Advice to a Mother on the Management of Her Children Part 26

A "_Black Eye_."--If a child, or indeed any one else, receive a blow over the eye, which is likely to cause a "black eye," there is no remedy superior to, nor more likely to prevent one, than well b.u.t.tering the parts for two or three inches around the eye with fresh b.u.t.ter, renewing it every few minutes for the s.p.a.ce of an hour or two; if such be well and perseveringly done, the disagreeable appearance of a "black eye" will in all probability be prevented. A capital remedy for a "black eye" is the Arnica Lotion,--

Take of--Tincture of Arnica, one ounce; Water, seven ounces;

To make a Lotion. The eye to be bathed by means of a soft piece of linen rag, with this lotion frequently; and, between times, let a piece of linen rag, wetted in the lotion, be applied: to the eye, and be fastened in its place by means of a bandage.

The white lily leaf, soaked in brandy, is another excellent remedy for the bruises of a child. Gather the white lily blossoms when in full bloom, and put them in a wide-mouthed bottle of brandy, cork the bottle, and it will then always be ready for use. Apply a leaf to the part affected, and bind it on either with a bandage or with a handkerchief. The white lily root sliced is another valuable external application for bruises.

286. _If a child fall upon his head and be stunned, what ought to be done_?

If he fall upon his head and be stunned, he will look deadly pale, very much as if he had fainted. He will in a few minutes, in all probability, regain his consciousness. Sickness frequently supervenes, which makes the case more serious, it being a proof that injury, more or less severe, has been done to the brain; send, therefore, instantly for a medical man.

In the meantime, loosen both his collar and neckerchief, lay him flat on his back, sprinkle cold water upon his face, open the windows so as to admit plenty of fresh air, and do not let people crowd round him, nor shout at him, as some do, to make him speak.

While he is in an unconscious state, do not on any account whatever allow a drop of blood to be taken from him, either by leeches or from the arm-venesection; if you do, he will probably never rally, but will most likely "sleep the sleep that knows not breaking."

287. _A nurse sometimes drops an infant and injures his back; what ought to be done_?

Instantly send for a surgeon; omitting to have proper advice in such a case has frequently made a child a cripple for life. A nurse frequently, when she has dropped her little charge, is afraid to tell her mistress; the consequences might then be deplorable. If ever a child scream violently without any a.s.signable cause, and the mother is not able for some time to pacify him, the safer plan is that she send for a doctor, in order that he might strip and carefully examine him; much after misery might often be averted if this plan were more frequently followed.

288. _Have you any remarks to make and directions to give on accidental poisoning by lotions, by liniments, etc_?

It is a culpable practice of either a mother or nurse to leave _external_ applications within the reach of a child. It is also highly improper to put a mixture and an _external_ application (such as a lotion or a liniment) on the same tray or on the same mantel-piece. Many liniments contain large quant.i.ties of opium, a tea-spoonful of which would be likely to cause the death of a child. "Hartshorn and oil," too, has frequently been swallowed by children, and in several instances has caused death. Many lotions contain sugar of lead, which is also poisonous. There is not, fortunately, generally sufficient lead in the lotion to cause death; but if there be not enough to cause death, there may be more than enough to make the child very poorly. All these accidents occur from disgraceful carelessness.

A mother or a nurse ought _always_, before administering a dose of medicine to a child, to read the label on the bottle; by adopting this simple plan many serious accidents and much after misery might be averted. Again, I say, let every lotion, every liniment, and indeed everything for external use, be either locked up or be put out of the way, and far away from all medicine that is given by the mouth. This advice admits of no exception.

If your child have swallowed a portion of a liniment containing opium, instantly send for a medical man. In the meantime force a strong mustard emetic (composed of two tea-spoonfuls of flour of mustard, mixed in half a tea-cupful of warm water) down his throat. Encourage the vomiting by afterwards forcing him to swallow warm water. Tickle the throat either with your finger or with a feather. Souse him alternately in hot and then in a cold bath. Dash cold water on his head and face. Throw open the windows. Walk him about in the open air. Rouse him by slapping him, by pinching him, and by shouting to him; rouse him, indeed, by every means in your power, for if you allow him to go to sleep, it will, in all probability, be the sleep that knows no waking!

If a child have swallowed "hartshorn and oil," force him to drink vinegar and water, lemon-juice and water sweetened with sugar, barley water, and thin gruel.

If he have swallowed a lead lotion, give him a mustard emetic, and then vinegar and water, sweetened either with honey or with sugar, to drink.

289. _Are not lucifer matches poisonous_?

