words, to unusual coldness, heat, moisture or dryness 
 — or to rapid and sudden transitions in these particu- 
 lars. It is certain, that in most places where the 
 cholera has appeared, it has been preceded or accom- 
 panied by violent storms or earthquakes, or by sea- 
 sons unusually disturbed. 
 
 That the disease is in no degree contagious, that 
 it is not capable of being communicated from the 
 sick to the well, is now established by so many posi- 
 tive facts, that it appears unnecessary to enter here 
 into an examination of this point. Its non-contagious- 
 ness is proved by the disease appearing, at the same 
 time, at points far distant from each other ; while in 
 situations intermediate between these not a single 
 case will occur. Physicians, nurses, and attendants 
 upon the sick, are not more affected by the disease 
 than other classes of persons, nor even in as great 
 a proportion ; and individuals who w r ere in hos- 
 pitals with other diseases, and were seized with 
 cholera, did not communicate the disease to the other 
 patients in their immediate vicinity. 
 
 Predisposing and Exciting Causes. 
 
 1st. A vitiated and damp state of the atmosphere. 
 Cholera has always prevailed most extensively and 
 produced the greatest ravages, in those situations ordi- 
 narily the most unhealthy, particularly in the vicinity 
 
Asiatic, or Epidemic Cholera. 165 
 
 of low, wet, and marshy districts — along the low, 
 muddy banks of rivers; in crowded towns and villa- 
 ges, and in the hovels of the poor, where a proper 
 ventilation is neglected, and in which all kinds oi 
 filth are allowed to accumulate. 
 
 2d. A constitution broken down by misery, vice, 
 intemperance or fatigue. In every place where 
 Cholera has made its appearance, the great majority 
 of those attacked have been individuals of the lowest 
 classes of the community ; those living in the depths 
 of vice and misery ; the habitually intemperate ; those 
 who were constantly exposed to fatigue, and to the 
 inclemencies of the weather ; and those who, from 
 extreme poverty, are obliged to subsist on unwhole- 
 some food, or such as is deficient in nutriment. But 
 few persons in easy circumstances and of temperate 
 lives have been attacked ; and in those few, the oc- 
 currence of the disease could very generally be 
 traced either to fatigue, to exposure to wet or damp 
 or to the night air, to fear and anxiety, to improper 
 food, as that which is too stimulating, difficult of 
 digestion or flatulent, to fasting too long, to a consti- 
 tution broken down by disease or a state of conva- 
 lescency particularly from stomachic and bowel 
 complaints, to the use of impure water, of cold and 
 iced fluids or of iced creams when the body is in a state 
 of fatigue, or overheated.to indulgence in acid drinks, 
 or those which readily become sour in the stomach, 
 as the weaker wines, table beer, cider, &c, to the 
 imprudent use of medicine, especially emetics and 
 purgatives, or to prolonged watchfulness 
 
 PREVENTION. 
 
 To avoid Cholera, therefore, an individual must 
 live temperately on plain, nutritive food, simply 
 cooked. He must avoid rich, high-seasoned soups 
 and sauces, all made dishes and pastry; of salted 
 provisions he must partake in great moderation, 
 
166 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 salted, dried, and smoked fish he must abstain 
 from, as also pork, geese, ducks, crabs, lobsters, and 
 the like. He must avoid all flatulent vegetables, as 
 cabbages, radishes, green corn, dried peas and beans 
 or those difficult of digestion, as mashed potatoes, 
 cucumbers melons, mushrooms, pickles, &c. and 
 likewise all unripe, decayed, or very acid fruit. He 
 must give up entirely the use of ardent spirits, bran- 
 died wines, &c. as ordinary drinks : indeed, as a 
 general rule, pure water should be his sole beverage. 
 
 Active regular exercise in a free pure air, not carried 
 so far as to induce fatigue ; regular and sufficient 
 sleep; the avoidance of crowded assemblies, of the 
 night air, of wet or damp, or extreme heat, or of ex- 
 posure to cold, without due precaution, are other 
 means essential to be observed, in order to escape an 
 attack of Cholera. 
 
 Personal cleanliness, and all the other means cal- 
 culated to insure the due performance of the functions 
 of the skin, are likewise all important preventives ; 
 hence the use of the warm bath daily, or sponging 
 the entire surface with tepid water, followed by brisk 
 frictions, morning and evening, and a flannel or thick 
 cotton garment next the skin, should never be neg- 
 lected. 
 
 The possession of that species of moral courage 
 which is intimately connected with a well informed 
 mind ; a reliance upon the goodness and superin- 
 tending providence of the Supreme Being; and a 
 consciousness of having fulfilled, to the utmost of 
 our abilities, our religious as well as social duties 
 (which, while they prompt us to avoid danger by 
 the use of all practicable and rational means, pre- 
 vent all unnecessary terror and alarm when the 
 evil is present), have a powerful influence in guard- 
 ing the system against disease during the prevalence 
 of every epidemic. 
 
 The necessity of comfortable, clean and well ven- 
 tilated dwellings, situated in a dry, elevated and 
 otherwise healthy situation, must be sufficiently 
 
Asiatic, or Epidemic Cholera, 167 
 
 evident to all. When, however, an individual is 
 under the necessity of residing in a low, damp, 
 unhealthy situation, much may still be done to pre- 
 vent disease, by a proper attention to ventilation, 
 during fine weather; by strict cleanliness; by closing 
 th* doors and shutters before night fall ; by occupy 
 ing the upper rooms of the house, and, in very damp 
 weather, by fires in the apartments where the family 
 pass the day, and in the bed-chamber. 
 
 SYMPTOMS. 
 
 Epidemic Cholera, in regard to its symptoms, may 
 be divided into four stages or periods 
 
 1. The Stage of Diarrhoea. • 
 
 This stage is usually accompanied with griping 
 pains in the stomach and bowels; by a sense of lassi- 
 tude ; rumbling of wind in the bowels ; frequently, 
 pain and giddiness of the head, and dull pains in the 
 knees and loins. The pulse is various; the tongue is 
 coated with a thin white or yellowish mucus, or thickly 
 furred in the centre and red at the edges. The appe- 
 tite is diminished ; and the thirst increased. There are 
 often shooting pains or stitches through the calves ui 
 the legs. The foregoing symptoms are most usually 
 attended with nausea, with frequent watery dis- 
 charges from the bowels, or with a constant inclina- 
 tion to go to stool without any evacuation taking 
 place, or with only a thin mucous discharge some- 
 times streaked with blood. This stage may last for 
 several days before the symptoms of the ensuing 
 stage are developed ; in many cases the symptoms of 
 the latter appear in a few hours. . The occurrence of 
 the second and subsequent stages depends greatly 
 upon the constitution and habits of the patient, as 
 well as upon the circumstance of his having, or not 
 resorted to proper medical aid. In the debilitated 
 and especially the intemperate, the discharges from 
 
168 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 the bowels are not unfrequently from the first very 
 copious, of the appearance of whey, and giving rise 
 to a sense of extreme exhaustion, of faintness or even 
 fainting In such cases, in a very few hours, cramps, 
 vomiting and collapse are apt to come on ; any im- 
 prudence in eating or drinking, improper exposure, 
 &c. will also accelerate the occurrence of the second 
 and subsequent stages of the disease 
 
 2. The Stage of Spasm. 
 
 This stage is characterized by violent pains of th0 
 stomach and bowels occurring at intervals ; by pain of 
 the head and back ; by almost incessant vomiting and 
 purging of a rice-water fluid ; by inordinate thirst and 
 violent spasms, particularly of the muscles of the ex- 
 tremities. The skin still remains warm, but is bathed 
 with perspiration, and has a peculiar doughy feel ; the 
 tongue presents nearly the same appearance as in the 
 first stage ; the temperature of the hands and feet is 
 reduced ; the pulse is often full and of some firmness ; 
 in other cases it is very compressible ; or again, it is 
 small and contracted. The mental faculties are un- 
 impaired; the countenance is expressive of great 
 suffering or distress. In this stage the secretion of 
 urine is often diminished in quantity or entirely sus- 
 pended. 
 
 3. The Stage of Commencing Collapse. 
 
 In this stage the skin is cold, livid and covered wi 
 a profuse clammy perspiration ; the tongue is also col 
 and livid; and the extremities corrugated as if they had 
 been soaked in water; there are freq uent cramps of the 
 extremities; the eyes are sunk, the features contracted; 
 there is constant purging, occasionally accompanied 
 with vomiting ; there is pain of the stomach, a small, 
 feeble and depressed pulse, and a complete suppress- 
 ion of the urinary secretion. The mental faculties 
 are still unimpaired. Often considerable heat is felt 
 over the stomach. Great thirst and a constant desire 
 for cool air are almost invariably present. 
 
Asiatic, or Epidemic Cholera. 169 
 
 4. The Stage of Confirmed Collapse. 
 
 This stage is marked by icy coldness, and a deep b. ue 
 or purple hue of the skin, tongue and inside of the 
 mouth ; the extremities are corrugated ; the whole sur- 
 face is covered with a profuse cold perspiration, which 
 seems to exude in large drops from the pores of the 
 skin. No pulsation can be detected in any of the su- 
 perficial arteries, and the action of the heart is slow 
 and feeble. Involuntary watery discharges flow from 
 the bowels. The voice is low, husky, and almost 
 extinct. The body exhales a peculiar and very dis- 
 agreeable odour. There is a short quick respiration, 
 with heaving of the chest. The patient complains of 
 a burning heat in the region of the stomach, and craves 
 without intermission cold water and fresh air; he is 
 extremely restless, or doses with half open eyelids, 
 the pupils of the eyes being rolled very much up 
 wards. Until the very end, the mental faculties 
 continue unimpaired. 
 
 TREATMENT. 
 
 The treatment of Cholera differs according to 
 the stage of the disease. 
 
 1. In xhejirst stage, when the patient is young and 
 robust, the skin dry, the pulse frequent and hard, and 
 the griping pains in the bowels constant or severe; 
 a large mustard plaster over the abdomen, and 
 another on the back, will be found of great service. 
 Bathing the feet in warm water, also the applica- 
 tion of frictions to the whole of the lower extrem- 
 ities, or mustard poultices to the ankles, will also 
 be decidedly beneficial. 
 
 When the diarrhoea is but trifling, a dose of cam- 
 phor with a few drops of laudanum should be 
 given, and repeated if necessary. 
 
 If the discharges from the bowels are very co- 
 pious, and of a thin, watery and unnatural appear- 
 ance, a pill of camphor, rhei and opium, repeated at 
 
170 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 proper intervals, will often be found very speedily 
 to arrest these discharges, and after a time to pro- 
 cure the evacuation of a very dark, viscid and 
 offensive matter, followed by natural stools. 
 
 When the griping and constant inclination to 
 stool are peculiarly troublesome, place lumps of 
 ice continually on the tongue, and an injection of 
 thin starch, olive oil and opium will often remove 
 very speedily the disease. The warm bath is a 
 remedy well adapted to this stage when properly 
 managed. 
 
 Attention to diet and clothing is all-important. 
 The patient should be confined exclusively to gum 
 or rice water taken cold and in small quantities 
 at a time; even after the symptoms of the disease 
 have disappeared, the diet should consist for sev- 
 eral days of well boiled oat meal gruel, thickened 
 milk, or crackers boiled in milk. A very slight 
 impropriety in diet will often bring back the very 
 worst symptoms of the complaint, and render a 
 cure impossible. 
 
 2. When Cholera has reached its second stage, 
 there is not a moment to be lost — the least delay 
 on the part of the patient, or timidity in the prac- 
 titioner will be followed by the most fatal conse- 
 quences. Give the patient every five minutes a 
 dose of the following anodyne and cordial tinc- 
 ture : Take of aromatic spirits of ammonia, lau- 
 danum, chloroform and spirits of camphor 1£ 
 fluid drachms, creosote 8 drops, oil of cinnamon 
 2 drops, alcohol enough to make 1 oz. of the tinc- 
 ture. Put a tea-spoonful of this in a wine-glass 
 of ice water, and give one tea spoonful of the so- 
 lution every five minutes until the patient decid- 
 edly improves, then lengthen the intervals of 
 doses till the symptoms all abate. This treat- 
 ment, the result of much experience during the 
 
Asiatic, or Epidemic Cholera. 171 
 
 visitation of the cholera in 1849, 1850, and 1854, 
 has been found very successful. 
 
 The limbs of the patient should then be rubbed 
 well with some stimulating liniment : these fric- 
 tions are to be followed by mustard poultices to 
 the ankles, wrists, thighs and arms. In this 
 stage, particularly at its very commencement, 
 bathing the feet in hot water will frequently be 
 followed by a very good effect, 
 
 Internally the patient should take iced water in 
 small portions at a time ; or when this is immediately 
 rejected by the stomach, a tea-spoonful of powdered 
 Ice may be given every fifteen minutes. After the 
 stomach has become calm and is capable of re- 
 taining medicine, the pill of camphor and opium, 
 as directed in the first slage, should be given, and 
 repeated every two, three or four hours according 
 to circumstances. 
 
 By this treatment, in a very short period, the vomit- 
 ing and spasms will be suspended, and the inordi- 
 nate discharges from the bowels arrested. In many 
 cases a dose of castor oil will now bring away copious 
 stools of a very dark and extremely offensive nature, 
 after which the bowels will return to their natural 
 condition. 
 
 It is all important in this stage to prevent the 
 patient from drinking too much ; which, in conse- 
 quence of his inordinate thirst, he will be very apt 
 to do unless carefully watched. The warm and 
 vapour baths do no good, but rather harm in the se- 
 cond stage of Cholera ; and the most pernicious effects 
 will in general result, if recourse be had to stimu- 
 lants, or to inordinate doses of opium or lauda- 
 num. 
 
 Occasionally it will be founl that there is a ten- 
 dency in this stage to an overloaded state of the 
 vessels of the brain, indicated by drowsiness, dilated 
 pupil, and a dark flushed appearance of the coun- 
 tenance ; here, cups to the temples or back of the 
 
172 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 neck, with cold applications to the scalp, should 
 never be neglected. 
 
 3. When Cholera has reached its third stage, to 
 save the life of the patient will demand great cir- 
 cumspection, judgment, and decision on the part 
 of the physician and attendants. The entire sur- 
 face of the patient should be diligently rubbed 
 either with the hand, or a flannel cloth, wet with 
 a liniment composed of equal parts of spirits of 
 turpentine and a solution of pure ammonia; after 
 the frictions, large mustard poultices should be 
 applied to the arms, wrists, thighs and ankles; 
 and the feet should be enveloped in bags filled with 
 warm bran or sand, and the whole body covered 
 with a blanket. 
 
 By the treatment just detailed, the reduction of 
 the symptoms is produced gradually : first there is 
 a cessation of the profuse perspiration ; the fea- 
 tures then become more natural, the corrugation 
 of the extremities disappears, and finally the livid 
 colour of the skin is removed and the natural tem- 
 perature of this part is restored. 
 
 Throughout the third stage of Cholera the pa- 
 tient should be supplied, at short intervals, with 
 small quantities of powdered ice or of iced water. 
 Even greater caution than in the second stage, 
 will be required to prevent him from indulging 
 his inordinate thirst; to guard him against the use 
 of stimulants, and the too free administration of 
 opiates. In the early period of this stage all kinds 
 of food are to be abstained from : when conva 
 lescence has been established, the same remarks 
 in regard to diet will apply as were made in refer- 
 ence to the first stage. 
 
Asiatic, or Epideuic Cholera. 173 
 
 4. When the period of confirmed collapse has 
 arrived, little hopes of recovery need be enter- 
 tained. The patient should be carefully rubbed 
 over the whole body with ice, then dried and 
 wrapped in dry blankets outside of which bags 
 filled with warm bran or bottles of hot water may 
 be applied, and internally give champagne and 
 ice, or rum and Selters water, or one gr. camphor 
 every \ hour, or spirits of hartshorn one drachm 
 in 6 oz, sugar water, a table-spoonful every \ to \ 
 hour. Also rub the body with spirits of mustard, 
 and for the cramps in the calves of the legs rub 
 them with chloroform and camphor spirits. 
 
 As soon as reaction takes place and has been 
 fully established, the treatment should be con- 
 ducted as in the other stages. In the period of 
 reaction let the patient sleep and perspire freely, 
 and continue giving him Selters water and ice. 
 To arrest the discharges from the bowels, give 
 \ gr. calomel every 3 hours with or without opium ; 
 if vomiting should take place, give small doses 
 of morphium 1-15 gr.,— and a mustard plaster 
 over the stomach,- if there is a tendency of con- 
 gestion to the head, apply cold iced cloths or 
 leeches. After recovery, the patient must natu- 
 rally be very careful for a long tin e with his diet. 
 
174 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 DYSPEPSIA, OR INDIGESTION. 
 
 There are few complaints more prevalent, parti- 
 cularly among sedentary mechanics and artizans, 
 students and professional men generally, as well as 
 among the indolent and luxurious inhabitants of all 
 large and wealthy cities, than those which have 
 their origin in the stomach and the other organs con- 
 cerned in digestion. The stomach and intestinal 
 canal, parts of a most delicate structure and possessed 
 of an exquisite sensibility, are not only hourly subject 
 to injury from improper food and drinks, or an excess- 
 ive indulgence of the appetite in a diet, which, if 
 laken in moderation, would be altogether whole- 
 some ; but, by the close sympathy which exists be- 
 tween these and all the other organs, they quickly 
 participate in the diseases of other and remote parts. 
 Whether it be the brain, the lungs or the skin which 
 suffers, the stomach cannot remain long in health. 
 Hence, Indigestion is an attendant upon nearly every 
 malady, both acute and chronic, to which the human 
 body is liable. The symptoms of pain and uneasi- 
 ness in the region of the stomach are often indeed 
 the first which direct the attention of the patient to 
 his real condition. On the other hand, the extensive 
 sympathies of the stomach cause the diseases which 
 may originate primarily in the latter to be extended 
 quickly to the liver, bowels, brain, skin and lungs 
 
Dyspepsia, or Indigestion, 175 
 
 It is this that renders indigestion so complicated and 
 protean a disease— differing in its phenomena accord- 
 ing to the period that it has existed and the constitu- 
 tion, age and sex of the patient in whom it occurs. 
 
 CAUSES. 
 
 The causes of Dyspepsia are of two classes. First, 
 those which affect primarily the stomach; and se- 
 condly, those which disorder first some other organ, 
 the stomach being affected secondarily or by sym 
 pathy. 
 
 Of the causes which affect directly the stomach, 
 the principal are errors in eating and drinking 
 Overfeeding, the use of too rich and stimulating food, 
 of articles difficult of digestion, as fried meats, made 
 dishes, gravies, clams, lobsters, fried oysters, rich 
 soups, fresh bread, and pastry of all kinds; late and 
 heavy suppers, eating rapidly without properly 
 chewing the food, the excessive use of strong tea and 
 coffee, the use of flatulent and indigestible vegeta- 
 bles and fruits, as cabbage, green com, pickles, 
 cucumbers, melons and the like, and the abuse of 
 spices, are so many causes of injury to the digestive 
 organs, and which, sooner or later, give rise to the 
 train of symptoms characteristic of Dyspepsia. Ex- 
 ercise immediately after eating, or intense occupation 
 or violent excitement of the mind, if constantly or 
 repeatedly indulged in, by impeding the change of 
 the food into chyme, and allowing it to ferment or 
 become acrid, will always, sooner or later, induce 
 Dyspepsia. All drinks excepting water, used as 
 ordinary beverage, whether fermented or distilled, 
 malt, vinous or spirituous, disorder the digestive or- 
 gans, and give rise to the very worst kinds of 
 dyspepsia. The tippler as well as the drunkard are 
 almost invariably dyspeptic. Even lemonade, if 
 drank ir too great quantities or too frequently, will 
 disorder, n variably thr stomach Smoking, chewing 
 
176 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 and even constant snuffing, very generally produce 
 Dyspepsia, as well by the waste and vitiation of the 
 saliva, as by the narcotic or depressing effect which 
 the tobacco produces upon the nervous system gene- 
 rally, or immediately upon the stomach. When, by 
 any of these causes, the coats of the stomach are 
 rendered morbidly irritable and its vital powers are 
 impaired, the use of even the ordinary articles of 
 food will be a sufficient stimulus to increase the 
 disease, and dev elope the more aggravated phe- 
 nomena of Dyspepsia. A cause of Indigestion which 
 acts primarily upon the stomach and bowels, of not 
 unfrequent occurrence, though but little suspected, 
 is the imprudent or immoderate use of various 
 medicines. 
 
