' V- >/\ The Home Doctor. ¥ NEW YORK : The Hollister Printing Co. 1895. THE HOME DOCTOR, A COMPLETE Manual of Family Medicine, GIVING THE MOST APPROVED REMEDIES OF THE PRESENT DAY FOR HOME TREATMENT OF ALL DISEASES. 71 v £ ■ Home Treatment Company,, 54 West 23D Street, New York City, ,WA fe Copyrighted 1895, byC. B. Harris, PREFACE. The following pages are intended as a concise practical guide by which the general public may become familiar with the causes, symptoms, pre- vention, and treatment, of the more common dis- eases that may be successfully treated at home. The manual will be found to contain much val- uable information for every family and individual; and frequent reference to it will, in many cases, save the necessity of consulting a physician and paying large consultation fees. If you desire to keep well, you can learn how to do it from these pages; if you would keep your children well, follow the advice herein given; if you are sick, consult this manual and you will know what to do at once. In short, you will find this work an ever-ready medical adviser, upon which you can rely as certainly as if you consulted the most experienced specialist in any of the dis- eases described. 4 THE HOME DOCTOR. It covers all the subjects that are contained in the large and expensive works on Domestic Medi- cine, in such condensed form that all information sought for can be obtained in a few moments. The treatment recommended and the directions given for preserving health are the most approved and scientific of the present day, and the work is in every way up to date, while all the older works on popular medicine are from fifteen to thirty years behind the age. The medicines recommended are such as are used by the leading physicians of America and Europe, and all prescriptions are given in plain terms that can be understood by every reader. The symptoms of many surgical diseases are described, so that they can be readily recognized before serious deformities result, thus enabling the sufferer to consult a surgeon in time to insure a radical cure of the trouble, and thus save much unnecessary suffering. Our first aim is to teach people how to preserve health and prevent disease; while, to those who are already victims of the sequences of violated laws, we offer the most approved remedies and the best advice for the restoration of health. PREFACE, 5 A perusal of these pages will convince every reader of the importance of complying with the old axiom, " Know thyself;" and those who follow the rules and advice herein contained will demonstrate for themselves the great good that can be derived by instructing the people regarding the nature and treatment of the diseases to which they are liable. R. A. GUNN, M. D., Consulting Physician and Surgeon, CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. THE ORGANS OF DIGESTION. How to Preserve Health — Diseases of the Diges- tive Organs — Acute Indigestion — Chronic Dyspepsia — Catarrh of the Stomach — Jaun- dice — Diarrhea — Chronic Diarrhea — Chol- era Morbus — Dysentery — Cholera Infantum — Habitual Constipation — Worms 13 CHAPTER II. MALARIAL DISEASES. Malarial Fevers — Intermittent Fever — Remit- tent, or Bilioua, Fever 38 CHAPTER III. SPECIFIC GERM DISEASES. Small- Pox — Chicken-Pox — Measels — Erysipelas — Cholera — Yellow Fever — Diphtheria — La Grippe, or Influenza — Hay Fever — Whoop- ing Cough — Mumps — Typhoid Fever 43 g THE HOME DOCTOR. CHAPTER IV. DISEASES OF DEFECTIVE NUTRITIAN. Rheumatism— Gout — Diabetes— Rickets— Scrof- ula « 64 CHAPTER V. SPECIFIC BLOOD DISEASES. Syphilis — Hydrophobia — Glanders 82 CHAPTER VI. DISEASES OF THE LUNGS AND AIR PASSAGES. Consumption — Acute Bronchitis-Chronic Bron- chitis — Asthma — Acute Nasal Catarrh — Ul- ceration of the Nose — Sore Throat — Quinsy — Croup — Loss of Voice — Inflammation of Larynx — Chronic Catarrh — Pneumonia — Pleurisy 76 CHAPTER VII. DISEASES OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. Headache — Vertigo — Spinal Irritation — Convul- sions — Epilepsy — St. Vitus Dance — Hysteria Hiccough — Sea Sickness — Neuralgia — Pa- ralysis. 106 CONTENTS. 9 CHAPTER VIII. DISEASES OF THE HEART. Palpitation of the Heart — Rheumatism of the Heart — Diseases of the Valves — Enlarge- ment of the Heart — Fatty Degeneration - Angina Pectoris 123 CHAPTER IX. URINARY DISEASES. Congestion and Inflammation of the Kidneys — Bright's Disease — Gravel — Retention of . Urine — Inflammation of the Bladder — Stone in the Bladder — Involuntary Escape of Urine 130 CHAPTER X. SPECIAL DISEASES OF MEN. Gonorrhea, or Clap — Gleet — Balanitis — Phymo- sis — Paraphimosis — Stricture — Swelled Tes- ticles — Hydrocele — Varicocele — Self-abuse — Spermatorrhea 14 c CHAPTER XI. DISEASES AND INJURIES OF THE SKIN. Acne, or Flesh Worms — Bed Sores — Boils — Car- buncles — Corns — Chilblains — Dandruff — Falling Out of Hair — Eczema — Freckles — Nettle Rash, or Hives — Prickley Heat — Ring Worm — Salt Rheum— Warts— Itch- Barbers Itch — Burns and Scalds 151 IO THE HOME DOCTOR. CHAPTER XII. DISEASES OF WOMEN. Inflammation of the Vagina — Inflammation and Ulceration of the Womb — Leucorrhea — Displacements of the Womb — Tumors — Cancers — Change of Life 164 CHAPTER XIII. THE EYE AND ITS DISORDERS. The Care of the Eyes — Defects of Vision — The Use of Spectacles — Diseases of the Lids — Weeping, or Watery, Eyes — Cross-Eye — Conjunctivitis — Granular Lids — Ulceration of the Cornea — Opacity of the Cornea — Iritis — Cataract — Glaucoma — Amaurosis . . 178 CHAPTER XIV. THE EAR AND ITS DISORDERS. Care of the Ears — Malformations and Injuries of the Ears — Accumulation of Wax — Ab- scess — Deafness — Polypus 190 CHAPTER XV. SURGICAL DISEASES AND ACCIDENTS. Piles — Fistula of the Anus — Fissure of the Anus — Hernia, or Rupture — Varicose Veins — In- grown Toe Nails — Diseases of the Bones — Fractures — Sprains — Dislocations- Diseases of the Joints — Spinal Deformities — Knock Knee — Bowed Legs — Club Foot 196 CONTENTS. U CHAPTER XVI. FOOD IN HEALTH AND DISEASE. Infant Feeding — Food for Adult Life — Food in Old Age — Fallacies Regarding Eating — Diet in Dyspepsia — Food in Biliousness — Food in Nervous Prostration — Food in Rheumatism — Food in Diabetes — Food in Consumption — Diet in Acute Diseases — Food in Convalescence 212 CHAPTER XVII. ANTIDOTES FOR POISON. For Opium — Strychnine — Arsenic — Lead — Aco- nite — Belladonna — Carbolic Acid — Chloro- form — Coal Gas — Illuminating Gas — Oxalic Acid — Gelsemium — Chloral — Poisonous Mushrooms 229 CHAPTER XVIII. WHAT TO DO IN EMERGENCIES. For Burns and Scalds — Pistol Wounds — Cuts — Bleeding from the Nose — Bleeding from the Lungs — Fainting — Convulsions — Drowning — Accidents from Collisions 237 CHAPTER I. The Organs of Digestion. How to Preserve Health — Diseases of the Digestive Organs — Acute Indigestion — Chronic Dyspepsia — Catarrh of the Stom- ach — Jaundice — Diarrhea — Chronic Diar- rhea — Cholera Morbus — Dysentery — Chol- era Infantum — Habitual Constipation — Intestinal Worms, The organs of the body that take part in prepar- ing and distributing the material necessary to nourish the system are called the organs of diges- tion. These organs, when spoken of collectively, are called the digestive apparatus, which begins with the mouth and ends at the anus, and includes two large collateral structures. Naming them in order we have the mouth, oesophagus or gullet, stomach, small intestines, liver, pancreas or sweet bread, and large intestines. The mouth first receives the food. Here it is or should be thoroughly masticated, before it is swal- lowed. This not only prepares it for ready digestion in the stomach, but first mixes it with the saliva, a secretion from several small glands .that connect 14 THE HOME DOCTOR. with the mouth by small tubes. The saliva causes a slight change in the food by converting starch into sugar, which is the first change the food un- dergoes.. It also renders swallowing easy. When the food reaches the stomach it stimulates the glands and muscles of that organ, so that the food is moved around, and thoroughly mixed with the gastric juice, which is the digestive fluid of the stomach, and is composed of water, pepsin, lactic acid, and albuminous and salty materials. When acting normally, the articles of food containing albu- min — and hence called albuminous substances, such as meats, eggs, milk, and portions of many vege- tables — are converted by the gastric juice into a substance called albuminose. This, with the starches, sugars, and fats, is now called chyme, and passes out of the stomach into the small intestines. The intestines secrete what is called intestinal juice, which, acting on the starch of the chyme, changes it into sugar. The pancreas produces a secretion of its own, which is emptied through a little canal into the intestines. This secretion is called pancreatic juice, and it acts on the fatty portion of the food, changing it into a substance called chyle. The liver also empties its secretion — bile — into the intestines, which helps to keep up the motion of the intestines, and also prevents fermentation, thus acting as a valuable auxiliary to digestion. It will thus be seen that the process of digestion. THE ORGANS OF DIGESTION. 1 5 which is begun in the stomach, is completed in the intestines. As fast as the digestion is completed, the absorbents of the intestines suck it up, and carry it into the circulation. The fatty portion of the food that has been converted into chyle passes down, and is sucked up by innumerable little ves- sels called lacteals. These carry it to larger recep- ticals, and these again to a canal called the thoracic duct. This duct conveys material from various parts of the body to be further prepared for use by again passing through the blood. The chyle mixes with this fluid, and is carried into a vein under the left collar bone. From this vein it is carried with the impure blood to the right side of the heart; from that to the lungs, where certain impurities are removed, and thence back to the heart, the motor by which the pure, enriched blood is carried to every part of the body to feed and renew the tissues. All particles of food that are not acted upon by the digestive fluids pass into the large intestines, and are thrown off from the bowels as effete mate- rials. It will thus be seen that digestion is a compli- cated process, and that it must be properly per- formed in order to keep the entire body in a healthy condition. If digestion is impaired so that food is not supplied in the right form to the blood, the actions of the lungs and heart go on without supply- ing the tissues with nourishment, and both thes^ 1 6 THE HOME DOCTOR. organs must soon become diseased in consequence. In short, nearly all functional and many organic diseases owe their beginning to imperfect diges- tion. How important is it, then, that every one should be familiar with the normal process of di- gestion, that they might recognize the first symp- toms of a departure therefrom. HOW TO PRESERVE HEALTH. Those who desire to keep well should be regular in all their habits; should eat a fair quantity of food composed of animal and vegetable products; should never eat so much as to feel uncomfortably full; should chew their food thoroughly before swallowing it; and should take as little fluid as pos- sible till the food is thoroughly masticated and swallowed. A rest of half an hour after severe physical or mental labor should always be taken before eating, and an hour's rest after a meal is always desirable. If this is not possible, a very light meal should be taken at noon, and the principal meal reserved for the evening, after the work of the day is over. Farmers and all persons engaged in severe physi- cal labor should rest from half an hour to an hour after a midday dinner, which is usually best for them if they can rest before resuming work. Those suffering from any great mental strain from any cause should abstain from hearty eating, for digestion cannot go on properly during such HOW TO PRESERVE HEALTH. 1 7 excitement, and loading the stomach is sure to cause indigestion. It is better to eat something before retiring than to go to bed hungry. It is also wise for every one to avoid such articles of food as have been found by experience to disagree with them, no matter how wholesome they may be claimed to be. Many persons, especially those doing mental work, feel the need of some little stimulant. A little light table wine with the meal will be found a valuable aid to such persons, and can be taken with the certainty of deriving benefit from its use. One of the most important factors in perfect digestion is regular bowels. Every one should so habituate himself that the custom of having the bowels move at a regular hour in the morning be- comes a fixed habit. No engagements, however pressing, should interfere with this important call of nature, for when neglected one day, the desire is less the following day, and thus in a short time constipation is established. This is one of the most common causes of deranged digestion. Per- sons of sedentary habits should take some form of systematic exercise in the open air. Walking is well enough as far as it goes, but it is not enough. The muscles of the arms, chest, and abdomen, should be daily brought into action. Cycling is a most healthful fcrm of exercise for both sexes.* Bathing is also essential. A free actionof the skin relieves the lungs and kidneys of unnecessary 18 THE HOME DOCTOR. work, and prevents the accumulation in the system of effete material. When they can be had, one or two Turkish baths a week will be found specially conducive to health. Attention to these few suggestions will enable the large majority of people to keep well, for a per- fect stomach and liver can always defy disease and the doctors. The several organs of digestion are liable to be affected by disease, acute or chronic, but as many of them are intricate, and require to be specially examined by the experienced physician, only such as can be easily recognized and treated at home will be considered in these pages. Among those most commonly met with we find acute indigestion, chronic dyspepsia, catarrh of the stomach, torpid liver or biliousness, jaundice, diarrhea, cholera morbus, cholera infantum, dysentery, habitual con- stipation, and intestinal worms all of which we will briefly consider in the order as named. ACUTE INDIGESTION. Acute indigestion is usually a temporary dis- turbance of stomach digestion, caused by taking into the stomach some indigestible substance, by over-loading the stomach with too much food, or eating heartily when the system is exhausted by overwork or mental anxiety. The symptoms are a sharp, cutting pain in the stomach, with a feeling as of a hard lump in the Acute indigestion. lg Stomach that will not move; sharp spasms of pain, followed by intervals of relaxation; and a bloating or distention of the stomach. These symptoms may show themselves during a meal, immediately after, or an hour or two, after eating. In severe cases the quickest relief is obtained by swallowing some stimulant. Two tablespoonfuls of good whisky or brandy without water, if possible, * is among the best remedies. Ten drops of tincture of red pepper and twenty drops of tincture of gin- ger in a little water may also be used to advantage by those who object to alcoholic stimulant. This treatment simply stimulates the muscles of the stomach to force the undigested food from the stomach. This will relieve the pain, but the diffi- culty is not always removed. The natural action of the stomach has been interfered with, and the intestines have more work than their own to per- form. Digestion must be promoted and the undi- gested food must be removed. As soon as the severe pain is relieved one of the Home Dyspepsia Pills should be taken, and should be continued after each meal for several days. A Home Liver Pill should also be taken at bed time, and repeated every night for several nights if nec- essary. CHRONIC DYSPEPSIA. Chronic dyspepsia is that form of indigestion that has resulted from a depressed or inactive state 26 THE HOME DOCTOR. of the stomach. It is caused by the continued use of improper quality or excessive quantities of food, torpid liver, severe mental or physical effort imme- diately before or after eating, bad hygienic condi- tions, or a general depressed state of the system. It is often present in the aged, and may follow as a sequence, after any protracted illness. Symptoms. — A sense of fullness and weight felt soon after eating, and continuing till the stomach is empty, is the first well defined symptom of this dis- order. Following this, wind colic often gives annoyance; there is difficult breathing, palpitation of the heart which is often mistaken for heart dis- ease, constipation, coated tongue, and headache through the temples and eyeballs. The tongue is large and flabby and indented by the teeth around its edges. When the intestinal digestion is first interfered with the weight and distension are felt below the stomach proper, the lower part of the abdomen is distended with gas, and a constant rumbling is felt in the bowels. In either case the patient loses strength and flesh, the skin becomes pale and clammy, the hands and feet are cold, despondency ensues, memory is im- paired, and all ambition is lost. Of course these are the symptoms of the mere serious cases, but every dyspeptic will experience them in time if the dis- ease is not arrested. Treatment. — The most important thing to con- CHRONIC DYSPEPSIA. 