Great care should be exercised by parents in checking the diarrhoea of children. Many times serious diseases are brought on by parents being too hasty in checking this disorder of the bowels. It is an infant"s first method of removing obstructions and overcoming derangements of the system.
_SUMMER COMPLAINT._
1. Summer complaint is an irritation and inflammation of the lining membranes of the intestines. This may often be caused by teething, eating indigestible food, etc.
2. If the discharges are only frequent and yellow and not accompanied with pain, there is no cause for anxiety; but if the discharges are green, soon becoming gray, brown and sometimes frothy, having a mixture of phlegm, and sometimes containing food undigested, a physician had better be summoned.
3. For mild attacks the following treatment may be given:
1) Keep the child perfectly quiet and keep the room well aired.
2) Put a drop of tincture of camphor on a teaspoonful of sugar, mix thoroughly; then add 6 teaspoonfuls of hot water and give a teaspoonful of the mixture every ten minutes. This is indicated where the discharges are watery, and where there is vomiting and coldness of the feet and hands.
Chamomilla is also an excellent remedy. Ipecac and nux vomica may also be given.
In giving h.o.m.oeopathic remedies, give 5 or 6 pellets every 2 or 3 hours.
3) The diet should be wholesome and nourishing.
_FOR TEETHING._
If a child is suffering with swollen gums, is feverish, restless, and starts in its sleep, give nux vomica. {330}
WORMS.
_PIN WORMS._
Pin worms and round worms are the most common in children. They are generally found in the lower bowels.
SYMPTOMS.--Restlessness, itching about the a.n.u.s in the fore part of the evening, and worms in the faeces.
TREATMENT.--Give with a syringe an injection of a tablespoonful of linseed oil. Cleanliness is also very necessary.
_ROUND WORMS._
A round worm is from six to sixteen inches in length, resembling the common earth worm. It inhabits generally the small intestines, but it sometimes enters the stomach and is thrown up by vomiting.
SYMPTOMS.--Distress, indigestion, swelling of the abdomen, grinding of the teeth, restlessness, and sometimes convulsions.
TREATMENT.--One teaspoonful of powdered wormseed mixed with a sufficient quant.i.ty of mola.s.ses, or spread on bread and b.u.t.ter.
Or, one grain of santonine every four hours for two or three days, followed by a brisk cathartic. Wormwood tea is also highly recommended.
SWAIM"S VERMIFUGE.
2 ounces wormseed, 1 ounces valerian, 1 ounces rhubarb, 1 ounces pink-root, 1 ounces white agaric.
Boil in sufficient water to yield 3 quarts of decoction, and add to it 30 drops of oil of tansy and 45 drops of oil of cloves, dissolved in a quart of rectified spirits. Dose, 1 teaspoonful at night.
_ANOTHER EXCELLENT VERMIFUGE._
Oil of wormseed, 1 ounce, Oil of anise, 1 ounce, Castor oil, 1 ounce, Tinct. of myrrh, 2 drops, Oil of turpentine, 10 drops.
Mix thoroughly. Always shake well before using. Give 10 to 15 drops in cold coffee, once or twice a day.
{331}
HOW TO TREAT CROUP
SPASMODIC AND TRUE.
_SPASMODIC CROUP._
[Ill.u.s.tration]
DEFINITION.--A spasmodic closure of the glottis which interferes with respiration. Comes on suddenly and usually at night, without much warning.
It is a purely nervous disease and may be caused by reflex nervous irritation from undigested food in the stomach or bowels, irritation of the gums in dent.i.tion, or from brain disorders.
SYMPTOMS.--Child awakens suddenly at night with suspended respiration or very difficult breathing. After a few respirations it cries out and then falls asleep quietly, or the attack may last an hour or so, when the face will become pale, veins in the neck become turgid and feet and hands contract spasmodically. In mild cases the attacks will only occur once during the night, but may recur on the following night.
HOME TREATMENT.--During the paroxysm dashing cold water in the face is a common remedy. To terminate the spasm and prevent its return give teaspoonful doses of {332} powdered alum. The syrup of squills is an old and tried remedy; give in 15 to 30 drop doses and repeat every 10 minutes till vomiting occurs. Seek out the cause if possible and remove it. It commonly lies in some derangement of the digestive organs.
_TRUE CROUP._
DEFINITION.--This disease consists of an inflammation of the mucous membrane of the upper air pa.s.sages, particularly of the larynx with the formation of a false membrane that obstructs the breathing. The disease is most common in children between the ages of two and seven years, but it may occur at any age.
SYMPTOMS.--Usually there are symptoms of a cold for three or four days previous to the attack. Marked hoa.r.s.eness is observed in the evening with a ringing metallic cough and some difficulty in breathing, which increases and becomes somewhat paroxysmal till the face which was at first flushed becomes pallid and ashy in hue. The efforts at breathing become very great, and unless the child gets speedy relief it will die of suffocation.
HOME TREATMENT.--Patient should be kept in a moist warm atmosphere, and cold water applied to the neck early in the attack. As soon as the breathing seems difficult give a half to one teaspoonful of powdered alum in honey to produce vomiting and apply the remedies suggested in the treatment of diphtheria, as the two diseases are thought by many to be identical. When the breathing becomes labored and face becomes pallid, the condition is very serious and a physician should be called without delay.
_SCARLET FEVER._
DEFINITION.--An eruptive contagious disease, brought about by direct exposure to those having the disease, or by contact with clothing, dishes, or other articles, used about the sick room.
The clothing may be disinfected by heating to a temperature of 230 Fahrenheit or by dipping in boiling water before washing. {333}
Dogs and cats will also carry the disease and should be kept from the house, and particularly from the sick room.
SYMPTOMS.--Chilly sensations or a decided chill, fever, headache, furred tongue, vomiting, sore throat, rapid pulse, hot dry skin and more or less stupor. In from 6 to 18 hours a fine red rash appears about the ears, neck and shoulders, which rapidly spreads to the entire surface of the body.
After a few days, a scurf or branny scales will begin to form on the skin.
These scales are the princ.i.p.al source of contagion.
HOME TREATMENT.
1. Isolate the patient from other members of the family to prevent the spread of the disease.
2. Keep the patient in bed and give a fluid diet of milk gruel, beef tea, etc., with plenty of cold water to drink.