ASTHMA. Ill 



poisoning or drink. In former days a man who had a stroke was always Lied. 

 Nowadays it is a mode of treatment which is seldom resorted to. There are a few 

 cases in which it might do good, but this is a point you must leave to your doctor. 

 Blisters applied to the scalp or back of the neck are, as a rule, to be avoided. When 

 the urine is not passed for some hours a catheter will have to be employed to 

 draw it off. Supposing the patient to recover from the fit, great care will be re- 

 quired to prevent a second attack. People who have a predisposition to apoplexy 

 should carefully avoid excessive exertion, violent mental emotion, over-indulgence 

 in eating or drinking, exposure to extremes of temperature, straining at stool, long- 

 continued stooping, tight collars or neckties, and very warm baths. It is important 

 to observe a moderately spare diet, which should be almost free from alcoholic 

 drinks. Heavy meals at long intervals are to be particularly avoided. Sleep should 

 be sought, with the head high, on a mattress, rather than on a feather bed, in a cool, 

 well-ventilated room, and for not more than eight hours out of the twenty-four. 

 Daily exercise should be taken in the open air, but over-fatigue should be avoided. 

 The bowels should be carefully attended to, and constipation at once removed. It 

 is a good plan to wash the head every morning in cold water. "When there is 

 giddiness or headache, or a feeling of fulness or throbbing about the head, a purge 

 will do good. The general health should be carefully supported, and should the 

 patient get below par, iron or quinine may be given with advantage. 



ASTHMA. 



Spasmodic asthma is such a common complaint that we need offer no apology for 

 entering somewhat fully into its consideration. Not only is it a common disease, 

 but it is one of the direst suffering, the horrors of an attack far exceeding any acuto 

 bodily pain. With a face expressive of the most intense agony, unable to speak, 

 move, or even make a sign; the chest distended and fixed ; the head thrown back between 

 the elevated shoulders ; the sinews rigid and stiff, like cords, tugging and straining 

 with every breath the patient struggles with his overpowering foe. Even in the 

 intervals of the attacks his sufferings do not cease ; he is not a free man ; he goes 

 about, it is true, like his fellows, and among them, but he knows he is altogether 

 different he is not sure of himself even for an hour ; he can never make an engage- 

 ment without a proviso ; from many of the occupations of life he is cut off; and in 

 many of its enjoyments and indulgences he dare not join ; his life is marred, 

 his existence is crippled, and he knows that a large proportion of his days are destined 

 to be spent in the severest suffering. Not only is asthma superlatively distressing, 

 but it is proverbially intractable ; the asthmatic must be regarded as an asthmatic 

 for life, as one for whom medicine may do much, but of whose ultimate restoration 

 to perfect health there is very little hope. 



We have no intention of entering into a discussion as to the nature of asthma. 

 Nowadays it is usually regarded as a purely nervous affection as a disease, that is, of 

 the nervous system and there are many circumstances that favour this view. We 

 know that with many people the exciting cause of an attack is often something affecting 

 the nervous system, something that "with others would give* rise to symptoms acknow- 



