Searchlights on Health: Light on Dark Corners Part 47

Pitch Burgundy, 2 pounds.

Bees' Wax, 1 pound.

Hog's lard, one pound.

Mix all together and simmer over a slow fire until the whole are well mixed together; then stir it until cold. Apply on muslin to the parts affected.

FOR CHAPPED HANDS.

Olive oil, 6 ounces.

Camphor beat fine, ounce.

Mix, dissolve by gentle heat over slow fire and when cold apply to the hand freely.

INTOXICATION.

A man who is helplessly intoxicated may almost immediately restore the faculties and powers of locomotion by taking half a teaspoonful of chloride of ammonium in a goblet of water. A winegla.s.sful of strong vinegar will have the same effect and is frequently resorted to by drunken soldiers.

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NERVOUS DISABILITY. HEADACHE. NEURALGIA. NERVOUSNESS.

Fluid extract of scullcap, 1 ounce.

Fluid extract American valerian, 1 ounce.

Fluid extract catnip, 1 ounce.

Mix all. Dose, from 15 to 30 drops every two hours, in water; most valuable.

A valuable tonic in all conditions of debility and want of appet.i.te.

Comp. tincture of cinchona in teaspoonful doses in a little water, half hour before meals.

ANOTHER EXCELLENT TONIC.

Tincture of gentian, 1 ounce.

Tincture of Columba, 1 ounce.

Tincture of collinsonia, 1 ounce.

Mix all. Dose, one tablespoonful in one tablespoonful of water before meals.

REMEDY FOR CHAPPED HANDS.

When doing housework, if your hands become chapped or red, mix corn meal and vinegar into a stiff paste and apply to the hand two or three times a day, after was.h.i.+ng them in hot water, then let dry without wiping, and rub with glycerine. At night use cold cream, and wear gloves.

BLEEDING.

Very hot water is a prompt checker of bleeding, besides, if it is clean, as it should be, it aids in sterilizing our wound.

TREATMENT FOR CRAMP.

Wherever friction can be conveniently applied, heat will be generated by it, and the muscle again reduced to a natural condition; but if the pains proceed from the contraction of some muscle located internally, burnt brandy is an excellent remedy.

A severe attack which will not yield to this simple treatment may be conquered by administering a small dose of laudanum or ether, best given under medical supervision.

TREATMENT FOR COLIC.

Castor oil, given as soon as the symptoms of colic manifest themselves, has frequently afforded relief. At any rate, the irritating substances may be expelled from the alimentary ca.n.a.l before the pains will subside. All local remedies will be ineffectual, and consequently the purgative should be given in large doses until a copious vacuation is produced. {346}

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE DOCTOR'S VISIT.]

TREATMENT FOR HEARTBURN.

If soda, taken in small quant.i.ties after meals, does not relieve the distress, one may rest a.s.sured that the fluid is an alkali and requires an acid treatment. Proceed, after eating, to squeeze ten drops of lemon-juice into a small quant.i.ty of water, and swallow it. The habit of daily life should be made to conform to the laws of health, or local treatment will prove futile.

BILIOUSNESS.

For biliousness, squeeze the juice of a lime or small lemon into half a gla.s.s of cold water, then stir in a little baking soda and drink while it foams. This receipt will also relieve sick headache if taken at the beginning.

TURPENTINE APPLICATIONS.

Mix turpentine and lard in equal parts. Warmed and rubbed on the chest, it is a safe, reliable and mild counter irritant and revulsent in minor lung complications. {347}

TREATMENT FOR MUMPS.

It is very important that the face and neck be kept warm. Avoid catching cold, and regulate the stomach and bowels, because, when aggravated, this disease is communicated to other glands, and a.s.sumes there a serious form.

Rest and quiet, with a good condition of the general health, will throw off this disease without further inconvenience.

TREATMENT FOR FELON.

All medication, such as poulticing, anointing, and the applications of lotions, is but useless waste of time. The surgeon's knife should be used as early as possible, for it will be required sooner or later, and the more promptly it can be applied, the less danger is there from the disease, and the more agony is spared to the unfortunate victim.

TREATMENT FOR STABS.

A wound made by thrusting a dagger or other oblong instrument into the flesh, is best treated, if no artery has been severed, by applying lint sc.r.a.ped from a linen cloth, which serves as an obstruction, allowing and a.s.sisting coagulation. Meanwhile cold water should be applied to the parts adjoining the wound.

TREATMENT FOR MASHED NAILS.

If the injured member be plunged into very hot water, the nail will become pliable and adapt itself to the new condition of things, thus alleviating agony to some extent. A small hole may be bored on the nail with a pointed instrument, so adroitly so as not to cause pain, yet so successfully as to relieve pressure on the sensitive tissues. Free applications of arnica or iodine will have an excellent effect.

TREATMENT FOR FOREIGN BODY IN THE EYE.

When any foreign body enters the eye, close it instantly, and keep it still until you have an opportunity to ask the a.s.sistance of some one; then have the upper lid folded over a pencil and the exposed surfaces closely searched; if the body be invisible, catch the everted lid by the lashes, and drawing it down over the lower lid, suddenly release it, and it will resume its natural position. Unsuccessful in this attempt, you may be pretty well a.s.sured that the object has become lodged in the tissues, and will require the a.s.sistance of a skilled operator to remove it.

CUTS.

A drop or two of creosote on a cut will stop its bleeding. {348}

TREATMENT FOR POISON OAK--POISON IVY--POISON SUMACH.--Mr. Charles Morris, of Philadelphia, who has studied the subject closely, uses, as a sovereign remedy, frequent bathing of the affected parts in water as hot as can be borne. If used immediately after exposure, it may prevent the eruption appearing. If later, it allays the itching, and gradually dries up the swellings, though, they are very stubborn after they have once appeared.

But an application every few hours keeps down the intolerable itching, which is the most annoying feature of sumach poisoning. In addition to this, the ordinary astringent ointments are useful, as is also that sovereign lotion, "lead-water and laudanum." Mr. Morris adds to these a preventive prescription of "wide-open eyes."