II w MATERNITY: / / / FOR YOUNG WIVES AND MOTHEES. i - - - BY TULLIO SUZZARA VERDI, A.M., M.D., OF WASHINGTON, D. C, Graduate of the Gymnasium of Literature and Science, Mantua, Italy ; of the Pennsylvania Homoeopathic Medical College ; Clinical Student of the Philadelphia Hospital Blockley j formerly Associate Physician of the New York Lying-in Asylum ; Member of the American Institute of Homoeopathy ; of the Hahnemann Medical Institute of Philadelphia, etc. NEW YOEK: J. B. FORD AND COMPANY. 1870. T Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1870, by J. B. FORD & COMPANY, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States^for the Southern District of New York. University Press: Welch, Bigelow, & Co., Cambridge. TO MES. HEKRY D. COOKE, PATIENT AND SENSIBLE DURING SICKNESS,' INEXHAUSTIBLE IN LOVE; UNWEARIED IN SOUND TEACHINGS; EVER SPREADING AROUND A HALO WHICH MAKES HOME A PARADISE,— TO THEE IS THIS BOOK INSCRIBED, TO HUMANITY. PEEFACE. Without offering an apology for my own method in the practice of medicine, in which I have a right to keep myself free from the shackles of intolerance and narrow-mindedness ; without offering a scientific essay to prove that my views and practice are perfectly con- sistent with the " homoeopathic law of cure," and with the principles of Physiology, Pathology, and Thera- peutics, — I deem it due to my book, and to those who honor it with their confidence, to explain the system I have adopted for the relief of my patients ; for out of the necessities and results of my own practical experi- ence has the book grown. First, My duty to my patient, I conceive to be, to cure or relieve him ; never to sacrifice him to any pet theory I may have conceived. For that purpose, I en- deavor to glean knowledge from the writings or reports of every man or woman experienced in Physic, although they may be devoted to systems of medical practice different from mv own. 5 8 PREFACE. all that is claimed for it. Such are some of their " spe- cifics " and " adjuvants." Homoeopathic physicians need not decry specifics; for Homoeopathy is a system of specifics par excellence. Quinine, for instance, is a specific. How it acts, what is the pathological or physiological process by which it breaks up a malarious intermittent fever, has been dis- cussed ably by able men, without making their pupils much wiser than they were before. Still, quinine continues its healthful action in spite of this learned ignorance. Allopathic physicians may claim it as their own, and accuse a Homoeopath of inconsistency when he makes use of it. Homoeopathic physicians, on the other hand, may fear to use it, lest the dose acknowledged to cure be an acknowledgment of the defeat of their pet potencies. Still, as long as the former have no better claim to it than the dose, and as long as the latter have no remedies, which, in smaller doses, will replace that drug, I shall claim the privilege of using and advising it whenever I deem it needful. By a " specific " is understood a remedy, which, u things being equal," will always cure a certain given case. Such a remedy, probably, does not exist ; for there is no case in which things are all equal. Yet, when a remedy will cure a given case eight times out of ten, with things unequal, we may call it a specific. Quinine will cure acute malarious intermittent fever in eight cases out of ten ; and there is no other remedy PREFACE, 9 nor any class of remedies that will do as much. It fails sometimes ; and I have often cured intermittent fever with Homoeopathic remedies, even in the very highest potencies, when quinine had not only failed, but aggra- vated the disease. The evil effects of an indiscriminate and inordinate use of it is no argument against it ; and those Homoeopathic physicians who have a horror of any thing larger than a decillionth of a grain should find some one remedy that in a high dilution would rival quinine in its prompt and efficacious influence. Then I, for one, would drop the quinine, and acknowl- edge their admirable discovery. As long as they give seventy remedies for general chilliness, sixty for general heat, and reckon two thousand symptoms in diverse combinations, the detailed following of which would take all one's time to treat one case, I must run the risk of their displeasure, and cure many cases of fever-and- ague by quinine with promptness and success. What is said of quinine is applicable to all reliable specifics. " Adjuvants " are a class of remedial agents which assist in the removal of disease, without having any spe- cific action on the disease itself or the morbific agent that induces disease. An emetic is an adjuvant in a case of swallowed poison ; a cathartic is an adjuvant in impaction of the intestines ; chloroform is an adjuvant in surgery. Some Homoeopathic physicians ignore all this class of 10 PREFACE, remedial agents, and any thing, in fact, that is not an infinitesimal globule. They give a disapproving shrug of the shoulder when one of their colleagues makes use of them. The Allopathic physicians, on the other hand, pretend to believe that Homoeopathy is what those ex- tremists represent : hence they are always ready to ac- cuse us of deception, and of practising on false pretences, whenever they find that a Homoeopathic physician has ordered a poultice, a cathartic, or a bath. A cathartic will not cure constipation, if it does move the bow^els ; a poultice will not cure pleurisy, if it does relieve pain ; chloroform will not cut off a limb, if it does numb the sense, and the limb is off when the patient wakes. Therefore these adjuvants are alleviators, — assistants, if you please, — but have no specific, curative power per se, and therefore should not be classified in a system of cure any more than surgery or midwifery. The same is the case with antidotes. Is it inconsist- ent with the Homoeopathic law of cure to make a man eject a poison he has swallowed, or give him a drug that will induce a chemical re-action upon the matter swal- lowed, and render it inert ? Or is it practising Allop- athy to do so ? It is neither. But if the system has been affected by the poison, and the coats of the stom- ach are inflamed in consequence, then we have a dis- ease to treat ; and a Homoeopathic physician will treat it according to the law of similia similibus curantur, instead of the law of contraria contrariis curantur. PREFACE. 11 To the Allopaths I say, It is high time to drop your intolerance and your egotism, and honestly investigate a system which is now practised by thousands of scien- tific medical men, and adopted by millions of thinking people ; and, when you find any good in it, adopt it for the welfare of your patients, who have a right to demand it of you. To the extreme Homoeopath I say, Do not fall into the error that our great Hahnemann has so loudly disclaimed, — bigotry. Though Hahnemann worked Homoeopathy into a science, he would not think of claim- ing that he discovered all that there is to know ; and had he thought, that, in expounding and rendering practical his theory, he had shut the door to all progress and re- search, he would rather have been silent, and left us in the chaos or the Babel of the old school. Homoeopathy is not Hahnemannism, any more than electricity is Galvanism, Voltaism, Faradayism, Frank- linism, or Morseism. He who styles himself " a Hahne- mannist pure " is one who has the least claim to his honorable name. This may seem an appeal rather to physicians than to the public. But I have reason to believe in the in- telligence of the American people ; and I wish to help in releasing many good Homoeopathists from the bond- age of error in which they stand ; to give my reasons for claiming to practise by the Homoeopathic law of cure, while making use of specifics which Homoeopathic sci- 12 PREFACE. ence has not yet replaced, and of adjuvants, which, being not physiological but mechanical or chemical in their action, are, and always must remain,4ree to the use of all schools and all practices. And, in thus giving reasons for my own practice, I hope to show intelligent laymen that true Homoeopathy is not a cast-iron system, but a vigorous, living, growing, and fruit-bearing tree, whose useful existence, more- over, is not inconsistent with the flourishing of other plants in the same glorious field. And it is especially to American mothers that I bring this little book ; hoping and believing, that, containing as it does the conscientious results of many years' ardu- ous practice, it may give them helpful counsel and ad- vice in that holiest of their duties, — the bearing and rearing of children. T. 8. V. CONTENTS, PAGE. Preface • 5 PAET I. PROCKEATION AND PRODUCTION. FERTILITY. Love. — Reproduction must be Healthy to be Conducive to the Propaga- tion of the Species. — Transmission of Disease. — Fertility means Quantity and Quality. — Facts culled from Statistics, showing at what Age Women are most Fruitful ; the Age of the Mothers affecting the Development of their Offspring ; Weight and Size of Children at Birth ; the Proportion of Twins; the Marriages at a Tender Age less Fertile; the Proportion of Children who arrive at Maturity ; the Mortality amongst Married Women greater in those who marry very early . 21-23 STERILITY. Cause of Sterility. — How to obviate it 23-26 THE WOMB AND ITS APPENDAGES. Anatomy of the Womb, the Ovaries, and the Fallopian Tubes. — Tho Graafian Vesicles and the Ovum. — Description of the Various Dis- placements of the Womb 26-28 OVULATION, MENSTRUATION, CONCEPTION. Growth and Functions of the Ovaries. — Puberty of Girls marked by the Development of the Ovaries. — Growth of the Graafian Vesicles within the Ovaries; their Maturity, and the Escape of the Ovum. — Its Passage through the Fallopian Tubes to the Womb. — Fecunda- tion of the Ovum. — Menstruation the Result of Ovulation. — Men- struation impossible where the Ovaries are Absent. — Cessation of Ovulation is Cessation of Menstruation also. — Change of Life . . 28-32 PRELIMINARIES. Preparations of the Womb for the New Being. — Speculations in regard to the Sex before Birth '. 32-34 xiii XIV CONTENTS. PREGNANCY. ITS SYMPTOMS. PAGE. Suppression of the Menses. — Physical and Rational Signs. — Enlarge- ment and Shape of the Abdomen.- — Symptoms classified as they occur within Each of the Nine Months. — Quickening. — Duration of Pregnancy. — General Advice to Women with Child. — Fears of Dan- ger.— First Children, &c 34-43 MALADIES DURING PREGNANCY. Mental Disorders. — Undefined Fear of Pending Evil; Anxiety about the Future, and Fear of Dying. — Moral and Physical Hygiene in such Cases. — Medical Treatment of the same 44-47 Disorders of the Stomach. — Morning Sickness 48-52 Derangement of Appetite. — Desire for Unusual and Noxious Things. — Diet, Regimen, and Treatment . 52-57 Constipation 57-60 Diarrhoea 61 Flatulence ....#.' 62 Piles ' 63 Salivation 66 Toothache 66 Liver-Spots . 68 Jaundice 68 Colic 68 Special Ailments.— Itching 69 Cough 70 Shortness of Breath 71 Pain in the Right Side 72 Spitting of Blood . 73 Anaemia and Plethora 73 Palpitation of the Heart 78 Fainting 79 Headache. — Congestive Headache . 81 Headache from Constipation, or Gastric Derangement .... 83 Sick Headache ............. 84 Nervous Headache 86 Headache from Cold, or Catarrh in the Head ...... 88 Sleeplessness . . . ... . 89 ABORTION. Miscarriage. — Its Causes.— Classification . . . . . . 91 Symptoms ... - 94 Abortion as a Danger to the Life and Health of the Mother ... 