Class Book FjCS i ^ __ Copyright N°. COPYRIGHT DEPOSm Things That a Mother Should Know About Medicine Health and Disease Prevention Palliation Cure Class Book Copyright N 10 COF/RIGHT DEPOSIT. TK 1 - < >7 T. P. Scully, M. D., Rome, N. Y. Mrs. T. P. Scully, Rome, N. Y Emerald and Jasper Scully, Rome, N. Y. Violinists of the Jewell Quartette Ruby Scully, Rome, N. Y. Pianist, Jewell Quartette. M- V : " • feline r^ WW; fH ■' ;|B 9r ■ J m , , ** ■ -■■ : ' *" , - * ■ - ■ Beryl Scully, Rome, N. Y. Drummer, Jewell Quartette. The Title of This Book Must be Enlarged upon in Your Mind's Eye. You Must See that the Book is Meant to Become the Companion, Instructor and Guide, not of Mothers Alone, but also of the Interested Fathers, the Devoted Sisters, the Pure-minded, Studious, Alert Brothers, the Dear Old Grandparents, Guardians, Caretakers, Teach- ers of Children — Everyone Deep, Wise, Careful, Thoughtful Enough to Take an Honest Interest in the Present or Future Welfare of Humanity. fl Some Things That a Mother Should Know About Medicine, Health and Disease Prevention, Palliation Cure RC 8 1 .54 Copyright, 19 14, By Elizabeth Scully, Rome, N. Y. $/&> Press of The Wilson H. Lee Company New Haven, Conn. ©.CI.A376703 JUL 18 1914 DEDICATION. To our children and our children's children, to all future generations, these few pages of essays from our family scrap book— HEALTH AND DISEASE, PREVEN- TION, PALLIATION, CURE— are respectfully dedicated. DR. AND MRS. T. P. SCULLY. INDEX Important Questions Answered in Ten Short Essays. PAGE First Essay Read by Doctor Scully Before Our Mothers' Medical Class, Title— What is the Object of This Mothers' Medical Class? o Do We Want a Stronger, Healthier, Happier Generation to Follow Us? 12 The Effect of Laws and Influence on Health 15 Should a Doctor Whom One Sees Only Once or Several Times a Year Be the Sole Source of Information, on Prevention, Palliation, Cure of Disease? 17 What is Disease, So-called? 22 Vitality, What is It? 25 Can Disease be Prevented? 26 Manhood, How Personified? 32 The Most Important Adjunct to a Present Day Education is a Popular Knowledge About Public Health — Why? 36 Medical Sociology 40 Ten Short Essays Pertaining to Baby. What is the Cause of Sterility in Women? 44 Preface to Care of the Baby, or Baby's Welcome 50 Before the Baby Comes 53 When the Baby Arrives 57 Caution for the Future Mother 62 How the Baby Looks and Its Development 65 Regular Habits 68 Who Shall Care for Baby? 73 The Sick Baby 78 Symptoms of Disease 83 8 INDEX Twenty-Five Short Essays on Childhood. PAGE Colds 88 Catarrh 92 Consumption or Tuberculosis 96 Debilitating Discharges 98 Hernia or Rupture 102 Hydrocele or Varicocele 104 Circumcision 106 Flatulence 109 Colic 114 Acidity 116 Constipation, Vomiting 117 Diarrhoea 120 Cholera Infantum 121 Worms 123 Tonsilitis, Quinsy, Rheumatism 126 Diphtheria 129 Whooping Cough 131 Mumps 133 Chicken Pox 135 Small Pox 13 7 Measles 140 Scarlet Fever 143 Typhoid Fever 146 Spotted Fever or Cerebro-Spinal Meningitis 148 Accidents and Emergencies 151 Dosage Suggestions 169 What is the Object of this "Mothers Medical Class?" IT is not our object to encourage dosing or drugging or extend quackery; but to discourage both. It is not to lead mothers, or women in general, to do more than now, nor less, but to do whatever they do do more intelligently, promptly and efficiently. It is not to make parents exclusively their own physicians, but to prevent in no small degree the need of both physicians and medicines by encouraging mothers to know as far as possible, and sow the seed that will awaken a desire in the hearts of sons and daughters to yet better know the wonderful mechanism of the human body, its capabil- ities, possibilities, probabilities in health, disease and usefulness. How many human bodies have you ever seen whose mechanism, whose component parts were perfect? I can hear some mother say in her heart as she reads this question; "I did feel or I do feel that my own little baby has a nearly perfect body, a nearly perfect mechan- ism. Possibly that mother is not far from right, but how long let me ask, does that little body, generally speaking, remain in that nearly perfect condition? If not, why not and who or what is to blame ? Some circumstance beyond human control perhaps, something wisdom and judg- ment might have modified possibly, what time and atten- tion would have avoided probably. IO IMPORTANT QUESTIONS ANSWERED. How much is this little human body worth? Money wouldn't buy it of you, mother, now would it? How much would you take for one little finger, one little toe, one little atom of that mental sufficiency ? If it is worth more than money, is it worth more than time, is it worth more than your very best effort of mind and body ? If God has entrusted a little human being to you do you realize how grave the charge ? Do you realize you must answer to your maker, it's maker, for molding, modifying, making of body and mind and SOUL so long as you are it's guardian or partial guardian? If you have no little ones all your very own, are you your brother's keeper, and who is your brother? Are you your neighbor's keeper and who is your neighbor? Have you ever stopped to consider the giving of a part of your mental or physical ability to the child of some moth- er, who has been less favored than yourself in these attributes? Have you some accomplishment or accom- plishments that have, seemingly, been beyond her reach, and is it in your power, with really no detriment to you or yours, to place such in the reach of her children? Can you sing? Can you play? Can you paint? Can you read? Can you ride, row, swim, fish? Can you cook, mend or wash ? All these things and many more are necessary to the general public welfare and it is an ac- complishment to know how to do any one of them well. Impart one of your accomplishments to some child, some man or woman and then listen to the "Inasmuch OBJECT OF THIS " MOTHER'S MEDICAL CLASS ?" II as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren ye have done it unto Me," and see what a com- fort it brings to your heart. It is sad to have done no good in the world, but sadder still to have done more harm than good. Where do you stand ? You know better than anyone else. Begin to-day. First think, then act. Ask God to give you judgment and wisdom. You can't go wrong. T. P. Scully, M. D. There is a weary waste in all our social and political organizations. We make a blundering effort to tend our sick, our ignorant, our poor; while Heaven's own nurses, Heaven's own teachers, Heaven's own almoners, are among us by myriads, crying out, yes pining for work — noble women. They have a firmer and a tenderer touch than ours. Let us welcome them to their own. — George Du Verger. Every human being has a part to act in the drama of life. Be ready in the sphere allotted you. The effort of the man at the bottom of the ladder (as it branches out and it's influence goes on and on and again and again branches out and goes on) may weigh more in the final reckoning than the effort of the man at the top. — Elizabeth Scully. Do We Want a Stronger, Healthier, Happier Generation to Follow Us? DO we want a stronger, healthier, happier genera- tion to follow us and a still stronger one to follow that and so continue until our earth shall be a HEAVEN. If we can answer yes to this question and each use the wisdom, judgment, ability, intelligence, that god has given alone to human beings we shall see what christ died for — the salvation of the world. Have you who are reading this book ever stopped to reason on the question of how much your personal individuality could and should do toward bringing about this happy condition of affairs. Did you ever stop to think that the healthier, happier, busier, more contented the people around you were, the healthier, happier, busier, more contented you and those dear to you must become. Look around you and see where money does not pro- tect the rich man or his child from diseases that are the outcome of the crowded quarters, the lack of proper food, clothing and warm homes that he and his colleagues (unscrupulous politicians), have with low wages, high rents, taxes, food and medicine prices brought upon the larger number of the present generation. A STRONGER, HEALTHIER, HAPPIER GENERATION. 13 The outcome, the sad results of the worst of these diseases and this needless world wide unrest is the filling of jails, homes for the feeble minded, insane asylums, and too often it is the son or daughter of the innocent, ignorant or wilful producer of the cause who suffers. THE FIRST BEST WAY TO HELP. Give a tenth of your thinking moments for the greatest good to the greatest number in your community, your state, your nation, all Nations. Then give in the direction and for the purpose, the product of that thought suggests, your own, god given, mental, moral, spiritual and physical ability to produce results. Rarely give money, better give employment, medicine, necessaries, suggestions or instructions. USE YOUR ABILITY AND COMMEND YOUR NEIGHBORS ABILITY. People who are strong mentally, morally, spiritually often underate their ability while those who are weak in these attributes over rate theirs. This is deplorable because the world is not getting the best effort of our nobler people, and is getting much of the determined effort of unscrupulous egotists. This wrong can be righted. The bible teaches how. "give honor to whom honor is due". Are you who are reading these lines using your indi- viduality, mentally, morally, spiritually for all it is 14 IMPORTANT QUESTIONS ANSWERED. Worth. Are you giving honor to whom honor is due, or are you through hope of praise, or fear of censure, letting some unscrupulous egotist, swerve you from your pur- pose? Stop, look, listen ! The train is bearing you on. You can't recall one yesterday but you can begin to-day. For your own sake, for the sake of those dear to you, for the sake of every one with whom you meet and mingle be an individual, don't be enmass. THE PURPOSE OF THIS BOOK, AND THE REASON IT WAS WRITTEN. Our physical ability is always the major power behind our mental ability. Our physical and mental together control our Moral and Spiritual. We need then first of all the best physique it is possible to obtain for ourselves, our children, every one it is in our power to better. How can we get it? do and teach everything we know for the Betterment of Humanity. To help us to do this, possibly with a clearer under- standing of ways, means and results is the mission of this little book, which is published in memory of the life purpose of my dear husband, the future of my three sons and daughter and all my friends who appreciate thought, purpose and determination. Mrs. T. P. Scully. The Effects of Laws and Influence on Health. ALL laws or influences that promote selfishness take from life it's great and noble purposes and en- courage a lordly (sickly) existence for man and a butterfly (weakling) existence for woman. Both of these latter are essentially demoralizing and render impossible the development of the higher nature of the great whole. Renders impossible "the greatest good to the greatest number", of which our nation so proudly boasts. We must measure life by the work accomplished in preventing or ameliorating the suffering, and brighten- ing the existence of the struggling brotherhood of man, such work as tends to create an ideal home for each individual of the multitude where the body, mind and soul may be cultured day by day, thus advancing nearer and nearer the great throbbing soul of infinity until they ripen into the richest maturity. Many whose names are great and whose fame hangs on the lips of tens of thousands are only skeletons, lifeless, fleshless, soulless and many whose name the mad world little notes are in truth grandly great. Sometimes the immediate circle of influence, of These grandly great, is seemingly small, but the few whose lives they better, go out with a strong determination to be l6 IMPORTANT QUESTIONS ANSWERED. like them and the endless chain thus formed has an influence that knows no end, in the molding and better- ing of human souls. These lives in which self sacrifice has made the world blossom in richness and beauty are to be seen on every hand ; and nowhere are more impressive examples found than at the firesides that jewel our land, where mothers with tireless devotion labor night and day for their loved ones, bearing with the thousands of vexatious circum- stances, the aggravation of wilful children, the pinching grasp of poverty, and the thoughtlessness of husbands, asking for no sweeter recompense than the happiness of those whose lot falls within the sacred circle of their holy influence. Then there is an army of heroic men, who are silently guiding the destinies of the future, the pages of history are luminous with these examples of self sacrifice that gleam forth as the stars, from the recesses of every age, and in every land and clime. Such lives are sublime. But we must not forget the little children, the young boys and girls who have been left to care for invalid mothers and helpless fathers; or little brothers or sisters often in the coldest and most cruel surroundings, their names will be written in letters of gold, high up above all the rest. T. P. Scully, M.D. All attempts at passion instead of reason to settle human affairs is unchristian. — T. P. Scully. Should a Doctor Whom One Sees Only Once or Several Times a Year be the Sole Source of Information on Prevention, Pallia- tion, Cure of Disease? SHOULD a doctor whom one sees only once or several times a year be the sole source of information on prevention, palliation, cure of disease? I answer no to this most emphatically, because I have in my younger days seen many a man, woman and child die, when no doctor could be had for love or money, and no competent person was near to act. I answer No most emphatically to this question, because I have seen sick- ness, suffering and eventually death many times in homes where the funds were lacking to command a doctor. I say no most emphatically to this question because I have seen many lives saved by the means of prevention, pallia- tion and cure offered by noble men and women, children, Indians who had had different degrees of instruction along certain lines. I say no most emphatically to this question because (I feel grieved to state the facts) we have unscrupulous men who study medicine, and actually receive diplomas from medical colleges. They are looking for the ' 'al- mighty dollars," automobiles, whisky and what they call a good time. They do more harm than good in the IS IMPORTANT QUESTIONS ANSWERED. world because they prey upon the credulity, ignorance and innocence of not only men and women but little child- ren as well. I say no most emphatically to this question because I believe the person or persons to be positive factors in keeping a child well must be on the ground to see the first signs or symptoms of disease. "An ounce of preven- tion is worth a pound of cure," should not be idly spoken. While a caretaker cannot as a rule keep watch of a child every moment, watch every detail in cleanliness, diet and evacuation, if they are alert to the first signs of distress, fever or congestion, an emetic, an enema, a mild laxative, one or all combined, will generally remove the cause and allow nature to resume its normal condi- tion. There are many other harmless yet effective re- medies that can judiciously be placed in the hands of the great majority of mothers or caretakers, but of these I will speak later. The honest, careful, scholarly doctor has his place and a very important one in this big problem for the future health and prosperity of the human race, and what I shall say in this paper will, I trust, make the mothers and caretakers more proficient as his assistants in this noblest of all human efforts — keeping healthy for the pres- ent and future generations. You will remember I told you once before that a strong body was a strong factor behind a strong mind and these two combined, rightly directed, meant strong moral and spiritual ten- A DOCTOR THE SOLE SOURCE OF INFORMATION. 19 dencies, what the whole world needs to-day, but I shall have more fully answered question No. 7 when I say that we must repeatedly advocate a measure for a proper lecture and study course on medicine to be given in the public schools to boys and girls separately, and ultimate- ly through these, and especially fitted lady doctors and nurses, have every mother and father, every caretaker of children, taught personal hygiene, emergency work, preventive medicine, and harmful remedies for them- selves and those to whom they minister. Since even a headache shortens life and sadly interferes with ones usefulness, there is a mercenary as well as a humane side to the problem. I shall speak of the humane side first because it is of first importance, "self preservation is the first law of nature" and axiom. May we not say that the second law of nature is, or should be the preservation of our off- springs. Nor should we stop there, we should look into the future and think of their offsprings, then realize that the general welfare of every one around us, means the general welfare of us and ours in the highest sense of the words. We can't work along the line of the man who prayed, "God bless me and my wife, my son John and his wife, us four and no more," and be humane to ourselves or others. I shall be obliged to allow you to set your own standard of action, as regards the humane treatment of every one with whom you meet and mingle and yourself as you 20 IMPORTANT QUESTIONS ANSWERED. must, of necessity allow me to set mine, but as a parting word I shall ask you to try to temper your every act with love, hope, charity, and have as your aim: strong BODY, STRONG MIND, STRONG MORAL AND SPIRITUAL tendencies for every man, woman and child in the world. When the above shall have been carried out there will be little need of any discussion of the mercenary side of the problem, but I feel duty bound at the present writing to suggest to you what you may already know, that the honest working people of to-day are carrying a very heavy burden on their shoulders in the large number of indigents, that might, with a little forethought and care have been more than self supporting. When the majority of laboring men are incapacitated, for any reason they are no longer producers but rather sponge on the production of others (a double loss, and this is often doubled, thribbled or quadrupled by the wife and child- ren of the same), unless he and his partner of life have been taught the value of earning a little and spending a little less. We need economy-thrift as our ancestors termed it. World-wide Improvement is or should be, an impor- tant aim in life and there can only be improvement when the majority of the people do more for the world than the world is doing for them. Each man, woman and child should study to leave a little monument of good words and works behind, when he or she has departed. A DOCTOR THE SOLE SOURCE OF INFORMATION. 21 This monument will only be as high as the difference between what you have said and done for the world more than What the world has said and done for you. Some people leave a very high monument behind them, some keep even, while others lag far behind. The latter two classes are many times not the ones who lack ability or means. Mrs. T. P. Scully. "The beautiful things are the things we do; they are not the things we wear, as we shall find when the journeys through, and the roll call's read up there. We're illus- trating the latest styles, with raiment that beats the band; but the beautiful things are the kindly smiles that go with the helping hand. We burden ourselves with gleaming gems, that neighbors may stop and stare; but the beautiful things are the diadems of the stars that the righteous wear. There are beautiful things in the poor man's cot, though empty the hearth and cold, if love and service are in each thought that husband and wife may hold. There are beautiful things in the lowest slum where the wondering outcasts grope, when down to its depth they see you come with message of help and hope. The beautiful things that we mortals buy and flash in the crowded street, will all be junk when we come to die, and march to the judgment seat. When every- thing's weighed on that fateful day, the lightest thing will be gold. There are beautiful things in reach to-day, but they are not bought or sold." What is Diseased So-called? DISEASE is the consequence or sequel of violating one or more of the laws governing the perfect development of the human constitution, body, mind and Soul. Such violation creates waste, call it pus, ashes, what you will. Your system with a smaller or a larger load of waste material to carry, cannot resist shock, chill or very violent exertion without serious injury to the entire being, and you are knocked out, so to speak. This waste material comes from eating improper food, and more of it than can be properly digested. The food liquified and taken into the blood in an undigested state poisons the system, the heart pumps hard to throw off the poison, motion produces heat, and you necessarily have a fever. If means are adopted to immediately eliminate, — OPEN THE BOWELS, RELIEVE THE KIDNEYS, LUNGS, THROAT, ALL MUCOUS SURFACES, OPEN THE PORES of the skin, — a normal or more nearly normal condi- tion ensues, and a really or seemingly healthy condition follows. If this elimination is neglected for one hour, one day, one week, pain, unrest, fever, and many more abnormal conditions are likely to ensue, and life is shortened in a comparative degree. Your phy- sical and mental activity and usefulness in the world WHAT IS DISEASED SO-CALLED. 23 is impaired, but the injured system goes on as long as it can, as well as it can, until a change becomes neces- sary to prevent entire destruction of one or all of it's parts, nature provides for this change in this way — A tiny germ of some kind invades the system and uses up the waste as food. If people understood that this inter- position, generally means an onward health bound course, left out the foolish dope, left the ship often in the hands of the divine pilot, fewer deaths would ensue. Have you not many times seen a great improvement in the general health of persons after an attack of measles, scarlet fever, typhoid, etc. You never knew, you never tried to find out, the scientific reason for this. Do you now know that this waste was a burden to the system ? Like a rock in a stream of water, so tiny particles of any foreign substance in your blood blocks up, or sadly interferes with your nerve current, as also it interferes with the deposit by the blood of proper material to replace the worn out tissue. You become ill-nourished, weak, too thin or too fat, too white or too ruddy, generally have a muddy complexion, have a pain here and there, part or all of the time. You are not vivacious. You are really not alive. Only a part of you is alive. When, you are really alive it is a joy to live. You make a place in the world and fill it. You are an inspiration to every one you meet. There is no place in your life for little annoyances and trifles. Anger, hate, revenge, etc. are unknown to you. No load, however heavy, ever becomes a burden. 24 IMPORTANT QUESTIONS ANSWERED. When a child has high fever and does not respond readily to internal medication, or the medicine is not retained by the stomach, our grand- mother's method of wrapping the entire body in sheets wrung out of hot water, wrapping blankets and then quilts outside of these, until perspiration appears and the entire system is relaxed, has doubtless saved many lives. I have used this pack with a marked degree of suc- cess several times. — Scully. "In vaccination the germs taken directly into the blood, use up all the waste material in the system that will answer for their nourishment and then depart or die, leaving the system immune to any outside in- fection or contagion, from a similar germ, until sufficient waste material shall have again collected to invite another invasion. All tested serums act the same way with their respective maladies. T. P. Scully, M.D. We must give first attention to the child because care in infancy, childhood, youth, has more influence on a man's life than parentage. — T. P. Scully. Work hard at self culture as your precious, priceless, contribution to the life of your homes, your country, your world. Let world-weary men, children, when they come home, come into an atmosphere which pure, serene thought has tempered into a restful, joyful, nook of heaven. — Betsy H. Ness. No human being ever yet entered life as a master or boss. Before we are fit to order others we must learn to obey orders and control ourselves. — Charles H. Ness. Lost opportunities build total or partial failure in getting the correct sum of the energy expended in the efforts of life. — Emily Jane Perkins. Vitality, What is It? * * \ TOTALITY is a big word and it takes a big man to y analyze it. " I say no man has ever yet analyzed it and it is safe to say no man will analyze it or comprehend it in all its entirety during many future generations, but this fact is no excuse for our not doing all in our power to sound its depth and measure it's breadth. Study, thought and action have unraveled and laid open to reading, thinking people many of it's most intricate parts. Study, thought and action will continue to unravel and lay bare truth after truth until vitality sounds its equivalent another Big Word — HEAVEN. Some man has said, "It is hell to be sick." "I say, It is heaven to be well." But when you find a man, woman or child well in the strictest sense of the word, find a man, woman, or child with perfect vitality in the present generation you will find white blackbirds. I do not wish to be quoted as having taught that perfect vitality is a quality unattainable, but rather that it is an unknown quantity, in the human family, at the present writing. T. P. Scully, M.D. Perpetual ignorance is based on satisfaction with your opinions and contentment with your present knowl- edge and exertions. — Elizabeth Gertrude Ness. Can Disease be Prevented? How? THE vital problem that confronts the readers, thinkers, writers and workers of the world to-day is not how to cure disease but how to prevent it — how to get the most perfect vitality for each child born into the world, and then how to keep up this average or raise the standard. Millions of dollars are being expended to palliate or cure disease, why not expend these same millions on teaching prevention. There are only a few very impor- tant things to be remembered, and practiced in our own lives, and we would be devotees and exponents of pre- ventive methods along with preventive medicine — The first is to breathe right; second consider what you eat, how, how much, when and where; third promptly eliminate all poisons from the system ; fourth keep all parts of the body clean; fifth sleep right; sixth labor right; seventh play right; eighth study a judicious use of your finances; ninth be temperate; tenth be chris- tian. We must breathe pure air, a lot of it down to the very bottom of our lungs, every day. This is natures way of purifying the blood, keeping the skin clear and the cheeks rosy. It along with other things, keeps the step elastic, the mind clear. Don't expect to keep healthy if you wash your lungs out with the same air that has washed out the CAN DISEASE BE PREVENTED ? HOW ? 