324 THE TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 



skin harsh and dry : when there is giddiness on rising, with nausea and noises in 

 the ears ; when there is a general soreness or bruised feeling about the whole body ; 

 wlu 'ii there is dislike to food, light, and sound, then aconite may be given with 

 advantage. A drop of the tincture may be taken in a little water every quarter of 

 an hour for the first hour, and then hourly, or Pr. 38 may be used. 



When the face is flushed and the arteries of the head throb, when there is a 

 sense of fulness and compression about the forehead, as if the skull would burst, and 

 when the pupils are dilated and the eyes bright and glassy, belladonna is indicated. 

 This form of headache is increased by lying down and is relieved by assuming the 

 upright position, by leaning the head backwards, and by strong pressure of the head 

 with the hands. There is also giddiness and occasionally dulness of sight. The 

 face is usually puffed and red in the pufnness, and the water is scanty and high- 

 coloured. Often enough there is 'sleeplessness alternating with unpleasant dreams. 

 The tincture of belladonna may be given in the same way as the tincture of aconite 

 (Pr. 39). 



Nitro-glycerine, or gloiioine, is suitable for the form of headache which in women 

 often follows the sudden cessation of the periods. The symptoms complained of are 

 usually flushing of the face, throbbing of the vessels of the head and neck, quickened 

 pulse, giddiness, a sense of fulness and oppression at the forehead and back of the 

 head, occasional neuralgic twinges about the side of the head and in the face, and 

 stiffness of the neck. Often enough the face and forehead perspire freely, and there 

 may be singing in the ears, and sparks before the eyes. The medicine acts very 

 rapidly, and in suitable cases a cure is effected in from five to twenty minutes. The 

 dose is from half a drop to a drop of a one per cent, solution in spirit, taken in a 

 little water, or Parke, Davis, and Co.'s Nitro-Glycerine Pills may be used. 



Nervous headache is by no means an easy complaint to treat. When an attack 

 is threatening, it is a good plan to lie clown and observe the strictest seclusion and 

 rest, and when this is done at an early stage it may possibly avert it. Yery often, 

 in addition to maintaining the recumbent posture, a glass of good wine or some 

 other form of stimulant may be given with advantage. During the acute stage of 

 a severe nervous headache there is little to be done, and the best thing is to leave 

 the patient alone and quiet in a darkened room. Sometimes ice to the temples does 

 good, but often enough warmth succeeds better. In some cases relief may be obtained 

 by taking a warm bath, and then putting hot water bottles to the feet. If the pulse 

 is good and the face flushed, an emetic of mustard and water will rid the stomach of 

 offensive matters, and may give relief. When sickness is an accompaniment of this 

 headache, we may try and relieve it by a bismuth draught (Pr. 18), to which three 

 drops of dilute hydrocyanic acid may be added. Another good plan is to apply 

 a mustard poultice to the pit of the stomach. Sucking small pieces of ice in some 

 cases gives relief. Soda water and a little brandy or dry champagne sometimes 

 answers well, but often it aggravates the symptoms, and does more harm than good. 



Yalerianate of zinc in five or six grain doses every two or three hours is highly 

 recommended in nervous headache. In the Gulstomaii lectures, delivered before the 

 Royal College of Physicians some twenty years ago, ther folio wing opinion was ex- 

 pressed on the subject of the dose : " If I may venture on such a remark, I should 



