THE 
AMERICAN CYCLOPEDIA 
OF 
Domestic Medicine 
AND 
HOUSEHOLD SURGERY. 
A RELIABLE GUIDE FOR EVERY FAMILY. 
CONTAINING FULL DESCRIPTIONS OF THE VARIOUS PARTS OF THE HUMAN BODY ; ACCOUNTS OF THE NUMEROUS 
DISEASES TO WHICH MAN IS SUBJECT-THEIR CAUSES, SYMPTOMS, TREATMENT AND PREVENTION- 
WITH PLAIN DIRECTIONS HOW TO ACT IN CASE OF ACCIDENTS AND EMERGENCIES OF 
EVERY KIND J ALSO, FULL DESCRIPTIONS OF THE DIFFERENT ARTICLES 
USED IN MEDICINE, AND EXPLANATIONS OF MEDICAL AND 
SCIENTIFIC TERMS. 
WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS. 
EDITED BY 
SAMUEL PAYNE FORD, M. D., 
GRADUATE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO, ONT., CANADA, AND OF THE UNIVERSITY OF BUFFALO, N. Y.; 
MEMBER OF THE COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS, ONT. , AND 
LATE ACTING ASSISTANT SURGEON, U. S. ARMY. 
WITH AN APPENDIX BY 
PAAREN, M%.,V.S. 
-Cdmplete in One ,Vol. (Three Parts). 
III. LUPULIN-APPENDIX. 
E. P. KINGSLEY & CO., CHICAGO, ILL. 
J. HUGILL, Cincinnati, 0. J. R. SEVERNS, Atlanta, Ga. 
1880. Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1880, by E. P. KINGSLEY, in the office of the Librarian 
of Congress, at Washington. 
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 
SKEEN * STUART, 
PRINTERS, 
CHICAGO. 
BLOMGREN BROS. & CO., 
ELECTROTYPERS, 
CHICAGO. AS THE CONDITION OF THIS VOLUME 
WOULD NOT PERMIT SEWING, IT WAS 
TREATED WITH A STRONG, DURABLE 
ADHESIVE ESPECIALLY APPLIED TO 
ASSURE HARD WEAR AND USE. Lycopus Vibginicus. (Bugle Weed.) L UPULIN-L YKPH. 
841 
LUPULIN. (See Humulus Lupulus.) 
LUPUS, lu'-pus [Lat. a wolf], is applied to a malignant disease of 
the skin, which eats away the parts attacked; and hence its comparison 
to a wolf. It commences usually in the form of indolent, soft, shining 
swellings or tubercles, which proceed slowly to ulceration, and eat into 
the parts, or it may heal in one part and spread in another. It com- 
monly attacks the face, frequently destroying the alee of the nose or the 
eyelids, and may spread over the entire face. 
Treatment.-The treatment consists in strengthening the system by 
nutritious diet, tonics, as quinine and iron, cod-liver oil, and change of 
air. Besides this the disease is to be attacked locally by caustics. In 
the severer form the only cure lies in its thorough extirpation, and 
therefore the most active caustics should be chosen. This disease was 
formerly known as noli me tang ere (touch me not). 
LUXATION, luks-a'-shun [Lat. luxatio, from luxo, I put out of joint], 
is dislocation of a bone. (See Dislocations.) 
LYCOPERDON, li-ko-pur'-dun, the puff-ball, a genus of Fungi. 
When the species L. giganteum is submitted to combustion, fumes arise 
which are powerfully narcotic. Lately, the vapor has been proposed as 
an anaesthetic agent instead of chloroform, and the dust is sometimes 
used as a domestic remedy to stop hemorrhages. 
LYCOPUS VIRGINICUS, li-ko'-pus vir-jin'-e-kus, or bugle weed, a 
perennial plant belonging to the Nat. order Lamiaceai. It grows in moist 
situations all over the United States. It is sedative, tonic, astringent 
and narcotic, and has been used successfully in incipient consumption, 
bleeding from the lungs, and other hemorrhages. It allays irritation, 
diminishes the frequency of the pulse, and lessens cough. It acts some- 
what like digitalis in abating the velocity of the pulse, and is devoid of 
the dangerous effects resulting from the use of that drug. It is said to 
have cured diabetes when all other means were useless. Dose: of the 
powder, 1 to 2 drams; of the infusion, 2 to 4 fluid ounces; of the fluid 
extract, 1 to 2 teaspoonfuls; 
LYE, OR LEY, ll, le [Ang.-Sax. leak, lag}, is a term applied to the 
solution of an alkali in water. The term is generally applied to the fluid 
procured by pouring water on fresh wood ashes. Children, by mistake 
sometimes drink of this fluid, causing all the signs of irritant poisoning. 
The best treatment is vinegar and water, 1 part to 8, mucilaginous 
drinks, such as flaxseed tea, slippery elm tea, or mucilage made from 
the gum acacia, and stimulants, if symptoms of prostration prevail. 
(See Alkalies, Poisoning by. ) 
LYMPH, limf [Lat. lympha, water], is a thin, transparent, colorless 
fluid, which is found in the lymphatic or absorbent vessels abundantly 842 
L YMPII-MA G NESI A. 
distributed over the body. (See Lymphatics.) Its taste is saline, and 
it has a faint, scarcely perceptible smell. When examined by the micro- 
scope, it is seen to consist of a clear liquid, with corpuscles floating in it, 
which agree entirely with the pale corpuscles of the blood. 
LYMPHATICS. (See Absorbents.) 
M. 
MACARONI. (See Cookery for the Sick.) 
MACE. (See Myristica.) 
MACERATION, mas-er-a -shun [Lat. macero, I soften with water], 
is the infusion of substances in cold liquids. The term is usually 
employed with regard to vegetable substances, when they are reduced to 
powder and exposed to the action of water, or any other liquid, without 
the assistance of heat, in which last respect it differs from digestion. 
The operation is usually continued from twelve or twenty-four hours to 
seven days, 
MADDER. (See Rubia Tinctorum.) 
MAD DOGS, BITES OF. (See Bites and Stings.) 
MAD-DOG WEED. (See Alisma Plantago.) 
MADEIRA, CLIMATE OF, marde'-rq. This island is, in the 
equability of its temperature, one of the most desirable places known for 
the consumptive, where the necessary comforts can be procured. Both 
the summer and winter are mild, and it is therefore fitted for the per- 
manent residence of the patient. (See Consumption; Canaries, Climate 
of the.) 
MADEIRA WINE, is one of the strong dry wines, and contains 
from twenty to twenty-two per cent of spirit. It generally contains more 
acid than either port or sherry. 
MADNESS. (See Insanity.) 
MAD WEED. (See Scutellaria Lateriflora.) 
MAGNESIA, mag-ne-zhe-q [Fr. magnesia}, one of a group of alkaline 
earths, of which baryta, strontia, and lime form the other members. It 
is the oxide of the metal magnesium, and is generally prepared by cal- 
cining the carbonate at a high heat, until it glows with a peculiar lumin- 
ous appearance, called brightening. It is a white powder, varying 
in density according to the source from which it is obtained. It is unal- 
terable by heat, and has never been fused. It slowly absorbs carbonic 
acid and water from the air; moistened with water, it combines with it, 
raising the temperature during the union, and giving rise to hydrate of MAGNESIA. 
843 
magnesia. It is sparingly soluble in water, forming a solution exhibit- 
ins: an alkaline reaction. It is used as an antacid and cathartic in doses 
of from 10 to 60 grains. There are three carbonates of magnesia-the 
bicarbonate, monocarbonate, and subcarbonate. The subcarbonate is a 
bulky white powder, known as light carbonate of magnesia. The bicar- 
bonate, or heavy carbonate, is much less bulky than the preceding. 
Both forms are extensively used in medicine as a cathartic and antacid, 
in doses of from 10 to 60 grains. The solution of carbonate of magne- 
sia, or fluid magnesia, is formed by mixing 2 ounces of sulphate of mag- 
nesia, and 2| ounces of carbonate of soda with a sufficiency of distilled 
water, by a complicated process which it is unnecessary to detail. Dose, 
% to 2 fluid ounces. The citrate of magnesia is much used in pharmacy 
as a gentle aperient. It is prepared by mixing powdered carbonate of 
magnesia and citric acid into a paste with a small quantity of water, and 
granulating. A teaspoonful in water forms a pleasant effervescing 
cathartic of a gentle character. The sulphate of magnesia occurs in 
nature as hair salt, an efflorescence on certain magnesian minerals. It 
exists in sea-water and certain spring waters in considerable quantity. 
The springs of Epsom are famous for the amount of this salt which they 
contain. The sulphate of magnesia, or Epsom salts, so extensively used 
in medicine as a cathartic, is prepared in several ways, the most common 
of which is to dissolve dolomite, or magnesian limestone (carbonate of 
lime and magnesia) in dilute sulphuric acid, by which means sulphate of 
lime is precipitated, and the sulphate of magnesia may be obtained by 
evaporating to crystallization. Its other sources are the mother-liquor 
of sea-salt, and refuse alum-liquors. It is very soluble in water, 100 
parts of water dissolving 68 parts of the salt at ordinary temperatures, 
and 160 parts at boiling point. Dose, 60 grains to £ an ounce. 
The principal use of magnesia is as an antacid in acidity of the stomach 
and bowels, it at the same time-provided it meets with acid-acts as a 
gentle aperient; it is often combined with rhubarb, Epsom salts, etc. 
The effectual manner in which magnesia neutralizes acid in the stomach, 
and thereby relieves heart-burn and other uneasy sensations, has 
probably been the reason for its extensive use, and certainly for its abuse 
among dyspeptics generally, whereby much evil has resulted; for there 
is no question that the continued use of magnesia as an antacid, greatly 
impairs the digestive powers ; moreover, if used in the form of calcined 
magnesia, or of carbonate, should it not encounter sufficient acid in the 
alimentary canal, to convert it into a soluble aperient salt, it is apt to 
accumulate, and, if taken regularly and largely, to collect into and form 
concretions in the bowels; on this account, persons who will take mag- 
nesia habitually, ought to be careful to clear out the bowels thoroughly, 844 
MA G NESI A-MAIDENHAIR. 
at intervals, by means of a dose of castor-oil; the same rule being 
observed with regard to children, if magnesia is given regularly to them. 
These remarks do not apply to the comparatively pleasant and efficient 
preparation of the bicarbonate, or fluid magnesia, or to the granulated 
citrate, which have greatly and with advantage, supplanted the other 
preparations. 
Fluid magnesia, in doses of from % an ounce to 2 ounces, may be 
taken either alone, or in milk-the latter mode being convenient for chil- 
dren ; or it may be given as an effervescing draught, with lemon-juice. 
It has been already observed, that magnesia only acts as an aperient 
when it meets with acid ; the author has found a dose of magnesia taken 
after the garden rhubarb used as food, act very well as a gentle aperient. 
(See Magnesium, Children, Citrate of Magnesia, Concretion.) 
MAGNESIUM, mag-ne-zhe-un^-symbol Mg., equivalent 12, specific 
gravity 1.743-the metallic base of the alkaline earth magnesia. It is a 
white malleable silvery metal, constant in dry air, but becoming covered 
with a white film of magnesia in the presence of moisture. It forms 
one oxide-magnesia. In many of its characters metallic magnesium 
resembles zinc. (See Magnesia.) 
MAGNETIC SPRINGS, mag-net'-ik, are useful in the treatment of 
rheumatism. Michigan has famous magnetic springs at Grand Haven, 
Eaton Rapids, and St. Louis. (See Health Resorts, Mineral Waters.) 
MAGNETISM, ANIMAL. (See Mesmerism.) 
MAGNETO-ELECTRICITY. (See Electricity.) 
MAGNOLIA, mag-no'-le-q. There are several varieties of the mag- 
nolia tree used in medicine. The Magnolia Glauca, swamp sassafras, 
or beaver tree; the Magnolia Aluminata, or cucumber tree; and the 
Magnolia Tripetata, or umbrella tree. They belong to the Nat. order 
Magnoliacea^ and are found in various parts of the United States. The 
bark, which is the officinal part, is tonic, aromatic, and antipcriodic. It 
is said to have cured cases of ague when cinchona had failed. It is a 
favorite remedy with some for dyspepsia, but must not be used in inflam- 
matory states of the system. Dose: of the powdered bark, £ a tea- 
spoonful, three or four times a day; of the tincture, made by steeping 
1 ounce of the bark in 1 pint of brandy or whiskey, 1 tablespoonful, 
three times a day. 
MAIDEN-HAIR, ma'-dmhare YAdiantum Pedatum^ a perennial 
plant or fern belonging to the Nat. order Filices. It is found in deep 
woods, on moist soil throughout the United States and Canada. It is 
refrigerant, expectorant, tonic and astringent. It makes a pleasant drink 
in febrile diseases, and has been used with benefit in coughs, chronic 
catarrh, hoarseness, influenza and asthma. The decoction or the syrup f Under100 ini0000deaths 
From iOO\ £50 
, £50.550 
, 550-900' 
„ 900.^00 
Oyer 1^00 
DEATHS from MALARIAL DISEASES. 
Compiled from U.S,Census. 
Drawn by A.deWifzleben. MAIDENHAIR-MALARIA, MIASM. 
845 
may be used freely for any of these cases. No nicety need be observed 
in the dose. 
MAIZE, OR INDIAN CORN. (See Cereals, Corn-Meal.) 
MALARIA, MIASM, ma-la -re-q [from Gr. miaino^ I infect]. The 
first of these words is now generally employed to designate a certain 
effluvium or emanation from marshy ground; and the latter, with the 
adjunct of marsh, is used in the same sense. Miasma, or miasm, by 
itself, denotes simply contagion. This poison is not cognizable by the 
senses, nor can it be detected by chemical tests; it is known only by its 
effects upon the system, and these the observation of centuries has made 
well known to us. Marshes, whether salt or fresh, are prolific sources 
of malaria, especially in a certain stage of the drying process under a hot 
sun. But wet meadows, grounds alternately flooded and drained, the 
mud left by the retiring tide in seaports and estuaries, parts covered with 
low and dense brushwood or with reeds and grass, a country newly cleared 
of its wood, particularly in warm climates, are all fertile sources of 
malaria. In tropical countries it is remarked that the evolution of malaria 
commences immediately on the falling of the rain, and the sickness 
abates as the ground gets thoroughly wetted. A marsh completely cov- 
ered with water is innocuous; it is only when the moisture is being dried 
up under a hot sun that it becomes pestilential. In the case of inunda- 
tions, it is at their subsidence that sickness prevails. Heat is the agent 
most active in the production of malaria, in all soils and situations capa- 
ble of engendering it; hence, in this country, even the milder forms of 
malarious disease are rarely seen before the vernal or after the autumnal 
equinox; and wherever they exist, their prevalence is terminated by the 
cold of winter. As a general rule, malaria is more pernicious in propor- 
tion to the proximity to its source; but to this rule there are various 
exceptions. The distance to which marshy emanations may extend by 
gradual diffusion has been calculated to be 1,400 to 1,600 feet in elevation, 
and from 600 to 1,000 feet in a horizontal direction ; and these limits, it is 
said, cannot be exceeded in the temperate zones; but in equatorial regions 
the activity of the poison is greater; and in the West Indies, vessels 
9,000 feet from the marshy coast have felt the effect of its baneful influ- 
ence. When winds are in operation, the extent to which the poison may 
be transported is unknown ; but instances are recorded of its being con- 
veyed three or more miles. Though malaria is principally owing to heat, 
it is not in the hottest part of the day that its influence is most pernicious, 
but in the evening or night. Besides the more familiar effects of malaria 
-intermittent and remittent fevers-there are a number of organic affec- 
tions of the spleen, liver, stomach, intestines, and mesenteric glands, 
also dropsy, apoplexy, palsy, and idiocy, that are traced to its long- 846 
MALARIA, MIASM-MANGANESE. 
continued application; while cholera, dysentery, and diarrhoea are referred 
to its more brief agency. Natives of marshy districts, who constantly 
reside in them, have their whole bodily and mental constitution contam- 
inated by the poison which they inhale. Their aspect is sallow and pre- 
maturely senile; their muscles flaccid, hair lank, stature stunted, and 
their intellectual and moral character low and degraded. The progress 
of civilization and of agriculture is a principal means in diminishing 
the domain of malaria. In marshy situations a screen of woods has often 
been found of great benefit between the habitations and the marshes. 