 Any indiscretion— whether it consist in excessive in- 
 dulgence in food, an occasional debauch or a too heavy 
 supper — will give rise to certain symptoms termed 
 in popular language bilious. Now the most prudent 
 course would be abstinence for a day or two with 
 the plentiful use of some bland diluent. But instead 
 of this, resource is had to an emetic, to a dose of 
 calomel or anti-bilious pills, followed perhaps by 
 chamomile tea, or some aromatic tincture or stomachic 
 bitter, or perchance a daily glass of brandy and 
 water ; and the slight irritation which exists in the 
 stomach is in this manner not only aggravated but 
 rendered permanent, and Dyspepsia ensues. 
 
 Of the causes which act indirectly upon the 
 stomach in the production of Dyspepsia, the principal 
 are, the want of sufficient active exercise; exposure 
 to a damp, vitiated and confined atmosphere ; seden- 
 tary and constrained positions of the body long in 
 dulged in ; close application or anxiety of the mind, 
 together with all the exciting and depressing passions; 
 late rising and prolongation of the occupations or 
 amusements of the day during the greater part of 
 the night; want of cleanliness, or rather inattention 
 to the state of the skin; frequent vicissitudes of the 
 weather; cold and damp; and a neglect to obey the 
 
Dyspepsia, or Indigestion. 177 
 
 regular calls of nature for the evacuation of the 
 bowels — excessive indulgence in venereal pleasures 
 and various unnatural practices. 
 
 In casting the eye over the above list of causes, the 
 reason will be readily understood why Dyspepsia is 
 of so frequent occurrence among nearly all the 
 classes which compose the population of a large city. 
 
 The sedentary artizan confined for the greater part 
 of the day and night to a small, close, and often dirty 
 and crowded workshop, his body bent constantly 
 over his task, while his mind perhaps is harass- 
 ed by the anxious thoughts occasioned by the wants 
 of a numerous family immersed in poverty, or the 
 painful reflections to which a view of his own folly 
 may have given birth — The slave of luxury or of 
 pleasure, whose whole existence is spent in listless 
 apathy or in a round of dissipation, w T ho consumes 
 the night amid scenes of riot or of folly, and the 
 morning in uiirefreshing slumbers or in entire in- 
 dolence — The industrious mechanic and shop-keep- 
 er, whose minds are absorbed by the cares of exis- 
 tence and their bodies imprisoned within the narrow 
 confines of their respective shops — The enterprising 
 nerchant, the ambitious student, the aspiring poli- 
 tician, the man of letters and the members of the 
 various professions, who, in addition to their seden- 
 tary habits, have a thousand causes to vex and agitate 
 their minds, and too often add to these, errors in 
 diet and indulgence in intoxicating drinks— Finally, 
 the numerous slaves of vice and sensuality pro- 
 duced by the folly, and nurtured by the wealth of 
 every prosperous and crowded city: These all era 
 stitute so many victims to Indigestion, as well as to 
 numerous other diseases. 
 
 Those most exempt from diseases of the stomach 
 are individuals of temperate habits and contented 
 minds, whose inclinations or whose occupations 
 carry them abroad into the open air and impose a 
 necessity for active and regular bodily exercise 
 T'^e employments most friendly to health of stomael 
 M 
 
178 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 and of the body generally, are those of the farmer, 
 and the gardener, who at the same time adhere to 
 regular hours and sober habits, and are removed at 
 once from the deteriorated and unwholesome atmos- 
 phere and follies of the city, and the thousand sources 
 of care and anxiety to which its inhabitants are daily 
 subjected. 
 
 SYMPTOMS. 
 
 The symptoms of Dyspepsia are very numerous 
 and diversified — they differ according as the disease 
 is confined to the stomach and bowels, or has ex- 
 tended to the liver, the brain, the skin, the lungs and 
 other organs. The phenomena by which the disease 
 is most usually accompanied, are a sense of disten- 
 sion or oppression after eating, acrid or sour eructa- 
 tions, flatulence with frequent belching of wind, 
 impaired appetite, vitiated taste, increased thirst, 
 constipation and uneasiness of the bowels, sometimes 
 looseness, coated tongue especially in the morning, 
 loss of strength, disinclination to exercise, and a 
 general feeling of depression and indescribable 
 weariness. When the bowels are moved, the stools 
 are unnatural, being either green, black or very light. 
 Nausea, headach, vertigo and dimness of vision are 
 very generally experienced, and sometimes bilious 
 vomiting; a burning sensation at the pit of the 
 stomach is not unfrequent; sometimes the patient 
 experiences a violent pain of the stomach which ter- 
 minates by a copious discharge, by the mouth, of an 
 insipid or perhaps intensely acid, colourless fluid of 
 a glairy consistency. Palpitation of the heart likewise 
 often attends; with pain in the pit of the stomach or 
 towards the right side, sallowness of complexion, 
 depression of spirits and irritability of temper. The 
 patient is sleepless at night and drowsy during the 
 day, or his slumbers are disturbed by the most 
 frightful or distressing dreams. Sometimes the body is 
 
Dyspepsia, or Indigestion. 179 
 
 extremely emaciated, at others it appears fat or rather 
 bloated. The whole of the foregoing symptoms are 
 not, however, present in every case of Dyspepsia ; 
 but under whatever form, and from whatever cause 
 the disease has originated, there is always a conside- 
 rable degree of general languor and debility, and a 
 great susceptibility to atmospherical vicissitudes; 
 exercise, or exertion of any kind soon fatigues; the 
 pulse is weak or morbidly excited, the sleep disturbed, 
 the limbs, especially the feet are cold, or rendered 
 so by slight causes ; and a sense of distension and 
 oppression, acid eructations, flatulence, nausea, head- 
 ach, irregular bowels, pain in the pit of the sto- 
 mach, sallowness of the complexion and dryness of 
 the skin are pretty constantly present. 
 
 Frequently there is a good deal of feverish heat, 
 with flushing of the face, dryness of the mouth, thick 
 coated state of the tongue, pain on pressure at the 
 pit of the stomach, weakness of the knees, wandering 
 pains of the limbs and body, and a dry scurfy state 
 of the whole surface. 
 
 In the more aggravated forms of Dyspepsia there is 
 often constant violent pain in the stomach; frequent 
 vomiting of dark matter, the utmost debility and 
 emaciation of body, and extreme despondency of 
 raind. In others there are cough and expectoration, 
 hectic fever, night sweats, and a wasting diarrhoea. 
 
 Frequent and dangerous mistakes are often made 
 H relation to the seat and real nature of the disease 
 p -in<r rise to the symptoms of Dyspepsia. The bitter 
 taste in the mouth, nausea, bilious stools and sallow 
 complexion, have led many to ascribe them to a 
 disease of the biliary organ — hence it is not unfre- 
 quent to hear dyspeptic patients complain of being 
 bilious or of suffering from liver complaint. But 
 though in very many cases the biliary secretion is 
 disordered, yet for the most part this is a secon- 
 dary and sympathetic affection, dependent upon the 
 irritation or disease seated in the stomach and upper 
 portion of the intestines, and quickly disappears upon 
 
180 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 the removal of the latter The practice resorted to 
 under the supposition of bilious derangement being 
 the chief cause of the symptoms, is highly pernicious, 
 very generally aggravating and complicating the 
 primary disease. Emetics, frequent doses of calomel 
 and other purgatives, and the various irritating reme- 
 dies so generally employed, always do more or less 
 injury to the already diseased stomach. 
 
 Other patients, paying attention solely to the sense 
 of exhaustion, the disinclination to exertion, the want 
 of appetite and the sallowness of the complexion, 
 believe the whole of the symptoms under which they 
 labour to be the result of pure debility. Tonics, 
 stimulants, wine, brandy and porter with rich nour- 
 ishing food are resorted to, but without the least good 
 effect. The disease proceeds onwards even more 
 rapidly than before, and the mistaken patient becomes 
 daily more and more weak. The remedies he has 
 taken have acted like oil thrown upon fire : instead 
 of removing the debility of the system they have 
 merely increased the irritation of the stomach, and 
 secondarily of the other organs. 
 
 By others again the symptoms of Dyspepsia are 
 supposed to be nervous ; and valerian, ether, musk, 
 assafcetida and bark are profusely administered to 
 relieve them, by strengthening, as it is presumed, the 
 oervous system. It is very certain that many of the 
 symptoms from which dyspeptics very commonly 
 suiter dc-p^id upon an affection of the nervous 
 system; bur the treatment usually resorted to, in 
 order to remove such affection, is altogether impro- 
 per, it keeps up and aggravates the disease of the 
 stomach by which the nervous affection has been 
 produced 
 
 PREVENTION. 
 
 The prevention of stomachic diseases, including 
 Dyspepsia, will depend upon a cautious avoidance of 
 
ALIMENTARY CANAL. 
 
 a, oesophagus; b, stomach ; c, cardiac orifice; d, pylorus: 
 e, small intestine ; /, biliary duct; g, pancreatic duct ; 
 h, ascending colon; t, transverse colon; j, descending 
 colon ; k, rectum. 
 
Dyspepsia, or Indigestion. 181 
 
 their remote and exciting causes. Let an individual 
 live upon plain wholesome food, cooked in the 
 simplest manner and eaten in moderation. Let him 
 drink nothing but water, and allow to his meals a 
 sufficient space of time, so that he need not eat with 
 haste, and swallow his food without properly chewing 
 it. Let him shun crowded, ill ventilated apartments, 
 and take a sufficient amount of active exercise in the 
 open air daily. Let him retire to rest at an early 
 hour at night, and rise from his bed with the sun. 
 Let him make no use of tobacco in any form. Let 
 him cultivate an even, contented and cheerful frame 
 of mind, and shun as much as possible every source 
 of engrossing care, and of deep depressing emotions 
 * Living wisely," as an old writer justly expresses it, 
 " rather in the shade, than risking his happiness upon 
 the smiles and the whims of fickle men ;" let him 
 fly from dissipation, folly and vice of every kind, and 
 he will seldom be troubled with Dyspepsia. 
 
 TREATMENT. 
 
 The first and most important point in the treat- 
 ment of Dyspepsia is to relinquish whatever cause 
 has laid the foundation for or given rise to the 
 complaint, and which continues to aggravate it. 
 This will of itself often be sufficient, especially in 
 its early stages, to remove entirely the disease. If 
 the patient leads a fashionable life, it will be neces- 
 sary for him to forsake at once the haunts and habits 
 of dissipation; to leave the crowded city, to shun 
 luxurious tables, rich wines, strong drinks and late 
 suppers ; to renounce his indolence and late hours ; 
 and to return to a simple and rational mode of living. 
 He must seek pure air, engage in active regular ex- 
 ercise and in pleasing out-door occupations, retire 
 and rise early, make use of a simple moderate diet, 
 and court the society of a few cheerful and intelligeni 
 friends. The plodding student must in a great mea- 
 
L82 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 s ire lay aside his books, and extinguish his midnight 
 lamp ; the fagging tradesman and merchant will find 
 it indispensably necessary to seek daily, active exer- 
 cise in a pure air; the tippler and the drunkard must 
 give up their potations. In short all dyspeptics must 
 exercise for several hours each day out of doors ; they 
 must rise early and take a sufficiency of sleep during 
 the night; they must seek cheerful conversation; and 
 carefully and constantly observe a moderate, plain 
 and wholesome diet. 
 
 Among the articles from which the individual 
 labouring under Indigestion must entirely abstain 
 are to be included all species of very fat, salted, 
 dried, smoked or fried animal food ; veal in almost 
 any form, rich soups and sauces, spices, pickles, 
 cucumbers, all flatulent vegetables, particularly cab- 
 bage, mashed potatoes, melons, unripe fruit, also sau- 
 sages, fish, particularly salted fish and that which is 
 fried, fresh bread, hot toast, pastry, fried oysters, crabs 
 and lobsters, animal jellies, tea, coffee, malt liquors, 
 wine, ardent spirits, and tobacco whether in snuffing, 
 chewing or smoking. 
 
 The dyspeptic should never take so much food at 
 one meal as to cause a feeling of fulness or distension 
 in the stomach; and, except under very particular 
 circumstances, he should confine himself to three 
 meals a day; the last one to be taken at least two 
 hours before going to bed, and to be very light. 
 
 The best common beverage for a dyspeptic is pure 
 water, or toast and water. 
 
 It is a common but very erroneous opinion, that 
 persons with impaired appetites and feeble powers 
 of digestion ought to eat little at a time and often. 
 Such a practice is altogether injurious. By taking 
 food in small portions almost constantly, no time is 
 allowed for the proper digestion of that previously 
 eaten, and the stomach is in this way kept in a 
 constant state of activity and of irritation. In- 
 stead of gaining strength, it becomes more enfeet> 
 .ed. As a general rule, subject to very few ex 
 
Dyspepsia, or Indigestion. 183 
 
 ceptions, no food should be taken in the intervals of 
 the meals. 
 
 Riding on horseback is a highly beneficial exercise 
 for those labouring under Indigestion; it gives a mo- 
 tion to the abdominal organs, which is communicated 
 by no other kind of exercise. Daily walking in the 
 open air must not however be neglected. A combi- 
 nation of these two species of exercise is preferable 
 to either alone; for riding chiefly exercises tne 
 abdominal viscera, and walking the limbs and thora- 
 cic organs. Exercise should never be taken imme- 
 diately after a meal, nor carried to the extent of 
 inducing undue fatigue. 
 
 The feet, chest and abdomen of dyspeptics should 
 be especially guarded from cold. If there is consi- 
 derable torpor of the skin and a feeling of chilliness 
 from slight reductions of temperature, flannel should 
 be worn next the skin, during at least the colder and 
 more changeable months of the year. Woollen 
 stockings and a flannel roller around the abdomen 
 are always important articles of dress to the dyspep- 
 tic. At night, the bed clothes should not be more 
 than are sufficient to keep the body comfortably 
 warm, and a mattrass is always preferable to a 
 feather bed. 
 
 The following are the principal symptoms which 
 seem to demand relief in Dyspepsia. 
 
 1. Costiveness. 
 
 There are few points of greater importance in the 
 management of Dyspepsia than the proper regu- 
 lation of the bowels. They ought to be fully eva- 
 cuated once in the twenty-four hours. To do this, 
 the habit of soliciting a discharge at a regular period 
 of the day by the natural efforts will often suc- 
 ceed. Habitual costiveness in those inclined tc 
 indigestion is often caused by neglecting the calls of 
 nature. If this have not the desired effect, a diet 
 composed of laxative vegetables, as well-toiled spin- 
 
184 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 nage, boiled turnips squeezed perfectly dry, well* 
 boiled oat-meal gruel, chicken or veal broth, or some 
 of the summer fruits, perfectly ripe, eaten raw or aftei 
 being cooked, will very generally produce a free 
 state of the bowels. Let it be recollected that 
 although the articles of food just enumerated maybe 
 highly improper for the ordinary use of the dyspeptic, 
 yet taken occasionally, merely with a reference to 
 their laxative effects, no harm but much good will 
 result from them. Bran bread or crackers, used con- 
 stantly, will often remove costiveness. If costi veness 
 still continue in conjunction with regular active ex- 
 ercise and early rising, frictions over the whole of 
 the abdomen night and morning should be resorted 
 to. The practice of shampooing, rendered some time 
 since very popular in this city by the announcements 
 and publication of Mr Halsted, will not unfrequently 
 succeed in causing regular evacuations by stool, and 
 obviate the necessity of resorting to medicine. This 
 practice will be detailed hereafter. The use of the 
 warm bath should never be neglected. When me- 
 dicines are demanded, they should be of the most 
 gentle kind and not too long persisted in. A combi 
 nation of magnesia, rhubarb and small portions of 
 ipecacuanha is a very excellent purgative in dyspep- 
 tic cases ; so are the seidlitz powders, if not too often 
 repeated. A pill composed of the blue mass, soap, 
 myrrh and ipecacuanha, will be in many cases pre- 
 dictive of the best effects The utmost care must 
 be observed, however, not to produce active purging 
 or any considerable irritation of the bowels, in 
 attempting to relieve costiveness — whatever remedy 
 is used, its effects are merely temporary; a regular 
 state of the bowels can be obtained permanently in 
 no other way than by a proper diet and regimen, in 
 addition to the other means calculated to restore to 
 "he digestive organs their healthy tone and functions 
 
Dyspepsia, or Indigestion. 18f 
 
 2. Flatulence. 
 
 To remove this unpleasant and troublesome symp 
 torn, strict attention must be paid to diet. Food 
 m any degree irritating, acid or fermentable must 
 be abstained from. Active exercise must be taken 
 in the open air, and frictions over the stomach re- 
 peated several times a day. As a palliative, a 
 glass of water in which a few grains of the bi- 
 carbonate of soda have been dissolved, or perhaps 
 what is better with the addition of a few drops of 
 aqua ammonise, will often be found useful. There is 
 danger however of increasing the irritation of the 
 stomach when this is too often repeated. The cause 
 of flatulence is the disordered state of the digestive 
 organs ; when this is remedied the former will cease. 
 We must caution the dyspeptic against the too cus- 
 tomary practice of resorting in cases of flatulence to 
 mint water and various aromatic tinctures, brandy 
 and water, and similar stimulants : from such remedies 
 the most mischievous effects are to be apprehended. 
 
 3. Violent Pain of the Stomach and Bowels. 
 
 In some cases of Dyspepsia the paroxysms of pain 
 are so intense that for their immediate relief opium 
 must be resorted to ; the best form for its administration 
 will be in the form of a powder composed of one grain 
 of opium or one third of a grain of sulphate of morphia 
 with ten grains of magnesia and one of ipecacuanha. 
 The relief obtained in this way, however, is only 
 temporary ; and to repeat too frequently the remedy 
 will be productive of mischief. The calm resulting 
 from opiates in Dyspepsia very often leads to their 
 habitual use; but this never fails to aggravate the 
 disease and render its cure more difficult, if not im- 
 possible. Ten grains of pepsin with three grains 
 of the subnitrate or carbonate of bismuth, taken 
 before each meal, will be found of very great 
 
186 Compendium of Domestic Medicine, 
 
 benefit in these cases. In very many cases 
 the pain of the stomach will be removed by 
 warm fomentations over the abdomen, and by cupi 
 to the region of the stomach or along the spine. 
 
 4. Nausea and Vomiting. 
 
 Nausea and vomiting are often distressing symp 
 toms in cases of Dyspepsia. To relieve them, cold 
 toast water, or a draught of soda water taken in a 
 state of effervescence, will very commonly be found 
 useful remedies, in conjunction with a proper atten- 
 tion to diet. When the vomiting is very distressing, 
 a blister should be applied over the pit of the sto 
 mach. 
 
 5. Constant Soreness and Pain of the Stomach, 
 
 Soreness of the stomach, great tenderness under 
 pressure, or constant pain in that organ, is frequently 
 present in protracted cases of Dyspepsia. It is some- 
 times accompanied with burning of the soles of the 
 feet and palms of the hands, or dryness and heat of 
 the entire surface. In these cases the use of all 
 solid food must be abandoned, the patient being con- 
 fined solely to toast water or gum arabic tea,* ice 
 bladders or cloths dipped in cold spring water and 
 wrung out, should be applied without delayover the 
 stomach, and repeated if the symptoms be not removed 
 the first time, or if they recur subsequently. The 
 patient should not in such cases make use of any 
 very active exercise. The pain and tenderness 
 alluded to depend upon a greater or less degree of 
 inflammation seated in the lining membrane of the 
 stomach and upper intestine; which, unless it be 
 promptly removed, may produce a degree of disor 
 anization in these important organs from which re 
 coverv ean scarcely be huped for. 
 
CHYLE-YESSELS OF THE MESENTERY. 
 
 1, aorta; 2, thoracic canal ; 3, lymphatics; 4, radicles of 
 the chyle- vessels ; 5, intestine ; 6, mesentery ; 7, 
 lymphatic vessels. 
 
Dyspepsia, or Indigestion. 18? 
 
 GENERAL REMEDIES. 
 
 We have next to consider some general remedies 
 demanded for the cure of Dyspepsia. 
 