21 sider in the treatment of this disease is the diet. All articles of food containing starch and sugar should, as a rule, be avoided for a time, as these articles, when not digested, readily undergo fer- mentation, and thus distend the bowels with gas. Among the articles to be avoided are potatoes, corn, rice, white bread, beets, sugar, pastry, pud- dings, sweetmeats, and the like. Beef and mutton should be well masticated or chopped up fine before cooking, and should always be eaten rare. Milk, eggs, beans, peas, celery, lettuce, tomatoes, gra- ham bread, and bread made from gluten flour may be eaten, but the stomach should never be over- loaded. Ripe fruits, in season, are also good as a rule. Any article of food, however, that is known to disagree with a patient should always be avoid- ed, and strong condiments should never be used. When it does not disagree with a person, a little mild claret wine, taken after a small plate of soup, will be found very beneficial. Aged persons may take about two tablespoonfuls of good whisky or brandy about half an hour before a meal, and be greatly benefited by it. Next to the diet the condition of the liver and bowels should be considered. If the tongue is coated and the bowels constipated, the Home Liver Pills, used according to directions accompanying them, should be continued till these conditions are corrected. In addition, one Home Dyspepsia Pill should be taken immediately after each meal. In 22 THE HOME DOCTOR. severe cases, in adults, two pills may often be re- quired at a dose for a week or two. When there is palpitation of the heart and diffi- cult breathing, speedy relief will often be obtained by taking twenty drops of essence of peppermint and as much bicarbonate of soda as can be held on a ten-cent silver piece. These can be dissolved in a little water and swallowed. In all such cases any severe mental strain or worry will retard recovery, so that in such cases the above treatment should be followed during a rest from business cares. CATARRH OF THE STOMACH. Catarrh of the stomach, though always causing indigestion, is different from the dyspepsia just de- scribed. It is an inflammation of the membranes of the stomach, which results, in many cases, in a thickening of the lining membrane and a congestion of the bloodvessels of the stomach. This condition is caused by the continued use of highly seasoned foods, the excessive use of stimu- lants, insufficient mastication, overloading the stomach, the use of very hot or very cold drinks, and the continued use of morphine or other power- ful narcotics. Sometimes an acute attack may occur, when the patient will be feverish, the stomach nauseated and tender on pressure. Great thirst may be present, and the stomach rejects every thing that enters it. CHRONIC DYSPEPSIA. 23 Such an acute attack may pass into a chronic or long-standing inflammation, but usually the chronic form seems to have been gradually developed from long-continued congestion, without the develop- ment of any marked acute symptoms. Many of the symptoms are the same as those of ordinary dyspepsia. The distention of the stomach and bowels with gases is more marked; and in some cases severe cutting neuralgic pains are pro- duced. Pain is usually present, but at one time it is more severe when the stomach is full, and at an- other time when it is empty. Acid eructations often rise to the throat, heart-burn and water-brash occur, and in many cases the distress is not relieved till vomiting occurs. In short, all the symptoms of or- dinary dyspepsia are present in very aggravated form, with some other distressing ones added. Treatment. — The same general attention to diet as before described is imperative, and our Home Liver Pills and Home Dyspepsia Pills should be used in ths same way. In this disease a goblet full of water, as hot as can be swallowed, will be of great value if taken every morning, an hour before breakfast. This warms the stomach, and loosens and removes the thick mucus that has accumulated during the night. When these cases have, been of long standing an experienced physician should be consulted, for it maybe necessary to reach the inside of the stomach 24 THE HOME DOCTOR. with medicated injections to prevent the develop- ment of ulceration. TORPID LIVER OR BILIOUSNESS. By torpid liver is meant a condition in which the bile accumulates in the liver instead of passing in- to the intestines. This leaves the complexion sal- low, causes brown patches to form on the skin, creates a tenderness on pressure along the lower margin of the ribs on the right side, over the liver, and causes pain under or between the shoulder- blades. The tongue is coated, the bowels consti- pated, a feeling of languor and drowsiness is felt, and sleep fails to afford relief from the tired feeling. When these symptoms continue, dyspepsia is sure to follow. Treatment. — Stimulate the liver to action so that the bile is thrown into the intestines in normal quantity, and the difficulty is removed. This can always be done by the Home Liver Pills, which may confidently be said to be specific for torpid liver. One pill should be taken on going to bed, for several nights in succession. When the bowels move free- ly more than once a day, a pill should only be taken every second or third night, as required. If one pill at a time does not move the bowels copiously after two or three days, two pills should be taken at a dose, and even three may be taken by some per- sons. It is always best, however, to commence JAUNDICE — DIARRHEA 25 with one pill, and gradually increase the dose if necessary. JAUNDICE. Jaundice is a condition caused by the retention of the bile in a torpid liver to such a degree that it is absorbed into the blood. It imparts the greenish- yellow hue of the bile to the skin, eyes, andother tissues, and hence it is easily recognized. Treatment. — The free use of the Home Liver Pills should be resorted to at once. A hot lemon- ade or whisky sling on going to bed — or, what is better, when it can be had, a Turkish bath — will open the pores of the skin and thus help to remove the bile from the blood. A few teaspoonful doses of sweet spirits of nitre to act on the kidneys will also serve a good purpose. During the continuance of the jaundice it is best to abstain as much as possible from hearty eating. DIARRHEA. Simple diarrhea is too well known to require any special description. It is usually met with during the summer season, and indigestible articles of food, with the high temperature, seem to act as ex- citing causes of the disease. Exposure to cold and damp air, and the sudden arrest of perspiration, also act as exciting causes in producing it. Bilious diarrhea is a condition to which some people are frequently liable at any season of the 26 THE HOME DOCTOR. year. This is caused when a large quantity of bile passes into the small intestines at once, after its passage had been obstructed for some time. Treatment. — During an attack of diarrhea it is best to abstain from eating, and also to avoid drinking as much as possible, till the severity of the attack is over. If there is much pain in the bowels, as'might be caused by the presence of some undi- gested portion of food, a dose of castor oil will prove of great service in removing the offending sub- stance. It can be taken with a little coffee, and is not as disagreeable to take as many suppose. Then the patient should keep as quiet as possi- ble and take one of the Home Cholera Pills every hour till relieved or till five or six doses are taken. After the attack is first controlled, the pills may be continued every three or four hours, if necessary, until there is no likelihood of a recurrence. Such attacks are apt to leave a person constipat- ed, but this condition is readily overcome by using the Home Liver Pills for a few nights. CHRONIC DIARRHEA. Chronic Diarrhea is a name applied to such cases of diarrhea as are of long standing, attacks occurring at short intervals, at all seasons of the year. This is due to deranged conditions of stomach and iiver. None of these cases can be cured by taking the ordinary diarrhea medicines. We must begin right CHOLERA MORBUS. 2"} or the disease will continue. Our Dyspepsia Pills should be used after each meal, and the Home Liver Pill at bedtime. If these remedies are followed up for a time the worst cases of chronic diarrhea can be cured. CHOLERA MORBUS. Cholera Morbus is an acute inflammation of the lining membrane of the stomach and intestines. It comes on suddenly, and is ushered in by diarrhea, which is soon followed by vomiting. Severe attacks are often mistaken for Asiatic cholera. It may come on at any season of the year, though it is more prevalent in the summer and autumn. Sudden changes of temperature, prostration from continued heat, the fermentation of undigest- ed foods, drinking ice-water when overheated, and eating unripe fruit or vegetables may give rise to the disorder. For several days before the attack the patient feels languid and depressed, the tongue is coated, and some diarrhea and slight nausea have been present. Then a chill occurs, usually in the night, and the patient awakes with severe colic and vomiting. The purging then becomes severe, and the patient is greatly prostrated in a short time. Sometimes the attack will come on without warning of any kind. It is severe while it lasts, which may be from a few hours to several days. 28 THE HOME DOCTOR. Treatment. — To avoid the development of cholera morbus all cases of diarrhea should be treated at once with Home Cholera Pills, given according to directions. When the attack has fully developed, small pieces of ice or cold champagne may be given to allay the vomiting, and a mustard poultice, made of equal parts of flour and mustard, should be applied over the stomach and bowels. When the vomiting is allayed the cholera pills should be given, and re- peated every half hour for three or four doses, and afterward at longer intervals, as directed in circular. A teaspoonful of good brandy in about the same quantity of water should be given at short inter- vals till the patient recovers from the extreme pros- tration. Where this treatment fails to give prompt relief some other complication is sure to be present, and a physician should be called without delay. After the attack is over the liver usually becomes torpid and the bowels constipated. In such condi- tion our Home Liver Pill should be used. DYSENTERY. Dysentery differs from the diseases above de- scribed by being an inflammation and ulceration of the large intestines. It is caused by the same gen- eral conditions as develop the diseases of other portions of the bowels, but is influenced by mala- rial conditions to such an extent as to develop it as an epidemic. DYSENTERY. 20, It begins about the same as an ordinary diar- rhea, but the discharges soon have a sticky white appearance, and finally they become bloody. It is this that has given to the disease the name of 11 bloody flux." The first symptoms closely resemble those of cholera morbus, without much nausea, but soon severe colicky pains are felt on either side of the abdomen above the groin; there is a feeling of pressure and uneasiness in the lower bowel, and a spasm at the anus (back passage), which is intensely painful. The discharges, of a jelly-like mucus, are streaked with blood at first, but when the disease continues they appear almost like pure blood, and are very frequent. In most cases there will be considerable fever, which is likely to come on at a certain time of the day, most usually in the afternoon. It lasts for several hours and then subsides. Treatment. — At the onset of the disease our Cholera Pill should be used freely. Two pills may be given at a dose, and repeated in half an hour. After the second dose, they should not be taken oftener than once in two hours. If there is much fever twenty drops of tincture of aconite root should be put in a goblet with six tablespoonfuls of water, and a teaspoonful given from the goblet every half hour till the fever sub- sides. The diet should be milk, with one-quarter lime- 30 THE HOME DOCTOR. water added, beef juice, raw oysters if fresh, eggs, egg-nog (made with eggs, brandy, and milk), cus- tard, etc. Solid foods should be avoided. Sometimes it is necessary to make a starch solu- tion of the consistency of syrup, and to add to half a pint a teaspoonful of laudanum, and inject that quantity into the rectum with a Davidson syringe. The patient should rest on the left side, and after using the injection a napkin should be pressed against the anus to prevent the starch solution from escaping at once. After the bowel trouble subsides, Home Malaria Pills should be taken for a week or ten days, or longer, if the patient does not regain strength speedily. CHOLERA INFANTUM. Cholera Infantum is a name applied to an in- flammation of the lining membrane of the stomach and intestines of children, which usually occurs during the teething period. It is analogous to cholera morbus in the adult, and is attended by vomiting, purging, and considerable fever. It is often called "summer cholera" and "summer complaint." The disease occurs in young infants when the mother's milk is defective in quality, or when the child is fed from the bottle with improperly pre- pared food. It is, however, more common at the age of teething, when the nervous system has been CHOLERA DfFAN irritated, and when children are allowed to eat con- siderable bread, pota:: r? s ireets and sn as the system is not yet capable of digesting. The restlessness irritability, and feverishness. that precede ac attack ire so well known to every mother that they need no description here. The bowels may be loose for several days before vom- iting sets in, though vomiting and purging often begin at once without much previous dis- turbance. The discharges from the bowels soon become watery, and are greenish or greenish-yell: " in color. The abdomen is tender to the touch, the legs are drawn up, and the slightest motion cause? and the child to cry out or moan. Nothing will remain on the stomach, and the retching is often severe. The child soon looks thin in the face and body, the eyes are sunken and half closed the mouth is partly open, and the lips are dry and The disease often develops inflammation of the DOvcring of the spinal cord and brain, when the back of the head becomes extremely hot, the head moves incessantly, and the child sinks into a stupor i n i :ie> This lisease is rr.:s: frequently developed as a result of ignorance of the parents in regard to the proper way to feed children under four years of age. For full directions on this subject see ai on "Infant Feeding in this manual, 32 THE HOME DOCTOR. Treatment, — Attention to what is taken into the atomach is the first consideration in the treatment of this disease. Nourishment either from the breast or bottle should be given at longer intervals than usual, and should be much less than usual in quantity. Small pieces of ice to suck should be substituted for large draughts of water. See article on " Infant Feeding" for preparation of milk as a substitute for mother's milk. Bathing two or three times a day in water at ioo Q at first and gradually cooled to 8o° materially aids in reducing the fever, and is grateful to the child. The vomiting is often allayed by from ten to twenty drops of pure brandy, given in water, every two, three, or four, hours. In the way of medicines the following will be found very serviceable in promptly relieving the disease in the majority of cases: To eight table- spoonfuls of water in a goblet add six drops of tincture of aconite root. To another goblet with the same quantity of water add ten drops of tinc- ture of ipecac and five drops of tincture of nux vomica. Commence by giving a teaspoonful from the first goblet, and fifteen minutes after a tea- I spoonful from the second goblet. Continue alter- nating the medicine, one being given after the other with fifteen minutes between doses. When the fever subsides the doses can be given half an hour apart, and as the symptoms improve longer intervals should pass between doses. The HABITUAL CONSTIPATION. 33 child should not be disturbed when asleep. This treatment, with attention to diet, will cure even severe cases. When the head symptoms are present, ten drops of tincture of gelsemium should be substituted for the tincture of aconite, and the doses alternated as before. In all severe cases it is best to send for a physi- cian. HABITUAL CONSTIPATION. As constipation is always associated with some other derangement, it is important always to ascer- tain and remove the cause, if possible. Attention to diet is of the first importance, and on this point the reader is referred to the directions regarding the same as given in Chapter XVI. Our Home Liver Pills, when taken according to directions, will overcome the worst cases of habit- ual constipation. Rowing, a gentle lifting exercise, or any motion, that will bring all the muscles of the body into action, will be found a great help in the right direction. Gently kneading and rubbing over the surface of the bowels, for twenty minutes every morning, will also materially help. Regularity as to the time of going to stool must not be forgotten either, for a neglect of this necessary precaution will greatly retard the desired regularity in the action of the bowels. By following these directions and taking the 34 THE HOME DOCTOR. pills till the bowels move freely and the tongue is no longer coated the constipation can be cured. For a few days after discontinuing the pills, there may be a slight tendency to constipation, but if the effort to secure a motion is followed every day, the bowels will become as regular as clock-work. INTESTINAL WORMS. Worms of various kinds are produced and devel- oped in the human body, and this remarkable fact constitutes one of the most interesting and astonish- ing studies in connection with medical science. They are found in many of the organs and tissues of the body, but are most frequently met with in the digestive canal. It may be interesting to know that thirty different kinds of worms are known to infest the human body under varying conditions. Of these, three kinds are often met with in the intestines, and are known as round or stomach worms, thread-worms and tape- worms. It is with these only that we will deal at present. The presence of worms in the bowels is made manifest by the following symptoms: paleness of the face which sometimes changes to a dirty red or bluish hue, dark circles around the eyes, itching of the nostrils and anus (back passage), disturbed sleep, grinding of the teeth during sleep, swelling of the abdomen, griping pains in the bowels, and slimy Stools, which are very irregular. The appetite INTESTINAL WORMS. 35 varies greatly, being voracious at one time and ca- pricious at another. Though these symptoms point to the presence of worms, they are not always reliable. The only cer- tainty is the presence of worms or parts of them in the passages from the bowels. Round-worms vary in length from six to ten inches, and in general appearance closely resemble the earth worm commonly used as a bait while fish- ing. They are present in the small intestines of children and sickly persons who are badly fed. The swollen abdomen, colicky pains, slimy pas- sages from the bowels, and the peculiarly disagree- able breath at once suggest the presence of round worms. The thread -worms, or pin worms, as the smaller ones are called, are usually found in the lower bowel, and may often be seen on the surface of the skin, having worked themselves through the anus. They will even extend and find their way into the vagina in female children, and produce a whitish discharge, the cause of which often remains a mys- tery. They will sometimes form in solid bunches, which materially interfere with the natural action of the bowels. These worms cause a feeling of fullness and pressure in the rectum, extreme itching at and around the fundament, oozing of slimy matter, irri- table temper, and at times great depression of spirits. 