Hints on What to Do Before the Doctor Comes

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoonfuls of sugar
• 10 drops of ipecacuanha wine every hour
• 30 drops antimonial wine
• 80 grains of citrate of potash
• 3 teaspoonfuls of syrup
• 4 ounces of water
• 20 drops of ipecacuanha wine in a little water
• one ounce span- ish juice
• 2 ounces honey
• one-half pound treacle
• 1 pint of water
• a teaspoonful of ipecacuanha wine
• a teaspoonful of powdered alum
• a teaspoonful of paregoric
• a teaspoonful of sal volatile in water
• a tablespoonful of mustard in a tumbler of warm water
• one room
• two till patient perspires
• 2 tablespoon- fuls
• 47 useful homely recipe
• one side
• 48 hints on what to do before the doctor comes
• two walking sticks
• two handkerchiefs
• one solid piece
• 50 hints ox what to do before the doctor comes
• one accord
• one rule of safety -- taste

Directions

1. Croup. — Croup, or inflammatory sore throat, is caused by ex- posure to cold, damp air, or sudden change of weather. The signs are hoarseness and noisy breathing. Give the child a teaspoonful of ipecacuanha wine. If vomiting does not soon follow, give half the quantity. Keep the child in bed. Put a brick into the fire until it is quite hot; place a bucket of water at the bedside; put the hot brick into it, which will raise a large quantity of warm vapor, which the child will breathe. Apply a warm poultice to the throat and use warm fomentations. Milk is the best diet. If the above does not relieve, send for medical advice without delay.

2. A very good and simple remedy for croup is a teaspoonful of powdered alum and 2 teaspoonfuls of sugar ; mix with a little water and give it, as quickly as possible, a little at a time, and in- stant relief will be given.

3. Diphtheria. — What goes by the popular name of croup is, in a great many instances, really diphtheria, which is a contagious general disease of great danger. The chief characteristic is the formation of a thick, tough, false membrane on the palate, tonsils, and back of the throat, spreading downwards into the windpipe. The signs are great loss of strength (never absent), the formation of the above-named membrane, sometimes high fever, as often no rise in the temperature. Sometimes eruptions in the skin appear. Whenever the above signs can be traced get medical advice with- out a moment's delay.

4. Common cold. — In the case of a child, confine the child to one room, or, if at all feverish, to bed. Apply a warm poultice to chest, and give 10 drops of ipecacuanha wine every hour or two till patient perspires and feels a little sick. In the case of a grown-up person, confine to house and keep patient warm. Mix 30 drops antimonial wine, 80 grains of citrate of potash, 3 teaspoonfuls of syrup, or a little sugar, in 4 ounces of water (an ounce is 2 tablespoon- fuls). Give an ounce of this every three or four hours. If the cough lingers, a teaspoonful of paregoric, with 20 drops of ipecacuanha wine in a little water, should be given at bedtime.

5. HINTS ON WHAT TO DO BEFORE THE DOCTOR COMES. 47

6. Useful homely recipe for a cold and cough. — One ounce Span- ish juice, 2 ounces honey, one-half pound treacle, Id worth lauda- num, Id. worth oil of peppermint, 1 pint of water.

7. Boil down 1 pint of water, with the Spanish juice, honey, and treacle in it, to a gill ; let it get cold, and add laudanum and oil of peppermint. Bottle tight, and shake the bottle before using. Dose for an adult, a tablespoonful night and morning.

8. Fainting. — At once make patient lie down, with the head quite low. Loosen articles of dress. Let patient have plenty of air, and keep people from crowding round. Apply smelling salts, cau- tiously, to nose. Sprinkle face with a little cold water smartly. If faint continues long, or feet and hands are cold, apply hot bottles, and when patient can swallow give a teaspoonful of sal volatile in water, or a little spirits in water.

9. Fits. — This means either apoplexy or epilepsy. Apoplexy is attended with insensibility. The patient falls, generally, but not always, grows purple in the face, and breathes in a snoring man- ner. There is paralysis of one side, and the mouth is drawn to one side. Place patient in bed, with head raised. If hot, apply cold water to head, and send for doctor.

10. In epilepsy patient usually gives a scream, becomes deadly pale, falls on his face, becomes convulsed, and then profoundly insen- sible. While in this state all that need be done is to loosen articles of dress and keep patient quiet and beyond danger of hurting himself until sensibility returns. It is then a case for medical treatment.

11. Choking. — Choking arises from food, or fluids, or other substances sticking in the throat or passing into the air passages. In bad choking, where the patient suddenly turns dark in the face, etc., no time is to be lost. Open the mouth and push your forefinger in a determined way over the tongue, right back, and try to hook away or push aside the hindrance. If this does not succeed, you may, by pressing the hinder portion of the tongue, bring on vomiting, and so secure relief. A good plan is sometimes tried with children, viz, that of pressing the chest and stomach against something hard, as a table or a chair, then slapping or thumping the back between the shoulder blades. In this way air is driven from the lungs through the windpipe so forcibly as often to expel the ob- stacle. When the obstruction consists of a coin, as often in the case of children, a good plan is at once to take the child up by the heels and at the same time give it a shake, or slap its back. Fish bones can sometimes be got rid of by swallowing a mouthful of

12. 0? TH3S v

13. bread. If these remedies fail, medical help should at once be called in.

14. Suffocation by gases. — Drag the patient as quickly as possible into fresh air ; loose clothing ; dash cold water on head, face, and upper part of chest. If the breathing has stopped, artificial re- spiration must be resorted to.