 1. The Warm Bath and Frictions. 
 
 So intimately connected are the stomach and skin, 
 that one of these parts can scarcely ever be involved 
 in disease without the other suffering likewise. It 
 is important therefore, in all cases of Indigestion, to 
 promote the health of the external covering of the 
 body — by exciting it to a regular discharge of its 
 functions. This is best effected by the use of the 
 warm bath and by frictions. When properly used, 
 these means seldom fail to prove highly refreshing, 
 to remove many of the symptoms most distressing to 
 the patient, while they aid greatly in bringing back 
 the digestive organs to a healthy condition. From 
 ninety to ninety-six degrees is the best range of heat 
 of the bath for the use of dyspeptics ; and the proper 
 time for resorting to it is in the morning, between 
 breakfast and dinner. The patient may repeat the 
 bath three or four times a week, and remain in it 
 from fifteen to thirty minutes, according to his feel- 
 ings, which ought to be comfortable on coming out 
 of the water. A gentle walk or ride should follow 
 the use of the bath whenever the weather is favour- 
 able. When the warm bath cannot be conveniently 
 procured, or when it fails in producing a beneficial 
 effect, which will seldom however be the case, tepid 
 sponging may be substituted. That is, the whole 
 surface of the body is to be sponged regularly every 
 morning with tepid water, or salt and water ; the pa- 
 tient immediately afterwards rubbing himself per- 
 fectly dry with a coarse towel. This is a very 
 refreshing and beneficial practice, and one which 
 •Sir Astley Cooper considers to have very materially 
 
188 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 contributed to ensure the excellent health which he 
 so long enjoyed. He uniformly resorted to it imme- 
 diately on rising from his bed. Frictions over the 
 surface with a towel or flesh brush without sponging 
 may also be resorted to with the best effects in the 
 evening, or just before retiring to bed. This is a 
 very effectual means for producing sound and re- 
 freshing sleep, and causes the patient to awake in 
 the morning with renewed strength and vigour. 
 
 2. Mr Halsted's Method. 
 
 On principles similar to those on which the warm 
 bath and frictions act, in removing Dyspepsia, is to 
 be explained the practice of Mr Halsted, which he 
 recommends as a specific in this disease. The plan 
 of treatment to which we allude is commenced by 
 applying over the anterior part of the abdomen an 
 emollient poultice or cloths wrung out of warm 
 water, and repeating these until the abdominal 
 muscles become perfectly flaccid. The patient being 
 placed in such a situation, either standing or sitting, 
 as shall most completely relax those muscles, the 
 hand of an assistant is to be insinuated deep into the 
 soft parts, in such a manner as that ihe bowels shall 
 rest in some measure upon the open palm. Then by 
 a quick but gentle motion these parts are to be 
 pushed upwards towards the stomach, and in this 
 manner agitated daily or oftener until an evident 
 change for the better is produced, when the fre- 
 cuency of its employment is to be gradually dimin- 
 ished. 
 
 This is by no means a new plan; it differs but little 
 from that recommended and employed by admiral 
 Henry in 1787. This latter directs the patient whilst 
 in bed, by means of a bone rounded at the end in 
 each hand, to knead the bowels as much as possible, 
 particularly about the navel, causing, " the two in- 
 struments to meet among the bowels as much as 
 .hey can be forced to do." 
 
Dyspepsia, or Indigestion. 189 
 
 From frictions and the warm bath diligently per- 
 severed in, all the good effects resulting from the 
 practice just described will be obtained, and with 
 less trouble to the patient and less danger of doing 
 mischief when the stomach or bowels are morbidly 
 tender or inflamed. 
 
 3. Mineral Waters. 
 
 The use of the natural mineral waters has been 
 recommended in cases of Dyspepsia, and instances 
 are related of marvellous cures effected by then, 
 agency. The water, impregnated with saline 01 
 mineral substances, of many of the natural springs, 
 will, no doubt be found of advantage in some of the 
 forms of stomachic disease, both inwardly and as a 
 bath. But we are persuaded that the good effect 
 frequently ascribed to these waters is dependent 
 equally upon ihe journey; the agreeable occupation 
 of the mind ; the pure air and daily exercise at the 
 spring, and the breaking up for a time the ordinary 
 bodily and mental occupations— the absence, for a 
 season, from the fatigue and anxious cares to which 
 the individual had been previously subjected. Je 
 the same manner a sea voyage will often effect a 
 complete cure. 
 
 4. Tonics and Bitters. 
 
 We forbear to enumerate the numerous tonics — 
 mineral and vegetable, the bitters and arcmatics that 
 have been at different periods, and are still by many 
 writers, recommended for the cure of Dyspepsia. Un 
 less aided by the treatment already laid down they 
 can do no possible good ; with it they are seldom if ever 
 needed. They have in fact produced more injury 
 by far than benefit — by being resorted to at an im- 
 proper period of the disease, or continued for too long 
 a period A light bitter or some simple tonic may, 
 'ovvards the termination of the disease, add tone to 
 
190 Compendium of Domestic Medicine, 
 
 the stomach, but by no means so certainly or effecn* 
 ally as will a proper diet, regular exercise, pure air, 
 cheerful employments, and the disuse of the vari- 
 ous injurious agents usually introduced into the 
 stomach. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 We may remark, in concluding, that the plan of 
 treatment we have laid down must be persevered in 
 for a considerable length of time before any effectual 
 relief is to be expected : stomachic diseases of any 
 standing cannot be removed in a few days. It is im- 
 portant also that the treatment be uniformly perse- 
 vered in, until the cure is eilected and the func- 
 tions of the stomach are completely re-established. It 
 will not do to adhere to the rules laid down for a 
 week or two, and then commit an act of folly or of 
 dissipation, returning afterwards in hope of benefit to 
 a temporary course of prudence and of temperance. 
 Such conduct is more than madness — nothing but 
 disappointment can result from it 
 
 Dyspeptics, from the desponding state of mind under 
 which they most commonly labour, and an erroneous 
 and exaggerated opinion of the nature of their dis- 
 ease, of its extent and danger; as well as from their 
 want of patience to pursue a long uninterrupted 
 series of gentle remedies, and the false estimate very 
 generally made by the public of the efficacy of diet 
 and regimen unaided by some potent medicine inter- 
 nally administered ; render themselves the willing 
 dupes of every needy and impudent empiric. Tempo- 
 rary relief is often obtained from the pills and panacea 
 of the latter ; but the disease, nevertheless, becomes 
 more deeply rooted, and the unfortunate patient for 
 a moment's ease is made to suffer for life. The dys- 
 peptic should always view the empiric as one of his 
 greatest enemies — the one most to be dreaded 
 
SICK-HEADACHE. 
 
 This disease is the result of our advanced state 
 of civilization, the increase of wealth and enjoy 
 ments in the power of most people in this country, 
 and of the luxurious and enervating habits in which 
 those in easy circumstances indulge. It is unknown 
 among the natives of our forests, or among those of 
 the frontier inhabitants whose necessities oblige 
 them to live in a manner the reverse of that com- 
 mon among the inhabitants of the Atlantic states, 
 and particularly the residents of our large cities and 
 towns, among whom the complaint very generally 
 prevails. Some of their habits are indeed of a na- 
 ture directly calculated to lay the foundation of the 
 complaint; but the vigour of their constitutions and 
 daily exposure to pure air, aided by constant exer- 
 cise, are more than sufficient to countervail their 
 bad effects. 
 
 The stomach is the seat and throne of this disease, 
 and affects the head by means of that sympathetic 
 connexion which it holds with it and every organ 
 of the human body. High living, over-eating, late 
 hours, disposition to acidity in the stomach, partial 
 mastication or long continued use of food of difficult 
 digestion, suppers, indolence, relaxing habits, and 
 the presence of bile in the stomach, are the general 
 remote causes. Our remedies therefore must be 
 
 191 
 
192 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 directed to the stomach, and the restoration of its 
 nervous functions, the impaired state of which occa- 
 sions the agony endured by those who labour under 
 the complaint. The desirable change however must 
 be efFected by slow degrees; for the stomach gives 
 way slowly, and the means of cure must be gradu- 
 ally applied. The length of time required to re- 
 establish the tone of the nerves of the stomach, will 
 vary in different persons in proportion to the violence 
 of the disease, the fidelity with which the sufferer 
 follows the advice given, and the susceptibility ot 
 the stomach to the impression of the remedies, and 
 food prescribed : the object of their exhibition how- 
 ever will be obtained sooner or later. 
 
 SYMPTOMS. 
 
 An attack of the disease most commonly forms in 
 the course of the night, and on awaking, a pain is 
 felt in some part of the head, but generally over 
 one or both eyes. More or less languor attends it, 
 with a diminished or total disrelish for food, and 
 great sensibility to light. After continuing for one 
 or two days, and even longer, if no remedy be taken, 
 a nausea sometimes succeeds, which finally ends in 
 vomiting, or this may easily be excited by a draught 
 or two of warm water : in either case, relief is soon 
 obtained from the more acute symptoms, and sleep 
 follows — though a distressing soreness and confusion 
 of the head succeed, which gradually go off, and 
 health is restored. In some cases the pain in the 
 head is preceded by a dulness and heaviness of the 
 eyes, and confusion of the brain, which finally ter- 
 minate in the fixed pain. Cold feet sometimes pre- 
 cede an attack, and constitute the first symptoms of 
 its approach. 
 
Sick-Headache. 193 
 
 MEDICINES. 
 
 In rommencing a regular plan for restoring the 
 tone of the nerves of the stomach, a laxative ought 
 to be the first remedy; as rhubarb, of which twenty, 
 thirty or thirty-five grains, in powder, may be taken 
 early in the morning in syrup, or in the form of pills 
 of a convenient size made with the same materia]* 
 or, which is preferable, with castile soap, on account 
 of its purgative power. Its activity may be quick- 
 ened, and the object of its exhibition promoted, by 
 the addition of one or two grains of aloes, if no 
 objection to it exist, arising from its effect on 
 the rectum, or from its harsh operation on the 
 stomach or bowels. During the operation of the 
 medicine, several tea cups of thin gruel made of 
 oat meal or corn meal, to which so much salt has 
 been added as to be perceptible, should be taken. 
 The breakfast after this prescription, and through 
 the treatment, may consist of a cup or two of weak 
 souchong lea, with a soft boiled egg, weak coffee, 
 water in which chocolate nut-shells have been 
 boiled, or prepared cocoa, with a slice of dry stale 
 bread. The dinner must be of the lightest kind, of 
 any of the articles hereafter specified. 
 
 In southern constitutions, an attack of the disease 
 is generally brought on by the presence of bile in 
 the stomach, the removal of which is therefore indis- 
 pensably requisite previous to taking any medicine 
 to relieve the headach, or to the commencement of 
 any regular system of prevention of the disease. An 
 emetic of ipecacuanha, in this case, will be absolutely 
 necessary, of which fifteen, twenty, or twenty-five 
 grains (according to ease or difficulty of being oper- 
 ited on by it) may be taken in half a wine-glass of 
 water. Two vegetable anti-bilious pills will insure 
 its full operation, and the complete removal of the 
 offending cause. The emetic may be worked off 'by 
 N 
 
194 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 a tea cup or two of weak chamomile tea, taken at 
 intervals, after the medicine has operated two or 
 three times. The evening is the most suitable time 
 to take the emetic, after the operation of which sound 
 and refreshing sleep most commonly follows In 
 case the medicine does not operate on the bowels 
 once or twice, the dose of rhubarb and aloes be- 
 fore mentioned, or twenty or twenty-five grains of 
 jalap or rhubarb, with four or five of calomel (if the 
 bowels are difficult to move), may be taken the 
 following morning or night, and worked off by gruel 
 of corn or oatmeal. Nausea from the calomel is in 
 general prevented by the addition of a few drops of 
 essence of peppermint, or a tea-spoonful of compound 
 spirit of lavender. If it come on, it may be relieved 
 by a few spoonsful of a watery infusion of cinnamoi 
 or ginger, or by a little mint water. No fear neer 
 be entertained of the proportion of calomel prescribes 
 affecting the mouth (unless the system be uncom- 
 monly sensible to its effects), for the quantity added 
 to the jalap and rhubarb insures its passage through 
 the stomach and bowels — whereas a smaller dose 
 might not be removed, and would then touch the 
 mouth ; at the worst its effects will only be temporary. 
 This important preliminary being settled, the pa- 
 tient must commence with the following medicine 
 Prepared rust of iron, 1 drachm (60 grains), 
 Columbo root, fresh powdered, 2 drachms, 
 Orange peel, 3 drachms. 
 Mix and divide into twenty papers: one to be taken 
 morning and evening, in a small quantity of jelly or 
 syrup, and washed down with a wine-glassful of 
 cold water. 
 
 After taking the above medicine for four weeks, 
 rhubarb, recently powdered, may be substituted for 
 the columbo, and if it be desired to render it more 
 grateful, cinnamon may be added to the whole. If 
 the dose be inconveniently large, the number of 
 papers may be increased to thirty. After another 
 month's use of this new prescription, the bitters may 
 
Sick-Headache. 195 
 
 oe omitted for four or five weeks, and the prepared 
 rust of iron used alone. 
 
 The occasional presence of bile or acid in the 
 stomach, an occurrence that is easily known by the 
 invalid, must be removed, by some anti-bilious 
 pills for the bile : and for the acid, by twenty 
 or thirty grains of magnesia, or dried subcarbonate 
 of soda in the dose of from ten to twenty grains, in 
 pills made with castile soap, three or fbur of which 
 may be taken in a day. 
 
 We have known Fowler's mineral solution given 
 with great benefit in this disease : and our confidence 
 in its powers, induces us to recommend it in violent 
 cases. When taking it, the patient is not to drink 
 cold water, or take cold. 
 
 The dose may be from three to five or ten 
 drops at the utmost, in half a wine glass of water, 
 early in the morning, for an adult. If nausea be 
 produced, it may be taken when going to bed, or 
 me or two hours after a meal. The addition of a 
 tea-spoonful of compound spirits of lavender (where 
 this medicine has not previously been added) renders 
 't more agreeable, and prevents nausea. It must be 
 discontinued, for a short time, when swelling in the 
 face, or a sense of fulness in the eyes, is perceived. 
 After the return of a fit, it may be again commenced. 
 If nausea, or griping follow its use, the dose must be 
 lessened. 
 
 A tea-spoonful of common salt, dissolved in half a 
 pint of water, and taken frequently in the course of 
 the day, has afforded temporary benefit in a feu 
 cases; but we do not recommend it, by reason ol 
 its uncertainty. 
 
 The use of cider, as a remedy in this disease, was 
 long since highly extolled by Dr N. Dwight of Con- 
 necticut: but we are convinced that the relief ob- 
 tained by it mast be only temporary; and we have 
 known many, too many instances of ruinous attach 
 ment to strong drink, from early morning doses of 
 tincture of Peruvian bark, and the infusion of other 
 
196 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 vegetable tonics in Port wine, to prevent or cure 
 fever and ague, dyspepsia, or complaints called ner- 
 vous, to permit us to sanction the use of even cider 
 for Sick-headach. 
 
 DIET. 
 
 As bread constitutes so large a portion of our 
 daily aliment, and forms a most important item in 
 the articles by which a cure of this distressing com 
 plaint is to be effected, it demands the first notice. 
 
 Bread should be light, and none other must be 
 touched. There is no excuse admissible for heavy 
 bread. If corn bread be used, it should be eaten in 
 the form of thin, crisp cakes. I cannot conceive a 
 more injurious article of diet, to a wejak stomach, 
 than the hot corn bread of the southern slates. No 
 wheaten bread should be eaten, unless twenty-four 
 hours old. Economy and health unite in proscribing 
 fresh bread as an article of diet: for, however palat- 
 able, it is highly injurious to the stomach, and tries 
 its powers more than almost any other of the causes 
 of disease. During the years of youth, when the 
 natural vigour is daily deriving an accession of 
 strength, — or, in constitutions enjoying greater pow- 
 ers of the stomach than are absolutely required for 
 the purposes of digestion, fresh bread may be eaten 
 with impunity for years ; but I will venture to assert, 
 that every meal in which it is taken, will detract 
 some little from the powers of that organ, and that, 
 in time, it will show its effects. As an attachment 
 and -relish for bread one day old is acquired in a 
 short time, the sooner the former is left off the bet- 
 ter; indeed a care must not be expected, so long as the 
 use of fresh bread is indulged in. 
 
 In cases of severe affliction from the disease, and 
 where a disposition to acidity prevails in the stomach, 
 tt is advisable to lay aside raised bread altogether, 
 and to sr bstitute shipbread or crackers, or rice boiled 
 
Sick-Headache. 197 
 
 dry. Where the teeth have failed, biscuits may be 
 soaked in cold water, a short time before they are 
 wanted. Bread made from unbolted wheaten flour, 
 commonly called bran bread, is to be preferred to 
 white bread. 
 
 That species of animal food which has been found 
 to agree best with the invalid should be eaten, and 
 none else. Wild meats, being more tender, and 
 more easily digested than the flesh of domestic ani- 
 mals must be taken advantage of whenever occasion 
 will permit. Our markets annually furnish, in the 
 proper seasons, abundance of venison, which, of all 
 our meats, is the most proper for those afflicted with 
 a weak stomach, or Sick-headach. Game of all kinds, 
 and rabbits, afford an ample variety of tender food. 
 Beef is an article upon which we can sirbsist longer 
 without disrelish, than almost any other. The part 
 of the sirloin, containing the tenderloin, should be 
 preferred ; though other parts, provided they are 
 tender and juicy, may be eaten. Good mutton may 
 be a standing dish. If either be roasted, ihe over 
 done outside parts are to be avoided, being difficult 
 of digestion. Beeves' tongues, salted and smoked 
 and corned beef, are equally proper, and even medi- 
 cinal, owing to the stimulus of the salt used to cure 
 them. In general, corned beef is not half boiled by 
 American cooks. Slow, steady boiling, for several 
 hours, is requisite, to render that article sufficiently 
 tender for a deranged stomach. Rapid boiling occa- 
 sions a waste of fuel, dissipates with the steam the 
 volatile and savoury particles of the meat, and thus 
 -enders the article less good and palatable The 
 water in which meat is boiled, should be kept just at 
 .he ooiling point. The same rule holds in regard to 
 soup 
 
 The lean part of a white fat fillet of veal may be 
 occasionally eaten. The knuckle of veal must never 
 De touched, being very difficult of digestion. 
 
 Of shell-fish, crabs and oysters are the only spe 
 cies allowable. The latter should always be accom 
 
198 Compendium of Domestic Medicine, 
 
 panied with a due proportion of bread or biscuit, to 
 compel mastication, and prevent over-eating. Lob- 
 sters are inadmissible. 
 
 There can be no objection to trout, rock (streaked 
 bass), black-fish, sea-bass, sheepshead, perch, flound- 
 ers, and whiting. Boiled fish are generally found 
 more easy of digestion, than when otherwise pre- 
 pared. The use of other fish must be regulated by 
 the effects produced on the individual eating them. 
 
 Soft boiled eggs, poultry, and ham well boiled, 
 may properly constitute a part of the dinner of an 
 invalid. Pork, unless young, and fed on corn and 
 milk, is too strong; and in any case, the lean part 
 only should be eaten Meat pies are ruinous to the 
 stomach of all subject to Sick-r.eadach. 
 
 But whatever may be the article of animal food 
 that constitutes the material of dinner, the following 
 rules ought to be constantly observed : 
 
 1. If the meat be not salted, it should be kept as 
 long as possible before it is cooked, that it may be 
 tender. 
 
 2. Whether roasted, boiled or stewed, meat ought 
 to be done until tender. French cooks pay much 
 more attention to this point than those of America or 
 England. 
 
 3. Simplicity in diet is essential to those subject 
 to Sick-headach. The weak stomach revolts at the 
 task of overcoming the difficulty of digesting a din- 
 ner composed of numerous ingredients, and eilner 
 rejects them, or labours to do the hard duty thus 
 imposed. It may succeed, after a time, though 
 every such exertion tends infallibly to increase the 
 disease in question. 
 
 The dinner ought to consist of one dish of animal 
 food, and one or two of vegetables, besides bread ; 
 for the stomach is less strained to extraordinary activ- 
 ity, than when several different articles are eaten. 
 Besides, some articles, apparently of the same nature, 
 do not agree when mixed, and may do harm by creat- 
 ing a disturbance in the stomach, the quiet of which 
 
Sick- Headache. 199 
 
 it is important to preserve. The principle of this 
 harmony of aliments applies almost with equal force 
 to vegetables, among which we see agreements and 
 disagreements, almost as great as those we remark 
 in the mixture of two articles of animal food, or of 
 fish and flesh. There are few articles upon which 
 we can live so long without tiring, as beef, potatoes, 
 and rice. These are so innocent, and so well adapt- 
 ed to give tone to the stomach, that they ought tc 
 constitute the diet of such as are labouring under a 
 Sick-headach, as long as they can be procured, or 
 taken without disrelish. Much of their excellence, 
 nowever, depends upon their cooking. It is essen- 
 tial that the potatoes be mealy, and that the rice be 
 boiled dry : as this article agrees with most persons, 
 every invalid is urged to use it as steadily as possi- 
 ble. Green peas, carrots, parsnips, and small homi- 
 ny, may occasionally be substituted. 
 
