DISEASES OF THE EAR. 253 



and on examination it will be found that there is deafness more or less complete. 

 When there is acute inflammation of the ear, as indicated by a general condition 

 offpv.-rislmrss and elevation of temperature, aconite (Pr. 38), as we have already 

 seen, is the appropriate remedy. In chronic cases when the discharge has existed 

 for some weeks or, perhaps, months local applications must be resorted to in 

 addition to constitutional treatment. One of the best remedies for discharge 

 from the ears occurring in children after a severe illness, is glycerine of tannin. 

 The passage of the ear is to be filled with it, and it should be retained there 

 by a piece of cotton wool. One application usually suffices, but a slight discharge 

 may remain, or it may return in a few weeks, when a repetition of the application 

 is mrt'ssaiy. This treatment is inapplicable when there is severe inflammation, 

 but it succeeds admirably in old-standing cases. An injection made by dissolving 

 a drachm of alum in a pint of water often does good, although, as a rule, it 

 will be found to be inferior to glycerine of tannin. When there is still active 

 inflammation in the ear, common lime-water forms an excellent injection. A 

 very useful wash for these cases is made by adding from one to two drachms of 

 tincture of pulsatilla to four ounces of water. 



In every case of running from the ears, it is of very great importance to 

 pay strict attention to cleanliness. The irritating discharge, if allowed to 

 accumulate, undergoes decomposition, and may give rise to much mischief. The 

 intractable character of this affection is often in a great measure due to 

 want of care. When there is much discharge it is never safe to put cotton 

 wool into the ears with the view of preventing its escape. We are told of an 

 itinerant quack who used to "cure" this affection by blocking up the passage 

 of the ear with plaster of Paris. Such treatment is not at all unlikely to 

 prove fatal. 



Attention to the general health is of the utmost importance. Children suffering 

 from this complaint should be fed well, and should get plenty of out-door exercise. 

 Cod-liver oil proves beneficial, but often a few weeks at the seaside will do more 

 good than anything. 



Earache. This may arise from inflammation of the ear, and is then to be treated 

 in the manner already indicated. When the pain is very severe, relief may often 

 be obtained by placing a hot linseed-meal poultice, sprinkled with twenty or thirty 

 drops of laudanum, over the ear and adjacent parts. Should this fail, the ear may 

 be rubbed all round with a mixture of equal parts of extract of belladonna and 

 glycerine. Sometimes a few drops of chloroform sprinkled over a pocket hand- 

 kerchief and then held against the ear will do good. Often enough earache arises 

 from neuralgia, and not from inflammation at all. Earache caused by neuralgia 

 may be distinguished from the earache of inflammation by the sudden intensity 

 of the pain, which is throbbing, does not progressively increase in severity, and 

 comes and goes capriciously. If there is any doubt or difficulty, the thermometer 

 will at once settle the question : in neuralgic earache the temperature is normal, in 

 pain arising from inflammation of the ear there is a marked elevation of tempera- 

 ture. The treatment of neuralgia of the ear is the same as for other kinds of 

 neuralgia. When the patient is pale, and suffers from poorness of blood, a course 



