SIMPLE FEVER, OB FEBRICULA. 563 



severe cases large doses of brandy may have to be administered Should the patient 

 take a fancy to beer there is no objection to his having it in moderation. When the 

 food or drink cannot be swallowed, or is rejected by vomiting, it may have to be 

 administered in the form of an injection. 



Much may be done to add to the comfort of the patient by treating the most 

 prominent and distressing symptoms. The thirst may often be relieved by the use 

 of acid drinks, such, for instance, as the gentian and acid mixture (Pr. 15) diluted 

 with water. A weak infusion of cascarilla or orange peel, slightly acidulated with 

 hydrochloric acid, may be used for the same purpose. Raspberry vinegar, too, is a 

 useful drink. Sweet fruits, although at first agreeable and refreshing, should be 

 taken only in moderation, for they are apt to give rise to a disagreeable taste in the 

 mouth, or may even produce flatulence or diarrhoea. There is no advantage in curtailing 

 the amount of water taken by the patient. Small pieces of ice to suck often prove 

 very grateful. The headache, sleeplessness, and delirium are often relieved by small 

 doses of opium for example, five drops of laudanum in a little water every 

 four hours. When the delirium is very violent, mechanical restraint may have to be 

 resorted to, but this should be avoided if possible. Furious delirium, accompanied 

 by confusion of ideas, throbbing of the temples, aud great thirst, is often controlled 

 by the belladonna mixture (Pr. 39) given in tea-spoonful doses, every ten minutes for 

 the first hour, and subsequently hourly. Shaving the head, and the applications of 

 cold lotions, or of a pocket handkerchief moistened with aromatic vinegar-and-water, to 

 the scalp and forehead will often allay the violent and distressing headache. The 

 bowels should be opened daily, but only the very mildest laxatives should be used, 

 as purgatives often set up diarrho3a. Should the bowels be open too freely, some of 

 the remedies of which we have spoken in the treatment of diarrhoea should be 

 employed. Vomiting may be checked by ice, lime-water, drop doses of ipecacuanha 

 wine given hourly (Pr. 50), or perhaps by a blister or mustard poultice applied to 

 the pit of the stomach. The condition of the bladder should be carefully attended 

 to, for in diseases in which the patient is unable to pass his water the use of the 

 catheter may be necessary. 



To avoid infection fresh air, efficient ventilation, and cleanliness, are of para- 

 mount importance. The attendants on the sick should, as far as possible, avoid 

 inhaling the breath of, or the exhalations from the body of, the patient. Disinfec- 

 tants, such as chloride of lime, carbolic acid, and Condy's fluid should be constantly 

 employed in the sick-room, but should never be regarded as substitutes for fresh air. 

 At the termination of the illness the room should be thoroughly fumigated, and 

 then whitewashed and re-papered. 



Simple Fever, or Febrimda. Occasionally a person may be slightly feverish, and 

 the most careful examination may fail to detect the presence of any other symptom. 

 We speak of these as being cases of simple continued fever or febricula, and when 

 the complaint is very transitory we sometimes call it epfiemeral fever. It is a very 

 trifling complaint, and may be produced by almost any combination of circum- 

 stances which lowers the general tone of the system. In delicate susceptible people 

 it may be caused by sudden atmospheric changes, or the prevalence of an unusually 