Nutritious diet, and whatever is most conducive to health, should be 
observed by persons exposed to the influence of malaria. (See the vari- 
ous diseases referred to in this article.) 
MALARIAL DISEASES. (See Malaria.) 
MALE FERN. (See Aspidium.) 
MALFORMATION. (See Deformity; Spine, Diseases and Injur 
ies of the ; Imperforate Anus, Imperforate Vagina, etc. ) 
MALIC ACID, ma'-lik as'-id [Lat. malum, an apple], a vegetable 
acid found abundantly in most acidulous fruits, especially in unripe 
apples, gooseberries, and currants. The footstalks of the ordinary gar- 
den rhubarb also furnish large quantities of it; but it is most usually 
obtained from the berries of the mountain ash. 
MALIGNANT, madig'-nant [Lat. malignus~\, a term applied to pes- 
tilential fevers, and to local diseases of any incurable nature, as cancer. 
MALIGNANT SORE THROAT. (See Scarlet Fever, Dipt* 
THERIA, ETC.) 
MALLOW. (See Althea. ) 
MALT, INFUSION OF. (See Cookery for the Sick.) 
MALT LIQUORS. (See Ale, Porter.) 
MAMMA, mam'-mg, the female breast. (See Breast.) 
MANAGEMENT OF THE SICK-ROOM. (See Sick-Room.) 
MANDRAKE. (See Podophyllum Peltatum.) 
MANGANESE, mang'-gg-neez [Low Lat. manganesia], in Chemistry, 
symbol Mn.; equivalent, 27.57 ; specific gravity, 8.013. The ores of man- 
ganese are somewhat abundantly distributed throughout the mineral 
kingdom, generally in the form of black oxide. Manganese is of a gray- 
ish white color, brittle, hard enough to scratch glass, and slightly mag- 
netic. If exposed to the air, it speedily becomes oxidized; for which 
reason it should be preserved in some liquid hydrocarbon, such as naph- 
tha. Manganese combines with carbon and silica, forming unimportant 
compounds. The manganates are very unstable, being decomposed by 
boiling and even by remaining in dilute solution. Permanganic acid, 
which is now largely used as a disinfectant, is described under its proper MANGANESE-MAE BIA GE. 
847 
heading. Manganese is occasionally, but not often, employed in medi- 
•cine. It is tonic and alterative in its action, much resembling iron. It 
is also said to exert a specific influence on the liver. In large doses it 
is purgative. Dose of binoxide, from 3 to 10 or 20 grains, three times a 
day. 
MANIA. (See Insanity.) 
MANITOBA, CLIMATE OF. (See Climate.) 
MANNA. (See Fraxinus.) 
MARANTA, ma-ran'-ta, the typical genus of the Nat. order Haran- 
tacece. The species AC arundinacece yields West India arrowroot, one 
of the most pure and best known of the amylaceous substances used as 
food. This is extracted from the rhizomes and tubers of the plant; it 
forms a very firm jelly, and is the most palatable and digestible starch 
known: It is nutritious and demulcent, and well adapted for the diet of 
the sick, convalescent, and for infants. 
MARASMUS OR WASTING. (See Atrophy, Emaciation.) 
MARIGOLD. (See Calendula.) 
MARJORAM. (See Origanum.) 
MARMALADE, mur'-ma-lade [Fr. marmelade]. The well known 
preserve, made from the Seville orange, is by some regarded as a stom- 
achic. 
MARRIAGE, mar'-rij [Lat. mas, marls, a male], the religious and 
lawful union of the sexes. Various observations go to confirm the fact, 
that the married state is conducive both to health and to prolongation of 
life; thus it has been ascertained that married women at the age of twenty- 
five have, on the average thirty-six years of life before them, whilst 
unmarried women of the same age have not, on the average, more than 
between thirty and thirty-one years; that in men, the mortality between 
the ages of thirty and forty-five, amounts, on the average, to eighteen per 
cent, in the married, but to twrenty-seven per cent., or one-third more, in 
the unmarried; and, further, that at the age of seventy, whilst there 
remains alive but eleven bachelors out of every hundred, twenty-seven 
married men out of the same number may be expected to reach the 
threescore and ten. 
These facts would show that the married state is more conducive to 
longevity than celibacy. 
It has also been shown from statistical returns, that suicide is very 
much more frequent among the unmarried than the reverse. On the 
score, therefore, of physical and mental health, independent of other 
considerations, marriage is advisable; of course its advisability in indi- 
vidual cases must rest on the relative position of the parties. Certainly, 
however favorable other matters may be, it is a great evil for parties to 848 
KARRI A GE-KASTERWORT. 
enter into the married state too early in life; the female especially, if 
she commences child-bearing early, that is before the age of two or three 
and twenty, cannot fail to suffer in her own constitution, and almost 
necessarily to entail the acquired debility upon her offspring. In the 
case of those who have family when advanced in life, the trial is less to 
their own constitutions, but should the father be aged, the children are 
not likely to be strong. The reader is further referred to articles Dis- 
ease, Hereditary Tendency, etc., for information respecting the influ- 
ence which the health and constitution of the parent exerts upon that 
of the offspring. 
As regards physical and mental development, it is an undoubted fact, 
that the mixture of races, or at least of families totally unconnected with 
each other, tends greatly to elevate the standard of both. It has been 
remarked by Humboldt and others, that in South America, the progeny 
of the negro and of the native Indian, are greatly superior to the pro- 
genitors on either side ; the superiority of the Caribs to other American 
Indians has been ascribed to their latitude in intermarriage with the 
surrounding tribes, and it is well known that the Anglo-Saxon attributes 
the position of his race in the vanguard of progress to the mixture of 
blood which has taken place, as a necessary consequence of the succes- 
sive occupations of Great Britain by different races. 
MARROW, mar'-to [Lat. medulla ossium} is a light fatty substance 
lodged in the interior of the bones. Like ordinary adipose tissue, it 
consists of vesicles containing fat, with blood-vessels distributed to them. 
It is usually of a yellow color, with 96 parts of fat, 3 of water, and 1 of 
areolar tissue, in 100 parts. In some parts it is of a reddish color. In 
the foetus the bones do not contain marrow, but a transparent reddish 
fluid like bloody serum, only more consistent. (See Bone.) 
MARRUBIUM VULGARE, mar-ru'-be-um vul-gare', or horehound, 
a perennial plant growing on waste grounds and by the roadsides through- 
out the United States and Canada. The whole herb is used in medicine. 
It is stimulant, tonic, expectorant and diuretic, and has been used in the 
form of syrup and infusion in coughs, colds, catarrh, asthma, and all 
pulmonary affections. It is said also to have vermifuge properties. 
Dose: of the fluid extract, to 1 teaspoonful; of the syrup, 3 to 6 tea- 
spoonfuls ; of the infusion, 1 to 4 fluid ounces, three or four times daily. 
(See Infusion, Vermifuge.) 
MARSHMALLOW. (See Althea. ) 
MARSH ROSEMARY. (See Statioe Caroliniana. ) 
MASTERWORT, mas'-ter-wurt {Ileracleum Lanatum\ a peren- 
nial plant belonging to the Nat. order Apiacece; sometimes called cow- 
parsnip. It grows all over the United States and Canada. It is stimulant, MASTERWORT- MEAD. 
849 
antispasmodic and carminative, and is used in flatulency and dys- 
pepsia. Dose: of the fluid extract, | to 1 teaspoonful; of the infusion, 
1 to 2 fluid ounces. (See Infusion.) 
MASTICATION, mas-te-ka'-shun [Lat. masticatid}, the act by which 
the food is, or ought to be, reduced to a soft mass before swallowing, by 
the action of the teeth, and by admixture with the saliva. The impor- 
tance of the proper performance of this act has been pointed out in the 
article Dyspepsia. It has even been suggested, that the average of life 
at the present time exceeding that of former periods, is partly due to 
the improvements in dentistry, enabling the aged to masticate their food 
more perfectly. (See Digestion, Dyspepsia, Saliva, Teeth.) 
MASTURBATION. (See Onanism, Semen, Nocturnal Discharges.) 
MATERIA MEDICA, ma-te'-re-a med'-e-ka [Lat.], a general name 
for the substances and agents which are employed for the relief or cure 
of disease. The term is also applied to that branch of study which eluci- 
dates the nature and properties of such substances and agents. In 
medical schools it is customary to connect Materia Medica with Thera- 
peutics, and to expound both departments of science in one course of 
lectures. Therapeutics may be described as that branch of study which 
treats of the application of the Materia Medica for the prevention and 
cure of disease. These allied branches of study are of the utmost impor- 
tance; for before a thorough knowledge of the nature and action of 
medicines is obtained, it is impossible to know how and when to pre- 
scribe them. A knowledge of medicines therefore. comprehends an 
acquaintance with their character, their sensible properties, their chemi- 
cal qualities, and their mode of action, as well as the manner of their 
preparation. (See Medicine.) 
MATICO. (See Artanthe Elongata.) 
MATTER, OR PUS. (See Pus, or Matter.) 
MAXILLARY, maks'-il-la-re, or maks-iV-la-re [Lat. maxilla, the jaw], 
denotes of or belonging to the jaw, as the maxillary bones, etc. (See 
Anatomy. ) 
MAY-APPLE. (See Podophyllum Peltatum.) 
MAY FLOWER. (See Epigjsa Repens.) 
MEAD, meed [Ang.-Sax. medu, medd\. This was the favorite bev- 
erage of the ancient Scandinavian nations, it was made of honey and 
water, boiled and fermented ; in old medical works it is sometimes called 
Hydromel vinosum. Mead is by no means banished from the list of 
modern leverages. One mode of preparation is as follows: To 1 gallon 
of water, add 2 pounds of honey and 1 pound of sugar; let it boil for an 
hour, then add the whites of 4 eggs to raise the scum, which skim off as 
it rises; when quite clear, pour it into an open vessel, and let it stand 850 
MEAD-MEASLES. 
for a week, adding a toast dipped in honey to make it work; put in also 
the peel of 3 or 4 lemons ; let it stand for a month, and then, if it is not 
sufficiently fine, put in more honey and let it stand until it is, then 
bottle it for use. Some who prefer mead with an aromatic flavor, add cin- 
namon, cloves, cardamoms, or fragrant herbs, according to taste; thus 
we have cowslip mead, frontiniac mead, sack mead, etc. These bever- 
ages are pleasant to many, and are not unwholesome. 
MEADOW FERN. (See Myrica Gale.) 
MEADOW-SAFFRON. (See Colchicum.) 
MEADOWSWEET. (See Spirjsa Tomentosa.) 
MEALS, meelz [Ang.-Sax. mail, a part or portion, a repast.] The 
custom of having certain fixed hours for meals is a very wise one. It 
would be as injurious to health as it would be subversive of everything 
like order in a household, were people to eat and drink, as some say 
they should, only when they are hungry and thirsty. We are so much 
the creatures of habit, that we can easily confine our hunger and thirst 
to proper times. Those who accustom themselves to take food at a cer- 
tain hour in the day will always, while in good health, feel hungry as 
that hour comes round. Indeed it not unfrequently has been found that 
the stomach was only weak at those hours to which it has been, accus- 
tomed, and that much inconvenience has resulted from a change in the 
hour of taking a meal, more especially dinner, which, with most persons, 
is the chief meal of the day. (See Breakfast, Luncheon, Dinner, 
Supper.) 
MEAN DURATION OF LIFE. (See Mortality.) 
MEASLES, me'-zlz [Lat. rubeola], a febrile disease characterized by 
a peculiar eruption on the skin, occurring, as a rule, only once in a life- 
time, generally during childhood. The disease most always prevails 
as an epidemic, and is contagious. It is called by nosologists Morbilli 
and sometimes, but incorrectly, Rubeola. The latter designation more 
properly belongs to a hybrid disease, showing the symptoms of both 
scarlet fever and measles. 
Cause.-It is now very generally admitted that measles is caused by 
the communication, either by contact or by infection, of a specific poison 
generated by a person laboring under the disease. It is more easily 
propagated in cold weather, and as a rule, the characteristic symptoms 
are not shown until from ten to sixteen days after exposure. 
Symptoms.-The first symptoms of measles are those of a feverish 
cold; there is a shivering, headache, loss of appetite, and perhaps vom- 
iting; the eyes look red, and, as well as the nose, furnish increased 
watery discharge; there is hoarseness and cough. On the fourth day of the 
disease, or in from seventy to eighty-four hours after the first symptoms MEASLES. 
851 
of illness have shown themselves, the peculiar eruption of measles 
begins to appear, generally about the forehead, then on the neck and 
arms, and thence extends to the trunk and extremities; at first the erup- 
tion shows only in red points, not unlike fiea-bites, but these soon enlarge 
into rather broad, slightly purplish, crescent-shaped spots, which are 
just perceptibly elevated above the skin. At this period the skin is hot, 
there is a good deal of general fever, with thirst, and much hoarse 
cough, with quickened breathing. After remaining out about four days, 
the eruption-first, of course, on the face-begins to decline, and by the 
seventh day, it has generally disappeared, leaving the skin slightly 
roughened, followed by separation of the cuticle in small scales. 
Measles, however, does not always follow the same regular course; 
there may exist the constitutional symptoms without eruption; but a 
more common variety is, the characteristic eruption without any consti- 
tutional affection-this, however, affords no protection from future 
attacks of the disease. Again, measles may prevail, either as a very 
mild disease, scarcely requiring treatment, or it may be as a most malig- 
nant and fatal epidemic. The principal danger in ordinary measles 
arises from the affection of the chest, especially in very young children, 
many of whom die from this cause, particularly if the epidemic happens 
to occur during the prevalence of cold winds in the spring, and if the 
children, as often happens among the poor, are insufficiently attended 
to. When measles occurs in its malignant, or putrid form, it becomes a 
fearfully fatal malady, carrying off numbers of children, in spite of the 
best-directed treatment. 
Treatment.-1There is no question that a mild attack of measles will 
get well without any treatment; but in even the mildest, ordinary care 
to guard against cold should be observed, this being, of course, requisite 
in proportion to the season of the year. If the attack be a smart one, 
the person should be kept in bed and moderately warm, allowed to 
drink freely of diluent, and especially of demulcent drinks, such as bar- 
ley-water; the diet should consist of milk and farinaceous matters; cool- 
ing fruits, and such like may be allowed, the bowels at the same time 
being attended to, but not purged. Should the eruption of measles seem 
tardy in coming out, or come out small or insufficiently, or, after having 
shown itself, should it disappear again suddenly, and before the time of 
its regular decline, danger must be apprehended; the warm bath is at 
once the safest and the best remedy; the child being kept in the water 
-temperature 98°-from ten to twenty minutes, according to age: in 
addition to this-to a child of five years old-a teaspoonful of spirit of 
mindererus should be given in a little sweetened water every two or three 
hours, and warm drinks freely administered at the same time. A very 852 
MEASLES-MEDICAL AD VICE. 
pernicious practice prevails, of giving children stimulants-"to bring 
out the eruption," and also in the course of the disease. It is perhaps 
scarcely necessary to add, that none but the most ignorant and preju- 
diced could be guilty of so dangerous a practice. When the feverish 
symptoms in measles run high, it is commonly in connection with the 
chest affection; in such cases, from 4 to 6 grains of ipecacuanha powder, 
and £ a dram of carbonate of potassa, are to be made into a mixture with 
3 ounces of water, and of this, a dessert-spoonful given to a child of five 
years of age every four or five hours; in milder cases, 10 or 15 drops of 
ipecacuanha wine or syrup are to be given in the same way. Should, as 
often happens if the child has been permitted to take cold, symptoms of 
inflammation within the chest show themselves, they must be treated as 
directed in the article on Pneumonia, but in all such cases a medical man 
should be called. It must always be borne in mind, that measles det not 
bear much lowering treatment, and that blisters are apt to prove danger- 
ous ; a bran poultice is always a preferable application. An idea pre- 
vails, that persons affected with rfieasles cannot be kept too hot; this is 
often a source of much mischief: certainly, cold is to be avoided, but free 
ventilation, with a moderate temperature (see Bed-Room) is always the 
most advantageous. When measles assumes a malignant or putrid form, 
the case must be considered as eminently dangerous; in this form the 
eruption is dusky and purple, or rather, livid, the patient extremely 
depressed, the tongue dry and black-looking; medical assistance as soon 
as possible, is of course, indispensable, and even then, the hope of sav- 
ing life is but small; nourishing meat broth, wine, or warm wine whey, 
must be given frequently, and those measures resorted to which are 
recommended under typhoid fever. 