 4. Slow and complete mastication of food is indis- 
 pensable. The pleasure, moreover, of eating, is 
 very much increased thereby ; because the organs 
 of taste are more forcibly impressed than when the 
 food is a shorter time retained on them, by imperfect 
 mastication. Another advantage of slow eating is, 
 *4iat, the stomach being gradually distended, there 
 is less danger of its being overloaded, and it is less 
 sensibly affected by the subsequent relaxation, than 
 if the food be hastily swallowed. When slowly and 
 fully comminuted, the food is also more equally ex- 
 posed to the action of the saliva and gastric liquor, 
 which are designed by nature to dissolve it The 
 digestion of food is thus promoted. Long intervals 
 between meals render the adoption of this practice 
 very difficult; for the keenness of the sensation of 
 hunger involuntarily forces us to eat quickly. The 
 invalid should, therefore, never permit that sensation 
 to proceed further than to cause a relish for food 
 which should consequently be taken as often as is 
 requisite, without reference to the regular hours of 
 the family meals. Various articles can always be at 
 
200 Compendium of Domestic Medicine, 
 
 hand. But, on the contrary, unappensed hunger is 
 not less injurious, than adding to the load in the 
 stomach before the previous meal has been digested. 
 The inevitable consequence of this repletion is, that 
 digestion is disturbed, the organ is unduly roused to 
 overaction, and, in the end, evinces the loss of vigour, 
 by the occasional derangement of its nerves, and the 
 production of the distressing sympathetic affection of 
 the pain of the head. The effects of such indiscretion 
 are often shown several days after it has been com- 
 mitted ; but most commonly the next day. 
 
 5. Moderation in diet must always be attended 
 to. The stomach may be injured, by being over- 
 loaded with simple food, as certainly, though not so 
 speedily, as by other food of improper quality. The 
 invalid should leave off eating, the moment the first 
 distention of the stomach is perceived. Slow masti- 
 cation favours satiety, without inducing undue dis- 
 tention. The dinner should consist principally of 
 vegetables. Most persons in the United States eat 
 much more animal food than is necessary for or con- 
 sistent wilh health. 
 
 The rule with respect to butter shall be short. A 
 more innocent article of food is not to be found than 
 pure fresh butter, nor a more injurious one than 
 strong butter The former may, therefore, be safely 
 taken in moderation, provided it be found not to dis- 
 agree with the stomach. This point can easily be 
 settled by the invalid. Many physicians, without 
 consistency or reflection, cry out against fresh butter 
 as noxious, and yet will prescribe repeated doses of 
 castor-oil, without once inquiring whether it is not, 
 as it often is, offensive from rancidity. The most 
 innocent mode of using butter is to spread it cold on 
 bread twelve hours old, or on biscuit previously 
 soaked. 
 
 Soups of every kind are highly injurious to those 
 troubled with Sick-headach, and ought therefore to 
 be avoided. They suddenly distend the stomach 
 without giving tone, and, in the way usually made 
 
DARTTLAGES OF LARYNX AND EPIGLOTTIS, AND 
 UPPER RINGS OF TRACHEA, SEEN FROM BEHIND. 
 
 (Taken from Todd and Bowman.) 
 
 a, arytenoid cartilages, b, superior cornua of thyroid 
 cartilage, c, its inferior cornua. d, posterior surface 
 of cricoid. /, epiglottis, with its perforations, h. its 
 left inferior tubercle. *", upper margin of thyroid, t, 
 trachea. 
 
Sick- Headache. 201 
 
 are injurious, from the grease they contain and 
 which, from the heat they are subjected to, are much 
 disposed to create acidity. 
 
 The best gravy of all roasted meat is its own 
 liquor. An invalid's stomach is better without any. 
 The ranced fried liquid fat, passing under the name 
 of gravy, is ruinous to the stomach of those subject 
 to Sick-headach. Vinegar pickles must be shunned. 
 They are injurious from the indigestible nature of 
 the solid article, and from the acid used in their pre- 
 servation. But mustard and horseradish may be 
 safely eaten ; they are gently stimulating ; and in an 
 habitual colic, arising from gout, the latter has been 
 eaten at all hours, with the most marked benefit. 
 
 Vegetable acids of all kinds, and fruits, are highly 
 injurious. Some of the latter may be more particu- 
 larly hurtful, on account of the difficult digestion of 
 their skins. Cherries in one case, and apples in 
 another, excited severe attacks of the disease. 
 
 It will be observed that we have said nothing 
 about desserts. We proscribe them all. There can, 
 indeed, be no objection to plain puddings made of 
 rice, bread, biscuit or potatoes, provided the butter 
 in them is not found to disagree with the stomach, 
 and provided they are eaten sparingly, and after a 
 moderate dinner. Calves-feet jelly, without wine, 
 is equally innocent, and may be taken to the extent 
 of a glass with safety. A plain apple pie, with well 
 baked and very light crust, may also be occasionally 
 eaten, with the same caution as to quantity: but we 
 hold up both hands against rich pastry, and a variety 
 of rich puddings w 7 hich the ingenuity of cooks have 
 invented to please the palate at the expense of health. 
 They are death to a stomach subject to the derange- 
 ment of nerves producing Sick-headach. The invalid 
 is better without any dessert ; for granting that the 
 articles are in themselves innocent, yet they may be 
 injurious by their bulk, and by disagreeing with 
 those constituting the substantial part of the dinner. 
 Besides 'he stomach acts with most vigour wnen 
 
202 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 employed in digesting the fewest articles; and, 
 therefore, it is wrong to try its powers by undue ex- 
 ertion, or even to risk its derangement by a mixture 
 of food. If any argument be necessary to urge the 
 adoption of this simple diet, and to reconcile those 
 subject to Sick-headach or dyspepsia, to the depri- 
 vation of their usual supposed comforts, let it be re- 
 membered, that the more steadily they submit to the 
 discipline recommended, the sooner the object of it 
 will be attained. Let them also reflect, that in ex- 
 changing temporary sensual gratification, and conse- 
 quent suffering, for the habits and food that will, in 
 a short time, prove as agreeable as those they have 
 relinquished, they will also acquire light pleasant 
 feelings, elasticity and serenity of mind, and all those 
 sensations arising from the permanent enjoyment of 
 good health, and freedom from pain; and above all, 
 for uninterrupted capacity to discharge the duties 
 which their various situations in life may demand 
 They must, however, bear in mind that a return to 
 old practices will unquestionably, sooner or later 
 cause a return of their complaints. We can assure 
 .hem, however, that they will, in a short time, become 
 reconciled to the rational mode of life recommended, 
 and that they will not only afterwards pursue it from 
 choice, but advise others to adopt it. 
 
 Tea and coffee must be taken in great moderation. 
 In place of them, for breakfast, the articles noted in 
 page 193, or a small portion of some of the varieties 
 of animal food mentioned at page 197, may be sub- 
 stituted ; with ihe addition of sound bottled claret, 
 if the acid of this wine should be found not to disa- 
 gree with the stomach. The claret must be diluted 
 with water. In the evening a cup of souchong may 
 be taken with safety ; but it would be better to omit 
 it, and to take a few oysters, or a soft boiled egg or 
 two, an hour at least before bed time. Regular sup- 
 pers must be wholly laid aside. 
 
 Invalids should avoid dinner and supper parties. 
 <or they thereby escape the inducement to transgress 
 
Sick- Headache. 203 
 
 the rules prescribed for their cure, the importunities 
 and remarks upon their forbearance from the thought- 
 less and inconsiderate, and the reflections which may 
 prove mortifying to them from seeing others, either 
 in high health, or who set bad health at defiance, 
 eating freely of what they call the good things be- 
 fore them 
 
 DRINKS. 
 
 Let every one afflicted with the Sick-headach be 
 assured of the fact, of the superiority of water as a 
 diluent, and throw aside wine, spirit, and malt liquors. 
 In the winter, if the coldness of the water should 
 prove disagreeable, or give pain when taken, these 
 effects may be prevented by pouring boiling water 
 on toasted bread or biscuit, and permitting the tem- 
 perature of the water to descend to a degree that 
 may be found pleasant. It may then be taken at 
 meals, or at any other time in the course of the day 
 when required. This toast infusion is far preferable, 
 and more palatable, than that made by infusing a 
 hot toast in cold water. Those who are not blessed 
 with water naturally pure, should, if possible, use 
 distilled water; the benefit of which the late and 
 experienced Dr Heberden, of London, thought might 
 be as great in many chronic complaints of the sto- 
 mach and bowels, as the most famous mineral waters 
 are in other disorders. Dr Lamb says he was cured 
 of a Sick-headach by the use of distilled water, and 
 that he was informed of the same complaint having 
 been relieved in others by using it. particularly by a 
 gentleman more than sixty years of age. The same 
 author relates several cases of the decided good 
 effects of distilled water in various chronic com- 
 plaints, as cancer, gout, obstinate cutaneous erup- 
 tions, <fcc. Dr Adair also adds several facts of its me- 
 dicinal powers. If distilled water be used, the first 
 gallon that comes over should be thrown away F<»» 
 
204 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 want of it, the water may be boiled ; and, in both 
 cases, it should be put into an upright churn, with- 
 out a cover, and agitated for some rime, to impreg- 
 nate it with the air which it loses by either operation 
 and, for want of which, it has a vapid and peculiar 
 taste. In places where the water is obviously im- 
 pure, or bad tasted, it ought to be passed through a 
 filtering stone, or, which is better, a filtering appara- 
 tus The water drinker will find, after a short trial, 
 that he will never want the luxury of an appetite ; 
 that the sensibility of the organs of taste is increased, 
 and that he will thereby add to the pleasure of eating. 
 
 But it must be remembered, that a cardinal point 
 in the cure of all diseases of debility in the stomach, 
 or of derangements in its functions, is to take no more 
 drink at meals than is sufficient to promote the solu- 
 tion of the food in its natural solvents, and its passage 
 out of the stomach. Haifa pint, or a little more, is 
 enough. 
 
 The operation of the good effects of the tender 
 modes of cooking, in France, is prevented by the 
 large draughts taken by the people of that country 
 at dinner: and indigestion is known to be a prevail- 
 ing disease among them. During the day thirst must 
 be assuaged, either by plain water, or water impreg- 
 nated with carbonic acid, the method of doing which 
 is now generally known. Where aciditjr prevails in 
 the stomach, ten or fifteen grains of the supercar- 
 bonates of soda or of potash, should be added to each 
 glass without syrup. Half a tumbler is enough 
 for one draught. More would cause uneasy disten- 
 tion of the stomach. This drink, taken daily, has, 
 in one case, suspended a severe Sick-headach for 
 several months. The alkali may be dissolved in a 
 wine-glass of milk, and pure water taken after it, if 
 aerated water cannot be procured. 
 
 The tonic effects of malt liquors on the human 
 body, when not contra-indicated by some circum- 
 stance, would naturally lead those not acquainted 
 with them, to expect that they would be highly be 
 
Sick-Headache. 205 
 
 neficial i-n the present complaint: but they are inju- 
 rious, from containing more or less free acid, and 
 must, therefore, be avoided. 
 
 Attention to the state of the bowels is of essential 
 importance in this disease. Costiveness not only dis- 
 poses to its origination, but increases the disposition 
 to frequent attacks of it. The bowels must, there- 
 fore, be constantly kept open by the use of occasional 
 doses of medicine, when necessity may require it. 
 The Congress Spring water, at Saratoga, is the best 
 laxative for the purpose; for it is the peculiar pro- 
 perty of this admirable water not to weaken like 
 other purgatives. Three tumblers full, taken early 
 in the morning, are enough at a time. When drank 
 on the spot, a tumbler of the Flatrock water, which 
 is a pure chalybeate, may be taken in the afternoon. 
 Where the Congress water cannot be procured, rhu- 
 barb may be substituted, and, to prevent it giving 
 pain, three or four drops of the essence of pepper- 
 mint may be added to the dose ; or about thirty grains 
 of the root may be cut up and chewed; the effects, 
 when thus used, will be more slow and natural than 
 when a full dose in powder is taken. If there be an 
 aversion to this excellent medicine, castor-oil may 
 be substituted. Spinage, when in season, simply 
 prepared, and slightly seasoned, should be eaten at 
 dinner, when constipation comes on. Where acidity 
 prevails in the stomach, half a drachm to a drachm 
 of calcined magnesia should be taken in milk. 
 
 It would certainly conduce to the promotion cf the 
 vigour of the body, or, at least, prevent the increase 
 of muscular relaxation, if enervating feather beds 
 were laid aside, and mattrasses of hair, or southern 
 moss, substituted. In summer, a feather bed is an 
 absurdity. Even in winter, a short time will recon- 
 cile the most delicate to mattrasses, when they will 
 invariably be preferred to feather beds. In cold 
 weather, a blanket may be put between the sheet 
 and the mattrass. 
 
206 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 EXERCISE. 
 
 Exercise is an essential remedy in the cure of the 
 Sick-headach. But under the word exercise, so much 
 is comprehended, that it is necessary to enter into 
 detail respecting it. No species of bodily motion, no 
 variety of the species of exercise commonly used, will 
 have the desired effect, unless under proper regula- 
 tions, and in conjunction with a due observance of 
 the whole system of conduct laid down in the pre- 
 sent set of directions. It is only one of the means 
 prescribed, and may be defeated by, or even interfere 
 with the rest that are essential, by being improperly 
 used, or by inattention to other directions. The ex- 
 ercise must be in the open air, and occasionally be- 
 fore breakfast. If taken in the house, it fatigues 
 without effecting any change in the system. Riding 
 on horseback, on account of the agitation of the in- 
 ternal viscera, is, of all species of exercise, the most 
 proper; and should be constantly taken, every morn- 
 ing, when the weather will permit, A long journey 
 is much preferable to daily short rides at home, on 
 account of the exhilarating and medicinal effects of 
 the continued change of scene and of air on the 
 system. Occasional stops should be made, and exer- 
 cise on foot taken. Exercise, however, alone, will 
 not cure or prevent the disease, which is known to 
 affect persons of the most active dispositions, and 
 possessing considerable muscular vigour. 
 
 If it be not convenient to take a long journey, 
 daily rides at home, or walking exercise, may be 
 substituted. Some business, or object of investiga- 
 tion, ought always to be had in view when exercise 
 is taken, as a visit to a friend, the local topography 
 or geology, mineralogy or botany of the country, &c. 
 &c. To this must be added gentle frictions from 
 right to left, on the side, and region of the stomach 
 and bowels, with the flesh-brush or flannel, for fifteen 
 
Sick-Headache. 20? 
 
 minutes, every morning before rising, and after meals 
 The benefit of this remedy, though slow, is certain 
 
 CHANGE OF AIR. 
 
 A powerful remedy, in the cure of this disease, 
 is a change of air. The influence of the air of a 
 plare, in the production of diseases, is evident from 
 a variety of facts; and the prevention and cure 
 of them obtained by a temporary change of air, or 
 permanent removal of residence, is no less indis- 
 putable. 
 
 A striking effect of the change of air in the Sick- 
 headach, occurred in a citizen of Philadelphia, who, 
 from his sixteenth year, had been subject thereto, 
 and in whom, until he had passed his fortieth year, 
 it annually increased in force and frequency, so as to 
 render his life miserable. A few years since he re- 
 moved from the small and confined house, in which 
 he had lived for many years, to one of larger size, 
 having a spacious garden; and the consequence was, 
 that, in the course of two years his headach became 
 much less frequent, and his general health improved. 
 
 OTHER CAUTIONS. 
 
 Diseased teeth frequently excite this disease. In 
 the commencement of a cure, therefore, all stumps 
 that give occasional pain, and all hollow teeth not to 
 be rendered useful by plugging, should be extracted 
 Slight decays in other teeth must be cut out, and the 
 cavities plugged. 
 
 Early hours are essential to the cure of the com- 
 plaint. This refers to bed-time and rising, and the 
 invalid should make it a point never to indulge in 
 the unsound sleep that is apt to follow lying in bed 
 in the morning, after being awake some time. The 
 Janguor induced by a long continued recumbent pos 
 
208 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 hire of the body, promotes that torpor of the diges- 
 tive organs which contributes to the origination of thp 
 disease, and its continuance. A headach almost in- 
 variably ensues from such practice, with the loss of 
 that refreshing sensation arising from the sound re- 
 pose of the preceding night. 
 
 Cold feet frequently excite the disease. Care must 
 be taken, therefore, to guard the feet from cold 
 and wet, by cork-soled or Indian rubber overshoes, 
 w T hich are now made with great neatness, and by 
 wearing warm stockings. Flannel socks should also 
 be worn in winter when going to bed, and may be 
 pulled off in the course of the night, when the warmth 
 of the body has become equally diffused. 
 
 No one subject to Sick-headach should sleep with 
 a fire in the chamber; for the diminution of tempe- 
 rature that often takes place in the course of the 
 night, from the fire going out, or from a change in 
 the weather, disposes the system to catarrh, and 
 every such indisposition retards the cure of the dis- 
 ease. This remark does not apply to Canada, or the 
 eastern states, where the severity of the cold renders 
 the preservation of an uniform temperature in the 
 whole house, during winter, an object of unceasing 
 attention; nor to those who have the means of keep- 
 ing up a regular heat in their chambers during the 
 night. The thermometer should not be permitted to 
 rise above sixty degrees. The proper practice is, to 
 have a fire kindled, early in the morning, in a sheet- 
 iron stove, which heats quickly, or to dress in an 
 adjoining room, where there is a fire. Bed-curtains 
 should not be used. 
 
 If the system feel exhausted by the duties of the 
 morning, and require repose after dinner, to recover 
 its energies, sleep for half an hour may be indulged 
 in, to great advantage, with the bodv in an erect 
 
Sick- Headache. 209 
 
 position, or nearly so. A recumbent posture should 
 never be adopted, if a cure be hoped for. The prac- 
 tice, while in perfect health, of regularly going to 
 bed after dinner, for an hour or more, is productive 
 of the most enervating effects, and should never be 
 adopted, by young persons who are desirous to pre 
 serve or acquire firm muscles, good complexions, or 
 strong nerves. 
 
 No one who values the preservation of a vigorous 
 state of the surface, or wishes to prevent the gradual 
 diminution of its tone, should ever permit a warming 
 pan to-enter the bed. In cases of natural delicacy 
 of constitution, a flannel gown may be used to sleep 
 in. One of the surest methods to invigorate the skin, 
 and to prevent a disposition to take cold, is to rub 
 some part of the body every morning, on rising, with 
 a coarse tow T el dipped in cold water. The refreshing 
 sensation arising from this practice is so great, that 
 no one who tries it will deprive himself of the grati- 
 fication. The well known sympathy between the 
 surface and the stomach, authorises a belief that the 
 practice would prove a powerful auxiliary to the 
 system recommended for the cure of the sick- 
 headach. 
 
 The passions of the mind must be kept under with 
 especial care. Every mental irritation will add 
 strength to the disease, and retard the wholesome 
 operation of the remedies prescribed for its cure. 
 The common effect of giving way to fretting, peevish- 
 ness, or resentment, is an attack of the complaint 
 A determination should be made to overcome this 
 disposition. One effect of the system of diet recom- 
 mended for the cure of the complaint, is a happy re- 
 volution in the temper, from great irritability to phi- 
 losophic endurance of the little evils of life, and the 
 power of self-command. The mind and the corpo- 
 real functions are intimately connected and mutually 
 act and react on each other. Every source of do* 
 mestic irritation should, if possible, be avoided. The 
 troubles of life affect the digestive organs very sen 
 O 
 
210 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 stbly, and operate with increased force when they 
 are joined to improper food, or other remote causes 
 of the disease. 
 
 TREATMENT OF AN ATTACK OF THE 
 COMPLAINT. 
 
 If the disease announce its approach, which it 
 sometimes does, by certain premonitory signs, as 
 heaviness of the eyes, or confusion of the head, no 
 time ought to be lost in arresting its progress. If 
 the prevalence of an acid or of bile in the stomach 
 be known, attention must be paid to their removal. 
 If the first be present, twenty or thirty grains of 
 calcined magnesia, or ten or fifteen grains of super- 
 carbonate of soda or of potash, may be taken in 
 a tumbler of artificial mineral water; and if this 
 cannot be procured, they may be mixed with new 
 milk or gum-arabic water: to both, the addition of 
 orgeat, syrup of sugar, or of ginger, all render the 
 draught more agreeable, 
 
 Bile is to be removed by a brisk purge of com- 
 pound podophyllin pills ; after which, if relief be 
 not obtained, fifteen, twenty, or thirty drops of 
 laudanum may be taken in half a wine-glassful of 
 water, with the addition of a tea-spoonful of com- 
 pound spirit of lavender, and sleep encouraged by 
 retiring to bed in a dark room. If, on awaking, the 
 pain in the head should not have disappeared, its 
 removal will be promoted by the person remaining 
 in bed, and repeating the dose. It is better, how* 
 ever, to take enough at first, to insure a sound sleep 
 for several hours; after which it commonly happens 
 that no symptom of the disease remains, except a 
 slight confusion of the head, arising from the effects 
 of the laudanum: but this will disappear in a short 
 time, by taking a cup of clear strong coffee, without 
 sugar or cream. 
 