36 THE HOME DOCTOR. Tape-worm is found in the small intestines, and varies from a few feet to twenty or thirty yards in length. It is flat, and formed of numerous pieces ranging from one-eighth to one-half inch in length, and nearly as broad, which are joined together by joints resembling those of sugar cane. The tape- worm is more commonly met with in adults, while the other two varieties are incidental to childhood. The latter occur in great numbers while the tape- worm is usually single. The general symptoms already given are usually present, and in addition the sufferer eats voraciously, is always hungry, but remains thin and lean. There is no certain symp- tom, however, of the presence of the tape-worm ex- cept when sections of it are passed from the bowels. Treatment. — In treating round- worms and thread- worms the patient should abstain from eating dur- ing the greater portion of the day and before going to bed. Home Worm Lozenges should be given, according Jo directions. The following morning from one teaspoonful to a tablespoonful of castor oil, with from ten to thirty drops of oil of turpentine should be administered before breakfast, the dose being regulated according to the age. There is no better remedy for this purpose than this old-fashion- ed, much-despised castor oil. If worms are present they are pretty certain to be passed with the first motion of the bowels. If no worms appear, the treatment may be tried again in a few days. The thread-worms are often best removed by an INTESTINAL WORMS, 37 injection into the rectum of a strong solution of warm salt and water, in addition to the above treat- ment. In the treatment of tape-worm a great variety of remedies have been recommended, but the most effectual is the oil of male-fern. After fasting for twelve hours, a tablespoonful of oil of male-fern, mixed with two tablespoonfuls of syrup, should be taken at bed-time. The following morning an ounce of castor oil, with a teaspoonful of the oil of turpentine, should be taken before breakfast. If there is any tape-worm present this treatment will certainly remove it, but a second trial may be necessary before the entire worm is expelled. The worm should be examined to ascertain if the head is expelled, for if it is not it will be rapidly repro- duced. 33 CHAPTER II. Malarial Diseases. Malarial Fevers — Intermittent Fever — Remit- tent, or Bilious, Fever. Under the general heading of Malarial Diseases are included all those disorders that are known to be produced by the absorption into the system of a poisonous germ from the atmosphere which is com- monly called malaria, or marsh-miasm. It has been demonstrated that in certain seasons of the year, and in some regions of country where vege- table substances have been under moisture for a time, and then exposed to the rays of the sun, minute disease germs are produced in such quan- tities as to poison the atmosphere for a considerable distance around. This condition occurs in low- lying swampy ground, where fresh water abounds, and is more common in the summer and fall. Digging up and exposing fresh earth to any extent also develops or liberates these germs. While there can be no mistaking the symptoms of true malaria, it is nevertheless true that the term malaria is often so loosely used as to be ap- MALARIAL FEVERS. 39 plied to any condition for which the doctor cannot find a better term. The absorption of the malaria germs by the sys- tem produces conditions which vary in proportion to the amount of absorption which has taken place. The symptoms may vary from slight languor and chilliness, to the most violent ague and fever, and different names have been applied to the different conditions developed, As a rule, a healthy, robust person may be exposed to a malarious atmosphere for a long time without being affected in the least thereby; while a person in poor health or with a torpid liver is very likely to suffer from some mala- rial disease. MALARIAL FEVERS Malarial fevers are properly divided into two kinds, viz., intermittent and remittent fevers; but these have received different names by which they are often popularly known. Intermittent fever is of malarial origin, and re- ceives its name from the fact that it occurs periodi- cally, leaving the patient comparatively well be- tween the attacks. It begins with a chill and cold stage, which is followed by a hot stage, and that again by a sweating stage. It is variously called chills, fever and ague, but more properly ague and fever, and dumb ague. These names owe their origin to the several symp- toms developed by the varying degrees of severity 40 THE HOME DOCTOR. of the disease. When there is a feeling of languor, with frequent recurrences of slight chills, followed by flashes of heat, the term "chills" is applied; when there is a continued cold stage with slight fever following, and little or no sweating, it is called dumb ague; but when there is a pronounced chill, continued from half an hour to an hour or two, with feeling of intense cold, and this is followed by a high fever, which lasts as long, and finally gives way to profuse sweating, we have a fully developed intermittent fever, or ague and fever. When the sweating stage is over, the patient feels almost as well as usual, but after a certain regular interval the paroxysm recurs and takes the same course as before. Sometimes the attacks come on every day, while they may only recur every second, third, or fourth day. Whatever the inter- val may be the paroxysms, when renewed, follow the same course as at first. In many cases the dis- ease is so persistent and severe that the patient is entirely worn out and life becomes a burden. Many times, before this disease is fully develop- ed, the patient suffers from general languor and depression of spirit, has a continuous headache, pains in the muscles, coated tongue, and constipated bowels. These symptoms, especially in malarial districts, should be sufficient warning, and some preventive treatment should be at once adopted. Re7nittent fever , also called bilious fever, and bil- MALARIAL FEVERS. 41 ious remittent fever, is only another form of malaria. The cause that produces it, the premonitory symp- toms, and the ushering in of the attack are about the same as met with in intermittent fever. When the aitack is once developed, however, the disease continues till it is broken up by treatment, or runs its course. At a certain hour every day, or every other, there is a remission of the fever, marked by slight perspiration. This lasts for a short time, and the fever again manifests itself as before. In mild cases the remission is of longer duration, and a chill ushers in the next paroxysm. In severe cases, however, the fever is almost continuous, and often assumes a low, typhoid type, which may at any time prove fatal. Treatment. — All treatment of malarial fevers must have in view the relief of the patient during the paroxysm, the prevention of a recurrence, and destroying the poison in the system, so as to effect a permanent cure. When the first symptoms are felt, and before the chill or fever occurs, the Home Malaria Pill should be taken. It will also be found necessary to pro- mote a good action on the liver by the use of the Home Liver Pill. Both these remedies should be used continuously till all the symptoms have entire- ly disappeared. Even then the malaria pill should betaken for three days of each week for four weeks to prevent a relapse. This has been found neces- sary on account of a tendency to a recurrence of 42 THE HOME DOCTOR. malaria every seventh, fourteenth, twenty-first, and twenty-eighth days. No malarial medicine should be given during the chill or fever. During the continuance of the cold stage the pa- tient should be well covered up in bed, with hot bottles or irons to the feet and hands, if desired. When the hot stage comes on all extra bed-cloth- ing should be removed. Cool drinks maybe given, and in severe cases the skin may be bathed with water at about eighty degrees temperature. To shorten the febrile stage and render the pa- tient more comfortable, three drops of the tincture of gelsemium should be given in a teaspoonful of water every fifteen or twenty minutes till perspira- tion commences. This treatment will materially shorten the hot stage. For the sweating stage nothing can be done but to wipe the body with a towel, and to give the pa- tient whatever drink may be desired. Should one malaria pill every three hours fail to prevent a recurrence of a second paroxysm, two pills should be taken every three hours. CHAPTER III. Specific Germ Diseases. Small-Pox — Chicken-Pox — Measles — Erysipelas — Cholera — Yellow Fever — Diphtheria-La Grippe, or Influenza — Hay Fever — Whoop- ing Cough — Mumps — Typhoid Fever. Modern science has demonstrated that a large number of our most fatal, as well as most prevalent diseases, are due to the inhaling and absorbing of certain specific germs from the atmosphere. Some go so far as to say that all diseases are caused by disease germs, but this claim cannot be verified by any satisfactory proof. There are, however, enough of such diseases about which there is no dispute, and these we will briefly describe without any at- tempt at special qualification. Small-pox, chicken-pox, measles, German meas- les, scarlet fever, and erysipelas, are usually de- scribed as eruptive fevers; while cholera, diphthe- ria, influenza, hay fever, whooping cough, and mumps, are classed as miasmatic diseases. Whatever may be the character of the specific poisons or germs that produce these diseases, cer- 44 THE HOME DOCTOR. tain it is that nature makes an effort to rid the sys- tem from the intruders, and thus the symptoms of the various diseases are produced. It is therefore necessary to direct all efforts in the line of treat- ment to the destruction of the specific germs. SMALL-POX. Small-pox is an eruptive disease, especially con- tagious in character. The first symptoms are languor and depression, such as precedes all fevers, intense pain in the back and legs, with severe headache. After a few days a severe chill is felt, and then a high fever sets in, and lasts for three or four days. An erup- tion shows itself at this time, when the fever and pain in the back and head are all relieved. The eruption at first consists of slightly elevated red points, which are somewhat hard, and feel like small shot under the finger. The second day after the eruption appears the red points enlarge, and look like inflamed pimples, and by the third day a clear fluid is seen under a delicate vesicle. In about two days more the top of each vesicle has the appearance of a pimple filled with pus, or mat- ter; when full, the vesicle flattens and falls in till a marked depression is formed. It is only after the vesicle forms that the disease can be communicated, and usually from eight to fourteen days may intervene after exposure before the first symptoms begin to show themselves. SMALL-POX. 45 Some claim that persons who have been vacci- nated have a milder form of the disease, which is called varioloid. This is a fallacy, and we believe the day is not far distant when vaccination will be abandoned in all civilized countries. Treatment. — It has long been known that oxygen destroys minute germs of all kinds, and the aim has always been to supply extra oxygen to the blood in some way. Little success had been attained however, until concentrated oxygen in the form of ozone was manufactured, so that water could be strongly charged with it. This has been success- fully done in Germany, and the process with the complete apparatus was obtained at great expense and brought to America, and the Home Treatment has now the exclusive right to manufacture ozone water by the only method by which ozone can be utilized in the treatment of disease. In ozone, therefore, we have a specific in the treatment of small-pox and all other diseases that are caused by disease germs. It should be taken internally, as well as used to wash the pustules. If the pustules are not rubbed or scratched, and the ozone water is applied freely several times a day, the patient is made very comfortable, and pitting is prevented. During the prevalence of small-pox ozone vapor should be generated in the rooms, and if a person has been exposed the water should be drank freely, according to directions. 46 THE HOME DOCTOR. For full particulars of this wonderful agent, care- fully read the article on ozone in this Manual, CHICKEN-POX. Chicken-pox is a very mild form of eruptive fever which is generally met with in childhood. An erup- tion on the body is the first symptom to attract atten- tion. Its appearance is that of a crop of small water blisters, which soon extend to the extremities. There is a slight fever manifest about the same time as the appearance of the eruption. The ves- icles dry up and fall off in from three to five days, and the fever then disappears. There is no special treatment necessary, except to avoid exposure to cold during the continuance of the eruption, MEASLES. Measles is well known to almost every mother. It is easily communicated from one person to an- other, and is believed by many to be in the atmos- phere. It certainly occurs epidemically, and will often attack children who have not been directly exposed. The period of incubation ranges from twelve to fourteen days. The disease is one especially of childhood, though adults are also frequently attack- ed by it, and one attack does not necessarily pre- vent another. A feeling of languor, muscular soreness, head- MEASLES — SCARLET FEVER. 47 ache and backache, followed by frequent chills, or on the third or fourth day by a pronounced rigor and fever, are the first symptoms. The eyes, nose, and throat, are also inflamed, and the eyes and nose us- ually discharge a watery secretion. The first symp- toms are often so severe that the nature of the disease cannot be determined till the eruption appears. On the fourth day the eruption appears, and as it develops the fever subsides. The eruption is elevated under the skin, and the elevated spots are red, but begin to fade about the seventh day. Treatment. — Little can be done to relieve the pa- tient during the initial stage except to keep him quiet in bed. After the fever develops warm drinks should be used freely to promote the eruption, and the body can be frequently bathed with equal parts of hot water and ozone water. The ozone water should be taken internally as soon as the first symptoms appear. Where there are other children they should take the ozone water as a preventive, and the rooms should be thoroughly disinfected with ozone vapor. For full particulars carefully read article on ozone in this Manual. SCARLET FEVER. Scarlet fever is another of the contagious dis- eases that is developed by a specific germ poison. 48 THE HOME DOCTOR. It is the most serious, and proves the most fatal of all the diseases of its class. The premonitory symptoms are about the same as those met with in the other eruptive fevers. In most cases there is a marked inflammation with soreness of the throat. The fever is generally continuous and severe, and the eruption, which appears at the end of the first or beginning of the second day, is a pale red at first but soon becomes almost scarlet, and spreads rapidly over the entire body. The eruption fades away after from three to seven days, and the entire outer skin peals off in scales. Treatment. — This disease should always be at- tended by a physician. The free use of ozone water from the beginning and the generating of ozone in the sick room should be kept up, no mat- ter what other treatment may be employed. Warm drinks and milk punch are of great service in pro- moting the eruption and keeping up the strength. A teaspoonful of powdered borax and the same amount of salt, dissolved in a gobletful of ozone water, should be used freely as a gargle, when the throat is inflamed. After the disease is over, if there is a discharge from the ear or an inflammation of the eyes, an experienced surgeon should be consulted without delay, as neglect of these common sequences often results in loss of sight or hearing. See article on ozone in this Manual, ERYSIPELAS — CHOLERA. 49 ERYSIPELAS, Erysipelas is now recognized as a disease of the blood, produced by a specific germ, though many have considered it especially a disease of the skin^ It begins with the same symptoms as the other eruptive fevers, and after the fever begins an in- flamed point is seen on the face or some other part of the body. It spreads rapidly, presents a livid red appearance, with a thickening and hardness of the affected part. The pain is of a burning, scald- ing character, and the fever is often very severe. Treatment, — Here, too, the internal use of ozone water is valuable, and the best external application that can be used is sheets of absorbent cotton or carded wool saturated in the ozone water. It is always best after the first application to moisten the cotton without removing it, thus more effectually excluding the air from the inflamed surface. Dialysed iron should be given in half teaspoon- ful doses, in water, four or five times a day, and in some cases our malaria pill will prove of great ben- efit while the patient is recovering from his attack. CHOLERA, Cholera is an epidemic infectious disease, which is characterized by vomiting and purging, and a final condition of collapse, which usually results in death. In some cases a reaction occurs after the relapse and the patient slowly improves and finally 50 THE HOME DOCTOR. recovers. It is spoken of as Asiatic cholera, and epidemic cholera. It is generally admitted at the present day that this disease is propagated by a minute organism which is popularly called a cholera germ. Fortunately the disease seldom reaches this country, and when it does, with our improved quarantine and hygienic regulations, its spread is limited to a comparatively small territory. Most cases of cholera begin with ordinary diar- rhea, which if permitted to continue, will develop into a genuine case of cholera. When the disease is prevalent this diarrhea, at first simple, soon assumes the type of cholera morbus, and after a few days there is a marked degree of chilliness and a sense of anxiety or fear seizes the patient. The discharges from the bowels and stomach come on with great force and are very copious. They have a grayish-whitish appearance and are often spoken of as rice-water discharges. There is intense thirst, the tongue is cold and has a white pasty coating, the countenance is sunken and of a leaden hue, the nose is pinched, the eyes staring, and the breath cool. Cramps are soon felt in the legs, arms, and the muscles of the back and abdomen; the skin be- comes cold and covered with a sticky perspiration; the fingers, nose, and lips, assume a blue color, rings form around the eyes, the urine is suppressed or greatly diminished, and complete collapse occurs, and death takes place in from twenty to forty-eight hours from the first onset of the disease. In CHOLERA. 