248 
HINTS TO TRAVELLERS. 
oiled or smeared with vaseline, and then carefully introduced into the 
outlet of the bowel, and passed gently upwards for about three inches, 
great care being taken not to exert any force. 
The higher up into the bowel a nutrient or medicinal injection is passed, 
the more rapidly will it be absorbed; therefore the long tube is to be 
preferred, and the hips should be raised on a pillow, to assist the patient 
in retaining the injection. 
A nutrient or medicinal enema is usually small in quantity, about 
two to four ounces, in order to prevent its being rejected by the bowel, 
and is administered by means of a small ball syringe provided with a 
long nozzle. 
Before giving a medicinal or nutrient enema, it is best to wash the 
lower bowel with warm water, and always see that the mixture to be 
injected is warmed to “blood heat.” 
Poultices, 
Linseed-meal poultice .—Mix four ounces of linseed meal into about half 
a pint of boiling water, constantly stirring until the mixture is smooth 
and even. A piece of tow, teased out to the required size, or a piece of 
linen or thin cloth, is placed upon a table, and the poultice turned out 
upon it; then spread evenly in a layer about three-quarters of an inch 
thick, leaving a margin of tow or linen about an inch wide all round. 
This margin should be folded over, and the poultice applied to the 
affected part—with the meal next the body. 
An Ice poultice is made by mixing pounded ice and sawdust, and 
enclosing the mixture in a waterproof material such as a macintosh 
or gutta-percha. 