27 lungs of hundreds of people suffering from rotten teeth, catarrh, bronchial affections, lung troubles, in crowded halls, theatres etc. or, in any close unventilated room. I 'have said consider what you eat, how, how much, when and where. What to eat is a matter of little im- portance to the lower animals; Instinct teaches them. INTELLIGENCE SHOULD TEACH US BUT WE POSITIVELY won't allow it to. In a great many instances what looks good, smells good, tastes good and tickles the palate goes down regardless of the combination, sweet, sour, salt, hard, soft, green, ripe, embalmed — and some of the men who smoke and drink, until they can't taste bitter from sweet, eat rancid butter and rotten eggs, without a word of complaint. Too many kinds of food in the stomach at the same time maim and kill; highly seasoned foods, liquors or dopes deaden your sense of taste and kill your instinct, then you have a blunted intelligence to call upon after you get in desperate straits, as you positively must, sooner or later lest you heed the above. How to eat, is of major importance, chew your food. In order to do this keep your teeth in as perfect condi- tion as possible, you have no teeth in your stomach. Watch the children's teeth and make them eat slowly. How much? No more than you can digest, no more than the stomach can churn to a milky mass, mix with the digestive fluids, and the blood can take up in a suitable condition to build strong, healthy, body — bone, muscle, 28 IMPORTANT QUESTIONS ANSWERED. nerve — every worn out tissue. This caution heeded will cut the work of elimination in two at least, because there will not be sufficient waste to sour in the stomach and form poisonous material to burden the system — skin, bowels, kidneys, heart, lungs etc. All mucous surfaces will be lively then, and it will be a joy to live. When? At suitable, Stated, Intervals. Each day the same hour if possible. By suitable I mean, in keeping with your hours of work, when you are not too tired, never after a bath. Where ? In the cleanest, most cheerful, most congen- ial atmosphere possible. Anger, hatred, fear, anxiety, distrust, sadness, disgust, unsuitable companions, while eating cause your food to turn to poison and bring about the consequent results. I said thirdly and fourthly — promptly eliminate ALL POISONS FROM THE SYSTEM AND KEEP ALL PARTS OF the body clean. This can only be done by promptly answering the calls of nature in evacuating the bowels and emptying the bladder, so that this waste has no chance to be absorbed by the system, also keeping the thoughts pure, and heart right. Drink lots of water (positively not while you are eating), to wash internally, then wash externally, at least, twice a week, not forget- ting the points of intake and exit of both food and drink. The skin, being one of the most potent in its powers of elimination, must not, for one hour, be forgotten. When its pores are closed from cold, exposure, shock, etc., they CAN DISEASE BE PREVENTED? HOW? 29 should be immediately opened by proper internal medica- tion, small doses, well diluted, often repeated, or hot packs in certain cases. Sleep is an important factor in your battle for a per- fect vitality. Your equilibrium is thus regained. You should in sleeping, as in eating, have, as near as possible, regular hours. You should do all your work faithfully in working hours then place yourself in god's hands, forgive your enemies, drop all care, and get the refreshing sleep of a baby. It can be done. Try the control of mind over matter and see. No one knows what he can do till he tries. Don't sleep too long, and don't lie in bed too long. Children need more sleep than older people. Give them their just deserts. Labor is incumbent upon every one. You can't have perfect vitality without a requisite amount of cheerful labor. Every muscle of the body, every atom of the brain, must be used, worn out and replaced, continually, to be at its best and keep growing stronger. Play, or, in other words recreation, is as important as any of the above. We must relax, forget to be serious, industrious or dignified by spells — -"Laugh and grow fat" should not be idly spoken if we would strive for a perfect vitality. Study a judicious use of your finances. Learn to earn a little and spend a little less. If you feel you have a few dollars for a rainy day, your peace of mind will more than recompense you for the sacrifice you have 30 IMPORTANT QUESTIONS ANSWERED. made to accomplish this end, and you will find you are not drawing so heavily on your reserve force of vitality and nerve energy, be temperate, not alone with alcohol, tobacco, and other poison dopes but with everything you think you enjoy — food, drink, dress, amusement, love, etc., etc. The possibility of mind over matter control is soon sensed and a keen satisfaction felt and enjoyed. You will begin to realize what being vital means, and you will begin to be unselfish enough to be willing that the rest of the world should have a little vitality — should "Eat drink and be merry". You will be christian, You will be more than that you will be godly. Once man (not a monkey or an individual not far removed from that specimen of the animal kingdom) learns that his health, and that of those dear to him, depends on the health of the nation, he won't take the cream out of the baby's milk, deplete, adulterate or poison his neighbors' bread, meat or other food supply for the paltry dollar that can't save him from sickness or death, and that he can't take with him to the next world. Some men, by their love of greed, are actually making incompetents for their own children to support later on. We should leave no open gateway, so to speak, for the entrance to our system, of any germ life; we should harbor no waste material to feed the same; we should keep well, but because we must sometimes lock the barn after the horse is stolen, let us study to be able to recognise at sight the difference in human beings as CAN DISEASE BE PREVENTED? HOW? 31 regards their different degrees of vitality — the color of the skin, the dullness of the eyes, the lack of vivacity in the gait, the lack of interest in life, in the things going on around them — work, play, amusements, topics of the day, problems of the day, people. Let us study the cause of these different degrees of vitality and the remedies that must be resorted to once the laws of health are disobeyed, and abnormal condi- tions fixed upon us, and then let us wisely cut out the cause, and then cautiously, immediately, persistently set about to aid nature in her work of repair, ever believing "It is never too late to mend." Mrs. T. P. Scully. What good I see I humbly seek to do, and live obedient to the law, in trust that what will come and must come, shall come well. — Edwin Arnold. "Who spends his life in loving deeds at duty's earnest call shall taste life's rich experience when twilight shadows fall." To help mothers in their own sphere, both on Sunday and week days, to make each day delightful and each deed it's best, to give faith and courage and spread a charm continually about the way is Christian. — T. P. Scully. Manhood, How Personified ? THE highest ideal of man was personified in Christ. Were we called upon to present the best specimen of manhood that we could find now, where would we seek him? Not among the pampered class, but we would go down into the busy street, into the walks of life, among the common people, so called, and we would look for a man with a strong right arm, upturned sleeves, a man that would represent physical strength, and then, not content with that, we would look into this eye, and we would find the man that in addition to physical power, had an eye that gleamed with intelligence, an eye that stood for mental strength, mental power, and then we would sound the depth of that man's heart, to find his soul power, and if we found that his heart beat warm with sympathy for his fellow men, that within its recess- es shone the light of brotherly love, appreciation, and a keen perception of right and wrong, we would say ; ' 'this is the noblest work of a beneficent Creator, a real man." We would not give heed for a moment to the wealth that he might or might not possess, we would not glance at the apparel that he wore, we would not look for hands soft as an infant, but rather those hardened with toil. Labor of mind and body is not only honorable, but it is the motive power that builds the whole fabric of human MANHOOD, HOW PERSONIFIED? 33 life, and makes man's condition superior to the brute creation. Is it a wonder then that the founder of the Christian religion was born in a manger, cradled in the commonest surroundings, and learned to toil with his hands, and therefore that when he spoke the common people listened, for he was one of them. "I am what I am." Not upon a pinnacle somewhere and trying to make people believe that was where, by some setting aside of the laws of the universe, he belonged. What a blessing it would be to humanity if more human beings could say from the bottom of their hearts, "I am what I am." The best there is in me as God and my opportunities meant, and not be continually trying to be somebody else, seemingly, above, on a par with or below them. Royal descent, wealth, costly apparel never yet made the man or woman; the diffusion of intelligence, the invention of machinery, transportation, systems of right living, which make life go on under vastly superior conditions, were all brought about by men who forgot the external of birth, wealth, apparel and felt the world's pulse, sensed its heart beats so to speak, realized the internal man, men who felt "I am what I am," and made the world acknowledge the same without a word of assertion or explanation. The ponderous wheels of modern civilization are rolling on and on irresistibly and if at the present stage of ad- vancement, we are hearing discordant sounds, this does not mean that the mechanism is out of order, but rather 34 IMPORTANT QUESTIONS ANSWERED. that the mills of God, the mills of equity, are struggling with a heavy grist as they separate the chaff from the wheat, that the latter may be utilized in the upbuilding of future generations, in a way that will make for the good of the many and not the few. Unfortunately we have created class distinction where none should exist. As taught in the Scriptures, the foot though it be the member reaching down to the earth, is just as essential as the hand or the eye, and the hand cannot say to the foot it is not a part of the body, nor can the eye say to the hand, "I have no need of thee." Every member of the human body is essential to make up the complete body, and no member is to be subjected to dishonor because of the position it holds, or the part it performs. The great body politic, has different members, skilled and unskilled labor, employer and capitalist ; one is fully as essential as the other in the present stage of our exis- tence, and should receive instinctive and intelligent justice from the body politic. Nature yields her tribute; direct, only to him who seeks to obtain it in a legitimate way, her best is only in the reach of effort, and it must many times be persistent effort to win from her. The fault lies between the recip- ient and the giver, and not in nature, when the party who obtains from nature, the product of her bounty, chooses to give it to some one who has not made any effort. MANHOOD, HOW PERSONIFIED? 35 The noblest minds of the world to-day are agitating the question of a living wage for all honest toil of hands as well as brain, and they are going to force such a wage, by an intelligent vote of all the people. This will event- ually abolish all the wrongs of a speculation that forces the food necessary to sustain human life up to a point of cost where it is beyond the reach of the very class whose toil produces this food, more than this, the very class who are bearing the children and perpetuating the life of our race, and in a healthy or unhealthy condition. This awful struggle for existence, these heart throbs of anguish, this wrestling with sickness and pain, fighting the battle with death, calling for that which they cannot obtain, by the worthy, will soon be a thing of the past that we would like to forget. God hasten the day. T. P. Scully, M.D. Words. " Let gentle words soothe woe and pain, We shall not pass this way again ! " " Little things, yes little things, Make up the sum of life ; A word, a look, a single tone May raise, or calm, a strife." In idle wishes fools supinely stay, Be there a will and wisdom finds a way. — Crabbe. The Most Important Adjunct of a Present Day Education is a Popular Knowledge About Public Health, — Why? WE see people are broadening each year in their religious views. "They are from Missouri," so to speak, they swallow very little except there is a grain of logic between premise and conclusion. Very few people of intelligence will co-operate very heart- ily or efficiently in what they do not understand let the subject be what it may. Very important then it is that the subject paramount to the health (of the highest now known), specimen of the animal kingdom, should be understood by the individuals of this mass. The sur- geon, physician, the student of medicine and right living, is the chief engineer, but the rank and file will not follow like slaves or Japanese soldiers any more, they must understand the reason for following this or that rule of hygiene, or following this or that regulation, hence they are, as assistant engineers, the most potent factors in their own individual, personal, freedom from disease, and more nearly normal development. These modern chief engineers of public health, be they who they may, have to face the fear of losing professional caste when they take the public into their confidence, interpret and popularize the idea of a general medical education, therefore they must be a high order of men, brave and unselfish. The world has these and many of POPULAR KNOWLEDGE ABOUT PUBLIC HEALTH. 37 them and will support them in the proportion as it is taught and learns and gains confidence in their know- ledge, ability and sincerity. We want increasingly aggressive and effective cam- paigns for public health, we want them before more handicaps are placed upon present and future generations in the form of incompetents. We shall not be satisfied until every adult shall have become a wage earner that is more than self-supporting, ''Ultima Thule." Is it possible? Yes. How? Every- body busy to take care of number one and as many more as possible in the right way. The world has always known that gluttony and intem- perance debase and shorten life, destroying every virtue, corrupting governments, spreading pestilence, and de- stroying nations, but has never rightly realized that na- ture is the benevolent nursing mother of humanity if rightly approached and that every substance in the uni- verse embodies the Divine benevolence to man, not merely in luscious, tempting foods but in all things that exist not only in the grosser substance but in its finest particles, the molecule, the atom, the auram, the essen- tial spirit of each. Nothing is inert, and there is nothing that may not be beneficent. Proficient scientists have shown the smallest grain of sand potential for human relief from infirmity. The poison of the rattlesnake is equally as beneficial when wisely handled. The very word poison, as it is generally understood, expresses the 38 IMPORTANT QUESTIONS ANSWERED. ignorance of man not any malignity of natures elements. Everything is good to the wise but the children of this juvenile world are continually burning their fingers. Medicine in the nineteenth century is truly progressive, but the dietetics which prevent instead of merely alle- viating suffering will soon over-shadow all previous efforts for the benefit of humanity. A complete scientific diet will soon meet and conquer all diseases, and a practical knowledge of all this will be given the rising generations in their public school work. All this instruction and the production of ever}" article of food scientifically prepared to meet the individual deficiency in diet and produce a proper proportion of bone, nerve, muscle, fat, etc., a normal body, mind and soul — will be accomplished at one half the expense, one half the skill and industry given now to druggery and palatable medicines. We must get back to nature to be what God meant us to be. The centenarians have been those people who kept a mental note of the diet that seemed to be best adapted to their individual needs as also of the amount of exercise or work necessary to insure its digestion. The only medicine, so called, was herb drinks, animal products, clay, etc., the knowledge of which had. also, been men- tally noted and passed down from generation to genera- tion. Real medical science was evolved by the people. Some scientists, even, acknowledge that nine tenths of POPULAR KNOWLEDGE ABOUT PUBLIC HEALTH. 39 the medicines, in general use, were brought into use by the common people, mostly women, and were slowly, reluctantly and suspiciously adopted by the doctors, and the best medical journals have many times been obliged to acknowledge that the most potent medicines in use at the present time are those the knowledge of which, was of very early origin. Mrs. T. P. Scully. ''Oh, this is the season when man's feeling sluggish, his system is loaded with various ills; he spends all his roubles for remedies druggish, and swallows five bushels of certified pills. His blood is depraved and his liver is balky, there's fur on his tongue and a boil on his knee, and often he longs, when he's feeling so rocky, for bur- dock and boneset and sassafras tea. Ah, where is the noble old beldame who brewed it, the tea of our fathers that healed them so quick? The good dame who boiled it and stirred it and stewed it, and flooded the works of the folks who were sick? She's gone, the yarb woman ! A foolish world mocked her, she's sailing out now on a cascara sea, and we must all go to the doctor and drug- gist, we can't have a swig of her sassafras tea. My blood's out of whack, and my stummack is fussy, I go to the druggist, the ailing man's hope. He mixes some poison that's messy and mussy and charges three bones for a dime's worth of dope. My diaphragm's sore and my collar bone itches, from pain and discomfort I seldom am free, and often I yearn for the old fashioned witches who brewed up their cauldrons of sassafras tea. ' Medical Sociology THE triumphs of modern medicine have been in discovering the causes of disease, making it possible to make diagnoses, instead of merely giving descriptions of symptoms. Important it is that some of these very wise heads have stumbled onto the fact that all of the causes of well known disease are not wholly medical. To study and teach the contributing causes such as poverty, bad air, neglect that come from governmental or individual ignorance or greed should be the province and mission of " Medical Sociology." The leaders in such a work should be noble, broad minded, well read, sincere, capable men and women, those cherishing a determination that society shall gain and not lose through their efforts, those who appreciate the fact that the results of scientific research are facts; the results of wise charity are social betterments; those who can feel that degeneration due to success and good fortune is equally as destructive as the degeneration due to poverty and bad luck and should receive just as much attention from a eugenic point of view. Those who realize that the responsibility of too good homes and the care and worry incumbent upon the oc- cupants also kills and drives insane too often. One of MEDICAL SOCIOLOGY. 41 our leading medical men has said "You can kill a man by bad housing as surely as with an axe." You can also kill a man by too much rich food more surely than by not enough food or food of the plainest kind. The plainest food is always palatable, unless your appetite is depraved, and is always more nourishing because it is more easily digested, as well as for the fact that its component parts are more readily assimilable, more nearly what the sys- tem needs, and not so exceptionally appetizing as to delude one into eating such an undue amount as to bring him under the ban of being called a gormandizer. A gormandizer, whether rich or poor, has a very short period of real comfort and usefulness in the world. He soon begins to show a mental dullness that is always the outcome of waste material in the system, especially the brain ; he has a pain here and there caused by blockades of filth that the system has been unable to throw off, his motor power becomes more and more seriously inter- fered with on account of these dams of foreign substance in his life currents and he begins to wonder why he is growing prematurely old; why he has lost the vivacity and sprightliness of youth that leaves him deficient in eagerness for venture, sport and thrilling narrative, that once played such an important part in the role of his existence ; why it is getting to be such an effort for him to get out of bed, or up and down in his chair; why work is not play as of yore. 4 2 IMPORTANT QUESTIONS ANSWERED. That the vast majority of civilized persons eat too much food, and that the ordinary diet is not adapted to anyone, is fortunately recognized, by many along toward middle life, and they generally set to work to select a more restricted diet thus partially repairing the ravages previously produced and, in a measure, preventing them from increasing, but, this late reform, in quantity and choice of food, is ordinarily of little or no value to the race because it generally begins after the period of child bearing, hence from generation to generation each child begins life under more and more of a handicap from the time of conception, a predisposition to disease, so called, from a poisoned condition of the system of father or mother or both. Is it a wonder then that in large cities such as Paris few families are prominent for more than three genera- tions. Is it a wonder that the Elite of a country are thus becoming extinct as soon as formed, except it maintains itself by constant accessions from the masses of the people among whom invigorating labor, restraint and temper- ance in all things are the rule, because of the fact that they have not the means to procure more and richer or more stimulating food and drink than is good for them. That the laboring class must be continually comple- menting the rich through matrimonial alliances, in order to preserve the human race, will be a self evident fact until such time as the rich shall have studied the out- come of choice of food and manner of living, on their MEDICAL SOCIOLOGY. 43 physical make up, and will sacrifice some of these false satisfactions for the children and children's children that through their agency are likely to form an insane, feeble- minded, criminal portion of future generations or a class of strong fearless, noble-minded men and women. While scientific research is struggling with the prob- lem of the abstraction of the power of procreation from the unfit let them not forget that the outcome will never be satisfactory until the so called fit are educated suffi- ciently in preventive medicine, the right manner of living, to assure society that, a rlew bunch fully as unfit as the first, will not become the donation of the so called, fit, to each succeeding generation. Eugenics has a threefold task, that of studying the social cause of disease, educating the general public in preventive medicine, harmful drugs, temperance in all things, and last but not the least difficult, hold in check the rash, blood thirsty, money grabbing element of the medical profession. Mrs. T. P. Scully. Oh sad state Of human wretchedness; so weak is man, So ignorant and blind, that did not God Sometimes withhold in mercy what we ask We should be ruined at our own request. — Hannah More. What is the Cause of Sterility in Women? THIS is a subject that has claimed too little atten- tion in the education of our people. Many a woman has stood the taunts and abuse of her husband and her husband's people and many so called friends because she was childless, when the fault was not at her door. Especial work along this line has recently brought to light the fact that fifty out of seventy five cases can be traced directly to the husband. Now for the sake of my boys and your boys let us give them the truth — the truth that false modesty has kept from them far too long — and let the blame fall where it honest- ly belongs, and thereby give the coming generations a chance to remedy the mistakes that we and our ancestors have made. The first thing that your boy or mine should know is that all functions of the human body are god given and are perfectly proper and right in their legal place. He should be taught to come to his parents, teachers, physician, minister or priest for all the infor- mation he wants regarding his normal or abnormal body, all his normal or abnormal functions and normal or abnormal tendencies. They are or should be the ones that have his best interest at heart, who have made some definite study of his physical and mental make-up, who know something of his ancestry, and he should receive a thoughtful, careful, straightforward, manly or womanly CAUSE OF STERILITY IN WOMEN? 45 answer, that is according to the instructors best knowl- edge and belief, that which will tend to strengthen his better self. One of our greater lights in medicine has said: "Eat right, sleep right, think right, and all parts of your body will behave themselves." This thought could be read over a great many times and each thought it refers to could be studied for days, weeks, months, and years by individuals with different degrees of mental calibre and then the depth and breadth will not have been fathomed and not one perhaps will have placed himself in the place of the author when he spoke, but we can do the best we know and God will bless the effort. There is a discussion now going on among our leading medical men regarding the desperate need of sexual instruction for our boys and girls, yes the fathers and mothers (who had no instruction in their own youth and have imbibed many false ideas from the wretched quack literature, published solely for large fees and not for the benefit of humanity), that the insanity, imbecility, the getting of women drunk from impure motives, the diseases that have made the need of hundreds and thousands of surgical operations on women, the untold number of deaths, chronic invalidism at all ages, and in every walk of life, in short the destruction of the homes of our land be lessened. To go back to my subject, strictly speaking, I will say the first and most important cause of sterility in women is a diseased condition, that she may get in 46 PERTAINING TO BABY. many ways, such as, sitting on an unsanitary closet, un- clean hands or instruments used at childbirth, etc., but that she generally gets from a man, who is, or at some- time has been, the victim of a venereal disease. Such cases as these are often called ''One child sterility," the woman has conceived and borne a child, or had a miscarriage shortly after marriage. When the woman became pregnant, she also became infected with the husbands latent disease, which destroyed certain tissues of her body after the baby was born, and made further conception impossible. You must understand me that there are many cases of sterility in women that are in no way connected with the above, nor do they emanate from the source of any kind of infection, among them are displacement of the uterus, tumors in the uterus, ovaries or tubes, an excessive acid condition of the blood, ab- sence of the vulva or vagina, any mal-formation, or a seriously impoverished condition of the patient. I will speak first of displacements of the uterus because the majority of cases can be easily remedied, once an examination is made and the condition understood, if you have confidence in your family physician, and he is accessible, go to him and get a correct diagnosis of your case, but if for any reason you can not do this, don't suffer this condition to remain, because it isn't natural and anything unnatural becomes more and more a detri- ment to the whole nervous system, hence the whole being. You can and should know you own whole physi- CAUSE OF STERILITY IN WOMEN? 