THE SICKROOM. (continued 4)

(b) For sweating of the feet, Dr. Meierhof, in the Maryland Medical Journal, directs the patient to immerse his feet morning and night for about 10 minutes, in warm water at 115°-120° F. in which a teaspoonful (1 dr.) powdered commercial soda (impure carbonate of soda) is dissolved. The feet are then thoroughly dried, after which they are painted all over with a coating of compound tincture of benzoin, which acts as an antiseptic astringent and by its mechanical presence on the skin. This treatment is continued for about 10 days, after which it is practised once daily, or every other day, as the necessities of the case may require.

(c) M. Vieusse, principal medical officer at the Military Hospital at Oran, states that excessive sweating of the feet, under whatever form it appears (whether as mere super-secretion accompanied by severe pain, or with fœtidity), can be quickly cured by carefully-conducted frictions with bismuth subnitrate; and even in the few cases where this suppresses the abundant sweating only temporarily, it still removes the severe pain and the noxious odour which often accompany the secretion. He had never found any ill consequence follow the suppression of the sweating.

(d) Napthol has been recommended as an effective remedy against excessive sweating of the palms of the hands, foot-soles, and arm-pits. These places should be moistened once or twice daily, with a mixture of 5 pt. naphthol, 10 pt. glycerine, 100 pt. of alcohol, and afterwards dusted, either with pure starch or with a mixture of 2 pt. naphthol, 100 pt. starch. In the case of sweating feet, small pellets of antiseptic cotton are dipped in the powder and placed between the toes.

Tooth Troubles.—To preserve the teeth, rinse the mouth after every meal. If the gums are naturally irritable and tender, a few drops of tincture of myrrh in water should be used to rinse out the mouth, twice or thrice daily. The first tooth brush should be used as soon as there are teeth to use it upon. An ideal tooth powder should be alkaline, since acids dissolve the tooth substance; finely pulverised, that it may not mechanically abrade; antiseptic, to prevent decomposition of food lodged between the teeth, and perhaps to destroy the microbes which are always found choking the tubules of carious dentine; it should contain nothing irritating to the gums; and, lastly, it should be pleasant to the taste, or it will not be used. Fluid dentifrices do not, as a rule, clean the teeth effectually, unless they contain some ingredient which acts upon the enamel itself; and those preparations which are eulogised as making teeth white or preventing deposit of tartar, should be avoided. Charcoal was at one time a very popular form of dentifrice, and is even now largely used, but from the amount of silica it contains it will rapidly wear away teeth that are not of exceptional hardness; and moreover, the gums in some instances become tattooed in a curious manner from absorption of minute particles. Pumice-powder, again, is too gritty; and camphorated chalk is said to make the gums spongy. Precipitated chalk forms the best basis for a tooth powder, to the base of which may be added pulv. saponis and ol. eucalypt., 1 dr. of each; and if there is no objection to the taste, ½ dr. carbolic acid. (Lancet.)

The tooth brush, which should be used night and morning, should be small, and have its not too stiff bristles arranged in separate bundles (in order that they may pass readily between the teeth and into the natural depression). The outer and inner surfaces of both front and back teeth should be brushed. The direction of the brushing should be from the gums; that is, downwards for the upper teeth, and upwards for the lower. This mode of cleaning the teeth is the best preventive against decay, which causes toothache, and also against the accumulation of tartar, which makes the breath foul, and in course of time causes the teeth to loosen and fall out.

Toothache.—(a) The following is a formula recommended by Prof. Babaieff in the British Medical Journal:—Melt 2 parts white wax or spermaceti, and when melted, add 1 part carbolic acid crystals, and 2 parts chloral hydrate crystals; stir well till dissolved. While still liquid, immerse thin layers of carbolised absorbent cotton wool, and allow them to dry. When required for use, a small piece may be snipped off, and slightly warmed, when it can be inserted in the hollow tooth, where it will solidify. The ease produced by this simple method is really very great.

(b) The following remedy is given by a dentist of great reputation:—First wash the mouth well with warm water, then use the following tincture: 10 gr. tannin, ½ dr. mastic, 10 drops carbolic acid, dissolve in ½ oz. sulphuric ether.

(c) Dr. Dyce Duckworth says toothache may be relieved by holding in the mouth a solution of bicarbonate of soda, say ½ dr. in 1 oz. water.

(d) A correspondent of the Electrician gives the following as an instant remedy for toothache:—With a small piece of zinc and a bit of silver (any silver coin will do), the zinc placed on one side of the afflicted gum, and the silver on the other, by bringing the edges together, the small current of electricity generated, immediately and painlessly stops the toothache.

(e) Equal parts carbolic acid and collodion applied on a pledger of wadding and thrust into the hollow tooth. Apt to cauterise the mouth somewhat. The saliva must not be swallowed.

(f) Anæsthetic in dentistry: 6 dr. pulv. camphor, 1 oz. æther. sulphur. Apply this to the gum surrounding the tooth to be removed, until the gum turns white, when the tooth can be extracted with scarcely any pain.

