552 THE TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 



kept covered every time before it is used with a layer of crystals of blue-vitriol, and 

 immediately after a motion the mass should be mixed with about half its bulk of 

 common spirits-of-salt. These disinfectants may be obtained at any chemist's, and 

 they are so cheap that their cost need never be any bar to their liberal use. In 

 London and other large towns we have no help for it, and the motions must be 

 emptied down the water-closets. The water-closet should be flooded several times a 

 day with a strong solution of carbolic acid, and some should be placed in a dish or 

 pot for constant evaporation. In the country the stools must never be emptied into 

 the privy, or thrown upon dung-hills, or other similar places. A series of deep 

 trenches should be dug at some distance from the house, as far as possible from the 

 well or water-supply, and these should be used for the reception of the stools. A 

 trench should never be used for more than two days, and should be carefully filled 

 up as soon as discarded. Soiled linen should be immediately changed, and at once 

 soaked in water containing Condy's fluid, and thoroughly boiled before the expiration 

 of twenty-four hours. 



During the prevalence of an epidemic the greatest attention should be paid to 

 the character of the water. The best mode of obviating danger is to have all the 

 water used for drinking purposes thoroughly boiled. An obvious precaution is to 

 see that the milk is scalded. It should be remembered that the typhoid poison may 

 be received into the system through the agency of mineral water. We have no 

 guarantee that any precaution is taken to ascertain that the water used in the manu- 

 facture of the different aerated beverages which are now so largely consumed is pure, 

 or is free from the possibility of typhoid contamination. After the attack is over 

 the bedding should either be thoroughly disinfected or else destroyed. 



No person living in a house in which there is a case of typhoid fever should take 

 food without previously thoroughly washing his hands in carbolic acid and water, 

 and using the nail-brush. This is a point of the utmost importance to the immediate 

 attendants on the sick person. 



We now pass on to the consideration of the treatment of typhoid fever. It 

 is essential that from the very beginning of the attack the patient should have 

 absolute rest, both of mind and body. Some people are very loth to acknowledge 

 that they are ill, and seem to imagine that the best thing to do is to fight against 

 the disease. They will not " give in," and they strain every nerve, even taking 

 increased physical exertion to " shake it off." This is often done by the injudicious 

 advice of some friend, who, himself being in perfect health, is ready enough to tell 

 the sufferer to " pull himself together " and make an effort, and he will soon be 

 well. Practically, it is found that those who do not rest or obtain treatment until 

 they have been ill for some days, do badly in the long run. Even a very mild 

 attack may, in these cases, imperil the life of the patient, and after the fever 

 is over they creep through a convalescence so long as to be entirely dispropor- 

 tionate to the gravity of the attack. We cannot do better than illustrate the 

 importance of early treatment by reference to a few figures. Out of a large 

 number of severe cases treated in the hospital at Basle, it was found that of 

 the patients admitted before the end of the fourth day only five per cent, 

 died, of those who were admitted between the fourth and the eleventh days 



