BOTANIC PHYSICIAN. 
y; itsstrength is diminished ; it loses its wonted cheerfulness, 
looks more grave and composed than is natural for its age and does 
not choose to be moved. The head and belly beens yes. in 
_. proportion to the other parts; the face appears full, and the com: — 
4 team florid. ‘ANB weleds: the bones begin to be affected, especially 
in the more soft and spongy parts. Hence the wrists and ancles be- 
~ come thicker than usual: the spine or back-bone puts on an unnatu- | 
ral shape; the breast is likewise deformed, and the bones of the 
arms and legs grow crooked. All these symptoms vary according 
to the violence of the disease. The pulse is generally quick, the 
appetite and digestion for the most part bad; the teeth come slowly, 
and with difficulty, and they often rot and fall out afterwards. - Ric- 
ketty children generally have great acuteness of mind, and an under- 
standing above their years. 
For the cure, give chalybeates, tonics, change of air, plenty of 
_- exercise, which is absolutely necessary, and let the child be plunged 
_ into cold water every morning ; but never give it a second, much. 
third dip. The whole object of the regimen and treatment 
8h be to strengthen and brace the solids, and promote the diges- 
tion and due preparation of the fluids; and the cure is more in the 
‘hands of the nurse than the physician. 
eset 3 the humors are vitiated, cleansing medicines are necessary. 
The diet should be dry and nourishing, consisting principally of 
flesh. His drinks may be stimulating and cordial, as claret wine, 
‘or good ale or porter. Strengthening bitters must be persevered in 
for a long time, as colom , gentian, iron, myrrh, horse-radish, buck- 
_ horn brake, and such like. A few drops of elixir vitriol will have a 
_ Sood effect, given occasionally. 
_ The limbs should be rubbed frequently with a warm hand, and _ 
- child kept as cheerful as possible. A bed of buckhorn brake # 
the child on, helps greatly in the cure. _ Se 
CONVULSIONS. ~ 
Tr symptomatic, the removal of the primary disorder which occa- _ 
sions them is the first object. Those that are most common gene- 
rally yield to the sal eratus and rhubarb mixture, Strongly tinctured — 
with peppermint, taken three or four times a day as long as there is 
Occasion. Or, anti-spasmodiés, as musk, castor, valerian, the fever 
powders, &c. may be administered. Ss 
__ When a child is seized with convulsions without having any com- 
‘plaint in the bowels, or symptoms of teething, or any rash or other 
discharge which has been suddenly dried up, we have reason to 
conclude that it is a primary disease, and proceeds immediately from 
the brain. Cases of this kind happen but seldom, which is very 
ortunate, as little can be done to relieve the unhappy patient. 
en a disease proceeds from an original fault in the formation of 
the brain itself, we cannot expect that it should yield to medicine. 
But as this is not always the case, even of convulsions which proceed 
immediately from the brain, we should attempt to remove them. The 
chief intention to be pursued for this purpose, is to ma ke some deri- 
vation from the head, by blistering, purging, and the like: d by 
