60 THE CONTAGIOUS TYPHUS 



At this stage of the curative process, the 

 majority of physicians recommended one or 

 two bleedings, in order to abate the violence of 

 the fever, and of the congestions near the 

 nervous centres and the lungs ; and as con- 

 stipation prevailed at the time, they strove 

 with the same object to empty the digestive 

 passages, the intestines, and the stomachs, not- 

 withstanding the difficulty that exists to pro- 

 duce this result in ruminating animals. 



The purgatives employed consisted of a 

 decoction of senna, mixed with prune juice, 

 with a little rhubarb or fresh linseed oil, in- 

 fused in their drink, or applied as a clyster in 

 warm water slightly salted. Those who prac- 

 tised polypharmacy administered at night a 

 mixture of nitre, camphor, red-lead, and 

 rhubarb, in half a pailful of warm water; 

 and greatly did they boast of the active 

 influence of this beverage. 



Some practitioners even endeavoured, in the 

 first stage of the malady, to accelerate its action 

 on the skin by giving fl5r that purpose warm 

 drinks, and by covering the cattle with 

 woollen cloths, to promote perspiration ; but 

 it was generally admitted that the sick animals 



