Insomnia : and other disorders of sleep / by Henry M. Lyman.

  • Henry M. Lyman
Date:
1885
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Insomnia : and other disorders of sleep / by Henry M. Lyman. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    83/262 (page 65)
    KOUMISS. Russians in the treatment of pulmonary consumption. It is useful in all diseases affecting the digestive organs, and can often be- tolerated, even by very young children, when nothing t else will remain in the stom- ach. Considerable mystery is made of its preparation by those who sell it for an enormous price; but its composition is really very simple, and its actual cost is within the reach of every one. The following formula for its preparation has given great satisfaction to many of my patients: Dilute five quarts of milk with three quarts of hot water. When lukewarm, add half a cupfull of sugar of milk (which can be obtained from any wholesale druggist), and one bottle of well fermented koumiss (or a little yeast). Stir the mixture thoroughly, and let it stand in an open jar, at a temperature of about 72° F., till it begins to curdle. Then stir in half a cupfull of pulverized coffee sugar, and cork tightly in champagne bottles with the best velvet corks. The bottles should be kept quite cool, as fermentation pro- ceeds very briskly, and will break the containers if left in a warm room. A large ice-box is the best receiver during hot weather. The koumiss thus pre- pared is ready for use at the end of a week. It may be most conveniently drawn from the bottle with a champagne tap. The entire cost of the article need not exceed seven cents a bottle. Sleeplessness caused by chronic dyspepsia will often yield to a diet of koumiss, when every other remedy has failed. When the stomach is very intolerant, it should at first be taken in very small doses, repeated as often as every hour. It will soon become possi-