Convalescence from measles requires much care, if the weather is at 
all cold, for the disease leaves a susceptibility to inflammatory chest 
affection for some time. In children of weak constitution, measles, like 
the other eruptive fevers, is apt to leave a tendency to discharges from 
the ears, to weakness and redness of the eyes, etc. (See Children.) 
MEASURES. (See Weights and Measures.) 
MEAT. (See Bacon, Beef, Flesh, Food, Mutton, Muscle, Pork, 
Veal.) 
MEAT, POUNDED. (See Cookery for the Sick.) 
MEAT, SALT. (See Salt.) 
MECHANICS AND THEIR DISEASES. (See Artizans and 
Their Diseases.) 
MECONIUM, me-ko'-ne-um [Lat.], the dark olive-green discharge 
from the bowels of a newly-born infant. 
MEDICAL ADVICE, med'-e-kal [Lat. medicus^ medeor^ to heal]. MEDICAL AD VICE-MEDICAL SIGNS. 
853 
When a medical man is consulted, it is a tacit acknowledgment of con- 
fidence; that confidence should be implicit, or placed elsewhere. In the 
first place, care should be taken that the necessary directions given are 
fully and accurately understood, being so, they should be as fully and 
accurately followed out, unless some evident change in the condition of 
the patient, or in circumstances which the prescriber could not foresee, 
renders a departure from them necessary; but of this he should have as 
early notice as possible. There is no greater folly than to call in a medi- 
cal man, and then, either from wilfulness or weakness of purpose, to 
controvert or neglect his prescribed rules; it is only equalled by that 
which conceals or deceives in the particulars of a case, and looks for 
benefit. 
It is also commonly the case, in illness, that officious persons are 
continually offering their counsel and opinions, disturbing the mind 
of the patient or of the friends, and perhaps undermining the trust 
reposed in the attendant practitioner; if it is reflected for one moment, 
how worthless such counsel and opinions must be, they would be less 
attended to than they are. Again, if proper confidence is felt in the 
judgment of the medical attendant, his requirements should be submitted 
to without remonstrance or grumbling. When doubt and uneasiness 
respecting the progress or prospects of a case intrude themselves upon the 
mind of those most interested, and a second opinion is desired, the 
matter should be openly, at once, stated to the ordinary attendant, and 
his views and wishes heard ; but never should another be called in till 
this has been done; still less, even if a medical man can be found to 
demean himself so far, should a clandestine opinion be taken. Lastly, 
in sending for medical assistance, especially in country districts, as full 
an account of the symptoms of illness, or accident, as possible, should 
be transmitted by written note. The precaution must save time; it may 
save life. (See Opinion, Medical ; Diagnosis, Prognosis, Physician, 
Surgeon, etc.) 
MEDICAL JURISPRUDENCE is that department of science in 
which medical knowledge is called in to the aid of legislation, and con- 
sists in the application of the principles of medical science to the admin- 
istration of justice and the preservation of the public health. (See 
Medicine.) 
MEDICAL SIGNS. 
3 (recipe), take. This symbol was originally the sign of Jupiter, 
and was placed at the top of a formula to propitiate the king of the gods, 
that the compound might act favorably. 
3, a scruple; 3ss, half a scruple; 3i, one scruple; Siss, one 
scruple and a half; T)ij, two scruples, etc. 854 
MEDICAL SIGNS-MEDICINE CHEST. 
3 , a dram; 3 ss, half a dram; 3 i, one dram; 3 iss, one dram and a 
half; 3 ij, two drams, etc. 
3 , an ounce; 3 ss, half an ounce; 3 i, one ounce; 3 iss, one ounce 
and a half; § ij, two ounces, etc. 
lb, a pound; /q, a minim or drop; f^, a fluid dram;/^, a fluid 
ounce; O, or 0 (Octarius), a pint; aa (dvd), of each. (See Medical 
Teems, Weights and Measures, Metric System.) 
MEDICAL TERMS. Gradually the terms used, even by profes- 
sional men in the description and treatment of disease, are becoming 
simplified. Prescriptions, which were formerly invariably written in 
Latin, are by many prominent physicians in this country now written in 
plain English. This work has been written so that all may understand, 
and technical terms, which are introduced only where no other will 
answer, will be found explained under their proper headings. (See 
Medical Signs.) 
MEDICATED BATHS. (See Baths and Bathing.) 
MEDICINE, med'-de-sin [Lat. medicina; medians, medical; medeor, 
to heal], is the art and science of curing disease. The various branches 
into which medicine is now divided, are-Anatomy, or a knowledge 
of the structure of the human body, including histology, which 
treats of the minute structure of the parts discernible only by the micro- 
scope. Practical Anatomy, wfliich applies a knowledge of the structure 
to a right performance of the operations of surgery, and Pathological 
Anatomy, which points out the aberrations from the normal or healthy 
structure of the organs or tissues of the human body. Physiology, or a 
knowledge of the vital actions. Pathology, comprising the nature, 
cause, and cure of disease. Nosology, which treats of the various kinds 
of diseases and tries to arrange them systematically. Surgery, treating 
of mechanical injuries, and the modes of relieving diseases and derange- 
ments bywmechanical means. Obstetrics, or Midwifery, dealing with the 
modes of facilitating delivery, and the diseases of children. Materia 
Medica, or the science of medicines, their nature, composition and 
effects. Pharmacy, or the preparation of medicines. Therapeutics, the 
application and administration of every kind of remedy. Hygiene, 
treating of the laws of health. Dietetics, dealing with the rules of diet. 
Medical Jurisprudence, or the application of the science of medicine to 
the administration of law. Clinical Medicine, or the instructions com- 
municated at the bedside of the patient. Psychological ALedicine, or the 
nature and treatment of mental diseases. (See Anatomy, Physiology, 
Surgery, Materia Medica, etc.) Intimately connected with medicine 
are the sciences of Botany, Chemistry, etc., which see. 
MEDICINE CHEST. (See Household Medicines.) MEDICINE, Q UA CKER Y IN-MEMBRANE. 
855 
MEDICINE, QUACKERY IN. (See Quack, Quackery.) 
MEDICINES. (See Household Medicines, and the various indi- 
vidual articles on drugs, plants, etc., throughout the work.) 
MEDICINES, DOSES OF. (See Dose.) 
MEDULLA OBLONGATA. (See Brain.) 
MEGRIM. (See Hemicrania.) 
MEL. (See Honey.) 
MELALEUCA, mel-a-lu -ka [Gr. melas, black; leukos, white, because 
the trunk is black and the branches white], a genus of the Nat. order 
Myrtacece. The species minor, or Cajeputi, is a small tree of the 
Molucca Islands. Its leaves, when allowed to stand so as to undergo a 
species of fermentation, and then distilled with water, yield a volatile 
oil of a limpid nature and a light green color, called cajeput oil. It was 
formerly much employed as a remedy in cholera, but without any 
success. It has been used internally as a diffusible stimulant, antispas- 
modic, and diaphoretic, and externally, when mixed with olive-oil, as a 
stimulant embrocation. The spirit of cajeput (1 fluid ounce of the oil to 
49 fluid ounces of rectified spirit) is given in doses of | to 1 teaspoonful. 
Dose, of the oil, 1 to 5 drops. 
MELANCHOLIA. (See Melancholy.) 
MELANCHOLY, OR MENTAL DEJECTION, mel'-an-kol-e [Gr. 
melancholia, black bile, or choler], when it becomes habitual, is an 
unfavorable state for resisting the attacks of disease, and every one 
who observes such a condition of mind approaching, should resolutely 
shake off the depression. In all conditions of troubled mind, melan- 
choly, or hypochondriasis, the influence of habit may be most happily 
exercised, by daily-at certain fixed times-actually compelling the 
mind to bend itself to some definite continuous employment, one which 
will necessitate some degree of mental exertion to perform, and which 
will keep up its interest, perhaps an increasing one, from day to day. 
Melancholy amounts to a disease, when extreme and of long dura- 
tion, and under such circumstances, unless checked, ordinarily runs into 
partial insanity. (See Insanity, Hypochondriasis, Nervous Diseases, 
Habit, Monomania, Dyspepsia, Health.) 
MELISSA, me-lis'-sa [Gr. melissa, a bee], a genus of the Nat. order 
Labiatce. 21. officinalis, common balm, possesses mild stimulant prop- 
erties, and its decoction is used as a diaphoretic in fevers, as an exhil- 
arating drink in nervous affections, and as an emmenagogue. No nicety 
need be observed in the dose. (See Decoction.) 
MELON, mel'-un [Lat. melo}, the well-known pleasant but indiges- 
tible fruit. 
MEMBRANE, mem'-brane [Lat. membrand}, is an expanded thin 856 
MEMBRANE-MENISPERMUM CANADENSE. 
substance lining or covering different parts of the body. Membranes are 
of different kinds, and are distinguished as mucous, lining cavities commu- 
nicating with the external air; serous, lining cavities not communicating; 
cellular membrane, or areolar tissue; fibrous membrane, etc. The 
membrane lining the thorax and enveloping the lungs is called the^&w'a/ 
that lining the abdomen, the peritoneum. (See Mucous Membrane, 
Skin.) 
MEMORY, mem'-o-re [Lat. memorial, the mind's record of the past, 
is, we have every reason to believe, imperishable. The power to recall 
what has been imprinted on its, to us, mysterious tablets, may not 
be always at command, but all know that it is more so at one time than 
another, and medical men not unfrequently meet with cases of disease, 
in which the memory of long-forgotten knowledge is again opened up; 
the scenes, the thoughts, and the language and words of the first child- 
hood, pass again through the mind of the second; the thoughts and 
feelings of later times are unremembered, and the Greek exercise or 
Latin poem of the school-room are once more gone over correctly, by 
those to whom they have been unknown tongues for years. This resus- 
citation, as it were, of memory, as the effect of disease, is not less remark- 
able than its loss; in many instances, under the same influence, one man 
will remember numerals but forget letters, another the reverse; one can 
only recall the last syllables of words, a second stops short after repeat- 
ing the first. Still more remarkable are the cases of double memory or 
consciousness, several of which are on record. In these, either in con- 
sequence of some acute disease, or mental shock, all memory seems to 
be swept away; the mind is left a perfect blank, and education, even in 
adults, has to be commenced anew; in such cases, the individual has 
gone on for some time acquiring the simplest rudiments of knowledge, 
when, all at once, the old memory has returned, and with all its mental 
stores, blotting out apparently the new; and this alteration of these two 
singular states of mind has occurred again and again. Loss of memory, 
exhibited either with respect to things that have hitherto been well 
remembered, or in unwonted difficulty in the acquisition of new ideas, 
must, unless well accounted for by advanced age, be regarded sus- 
piciously, as the possible result of incipient cerebral disorder, it may be, 
of a tendency to insanity. 
MENISPERMUM CANADENSE, men-e-sper'-mumlcan-a-dense', or 
yellow parilla, a valuable remedy growing in various parts of the United 
States. The root is tonic, laxative, alterative and diuretic, a-nd has been 
used with advantage in scrofula, skin diseases, dyspepsia and general 
debility. Dose: of the fluid extract, | to 1 teaspoonful; of the infusion, 
1 to 4 fluid ounces. MENO RR HA GIA-MENSTR UAT ION. 
857 
MENORRHAGIA. (See Menstruation.) 
MENSES. (See Menstruation.) 
MENSTRUATION, men-stru-a'-shun menstruation^ the monthly 
periodical discharge, the catamenia, or menses, is one of, if not the most 
important of the facts connected with female health. 
Commencing usually in this country between the ages of thirteen and 
fifteen, its recurrence in health-except during pregnancy and nursing 
-is generally extended for a period of. thirty years. It needs not to 
dwell upon the necessity for the maintenance of the regular and sufficient 
development of this function during those thirty years of life; females 
are generally sufficiently aware of it, although, sometimes, in careless- 
ness or wilfulness, they neglect the temporary self-restraint it imposes. 
It is a foolish error, or neglect, not uncommon with mothers, to omit 
all mention of the occurrence of this event to their daughters, the con- 
sequence is, that the symptoms which usually precede it, are ignorantly 
unattended to, and it may happen, the development of the function is 
checked by imprudences which a little information might have pre- 
vented. Moreover, the unexpected appearance of the period is apt to 
excite much alarm, and the mental agitation, or other causes, may at 
once check a natural and healthy proceeding; it need scarcely be said, 
with how great probable injury to health. Mothers or female guardians 
should always forewarn those committed to their charge, and put them 
on their guard against those exposures to CQld and fatigue, to mental 
excitement, or abuse of purgative medicines, which may interfere with 
the natural relief. There is, of course, considerable variation as regards 
the amount of the menstrual discharge, and also in the period of its con- 
tinuance. The one-in temperate regions-is from four to five ounces, 
and the other from three to five days, on the average. 
Climate, temperate habits, etc., all exert much influence over the 
function in different individuals, or even over the same individual at 
different times; but these varieties may all fall within the limits of health, 
and do not require interference; and, although in the majority of 
instances the function is established before the sixteenth year, it may, 
coincidently with perfect health, be delayed two or three years longer. 
Generally, however, the delay, or non-development of the menstrual 
function, if not owing to structural deficiency, or to mechanical obstruc- 
tion, is owing to some deep-seated constitutional defect, such as is 
usually distinguished as chlorosis or anaemia. (See Chlorosis.) In 
any case medical advice is requisite to give those proper directions 
for the improvement of the general health and strength, which are 
necessary, or to investigate the cause, whatever that may be, of so 
important a deficiency. 858 
MEN STR RATION 
After the first appearance of menstruation^ it is not uncommon for 
the second to be delayed for a considerable period, without the health 
in the least suffering; after its full establishment this can scarcely be the 
case. During the menstrual period, there is almost always some 
amount of irritation of the system, at least of an increased suscepti- 
bility to external impressions, and very often of increased tendency to 
hysterical affections; these facts always require to be kept in mind in 
the treatment of disease, and care taken that this does not interfere 
with the natural discharge, which, often in itself, proves no slight relief; 
indeed, there exists so strong a prejudice on this point among females 
themselves, that they will voluntarily stop a course of medicine at the 
time of their period. As is well known, menstruation is generally absent 
during suckling; its occurrence and recurrence, whilst this is going on, 
should be a signal for weaning, for not only is the double drain most 
hurtful to the maternal constitution, but the milk undergoes alteration, 
becomes more serous and less nutritious. 