47 cal make-up, and in a partially sitting position, over a warm bath with castile soap, or better a little borax, any woman can bathe the whole internal mucous surface of the vagina, and easily find out whether the neck of the womb, or uterus, is tipped toward the back, or front, or side, instead of in the center, as it should be, and unless the uterus is very high can tell whether it is larger or heavier than it should be. Once you find the difficulty assist nature by a little pack of soft wool, or other material used for such purposes, I have known several women who cured themselves by using a small pack of cheese cloth, absorbent cotton, or even soft tissue paper (but great care must be taken not to let the pack get hard enough to irritate the tender mucous surface, else one might have done more harm than good), either behind or in front of the neck of the uterus, as the case requires. These packs may be saturated with a soothing antiseptic that will cleanse the vaginal vault and keep it in a healthy condition. I prefer "Wampole's Antiseptic Solution" but there are many kinds on the market from standard houses, and you are safe in expect- ing results from any one of them if you get a sealed bottle. Salt and water will do wonders in many cases where tone is needed. If your trouble is an enlarged uterus the pack should be saturated with some remedy that will drain the water from the walls of the uterus as well as the sur- rounding tissue, leaving it smaller, hence lighter, thus assisting natures support, the ligaments above to draw it PERTAINING TO BABY. up where it rightfully belongs. (I prefer Ichthyol or Iehtholdine, but there are other standard remedies that are good.) Mal-formation, growths of any kind anywhere that interfere in any way with conception should be taken care of by a competent surgeon, but an Impoverished Condition of the Blood, oftener than one realizes, be- longs to the dentist. One gets little or no benefit from food that is not chewed and thoroughly mixed with the saliva. So you better go without a portion of the food and pay the dentist to fix your teeth. Sometimes a tonic selected by a good doctor, or someone who is competent to :udge the need, is essential, but oftener (in my experi- ence) plain food that contains the varied elements that will build bone, muscle, fat, brain, nerve, etc., less alco- hol to destroy the same, employment, exercise and fresh air, and a trust in the Lord that does away with the worry that is consuming all the nerve force of the present gener- ation is better. There is one more very important condition that is often the cause of sterility in women, that is a discharge from the vagina that is excessively acid (in medical terms we say hyper-acid). This discharge destroys the vitality of the spermatozoa. A piece of litmus paper will often give a clue to the condition, but as a home method of diagnosis I have seen a pinch of soda used in the vaginal discharge when it would foam as if in sour milk or vine- gar. When this condition is present in the vagina one CAUSE OF STERILITY IN WOMEN? 49 may look to see a similar condition of all the mucous surfaces. I always look for a red and tender tongue as a first clue to this acid vagina.. This can be changed to an alkaline reaction by systemic treatment, but I have always recommended warm douches of soda water (one teaspoon common baking soda to the quart) locally to hasten the return to a normal condition, which is always alkaline. I have had several cases where I found no other reason for couples being childless save this excessively acid condition of the vagina and I have in each case succeeded in removing the obstacle and they have borne children. A woman may do much for herself with home rem- edies, and still more under the instruction of a competent physician or surgeon, when it would be next to impossible for many, with limited means, to pay for the doctors services, for details, until the result is a permanent cure, and we know that anything short of a permanent cure is very unsatisfactory to everybody concerned, as well as of little real use to the party treated. That the procreative organs of human beings, both male and female, should be kept in a clean healthy condi- tion, and how best to reach and educate the masses regarding this important measure is one of the subjects much discussed, among our leading lights in medicine as as of major importance to present and future generations. "Know thyself" is my solution of the problem, and my wife wishes to add "Know God." "God is love." Preface to Care of the Baby, or Baby's Welcome HAPPY indeed is the baby who is welcomed into a home where he is the chief concern of his loving parents. If these parents be spared he will be sure to get the best care that their circumstances will permit, and that will be all that this little embryo of humanity has a crying necessity for, for it will mold and make him into a being of the kind that will assure him of being taken up by those who are capable and will carry him on and on up into a higher life, the highest in fact of which he is capable. Understand me, love is the first essential of life. Let this Thought be rightly comprehend- ed and dwelt upon and digested by you and the founda- tion is assured for a noble life, for your boy or girl. A loving nature will assure him or her of a welcome into every worthy home, all worthy society in this land, where it is needful that he or she should go, because "love begets love", and if people love a child, a man, a woman, they will want their presence. The most humble home can be a home of culture, a home where intellectuality and refinement are combined with moral enthuasiasm, and high ideals hold a sway that keeps children hunger- ing and thirsting for more intellectual development, more educational advantages that the world has an abundance of and is only waiting for this suitable soil to bestow it's bounty. CARE OF THE BABY. 5 I While it is possible to indulge children too much it is never probable that they will be loved too much, or petted too much. There are thousands of hearts in this world that are hungering for a taste of sympathy and love, a sympathy and love that is legitimate and right, a sisterly love, a brotherly love, a motherly love, a love of God for humanity. It is deplorable that so many babies are born into homes where they are not welcome, where from concep- tion to birth, from birth through their period of depen- dence, they are made to feel that they are in the way and a burden. The reason for this, to some, seems obscure but the people who live close to God and nature, intui- tively, instinctively sense the reason. Viz, We can give no more than we get. We get no more than we seek, those who do not seek the love of God do not realize that of a truth "God is Love," and this fountain of love can never be exhausted, that we have only to draw and draw and draw from the great source, cling, depend, and sense the need and comfort of a Heavenly Fathers' loving care and protection to have an abundance of this love in our own hearts and be able to give it, lavishly too, not only the dear little dependents that God has seen fit to bless our homes with but every one with whom we meet and mingle. "Out of the fullness of the heart the mouth speaketh". Yes and the look speaks and the touch of the hand speaks. 52 PERTAINING TO BABY Parents who have seen fit to claim from God the love that rightfully belongs to them will cease to worry about their own or their children's future because they will know that God will care for them. The energy they have exhausted in worrying will be transferred to nobler pur- poses, and will accomplish nobler ends. These nobler ends will eventually assure all humanity of a sustenance, and every baby will be assured a welcome in happiness and comfort by fathers and mothers and relatives whose hearts are overflowing with love for them. Remember this "Your child will love you and depend on you in the same degree that you love God and depend on Him." The assurance you get from your Heavenly Father you give to the child that is intuitively reading you day by day. The mental and spiritual strength that you daily draw you pass down to him as he leans upon you. Father where do you stand ? Mother where do you stand ? Do you want your child to be loving, strong, trusting? Do you want his every act to ring true ? Read, think, digest every word of the above. " As a child I plead and sought, Where is my soul? They answered not. In later years I plead again, Where is my God? I plead in vain. I wondered where my heaven could be ? I saved a waif And found all three." Before the Baby Comes. IT is a fact that ought never to be forgotten that the proper care of the baby begins long before it is born (longer than nine months before it is born), but we will content ourselves to advise you as to its welfare. From the time of conception, only in this Essay, trusting that you will study carefully our essays on childhood, YOUTH, MATURITY, MIDDLE LIFE. To show VOU any errors in the care and instruction you received, and help you to profit by them, now, not for your self alone (what- ever your age may be) , but for the child or children that it may be your good fortune to bring into the world — a care, comfort and blessing to your soul — during all your future years, Eternity. The first thought I will leave with you is that a woman should never bear a child by a man that she does not dearly love, — one whom she is willing to lay down her life for if need be. A man should never be the father of a child except he would be willing to make every sacrifice, lay down his life if need be for that child or its mother. If the above conditions exist at the time of conception the contracting parties will consciously or unconsciously, have complied with the first requisite essential to the future bearing of a normal, healthy, loving Godly-child, one, other things being equal, that will prove a lasting blessing to the world. 54 PERTAINING TO BABY. The second thought I will leave with these contracting parties is to keep up this devotion to each other, forgive and be forgiven. If any little differences arise, pet and be petted every day, show your devotion by little atten- tions, sacrifices, if need be, the same as, yes in a sweeter, kinder way, than you did before, because you are a part of each others life now, and what hurts one hurts both, yes more, hurts irreparably, the child that through your agency, with no choice of it's own, will have a good, better or best, body, brain, disposition, soul, during all its future existence here or hereafter. Stop and think you would be father, stop and think you would be mother, don't be criminally negligent where the future existence of your own little innocent is hanging in the balance. The third thought I will leave with these contracting parties, is don't be ashamed of your prospective mother- hood or fatherhood, don't be ashamed of the conditions through which God has seen fit to bestow upon you the promise of this priceless little gift — your baby. Be proud that your ancestors have, that you have, led a life so pure, that your procreative powers are normal. Don't allow a look, a sneer, a jeer to disturb you, possibly the contributor is thus relieving a heartache caused by his or her inability to enjoy a similar condi- tion. The fourth thought I will leave with you is — take care of your body, mind and soul continually — this means for the body, proper food, exercise, clothing, plenty of BEFORE THE BABY COMES. 55 fresh air and proper baths, prompt evacuation of the bowels and emptying of the bladder; for the mind contentment, joy, comfort ; for the soul purity of thought, purity of heart, honesty of purpose, ever remembering what I have said before that this regimen, condition, state, must be enjoyed by both parties to be effective, because what effects one effects both and through them the would be new comer. The fifth thought I would leave with you is lay by sufficient to insure proper care for mother and babe, and insure for father a vacation of at least a week that he may minister to and comfort the partner of his life during this most trying time of suffering and anxiety. The sixth thought I would leave with you is — Make every preparation for a healthy normal child — this means have your urine anlyzed your nipples hardened, your teeth nourished, and hand towels, ether or chloroform, brandy, vinegar, antiseptic tablets, a fountain syringe, a new soft rubber catheter, one or two china basins, a bed pan, absorbent cotton, a pound package of salicylated cotton, carbolized cotton, rubber cloth, a yard wide, a whole piece of cheese bandage for pads, unbleached mus- lin for bandaging, carbolized vaseline, something to protect the carpet, safety pins all sizes, fresh fluid ex- tract of ergot (ergot that has been exposed to the light or air turns to poison and must not be used) . Hot water in abundance. 56 PERTAINING TO BABY. Now if you haven't all the above and haven't the means to procure them conveniently you are just as well off as the mothers of some of our great men, Presidents of the United States, etc., who substituted what they did have, and possibly your baby, be it boy or girl, will fill as honored a position. This you must remember, that whatever you do use must be perfectly clean else you might infect mother or babe and this infection might cost a life. Wisdom. Wise men never sit and bewail their loss, But cheerily seek how to redress their harms. — Henry VI. Wisdom is the only thing which can relieve us from the sway of passions and the fear of danger, and which can teach us to bear the injuries of fortune itself with moderation, and which shows us all the ways which lead to tranquility and peace. — Younge's Cicero. Wisdom does not show itself so much in precept as in life — in a firmness of mind and mastering of appetite. It teaches us to do as well as to talk, and to make our actions and words all of one color. — Seneca. When the Baby Arrives. THE first thing to do when the baby arrives is to wipe out its mouth and nose and eyes, some- times it is necessary to put a drop of argyrol in each eye but this can be done a little later. If the baby does not breathe right or at all slap and shake it, put it in warm water, etc. Don't give up. Then tie the cord in two places an inch and a half to two inches from the child's abdomen, leaving space to cut between the ties. It is best to wait if possible until the afterbirth has come, before you sever the cord. (Unless there are sufficient help to have both done at the same time, the baby should now be wrapped in a blanket, while the mother is cared for.) The afterbirth should be taken as soon as possible, because the hemorrhage generally keeps up until it does come. The older people used to wrap the navel string in a clean piece of linen that had been soaked in hot mutton tallow, and there is no better way, but corn starch is good. A pound of corn starch in which a teaspoonful of boracic acid has been thor- oughly mixed and add a drop of the oil of rose is the very best powder you can possibly use for mother or babe, but don't think if a little is good much is better, and put on enough boracic acid to preserve the cord so that it won't slough off at all. 58 PERTAINING TO BABY. A weak boracic acid solution, a teaspoonful to the quart of boiled water makes a fine wash for baby or mother, a teaspoonful to two quarts for eyes, ears, nose and mouth. (Always dry the ears carefully lest you chill the delicate membranes.) If the nipples are washed, thus, every time the baby nurses, it will keep the mouth healthy, but, as I said above, don't overdo the thing (the mother's nipples should be hardened by this wash of Wampole's formolid, or a few paintings with Iodine, and, if not inclined to protrude sufficiently to allow the prospective child to nurse with comfort, they should be pulled and massaged into shape before its arrival). It is the custom of many doctors to break the nipple string when a girl baby is born, this is done by several slight massages or drawing out the few drops of milk that are generally present, or some slight pulling of the tiny nipples (great care should be exercised or more harm than good will be done) . A real mother will nurse her baby if possible, read what I have said elsewhere on this subject. The next important thing to be done is to care for the boys if the slitting operation, stretch- ing or circumsion are necessary and the girls need the same care exercised in regard to the clitoris. I have seen much harm come from neglect of these essentials, among them partial paralysis, bladder strain, bed- wetting, etc. I saw one boy with the foreskin so long that his bowels moved every time he passed urine, the straining was so great, and he was not operated on until WHEN THE BABY ARRIVES. 59 1 6 or 1 8 months old. I knew one girl that had a gather- ing over the end of the clitoris, from which she had been absorbing pus until she had open sores over her body, and the doctor had presumably fed her calomel, sup- posedly for syphilistic taint (which she had never had until she picked out her teeth and laid them on the table. A thorough examination revealed the true cause of the trouble, and by pulling the parts open as you would a kitten's eye, and cleaning out the pus and a cheesy, calcarious deposit that had formed in the shape of a ball, the child that has been a constant care for sixteen weeks, whining and crying almost night and day, skin and bones, became a happy, healthy baby. I have had several experiences with cases of this kind, where the children scratched and rubbed themselves for relief until the parents were much exercised over habits they had formed, one child that had rubbed her ankles together until there was an open sore on the top of one and the bottom of the other ankle, and when the adherent skin was loosened from the clitoris the child became normal in that respect. One might imagine that this sort of condition would be remedied by the rubbing incident upon the washing and cleansing of those parts, but I find all too many mothers who seem to feel they must not touch that part of their child's anatomy, they seem to have an idea it would be very easily injured. Such is not the case and especial pains should be taken to get and keep 60 PERTAINING TO BABY. these parts in a normal, clean, healthy condition, and when this is no longer the mother's duty the child should be taught how, and the necessity of a continu- ation of proper care in regard to the cleanliness es- pecially of these parts of the body. That this is very important I have found from the fact that there are many middle-aged women, some of them have borne large families of children, and yet never sensed an orgasm; this is contrary to nature, and generally not only leaves them either nervous wrecks, or with some chronic sore or inflamed condition from the reaction that takes place because the orgasm has not relieved the congested parts, but the husband is generally a conscious or unconscious, silent or vehe- ment, unsatisfied or dissatisfied partner or sharer in the wife's state. A slight operation often brings about a normal condition and perfect harmony in the home. This operation is simple and the condition if it exists should be found at the child's birth or soon thereafter by the family physician. There has been too much of what is often termed delicacy, but what I call false modesty among parents and also doctors in regard to these things. Keep your baby warmly wrapped (but be sure the air in the room is changed every day, many babies are weak and sickly from oxygen starvation) for the first few weeks of its life. It needs the same care that a hen gives her chicks — the warmth of the mother's body, WHEN THE BABY ARRIVES. 6l and woolen blankets, to continue the hatching process, or, in other words, not discontinue it too abruptly. A little of what is commonly called horse sense (it might be called hen sense and not be a misnomer) is essential if we would have the baby grow and thrive right. After baby has been oiled and wiped and finally washed and dressed, you must see that its clothing all hangs loosely from the shoulders, a belly band (except it be of knit goods that will stretch) is productive of more harm than good, in many ways. Your baby's belly is just as strong as any other part of its body, why tie it up and cut off the circulation as you do, always, except the band is in perfect position continually. Don't put on so many diapers that you make your baby bow-legged, keep off the stockings and shoes as long as possible. Great hearts alone understand how much glory there is in being good. — Michelet. Howe'er it be, it seems to me 'Tis only noble to be good; Kind hearts are more than coronets And simple faith than Norman blood. — Tennyson. Caution for the Future Mother. THE first I will mention is the care of her heart. While a mother has been carrying her unborn child her heart is being continually over- worked, its walls are in a relaxed state, its vessels dis- tended, and the blood itself has changed its nature in many ways because of the added burden (that of build- ing bone, muscle, fat, etc., for the baby) it has been carrying. Now after the baby is born these blood vessels all contract, some slowly, others more rapidly, and the heart is weak — so-called. A heart clot is often formed during the first week by some slight over exertion, that of walking too rapidly, jumping up quickly in case of alarm or accident, sleeping with the arms over the head (which causes extra pumping of the heart to carry the blood to the finger tips), and, most important, that of the patient combing her own hair, especially if her hair is long and heavy. Once a clot is formed, a bath, an injection (if it should cause the patient to faint), surprise, anything that causes the heart to stand still for an instant, is likely to clog the valve and the patient expires. If care is exercised for a season the clot will be washed to pieces by the blood current. The doctor or nurse is generally blamed for this out- come, when of a truth there are a great many women who only laugh at the advice and caution given them along this line, and pay no heed to it whatever, some, even, who have known of friends dying in this way feel CAUTION FOR THE FUTURE MOTHER. 63 a positive assurance that nothing of the kind will ever happen to them. Remember for me ''the unexpected often happens." You can't afford to take a chance when by it you are likely to deprive your baby of a mother's loving care, and, worst of all, in its tender infancy. The same condition that distends the valves of the heart likewise distends the blood vessels all over the body, especially those in the lower limbs and we have a condition called varicose veins as the outcome. These often go to an advanced state, break open, run, and burn and itch and are very difficult to heal. Every prospective mother should have her urine analyzed immediately her limbs begin to swell, and if under a competent doctor's care the condition cannot be wholly relieved, medically, the limbs should be bandaged a part or all of the time to keep the blood vessels more nearly their normal size. It is advisable, sometimes, to wear a rubber stocking all or a part of the time, and don't let me hear one mother say that she can't afford it, because the truth is you can't afford to suffer and lose weeks, and years and months, of your later life, from active useful service. The third caution I would offer is — Don't eat too much during the period you are carrying your baby. You will be exceptionally hungry during this time, everything will taste good, and you will unconsciously overload. The distress you experience soon after, and the fermented, rotted food that poisons your system 64 PERTAINING TO BABY. will poison the system of your baby also. Keep your health good, no excesses, if not for your own sake, for the sake of giving your baby a healthy little body, exceptional little brain, a skin that is fair and smooth, not covered with eczema, etc. See what I have said elsewhere. The fourth caution I would offer is — Don't wear a corset that will cut off the circulation and aggravate the above conditions or bring on worse ones — the mis- placing of the internal organs, or the curving of the ribs until they puncture the liver — but rather wear a rubber abdominal support (one can be carefully fitted, two thicknesses of unbleached cotton) to aid nature where she chances to be weak, prevent ruptures, etc., and have your clothing all suspended from the shoulders if possible, no tight bands or elastic around the body or limbs, and then wonder why your limbs are numb or cold or swollen, or why you experience difficulty in breathing. The fifth caution I would offer is — Don't shut your- self out of the world, mingle with your friends, take long walks, the same as you always have, be cheerful and keep busy and active with mind and body, right up to the last moment. These all keep your nerves right and influence the intellectuality of your child. Sixth, I would caution you to keep your hands out of cold water before the baby is born, but especially after, because it always, with most people, makes the milk indigestible and you have a fretful, crying baby. How the Baby Looks and its Development. ANEW-BORN baby is certainly not pretty. It has a head altogether too big for its body, and generally misshapen because of the pulling and jamming it got in making its arrival. Its legs are bowed, its little face is as red as a lobster. It has no teeth, it is bald-headed. The things that it has to recommend it are its soft delicate skin and flesh, its innocence and its helplessness. The mother love, the father love, if normal, however, overlook all this be- cause they know the head will assume its normal shape, all bunches disappear, scratches heal if they are acci- dents of birth, skin become fair and soft and white, the body grow so fast that it is more nearly in keeping with the size of the head, the legs straighten, the hair comes in and sometimes fall out again, and later will come that first precious little tooth. Now we almost feel sorry to lose the baby in its innocence and help- lessness, but this feeling is partially overcome by the very fascination of its daily development, and, strange to say, we really get anxious to see it take its first step, and right here every mother needs a little caution — Don't hurry about getting your baby on its feet, you had better be a little patient, yes, even let some other mother's baby be a little smarter in this respect, than 66 PERTAINING TO BABY. to have your little boy or girl lose forever the shapeliness of its little legs, and, by their condition, its graceful walk and whole carriage of the body. Don't worry if the teeth don't appear as soon as you think they should, don't allow anyone to lance your baby's gums, this is an act of barbarism, and always makes a callous that is harder for the little tooth to push through. If you do anything, feed the child oatmeal, whole wheat gruel, or bread (at the proper age), hypophosphites of lime and soda, or other bone-forming material; walking or talking come as the controlling portion of the brain develops, some children will walk before they talk, some talk before they walk. Don't worry about the baby's hair unless it has some exematous condition, then take it to a specialist, and be persistent with your treatment until the last vestige of the disease has disappeared. The corn starch and boracic acid preparation spoken of as a powder will generally clean the baby's head in a requisite number of days. Don't dig off what is called the cradle cap. It is a provision of nature. Don't put any lauded lotions on your baby's skin. They do more harm than good, often producing open sores. If your baby's skin isn't right look out for the bowels, the digestion, fresh air, lots of water to drink, etc., as explained elsewhere. External applications are of no use if the blood is loaded with impurities that keep producing more skin eruptions. HOW THE BABY LOOKS AFTER DEVELOPMENT. 