362 TREA TMENT OF FE VER. 



ipecacuanha, a small dose of Dover's powder or of 

 antimonial (James's) powder, have been found to work 

 wonders. Even a tumbler of hot water, or a basin of 

 hot gruel or arrowroot, will relieve the feverish symp- 

 toms for a time, by promoting perspiration. Diuretic 

 medicines also enjoy a high reputation for curing 

 feverish attacks ; bicarbonate of potash, bitartrate of 

 potash, acetate and citrate of potash, and a number of 

 others are in common use. Nitre (nitrate of potash) 

 dissolved in plenty of water, or added to linseed tea 

 or some herb tea, is a very old, as well as a very 

 useful remedy. If the kidneys are perfectly healthy 

 their free action should be encouraged, as diuresis 

 affords the greatest relief. There are some persons 

 whose sweat-glands act very slightly, and upon whom 

 neither sudorific remedies nor the hot bath exert 

 much influence, but whose kidneys, on the other 

 hand, are easily excited to act most freely, and 

 respond almost immediately to the simplest diuretics 

 even a glass of water. 



Purgatives. As already mentioned, the opinion 

 that an attack of impending illness has been averted 

 by free diarrhoea is very generally entertained, and is 

 probably correct. It seems possible that in this way 

 substances capable of producing a deleterious effect 

 upon the economy may be removed, and it seems not 

 impossible that in some cases even disease germs may 

 be carried out of the system before the time has 

 arrived for them to produce their characteristic effects, 