Menstruation may he interfered with by causes from without, which 
check its development and throw it, as it were, back upon the system; 
or by causes from within, generally incipient disease, such as consump- 
tion or general debility. In the former case the stoppage is of the active, 
in the latter, of the passive character; in either case, the term amenor- 
rhsea is applied to the condition by medical men. (See Consumption, 
Debility. ) 
When menstruation in a healthy female is checked by external causes, 
such as cold, the whole system exhibits symptoms of oppression; there 
is probably fever, much headache, torpor, pain in the back, loins, etc., 
these symptoms being aggravated, and perhaps mixed up with hysteria, 
on the return of each menstrual period. In such cases, relief is best 
afforded by those measures which tend to relieve the overloaded system; 
free purgation by some of the more active pills, such as compound colo- 
cynth, or compound rhubarb, with or without calomel or blue pill, senna, 
jalap, etc., will be found of service; effervescing draughts or carbonate 
of potassa and tartaric acid may be tolerably freely taken; if there is 
much complaint of headache, or of pain in the lower bowels, leeches in 
the groins, or cupping at the bottom of the back will do good, but these 
must be used in the interval, not just at the return of the period, at 
which time, immersion of the feet and legs in. hot mustard and water, 
and hot hip baths will be most serviceable, the latter at the full heat of 
98°, and repeated nightly for a few times, the patient remaining in for 
twenty minutes. Until the restoration of the function the diet should be 
reduced, especially as regards animal food and stimulants, and walking 
exercise regularly taken for a considerable time every day. AIPNSTB UATION. 
859 
In amenorrlaea, or suppressed menstruation from constitutional 
causes, the reverse of all these measures recommended above will 
probably be requisite; in such cases, the secretion is not thrown back 
upon the constitution, but the constitution, from some cause, has not 
power to bring it forward; it is evident then, that remedial measures 
must not be so much directed to the inducement of the function, as to 
the amendment of the debilitated constitution and improvement of the 
general health ; for these purposes, the plan recommended under article 
Chlorosis will be generally applicable and to that the reader is referred. 
In any case of suppressed menstruation, medical attendance should 
be procured if possible, but especially so in the last mentioned form, 
when the secretion ceases without any appreciable cause, and the consti- 
tutional powers seem to be impaired; in such cases, the threatening of 
some disease of debility is to be dreaded, which may, if detected early, 
be nipped in the bud. It is repeated, in such cases a medical examina- 
tion cannot be too soon submitted to. Moreover, the distinction between 
suppressed menstruation with over-fulness, and that dependent upon 
debility, is not always clearly defined; such cases call for the most care- 
ful exercise of educated judgment. In cases of suppressed menstruation, 
the chance of pregnancy is, of course, to be kept in view; many mis- 
takes h<ive been made on this point. (See Pregnancy.) The time of 
life is, of course, to be considered, and the possibility of the secretion 
disappearing at an earlier age than common. 
In some cases of suppressed menstruation, what is called a vicarious, 
or compensating discharge, is sometimes established from the nose, the 
ears, the lungs, the stomach, etc., sometimes from an open ulcer. 
Painful menstruation, or dysmenorrhaa, is very common both 
among married and single, chiefly those of an irritable constitution, and 
of indolent habits. It causes much suffering; the subjects of it are less 
likely to become mothers, and often miscarry. As regards the cure of 
this painful disorder, it is not a matter for the unprofessional, it is gen- 
erally tedious and difficult, or it may be unattainable, even in the best 
hands. For the relief of the paroxysms of pain much may be effected. 
Dr. Ashwell says, "Let the patient, on the first premonition of pain, 
commence the use of the hot bath at 96° or 98°, and ordinarily remain 
in it for a half or three-quarters of an hour, repeating it three or four 
times in the twenty-four hours, and always guarding against the effects 
of cold, by keeping in a hot bed; so long at least, as to allow the skin 
to resume its natural temperature. When the pain is very severe, the 
bath may be continued until faintness is induced; and if it be inadequate 
for this purpose, then | a grain of ipecacuanha, or 15 drops of antimo- 
nial wine may be given every hour." Opiates give relief; 5 grains of 860 
MENSTP UATION. 
Dover's powder may be given twice or three times in the twenty-four 
hours, or 10 drops of laudanum, or 7 or 8 of Battley's solution at the 
same intervals. Anodyne suppositories are often of much service, or 
small warm injections containing 10 or 15 drops of laudanum; castor-oil 
being used if an aperient is requisite. 
Painful menstruation is often the result of undue exercise, and 
especially much standing, just before the menstrual period. Females 
who suffer much may greatly avoid the inconvenience by taking extra 
rest on the sofa, or in bed, before the occurrence. Chlorodyne in 20 
drop doses, repeated more or less frequently, will often allay the 
suffering. 
In the slighter cases of difficult and painful menstruation, the hot 
bran poultice may be substituted for the hip-bath. 
Profuse menstruation, or menorrhagia, like internal hemorrhage, 
may be either of an active or passive character. Many varieties of the 
affection are recognized, but it will be sufficient here to consider it under 
the above two general heads. Those advanced in life, are, as a general 
rule, most subject to the disorder. Constitutional tendency, and the 
influence of climate, both exert so much influence upon the freedom of 
the menstrual discharge, that they must not be lost sight of in the con- 
sideration of cases of menorrhagia; what in one person would be exces- 
sive, may be only natural in another, and the usual amount in a warm 
climate, would be accounted profuse in a cold one. Profuse menstrua- 
tion of an active character is most apt to occur in persons of full habit of 
body; and in such cases, within certain limits, may be considered, and 
allowed to go on, as a salutary relief. When, however, it becomes so 
free'as to tell distinctly upon the strength, medical assistance should be 
procured, a#d in the event of the case being a severe one, blood and 
clots being passed away in quantity, treatment similar to that recom- 
mended under the head of Abortion should be resorted to till proper 
aid can be obtained. Females liable to these attacks of profuse men- 
struation, if of full habit of body, ought in the interval to submit them- 
selves to medical treatment; animal food must be taken sparingly, stim- 
ulants avoided, early rising practised, and active exercise taken during 
the day; the bowels being attended to by cooling saline aperients; a 
teaspoonful of Epsom salts, with 15 drops of dilute sulphuric acid, taken 
every morning in £ a pint of water, will form a most suitable dose. Con- 
tinued and repeated active menorrhagia may end in the passive form. 
Passive menorrhagia is most general in persons of debilitated consti- 
tution, in whom every drop of blood is of consequence, and in whom 
the continued weakness resulting from the disorder, is very apt to lay the 
foundation of consumption, and other diseases of debility; such persons MENSTRUATION-MENTAL EXCITANTS. 
861 
ought always to be under the care of a medical man. In the event of a 
sudden attack, means very similar to those employed in the active form 
are to be at once resorted to, the strength being supported by strong 
animal broths, and, if there is much exhaustion, by stimulants. In the 
interval, these cases will require a strengthening tonic treatment, animal 
food and broths freely, wine or malt liquor, quinine and mineral acids, or 
tincture of iron, in 15 drop doses, twice a day. It is repeated, there 
are so many modifications and varieties both of cause and effect, in cases 
of menorrhagia, that medical advice cannot be safely dispensed with, 
and should be resorted to as soon as practicable. 
The decline of menstruation usually occurs, as already noticed, about 
thirty years after its first establishment. The period is, and always is, 
regarded by females themselves as a critical era in their lives. With 
the cessation of menstruation the capability of conception also ceases. 
Such an important change cannot take place without causing some consti- 
tutional disturbance; indeed, women themselves seem to think it a matter 
of necessity that they must have illness at this period. This is probably 
going too far, many do get over the change with comparatively trifling 
indisposition, and much of the disorder that does occur, may be traced 
to luxurious and artificial modes of life, perhaps also, to privation and 
overwork. However, disorder at the "change of life " is sufficiently 
common to make it a matter of expediency in all cases, of necessity in 
many, that the health should be carefully watched and any symptoms 
of disease at once attended to. As might be expected, irritations of the 
nervous system, hysterical, hypochondriacal, and even approaching 
insanity, are apt to occur; still more frequently, disorder, indicative of 
plethora, or over-fulness of blood, such as headaches, or apoplexy, spit- 
ting of blood, piles, etc.; or the individual becomes corpulent. (See 
Nervous Diseases, Melancholy, Hypochondriasis.) 
Lastly, cancerous diseases not unfrequently show themselves for 
the first time at the cessation of the menstruation. Moderation in 
diet, particularly in the use of animal food and stimulants, regu- 
lar and sufficient exercise, strict attention to the state of the bowels 
by means of the compound colocynth pill alone, or with blue pill, or by 
senna, castor-oil, or saline purgatives, are means which may safely and 
with benefit be carried out; on the occurrence of actual disorder or dis- 
ease, medical aid should be sought at once-any sudden attack being 
attended to according to its nature and under the directions given for its 
management in the proper place. (See Abortion, Hemorrhage, 
Puberty, Pregnancy, Chlorosis, etc.) 
MENTAL DEJECTION. (See Melancholy, Hypochondriasis.) 
MENTAL EXCITANTS. (See Excitants.) 862 
MENTAL EXERCISE. 
MENTAL EXERCISE, men'-tal [Lat. mens, mentis, the mind]. 
As, by disuse, muscle becomes emaciated, bone softens, blood-vessels 
are obliterated, and nerves lose their natural structure, so by disuse, 
does the brain fall out of its proper state, and create misery to its pos- 
sessor ; and as, by over-exertion, the waste of the animal system exceeds 
the supply, and debility and unsoundness are produced, so, by over- 
exertion, are the functions of the brain liable to be deranged and 
destroyed. The processes are physiologically the same, and the effects 
bear an exact relation to each other. 
As with the bodily powers, the mental are to be increased in magni- 
tude and energy by a degree of exercise measured with a just regard to 
their ordinary health and native or habitual energies. Corresponding, 
moreover, to the influence which the mind has in giving the nervous 
stimulus so useful in bodily exercise, is the dependence of the mind upon 
the body for supplies of healthy nutriment. And, in like manner with 
the bodily functions, each mental faculty is to be strengthened by the 
exercise of itself in particular. Every part of our intellectual and moral 
nature, stands, in this respect, exactly in the situation of the blacksmith's 
right arm, each must be exercised for its own sake. 
The fatal effects of the disuse of the mental faculties are strikingly 
observable in persons who have the misfortune to be solitarily confined, 
many of whom become insane, or at least weak in their intellects. It is 
also observable in the deaf and blind, among whom, from the non-em- 
ployment of a number of the faculties, weakness of mind and idiocy are 
more prevalent than among other people. This is indeed a frequent 
predisposing cause of every form of nervous disease. 
The loss of power and health of mind from imperfect or partial 
exercise of the faculties, is frequently observable in retired merchants, 
in annuitants, in the clerks of public offices, and in tradesmen, whose 
professions comprehend a very limited range of objects. There is no 
class, however, in whom the evil is more widely observable than in those 
females, who, either from ignorance of the laws of exercise, or from 
inveterate habit, spend their lives in unbroken seclusion, and in the per- 
formance of a limited range of duties. All motive is there wanting. No 
immediate object of solicitude ever presents itself. Fixing their thoughts 
entirely on themselves, and constantly brooding over a few narrow and 
trivial ideas, they at length approach a state little removed from insanity. 
In general, the education of such persons has given them only a few 
accomplishments, calculated to afford employment in one or two of the 
minor powers of the mind, while all that could have engaged the reflect- 
ing powers has been omitted. 
On the other hand, excessive exercise of the lyrain, by propelling too MENTAL EXERCISE. 
863 
much blood to it, and unduly distending the vessels, is equally injurious 
with its disuse. And not only are fatal effects to be apprehended from 
undue mental task-work, but also from that constant stretch of the mind 
which attends an unduly anxious and watchful disposition. 
It is in large cities that this unintentional kind of self-destruction is 
most conspicuously exemplified. To spend six to nine hours at a time in 
business, without food or relaxation, is not only not uncommon, but an 
almost universal practice, among many: during which time they are 
never, to use an expressive phrase, off the stretch. Upon a stomach 
enfeebled by exhaustion, they then lay the load of a full meal, 
which perfect leisure would hardly enable them to digest. But. far 
from waiting to digest it, they have no sooner laid down knife and 
fork, than away they must once more rush to business-not perhaps will- 
ingly, for nature tells them that it would be decidedly agreeable to rest; 
but then business must be attended to. 
If nature were to punish the daily transgression by the nightly suffer- 
ing, we should find few who, for the sake of pecuniary gain, would thus 
expose themselves to misery. But unfortunately she runs long accounts 
with her children, and like a cheating attorney, seldom renders her bill 
till the whole subject of litigation has been eaten up. Paralysis at fifty 
comes upon the victim, and either hurries him off to that prison from 
which there is no liberation, or leaves him for a few years organically 
alive to enjoy the fruits of his labors. 
It ought to he universally known, that the uses of our intellectual 
nature are not to be properly realized without a just regard to the laws 
of that perishable frame with which it is connected; that, in cultivating 
the mind, we must neither overtask nor undertask the body, neither 
push it with too great speed, nor leave it neglected; and that, notwith- 
standing this intimate connection and mutual dependence, the highest 
merits on the part of the mind will not compensate for muscles mis- 
treated, or soothe a nervous system which severe study has tortured into 
insanity. 
To come to detail, it ought to be impressed on all, that to spend more 
than a moderate number of hours in mental exercise diminishes insen- 
sibly the powers of future application, and tends to abbreviate life; that 
no mental exercise should be attempted immediately after meals, as the 
processes of thought and of digestion cannot be safely prosecuted 
together; and that, without a due share of exercise to the whole of the 
mental faculties, there can be no soundness in any, while the whole cor- 
poreal system will give way beneath a severe pressure upon any one in 
particular. (See Labor, Exercise, Occupation, Health, Excitants, 
Recreation, Travelling, Health Resorts, Longevity.) 864 
MENTHA PIPER ITH-MERCURY, ETC. 
MENTHA PIPERITA, men -tha pi-per'-i-te, or peppermint, an herb 
belonging to the Nat. order Labiates. It is a native of Europe, but is 
extensively cultivated in this country. The whole plant is used in 
medicine. It is a powerful diffusible stimulant, antispasmodic and car- 
minative, and is used in colic, hysteria, flatulence, spasms or cramps in 
the stomach, to check nausea and vomiting, and to disguise the taste of 
other medicines. Dose: of the fluid extract, 1 to 2 teaspoonfuls; of the 
infusion, 2 to 4 fluid ounces; of the essential oil, 1 to 5 drops; of the 
essence, to 1 teaspoonful, as often as found necessary. (See Infusion.) 
MENTHA VIRIDIS, men-tha vir'-i-dis, or spearmint, a plant 
belonging to the Nat. order Labiataz. It is a native of Europe, but is 
extensively cultivated in this country. It is aromatic, carminative, anti- 
spasmodic and stimulant. It is employed in flatulence and to relieve 
the pain of colic, and considered a specific in allaying nausea and vomit- 
ing. The fluid extract is beneficial in high color or scalding urine, 
difficult passage of the urine, etc. The tincture has been found service- 
able in gonorrhoea, strangury, gravel, and as a local application to pain- 
ful piles. Dose: of the fluid extract, 1 to 3 teaspoonfuls; the infusion, 
1 to 4 fluid ounces; the oil, 2 to 5 drops. (See Infusion.) 
MERCURIAL OINTMENT, mer-ku'-re-al [Lat. mercurialise called 
also blue ointment, is made by thoroughly incorporating together 1 
pound of mercury, 1 pound of prepared lard, and 1 ounce of prepared 
suet. It is used externally, either as a local or constitutional remedy. 
It is a popular local application in many parts of the country, in itch, 
but its liability to produce salivation renders it inferior to sulphur or car- 
bolic acid in this disgusting affection. Its use under any circumstances 
requires great caution. (See Mercury.) 
MERCURY, QUICKSILVER, OR HYDRARGYRUM, mer'-ku-re 
[Lat. mercurius, after the god], symbol Hg. (hydrargyrum), equivalent 
100, spec. grav. at-40Q Fahr. 13.39, at 60° Fahr. 13.59. Mercury is 
one of the seven metals known to the ancients, and is, with the excep- 
tion of bromine, the only element fluid at ordinary temperatures. It is 
found in nature in the form of cinnabar or sulphide, in the clay-slate and 
red sandstone underlying the coal-measures. The most famous cinnabar 
mines are those of Almaden, in Spain; Idria, in Transylvania; and 
New Almaden, in California. It is also found in large quantities 
in Australia, China, and Japan, and at Huancavelica, in Peru. Mercury 
also occurs native as an amalgam with gold and silver, as an iodide, and 
as horn-mercury, or subchloride. The economic uses of mercury are 
numerous. With many metals it forms a pasty mass, termed an amal- 
gam. An amalgam of two parts of zinc and four parts of mercury is 
used to give a partially metallic surface to the rubbers of frictional electric MERCURY, ETC. 
