400 THE TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 



(Pr. 49) proves useful. Dry cough, with little expectoration and stitching or 

 catching pains in the chest, are generally considered to be indications for its adminis- 

 tration. Of late years antimony has been much employed in pneumonia, and 

 respecting its value there appears to be a general concurrence of opinion. In many 

 cases, under the influence of this drug, the pain in the side gives way, the expectora- 

 tion, from being characteristic of pneumonia, changes to that met with in bronchitis ; 

 the pulse and breathing are reduced in frequency, and the further spread of the 

 inflammation is checked. To be of much service, it should be given quite at the 

 commencement of the disease, and it is essential that the dose should be small and 

 frequently repeated. A grain of tartarated antimony (tartar emetic) should be 

 dissolved in half a pint of water, and of this one or two tea-spoonfuls should 

 be given every ten minutes or quarter of an hour for the first hour, and after- 

 wards hourly (Pr. 46). Should nausea or sickness be induced, the dose must be 

 lessened. Antimony wine, given in doses of two or three drops in a tea-spoonful 

 of water, will succeed equally well. These are both pharmacopceial preparations, 

 and may be obtained without difficulty. 



We can only conclude with the recommendation to obtain medical assistance 

 whenever possible. 



MEASLES. (See DISEASES OF CHILDREN, p. 25.) 



MEGRIM, OR SICK-HEADACHE. 



"When speaking of headache generally, we pointed out that this especial form was 

 of such importance as to merit a separate and more detailed consideration. There 

 are several varieties of megrim or migraine, as the French call it which are 

 known as hemicrania, blind-headache, and bilious-headache. We cannot convey a 

 better idea of the general features of this distressing complaint than by giving an 

 example. An eminent French physiologist and man of science has recorded his own 

 cas'e, which affords a good illustration of one of the simpler forms of migraine. 

 He tells, that since about his twentieth year, though otherwise in good health, he 

 has suffered from this complaint. Every three or four weeks he has an attack 

 coming on, for the most part in consequence of some unhealthy influence, such as 

 long and fatiguing evening entertainments, and so on. As a rule some constipation 

 precedes it. The next morning he awakes with a general feeling of disorder, and a 

 slight pain in the region of the right temple, which, without overstepping the middle 

 line, gradually extends itself, reaching its greatest intensity at mid-day ; towards 

 evening it gradually passes off. While at rest the pain is tolerable, but it is 

 increased by movement to an extreme degree, and it is aggravated by stooping or 

 coughing. The countenance is pale and sunken, and the right eye small and 

 reddened. At the height of the attack, when it is a violent one, there is nausea, 

 but it rarely culminates in vomiting. As the fit approaches its termination the 

 right ear reddens and becomes very hot. Sleep often shortens the attack, which 

 leaves behind it slight stomach disturbance; frequently also the scalp remains 

 tender at one spot the following morning. For a certain period after a seizure he 



