LITMIR.BIZ

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for the wet bandage, with a piece of double new flannel over it, will leave all the pores of the skin open, and allow all waste products to pass away freely, while the heat and moisture are retained as much as necessary.

      In other cases two folds of moist flannel next to skin, and two folds of the same, dry, above the moist ones, will make an excellent bandage. This applied all over the abdomen, in case of abdominal dropsy, will have a most beneficial result.

      The reason why we often say new flannel is simply that few know how to wash it so as to retain its soft and porous nature as it is when good and new. That softness and porousness may be retained in a very easy way. When you have put your soiled flannel through two good washings with soap in the usual way, dip it in clean boiling water, and finish cleaning it with that dipping. You will have it white and fine as when new.

      M'Clinton's soap, being made from plant ashes and not from soda, is much less liable to shrink and harden flannel; in fact, it is best for all fine washing.

      Alcohol.—This, in various forms, as brandy, whiskey, rum, wine, cordials, beer and stout, is a frequent prescription in many troubles. In no cases have we known good effects from its use, which is most strongly to be condemned. Various reasons for this statement will be found under the heading of troubles for which alcohol is prescribed. Here we simply give the fundamental truths as to its action on the system.

      In our system of treatment we ever seek to nurse and stimulate those nerve-masses which constitute the sources of vital action. Every drop of alcohol does so much to weaken and destroy these. A certain quantity, if taken by the strongest man, will kill that man as surely as a bullet in the brain. Half the quantity will only render him insensible. Half that, again, only renders him incapable of controlling his bodily movements. Half that, again, only slightly disturbs the system; but it affects him in the very same manner in which the fatal dose affects him, though not in the same degree. It is a narcotic, and like all such, it always reduces vital action, while nothing is more important in all healing than to increase it. Hence alcohol is the deadly foe of healing, and one chief preparer of the system to fall before disease. The so-called stimulating action of alcohol has been thoroughly explained by the author of these papers in other writings, and shewn to be simply an indirect and temporary effect, obtained at the price of a considerable reduction of the general vitality of the nervous system.

      Young ladies, as a class, are subject to a terrible danger. Great numbers of mothers actually make their daughters drunkards by ever and again dosing them with brandy. This is done in secret, and imagined to be a most excellent thing. For instance, if the bowels get lax, as is the case in certain stages of disease, brandy is given as a remedy. How little do those who give it know that it is lessening vital energy and making cure impossible! But it is doing nothing else. We have many times over seen the dying sufferer restless and ill with nothing but the effects of constant small doses of brandy, or alcohol in some other form.

      In looseness of the bowels we give a teaspoonful of lemon juice in a little hot water and sugar. That has as much effect as is desirable, and it has no bad effect whatever. Or enema injections may be employed. (See Diarrhœa, Dysentery, Enema). Even infants are treated with "brandy," till we cannot help believing they die of the drink, and would survive if it were put away. Gradually the cruel folly of all this will, we doubt not, dawn upon the general mind.

      Amputations.—These are often performed in cases in which proper treatment on the lines of these papers, would save both life and limb. By all means, before consenting to such an irrevocable act as amputating a limb, let the treatment with fomentations, hot water, and acetic acid be well and thoroughly tried. Many limbs which were medically condemned have been thus saved within our personal knowledge. In some cases the disease may be obstinate; but at least let a fair trial be given to our treatment before giving up a limb. The treatment will be found under the headings of the various troubles and parts affected (see Armpit Swelling; Bone, Diseased; Knee-swelling; Pains, etc.)

      Angina Pectoris.—In a variety of cases, more or less severe spasmodic pains are felt in the chest. Angina Pectoris (literally, agony of the chest) is one of the worst of these. All these pains, as a rule, may be removed completely by treatment such as the following:—

      Prepare a bed (long enough for the patient to lie at full length upon his back), with a large thick sheet folded on the lower part of it. Spread over this sheet a blanket wrung out of hot water, so as to be both moist (but not wet) and warm (see Fomentation). See that the blanket is not so hot as to burn the patient and add to his pain. It must be tested with the back of the hand, and be just as warm as this can well bear. On this let the patient lie down, and wrap him up tightly in it from the feet up to above the haunches. Have two or three towels folded so as to be about six inches broad, and the length of that part of the patient's spine above the hot blanket. Wring these out of cold water. Place one over the spine, so as to lie close along it; on this, place a dry towel to keep the damp from the bed, and let the patient lie down on his back, so as to bring the cold towel in close contact with the spine. When this towel becomes warm, another cold one must be put in its place. After about half an hour's pack and eight changes of the cold towel, the pain in the chest should be subdued for the time. If the cold towel does not heat in five minutes, the patient's vitality is low, and a hot cloth should be placed along the spine, and renewed several times, and then another cold one; but as a rule this will not be required. When taken out of the pack, let the skin be washed with soap (see) and warm water; then a slight sponge of nearly cold water, and a gentle rubbing with olive or almond oil. Rub the back first, and gently "shampoo" all the muscles; that is, knead and move the muscles under the skin so as to make them rub over one another.

      If the pain in the chest be of an inflammatory nature, the cold towels must be applied over the place where it is felt, instead of on the spine (see Inflammation.)

      Ankle Swelling.—When long continued in connection with disease or accident, this sometimes leads to a partial withering of the limb up to its very root. In such a case it is best to deal first with the roots of those nerves which supply the limb, which are, in the case of the legs, in the lower part of the back. It is important to apply light pressure to these roots by gently squeezing the muscles of the lower back. This raises a feeling of gentle heat, which slowly passes down the limbs even to the toes. Then the gentle pressure and squeezing must be carried all down the limb, avoiding any degree of pain, until all its muscles have had their share. While progressing down the limb with his rubbing, let the rubber be careful that the individual strokes of his hands be upwards, towards the hip. The blood will thus be propelled towards the heart, while the stimulus of rubbing is conveyed along the nerve trunks towards the foot. The squeezing should be done with a grasping movement of the hands, the limb being held encircled in both hands, thumbs upwards. Warm olive oil is used in this squeezing, and also, if the skin be hard and dry, soap lather (see Lather).

      Even slight displacements of bones will disappear under such treatment, if patiently continued day after day, as the patient can bear it without fatigue. In such gentle remedies, perseverance plays a large part. (See Abscess; Diet; Exercise).

      Ankle, Twisted or Crushed.—Place the foot as soon as possible in warm water, as hot as can comfortably be borne; keep it there until free from pain, or for an hour, or even more if necessary. If the flesh be torn, dress with cloths wrung out of vinegar or weak acetic acid before placing in the water.

      When the bath has done its work, and the limb comes out of the water alarmingly swollen, good and skilful bandaging will do excellent work. If you have at hand an old shirt, or some such thing, tear it into strips about three inches wide, till you have as much material as will swathe the whole limb from behind the toes up to the top of the thigh. This need not be all in one piece, but only so that you may apply it in such a way as to bring a very gentle pressure on the whole surface of the injured limb. It is important that the bandaging should be comfortable. The way in which bandaging is sometimes done is cruel in the extreme. Cases that are a disgrace to humanity are constantly coming under our notice, in which limbs are lost for life by the treatment they receive in this respect. Skilful surgeons do it in the most gentle manner; they even swathe the limbs in

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