f^t: HOME PnTSIVIAN. 446 



I am about to set down. It ia at any rate so simple as to be worth a trial: 

 Take a moderate size potato, rather large thau small, and lx)il it in one 

 qnart of water. Foment the part affected with the water in which tlic potato 

 has been boiled as hot as it can be borne at night before going to bed; then 

 crush the potato and put it on the affected part as a poultice. Wear this all 

 Might and in the morning heat the water, which should have been preserved, 

 over again, and again foment the part with it as hot as can be borae. This 

 treatment must be persevered with for several days. It occasionally re- 

 quires to be continued for as much as tmoor three weeks, but in the shorter 

 or longer time it has never yet failed (^^paccessful. 



Biliou^nes't. — If the victims of this aiseased condition will exercise due 

 care, they need not ransack creation for " anti-bilious pills." The bile does 

 not belong in the stomach, but reaches there in consequence of improper 

 food, too much of the oily, a-s butter, ix)rk, lard, etc. The bile is nature's 

 grand cathai-tic medicine, passing from the liver in a direction to indicate 

 that it is to pass on into the bowels, there to perform its important mission. 

 When the liver is overtaxed by too much lalwr, or by the presence of too 

 much greasy £i)od, digestion is impaired and the whole system becomes out 

 of order. 



If one would avoid biliousness, let him fast, passing over one or more 

 meals. As soon as the " mouth tastes bad," the tongue is coated, the appe- 

 tite flags- th& best possible evidence that too much food has been taken — 

 thus allowing nature to rally, the accumulated food to pass off, and the sj's- 

 tem bo relieved. In nine cases out of ten, this fasting will remove the diffi- 

 culty, save a fit of sickness, and cheat the doctor. Any quack nostrum that 

 will do as much as fasting, would yield a fortune to the inventor. Many 

 of them, however, if not most, increase disease, rather than improve 

 health. 



Hints About Glasses— Persons finding their eyes becoming dry and 

 itching on reading, as well as those who find it necessary to place an object 

 nearer than fourteen inches from their faces to read, need spectacles. Per- 

 souh under forty years of age should not wear glasses until the accommo- 

 dating power of the eyes has been suspended and the exact state of refrac- 

 tion determined by a competent ophthalmic surgeon. The spectacle glasses 

 sold by peddlers and by jewelers generally arc hurtful to the eyes of those 

 who read nrach, as the lenses are made of inferior sheet glass and not sym- 

 metrically ground. No matter how perfectly the lenses may be made, un- 

 less they are mounted in a suitable frame and projxjrly placed before the 

 eye, discomfort will arise from their prolonged nse. 



Persous holdmg objects too near the face endanger the safety of their 

 eyes, and incur the risk of becoming near sighted. 



The near sighted eye is an unsound eye, and should be fully corrected 

 with a glass, notwithstanding the fact it may need no aid for reading. The 

 proper time to begin wearing glasses is just as soon as the eyes tire on being 

 subjected to prolonged use. 



iVeftle Rasli. — This disease takes its name from its being attended by 

 an eniption similar to what is produced by the stinging of nettles. The 

 causes of this complaint are by no means obvious; but it seems to proceed 

 either from the perspiration being checked, or from some irritating matter 

 in the stomach. In all cases there prevails considerable itching and some 

 beat in the part^ affected; an^ io 8o»e coDftitutiong a slight degree of fever 



