THE TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 



high or low temperature. It may be the result of getting wet through, of exposure 

 to the heat of the sun, of sleeping in damp, sheets, or of living in a cold draughty 

 house. Errors in diet, whether in the form of under-feeding, or what is far more 

 common, over-feeding, play a prominent part as exciting causes. Many people suffer 

 from a poor and insufficient diet, but a still larger number owe their temporary 

 ailments to a too free indulgence in the pleasures of the table. Excessive bodily 

 fatigue, excitement, anxiety, and possibly over- work, may produce a transient febrile 

 condition. In the majority of cases febricula is associated with, if not dependent on, 

 some slight functional disturbance of the stomach or chest. 



The symptoms of simple continued fever are chiefly those which we have already 

 enumerated as together constituting that condition which we call fever. The 

 complaint is commonly ushered in by a little chilliness, or by chills accompanied by 

 flushes, and this is followed by burning heat and dryness of the skin, a full, quick 

 pulse, a coated tongue, thirst, loss of appetite, high-coloured scanty urine, and 

 constipation. The temperature often rises very rapidly, and may reach 102 or 103 

 in the course of a few hours. Sometimes there is headache, pain in the loins, or a 

 condition of considerable prostration. These symptoms usually last only a few 

 hours, or at the utmost a day or two, and then rapidly decline, leaving the patient 

 weak but otherwise well. Convalescence may be ushered in by bleeding from the 

 nose, a copious discharge of urine, or even by the breaking out of a few spots at the 

 corners of the mouth. 



The treatment of simple continued fever is of the simplest possible description. 

 The patient should keep quite quiet indoors, and should take a thorough rest until 

 his indisposition has passed off. It is not absolutely necessary that he should stay 

 in bed, for he may be 011 the sofa in his own room covered over with a rug, and pass 

 the time away in reading his favourite authors or skimming through the pages of 

 the last new novel. He should abstain from solid food until his temperature has 

 returned to the normal, and should subsist chiefly on milk, or iced milk and 

 soda water, with an occasional sponge cake or a biscuit or two. Stimulants are not 

 usually necessajy, but when the patient is much prostrated, as the result of previous 

 fatigue or anxiety, a couple of glasses of port wine may be allowed in the course 

 of the day. At the commencement of the attack a hot foot-bath, or the wet pack 

 will often do good. Yeiy little medicine is as a rule required. Three or four tea- 

 spoonfuls of solution of acetate of ammonia (Mindererus's spirit) may be taken every 

 four hours to favour perspiration, and promote the action of the kidneys. 



The drug on which we are accustomed to place the greatest reliance is aconite. 

 The earlier it is given the better. The dose of the aconite mixture (Pr. 38) is a tea- 

 spoonful every ten minutes for the first hour, and subsequently hourly. It quickly 

 reduces the intensity of the fever, a fact easily shown by the frequent employment of 

 the thermometer. When there is redness of the face, violent headache, confusion 

 of ideas, throbbing of the temples, and wakefulness, belladonna should be given. 

 The dose and mode of administration of the belladonna mixture (Pr. 39) are the 

 same as for the aconite mixture. In some cases it will be found advantageous to 

 give a dose of the aconite mixture and the belladonna mixture alternately. They 

 should not be mixed, or given at the same time. 