67 Don't worry if your baby is not big and fat, some babies build muscle more than others and they are often healthier than the too fat ones. Don't allow your baby to cry too long at a time, because the habit of crying is often formed. Some crying is needed to de- velop the lungs, later it crows and laughs to produce the same results. If it pulls up its little legs, it is crying from pain, remove the cause. The baby must sleep a great part of the time until it is six months old if you would have it grow and thrive. After six months it should take long naps twice a day, at least, until it is three or four years old. Sleep, lots of it, makes a child strong mentally, as well as bodily. Don't bother about normal weight or normal size. Keep your baby fed and cared for so it wont worry and the proper development will take care of itself in a proportion that is in keeping with its nature — ancestors, pre-natal conditions, etc., considered. He who learns the rules of wisdom, without conform- ing to them in his life, is like the man who labored in his field but did not sow. — Saadi. The wise for cure on exercise depend; God never made his work for man to mend. — Dry den. Regular Habits and How to Encourage Them FROM its earliest infancy a child should be taught regular habits; the first of these must be its eating hour. If the child is normal it should be fed every two hours at least for the first six weeks of its life, then every three and later every four hours; for a small child or a sick child different arrangements must be made, often as little as a teaspoonful at a feed- ing being given, but it is best to have the advice of your family physician or someone of experience who is near by to judge, for each individual, in such cases. Very many babies have lost their lives eventually and unexpectedly because the mother or some grand- mother or aunt, oftentimes the father, insisted on the baby being fed at the table when it was altogether too young. I believe a child should be at least ten months old before it has any solid food. If more than the mother's milk is needed before this, let it be a good brand of condensed milk, or fresh cow's milk or malted milk. Mellin's food has its place with children who have a tendency to constipation. Meat should be withheld from children until they are at least three years old. It is indigestible because not chewed right and by being washed around in the stomach in chunks makes the stomach sore and lame and incapable later of digesting even liquid food without severe pain in the stomach and intestines. I have known several children who lost their lives, some even REGULAR HABITS. 69 as late as seventeen years of age on account of early acute indigestion caused by meat eating. Their fathers were butchers and believed meat did an infant no harm although it cried with the stomach-ache every day and every night. Starchy foods disagree with some infants because they do not have sufficient saliva and pancreatic juice to digest them. Whole wheat gruel or corn meal gruel (strained for a younger child) are important additions to its milk if the milk or baby foods disagree, do not sufficiently nourish or they are unattainable in your locality. Sour fruits should be kept from the baby while it is on a milk diet, especially at feeding time, because curdled milk is generally indigestible with all babies, and while you may have no immediate bad effect from it, there is an after — when the last straw breaks the camel's back, so to speak — and at a time when you can think of nothing that the child has recently eaten to disturb its digestion, it vomits, has diarrhoea, colic or constipation. When the child does eat it should be taught to chew its food to a paste, this is another habit that is essential to its future health, strength and, other things being equal, a long life. The next important habit for you to encourage is the evacuation of the bowels, at least every morning, but with some children evening also, and at a regular hour. The child, if normal in size, weight, strength and mentality, can be put on a comfortable cushioned chair at two months of age. The wetting of diapers can be ;o PERTAINING TO BABY. saved in this way. Our grandmothers used a small suppository, homemade, of some pure soap or mutton tallow and glycerine (wet and insert carefully in the rectum to encourage an evacuation of the bowels for the first few times). To-day we have tiny suppositories of glycerine especially prepared for babies, and these are used when for any reason the child becomes consti- pated. It is very important that the bowels should move every day. See what I have said elsewhere on what to do. It is important that the child should make water at regular intervals, also. If some slight difficulty arises, pouring water from one dish to another will generally produce results, a sort of whistling noise like the sound of running water is effective often. Sweet spirits of nitre is a home remedy. More serious things should be taken to a doctor. The next important habit to encourage is that of a regular period of exercise every day. (Every child should be taken up and turned over every hour at least while it is sleeping, this to prevent the circulation being cut off too long on one side, as also because if a child is laid on one side all the time it will grow one- sided, its head especially will show a marked enlarge- ment on one side). If it is a healthy child its little legs can be rubbed and slapped and it can lie naked for an air bath and a good kick every day. If it is rubbed all over with corn starch after its exercise or air bath, it will prevent its taking cold. You can toss and play with baby for a season every day, REGULAR HABITS. 7 1 but ever bear in mind that its little spine should be carefully supported always, and care should be exer- cised that it gets no falls. Sleeping hours should be regular, and the more sleep the better so long as the little one does not turn night into day. Don't ever cripple your baby's mentality, or injure its heart action for life by any soothing syrups or dopes, however, to make it sleep. See what we have said elsewhere on this subject. If a baby is well and comfortable it will sleep all the length of time its par- ticular little make-up requires. Get your baby in the habit of sleeping in the fresh air as much as possible, covered and protected as much as is needful from the elements and the light or heat of the sun. All too many babies 'eyes are injured in this way, yes, totally blinded. Don't get in the habit of keeping your baby too warmly clad, or wrapped night or day, and don't put too little clothing on. You can best judge by placing its little hands to your lips, if they are cold it has not sufficient clothing on; if the baby perspires at the least exertion it is too warmly clad. Always have a knit woolen shirt well down over your baby's abdomen. It should have buttonholes a half inch apart front and back, and the diaper pinned to it to hold it in place. Always keep its feet well wrapped in woolen pinning blankets, and later cashmere stockings. Keep the hands in woolen mittens and a blanket around those where occasion requires. Getting the 72 PERTAINING TO BABY. hands cold will give the baby acute indigestion and severe colic, the effects of which it will not get over in a great while. If the abdomen is exposed, or the feet, there will be a like condition of affairs. Get in the habit of taking your baby's wraps off the moment you get into the house, whether it is your own house or that of a friend. With wraps on in the ordinary temperature, it will perspire and going into the air causes the pores to close and often a chill that is very detrimental to its health in more ways than I have time to explain here. Don't let your baby get in the habit of sucking its thumb or fist, and then later tie its hands up in rags or behind its back until one is partially paralyzed, perhaps, or allow a nurse girl to slap its hands to break it of the habit until she injures the muscles of the fingers, or shock its nervous system irreparably. (I have seen these things done, and the result of them, many times.) There is no danger whatever in giving a child a com- forter, nor is there any danger in- taking the nipple off the bottle and leaving it in the child's mouth as a com- forter, the old whim, of the child sucking wind, not- withstanding. It is impossible for a child to suck wind, try it yourself and see how much you can swallow. The air goes into your lungs, and all that you find in the stomach is that which is carried in, in the food you eat, or that absorbed from surrounding tissues by some plant or animal life (in the stomach) that has a great affinity for oxygen. Who Shall Care For Baby? HAPPY indeed should be the mother who is strong and healthy; wise and learned; cultured and accomplished; and who has the time and means and disposition to be her child's caretaker, teacher, instructor, guide, molder, and I might almost say maker, because a child's earliest impressions are the lasting ones, and are so hard to eradicate that they (good or bad, true or false, despite the efforts of later instructors or com- panions, (follow the receptive minds, all too often, through childhood, youth, manhood, age — to the grave. Don't understand me that I do not believe a child's nature, habits, tendencies, can be modified by a congenial uplifting, atmosphere, that there is always room in the mind for an abundance of beautiful things that will eventually crowd the bad into a very small corner and monopolize the brain, if these last are kept active by continual use, but I do know that like, as the nails that are pulled out of the tree and the holes remain, so a scar be it large or small in that little mind, on that little character, that little soul is never wholly obliterated. I have known wealthy and even bright and learned parents to allow their child to grow up almost wholly in the society of domestics (some of whom they would not allow to care for their heirlooms and bric-a-brac or clean 74 PERTAINING TO BABY. their silver) , and then people wonder why these children do not have pleasing manners, refined modes of eating, or use good English or expression. A child's mind should be fed every day as carefully as its body, and the choice of food for each individual little mind is no small task. It really needs a Solomon, but since we can't have one, we shall have to do the next best thing, and the old German adage tells us: "If you want to be sure a thing is done get at it yourself." This is good advice and can more often than one thinks be- come a lasting blessing to all concerned. Now the first best way to "get at it" is to study the disposition, and tendencies of father or mother (ances- try further back may help you some), then study the child's disposition and tendencies, then choose and pass out to it systematically in doses sufficiently small to be masticated, swallowed and digested, that food that appeals to you as being best suited to the nourishment, the upbuilding of this particular child's better self. This means something for mind and body. You can't build the one rightly independent of the other. Choice stories must be told accurately in good English, mental impressions made by example as well as precept, in love, thoughtfulness, truthfulness, kindness, sacrifices; the little body, hands, and feet must become skillful, mind absorbed in work and study, relaxed in play. All this means that you must understand yourself first, what constitutes grandeur, nobility, in human life, WHO SHALL CARE FOR BABY. 75 be studying it and living it yourself, while you are impress- ing it upon your child. Who, but a mother would ever reach the place where she could strike this attitude toward a child. If this is true and the here and the hereafter are hang- ing in the balance, the question is answered, — No one but the mother should care for her child. This does not mean that the mother should be in constant attendance, far from it (a mother needs diversion, the same as people in every other walk of life, she must have a change of food, a change of thought, a change of air, to keep her at her best, mentally and physically), but it does mean that she should have a constant supervision over it and spend with it a certain number of hours every day. This will keep her in touch with its attitude, thoughts, acts and give her a chance to correct the wrong acts or false impressions, or remove the cause for them, before they have become a habit. (Let me say here baby is a very indefinite term, mine will be my babies at twenty one, possibly forty one if God spares my life.) Now that your task is set, Mother, a few suggestions can be offered, and these will be mental, because I have before said much of the physical. Very early one should begin to teach a child to avoid danger but not to be a coward. The best way to do this is not to allow it to be frightened the first time. I have seen a child once frightened by a jack-in-the-box, start in fear at every swift moving thing for weeks and months, 76 PERTAINING TO BABY. this is a constant wear on the nervous system that is a great and lasting detriment to the child, lessens its use- fulness and shortens its life. Ghost stories "Red Riding Hood." Jack the Giant Killer," " Babes in the Woods," are a relic of barbarism, and are a needless bugbear for young children, haunting their dreams as well as their waking hours if left alone, They may be read to older children but only as a matter of history, are they of any value whatever. A child should never be tickled by anyone except to resuscitate it in suffocation etc., it often causes fits. A child should be taught to love the dark, and this is best accomplished by the mother, sit- ting in the twilight and rocking and petting her baby, and telling it comforting and soothing stories until the darkness has settled over the earth. Many children lead a miserable existence from their fear of the dark. The fear of the dark is another relic of barbarism. Boys and girls should play together, it makes the boys, if properly guided by a competent chaperon, chivalrous and gallant, gives them an idea of the deference, respect, protection they owe to all womankind, mother, sister, wife, daughter, friend, stranger, in their relative places. It softens and smoothes the naturally over-rough and boisterous natures, if this other relic of barbarism still lingers in any. It is instructive as well as entertaining for them to play house, help the girls cook, wash dishes and care for the baby dolls. WHO SHALL CARE FOR BABY. 77 It is well for the girls to join the boys in their sports, also riding, rowing, swimming, ball, race, tennis, any out of doors sport, because by encouraging exercise in the open air the girls are made stronger, healthier, and better companions in later life. Both sexes learn to read the opposite and are better prepared to choose a partner for life. In all this, however, the mother should never forget that it is important to exercise careful, constant super- vision over the morals of all children. If normal they are of an investigating turn of mind, and following the sug- gestions of chance associates might perform acts, or form habits that would leave a blot on their pure mindedness and your good judgment. The competent chaperon, however, will avoid all this, but the fact that they are few and far between is in evidence on every side of us. Then the mother has an added task, that of molding, modifying, making a chaperon. It can be done, "All are as clay in the hands of the potter." It takes an artist to make the angel from the clay, however, Are you one? "Act, act, in the living present, heart within and God o'er head." "Among the pitfalls in our way, The best of us walk blindly; So wary be, and watch and pray, And judge your brother kindly." The Sick Baby. THE sick baby is a most deplorable little object, and our heart goes out at once in sympathy and love for it regardless of whether it is our baby or not, and we immediately set about to see what we can do to relieve it's suffering. In most instances where people use only those things with which they are familiar, relief is obtained, for a season at least, and no harm done. If the little one is too small to tell you where the trouble lies, and very sick, your anxiety is intense, no one but a mother can realize how you feel. (It is a suspense that is worse than death in some cases, if you are a young mother, and have no one who is near you, in whom you have confidence, to comfort and assure you.) The doc- tors books that you may have are so complex, the words so big, the meaning so obscure that you find no consola- tion in them, even if you are not so distressed that you cannot comprehend what you are reading. Let me say to such as these, that there are a few little helps I can offer that will save you many a heart-ache — the first is this — "A baby shows distressing signs of sickness generally at the first onset of the disease, but babies respond to medi- cine, and methods of relief offered almost immediately. "If you do not get unnecessarily alarmed you can do more and better service to your child. ' ' Let your motto be not "The most you can do" but "The least you can do to give relief." The simple things too, not anything complex. THE SICK BABY. 79 Remember this — except your child has some serious inherited disease, most of its indisposition comes from what it eats that don't digest. Curdled milk gives dis- tress, milk that becomes too acid, irritates the lining membrane of the whole intestinal tract, rotted food infects your baby's blood causing fever. Now the best thing to do is feed the little one no more than it can digest of the right kind of food, and bring to your aid, if necessary, the best doctor you can find who has had experience with feeding children. Give him a fair chance to watch the child and do his very best at the very onset of the difficulty, listen to his advice and obey it implicitly until you get results or else don't discredit it, but rather blame yourself for any failure. Certain children thrive better on one certain kind of food, certain others on a different, and even specialists on the feeding of babies may meet their Waterloo once in a while. Remember this, once a baby gets serious indigestion it is a herculean task to find anything, for some time after that will digest in anything like a normal manner, so you will see how important it is to see to it that the baby does not get indigestion, especially that the condi- tion does not remain for any length of time. I have sug- gested (in my papers on flatulence, diarrhoea, constipa- tion, colic, etc.), what to do before the doctor comes. If your child has fever, refer to what I have said on colds, fever, bowel troubles, etc. You can never make a mistake by giving an injection, until you have removed So PERTAINING TO BABY. any possible cause of infection from that source, a sponge bath under cover of blankets (a thorough drying after, to avoid colds), will lower the temperature also. I have cured many a headache, and many an earache by giving an injection and repeating until the gas is removed from the bowels. Many people hold the im- impression that if you give a child an injection or two or three in a year a habit will be formed, and they will allow it to suffer all kinds of discomfort for almost any length of time rather than resort to it. This is a needless fear but it always wise to give a laxative by the mouth (after the injection has started the food on the downward course) if necessary. A vegetable or herb remedy is always preferable because it acts the same as a change of food. It isn't wise to wait until a child needs physic, but rather if it is inclined to constipation give it foods that have a tendency to keep the bowels loose or a tiny dose of senna after one or even all three meals, every day for a season. (See vomiting, diarrhoea, etc.) Loss of appetite and a coated tongue is generally a prayer of the babies' stomach for a little period of rest. Give it, and then feed the white of an egg, slowly stirred into a glass of cold water a teaspoonful at a time and watch results. Go back to your milk or regular diet after the rest. A sick child should be kept quiet. Fever and indisposi- tion leave the whole nervous surface sore and lame and very sensitive to shock from the waves of sound ; Shout- THE SICK BABY. 8l ing, explosions, etc., are especially to be avoided, but the low talking of friends in the room is very annoying as you will easily perceive (by watching its uneasiness and tossing at such times) if you are painstaking in your effort. I have known a sick child to go into a spasm from the constant tapping of a typewriter. A sick child should be encouraged to lie in bed^ as much as possible, when handling and lifting are likely to make it sore and lame. There are times however when there is lung trouble, that difficulty in breathing, make the child more comfortable sitting up in bed or over the nurses shoulder, consult your physician if you have any doubts in your mind regarding the best course to pursue along this as along any line. If you have shown wisdom in your choice of doctors, have employed one scholarly, deep, wise, tactful, kind, honest, his knowledge and judgment will be valuable to you, prize it and show him by prompt payment of your doctors' bill that he has not studied and labored in vain during his long years of preparation for such a self- sacrificing, weighty task — that of comforting human be- ings, saving human life. A sick child should not be kept too warm, because a child bundled to perspire, unnecessarily, is more apt to take cold, unless carefully dried by a rubbing all over with corn starch, and redressed, and also because it is as uncomfortable to be too warm as it is to be too cold, or chilly. A sick child should be given water (except it is vomiting continually) in quantities of one, two or three S2 PERTAINING TO BABY. swallows at a time in every disease. It is better to give a child a small cup or glass to drink from, because it's size appeals to them, and because it is often next to impossible to take a large cup or glass from them, when they have had what you deem sufficient, and further the struggle, made to retain it against your efforts at removal, is very apt to damage a weak heart. A sick child should have it's body kept clean. The perspiration brings poisons out of the body that are apt by reabsorption to poison the system or aggravate or bring on some skin diasese. Careful local washing also powder should follow each evacuation of the bowels. As to the kind of bath to use in some diseases, ask your doctor. A sick child should have it's mouth kept clean, because a clean mouth feels more comfortable, because the nour- ishment has more taste, and is better relished, because the medicine is more readily absorbed and brings better results, because filth in the mouth will reabsorb and poison the child, because the decomposition which goes on may seriously injure the teeth. A sick child should have a clean bed, clothes changed often, boiled, and well aired in the sun and wind if pos- sible. In prolonged sickness it is well to have two beds, one for night, and one for day, pads and rubber sheets should be used where there is danger of in any way soil- ing the bed. If the odor from the bowel movement is offensive, burn coffee, or sugar or a special pastille, and change the air as soon as practical, considering the patients condition. Symptoms of Disease THE sick child, while sometimes very passive, is gen- erally very restless, and often very young children will place their hands over the seat of pain. The first in the mouth, with a show of distress, the hand over the ears, pulling the hair in headache, picking the nose for worms and other bowel troubles, hands over the stomach, indigestion, drawing up the feet and squirm- ing in colic, may all mean much to the watchful mother. The kind of cry furnishes one of the most valuable means of learning what ails a baby — there is the unremit- ting cry of hunger or thirst; the scratch as if pricked with a pin; the moan of earache, etc; the cry of con- stant irritation as of eczema; the paroxysmal cry, severe for a time and then ceasing absolutely, colic; a peevish whining cry; a cry that shows a temper, etc. Let us hope most mothers will study preventive medi- cine, and practice it so carefully that they will never hear either or at least many of these cries. The kind of cough is a great help in diagnosing its cause. A frequent loud, nearly painless cough, at first tight, and later loose, is heard in bronchitis; a short, tight, suppressed cough, which is followed by a grimace and perhaps by a cry, indicates some innamation about the chest, often pneumonia. There is a wheezy, barking, croupy cough, that can- not be mistaken once heard, Spasmodic croup. In true 84 PERTAINING TO BABY. croup the cough is hoarse and almost noiseless. The expulsive long cough followed by the drawing in of the breath with a peculiar whoop, in whooping cough is never to be mistaken. Enlarged tonsils, elongated palate, or irritation in the throat, irritation about the nose or in the ears will sometimes produce a cough. There is a stomach cough from worms or other irritation in the stomach. Then there is what is commonly called a nervous cough. The breathing of a child will show, often where the trouble lies; the child breathes very slow if there is trouble with the brain ; poisoning by opiates produces the same effect ; frequent deep sighing and yawning are also seen. Gurgling in the throat shows mucous in the back part of it. Labored breathing shows pneumonia, diph- theria of the larynx, asthma. Breathing through the mouth shows an obstruction of the nostrils, sometimes this is a growth, sometimes only catarrhal obstruction. Short quick breathing shows fever, or pain. If a childs pulse is rapid it has fever, and the cause should be found and removed immediately if possible. It often comes from a cold, constipation, disturbance of digestion, etc., but is likely to come from the absorption of pus, around an ulcerated tooth, in an ear, in the end of the penis of a boy, clitoris of a girl, anywhere, and this is an important thing to know because so few people assign it to this cause. Temperatures of 103-105-107 are serious, a drop to 95 or 97 is dangerous. SYMPTOMS OF DISEASE. 85 With some children slight causes produce a tempera- ture of 103 or more, others almost never have a fever, even though they have conditions that should tend to produce it. The first class have a tendency to take all poisons into the blood, their power of resistance has been weakened ; the last will throw off pus or poison or anything that would have a tendency to disturb the heart. In adults about eight or ten beats of the pulse and about two or three respirations may be added for each degree of temperature above normal. In children the ratio is more variable and the increase in pulse and respiration is greater for each degree of temperature, generally. Fever for any length of time means partial cooking of tissues and always serious damage if not death by spasms, or kidney, heart or other complications which sooner or later may develop. Get the temperature down as soon as possible and keep it down as much as possible by all reasonable means and methods, while you are removing the cause. Get in the habit of putting your lips to a child's forehead and you will detect a rise of temperature almost immediately, get in the habit of asking if it's bowels have moved every day. A depression of temperature below normal should be looked into immediately. This generally comes from exhaustion, profuse diarrhoea, obstinate, continued vom- iting, hemorrhage, insufficient nourishment, anaemia, S6 PERTAINING TO BABY. chronic diseases of the heart and lungs, and in premature infants. A coated tongue or a bad breath should never be neglected for an hour in a baby or even a young child. It means absorption, constipation or a cold, or catarrhal trouble. Remove the cause. Grinding the teeth is generally attributed to worms but more often it is due to nervous conditions caused by indigestion, constipation, too much noise or handling, or in rare cases disease of the brain, it may precede or follow convulsions, sometimes is only a habit. Biting the finger nails is often caused by any of the above symptoms and always comes from nervous diffi- culty. Proper food and quiet surroundings generally change the thoughts and the habit is forgotten. The child who bites it's ringer nails is always a deep thinker and should not be overworked mentally. The manner of nursing affords important information. A baby whose nose is obstructed, or has pneumonia, will nurse but for a moment and then let go to breathe more satisfactorily; and if it drops the nipple with a cry we can suspect sore mouth. If it swallows with a gurgling noise, often stops to cough, and does as little nursing as pos- sible look for sore thoat. Ceasing to nurse at all means great weakness and often stupor or death coming on ex- cept there is brain trouble or the crisis when the baby may make an immediate great, change for the better that will continue. Don't crowd it with food because it SYMPTOMS OF DISEASE. 