96 Hygiene and Treatment 97 Flooding, threatening Abortion 98 Criminal Abortion. — The Physician and the Woman in Relation to Criminal Abortion. — Recognition of the Crime. — Punishment of the Perpetrators by Civilized Nations. — Laws of this Country regarding it 99-102 CONTENTS. XV PAINS. PAGE. Rheumatic and Neuralgic Pains simulating Labor. — How to distinguish these Pains. — How to treat them 102-105 VARICOSE VEINS. Cause and Treatment • 106 DROPSY. Local and General. — Females Liable to Dropsy. — Causes. — Connected with Diseases of the Kidneys. — Dropsy from Bright's Disease. — Tests. — Effects. — Treatment 107 False "Waters Ill Leucorrh in adapting itself to the new condition, causes a sympathetic irritation of the alimentary canal, which induces formation of gases that render the abdomen more tense and full : but this soon disappears, leaving the abdomen more natural, apparently destroying often the sanguine hopes of the would-be mother. Gases are often a concomitant symptom of pregnancy. In some cases, they are so troublesome as to suddenly collect in the abdomen; and cause such distention as to throw the patient into spasms. After the third month, the abdomen acquires a very per- ceptible prominence, which gradually increases and rises, until it fills up the whole abdominal region. The increase and modification of the abdomen is not in itself a sure sign of pregnancy ; for some women, after mar- riage, become very fat ; others are so constructed as to show very little increase ; while others show it very soon and plainly. Women having a large frame and large pelvis would show very little abdominal prominence; but little women with small pelvis, or women having the lower part of the spine much curved forward, would show a great deal. This is to be borne in mind in judging of the advancement of pregnancy when there are no data to go by. Although a gradual increase of the abdomen is a strong indication of pregnancy, there are often diseases that simu- late it. Dropsy may be present ; tumors may be growing in the abdomen. These exceptional cases do not often in- terfere, however, with the diagnosis. Additional Signs. A woman oftentimes cannot tell whether she is pregnant or not until the fourth or fifth month ; when quickening occurs, and there is no more room for doubt. There are, however, rational or sympathetic symptoms accompanying the suppression of the menses, strongly indicating that pregnancy exists. A month or 36 PREGNANCY. two after conception, the mammce (or breasts) enlarge, and often become the seat of slight pains and pricking sensa- tions ; the nipples also enlarge, become tumid and darker ; the areola, or ring around the nipples, spreads in circumfer- ence, and assumes a darker color, in brunettes becoming almost black. The little follicles, or pimples, also become more prominent and darker, and the veins more blue. These symptoms and changes, however, often occur from sympathy with a diseased womb. And some women state that they experience them before and during every men- struation. The presence of milk in the mammae is an additional sign, although old women and young girls have been found with milk in their breasts. Morning sickness — nausea or actual vomiting on rising from bed — is another rational sign. The term is misap- plied, however ; for the sickness may come on after every meal, or at any time during the day or night. Many are fortunate enough to escape this distressing symptom en- tirely 5 others are subject to it during the first two or three months and the last ; others are afflicted by it through the whole period, becoming thus much exhausted, and their life, in some instances, put in jeopardy. This symptom is so common, that it is sufficient, in some women, to pronounce pregnancy at its appearance. It generally lasts from six weeks to three months, when the patient experiences a great relief until the eighth month ; then it often re-appears. It is advanced, also, and it has been pretty thoroughly tested by accoucheurs, that a certain change in the urine of a pregnant woman takes place, which may add to the circumstantial evidences of pregnancy ; and that is, the presence of a mucilaginous principle called Kyestein. This may be detected in the following manner : take half a pint of the urine of a woman supposed to be pregnant, passed early in the morning, before breakfast ; put it in a glass SYMPTOMS. 37 cylinder or a tumbler ; cover it with paper, and let it rest in a safe place : after two days, a dense pellicle of fat-like matter will_ found on its surface, which will increase for two or three days longer, and then evolve a powerful odor of putrefying cheese. For the sake of brevity, I will give here the recapitulation of the rational signs of pregnancy, according to Gazeaux. First and Second Months. Suppression of the menses (numerous exceptions). Nausea, vomiting. Slight flatness of the lower part of the abdomen. Depression of the umbilical ring. Swelling of the breasts, accompanied with sensations of pricking and tenderness. Third and Fourth Months. Suppression of the menses continued (a few exceptions). Frequently continuance of the nausea, and sometimes vomiting. Less depression of the umbilical ring. Augmented swelling of the breasts, prominence of the nipples, and slight discoloration in the areolae. Kyestein in the urine. Fifth and Sixth Months. Sensation of quickening, motion in the abdomen. Suppression of the menses continued (some rare excep- tions). Vomiting and nausea disappear (few exceptions). Considerable development of the whole sub-umbilical region. A convex, fluctuating, rounded abdominal protuberance, salient particularly in the middle line, and sometimes ex- hibiting the fetal inequalities. 38 PREGNANCY. The umbilical depression is almost completely effaced. The discoloration in the areolae is deeper, tubercles ele- vated. Kyestein in the urine. Seventh and Eighth Month. Suppression of the menses continued (exceptions very- rare). Active movements of the foetus (child). Disorders of the stomach (rare). The abdomen more voluminous. Sometimes pouting of the umbilicus. Numerous discolorations on the skin of the abdomen. Sometimes a varicose and dropsical condition of the vulva and lower extremities. Extended and deeper discoloration of the areolae ; breasts still larger, and nipples more prominent ) sometimes flow of milk. Kyestein in the urine. First Fortnight of the Ninth Month. The vomiting frequently re-appears. The abdominal swelling has increased, rendering the skin very tense. Difficulty of respiration. All other symptoms increase in intensity. Sometimes pain in the back, and other irregular pains. last Fortnight of the Ninth Month. The vomiting often ceases. The abdomen is fallen. The respiration is easier. Great difficulty in walking. Frequent and ineffectual desire to urinate. QUICKENING. 39 Hemorrhoids, augmentation of the varicose and dropsical state. Pains in the loins. QUICKENING. " Quickening " is the common term by which is generally meant the first cognizance that a mother takes of the child's moving. This first motion of the child must not, however, be understood to be the beginning of life, but simply the beginning of muscular action. The period in which it oc- curs varies ; but, in the majority of cases, it dates from the eighteenth week of utero-gestation. The child may be felt earlier or later, stronger or weaker, probably according to its constitutional strength and the room it has to move in. I have seen cases where the mother prognosticated a strong, large child, from her feelings ; while, to her great surprise, she gave birth to a small and puny infant. The great movement during pregnancy was due to an immense quantity of water in the sac, in which the child could float and move freely. Whenever the mother cannot give approximate data of con- ception, she may safely calculate the date of the end by adding four months and a half to the date of quicken- ing. These peculiar movements at first often induce sensa- tions of syncope, or fainting, which gradually disappear as the woman becomes accustomed to the cause. The sensation of quickening does not remove all doubt as to the existence of pregnancy. Some women have not only felt this, but have even thought of having seen the move- ments of the child through the abdominal walls, and yet were not pregnant. Again : women have been found preg- nant when they had not been conscious of any sensation of quickening. The movements of the child may be so slight as to be imperceptible to the mother. 40 PREGNANCY, DUKATION OF PKEGNANCY. Two hundred and eighty days is the general average, which may be divided into ten lunar months, or nine calen- dar months and ten days. THE PROBABLE TIME OF DELIVERY, OR THE AGE OF THE CHILD IN THE WOMB. This has already been alluded to in discussing the pro- gressive signs. Pregnancy is generally dated from the last appearance of the menses. In this, however, physiologists have differed ; probably from the fact that many women have been disappointed by this calculation : and this question cannot be settled as long as it is impossible to exactly tell when conception takes place. The accepted theory is now, that an ovum descends into the womb immediately before or after every menstruation ; that it remains there eight or ten days, exposed to fecunda- tion i that, after this, it loses its vitality, and passes off, after which the female is not liable to conceive until the next operation of the ovaries. This theory has a great deal that is plausible, but has been found untenable in so many in- stances, that it is not to be relied on. An accoucheur of great renown and experience has given a hundred and fifty cases, in each of which he had noted the precise date of the last appearance of the menses. These cases, which will be found below, show the impossibility of making an exact calculation of the time of delivery from that date. Five women were delivered in from 252 to 259 days. 37th week Sixteen " " " " " 262 " 266 " 38th Twenty-one women were delivered in from 267 " 273 " 39th Forty-six " " " " " 274 " 280 " 40th Twenty-eight " Eighteen " Eleven " Five " " 281 " 287 " 41st " 288 " 294 " 42d " 295 " 301 " 43d " 303 " 306 " 44th ADVICE TO A PREGNANT WOMAN. 41 It can be well understood, that if a woman conceives just before her menses are due, and the menses become sup- pressed in consequence, and nine months are counted from the time of the appearance of the last, the calculation will fall short four weeks ; thus giving the false impression that the woman has been pregnant ten months before giving birth to the child. ADVICE TO A WOMAN WITH CHILD. *y£ First of all, be hopeful. There is not one case in a hun- dred in which life is imperilled ; and there is no reason why you should be that one. Take your chances with the nine- ty-nine. Do not appeal to old women, or listen to their stories. If you have any apprehension, apply to your phy- sician, who will assist you in case of need. Be moderate in every thing : shun balls, heated rooms, crowds, and excite- ment. Avoid unpleasant sights, and do not listen to frightful stories : there are instances reported, which, although no physiologist can explain them, have created such an impres- sion upon the mind of a woman carrying child, as to cause her to give birth to an infant bearing marks of these impres- sions. Still, these instances are very rare. Dr. William Hunter of London, in two thousand cases of labor, was ac- customed to ask, as soon as the woman was delivered, whether she had been disappointed in any object of her longing, whether she had been surprised by any unusual shock; and, when answered in the affirmative, did not in one instance find the circumstances to coincide with marks on the child. Therefore, while I caution you against un- pleasant impressions, I would by no means arouse in your mind any tendency to dwell on the fear of such an event. Take daily exercise in the open air ; do not lace ; do not run; do not jump; do not drive unsafe horses; give up 42 PREGNANCY. dancing and riding ; do not plunge into cold water. Many women in your condition will tell you they have done these things, and no harm befell them ; still, do none of them. Sponging your body will answer for cleanliness, and a happy heart for the dancing and riding. If you are weak, do not run for extolled tonics, for beer, or whiskey. Apply to your physician : he will discover the cause, and find the remedy. Do not take medicines (purgatives, in particular) on your own or your friends' advice : your physician is the only person capable to prescribe for you. I have known an ^in- nocent purgative " to be followed by frightful consequences. In your diet, use nothing that induces constipation. Remove from your chest, waist, and abdomen any article of clothing that exerts undue pressure. Avoid all practices that increase nervous irritability, such as an immoderate use of coffee or tea ; also, operations on the teeth. Do not indulge in inordinate or morbid appetites. A woman in pregnancy may have unusual aversions or long- ings. It will do no harm to avoid what is repugnant to you ; but it may be detrimental to your health to satisfy the longing for slate-pencil, chalk, or other deleterious sub- stances which sometimes women in your condition crave. But, above all, keep a cheerful mind ; do not yield to grief, jealousy, hatred, discontent, or any perversion of dis- position. It is true that your very condition makes you more sensitive and irritable; still, knowing this, control your feelings with all your moral strength. Your husband should be aware, also, that this unusual nervous irritability is a physical consequence of your con- dition, and would therefore be more indulgent and patient, unless he is a brute. If you believe that strong impressions upon the mother's mind may communicate themselves to the foetus, producing APPREHENSIONS OF DANGER. 