On Diseases and Accidents of Farmers. 2:17 



ten drops of laudanum, until the desired effect be pro- 

 duced. The disease vanishes soon after the mouth be- 

 comes sore. But the remedy is not proper in the early 

 stage of the complaint. 



When the disease is epidemic, in a town or district, 

 it may be often prevented, by takiui^ an occasional dose of 

 epsom salts or magnesia ; by great attention to diet, avoid- 

 ing unripe fruit and cucumbers, and unnecessary exjiosure 

 to the night air, the hot sun, or to alternations of heat and 

 cold. The dysentery is not necessarily contagious, but 

 may become so, by inattention to cleanliness. When the 

 disease prevails therefore in a vicinity, all intercourse 

 with the sick, beyond what is required by the calls of hu- 

 manity should be avoided : the idle night gossipino: of 

 servants must be strictly prohibited. Advice respecting 

 cleanliness, wheii it can with propriety be given, may 

 prevent the spreading of the disease. 



The diarrhoea, which often follows dysentery, may be 

 cured by taking a xi^^a/r watery infusion of the roots of 

 the blackberry or dewberry shrub. 



Colic, — This disease proceeds from various causes, as 

 eating acid fruits or flatulent vegetables, drinkinfj; acid li- 

 quors, exposure to cold, and worms in the bowels. It is 

 sometimes the first symptom of an inflammation of the 

 liver. In every case it should be early attended lo, for the 

 pain is not always proportioned to the danger. In simple 

 colic of the bowels, forty or fifty drops of laudanum, or a 

 grain of opium, if taken within the first hour of attack, will 

 frequently check or cure the disease. Hot spirits and wa- 

 ter, is the common remedy, but should be avoided. Whe- 

 ther sleep be, or be not obtained from the use of lauda- 

 num, it is indispensably necessary to open the bowels 

 thoroughly, by taking an ounce of epsom salts, dissolved 

 in a pint of water, or a dose of castor oil, to be worked off 

 with thin corn-meal gruel, to which a little salt has been 