 In this way relief from the present symptoms will 
 
Sick-Headache. 211 
 
 oe certain ; and by repeating the foregoing process 
 a few times when the attack returns, it will be 
 shortened, and the habit of the disease be broken 
 and by due care to avoid the causes that excite it 
 and the use of the medicines, diet and regimen re- 
 commended, its return may be prevented. 
 
212 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 THE TEETH. 
 
 It is intended in the following treatise, 
 
 1. To give, in as few words as possible, a clear 
 description of the structure and formation of the 
 Teeth; and to bring to view those circumstances con- 
 nected with their growth, with which it is important 
 for every individual to be acquainted. 
 
 2. To give a brief sketch of the most common dis- 
 eases to which the Teeth are liable; together with 
 such directions, relative to their treatment and pre- 
 servation, as shall enable the reader to take the 
 necessary care of his own Teeth; and, if a parent, to 
 pay proper attention to the Teeth of his children. 
 The reader is aware that the diseases of children are 
 not embraced in the plan of this Compendium of Do- 
 mestic Medicine ; but the author, in treating of 
 the Teeth, has found it impossible to avoid some 
 notice of the subject — unless at the hazard of omit- 
 ting much that is interesting and instructive to those 
 to whom this work is professedly addressed. 
 
 3. To guard against the injurious practice of igno- 
 rant operators ; and to remove some of those popular 
 prejudices which prevent many from adopting the 
 only treatment calculated to diminish the liability 
 to disease in these useful and important organs. 
 
A, the separate human teeth as they occur in the half 
 jaw of the adult. B, the human teeth in situ in the 
 upper jaw. a, a, incisors. 6,6, canine, c, c, premolars. 
 d, rf, true molars. 
 
The Teeth. 213 
 
 STRUCTURE, NUMBER, FORM AND ARTICULA- 
 TION OF THE TEETH. 
 
 In order to render the description of the Teeth, and 
 of their diseases, as clear and comprehensive as poss- 
 ible, anatomists have considered a Tooth as divided 
 into three parts or sections ; first, the body or crown ; 
 second, the neck : and third, the root or fang. 
 
 The whole of that part o£*a Tooth which is gene- 
 rally exposed to view, when the gums are in a 
 healthy state, is called the crown. The part which 
 is immediately embraced by the gums, and to which 
 they are united, is called the neck. The third section, 
 or fang, is all that part which is found buried in the 
 socket, when the bony process, of which the socket 
 is formed, is in a perfect state. 
 
 The hard or bony structure of the Teeth is described 
 as consisting of two substances; one of a dense bony 
 nature, much harder than that of any of the other 
 bones, and of which are formed all the internal parts 
 of the crowns, the w-hole of the necks, and also the 
 fangs of the Teeth. The enamel, or external cover- 
 ing, is the other hard substance, which, however, 
 forms only a part of the crown. It is of a peculiar 
 nature, possessing a hardness and density exceeding 
 that of any other substance in the whole body, and 
 covers the crowns of all the teeth, but is seldom in 
 any part more than a line in thickness. It is thickest, 
 at those parts w hich are most exposed to use ; and 
 thinnest, at those nearest the gums. 
 
 The Teeth, like the other bones, are hollow, having 
 a cavity in their crowns, corresponding, in form, to 
 the external part of the tooth, and a canal in each fang, 
 extending from this cavity, and terminating by a 
 small opening in the point of the fang. These cavi- 
 ties, however, are not, as is commonly supposed, for 
 the lodgement of marrow, as in the other bones, but 
 to srive plare to blood vessels a \d nerves, on which 
 
214 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 the Teeth depend for their nourishment and sensi 
 bility. 
 
 The dimensions of these cavities are found to vary 
 according to the degree of perfection attained in the 
 formation of the Teeth ; being greatest in those which 
 are very young, and becoming gradually smaller, 
 till their formation is completed. In the Teeth of 
 adults, they become still less, as the individual ad- 
 vances in years, so that in those of very aged persons 
 these natural cavities are often found to be entirely 
 closed, or filled by solid bone. 
 
 Of the two sets of Teeth with which the human 
 jaws are successively furnished, the first are called 
 the temporary, infant, or Milk-Teeth ; and the second, 
 the permanent or adult Teeth. There is most com- 
 monly a difference in the number which composes 
 these two sets, the first containing twenty, and the 
 second thirty-two. The number in the second set is 
 often found to vary, being in some greater, and in 
 others less : but this variation seldom occurs in the 
 first set. 
 
 Both sets are divided into classes. In the first set 
 there are, in each jaw, 
 
 1. Four front Teeth (Incisores), two on each side. 
 
 2. Two eye Teeth, or canine Teeth {Cuspidati), one 
 on each side. 
 
 3. Four grinders, or double Teeth (Molares), two on 
 each side. 
 
 The front, and canine Teeth are succeeded, in the 
 
 permanent set, by Teeth of the same denomination; 
 
 but the grinders of the first set are followed in the 
 
 second, by- 
 Four double-pointed Teeth, or small grinders (Bi* 
 
 cuspides). 
 In addition to which there are m this set, a fourth 
 
 class, viz. 
 Six large grinders, or double Teeth (Molares), three 
 
 on each side ; the last of which, on each side, is called 
 
 wisdom-tooth. 
 The Teoth of both sets, or those of the same class 
 
The Teeth. 235 
 
 ill both, bear a strong resemblance to each other; so 
 that, in many instances, at the period of shedding, 
 the teeth of one set have been mistaken and extracted 
 ">r those of the other. 
 
 The roots of all the front and canine teeth, in both 
 Bets, are single, and generally straight and tapering ; 
 and those in the upper jaw are commonly the longest 
 The fangs of the small grinders (bicuspides) are 
 flatted and thin, often a little crooked and tapering, 
 and generally some of them forked at their extremi- 
 ties. All the double Teeth (molares) in both sets 
 have, in the under jaw, two fangs, and in the upper 
 one, three ; two of these being fixed towards the outer 
 edge of the jaw, and the other towards the roof of 
 the mouth or palate. In many instances, however, 
 the grinders of the upper jaw have four, or even five, 
 fangs ; and those of the under jaw, three. And on 
 the contrary, some of these Teeth, which are gene- 
 rally designed by nature to have two or three fangs, 
 are found with but one. 
 
 The Teeth are connected with the jaws by the 
 means of sockets, which are formed to receive and 
 fit each particular fang, and by intermediate mem- 
 branes, which serve at once for linings to the sockets, 
 and coverings to the fangs ; so that the roots of the 
 Teeth are not immediately articulated or joined to 
 the bony sockets, but are united by these membranes. 
 
 The sockets which receive the Teeth are formed 
 of thin plates or processes of soft spongy bone, which, 
 while they embrace the fangs of the Teeth, serve as 
 a support to the gums. These plates of bone, which 
 are called alveolar processes, are produced, and in- 
 creased, with the formation and advancement of the 
 Teeth; and there is such a mutual dependence of the 
 teeth and these processes on each other, that a Tooth 
 is no sooner removed, than a wasting of the process 
 commences, and all traces of a socket soon disappear. 
 And on the contrary, when this dissolution and ab- 
 sorption of the processes are first effected, as is often 
 the case in consequence of disease, the Teeth imme 
 
216 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 diately become loose and painful, and the patient is 
 almost constantly afflicted till they are wholly re- 
 moved. Thus it appears, that where there are no 
 Teeth, there can be no alveolar processes, and where 
 the alveolar processes are destroyed, the Teeth can 
 no longer be preserved. 
 
 These bony sides of the sockets are covered, like 
 the rest of the jaw, by a thick strong membrane, 
 called periosteum, whicn contributes greatly to su pport 
 and strengthen them. The gums are next spread 
 over this periosteal covering; and these again are in- 
 vested by a very delicate membrane, which is con- 
 tinued over the lips, tongue and throat, and is indeea 
 the immediate lining of the mouth. All these soft 
 parts, which cover the sockets of the Teeth, are so 
 intimately united by the intermixture of their fibres 
 and vessels, that they cannot be distinctly separated 
 by the knife, and appear, on dissection, like one uni- 
 form and homogeneous substance. 
 
 These parts, and the membranes which connect 
 the teeth with their sockets, serve for the transmission 
 of innumerable small vessels, which go to nourish 
 the jaws and teeth. Vessels and nerves of conside- 
 rable size enter the jaws, and pass in channels at the 
 deepest part of the sockets, where they supply the 
 fangs of all the teeth with small branches ; and in 
 this way the cavities of the teeth are furnished with 
 arteries, veins, and nerves, that enter at the fangs 
 by the small openings in them, which have been men- 
 tioned above. 
 
 In order to illustrate the descriptions which have 
 been or may be given, the following print has been 
 drawn and engraved. It consists of a representation 
 of the bones of the face, in which the first and second 
 sets of teeth are so exposed as to show their relative 
 situation in both jaws, as found in a child of six or 
 <seven years of age. 
 
 Tne preparation from which the drawing was 
 taken had all the flesh removed, and the outer plate 
 **" *he alveolar processes sawed and cut away in 
 
The Teeth. 
 
 iuch a manner as to bring to view the fangs bf &e 
 temporary teeth, and the crowns of the perma* *nt 
 set which were beneath them. 
 
 Explanation. 
 
 a. a. a. Three front Teeth of the first set, the 
 other had been shed. 
 
 b b. The canine or eye Teeth of the first set 
 
 c. c. c. c. The double Teeth or grinders of the first 
 set, their fangs being partly absorbed. 
 
 1. 1. 1. 1. The crowns of the front Teeth of the 
 permanent set, one of which, in the under jaw, is 
 fully advanced, and is in the place of a temporary 
 tooth whifh has been shed. 
 
218 Compendium of Domestic Medicine, 
 
 2. 2. The crowns of the permanent, canine or eye 
 Teeth. 
 
 3. 3. 3. 3. The crowns of the double-pointed Teeta 
 or small grinders of the permanent set. 
 
 4. 4. The first large grinder or douhe tooth of thf 
 permanent set in each jaw, the fangs of which ar\ 
 not fully formed. It is owing to the early appea 
 ance of these Teeth beyond the temporary grinders 
 that many persons are deceived, and suppose the 
 uave never shed all their double Teeth. 
 
 5. 5. The crown of the second large grinder, o 
 double tooth of the permanent set, in each jaw, stiL 
 deep in its socket, the formation of its fangs not 
 naving commenced. 
 
 The subject was too young to allow of exhibiting 
 the rudiments of the wisdom Teeth, or third large 
 grinders. These are formed still farther back than 
 the others. 
 
 FORMATION OF THE TEETH. 
 
 1. Formation of the Milk Teeth. 
 
 When the rudiments of the Teeth are first disco 
 verable, they are small gelatinous or pulpy bodies, 
 enveloped in thin membranous sacks, and arranged 
 in a sort of excavation or groove in the jaw, which 
 at this time is but imperfectly formed. Bony fibres 
 then shoot across this groove, and separate it into 
 distinct cells, each of which contains its proper pulp, 
 or embryo tooth, invested in its membrane. At the 
 'me of birth, the formation of the temporary Teetli 
 has generally so far advanced, that the pulps have 
 attained their full size, and ossification has extended 
 over their surfaces in such a manner as to form 
 complete bony shells of the size and figure of the 
 crowns of the Teeth; and the pulp of the first pep- 
 manen ; grinder, on each side of both jaws, has ac- 
 quired a considerable magritude. After this the 
 
The Teeth. 219 
 
 pulps begin to elongate, in order to form the fangs, 
 and the process of ossification is continued for the 
 same purpose till they are completed. 
 
 While this process is going on at the roots, anothei 
 is progressing at the crowns, by which an earthy 
 substance is deposited on their surfaces, and gradu- 
 ally formed into that highly polished and beautiful 
 covering, called the enamel. 
 
 And while these changes are taking place, the 
 Teeth are gradually rising, the alveolar processes 
 which are to support them are increasing in height, 
 and the membranous envelopes are dissolved and 
 taken up by innumerable absorbing vessels, and car- 
 ried into the mass of blood, having effected the pur 
 pose for which they were formed. After this, the 
 gums, or those parts of them which are situated im- 
 mediately over the Teeth, are also absorbed, and the 
 advancing Teeth are allowed to rise into view. 
 
 The age at which the Teeth begin to appear, is 
 usually that from the sixth to the eighth month; 
 sometimes earlier, and often much later. They ge- 
 nerally advance in pairs, and in the following order: 
 
 1. The two central front Teeth of the under jaw 
 which are soon followed by the corresponding ones 
 in the upper jaw. 
 
 2. The two next front Teeth, or lateral incisores of 
 the under jaw, which are succeeded by the corres- 
 ponding upper ones. 
 
 3. The smallest double Teeth, first in the tmder, 
 and then in the upper jaw. 
 
 4. The under canine Teeth, which are followed 
 by the upper ones, called the eye Teeth. 
 
 5. The largest double Teeth. These also appear 
 in the same order, with respect to the jaws, first in 
 the under, and then in the upper one. They often 
 pass through the gums at about the same time that 
 the canine Teeth do, and sometimes before them. 
 At other times, the canine Teeth precede even the 
 smaller grinders in their advancement. 
 
 Though this is the order in which these Teeth 
 
220 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 generally appear, various circumstances produce the 
 greatest irregularity in this process. The time which 
 is occupied for their advancement varies much, 
 though it is usually a period of about eighteen 
 months, or two years. 
 
 2. Formation of the Permanent Teeth. 
 
 The formation of the second set of Teeth, is one of 
 the most curious and interesting processes which is 
 effected in the development of any part of the human 
 frame. 
 
 While the temporary Teeth are forming, and soon 
 after ossification has commenced on their pulps, the 
 rudiments of the permanent set may be discovered. 
 They are connected with the membranous coverings 
 of the temporary Teeth, and are contained in the 
 same sockets with them. When the first set advance 
 to their destined situation, this connexion is not d 
 stroyed, but the permanent Teeth are left deep if. '«** 
 jaw, and bony partitions are formed between thf 
 sockets of the two sets. At a certain period aft^ 
 the crowns of the permanent Teeth are formed, the 
 partitions of bone, which separate them from the 
 pockets of the other set, are absorbed, and they gradu- 
 lly rise and occupy the space thus formed. To giv* 
 Aace to these Teeth, the fangs of the temporary set 
 .re then absorbed ; and in this way their crowns are 
 inally deprived of all support, except a slight attach- 
 nent to the gums, and are often removed by the 
 rdinary pressure of the tongue against them. 
 
 SHEDDING THE TEETH. 
 
 The provision of nature for exchanging the two 
 
 eets of Teeth, is as much calculated to excite our 
 
 admiration, as the process by which they are formed. 
 
 \nd there is no period at which the Teeth of children 
 
 •quire more, if so much, attention and care. 
 
The Teeth. 221 
 
 If the fangs of the temporary Teeth be slowly ab- 
 gorbed, the permanent Teeth will generally come 
 forward so as to appear as soon as the corresponding 
 ones of the preceding set are shed; and in a majority 
 of cases, without doubt, the whole process is per- 
 formed by nature with such perfect regularity, that 
 the interference of art would be at best but useless. 
 In some cases, it would be detrimental to the forming 
 and rising Teeth ; and in others, injudicious and cruel, 
 from the unnecessary infliction of pain. Yet there 
 are so many cases in which irregularity and deform- 
 ty, with tneir usual consequences of disease and 
 suffering, are produced, by the manner in which the 
 permanent Teeth are allowed to advance, that it is 
 highly important that all parents should be acquaint- 
 ed with the situation of the two sets of Teeth in rela 
 tion to each other, and with the changes which take 
 place within the period of the second dentition. See 
 plate, ante page 217. For it is only by their know- 
 ledge of these, that they can be enabled to judge 
 correctly when it is proper for them to interfere in 
 removing the temporary teeth, and when it may be 
 expedient or necessary to apply for the advice and 
 aid of an experienced, and judicious dentist, to pre- 
 vent the evils which often result from neglect or 
 ignorance. 
 
 If the permanent Teeth are discovered to be 
 emerging from the jaw in such a manner that their 
 position will be improper and injurious, or if they are 
 inclined to any irregularity arising from the dispro- 
 portionate growth of the Teeth and jaws, much may 
 be done to prevent it by a seasonable removal of the 
 temporary Teeth; but this should not be done by any 
 wljo are ignorant of their liability to do mischief by 
 taking the wrong Teeth, or by extracting them too 
 early, or by removing loose Teeth only, when there 
 may be the greatest necessity for extracting such as 
 are perfectly tight, and in which the process of ab- 
 sorption has hardly commenced. 
 
 It is a very common opinion that the first Teeth 
 
£22 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 have no roots, and that they may therefore be ex 
 tracted without injury, at any period. But nothing 
 can be more incorrect; for the Teeth of a child have 
 longer and larger roots, in proportion to the size of 
 their crowns, than th* Teeth of an adult; and their 
 connexion with the forming Teeth of the second set, 
 at an early period, is such, that if they be extracted 
 too soon, the violence done to the tender Teeth be- 
 neath them may be so great as to prevent their for- 
 mation from being completed, and they may never 
 appear. 
 
 Another prevailing opinion is, that the temporary 
 Teeth should always be extracted as soon as they 
 are discovered to be loose; and though this may 
 generally be done without any bad effects, it is not 
 so necessary as has been supposed, and in most in- 
 stances is a useless interference ; and exposes children 
 to suffer both fear and pain, which might as well be 
 avoided; for the looseness of these Teeth, as has 
 already been shown, is occasioned by the absorption 
 of their fangs ; and there can be no surer evidence 
 than this, that nature is doing her own work in due 
 season, and needs not the aid of art to expedite it, or 
 render it more perfect. 
 
 Et is not by removing Teeth which are loose, but 
 those which are firm, and have their fangs nearly or 
 quite entire, that any advantage is obtained which 
 will favour the regular advancement of the perma- 
 nent set The best advice, therefore, that can be 
 given on this subject, to parents, and those who have 
 the care of children, is to examine the Teeth fre- 
 quently, about the usual period of shedding (the 
 sixth or seventh year); and if any of the second set 
 begin to make tneir appearance, or there is an evi- 
 dent swelling of the gums at the part where any of 
 them are expected to appear, a sufficient number of 
 the first Teeth should be extracted to allow a suffi- 
 cient degree of room for the second, which are coni- 
 ng forward. 
 
 From what has been stated, however, it will rea- 
 
The Teeth. 223 
 
 dily be seen, that when the temporary Teeth have 
 become very loose and troublesome, they may be 
 extracted indiscriminately, and by any person ; but 
 when they remain firm, and the Teeth of the second 
 set are coming forward in such a manner as to lap 
 over each other, or appear in a double row, it is of 
 the utmost importance to remove them, whether the 
 process of absorption has commenced at their fangs 
 or not, in order to give room, and restore regularity 
 to the rising Teeth. 
 
 It should be remembered, with regard to the exami- 
 nation of the jaws and Teeth at the time of shedding, 
 that all the Teeth which are to succeed the first set, 
 if they come forward too soon, or before the tempo- 
 rary Teeth become loose, will be discovered behind 
 them, or on the inner side of the jaw, excepting the 
 eye Teeth, or cuspidati, which will be found advanc- 
 ing on the outer side of the jaw. It sometimes hap- 
 pens, also, that when the temporary grinders have 
 been very early removed, the bicuspides, or small 
 grinders, of the second set, make their appearance 
 on the outer part of the jaw, next the cheek. This 
 is most common with the upper ones. 
 
 All cases of great irregularity (which may gene- 
 rally be discovered before the teeth have risen far 
 above the gums, and often as soon as they appear) 
 should without delay be placed under the care of an 
 experienced dentist ; for the limited knowledge which 
 parents usually obtain, from the few cases which 
 come under their observation, is not sufficient to en- 
 able them to judge what is proper to be done, with 
 that degree of correctness which the nature of tho 
 •ubject requires. 
 
 THE FIRST DENTITION. 
 
 The age at which the first Teeth begin to appear, 
 varies very much in different children. This is 
 caused by various constitutional peculiarities; some- 
 
224 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 times it depends on the general vigour of the system 
 when there is no predisposition to disease of any 
 kind. It may likewise depend on the influence of 
 various morbid principles which have been inherited 
 from the parent, or on that of diseases produced by 
 various external causes. Children of the most robust 
 constitutions do not always begin to cut their teeth 
 earlier, or get through this process in a shorter time, 
 than many others that are of a more sickly and feeble 
 habit ; yet the former are much less liable than the 
 latter to suffer from the pains and diseases to which 
 children are exposed during the period of dentition. 
 