87 will take its strength to digest the food and only a very- small amount is needed or can be digested with a sick child. The bowel movement should be watched. Normally what passes an infant should be yellow. If it has white flakes of sour milk in it, not all it eats is digested. If it is green, flora are present, that means indigestion also, as well as that the baby's food, bottles, etc., have not been kept as clean as they should be. What passes the bowels is sometimes putty colored in disorders of the liver. Bloody in appearance means serious irritation of the intestinal tract, higher or lower, possibly worms. What passes the childs' bowels is black after taking bis- muth, charcoal or iron, and red after krameria, kino, haematoxylin. The urine that is very high colored and stains the diaper, or that shows a thick reddish cloud after standing, may accompany fever or indigestion. Sometimes the urine under these conditions is milky when first passed. A beef juice diet or highly nitrogenous food will produce the reddish cloud, or even actual red sand-like particles. A very yellow stain on the diaper indicates jaundice. The amount of urine passed is scanty in fever, diarrhoea and especially in acute Bright's disease. In the latter the urine is often of a smoky or even a muddy appearance. Watch for these symptoms after scarlet fever, because they are serious and a physician must get on the job immediately to be of value. Colds. A COLD, is by no means a disease peculiar to infancy or childhood; yet from its frequency, its tendency to be kept up by habit, and the little regard usually paid to it by those who have the care of children, richly deserves important notice in a work of this kind. Every cold your child has shortens its life (that is of course barring death by accident). A particular danger lies in the fact that it lays the foundation of many other diseases still more troublesome and dangerous. In a state of perfect health there is a fluid constantly passing off from the surface of the human body, this fluid is called sweat or perspiration, now when from any cause, the pores of the skin through which this fluid is wont to escape, become obstructed the labor of carrying out of the body that fluid which ought to have been car- ried out by the skin, is thrown upon some other part. Through the law of human economy and sympathy, this work of charity is always performed by the mucous membrane which lines all cavities of the body which open to, or communicate with the air. If from any cause the lungs, the nasal membrane, etc., should become weakened, that part has a tendency to become diseased and broken down, great impairment of health and often death ensues. COLDS. 89 A cold affects the eyes, the ears, the nose, the throat, the lungs, the stomach, the bowels, the kidneys, the bladder, the vagina, throwing off a mucous discharge, generally, that starves the system through the waste that is going on, but worse weakens and diseases the overworked membrane whatever it may chance to be. It is the mother or caretaker of children that can do the most toward preventing this obstruction of perspira- tion that produces the conditions that we call a cold. There are many things that obstruct the perspiration, or in other words close the pores of the skin. The first and most important, perhaps is sudden and unexpected exposure to cold, forcing nature to close the little muscles at the mouth of each little pore of the skin, thus protect- ing the sensitive underlying tissue. If these little muscles were not in a healthy condition and could not close at an instant notice neuralgia and many other very serious conditions would ensue. You will see that it is important that they should close and it is impossible to prevent their closing, but they must not be allowed to remain so and there are many means at hand to open them. Don't try to sweat profusely just a show of perspiration and that kept up. The most important thing to prevent a cold is to keep your body in a robust condition by regular habits, whole- some, nourishing food (not more than you can digest), and healthful, cheerful labor of mind and body. Clean cloth- 90 CHILDHOOD. ing, sufficient to keep you comfortable and not enough to make you perspire with the least exertion. Don't keep your houses too warm. Don't remain indoors with outdoor wraps on, take a bath but not just after eating or when you are too tired. Don't eat when too tired. Take deep breaths of pure, clean air always if possible but especially when you are walking, and don't forget to straighten your shoulders as far back as possible, throw out your chest, and draw in your abdomen. God meant we should have a strong graceful form, and it is easily attained. In years of experience with young people I have found many cases where both girls and boys had rough course skins, which grew rougher and coarser as they approached manhood and womanhood, and their faces were often filled with blackheads, and for no other reason than the fact that they had a habit of catching cold and letting each cold have its run as they called it. Reason on this yourself and see if you can make yourself believe that a repeatedly conjested nose and face and the constantly repeated wipings and blowings that it, of necessity, must get, is going to leave it in as soft and fair a condition as it would be were it kept in a normal, healthy condition. Don't let anyone make you believe you must feed a cold and starve a fever. A cold is a miniature fever, the less food you get while you have a cold the sooner you will be rid of it; drink all you want, small quantities at a time, cold or hot water or weak peppermint, or penny- COLDS. 91 royal tea ; weak ginger tea is helpful where nothing bet- ter is at hand. I have mentioned, before other things that may be used by a careful mother. Among them aconite in tiny doses. The hot pack grandmother used, a hot bath with a warm bed for a short time, a brisk rubbing with a towel, as rough as the skin of the patient will permit, and something to loosen the bowels quickly. Worth. His worth is warrant for his welcome. — Two Gentlemen of Verona. What can enable sots or slaves, or cowards? Alas! not all the blood of all the Howards. — Pope. Greatness and goodness are not means, but ends. — Coleridge. " Who counts his brother's welfare As sacred as his own; Who loves, forgives and pities, He serveth Me alone." —Milton. Catarrh. CATARRH comes from repeated colds and allowing waste material to remain in the nasal cavity until it decays, poisoning the surrounding tissue, and later destroying the bones of the nose. Keep your nasal cavity so you can breathe through it and you won't have catarrh. Many children go weeks and months at a time without a handkerchief, and many do not know how to blow their noses when they have one, although this should be one of the most important points to be remem- bered in a child's early education. Another important point to be remembered is not to use a handkerchief on a child's nose that has been used for any other person, especially for a person who has had tubercular or catarrhal trouble, without first boiling it at least fifteen minutes. It is an easy matter to infect a child by kissing in the mouth, feeding with the spoon or fork used by the mother or caretaker, or by the instruments not carefully cleansed, in the hands of careless doctors or nurses, by soap and towels, combs and brushes, sleeping in the same bed, etc., and if the child cannot stand what the mother or caretaker could and dies it is falsely said to have inherited the disease. The complications that are brought on by catarrh are many, among them being obliged to sleep with the mouth open, thus taking the cold air, that should be warmed by passing through the nose directly into the lungs, often with damaging effect ; also the breathing in of tiny parti- cles of dust that the mucous and hairs in the nasal cavity CATARRH. 93 are supposed to sift out; then if one has catarrh of the nose they are apt to have catarrh of the stomach, intes- tines, and possibly all mucous surfaces. The blood of a catarrhal person is never properly aerated and a dark skin, black rings under the eyes, and often skin diseases are sure to be the outcome. The first thing to do for catarrh is to keep the nasal cavity as free from mucous as possible, burning or at least boiling every handkerchief or piece. In order to do this it is essential to take or use something that will cause a free discharge from the nose at least twice a day, morning and evening ; this is to wash out the pores of the mucous surface and take away the accumulation of disease germs and pus or waste material that will, under ordinary circumstances, have collected during the night, (from the impurities thrown out of the blood, the sour eructations from the indigestion or fermentation of food eaten the night before as also of the impure gases that are thrown off by the lungs) ; evenings to remove the accu- mulation of the day. With a perfectly healthy person (one whose membranes have not been hardened by re- peated colds, and poisoning by infection, one whose membranes are healthy and sensitive as an infants) , the first stir in the clear morning air will cause sneezing, this is natures way of cleansing these parts, and years ago, without knowing why, was considered, by every old doctor and every old grandmother who considered her- self a sage on conditions, signs, cause and effect, and home remedies, "a good sign." If the "good sign" was 94 CHILDHOOD. not in evidence these same old doctors and sages gave a pinch of snuff to produce a similar result, and that there was "method in their madness" we all have to admit when we realize how few people had catarrh in those strenuous days of old, as compared with a large number, of the pampered class who suffer with the disease today, as also those children who pick their noses because they have not been cleaned in the morning. Xow while we don't want to advise you to take snuff, we do want you to see the point, and if possible detect the first signs of catarrhal trouble with your child's very important little member — the nose — and encourage a proper care of the same. I know of one mother who had very small means at her command, who brought up a large family of clean, healthy children (not an unhealthy nose in the bunch) who rubbed essence of peppermint on the bridge of the nose and across above the e}^es, being careful not to get, ever, too strong fumes in the eyes, and let it breathe into the nose (not into the mouth) , the dust from a box of soap powder (not a bad idea) that had been shaken, to produce sneezing when she saw the least signs of congestion in that member of her child's anatomy. This was a case of "an ounce of prevention being worth a pound of cure" in more ways than one, most important of which, is that the nasal membrane that has been kept clean and healthy is not so susceptible to any infection as one that has been weakened by repeated colds and congestion, as also that the whole anatomy of a child with a good breathing apparatus is stronger, and better CATARRH. 95 able to resist or throw off any disease, than one that has been weakened by the repeated colds that some mothers foolishly allow to run their course. Today we use atomizers (and right here let me say there are more imitations, or in other words useless, worse than useless articles under this name, on the mar- ket today, than there are of almost any other apparatus, that has been invented for the supposed benefit of hu- manity) to spray the cavities of the nose, Frye's Atomi- zer, Portland, Maine (probably to be had at one drug store at least in any city of note) — is my favorite. This atomizer throws a fine spray of oil that can be made to reach all portions of the internal cavities of the nose. I use five drops each of the oil of peppermint, penny-royal, cajuput, gaultheria, and rose, diluted with a bland oil to a degree that will modify it's severity, and yet insure its efficiency in the respective case for which it is intend- ed. This combination of oils is healing, soothing and cleansing and cannot possibly do harm and if used occa- sionally as a measure in preventive medicine, will do wonders, often in the case of congestion or infection. Say five to ten times a day is not too much. In chronic cases, except an operation is imperative, Stick-to-it-tive- ness will produce results. Systemic care is always necessary, in the treatment of catarrh, as in every abnormal condition to which flesh is heir, and while there is much in preceding essays to put you on the right track, a competent physician should be consulted. Consumption or Tuberculosis. EVERY home in our land should have some instruction regarding this disease as it has little respect for persons, the rich and poor alike are it's prey, and the rich infect the poor as often as the poor infect the rich, and the one seems about as hard as the other to make comprehend the great need for especial care of the sputa of a tubercular subject. Most people can realize that the seeds of a Dandelion blow from place to place and take root where the soil is suitable for their nourishment, but when you talk to them of a seed or plant so small it cannot be seen except under a microscope they don't or won't try to realize that it grows and spreads where it finds suitable soil in a similar manner, they can't or won't understand that suitable soil for this persistent little plant is the waste material in their bodies, they can't or won't understand that persistent effort along two lines would soon sweep the disease from the face of the earth, the one burning of the sputa from every person having ever so light a form of the disease, the other keeping the bodies free from waste material. There are several important things to be done to keep the body from accumulating waste material, most important of which is to be sure all food passes out of the body before it has time to decay, and be absorbed, in this state, by the tissues of the body. If you should place a dish of food, of any, or CONSUMPTION OR TUBERCULOSIS. 97 of many different kinds on a shelf until it rotted or even fermented your animal instinct, not mentioning human intellect, would inform you at once that you must not swallow even one mouthful, you would expect it to kill you, but you don't stop to reason far enough to give heed to the fact that the food which rots in your body is equally as bad and will slowly shorten your life and with the complications that are sure to arise, eventually kill you. Of major importance also is the bath of fresh air to the lungs and all mucous surfaces of the entire body, fast walking and deep breathing, with the shoulders thrown back, several times a day, and plenty of soap and water for the entire surface exposed to the air, at least twice a week. I have before placed much emphasis on the importance of eating plain nourishing food at regular intervals, never when too tired and never before a bath, but I can't repeat it too often. One more very impor- tant thing you must do — In the most kindly way possible teach every one, where your influence can possibly be felt, what I have taught you, viz. Don't spit anywhere that gives a chance for the germ of tuberculosis to infect your children or neighbor, or later perhaps reinfect you. Look out for the germs on your hands and in your pockets from handkerchiefs or coughing into the hand. Look out for a clean thermometer and a clean tongue depressor — in the examination of the sick, especially sick children. Debilitating Discharges, DEBILITATING discharges are by no means un- common or harmless, especially among the female children of large towns and cities, where the modes of life are more arbitrary and exciting, and consequently less favorable to health. These discharges are sometimes the result of catarrah; for as we have seen in the pre- ceding chapter on, " The Xose and It's Surrounding Tissue," the stoppage of the pores of the skin causes the work of elimination to be thrown upon the mucous men- brane, and wherever its location — nose, throat, vaginal tract, etc. — if from any cause it is weakened, a catarrhal discharge is generally thrown oft. The condition may arise from an inherited predisposition, an accident, neg- lect of proper cleanliness, improper diet or infection. There is a false modesty between parents and their children. I might say between honored grown-ups and juniors that works a great deal of harm to the human race, in that a great deal of legitimate information that it is the place of these to impart is left to the ignorant, and possibly evil-minded, chance associate. Young peo- ple should be taught to care for all parts of the body properly. They should be taught also that all healthy functions of the body are perfectly proper in their legiti- mate places. It is important that they should understand DEBILITATING DISCHARGES. 99 that every possible act of a human being is noble or enob- led by the wisdom, judgment, pure mindedness and dis- cretion of the actor. A child will come innocently to its elders in authority with all questions and difficulties if he receives an honest answer every time, but his perception is generally very very keen and if he finds you are trying to evade his question, he will believe there is a "Nigger in the fence," as one of my boys put it. "Honesty is the best policy," in the discussion of the reproductive organs — the so- called "Sex Problem, "the same as in eveything else. It is a good plan to teach a child regarding any disease or difficulty arising therefrom along the line, of thought, of a dear old colored mammy I used to know; A little girl felt very badly over getting lousy. She moaned and cried and parents and friends failed to comfort her until mammy appeared on the scene and said: "Laws sake child its no disgrace to get lice. Its a disgrace to keep them." If we could impress this lesson in a way that would leave people of all ages freer to divulge the facts regarding any disease or difficulty, and then that the disgrace lies in keeping the disease if it is in our power to rid ourselves of it, we shall have accomplished much in the battle of trying to rid our land of diseases in general, but especially those diseases that are carried for months and years, ruthlessly, needlessly, because of a delicacy on the part of modest women and children, as also the fear that they will be considered guilty of some indiscre- IOO CHILDHOOD. tion, or wrong doing, of which they are often entirely innocent. While we are teaching children that most diseases can be prevented and most diseases can be cured we must not forget to strongly impress the fact that the result of the disease is much harder to eradicate if not impossible of removal. I explain this to my children, my pupils, my hearers in this way: "You may drive a lot of nails into a tree and then pull them all out again but the holes will remain." A hot douche of salt and water is beneficial where it is necessary to tone up the walls of the vagina. Salt and water can be used as a nasal douche or a gargle with a decidedly perceptible result. Boracic acid or even borax in a mild wash, say a teaspoonful to two quarts of water makes a simple and efficient wash for any of the mucous surfaces. Alum water not too strong answers well as a home remedy in many cases. Pure soap in water will do wonders if it is used as often as once or twice a day, this is a home remedy that is generally at hand. Any disease of a doubtful character should be taken immediately to a competent diagnostitian, because the longer a disease is left the greater will be the damage done to the location, to the whole system, to the relatives, friends or strangers who may either become infected in a greater or lesser degree, have their nerves injured or wrecked by unnecessary worry, responsibility or labor and eventually possibly to those who support charitable DEBILITATING DISCHARGES. IOI institutions and their inmates, often at the expense, of the lack of proper food, clothing and education, for their own children. The greatest good to the greatest number should be our aim and it can become nearer and nearer a fact only as the conditions of health are improved. People who are sick in mind or body are lazy and must be supported by the labor of others, this makes an enor- mous strain on the capable. Every living intelligent human being can become a factor in one way or another in this onward march toward a perfect vitality for the human race. Thought. Thought is the property of him who can entertain it, and of him who can adequately place it. — Emerson. Thought takes man out of servitude into freedom. — Emerson. Those that think must govern those that toil. — Goldsmith. In every epoch of the world, the great event, parent of all others, is it not the arrival of a thinker in the world? — Carlyle. Hernia or Rupture. THERE are two kinds of rupture or hernia found in a child, umbilical and inguinal. The first form is quite frequent and is formed in several ways, among them holding the child in a bad position, bandaging the belly too tightly or too loosely, much crying, etc. When any or all of these causes are applied to a child of somewhat feeble constitution, the bowels are apt to protrude more or less, and sometimes to an extent that is truly alarming, especially to a young and in- experienced mother. The first step to be taken, when a condition like the above presents itself, is to find the cause and remove it, then make a compress of some kind, a little larger than the opening. I advise a large button, covered with woolen, sewed to a band and worn over the opening for a few weeks, when the hernia disappears. If the bowels are kept from crowding upon the mus- cular edges of the covering of the abdomen (the rim of the belly, so-called), the edges of the muscles which had before become thinned and greatly weakened, now gain strength and extend until they gradually fill up the opening and the navel becomes normal. Inguinal hernia is a condition arising from the omen- tum or intestine or both passing through the inguinal HERNIA OR RUPTURE. 103 canal and is more difficult to manage or to cure. It is liable to take place at any period of life, but is more frequent and troublesome in early infancy, sometimes it is troublesome from birth. For this complaint — whatever may be the age — the more skillful practitioners have recommended a truss to be worn day and night until a cure is effected. I have had many and varied experiences with rup- tures, I have cured them by injection under the skin, by replacing them and fitting a truss, by a simple, home-constructed compress. I have operated when that seemed the last resort. I now cure an inguinal hernia on a child by an application that draws the water out of the swelling (having first used a Balm of Gilead preparation to take out the soreness), have the child kept from crying as much as possible, and left reclining in a position (the head lower than the body) that allows deep breathing to draw the bowel and omentum back into the body. A properly adjusted compress (mentioned above) will do the rest, as a general rule. Ruptures come often at the age of puberty and many more disappear at this age, in a manner known as a spontaneous cure. I have never seen the time when I considered it wise to leave such a condition wholly to nature. ("Man's extremity is God's opportunity".) Adhesions, inflammation, death are likely to be the outcome. Hydrocele and Varicocele. THE above are diseases of the scrotum, any male child is liable to develop either, but fortunately they seldom do. Hydrocele is an enlarged condition caused by an excessive secretion of water in the parts. It has been called dropsy of the scrotum, sometimes children are born with this condition. Moth- ers can easily detect it by its equal distension, its trans- parency, and by its not being increased in size by the crying of the infant, as is a rupture. I use an application as in a case of rupture, that draws out the water and hardens the tissue of the parts, then I pay a persistent heed to the diet of the child, aid digestion if necessary, insist upon lots of fresh air, a legitimate amount of exercise and cleanliness, which soon effects a cure. Varicocele (enlarged veins of the scrotum) may be the outcome of a lowered vitality, weakened constitu- tion, inherited or acquired, or an injury. Packs of cotton saturated with hot salt and water will do wonders in this condition, a home remedy that may be used in all such conditions if care is used not to let the clothing remain damp and cold to produce congestion and fever. I use practically the same regimen as in rupture and hydrocele. A good physician should be called in each of the three conditions, if at hand, and within the means of those HYDROCELE AND VERICOCELE. 105 in authority — and let me say right here that there are a lot of things that you can go without better than to neglect the medical and surgical aid that is urgent in the upbuilding of a strong, healthy, nearly perfect little human body. Work. Genuine work alone, what thou workest faithfully, that is eternal, as the Almighty Founder and World- Builder, Himself. — Carlyle. Let no one 'till his death Be called unhappy. Measure not the work Until the day's out and the labor done — E. B. Browning. In every rank, or great or small, 'Tis industry supports us all. — Gay. We enjoy ourselves only in our work, our doing; and our best doing is our best enjoyment. — Jacobi. It is better to wear out than to rust out. — Bishop Home. Circumcision. THIS is an operation that sometimes becomes necessary on the Gentile portion of our popu- lation, and one that in many cases demands immediate attention. I have known several cases where an operation was delayed with disastrous results; one that of a child that had inherited from a phlegmatic easy-going father the condition that made the need for the operation of circumcision, from the mother a nervous constitution that could not so well tolerate the irritation incident upon such a condition. The struggle with the mother's nervous constitution and the father's malfor- mation caused eventually a paralysis of one limb. The sexual organs should receive the best care and attention possible, first, because they are the procreative organs; second, because they are the most sensitive part of the human body; third, because when they are wrong the whole nervous system, the whole body is wrong. Often the stretching or slitting operation is all that is needed to bring the parts, also the whole nervous system, into a more nearly normal condition. Whatever is done must not be delayed until there is a nervous breakdown. I ask you to be cautious in your choice of a surgeon because we cannot deny that this ,like a great many other parts of the human body, is often needlessly CIRCUMCISION. 