51 some instances, death may occur in two or three hours. Treatment. — During the prevalence of cholera, no case of diarrhea, however slight, should be over- looked, and the greatest precaution should betaken regarding diet. Unripe fruit and vegetables should be carefully avoided, moderate quantities only of the most nutritious foods should be taken, irregular habits, excessive use of stimulants, and exhaustion from over-work, should be carefully avoided. The discharges from cholera patients should be imme- diately removed and thoroughly disinfected with strong carbolic acid or some agent equally as power- ful. Not only the houses in which cholera existed, but all houses in the neighborhood, should be thor- oughly fumigated with ozone vapor, and ozone water should be freely drank in preference to that from the ordinary water supply. By these means the cholera germs are destroyed and thus prevent- ed from impregnating the atmosphere, and the use of the ozone water will prevent their introduction into the system. At the first appearance of the diarrhea Home Cholera Pills should be used freely, according to directions, the patient should be kept quiet, mustard should be applied over the stomach and abdomen, and the fears of the patient should be allayed as much as possible. When evidence of collapse be- gins, brandy should be freely administered by the mouth, or if it cannot be retained, it should be inject- 52 THE HOME DOCTOR. ed under the skin. It should be, however, borne in mind that in all cases of cholera the family physician should be called at the early stage of the disease. DIPHTHERIA. Diphtheria is an acute, contagious disease, caused by specific disease germs, which poison the system and develop local manifestations in the throat, with enlargement of the tonsils and other glands of the neck. The throat affection is in the form of an ulceration, which is soon covered by a whitish or brownish exudation. The first symptoms of the disease are those of languor and depression, which may last for several days. In some cases there are the ordinary symp- toms of catarrh present, with heat, irritation, and pain in the throat, with much soreness on attempt- ing to swallow. In two or three days a chilly feel- ing is developed, or a pronounced rigor may occur; this is followed by fever, headache, backache, and muscular pains. In some cases these symptoms are very violent, and in others comparatively mild. The tongue is covered with a thick white coating, and the tonsils and back part of the throat are cov- ered with grayish white patches. These rapidly extend over the entire throat, and form a false membrane which would soon obstruct the air pas- sages. In many cases the patient will not complain of sore throat until the disease is well developed, and extensive ulceration will be found in the throat DIPHTHERIA. 53 on the first examination. The exudation in the throat itself forms a poison, and if not removed, absorption into the blood takes place from it, and more serious symptoms are developed. Treatment. — Ozone water will be found of great advantage both in the treatment of this disease and as a prevention against it when it prevails in any locality. It should be drank freely, and can be used as a gargle or with a spraying apparatus for the throat every hour or two during the day. When the ulceration first appears, its spread can be arrest- ed and its virulence destroyed by the application of carbolic acid with a camel's-hair brush. Two teaspoonfuls of pure carbolic acid should be added to one teaspoonful of glycerine. With the tongue well depressed with a spoon, this mixture should be freely applied to the ulcerated parts, care being taken not to have enough on the brush to allow it to run down the throat and burn unaffected parts. In cases where the fever is high, benefit will be derived from the use of the following: Tincture of veratrum viride (Norwoods'), three drops; water, six ounces, or twelve tablespoonfuls. Of this a teaspoonful can be given to children over three years of age, at intervals of half an hour's time, till the skin becomes moist, and slight nausea is pro- duced. Adults should take two teaspoonfuls in the same manner. As the disease passes off the patient is greatly prostrated, and therefore milk punch, beef juice, and the most nutritious and easily di- 54 THE HOME DOCTOR. gested food, should be given, both during and after the disease. As a general tonic our Malaria Pill will serve a good purpose until the patient has fully recovered strength. LA GRIPPE — INFLUENZA. La Grippe is the French name given to epidemic Influenza. It is due to the presence in the atmos- phere of a specific germ, and is analogous to similar diseases which often prevail among horses, and is called an epizootic, which simply means " upon the horse," as epidemic means "upon the people." The disease begins suddenly with a decided chill, or chilliness, alternating with flashes of heat. The fever follows the chill at once, and in some cases is very severe. There is usually severe pain in the back, and muscular pains in the arms and legs, with headache in the front part of the head and through the eyes. The nose, throat, and eyes, are usually hot and red, the voice is husky, and a dry, troublesome cough is present. After a few days a free, thin, and acrid discharge escapes from the nose and throat, and a purulent matter is thrown off with each fit of coughing. In some cases incessant sneezing is a common symptom at first, but this disappears after the discharge begins. Extreme prostration always follows an attack of la grippe, and pneumonia is liable to set in on the slightest exposure to cold. Treatment. — At the outset of the disease a hot HAY FEVER. 55 lemonade, with an ounce of good whiskey or brandy, will often produce a favorable effect. A generous diet and moderate use of milk punch will be found of great benefit through the entire disease. To control the fever twenty drops of tincture of aconite root should be put in a goblet of water, and of this a teaspoonful should be taken every hour until the fever subsides. To relieve the inflamma- tion of the nose and throat, our improved Home Inhaler, with inhalation No. 2 accompanying it, should be used for two or three minutes at a time, once every two or three hours. For violent head- ache, which is so prominent in severe cases and severe muscular pains our Neurodine Tablet is especially serviceable. When taken according to directions, it will not only relieve the pain but also the congestion and irritation of the nerve centers, upon which so much of the distress of this disease depends. In all cases of la grippe it is important that the atmosphere of the room should be moist. For this purpose arrangements should be made by which steam escaping from boiling water should be provided. HAY FEVER, Hay fever is a distressing acute, catarrhal con- dition affecting the mucous membrane of the nose and throat. It is due to a specific disease germ, usually developed during summer and fall. Some persons are particularly liable to be attacked by it 56 THE HOME DOCTOR. at or about the same time every year. Among the other names by which it is known are hay asthma, rose cold, June cold, and autumnal catarrh. Like all specific diseases, an attack of hay fever is pre- ceded by a feeling of lassitude and weariness, loss of appetite and coated tongue, although in some cases it comes on suddenly. Those who are subject to it have no difficulty in recognizing the earliest symptoms. These are an itching or burning sensa- tion in the eyes, nose, and back part of the throat, which is soon followed by the discharge of a clear, watery fluid, and by frequent and violent sneezing. So severe is the inflammation at times that the eyes become red and swollen, and the passages to the nose are almost entirely obstructed. The throat is hot, dry, and swollen, and the passages to the ears are also involved so as frequently to obstruct the hear- ing. In the severer forms of the disease the inflam- mation extends downward to the air passages of the lungs, thus occasioning extreme difficulty of breath- ing, resembling asthma, which is accompanied by a wheezy or croupy cough. In these cases the pa- tient cannot lie down, feels as if he cannot breathe, becomes pale and exhausted, and covered with cold perspiration. These sometimes will be relieved for a short period, but will begin again with increased severity. As a rule the general system does not suffer materially, except when the patient loses rest from the severity of the local symptoms. Treatt?ient. — For most people who are liable to WHOOPING COUGH. 57 attacks of hay fever a change of climate is always of great advantage, although it is not always easy to know what change is the best. One person is entirely relieved by a sojourn to the White Mount- ains, the Catskills, or Adirondacks, while others find a sea voyage the most beneficial. In the way of medicines both internal and extern- al, about every variety has been used, but few have seemed to reach the difficulty so as to allay the dis- tressing symptoms. A remedy that will permanent- ly relieve one person may have little or no effect upon another; so that the aim should always be to employ such remedies as will have a tendency to destroy this specific hay fever germ, both locally and constitutionally. Again we have to recommend ozone water to be drank freely, so that the concen- trated ozone thus introduced into the system will have the effect of destroying the minute organisms that give rise to the disease. After many years of careful observation, we have found that our In- halent No. 2, used in our improved Home Inhaler, has the best and speediest effect in relieving the disease of anything we can try. This inhalation should be used as soon as the first symptoms mani- fest themselves, and should be regularly continued at short intervals until the inflammatory symptoms have entirely disappeared. We have known many cases to be cut short and their occurrence prevented by this treatment, and in all cases the symptoms are greatly modified. 5^ THE HOME DOCTOR. WHOOPING-COUGH. Whooping-cough is a disease of childhood, char- acterized by forcible spasmodic expiration, and a peculiar whoop or cough, attending the inhalation of air into the lungs. Its general symptoms are two well known to re- quire special mention. The disease is contagious, and only occurs, as a rule, once in a lifetime. At first the symptoms are those of an ordinary cold in the head with a slight cold in the throat and a feeling of general languor and loss of appetite. After a week or two paroxysms of the peculiar cough, which consists of short expulsions of air, take place. While coughing the face gets red, the eyes swollen and bulging, the body bent forward, and with each paroxysm the breath is almost exhausted. When the disease occurs in the summer or early fall, it is mild and lasts but a short time, but if it extends into the cold weather the at tack is greatly prolonged, and the cough may con- tinue the entire winter. Treatment. — This is another of the diseases in which medicines have not been very satisfactorily used. Change of air is usually beneficial, but this can seldom be secured. Quiet should be obtained at night, if possible, and for this purpose the fol- lowing mixture will be found beneficial: Tincture of gelsemium, ten drops; tincture of aconite root, six drops; tincture of lobelia, twenty drops; water mumps. 59 eight tablespoonfuls. Of this a teaspoonful may be given every hour to a child between one and three years of age, while those over three years can take two teaspoonfuls at same intervals. After six or eight doses have been given in succession, it should be discontinued for several hours. The sleeping rooms should be thoroughly impregnated with ozone vapor in order to thoroughly destroy the at- mospheric germs. Attention must also be given to frequent bathing, with the precaution that the child is not afterward exposed to cold. In cases of long standing the following mixture should be used: iodide of potash, one drachm; syrup, two tablespoon- fuls; water, six tablespoonfuls; of which give a teaspoonful every three or four hours. This rem- edy will reduce the chronic thickening of the mem- branes and prevent the accumulating of the tena- cious mucus, which so frequently causes the child to vomit before it is freed from the throat by the paroxysms of coughing. Mumps is a specific inflammation of the large glands under the ear. known as the parotid glands. It also belongs to the class of diseases caused by specific air germs. It usually occurs as an epi- demic, and is ushered in by a feeling of languor and weariness, followed, after two or three days, by a chill and slight fever. It is more frequently met with in males than in females, and usually at- 60 THE HOME DOCTORo tacks those from five to fifteen years of age. From twelve to twenty-four hours after the chill a sharp pain is felt behind the jaw and under the ear, which extends into the throat and to the ear. A promi- nent swelling is soon recognized so as to form a marked protuberance in front of and below the ear. It is very sensitive to the touch; the jaw becomes stiff, and sometimes the swelling and pain extends to the glands under the arm and even to the arm itself. It reaches its hight in from three to five days, then remains stationary for a day or two, and then rapidly diminishes, so that it has entirely dis- appeared from the neck by the twelfth day. Some- times only one side is affected, while again the in- flammation will occur on both sides simultaneously, or will begin on one side and only attack the other when the swelling of the first begins to disappear. The swelling will sometimes suddenly leave the glands of the neck and attack the glands of some remote part of the body, as the breasts or testicles. The inflammation in the new seat of the disease will be severe for a time, when it will suddenly dis- appear from there, and again show itself in the neck. Treat?netit. — The patient should be kept within doors and free from all exposure to cold or draughts. To remove the pain, warm applications applied to the seat of the swelling is best. When the pain is unbearable one of our Neurodine Tablets may be given at bedtime and repeated in a couple of hours, if necessary, to quiet the patient. A TYPHOID FEVER. 6l Seidlitz's Powder given in the morning to relieve the bowels, and occasionally a sponge bath with tepid water will also be found beneficial. A hot lemonade on going to bed will promote perspiration, and in that way give relief. No other treatment is necessary as the disease is of short duration and is rarely attended by any serious complications. TYPHOID FEVER. Typhoid fever is a name given to an acute feb- rile disease which is characterized by an inflamma- tion and ulceration of some of the glands of the in- testines, and in most instances has a peculiar erup- tion on the abdomen. It is generally considered to be due to some peculiar poison, the exact nature of which has not yet been ascertained. The poison is supposed to emanate from animal decomposition, but certain conditions are necessary to produce the typhoid germ. It should always be borne in mind that the discharges from typhoid patients should not be thrown into cesspools, but should be thoroughly disinfected and removed to some dis- tance. The disease is unquestionably contagious in a feeble degree, but is most liable to be produced by the development of germs from the continued fermentation of the discharges of the patient than from contact with the person. Sometimes an or- dinary case of malarial fever will run along for a few weeks and then develop into the peculiar symp- toms of typhoid fever. 62 THE HOME DOCTOR. For a week or ten days prior to the setting in of the disease the patient feels depressed, and tires easily over the slightest exertion. Headache, poor appetite, a slight diarrhea, and even bleeding from the nose, are sometimes noticed. The patient with difficulty applies himself to any mental work, and sleep is disturbed and unrefreshing. Then for several days a feeling of chilliness will occur at different times, and finally the fever begins. In some cases the disease sets in with a disgust for food, extreme nausea, and even vomiting and diarrhea. The fever usually runs high, the patient is generally prostrated both physically and mentally, and this condition continues through the disease, which is apt to run its course in about three weeks. From the seventh to the tenth day there is marked disturbance of mind which is characterized by deli- rium, picking at the bedclothes and at imaginary objects in the air, and trembling of the muscles. An eruption of isolated spots, about as big as a pin- head, begins to show itself over the abdomen about the same time. This eruption may be very profuse, sparsely scattered over the body, or entirely absent, The abdomen is distended enormously with gases, yields a hollow sound when tapped with the finger, and is usually extremely hot. This is due to the fact that the principal seat of the disease is in the lining membrane of the bowels, and when cases terminate fatally it is from a perforation of the. bowels at the seat of the disease, TYPHOID FEVER. 03 Treatment. — It is important to keep up the strength of the patient in typhoid fever. With this object in view, milk and lime water, milk punches, beef juice, and alcoholic stimulants have to be re- sorted to and continued throughout the disease. The fever is best controlled by the following: Tinc- ture of gelsemium, one drachm; tincture of verat- rum veride, thirty drops; water, eight tablespoon- fuls. Mix in a goblet and give one teaspoonful every hour until the skin becomes slightly moist or the patient feels more comfortable. Frequent sponge baths are essential to keep the skin active, and are very grateful to the patient. A tablespoon- ful of sweet olive oil with ten drops of oil of tur- pentine may be given three times a day with ad- vantage. Warm fermentation of hops should be continually applied over the abdomen for the pur- pose of allaying the local inflammation and pre- venting the ulceration of the bowels. During the continuance of the disease our Malaria Pill should be given at least three times a day, and after the fever is broken up nothing will so speedily restore the patient's prostrated nervous system as our Nerve Tonic Pills. This last mentioned pill, with the most nutritious diet, milk, eggs, and brandy, should be judiciously and frequently administered, during convalescence, so as to build up the nervous system speedily. 