BRAIN DISEASES OF THE BRAIN. 147 



It is said that in the earlier stages boils may l>e cut short by rubbing in first 

 tincture of camphor, and then olive oil, three times ;i day. 



A LM>o<l remedy for preventing the recurrence of boils is sulphur. A few grains 

 should be taken three or four times a day. Ten-drop doses of dilute sulphuric acid 

 twice a day before meals will prove equally serviceable. 



Sufferers from boils require "feeding up." "A low diet" is seldom called for. 

 Attention to diet, cleanliness, and healthy out-door exercise and recreation, will do 

 much towards eradicating a predisposition to boils ; but when they do come, sulphide 

 of calcium is the remedy. 



BRAIN DISEASES OF THE BRAIN. 



The brain, like every organ in the body, is liable to many diseases, and sometimes, 

 it must be confessed, it is not easy to detect their nature. We do not know as yet 

 quite as much about the healthy brain as perhaps we ought to; we know that it is a 

 complicated organ, but physiologists are not agreed about the function of each part. 

 Encased as it is in a bony covering, it is not very easy to get at. We can ascertain 

 the condition of most of the internal organs by different modes of examination with 

 almost as much certainty as if we could see them. If we want to find out if there is 

 anything the matter with the heart or lungs, we sound the chest and listen to it, and 

 the problem is at once solved. Or if we want to know anything about the stomach, 

 we look at the tongue ; or if about the kidneys, we examine the urine. In brain 

 diseases we can employ none of these methods of examination ; and, moreover, the 

 intellect is often interfered with, so that we are cut off from the information we 

 might derive from the statements of the sufferer. We have the ophthalmoscope, it 

 is true, by which the eyes can be examined and some information obtained about the 

 condition of the brain, but it wants special skill and experience to use that instrument, 

 and its teachings are often far from reliable. 



There is one thing disease of the brain is not likely to be overlooked or mistaken 

 for anything else. A man has an apoplectic seizure, for instance, or becomes maniacal, 

 and you can make no mistake about that. No, you are far more likely to suppose 

 that you have to deal with some very serious disease of the brain, when in reality it 

 is nothing but dyspepsia, or the liver is a little bit out of order. People who live in 

 large towns often get very much worried and bothered about their work, their 

 business, or whatever it may be. They get anxious and despondent, and very often 

 think they have some disease of the brain, or that they are going mad. This is 

 simply the result of over- work, and nine times out of ten it means nothing serious. 

 The best remedy for it is bromide of potassium, fifteen grains, dissolved in a little 

 water, three times a day, or it may be given in the form of the bromide of potassium 

 mixture (Pr. 31) ; this, combined with rest and change of air and scene, will usually 

 make these so-called brain symptoms disappear like magic. After a time phosphorus 

 (Prs. 53 and 54), or the hypophosphites (Pr. 55), will do good. Phosphorus is a 

 brain food, and is an excellent remedy in all disorders of that organ. 



Many people, whose blood is poor suffer from a deficient supply of that fluid 

 to the brain ; this gives rise to many disagreeable symptoms, but more especially to 