107 mutilated by surgeons so-called, who, as one very frank old doctor put it, are either fools or knaves, but, to be a little more charitable, I will say lack knowledge, wisdom, judgment and discretion, or possibly are hard pushed for a few extra dollars that some of your neighbors or friends (it couldn't possibly be you) should have paid long ago on an old bill. Doctors and surgeons are under a great expense at all times. They have to pay for the medicine they are doling out to you, oftentimes long before you have been able, or found it convenient, to pay them, then they have to have costly instruments to work with, much rubber goods that gets hard or other- wise goes to pieces before they have had more than one, or possibly two, occasions to use them, they have to have light and heat to keep their offices comfortable while they are ministering to and entertaining you and yours, as well as often to thaw themselves and their belongings out after the long cold drives incident upon such a strenuous life, they have to have conveyances of different kinds that must be repaired constantly, that they may be in readiness to reach you quickly. They have to have clothes, food, and generally provide for a family. There are many people too poor to pay, there are many dead beats, and a worthy medical man dislikes to refuse his services to these, often because of his interest in humanity, more often because of his hopes of a future remuneration, most often because he would prefer to IoS CHILDHOOD. minister to two undeserving individuals rather than to offend one of the deserving. Now if a doctor makes fifty cents or a dollar on one of his patients and gives fifty cents or a dollar to the next, he won't be getting rich very fast. Pay your doctor so that he will have the satisfaction of knowing that you are appreciating the interest he is taking in you. Pay your doctor so that he may use his valuable time in the reading, thinking, planning that will make him a better life saver rather than a bill collector or a nervous wreck over his anxiety in the struggle for ex- istence. Don't call your family physician out nights if you can help it. He can't go without his hours of rest and deal out poison, or any medicine, intelligently, carefully and accurately. God be thanked, for the dead have left still Good undone for the living to do, Still some aim for the heart, and the will, And the soul of a man to pursue. — Owen Meredith. Never be idle a moment but thrifty and thoughtful of others. — Longfellow. Flatulence. FLATULENCE, Colic, Acidity, Constipation, Vom- iting, Diarrhoea, Cholera Infantum and Worms are all the outcome of the wrong food or more of it than the child can digest. If every mother could be made to understand that every mouthful of food her child ate more than it could digest became manure upon which plant and animal life grew and thrived, to the detriment of the child's comfort and oftentimes at the expense of its life, she would cease to urge it to eat after its natural instinct had told it that it had enough. How many of you mothers have seen anxious moments over your child when it had what is commonly called "Green Diarrhoea?" You recognize green grass, plants and moss, yes, even toadstools, when you see them in the fields and woods, but you never thought that with a microscope you could find them in the human body. You never thought that these little flora had such a determination to get air that they would draw it from the blood in the tissues of your body, into the intestinal tract, into the stomach, until your internal organs were distended to a degree that made you very uncomfortable in many ways, often causing complications that greatly decreased your usefulness in the world, eventually shortened, and many times ended life. Anything that is not normal is detrimental, in more ways than one. IIO CHILDHOOD. Large quantities of flora in the intestinal tract is not a normal condition. The distension of the stomach and intestines is not a normal condition. The distension causes the stomach to press against the heart and obliges the heart to make a greater effort to beat, every time damaging it and eventually causing chronic heart trouble. This distension causes the stomach to take up space that belongs to the lungs, making the transgressor or her victim, the baby, use more effort in order to get the air down to the very bottom of the lungs where it is absolutely essential it should go that the blood may be purified and whitened and fitted to properly nourish the body. The distended intestines press against the kidneys, the bladder, the reproductive organs, the liver, putting them out of commission in an incalculable degree and both stomach and intestines press upon the sensitive nerve centers and eventually this pressure and the added burden of improper nerve food (fermented, rotted, improperly digested) causes an irreparable dam- age to a human body. This condition of a distended stomach and intestines is called flatulence, and it doesn't take a philosopher to see that it means much to have all the vital organs and the nerves handicapped in this way. Don't try all kinds of lauded remedies to cure it, They generally do more harm than good. Try to find out what is the cause of this condition and then remove FLATULENCE. Ill the cause. Immediately a child is born, nature provides a special combination in the mother's milk which im- mediately cleanses the intestinal tract, acts as a physic; then there is nothing that can keep the baby so well as a continuation of this same life-giving stream — mother's milk — but the mother has a duty and a very important one, that of keeping this milk in a digestible state. Worry will kill your baby, it poisons the milk. Food you eat at all hours, pickles, indigestible foods, too much of one kind, eating before a bath, or when you are too tired, impairs the baby's stomach as it does your own. Just stop and reason a little, then let your better judg- ment be guided by your instinct, see what, how, when, where you can eat that leaves you in a state of comfort, and your baby will be comfortable also. There are cases where parental transgression has been so great that the poor babe inherits a weak digestive system, here our highest wisdom is called forth. Dry heat and massage are often of value, while packs in warm, wet sheets are very valuable in some cases. I have found Schlotterbeck's Hypophosphites of Lime and Soda a boon in some cases of super acidity, and small doses of Acidol-Pepsin, Bayer, exceptionally productive of results where the contents of the stomach were too alkaline. When the distance to a doctor is great people have used Peppermint, Pennyroyal, Baking Soda, Rhu- barb and, best of all, Senna Leaves, in small doses with impunity, and good results in many cases. But we must 112 CHILDHOOD. ever bear in mind not to overdo the thing, and how very tender an infant's stomach is. Too often we have to deal even more carefully with the abused stomachs of the middle-aged and older people to whom we are called upon to minister. In cases of young children or elderly people to-day it is best to give pepsin and pancreatic tablet to aid nature until we can remove the cause. This helps the intestinal indigestion as well as righting the wrongs in stomach. As a dog chooses meat, and a horse hay, through nature's provision — instinct — so the tiny germs of human life, each group or kind choose what is best for them, for instance, the brain germs choose material to build brain, the lung germs choose lung material, the liver germs choose liver material, the heart germs choose heart material, the kidney germs choose kidney material, the sexual organs choose what suits their need. If a group of germs in the brain should take to eating liver material we should find a spot of liver in the brain. Bones that are not fed go to pieces. Now then, what are we to do? Easy enough — Eat a combination of food, digest and assimilate it, that will give each of these little groups of so-called Phagocites a chance to grow and thrive and make your human body, your mind, your soul, what God meant it should be. When you cease to feed any organ of your body don't be surprised to see it pass into a state of disability, decay, or disappear from your being entirely, if it is given time, FLATULENCE. 113 before the dissolution of other parts, or the whole body, takes place. Many authors tell us that the unused parts pass out of existence but they fail to tell us that the unfed parts must pass away, except the laws of the universe be set aside. "Tell me what you eat and I will tell you what you are" has often been quoted, and a very few people have partially understood what it meant, but to understand it in its entirety and profit by it means health and a perfect vitality, which thus far has not been attained by any individual or group of individuals of the human race. We must have faith, hope, love and obedience to the laws of nature, which are the laws of God, before we begin to attain this higher vitality, this nobler human life, but that it can be attained and that it will be at- tained (in answer to the world-wide effort that is now being made along the line of pure food and right food study, and legislation, the mastery of the art of perfect control of self, appetite, passion and habits), in the not too far off future, cannot for a moment be questioned. Thine to work as well as pray, Clearing thorny wrongs away; Plucking up the words of sin, Letting heaven's warm sunshine in. — Whittier. Colic. COLIC is one of the diseases to which infants and young children are often liable and it is not only a source of great discomfort and detriment to them, but it is very wearing on the mother who often gets little rest night or day, to say nothing of poor dad, whose mission it is to become a temporary perambulator for a certain number of hours, certain nights, while mother regains her equilibrium. There are two kinds of colic, one appears as soon as the food is swallowed, which shows very plainly that the trouble is in the stomach, and must be caused by the kind or quantity of food eaten, or the state of the nerves or constitution; the other appears after the food has had time to pass from the stomach into the intestines and plainly shows that for some reason the stomach has not done its work in a satisfactory manner, has left too much for the in- testines to do or left the food in a poisonous state, to irritate the tender lining membrane leaving it raw and sore, like a cankered mouth, so that every thing hurts it the same as it would in your mouth in a like condition. Stop and reason on this, not for a moment, but until you are sure you understand it well enough to be of real and lasting service to every child whose distress it is your lot to witness. What shall we do to remedy this? First, read care- fully all we have said on the subject of Flatulence, then take a teaspoonful of Senna leaves, pour boiling water over them, steep for five minutes, strain, and add three COLIC. 115 or four drops of good essence of Peppermint (if you have the Peppermint herb, fresh, it will do as well or even better), and give teaspoonful doses every ten minutes until the bowels move off freely, then give a small amount after each meal, night and morning, or only mornings as the condition of the child requires. For canker spots in the mouth or a like condition in the intestines, mix one part pure powdered alum and three pulverized sugar and put what you can hold on the point of a pen knife twice or three times on the cankered part, what is swallowed will help the condition in the intestinal tract, but as Alum has a constipating tendency be sure you give sufficient Senna to overcome this. I repeat, don't drug and dose, but remove the cause. If you can find some doctor or sage on health and dis- ease that can be of real unselfish service with his or her knowledge, judgment and wisdom, prize it and pay for it; your health or that of your child will soon increase your earning capacity to more than meet the extra ex- pense. I will say to you, be a real mother, nurse your baby, keep a cheerful mind and govern your passions. If the baby must be artificially fed, use preferably fresh cow's milk diluted, sweetened and a pinch of salt, Hor- lick's Malted Milk, or MeHin's Food, being sure that the child gets at least three four-ounce bottles of pure water, not too cold, every day. Feed your child at regular intervals, once in two or three hours during the day, and from two to four times in the night is best for the average child at first, later, three times a day. Acidity. I WILL say of Acidity : If you heed the preceding you will have little trouble with acidity, but should it be present from any of the causes I have mentioned as being abnormal and you need a palliation while you are removing the cause, use tiny doses often repeated of lime water, or common baking soda with plenty of water to dilute it so that it will not harm the most dile- cate stomach, or better still Schlotterbeck's Hypophos- phites of Lime and Soda, small doses well diluted. Constipation, Vomiting. CONSTIPATION or costiveness is present and very persistent with some children and it is one of the most damaging conditions that it is possible for one to entertain, because after the food remains in the human body a certain length or time it assumes a state of decay and, since absorption is continually taking place, the blood is being filled with refuse that poisons the system, the heart beats harder as nature's way to throw off the poison, motion produces heat and the child has a fever, which, let it continue long enough, will cook certain portions of the blood which drift, causing prolonged discomfort, spasms, and too often death. The very first thing to do when you notice even the slightest temperature is to give an injection, repeat every ten or fifteen minutes or half hour until the bowels are unloaded. If the child is vomiting give a tenth grain tablet of calomel every ten minutes until you have given ten. You can dissolve these in a teaspoonful of water if necessary, but the less water you give the sooner you will control the vomiting. I never give calomel even in small doses where it is possible to get results with herb remedies. In persistent cases of vomiting I dilute the milk greatly and for an older child feed the white of an egg with lemon juice, a few drops, with ex- cellent results. A rest to the stomach of from six to Il8 CHILDHOOD. twelve hours will do wonders for the child older or younger who has reached the stage of vomiting from constipation. After you have removed the danger in the first case, don't let it occur again. "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." A child of a nervous temperament is very apt to be constipated, and the best preventive is to keep it in pleasant and not too exciting surroundings. Give it work, play, study, rest, in wisely divided amounts to make it forget self, tone the body until it does not perspire readily. A child should have lots of water, and as early as needful some cereal food cooked thin (in meal or whole wheat form), sweetened with molasses, "dry bread and milk," later, vegetables, fruit, and no meat for some time after, never tea, coffee or spices. Patent medicines, all the pills generally used for physic, leave the child in a worse state of costiveness than be- fore, and the damage harder to repair. Boiled milk is constipating except a little Senna be added. Paregoric, laudanum, soothing syrup, are too often used to keep the child quiet while the mother or care- taker reads or works but they always pay for their comfort a great many times over before the child is grown, if they remain in touch with him, and the child pays for it always in large measure (but often with years of suffering) from intestinal stasis, and the complication of diseases that are sure to follow the same. CONSTIPATION, VOMITING. 1 19 Teach your child to eat slowly and chew the food fine, and the saliva that is mixed with the food will help to digest it, a little pepsin or a pancreatic tablet is useful when necessary, but nature knows how to, and will supply these if you let her kindly alone, except where she has been wronged in the past, through ignorance, neglect, or wilfulness, it is our place to give a little aid in the right way, and you will find help in what I have said in the essays that precede this. Diarrhoea. CONSTIPATION is one of the principal causes of diarrhoea. When the system has stood a certain amount of poisoning she revolts and throws all the juices in the body into the stomach and bowels to flush the sewer, so to speak, to rid these mucous surfaces of a very detrimental foreign substance. We call this condition diarrhoea and as a first aid to nature we should give a laxative, the tea made from a teaspoonful of Senna leaves as I have before mentioned or the tenth grain of calomel every ten minutes until you have given ten, or in older children or grow r n people or the aged, a good dose of Sal Hepatica or Sal Laxa or Sal Aperient, followed by oil for several days in succession. I gener- ally give five drops of aconite and five drops of bryonia in a four-ounce bottle of water, a teaspoonful every half hour until four to eight ounces are taken. Wampole's formolid or glyco-thymolin, according to directions on the bottle, is very efficient in some chronic cases of older children or elderly people, and can be used judiciously with infants. There are other causes of diarrhoea besides constipation — unripe fruit, tainted meat, fermented cream puffs and the like, undigested food, sudden heat, sudden cold, anxiety, fear, neglect of cleanliness of the external body, throwing too much work on the mucous surfaces, infection of food from flies and other insects, too much drugging, etc., but these are of importance only as we must detect the cause of a disease before we can remove the cause, the palliation or cure would be the same for the result of either cause. Cholera-Infantum. CHOLERA Infantum or in other words the cholera of infants can always be detected by the peculiar odor which attends the evacuation. It reminds us of water in which putrid meat or fish has been soaked. One who has been an assistant or even observer in a case will not soon or easily forget it. There is something peculiar in the whole external aspect or appearance. The child becomes very rapidly emacia- ted; the skin hangs in loose folds and the flesh has also a loose flabby feeling, the skin of the forehead appears as if bound to the bone; the eyes are deeply sunk in their sockets; the cheeks fall in, the nose is sharp and the lips are shrivelled. Anything bordering on this condition should be met with an injection, repeated as I have directed under constipation, until every particle of the poison that can be reached in this way has been washed out, the tenth grain of calomel given as there directed, followed by the Senna and that by oil in judicious quantities, with the five drops each of bryonia and aconite in a four ounce bottle of water, teaspoonful every half hour, as before noted, until four to eight ounces have been taken with little or nothing to eat for several hours, will do wonders. Where this disease has been neglected for some time the child often manifests a singular longing for salt, sour, 122 CHILDHOOD. sweet, etc., and in most cases these longings may be gratified with safety and apparent advantage, provided we begin with a quantity sufficiently small, and adaptable to a child of that age. I recall a case of a child, whose stomach had been unable for a long time to retain any- thing, and who seemed at deaths' door, that requested cows' milk and was given a teaspoonful every three hours, retained it and gained health and strength. I recall another case where the child recovered from a similar amount of cider. Grape juice or white of an egg and lemon juice, are a boon in cases where the child is old enough for that kind of food, or the fruit juices unfermented. It should ever be borne in mind, that acids should not be given with milk. Goats' milk in small quantities, fresh air, deep breathing, short rides, bring a marked improvement where the child can endure it. When it seems safe to give any solid food, dry bread, or any of the dry cereals (chewed until they are moistened by the saliva in the mouth) is by far the safest nourish- ment, the branching out from this can be gradual, and according to the best judgment and belief of those in authority. Worms. IF you have no flatulence, or colic, or acidity, or consti- pation, or vomiting, or diarrhoea, or cholera-inf antum you will have no worms. Worms could not live in a normal stomach or intestinal tract. The digestive fluids and the peristaltic action would utterly destroy them. Their presence makes a bad matter worse however, in a weak stomach, and something should be done to rid the system of this nuisance. What shall it be, is a ques- tion that has been asked a great many times in the past and will be asked a great many times in the future. I say as before, work continually for a normal condition of mind and body, use a palliation only as long as you are obliged to. For a cure go to reliable doctor, because these remedies that kill the parasites in your body might kill you, if injudiciously or carelessly handled. Santonin will kill the thread worm but given with oil has been known to make a child blind. The tape worm can be handled with the male fern and its complements but they should be scientifically administered. Many a person has ruined his stomach for the, rest of his life by a large dose of turpentine to kill a tape worm. About forty years ago I saw a doctor pick up a vinegar bottle, examine the contents, which was alive with tiny thread like worms, and say to his wife; " Don't boil this, these are the life of the vinegar." His idea was the vir- 124 CHILDHOOD. tue of the vinegar depended upon the amount of animal life present. It was meat and drink all right, but we now know that a tiny brown fly follows up decayed apples, cider, vinegar, pickles, anything of a sweet and acid nature, lays its eggs and they hatch into the form of this tiny worm. We know it would be hazardous to allow any child, especially a not strong child, to eat or drink any quantity of anything where this or any other similar form of animal life or the eggs are present. We "Swat the Fly," to-day that he may not drag his germ laden body over our food and into our drink. We boil every- thing possible to kill all prospective germ life, visible or invisible, microscopical and infinitesimal, and we know that if we can keep the number down to a minumum, the phagocytes, the living germs of the human body will destroy the rest, and we shall keep immune from disease. I add here what I have said before, don't give your child or take yourself every old remedy, any old way for the worms you believe to be present in the internal organs. Your stomach is a very important old requisite and you stand a chance to keep it with you for some time, Don't cripple it, or even slightly misuse it without just cause. The nail you drive into a tree can be pulled out but the hole remains. An injection of salt and water (being sure to oil the point of the syringe and work carefully waiting for the water to distribute at each punch of the bulb, or if a fountain syringe controlling it in a similar manner so WORMS. 125 as not to undully distend the rectal passage) will always relieve the itching etc., attendant upon the presence of seat worms in young or old, a palliation until you can remove the cause. Where it is difficult to get a doctor immediately, or at all, some of the laxatives that I have previously mentioned are very important, really indis- pensable and should always be kept in your home. Tonsilitis, Quinsy, Rheumatism. TONSI LITIS, Quinsy, and Rheumatism all come from the same cause, waste material in the sys- tem, they always follow flatulence, colic, acidity, constipation, vomiting, diarrhoea, cholera infantum, worms, indigestion. When you have controlled and corrected these you will not be called upon to give thought to either quinsy, tonsilitis or rheumatism because you will never have them. Tonsilitis. TONSILITIS is inflammation of the tonsils, the tonsils are small glands lying at the sides of the throat, near the roots of the tongue, when in- flamed and reddened or cankered they can easily be seen by pressing down the tongue with a spoon handle, and they can be readily felt from the outside just under the back of the jawbone, they sometimes get as large as half a hens' egg. They are very sore, the throat is very stiff, and it is hard work to breathe, harder still to swallow. The patient is sick all over. It has almost become a habit with some doctors to cut the tonsils out even before the disease has progressed to a chronic or almost chronic stage. But God in his wisdom has placed these little glands, loaded with reserve force of phagocytes, to not only des- troy foreign germs that are in dust, food, etc., are carried into your throat and lungs, but to act as sentinels to TONSILITIS, QUINSY, RHEUMATISM 127 warn you when too much invasion has been made that there is danger ahead, in that the blood itself is being overtaxed by its heavy burden (of germ life, foreign substances, rheumatic material, etc.) and if possible call you to your senses in regard to a let up on the cause of it all — What, when, where and how to eat and drink and your habits of life. Lincoln never allowed an overworked sentinel to be shot, let us in these times of peace treaties not only show some quarter to these important little glands of the throat called tonsils, but heed their warning also. Most people think exposure, change of weather, wet feet, nervous shock, etc., are the cause of tonsilitis, this is true only in as much as these all have a tendency to close the pores of the skin and throw the work of elimina- tion all on the mucous surfaces. If the blood was not loaded with waste, acids, etc., even this closing of the pores would cause little inconvenience or any diseased condition of the throat. When tonsilitis is present palliation consists of opening the pores of the skin, and immediately cleansing the intestinal tract with the best thing at hand, these have all been mentioned before. Gargle the throat with Glyco- Thymoline, Wampoles' Formolid, Borolyptol, or some other good antiseptic solution to help nature rid herself of the local germs, then air, temperature, exercise, food, drink, clothing, sleep and cleanliness, must all receive due attention, and the throat should receive as much rest as possible. In country places, where up-to-date 128 CHILDHOOD. remedies can not be had, the gargle of salt and water; the gargle of vinegar, sugar and water; the gargle of water with a few drops of ammonia or alum; the five drops of peppermint five times a day, the pennyroyal tea, the rhubarb and sulphur (molasses, to sweeten them) all have their places, and may be used with a great deal of satisfaction. Tonsilitis becomes quinsy sore throat when it gathers and breaks, and this condition always shows a desperate amount of waste in the system that can not be eliminated too soon to prevent a recurrence of a similar condition. The rheumatic pains that always precede or accompany it or follow in the wake of tonsilities are a bane to the existence of many people and too few know anything of its origin, or how to go about to remove it. This last I have tried to tell you; but add that electric massage to bring the blood into the parts where it can wash out foreign substances is wonderful in its results. If you are for any reason unable to obtain the electric massage, any strong woman, or better a man, can knead, slap and rub a rheumatic joint, shoulder, back or limbs, carefully but firmly and persistently until a similar result is produced. Don't make the mistake of calling rheumatism growing pains. Your child is eating too much. Remove the cause, is my oft repeated motto, and then don't drink coffee, tea, beer, liquor, nor eat meat to excess, nor over- load with other indigestibles, nor get in the habit of loiter- ing, nor get too lazy to breathe as you should, and it will not return to you. Diphtheria. DIPHTHERIA is another of the diseases that come from waste in the system. It like so many other diseases is the outcome of either too much or too little food and drink, or food and drink of the wrong kind, too strenuous a life, too much work or too vigorous exercise, or too little work and too little exercise, too much excitement or too quiet a life, too much sleep or not enough, too much worry, care and anxiety or con- tact with too filthy surroundings. If you can see where you are wrong and correct it before you are exposed to this or any other disease, you will have gained a very important point in the grasp- ing of essentials in preventive medicine. The germs of diphtheria may invade your system but they positively can not live and thrive unless they have suitable material to nourish them and they positively cannot absorb live tissue. If when this book reaches you it is too late to use the ounces of prevention and you think you must use the proverbial pound of cure, I know the Great Eternal Judge will forgive you if you give considerably less than sixteen ounces to the pound. The best rule is, as I have said before: Eat right, breathe right, work right, SLEEP RIGHT, CUT OUT EVERY DISAGREEABLE THOUGHT, don't worry. Take what medicine is positively neces- sary in small doses, well diluted, often repeated. Don't ruin