64 CHAPTER IV. Diseases from Defective Nutrition Rheumatism — Gout — Diabetes — Rickets — Scrof- ula. Defective nutrition gives rise to a number of diseases that differ widely in their character, symp- toms, and general effects on the system. Some of these diseases may be due primarily to defective digestion, others to imperfect assimilation or dis- tribution of the foods already digested, while others may result simply from the lack of certain elements in the food that are necessary to supply the waste of special tissues. Under this heading are usually included rheumatism, gout, diabetes, rickets, and scrofula. rheumatism. Rheumatism is a constitutional disease of an in- flammatory character, which is due to the presence of an acid, known as lithic acid, in the blood. It attacks the joints, ligaments, or muscles, and re- ceives various names according to the character of the disease and the parts affected. When the joints RHEUMATISM. 65 become the seat of the disease, it is spoken of as articular, and when the muscles are similarly attacked it is called muscular rheumatism. It is also divided into acute and chronic rheumatism. This latter division is the most common, and the term acute is applied to any form of the disease, which comes on quickly, with intense pain and high fever. When the disease is of long standing, and the pains, which are less severe, come on at intervals and extend over considerable time, it is said to be chronic. The excess of lithic acid in the blood, which is the predisposing cause of rheumatism, is invariably due to imperfect digestion; and it may be safely set down as a rule that where the stomach, liver, and bowels are in a healthy condition the disease is impossible. Among the exciting causes of the dis- ease maybe mentioned exposure to cold, getting the clothing and feet wet, and the sudden checking of perspiration; but these causes will not alone pro- duce rheumatism, unless the person is predisposed to it by the presence of acid in the system. The usual symptoms of indigestion, with coated tongue, constipated bowels, and impaired appetite, invariably precede an attack of rheumatism. Then a tired feeling, with soreness of the muscles, dart- ing or shooting pains in various parts of the body, and a general stiffness of the joints may be felt for some days. These symptoms are followed by a chill and the development of fever, Now the affected 66 THE HOME DOCTOR. parts become hot, swollen, red, and very painful to the slightest motion or pressure. There is severe headache, which, together with the pains in the joints and muscles, render sleep impossible. The inflammation may begin in one joint or set of mus- cles, and after a day or two pass to other joints or muscles, when the local symptoms from the part first affected are considerably relieved. Thus in a week or ten days all the joints or muscles may be successively attacked, and the parts first affected may again become the seat of the dis- ease and the pain be more severe than at first. In some cases the disease may attack the heart, which produces intense pain, and may often result fatally in a short time. The skin is hot and dry, the urine scanty and high-colored, and when perspiration does occur it is strongly acid, as is also the urine. These are the symptoms that generally manifest themselves in what is called acute or inflammatory rheumatism, or rheumatic fever, as it is sometimes called. Chronic rheumatism is in most respects entirely different from the acute form of the disease. It usually manifests itself in the joints and is limited to those that are first attacked. Redness and swell- ing are less pronounced, and the pain, which is not so violent in character, is increased by motion, while any febrile symptoms that may occur are developed during damp weather. A creaking noise is heard in the joints on motion, which is due to the forma- RHEUMATISM. 67 tion of deposits of a limy character around the ar- ticular surfaces. When muscular pains are present they are due to an inflammation that extends to the sheaths of the tendons of the muscles that are near the diseased joints; but chronic rheumatism rarely attacks the muscles alone. Lumbago is a name popularly given to rheuma- tism when it is confined to the muscles of the back. Intercostal rheumatism is that form that attacks the small muscles situated between the ribs and brought into action during respiration. Treatment. — The first consideration in the treat- ment of rheumatism should be to regulate the diet. In most cases it would be best to abstain from eat- ing entirely, even for three or four days. This can be done much more easily than is usually supposed, when a person is suffering from an acute attack of rheumatism. The advantage of this course is that with the absence of food no excess of lithic acid is produced, and that already in the system is soon eliminated. When fasting is impracticable, meat diet should be avoided and the patient should be confined to fish, oysters, vegetables, and fruit; but, as before stated, the diet should be as light as pos- sible. Our Home Liver Pill should be given at the be- ginning of the disease, with a view of overcoming the torpid condition of the liver and bowels, and this should be followed by our Rheumatic Pill, which should be taken after each meal, and in 68 THE HOME DOCTOR. severe cases two pills are required at a dose. When the inflammatory symptoms are very severe the fever may be greatly allayed by the administration of fifteen grains of the salicylate of soda, dissolved in water, every three hours. This will promote perspiration, aid in relieving the intense pain, and diminish the fever. The affected joints must be kept as quiet as possible, and warm fomentations of hops applied to them will often afford great relief to the sufferer. When the severity of the symptoms has subsided our Rheumatic Pill will be found the best remedy to eliminate the acid from the system and prevent a recurrence of the disease. In chronic rheumatism the only treatment necessary is to keep the liver and bowels in a healthy condition by the use of our Home Liver Pill and to continue our Rheumatic Pill as long as any soreness of the joints or muscles is felt. In all cases where the joints are enlarged and the muscles remain sore after the disease has sub- sided, Turkish baths will be found of great benefit; but care must be taken to have the body properly cooled before leaving the bath or otherwise addition- al cold maybe taken. The use of the galvanic cur- rent of electricity will also be found beneficial in promoting the absorption of deposits in and about the joints. Stimulants of all kinds must be avoided during an attack of rheumatism, and persons predisposed to the disease should under all circumstances avoid GOUT. 69 wine and malt liquors. If stimulants are used at all the stronger alcoholic beverages are the most advantageous. GOUT. Gout is another of the constitutional diseases that depends upon the presence of an excess of lithic acid in the blood for its development. It is closely- analogous to rheumatism and in fact might proper- ly be said to be simply a variety of that disease. High living and the consequent derangements of digestion are the more common causes of the dis- ease, although in some cases we have pronounced attacks of the gout in persons who live on very light diet; but in these cases some form of indigestion will always be found to have preceded the attack. It is claimed by many that gout is a characteristically inherited disease, but careful observation will demonstrate to the satisfaction of any observer that it is due more to the improper habits of the person than to any hereditary transmission. It usually at- tacks the smaller joints, as the joints of the toes, especially the great toe, and also the joints of the hands. The feet are the most common seat of the disease, and it attacks men in middle life more fre- quently than any other class of persons. Acute attacks of gout resemble those of rheuma- tism with the exception that they are invariably con- fined to the place where they first began. After the joints of the feet have been affected the disease may THE HOME DOCTOR. extend to the knee and even to the hip. When the disease is once developed the attacks occur frequent- ly, though less severe, while each attack is liable to last longer than its predecessor. In the chronic form of the disease the joints re- main permanently enlarged as a result of the limy deposits that take place. Marked deformities of the joints are thus produced. Treatment. — Here, too, special attention must be given to the diet. Stimulants must be avoided and an entire abstinence from food insisted upon for a few days. When this is objected to, one or two se- vere paroxysms of gout will invariably induce the patient to try any means that is likely to effect a cure. Meats of all kinds should be withheld, and the food should be purely vegetable. The torpid liver and constipation must be relieved by Home Liver Pills taken every night, and where there is much acidity of the stomach about twenty grains of bi-carbonate of soda should be taken an hour before the liver pill. The continued use of our Rheumatic Pill will promptly relieve the worst attacks of gout when attention is given to the condition of the bowels and diet. The affected parts should be kept perfectly quiet and on a level with the body. This position prevents the settling of blood in the inflamed pari and thus diminishes the severity of the pain. Hoi applications and the Turkish bath are also valuable. auxiliaries in the treatment of the chronic form of gout. DIABETES. 71 DIABETES. Diabetes is a disease of defective nutrition, which is not easily recognized at first, as it is not attended by any pronounced symptoms by which the patient's attention is directed to the real nature of the trouble. It is characterized by a gradual but continued loss of flesh, a feeling of weariness, great thirst, the ex- cessive quantity of urine passed, and finally by the presence of sugar in the urine. It is impossible to state any special cause for thL disease, nor can we say what part of the body is most affected by it. The stomach is always the starting point, and the first symptoms are those of indigestion. The liver is also torpid and enlarged, and after a time becomes fatty. The heart also takes on a condition of fatty degeneration, and the kidneys are somewhat enlarged and congested, though not as much changed as other organs. When a general loss of flesh is noticed, with ex- cessive urinary secretions, the urine should be ex- amined by a competent physician, and strict atten- tion given to whatever treatment is determined on. Treatment. — Strict attention must be given to the diet, and any impairment in digestion must be cor- rected. The torpid condition of the liver and bowels must be overcome by the continued use of our Home Liver Pills, and our Dyspepsia Pills must be taken as directed after each meal. The diet must be free from all foods containing 72 THE HOME DOCTOR. starch or sugar. This necessitates the exclusion of white flour bread, potatoes, corn, rice, beets, pastry, puddings, and everything containing sugar. Skim- med milk and buttermilk are both 'good articles of diet, but other fluids should be avoided as much as possible. Gluten bread can be used instead of or- dinary bread, and meats, fish, and eggs may be freely used. The custom of using mineral waters and medi- cines that act on the kidneys cannot be too severely condemned ; such remedies do harm instead of good. Fluid extract of ergot, given in thirty drop doses, in a tablespoonful of water, three or four times a day, is one of the best remedies that can be given to decrease the flow of urine and allay the thirst. Our Nerve Tonic Pill should be used when the pa- tient feels weak and prostrated, as it will give de- cided tone to the nervous system, and thus restore, the general strength of the patient. It is necessary that the mind should be free from business cares, and that the physical strength should not be exhausted by work. Moderate exercise and fresh air are essential, however, but these must be had without causing weariness, which comes on readily after slight effort. RICKETS. The term rickets is applied to that form of defect- ive nutrition in which the bones of the child remain soft and flexible at a time when they should be firm RICKETS. 73 and unyielding. It is characteristically a disease of childhood, and is due to some defect of nutrition by which the earthy material is supplied in insufficient quantities with the food, or the organs of nutrition are so deranged as to prevent these materials from being carried in the circulation to supply the bony structure. In such cases the flesh of the child will waste away, and the digestion is so disturbed that vomiting and diarrhea are frequently present. When the child begins to walk the weight of the body causes bending of the long bones and marked deformities of the joints. As a result we have curvature of the spine, bow legs, knock knees, and a variety of similar disorders. Treatment. — Everything that is calculated to nourish the child and improve its general condition must be resorted to. Rich animal broth must be given to young children, and pure cow's milk, properly prepared, must be substituted for the mother's milk. Fresh air, bathing, and a sufficient supply of warm clothing are also indispensable. Scott's Emulsion of Cod Liver Oil with the hypophos- phites of lime and soda should be given in tablespoonful doses three or four times a day. This remedy, be- ing composed of some of the materials that form bony tissue, is supposed to supply these materials in quantities sufficient to produce a hardening of the bony structures. A surgeon should be consulted in all cases of de- formity. 74 THE HOME DOCTOR. SCROFULA. Scrofula is usually considered a constitutional blood disease transmitted from parent to offspring, and is supposed to be one of the constitutional transmitted taints resulting from syphilis. Many physicians apply the name to a great variety of dis- orders, and it is a convenient term to use when they do not know what the real nature of the trouble is. The time was when all diseases of the bones, glands, and skin were considered to be scrofulous in char- acter, but more recent investigation has demon- strated that all these disorders are due to direct predisposing and exciting causes. The condition that is generally recognized as scrofula is one where there is an enlargement of the glands of the neck and other portions of the body which may extend to suppuration and the discharge of matter. This condition is invariably due to some cause of defective nutrition where the effete ma- terial of the system is not properly thrown off, and is thus accumulated in the glands whose special office it is to remove the waste material. After the accumulation has continued so long as to enlarge these glands, nature makes an effort to throw off this waste material, and as a result we have inflam- mation and breaking down of the glands and the formation of matter, which is discharged, and thus the system is freed from an unhealthy condition; and the process by which this is done is spoken of as SCROFULA. 75 scrofula. Persons suffering from this peculiar con- dition usually have a sallow or white condition of skin, flabby muscles, and a general appearance of feebleness and lack of vital power. Any wound or bruise heals with difficulty, and glandular enlarge- ments are developed upon the slightest exposure to cold. Treatment. — Nutritious food which should include plenty of rare beef and mutton, must always be given to this class of patients; moderate but regular exercise should be employed, and frequent bathing is essential to keep up the action of the skin. Ten drops of dyalized iron given in a teaspoonful of water three or four times a day will also be found to serve an admirable purpose. With a view of promoting the action of the lym- phatic glands and thus enabling them to throw off the effete material that has accumulated in the sys- tem, our Alterative Pill should be given as directed and continued until a decided improvement is manifest in the patient. As these conditions more often occur before the age of fourteen or fifteen it is important to watch the health of the chiid until after that period, when a complete change us- ually takes place and the symptoms of the so-called scrofula then often disappear. Similar disorders occur later in life, and although attributed to scrof- ula are often due to other causes and require such treatment as may be found valuable for the re- moval of the exciting causes in each individual case. 76 CHAPTER V. Specific Blood Diseases. Syphilis — Hydrophobia — Glanders, Under the head of Specific Blood Diseases are included such as are produced by local inoculation of some specific poison, which enters the system, and after variable periods of time, ranging from two weeks to three months, develops constitutional symptoms that are characteristic of the special pioson introduced. Syphilis, hydrophobia, and glanders, are the principal diseases of this class. Syphilis is a constitutional blood disease which originates from impure coitus. It first appears as a local sore on the genitals, and is called a chancre. The poison from this sore is soon absorbed into the system and poisons the blood, thus giving rise to a variety of eruptions on the skin and mucous surfaces, which are spoken of as secondary or con- stitutional syphilis. HYDROPHOBIA. 77 A full description of the symptoms and compli- cations of this disease cannot be given in a popular work of this character, but those desirous of under- standing the nature and treatment of this disease should send for " The Health of Men," a book de- voted to the physiological functions and the dis- eases of the male organs.* Persons suffering from this disease should give it immediate attention on the first appearance of the local sore, with a view to preventing it from en- tering the blood and thus becoming constitutional. If a physician cannot be consulted, our Alterative Pill should be taken at once and continued regular- ly for two or three months, as in this way only can a person be safe against serious secondary disorders that develop after syphilis becomes constitutional. Full directions for local treatment and the treat- ment of the various secondary conditions will be found in the work referred to in the foot note. HYDROPHOBIA. Hydrophobia is the name given a disease de- veloped in man by the inoculation of poisonous saliva introduced by the bite of a rabid dog. The disease is not as common as is usually supposed, for many of the conditions believed to be rabies in the dog are entirely different in character, and the * This volume is written by a well-known Physician and Surgeon, and published by the Home Treatment Company, New York. Price, $1.00. 