Warts.—(a) Apply a little nitric acid (aqua fortis) very carefully. Take a small stick—a lucifer match—dip it into the acid, and so apply a tiny drop to the top of the wart. It soon becomes yellow, and in a few days the top can be picked off. Repeated applications in the same way are necessary.

(b) Light a match or taper and apply the flame for a second, till you feel a sting, to the top of each wart, for 3 days in succession, when a watery blister will form round each wart, which you must burst, and throw all the warts away, which will be found to be quite loose, causing no pain; they will never return again, and no trace of them will be left after a short time.

(c) Prof. Unna recommends the continuous application of mercurial ointment containing 5 per cent. arsenic or a plaster containing in each 8 sq. in. 154 gr. arsenic and 77 gr. mercury.

(d) A plaster of black soap, applied each night for a fortnight, according to Vidal, will soften a wart so that it may be scraped off.

(e) Cellier’s treatment is to transfix the principal wart with the point of a pin, the head of which is then to be held in the flame of a candle until the wart is destroyed; it will drop off in a few days. The remaining warts will then usually disappear.

(f) A touch of castor oil (the best) once a day. It is a slow process, but, nevertheless, a sure remedy, and painless. Choose night time just before going to bed, to rub in well a little castor-oil, and then take a cloth or towel and rub any that remains off. Continue it for a month or two, for it needs persevering in. In some cases there will be no alteration for 2 months; but sooner or later they all die away. Some die away and others can be taken off, as if they had lost their roots.

Supplementary Literature.

Spencer Thomson: ‘A Dictionary of Domestic Medicine and Household Surgery: with a chapter on the Management of the Sickroom, by Dr. Steele.’ London. 1883. 10s. 6d.

John Gardner: ‘Household Medicine and Sickroom Guide: a familiar description of diseases, remedies, methods of treatment, diet, &c., expressly adapted for family use.’ London. 1882. 12s. 6d.

Charles J. Cullingworth: ‘A Manual of Nursing, Medical and Surgical.’ London. 1883. 3s. 6d.

E. Symes Thompson: ‘Colds and Coughs; their causes and consequences.’ London, 1877. 1s.

J. Milner Fothergill: ‘Food for the Invalid, the Convalescent, the Dyspeptic, and the Gouty.’ London. 1880. 3s. 6d.

Prosser James: ‘Sore Throat; its nature, varieties, and treatment.’ London. 1879. 6s. 6d.

Edward John Waring: ‘Remarks on the Uses of some of the Bazaar Medicines and Common Medical Plants of India, with a full index of diseases, indicating their treatment by these and other agents procurable throughout India, to which are added directions for treatment in cases of drowning, snake-bites, &c.’ London, 1875. 5s.

Gordon Holmes: ‘A Treatise on Vocal Physiology and Hygiene, with especial reference to the Cultivation and Preservation of the Voice.’ London, 1881. 6s. 6d.

W. H. Corfield: ‘Health.’ London, 1880. 6s.

J. L. Milton: ‘The Hygiene of the Skin.’ London, 1877. 1s.

James W. Allan: ‘Notes on Fever Nursing.’ London, 1879. 2s. 6d.

John Beadnell Gill: ‘Indigestion; what it is, what it leads to, and a new method of treating it.’ London, 1881. 4s. 6d.

Erasmus Wilson: ‘Healthy Skin; a Popular Treatise on the Skin and Hair, their Preservation and Management.’ London, 1876. 2s. 6d.

Henry Thompson: ‘Cremation; the Treatment of the Body after Death.’ London, 1884. 1s.

Florence Nightingale: ‘Notes on Nursing: what it is, and what it is not.’ London, 1884. 2s.

Henry C. Burdett: ‘Hints in Sickness: Where to go and what to do.’ London, 1883. 1s. 6d.

William Henry Day: ‘Headaches: Their Nature, Causes, and Treatment.’ London, 1880. 6s. 6d.

Mary Hooper: ‘Cookery for Invalids, Persons of Delicate Digestion, and Children.’ London, 1883. 2s. 6d.

E. Bibby: ‘Invalids Abroad; Hints on Travelling, Nursing, and Cooking.’ London, 1879. 2s. 6d.

Henry C. Angell: ‘The Sight, and how to preserve it.’ London, 1878. 1s. 6d.

T. Wharton Jones: ‘Defects of Sight and Hearing; Their Nature, Causes, Prevention, and General Management.’ London, 1877. 1s.

Charles J. Cullingworth: ‘The Nurse’s Companion; a Manual of General and Monthly Nursing.’ London. 2s. 6d.

William Murrell: ‘What to do in Cases of Poisoning.’ London, 1884. 3s. 6d.

Lionel S. Beale: ‘On Slight Ailments, including the Principles of Treating Disease.’ London, 1887. 5s.

M. Charteris: ‘Health Resorts at Home and Abroad; with a Section on Sea Voyages.’ London, 1885. 4s. 6d.

E. J. Domville: ‘Manual for Hospital Nurses.’ London. 2s. 6d.