Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 15.djvu/204

192 dry, the clothing quickly ripped open so as to expose the chest and waist, and two or three quick, smarting slaps given upon the stomach and chest with the open hand. If the patient does not at once revive, a bit of wood or a cork is placed between his teeth to keep the mouth open, he is turned upon his face, a large bundle of tightly rolled clothing is placed beneath the stomach, and the operator presses heavily upon his back over the bundle for half a minute, or as long as fluid



flows freely from his mouth. (See Fig. 13.) The mouth and throat are then cleared of mucus by introducing into the throat the end of a handkerchief wrapped closely around the forefinger; the patient is turned upon his back, under which the roll of clothing is placed so as to raise the pit of the stomach above the level of any other part of the body. If an assistant is present, he holds the tip of the patient's tongue, with a piece of dry cloth, out of one corner of the mouth, which prevents the tongue from falling back and choking the entrance to the windpipe, and with his other hand grasps the patient's wrists and keeps the arms stretched back over the head, which increases the prominence of the ribs and tends to enlarge the chest. The operator then kneels astride the patient's hips and presses both hands below the pit of the stomach, with the balls of the thumb resting on each side of it and the fingers between the short ribs, so as to get a good grasp of the waist. (See Fig. 14.) He then throws his weight forward on his hands, squeezing the waist between them with a strong pressure, counts slowly one, two, three, and, with a final push, lets go, which springs him back to his first kneeling position. This operation, which converts the chest of the patient into a bellows, is continued at a rate