78 THE HOME DOCTOR. fear of having the disease often produces a chain of nervous symptoms that closely resemble those of genuine hydrophobia. The word "hydrophobia" means " fear of water," and was first given to the disease because it was supposed that persons afflict- ed by it, as well as rabid dogs, had a dread of water. Recent observations, however, have shown this to be incorrect, but it is true that persons thus affected find themselves unable to swallow fluids, and con- sequently will refuse to take them. The wound made by the bite of a rabid dog usu- ally heals kindly, but after six or seven weeks, or sometimes longer, a feeling of uneasiness, loss of appetite, flashes of heat with alternating chills, sore throat, nausea and vomiting, headache and general nervous excitement, begin to show themselves. The scar becomes red and painful, and a feeling of itching and irritation is felt extending from it along the course of the nerves. These symptoms may last for a few hours or for eight or ten days, after which there is a stiffness of the muscles of the jaw and throat. It becomes difficult or impossible to swallow and every attempt to do so produces severe paroxysms of pain. Usually the spasms affect the muscles of the wind pipe, causing a hurried respira- tion, while the hurried expulsion of the air causes a sound somewhat resembling the bark of a dog. The mouth becomes dry, and the saliva is so thick- ened that all efforts to remove it by hawking increase the barking noise. After a time the nervous system. HYDROPHOBIA. 79 becomes exhausted, there is a loss of memory and delirium, and a general condition of paralysis de- velops. The pupils are large, the mouth is open, and the saliva runs from the mouth or passes into the back part of the throat, causing a gurgling and choking noise, and death takes place from exhaus- tion or suffocation. These are the symptoms that are present in a true case of hydrophobia, but they are fortunately very rare. In some cases, where a person has been bitten by a dog, the scar remains unchanged, and similar symptoms to those aboYe given occur even a week or two after the bite, or may not appear for six months or more. All such cases may be set down as caused by fear, and in no way connected with the presence of rabies. Treatment. — So far as is now known, the only treatment to be adopted is the preventive one. As soon as a person has been bitten by a dog supposed to be rabid, the wound should be applied immedi- ately to the mouth and sucked freely until a physi- cian can be reached, who will apply some caustic so thoroughly as to penetrate the deepest part of the wound. The galvanic cautery is also used for de- stroying and removing the tissue immediately around the wound. These methods prevent the poison from getting into the system, and then all possibility of hydrophobia developing is averted. The inoculations practiced by Pasteur of Paris have proved a lamentable, failure, and no reliance 80 THE HOME DOCTOR. should be placed in them. More careful study of the nature of rabies in the dog will be a great pre- ventive of the development of the nervous condition resembling the symptoms of hydrophobia. Such symptoms may extend to such a degree as to pro- duce sufficient disturbance of the base of the brain and nervous system generally to cause death even when no hydrophobia is present. GLANDERS. Glanders is a disease affecting the glands of the mouth and the mucous membrane of the nose in horses, and is often communicated to man, and then from one individual to another. A person who has been attending to a horse suffering from glanders and soon after complains of a general lan- guor, with pain in the back, arms, and legs, which are soon followed by chills, with flashes of heat, stiffness and soreness of the joints, impaired appe- tite, irritable stomach, constipated bowels, and sleeplessness, certainly has reason to suspect that he has contracted the disease. After these symp- toms have developed they continue from thirty-six to forty-eight hours, when a severe chill occurs, which is immediately followed by violent fever and profuse perspiration, resembling an attack of ague and fever. The pulse is irregular and quick, the tongue parched and covered with a brown coating, the lining membrane of the nose is much inflamed, and a free, fetid discharge is developed. Great GLANDERS. 8 1 prostration occurs, and an offensive odor similar to that coming from a glandered horse is apparent about the patient The disease, if not recognized early, is apt to prove fatal in periods ranging from one to three weeks. Treatment. — Preventive measures are of the first importance. Persons caring for horses suffering from this disease should be careful not to expose cuts or sores to contact with the saliva of the animal, and care should be taken not to allow the animal to breathe in the face. As soon as the diseased animal is attended to, the hands should be thoroughly cleansed, and the attendant snould use a solution of carbolic acid to snuff up the nostrils and gargle the throat. For this purpose put twenty drops of car- bolic acid into a gobletful of tepid water; stir it up and use freely to snuff into the nose and as a gargle. Should the first symptoms be recognized, ten-grain doses of quinine should be taken every three or four hours until sixty grains are used, and about two tablespoonfuls of good whisky at about the same intervals will also prove valuable. Nutritious diet, good ventilation, and absolute quiet are necessary to ward off the disease. When it is once fully de- veloped, however, there is very little hope of saving the patient. 82 CHAPTER VI. Disease of Lungs and Air Passages Consumption — Acute Bronxhitis-Chronic Bron- chitis — Asthma — Acute Nasal Catarrh — Ulceration of the Nose — Sore Throat — Quinsy — Croup — Loss of Voice — Inflamma- tion of Larynx — Chronic Catarrh — Pneu- monia — Plurisy. Under the head of Disease of the Lungs and Air- passages are included a large number of acute in- flammatory diseases that require the closest attention of the family physician in their treatment. In such cases it would be useless to give any general outlines of the treatment that might be used at home, as va- rious complications are constantly arising that must be specially treated as they present themselves, and such conditions can only be recognized by a person who has had experience in the management of such diseases. Among the diseases of this character are included pleurisy, dropsy of the chest, pneumonia, and acute bronchitis. The chronic diseases of the ]ungs and air passages may be more satisfactorily CONSUMPTION. B3 managed by home treatment, and we will, therefore, confine our attention to those, the most important of which are consumption, chronic bronchitis, asth- ma, croup, and catarrh. CONSUMPTION. Consumption is a popular name given to disease of the lung tissues which is characterized by a filling up of the substance of the lung by the deposit of effete material and the breaking down of the lung tissues. The deposits vary in character in different persons, and are professionally recognized as differ- ent forms of consumption. For popular consider- ation, however, it is unnecessary to create confusion in the mind of the reader by, describing the peculiar character of the deposit which is present in the sev- eral forms of the disease. This disease is generally considered to be inherit- ed, but a close study of the history of consumption and the history of families will often reveal the fact that persons of the same family who have continued to live in the same locality, eat the same food, and be surrounded by the same general influences, have all suffered from the disease, but where members of that family have removed to different parts of the country and completely changed their environments they have been known to escape entirely. In fact ^ this is true to so great an extent that it may be safe- ly laid down as a rule that when consumption shows itself in the different members of the same family 84 THE HOME DOCTOR. it is best under all circumstances that a change of residence should be sought at once, and in making such change attention should be given to the atmos- pheric conditions that are most favorable for per- sons predisposed to consumption. It is also well known that many persons, after having been exposed to repeated colds, even though no history of an he- reditary transmission of the disease can be obtain- ed, fall victims to it, and die in a few weeks. Such cases are often popularly called <; quick consump- tion." The first symptoms of the disease may be those of an ordinary cold, such as a slight cough, dry ex- pectoration, loss of appetite, indigestion, and finally a loss of flesh and strength. In some cases there may be a general falling away of the patient with- out any appearance of cough. Persons thus affect- ed, who are tall, thin, and narrow chested, should take warning at once, and either by treatment or change of climate try to avert the approaching dis- ease. When a cough is present it is dry and sharp, more troublesome at night than during the day, and is attended with pains in the chest, shortness of breath, slight tendency to fever toward the latter part of the afternoon, and night sweats. In the first stage of the disease a free bleeding from the lungs will frequently take place. Instead of this occasioning alarm however, it should have the oppo- site effect, as it is an effort of nature to throw off what would otherwise become a tubercular deposit CONSUMPTION. 85 on the lungs. After such a bleeding the previous premonitory symptoms may be materially relieved for a considerable length of time. After the cough has continued for some time there is more or less expectoration, which soon assumes the character of purulent matter, and as the disease advances it will be found to sink in water. Great prostration of the system is now apparent and the appetite is entirely gone; the fever becomes more pronounced and the night sweats more prolonged, so as to often con- tinue during the night. As the disease advances the cough becomes so troublesome and painful that sleep is almost impossible, and the expectoration changes until it assumes a greenish-yellow color, which is significant of the breaking down of the lung tissue. The voice and cough become hollow, there is a hectic flush on the cheeks, and the gene- ral prostration is so great that the patient can hardly stand. Further description of this distressing disease is unnecessary, as the symptoms are so pronounced that no one can be mistaken as to the character of the disease. Treatment. — The treatment of consumption is more especially applicable to the early stages. Every effort should be made to fill the lungs by inhaling as much air without stopping as possible. In this way more oxygen is taken into the lungs and the oxy- gen removes the effete material that would other- wise be deposited in the tissue. A change of cli- 56 THE HOME DOCTOR. mate is always desirable in the early stages of con- sumption, and it should be borne in mind that if a change is delayed until the lungs are seriously in- volved, the patient is better off to remain at home. In the earlier stages of the disease the climate of Colorado, Northern California, or Minnesota, is best in consequence of the rare condition of the atmos- phere and the excessive oxygen, but when the ease is once developed and the cough is aggravated by a cold dry atmosphere Southern California, Georgia, and Florida, are preferable locations for consumptives. If it were possible for a person to live in an at- mosphere containing an extra amount of oxygen, the disease might be prevented entirely, or very ma- terially delayed in its progress; but as this is impos- sible we are obliged to resort to such remedies as will keep up the nutrition of the body by supplying new material in excess of the waste. For this purpose Scott's Emulsion will be found to serve the best purpose. It is a preparation of Cod-liver Oil with the hypophos- phites of lime and soda, and is palatable to the taste, and supplies the system with the elements necessary to build up lung tissue and maintain the strength of the patient. When taken according to directions it improves the appetite, relieves the cough, diminishes the expecto- ration and stops the night sweats so common in this disease. In the way of diet, milk, cream, nutritious RONCHITIS. fat, and gcx \ . s k ' ' art :he t::^.::t e :i::e:: - i :t use: .5 ine, which a :::z: :'ae :/ ' . r. s c niana^na :a:a;as a'.'. :z -•-•-•- ^ ^. ~ea:s ~::h ; ez-.y e s s e z. : : a . :: kttz.z^ _: r-e zes: a::~: ztz: :h = : :i is simply beef blood, diawi hermetically sealed. It co zaez.:s ::' :'zt sjs:tzz ia a :::zz :aa: ; = - be easily assim- ilated by the most de.i cafe s : : n :. a : fa . ha view : : allaying the i I r if a I : a of the : h r : a : l:: z r : z. : z i a'. : u : e s re s u". : : - ^ : r : zz : : _ a z : a : I zz ; r : t e a I z, z. a le : : a z ': e u. s e a -•-■- : : a I z z a ::: N'c. : sevtra! :~es a :a 7a. s :a ::a: t resu'.: however, can only "z e expected where the case is aaker. :z : rr.e ar. : :ae ::tz\z.tz: :':'.. :^e a an::'. ::: _:::v;;^;.: s v zz z : : zz s z.sazzear A:a:e 5 r : z. : a : : : s : s a : e : e z : _:; a : : i v e : z r_ a zz - zza.:z ::':'ae aaa::_s n\rzz'::azr :: ::: :r:a:h:a'. tubes. It is produced by exposure :: :: Id and snd- i e z ::.^':t5 :: : e zz z t r a : a r e I : .5 zz : re : : zz zn : ~ luring :he aazzz ihaz-geaz.e ~ ea:'ae: :: :he szr.z.a aa: :a ar a :a:se 5t sjs'.ezzs are aez:l::a:ez from any cause are more liable to it th a z. those ::' strong, robust constitntions. It is also caused by :ae :z.z.a'.a:::z. ::' zar:.:.es ::' aus: :'r:zz :ae a:zz :s- phere, or irritating gasses or vapors. The modern theory is that this disease is always caused by a s z e : : a : : a : :'. a_ s : r : : s e a s e ztzzz The condition popularly called a M cold in the chest," is a mild form of acute bronchitis. 00 THE HOME DOCTOR. The symptoms of this disease are a dry, harsh cough, a sense of rawness of the throat and bron- chial tubes, followed by languor, chills, and flashes of heat. The throat becomes constricted, pain is felt when a long breath is taken, there is marked hoarseness, and glarry mucus is brought up by the cough. After a few days the expectoration increases and is easily raised, and becomes yellowish in color, and purulent in character. When free expectoration is established the pain and soreness decrease, and the fever disappears. A mild case lasts from ten to twenty days, but in severe cases the symptoms are more aggravated, and may last for several weeks. Treatment. — At the beginning of the disease a hot lemonade or whisky sling may be given to cause free perspiration. To allay the fever ten drops of tincture of aconite root may be put in eight tabiespoonfuls of water, and of this a tea- spoonful should be taken every half hour until the fever subsides. Our Inhalent No. i can then be used in our Im- proved Inhaler. CHRONIC BRONCHITIS. By Chronic Bronchitis is meant a chronic inflam- mation of the larger air tubes that ramify through the lungs, which are called bronchial tubes. This disease may be dependent upon some disorder o) the heart or lungs, and is often associated with Bright's disease, and is also one of the prominent CHRONIC BRONCHITIS. So. symptoms of infectious diseases. Sometimes it is the result of a frequent recurrence of colds affecting the bronchial tubes, which finally become chronic- ally inflamed, and the inflammation may even ex- tend to ulceration. Among the more prominent symptoms are fre- quent paroxysms of coughing, the sticky character of the expectoration, difficulty of breathing, with more or less wheezing during respiration. In se- vere cases many of the symptoms may resemble consumption, but there is not the extreme emacia- tion, nor the purulent and heavy character of the expectoration. Bleeding from the bronchial tubes may sometimes take place, but when it does the blood is dark and not likely to form clots, while in consumption the blood is of a bright scarlet color. Treatment. — The treatment of chronic bronchitis will depend very much upon the severity of the disease and the constitution of the patient. As there is often extreme thickness of the lining mem- brane of the tubes, some alterative medicine will be required in most cases. Our Home Alterative Pill will be found of great benefit, and our Improved Inhaler, with Inhalent No. i, will be found to give decided relief, and in many cases to effect a radical cure. The free use of Scott's Emulsion is desir- able. It must always be borne in mind, however, that the summer season is the best time of the year for the treatment of all bronchial troubles. In the 90 THE HOME DOCTOR. severer forms of the disease the inflammation ex- tends to ulceration of the mucous surfaces. When this condition develops the expectoration has the characteristics of ordinary pus, and there is gene- rally more or less constitutional fever and general prostration. Rich cream, whisky, and a generally nutritious diet, must be resorted to in all such cases. ASTHMA. The term Asthma is applied to a spasmodic dif- ficulty of breathing, which usually comes on sud- denly, and after continuing for a variable length of time will disappear, leaving the patient, to all ap- pearances, free from any diseased condition of the organs of breathing. The true nature of the dis- ease is not well understood, but is claimed by many to be of a nervous character, and to be developed from sudden irritation extending to the nerves that supply the mucous surface of the air passages and control the muscles of breathing. When an attack takes place it is apt to come on again without much warning, and many people suffer for years, espe- cially in certain localities, without being able to get a moment's relief. The first attack of asthma begins with an ordina- ry cold in the head, with slight bronchial irritation, headache, and a feeling of general depression. It is likely to occur any hour in the twenty-four, but usually takes place at night. The most important ASTHMA. 