400 BIOLOGY AND HUMAN LIFE 



a nurse is recommended. The individual is often unable to get 

 the specialized service that he needs except by cooperating with 

 others. In most cases a sick person does not need the services 

 of a nurse all the time ; in a hospital one nurse can give atten- 

 tion in rotation to a number of patients. 



The same applies to the ordinary upkeep of the sick organism 

 —feeding, bathing, etc. The doctor may give very minute in- 

 structions as to what the patient may and may not eat, how 

 much, and when. In most homes, if this diet differs much from 

 what is customary, there would be great difficulty in supplying 

 it. In a hospital, or in the hands of a well-trained nurse, the de- 

 tails are looked after almost automatically. 



Surgical cases that require the use of anesthetics are as a 

 rule better looked after in hospitals than in homes. There it 

 is possible to be prepared for many possible emergencies which 

 the home cannot meet. It is possible to have specialized attend- 

 ance from both nurses and orderlies, and to have special types 

 of beds and other appliances designed to secure the comfort and 

 safety of the patient and to hasten his recovery. 



297. Drugs and supplies. In modern times systematic at- 

 tempts have been made to find out just exactly how the various 

 drugs produce their effects in the body, and just exactly the 

 right quantities to use under varying conditions. It is also im- 

 portant to know whether a given name always stands for the 

 same drug and for the same strength. 



For these reasons there has gradually grown up an elaborate 

 system of standards of all sorts of drugs. Every ten years there 

 is published a revised schedule of what amounts to definitions 

 of the various terms used in prescribing medicines. The exact 

 proportions of the significant ingredients under each title are 

 passed upon by a committee of experts ; and the trained and 

 licensed druggist keeps himself informed or guides himself by 

 the Pharmacopoeia. 



In the case of certain powerful drugs this regulation of the 

 quantitative side is very important. A little too much morphin 

 or arsenic in a dose may sometimes make the difference between 