865 
machines. Mercury freezes into a malleable mass at-40°, and boils at 
about 660° Fahr. When pure, it is not tarnished by exposure to the air, 
and does not decompose water at any temperature. Heated in a current 
of air to 700° or 800°, it becomes gradually converted into the red oxide. 
Strong nitric acid dissolves it readily, nitrate of mercury and deutoxide 
of nitrogen being formed. Mercury forms two chlorides-the sub- 
chloride, or calomel, Hg2Cl, and the protochloride, perchloride, or 
corrosive sublimate, HgCl. These two compounds are often mentioned 
in old text-books as the protochloride and bichloride of mercury respec- 
tively. The chloride or corrosive sublimate is an exceedingly powerful 
and acrid poison. Its antidote is white of egg, with which it forms an 
insoluble compound. With oxygen it forms three oxychlorides. Mer- 
cury forms three iodides-the green, or subiodide, Hg.,1, formed by 
triturating 278 grains of iodine with 1 ounce of mercury; the protiodide, 
Hgl, made by precipitating a solution of corrosive sublimate with iodide 
of potassium; and an unimportant intermediate iodide. Mercury forms 
several nitrates. It will be only necessary to mention two-the sub- 
nitrate, Hg2O.NO6, prepared by acting on excess of mercury with nitric 
acid in the cold; and the nitrate, IIgO.NOg, prepared by dissolving mer- 
cury in excess of nitric acid by the aid of heat. Mercury forms two 
oxides-the black, or suboxide, Hg2O; and the red, or oxide, HgO, both 
of which form salts with acids. The suboxide is obtained by sublimating 
finely levigated calomel with solution of potash or soda, and washing the 
black precipitate with cold wTater. The red oxide may be made by 
exposing metallic mercury to a current of air at 700°, or more readily by 
decomposing the nitrate by heat. There are several sulphates of mer- 
cury, the most important of which is IIgO.SO3, formed by heating 20 
ounces by weight of mercury with 12 fluid ounces of sulphuric acid, in a 
porcelain vessel, till only a dry white salt remains. 
Mercury furnishes some of the most important agents used in medical 
practice, among which may be particularly mentioned blue pill, grey 
powder, calomel, red precipitate, blue ointment, and corrosive sub- 
limate. 
Quicksilver itself has been much used in medical practice, not as a 
medicinal, but as a mechanical agent, in obstruction of the bowels; as 
much as a pound being administered at once, under the idea that its 
mere weight in passing through the bowels would overcome the stoppage. 
The practice has been abandoned. 
In the forms of blue pill and of grey'powder, mercury, according to 
some, exists merely in a state of minute division, but is most generally 
thought to be in a state of low oxidation. The former of these prepara- 
tions is made by rubbing up metallic mercury in certain definite 866 
MERCURY, ETC. 
proportions, with conserve of roses and liquorice root powder, until the 
mercury disappears, or as it is often expressed, is "killed," the entire mass 
assuming the well-known grayish-blue color. Grey powder is similarly 
made by rubbing the mercury with chalk. These two forms are mild, 
but effective, and most useful preparations; the blue pill for adults, the 
grey powder for children, or where very gentle action only is required, 
it being milder than blue pill. It should be remembered in giving gray 
powder, that if given in preserve or treacle, the acid meeting with the 
chalk, gives rise to effervescence. (See Blue Pill, Grey Powder.) 
Calomel is a compound of mercury and chlorine, and is a much more 
powerful preparation than either of the above; it occurs in lumps, but is 
generally met with and sold in the form of a heavy white powder with a 
slight tinge of yellow. It is often adulterated. Dose: as an alterative, 
£ a grain ; as a purgative, 3 to 5 grains. 
Red precipitate is an oxide of mercury, and should be in the form of 
brilliant red, somewhat glistening scales. It is often adulterated with 
red lead, which has a much duller appearance. 
The administration of mercury in various diseases being noticed 
when the diseases themselves are treated of, the reader is referred to the 
proper articles. 
The constitutional affection, hy means of mercury, known also as mer- 
curialism, or salivation, is not a state to be lightly induced, and without 
good reason, by a medical man; never by an unprofessional person, 
except in an extreme and acute case. The first symptoms of the consti- 
tution being affected by mercury, or of approaching salivation, is a sense 
of fulness and tenderness of the gums, the teeth feel, as it were, elon- 
gated, and the person cannot bite any firm substance, such as a crust, as 
well as usual; coincident with these symptoms, the breath acquires a 
peculiar fetor, which once smelled, cannot be forgotten, and the gums, if 
examined, are seen to be slightly swollen, and of rather a purple hue. 
If the medicine be now stopped, or given only in very small quantity, 
the constitutional indications do not become more developed; but if the 
medicine be gone on with as usual, the gums become much more swollen 
and tender, the tongue and glands around the jaws inflame and swell and 
there is continued flow of fetid saliva from the mouth. At the same 
time, there is much constitutional irritation-mercurial fever, as it is 
called-and, altogether, the individual under the action is in a most 
miserable condition. Mercurial action is not unfrequently induced by 
persons continuing to take, inadvertently, aperient pills, which contain 
small doses of the medicine.- When these are prescribed by a medical 
man for a temporary occasion, warning should always accompany the 
prescription. (See Salivation.) ALEP C UP Y, ETC. 
867 
When mercurial preparations are given in small doses, they exert an 
inappreciable - what is called ' ' alterative ' ' - action in improving the 
quantity and quality of various secretions. For this purpose, a grain of 
blue pill, or a couple of grains of grey powder, may be given twice in the 
twenty-four hours. Of all the organs on which mercurials exert their 
effects, the liver is. most obviously affected; small alterative doses 
stimulate gently the flow of bile, and improve its quality if impaired; 
larger doses stimulate more actively, bringing down the bile freely, and 
carrying it through the bowels with a purgative action. This is more 
obviously the case when the liver has been in an overloaded condition; 
then, a dose of mercurial, even a small one, opens, as it were, the flood- 
gates, and the rapid descent of bile, often in an acrid condition, causes 
diarrhoea, with severe griping. When mercurials are given with other 
medicines not purgatives, it is generally in doses which will not purge, 
for, should that occur, the desired action is interfered with. When mer- 
curials are given in frequent and not very small doses, either in inflam- 
matory cases, or for the purpose of affecting the constitution, it is usual 
to combine with them small quantities of opium, a quarter of a grain in 
each dose, to check the purgative effect, or, as it is expressed, to prevent 
the mercury from running off" by the bowels. 
As an alterative, the doses of mercurials are, blue pill 1 grain, grey 
powder 2 grains, calomel £ grain; as a purgative, blue pill from 5 to 8 
grains, grey powder 6 to 10 grains, calomel 3 to 5 grains. When mer- 
cury is given to act specially upon the liver, it is better given according 
to the Abernethy plan-that is, uncombined at night, and followed by 
a dose of liquid purgative, black-draught, castor-oil, or the like, in the 
morning. In this way the mercury is able to exert its full effect upon 
the liver, whereas, if combined with a purgative at first, it is hurried 
through the bowels too quickly to do this. 
In some persons, mercurials produce a state of great nervous irrita- 
tion; in others, they cause deadly sickness and faintness. Children 
generally bear mercurial medicines well, in doses which are large when 
compared with those of adults. It is almost impossible to salivate a 
child-indeed, in most, it is quite so. The stools occasioned by the 
purgative action of mercurials, especially in children, are generally of a 
dark olive-green. 
Poisoning rang be occasioned by any of the preparations of mercury, 
but corrosive sublimate is the most frequent agent of the class by which 
it is produced. This substance occurs in the form of a heavy, crystalline 
powder, and has a strong metallic taste. Three grains would be a dan- 
gerous, if not a fatal dose. Of course, in such a case, medical assistance 
should be got with all speed, but, fortunately, the most effectual antidotes 868 
MERCURY, ETC.-MESENTERY. 
are generally within easy reach; these are the white of eggs, given 
mingled with a little water, or if this cannot be had at once, thick flour 
and water, or milk-free vomiting being, at the same time, encouraged 
by ipecacuanha, if at hand, or by a feather in the throat. The white of 
egg must not be given to freely; for, if in excess, the good effects of a 
sufficient smaller quantity are neutralized. If the quantity of the poison 
given be known, the white of one egg may be given for every three 
grains. Accidental poisoning, even by the mildest of the mercurials, 
may arise in consequence of violent constitutional affection, owing to 
peculiar susceptibility. Such cases are most frequent in children, and 
are usually accompanied with severe affection of the mouth and mortifi- 
cation of the cheeks, gums, etc.; they generally occur in weak constitu- 
tions, and the best antidotes are wine, strong animal broths, bark, or 
quinine, with 2-drop doses of muriatic acid every six or eight hours. 
Such cases must be put under medical superintendence. 
Slow poisoning by mercury is apt to occur in those-such as looking- 
glass silverers, etc.-who are much in contact with the metal in their daily 
occupations. They become liable to a peculiar shaking or mercurial 
palsy, which compels them to abandon their occupations; the same 
symptoms occur in those employed in quicksilver mines. 
Furriers are apt to be affected with mercurial poisoning, owing to 
their using preparations of mercury, to dress the fur. The oxide of 
mercury and solution of the nitrate of mercury are used for this purpose. 
Mercurial, or blue ointment, is prepared in a somewhat similar way 
to blue pill or grey powder. (See Mercurial Ointment.) • 
A sulphuret of mercury constitutes the well-known pigment, ver- 
milion. 
Powders containing grey powder, calomel, etc., and indeed, heavy 
powders generally, should either be simply placed on the tongue, or 
given in some thick vehicle; but a teaspoonful of milk answers very 
well for the administration of grey powder to children. Calomel,, in a 
thin liquid, such as tea, etc., sinks at once to the bottom and probably 
is not swallowed. (See Blue Pill, Grey Powder, Plummer's Pill, 
Salivation, 'etc. ) 
MESENTERIC, mez-en-ter'-ik [Lat. mesentericus'], a term applied to 
parts connected with the mesentery, as the mesenteric glands, mesen- 
teric artery, etc. (See Mesentery.) 
MESENTERY, mez'-en-ter-e [Gr. mesos, middle, and enteron, intes- 
tine], is a duplicature of the peritoneum, or membrane lining the cavity 
of the abdomen. It is attached to the vertebrae of the loins, and serves 
to support the intestines, and to afford safe lodgement to blood-vessels, 
lacteals, nerves, etc. It consists of three parts-the mesentery properly ALESENTEE Y-AEESMEIHSAL 
869 
so called, connecting the small intestines, the meso-colon attached to the 
colon, and the meso-rectum to the rectum. (See Mesenteric.) 
MESMERISM, nez-mer-izm [Fr. mesmerisme], a term generally 
applied to the phenomena of animal magnetism, and so called after the 
name of its first propounder, Mesmer, who lived in the latter part of the 
eighteenth century. Up to the present day the phenomena of mesmer- 
ism have not been satisfactorily accounted for; but originally it was 
supposed that an analogy really existed between the action of the 
mineral magnet and human energy. 
Animal magnetism-an incorrect, but convenient phrase-may be 
described as a power which a stronger is supposed to be able to exert 
over a weaker person, or a healthy over a diseased, whereby, through a 
mere exertion of the will in some cases, but more generally by this 
means accompanied by stroking with the hands, the former throws the 
latter into a state of sleep. During this state certain peculiar sensations 
are experienced, which arise from nervous excitement, and may have 
good effects upon the health of the patient. The progressive sensations 
which characterize the mesmeric state have been thus classified by Kuge, 
a German philosopher: the first degree, called waking, presents no 
remarkable phenomena. The intellect and the senses still retain their 
usual powers and susceptibilities. In the second degree, called half- 
sleep, or the imperfect crisis, most of the senses still remain in a 
state of activity, that of vision only being impaired, the eye withdrawing 
itself gradually from the power of the will. In the third degree, called 
the magnetic or mesmeric sleep, the senses often refuse to perform their 
respective functions, and the patient is unconscious. In the fourth 
degree, called simple somnambulism, or the perfect crisis, the patient is 
said to wake as it were, within himself, and his consciousness returns. 
In the fifth degree, called lucidity, or lucid vision, the patient is placed 
in what is called the state of self-intuition. In France, and in this coun- 
try generally, this state is called clairvoyance ; in Germany, Ilellsehen. 
When in this state, he is said to have a clear knowledge of his own 
internal mental and bodily state, is enabled to calculate with accuracy 
the phenomena of diseases which will naturally and inevitably occur, 
and to determine what are their most appropriate and effectual remedies. 
In the sixth degree called universal lucidity, the lucid vision, possessed 
in the former degree, extends to all objects, near and distant, in space 
and time. Many persons, however, who practise mesmerism are skepti- 
cal with regard to the existence of the two last degrees, although such 
cases are recorded by the best authorities on the subject. M. Reichen- 
bach, a distinguished German chemist, gave a more scientific aspect to 
the phenomena of animal magnetism, by stating that he had discovered 870 
MESMERISM-METRIC SYSTEM. 
a new force in nature, called the Od force, or Odyle. He regarded this 
as a peculiar force in nature, the presence of which could only be 
detected by persons of a highly susceptible nature. 
Electro-biology is only another form which the public exhibition of 
animal magnetism has assumed. Sleep is produced by making persons 
gaze for a certain length of time on a piece of money, which is placed in 
the hand. In susceptible individuals this produces a kind of cataleptic 
sleep, in which they exhibit all the phenomena of the mesmeric state. 
(See Catalepsy.) 
METALS. (See Gold, Silver, Iron, Copper, Mercury, Lead, 
Tin, Antimony, Zinc, Bismuth, Arsenic, Manganese, Potassium, Sodium, 
Barium, Calcium, Magnesium.) 
METASTASIS, me-tas'-ta-sis [Gr. methdstemi, I transfer], is the 
sudden transference of a diseased action from one part of the body to 
another; as when a cutaneous eruption is suddenly checked by exposure 
to cold, and the disease attacks a deep-seated part; or, in gout, where 
the disease suddenly shifts from the foot to the stomach, or some other 
internal part. 
METRIC SYSTEM, me'-trik [from the Gr. metron, a measure], 
described by the late Charles Sumner, as "a system of weights and 
measures born of philosophy rather than of chance." In the metric 
system everything is weighed, thus obviating the difficulties met with in 
the shape of adhesion, refraction and evaporation. A fixed quantity was 
selected as the basis of the system, viz.: the ten-millionth part of the 
earth's quadrant from the Equator to the North Pole, and denominated 
a metre or the unit of length. The cube of the tenth part of the metre 
was taken as the unit of measures of capacity and denominated litre. 
The weight of distilled water, at its greatest density, which this cube could 
contain was called a kilogramme, and the thousandth part of the kilo- 
gramme was adopted as the unit of weight and called a gram, or gramme. 
The multiples of these measures, proceeding in the decimal progression, 
are distinguished by employing the prefixes deca, hecto, kilo, and myria, 
taken from the Greek numerals; and the subdivisions, following the 
same order, by deci, centi, and milli, taken from the Latin numerals. 
The Greek prefixes increase, and the Latin prefixes diminish the value. 
The metre, or unit of length at 32° = 39.371 inches, at 62°. 
The litre, or unit of capacity = 61.028 cubic inches. 
The gramme, or unit of weight = 15.434 Troy grains. 
In Medicine we are interested in the gramme alone, for both pre- 
scribing and dispensing are best done by weight. Keeping in view the 
prefixes, in the same way that we say dime, cent, mill, we say deci- 
gramme, centigramme, milligramme, and decagramme, hectogramme, METRIC SYSTEM-MICROSCOPE. 