Certainly, they are very poisonous; it is, therefore, desirable that they should be put out of the reach of children. A mother ought to be very strict with servants on this head. Moreover, lucifer matches are not only poisonous but dangerous, as a child might set himself on fire with them. A case bearing on the subject has just come under my own observation. A little boy three years old, was left alone for two or three minutes, during which time he obtained possession of a lucifer match, and struck a light by striking the match against the wall. Instantly there was a blaze. Fortunately for him, in his fright, he threw the match on the floor. His mother at this moment entered the room. If his clothes had taken fire, which they might have done, had he not have thrown the match away, or if his mother had not been so near at hand, he would, in all probability, have either been severely burned or have been burned to death.

290. _If a child's clothes take fire, what ought to be done to extinguished them_?

Lay him on the floor, then roll him either in the rug, or in the carpet, or in the door-mat, or in any thick article of dress you may either have on, or have at hand--if it be woollen, so much the better; or, throw him down, and roll him over and over on the floor, as, by excluding the atmospheric air, the flame will go out:--hence the importance of a mother cultivating presence of mind. If parents were better prepared for such emergencies, such horrid disfigurations and frightful deaths would be less frequent.

You ought to have a proper fire-guard before the nursery grate, and should be strict in not allowing your child to play with fire. If he still persevere in playing with it, when he has been repeatedly cautioned not to do so, he should be punished for his temerity. If anything would justify corporal chastis.e.m.e.nt, it would surely be such an act of disobedience. There are only two acts of disobedience that I would flog a child for--namely, the playing with fire and the telling of a lie! If after various warnings and wholesome corrections he still persist, it would be well to let him slightly taste the pain of his doing so, either by holding his hand for a moment very near the fire, or by allowing him to slightly touch either the hot bar of the grate or the flame of the candle. Take my word for it the above plan, will effectually cure him--he will never do it again. It would be well for the children of the poor to have pinafores made either of woollen or of stuff materials. The dreadful deaths from burning, which so often occur in winter, too frequently arise from _cotton_ pinafores first taking fire. [Footnote: It has been computed that upwards of 1000 children are annually burned to death by accident in England.]

If all dresses after being washed, and just before being dried, were, for a short time, soaked in a solution of tungstate of soda, such clothes, when dried, would, be perfectly fire-proof.

Tangstate of soda may be used either with or without starch; but full directions for the using of it will, at the time of purchase, be given by the chemist.

291. _Is a burn more dangerous than a scald_?

A burn is generally more serious than a scald. Burns and scalds are more dangerous on the body, especially on the chest, than either on the face or on the extremities. The younger the child, the greater the danger.

Scalds both of the mouth and the throat, from a child drinking boiling water from the spout of a tea-kettle, are most dangerous. A poor person's child is, from the unavoidable absence of the mother, sometimes shut up in the kitchen by himself, and being very thirsty, and no other water being at hand, he is tempted, in his ignorance, to drink from the tea-kettle: If the water be unfortunately boiling, it will most likely prove to him to be a fatal draught!

292. _What are the best immediate applications to a scald or to a burn_?

There is nothing more efficacious than flour. It ought to be thickly applied over the part affected, and should be kept in its place either with a rag and a bandage, or with, strips of old linen. If this be done, almost instantaneous relief will be experienced, and the burn or the scald, if superficial, will soon be well. The advantage of flour as a remedy, is this, that it is always at hand. I have seen some extensive b.u.ms and scalds cured by the above simple plan. Another excellent remedy is, cottonwool of superior quality, purposely made for surgeons. The burn or the scald ought to be enveloped in it; layer after layer should be applied until it be several inches thick. The cotton-wool must not be removed for several days. These two remedies, flour and cotton-wool, may be used in conjunction; that is to say, the flour may be thickly applied to the scald or to the burn, and the cotton wool over all.

Prepared lard--that is to say, lard without salt [Footnote: If there be no other lard in the house but lard _with_ salt, the salt may be readily removed by was.h.i.+ng the lard in cold water. Prepared lard--that is to say, lard _without_ salt--can, at any moment, be procured from the nearest druggist in the neighbourhood]--is an admirable remedy for burns and for scalds. The advantages of lard are,--(1.) It is almost always at hand; (2.) It is very cooling, soothing, and unirritating to the part, and it gives almost immediate freedom from pain; (3.) It effectually protects and sheathes the burn or the scald from the air; (4.) It is readily and easily applied: all that has to be done is to spread the lard either on pieces of old linen rag, or on lint, and then to apply them smoothly to the parts affected, keeping them in their places by means of bandages--which bandages may be readily made from either old linen or calico s.h.i.+rts.

Dr John Packard, of Philadelphia, was the first to bring this remedy for burns and scalds before the public--he having tried it in numerous instances, and with the happiest results. I myself have, for many years been in the habit of prescribing lard as a dressing for blisters, and with the best effects. I generally advise equal parts of prepared lard and of spermaceti-cerate to be blended together to make an ointment. The spermaceti-cerate gives a little more consistence to the lard, which, in warm weather especially, is a great advantage.