 The common expression of cutting the teeth, has 
 arisen from an opinion, that the growing teeth make 
 a passage for themselves through the gums by lace- 
 ration ; which certainly is not the case. As the teeth 
 rise, a waste or absorption of the gums takes place, 
 in order to let them pass through. This is often 
 effected so easily as not to occasion any symptoms of 
 pain or uneasiness. The absorption of the gums, to 
 make way for the teeth, is as certain an effect of na- 
 ture as the growth of the Teeth. In many cases, how 
 ever, the rapid advancement of the Teeth, and the 
 changes which must necessarily take place to produce 
 it, produce also much disturbance about the jaws, 
 md in the system generally. The gums appear 
 swollen and inflamed, there is an increased flow of 
 saliva, the infant is restless, cries, and frequently 
 puts its hands to its mouth. From the effects of local 
 inflammation and nervous sympathy, the whole body 
 may become dangerously affected; in such cases 
 the most sudden and happy effects have been pro 
 duced by lancing the gums. This operation is a 
 very simple, but not an unimportant one, as will be 
 seen in our remarks (subsequently) on the mode 
 of performing the operation. It is often attended 
 with the most unexampled benefit to the child, and 
 should never be neglected when required 
 
 Whatever contributes to promote the healthfu 1 
 operations of nature, will make Teething easy ; such 
 
The Teeth, 225 
 
 as frequent bathing in warm or cold water, according 
 to circumstances, friction of the body and limbs, good 
 air, exercise, and wholesome food ; and above all, a 
 cool and open habit of body. The gums should be 
 rubbed with the finger, and the child should be al- 
 lowed the use of its own fingers m its mouth. The 
 idea that a child's sucking its fingers will prevent 
 their growth, is a prejudice without foundation in 
 truth. 
 
 The old and erroneous opinion, that the Teeth, as 
 they grow, cut their way mechanically through the 
 gums, first suggested the idea of assisting them in 
 their protrusion, by the friction and pressure of hard 
 substances; and hence arose the cruel and hazardous 
 practice of scratching the gums through with the 
 finger nail, or with pieces of hard loaf sugar, a prac- 
 tice which has loo often been the cause of severe 
 local and general suffering, if not of death, from the 
 inflammation, fever, and spasms, which it has conlribu- 
 ted to excite. Hence also the use of the coral and other 
 hard smooth substances given children to bite ; which 
 are most dangerous instruments put into the hands 
 of children to destroy themselves; for as the Teeth 
 rise, and become slightly elevated above the edges 
 of their sockets, those hard substances press and 
 bruise the gum between them and the sharp points, 
 or edge of the tooth underneath : inflammation and 
 its consequences undoubtedly follow; and in this 
 way, w T e are fully persuaded, the lives of thousands 
 of children are lost. 
 
 The second dentition, or protrusion of the perma- 
 nent Teeth, is seldom the cause of any suffering, ex- 
 cept when ihe last grinders, or wisdom-teeth as they 
 are called, are passing through the gum, being at the 
 same time situated farther back than usual, and in 
 audi a manner as to present their pointed surfaces 
 towards the cheek; in which case, the motion of the 
 jaw in mastication, occasions such a degree of press- 
 ure on the gums and surrounding parts, as to produce 
 much irritation, often a considerable degree of in 
 P 
 
226 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 flammation about the jaw, and even ulceration. 
 These circumstances sometimes render it necessary 
 to extract these teeth, though in most cases they may 
 be preserved, and the troublesome complaints re- 
 moved by cutting away a small portion of the inflamed 
 gum over the teeth, or by other timely and judicious 
 treatment. 
 
 DISEASES ATTENDING DIFFICULT DENTITION. 
 
 In infancy, every part of the system is highly sus- 
 ceptible of morbid impressions, and one set of organs 
 readily becomes diseased through sympathy with 
 another. 
 
 Among the diseases to which children, while 
 teething, are liable, are, general irritation, or fever 
 of an inflammatory kind, eruptions on the skin, diar- 
 rhoea, dysentery, cholera, inflammatory affections of 
 the lungs and throat, swelling of the glands about 
 the throat and neck, spasmodic affections of the limbs, 
 and often convulsions of the whole frame. 
 
 What has commonly been called the fever of 
 teething children, makes its appearance several 
 times in the course of the period occupied for cutting 
 the teeth; often commencing very suddenly, and 
 marked by a dulness and heaviness of the eyes, unu- 
 sual heat of the skin, quickened respiration, coated 
 tongue, loss of appetite, and restlessness. 
 
 When these cases occur, it will be proper foi the 
 parent or nurse to administer some mild emetic, or 
 gentle cathartic medicine, and place the little patient 
 for about ten minutes in a warm bath, as high as the 
 waist. But if these do not give relief, and remove 
 the principal symptoms of the complaint, no delay 
 should be allowed in calling medical assistance- The 
 doubtful aid of inexperience should no longer be 
 trusted. 
 
 When there is an eruption, which has become in 
 any degree troublesome; the parts should be carefullv 
 
The Teeth. 227 
 
 washed once or twice a day with castile soap suds, 
 or warm milk and water, and covered with hair 
 powder, or dry wheat flour; or smeared with olive 
 oil, and covered with lint. No medicated ointment 
 applied with a view to dry up, or scatter the erup- 
 tion, should be used, or can be used with safety, 
 without previous medical advice. 
 
 The bowels of infants, while they are Teething, 
 are not unfrequently affected in such a manner as to 
 produce the most alarming consequences in a very 
 short time. Sometimes, however, they remain in a 
 diseased state for several weeks; the child at the 
 same time continuing lively and playful, with a good 
 appetite ; so that the sympathetic affection of these- 
 parts appears to be but a salutary effort of nature, to 
 relieve the system from other and more serious diffi- 
 culties, or to prevent their occurrence. 
 
 The very common practice, both of mothers and 
 nurses, of dosing infants 4hat are suffering under 
 diarrhoea or dysentery, with paregoric, anise, burnt 
 brandy, and sugar, and various astringent prepara- 
 tions, cannot be too seriously condemned. It is a 
 practice which but too often serves to drive to a fatal 
 close, a disease which, if it had been treated by a 
 skilful hand, or even left to the kind efforts of nature, 
 might have been conducted to a happy termination. 
 
 Concerning most of the other diseases which have 
 been enumerated, few parents possess a sufficient 
 degree of knowledge of them, to be enabled to de- 
 termine what is best to be done; and, indeed, the 
 anxious concern which most parents feel for their 
 suffering offspring, generally unfits them, more than 
 any other circumstance, for a calm and deliberate 
 exercise of their judgment. 
 
 Delay in giving the attention which is often re- 
 quired by children, when they begin to suffer from 
 teething, is a fault of too common occurrence, and of 
 too inexcusable a nature, to be passed wholly unno- 
 ticed. The various maladies which attend the age 
 of infant dentition, should not be suffered to prev on 
 
228 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 the constitution, while the too often fallacious hopt 
 is cherished, that all will be well when the child 
 has finished cutting its teeth; for, changes are not 
 unfrequently produced in the system, which effect a 
 lasting injury, and prevent the enjoyment of perfect 
 health through the remainder of life. It may be 
 asked, does the cutting of the milk-teeth require 
 the aid of the dentist? Certainly not; it is generally 
 a benign operation; but there are cases in which 
 maternal solicitude has need of counsel; and the 
 physician as dentist, or the dentist who is a phy- 
 sician, in this case, will show what is requisite to be 
 done. 
 
 In almost every complaint attending diffic It den 
 tition, the operation of dividing the gums with a 
 lancet over the rising Teeth, is of very great import* 
 ance, and cannot be too strongly recommended ; for, 
 in many instances, it prevents the necessity of em- 
 ploying any other remedy, and often exceeds all 
 others in efficacy. In cases of great inflammation 
 about the gums, attended with fever, the operation 
 is often followed by the sudden cessation of pain, 
 and the mitigation of every symptom of irritation; in 
 diseases of the bowels, by the perfect removal of 
 the most distressing symptoms, and a speedy return 
 of the healthy action of the parts ; and in spasms 
 of the limbs, and general convulsions, by the imme- 
 diate interruption of the paroxvsms, and a prevention 
 of their recurrence. Its salutary effects are so power- 
 ful and decisive, that in all painful cases of dentition 
 marked by evident swelling and inflammation of the 
 gums, it should be performed without delay. 
 
 The prejudices which still exist against the opera- 
 tion, greatly prevent the extension of its usefulness ; 
 but it is one which is perfectly simple and safe, when 
 performed by any one acquainted with the anatomy 
 of the infant jaw, and the relative situation of the 
 two sets of Teeth. The accidents which have oeen 
 kn' wn to follow it, are among the common fruits ol 
 ignorance and presumption It is so far from being 
 
The Teeth. 22b 
 
 painful or cruel, as is by many supposed, that infants, 
 which a moment before were writhing and crying 
 with pain, are sometimes known to laugh in the face 
 of the operator before he has finisned the incision ; 
 so sudden, and so great, is the relief which they ex- 
 perience. 
 
 DISEASES OF THE TEETH. 
 
 The diseases to which the Teeth are subject, 
 attack them in various ways, and present very differ- 
 ent appearances. In some instances, owing to the 
 peculiar nature of the disease, or the constitution of 
 the Teeth, they are destroyed without causing any 
 considerable degree of suffering, or giving rise to 
 any disease of the surrounding parts; in others, not 
 only the Teeth are affected in the most troublesome 
 and painful manner, but the diseases originating in 
 them, are extended to the gums, palate, tongue and 
 other parts of the mouth, producing fungous and 
 fleshy tumours about the gums and cheeks, deep- 
 seated abscesses, and caries or rottenness of the 
 bones. 
 
 The Teeth, owing to their particular nature and 
 situation, are subject to some diseases which are 
 peculiar to them, and to others which are of a cha- 
 racter very similar to that of the diseases which 
 affect other bones. They are also, like most of the 
 other bones, liable to fracture, dislocation and other 
 accidents. Hence it must be evident, that in some 
 instances, they will require a peculiar treatment, 
 while in others the same surgical principles must be 
 adopted, which are observed in the treatment of dis- 
 eases and accidents of the other bones. 
 
230 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 Caries or Rottenness* 
 
 The first disease to be mentioned, and that which 
 is by far the most common, is caries, or rottenness of 
 the Teeth. This commences in different parts of the 
 Teeth, and is produced by several causes. It some- 
 times commences in the internal part of the crown, 
 and gradually extends till much of this portion of the 
 tooth is destroyed. The enamel is rendered thin by 
 the progress of the disease within, and finally breaks 
 by a very slight r ressure. In other cases, its first 
 effects are discovered on the enamel, which is dis- 
 coloured, and becomes of a black or brown appear- 
 ance ; its substance is decomposed, and in many cases 
 it cleaves from the bony portion of the tooth, by 
 which the progress of decay is for a long time arrest- 
 ed ; but more frequently, when suitable means are 
 not adopted to prevent it, it soon extends from the 
 enamel to the softer and more sensibly organized 
 parts of the tooth. 
 
 In all cases, black and uneven cavities are pro- 
 duced, which serve to give lodgement to particles 
 of food; and these, mixing with the fluids of the 
 mouth, readily undergo a putrefactive process, and 
 hasten the destruction of the Teeth. 
 
 By the progress of caries, also, the principal nerves, 
 which supply the natural cavity in the tooth, become 
 exposed not only to sudden changes of temperature, 
 but to pressure from mastication, to the irritating 
 contact of the tooth-brush, tooth-pick and other sud- 
 stances; and hence, pain and inflammation are pro- 
 duced, and the extraction of the tooth very commonly 
 becomes the only means of preventing continued 
 suffering. 
 
 Cause? of Caries. — This affection of the Teeth is 
 the consequence either of internal constitutional 
 causes, or of those which are external and adventi- 
 tious, and Aery commonly of both. Caries of the 
 Teeth and even that of a peculiar character has 
 
The Teeth. 231 
 
 been so often traced through whole families, from 
 one generation to another; that this disease must be 
 considered hereditary, as much as any to which the 
 human system is liable. In numberless cases, caries 
 appears to be the effect of some serious disease with 
 which the individual had been afflicted while the 
 Teeth were in the early stages of formation. With 
 regard to the local or external causes, they are most 
 commonly found to be collections of earthy and other 
 foal substances, which have been suffered to form 
 and collect about the Teeth, and also the use of inju- 
 rious tooth-powders and washes. 
 
 Treatment of Caries. — Although some Teeth are 
 so constituted as to possess but little durability, and 
 after the destroying power of caries once begins to 
 operate on them, they go on rapidly to decay, in spite 
 of all the aid which science and skill can afford; 
 still, there are comparatively but few instances in 
 which seasonable and judicious treatment will not 
 arrest the progress of disease ; and even render Teeth 
 serviceable for many years, which, if neglected, would 
 soon be entirely destroyed. 
 
 In the treatment of carious Teeth, it is of the 
 utmost service to remove, by means of suitable in- 
 struments, the whole of the decayed portion in all 
 cases, leaving at the same time as much of the sound 
 part of the tooth as possible. If this be not done, 
 little, if any service is rendered by any operation ; and 
 the Teeth go on to decay in the same manner after 
 it has been performed as before. The surface of the 
 tooth, where the decayed part is removed, should be 
 ieft perfectly smooth, and if excavated, only in such 
 a degree, that by the proper use of the tooth-brush, 
 the lodgement of particles of food and other substances 
 may be wholly prevented. 
 
 Another mode of treating caries, and which most 
 effectually prevents its increase, is that of filling the 
 excavation, which has been formed by disease, with 
 pure gold, or some other metallic substance. This 
 operation, when properly performed, will generally 
 
232 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 preserve the Teeth from ten to twenty, and some 
 times even thirty years, in a sound and serviceable 
 state ; while at the same time it prevents all those 
 unpleasant and painful occurrences to which a ca 
 rious and hollow tooth is constantly exposed. 
 
 The author has witnessed the salutary effects of 
 this practice, in cases where the Teeth had been 
 rilled with gold, for twenty and thirty years. In 
 operations of his own, teeth have stood the test oi 
 twelve years without any apparent alteration; and 
 cases are recorded, in which the gold has preserved 
 teeth in a perfectly sound and useful state, for a 
 period of forty years. 
 
 When by caries the natural cavity is laid open, 
 and the principal nerves are exposed, the tooth often 
 becomes too tender to bear the pressure occasioned 
 by mastication, or the sudden changes of tempera- 
 ture, and it becomes painful from the slightest causes 
 After the disease has proceeded thus far, the Teeth 
 may often be saved by filling them with gold, the 
 nerves which supply the natural cavity first being 
 destroyed. This the patient may do gradually, by 
 carefully cleansing the cavity of the tooth of every 
 thing which may be lodged in it, and applying a little 
 lint soaked in some essential oil, as that of cloves or 
 cajeput, which, if renewed two or three times a day, 
 will, in a short time, have the desired effect. The 
 nerves of such teeth are also sometimes destroyed by 
 the dentist, in a more expeditious manner, by the use 
 of strong mineral acids, or by instruments designed 
 for this purpose. 
 
 Although, from the time of the earliest writers on 
 diseases of the Teeth, the operations of sawing and 
 filing those which are carious have been recom 
 mended and practised, they are seldom of service, 
 are often injurious, and, in most instances, to say the 
 best of tnem, are ineffectual and useless. The par- 
 ticular objections to them will be noticed in some 
 ubsequcnt remarks r m these operations 
 
The Teeth. 233 
 
 Diseases of the Fangs of the Teeth. 
 
 The disease, which has just been described, is one 
 which has its seat in the crown and neck of a tooth < 
 •ts progress being almost invariably arrested when it 
 reaches the fang. But there are other diseases which 
 attack this part, and which, though they do not sc 
 commonly occur, are not less destructive in theii 
 effects than caries. 
 
 Cases of enlargement of the fangs, owing to an ac- 
 cumulation of bony matter on various parts of them, 
 are not uncommon, by which, not merely a single 
 tooth is sacrificed, but one after another is lost, till 
 in some cases, the patient is deprived of the whoh 
 set, by this formidable and destructive disease. I 
 commences with a dull pain in one side of the jaw 
 which at times appears to be fixed in some particula 
 tooth. Soon after the Teeth which have been mos 
 painful are found to be loose, and the gums anf 
 alveolar processes are gradually destroyed or ab 
 sorbed, leaving the fangs without covering or sup 
 port; the teeth are thus rendered useless, and toe 
 troublesome to be borne, and must be extracted. 
 
 A disease similar to one which affects the othe 1 
 oones, and which has been called dry gangrene 
 sometimes fixes on The Teeth. It commences ir 
 the natural cavity of the tooth; the lining membrane 
 and vessels connected with it are destroyed, and the 
 crown of the tooth, before there is much pain, as 
 sumes a dark blue appearance. A degree of inflam 
 mation next commences in the articulating mem 
 brane which connects the fangs with their sockc f s 
 the gums acquire a dark red hue, are soft, and easily 
 made to bleed. Matter is then formed ab^ui <hi 
 roots of the tooth, and is discharged by sman op°n 
 ings produced in the gums by the disease ; and ir 
 this way the connexion of the tooth with the socke 
 and the gums is destroyed, and the loss of it become* 
 inevitable. 
 
234 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 These diseases, with others of a similar nature, 
 extend in some cases to the bones of the face, so that 
 abscesses and caries of the jaw are often connected 
 with them, particularly as consequences of neglect 
 or improper treatment- 
 
 The causes of these diseases, though for the most 
 part obscure, are sometimes to be traced to a connec- 
 tion with some constitutional affection, or to blows, 
 tails and various accidents. 
 
 In the early stage of these diseases, or when they 
 are first discovered by the patient, extraordinary care 
 should be taken to brush and cleanse the Teeth 
 and gums, which should be done two or three times 
 daily. Benefit will also be found from the use of an 
 astringent lotion, of tincture of Peruvian bark and 
 rose water, in equal quantities, or a decoction of 
 marsh rosemary, in the proportion of one ounce of 
 the dried root to a pint of water. When these dis- 
 eases have so far advanced, as to become serious 
 and painful, the patient must not expect to combat 
 them with advantage, unaided by the advice and 
 particular direction of an experienced surgeon, o 
 dentist. And it is of importance that those who may 
 suffer from complaints of the above description, 
 should be cautioned against confiding in the advice 
 of ignorant persons — mere tooth-drawers, and quacks. 
 The former will generally affirm that nothing is to 
 be done but to extract the Teeth, wniie the latter 
 will be ever ready to apply their infallible nostrums 
 accompanied with a profusion of promises to cure all 
 complaints, even those which they are sometimes 
 pleased to call cancers of the mouth. 
 
 Toothach 
 
 Writers on the subject, have generally mentioned 
 this complaint as a particular disease; whereas, a 
 moment's reflection will show us that it is only a 
 common symptom of disease. Pain in the Teeth 
 or tootharh, is an almost invariable attendant on 
 
The Teeth. 235 
 
 all the diseases which have been mentioned, and the 
 mode of removing it varies with that of treating thf 
 different diseases of which it is a symptom. If it b( 
 induced by the exposure of the more sensible part of 
 a tooth, as in case of caries, filling the cavity witr 
 gold, or the other methods of defending the nerve? 
 from the air, or destroying them, as mentioned above 
 will be sufficient to remove it. If it arise from [n 
 flammation about the root of the tooth, the same 
 means should be used to subdue it, as in other local 
 inflammations; and hence, in such cases, we find 
 that cold water, or vinegar, cold meal-poultices, or 
 strong irritating tinctures to the face, and a full dose 
 of Glauber or Rochelle salts, are the most effectual 
 in removing the pain. The too common practice of 
 holding hot stimulating substances in the mouth, 
 serves but to prolong the suffering. A momentary 
 relief only is obtained, while the tongue and cheeks 
 are smarting with each renewal of the medicine, but 
 no permanent ease is experienced, till, by long suf- 
 fering, fasting and watching, the patient becomes 
 exhausted, and the paroxysm terminates in sleep. 
 
 Very severe and almost unexampled suffering is 
 sometimes caused by certain nervous pains to which 
 the Teeth are liable, not only when they are ca- 
 rious, or otherwise diseased, but even when sound. 
 These, however, are generally sympathetic, and may 
 be traced to some change in the habit or circum- 
 stances of the system, particularly those to which 
 the female constitution is liable, or to some disor- 
 dered nerve, or other local difficulty. 
 