871 
and kilogramme. As in money, the whole system is reduced to dollars 
and cents, so in prescribing, it is practically reduced to grams and centi- 
grams. As in business paper an upright line separates the dollars and 
cents, so in the prescription paper, a perpendicular line from top to 
bottom will separate the grams and centigrams. This line takes the 
place of decimal points, thus: 
gr.i, or one grain = 06 
9 i, or one scruple = 1 25 
3 i, or one dram = 4 
3 i, or one ounce = • 32 
A teaspoonful represents 5 grams, and a tablespoonful 20 grams, for 
the former holds 1| fluid drams, and the latter a trifle more than four 
times as much. The metric system is already legalized in both this 
country and England. Surgeon-General Woodworth has directed all 
medical officers of the Marine Hospital service to make use of it, and 
many of the most prominent physicians in our large cities and towns 
are taking advantage of its simplicity and security. Doubtless the time 
will soon come when it will be in universal use on this continent. (See 
Weights and Measures, Medical Signs.) 
MIASMA. (See Malaria, Ague, etc.) 
MICROSCOPE, mi'-kro-skope [Gr. mikros, little, and skopeo, to view]. 
This well-known instrument, which enables us to examine structures far 
too minute to be even visible to our unassisted vision, has done, and is 
doing much every day, to render the practical applications of medicine 
more exact. Many of the conditions of the urine are appreciable only 
by the aid of this invaluable instrument; the nature of tumors, often a 
matter of serious import, when their removal by surgical operation is the 
question, is by it, in many cases, determined, in a way that no other 
means of discrimination could admit of; many other instances might be 
cited; in fact, a medical practitioner cannot now be considered to avail 
himself of every resource of his calling, unless he uses the microscope. 
In medico-legal investigation, it proves of the ^highest service; stains 
which, without the use of the microscope, could only be doubtfully dis- 
tinguished, are by it so exactly discriminated as to afford foundation 
for sworn evidence. As a rational and highly instructive means of 
amusement, every family should possess a microscope. 
Its application to medical science.-It may reasonably be doubted if 
any of the great improvements, or additions to our means of investi- 
gating the nature of disease, can take rank with the introduction of the 
microscope. Many diseases before unknown are now familiar as house- 
hold words; and many also of which our knowledge was formerly very 
obscure, are now by its means thoroughly understood and capable of 872 
MICROSCOPE. 
being scientifically treated. Perhaps the relation of a few instances will 
do more than anything else to illustrate the benefit we have derived 
from the microscope in various ways. 
We will suppose an obscure and difficult case, where the patient has 
repeated attacks of vomiting of blood. A drop of that blood being 
placed under the microscope, is found to contain cancer cells. Now the 
causes of vomiting of blood are so numerous and complicated that no 
one but a medical man can have any idea of the satisfaction afforded to 
his mind by the certain and positive knowledge thus afforded as to the 
exact nature of the disease. Or, take the same case in another light. 
The patient complains of the same symptoms, and the same test is 
applied. This time, however, to the patient's dismay, it is ascertained 
beyond the possibility of doubt, that the blood shown is not human 
blood, but that of some one of the lower animals, and he is at once 
accused of feigning disease with, perhaps, some object in view. Again, 
a patient is suffering, perhaps, from indigestion weakened with intolera- 
ble depression of spirits and other symptoms, which require to be felt to 
be described, and which have been treated by ordinary methods in vain. 
A drop of his urine is placed for examination under the microscope. A 
new light is immediately thrown upon his case, and the appropriate 
remedy prescribed with the result of a speedy restoration to health. 
In no way has the microscope proved of more value to medical men 
than in enabling them to examine with precision and accuracy into the 
various conditions of the urine and kidneys which constitute the affec- 
tion called Bright's disease. Indeed, so remarkable is the advantage 
derived in treating the kidneys from an examination of the urine that 
medical men can tell their condition all through the course of the disease, 
and can foretell before death, almost the exact state in which those 
organs will be found in fatal cases. 
In affections of the stomach or bowels, the microscope is very valua- 
ble in enabling us to ascertain the nature of vomited matter, if there be 
such. Pus and cancer cells and fibres, on being found, enable us to 
speak with great comparative confidence as to the nature of the disease. 
Animal, or vegetable parasites may be discovered, or merely some func- 
tional error, or fault of digestion detected. The examination of the 
nature of the sputum in lung diseases is of the highest importance. 
In this way cancer, consumption, simple inflammatory disease, or inflam- 
matory disease connected with some special local irritant, as we find in 
miners and many other trades, may be successfully discriminated, and 
treated accordingly. 
After a patient has had to submit to a painful operation, it may be 
for the removal of a tumor, the question is often anxiously asked of the MICE 0 SC OPE-MILIAR Y 
873 
surgeon-Is there no danger of its recurrence? Now this is a question 
which, by the aid of the microscope in enabling us to examine the tumor, 
we are in a much better position than formerly to answer with an 
approach to certainty, and we can thus give much more definite and 
valuable information to friends and relations as to the probability of 
other members of the same family being affected by the same disease. 
A consideration of these remarks will also show of what importance 
the microscope may be made in the examination of diseased tissues after 
death; in fact it may be said that it is almost mainly to this method 
that we look for the means of extending our knowledge of disease upon 
a scientific basis, and that even now such important discoveries are being 
made as seem likely to introduce a new era into the practice of medicine 
and pathology. 
Another way in which the use of the microscope may be said to be of 
value to all classes of people is in the readiness with which, by means of its 
aid, the fraudulent tricks of dishonest tradesmen, in adulterating food, can 
be detected. For instance, arrowroot, which, when genuine, is very expen- 
sive, is often adulterated with large quantities of potato starch, the 
grains of which when viewed under the microscope, present characteris- 
tics which at once, and with the greatest ease, distinguish them from 
those of other starch. Numerous other instances might be mentioned, 
where the tricks of trade are at once exposed by its means. It is com- 
forting also to think that now-a-days, when diseased meat is so common 
in our markets (and from all accounts likely to become much more so), 
many forms of parasitic disease can be discovered even by very low 
microscopic powers, and in the hands of any tyro. 
The discovery of the dependence of several hitherto unknown dis- 
eases of the human frame upon the presence of animal, or still more fre- 
quently of vegetable parasites, has led to an efficiency of treatment 
consisting in the destruction of the parasite which is followed by an 
immediate cure of the distressing symptoms. This alone, had we derived 
no other benefits from its use, would entitle the workers with the micro- 
scope to our lasting gratitude. Favus or scald-head, and ringworm of 
the scalp might be cited as examples. 
MIDDLE STATES, CLIMATE OF. (See Climate.) 
MIDRIFF, mid'-rif. The diaphragm. (See Diaphragm.) 
MIDWIFERY. (See Childbed, Parturition.) 
MILFOIL. (See Yarrow.) 
MILIARY, mil'-ya-re [Lat. milium, millet}, an eruption, consisting of 
numerous very minute vesicles, which is apt to appear intermixed with 
other eruptive diseases, but particularly in cases where persons have 
been perspiring very much, or kept too hot in illness. Miliary eruption 874 
MILIAR Y-MILK. 
on the skin used to be very common in women after childbirth, in times 
when it was the custom to keep them much too hot, and to stimulate. 
(See Skin.) 
MILK, milk [Ang.-Sax. meolc, mile], the nutrient fluid secreted by 
mammiferous animals for the sustenance of the young, through the 
agency of the peculiar mammary glands provided for the purpose, is the 
only material throughout the range of organization prepared by nature 
expressly and solely for food ; moreover, it contains within itself all that 
is requisite in food to maintain in health, and to build up the frame of 
a living animal. The milk of animals generally is characterized by 
certain general properties and constituents, although it varies much in 
the proportions of the latter it contains. In this article, attention must 
be confined to the peculiar nature of the milk of the human female, and 
to that of the cow; asses' milk has been already noticed. When milk is 
examined under the microscope, it is found to consist of numberless 
minute spherical globules which are suspended or float in a serous fluid. 
From these globules, which are of various sizes, milk derives its opaque 
whiteness; consequently, when it is diluted with water, and the fluid 
increased in proportion to the globules, the rich whiteness of pure new 
milk is destroyed, and the liquid assumes a more or less bluish or 
semi-transparent appearance. These globules principally consist of the 
oleaginous, fatty, or creamy portion of the milk, but they also contain 
curd or caseine; this constituent, however, chiefly exists in a state of 
solution, in the serous or fluid portion of the liquid, along with the 
sugar and salts, chiefly phosphates of lime and magnesia, with potash 
and a small proportion of iron. 
Thus we have milk consisting of-Cream, its oily or fatty constituent 
in the form of globules, which are suspended in water, which holds in 
solution, curd or caseine, in combination with salts; phosphate of lime, 
and of magnesia, with potash and iron, and also sugar of milk. 
The latter ingredient is not present in the milk of carnivorous animals 
as long as they are fed on flesh solely, but appears, if they are made to 
eat a portion of vegetable food. In the milk of the cow, the proportions 
of curd, of cream, and of sugar-that is, of the caseous, oleaginous and 
saccharine ingredients-are about equal; in human milk, the saccharine 
and oleaginous constituents are proportionally greater than the curd. 
This milk is less opaque and thinner in appearance than cow's milk, and 
is most nearly approached in composition by that of the mare and ass. 
Fresh milk is alkaline, has an average specific gravity of 1.030, and 
when good, is at first perfectly homogeneous; after standing, the light 
oily particles separate and float in greater or less proportion at the top 
of the fluid, in the well-known form of cream. If the milk be kept some MILK. 
875 
time-more quickly in a warm situation-lactic acid is formed by a pro- 
cess of fermentation, and the curd separates, souring or curdling takes 
place. Various modes and instruments have been employed for testing 
the quality of milk as to richness, etc. The addition of a small quantity 
of carbonate of soda to milk retards its souring and curdling, if it be 
requisite to keep it longer than usual. 
The milk which is first secreted-formed-after the birth of the young, 
varies from any that succeeds it, particularly in possessing a purgative 
property which acts beneficially upon the bowels of the offspring. In 
the cow, this first, or green milk or colostrum, is very nutritive and con- 
tains much curd of a peculiar nature, which is coagulable by heat, like 
the albumen of egg. On this account, it is used in the country parts of 
England under the name of beastings, for making a kind of custard pud- 
ding. The first milk, or colostrum, of the human female, is thin and 
serous-looking. This first milk or colostrum in animals generally, if 
examined under the microscope, exhibits an intermixture of larger and 
different globules from those of ordinary milk. 
It is perhaps needless to remark, that upon the health of the being 
or animal by which milk is afforded, the nutritive properties and whole- 
someness of the fluid depend; in the case of mothers, therefore, who are 
decidedly unhealthy, or the subjects of any disease, scrofulous or other- 
wise, it is better for their offspring that they should not be nursed by 
them; and even in the case of the healthy mother, this secretion is so 
liable to be affected and deteriorated by irregularities in diet, by emo- 
tions of the mind and by medicine taken, that the greatest care, as all 
mothers well know, is requisite to prevent such causes and effects being 
accidentally originated. (See Children, Nurse, etc.) 
Cow's milk is so largely used as an article of diet (see Food), that its 
purity and goodness, especially in large towns, become a matter of much 
importance. 
In addition to the modifications which milk undergoes in the hands 
of the dealer, there are those due to the condition of the animal. The 
pasturage, the supply of water, temperature, all influence the state of 
the milk as regards quality and nutritive power. Its wholesomeness 
depends upon the period after calving-milk not being in good condi- 
tion for three weeks or a month after this occurrence-upon the health 
of the cow, upon its food, and upon the condition of the place in which 
it is kept. It is notorious, that in many large towns, the mode in which 
extensive dairies of cows are, or have been lodged and fed, is disgusting 
-most unwholesome for the animals, and therefore for those who use 
their milk, very many of the cows being diseased, consumptive and stim- 
ulated to the last with fermenting brewers' grains. 876 
MILK-MILK FEVER. 
As an article of diet, milk is for the generality of persons most 
wholesome, for children especially, of whose food it ought to form in 
some mode or other a large proportion; less heating than animal food, 
it is equally nutritious. 
Some persons, both children and adults, find new milk too rich, but 
can take it after the oily cream has been removed by skimming, or if it 
is diluted with water, or boiled. The addition of from one-third to 
one-half lime-water, will often cause milk to sit more lightly on the 
stomach. 
The mixture of equal parts of soda water and milk forms a nutritive 
drink which agrees well with many persons when suffering from illness, 
in some cases of exhausting disease it will be taken when perhaps, no other 
form of nourishment is possible. Hot milk, slightly sweetened, to which 
an equal part of soda water is added, forms an admirable night draught 
in incipient cold, when stronger remedies are unnecessary, or even in 
addition to them. 
~When milk is taken largely without other food, there is risk of the 
formation of a mass of solid indigestible curd in the stomach, which 
may cause much uneasiness, and at times in children, even alarming 
symptoms; its expulsion by vomiting is the usual means of relief. Some 
persons cannot take milk without suffering from stomach disorder and 
headache, and others, who suffer from chronic chest affections, find its 
use aggravate the symptoms. It need scarcely be added, that except in 
these peculiar cases, milk, and milk preparations, form one of the most 
valuable resources in the dietetic treatment of the sick. Many invalids 
derive much benefit from the use of milk warm from the cow in the early 
morning; in some cases, a small quantity of black pepper, or a tea- 
spoonful of rum or brandy, is added to the teacupful of milk with advan- 
tage. 
The whey, which is the serous portion of the milk, freed from the 
curd and a portion of the cream, is light, nutritious and aperient, and is 
perhaps too much neglected as a beverage; the same remark applies to 
butter-milk, which is freed from the cream, but retains the curd. (See 
Breast, Cheese, Cream, Caseine, Children, Food.) 
MILK-CRUST. (See Impetigo.) 
MILK FEVER [Lat. febris lactea\, an aggravated ' form of the 
excitement which takes place at the onset of lactation. 
Causes.-The cause may be a cold, or over-heating the apartment, 
too stimulating a diet, or any obstruction to the flow of milk from the 
breast. 
Symptoms.-Its first symptoms are increased heat of the system, 
preceded by shivering, and sometimes accompanied with vertigo and MILK FEVER-MILKSICKNESS. 
877 
slight delirium; these are followed by severe headache, thirst, dry 
tongue, quick pulse, throbbing of the temples, and intolerance of light. 
Treatment.-The treatment should be spare diet, perfect tranquillity, 
subdued light, cooling drinks, and saline aperient medicines; the head 
should be kept somewhat elevated, and bathed with cold water or evap- 
orating lotions. If the symptoms should become worse in spite of this, 
apply 6 or more leeches to the head, and put the feet in a warm mustard 
bath. Most lying-in women have more or less of this fever, which is 
no doubt an effort of nature to rouse ^he hitherto dormant mammary 
organs to secrete a proper quantity of milk; if, however, it is not 
checked, the febrile action runs too high, and no milk at all is secreted. 
MILK FOK INFANTS. (See Cookery for the Sick, Child.) 
MILK-LEG, PHLEGMASIA DOLENS, swelled-leg, or white- 
leg, as it is sometimes named, is one of the most troublesome of the 
disorders which are apt to follow childbirth. It is inflammation of the 
veins connected with the lower extremity. 
Symptoms.-The symptoms of milk-leg may commence within the 
first two or three days after delivery, or not for some weeks. There is 
more or less fever, and the parts about the groin and thigh feel hot, stiff, 
and painful; swelling commences, and extends over the whole limbs, 
which, however, does not change color, being perhaps paler or whiter 
than usual; at this time the pain is often very severe. After a time, 
these symptoms are ameliorated, but the limb remains-for a long time 
-swollen, painful, and comparatively useless. 