your stomach, heart, or some of your other organs 130 CHILDHOOD. while you are relieving a temorary indisposition. If you aren't sure you can aid nature you had better leave her alone. Too many people antagonize her, or allow some too officious friend to thus interfere. Diphtheria may be distinguished from tonsilitis or folicular tonsilitis in that you have at first a stiff red throat with difficulty and pain in swallowing, then a patch of greyish white membrane appears and spreads rapidly until it unites over the soft palate and covers the pharynx, and sometimes through the nose into the larynx and over the lips. It has a foul odor and after several days to a week or so the membrane separates and comes away in large pieces or sloughs gradually. It should never be removed forcibly as it leaves a bleeding sur- face. If there are other pathogenic bacteria associated with the diphtheria bacillus as the pus forming organisms streptococci and staphylococci, the severity of the di- sease will be increased accordingly. Diphtheria is a very infectious disease and may also be carried by fomites. It is dangerous especially if there are heart complications, or difficulty in breathing. In- cubation period is from two to seven days. Antitoxine, properly used 2 or 3 or 5,000 units according to age and severity is the best treatment, but a gargle of Peroxide of Hydrogen one part to four of water, or a weak Boracic acid solution is helpful. The heart, should not be exerted by any struggle, and it and the kidneys, etc., should be watched for some time, by a competent physician. Whooping Cough. THIS disease is almost exclusively a complaint of childhood. It begins like the croup, followed by symptoms similar to catarrh or a cold, lang- uor, headache, sneezing. Sleep is disturbed by dreams and sudden starting, appetite weak, bowels sluggish, slight fever towards evening. At first the cough is dry and ringing, in a week or so the child begins to whoop, and if the cough is severe the child should be watched and raised in bed when the paroxysm begins. Nose bleed and vomiting and a sense of suffocation when coughing, generally accompany this disease, especially in the case of a weak child, but with some it gives little more inconvenience than a bad cold. The incubation period is from one to two weeks and the disease generally lasts from four to six weeks and an infection generally comes from direct contact, seldom from fomites. It is good judgment to expose a child to the whooping cough in the summer months, at a time when you can care for it right, for the sooner the disease is over with (like most diseases that a child has only once in a lifetime), the less anxiety one has over a likely infection, and the fear of its coming during the cold, wet, windy, variable, season, and possibly at a time when you are not present to care for it. 10 132 CHILDHOOD. That whooping cough can be controlled, in a large measure and yet have its run so that reinfection will not be likely to occur, is a fact at the present time and was a fact in many localities, many decades ago, when large draughts of weak pennyroyal tea, peppermint, and lobelia were about the only herbs used for relaxing the system and senna leaves, rhubarb, sulphur and salts, the only laxative for the bowels. Aconite and bryonia were cautiously used by some and had a very important place, as they do at the present time. These are the essentials — keep the bowels open and the system relaxed, guard against cold draughts, wet feet, indigestible food, liquors of any kind, too much very cold water except it is given a few swallows at a time, wear the same amount of clothing you have been accustomed to, night or day. Complications and other infections must be treated according to their respective natures, and this has been described before. Mumps. MUMPS is an acute infectious disease, but may be carried by fomites, incubation period from 17 to 2 1 days and consist essentially in an inflamma- tion of the parotid glands. With some people it attacks only one side, others both sides together and still others one side after the other in succession. It begins with a sensation of stiffness and soreness about the angle of the lower jaw, followed by a swelling which increases for about four or five days. When both sides are attacked together it gradually subsides, if one follows the other the disease is more protracted and painful. There are occasionally cases where this disease attacks at the same time, all parts of the body it is wont to attack, severely. The mumps is not a trifling disease. If a cheek is suddenly given to the perspiration there is apt to be a translation of the disease to the testes of the male and to the breasts of the female. This condition is more apt to come about in adults than in children, but often in both. A check to the perspiration is sometimes followed by convulsions, or delirium. Overfeeding, stimulants and constipation have brought on a similar condition, as well as severe vomiting. The disease is not to be dreaded if due care is exer- cised in the emptying of the bowels, a slight perspiration 134 CHILDHOOD. kept up, no condiments, and only light food that is easily- digested taken into the stomach. Of course it would be dangerous to wet the feet and let them remain so, or sit in a draft, or drink large draughts of very cold water. I would expose a child to the mumps if possible during the months from May to November, because I believe the sooner the disease is over with the better for its health and the parents peace of mind. Chicken Pox. CHICKEN Pox is so mild a disease there is little attention paid to it by writers, medical men or parents but as I believe that even the slightest malady that inconveniences a child in a greater or a less degree, handicaps and shortens life, so I believe it is our duty to alleviate always when it is in our power, and that is generally, easily done in the case of Chicken Pox. The disease generally shows itself in small pimples that grow larger and larger, until they show a pus condition, these itch and burn and the child often scratches the diseased portions of the body (which are sometimes around the mouth and nose sometimes the back, sometimes the abdomen or only the inside of the thighs, but generally local and in patches), until the disease assumes, from the germ laden finger nails, a sort of mixed infection, which sometimes covers a large unbroken area and often leaves a scar surface that does not disappear in a long time if at all. The best thing to do for this condition is keep it clean with pure soap and water, then powder twice or three times a day with a powder made from a teaspoonful of boracic acid in a cup of corn starch. Internally some- thing to keep the bowels open, and open the pores of the skin slightly as for a cold. If the child has no cold, pneu- monia, bronchial or other complications profuse sweating 1*6 CHILDHOOD, is not necessary and would occasion care on the part of those concerned to keep the child from drafts, etc., lest it take cold. I have spoken before of Wampole's anti- septic solution, Borolyptol, etc., well diluted, as a cooling, healing wash for any eruptive surface, except in extreme or especial cases where for some reason the doctor has otherwise ordered (this means mixed infections or com- plications where powerful remedies are necessary to des- troy the germ life). Small Pox. SMALL Pox in the present decade is not the much dreaded disease that it was even a few decades ago. This is because of our knowledge and use of disease germs to fight disease germs, as also their power, surgically implanted in the system, to destroy the waste material that will feed the same or a similar germ, which leaves the system immune to like germ invasion, for a certain number of years at least. Some years ago (and even yet in remote parts of our country where medical and surgical aid are not easily or readily obtained) vaccinations were made from one arm to another. This is generally bad practice because many diseases, even Syphilis, may be transferred in this way to the healthiest and most unoffending of our race. A vaccination properly done, often relieves the system of diseases other than that for which it was intended, scrofulous swellings have been removed, whooping cough relieved, ophthalmia, skin diseases, etc. Because the respective germs are destroyed, or because the waste material that feeds them is used up by the germs im- planted with the vaccine virus, are the probable causes of these results. With the present means at hand to obtain pure vaccine it is negligent of parents or caretakers of children to allow 138 CHILDHOOD. them to pass the school age at least without having been vaccinated. With older people it is especially urgent as they meet and mingle with more people, eat, drink, and handle many things averaging different degrees of clean- liness, with which these have come in contact, therefore run a greater risk of infection than do children. Be vaccinated, everybody, by all means, but have it done right. But if you or your's fail to get vaccinated, and do get small pox, there are a few things that are very important to know. First have your bed and surroundings as cool, airy and clean as circumstances will permit, change the sheets and night dress often, drink cool water, two or three swallows at a time, often as necessary to keep the patient comfortable, eat a small amount of plain baked apples, easily digested vegetables, easily digested food, like beets, boiled rice, rye or barley or plain Indian pud- ding, stale bread, rice water, toast water, sugar and water, lemonade, any fruit juices, small quantities at a time, no pepper spices, etc., No animal food should be given — not the least — nor any animal broths, no butter or cheese, or any oily sub- stance. Even milk is unsafe lest it form a hard curd that is always indigestible. No wine, beer or any stimulating drinks are ever wise except the patient has been accus- tomed to them then allow as little as possible, to a child, or one unaccustomed to them, they would be dangerous if not fatal. SMALL POX. 139 Washes for all skin diseases have been mentioned several times before. Small Pox was first minutely described by Rhazes, an Arabian physician, who was born in the year 852 and it is worthy of note that his plan of treatment though made over a thousand years ago, accords with the most approved of to-day. Measles. THE measles is a disease that has characteristics all its very own. There is generally languor for some days, then difficulty of breathing, sneezing, a running nose, a light cough, pains in the back, head, chest and limbs, eyes inflamed. Then a rash appears that is different from any of the other of the eruptive diseases in that there is present a perceptible roughness of the skin, this remains for some time, often years after, and that the skin is not so red as in the case of scarlet fever, etc. The disease will make a good appearance on the sur- face, except there is a great amount of waste in the mucous surfaces to feed germ life, then the eruption is pronounced through the intestinal tract and often causes a severe indigestion, generally intestinal, then fever, earache, and many other complications are likely to ensue. The kidneys, the bladder, throat, all mucous surfaces are tender, and often take on complicated, painful conditions that are hard to overcome. The very best thing to bring out the measles is an often repeated cup of weak pennyroyal tea, the herb or essence (one half ounce of oil to three and a half of alcohol in a four ounce bottle) three to five drops on a teaspoonful of sugar, in a cup of water and milk, several times a day for the first few days of the disease at least, MEASLES. 141 the same as for a cold. If there is constipation, a tea- spoonful of Senna leaves steeped and drank at least once a day is helpful and harmless. If there is fever, from five to ten drops of aconite in a four ounce bottle of water, a teaspoonful every hour for a few hours and again the next day until the four ounces at least is used. Bryonia, five to ten drops in a four ounce bottle of water, a teaspoonful eight or ten times a day will loosen the cough, and ease the mucous surfaces. Stimulants, except a man has been accustomed to them continually, all condiments, meat, and every food at all hard to digest should be cut out. Condensed milk, malted milk, peptonized milk, are better than fresh milk at this time because they do not form a curd that is in- digestible. Baked apples, rice, meal gruel, toast, cereals, etc., are the only reasonable diet, and the more sparingly these are used the better for the patient. It is important to keep the eyes from the light or pro- tected by dark glasses and bathe the child in some well- diluted antiseptic solution, not too cold, to allay the itching if it is intense. Plain vaseline, or a carbolized vaseline, or balm of Gilead salve or a camphor salve are cooling, soothing and healing, but should be used spar- ingly, so as not to obstruct the pores of the skin too much. The incubation period is from nine to twenty- two days. Measles is very contagious. It is carried through the air for a short distance, or in a person's clothes for days to other houses. 142 CHILDHOOD. Measles are not to be dreaded if complications are guarded against by preventive medicine. The bowels and pores open are the first thought, and then keep the child in the same temperature he has been accustomed to. Keep all hot water bottles away except in extreme complicated cases. Give the child fresh air but no draft. Scarlet Fever. SCARLET FEVER generally begins with a sudden attack of vomiting. Then follows a rash on neck and chest which spreads over the entire body. It is infectious, contagious, and may be carried in the clothes of those who minister to the patient; or an epi- demic may occur from the milk supply being contami- nated, or from patients who are peeling. Incubation period from two to six days and catching until all peeling has ceased. Scarlet fever is a disease not to be trifled with. The bowels should be kept open, the skin moist with a mild perspiration (not in a close room or under heavy bed clothes or by dressing too warm). The food should be light, no animal food whatever for several weeks and easily digestible food, and the patient should have all of the water he wants, a few swallows at a time, positively no fermented or distilled drinks, or condiments, except he has been so accustomed to them that it would be dangerous to take them from him. The directions given for the skin, mucous surfaces and bowels in measles will be the best as home remedies in scarlet fever also. The disease is generally diagnosed from the tongue having a deep fur, then the enlarged papillae show 144 CHILDHOOD. through the white (strawberry tongue), and pressing on the skin leaves a white spot for an instant. In three or four days the white disappears leaving a red tongue with enlarged papillae (mulberry tongue). The throat may be red and sore, the tonsils enlarged or some patches of membrane, according to the severity of the case; some- times diphtheria complications; and in very rare cases suppuration or gangrene. The fever is high from the start and usually on the second day has reached its highest point. In mild cases it generally falls to normal in from four to seven days. A recurrence of the fever means overeating, error in diet, or some complication, and there will follow headache, restlessness, and sometimes delirium or coma, or pur- puric rash and also hemorrhages from the mucous mem- branes, bladder, etc., these latter mean malignant scarlet fever, and death has taken place within the first two or three days. If a patient recovers from a severe case of scarlet fever, he should be kept close watch of and carefully tended as regards the condition of his ears, eyes, nose, throat, heart, kidneys, etc., to get them in as good con- dition as possible. Many doctors even are not careful enough in the diag- nosis of diseases and they often quarantine for scarlet fever when only food rashes are present. The diagnosis is at times very difficult. It is often confused with Acute Exfoliated Dermatitis, which has a sudden onset, SCARLET FEVER. 145 fever lasting a week or so, and followed by peeling even more marked than in scarlet fever. The tongue and throat are usually unaffected, but the hair and nails in- volved. This trouble may occur again and again. German measles are often the cause of some difficulty in the diagnosis of scarlet fever, but the enlarged lymph glands, no throat symptoms, and absence of constitu- tional disturbances generally settle this disease. It is sometimes difficult to tell without cultures whether one has diphtheria with a bad rash or scarlet fever with a bad throat. The history of exposure to the disease and the persistence of the rash in scarlet fever are the best helps. There may be scarlet rashes in blood poisoning which resemble scarlet fever almost exactly. Peculiar rashes follow the use of quinine, Belladonna copabia, Iodide of Potassium, etc. These are not at- tended with fever, and are usually transient. Certain kinds of meat, chicken and pork especially, and some kinds of food bring on a rash for a few hours only, with some children. Typhoid Fever. TYPHOID FEVER is an acute infectious disease caused generally by drinking bacillus typhosus in contaminated water or milk or by eating contaminated oysters, or by carelessness while caring for one who has it. It is characterized anatomically by swelling and ulcerations of the lymph follicles of the intestine, enlargement of the spleen and mesenteric lymph nodes, and clinically by continued fever, a rose red eruption, toxemia, abdominal tenderness, and diarrhoea. The course and symptoms are said to never be twice alike. The incubative period is generally two or three weeks. The fever is irregular but continuous, tempera- ture generally lower than that of any other fever. Dur- ing convalescence an error in diet may cause renewed fever, which is even more dangerous than the first. Rose- colored spots appear on the back and abdomen about the tenth day. The spots last about four days and dis- appear, but successive crops appear for a week or more. There may be delirium or a general nervous condition or there may be symptoms similar to meningitis. There is generally marked emaciation. The average duration of the disease in childhood is about two weeks. Hemor- rhages from the bowels are rare in children but should they occur, absolute rest is necessary, morphia hypo- dermatically to control the bowels, no food but bits of ice are given. Many a man has lost his life by insisting TYPHOID FEVER. 147 upon getting out of bed or walking or returning home on the cars or by some other conveyance after he had been made aware of the fact that he had contracted this dis- ease. Perfect quiet is more essential with this than any other disease to which flesh is heir, because of the danger of hemorrhage, which is many times fatal. A continued fever with rose spots and an enlarged spleen can safely be called typhoid, if malaria, tubercu- losis and ileo-colitis have been excluded. Perfect rest in bed, liquid food, easily digested, spong- ing to reduce the temperature and allay nervous symp- toms, a heart tonic if required, the bowels moved by a mild cathartic or enema at least once a day, and, if diarrhoea is present, a suppository of opium by the rec- tum and a small amount by the mouth are the rule of some doctors ; others give a small dose of some antiseptic solution as often as considered advisable to keep the inner bowel clean and control the diarrhoea. Years ago a small dose (what could be held on the point of a pen-knife) of powdered alum was given by the mouth, and a weak solution of the same used as an enema — this, in competent hands, was a success, even in epi- demics, without the loss of a patient. Bryonia was given to complement (as an antidote) this remedy; five to ten drops in a four ounce bottle of water (the first day, a teaspoonful every hour or so, then not so often). There are many other remedies that are indicated in a severe case of typhoid fever but the skill and judgment of a competent physician is essential in the handling of them. 11 Cerebrospinal Fever. (Epidemic Cerebro- spinal Meningitis). AN infectious disease characterized by inflammation of the brain and spinal cord. It occurs sporadi- cally and epidemically. Symptoms and course of the disease are not regular. Stage of incubation un- known. The ordinary form has usually a sudden onset, with headache, chill and vomiting. There is frequently stiff- ness of the neck, photophobia, and dread of noise. There are headaches and pain in the back and limbs. There is stiffness of the muscles and often tonic or clonic spasms. There is restlessness, delirium or coma. Paralysis of various muscles, especially of those supplied by the cranial nerves, is common. Optic neuritis may occur as a result of cranial pressure, or there may be a direct exten- sion of the inflammation. Skin eruptions are common, especially herpes. There may be purpuric rash or simple erythema, erythema nodosum, or urticaria. A flush follows drawing any object across the skin and this remains. There is strong contraction of the flexor mus- cles, in attempting to extend the legs, a lightening like contraction is elicited by tapping any part of the bony frame work with a percussion hammer. The temperature is variable. It may be high or low. The pulse is at first rapid, later slow and full, becoming CEREBROSPINAL FEVER. 149 more rapid before death. Deep-sighing respiration is common. The diplococus, intracellularis, meningitidis of Weich- selbaum is constantly associated with the disease. Over- crowding, overexertion, exposure or a continual irritation of the nerves, seem to be predisposing factors. There are some unusual forms, such as fulminating or apopleptic meningitis — a sudden onset, with chills, headache, delerium or coma, convulsions, fever, slow, weak pulse, and death within a day or two; abortive form where the disease starts with the symptoms of the ordinary form, but rapid recovery takes place after a few days; intermittent form — has a fever resembling malarial, chronic form where the symptoms may persist for weeks or even months generally ending fatally. What is called the Lumbar Puncture, between the third and fourth spinous processes is done on some cases at the present time. This operation consists of taking a few drops of fluid from the spinal canal. It must be done right to be safe. This fluid must be examined at a re- liable laboratory, for bacteria or cells, in order to be of any value. Apparently sterile fluid has been tested by injections into guinea pigs and found to contain tubercle bacillus. This is an important finding as it helps to es- tablish the fact that the trouble is not true cerebro-spinal meningitis. The tubercular variety is not so dreaded, and there is more hope of a recovery for the patient. IsO CHILDHOOD. In cases dying early there is intense congestion of the meninges, later along there is a fibrino purulent exudate between the dura and pia mater. In chronic cases there is a decided thickening of the meninges. Pneumonia, pericarditis, and arthritis are the most frequent complications but paralysis, deafness, or men- tal deterioration may follow this disease in the usual or or unusual form, but, because there have been cases*that have made a seemingly, perfect recovery, the parents or doctor should never give up. This disease needs a first class doctor from the start, the skillful careful surgeon has his place also in not a few cases. Accidents and Emergencies. IF you keep ever so close watch of a child you will once in a while have an accident happen. A little risk seems to afford a powerful satisfaction to most normal children and generally the more risk the more satisfaction. Then there are many things that they have to learn that necessitates a certain amount of risk — riding, rowing, swimming, running, jumping, whittling, etc. In riding they will oftentimes get a fall that will break a bone, or bruise or scratch them considerably, or bring on a rupture. In rowing or swimming they might fall overboard, or get water in the lungs, or a fish hook, or a needle in a finger or some other part of the body. In running or jumping they are apt to get a fall, or faint, or have the heart give out. In whittling they might cut off a finger, or make a slight or deep incision. In the case of a broken bone it is well for those who are nearest to realize that many bones can be set by anyone with a little nerve. If it is a case of dislocated joint, put the two limbs side by side and look them over carefully, then pull the broken one until it slips into place and looks like its companion. If the pain is re- lieved you can rest assured that you are nor far from right. If you have any doubts in your mind, see a competent doctor, or other person of ability in that line, 152 ACCIDENTS AND EMERGENCIES. immediately, no matter how great the distance, because you need both arms and both legs if it is possible to keep them. If you have a green stick fracture it is well to be cau- tious lest you break the bone through the other way. If the bone is smashed in many pieces the task of setting will stagger some doctors, and even surgeons. Sometimes, in the case of men who lift much, the muscles are so strong that they pull the broken bones by each other so persistently that the only way to be sure of a good arm is to open to the bone and screw a steel plate across the broken space to hold the bone in place, and put a plaster of pans splint over this to be doubly sure. A person or a child that has had a fall of any account should be looked over very carefully by a competent person, if not a surgeon, because many times a child will carry broken ribs or a broken collar bone, or a fractured finger or wrist, until it is past correction, without making sufficient ado about it to call the at- tention of those in authority. Sprains, bruises and scratches are taken care of to-day by many people who are ready with their little roll, containing everything that is needed in the "first aid to the injured" so-called. Insurance companies furnish these outfits to many people in many places and they are for sale in all stores where such supplies are handled. Boy scouts are generally supplied with them and it is ACCIDENTS AND EMERGENCIES. 153 a good plan to have every boy, yes, and every girl, have one and learn how to use it. The sooner an accident is cared for the better, and it is time that the dirty handkerchief and the chew of tobacco were replaced by intelligent action. Balm of Gilead was the favorite remedy for bruises in our grand- mothers' time and it has lost none of its virtue. Witch hazel has its place. Arnica should not be used where the skin is broken. Hot salt and water and cold com- presses are excellent, and it is well to remember that firm pressure will stop the swelling from a bruise, and prevent its turning dark, often. A twenty-five per cent, ichthyol ointment will drain the water out and make the swelling disappear sooner than anything else. I often use this remedy to reduce the size of a rupture so that it can be replaced with little difficulty. Sometimes by only placing the child in a reclining position with its head lower than its body, and requesting it to draw in deep breaths, the bulging portion will be drawn back into the body. The acci- dental rupture should be taken care of immediately and, with some, no further difficulty is experienced. If it should protrude again a compress should be made to keep it in place. The size a little larger than the opening, always, and this should be worn all the time until a cure is assured. There is always danger if a rupture remains out for any length of time that the 154 ACCIDENTS AND EMERGENCIES. circulation will be cut off and vomiting and serious trouble follow. In the case of an accidental drowning or even an acci- dental fall in the water it is well to have everyone keep their heads and become useful. The person can be lifted up with your hands under the middle of his stomach or back and let fall again suddenly to draw the air into the lungs and expel it again, he can be laid over a barrel and rolled and slapped, the arms can be brought against the sides in a swinging motion. He can be held up by the feet and slapped on the back — ■ quick, short slaps — shook, arms pressed against the sides, and every other means at hand used and persisted in until you get results, or are sure results are out of the question. I knew one boy that had been drowned and, after the bystanders had given up the idea of resuscitation, he was taken to his home on horseback. The jolting threw the water out of the lungs and he was sitting upright before arriving at his destination. Perfect quiet, heat and some stimulant should be the course pursued after drowning. I have seen the hot sand on the sea shore used to advantage. If a fish hook has entered the body anywhere it should be pushed through and the beard filed off or pinched off with wire cutters, then it can be easily removed. ACCIDENTS AND EMERGENCIES. 