THE HOME, FARM AND BUSINESS CYCLOPEDIA. 



medical man not being procurable. Where there is a great pain and flat- 

 ulence, an occasional warm bath, and the use of liniment, composed of half 

 a drachm of laudanum to two ounces of compound camphor liniment, or a 

 mustard or linseed meal poultice, composed of one-third of the former to 

 two-thirds of the latter. When the foregoing symptoms are accompanied 

 by vomiting, it is exceedingly troublesome, and if the sickness is not reliev- 

 ed by the division of the gums, it should be checked by administering a 

 half-drop or a drop of laudanum. 



BESIDES THE MALADIES mentioned that are the outcome of teething, 

 there are many others, such as eruptions of the skin, spasm of the glottis, 

 and affections of the nervous system, generally of too complicated a nature 

 to treat in this article, as the remedies necessitated are as complex as the 

 diseases ; but there is one serious disorder connected with dentition un- 

 fortunately too common. I allude to convulsions, the treatment of which 

 should be known to all. 



CONVULSIONS in their mild form consist of muscular twitchings of the 

 face, accompanied by an obvious difficulty in breathing and a rolling of 

 the eyes. When severe, the child becomes insensible, and the muscles of 

 the head, neck, and extremities are convulsed in various directions. The 

 eyes are insensible to light, and turned rigidly up to one side. The ap- 

 pearance and symptoms vary, of course, for, in addition to those named, 

 with some children the face is congested, but sometimes pale, the lips 

 livid, and there is frothing at the mouth. The hands are usually tightly 

 clenched, and the thumbs turned inward, with the fingers on them, and 

 in some cases the soles of the feet are turned together, with the great toe 

 bent into the sole. 



The treatment for convulsions is, as a rule, a warm bath, and, in the 

 absence of a doctor, the best thing to be done is to immerse the child in 

 warm water of about ninety degrees temperature for about ten minutes or 

 a quarter of an hour, applying at the same time a cold, wet towel for two 

 or three minutes to the little sufferer's head. Previous to the bath, which 

 will take at least a few minutes to get ready, loosen all the clothing about 

 the neck, chest and body, raise the head, sprinkle the face with water, 

 and admit plenty of fresh air. 



WITH REGARD TO THE GENERAL TREATMENT of children during teething, 

 their heads should be kept cool and their feet warm, and, if the weather 

 will admit, they should be bathed in cold water, especially about the 

 head, and taken out daily in the open air. At night it is equally essential 

 that their heads be kept cool, and therefore no caps or coverings should 

 be used. 



