THE REMEDIES OF NATURE. 803 



stance, dropsy frequently appears in the last stage of pulmonary con- 

 sumption, when the wasted lungs have become unable to fulfill the 

 chief purpose of respiration. Next to the alcohol-habit, the habitual 

 breathing of impure air is the present main cause of dropsy, for air is 

 gaseous food, and a sufficient supply of oxygen a chief preliminary in 

 the conditions of the blood-making process. Malarial diseases likewise 

 impoverish the blood by a direct process of disintegration ; * and 

 dropsy appears as an occasional after-effect of a long-continued ague. 

 Remedies : ]VIouatain-air, a light but nourishing diet, and strict ab- 

 stinence from alcoholic stimulants. 



Emetics. — Tepid water is a prompt, and the most harmless, emetic. 

 In urgent cases (poisonings, etc.) add a modicum of white mustardl 

 {Sinapis alba), and tickle the fauces with the wing-feather of a pigeon,, 

 or any similar object. Excessive vomiting can be checked by stimu- 

 lating applications to the pit of the stomach and the extremities. 



Epilepsy. — Epilepsy, or the falling-sickness, is a complication of 

 nervous derangements,f and results more frequently from sexual ex- 

 cesses than from all other causes combined. In young children, how- 

 ever, epilepsy is sometimes a consequence of teething-difficulties, of 

 acidity in the stomach, and of worms, and in such cases can be readily 

 cured by a change of regimen, J or, in malignant cases, by a protracted, 

 fast. For adults, strict continence and out-door exercise is the best 

 prophylactic. Excessive heat, however, should be carefully guardedl 

 against, as well as all exciting passions. 



ExcoRiATioj?^. — Infants are apt to become " galled " in particular 

 parts of their bodies, about the groins, the lower part of the neck, and 

 under the arras — especially in consequence of the condemnable prac- 

 tice of tight swaddling. To dry up such sores, " galling-plasters " 

 (acetate of lead, etc.) often lead to worse complications, and the best 

 remedy is cleanliness, and fine lint, smeared with spermaceti-ointment 

 or warm tallow. 



Fainting-Fits, or Syncope. — Syncope, or " fainting," " Ohn- 

 macht,^^ " Desmayo," as three nations have called it with a correct 

 appreciation of its chief cause, as distinct from that of apoplexy and 

 convulsions, results from a general deficiency of vital strength. Cold 

 water, applied to the neck, the feet, and the palms of the hands, by 

 means of a bathing-brush, is the best restorative. In severe cases in- 

 flation of the lungs by mechanical means has often proved effective. 

 Dr. Engleman mentions the case of a lady in child-bed, who, " after 

 being happily delivered, suddenly fainted and lay upward of a quarter 

 of an hour apparently dead. A physician had been sent for ; her own 

 maid, in the mean while, being out of patience at his delay, attempted 

 to assist her herself, and, extending herself upon her mistress, applied 



* " Climatic Fevers," " Popular Science Monthly," vol. xxiii, p. 477. 

 f " Nervous Maladies," *' Popular Science Monthly," vol. xxiv, p. 454. 

 X "Enteric Disorders," "Popular Science Monthly," vol. xxiv, p. 196. 



