Remarks on the bilious remittent fever of Africa : its treatment and precautions to be used in dangerous localities / by Horace Waller.

  • Horace Waller
Date:
1885
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Remarks on the bilious remittent fever of Africa : its treatment and precautions to be used in dangerous localities / by Horace Waller. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    should have in his knapsack an indiarubber hot-water bottle, 12in. by 8in., so that when a shiver or chill comes over him it may be filled and applied to the back or feet on flying down. In any native hut a pot of water can soon be heated, and fever is often fended off by this stitch in time. In ninety cases out of a hundred a chill means fever in Africa. After having taken coffee through the day, take a little wine at night; it induces sleep if wakeful, but is by no means a necessary, and avoid “ nipping” in the heat of the day as you would poison. On the whole those who abstain entirely do best. Hard though it may be to forego the pleasure of superintending, clearing and gardening operations, it must be steadily borne in mind that nothing is so deadly as breaking up the virgin soil in the Tropics. If absolutely necessary to be near the spot, keep to windward of excavations and newly-dug ground : fortify yourself with some sherry and quinine, and don’t spend a moment un¬ necessarily in such a pestiferous vicinity. In making voyages, either by steamer or canoe, be excessively careful to have all bilge-water pumped or baled out, and never under any consideration use sand or shingle for ballast. Always sleep under a mosquito curtain, whether there are mosquitoes or not. It keeps out miasma when damp with the dew and your own breath, and is the greatest preservative to your health that you can possibly have. To save trouble in describing the sort of curtain used by Dr, Livingstone and those whom he taught the art of camping out, Messrs. Thresher and Glenny, Outfitters, next to Somerset House, have one as a specimen set up to show to those whom the subject may interest; but again it cannot be too strongly urged that whether it be of one shape or another, it must be looked on as utterly indispensable. It can be set up in forest, in fields, amongst reeds, in a boat or canoe, on the deck or the bridge of a steamer, in short anywhere ; and with a little care it will stand a great deal of wear and tear. If possible sleep off the earth, lie in a hut or on a bundle of grass cut for the occasion. If stationary for any time, make a bedstead of cross sticks or what not, but do not sleep on the ground. On the march it cannot be avoided, and the risk is then less, owing to the constant exercise and excitement keeping one in better health than when in settlements. But by good management you will arrange to have a tent put up each night and sleep on a thin hair mattress spread on a light iron folding bedstead. This saves the deadly
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