FLATULENCE OR WIND. 29 b 



FEET SWEATING OF THE FEET. 



Offensive perspiration of the feet is a complaint from which many people 

 suffer. It is often the cause of the greatest mental anxiety. "We will give a few 

 directions for its treatment. In the first place, the condition of the general health 

 should be investigated. Should any fault be detected it must be set right. For 

 aiui'inia or poorness of blood, iron (Prs. 1, 2, or 3) is the remedy ; for loss of appetite, 

 ij'iinine (Pr. 9); for general debility, cod-liver oil; for mental anxiety or over- 

 work, the hypophosphites (Pr. 55). The bowels should be kept regular. Out-door 

 exercise should be taken daily. Stimulants are allowable only in the strictest 

 moderation. Scrupulous attention should be paid to cleanliness. A cold bath 

 should be taken every morning. The feet should be washed in tepid water night 

 and morning, and oftener if possible. The addition of sea-salt to the water may 

 do good, but when the perspiration has a sour acrid odour a little vinegar is better. 

 The socks should be changed as soon as they get soiled, and they should be 

 thoroughly washed each time, and not merely dried. The boots should have broad 

 soles and square toes, so as not to cramp the feet ; patent leather is to be avoided, 

 and the same pair should not be worn every day. A dusting powder composed of 

 equal parts of oxide of zinc and starch often proves useful ; it should be sprinkled 

 freely inside the socks. Belladonna liniment rubbed into the feet three or four 

 times a day often effects a cure. Sometimes it fails, but on the whole it is a very 

 reliable mode of treatment. Liquid extract of ergot in fifteen-drop doses three or 

 four times a day sometimes does good. Some doctors employ an ointment composed 

 of equal parts of lead plaster and linseed oil, spread on linen and wrapped round 

 the feet, the application being renewed every third day for nine days. 



FEVER AND FEVERS. (See TYPHOID, TYPHUS, AND OTHER FEVERS. The Article 



on TEMPERATURE AND THE CLINICAL THERMOMETER may also be consulted.) 



FLATULENCE OR WIND. 



Flatulence, wind, spasms, or belching for this affection is known by all these 

 names is one of the commonest symptoms of dyspepsia, and is often the one of 

 which the sufferer is most anxious to be cured. Dyspeptics nearly always complain 

 loudly of the " wind in their stomachs," and frequently enough regard it as being at 

 once the essence and cause of all their discomforts. The gas that produces all this 

 trouble is usually derived from undigested food, detained in the stomach and 

 undergoing a process of fermentation or of simple putrefactive change. It is thought 

 that sometimes it is formed by the stomach itself, for the flatulence may come on 

 when that organ is quite empty. Many people always suffer from this disorder if a 

 uieal happens to be delayed beyond the accustomed hour. Sometimes the flatus is 

 quite tasteless, whilst at others it is attended with both the flavour and odour of 

 rotten eggs. Flatulent dyspepsia occurs far more frequently in women than in men. 

 Nervous and hypochondriacal women, who partake freely of tea, are very liable to 

 suffer from it, especially when there is a general relaxed condition, and want of tone 



