78 THE TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 



should be taken in a little water, three or four times a day, the external application 

 of the glycerine and belladonna being continued. 



The aconite mixture (Pr. 38) often does good when high fever is a prominent 

 feature. In such cases it may be given alternately with the belladonna or sulphide 

 of y calcium. 



Phosphate of lime (Pr. 7 7) succeeds best when there is a large abscess which has been 

 discharging for a considerable time. Painting round the margin of an abscess with 

 tincture of iodine will often limit the inflammation and prevent it from spreading. 

 After an abscess has been opened and its contents have been discharged, healing may 

 be promoted by the application of a calendula lotion made by mixing a tea-spoonful 

 of tincture of the common marigold with three table-spoonfuls of water. It may 

 be applied by saturating a piece of lint, or two or three thicknesses of linen, and 

 covering it with oil-silk to prevent evaporation. The dressing must be renewed 

 two or three times a day. 



During the formation and discharge of an abscess the patient should be " fed up." 

 It is a most exhausting process, and plenty of good nourishment is required. The 

 diet should include good strong soup or broth, mutton chops, plenty of milk, and a 

 fair allowance of stimulant, given preferably in the form of port wine. Change of air, 

 with residence by the sea-side, or right out in the country, becomes an important 

 element in the treatment, especially in old standing cases, or where the discharge has 

 been very great and the health is much depressed. 



Further particulars as to the treatment of abscess will be found in the surgical 

 portion of this work. 



ACIDITY. 



Acidity or heartburn is caused by an excessive secretion of gastric-juice in 

 the stomach. It is a form of dyspepsia or indigestion, and will be found described 

 in detail under the former of those headings. 



One of the best remedies for the immediate relief of an attack of acidity is 

 sal- volatile. A single dose of half a tea-spoonful should be taken in a wine-glassful 

 of water. Twenty grains of bicarbonate of potash or bicarbonate of soda dissolved 

 in a little water will answer equally well, although sometimes it leads to the 

 formation of a quantity of gas, which causes distress by distending the stomach. 

 When the bowels are confined, a twenty-grain dose of magnesia or carbonate of 

 magnesia dissolved in water is preferable. Where there is diarrhoea, a couple of 

 table-spoonfuls of lime-water may be taken, either alone or mixed with an equal 

 quantity of milk. These remedies usually act very promptly, and speedily afford 

 relief. They can only be regarded as palliative, for they in no way diminish 

 the tendency to acidity, and in fact rather increase the liability to future attacks. 

 To obtain a radical cure acids must be given before food. Fifteen drops of dilute 

 hydrochloric acid should be taken three times a day, in a wine-glassful of water, 

 half an hour before meals, for a week. When the acidity is associated with loss of 

 appetite, the acid should be combined with a bitter, as in the gentian and acid 

 mixture (Pr. 15). The dose of this is two table-spoonfuls, and it should be taken three 

 times a day, half an hour before meals. It is to be taken as it is, and not 