Treatment.-This, it need scarcely be remarked, is a disease which 
requires proper medical assistance as soon as possible; in the meantime, 
leeches and fomentations and poultices to the parts about the groin and 
thigh, will be at once the best and the most soothing treatment; the 
bowels being regulated either by mild aperients or injections, and opium 
given if the pain becomes severe; for this purpose 10 grains of Dover's 
powder may be given at bed-time. Blisters are often used, but as 
troublesome ulcerations are sometimes apt to form, their application 
should be left to medical judgment. Continued friction with simple oil 
is of much service. During convalescence, bandaging, friction, the salt 
water douche, and strengthening remedies and diet will be requisite, 
but these must be left to the regulation of the medical attendant. 
MILK OF LIME. (See Calcium.) 
MILK PUNCH. (See Cookery for the Sick.) 
MILK-SICKNESS, a peculiar disease prevailing at times to a great 
extent among the horses and cattle in some of the States in the Missis- 
sippi valley, as well as in Georgia and North Carolina. It owes its name 
to the fact that it is communicated to man by using the milk of animals 878 
MILK-SICKNESS.-MINERAL WATERS. 
affected with it. Butter made from such milk and the flesh of the dis- 
eased animal are even more poisonous than the milk itself. 
Cause.-It is supposed to be caused by the animal having eaten of 
the leaves of the Eupatorium Ageratoides, or white snake root, an 
indigenous plant, resembling very much, when young, the common 
nettle. 
Symptoms.-The disease is ushered in by a feeling of languor and 
prostration of both the physical and mental powers, followed, in a short 
time, by burning pain in the stomach, nausea, vomiting, dry hot skin, 
injected eyes, and intense thirst. Some cases are marked by a peculiar 
odor emanating from the skin. 
Treatment. -An emetic, 10 to 20 grains of ipecacuanha, or the same 
quantity of sulphate of zinc, and in case these are not at hand, mustard 
and water or salt and water, should be promptly administered, followed 
in a short time by a full dose of castor-oil. If the stomach will not 
retain the oil, resort must be had to purgative injections to relieve the 
bowels. 
To relieve the intense thirst, cold water, or better still, if procurable, 
small pieces of ice may be given internally, and to mitigate the pain, 
leeches may be applied to the stomach followed by warm linseed meal 
poultices. The internal administration of bear's oil is said to be effec- 
tual in this strange disease, and when this cannot be had, sweet oil will 
be found nearly, if not quite, as efficacious. 
Great caution is required during convalescence, as the least error in 
diet, or exposure to the weather or over-exertion will cause a relapse 
that may prove fatal. 
MILK TOAST. (See Cookery for the Sick.) 
MILK-WEED. (See Asclepias. ) 
MILT. (See Spleen.) 
MIND, mind [Lat. mens, mentis}, the immaterial part of our exist- 
ence-exerts so marked, so powerful an influence over the conditions of 
our bodily health, that it makes the tone of the mind a weighty consid- 
eration in forming an opinion respecting the ultimate issue of many 
cases of disease. This subject is treated as fully as our limits will 
allow in the article Disease. (See Disease, Fear, Nostalgia.) 
MINDERERUS, SPIRIT OF. (See Ammonia). 
MINERAL ACIDS. (See Acids.) 
MINERAL WATERS, min-er-al [Fr. mineral}. Mineral waters are 
waters holding in solution certain mineral substances not found in 
ordinary pure water. They may be arranged in six divisions, viz: 
1. Acidulous. 2. Alkaline and carbonated. 3. Iron or chalybeate. 
4. Sulphur. 5. Saline. 6. Silicious. MINERAL WATERS. 
879 
1.-Acidulous Waters. 
They belong to such as contain a free acid other than carbonic acid; 
are comparatively rare; useful in diseases characterized by an alkaline 
condition of the secretions. The following is the analysis of two of these: 
OAK ORCHARD SPRINGS-(New York.) 
Gaseous contents. 
In a wine gallon. 
Free Sulphuric Acid 
Solid contents. 
Sulphate of Lime 
" 39.60 
Protosulphate of Iron 
" 14.32 
Sulphate of Alumina 
" 9.68 
Sulphate of Magnesia 
" 8.28 
Silica 
" 1.04 
Organic Extractive Matters 
" 3.28 
Total 
76.20 
[Chilton. 
ROCKBRIDGE ALUM SPRING-(Virginia.) 
Gaseous contents. 
In a wine gallon. 
Free Sulphuric Acid, 
Solid contents. 
grains 15.224 
Carbonic Acid 
grains 7.536 
Sulphate of Potassium 
" 1.765 
Sulphate of Calcium 
" 3.263 
Sulphate of Magnesium 
" 1.763 
Protoxide of Iron 
" 4.863 
Alumina 
" 17.905 
Crenate of Ammonium 
" 0.700 
Chloride of Sodium 
" 1.008 
Silica 
" 2.840 
Total 56.867 
2.-Alkaline and Carbonated Waters. 
These contain an excess of carbonic acid, either in the form of gas 
or as carbonates of iron, lime, magnesia and soda. Their chief use is in 
the treatment of dyspepsia and chronic affections of the kidneys and 
bladder, especially in those cases where there is a tendency to the forma- 
tion of calculi. They should not be used in scrofulous cases, nor when 
there is marked debility present, as they tend to impoverish the blood. 
The following are the principal waters of this class: 
Gaseous contents. 
In a wine pint. 
Carbonic Acid 
Solid contents. 
cubic inches 4 
Carbonate of Soda 
grains 4 
Carbonate of Magnesia 
" 5 
Carbonate of Lime 
" 3 
Chloride of Sodium 
" 17 
Total 29 
[Bergmann. 
SELTZER-(Germany.) 880 
MINERAL WATERS. 
In 1,000 parts by weight. 
Water 992.572 
Gaseous contents. 
Carbonic Acid 0.983 
Solid contents. 
Carbonate of Sodium 4.971 
Carbonate of Calcium 0.349 
Carbonate of Magnesium 0.084 
Carbonate of Iron 0.012 
Chloride of Sodium..., 0.570 
Sulphate of Sodium 0.472 
Silica 0.073 
Total 7.514 
VICHY-{France.) 
LEBANON SPRINGS-{New York.) 
Gaseous contents. 
Temperature 72° F. 
In • wine gallon. 
Oxygen 
Nitrogen 
Carbonic Acid 
Sulphydric Acid 
Solid contents. 
Sulphuret of Sodium 
Carbonate of Soda 
Sulphate of Potash 
Chloride of Sodium 
Carbonate of Lime 
Sulphate of Magnesia.... 
Alumina 
Oxide of Iron 
Silicic Acid . •.. 
„ zi ) Glairine 
Org. Com. I „ 
) Baregme.... 
cubic inches 2.00 
" " 3.50 
" " 0.50 
traces. 
6.00 
grains 0.02 
" 2.41 
" 1.04 
" 0.96 
" 4.05 
" 1.06 
" 0.45 
" 0.94 
" 3.25 
" 0.75 
" 0.47 
Total 
15.40 
[Dussance. 
SWEET SPRINGS-{Virginia.') 
Gaseous contents. 
Temperature 73° F. 
In a wine quart. 
Uaroonlc Acid. 
Solid contents. 
Sulphate of Magnesia, 
Muriate of Soda, 
grains 12 to 15 
Muriate of Lime, 
Sulphate of Lime, 
Carbonate of Magnesia, 
Carbonate of Lime, 
Silicious Earth, 
grains 18 to 24 
grains to 1 
Total ...... 
30X to 40 MINERAL WATERS. 
881 
GETTY SBURG-(Pennsylvania.) 
Solid contents. 
In an Imperial gallon. 
Bicarbonate of Sodium, ) 
Bicarbonate of Lithium, ) 
Bicarbonate of Potassium 
a trace 
Bicarbonate of Magnesium 
44 
76.05 
Bicarbonate of Calcium 
u 
81.00 
Bicarbonate of Iron 
a trace 
Sulphate of Calcium 
44 
53.20 
Silica 
44 
10.00 
Total 
.266.30 
This water, 'on account of the lithia it contains, has been used with 
benefit in rheumatism and gout, and also in cases of indigestion. 
BETHESDA.-(Wisconsin.) 
The following is the analysis of the celebrated Bethesda water of 
Waukesha, Wisconsin, which has acquired some reputation in the treat- 
ment of diabetes, and Bright's disease of the kidneys. 
Solid contents. 
Chloride of Sodium 
Sulphate of Potassa 
Sulphate of Sodium 
Bicarbonate of Lime 
In a wine gallon. 
grains 1.160 
" 0.454 
" 0.542 
" 17.022 
Bicarbonate of Magnesia 
" 12.388 
Bicarbonate of Iron 
" 0.042 
Bicarbonate of Soda 
" 1.256 
Phosphate Soda 
a trace. 
Alumina 
" 0.122 
Silicia 
" 0.741 
Organic Matter 
" 1.983 
Total 35.710 
[Prof. Chandler. 
3.-Iron or Chalybeate Waters 
owe their properties to iron, in combination generally with carbonic acid; 
and as this is usually in excess, they are often acidulous as well as chaly- 
beate. The metal is found also in the form of a sulphate, but the 
instances of this are very rare. 
Chalybeate waters have a styptic or inky taste; they are, when newly 
drawn, transparent, and strike a black with tincture of nutgalls; but 
an ochrey sediment, a hydrated peroxide of iron, soon falls, and the water 
loses its taste. If the iron be in the state of sulphate and hydro- 
chlorate, however, no sediment falls; and the black color is produced 
by the above test even after the water has been boiled and filtered. 
They are powerful tonics, and employed in dyspepsia, scrofulous 882 
MINERAL WATERS. 
affections, cancer, suppression of the menses, green-sickness, and the 
other diseases of debility for which the artificial preparations of iron 
are used. They should not be employed by corpulent persons, nor by 
those having a tendency to apoplexy, nor in inflammatory affections of 
any of the internal organs. The following are the principal waters in 
this class: 
TUNBRIDGE WELLS.-{England.) 
Solid contents. 
In a wine gallon. 
Chloride of Sodium 
grains 
2.46 
Chloride of Calcium 
CC 
0.39 
Chloride of Magnesium 
CC 
0.29 
Sulphate of Lime 
CC 
1.41 
Carbonate of Lime 
<C 
0.27 
Oxide of Iron 
2.22 
Manganese, Silica, etc 
IC 
0.44 
Loss 
•c 
0.13 
Total 
.7.61 
. [Scudamore. 
Gaseous contents. 
In a wine pint. 
Carbonic A.cid 
Solid contents. 
cubic inches 
2.5 
Sulphate of Iron 
grains 
1 80 
Sulphate of Lime 
a 
4.00 
Chloride of Sodium 
1.53 
Chloride of Magnesium 
(I 
0.75 
Silica 
« 
0.14 
Loss 
g 
019 
Total 
. .8.41 
[Makcet. 
BRIGHTO N.-{England.) 
CHELTENHAM.-{England.) 
Chalybeate Spring. 
Gaseous contents. 
In a wine pint. 
Carbonic Acid 
cubic inches 2.05 
Solid contents. 
Carbonate of Soda 
.grains 0.5 
Sulphate of Soda 
" 22.7 
Sulphate of Magnesia 
" 6 
Sulphate of Lime 
" 2.5 
Chloride of Sodium 
. 
" 41.3 
Oxide of Iron 
" 0.8 
Total 
73.8 
[Brande & Parkes. MINERAL WATERS 
883 
BE DFO RD.-(Pennsylvania.) 
Anderson's Spring. 
Gaseous contents. 
Temperature 55° F. 
In a wine gallon. 
Carbonic Acid 
Solid contents. 
cubic inches 74 
Sulphate of Magnesia 
. 
grains 80 
Sulphate of Lime 
" 14.5 
Chloride of Sodium 
" 10 
Chloride of Calcium 
" 3 
Carbonate of L ime 
" 8 
Carbonate of Iron 
Total 
" 5 
120.5 
[Dr. Church. 
The water of the Bedford Spring, on account of the large proportion 
of sulphate of magnesia, is exceedingly useful in those cases where a 
laxative and tonic effect are required, as in chronic liver complaint, con- 
stipation, and enlarged spleen. 
SCHOOLEY'S MOUNTAIN.-(New Jersey.) 
Solid contents. 
Muriate of Soda 
Temperature 50° F. 
In a wine pint. 
grains 0.43 
Muriate of Lime 
(I 
2.40 
Muriate of Magnesia 
. 
'4 
0.50 
Carbonate of Lime 
7.99 
Sulphate of Lime 
a 
0.65 
Carbonate of Magnesia ... 
0.40 
Silica 
a 
0.80 
Carbonate of Iron 
u 
2 00 
Extractive 
U 
0.92 
Loss 
a 
0.41 
Total 
.16.50 
BALSTON SPA.-{New York.) 
Solid contents. 
Chloride of Sodium 
Bicarbonate of Soda 
Temperature 50° F. 
In a wine gallon. 
grains 
143.733 
12.66 
Bicarbonate of Magnesia .. 
44 
39.10 
Carbonate of Lime 
44 
43.407 
Carbonate of Iron 
44 
5.95 
Iodide of Sodium 
44 
1.30 
Silica 
44 
1 
Total 
.247.15 
[Steel. 
Sans Souci Spring. 
There is an excellent chalybeate spring also at Sharon, New York, 
and the alum springs of Virginia contain iron in combination with alum. 
The following is the analysis of the water of the magnetic mineral 
spring at Sparta, Wisconsin: 884 
MINERAL WATERS. 
SPARTA.-(Wisconsin.) 
Magnetic Mineral Spring. 
Solid contents. 
In a wine gallon. 
Carbonate of Iron 
Carbonate of Magnesia 
" 4.03101 
Carbonate of Lime 
" 0.40202 
Carbonate of Strontia 
" 0.01402 
Carbonate of Baryta 
" 0.00600 
Carbonate of Manganese 
" 0.00072 
Carbonate of Soda 
" 0.21030 
Carbonate of Lithia 
" 0.02400 
Carbonate of Ammonia 
" 0.00210 
Sulphate of Soda 
" 2.21430 
Sulphate of Potassa 
" 0.64130 
Sulphate of Lime 
" 0.18020 
Chloride of Calcium 
" 0.60502 
Chloride of Sodium 
. 
" 0.14301 
Iodide of Sodium 
" 0.00014 
Phosphate of Soda 
" 0.06400 
Phosphate of Alumina 
" 0.06080 
Silica 
" 0.28000 
Hydric Sulphide 
" 0.00340 
• 
Total 
23.21735 
4.-Sulphur Waters. 
Sulphureous waters derive their character chiefly from sulphuretted 
hydrogen gas, which in some of them is uncombined, while in others it 
is united with lime or an alkali. They are transparent when newly 
drawn from the spring, and have the foetid odor of rotten eggs, which 
is gradually lost by exposure to the air, and the water becomes turbid. 
When they are strongly impregnated with the gas, they redden infusion 
of litmus; and even in a weak state, they blacken silver and lead. 
Besides containing sulphuretted hydrogen gas, they are not unfrequently, 
also, impregnated with carbonic acid. They generally contain chloride 
of magnesium, or other saline matters, which modify their powers as a 
remedy. 
They are resorted to chiefly for the cure of cutaneous eruptions, and 
are applied locally as well as drunk. They are slightly sudorific, purga- 
tive, and diuretic, and are apt to occasion in some patients headache 
of short duration directly they are drunk. They are also employed for 
curing visceral and scrofulous obstructions, torpor of the intestines, and 
some dyspeptic and hypochondriacal cases, and also rheumatism, gout, 
clergyman's sore throat, and piles. The following list includes the prin- 
cipal sulphur waters: MINERAL. WATERS. 
885 
AIX-LA-CHAPELLE.-(Germany.) 
Gaseous contents. 
Temperature 110° to 143° F. 
In a wine pint. 
Sulphuretted Hydrogen... 
Cubic inches 5.5 
Solid contents. 
Carbonate of Soda 
grains 12 
Carbonate of Lime 
" 4.75 
Chloride of Sodium 
" 5 
Total 
21.75 
[Bergman. 
HARROWGATE, OLD WELL.-(England.) 
Gaseous contents. 