 Toothach from rheumatism, though rare, if the 
 Teeth are all sound, is very apt to occur when any 
 of them are diseased; and the pain is not then con 
 fined to the diseased Teeth only, but often extends 
 jo the sound ones, and even from the Teeth of one 
 side of the jaw to those of the other. 
 
 Toothach is also a common attendant on a dis- 
 ordered state of the stomach and olher digestive 
 organs; and the suffering in these cases is generallv 
 
236 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 even more severe than when produced by othei 
 causes, and is much less likely to be removed by any 
 application made to the face or teeth only. 
 
 When toothach is merely symptomatic of disease, 
 or derangement in some other part or organ, it will 
 most commonly yield to those remedies which are 
 calculated to remove the original complaint. I£ 
 therefore, it be in consequence of nervous pains 
 about the face, or ear, use some strong irritating 
 tincture, as that of camphor, Cayenne pepper, or 
 flies, or the volatile liniment, applied externally ; 
 giving at the same time a moderate dose of lauda- 
 num, and repeating it if required. II it be attendant 
 on a sudden attack of rheumatism, it will often be 
 wholly removed by a full dose of volatile tincture 
 of guaiacum, a warm bath. If derangement of 
 the ordinary functions of the stomach and bowels 
 induce it, an emetic, or a dose of some active 
 cathartic medicine will in general procure relief. 
 
 These internal remedies, however (as well as most 
 others of a very active nature, which are applicable 
 to the abovementioned cases), should, as much as 
 possible, be administered under the direction of a 
 physician, in order to guard against error, in judging 
 of the nature of the case, and in the choice of medi- 
 cines most suitable. 
 
 Tartar, or Scurvy of the Teeth. 
 
 This is a troublesome, and often a very destruc- 
 tive complaint, and one which does much injury to 
 the Teeth, even before those who suffer from it are 
 aware of any danger. It does not originate from any 
 particular state of the teeth alone, or from a disor- 
 dered state of the gums and alveolar processes, as 
 many are led to suppose; but is owing to an accu- 
 mulation of earthy matter deposited from the saliva 
 With some individuals, it collects much faster than 
 with others; so that, whereas one wil have hi* 
 
The Teeth. 237 
 
 teeth completely encrusted with it in a few weeks, 
 if the proper means be not daily used to prevent it, 
 another will pass a long life without any care of his 
 teeth, and tartar will not collect on them at all; so 
 much does its formation depend on the natural, or 
 constitutional state of the fluids of the mouth. 
 
 The tartar is seen on some teeth of a black or 
 greenish colour, and very hard ; on others, brown or 
 yellow, and not so firm in its consistency; but in all 
 cases it is productive of incalculable injury to the 
 Teeth, gums and alveolar processes. When it is 
 first deposited on the Teeth, it is soft, and may be 
 easily removed with a tooth-brush ; but if suffered to 
 remain, it soon acquires a stony hardness, and gra- 
 dually increases in thickness about the necks of the 
 Teeth ; the gums become irritated and inflamed by 
 it, the sockets are next destroyed, and the Teeth, 
 being left without support, are often pushed out by 
 the ordinary pressure of the tongue and lips. 
 
 Tartar will in some cases collect to so great a 
 degree on the Teeth of children as to produce a 
 separation of portions of ihe jaw; and not only bring 
 away the temporary teeth, but destroy those of the 
 second set, which are beneath them. From this, and 
 what has been before statea concerning the bad 
 effects of tartar on the Teeth, it will readily be per- 
 ceived how important it is to arrest the progress of 
 so mischievous a complaint, in its earliest stage. 
 
 With regard to the treatment of these cases, if the 
 tartar has been suffered to become so hard as to 
 require much force to remove it, the operation should 
 be carefully performed, and without injuring the 
 enamel, as is sometimes done, by the use of acids and 
 files, practices which cannot be too severely cen- 
 sured. The Teeth should be perfectly cleared of 
 this foreign matter by sharp, cutting instruments, of 
 a suitable form to effect the object without wounding 
 and lacerating the gums. For the purpose of pre- 
 venting the tartar from collecting again (or indeed 
 from forming in the first place), and for restoring the 
 
238 Compendium of Domestic Medicine, 
 
 gums to a healthy state, nothing more is requisite, 
 generally, than the daily use of a stiff brush, and 
 some suitable dentifrice (post page 245), or the as- 
 tringent washes mentioned ante page 234. 
 
 Many persons are in the habit of suffering their 
 teeth to go without any efforts of their own for keep- 
 ing them in order, and apply at stated periods to a 
 dentist, to have the tartar removed from them; and 
 this they do, no doubt, from the persuasion that it is 
 all that is requisite for preserving them. But it may 
 be important to state, for the information of those 
 who are thus deceived, that the repeated collections 
 of tartar, and frequent operations, do an injury to 
 the Teeth which is not to be repaired by any sub- 
 sequent care. The gums and alveolar processes are 
 driven from them, they are deprived prematurely of 
 that defence and support which these parts are de- 
 signed to give, and are often lost many years before 
 they would be, were a due degree of care bestowed 
 on them. 
 
 DISEASES OF THE ALVEOLAR PROCESSES. 
 
 The alveolar processes commonly share in the dis- 
 eases which affect the fangs of the Teeth ; but cases 
 in which they are primarily diseased are very rare. 
 A complaint which is most frequently met with in 
 them, is a gradual decay, or wasting of the bony 
 substance, attended with a certain degree of inflam- 
 mation of the contiguous parts. A little pain, or 
 uneasiness and swelling of the gums, are first expe- 
 rienced ; the bone or process after this is very rapidly 
 absorbed ; the affected teeth become loose, and ap- 
 pear to be thrust forwards and out of their sockets, 
 so that they are much longer than the rest. 
 
 These cases, and particularly such as extend to 
 the sockets of many or all of the Teeth, appear 
 often to be caused by, or dependent on, a rheumatic 
 or gouty affection of the whole svstem In the early 
 
The Teeth. 239 
 
 stage of the disease the patient should take extraor- 
 dinary care in brushing and cleaning The Teeth 
 daily; and he may also use with advantage, the 
 astringent washes recommended in the preceding 
 chapter; by which, the progress of the disease will be 
 much retarded, and the suffering greatly diminished. 
 
 Preternatural enlargements of the alveolar pro- 
 cess, or bony tumours, are sometimes found to arise 
 on the jaws. They may readily be distinguished 
 from those of a different nature, by their being much 
 harder, and immovably fixed to the bone. They 
 are not to be dissipated by any application made to 
 the part, or by any internal remedy; and all attempts 
 to do it, are, at best, but useless, and for the most 
 part hazardous. In these cases, as in all others, the 
 interference of quacks cannot be too scrupulously 
 avoided, and the advice of an experienced surgeon 
 should be seasonably obtained. Tumours of this 
 kind do indeed increase very slowly, and if season- 
 ably removed, are seldom injurious in their conse- 
 quences. The fatal effects which they have some- 
 times been known to produce, have been in con- 
 sequence of deferring too long a safe and simple 
 operation. 
 
 Caries of the alveolar process is a common occur- 
 rence, but it generally arises from some disease 
 which has commenced in the Teeth, and from va- 
 rious accidents to which these processes are liable in 
 common with other parts. The patient has little to 
 do for himself in these cases ; they for the most pari 
 require surgical aid, and to be treated according to 
 general surgical principles 
 
240 Compendium of Domestic Medicme. 
 
 DISEASES OF THE GUMS. 
 
 Inflammation and Sponginess of the Gums. 
 
 This is the most common disease to which the 
 gums are liable, and which, indiscriminately with 
 That state of the Teeth which is produced by the 
 accumulation of tartar, is often called scurvy. The 
 effects of this disease are, a swelling of the gums, 
 with a dark red, unhealthy appearance, great ten- 
 derness, and liability to bleed. In very bad cases 
 the gums are surprisingly thickened, and rise nearly 
 to the tops of the Teeth. If the gums are suffered 
 to remain for -a length of time under the effects of 
 this disease, the sockets of the Teeth are destroyed 
 by absorption and ulceration, and the Teeth them- 
 selves drop out. 
 
 The ordinary causes of the disease are, collections 
 of tartar on the Teeth, long neglect of brushing the 
 Teeth and gums, even when there is no tartar 
 formed, the use of mercury, and a scorbutic state of 
 the whole system. 
 
 In order to prevent the ravages which this disease 
 soon makes, if neglected, the gums should be brushed 
 two or three times a day with the astringent washes 
 which have been mentioned above. Powders, con- 
 taining Peruvian bark, are often recommended ; in 
 the worst cases, however, and particularly in those 
 Whifh have been caused by the use of mercury, 
 which renders the gums very irritable, no powders 
 should be used ; but alternate mild and astringent 
 lotions, such as warm water, or milk and water, fol- 
 lowed by the application of a decoction of rosemary 
 root, or hyson tea, the tincture of Peruvian bark, or 
 a solution of alum, in the proportion of one drachm 
 to a gill of water. 
 
 If the inflammation and swelling of the gums bo 
 produced by the accumulation of tartar, which is the 
 
The Teeth. 241 
 
 most usual cause, this substance should be irnme 
 diately removed. 
 
 Gum-Boils. 
 
 Small abscesses of the gums often appear over the 
 roots of the Teeth, which are commonly called gum- 
 boils. They do not, however, originate in the gum. 
 but are produced by disease in parts beneath, most 
 commonly by ulceration at the fang of a carious tooth. 
 After matter is formed at this part, the inflammation 
 is extended to the gum, and the process of ulceration 
 is continued till the matter is discharged. 
 
 After gum-boils have been thus produced, they 
 often re-appear from very trifling causes, till a per- 
 manent abscess is formed, from which matter is daily 
 discharged. Although with some individuals these 
 may remain for several months, or even years, with- 
 out producing any serious consequences, particularly 
 if the constitution be perfectly healthy; yet the inju- 
 ries which sometimes result from them show, in a 
 manner too painful and troublesome to be forgotten. 
 that they deserve early and particular attention. It 
 is important in all cases to open these abscesses with 
 a lancet, to allow the matter to be discharged as soon 
 as il is evidently formed; and when a permanent 
 cure is not to be obtained, except by extracting dis- 
 eased Teeth or stumps, this operation should be per- 
 formed without delay. 
 
 The operations which are required in the treat- 
 ment of these cases, if attended to in season, are 
 most of them too slight to be feared, and all of them 
 much less painful than the extraction of a bad tooth 
 
 Tumours of the Gums. 
 
 Preternatural enlargements of the gums are not 
 uncommon. They proceed from various causes, but 
 generally from diseased Teeth; and are seldom to 
 be cured till these are extracted. 
 Q 
 
242 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 Tumours of the gums are either of a soft spongy 
 texture, or of a more firm and fleshy nature, some- 
 times nearly of the consistence of cartilage. All of 
 them expose the patient to other and more serious 
 evils, by causing a disease of the jaw, more or less 
 extensive. The hard, fleshy, or cartilaginous tu- 
 mours are not so common as those of the opposite 
 nature; but their consequences are much more to be 
 dreaded, if they are not early extirpated. They are 
 sometimes found to be connected with a pre-existing 
 disease of the jaws and Teeth, and at others, arise 
 without any discoverable cause. In all these cases 
 the speedy removal of the tumour (by the use of 
 caustics, the ligature, or the knife) is the only plan 
 of treatment on which we can reasonably depend 
 for success. In some instances, however, the lace- 
 ration produced by extracting Teeth which were 
 enveloped in such tumours, has proved an effectual 
 remedy. 
 
 CLEANING THE TEETH. 
 
 Highly important as this operation is to every in- 
 dividual, there are too many who neglect it; "and, 
 simple as is the process, there are many who, from 
 habit, prejudice, or want of correct information, fail 
 of performing it in a proper manner. 
 
 As soon as the crowns of the first four permanent 
 incisors, or front Teeth, have fully advanced through 
 the gums, children should be provided with a suita- 
 ble tooth-brush, and be taught the use of it. There 
 are but few persons, whose Teeth do not require a 
 considerable degree of care to keep them in a heal- 
 thy and sound state, and more particularly to protect 
 them from the rapid and injurious effects of caries, 
 after they have become affected with this disease 
 For many, the daily use of the brush and cold water 
 is all that is required to keep the Teeth in perfect 
 order; but most commonly, to effect this purpose, the 
 
The Teeth. 243 
 
 use of dentifrice of some sort is found to be indis- 
 
 With regard to the use of a brush, a moderately 
 stiff one should be employed ; for a brush may be 
 too soft to be of any service, or so hard as to irritate 
 firm and healthy gums. The Teeth should be brush- 
 ed both morning and evening, but more particu- 
 larly in the morning, as the causes which favour the 
 accumulation of tartar operate most powerfully 
 during the hours of sleep. Brushing them once a 
 day, however, if it be done faithfully, is preferable 
 to many hasty and imperfect attempts to clean them. 
 Merely to pass the brush a few times hastily over 
 the teeth, is of little service ; five minutes or more 
 should be diligently spent in performing this opera- 
 tion. It is also a very useful practice, to brush the 
 Teeth always after eating, particularly if they are 
 very uneven, or affected with caries. 
 
 The idea that the enamel of the Teeth can be in- 
 jured by brushing, is as false and ridiculous as it 
 would be to suppose that the palms of the hands may 
 be worn out by moderate labour. The brush should 
 not only be passed from side to side of the mouth, 
 on the outer surfaces of the Teeth, but on the inner 
 parts of them, next the tongue and roof of the mouth ; 
 also upwards and downwards, from the gums of one 
 jaw to those of the other When the Teeth have 
 been seasonably attended to in the manner above 
 directed, the necessity for using dentifrice or tooth- 
 powder, is very much diminished, if not wholly su- 
 perseded ; and there will be no case in which the 
 use of it will be required oftener than once or twice 
 a week. It should be remembered that it is not by 
 merely spreading the powder over the surfaces of 
 the Teeth with the brush, and then rinsing it off, that 
 it is to have its proper effect; but by faithfully rub- 
 bing it for several minutes on all parts of the Teeth 
 which are exposed to the action of the brush, taking 
 eare afterwards to remove every particle of it by the 
 use of the brush and water, because, if left to lodge 
 
244 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 about the Teeth and gums, it aids the formation of 
 tartar. The water may be used cold or warm, at 
 can best be borne, but cold is preferable. 
 
 Care should be taken in providing tooth-powder 
 that it do not contain any substance that will act 
 either chemically or mechanically on the Teeth, to 
 injure them. Emery, pumice stone, and varioui 
 acids are not unfrequently detected in those denti- 
 frices and washes for the Teeth and gums, which 
 are advertised as infallible in rendering tfte Teelh sur- 
 prisingly white, dissolving and removing tartar, pre- 
 venting decay, toothach, fyc. fyc. These may im- 
 prove the appearance of the Teeth for a day, but in 
 many instances ruin them for ever. 
 
 Many persons, ignorant and unsuspicious of any 
 evil consequences, are induced to use acids, some- 
 times concentrated lemon juice, but more generally 
 diluted vitriol, because they give the Teeth at once 
 a beautiful white appearance. 
 
 But few, however, have done this, without having 
 to lament a most serious injury, or the total loss of 
 their Teeth ; for in a short time, they become of a 
 dead chalky white, soon turn dark coloured, and be- 
 gin to decay and crumble to pieces, leaving the fangs 
 in their sockets, more generally exposed to pain and 
 inflammation, than if the crowns had been destroyed 
 by any other cause. These baneful effects of acids 
 cannot be too strongly impressed on the mind of 
 every one ; for they are so often used by the unwary, 
 even at the present day, that scarcely a week passes, 
 in which the writer has not an opportunity of wit- 
 nessing some new case of the evils sustained by the 
 pernicious practice of cleaning the teeth with an 
 acid lotion of dentifrice. 
 
 We present to our readers the following recipe for 
 a tooth-powder, which we can conscientiously recom- 
 mend, for keeping the Teeth clean and rendering 
 them white. It is perfectly harmless; and few per- 
 sons will find it necessary to use it oftener than three 
 times a week Although a little used every morn- 
 
The Teeth. 245 
 
 ing will be found beneficial. Any one can have 
 it manufactured by a druggist from the subjoined 
 recipe : — 
 
 Powdered Orris Root, 4 ounces, 
 
 Prepared Chalk, 4 ounces, 
 
 Powdered Cinnamon, £ ounce, 
 
 Bicarbonate of Soda, £ drachm, 
 
 Oil of Rose, 2 drops. — Mix. 
 In order to cleanse and preserve artificial Teeth, 
 the above directions should be carefully observed. 
 It is necessary to add, however, that these Teeth 
 require more frequent attention than natural ones, 
 and that they should always be cleantd with a soft 
 brush, and the mouth be rinsed thoroughly at least three 
 times a day, particularly after eating. If they are 
 well made and well set, they will bear this treat- 
 ment; and will appear better and last longer in con- 
 sequence of it. 
 
 OPERATIONS ON THE TEETH. 
 
 The remarks which I shall offer under this head 
 are not made with a view to describe particularly 
 the various operations which are required in the 
 treatment of diseases of the Teeth, but rather to no- 
 tice some circumstances connected with a few of 
 the most common of them, which it is important 
 should be more generally understood. 
 
 Extraction of the Temporary Teeth, when Diseased 
 
 The temporary, or first Teeth, become often very 
 soon diseased, and require an operation, that of 
 plugging, extraction, or the removal of tartar. The 
 importance of the latter will be seen by adverting 
 to the observations on scurvy, ante page 237. With 
 regard to extracting the temporary Teeth, it should 
 be renumbered, that a child ought not to be depri- 
 ved of them without due consideration. If at thf» 
 
246 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 age of four or five years, the front, or even the ca- 
 nine Teeth, become carious, as they often do, they 
 may be extracted ; but much better it would be to 
 have them properly filled, and if, at this early pe- 
 riod, the double Teeth are found to be decayed 
 and painful, it will be advisable to defer extracting 
 them as long as is consistent with safety, and at 
 the same time to employ all suitable means to 
 allay the pain, and to have the Tooth or Teeth 
 cleaned from the decay and filled with gold. 
 If there be inflammation and swelling of the jaw and 
 face produced, the removal of the affected teeth 
 should be no longer delayed; as deep abscesses, 
 which break externally through the cheek, are not 
 unfrequently the consequence; and ulceration, when 
 it takes place, and exists for any considerable time 
 about these teeth, is known even to injure the per 
 manent ones which are forming beneath them. 
 
 Lancing, or Cutting the Gums, at the time of Teething. 
 
 The salutary effects of this operation were noticed 
 in the reinarlts on Diseases of Dentition (ante page 
 226); and they will be very generally perceived, 
 when it is performed at a suitable time, and in a 
 proper manner. It should never be done, excepting 
 when there is evident swelling of the gums over the 
 expected teeth, attended with undoubted signs of 
 inflammation. These, however, should be ascer- 
 tained by the surgeon, and not by the parents or 
 nurses. Ineffectual and repeated operations will 
 then be prevented ; and it will only be requisite that 
 the lancet should be used by some one familiar with 
 rhe anatomy of the infant jaw, and with the relative 
 situation of* the two sets of Teeth at this period. 
 
 As this treatise may occasionally fall into the hands 
 of physicians, it may not, perhaps, be wholly unim- 
 portant, that we should address to them, a few obser- 
 vations on the above mentioned operation. 
 
 Nothing, but an essential difference in performing 
 
The Teeth. 247 
 
 the operation, could have given rise to the very op- 
 posite opinions, which have been, and still are 
 entertained by physicians with regard to its utility 
 For, while many are fully convinced of its beneficial 
 effects, some consider it as altogether useless, and 
 others condemn it as injurious. 
 
 When it is considered advisable to cut the gums, 
 it should be done with a common broad-edged gum- 
 lancet, and the incision made immediately over the 
 Teeth which are about to appear, but over no others. 
 The gum should not merely be scarified, but cut 
 entirely through, as also the investing or capsular 
 membranes, till the lancet is felt to grate against the 
 enamelled surface of the Tooth. Should the edge 
 of the lancet be placed a little too far towards the 
 inner part of the jaw, particularly in cutting for the 
 front and canine Teeth, although we may divide the 
 gum, and feel that the edge of the instrument is re 
 sisted by bone, it will probably be no other than the 
 internal plate or transverse portions of the alveolar 
 processes, and the objects of the operation will not 
 be obtained. Some relief may be produced for a 
 little while by the bleeding, but more frequently, 
 the irritation of the gums will be increased. Besides, 
 by making the incision in this manner, there is dan- 
 ger of dividing or injuring the membranous and 
 vascular connexion between the first and second 
 sets of Teeth, and thereby injuring or destroying 
 the permanent ones entirely. Therefore, in order to 
 prevent any injurious consequences, as well as to 
 render the operation most serviceable, the incision 
 should be made towards the external plate of the 
 alveolar processes, so as to avoid the connecting 
 membranes and sacks of the permanent teeth, par- 
 ticularly those of the incisores and cuspidatu Those 
 of the bicuspides are more easily avoided, on accoun* 
 of the flat and broad surfaces of the temporary grin 
 tiers. 
 
