CHOLERA. 179 



oneself durinu' tl" pr- valence of an epidemic. We trust tlie following rules will 

 utlord a sati.staciury answer : 



Ho\v TO AVOID CIH>: 



1. If possible, remove from the affected locality. The higher you are above the sea-level 



2. Avoid :iu maintain a good condition of general health. 



3. Don't take purgatives, if you can avoid it. 



4. Avoid iiuii^i .- tihlo food, or food that is high or in a state of decomposition. 

 0. 1 1 k \ . \ m drinking-water boiled, or use a charcoal filter. 



(5. i : milk scald. -d. 



7. N tar any attack of diarrhoea trivial, but at once take steps to check it. 



The slight diarrhoea of early cholera is usually so painless that it is very apt to 



be overlooked. It is a standing order in the case of soldiers in India, that if any 



man goes twice to the closet in one day he should report himself, and non-com - 



ioned officers are usually stationed at the latrines to see that this salutary order 



is carried out. In England and Germany, a house-to-house visitation is usually 



i dished during the prevalence of an epidemic. 



There are certain precautions to be observed by those in attendance on the sick. 

 Every discharge should be at once thoroughly disinfected by being mixed with a 

 considerable quantity of strong carbolic acid, perchloride of iron, or chloride of zinc. 

 In large towns, the stools must of necessity be emptied down the water-closets ; but 

 in the country they should, after thorough disinfection, be buried deeply at a distance 

 from the house, and especially from the source of water supply. The greatest care 

 must be taken to thoroughly steep all linen in strong soda, or in Condy's fluid, 

 before washing it. Articles of clothing that cannot be washed had better be 

 destroyed. Every one who has been in the sick-room should, before going to meals, 

 carefully wash his hands in hot water, to which some carbolic acid has been added. 

 The use of the nail-brush is also desirable. 



We must now consider the question of treatment. The first thing to be done 

 in a case of cholera, or even of suspected cholera, is to send for the doctor, saying 

 what is the matter. If, as is sometimes the case in the country, some hours must 

 elapse before the arrival of medical aid, you must begin treatment yourself. Almost 

 every minute is of importance, and a few hours' delay may make all the difference 

 "en life and death. The drug on which you must rely is camphor. You must 

 ive the strong solution, the essence of camphor, in four drop doses, every ten minutes 

 for an hour, or until there is some improvement, and hourly afterwards. It is best 

 given in about a tea-spoonful of milk. The great thing with this remedy is to give 

 it early, to give it frequently, and to give it in sufficiently large doses. It checks 

 the vomiting and diarrhoea almost immediately, wards off the cramp, and restores 

 warmth to the extremities. Camphor is so speedy in its action, that by the time 

 the doctor arrives he may find his patient on the high-road to recovery, and will have 

 some difficulty in believing that he has been so seriously ill. If you haven't the 

 essence of camphor, you can use the camphor pilules, which most chemists keep. 



In the latter stages of cholera, where there is much collapse, arsenic may advan- 

 tageously replace camphor. You should give half a tea-spoonful of the arsenic 