15. Poisoning. — Send at once for the nearest doctor, telling him all the particulars, so that he may bring what is necessary. Unless the poison is an irritant, such as oil of vitriol or the like, which burns or destroys the stomach, etc., do all you can to make the patient sick. You may give a tablespoonful of mustard in a tumbler of warm water, or the same amount of common salt with warm water. If the patient is drowsy, as from poisoning by nar- cotics, you must do all you can to keep him awake by dashing cold water on his head and face, walking him about, etc. Do not permit him to sleep. In cases of poisoning by irritants, emetics should not be given, but you should try to save the stomach as much as possible by giving soothing drinks, as milk, etc. Always try to find out what the poison taken has been. You will generally be able to recognize a case of irritant poison, even if the patient can not tell you, by the stains on the clothes, lips, etc., the burning sen- sation of the mouth, the terrible suffering of the stomach, the retching, and vomiting of blood, etc. Medical advice must in any case of poison be called in with the utmost haste.

16. Poisoning by alcohol, or drunkenness. — Get the patient under cover as soon as possible. If insensible, rouse him by dashing cold water on the face. Endeavor to make the patient vomit. Rub the surface of the body with warm, dry cloths; wrap the patient in blankets ; put hot water bottles to his feet, and do all you can to keep up the heat of body, which is always lowered in the state of intoxication.

17. Broken limbs. — The thing to be first done is to keep the limb quite steady till the surgeon comes. This is done by placing on each side of the broken limb whatever may be at hand, such as slips of wood, small pillows, an umbrella, the stock and barrel of a gun, or two walking sticks, or even firmly rolled straw, or pads of cotton wool, and retaining them in their position by one or two handkerchiefs, not tied too tightly. Never raise the patient from the ground until the nature of his injury has been ascertained, or some appliance has been made to prevent the movement of the broken limb. Then raise him, if possible, with the help of several persons, and, as it were, in one solid piece, all moving together,

18. HINTS ON WHAT TO DO BEFORE THE DOCTOR COMES. 49

19. and keeping step in carrying. If a patient has to be carried home, let it be on a shutter, or a table, or a stretcher, on which he can lie flat, instead of being doubled up in a cab; as is often done. It is from neglect of this simple rule that broken bones are often made to protrude through the flesh, simple being thus turned into compound fractures, attended by the risk of the limb being lost.

20. What to do when dress catches fire. — The following are the directions given in Dr. Robert's book on ambulance work : " If your own dress, throw yourself at once on the ground, so that the rising flames may not catch the upper part of your clothes nor burn your head and chest ; roll about (so putting the flames out by pressure), and at the same, if possible, wrap yourself up closely in a rug, hearth rug, blanket, table cloth, overcoat, or carpet, so as to smother the fire. Do not get up to call for assistance, but for that purpose crawl to the bell rope or door. If another person's dress, throw the person on fire down at once, wrap him or her up in a rug or something similar, or, if there is nothing at hand suitable, use your own coat, rolling the patient about in it, for the purpose of smothering the flames." A woman rendering help in this way must exercise great self-possession, and be careful not to get her own clothes entangled in the flames.

21. Measles and scarlet fever. — When measles or infectious dis- eases are prevalent in a neighborhood, and a child shows symptoms of cold in the head and fever, it is a reason for immediate careful- ness. The diet should be light, cooling, scanty, and the child should be kept indoors. In its ordinary course measles is unac- companied by danger, but the mildest form may be quickly con- verted, by want of care, into the most dangerous. The parent should carefully watch the symptoms of change, and if a child complains of piercing headache, intolerance of light, etc., the doctor should be called in at once. It is also most dangerous to resort, without advice, to spirits and such remedies to bring out the rash if it suddenly disappears. Sometimes the disappearance of the rash may be traced to careless exposure to cold. In this case the child should be instantly, and without hesitation, put into a warm bath, care being taken to prevent subsequent cold. Often, however, the cause of the disappearance may be dependent on internal in- flammation or too high fever, and medical advice should be at once procured.

22. Indigestion. — Among the most common causes of indigestion are the undue use of strong or too long infused tea (which, taken

23. without food and in excess, is destructive), the use of new bread, and eating too fast.

24. Teeth. — If people wish to preserve their teeth they should brush them, especially at night, gently with a short, soft brush, moved up and down so as to remove remnants of food, etc., lodging between the teeth, and so destroying the enamel. This precaution involves little or no expense, and the trouble will be well repaid. When iron tonic or acid mixtures have to be taken they should always be sucked through a glass tube, which can be got at any chemist's for a penny or two. Doctors often forget to remind patients of this, and, in consequence, the teeth grow prematurely black or loosen and decay.

25. Recovery from sickness. — When patients are recovering from measles and scarlet fever the greatest care must be taken to avoid chills. From the neglect of this precaution after-consequences of the most serious character often occur. Children recovering from these illnesses should be warmly clothed and kept out of cold draughts until they have quite regained strength. It is also the duty of parents who have children suffering from the above dis- eases to prevent healthy people from coming near them, particu- larly in the case of scarlet fever, until the stage of peeling of the skin is quite over, when the patient should be well washed with carbolic soap. The bed and bedding should be disinfected as well as the clothing.

26. Intoxicating drink. — The abuse of intoxicating drink is the curse of this country. It is the fruitful parent of crime, disease, premature death, and domestic misery in every shape and degree. The judges, with one accord, say that if the people could only be made to abstain from the use of intoxicating drinks more than half the prisons might be shut up. Men and women who are tempted to sin in this wTay should abstain entirely. For these there is but one rule of safety — taste not, touch not. Industry, thrift, and strict temperance, these are the simple rules which, by the divine blessing, secure health and lasting happiness.

27. San Jose Mercury.

28. OHAKLES M. 8HOKTK1DGE

29. Editok & Publisher.