MEDICAL HINTS. 223 
diarrhoea continues, give a grain or two of tannin two or three times 
a day. 
Thrush is generally due to derangement of the stomach or bowels. 
Treatment: give an aperient, and apply glycerine and borax, or borax 
and honey, to the mouth, or wash it out freely with boric acid lotion 
(five grains in an ounce of water). 
Colic .—Children are very liable to colic. Two grains of bicarbonate of 
soda may be given with a tea spoonful of peppermint-water. Attend to 
the bowels. 
POISONS. 
It is impossible, in the small space available, to give anything like a 
detailed scheme of the treatment of the various poisons, but a few hints 
on the essential points must not be omitted. 
I have therefore arranged a list of the commoner poisons, together 
with the special treatment appropriate to each. Following this are a few 
hints more especially adapted to the requirements of travellers. 
Poison should be suspected ( a ) when severe and alarming symptoms 
of illness suddenly attack a person apparently in good health; (h) if the 
symptoms closely follow the taking of food, drink, or medicines; (c) if 
several people are attacked after having partaken of the same food or 
drink. 
The points to be attended to in the treatment of cases of poisoning 
are:— 
a. Eemove as much of the poison as possible from the stomach. 
To do this, it is usual to give an emetic, such as mustard and 
water, or zinc sulphate, thirty grains; or to pass the soft rubber 
tube down the gullet, and wash out the stomach with water. 
b. Counteract the effect of the poison by an antidote. 
c. Keep up the patient’s strength till the poison is removed from the 
system. 
d . Believe pain. 
For greater convenience, poisons may be divided into three classes, 
according to their mode of action. 
1. Corrosives, which, when swallowed, attack, burn, and destroy the 
lining of the mouth, throat, and stomach, e.g., aqua fortis (nitric acid), oil 