43 marks, deformity, etc., how much more you should believe that irritability, anger, repinings, spiritual disorders, may be impressed upon your child's moral and mental na- ture, rendering it weakly or nervous, passionate or morose, or in some sad way a reproduction of your own evil feelings ! And, indeed, this is more frequently found to be the case than is the physical marking of a child by its mother's im- pressions. FEARS OF DANGER IN BEARING CHILDREN. These* apprehensions, so common in pregnant women, are very seldom well founded. If a woman has no deformity of the spine or pelvis ; if the distance from hip to hip indicates no unusual narrowness ; if, as she stands, she sees that she is as well formed as the majority of women ; and if she knows of no objective reasons herself, — she should conclude, with- out any further thought, that she is perfectly able to bear children. A deformity which would disable a woman from bearing children would be of such magnitude as could hardly escape her notice. APPREHENSIONS OF DIFFICULT LABOR. Experience does not show that a woman's first labor is necessarily a difficult one. It often occurs that her first labor is an easy and short one ; while subsequent ones are more protracted and painful. It depends upon the condi- tion of the soft parts of the woman at that period, whether more or less relaxed ; and also upon the size of the child, which cannot be prognosticated. The size of woman is never a hindrance in labor : small women bear large children with comparative ease. MALADIES DURING PREGNANCY. The Creator never intended that pregnancy should be a source of disease ; but ignorance, false modesty, fashion, previously-acquired diseases of the womb, errors of regimen and diet, a weak constitution, bad training in girlhood, often lay the foundations of serious troubles during preg- nancy. These diseases I will discuss separately, and suggest the means to avoid and to alleviate them. At the head of them stand MENTAL DISORDERS. Such are, undefined fear of pending evil ; anxiety about the future, and fear of dying ; many forebodings and gloom, even to despair. These mental disturbances, although they may have no cause, are serious in the extreme. It is important to the mother's well-being, and to a happy termination of her la- bor, that these mental illusions should be conquered. Seri- ous consequences have been produced by an over-wrought imagination. This dark phantom that hangs over the reason of the already burdened patient should be chased away by gentle reasoning and moral suasion. Mothers, your. God is a God of love, and would not threaten with danger her who is the mother of mankind. A special reason exists why the Great Father should extend his protecting hand over a woman who bears a human being in her womb. Fear and despondency is not gratitude or thanksgiving to Him who willed it that to bear a child 44 MENTAL DISORDERS. 45 should be a gift to woman, who can love and protect her off- spring with all the strength of her soul. In choosing Mary as the mother of his only-begotten Son, he did not surround her with impending dangers and with fear of death. Her heart beat with joy that she was to beget a child. Her prayers were thanksgivings for the great privilege. You are, as she was, a creature of your God. Away, then, with your gloomy thoughts ! Eejoice that you are one of the elect ! In a short time, a human being — flesh of your flesh, a creature of your God — will lie on your lap to ask from your lips the smile of a happy mother. To you, husbands, I say, .Reflect upon the manifold in- conveniences and annoyances your wife must labor under while pregnant. The love which you gave her before the altar of God — double it now. Think of the suffering you are spared, which she must undergo to give you the delight of paternity. In doubling your attentions, in anticipating her desires, in calming her fears, in soothing her irritations, you do only your duty, though it should also be your high- est pleasure. Do it cheerfully ; let your devotion spring from a manly heart, — from the heart of a true husband. What was a molehill to your wife before must be a moun- tain now. Smooth her rugged path ; shade her from the burning flame of mental agitation ; encourage her, inspire her with hope ; and when the time comes that she lies pros- trate, her face beaming with happiness at the sounds of her first-born, thank God that you have been kind to her. The hygiene in these cases is purely a moral one, and must be conducted by a careful and loving husband and affectionate relatives or friends. When forebodings and gloom pervade the mind of her who is to become a mother, reasoning may be in vain. In this case, her condi- tion should not be totally ignored lest offence be given ; but unknowingly to her, and apparently unaffected by her fears, 46 MALADIES DURING PREGNANCY. simple means may be employed to throw her off the gloomy path of her thoughts. The wife's tastes and predilections when in health being known, there are a hundred things that can be done to attract her from her sorrow of self into innocent distractions and pleasures. This must be done without an effort or an apparent purpose, else the object may be defeated by making her aware that care and kindness is induced by solicitude. Bring home a good book, a favorite fruit, or a mutual friend with whom you may enter into an innocent conspiracy for her good. Invite her to take a walk ; and then do not rush her through an unfeeling crowd, but walk leisurely in a favorite place ; call her attention to objects of interest, and even to trifles, that may have amused her before. Have some congenial friends at home ; a game of whist, or any sort of innocent game, and moderate gayety ; a little surprise-party of dropping-in friends, — some genial, happy faces. If it be necessary, an innocent plot with your friends may be formed to get her out some evening to a social meeting, a lecture, a concert, a lively, pleasing drama. If the rooms or halls are too hot or crowded, you may show solicitude enough to take her home. Cheerful fireside, un- stinted sacrifices, loving sympathy, will rob the mind of many a dark shadow. Change of scene ; short, easy jour- neys to favorite cities or spots, is a source of pleasant and healthy excitement that will invigorate body and mind. Be never weary, and success and happiness will crown your noble efforts. MEDICAL TREATMENT. For a non-professional, it is difficult to nicely discriminate these symptoms, and I would therefore refer the patient to her physician. A few remedies may safely be tried, how- ever, in case distance or other causes should make him inac- cessible. The medicines are indicated, and, following them, MENTAL DISORDERS — TREATMENT. 47 the symptoms of the child-bearing patient; for which experi- ence has shown them to be adapted. In order to a clear general understanding of the medi- cines, their influence, the modes of preparing (extract, so- lution, dilution, trituration, potency, etc.), the reader is re- ferred to the article on that subject at the end of the book. Cimicifuga. Great mental depression ; melancholy; fear of dying; doubts the affection of her beloved ones; sus- pects they turn against her ; wants to leave them ; wants to leave the home she has loved ; wants to be alone ; is jeal- ous, restless, and unreasonable ; is apprehensive of the end ; does not sleep well: when she sleeps, she is wakened by unpleasant dreams. One drop in a little fine sugar every two or three hours. Ignatia. Excessive desire to do things in haste ; great tendency to start; irritation upon the slightest con- tradiction; inconstancy; impatience; irresoluteness ; quar- relsomeness; intolerance of noise; taciturnity; brooding. The patient is sensitive and sad. Same as the above. Aconite. Lamenting apprehension of approaching death ; presentiments ; inconsolable anguish ; lamentations and re- proaches, from trifling causes; great anxiety, attended by palpitation of the heart; increased heat of body and face, and great weariness of the limbs. Same as the above. Hyosciamns. Jealousy; fear of being poisoned; talks a great deal ; vertigo ; dulness of feeling. Same as the above. Potency. From the 1st to the 3d decimal ; or from the 12th to 30th centesimal. 48 MALADIES DURING PREGNANCY. DISORDERS OF THE STOMACH. In connection with this subject, I have already mentioned morning sickness as a concomitant symptom of pregnancy. It is probably the most reliable sign. Some women have only to feel the return of this discomfort to declare them- selves pregnant. Vomiting can, nevertheless, occur under different circumstances ; yet when the tongue is clean, and free from all appearances indicating disease of the abdomi- nal viscera, and the vomiting persistently and periodically returns on rising from bed ; before, after, or during meals, at certain hours of day or night, — physicians accept it as a conclusive evidence of pregnancy. It may appear immediately after conception ; but it more frequently commences after the second or third week. It may continue for three or four months, — generally not be- yond the third, — and sometimes it will not cease until quickening. It may continue irrepressibly through the whole period; but, generally, it only re-appears after the eighth month, and ceases when the enlargement descends in the abdomen, two weeks previous to confinement. The frequency and intensity of the vomiting varies in different subjects, and often in the same. A woman may vomit only in the morning, before eating, — a sort of viscid, glassy mucus, which may be accompanied by some green bile, particularly if the straining is severe. Some vomit after eating, and then easily emit the ingesta. It happens, also, that vomiting is induced after a few mouthfuls of food ; and the patient is able to return aud finish her repast with- out inconvenience. There are distressing cases in which even the smell of food provokes vomiting. Again, the pa- tient has nausea, and makes all the efforts of vomiting with- out being able to do so. In cases where the straining is very severe, the shock may be communicated to the lower CAUSES. 49 part of the abdomen, causing distressing pain, which, how- ever, gradually wears away in a few hours. Physiologists and pathologists have endeavored to explain this phenomenon, but without success. There is no doubt that it is connected with the changes of the womb ; for we often see vomiting in patients affected by a diseased womb, and there are many who vomit during the first days of every menstruation. They have endeavored, also, to trace these obscure sympathies ; but never have been able to go beyond the fair supposition that the sympathy exists. Some pa- thologists — like Bennet — insist that the nausea is always connected with a diseased condition of the womb ; but this is not often true, because thousands of women who vomit during pregnancy are without any disease whatsoever. In the first months of pregnancy, the process of distend- ing the rigid fibres of the uterus may cause a sympathetic action of the stomach ; and this may account for the cessa- tion, when, after a few weeks, the womb, adapting itself to the new process, becomes more elastic, and the dilatation easier. This would explain, also, cases of continued vomit- ing, where the womb may be unyielding, and the rigidity constant ; and the inference would be, that, in cases where dilatation is easy from the beginning, there would be no vomiting at all. During the later months, we may account for it by the fact that the swollen womb interferes with the locality of the stomach, pressing it upward. We know how easily we can be made sick by a slight pressure on the stomach. This would account for the relief obtained during the last two weeks, when the womb descends in the basin, preparatory to the expulsion of the foetus, and yields the needed room to the stomach. Nervous susceptibility may be greater in some than others. Constitutional disturbances, a reckless disregard of the laws of digestion, indulgence in obnoxious articles of 4 50 MALADIES DURING PKEGNANCY. food, devotion to the baneful fashion of small waists, may greatly aggravate this distressing symptom. The theory that the process of expansion is the cause of vomiting is the most reasonable to my mind : and the ob- jections of Gazeaux, because some women have been afflict- ed by vomiting more during a second pregnancy than during a first one, are not sufficient to overcome its probability ; since the rigidity of the womb may be different at different times, and vary according to constitutional or functional ab- normalities during the period of non-pregnancy. In at- tempting to expand the mouth of the womb in dysmenor- rhoea, I have been often arrested by the complaint that the operation produced nausea. Even the periodicity of the vomiting is not sufficient reason to overcome these premises ; for the womb is the or- gan of periodicity par excellence. Does not the womb give periodical pain during labor ? Why is not its contraction continuous and final ? If its contractions for the expulsion of the foetus are periodical, why should not its dilatations in accommodating itself for its abode and growth be the same ? The process of labor gives other evidence in favor of this theory. While the contractions of the fundus of the uterus, and the dilatation of its mouth, are going on to expel the fcetus, the patient often vomits freely. Again : a patient may increase her contracting pains by walking, by drinking a glass of water or a cup of tea. Thus we can appreciate this mutual reflex action of the stomach upon the womb, and, vice versa, the womb upon the stomach ; a sym- pathy that may be excited from either end. Irrepressible and long-continued vomiting, however, must be connected with some disorganization, maintaining a con- stant irritability of the womb ; such as ulcerations, displace- ments, or congestion : or it may be due to an excessive sen- sibility of the nervous system. This vomiting may be very severe and intractable, particularly when no cause can be MORNING SICKNESS. 