Another valuable remedy for burns is "carron-oil;" which is made by mixing equal parts of linseed-oil and lime-water in a bottle, and shaking it up before using it.

Cold applications, such as cold water, cold vinegar and water, and cold lotions, are most injurious, and, in many cases, even dangerous. Sc.r.a.ped potatoes, sliced cuc.u.mber, salt, and spirits of turpentine, have all been recommended; but, in my practice, nothing has been so efficacious as the remedies above enumerated.

Do not wash the wound, and do not dress it more frequently than every _other_ day. If there be much discharge, let it be gently sopped up with soft old linen rag; but do not, _on any_ account, let the burn be rubbed or roughly handled. I am convinced that, in the majority of cases, wounds are too frequently dressed, and that the was.h.i.+ng of wounds prevents the healing of them. "It is a great mistake," said Ambrose Pare, "to dress ulcers too often, and to wipe their surfaces clean, for thereby we not only remove the useless excrement, which is the mud or sanies of ulcers, but also the matter which forms the flesh. Consequently, for these reasons, ulcers should not be dressed too often."

It is nature, and not the surgeon, that really cures the wound, and it is done, like all Nature's works, princ.i.p.ally in secret, by degrees, and by patience, and resents much interference. The seldom-dressing of a wound and patience are, then, two of the best remedies for effecting a cure. Shakspeare, who seemed to know surgery, as he did almost everything else beside was quite cognisant of the fact:--

"How poor are they, that have not patience What wound did ever heal, but by degrees"

The burn or the scald may, after the first two days, if severe, require different dressings; but, if it be severe, the child ought of course to be immediately placed under the care of a surgeon.

If the scald be either on the leg or on the foot, a common practice is to take the shoe and the stocking off; in this operation the skin is also at the same time very apt to be removed. Now, both the shoe and the stocking ought to be slit up, and thus be taken off, so that neither unnecessary pain nor mischief may be caused.

293. _If a bit of quick-lime should accidentally enter the eye of my child, what ought to be done_?

Instantly, but tenderly remove, either by means of a camel's hair brush, or by a small spill of paper, any bit of lime that may adhere to the ball of the eye, or that may be within the eye or on the eye-lashes; then well bathe the eye (allowing a portion to enter it) with vinegar and water-one part of vinegar to three parts of water, that is to say, a quarter fill a clean half-pint medicine bottle with vinegar, and then fill it up with spring water, and it will be ready for use. Let the eye be bathed for at least a quarter of an hour with, it The vinegar will neutralise the lime, and will rob it of its burning properties.

Having bathed the eye with vinegar and water for a quarter of an hour, bathe it for another quarter of an hour simply with a little warm water, after which, drop into the eye two or three drops of the best sweet-oil, put on an eye-shade made of three thicknesses of linen rag, covered with green silk, and then do nothing more until the doctor arrive.

If the above rules be not _promptly_ and _properly_ followed out, the child may irreparably lose his eyesight; hence the necessity of conversations of this kind, to tell a mother, provided _immediate_ a.s.sistance cannot be obtained, what ought _instantly_ to be done; for moments, in such a case, are precious.

While doing all that I have just recommended, let a surgeon be sent for, as a smart attack of inflammation, of the eye is very apt to follow the burn of lime; but which inflammation will, provided the _previous_ directions have been _promptly_ and _efficiently_ followed out, with appropriate treatment, soon subside.

The above accident is apt to occur to a child who is standing near a building when the slacking of quicklime is going on, and where portions of lime in the form of powder are flying about the air. It would be well not to allow a child to stand about such places, as prevention is always better than cure. _Quicklime_ is sometimes called _caustic-lime_--it well deserves its name, for it is a _burning-lime_, and if proper means be not promptly used, will soon burn away the sight.

294. _If any other foreign substance should enter the eye, what is the best method of removing it_?

If there be grit, or sand, or dust, or particle of coal, or gnat, or a hair, or an eye-lash in the eye, it ought to be tenderly removed by a small tightly-folded paper spill, holding down the lower lid with the fore-finger of the left hand the while; and the eye, if inflamed, should be frequently bathed with warm milk and water; but generally as soon as the cause is removed the effect will cease, and after treatment will be unnecessary.

If a particle of metal be sticking on the cornea of the eye, as it sometimes does, it will require the skilled hand of a surgeon to remove it.

Any foreign substance, however minute, in the eye, is very painful; but a piece of burning lime is excruciating. Shakspeare gives a graphic description of the pain from the presence of any foreign substance, however small, in the eye:--

"Oh heaven!--that there were but a mote in yours, A grain, a dust, a gnat, a wand'ring hair, Any annoyance in that precious sense!

Then, feeling what small things are boist'rous there, Your vile intent must needs seem horrible."

295. _What ought to be done in a case of choking_?

How often does a hungry little child, if not carefully watched, fill his mouth so full, and swallow lumps of food in such hot haste, as to choke himself--