248 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 Filing or Sawing the Teeth. 
 
 This operation is often performed with a view to 
 remove the black and defective parts of carious 
 teeth, and to separate them in such a manner that 
 the excavation formed by the disease may be more 
 exposed to the action of the tooth-brush ; but in a 
 majority of cases these purposes cannot be effected 
 either by saws or files, the operation will therefore 
 he unavailing, and the hopes of the patient disap- 
 pointed. 
 
 The particular objections to the use of these in- 
 struments are: 
 
 1. That they do not remove the whole of the decay- 
 ed parts of the Teeth; and it is a fact sufficiently evi- 
 dent to common observation, that the disease of 
 caries is often communicated from one tooth to ano- 
 ther by contact; and it is equally true that while 
 any of the defective part of a tooth is suffered to re- 
 main, the liability of that tooth to decay is much 
 greater than if this part were entirely removed. 
 
 2. That in all cases, the effect of sawing or filing 
 is to deprive the Teeth, unnecessarily, of a great 
 portion of their sound enamel, particularly when these 
 operations are performed on the front teeth. 
 
 3. That the crowns of the Teeth being broader 
 than their fangs, they often crowd together in such 
 a manner, that, by the repeated operations of filing 
 to keep them separated, one quarter and sometimes 
 one third of each tooth is sacrificed, by the use of 
 these improper instruments. 
 
 4. That separating sound teeth with the file or 
 saw (or indeed with any other instrument) is a 
 practice for which there can be no reasonable apol- 
 ogy. The idea that they may be too close, and injure 
 each other by lateral pressure, is altogether errone- 
 ous ; and there are no just grounds for the belief, that, 
 by this operation, they may be prevented from de 
 caving. 
 
The Teeth. 249 
 
 To these objections we may add, that filing the 
 Teeth always gives them a square and artificial ap- 
 pearance, and is one of the most disagreeable, and 
 often painful, operations that is performed on them 
 to many persons, even worse than that of extraction 
 
 As a substitute for files and saws, it is now recom- 
 mended to use, in the operations for caries, small 
 crooked knives, and other cutting instruments, which 
 are liable to none of the above objections, and which 
 enable the operator to effect the first, and also the 
 most important objects in the treatment of this dis- 
 ease. 
 
 Fitting Teeth with Gold or other Metals, 
 
 This operation, which is called plugging the Teeth, 
 is performed for the purpose of rendering teeth which 
 have begun to decay more lasting and serviceable; 
 and when it is seasonably and properly performed, 
 it is effectual in preserving them for many years, 
 very commonly from ten to twenty, and in some cases 
 even forty years. 
 
 There are often cases in which the diseased tooth 
 will not bear the pressure which is required to fill 
 it properly with gold; and then an amalgam of 
 mercury and tin may be used in its stead. It is 
 therefore best, in all cases where it is practicable, 
 to use pure gold, which is too hard to be worn 
 away by the ordinary process of mastication, and 
 which will not be changed in its properties, or 
 corroded, by any article of diet or medicine, ex- 
 cepting mercury, when its use is long continued. 
 
250 Compendium of Domestic Medicine, 
 
 Scaling the Teeth, or the Removal of Tartar. 
 
 Although every person may prevent the accumu 
 lation of tartar upon his teeth, by the means pointed 
 out in the preceding pages, and may even remove i 
 after it has acquired a very considerable degree of 
 firmness ; yet it is very often allowed to collect for so 
 great a length of time, and to become so hard, that 
 an operation under the hands of the dentist is the 
 only remedy. The doubts that are by some enter- 
 tained concerning the necessity or usefulness of re- 
 moving the tartar, originate in an imperfect know- 
 ledge of the nature of the case, and from accounts of 
 injurious treatment by ignorant operators. The 
 effects which have followed the use of acids and 
 files, to dissolve and remove this substance, have 
 not failed to destroy the confidence of those who 
 have ever submitted to such impositions. 
 
 The operation, if skilfully performed, is simple, 
 and seldom painful ; and will always be of service 
 while the Teeth retain a sufficient degree of attach- 
 ment to their sockets to make them worth preserving. 
 ft should be performed in the manner which has 
 been directed at page 237; and the mode of treat- 
 ment there prescribed for preventing the necessity 
 of its repetition, will, if adopted, always be effectual. 
 
 Extracting Teeth. 
 
 There is probably no surgical operation which is 
 not of a very serious or dangerous nature, that is so 
 much dreaded as the extraction of teeth. Yet it is 
 not always so much the fear of pain, provided the 
 tooth be well extracted, as that of having it broken, 
 the jaw fractured, or the instrument slip or break in 
 the operation. These are accidents, however, which 
 seldom happen in the practice of a skilful operator* 
 
The Teeth. 25i 
 
 but are generally attributable to ignorance or care- 
 lessness. There are, indeed, circumstances some' 
 times connected with every kind of surgical operation 
 which increase the difficulty of performing it, and 
 which are not in all cases to be foreseen ; yet they 
 are extremely rare, and when they do occur, if 
 science and skill be engaged, unfavourable results 
 are often prevented. 
 
 The accidents above mentioned do indeed too 
 often happen; and they must continue to occur, 
 while the operation is entrusted to persons merely 
 because they have strength enough to extract a 
 tooth, and presumption enough to undertake it. 
 Many are willing to believe a man sufficiently skilled 
 in this operation, because he can make the instru- 
 ments with which it is performed ; but who would 
 employ a person to remove a wen, amputate a finger, 
 or open a vein, because he could manufacture a 
 knife or a lancet? 
 
 An idea is erroneously entertained, by many, that 
 the instruments which are in common use for ex- 
 tracting teeth are imperfect ; but this is not the case 
 On the contrary, the Key, the Forceps, the Hook, and 
 the Graver, or what has been improperly called the 
 Punch, though simple instruments, are all very per- 
 fect in their construction ; and, in their present im- 
 proved form, are calculated to separate a tooth from 
 its socket with as much safety and dispatch, and with 
 as little pain, as are consistent with the nature of the 
 operation. 
 
 Much time has been expended, and great ingenuity 
 exerted, to produce an instrument for extracting the 
 double teeth in a perpendicular direction ; but every 
 contrivance of this sort has been calculated to ope- 
 rate by making pressure on one or more of the Teeth 
 next that which is to be drawn. This circumstance 
 has shown such instruments to be in a great degree 
 useless, on account of the frequent unsoundness 01 
 looseness of the Teeth on which the required press- 
 ure must be made, or the defective state of the tooth 
 
252 Compendium of Domestic Medicine. 
 
 to be extracted. Besides, these instruments are un- 
 avoidably large, and sometimes so complicated that 
 their application is inconvenient, and the operation 
 necessarily slow and painful. 
 
 ARTIFICIAL TEETH. 
 
 The early loss of the natural teeth, which is often 
 occasioned by disease, or by various accidents, and 
 the pain and inconvenience which many individuals 
 thereby experience, may be greatly diminished by 
 the use of artificial teeth, provided they are well 
 made and judiciously set. 
 
 Artificial teeth have been in use for many years, 
 and have been formed of various animal and min- 
 eral substances, such as human and animal teeth, 
 ivory, bone, <fcc. These have, however, given way 
 in the present day or more modern times to the 
 porcelain teeth, composed of mineral substances, 
 the manufacture of which has been brought to such 
 a high state of perfection that it requires no small 
 degree of acuteness of observation to distinguish 
 them from extremely natural teeth. And they 
 may now be set so firmly as to be very useful, both 
 in eating and speaking, as well as ornamental. 
 Artificial teeth may be set from one to any num- 
 ber required. They may be secured by wooden 
 pivots to the fangs or roots of decayed teeth 
 which are left in the jaw, or to the remaining 
 natural teeth by clasps around them, or be fas- 
 tened to a plate of rubber, silver, gold, or plati- 
 num, which is held in the mouth by suction ; and 
 they may be set generally without giving any 
 pain or uneasiness. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Abdomen, Dropsy of, 73 
 Abscess, 116 
 
 Psoas, 117 
 Accidents, 122 
 
 Compound, 143 
 Affection of Nerves of Face, 93 
 Ague Cake, 59 
 Amputation, 143 
 Aneurism, 111 
 Angina Pectoris, 94 
 Anodyne Clyster, 160 
 
 Artificial Teetb, 252 
 Asiatic Cholera, 163 
 Asthma, 47 
 
 Bladder, Inflammation of, 70 
 
 Stone in the, 72 
 Brain, Compression of, 125 
 
 Concussion of, 124 
 
 Inflammation of, 37 
 Beds for Travellers, 19 
 Bleeding, 154 
 
 from tne Nose, 41 
 
 Piles, 116 
 Bilious Fever, 30 
 Blind Piles, 116 
 Bites of Dogs, &c, 130 
 Blindness, Night, 40 
 Boils, 114 
 Bougies, 155 
 Blood, Spitting of, 49 
 
 Vomiting of, 56 
 Blotched Face, 106 
 Bubo, 78 
 Burns, 152 
 
 Cancer, 87 
 
 of Lip, 42 
 
 of Penis, 78 
 
 of Testicle, 80 
 
 of Tongue, 43 
 Catarrh, 47 
 Chancre, 78 
 
 Cramp in the Stomach, 53 
 Cartilage in the Joints, 85 
 Carbuncle, 114 
 Carious Ulcer, 121 
 Catalepsy, 90 
 Catheters, 154 
 
 Charcoal Poultice, 168 
 Cramp, 91, 
 Chest, Dropsy of, 51 
 Cleaning the Teeth, 242 
 Chicken Pox, 100 
 Contents, 5 
 Colds, 47 
 Consumption, 49 
 Cholera Morbus, 60 
 Colic, 64 
 
 Painter's, 65 
 Chronic Rheumatism, 83 
 Cholera, 163 
 
 Compression of Brain, 124 
 Concussion " " 125 
 Contusion 123 
 Contused Wounds, 129 
 Compound Accidents, 143 
 Cow Pox, 100 
 
 Dance of St. Vitus, 95 
 Diarrhoea, 83 
 Diabetes, 73 
 Difficulty of Urine, 70 
 Dimness of Sight, 39 
 Diphtheria, 45 
 Diseases of Alveolar Pro- 
 cesses, 238 
 
 Gums, 240 
 Dislocations, 139 
 
 Lower Jaw, 140 
 
 Collar-bone, 140 
 
 Shoulder, 140 
 
 Elbow, 141 
 
 Wrist, &c, 141 
 
 Thigh, 142 
 
 Knee-cap, 142 
 
 Leg, 142 
 
 Foot, 142 
 Division of Diseases, 23 
 Drowning, 143 
 Dropsy of the Abdomen, 73 
 
 Chest, 51 
 
 Knee-joint, 84 
 Dropsy of the Scrotum, 79 
 Dyspepsia, 174 
 Dysentery, 61 
 
 Ear, Inflammation of, 40 
 Eye, - - 88 
 
 253 
 
254 
 
 IN DEX. 
 
 Effervescing Mixture, 156 
 Emissions, Involuntary, 77 
 Encysted Tumours, 113 
 Emollient Clyster, 160 
 Enlargement of Uvula, 43 
 Enlarged Spleen, 59 
 
 Spermatic Vein, 80 
 Epilepsy, 90 
 Erysipelas, 96 
 
 Mercurial, 93 
 Extracting Teeth, 250 
 
 Fainting, 88 
 Flannel, 17 
 Face, Affection of Nerves of, 
 
 93 
 Fractures, Arm, 135 
 
 Collar Bone, 135 
 
 Foot, 138 
 
 Fore-arm, 136 
 
 Knee-cap, 137 
 
 Lower Jaw, 134 
 
 Leg, 138 
 
 Nose, 134 
 
 Ribs, 136 
 
 Thigh, 137 
 
 Wrist, 136 
 Felons, 115 
 Fever, 26 
 
 and Ague, 28 
 
 Bilious, 30 
 
 Hectic, 36 
 
 Intermittent, 28 
 
 Low Nervous, 32 
 
 Putrid, 34 
 
 Remittent, 30 
 
 Simple Inflammato rj, 27 
 
 Scarlet, 95 
 
 Typhus, 32 
 Fleshy Tumours, 112 
 Fistula, 118 
 Fits, 90 
 
 Foreign Bodies in Throat, 151 
 Fungous Ulcers, 119 
 
 Ganglion, 113 
 Glands, Inflamed, 86 
 Gravel, 68 
 General Rule, 15 
 Gleet, 76 
 Goitre, 88 
 Gonorrhoea, 75 
 Gout, 81 
 to Boils, 241 
 
 Hartshorne's Decoction, 160 
 Headache, 38 
 
 Sick, 191 
 Heartburn, 54 
 Heart, Palpitation of, 50 
 Hectic Fever, 36 
 Herpes, 103 
 Hiccough, 53 
 Hints to Travellers, 17 
 
 Invalids, 21 
 Hip-joint Disease, 84 
 
 Introduction, 15 
 Indigestion, 54 
 Inflamed Glands, 86 
 
 Ulcer, 119 
 Inflammatory Fever, 27 
 
 Rheumatism, 82 
 
 Sore Throat, 44 
 Inflammation of Brain, 37 
 
 Bladder, 70 
 
 Ear, 40 
 
 Eye, 38 
 
 Intestines, 59 
 
 Kidneys, 68 
 
 Liver, 56 
 
 Stomach, 52 
 Influenza, 47 
 Intermittent Fever, 28 
 Impotency, 81 
 Incontinence of Urine, 72 
 Incised Wounds, 127 
 Indolent Ulcer, 120 
 Intestines, Inflammation oj 
 
 59 
 Involuntary Emissions, 77 
 Irreducible Ruptures, 109 
 Itch, 103 
 
 Jaundice, 57 
 
 Joints, Cartilage in, 85 
 
 Kidneys, Inflammation of, 68 
 King's Evil, 86 
 Knee-joint, Dropsy of, 84 
 
 Lancing the Gums, 246 
 
 Lip, Cancer of, 42 
 
 Liver, Inflammation of, 56 
 
 Locked-jaw, 92 
 
 Low Nervous Fever, 32 
 
 Measles, 99 
 Mercurial Disease, 79 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Mercurial Erysipelas, 98 
 Ulcers of the Mouth, 42 
 Medicines for Travellers, 18 
 Mortification, 153 
 Mouth,Mercurial Ulcers of,42 
 
 Nettle-rash, 105 
 Night-Blindness, 40 
 Node, 78 
 Nose, Bleeding from, 41 
 
 Painter's Colic, 65 
 Palpitation of Heart, 50 
 Palsy, 91 
 Preface, 3 
 Penis, Cancer of, 78 
 Pleurisy, 48 
 Prescriptions, 156 
 Piles, 115 
 
 Blind, 116 
 
 Bleeding, 116 
 Pimples on the Tongue, 42- 
 Poisoning by Acids, 146 
 
 Alkalies, 147 
 
 Antimony, 148 
 
 Arsenic, 147 
 
 Bismuth, 148 
 
 Copper, 148 
 
 Lead, 150 
 
 Liver of Sulphur, 149 
 
 Lunar Caustic, 148 
 
 Mercury, 147 
 
 Mushrooms, 151 
 
 Opium, 150 
 
 Phosphorus, 149 
 
 Powdered Glass, 150 
 
 Poisonous Fish, 151 
 
 Salts of Tin, 148 
 
 Saltpetre, 149 
 
 Sal- Ammoniac, 149 
 
 Spanish Flies, 149 
 
 Tobacco, 151 
 Polypus, 41 
 Poultice, Charcoal, 160 
 
 Yeast, 160 
 
 Bye Meal, 160 
 Psoas Abscess, 117 
 Pulse, The, 25 
 Putrid Fever, 34 
 
 Sore Throat, 45 
 Punctured Wounds, 129 
 Purgative Clyster, 160 
 
 Rash, Nettle, 105 
 
 Remittent Fever, 30 
 Reducible Ruptures, 108 
 Rheumatism, Inflammatory 
 
 Chronic, 83 
 Ringworm, The, 105 
 Round, 67 
 Rules, General, 15 
 
 for Invalids, 21 
 Ruptures, 108 
 
 Irreducible, 109 
 
 Reducible, 108 
 
 Strangulated, 109 
 Rye-meal Poultice, 160 
 
 Saline Mixture, 156 
 Scalds, 152 
 Scald Head, 104 
 Scaling the Teeth, 250 
 Scarlet Fever, 95 
 Small Pox, 101 
 Strangulated Rupture, 109 
 Sprains, 124 
 
 Spermatic Vein, Enlarged, 80 
 Spleen, Enlarged, 69 
 Steatomatous Tumours, 112 
 Swelling of Tonsils, 44 
 
 White, 85 
 Sick-headache, 191 
 
 Symptoms, 192 
 
 Medicines, 193 
 
 Diet, 196 
 
 Drinks, 203 - 
 
 Exercise, 206 
 
 Change of Air, 207 
 
 Other Cautions, 207 
 Sight, Dimness of, 39 
 Simple Inflammatory Fever, 
 
 Scirrhus, 87 
 Stings of Bees, &c, 131 
 Spitting of Blood, 49 
 Strictures, 77 
 
 in the Throat, 46 
 St. Anthony's Fire, 95 
 St. Vitus' Dance, 95 
 Scorbutic Ulcer, 121 
 Scrofula, 86 
 Scrofulous Ulcer, 121 
 Scrotum, Dropsy of, 79 
 Scudamore's Lotion, 159 
 Scurvy, 106 
 Sloughing Ulcer, 120 
 Stone in the Bladder, 72 
 
256 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 6tomach,Cramp in the, 53 
 Inflammation of, 52 
 
 Sun-stroke, 89 
 
 Ulcers, 119 
 
 Suppression of Urine, 71 
 
 Fungous, 119 
 Indolent, 120 
 
 Suspended Animation, 143 
 
 from Cold, 145 
 
 Inflamed, 119 
 
 Drowning, 143 
 
 Mercurial, of Mouth, 42 
 
 Foul Air, 145 
 
 " " Tongue, 42 
 
 Hanging, 145 
 Syphilis, 77 
 
 Scorbutic, 121 
 
 Scrofulous, 121 
 
 
 Sloughing, 120 
 
 Tape-worm, The, 67 
 
 Venereal, 121 
 
 Tartar of the Teeth, 236 
 
 Urine, Dirhculty of, 70 
 
 Travellers, Beds for, 19 
 
 Incontinence of, 72 
 
 Cold, 20 
 
 Immoderate flow of, 73 
 
 Flannel, 17 
 
 Suppression of, 71 
 
 Hints to, 17 
 
 Uvula, Enlargement of, 43 
 
 Medicines, 18 
 
 
 Night Air, 20 
 
 Venereal Ulcers, 121 
 
 Towels and Soap, 19 
 
 Warts, 79 
 
 Water, 19 
 
 Vinegar Whey, 157 
 
 Teeth, The, 212 
 
 Vomiting of Blood, 56 
 
 Caries of the, 230 
 
 and Purging, 60 
 
 Diseases of the, 229 
 
 
 Formation, 218 
 
 Wine Whey, 157 
 Whitlow, 115 
 
 First Dentition, 223 
 
 Shedding the, 220 
 
 White Swelling, 85 
 
 Structure of the, 213 
 
 Worms, 66 
 
 Testicle, Cancer of, 80 
 
 White Thread, 67 
 
 Tetanus, 91 
 
 Wounds, 125 
 
 Throat, Inflammatory Sore, 
 
 Contused, 129 
 
 44 
 
 Incised, 127 
 
 Putrid Sore, 45 
 
 Punctured, 129 
 
 Strictures in, 46 
 
 Poisoned, 130 
 
 Tobacco Clyster, 160 
 
 of the Abdomen, 132 
 
 Tooth-ache, 234 
 
 Chest, 132 
 
 Tongue, Cancers on, 43 
 
 Ear, 131 
 
 Pimples on, 42 
 
 Joints, 133 
 
 Ulcers on, 42 
 
 Limbs, &c, 131 
 
 Tonsils, Swelling of, 44 
 
 Scalp, 131 
 Tendons, 133 
 
 Tumours, 108 
 
 Encysted, 113 
 Fleshy, 112 
 
 Throat, 132 
 
 
 Steatomatous, 
 
 Yeast Poultice, 160 
 
 Tympany, 75 
 
 
 THE 
 
 END. 
 
 Typhus Fever, 32 
 
SEP 28 1900 
 
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