MOST USEFUL REMEDIES. 169 



entertainment, I dismissed the chattering crowd 

 until another day, when more favourable circum- 

 stances would admit of my making particular 

 inquiries respecting their families, their nations, 

 and their tongues, sharpened as my appetite for 

 such information was by the clear idea of the 

 character of the country I had already received from 

 the dealer Ibrahim, and which I wished to confirm 

 by actual conversations with the natives of the 

 various countries, he had spoken of in his geography 

 of Southern Abyssinia. 



Warm water, as an emetic in the first stage of 

 an ague, materially diminishes its violence, and 

 although I do not recommend it altogether as a 

 cure, I am bound to speak well of it as a palliative. 

 At night I recommend also to a patient, situated as 

 I was, to take doses of from twelve to fourteen 

 grains of Dover's powders. It is better, however, 

 to compound this excellent febrifuge with sulphate 

 of magnesia, rather than the usual salt, sulphate of 

 potass, and that for reasons which are obvious. 



One effect of the opium which is not sufficiently 

 insisted upon by practisers of medicine is its specific 

 effect upon the brain as a tonic. In small doses at 

 bed-time I found it invaluable, as decreasing that 

 congestion in the blood-vessels of the head which 

 attends the paroxysms of ague, and which adds 

 considerably to the severity of the attack. In a 

 severe sun-stroke from which I also suffered, I 

 found abstinence from food and small doses of 

 opium at night relieved me of all bad symptoms 



