SEA-SICKNESS. 495 



When ice or the ice-bag is not at hand, an inhalation of nitrite of amyl may be 

 employed with advantage. Three drops of the nitrite of amyl are poured on a 

 pocket handkerchief, and held close to the nose. The inhalation must be conducted 

 rapidly, so as to obtain the full influence of the drug. It may cause flushing of the 

 face and a feeling of pulsation in the head, but these effects are temporary, and soon 

 pass away. A warm and comfortable glow then takes the place of the chilly sweat 

 which is so di.sa'_fivral>h' in this complaint, ami is usually followed in the coui 

 half an hour or so by a pleasant slumber, from which the sufferer awakes to eat a 

 hearty meal. Should the sickness recur, as it may do, after the lapse of twenty- 

 four hours, the inhalation must be repeated. It is desirable that the patient should 

 be in bed, or in the recumbent position, when under treatment, so as not to interfere 

 with the subsequent sleep. One doctor, recording his experience, states that out of 

 1- I cases of bond fide sea-sickness this mode of treatment proved eminently 

 cessful in 121, there being no return of the vomiting after the inhalation of the 

 nitrite of the amyl, and the remaining three cases were unsatisfactory only in so far 

 that they required a further dose or so of the amyl. Many chemists now keep 

 little glass capsules, each containing three or five drops of nitrite of amyl. They 

 may be used with advantage. 



A very good remedy for sea-sickness is chloral, but whether it acts by simply 

 benumbing the nerves of the stomach, or by reducing the susceptibility of the whole 

 nervous system, we do not know. At all events, a passenger may take thirty grains 

 of chloral at Dover, fall into a drowsy, half-conscious state, and find himself at 

 Calais free from sickness. Sometimes one or two drops of pure chloroform taken in 

 a wine-glass of water will prove efficacious. Hypodermic injections of morphia are 

 occasionally resorted to, but their use is not justifiable until other remedies have 

 been tried and failed. 



The substance known as petroleum, mineral naphtha, or rock oil, enjoys a high 

 reputation in the treatment of sea-sickness. It should be taken on going on board, 

 a drop or two 011 a small piece of sugar, and repeated every two or three hours. A 

 pill containing three drops of creosote is another good remedy. 



Lamplough's effervescing " Pyretic Saline " often proves of the greatest service 

 in the treatment of obstinate cases of sea-sickness. The dose is a tea-spoonful in 

 half a tumbler of cold water. It may be obtained from any chemist. 



Ipecacuanha wine, in drop doses, which proves so successful in the treatment of 

 many kinds of vomiting, would probably succeed in sea-sickness, although we are 

 not acquainted with the records of any cases in which it has been tried. 



A surgeon on board one of the vessels of the White Star line recently informed 

 us that in obstinate cases he had often obtained relief by the use of iced dry cham- 

 pagne. It is essential, he says, that the wine should be dry, for sweet champagne 

 only makes matters worse. 



In the Levant the daily internal use of iron is a very common cure for sea- 

 sickness. Sailors, when suffering from this complaint, obtain their iron in a very 

 primitive manner, for they scrape off a portion of the rust adhering to the anchor 

 and anchor-chain, and then swallow it in a little water. 



