Volume 1

The standard physician : a new and practical encyclopaedia of medicine and hygiene especially prepared for the household / edited by Sir James Crichton-Browne [and others].

Date:
1908-1909
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The standard physician : a new and practical encyclopaedia of medicine and hygiene especially prepared for the household / edited by Sir James Crichton-Browne [and others]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    390/430 (page 360)
    Externally : inegar ; French brandy ; Cologne water ; smelling-salts ; and spirits of sal ammoniac. Emetics : Irritation of the pharynx with the finger or with a feather ; drinking large quantities of lukewarm water, soap water, or mustard and water. Emetics which act speedily and vigorously, such as tartar emetic, bluestone, etc., should be prescribed only by a physician. Remedies for Diarrhoea: Dry Claret (Bordeaux or Dalmatian); thin, strained decoctions of rice, barley, or oats, in tablespoonfuls. Clysters of starch gruel (one tablespoonful of starch, mixed with a little water, and then boiled with about half a pint of water under continued stirring). Warm poultices upon the abdomen. A cathartic, such as castor-oil, is advisable in the beginning in practicall}^ all cases of diarrlusa. Remedies to disguise Taste : Bitter powders are enclosed in wafers, or taken with jam, with fresh fruits (in a cherry or prune), in the foam of ’ beer or in a sip of wine, soup, coffee, lemonade, ras])berry syrup, soda-water, peppermint tea, etc. Bitter liquid medicines may likewise be taken mixed with these fluids. A bad after-taste (as of cod-liver oil or of castor-oil) is sometimes removed by the chewing of a crumb of bread, a roasted coffee-bean, a piece of chocolate, or a peppermint lozenge. Cough Remedies : Warm, semi-liquid fluids in small quantities ; marsh- mallow tea, one teaspoonful to a cup of hot water, after infusing for about one-half to one hour ; malt extract, in teaspoonful doses ; lime drops ; marshmallow drops ; sal ammoniac pastilles, to be taken only if the irritation to cough is very marked. Externally: Cold compresses (which become warm) upon the throat and chest; inhalation of steam. Warning should be given against wasting valuable time by using these cough remedies. A })hysician should always be summoned at the earliest possible moment, as Coughs (which see) may often mask a serious disease. Plaisters : Court-plaister (to be moistened with water, not with saliva), used solely to cover very small cut wounds or superficial abrasions. Sticking- plaister is now usually bought ready for use, as the ordinary 3^ellow sticking-plaister, or a very adhesive white caoutchouc plaister. Oxide of zinc plaister is also useful. It is unnecessary to warm the sticking-plaister over a flame ; pressing it slightly to the skin is sufflcient to make it adhere. Cut in strips of one-half to one inch wide, it is used to fasten bandages, or to cover wounds and abrasions previously cleansed and dried, or as a pro- tective covering for hard skin and callosities. If the plaister is left in place for several days, or if its use is continuously repeated for some length of time, the skin is very liable to become reddened and inflamed. A physician should be consulted as to whether the use of a plaister is permissible, and also as to whether • plaisters with medicinal ingredients may be employed. Salicylic acid plaister (so-called tourist’s plaister ; corn-plaister) often causes a violent inflammation of the skin. Red-lead plaister, which contains