Page:Australian enquiry book of household and general information.djvu/155

 just at that hour. If you can only get ten minutes sleep you will rouse up again quite refreshed. In the very hot weather it is a good thing to have a cold bath after one's mid-day rest. It is a mistake to lie down fully dressed, everything that is the least tight should be taken off and a loose dressing gown put on. If you only lie with closed eyes, without sleeping, you will be the better for the rest. Most women can drop off to sleep for a few minutes if the house is quiet and the room darkened, and none but tired mothers know the real enjoyment of that hour, and how they look forward to it through the heat and work of the morning.

LMOST every mother has sickness in her house some time or other. If she has many little ones she must expect to have a certain amount of illness. Fevers, colds, measles, etc., are all liable at any time to attack one or other of a large family. In this climate the great thing is to know how to keep the sick room cool without draughts, and the best disinfectants to use.

I would say to every mother, if you employ a doctor put implicit faith in him, and listen to none of his detractors. Give him every assistance, listen attentively to all his orders, and carry them out to the very letter. Though the medical man has full charge of the patient, and the ordering and directing of his or her treatment there are many details that must be left to the attendant, and which a doctor takes for granted are seen to—such as the ventilation of the room, the regular use of disinfectants, &c., &c. In fever the use of disinfectants is actually necessary for the safety of the others in the household, and also to purify the sick-room. In one long case of fever, when I was chief nurse, I found that sheets wrung out of carbolic acid and water and hung up to the windows, acted as an excellent disinfectant, and also cooled the bedroom. I used a cupful of carbolic to about three quarts of water. Another cheap disinfectant in cases of typhoid is sulphate of iron and carbolic acid. I think the proportions are two ounces of sulphate to a pint of water, and a teacupful of carbolic to a gallon of water. Condy's fluid should always be kept in the room and the hands of the nurse, or any attendants who touches the patient, should be washed in it. This last, though it seems a very