51 ascertained. Premature labor has often been induced on the plea that the life of the patient is in danger; but this high-handed measure is sometimes distrusted by the fact that the most irrepressible vomiting has suddenly ceased without medical or surgical interference. A shock from sudden joy or fear, it has been recorded, has stopped the vomiting, never to re-appear. This would lead us to suppose, that, in those instances, it was a nervous disturbance sud- denly changed by stronger impressions. In irrepressible vomiting, however, the womb should be examined, and, if found diseased, proper medical or surgical treatment should be applied. Simple vomiting may be borne with comparative comfort and patience : it will produce no disastrous effects on the patient, — nay, in some cases, it seems only to deplete the system, which is a natural treatment in plethora, against which we have no gainsay. Vomiting that requires medi- cal treatment is rare; still, when a constant vomiting inter- feres with the functions of the stomach, and wears away the patient, medical assistance is absolutely required. The apprehension that excessive vomiting may affect the well-being of the child in utero must be done away with ; for there is not one instance recorded where it is proven that the child has thus been affected. God, in his loving and mysterious way, has taken care that the germ of mankind should be well protected. REGIMEN. A cheerful mind ; avoidance of mental excitement (pas- sion, anger, fear, &c.) ; exercise in the open air without fatigue ; early hours to rest, and early rising. When the sickness overtakes you on rising from bed, try taking break- fast before rising. A few mouthfuls of pulverized ice, swal- lowed quickly, often relieve nausea. In distressing vomit- ing, ice applied to the pit of the stomach has given relief, 52 MALADIES DURING PREGNANCY. although it is a hazardous remedy. Champagne, in many instances, has relieved vomiting very promptly : I have pre- scribed it with success for nausea of jaundice and cholerine. A change of the usual hours of eating, the use of lemon- ade, Vichy-water, or a few teaspoonfuls of sherry-wine, brandy, ether, peppermint-water, or a watery solution of Calomba-root, have relieved cases. Dr. Simpson recommends highly the Salt of Cerium. His favorite prescription is, forty grains of oxalate of cerium, three times a day. DERANGEMENT OF APPETITE (Apyrexia). The same sympathetic relation existing between the uterus and the stomach, which causes vomiting, will cause want of appetite, water-brash, acidity, indigestion, aversion to food, flatulence, and that capricious appetite for chalk, slate, dirt, and many things too absurd to mention. The appetite may also become excessive, indeed, voracious : in this latter instance, however, it indicates a diseased condi- tion of the stomach. This appetite has sometimes been satisfied to an alarming extent on the vulgar supposition that, as the child derives nourishment from the mother, the mother should eat a great quantity to supply both. This error may cause serious trouble in women who have a strong tendency to plethora. It may give origin to dizziness, ful- ness, pressure in the head, indigestion, flatulence, spasms, piles. It increases the quantity of blood, overcharging the veins, which become fuller, causing swelling of the feet and limbs. A good appetite should be satisfied ; but a voracious one should be allayed by light food, taken often, in not very large quantities, and treated medically. I have already mentioned appetites for unusual or obnox- DERANGEMENT OF APPETITE. 53 ions articles. As moral persuasion is almost always useless in these cases, care should be taken that the indulgence al- lowed may not seriously interfere with digestion and health. The importance that people attach to these longings is un- founded, and should not be gratified to any great extent. It is true, that, in many cases where the stomach craves unwholsesome articles, they have been taken with im- punity : still, prudence is a shield against accidents. In loss of appetite, it is useless to force the patient to eat ; then the most nourishing food should be concentrated in small quantities ; such as beef-tea, calf Vfoot jellies, eggs, cream, &c. A little wine may be useful ; but medicated tonics should not be taken without the advice of the physi- cian. Keep in the open air 5 take gentle exercise, walk- ing particularly. For water-brash : Vichy-water ; one teaspoonful of char- coal ; three or four grains of bismuth ; but, particularly, water acidulated with a drop or two of nitric or sulphuric acid, or with the juice of lemon, have been found very use- ful. Diet. "The diet should consist of wholesome articles, such as beef, mutton, lamb, fowl, game, &c. (either roasted or boiled, in preference to broiled and baked) ; and all salted, spiced, or smoked aliment ought to be taken sparingly, or not at all, if the stomach is delicate, as they generally de- range it. The flesh of young animals — as veal, lamb, chicken, and certain kinds of fish — is less nutritious than the other articles mentioned, and is therefore considered lighter. Tatty food — as pork, duck, eel, butter, oil, &c. — generally disagrees with nervous, bilious, or dyspeptic per- sons, and those who suffer from indigestion, flatulency, and lowness of spirits, especially during pregnancy, when there al- ready is more or less tendency to nausea and vomiting. Fari- naceous food — such as bread, rice, potato, beans, peas, sago, 54 MALADIES DURING PREGNANCY. arrowroot, tapioca, and salep — is highly nutritious, though it may in some cases induce heartburn, flatulency, and in- digestion. Mucilaginous aliments — as carrots, turnips, parsnips, cabbages, and asparagus — ought to be taken but sparingly by pregnant women, and those who suckle their infants ; and then a little pepper should be used with them. Sweet food — as sugar, molasses, candies, dates, fruits, &c. — should be used in moderation. : Finally, — as the stomach is irritable and delicate in most pregnant women during the first months, — it is highly necessary that their food should be both cut small, and then well masticated, to render it more fitted, and more easily acted upon by the stomach ; and drink, too, should be used sparingly while eating ; for, if the gastric juice be too much diluted, it cannot act upon the food in an efficient manner." — My an. And, above all, I recommend that no ices should be taken on full stomach, as heat acts a very important part in diges- tion. Coffee and tea should be used moderately. TREATMENT. Ipecacuanha. Nausea and effort to vomit ; aversion to food. Vomiting of the ingesta, and of a large quantity of mucus. Kux Vomica. Sour taste in the mouth. Milk seems to sour upon the stomach. Putrid or bitter taste in the mouth early in the morning. Constant want of appetite. Hun- ger ; nevertheless, aversion to food. After a meal, sick feel- ing, and as if the stomach was overloaded. Pressure at the stomach. Hiccough. Frequent eructations. Bitter or sour eructations. Heartburn. Nausea early in the morn- ing. Nausea at a meal. Vomiting of sour-smelling mucus. Constipation. Adapted particularly to nervous bilious tem- peraments, — brunettes. DERANGEMENT OF APPETITE. 55 Tabacum. Nausea, accompanied by fainting and deadly paleness. Cuprum. Vomiting, attended with cramps. Camphor. Vomiting, attended with cold perspiration. Arsenicum. Vomiting after eating and drinking, accom- panied by great thirst and weakness. Pulsatilla. For blondes, and those of lymphatic tempera- ment. Loss of appetite. Taste as of putrid meat in the mouth, with inclination to vomit. Bitter taste. Nausea, induced by eating fat. Eructations, tasting of the ingesta. Sour, bitter, bilious eructations. Repulsion to food, fat particularly. Hydrocyanic Acid. Irrepressible vomiting. Four drops of the diluted preparation of the United-States Pharma- copeia in an ounce of water ; one teaspoonful, when nause- ated, every two or three hours. Mercurius is particularly indicated when vomiting, loss of appetite, or desire for acids, with yellowish-coated tongue, is aggravated by a state of biliousness. Dose and Administration. As a general thing, the 1st decimal preparations are preferable ; but many distinguished homoeopaths prefer high potencies, from the 12th to the 30th centesimal. Camphor is more effective in drop doses of the tincture. Of the other remedies, five drops in a tumbler half full of water; one teaspoonful of which, before the vomiting gen- erally occurs, or before meals, should be taken. For other 56 MALADIES DURING PREGNANCY. disorders of the stomach, the medicine should be taken two or three times a day, before meals, or during the occurrence of the symptoms. Of the medicines prepared in powders, one or two grains, or as much as the size of a common pea, is a dose. Of the pellets, from five to eight. Calomfoa has been used by allopaths as a sort of specific in morning sickness, but in fifteen to twenty grains per dose, before meals. Creasote is highly extolled, particularly by the allopathic physicians. Five drops of the tincture in a tumbler half full of water ; one teaspoonful every hour or two. It has been successfully taken in one-drop doses, on a little lump of sugar. Sulphuric and Mtric Acids have been mentioned ; so has citric acid, or lemonade, for acidity of the stomach. Even allopathic physicians have made the discovery that acids, and particularly vegetable acids, are more successful in cur- ing acidity than alkalies, and think it strange. Desires in particular. For food and acid drinks . Arsenicum . . . (Pulte.) " beer tfux Vomica . . . " spirituous liquors . . Arsenicum or Nux . " chalk and lime, or earth, Nitric Acid or Nux . " coal Cicuta " cold drinks Mercurius or Arsenicum « cold food Yeratrum . . . . u dainties China " milk Mercurius . . . " pickles Hepar " sugar Kali C CONSTIPATION. 57 A Belladonna Plaster over the region of the womb often assists in relieving nausea. ■ It should be taken off as soon as there appears an undue dilatation of the pupil of the eye. CONSTIPATION is a disorder that often accompanies pregnancy, and may be the source of many troublesome symptoms, and, in aggra- vated cases, a cause of dangerous irritation to the impregnated womb. Women who were never of costive habit before may become so now ; and women who were subject to it be- fore may become so much worse now as to be unable to have a healthful evacuation without the interference of some mechanical or medicinal means. This may be due, partly to the increased action of the womb, drawing, as it were, blood and nervous force from neighboring organs ; partly to the mechanical pressure which the womb, in its enlarged condition, exerts upon the rectum ; and, also, to the indo- lence which a woman in a state of pregnancy may indulge in, or to a deficiency of bile, which, in cases of hard vomit- ing, is pressed into and ejected from the stomach. Whatever may be the cause, and whatever may have been her habits before, a pregnant woman should now pay partic- ular attention that masses of faeces should not accumulate in her bowels. Piles would be almost a necessary consequence from pressure on the hemorrhoidal veins. Bearing-down pains, pains in the back, flatulence, colic, displacement of the womb, swelling of the veins of the legs (increasing the tendency to dropsy of the feet), headache, giddiness, sleep- lessness, may follow. In women who easily miscarry, the undue pressure on the womb will increase the liability ; and, during labor, fecal masses may expand the descending in- testines and the rectum, so as to obstruct the exit of the child, or be expelled, during labor, by the powerful pressure 58 MALADIES DURING PREGNANCY. of the descending womb, to the great annoyance of the pa- tient and attendants. A disregard of this costive condition has placed ladies in the most unpleasant and awkward pre- dicaments, as well as in real danger. It has sometimes been known to produce inflammation of the bowels, so fatal in the puerperal period. TREATMENT. Appropriate diet, and regular exercise in the open air, is most important. To women thus affected, I would recom- mend especially not to eat chalk, or take magnesia as a laxative ; for both have been known to become hardened, or have hardened some of the faeces, so that it became impossi- ble to evacuate them without powerful drastics or mechani- cal means, to the great distress and danger of the patient. The diet should not be of dry food : vegetable diet is preferable. The use of fruits, such as prunes, figs, roasted apples, oranges, &c, is beneficial, except in those cases where they produce flatulence. Brown bread, oat-meal porridge, and the use of olive-oil, in substance or as a con- diment, are sometimes sufficient. A tumblerful of water before going to bed, or an orange before breakfast, has also produced good results. For unusual constipation, produced by inactivity of the liver, or unaffected by gentle means, apply to your physician. Beware of cathartics ! While some are simple enough, others, such as aloes, caulophyllin, podophyllin, turpentine, and other irritating drastics, have caused abortion. Do not take a cathartic without the advice of a physician. MEDICAL TREATMENT. This is a stumbling-block even to homoeopathy ; for while the system of allopathy, with its cathartics, can cause almost immediate action of the bowels, but cannot cure constipa- tion, homoeopathy, on the contrary, can cure habitual consti- CONSTIPATION. 