344 THE TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 



administered in the form of the arsenic mixture (Pr. 40). Its action is usually- 

 prompt, and if it does no good in a few days it will be useless to continue its- 

 administration. 



Hellebore often proves valuable in cases of water on the brain, and when there 

 is effusion of fluid into the chest. It may be administered in doses of from ten to 

 fifteen drops every four hours. 



Apocynum cannabinum. An American plant ; has been highly recommended 

 in the treatment of dropsy, and its administration is said to have been followed by 

 the most favourable results. The precise indications for its employment are at 

 present not thoroughly understood, but it has been known to succeed where almost 

 everything else has been tried in vain. It should be given in the form of a 

 tincture, prepared from the fresh root, the dose being five minims three times a 

 day, or oftener. We have derived no benefit from the use of preparations made 

 from the dried root. 



In some cases of dropsy benefit is experienced from the Turkish bath, but this 

 method of treatment should be adopted with a certain amount of caution. It is 

 indicated in dropsy arising from kidney disease, when there is but little action of 

 the skin ; but it should not be employed when there is heart disease. 



There is a drug, known as Jaborandi, which has the power of producing profuse 

 perspiration. A single two tea-spoonful dose of the tincture should be given, once 

 or twice a week, in water. The patient should be in bed between the blankets, 

 which should have been previously warmed by a hot water-bottle or warming-pan. 

 The perspiration usually commences in about ten minutes, and may last an hour or 

 more. A single dose often reduces the amount of dropsy in a manner which is 

 little less than marvellous. The only objection is, that it often makes the patient 

 expectorate freely. The saliva should not be swallowed or it may cause vomiting. 

 The tincture of Jaborandi is obtainable from almost any chemist. It may be taken 

 without the slightest hesitation, for it never causes more than a temporary 

 inconvenience. When the sweating is over, the skin should be quickly rubbed dry, 

 and the damp blankets exchanged for warm ones. In many cases of dropsy, 

 dependent on kidney disease, we have seen the remedy act like a charm. With 

 one man especially it succeeded when almost everything else had been tried in vain. 

 The drug has been comparatively recently introduced, and is yet but little known 

 to medical men. 



In some cases where dropsy effusion is very great it may have to be let out by 

 mechanical means. 



Dropsical subjects are generally benefited by removal to a dry and moderately 

 warm atmosphere. A damp climate or soil usually proves particularly unfavourable. 

 In chronic cases every effort should be made to support the strength. In the- 

 majority of cases the attendance of a medical man is necessary. 



DYSENTERY. 



A couple of hundred years ago dysentery raged like a plague in London; 

 now-a-days a physician may pass through a long hospital career without 



