32G THE TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 



harassing thoughts and miserable speculations which continue to haunt him, and from 

 which there is no other mode of escape. When means are not at hand for the 

 administration of a hypodermic injection, benefit may often be derived from giving 

 a good dose of opium by the stomach. Two five-grain compound soap pills, con- 

 taining two grains of opium, may be given to an adult with perfect safety. It is 

 necessary that the patient should lie down and remain perfectly quiet, and an effort 

 should be made to get to sleep. Opium will often afford relief when applied exter- 

 nally. A mixture should be made of warm water and laudanum, and then a piece 

 of lint should be soaked in this and folded into a pad, which should be applied to the 

 temples and forehead. 



Many people find that nothing so quickly relieves a nervous headache as a cup 

 of strong tea or coffee. The treatment of sympathetic headache depends chiefly on 

 the detection and removal of the cause. In many cases of headache resulting from 

 stomach derangement, mix vomica (Pr. 44) is invaluable. When the patient com- 

 plains of giddiness on first rising from bed ; of nausea early in the morning, brought 

 on especially by the sight or smell of food ; of a feeling of weight in the headache 

 made worse by stooping or moving, and of pains in the temples or forehead, this 

 drug is indicated. If, in addition, the tongue is furred, and there is a bitter 

 taste in the mouth ; if the complexion looks muddy, and the whites of the eyes 

 are yellow ; if the bowels are confined, and the water is high-coloured and scanty, 

 mix vomica will succeed almost to a certainty. This form of headache is worse 

 in the morning on waking; it is increased by mental work, by being in the 

 open air, or in the sunshine, and by the use of tobacco or alcohol in any form. 



A good deal of care and tact will be required for the treatment of headache 

 arising from menstrual disturbance. In delicate young women whose periods are 

 deficient in quantity, actsea racemosa often does good, whilst in the case of a robust 

 .girl suffering from the effects of cold, damp, or change of climate, aconite, 

 belladonna, or glonoine, will prove more useful. Pulsatilla often succeeds in 

 restoring the flow and removing the headache. 



The headache of gout must be treated according to the prominent symptoms, 

 but in many cases the administration of colchicum does good. Quinine (Pr. 9) 

 sometimes succeeds admirably in these cases. 



For headache resulting from rheumatism, attention to diet is of primary 

 importance. Milk and vegetables will often agree better than animal food, and 

 a little dry wine should be taken instead of beer or spirits. Iodide of potassium 

 (Pr. 32) often proves of service. Bryony (Pr. 49) is also of great service in rheu- 

 matic headache, especially when the pains are relieved by warmth ; if rheumatism 

 has attacked other parts of the body, and indigestion is an old-standing trouble, 

 it is very likely to succeed. Actsea racemosa often does good in those forms 

 of headache which would appear to be a connecting link between rheumatism 

 and neuralgia. Actsea as a rule succeeds better with women than with men. 

 It is serviceable in that common and distressing headache which affects nervous, 

 hysterical women at the menstrual period, or when the flow is too frequent and 

 too profuse, or at the change of life. 



There are other remedies for headache which occasionally prove useful, and 