155 If a needle has entered and remained in the flesh great care should be taken not to break it in removing it, and it should be examined very carefully to see that it is intact. If it has been broken save the fragments to show the doctor or other person who is to remove it, that they may better know what they have yet to find. Splinters should be removed even more carefully, tacks and pins are easily removed, but they are often the cause of more trouble from the fact that they leave more poison behind them. Make the blood flow as much as is consistent with good judgment by gently pinching and if necessary by making a larger opening, so that the blood will wash out all foreign substances. If there is a tendency to swelling a warm poultice must be applied and kept hot until the part is drained out. If fainting should occur, or the heart give out, place the patient on the back and chafe the hands, put water on the face, and take the patient into the fresh air. If acute indigestion is the cause maneuvers similar to that used in the instance of drowning will sometimes bring up the gas and relieve the pressure on the heart. People or children who have weak hearts should never walk fast or do any vigorous exercise or bathe immedi- ately after eating, because it will set up indigestion, which is dangerous in their condition. Aromatic Spirits of Ammonia Acidol Pepsin, Bayer, or any correct combination of Hydrochloric acid and Pepsin, sometimes 156 ACCIDENTS AND EMERGENCIES. Pepsin alone, Hypophosphites of Lime and Soda, Schlotterbeck's, and often baking soda will bring up the gas and bring relief to the heart. If a child should cut a ringer, let it bleed freely, in reason, to wash out the poison or foreign substances, wash it in water as hot as can be borne to stop the bleeding, and then, if it is a deep cut, draw the tendons together and sew them, and sew the cut up with a clean silk or thread if you haven't the cat gut. The silk or thread should be boiled if possible, but in the loss of a hand or limb you have to use the best means you have at hand, because delay and the loss of blood is more dangerous than the lack of care that you are forced to consider. If the blood spurts out, an artery has been cut. Bleeding from this or any other wound can always be stopped by making pressure with the finger directly into the wound. The pressure must be constant, and not relaxed every few minutes to see if the flow has ceased. A tight cord of anything at hand — twisted handkerchief, underskirt torn in strips, etc., etc., have to be resorted to but are dangerous if left on too long, and very painful. I have known two cases where a child cut its finger completely of! and it was washed and replaced and grew back on. In one case the mother held the ringer in place until the doctor arrived. Burns and scalding with hot liquid of any kind are very painful, may leave deep scars, and are often very ACCIDENTS AND EMERGENCIES. 157 hard to heal. They are dangerous if an area as large as half the body is involved, but if the child can be placed immediately in a solution of salt and water, a bath tub if possible, the clothing can be removed with less diffi- culty and less loss of skin or flesh. A folded sheet in the bottom of the bath tub will make the little body more comfortable, a white blanket or anything at hand will do to make an immediate soft rest. If the head or face is burned great care and judgment must be used to keep the wet cloths on the burned places, and not get the water into the lungs. After a season, longer or shorter, the burning and smarting will cease and the child had best be wrapped in sheets or other old linen which has been soaked in vaseline, butter, fresh or salt, tallow, lard, cream, any bland oil that will keep the cloth from sticking and keep the air from the injured surface. Cloths should never be pulled from a burn, because destruction to the tissue is sure. With children it is hard to keep them quiet, they loosen the bandage in moving around, tearing with it any newly formed skin or flesh. Where one is determined and the parents or caretakers will do all in their power to assist the doctor perfectly wonderful results can be obtained. I once had a woven wire splint made and strapped it in place over half the body, dusted surgical powder through it onto the burned area, pulling clean underwear over it to protect it from the air or germs. For a burned leg 158 ACCIDENTS AND EMERGENCIES. or arm I always use a woven wire splint. I recently cured an area on a child's leg that reached from above • its knee to its ankle. I was obliged to put a strap around the top and bottom of the splint, sew a broad strap to that, sew this to a band around the waist and fasten the band to a strap over the shoulder before I was able to hold the splint in place. I dusted surgical powder through the splint to cover the surface and pulled a clean drawers' leg over all to protect it. This leg had been burned over a year and from the constant tearing off of the bandages had become deep and infected and the cord of the leg drawn up three or four inches. For burns that I see immediately I use a salve made of Bismuth, Phenol, Zinc oxide, Ichthoyol, Resorcin, Eucalyptus, Benzoin and Lanolin. With this I cover the entire surface and the pain is relieved almost im- mediately. Every home should be supplied with some- thing like this for burns, Eczema, Hives, Rhus Tox Poisoning, etc. Don't use any old salve that anyone hands you, but get it from a reliable doctor or a reliable house. Burns with acid should be immediately washed with clear water, plenty of it, if common baking soda is at hand put a handful in the water to counteract the acid. Burns with alkali should be washed with vinegar and water, if at hand, or any acid. Sour milk, etc., has been used many times for burns from soft soap or hot lye. ACCIDENTS A-ND EMERGENCIES. 159 Every child, every man or woman should be taught to lay a burning child or person flat on the floor, to prevent the flames from reaching the face, and wrap a rug, a quilt, a woolen blanket, a sheet (woolen is better, if at hand, but cotton will do if it is used quickly enough so that it will smother the flames before igniting) — any- thing around it to smother the flames. If there is nothing at hand large enough to wrap the child around it can often be pounded out with a hat, a skirt, a coat, a bunch of hay, a cedar bough, if one works quickly enough. Freezing of any part of the body, chin, ears, hands, feet, has to be treated very similarly to a burn — put in cold water, packed in snow or ice, or cold milk. The destruction to tissue is the same as a burn, and if slough- ing occurs it must be dressed about the same until healed. Chillblains are often the result of a frozen foot or heel. Treatment consists in improving the general health, easy shoes, woolen stockings, some astringent solution — iron, hemlock bark, etc., or painting , with iodine. Twen- ty-five per cent. Ichthyol ointment will help faster than anything else to restore a normal condition. Balm of Gilead will take the soreness out the same as for a sprain or bruise. You will often find children complain about a sore spot under the chin, a lame ear, a tender cheek, and they can assign no cause for it. If they have been exposed l6o ACCIDENTS AND EMERGENCIES. to the cold you will make no mistake by calling it frozen or chilled. Poisoned wounds are sometimes dangerous but more often they are only painful or annoying. Insect stings, mosquito bites, dog bites, snake bites, are classed under this head. If the stinger of an insect is still in the wound it should be carefully removed. Then Peroxide of Hy- drogen, Wampole's Formolid, Iodine, Ammonia, Spirits of Camphor, Balm of Gilead, Alcohol, or any antiseptic can be used. A pack of cold water bound on tightly will prevent swelling. Mosquito bites are of the same class and often the mosquito's bill will be left in the puncture. The child should be kept from the mosquito by every device pos- sible, because poison in a child's body is certainly not an addition to its comfort or well-being in any way. Peppermint essence or any of the above mentioned liquids will allay the irritation. If you wash your mouth often, have no throat or nose trouble, use no tobacco, have no ulcerated teeth, or other infectious diseases of the mouth, we might tolerate your putting a particle of the saliva from your mouth on the wound. This is nature's remedy for a wound or sting or bite, and will heal more rapidly than anything you can use. If your mouth isn't clean you are likely to infect the wound and produce inflammation, disease, or even death. The baby's mouth is generally aseptic, and you run little ACCIDENTS AND EMERGENCIES. l6l risk in using the saliva from its mouth. A dog, horse, or other animal uses this nature's remedy and it generally answers the purpose to which it is assigned — healing and soothing. Dog bites, cat or rat bites are sometimes productive of severe inflammation, and even of decided illness, but it is more seldom than one would expect that hydro- phobia follows. The fright does more harm than the bite, often. The idea of sucking the wound is excellent if you can reach it, or have a friend near who will assist you. Pressing the blood out sufficiently to wash the wound is wise, but if the dog is undoubtedly mad the part should be cut out quickly or cauterized deeply with a red hot iron or carbolic acid or some mineral acid such as sulphuric or nitric. Snake bites are fortunately not often met with in this part of the world but where they do occur a cord should at once be tied above the limb to keep the poison out of the general circulation and then treated the same as a dog bite. In all cases of accidents or emergency it is wise to give physic, and I give a few drops of aconite and bryonia in a four ounce bottle of water, a teaspoonful every half hour for three or four hours at least. A heart tonic is necessary in some cases, but if you must use whiskey, I prefer to have it on the outside. Sunburn is sometimes very severely painful and will continue to cause great suffering except a healing salve l62 ACCIDENTS AND EMERGENCIES. is applied. One of the best is made by boiling the waxy- Balm of Gilead buds in one part of spermacetta and two of vaseline (white preferred) ; another, a piece of gum camphor, treated in the same way (a cupful of the buds to the pint, gum camphor as big as a thimble). Children who run and play in the sun are healthier, but should be protected with a broad-brimmed hat in the heat of the day, at least, and especially at the seashore. Sun- burn blisters, the same as burns proceeding from any other cause should be punctured at the lower edge to let out the water (with a needle that has been held in a flame for a moment to sterilize it) . If the water remains in the blister it will rot and be likely to infect the flesh involved. Foreign bodies in the eye, ear, nose or throat should be cared for immediately. The eye is most important because the damage is greater for every moment a foreign body remains in it. The best way to remove a particle of sand or dust or a cinder or sawdust and the like, is to hold a pencil against the upper lid and, by the winkers, turn the lid up over this. A touch of the finger is the best way to remove most of the above, but for steel and other metal use a magnet, or forceps. A careful, prudent woman or man can do this with less damage than would be caused by the delay if the doctor was at some distance. His attention can be had if necessary, notwithstanding. Holding the opposite side ACCIDENTS AND EMERGENCIES. 163 of the nose and blowing the other that the tears may run from the eye through the nose and bring the disturbing body with it is often resorted to. Anything in the ear can generally be removed with the curved end of a hairpin, but sometimes it is necessary to use a syringe with warm water, and let the substance float out. Sweet oil or Castor oil may be used if neces- sary. If you are not somewhat skillful you had better leave this task for the doctor or someone who is, as you might push it farther in, and if let alone it will do less harm. Wise people have a tiny pair of forceps in the house that can be used in such an emergency. Some children have a great tendency to put beans, peas, corn, tiny stones, beads — almost anything they are playing with — into the nose. By using snuff, pepper, or shaking a box of powdered soap under the nose of the little one, sneezing can be produced that will dis- lodge the obstruction. This must be done immediately, if possible before the kernel swells. Sometimes it is necessary to use forceps, and some force, but it is always best to have someone who understands to remove the obstacle. Anything swallowed when the throat is relaxed, when the person is coughing, sneezing or laughing is apt to get into the windpipe, because the epiglottis (the little natural covering of the windpipe) is spasmodically drawn out of place for an instant. Hold the child by its feet immediately to dislodge it. Little, quick, short slaps on 12 164 ACCIDENTS AND EMERGENCIES. the shoulders will help. If a fish bone gets into the throat a person with a steady nerve can cut it in two with scissors, and carefully pull one piece at a time out with scissors. A person who can keep his nerve assures the child and it keeps its nerve, which helps always in an emergency. Anything swallowed in the nature of a penny, marble, button, or the like, need give no alarm, and if it is not very poisonous in its nature so that it is important to get it out of the system immed- iately, it is best not to give physic, because it will pack in the harder mass in the bowels and pass with less difficulty. Stick pins and fish hooks and the like should not be given to a child to play with, but if one should become lodged in the throat a long button hook might be of service in its removal, but a hair pin is a woman's weapon, and she'll manage to bend it in some way to accomplish all her ends. If there seems no way possible of getting the article out of the throat, give the child a piece of dry bread to eat and that will generally carry it down. Some children are very apt to have nose bleed and this difficulty should be attended to, the cause first considered, and it will be found primarily to be the result of a weakened constitution; tone up your system and your nose bleed will gradually come less often, and finally disappear. Generally Typhoid Fever, Malaria, ACCIDENTS AND EMERGENCIES. 165 Heart or Liver Trouble are the first cause. It may be idiosyncrasy or nervousness or anything that disturbs the digestion and causes malnutrition. Pressure on the upper lip at the outer edge of each nostril or just at the inner angle of each eye will stop any ordinary nose bleed. A piece of ice or cold water on the forehead and at the back of the neck will cool the blood and cause more rapid coagulation. Sometimes it is necessary to pack the nose with cotton, back and front. The child should not be allowed to blow the nose for sometime, as that may start a new flow of blood. Tannin and alum are home remedies, but doctors use an animal product that comes from the glands (it has a different name, according to the drug company that puts it up). A mustard foot bath is sometimes recommended to draw the blood away from the nose, but is seldom used. Swallowing poison purposely or accidentally is an emergency that demands immediate attention, presence of mind, and nerve. It is a gross mistake to leave any- thing around that is likely in any way to be taken by mistake for medicine. But if in confusion of bottles, you should swallow poison, run your finger down your throat and keep it up until every particle of the contents of the stomach has been ejected. Removal is better than antidote, and surer. If it is a child that has taken poison you can easily accomplish your purpose in the same way. It is best to follow this with warm mustard water, egg and l66 ACCIDENTS AND EMERGENCIES. water, flour and water, starch and water or milk, and then produce vomiting again, to be sure that the stomach is thoroughly washed out. A glass of milk or the white of an egg stirred slowly in the glass of water or a glass of flour and water may be given to soothe the stomach after the vomiting has ceased. Give a physic that will work quick and something to open the pores of the skin, stimulate the heart if necessary. Heat and rest in bed are necessary in all except narcotic poisoning, such as opium, chloral, etc. With these last you must keep the patient awake and artificial respiration is sometimes necessary the same as for drowning. When the breathing begins bring the arms to the sides to help each breath to be fuller. It is important also to keep perfect time with the breathing, else you will hinder rather than help. Ever remember that a child will generally rally. It may be almost imperceptible at first. Jeaunels' general antidote is said to neutralize acids, arsenic, digitalis, zinc and, to some extent, copper, morphine and strychnine, but to be of no value against phosphorus, and but little against corrosive sublimate. After its administration soothing drinks should be given — egg and water, milk, etc. Poisoning externally is equally as important as the above mentioned, and it is important to know what your trouble is and what the remedy. Poison Ivy (Rhus toxicodendron) is among the most distressing, but the simple maxim, "A hair from the dog will cure the bite," ACCIDENTS AND EMERGENCIES. 167 can be followed in this matter with very pleasing results. A little of the plant steeped, a swallow ; at a time, will remove the rash almost immediately, but the dose must be tiny, as this is a poison you must remember. Doctors have a preparation from the herb that they use scientifi- cally and very effectively. The bowels must be opened. Astringents or Wampole's Formolid externally are not without excellent results. Bryonia is a good complement to take internally, small doses often repeated, same as for a cold. Some children can handle poison ivy with impunity, others can hardly look at it without the rash coming out in abundance almost immediately, others have no show of rash for at least a day. This plant has clusters of three leaves, very shiny, a vine. The swamp dogwood or poison elder must be consid- ered under this head. It is even more virulent than the poison ivy (scientific name, Rhus venenata). This plant or shrub is from ten to eighteen feet high, but while very poisonous is less dangerous to children be- cause of its location in swamps. The Rhus diversiloba, which goes by the name of poison oak, grows on the Pacific coast. It is also poison to come in contact with. The above can all be used, from the third to the thir- teenth potency, internally to act as an antidote, not only to their own respective poisons, but that of rheu- matism, septic conditions, etc. l68 ACCIDENTS AND EMERGENCIES. The poison of the nettle can be allayed almost im- mediately by Wampole's Formolid. Witch Hazel, Balm of Gilead (in salve or solution, as before recom- mended), are excellent for a case of nettle rash. Any poison rash must be treated much like a burn or a frozen part of the body. (I saw the time once, years ago, that I would have given up a ten spot to have known this). The older method of bathing these poison areas in salt and water was excellent, although the reason was then obscure. The normal salt solution internally and externally, as well as in the veins, is now well understood and, if used properly, is of great benefit, often saving life. Dosage Suggestions. NEVER give a dose of medicine without a definite indication. Never give one unnecessary dose, but be sure you have conquered your malady. Give small doses often repeated, almost without ex- ception, because it is less likely to cause indigestion, and more likely to be taken directly into the blood where it is generally expected to go. Give a pleasant-tasting dose if possible in everything except poisons. If these are bitter they are less likely to drink enough to injure them. Avoid drugs that produce nausea, except you desire that result, because they destroy the appetite and en- danger nutrition. Give simple prescriptions. One drug by itself will do better work and you will know if it is producing re- sults. As far as possible, read the label on the bottle three times and see, smell and taste every dose of medicine you give to a child, this will avoid accidents. The size of a dose of medicine is a very important problem. The old rule is in fractions — add twelve to the age in years and divide its age by the sum. A child three years old would thus be given one fifth of the adult 170 DOSAGE SUGGESTIONS. dose. For children under one year give very tiny doses. Find the dose for a child one year old and then use about one twelfth of that for each month of the infant's age. Earache, rheumatic pains anywhere can generally be relieved by an injection of salt and water — a teaspoonful to the quart. Should the earache return, give another injection, and repeat at intervals, until the intestinal tract is thoroughly cleansed. Follow this by a tenth grain of calomel every ten minutes until you have given five or ten, and then give a little senna in small doses, as needed to keep the intestinal tract clean. Oil, cas- cara, rhubarb, milk of magnesia, brick magnesia, manna, sulphur and molasses, and many more remedies are used as laxatives to the bowels, and they are of first impor- tance in the keeping of children well after you have carefully considered, or while you are considering, the right kind of food, which will always take care of the bowel movement without medicine. Fairchild's pepsin, panopepton, lime and soda, anise water, cinnamon water, fennel water, peppermint water, catnip water, pennyroyal, are all good for the stomach if it has been abused. Taka-diastase will help digest starch. One half to three grains of Cerium exalate to control vomiting. The tenth grain of calomel, one every ten minutes until you get ten, is fine, but the cause of the vomiting must control your action, sometimes it is necessary to give a little anodyne to quiet the stomach. Codein is of especial value for children, if necessary. DOSAGE SUGGESTIONS. 171 But opium and its derivatives should be used only in extreme cases. In spasms from acute indigestion or stoppage, two or three drops of chloroform at the nose are productive of results, they relax the little one. An injection must be given immediately, and other means used to get the bowels open. Stimulants, liquors, strychnine, Merk's digitalin, cam- phor, digitalis, belladonna, atropin and hyoscyamus all have a place in medicine, but prevention is better than cure. Eat the right food and avoid excesses and you won't need any of the above. Tonics of importance are iron, cod liver oil, nux vomica — and its alkaloid, strychnine — quinine, arsenic — and this last is used (Fowler's solution) one drop the first day, two the second, three the third, up to the tenth day, and then nine, eight, seven, etc., to one drop for the next ten days, with excellent results, especially if there is an anemic condition, or exematous, and with some chronic sores. To correct hyper-acidity, magnesia, soda bi-carbonate, aromatic spirits of ammonia, hypophosphites of lime and soda, Schlotterbech's, are useful. Rheumatism is generally controlled by aspirin, sali- cylic acid, sodium salicilate, salol, salophen, salipyrin, and some poisons, such as that from a bee sting, poison ivy and the like, where a desperate poison causes the pain and is to be counteracted. 172 DOSAGE SUGGESTIONS. Summer diarrhoea is controlled by chalk mixture, bismuth and any of the derivatives of tannic acid — tanigen, tanalbin, tanopin, protan — or blackberry leaf tea, raspberry tea, alum, but either must be given only after a thorough cleansing of the bowels. Urotropin is useful in all conditions where pus is found in the urine, but eryngium, Lloyd, is a specific in many troubles of the bladder. Powdered alum and powdered sugar, equal parts, will cure canker spots in the mouth, and many sorts of granulation, use sparingly. Silver nitrate, generally used in the shape of a stick of lunar caustic, is useful where it is needed to cauterize ulcers, etc. Some counter-irritants are camphorated oil, mustard plaster, turpentine stupes, spice bag. They can be kept on until the skin is thoroughly reddened. Chloroform liniment can be used if the patient suffers much pain, and the skin is not broken. For lice, or other parasites, the ointment of amoniated mercury (white precipitate) is most satisfactory but must not be applied to too large an area as it is a poison. For malarial conditions, quinine tannate, Euquinine, syrup of cinchona alkaloids, quinin sulphate, in small doses, in syrups or elixirs. For tapeworm one half drachm to one drachm of the Oleoresin of Male Fern in a caspule or in an aromatic vehicle. The stomach must be empty and the intestinal tract previously emptied by an active cathartic, and a DOSAGE SUGGESTIONS. 1 73 cathartic given several hours after the male fern has been given. For all small worms Santonin, and never give oil with or to follow it. The wrong dose or some thing that forms with it a poison will often destroy a life or injure health. Creosote is a most useful drug in bronchitis, tuber- culosis, pulmonary gangrene, and also as an intestinal antiseptic. From one half to two drops may be given for a dose. Liquid Beef peptonoids with creosote is best for chil- dren, generally, but creosote carbonate (Creosotal) is fine and may be given in doses of one drop for each year of the child's age up to ten. This will assist greatly in the treatment of a varicose ulcer. Externally use a waxy salve, nothing with grease in it. Guaiacol is the principal constituent of creosote and similar in action. Combine with equal parts of glycerine to paint the ton- sils. The Itch can always be cured by a salve made of equal parts of lard and sulphur. Bloodless Surgery means nothing more nor less than some mechanical action that will bring the blood to the affected part and wash away the refuse, foreign substance, or cut off the circulation from the part and allow it to disappear for lack of nourishment. Two kinds of action used are electricity and vibration or massage, and we can hardly imagine anything that cannot be benefited or cured by their action. 174 DOSAGE SUGGESTIONS. The X ray and therapeutic lamp must be considered under this head also, and cauterization is bloodless surgery. Don't let anyone deceive you by false statements in cheap literature. Punching holes in live, normal flesh will bring blood. If the parts are frozen or otherwise previously treated to prevent bleeding, however, the case is altered. i minim (njrj) = i drop water, or 2 drops tinctures, spirits or wines. 30 minims = \ fluidrachm (fl 5ss) = 1 coffeespoonful or \ teaspoonful. 60 " =i " (fl 5 j) = 1 teaspoonful. 2 fluidrachms —2 teaspoonfuls = 1 dessertspoonful. 4 " =\ fluidounce (flSss)=4 " = 1 tablespoonful. 8 =1 " (fl5j)=2 tablespoonfuls. 2 fluidounces =4 =1 wineglassful. 8 " =\ pint (Oss) . . =1 tumblerful. 16 " =1 " (Oj). 32 " =2 pints .... =1 quart. 8 pints . =4 quarts . . . = 1 gallon (Cj). For extra copies, address RUBY NESS SCULLY ROME, N. Y. WATCH FOR Volume No. 2 of this Series A book of Essays, Thoughts and Sugges- tions on Youth, Maturity, Middle Life, Age i LB D '14