426 HYDROPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASE. 



HYDROPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 



APOPLEXY. 



Treatment First remove all constriction from the throat 

 and neck; second, take the patient if possible into the open air; at 

 least have the windows and doors wide open, so that breathing may 

 be aided as much as possible. Then place him in such a position 

 that the head may be elevated, so that by gravity the blood may the 

 more readily descend. Take care that the head neither falls back- 

 ward, nor forward upon the chest. Rapid friction over the wet-sheet, 

 with wet towels, or the hands wet in cold water, should then be 

 made in the most vigorous manner, with the view of drawing the 

 blood from the head. At the same time the head should be cooled 

 as much as possible, and as soon as there is a little abatement in the 

 symptoms water should be poured upon the head, without however 

 letting the part lie too low. Cold-water clysters are also useful. 

 The treatment should be perseveringly followed till the patient grows 

 either much better or much worse. Afterward the patient should 

 be managed according to the symptoms of the case. The rationale of 

 the above treatment will be readily understood. The great object is 

 to arrest the current of blood towards the head and to prevent the 

 hemorrhagic tendency. The frictions act admirably in answering 

 the first indication and the cold upon the head the second ; for the 

 constrictive power of cold in arresting hemorrhage is now well under- 

 stood. In case the circulation has become depressed^ with pale and 

 cold surface, we should of course use hot applications to the body 

 and tepid to the neck. Btit even here tne effort of wet-hand 

 friction in rousing the dormant vital power will be found highly 

 serviceable. 



ASTHMA. 



In treating the asthmatic fit, the wet-sheet, well wrung and 

 faithfully applied, is the great thing. Repeat it two, three, or 

 twenty times in succession, as the case may need. There is no dan- 

 ger of doing harm, or of giving the patient a cold, so long as the 

 nervous excitement is upon him and the difficulty of breathing con- 

 tinues. If the sheet cannot be had, a good washing with towels, 

 the water always cool or cold, is very useful. The wet-jacket or 

 chest- wrapper, or wet towels about the chest, are all useful, if the 

 weather is not too hot. When that is the case, we must depend up- 

 on the washings simply. 



LOSS OF APPETITE. 



Treatment One of the best evidences of the value of water- 

 treatment is its power to restore a lost appetite. The reason why 



