Volume 1

The household physician : a family guide to the preservation of health and to the domestic treatment of ailments and disease, with chapters on food and drugs and first aid in accidents and injuries / by J. McGregor-Robertson ; with an introduction by John G. McKendrick.

M'Gregor-Robertson, J. (Joseph), 1858-1925

Date:: 1899

Credit: The household physician : a family guide to the preservation of health and to the domestic treatment of ailments and disease, with chapters on food and drugs and first aid in accidents and injuries / by J. McGregor-Robertson ; with an introduction by John G. McKendrick. Source: Wellcome Collection.

535/602 (page 463)

$CONVULSIONS. clay, say after breakfast. Changing the diet is often as valuable for costiveness as for diarrhoea. When some form of medicine is necessary castor- oil or manna may be used. A simple treatment is to cut a piece of yellow soap into the shape and half the length of the little finger and i^usli it gently up for 2 or 3 inches into the bowel, and there allow it to remain till it excites the motion. If two or three days have been allowed to pass without the child securing a motion it may be necessary to inject one or two syringe- fuls of tepid water as directed on 456. When castor-oil is given for costiveness it is well, in- stead of giving it now and then, to give a small quantity at the same time each morning for a good number of days, and when the bowels are regular the quantity should be gradually di- minished till finally it is stopped altogether. Worms.—These may often be prevented by the careful avoidance of improper kinds of food, and by proper seasoning of the food with salt. They are often introduced with animal food. Great care should, therefore, be exercised in the thoi'ough cooking of all butcher-meat, especially pork, ham, and sausages. They are of three kinds —(1) Tape-worm passed in pieces like flat white tape, (2) round-worm, and (3) thread-worm. They, and all the symptoms they produce, have been sufficiently described on p. 167 and follow- ing pages. It is specially thread-worms that affect children. The best treatment is 1 to 3 grains of santonin given in the morning in cream, and some hours afterwards repeated in- jections of tepid water, in every half-pint of which a table-spoonful of salt has been dis- solved, serve to bring them away. Steel-wine or a tonic of some kind should thereafter be given to the child, as well as good food, as de- bility favours the presence of worms. For the method of injection see p. 456. Falling of the Bowel. — This may arise from debility, from diarrhoea, or from costive- ness owing to straining. It is to be prevented by getting the child into a proper state of health, relieving the costiveness, or checking the diarrhoea. The bowel must not he allowed to remain down. To return it bathe the part gently with cold water, form the fingers into a cone and embracing the part gently push it upwards. Rupture.—This may occur at the navel within a month or two after the child’s birth. It is a swelling which increases with crying or straining. It is caused by a portion of the bowel being forced through the little opening at the navel under the skin. The bowel must be kept within the belly by a small firm pad, secured by a bandage. Eupture in the gi’oin shows a swelling in one or other groin passing downwards and inwards to between the legs. It may exist at birtli or be brought on by straining, coughing, or crying. The bowel should be returned at once into the belly, and a ]>roper truss obtained for keeping it constantly in place. Bed-wetting {Incontinence of Urine).—This is a frequent affection, and is due very often to the presence of some irritant in the bowels, such as worms, or about the private parts. Careful search should, therefore, be made for such a cause. Attention should be given to the diet to avoid an irritating quality of the urine. Only simple food should be given, pastries and such things being avoided, and simple drink also, milk or water. Before going to bed each niffiit the child should be set down in a warm O salt-water bath, covered with a blanket, for 10 to 20 minutes, and should be roused several times during the night to empty the bladder. It is also recommended that the child should be prevented sleeping on its back by some simple contrivance, such as binding on a thread bobbin. If these measures fail, a doctor should be speedily consulted, lest the habit become confirmed. Mothers should be careful that children are not punished for what may be a weakness rather than a fault. If a doctor is not easily obtain- able, let the child get 2 to 4 drops of tincture of belladonna in a little water before going to bed. Spasmodic and Nervous Diseases. Convulsions may be due to disordered stom- ach and bowels, caused, for instance, by too much food, or by improper food (unripe fi’uit, raw carrots, turnips, &c.). They may be due to teething, constipation, worms; they occur some- times at the beginning, or during the course, of some diseases, such as scarlet fever, &c., and they are frequent in diseases of the brain, such as “ water in the head.” They may be slight or severe, from mere twitching of face to those accompanied by staring eyes, distorted features, and violently agitated or rigid limbs. Convul- sions are readily caused in children because of the nervous matter of the spinal cord being very excitable in them, owing to the controlling action of tlie brain being not yet well develo])ed. Any irritation, therefore, conveyed to the spinal cord is readily communicated to nerves passing to various groups of muscles, and a stimulsHS is$