SIPHON  MEDICINE  GLASSES. 
535 
The  little  fellow  whose  necessity  was  the  mother  of  my  present 
invention  commenced  life  with  an  imperfect  action  of  several  of 
the  viscera  which  more  than  once  threatened  his  life,  and  rendered 
it  necessary  to  have  very  frequent  resort  to  the  aid  of  medicine ; 
but  the  convulsions  and  congested  state  of  the  lungs  to  which  he 
was  subject  would  at  times  make  it  a  matter  of  some  danger  to 
give  him  either  food  or  physic,  for  fear  of  a  fit  of  choking  putting 
a  stop  altogether  to  the  process  of  respiration,  which  he  already 
had  a  struggle  to  maintain.  When  at  the  worst,  food  and  medi- 
cine alike  had  to  be  given  by  allowing  him  to  suck  them  out  of  a 
cloth  which  had  been  dipped  into  them ;  the  moisture  being 
grateful  to  his  parched  mouth,  no  doubt  made  him  willing  to  take 
whatever  was  given  him  in  that  way,  and  as  he  recovered  the 
ability  to  take  his  food  in  the  true  infantile  fashion,  we  gave  him 
physic  upon  the  same  principle,  trusting  to  the  instinctive  dispo- 
sition to  suck  being  sufficient  to  overcome  his  repugnance  to  the 
taste.  The  tube  of  a  Gilbertson's  feeding-bottle  broken  short 
and  fitted  into  a  cylindrical  minim  measure,  was  the  form  adopted 
for  our  first  experiment,  and  it  was  with  much  satisfaction  that 
we  found  whatever  was  given  in  this  way  was  taken  not  only 
without  difficulty,  but  often  with  positive  eagerness.  Rhubarb 
mixture  and  castor-oil  were  alike  acceptable,  if  only  offered  when 
the  stomach  was  empty.  I  have  consequently  had  graduated 
glasses  made  of  a  suitable  size  and  shape,  and  fitted  with  cork, 
tube,  and  teat,  which  it  is  scarcely  necessary  to  describe  more 
particularly.  The  following  are  the  advantages  of  administration 
with  this  glass  over  the  old  plan  of  giving  medicine  with  a  cup 
and  spoon  : 
1.  The  glass  being  accurately  graduated,  the  dose  may  be 
measured  with  correctness  and  facility. 
2.  The  medicine  being  in  a  deep  vessel,  is  not  liable  to  be 
spilled. 
3.  The  glass  being  corked,  the  child  does  not  smell  the  medi- 
cine, the  odor  of  which,  if  given  in  the  old  way,  will  often  pro- 
duce a  feeling  of  disgust  before  a  drop  has  entered  the  mouth. 
4.  The  medicine  being  conveyed  to  the  back  of  the  mouth 
through  the  tube  and  teat,  it  is  less  tasted. 
5.  The  tube  descending  to  the  bottom  of  the  glass,  any  heavy 