59 pation, but cannot produce an immediate action of the bowels. Homoeopathic physicians and patients, however, should not hesitate, in a case where the accumulation of faeces must be removed, to use the agents that will do it. They need not fear that, by so doing, they prove inconsist- ent with their accepted law of cure ; because, in such a case, they pretend to make no cure, but simply to remove mechan- ical obstructions by mechanical means, if I may so call them. In cases where a thorough evacuation of the bowels becomes imperative, an injection of tepid water and soapsuds may be taken. If that is not sufficient, ten grains of Fel-JBovinum (ox-gall), dissolved in half a pint of water, and given as an injection, will remove large quantities of im- pacted hard faeces. If the faeces have been allowed to accumulate in obstruct- ing masses in the colon, or lower intestine, a tablespoonful of castor-oil will remove the difficulty. Then homoeopathic treatment may be applied as a preventive of the occurrence. Nux Vomica, Sulphur, Opium, Platina, Lycopodium, Alu- mina, &c, high and low potencies, have cured thousands of cases of constipation. Kux Vomica is indicated in constipation from sedentary habits, abuse of coffee or liquors, and when the following symptoms are present : constipation as if from inactivity of the bowels, ineffectual urging to stool, difficult passage of large, hard faeces, colic, succeeded by discharge of dark-colored mucus, causing a smarting burning in the anal region ; pain- ful spasmodic stricture of the anus, with or without hemor- rhoids ( bloody piles) ; flatulence, and distention of the abdomen. In chronic constipation, it may be alternated with Sulphur, morning and evening, in high potencies, say the 12th or 30th. 60 MALADIES DURING PREGNANCY. In acute cases, three drops of the tincture of Nux Vomica should be mixed in a tumbler half full of water, and one teaspoonful of it taken before each meal, and before retiring. Opium* Frequent constipation of strong plethoric persons ; retention of stool and urine ; constipation, as if from paraly- sis of the intestines ; costiveness for weeks, sometimes alter- nated with liquid, frothy stools. Six globules of the 3d or the 30th, morning and evening. , Platina. Constipation, with straining and itching at the anus ; shuddering over the whole body after every evacua- tion, accompanied by feeling of weakness in the abdomen, with contraction, bearing down, oppression at the stomach, — Herring. Six globules of the 30th, morning and evening. Lycopodium. Chronic constipation, for persons of bilious temperament, subject to indigestion and torpidity of the abdominal organs, and ulso for constipation arising from sedentary habits. Two grains of the 1st decimal, before each meal. Alumina. Constipation of long duration, causing colic, flatulence, vomiting ; evacuations of hard stools with bear- ing-down and tenesmus, causing itching and burning at the anus. Six globules of the 30th before meals. Collilisonia. Constipation attended particularly with piles, flatulence, sluggish stool, distention of the abdomen, heat and itching at the anus. Two grains of the 2d decimal trituration, three or four times a day. DIABBHCEA . — TREA TMENT. 61 DIAKRHCEA. This is often the sequence of constipation. The hardened feces, that have for a long time obstructed the proper action of the intestines, finally cause an irritation of the mucous membrane, that produces a watery diarrhoea, even without unloading the bowels. Nervous irritation, induced by preg- nancy, is also often a cause, as well as colds, defect in dress, and improper diet. In severe cases, the diarrhoea is induced by ulceration of the mucous membrane, caused by previous fecal accumulations, in which case the patient suffers from pain (a sensation of internal burning), the pulse quick- ens, the tongue becomes dry, the skin hot, and the appetite is lost. Thirst and emaciation, followed by vomiting, may supervene, placing the patient in a very precarious condi- tion. In cases where the diarrhoea is alternated by passages of hard, lumpy stools, indicating a mechanical irritation above by indurated faeces, a teaspoonful of castor-oil may be suf- ficient to remove the cause and the disease. The diet should be the reverse of that recommended for constipation. Avoid acid fruits and coarse food and vege- tables 5 live principally on rare meats, beef-tea, rice, arrow- root, tapioca, &c. TREATMENT. Mercurius Solubilis, or Yivus. In bilious diarrhoea attend- ed by yellowish-coated tongue, bitter taste in the mouth, green or whitish passages. Two grains of the 3d trituration, every tivo or three hours. Collinsonia is used, as in constipation, particularly in cases of alternated diarrhoea and constipation attended with piles. 62 MALADIES DURING PREGNANCY. China. When the loose passages contain undigested food, and take place soon after meals, or at night. Weak diges- tion. Six globules of the 3d, before eacli meal. Arsenicum. For watery diarrhoea, attended with thirst. Six globules of the 3d or 30th, after every evacuation. Phosphoric Acid. Chronic diarrhoea, attended by painless and half-liquid passages ; occasioned by general weakness, followed by emaciation. One drop of the 1st dilution, after every evacuation. Pulsatilla. Diarrhoea caused by fat meats or gravies. The stools are slimy, greenish, and watery ; they may be preceded by colicky pains. The patient experiences shiver- ing, and the evacuations occur principally at night. Six globules 3d, every three hours. Dulcamara. When the diarrhoea has been caused by a cold. The discharges are greenish or yellowish : they smell acid, and occur principally in the evening. As Pulsatilla. FLATULENCE, COLIC. I place these in the same paragraph, because the former is, in a great majority of cases, the cause of the latter. They have both been mentioned in connection with consti- pation. Vv r ind-colic, as it is vulgarly termed, can be excess- ively troublesome and distressing. I have known a case where it would awaken the patient regularly, between eleven and twelve o'clock at night, and put her, in ten or fifteen minutes, into such distress, that she would throw herself about in perfect agony, from the distention of the abdomen, FLATULENCE. — PILES. 63 and a pressure upon her lungs so that she could hardly breathe. On one occasion, it threw her into a violent con- vulsion in fifteen minutes from her awakening. Weak digestion and constipation give rise to this malady. (See paragraph on "Constipation.") The diet should be of the most digestible kind, and food well masticated. Acid fruits and vegetables are apt to pro- duce or increase it, particularly uncooked apples, cab- bages, onions, beans, &c. Eat moderately, rather often and little at a time, than a full meal rarely. Eat nothing for three or four hours before going to bed. Domestic medicines — such as peppermint, ginger, aniseed — are often useful in assisting to expel the gas. Sometimes a tumblerful of warm water, taken internally, has caused an easy vomiting, and with it the emission of an incredible quantity of wind. When the wind seems lower in the ab- domen, or rolling about, an injection of warm water has caused a slight movement of the bowels, which afforded a chance for the gas to escape. For diet and medical treatment, see paragraph on " Con- stipation." HEMORRHOIDS, OR PILES. This is a very common disease, attending pregnant wo- men, and, in fact, all people of sedentary and constipated habits. It has been already alluded to in the paragraph on " Constipation." Piles are an enlargement of the hemorrhoidal veins of the rectum, constituting small tumors from the size of a pea to the size of a walnut. When the tumors are within the rectum, they are called bleeding or internal piles, which are the origin, sometimes, of profuse hemorrhage. Those with- out go by the name of external or blind piles, because they seldom bleed. 64 MALADIES DURING PREGNANCY. They are caused by pressure of the womb, or by disten- tion of costive bowels, upon the veins of the rectum ; pre- venting the return of the blood. The veins become vari- cose, and finally distend into separate and distinct tumors. These may be numerous, and may surround the whole cir- cumference of the anus ; closing it, and causing great pain and distress at each evacuation. The bleeding or internal piles sometimes discharge blood at regular periodic intervals ; again, they bleed so profuse- ly as to prostrate the patient. These hemorrhages may be preceded by a sensation of weight and pain at the small of the back and loins, stinging and burning, swelling and ful- ness, with throbbing in the rectum. When the piles protrude, they may become strangulated, causing severe suffering. In such cases, they must be re- turned as soon as possible, which can easily be done by tak- ing them within four fingers united in a cone, and gently and gradually squeezing, and pressing them within. Then the patient should lie down, and endeavor to retain them. A pad of cotton cloth dipped in cold water, or even containing a small piece of ice, should be kept at the rectum. If the bowels are constipated, they should be moved by repeated enemas of warm water. In fact, the patient should not al- low herself to have a costive movement at all. If there is much irritation and pain, it may be allayed by the applica- tion of a poultice of slippery-elm or marsh-mallow. Daily enemas of cold water will cause contraction of the hemorrhoidal veins, and prevent the return of the piles. Walking or standing will aggravate them. The sitting on cane-bottomed chairs is beneficial; while the warmth of stuffed seats increases the liability to these troubles. When the case is bad, it should be attended by a skilful physician. The diet and regimen for Constipation holds good in Piles. PILES. 65 TREATMENT. Nux and Sulphur alternately have been extolled for their efficacy in curing piles. Ilamamelis. Drop-doses, in a teaspoonful of water, should be given every fifteen or twenty minutes when the piles bleed profusely : when they bleed only a little, and at cer- tain periods, the same dose may be taken every two or three hours. — Dr. H. Okie. Aloes (2d trituration). Two grains every two or three hours will relieve piles with a constant bearing down, and when they hang out of the rectum with or without bleeding. There are many other excellent remedies which cannot be mentioned in a volume like this, which is intended only for ordinary domestic guidance, and warning against the neglect of important symptoms. It is the province of the medical attendant to make the selection of appropriate remedies in complicated cases. Let it be remembered, how- ever, that, as soon as a pile shows itself, it should be gently pressed into the rectum- and retained ; which maybe done by simply keeping in a reclined position, with applications of cold water. " iEsculus Hippocastaneum, in drop-doses of the tincture, may be tried by the non-professional. This is the horse- chestnut, — so much valued by some, that they actually carry it in their pocket as a preventive. Many people affirm that they never suffer from piles as long as they carry a horse- chestnut about them." — Dr. Edwin M. Hale. This is a homoeopathic dose with a vengeance. 5 66 MALADIES DURING PREGNANCY. SALIVATION (Pytalism). This symptom occasionally takes the place of the morning sickness. It sometimes appears almost at the commence- ment of pregnancy, and before the time for the expected menses to appear, previous to the fact of their suppression be- ing known. If, following the suppression of the menses, the patient, in the morning, finds her mouth and throat filled with a tenacious mucus, or saliva, which, in being expelled, assumes a round shape (what in some countries they call " spitting English shillings" or "cotton"), she may rest assured that pregnancy exists. — Tracy. TREATMENT. Hercurius and Iodine are the most homoeopathic remedies to this disease. Six globules of the 30th dilution, three times a day. Take Merc, for three days ; if not relieved, take Iodine. Holding candied sugar or a little gum arabic constantly in the mouth will render it less distressing. — Desormeaux. TOOTHACHE. Of all neuralgias, toothache is the most common among pregnant women. It generally affects the lower jaw ; some- times on one side, sometimes on both. It commences dur- ing the first months of pregnancy, ceasing about the fourth or fifth month. If a tooth is diseased from partial decay, or exposure of the nerve from a cavity, a dentist should be consulted. Persons of nervous sensibility, or addicted to miscarriage, should not have teeth extracted during pregnancy ; for the apprehension of pain, and the shock received in the extrac- tion, have sometimes caused abortion. TOOTHACHE. 