Tht RURAL NEW-YORKER 
833 
Talks with a Trained Nurse 
THE INVALID’S DIET 
Dear Home Nurse: In this letter I 
approach a subject dear to my heart— 
the selection, preparation and serving of 
food to the sick! Perhaps I would not be 
so interested if I had not had one or two 
experiences myself. Oddly enough, hos¬ 
pitals seem to be weak in this particular, 
in spite of expert dietitians. Desirable of 
course, it is to know something of food 
values—calories, carbohydrates, proteins, 
etc. Many good books on the subject have 
been published, but I firmly believe the 
ordinary woman has an innate sense of 
those things without knowing the whvs 
and wherefores in technical terms. I 
should have said the ordinarily thought¬ 
ful woman, such as I assume you to be. 
dear reader. 
Diet in disease is a very important sub¬ 
ject and of course you will be guided in 
it by your physician. He will tell you 
(he kind of diet your patient needs, but 
nine times out of 10 he will not be very 
helpful in suggesting appetizing dishes. 
He may order (1) liquid, (2) soft. (3) 
light, or (4) regular or full diet. Liquid 
diet consists of broths, cocoa, milk, malt¬ 
ed milk, eggnog, tea, coffee, buttermilk, 
gruels, lemonade, etc. Soft diet consists 
of the above with the following: Milk 
toast, cereals, custards, jellie«, junket, ice 
cream, soft-cooked eggs, oysters, baked 
or mashed potatoes, baked apple, stewed 
fruits without seeds. Light diet adds 
fish, bacon, chicken, chops, sweetbreads, 
squab and quail. Regular or full diet is 
what the term implies. In some diseases, 
especially those affecting the kidneys, 
broth and meat are contra-indicated; in 
others, sugars and starches must not be 
given. Be sure to get specific directions 
from the doctor. In giving liquid diet 
the feedings should be given at regular 
intervals either two or three hours apart. 
A schedule should be arranged something 
like this: 
0 a. m. Hot milk. 
9 a. m. Orange juice. 
12 noon. Broth. 
3 p. m. Milk. 
0 p. m. Grapejuicc. 
9 p. m. Hot malted milk. 
During the night give hot 
or 
cold 
drinks ae indicated. Plenty of water be¬ 
tween meals. Start and end the day with 
a warm drink. Keep a little chart and 
check off each nourishment as given; 
never have the glass or cup on the bedside 
table. If the patient does not take all of 
the contents after a reasonable effort, re¬ 
move it from his sight. 
In some cases—typhoid fever, for in¬ 
stance—liquid diet will alternate with 
soft diet, as: 8 a. m., hot coffee; 11 a. 
m., cereal with cream ; 2 p. m., broth ; 5 
p. m., ice cream or custard ; 8 p. in., cocoa 
or malted milk. Don’t leave it to the 
patient to decide what he will have and 
when. A watchful nurse will know with¬ 
out asking whether a hot or a cold drink 
will be acceptable, and she will give just 
the right quantity. If the patient can¬ 
not drink from a glass or cup, give him 
a feeding tube. This may be a regular 
glass one, bent to an. angle, or a soda 
straw. In an emergency even a stick of 
macaroni will do. Feeding cups are not 
generally satisfactory. Giving any quan¬ 
tity of fluid from a teaspoon is tiring to 
both patient and nurse. Cleansing the 
mouth before feeding will help make the 
food more palatable and thus more easily 
digested. Never wake the patient at 
night for a feeding unless so directed by 
the doctor. 
Use your judgment about waking him 
in the daytime. It is desirable to keep to 
a regular feeding time, but he may need 
sleep more than food. In acute diseases 
of short duration, such as pneumonia, 
the matter of nourishment is less impor¬ 
tant than rest. In long illnesses, with 
exhaustion and loss of weight, sleep may 
be due to weakness and food a vital 
necessity. In the early hour's of the 
morning—between midnight and daylight 
—vitality is at low ebb. Always give 
hot drinks then for the stimulating ef¬ 
fect. At all times be observant; you will 
soon learn your patient’s wants without 
consulting him. He will appreciate your 
assumption of the responsibility. In the 
next letter we will discuss the tray and 
talk a little about serving food to the 
convalescent or chronic invalid. 
THREE RECIPES 
1. Orange Albumen Drink. — Squeeze 
the juice of an orange, add a little sugar 
and the white of an egg. beaten just 
enough to make it mix with the orange 
juice—strain into a thin glass and add 
cracked ice. 
2. Delicious Lemon Cream Soda.—One 
or two tablespoons of lemon juice, two 
teaspoons sugar, six ounces thin cream, 
carbonated water and crushed ice to fill 
a tall thin glass. 
3. Cocoa Frappe. — Three-fourths cup 
milk, one teaspoon cocoa. Cook cocoa 
and sugar with one-fourth cup water, add 
hot milk ; strain. When cold pour into a 
large glass, add a spoonful of vanilla ice 
cream. Top with whipped cream if de¬ 
sired. ELSIE M’INTYRE SAFEORD, R. N. 
