FAINTING HYSTERICS. 2O$ 



enable it to work. A person who has fainted should be 

 laid at once flat on the back, with the head low; this 

 enables blood to be pumped more easily to the brain. 

 The skin may then be stimulated by sprinkling the face 

 briskly with cold water, or the nose by holding harts- 

 horn to the nostrils. The convulsions so common among 

 infants are in most cases excited by some irritation con- 

 nected with the alimentary canal. An emetic should be 

 given at once, cold applied to the head, and the body 

 put in a warm bath. In epileptic fits there is usually a 

 peculiar cry, the face becomes pale, consciousness is 

 lost, and then convulsions (p. 197) occur. Lay the per- 

 son flat, and restrain any of his movements likely to in- 

 jure him. If possible, a folded handkerchief should be 

 pushed between the teeth to prevent biting of the 

 tongue. After the convulsions have ceased, quiet is de- 

 sirable. Hysterical fits assume many different forms, the 

 more frequent perhaps being unreasonable screaming, 

 laughing, and weeping by turns. They should be 

 noticed as little as possible. A display of interest and 

 sympathy nearly always makes a fit of hysterics last 

 longer. A little rudeness, exciting anger, is often the 

 best treatment. 



An apoplectic fit or apoplexy is due to the bursting of 

 some blood-vessel of the brain. The blood which flows 

 out compresses the brain, and the person becomes more 

 or less unconscious. The breathing is heavy and like 

 snoring, and the face usually flushed. A person suffer- 

 ing from an apoplectic fit should not be moved at all if 



fit due? Treatment. What is said of the convulsions of young chil- 

 dren ? Characters of an epileptic fit ? What is said of hysterical fits ? 

 Cause of an apoplectic fit ? Symptoms ? What is said of the manage- 

 ment of a person in an apoplectic fit? What is neuralgia? On what 