91 symptom of an asthmatic attack is the distress that follows every attempt to inhale air into the lungs, and it will sometimes seem that the more effort a person makes to breathe the more difficult it is to do so. With every breath that passes the windpipe there is a loud wheezing, the face becomes flushed and even assumes a bluish tinge, the body is bathed in cold perspiration, the eyeballs seem to protrude, the eyes stare, the muscles of the neck become fix- ed, the lips parched and the patient can hardly gasp. A paroxysm may last only a few minutes or may continue for several hours without intermission. When the paroxysm is over a person may go a day, several days, or many weeks without a recurrence, while it frequently happens that an attack comes on suddenly, when a person goes from one locality to another to stay for a few days. We have known of persons who would be entirely free from asthma in New York City and Cairo, Egypt, but could not live in any place else without having several attacks during the course of a week. Treatment. — The first thing to consider in the treatment of asthma is to relieve the impending or existing paroxysm. The simplest means of doing this, which can always be procured within a short time, is to burn dry stramonium leaves or nitre paper, and to inhale the smoke as it escapes from the burning mass. The nitre paper is prepared by steeping ordinary blotting paper in a strong solution of saltpetre, and then allowing it to dry so that the 92 THE HOME DOCTOR. water is driven off and the saltpetre remains in the tissue of the paper. Our Improved Inhaler, with our asthmatic inhalation, will be found more con- venient and more effective as an inhalation during the paroxysm than anything that has heretofore been offered to the public. With a view to relieving the spasmodic condition of the muscles of respira- tion, and to give the patient relief during the night, our Neurodine Tablet should be taken as directed at bedtime, when a comfortable night's rest can al- ways be insured. After the paroxysm of asthma has passed, the continued use of our Inhaler, and the administration of one Neurodine Tablet on going to bed, will often relieve the spasmodic conditions that tend to produce the paroxysms, and have in many cases effected what appears to be a radical cure of asthma. ACUTE NASAL CATARRH. When the mucous membrane of the nose is attacked by an acute inflammation it is called a cold in the head, coryza, or acute nasal catarrh. It is due to exposure to cold, sudden changes of temper- ature, going from a warm room out-doors when overheated, wet feet, or the inhalation of any irri- tating gas or vapor through the nose. An attack of this kind is usually attended by muscular soreness, general languor, headache, and chilliness, a dryness of the nose, inclination to sneeze, and an inability to breathe through the nose ACUTE NASAL CATARRH. 93 when the mouth is closed. A profuse watery dis- charge soon takes place from the nostrils, which gradually becomes thick and offensive. The sense of smell is diminished or destroyed, the voice assumes a nasal twang and the mouth must be kept open in order to breathe. During the fall, winter, and spring months persons are very liable to this form of cold and may have repeated attacks at short intervals during the changeable weather. In this manner the membranes become thickened and a condition of chronic nasal catarrh is produced. Treatment. — With the first symptoms of a cold in the head the feet should be soaked in mustard water as hot as can be borne before retiring to bed, and a hot lemonade or whisky sling should be ad- ministered, while plenty of bed-clothing should be used to retain the warmth of the body. This will often result in a free perspiration and the patient awakens in the morning without the least symptom of the disease. When attainable a Turkish bath taken at the beginning of an attack will invariably break it up and save the patient much annoyance. Should the symptoms continue the second day, our Malaria Pill should be used as directed for a day or two, and tincture of aconite may be given in one- drop doses, every half hour whenever the skin feels hot and feverish. For local treatment our Improved Home Inhaler should be used several times a day with Inhalent No. 1, and persons who are liable to frequent attacks 94 THE HOME DOCTOR. of cold in the head should use it regularly whenever they feel the first symptoms of a fresh cold. ULCERATION OF THE NOSE. Persons who are weak and debilitated from any cause or whose blood is impoverished are liable to suffer from ulceration of the mucous membrane as well as of the bones of the nose after frequent attacks of acute catarrh. The first symptoms are those to be hereafter de- scribed under the heading of chronic catarrh, but soon the discharges become very offensive and after a time small pieces of bone will be found to be mixed with them. The first indication of this should warn the patient of the extensive destruction of bone that is liable to follow, and an experienced surgeon should be consulted without delay.* SORE THROAT. The mucous membrane of the large cavity form- ing the back part of the throat, which is called the pharynx, the tonsils, and the soft palate, are fre- quently affected by acute inflammation resulting from cold, and while different names are given to the inflammation affecting these several tissues, the general term of sore throat is commonly applied to one or all, from the fact that there is tenderness * We shall always be glad to recommend experienced sur* geons to any one writing us for information. QUINSY. 95 of the throat and pain with every attempt at swallow- ing, when these parts are inflamed. There is a general feeling of dryness and ob- struction in the throat, the membrane is swollen and very red, the soft palate is thickened and elongated, and often the tonsils are so enlarged as to fill up the entire throat. Sometimes the tonsils are cover- ed with ulcerated patches, which indicates a severer form of inflammation. These patches are isolated at first and must not be mistaken for the extensive ulceration characteristic of diphtheria. Many physicians pronounce every case of this kind 11 diphtheria," and then take the credit of speedily curing that disease. Treatment. — In all cases of sore throat the voice should be used as little as possible. Mustard plas- ters may be applied externally over the seat of the soreness and left on until the skin is decidedly red. This draws the blood to the surface and relieves the local inflammation of the throat. For the local treatment our Improved Inhaler should be used with Inhalent No. i, as often as the soreness and dryness of the parts become annoying to the patient. QUINSY. The two little glands generally called the tonsils, situated on either side of the throat, between the folds of the mucous membrane, are sometimes the seat of a local inflammation that does not extend to other parts. It is due to exposure to cold or damp, 96 THE HOME DOCTOR. or any causes that tend to produce, inflammation of any of these tissues. This inflammation is spoken of as tonsillitis, but it often receives the common name quinsy, though, properly speaking, the name quinsy should not be applied unless suppuration takes place and matter forms in the interior of the tonsils. The symptoms are the same as those described for sore throat, but when matter forms in the ton- sil, a deep seated, throbbing pain is felt sometimes for several days, and every attempt to swallow is followed by the most excruciating suffering. In some cases even the breathing becomes very diffi- cult, in consequence of the filling up of the cavity of the throat. This severe pain, especially that of the deep-seated throbbing character, indicates the formation of matter. Treatment. — On the start the same treatment as recommended for general sore throat should be followed, but -n hen the tonsils seem to be very large, and the pain above mentioned is suddenly developed, the best course to pursue is to have the tonsils lanced by a physician, even if no matter be present. This allows a large quantity of blood to escape and thus relieves the congestion of the part so that in many instances the matter will not form afterwards. Where this cannot be done, hot fo- mentations of hops, or flaxseed meal poultices, should be applied to the throat so as to favor the speedy formation of the matter and a spontaneous dis- croup. 97 charge of the same, for no relief can be obtained until the local distention is relieved in one of these ways. For the relief of the intense suffering our Neurodine Tablet may be given as directed. After the pus has discharged, the Improved Inhaler with Inhalent No. I, should be used two or three times a day till the soreness entirely disappears. croups. The mucous, or lining membrane of the larynx (upper part of the windpipe) in children is liable to be affected by an inflammation to which the com- mon name croup has been applied. There are three varieties of the disease, which are named re- spectively mucous, spasmodic, and membranous croup. Mucous Croup is a mild inflammation of the membrane resulting from cold. It comes on sud- denly during the night, with difficult breathing and a croupy cough which awakens the child even out of a sound sleep. Sometimes a slight cough with the usual symptoms of cold may be present during the day, but nothing is thought of it. A rough, whistling sound accompanies the breathing, the cry and voice are hoarse and the cough has a rough metallic sound. Mucus accumulates in the throat, and renders the breathing difficult and even causes symptoms of strangulation. The cough of croup when once heard can easily be recognized by any one, while the rattling of the mucus readily dis- tinguishes this from the other varieties of croup. 9b THE HOME DOCTOR. At first the skin is hot and dry, and the pulse full and hard, but soon the extremities become cold, the skin is covered with a cold perspiration and the pulse becomes rapid and feeble. Spasmodic Croup is also due to cold, but the at- tacks are not severe and are soon over. A slight hoarseness and cough in the evening is followed by a few hours of restless sleep from which the child awakes with a paroxysm of difficult breath- ing. A hoarse, metallic cough next occurs, while the child cannot speak above a whisper. There is no fever or other constitutional disturbance, and no accumulation of mucus in the throat; and in a few minutes the paroxysm ceases, and the child speed- ily falls a sleep again. After an interval of a few minutes another paroxysm occurs, and so they may continue during the night, but in the morning there is no symptom of the trouble left, excepting possibly a slight cough. Membranous Croup begins as an ordinary cold and gradually increases for several days before the croupy symptoms come on. A tough, tenacious mucus collects in the windpipe, which causes a whistling kind of breathing, with spasmodic attacks of croupy cough. The skin is dry and hot, and the pulse rapid and hard, the breathing is permanently difficult, while the croupy cough comes on at inter- vals. If these symptoms are not relieved before the mucus in the windpipe obstructs the breathing the skin and lips assume a purple hue, the extrem- croup. 99 ities become cold, and languor and stupor soon fol- low, because enough air does not reach the lungs to supply the blood with the oxygen necessary to sustain life. Treatment. — Hot fomentations of hops should be applied around the throat, and changed every half hour so as to keep up the heat, and when the skin is hot and dry the following should be administered: Tincture of aconite root, ten drops; tincture of lo- belia, thirty drops; water, eight tablespoonfuls. Dose, a teaspoonful every fifteen or twenty minu- tes. In cases of spasmodic croup a teaspoonful of tincture of gelsemium may be substituted for the ten drops of tincture of aconite in the above. In severe cases, where the breathing becomes greatly obstructed, it is essential to cause vomiting so as to dislodge the accumulating false membrane before it completely obstructs the breathing. For this purpose twenty drops of tincture of lobelia with ten drops of tincture of ipecac should be given in a tablespoonful of sweetened water, every fifteen or twenty minutes till vomiting is produced. After the vomiting the child is very much prostrated, but if the phlegm has been thrown off reaction will soon take place. Great relief is often obtained by pouring boil- ing vinegar upon a handful of hops, in a tea- pot, and allowing the child to inhale the steam from the spout for ten or fifteen minutes at a time. THE HOME DOCTOR. LOSS OF VOICE. A complete Loss of Voice will sometimes follow a cold in the throat and windpipe, and it is often unattended by pain. It is due to a relaxation of the vocal cords, and to effect a cure all attempts at talking must be avoided. Treatment. — Our Nerve Tonic Pill must be used to give the requisite tone to the relaxed condition of the throat, and for local treatment our Improved Inhaler, with Inhalent No. I, should be used every hour or two during the day. INFLAMMATION OF THE LARYNX. The upper part of the windpipe is technically called the larynx and the lower part is called the trachea, while the branches that extend to the lungs and their several ramifications are called bronchial tubes. The larynx is often the seat of an inflam- mation, either acute or chronic, which may have been an extension of an inflammation of the back part of the throat, or may have been produced pri- marily by cold or sudden changes of temperature, as well as by the inhalation of irritating gases. The inflammation of these air passages is usually spoken of as a cold on the chest; and this name is not inappropriate when any of the mucous surfaces of the air passages below the pharynx become in- flamed. The symptoms attending upon the in- INFLAMMATION OF THE LARYNX. IOI flammation of these surfaces are a sense of dryness and a desire to clear the throat, a sharp pain on swallowing, soreness and stiffness of the neck over the windpipe, a harsh, dry cough with a scraping or raw sensation of the surfaces, a frothy mucus expectoration which gradually changes its charac- ter and presents a yellowish appearance as if mix- ed with pus, while more or less hoarseness is pre- sent, and in some cases there is a complete loss of voice. These symptoms may last but a few days, or may continue for weeks, or even result in a chronic inflammation of the part affected. Treat?7ient. — It is wise in all such cases to avoid exposure to cold or damp air and avoid using the voice as much as possible. A mustard plaster should be placed over the seat of the pain, on the neck and upper part of the chest. The hot mustard footbath is always serviceable in the onset of the disease, and a hot lemonade or hot whisky sling taken at bed-time will often relieve the local inflam- mation. Our Improved Inhaler with Inhalent No. i , should be used to secure relief of the localr symp- toms, for this is one of the few instruments that will admit of a medicated air being carried directly to the air passages, so as to reach the inflamed sur- faces. Home Cough Lozenges should be taken as directed every hour or two to promote expectoration and relieve the patient of coughing. Even chil- dren over a year old can take about one-quarter of a lozenge every couple of hours, if necessary. 102 THE HOME DOCTOR. CHRONIC CATARRH. By Chronic Catarrh in this connection we mean a chronic inflammation of the mucous surfaces of the air passages of the head and throat, although the term is also applied, as already stated, to inflam- mation of similar surfaces in other portions of the body. The acute inflammation just described, especially when it occurs frequently, often leaves the membrane in a weakened and inflamed condi- tion. It matters little where the inflammation starts, when it begins to assume a chronic form it usually spreads along the continuous surfaces until it reaches the membrane of the nose. The cavities in the head, above the nose and back of the throat, become involved in one continuous condition of chronic inflammation. When this condition is once developed the membranes may be dry and hot, but more commonly a thick tenacious mucus is con- tinually being secreted from the inflamed surfaces. Usually the secretion accumulates in the back of the throat, and forms hard lumps during the night, which the patient finds it difficult to dislodge by re- peated hawking and coughing during the morning. This constant effort to clear the throat of the accumulated mucus aggravates the trouble, makes the voice rough and husky, and occasions a con- tinuous hacking cough. In severe cases there is a constant pain above the nose and across the eye- brows, an offensive odor to the breath, and in manv CHRONIC CATARRH. 103 cases a complete loss of the sense of smell. So se- vere are these symptoms during the cold weather that every effort to treat the disease is liable to be followed by repeated fresh colds and an aggravation of the symptoms, so that persons suffering from ca- tarrh usually think the disease cannot be cured. We have found out by long experience, however, that, when properly treated during the summer months, the worst cases of catarrh can be radically cured, and it was by efforts in this direction that led to the introduction of our simple Improved In haler, the use of which, with our Inhalent No. I, if persistently followed during the summer, will cure the worst cases of chronic catarrh. It may, how- ever, often be necessary to resort to our Alterative Pill for the purpose of reducing the extreme thick- ness of the mucous membrane which has been de- veloped by the long continuance of the disease. This improves the condition of the blood and materially aids the local treatment in affecting the radical cure. Some cases may require the application of strong medicines to the affected surface for a few weeks before the home treatment can do any good. These applications, however, should only be made by an experienced physician. It is useless, however, to begin the treatment of such cases during the winter months. We are prepared to give patients from the country the most skillful treatment, with home comforts, while in the city. 104 THE HOME DOCTOR. PNEUMONIA. Pneumonia is an inflammation of the lung tis- sues proper. It is also called "lung fever," and "winter fever." It is produced by exposure to cold, and attacks those whose vitality has been re- duced from any cause. Some claim that it is due to a disease germ, or pneumonia bacillus. A general depression or languor, a hacking cough, quick-short breathing, a sense of oppression in the chest, with chilliness and coldness of the ex- tremities are the early symptoms. These may be felt for a day or two, when a decided chill comes on which may last for one or two hours. As soon as the chill passes febrile symptoms come on, and the respiration becomes shorter, and the breathing difficult. Whenever these symptoms manifest themselves a physician should be sent for without delay, and till he arrives an effort should be made to promote perspiration. In short a free perspiration must be maintained throughout the disease, and the pulse and temperature must be kept down with tincture of veratrum viride in two or three drop doses, every half hour, till the skin becomes moist or slight nausea is produced. But no one should attempt to treat this disease without the aid of a physician. PLEURISY. Pleurisy is an inflammation of a membrane called the pleura, which lines the inner surface of PLEURISY. I05 the walls of the thorax and incases the lungs. The pleura may be the primary seat of the inflammation, or the disease may extend to it from the lungs. It begins with a chill, fever, pain in the side, and dif- ficult breathing. After a time the pain is intense with every full breath, and is of a sharp, cutting character. This is also a disease that should not be treated without the aid of a physician, as many serious complications are liable to follow it, if not properly treated from the start. I06 THE HOME DOCTOR. CHAPTER VII. Diseases of the Nervous System. Headache — Vertigo — Spinal Irritation — Con- vulsions — Epilepsy — St. Vitus Dance — Hys- teria — Hiccough — Sea Sickness — Neural- gia — Paralysis. Diseases of the nervous system include all affec- tions of the brain, spinal cord, nerves of special sense and the nerves of motion and sensation. Each of these are liable to diseases both acute and chronic in character, but many of them are so important and serious in their nature as to require the atten- tion of the physician, so that each symptom may be properly managed as it- develops. Among these acute disorders are congestion and inflammation of the brain, apoplexy, spinal meningitis, convulsion's, lockjaw, and insanity, from whatever local condi- tion ;t may arise. Among the nervous disorders that may be treated at home must be mentioned headache, vertigo, spinal irritation, epilepsy, hys- teria, St. Vitus dance, hiccough, delirium tremens, neuralgia of all kinds, toothache, sunstroke, and some forms of paralysis. HEADACHE. 