542 THE TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 



Sometimes after a bad attack of fever the hair comes out, and shows very 

 little inclination to grow again. It occasionally happens that the scalp is left 

 almost as bare as a billiard ball. This is a serious matter, especially in the case 

 of young ladies. The hair not only forms the natural covering of the head, and 

 protects it from cold and heat, but adds considerably to the personal appearance. 

 A good crop of hair is by no means to be despised. It is to be feared that many 

 doctors consider this is a very trivial subject, and one quite beneath their notice. 

 This is to be regretted, for the result is that advice is sought from hair-dressers 

 and others, who, however good their intentions may be, are necessarily ignorant, not 

 only of the properties of the drugs which they use, but of the structure and functions 

 of the skin which they profess to treat. 



Some years ago, in the pages of the Lancet, the case was related of a gentleman 

 who, having lost nearly all his hair from a severe attack of fever, consulted a 

 French physician of great reputation as a hair-restorer. His prescription was a 

 drachm of the homoeopathic tincture of phosphorus mixed with an ounce of castor 

 oil, the scalp to be rubbed with the preparation three times a week, after having 

 been previously thoroughly cleansed with warm water without soap. This is a 

 most excellent method of treatment, but there are certain accessory measures 

 which might be employed with advantage. In the first place, any short, straggling, 

 or colourless hairs on the scalp should be cut off quite short with a pair of sharp 

 scissors, then a kind of skull-cap should be made of oil silk, so as to fit closely 

 round the head just above the ears. Three times a week a large hot bread poultice 

 should be applied to the head under this skull-cap. The patient should sleep in 

 it, and on the following morning, after the scalp has been washed with warm 

 water and dried with a. soft towel, the phosphorus and castor-oil preparation should 

 be thoroughly rubbed in for half an hour. This local application should be com- 

 bined with the internal administration of phosphorus, a capside (Pr. 54) being 

 taken every four hours. In obstinate cases it may be some weeks, or even 

 months, before one's efforts are crowned with success. Very frequently the new 

 hair is a shade or two darker than the old 



We may mention incidentally that when the hair has suddenly become grey 

 from excessive grief or mental anxiety, the use of phosphorus both internally and 

 externally will sometimes quickly restore its colour. 



Typhoid Fever. This is a disease which has received many names. It was 

 called "typhoid," and "abdominal typhus," from its supposed resemblance to typhus 

 or gaol fever. In many parts of the country it is known as " low fever," or " slow 

 fever," from its duration, and in other places as " autumnal fever," or " fall fever," 

 from the time of the year at which it is most prevalent. The term " enteric fever " 

 was applied to it from the xact of a certain portion of the bowel or intestine being 

 always found diseased in this disorder. Gastric fever is a misnomer, for there is 

 never any organic disease of the stomach. The name which we have placed at the 

 head of this article is the one most commonly used. 



Respecting the early history of typhoid fever we know very little. There is no 

 reason to suppose that it is a new disease, although it is probable that in former 



