hiflammation, Fever, Treatment. 69 



good as the patient can digest. Boiled oats, barley, or flaxseed, 

 rich, well-boiled gruels, and beef-tea (even for herbivora,) may 

 frequently be resorted to with advantage. 



Local Treatment of Inflammation. In all forms of superficial 

 inflammation the local treatment occupies an important place. 

 The persistent application of cold (cold water in a stream, ice-bags, 

 freezing mixtures) will sometimes overcome the tendency to in- 

 flammation or arrest it. This is especially sought when a violent 

 inflammation (as in a wounded joint) threatens to destroy an im- 

 portant organ. If adopted, it must be persisted in, as if it is sus- 

 pended too soon the reaction is likely to make matters worse than 

 ever. Cold astringent applications have a similar tendency. 

 Sugar-of-lead, one-half ounce ; laudanum, one ounce ; water, one 

 quart, may be kept applied by means of a linen bandage. The 

 water may often be advantageously replaced by extract of witch- 

 hazel. If the inflamed part is superficial the lotion may be made 

 antiseptic (carbolic acid, one dram ; or sulphurous acid solution, 

 five ounces ; water, one quart). Hot applications , fomentations , 

 poultices are nearly always appropriate but they should be made 

 antiseptic to prevent bacterial development. When adopted they 

 should like cold ones be kept up as continuously as possible. 

 These soothe alike the superficial and deeper parts, the latter 

 through sympathy, producing first a relaxation of vessels and tis- 

 sues, and later a contraction of the former attended by pallor of 

 the surface. They greatly favor suppuration when that is already 

 inevitable, though in other cases they may obviate it b}' checking 

 at an early stage the acute inflammatory process on which it de- 

 pends. Any bland agent that will retain heat and moisture 

 will make an excellent poultice, though flaxseed-meal is the type 

 of a soothing demulcent application. Very slight inflammation 

 may be successfully treated at the outset with a stimulating em- 

 brocation (alcohol or camphorated spirit), yet in the more violent 

 tj^e of acute inflammation all local excitants tend to aggravate 

 the disease. In these violent forms the activity of the disease 

 should be first abated by local soothing and general sedative meas- 

 ures, and then the part over the inflamed organ may be safely 

 treated with a stimulating liniment or even a blister. In such 

 cases the liniment first acts as a derivative of blood and nervous 

 energy from the inflamed part, and later and still more beneficially 



