HOW TO PREVENT DISEASE. 173 



cause a current which might be a source of danger to the 

 patient. The form of ventilation must be directed by the 

 doctor, and his instructions in this and all other respects 

 should be implicitly followed. 



When the patient has recovered, he should, after a bath, be 

 put in clean clothing brought into the bath room, and should 

 not re-enter the sick chamber. The room and contents 

 must be thoroughly disinfected. Throw the windows widely 

 open. Soiled articles, with the wood- work of the room, should 

 be thoroughly washed and scrubbed with hot water and 

 soap, and then with the solution of chloride of lead. Articles 

 of little value should be burned, also articles that will not 

 stand washing. Fabrics must be subjected to continued boil- 

 ing, and then dipped in disinfecting fluid. The wall paper 

 had better be removed and burned. All these precautions 

 must be observed, especially in the more contagious diseases. 

 When it is a prolonged case of sickness which is not con- 

 tagious, the room need not be so thoroughly dismantled, and 

 more attention will be necessary in making the room cheerful 

 and attractive. 



6. Stimulants in the Sick Room. The free use of 



alcoholic stimulants in the sick room is now strongly depre- 

 cated by those- who have carefully watched their effects. 

 Heart tonics and diffusable stimulants, such as ammonia, etc., 

 are more serviceable than alcohol in the majority of cases. 

 They have not the depressing after-effects, nor do they clog 

 the system and interfere with nature's struggles towards the 

 restoration of health. 



In the course of acute fevers, and in epidemics of virulent 

 diseases, few physicians now resort to the routine treatment 

 of alcoholic stimulants ; indeed, it is a well-known fact that 

 spirit drinkers are the first victims in cholera and other 

 epidemics. 



