248 THE TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 



to the blanched cheek, the stools become more natural and less frequent, the appetite 

 improves, and digestion is more perfectly performed. 



Sometimes an injection of a pint of water in which ten or twenty grains of 

 sulphate of copper our ordinary " blue-stone " or " blue vitriol " have been 

 dissolved, will answer admirably. Above all, it is most important that the patient 

 should get a change of air, and if he is residing in a malarious district he should 

 be at once removed to the sea coast, or should be recommended, if it be possible, 

 to take a sea voyage. 



Before leaving the subject of dysentery, we must point out the necessity of re- 

 ceiving the stools into a vessel in which they can be immediately mixed with some 

 disinfecting fluid. In the country they should be at once removed from the house, 

 and carefully and deeply buried. 



EAR. DISEASES OF THE EAR. 



Foreign Bodies in the Ear. Children not unfrequeiitly poke such substances as 

 peas, glass beads, and buttons, into the ean They may generally be removed by a 

 little gentle syringing with tepid water. Before taking any active measures it is 

 very necessary to see that there is actually some foreign body present. Stories are 

 told of doctors who have spent hours trying to extract some substance from the 



ear, the existence of which has 

 subsequently proved to have been 

 imaginary. Children are often 

 brought to the hospital on the 

 supposition that they have a pea 

 or something in the ear, when an 

 Fig. 3 EAR SPECULUM investigation, serves to disclose 



the fact that there is nothing 



there. For an examination of the ear, an ear speculum is invaluable. It is 

 a tube made of bright metal and of the shape shown in the accompanying figure 

 (Fig. 3). No difficulty will be experienced in using it. The patient is made 

 to sit or stand in a good light, and the smaller end of the speculum is then intro- 

 duced into the passage of the ear. This is readily effected by gently drawing the 

 ear upward. Not only will any foreign body be at once seen, but its position 

 will be at once distinctly made out, and this may, in a great majority of cases, 

 facilitate its removal. When the ordinary process of syringing fails to accomplish 

 the desired object, the patient may be made to lie down with the head projecting 

 over the side of the bed or couch, the ear being in the most dependent position, 

 and then syringing may be again resorted to. We thus call into play tho 

 action of gravity, and there is a much greater chance of our efforts proving suc- 

 cessful. 



When the return current of water is not sufficiently powerful to remove the 

 body, it may be necessary to use a small pair of forceps, or a piece of bent wire. 

 Instruments, however, should not be introduced into the ear without a certain amount 

 of caution, for the foreign body is just as likely to be pushed in farther as to be 