67 TREATMENT. When toothache has been brought about by exposure to cold or wet, and it is accompanied by throbbing, which ex- tends to the gum and the cheek, attended with some fever, Aconite should be taken. Four drops of the tincture in twelve teaspoonfuls of water, one teaspoonful every hour. Belladonna* In congestive and inflammatory toothaches, both in sound and decayed teeth, attended with great irrita- bility of the nervous system, and pain of a rending, digging, and piercing character. Four drops of 3d dilution to twelve teaspoonfuls of wa- ter, one teaspoonful every hour. Mercurius sol. Is probably the most efficacious remedy in toothache, from a cold, and from no apparent cause. High dilutions have also proved successful. One grain of the 2d, 3d, or 30th trituration every two hours. Creasote. One drop of the oil, mixed in a bread-pill, may be applied to a cavity of a decayed tooth with benefit. Pulsatilla • In females of lymphatic temperament with toothache, attended with chilliness, paleness of the face, con- gestion and pain in the head, suppression of the menses, menstrual cramps in the abdomen, aggravated by the warmth of the bed, in a warm room, or by warm food. Nux Vomica. Nervous, bilious temperament ; toothache aggravated in the morning by exposure to cold air, by cold drinks or food, by mental excitement or exercise. Sepia is excellent in removing pain in the teeth of preg- nant women, and in non-pregnant ones troubled with sup- 68 MALADIES DURING PREGNANCY. pression of the menses, accompanied by heat in the head, pain in the back, and affected by yellowish spots over the face, arms, or body. Six globules of the 3d, every two or three hours, will be found to answer in the last three remedies. LIVER-SPOTS. Very often in pregnancy, and particularly in brunettes, brown, dingy stains appear on the cheeks and forehead, which greatly disfigure and annoy the patient. They are called liver-spots, on the supposition that they depend upon cer- tain abnormalities of that organ ; which is very doubtful, as we know them to appear about the body of persons who seem in a perfect state of health. This is rather an intracta- ble disease. TREATMENT. Sepia seems to be the most efficient remedy. Sulphur, Lycopodium, and Arsenicum may be tried, one after another. Six globules of the 12th Sepia, Sulphur, or Arsenicum, three times a day, each, for ttuo iveeks, should be taken be- fore changing. Lycopodium, one grain of the 2d or 3d trituration, three times a day. JAUNDICE. This may occur, during the early months of pregnancy, from sympathy, and, during the latter months, from pressure of the womb obstructing the bile-duct : it may be caused also by a cold, congestion of the liver, or from mental emo- tions ; such as chagrin. Jaundice will produce constant nausea and malaise at the stomach, even when pregnancy does not exist : of course, it aggravates these symptoms when it does exist. The skin, J A UN DICE. — ITCHING. 69 particularly of the temples, assumes a greenish-yellow hue, which is also quite perceptible in the white of the eye. This yellowness varies in degree from a hardly perceptible tinge to a perfect lemon color. The faeces become of a light clayish color ; and the urine becomes very dark, — dark enough, sometimes, to frighten the patient. TREATMENT. To allay the nausea and malaise at the stomach, there is nothing better than Champagne, taken in small draughts, several times a day. Mercurius, sol. Two-grain doses of the 3d should he taken three or four times a day, until the faeces begin to as- sume the natural brown color. Podophyllin should be taken in the same way, by patients who would object to Mercurius, or upon whom Mercurius fails. If there is any complication, apply to your physician. ITCHING (Pruritus). This is often very distressing and very troublesome, not only to pregnant females, but to persons of all ages. It may be so severe as to deprive the sufferer of any sleep or rest. Sometimes it occurs without any appreciable cause ; again, it is induced by the want of proper cleanliness, may affect any part of the body ; but, when it affects the private parts, it is perfectly intolerable. In pregnancy, it may be owing to some discharges from the vagina of an acrid nature : in this case, a daily washing of the vagina, even two and three times a day, with castile soap and water, is absolutely necessary. If that is not sufficient, a wash of or \ a I be it \ 70 MALADIES DURING PKEGNANCY. Borax, or an injection of Ammoniated Water (two teaspoon- fuls of the aromatic spirit of ammonia in a tumblerful of water), may prove so. These remedies may also be applied to any other part of the body. Benzoic acid, ten to twenty grains to half a pint of water, as an application, is also very efficient. If the whole body feels itchy, an alkaline bath should be taken (five ounces of Carbonate of Potash in the entire bath). Internally, Dr. Pulte considers Conium the most effica- cious remedy. He advises to try this remedy before recur- ring to any other treatment. Dr. Moffat, in twenty years' practice, has never needed any thing but Creasote for this trouble, internally taken. COUGH. Although cough may occur during the earlier or latter months of pregnancy, it is often suspended when it exists from affections of the lungs. In fact, the progress of con- sumption is often suspended during the whole period of pregnancy, and sometimes during lactation, although, I am sorry to say, it is generally re-assumed when those processes have terminated. The symptomatic cough of pregnancy, however, is a ner- vous cough, unless induced by a fresh cold, and is spasmodic in its nature ; thus causing short and teasing paroxysms, dis- tressing to the patient. TREATMENT. Such paroxysms may be cut short by holding a piece of sugar, a gum-drop, or a clove in the mouth : the latter sometimes acts like a charm. Conium. Six globules of the 3d, after each coughing-spell, has often proved successful in curing the tendency. SHORTNESS OF BREATH. 71 HjOSCiamus, in the same way, will allay the cough at night. Drosera and Cuprum, in the same dose, have proved suc- cessful where the others failed. SHORTNESS OF BREATH (Dyspnoea). This difficulty is troublesome, but not dangerous ; will occur particularly during the latter months of pregnancy, when the abdominal muscles are too distended to assist the muscles of the chest, and when the abdominal cavity is so filled as to give no extra room to the lungs for free expansion. When it occurs in the beginning of pregnancy, it is gen- erally a mere nervous sympathy with the womb ; when it occurs in the middle of pregnancy, it may depend upon a plethoric state of the system, which should be attended to by the physician ; and this is particularly the case, when, at every motion, the breath is impeded, or the heart palpitates. Those liable to asthma should be able to distinguish the difference ; for in that disease there is more or less mucus rattling in the chest at every expiration and inspiration. Moreover, the short breathing from pregnancy is always ameliorated by rest ; while that from asthma is not. TREATMENT. Rest is important ; the stomach should not be overloaded by hearty meals ; eat often, and little at a time. Costive- ness of the bowels should not be tolerated ; for the patient wants all the interior room possible. The dress should be worn loose. Medicine is useless, of course, when short breathing is produced simply by the mechanical pressure of the enlarged fetal tumor during the last two months. In the earlier stages of pregnancy, this trouble may be relieved by Ipecac, a drop of the tincture every two or three hours. / r 72 MALADIES DURING PREGNANCY. Mosclius or Arsenicum (3d). Six globules every two or three hours will relieve when Ipecac fails. Aconite. When there is any tendency to congestion, which may be known by an increased pulse, flushing and heat of the face, heat about the body. Six globules of the 3d every hour or two until relieved. G else mill urn. Drop-doses of the tincture, when there is palpitation, a sensation of weight or stricture at the heart, increased pulse, heat, and flushing. PAIN IN THE EIGHT SIDE. From the fifth to the eighth month, from sympathy and when the pressure of the extended womb reaches the region of the liver, a fulness and a state of congestion may occur, which induce a deep-seated pain or aching on the right side> aggravated by motion, by coughing, or the taking of a long breath : it may be accompanied by a sensation of heat, and of a dull, heavy weight in the part affected. At such times, exercise should be very moderate. The ap- plication of a mustard-poultice is useful when the pain is acute. A cold, wet bandage, put on when retiring, and well covered with flannel, will sometimes relieve this pain entire- ly. If the pain is connected with inflammation of the liver, which would be detected by the presence of fever, chilliness, and yellowish-coated tongue, a physician should be consulted. TREATMENT. Aconite and Bryonia, alternately, every two or three hours, from the 1st to the 3d potency. Mercarius would be very useful, particularly when symp- toms of biliousness are present. Of the 3d trituration, one grain every three hours. SPITTING OF BLOOD. 73 SPITTING OF BLOOD. This is very rare ; still, when it occurs in connection with consumption, it is sufficiently formidable to send for a phy- sician immediately. It may occur, however, independently of this, from a simple congestion, due to the suppression of the usual menses. In this case, it may appear at the time that the menses would be due, and would not be dangerous to the patient : on the contrary, it would relieve the conges- tion. Let the patient retire to bed, and assume a semi- reclined position ; put a cold, wet bandage around the chest ? cover it well with flannel, and, when it gets very warm, renew it. TREATMENT. Aconite and Hamainelis. Six drops of the 1st dilution in ivineglass of water. One teaspoonful alternately every hour until better. Ipecac, in the same dose, may take the place of Hamame- lis, if there is cough or rattling mucus in the chest. PLETHOKA AND ANJSMIA. The first is commonly known as full-bloodedness ; the second, poverty of blood, chlorosis, or green sickness. There is no subject which is so little understood by non-profession- als as this. These* common appellations do not convey a right conception of the condition of the blood. The blood, sixteen Gr twenty pounds of which circulate in the human body, is composed of the following proxi- mate principles : — Fibrin. ( The whole, in solution, com- Albumen, > In solution •< posing the liquor sanguinis, Salts, ) forming serum. { or the water of the blood. Red corpuscles, which contain hematine and iron, suspended in the liquor sanguinis, and which give the red color. 74 MALADIES DURING PREGNANCY. The blood is therefore composed of water } solids, and coloring matter. The water, which is probably eight parts of the blood, holds in solution the solids ; viz., the fibrin, al- bumen, and salts, which it conveys to the proper organs for the nutrition of the body : the red corpuscles flow with it even through its minutest capillaries, with the exception of the white ball of the eye ; and it seems that their office is to oxygenate the blood. The proportion of the water, solids, and red corpuscles, varies, and is affected by diet, regimen, and sickness. Thus persons who seem to have too much or too little blood are only affected by a change in the proportions of its constitu- ents. A high-liver, using wines, may increase the red cor- puscles so as to give him a full-blooded appearance ; while a person who eats very little, or substances containing water in large proportion, or who is diseased, may increase the water in the blood disproportionately, and have a pale, greenish appearance. It is a popular fallacy with women that a pregnant woman makes blood very fast in order to supply nutrition for two beings ; that sometimes it is made so fast, that nothing short of venesection will save her from congestions, convul- sions, miscarriage, &c. ; and bleeding has thus become a practice of pregnant women, to the detriment of their health. On this subject Gazeaux says, — " It is now well proved that the essential character of plethora is based upon a great increase in the proportion of the blood-corpuscies, as their diminution is the distinctive fact in anosmia. And it is well known that diminution of the corpuscles, and increased proportion of water, are the essential characteristics of anaemia and chlorosis. In this respect, pregnant women may be strictly compared with those affected with chlorosis." So that, although most authors have attributed the func- PLETHORA AND ANuEMIA. 