Page:The American improved family physician, or home doctor.djvu/11

Rh medicine, not much, only one or two ounces of calomel or mercury, and if this physics too much, only one or two ounces of opium to stop the physic; now don't drink any cold water or else you will get sore jaws, (which is much worse than the fever itself); also take good care that you catch no cold, keep that stove hot, and don't bring any water into the room. Under these conditions the doctor leaves the patient, and returns the next day. Good morning! you are doing well this morning, the fever is broke, (but he means nature is broke,) you look quite well, indeed, you are really beyond the degree of inflammation, I suppose you feel rather a little weak? Yes, Sir! very weak. Ah! that is what we want, if we cannot reduce inflammation we cannot break fever. The Doctor will treat the patient in this manner for several months, and in the mean time give him opium to strengthen him, and if he gets strong, gives him a little calomel and bleeds him but a little, only one quart; so the Doctor continues, and at last the poor patient must die! Then the Doctor says: It was a hard case, I could scarcely keep him down low enough to recover. If by chance the patient does recover, his bones will ache. He then complains to his good Doctor, what shall I do, my bones ache so? Ah! don't you know I told you, you had a hard fever; the fever struck into your bones (not the fever but the Mercury.)

The Alcoholic Vapor Bath—Is superior to any other bath. For convenience and facility of application it is much preferable to the simple Water Vapor Bath. It is thus applied: — Place the patient on a solid instead of an open bottomed chair, with his feet in warm water and woolen blankets around his neck, and give him some warm drink, as catnip or sage; then pour some proof spirits, or any alcoholic fluid that will burn in a tea saucer or cup, and set it on fire. Take care to keep the vessel under the chair, as near the centre as possible, where there is no danger of scorching the patient or blankets — (woolen blankets are by far the best, as cotton will too soon take fire.) If the vapor gets too hot to be borne, raise the blanket at the side a little, and let in cool air. Let the patient drink warm tea till sweating starts; then give him cold water to drink as much as he can or likes. If the spirits give out before you get the patient sweated a good deal, be careful in filling the dish again, not to set fire to the bottle or else it will explode it; so if it is not fully burned out when you want to fill it again, blow it out and then fill it and set fire to it again. After continuing the operation long enough, or until the patient begins to feel fatigued or faint, wrap him in the blanket and put him to bed; it is generally best to let him sweat there without disturbance, for several hours. Then wash the patient off with tepid water, Either and tepid rub sheet, (see Introduction,) — or if the patient is too weak with the hand bath, (see Introduction) change