107 H E AD AC H E. Headache is generally looked upon as of little significance, and many persons allow themselves to be sufferers from some of its forms for years, without doing anything in the way of medical treatment. This is a mistake, and it should be borne in mind that severe headaches, frequently recurring, often result in more serious disorders of the brain. There are many forms of headache, each of which is due to a variety of causes, though it may often be a symptom of some other disease. The principal forms of headache are the nervous, bilious, congestive, plethoric, and sick headache; while we also have rheumatic headache, renal head- ache, and headache resulting from organic changes in the brain itself, which is usually called organic headache. It is needless to say that all these head- aches are attended with severe pain in the head, which many times become almost unbearable. Nervous headache is more liable to attack per- sons of an excitable nervous disposition, and is more common in women than in men. Among the existing causes of this form of headache may be mentioned excessive mental effort, business worry, loss of sleep, sexual excess, diseases of the womb, etc. In bilious headache the skin is sallow, the bowels constipated, and there is a general feeling of de- pression present. The pain is confined to the eye^ 108 THE HOME DOCTOR. brows and forehead, and is of a throbbing character. The skin is hot, the muscles are sore, the tongue is coated, the appetite poor, and nausea is usually present, though vomiting rarely occurs. Sick headache is invariably due to some derange- ment of the digestion. A dull heavy pain is felt up- on waking or soon after getting up, the usual symp- toms of indigestion are present, and continuous nausea followed by vomiting invariably manifests itself. Every attempt to move increases the nausea, and the vomiting rarely subsides until the contents of the stomach, with considerable bile, have been thrown up. The pain often locates itself on one side, most commonly the left, and will be felt frequently darting through the ball of the eye. Plethoric headache is a form that usually attacks persons who are full-blooded. The symptoms are extreme fullness and throbbing through the temples and over the eyebrows, dizziness following the slightest motion, frequent bleeding from the nose, and sometimes diarrhea, and the pain is of a pulsat- ing, throbbing character. The rheumatic headache attacks persons suffer- ing from rheumatism. It is felt more in the back of the head and is of a dull aching character, with- out throbbing. The affected part is tender on pressure and the skin of the forehead and scalp is cool and moist. The pain is worse toward evening and is more severe as the acute symptoms of rheu- matism diminish. HEADACHE. IO9 In some conditions of the system where there is an accumulation of oxalate of lime in the urine with a scanty flow of that secretion, and in all dis- orders of the kidneys, a feeling of soreness is felt at the base of the brain, which extends upward from the sides and centers itself on the top of the head. In congestion or inflammation of the brain or the membranes covering it, headache is a promi- nent symptom, but the other acute symptoms are of such a character as to indicate positively the na- ture of the trouble, and the headache is consequent- ly of secondary importance. Treatment. — The condition of the stomach and bowels must always be considered in every case of headache, as constipation and indigestion will in- variably aggravate and often indirectly produce the several headaches above described. It is, there- fore, advisable for all persons thus afflicted to keep the liver and bowels regular by the use of our Home Liver Pills, and where the digestion is im- paired our Dyspepsia Pill should be used regularly until digestion is properly performed. In the bil- ious, sick, and plethoric headaches, this treatment is of the greatest importance, and must be followed up regularly if a cure is desired. Nervous head- ache also requires hygienic consideration. Exces- sive mental labor must be avoided, and the nervous system toned up by the use of proper remedies. In women, where the headache may be due to some uterine disorder, that condition should be looked 110 THE HOME DOCTOR. after before permanent relief can be obtained. With a view to giving general tone to the nervous system our Nerve Tonic Pill will be found specially- serviceable. Soaking the feet in hot water before retiring, and taking a hot lemonade or whisky sling, containing about an ounce of good whisky, will often relieve a severe headache. This is par- ticularly true in cases of sick or bilious headache. Where the bowels have been constipated in the morning a full dose (one ounce) of Rochelle salts taken before breakfast will move the bowels in a short time, and in that way the headache will often be relieved. In the rheumatic or renal headache, the disease of which the headache is a symptom must be specially treated as indicated under the respective headings. With a view to giving prompt relief from any severe headache, nothing is better than our Neurodine Tablet. If taken according to directions it will stop the pain by relieving the con- gestion of the nerve centers, thereby producing a natural sleep. In nervous headaches this pill should be given every night at bedtime so as to quiet the patient and permit a natural sleep, and the Nerve Tonic Pill should be given during the day for the purpose of toning up the general sys- tem. In a few cases of headache from indigestion, where the stomach is evidently disturbed by the presence of undigested food, an emetic may be given with advantage. The simplest thing for this purpose is warm water and salt, or mustard water. VERTIGO SPINAL IRRITATION. Ill After the stomach is thus emptied an ounce of good whisky or brandy will often give prompt relief. Vertigo, or dizziness, is not of itself a disease, but a symptom which attends many other disor- ders. Diseases of the heart, stomach, and ear, are often attended by it. It is also frequently present in women undergoing " change of life." Treatment. — It is always necessary, if possible, to ascertain the cause of the dizziness in order to successfully treat it. If it is due to disease of the heart, absolute quiet is necessary to relieve it; and when it depends on a disordered stomach, that must be attended to. In most cases, whatever may be the exciting cause, the direct one is a fullness of the blood vessels of the brain. This is best relieved by the free use of our Home Liver Pill in doses sufficiently large to have a decided purging effect. In addition to this from ten to fifteen drops of the fluid extract of ergot should be taken three or four times a day, and in severe cases half a teaspoonful may be given at a dose. SPINAL IRRITATION. Tenderness along the spine accompanied by an uneasy ache and a feeling of general languor is commonly spoken of as spinal irritation. It is al- ways due to diseases of some of the internal or- 112 THE HOME DOCTOR. gans, and is more common with women who are suffering from disease of the womb, and with young girls whose menstrual (monthly) periods have not been properly established. Treatment. — Rest in the recumbent position is often necessary, but in all cases a surgeon should be consulted with the view of ascertaining if some mechanical support is not needed. Women would always be benefited by using our Tonic Pill for Women, and men will find our Nerve Tonic Pill a valuable remedy. In all cases, however, it is neces- sary to find out what the cause of the spinal irrita- tion is and to remove the same if possible. CONVULSIONS. The convulsions so commonly met with in chil- dren are all due to some form of direct or reflex irritation of the nervous system. The irritation of teething, the presence of worms, undigested food and inflammation of the stomach and bowels, are the most common causes. Treatment. — The cause must always be ascertain- ed and properly treated in all cases of convulsions. When a paroxysm is on, or threatened, the feet and hands should be put in hot mustard water and from three to five drops of tincture of gelsemium given in a teaspoonful of water, to a child under five years of age. If the head is hot and the face red, cold applications should be made to the head, EPILEPSY. 113 EPILEPSY. Epilepsy, or " falling sickness " as it is sometimes called, is a nervous disease in which a sudden loss of consciousness and convulsions characterize an attack. The attacks come on at longer or shorter intervals, depending on the condition of the patient and the excitement to which he may be exposed. Headache, dizziness, and confusion of mind, us- ually precede an attack, and in some cases the pa- tient feels as if a current of cold air was blowing upon him, and extending from the feet upward. The patient falls suddeny, and the fit is character- ized by the paleness of the face, violent convulsions of all the muscles of the body, rigidity of the jaw, the eyes open and staring, and frothing at the mouth. A paroxysm may last from a few seconds to several minutes, after which it will cease for a short time and then recur as before. The patient may be rational in a few minutes after an attack, or may know nothing for several days. In either case he has no knowledge of what had occurred. Weeks or months may pass before another attack; but if the case is not properly treated, the attacks become more frequent and severe till finally a complete loss of mental power occurs. Treatment — During a convulsion nothing can be done, and any effort to give medicine is useless. After a paroxysm, however, thirty drops of tincture of gelsemiym should be given in a little water as 114 THE HOME DOCTOR. soon as the patient can swallow, and this can be re- peated every half hour, if there is a recurrence, till the paroxysms are entirely controlled. These cases need long and careful treatment, and often each case needs something entirely differ- ent from any other. We prefer to prescribe for each case individually as the medicine may have to be varied according to the symptoms in each case. Whenever a description of a case is sent to us, we will send the necessary medicine at the standard price of one dollar for one hundred pills or tablets. ST. VITUS DANCE. St. Vitus Dance, or Chorea, is usually a disease of childhood though it is sometimes met with in adults. It is a condition of involuntary and irregu- lar spasmodic movements of muscles, and is proper- ly a sympathetic nervous derangement, caused by irritation of certain nerves, resulting from indiges- tion, rheumatism, disturbances of the heart action, intestinal worms, and general debility from previous disease. Treatment. — There are so many conditions that may produce this disorder that a physician should always be called to ascertain the cause of the dis- ease. In girls it is often caused by delay in the appearance of the menses (monthly periods); while irritation of the head of the penis by a long fore- skin often causes it in boys. In the latter case an operation is the only thing that will relieve it, The HYSTERIA. T T 5 cause of the disturbance must be properly treated and the patient supplied with the most nutritious diet. HYSTERIA. Hysteria, or Hysterics, is a peculiar sympathetic derangement of the nervous system, affecting the nerves of motion and sensation, and in severe cases j even deranging the mind. It was formerly thought to occur only in women, but more recent investiga- tions show that men also suffer from it. In women it is invariably associated with some disturbance of the womb, while men suffer from it after severe mental prostration following other diseases, espe- cially long-standing disorders of digestion. The symptoms are those of uneasiness, extreme anxiety, and general depression of spirits, although at times the patient seems unusually joyful, laughs inordi- nately without cause, and the next minute will break down and cry as if suffering some terrible afflic- tion. The limbs are stiff and painful, there are noises in the ears and confusion of mind, a feeling as if a ball or lump was stuck in the throat and can- not be moved, pulling of ihe hair, grating of the teeth, and sometimes spasms. While an attack lasts the patient is often uncontrollable, will abuse the attendants and friends, and scream, laugh, and i- cry alternately. During this time the heart's action is very irregular, the breathing difficult, and the face is livid and swollen. Great mental excitement Il6 THE HOME DOCTOR. following a period of depression, the sensation of the lump in the throat, and the belief that a variety of diseases is developing, are some of the symptoms of the milder forms of the disease. Exertion of all kinds causes great fatigue, the appetite is lost, and the patient becomes pale and thin. It seldom hap- pens that such persons are willing to admit that anything is the matter with them while the parox- ysm is present, while they complain of all kinds of imaginary diseases as soon as the paroxysm passes over. The nervous system gradually becomes so prostrared that the patient can hardly walk or even sit up, and some decided treatment is necessary to effect a speedy change. Treat?7ient. — In the treatment of this disordei special attention must be given to the hygienic conditions. Moderate exercise in the open air is desirable, and the food must be of the most nutri- tious character. Beef, mutton, animal broths, etc., should constitute the diet, while starches and sugar should be practically avoided. Tight lacing and heavy skirts suspended from the hips always ag- gravate the trouble. No treatment is complete that does not see that these things are avoided. Intern- ally our Tonic Pills for Women should be used regularly as directed during the day time, and our Neurodine Tablet should be given every night at bedtime. When a hysterical paroxysm is approach- ing, or after one has occurred, and there are indi- cations of a re-occurrence, our Neurodine Tablet HICCOUGH. 117 should be given every half hour until the nervous excitement is quieted down and the patient feels comfortable. In all cases a careful examination should be made to ascertain the exact cause of the disease, and whenever uterine troubles are recog- nized these should be specially treated. It is also important that the bowels should be regular. Where the least constipation or coated tongue is present our Home Liver Pills should be used until the bowels move regularly. HICCOUGH. Hiccough is a peculiar noise caused by the con- tractions of the windpipe and muscles of the chest, which is so familiar to every one that it requires no description. It is due to inflammatory conditions of the stomach, bowels, and liver, and is a common symptom of chronic indigestion. When it occurs after a protracted illness of an acute character it is a very unfavorable symptom, as it frequently indi- cates the near approach of death. Treatment. — A sudden start or fright will often arrest a paroxysm of hiccough, as will also a dash of cold water in the face, or a drink of cold water. Ten drops of hartshorn in a wine glass of water, taken in one dose, will also frequently counteract it. When it occurs frequently, and especially after eating, our Dyspepsia Pills should be .used to correct the disordered digestion and our Home Liver Pills should be taken at bedtime to regulate the bowels. IlS THE HOME DOCTOR. SEA-SICKNESS. Considerable attention has been given to the faintness, nausea, and vomiting, from which most people suffer during the first few days at sea, and various remedies have been suggested, but few if any have given the desired relief. The treatment should be preventive rather than curative, and a person contemplating a sea voyage should always prepare the system by a light diet for a few days, and the free use of our Home Liver Pills every night until the bowels have been freely moved. Twenty grains of bromide of sodium when taken every three hours after going on shipboard is also claimed to have a good effect in preventing sea-sickness. This remedy does certainly agree with many people, and seems to have a soothing influence on the nervous system, and thus prevents the nervous shocks incidental to the motion of the vessel. When the sickness occurs nothing but free vomiting will give any relief. After this occurs the juice of a lemon in about a tablespoonful of water, without sugar, taken several times a day, often overcomes the nausea and faintness. In other cases again a tablespoonful of brandy proves the best remedy; but as no two cases are exactly alike, neither can they be treated in the same way. There is no doubt, however, that when the stomach and liver are in a healthy condition, and care is taken in the diet during the early stages of the NEURALGIA. I I