75 tional disorders of pregnancy to plethora, on account of the peculiar physiognomy they present, the fact is, that, as has been said by Andral, who experimented largely in this mat- ter, u the true cause of the symptoms is not to be judged of by their external character, but only by the changes in the blood. Now, the analysis of the blood of a large number of females who complained of these supposed plethoric symptoms has shown a marked diminution of corpuscles, and an increase of serum." We know that chlorotic girls — girls, who, from some un- appreciated reason, have never menstruated ; who, in con- sequence of the diminution of the red corpuscles, become so pale and greenish as to give their disease the vulgar name of " green sickness " — have symptoms very similar to those that occur in pregnancy. Their appetite becomes capricious, their tastes whimsical ; they long for pickles, slate-pencils, clay, &c. ; they, too, are subject to vertigo, sudden heat in the face, fainting, &c. No one would think of bleeding a chlorotic girl ; for it is known, that, while the vessels empty themselves of red blood, they refill themselves with water by absorption. This would establish an anaemic condition which Gazeaux calls "serous plethora/' increasing the headache, vertigo, palpitation of the heart, ringing in the ears, &c. It is, there- fore, necessary to change, not the amount, but the character and quality, of the blood. "Hence," says Gazeaux, "an animal diet, and preparations of iron, should be as useful againts the functional disorders of pregnancy as against those of chlorosis." And he adds, " Only in cases where plethora habitually existed before, and was shown by abundant and high-colored menstrual discharges, or by frequent bleeding at the nose, would he (the physician) bleed when plethoric symptoms are present in pregnancy." These facts must be borne in mind by women who con- sider themselves good subjects for blood-letting. The 76 MALADIES DURING PREGNANCY. homoeopaths can obviate all this difficult y, as they have a knowledge of the disease-producing qualities of their reme- dies to go by. And, in this view, it is quite important to distinguish the two varieties of plethora ; for the regimen and diet should change accordingly. On this point, we quote again the sagacious Gazeaux: "Females of full- blooded habit, as it is called, subject to congestive head- aches, throbbing, and sensation of enlargement of the head, congestion of the eyes, heat in the head, red suffusion of the face, nose-bleed, bleeding piles, profuse red menstrua- tion, and who are now (i.e., in pregnancy) affected with ful- ness and hardness of pulse,- with a feeling of heaviness in the head, with somnolence, vertigo, ringing in the ears, sud- den flushes of the face, may conclude that they are affect- ed with a plethora requiring diminution of food, abstinence from meat, cold ablutions, perfect regularity of the bowels, total abstinence from alcoholic drinks, and daily exercise. Females who are generally pale, whose menstruation is rather scanty and watery; who, during pregnancy, suffer from vertigo, somnolence, and ringing in the ears; but who have no full, hard pulse, (pulse very compressible), and are inclined to bloated face, swelling of the hands and feet, even though they have flushes of the face, — should eat meat generously, take a glass of red wine now and then, and plenty of exercise in the open air." TREATMENT FOR PLETHORA. Gelseminum. One drop of the tincture every two hours, when there is feverishness, throbbing of the arteries, heat of the face and body, full pulse ; bouncing palpitation of the heart / intermittent pulsation of the heart ; oppression of the heart and chest. Aconite. Fever ; violent dry heat ; burning dryness of the shin; alternate paleness and redness of the face ; great SEROUS PLETHORA. 77 nervousness, restlessness, tossing; pulse Lard, frequent, and accelerated; vertigo, particularly on raising the head. Belladonna. Violent congestive headache ; throbbing at the temples ; pain in the forehead, obliging the patient to close her eyes; tension and pressure in the head; feeling as if the brain were larger ; motion increases the pain violent- ly ; stitches in the head ; when stooping, the blood rushes to the head ; violent redness and heat in the face ; dark red face ; redness of the eyes ; pain in the orbits (one sees double) ; dulness of the head ; stupefaction. Aconite and Belladonna may be taken separately or al- ternately. Six globules of the 3c£ every hour. Of the solution, six drops of the 3d in a wineglass of ivater ; one teaspoonful every hour until relieved. If not relieved within twelve hours, send for your physi- cian. TREATMENT FOR SEROUS PLETHORA. China. Heaviness of the head, vertigo, dizziness, som- nolence, headache, compressive headache, paleness of the face, pufjiness, weakness, laziness, singing in the ears. Arsenicum. Vertigo ; weight in the head, with humming in the ears ; beating pain in the head, with nausea in at- tempting to rise from the bed. Pale, death-colored face ; yellow, livid; bloated ; swelling of the lips, hands, or feet ; great thirst ; prostration ; urine scanty. To be prepared as Aconite, but to be taken separately, and only every two or three hours. Ferrum. Two grains of the 1st trituration every two hours, when the patient is in an anaemic state. Pale greenish 78 MALADIES DURING PREGNANCY. face and eyes. Pass great quantities of pale urine. Want of appetite; aversion to meat. Pale bluish nails, pale hands, iveakness, pale tongue. Vertigo, dizziness, trem- bling. Sluggish bowels. Coldness of the extremities. PALPITATION OF THE HEART. Women, and particularly weakly ones, and those of ner- vous temperaments, are liable to palpitation (see paragraph on "Plethora") when in a state of pregnancy. The exciting causes are mental agitation, sudden starts, disordered stomach and bowels, errors in diet, and the motion of the child. The drinking of large quantities of coffee or green tea will also predispose the woman to pal- pitation. The attacks may come on while awake or while asleep, suddenly or gradually. When the heart beats violently, it produces a queer choking sensation in the throat, and makes one feel almost sick at the stomach : the cold perspiration may sometimes be felt all over. The excessive beating may even shake the body. The action of the heart at such times is generally regular, although excessive, and rarely intermits. Giddiness, dimness of vision, heat and pressure in the head, stupefaction, may accompany an attack. This w r ill soon subside if the patient takes a recumbent position. Smelling salts of ammonia, or taking a teaspoonful of brandy or whiskey, is useful. Although extremely distressing, palpitation of the heart is hardly ever dangerous. The cause should be inquired into. If induced by indigestion, flatulency, sour stomach, &c, the diet should be attended to ; so with the bowels, if constipation is present. So much has been said already about the diet in constipation and indigestion, under their respective heads, that it is useless to repeat. PALPITATION OF THE HEART. 79 , TREATMENT. Cactus Grandiflora. In palpitation, particularly from plethora, pressure at the heart, sensation of fulness at the heart, dull, aching pain around it, suffocative feelings ; this remedy continued three times a day will stop the tendency to palpitation and pain from plethora. Five drops of the Sd dilution to a tumbler half full of water, one teaspoonful each time. Nux Yom. Will relieve palpitation from dyspepsia, with fulness at the stomach, flatulency, nasty-tasting tongue, white-coated tongue, constipation. Ignatia. Palpitation from nervousness, from fright, dis- tress of mind, and from hysteria. A drop of Spirits of Camphor on a lump of sugar will quickly relieve palpitation with. tendency to fainting. For further treatment, see " Plethora." FAINTING. This is not an unusual occurrence among women during the first month of pregnancy. Many females take it as a sign of pregnancy, even before the suppression of the menses. At the period of quickening, however, it is quite common ; probably owing to a sympathetic nervous irrita- tion from the movements of the child. A cause of faint- ing, during pregnancy, is tight dressing, and oppressive, con- fined air. It is common to see women leave theatres and churclfes in a fainting condition. Nervous and delicate females are easily overtaken by fainting. It is generally a disorder that should create no alarm, unless it is con- nected with disease of the heart ; in which case, it is suf- ficiently serious to call in medical assistance. During the 80 MALADIES DURING PREGNANCY. later months of pregnancy, it is regarded with some appre- hension, on account of unpleasant anticipations after de- livery. During pregnancy, it is apt to frighten the attend- ants ; but the alarm is groundless, as it will not interfere with the process of parturition, nor expose the patient to any danger. Fainting may be regarded with suspicion immediately after delivery, if there is hemorrhage, or the discharges are entirely stopped. In that case, the cavity of the uterus should be examined, lest a clot of blood hides an internal hemorrhage. In this case, however, the fainting is pro- longed, the face is ashy pale, the lips bluish, there is a ful- ness in the abdomen, attended by a sensation of weight. TREATMENT. The first thing to be done in fainting is to lay the patient flat on the bed, with the head even with the body ; loosen the dresses around the chest ; allow plenty of air ; sprinkle cold water on the face • and, if at hand, apply to the nos- trils salts of ammonia or camphor, cologne, vinegar, &c. This is generally sufficient to restore the patient. If, after fainting, there is a great sensation of weakness, a little wine, brandy, or whiskey may be administered. If fainting is from fright or nervousness, Ignatia is the remedy ; if from oppressive air or tight dressing, it is suf- ficient to remove the cause ; if it comes from constitu- tional or functional disturbance, apply to your physician ; if due to weakness, plethora, or ansemia, see paragraph on these disorders. Vomiting may occur in recovering from faintness : do not interfere, it relieves. If the patient falls asleep soon*after, let her alone : she will awaken much refreshed. For continued fainting-fits, give Camphor, one drop of the spirit in a little water every ten minutes, and send for the physician. HEADACHE. 81 VEKTIGO AND DIZZINESS. (See paragraphs on " Ansemia," " Plethora," and " Faint- ing") HEADACHE. Next to disturhance of the stomach, headache is con- sidered the most common complaint of pregnant women; and we are safe in saying the most common complaint amongst men, women, and children. Headache is a disorder that has been treated more scien- tifically and more successfully by the homoeopathic than by any other system of medicine ever applied. Marcy, Hunt, Pulte, and others have treated this sub- ject so thoroughly in their works, that I shall cull from them very deliberately, and without limit. In taking this liberty, I hope I give them the credit they deserve. CONGESTIVE HEADACHE. The pregnant female liable to this form of headache should peruse the paragraph on " Plethora v in connection with the following. This headache comes from determination of blood to the head ; and persons who make use of spirituous liquors, who lead a sedentary and studious life, who indulge freely at the table ; persons of much mental application, of sanguine nervous temperament, — are addicted to it. The symptoms are : great throbbing of the arteries, press- ure in the head, giddiness in stooping ; head aches mostly over the eyes ; the eyes feel big and painful, they cannot bear the light ; the face is flushed ; great heat in the head, particularly on the top ; motion aggravates the symptoms, the brain feels as if it would fall out ; cold feels grateful. It may be brought on by. mental excitement, mental 6 82 MALADIES DURING PREGNANCY. labor, close application, errors in diet, exposure to cold, fatigue, suppression of the menses, &c. TREATMENT. Apply cloths wet in cold water, and renew them as soon as they get warm ; hot bricks to the feet, particularly if they are cold : in severe cases, a mustard-poultice to the back of the neck. Vomiting relieves. Gelseminum, Aconite, and Belladonna. (See " Plethora,") Pulsatilla. The pain is dull and oppressive on one side only. Very efficient in females whose menses are sup- pressed, particularly in phlegmatic, blonde girls. Of the 3d or 30th, six globules every hour. Glonoine. The character of the headache is throbbing, pressing, and fulness of the arteries ; a sensation of a tight band around the head. The arteries throb ; the pulse is full and rapid ; sometimes palpitation of the heart, nausea, and vomiting ; the nausea does not commence with the headache, it seems to follow it. Dizziness, sensation of balancing, confusion of the senses from intense pain. The pain is cutting, jerking, pressing from below upwards. The patient is wild with pain, and, as soon as relieved, goes into a deep sleep. The eyes are hot, injected, painful : sparks and flashes of light appear before them. Ipecac may be alternated with any of the above remedies if nausea or vomiting is persistent. One drop of the 3d, every hour, until vomiting subsides. JTux Yom. Alone, or in alternation with one of the above remedies, if the headache has been induced by constipation or gastric irritation, from over-eating, or eating late at night, also if brought on by drinking. Six globules of the 3d or 30th every two hours. STOMACHIC HEADACHE. 