Ivy Poisoning and Chapped Skin 
With regard to poison ivy, I have been 
a sufferer many times. Once I read that 
washing with water would spread the 
poison oil of the plant; that alcohol or 
another oil would dilute the poison and 
then the skin might be washed with soap 
and water. One Summer we lived where 
there were many wild strawberries, al¬ 
ways surrounded with poison ivy. I used 
to pick these berries as carefully as I 
could and then come home, wash my 
hands freely with kerosene oil, then in 
soap and water. The only poisoned spot 
I had was the lobe of one ear, which was 
swollen nearly double for several days. 1 
suppose I scratched it or touched it wirli 
my hands. This is preventive. A doetoi 
told me once of a cure he effected. A 
woman was poisoned and broken out bad¬ 
ly three days before ehe was to speak at 
some public meeting. She told the doctor 
to use any desperate remedy he could 
think of. He used a scrubbing brush and 
green soap solution. Then he applied a 
soothing oil dressing, and the second day 
there was no swelling, and by the time 
she had to speak the only visible signs of 
it were the new skin, which looked like 
sunburn. He reasoned that much of the 
swelling was due to the re-infection of 
the skin from the first water blisters, 
and by removing all chance of that the 
skin would quickly heal. 
With regard to chapped hands, I have 
been reading the discussions, but have 
not seen my remedy, which is carbolic 
toilet soap. We always keep it in the 
bathroom in the Winter. My son was 
badly windburned last Winter, and wash¬ 
ing his face with that at night, and apply 
iiig my cornstarch powder, completely al¬ 
layed the burning. Last Summer we were 
all suffering from chapped hands at a 
camp. We began using the carbolic soap 
and all traces disappeared. 
For a shaving powder or baby powder 
I have used the following for several 
years: Four parts cornstarch, one part 
boric acid powder, one-half part or more 
orris root, sifted and mixed four or five 
times. I sometimes add a sachet powder. 
Whitinsville, Mass. a. g. n. 
Control of Bright’s Disease 
Last year you gave a recipe sent in 
from a person signed W. K. for a remedy 
for Bright’s disease. In it were named 
five different things; tumbleweed, sweet 
bugle, prairie pine, couch grass, way wort. 
What is tumbleweed, and also prairie 
pine? I cannot get it in the drug store 
here, and a wholesale drug store does 
not have it. mrs. w. c. 
New York. 
It is impossible to tell what is meant 
by popular names of plants, without fur¬ 
ther description, since the same name is 
given different herbs in different sections. 
“Tumbleweed” is a name given to various 
plants that, when dry, are blown about 
by the wind, thus scattering rlie seed. 
Prairie pine may be another name for 
prince’s pine, or pipsissewa. a herb that 
formerly had some reputation as a rem¬ 
edy in kidney troubles. It is not worth 
your while to attempt to get these herbs, 
however, since they cannot cure Bright’s 
disease. This disease is to be controlled, 
so far ae it is possible to control it, by 
proper methods of living. Dependence 
upon herbs or drugs can only disappoint, 
and may do harm by distracting attention 
from measures which have some real 
value. There is no known cure for 
Bright’s disease, which, by the way, is 
not one. but several diseases, each re¬ 
quiring its own measures for control, and 
none of which will yield to domestic prep¬ 
arations of herbs. If you have Bright's 
disease, learn from some competent phy¬ 
sician how to live to overcome, as far as 
possible, its effects, and maintain com¬ 
parative health and strength. Do not pin 
your faith to some combination of drugs 
or herbs that you have seen recommend¬ 
ed. M. b. p. 
Vigorous Health 
is kin to cleanliness. The well-painted home is easy 
to keep clean. Smooth, painted surfaces make it so. 
A prominent Physician, Health Commissioner in 
a large Mid-Western city, says:— 
“The Clean Up and Paint Up 
Campaign is in the first rank of our 
national defense against disease.” 
AMERICAN SEAL 
READY MIXED 
PAINT 
Varnishes and Enamels 
are playing a large part in the 
Nation-Wide Campaign for Clean¬ 
liness and Health. For 72 years 
these famous Paint Products have 
produced in countless homes, 
charming effects that aside from 
their beauty, have proved lasting 
and sanitary. 
THE WM. CONNORS PAINT MFG. CO. 
TROY, N. Y. 
Established 1852 
A Paint for every Purpose 
Our Service Department has something for you—practical plans 
for making your home the acme of good taste in decoration. 
A card will bring them free. 
A mature apple 
which has been 
pitted and de¬ 
formed by red 
bugs. 
Prevent red bug injury 
10 lb. tins $13.50 
2 lb. tins 3.50 
lb. tins 1.25 
1 oz. bottle .35 
Spray with Hall’sNicotine Sulphate. It con¬ 
tains 40% pure Nicotine—the deadliest red 
bug poison known. It kills them every time. 
Next to its effectiveness, the best thing is its 
very low cost. A ten pound tin makes 800 
gallons of spray, costing less than 2c a gallon. 
Being a vegetable extract, Hall’s Nicotine 
Sulphate does not harm blossom, fruit or 
foliage; but it never fails to kill red bugs, 
aphids and similar insects. 
Buy from your dealer. If he can not supply 
you, send us your order along with his name. 
Note. Spraying for red bugs should be 
done when the blossoms show pink and 
again when the petals fall. Add Hall’s 
Nicotine Sulphate to the sprays applied 
at these times for scab and codling moth, 
and make these sprays do double duty. 
NICOTINE SULPHATE 
Hall Tobacco Chemical Co. 
212 Fifth Ave.,New York City 
When you zvrite advertisers mention The R. N.-Y. and you’ll get a 
quick reply and a “square deal. ” See guarantee editorial page. 
