The mother's medical adviser : on the diseases and management of children, with recipes / [by Thomas Wakley].

  • Thomas Wakley
Date:
1846
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The mother's medical adviser : on the diseases and management of children, with recipes / [by Thomas Wakley]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    minute examination. The itching produced by this complaint is generally very great: the child 1‘rom scratch¬ ing the pustules, breaks them, and the consequent dis¬ charge tends to contaminate the surrounding parts; and in this way, from want of proper attention, the whole of the head may become encrusted with scabs. Treatment.—It is obviously difficult to lay down any plan of treatment for this disease upon which sole reli¬ ance can be placed. The treatment must depend, not only upon the general habit of the patient, but also upon the staore of the disease with which you commence. As general rules, the head must always be shaved, and well washed night and morning. An oil-skin cap should be worn, and the bowels occasionallv relieved by small doses of calomel and rhubarb. When taken in its earliest stages, it is not difficult to overcome, and the application three times a day, with a common paint-brush, of sulphate of copper, dissolved in brandy, will usually effect a cure. If the head be covered with scabs, it is necessary to apply a poultice, in order to remove the dessicated dis¬ charge ; this being done, the surgeon will then sec to what extent the disease has proceeded, and will conse¬ quently take his measures accordingly. In the more advanced stages, the application of tar ointment has been found most serviceable: other ointments are also recom¬ mended, being chiefly compounds of mercury, tobacco, hclebore, sulphur, &c., &c. A slight diet should be strictly enforced. WORMS. Those children who are of a languid habit of body are usually the sufferers from this malady. The symptoms are a knawing uneasy feeling about the stomach, which is removed or diminished, In eating. I he appetite is deranged and variable, often more than ordinarily voracious. The belly is hard and swelled.
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