83 Ignatia. Like ISTux, if the headache has been induced by mental excitement or nervousness, anger or grief. China. If the headache is from weakness, loss of blood, and is periodical (see " Anaemia"), The Diet should be light and farinaceous, except in case of loss of blood (see " Anaemia "). Those subject to congestive headaches should rise early, take open-air exercise, cold shower-baths, and be moderate in their occupation, eating, and drinking. HEADACHE FROM CONSTIPATION, OR GASTRIC DERANGEMENT. In this headache, the tongue is furred, the taste is bad, the appetite is lost ; nay, the thought of food causes nausea, malaise at the stomach, nausea and vomiting : the bowels may be constipated. It is unnecessary to say that it is induced by errors in diet, late eating, eating in a hurry, eating food that usually disagrees, &c. TREATMENT. If the headache comes on soon after eating, free vomiting will give great relief. This may be effected by drinking a tumblerful of warm water with a teaspoonful of mustard dissolved in it. flux Vomica is the chief medical remedy in this headache (see JVicx, also, in congestive headache). Pulsatilla. Shivering with thirst ; pain only on one side, with little determination of the blood to the head ; for fe- males of a mild, quiet temperament, who weep easily, and are easily agitated ; particularly if the headache is brought 84 MALADIES DURING PREGNANCY. on by fat food, or irregularity of the menses. Dose. As in congestive headache. Bryonia. The head feels as if pressed together on both sides ; and, on stooping, as if every thing would fall out of it ; the nose bleeds ; the eyes water and burn ; stitches in the head ; rheumatic pains ; constipation ; particularly if brought on by a cold. Dose. As Pulsatilla. Opium. Habitual constipation ; rush of blood to the head ; stupor y thirst, mouth dry. Six globules of the 30th three times a day. Sepia. Habitual headache in nervous ivomen, with leu- corrhcea, or derangement of the menstrual functions ; cannot bear the light ; sick-headache. Dose. As Opium. Ignatia. Headache produced by mental agitation. SICK-HEADACHE. A distressing form of the malady, occurring most fre- quently in literary or professional men, and in delicate but intellectual females. It occurs most frequently in per- sons between the age of puberty and forty or fifty years. Some are peculiarly subject to it for a long series of years ; and many, though temporarily relieved by various modes of treatment, are never permanently cured. — - Marcy & Hunt. It is common for sick-headache to commence in the morn- ing, on waking from a deep, unre freshing sleep, after pre- vious fatigue, mental excitement, or irregularity of diet. There is " disturbance of vision ; dull and distressingly op- pressive pain of the head, centring in one temple, most frequently the left ; tenderness and fulness of the eye of the same side, extending across the forehead, and some- SICK-HEADACHE. 85 times fixing itself over the inner corner of the eyebrow ; painful sensibility, to light ; clammy and unpleasant taste inthe mouth; chilliness of the skin; cold and moist hands and feet ; pulse feeble ; face pale." — Wright. " After the pain in the head and about the eye has become severe, sickness at the stomach begins, and is increased by every movement, especially raising up ; flatulence ; retching ; shuddering, and vomiting of the contents of the stomach, or of a thin glairy fluid of an acrid sour taste. Some of these attacks last six or twelve hours ; again, one, two, or three days." — Marcy 8c Stint. " It is distinguished from neuralgia by the predominance of the gastric symptoms. It has none of the strict perio- dicity which belongs to the intermittent neuralgic disease of the head and eye." — Hartmann. It is distinguished from dyspeptic headache, by being more severe. TREATMENT. Sanguinaria often cures this form of headache when ac- companied by persistent nausea, redness of the tongue, burning sensation in the throat, chest, and stomach, bitter eructations, yellowness of the face and eyes, loathing of food and drinks. — Marcy Sc Hunt. Glonoine. (See " Congestive Headache.") Iris Versicolor. Nervous sick-headache, particularly of the right side, aggravated by rest, and on moving the head, but relieved by continued motion. Headache with bitter taste, nausea, and vomiting of bile ; fulness of the head ; head feels hot ; shooting pains in the right temple and from the teeth ; stupid, stunning headache several mornings in succession, with copious limpid urine. It is particularly indicated where the nausea and vomiting predominate. 86 MALADIES DURING PREGNANCY. Ferrum Aceticum (1st trituration). Two grains morning and evening, for a long time, has cnred obstinate cases. — Marcy 8c Hunt. Nitric Acid and Ferruin on alternate weeks has now and then cured severe cases of this malady. — Marcy & Hunt. Ipecac will relieve the nausea. Spigelia. Great sensitiveness to noise ; pain confined to or worse on the left side ; deep-seated pain in one eye or both. Six globules of the 3d every three hours. For a cure of this distressing and obstinate malady, a physician should be consulted. NEURALGIA IN THE HEAD, NERVOUS HEADACHE, HEMICRANIA, MEGRIM. This malad}^ which is called by so many names, is a true neuralgia, and one of the most painful and intractable dis- eases. The distinguishing feature of this headache is, that the pain is severest in some spot about the head, according to the nerve that is affected. It may be on one temple or the other, on the top of the head, on the cheek, on the bridge of the nose, but seldom on two places . at the same time ; although it will pass from one place to another. The pain is of that acute, boring kind, to distract the patient. It has a periodical tendency, generally commencing at sun- rise, and stopping at sunset. The patient will press hard upon the spot, and throw herself about in despair. Press- ure often relieves. As it continues, the patient becomes very sensitive to the light ; and the slightest noise or jar will make her wild. Retching and vomiting sometimes follow, and give relief to the patient, particularly if she vomits bile. The pulse is not affected, and there is no ap- NEURALGIC HEADACHE, ETC 87 pearance of congestion about the face. It is apt to recur periodically, — every week, two or three, or longer. It sometimes has premonitory symptoms : often it comes on sud- denly. Great quantity of colorless urine passes. TREATMENT. Hot dry flannel around the head sometimes gives relief. If the feet are cold, put hot bricks to them. A handker- chief tied around the head tightly is grateful. Aconite and Belladonna cover all the above -named symp- toms. I have taken three drops of the tincture of each, and put them in twelve teaspoonfuls of the same water, and given one teaspoonful every hour, with great success. Arsenicum. The symptoms in which this remedy has been found efficient are: aching, stunning, tearing pain; patient sensitive to the open air ; she keeps in constant mo- tion, and is relieved by outward warmth ; feels exceedingly languid, chilly, and sometimes bloated ; the pains are apt to recur after dinner, and are worse at evening and night ; particularly after chills and fever. This remedy can be taken regularly, twice a day, with view to a radical cure. Six globules of the 3d or 30th. Sepia. Is peculiarly indicated in hysterical females (see Sepia, under " Headache from Constipation," &c), and is particularly indicated by shooting pain in the frontal bones, like flashes from without inward, reverberating through the brain ; heat ; tightness of the head, painful to touch. Six globules of the 30th three times a day. Ignaiia. From over-excitement of the nervous system ; pain particularly at the root of the nose ; pain as if a nail were driven through the nose \ patient feels taciturn, dejected, nervous. 88 MALADIES DURING PREGNANCY. Calcarea-Carfoonica. In scrofulous patients, with little development, flabby muscles, and large glands. Menses too early, or too profuse. Six globules of the 30th or 200th twice a day. Spigelia. (See " Sick-headache.") China. (See "Anaemia") Cyclamen. Periodical semilateral headache and face-ache for four years, appearing every week or fortnight, and last- ing from twelve to thirty-six hours; worse at menstrual epoch. The skin, eyelids, lips, and gums were pale ; body lean ; skin dry and cool. Eight eye spasmodically closed, discharging hot tears when opened. Dr. Eidherr of Vienna cured such a case with Cyclamen, 3d. Veratrum Viride. Five drops in a glass half full of %vater, one teaspoonful every tivo hours, has cured many neuralgic headaches. This neuralgic headache has sometimes been effectually cured by large doses of quinine ; not in pregnant women, however. HEADACHE FROM COLD OR CATARRH IN THE HEAD. Some feverishness is present, attended by fulness, heavi- ness, and pain over the eyes and nose. The nose is stopped up, or runs watery, acrid matter, that irritates the passages. The eyes are congested, and run water, sometimes hot. The patient sneezes, clears her nose, or snuffs air. Aconite and NuxTom., alternately, sometimes are sufficient. Mercurius, in place of JSfax, is adopted in epidemic influ- enza attended with great sneezing, running at the nose, HE AD A CHE. — SLEEPLESSNESS. 89 with redness and excoriation ; also with painful itching in the nose, chilliness, fever, pain in the limbs. Arsenicum. Hot water running constantly from nose and eyes. Fever, thirst, weakness, loss of appetite. Sulphur, from chronic catarrh. Six globules of the 30th or 200th twice a day. EHEUMATIC HEADACHE. Bryonia or Rhus may be taken in alternation with .one of the remedies indicated for neuralgia : the former, if the pain extend to the upper extremities ; the latter, if to the lower. In the selection of a remedy for headache, all the reme- dies given for the various headaches should be studied ; for, although the headaches are classified, many of the symp- toms are similar, and the remedy should be chosen that covers the greatest number of symptoms without regard to the class of headaches for which it is recommended. SLEEPLESSNESS (Insomnia). Pregnant women of nervous temperament are often kept awake night after night without apparent cause. This is produced by the slightest mental excitement, or by the mo- tions of the child ; again, by eating, or indulging in a cup of tea or coffee before retiring. Close confinement to one's room, and want of exercise, may also be the cause. This may be borne without inconvenience, provided the patient gets some few hours of sleep in the morning, and awakes refreshed. But, in some instances, the patient suffers se- verely ; does not sleep a minute ; becomes feverish, restless, and agitated ; she loses her appetite, and becomes weak and 90 MALADIES DURING PREGNANCY. prostrated ; her mind begins now to suffer 5 and she becomes fretful, whimsical, and even irrational. The principal causes of this distressing disorder being pointed out, it will not be difficult for the patient to obviate them. TREATMENT. Coffea (3d). Provided the patient does not use coffee as article of diet, will be found efficient in wakefulness without any desire to sleep. Patient ivide-aivake, as it is commonly expressed. Has no particular feeling, only has no inclina- tion to sleep. Hyosciamus* Drowsiness ivithout sleep ; patient starts from her sleep, and cannot sleep again ; she has bad dreams ; at times she sleeps very heavily ; she talks in her sleep; she imagines something is in the room, and is afraid. Ignatia. She is very nervous ; she lies thinking about herself; broods over things; she trembles; she weeps or laughs alternately ; she is restless in her sleep ; her mind is fatigued in the morning. The dose of these remedies, if in globules, six every hour ; if in solution, six drops to ten teaspoonfuls of water, one teaspoonful every hour. tfnx Yom. (See " Constipation") Mesmerism, that is passing the hands gently over the patient's eyes downwards, sometimes is sufficient to quiet her nervous system, and put her to sleep. If her head is hot, a dose of Belladonna, and a kerchief wet in cold water, tied around her head, may be sufficient. Bathing the feet at bedtime, drinking a glass of water, may assist her. Listening to reading aloud, or to a long, tedious story, or fixing the eyes and mind on one object, often produces sleep. ABORTION. 91 ABORTION. SPONTANEOUS MISCARRIAGE. Although physiolo/ have divided abortions into classes, according to the periou