In a wine gallon. 
Sulphuretted Hydrogen 
cubic inches 14 
Carbonic Acid 
" " 4.25 
Nitrogen 
" " 8 
Carburetted Hydrogen 
" " 4.15 
Total 
30.40 
Solid contents. 
Chloride of Sodium grains 752 
Chloride of Calcium " 65.75 
Chloride of Magnesium " 29.2 
Bicarbonate of Soda " 12.8 
Total 859.75 
Gaseous contents. 
Sulphuretted Hydrogen 
Carbonic Acid 
Oxygen 
Nitrogen 
Temperature 62a F. 
In a wine gallon. 
cubic inches 2.5 
" " 2 
" " 1.448 
" " 3.552 
Total 
9.5 
WHITE SULPHUR.-(.Virginia.') 
Solid contents. 
In a wine pint. 
Sulphate of Magnesia 
Sulphate of Lime 
Carbonate of Lime 
Chloride of Calcium 
Chloride of Sodium 
Oxide of Iron 
grains 5.588 
" 7.744 
" 1.150 
" 0.204 
" 0.180 
Loss . 
Cl 
0.410 
Total 
15.276 
[Prof. Rogers. 
RED SULPHUR.-(Virginia.) 
Gaseous contents. 
Sulphuretted Hydrogen.... 
Carbonic Acid 
Nitrogen 
Temperature 54° F. 
In an imperial gallon. 
cubic inches 4.54 
" •' 8.75 
" " 4.25 
Total 
17.54 
Solid contents. 
Sulphate of Soda, 
Sulphate of Lime, 
Sulphate of Magnesia, 
Carbonate of Lime, 
uriate of Soda, 
In 32 Cubic inches. 
.grains 1.25 
[Prof. Rogers. 886 
MINERAL WATERS. 
UPPER BLUE LICK.-{Kentucky} 
Gaseous Contents. 
Sulphuretted Hydrogen 
Carbonic Acid 
In a wine pint, 
.cubic inches 1.024 
. " " 6.016 
Total 
7.040 
Solid contents. 
Carbonate of Lime grains 3.1327 
Carbonate of Magnesia " 0.0179 
Sulphate of Lime " 5.5166 
Sulphate of Potassa •' 1.6216 
Chloride of Sodium " 64.5670 
Chloride of Potassium " 0.2246 
Chloride of Magnesium " 4.7157 
Bromide of Magnesium " 0.4760 
Iodide of Magnesium " 0.0195 
Alumina, Phosphate of Lime and Peroxide of Iron " 0.2458 
Silicic Acid " 0.1252 
Loss " 1.8596 
Total 82.5222 
DEEP FOREST BLUE SULPHUR.-(Indiana.) 
Solid contents. 
In a wine gallon. 
Chloride of Sodium 
grains 
57.60 
Chloride of Magnesium 
CC 
24.36 
Chloride of Calcium 
cc 
15.70 
Chloride of Potassium 
CC 
1.28 
Bromide of Magnesium 
trace 
Sulphate of Soda 
cc 
11.9 
Sulphate of Magnesia 
cc 
14.40 
Sulphate of Lime 
Cl 
21.88 
Phosphate of Lime 
il 
.25 
Sulphate of Calcium and Magnesia 
.95 
Bicarbonate of Soda 
cc 
5.84 
Carbonate of Soda 
IC 
Bicarbonate of Magnesia 
cc 
9.08 
Bicarbonate of Lime 
c < 
20.10 
Silicic Acid or Alumina 
cc 
2.10 
Organic matter 
2.25 
Carbonic Acid 
cc 
Total... 
.187.69 
Also Iron in abundance. 
[I. G. Phole. 
SHARON SPRINGS.-(New York.) 
Gaseous Contents. Temperature 48° F. 
In a wine gallon. 
Sulphuretted Hydrogen 
cubic inches 20.5 
Solid contents. 
Bicarbonate of Magnesia 
grains 24.0 
Sulphate of Magnesia 
" 34.0 
Sulphate of Lime 
" 85.4 
Hydrosulphate of Magnesia and Lime 
" 3.0 
Chloride of Sodium and Magnesium ... 
" 2-7 
Total 
149.1 
White Sulphur. MINERAL WATERS. 
887 
Other efficient sulphur waters are found at Avon, New York; Bladon 
Springs, Alabama; and Hot Springs, Arkansas; and also in several 
parts of the State of Florida. 
5.-Saline Waters. 
Saline waters comprise those which contain a sufficient amount of 
neutral salts to give them a marked, and generally a purgative operation. 
The salts most usually present are the sulphates and carbonates of lime, 
magnesia, and soda, and the chlorides of calcium, sodium, and mag- 
nesium. Iodine and bromine have been found in a few saline springs; 
and some of them contain carbonic acid and iron, which might entitle 
them to be classified, respectively, with the carbonated or chalybeate 
waters. They are employed with benefit in chronic rheumatism and 
gout, and all diseases of a scrofulous character, and also in dyspepsia, 
accompanied with torpor of the bowels. 
Solid contents. 
Carbonate of Soda 
Sulphate of Soda 
Chloride of Sodium 
Carbonate of Lime 
Silica 
Animal matter 
Temperature 90° to 144° F. 
In a wine pint. 
grains 2.16 
" 2.33 
" 1.25 
" 0.50 
" 1.33 
" 1.50 
Total 
9.07 
PLOMBIERES.-(France.) 
Solid contents. 
Carbonate of Lime 
Temperature 165Q F. 
In a -wine pint. 
grains 4.15 
Sulphate of Soda 
" 41.51 
Chloride of Sodium 
" 5.33 
Carbonate of Soda 
" 11.76 
Lithia 
a trace. 
Total 
62.75 
CARLSBAD.-(Bohemia.) 
SEIDLITZ.-(Bohemia.) 
Solid contents. 
In a wine pint. 
Sulphate of Magnesia 
grains 180 
Sulphate of Lime 
" 5 
Carbonate of Magnesia 
" 2.5 
Carbonate of Lime 
. . . 
" 0.8 
Chloride of Magnesia 
" 4.5 
Total 
192.8 
CHELTENHAM.-(England.) 
Saline Spring. 
Solid contents. 
In a wine pint. 
Sulphate of Soda 
grains 15 
Sulphate of Magnesia 
" 11 
Sulphate of Lime 
« 4.5 
Chloride of Sodium 
" 50 
Total 
80.5 888 
MINERAL WATERS. 
BAT H.-(England.) 
Gaseous Contents, 
nnrhnnip Ap.iri 
Temperature 100e to 106° F. 
In a wine pint. 
cubic inches 
1.2 
Solid contents. 
Carbonate of Lime... . 
grains 
0.8 
ftnlnlmln. nF Sndn. 
u 
1.4 
RiilnBatp nF TJmp. 
u 
9.3 
kJ UI IJlldLC vl • • • • • 
Chloride of Sodium 
u 
3.4 
Silica * » * - * - * * * • • 
« 
0.2 
Total 
15.1 
FRIEDRICHSHALL BITTER WATER.- (Germany.') 
The celebrated Liebig, writing of this bitter water, says : ' ' The chlo- 
rides of sodium and magnesium, and bromide of magnesium, which the 
bitter water of Friedrichshall contains, places it amongst the most effica- 
cious in Europe, and I regard this spring as a real treasure." 
It is an excellent digestive, acting, not only on the stomach itself, 
but also on the abdominal organs. It increases the biliary secretions, 
as is shown by the dark color of the evacuations, and also the quantity 
and solid ingredients of the urine, particularly the excretion of the urea. 
It increases the appetite, and by promoting the solution of'the food 
facilitates its assimilation. It is used with marked advantages in dis- 
eases of the digestive organs, constipation, in gout, gravel, affections of 
the respiratory organs, prolonged nervous and mental prostration and 
scrofula. Its effects in chronic inflammation of the womb are said to 
be very beneficial. It should be taken immediately on rising in the 
morning. The following is Baron Liebig's analysis: 
Gaseous Contents. 
Free Carbonic Acid 
In 100 parts. 
0.4020 
In 16 ounces. 
5.322 gr. 
Solid contents. 
Sulphate of Soda 
6.0560 
46.510 gr 
Sulphate of Potash 
0.1982 
1.523 " 
Sulphate of Magnesia 
5.1502 
39.553 " 
Sulphate of Lime 
1.3465 
10.341 " 
Chloride of Sodium 
7.9560 
61.102 " 
Chloride of Magnesium 
3.9390 
30.252 
Bromide of Magnesium 
0.1140 
0.875 " 
Carbonate of Magnesia 
0.5198 
3.993 " 
Carbonate of Lime 
0.0147 
0.113 " 
Silicious Earth .... 
Oxide of Iron 
Argillaceous Earth. 
Salts of Ammonia. 
Organic Matter .... 
Traces 
Totals... 25.2944 194.262 gr. MINERAL WATERS. 
889 
APOLLINARIS WATER.-{Germany.) 
Gaseous contents. 
In 10,000 parts. 
Free and semi-combined Carbonic Acid.. 
27.76 
Combined Carbonic Acid 
• 
8.07 
Total 
35.83 
Solid contents. 
Carbonate of Soda -. 12.57 
Chloride of Sodium 4.66 
Sulphate of Soda 3.00 
Phosphate of Soda traces 
Salts of Potash traces 
Carbonate of Magnesia 4.42 
Carbonate of Lime .- 0.59 
Oxide of Iron, with Alumina 0.20 
Silicic Acid 0.08 
Total 25.52 
HUNYADI JANOS.- {Hungary.) 
Gaseous contents. 
Free and semi-combined Carbonic Acid 
Solid contents. 
Sulphate of Magnesia 
In 10,000 parts of the water. 
5.226 
225.514 
Sulphate of Soda 
223.500 
Bicarbonate of Soda 
6.760 
Bicarbonate of Strontium 
0.270 
Bicarbonate of Oxide of Iron 
0.006 
Bicarbonate of Lime 
7.967 
Sulphate of Potash 
1.206 
Chloride of Sodium •. 
17.048 
Bilicious Earth 
0.106 
Total .. 
482.377 
SARATOGA.-{New York.) 
Gaseous contents. 
In a wine gallon. 
'Carbonic Acid 
cubic inches 311 
Atmospheric Air 
" " 7 
Total 318 
Congress Water. 
Solid contents. 
Chloride of Sodium grains 385 
Iodide of Sodium " 3.5 
Bicarbonate of Soda " 8.982 
Bicarbonate of Magnesia ' " 95.788 
Carbonate of Lime " 98.098 
Carbonate of Iron " 5.075 
Silica " 1-5 
Bromide of Potassium a trace. 
Total 597.943 
[Steel. 890 
MINERAL WATERS. 
SARATOGA.-(Union Spring.) 
Gaseous contents. 
Carbonic Acid 
In a wine gallon. 
cubic inches 314.16 
Atmospheric Air 
'. " " 4.62 
Total 318.78 
Solid contents. 
Chloride of Sodium grains 243.620 
Carbonate of Magnesia " 84.265 
Carbonate of Lime " 41.600 
Carbonate of Soda " 12.800 
Carbonate of Iron " 5-452 
Iodide of Sodium, or Iodine " 3.600 
Silica and Alumina " 1.570 
Bromide of Potassium a trace. 
Total 392.907 
[J. R. Chilton. 
Sea water may be regarded as one of the saline mineral waters. Sea 
bathing is undoubtedly one of the most efficient methods of treatment 
in scrofulous diseases. The following is the analysis of sea water as found 
in the English Channel: 
SEA WATER.-(English Channel., 
In 1000 grains. 
Water grains 964.744 
Chloride of Sodium " 27.059 
Chloride of Potassium " 0.765 
Chloride of Magnesium " 3.667 
Bromide of Magnesium " 0.029 
Sulphate of Magnesia " 2.295 
Sulphate of Lime " 1.407 
Carbonate of Lime, " 0.033 
Total nearly 1000.000 
6.-Silicious Waters. 
These mineral waters are extremely rare, and in those hitherto dis- 
covered, the silica appears to have been dissolved by means of soda. 
The most remarkable of these are the boiling springs of Geyser, in 
Iceland, of which the following is the analysis, as given by Black: 
Solid contents. 
In a wine gallon. 
Soda 
grains 5.56 
Alumina 
" 2.80 
Silica 
" 31.50 
Muriate of Soda 
" 14.42 
Sulphate of Soda 
" 8.57 
Total 
62.85 MINERAL WATERS-MOLECULE. 
891 
Mineral waters frequently fail in accomplishing any good in the treat- 
ment of disease, from the fact that they are taken too much at haphazard. 
No care is manifested in the selection of cases nor in the choice of water. 
No regularity is observed in the quantity taken nor in the intervals 
between the doses. No change is made in the diet, nor any precaution 
used as to exercise. These are all important points, and the patient who 
would derive benefit from a course of mineral waters, either at home, or 
at the springs, must observe the same care as during any other mode of 
treatment. As a rule, only chronic cases are benefited by mineral 
waters, and the treatment, if possible, should be begun in the summer. 
(See Health Resorts, Climate, Health, Lithontriptic, etc.) 
MINERS, DISEASES OF. (See Colliers, Diseases of.) 
MINIM, miri-im [Lat. minimum, the least], is the smallest recog- 
nized measure of capacity, being the 60th part of a fluid dram. It does 
not weigh exactly a grain, as the fluid dram weighs only 54.7 grains. 
It takes the place of that very variable measure, a drop, and may be said 
to correspond to a drop of distilled water. (See Dose, Weights and 
Measures.) 
MINNESOTA, CLIMATE OF. (See Climate.) 
MISCARRIAGE. (See Abortion.) 
MIXTURES, mikst'-yurz [Lat. mistura; misceo, mixtus to mix], are 
medicinal compounds in the fluid form; they may be simply composed of 
various liquids mingled together; they may be solutions, or they may 
contain insoluble powders, as in the case of chalk mixture, iron mixture, 
etc. In the latter cases, the addition of gum or of gum mucilage, is 
useful to prevent the powder subsiding as rapidly as it otherwise will 
do; but as it will not prevent this altogether, care should always be 
taken to shake up the sediment in any liquid medicine. In mixtures 
which are likely to be kept for some time, especially in warm climates, 
all saccharine matters should be excluded, to avoid fermentation; if this 
precaution is neglected, the bottles will certainly be burst. In forming 
mixtures with light powders especially, such as magnesia, ipecacuanha, 
etc., and indeed with any powders, it must be done in a mortar, adding 
at first only a very small proportion of fluid. If much water is used at 
first, the mixture can never be completely and properly effected. (See 
Household Medicines.) 
MOCCASIN ROOT. (See Cypripedium Pubescens.') 
MOIST TETTER. (See Impetigo.). 
MOISTURE. (See Damp.) 
MOLECULE, mol'-ekule [Fr.], a term used in Chemistry to denote 
the smallest portion of any chemical substance that can exist alone; an 
atom being the smallest particle of an element that can exist in a com- 892 
MOLECULE-MONSEE S SOLUTION. 
pound body as a mass indivisible by chemical forces. Molecular attrac- 
tion, or molecular forces, is used to denote the attraction or forces by 
which molecules are drawn or held together. 
MOLES, molze [Ang.-Sax. mal], as they are often called, "false 
conceptions," have seldom, if ever, any connection with an impregnated 
condition of the womb, and arise from causes quite apart from this state. 
The popular idea that these formations are the result of conception 
requires correction, for it might lead to most erroneous and distressing 
aspersions on character. 
MOLES ON THE SKIN, a mark on the skin, usually brown, and 
sometimes covered with hair. Moles are usually present from birth, 
and though sometimes unseemly, they are better left alone, as when 
irritated they are apt to occasion greater mischief. 
MOMARDICA, mo-mar'-de-kq, is the name of a genus of the Nat. 
order Cucurbitaceas. M. alterium is the squirting cucumber, which by 
some is made Ecbalium officinarum. It is a perennial native of Greece 
and the south of Europe, flowering in June and July. The fruit is 
gathered for medicinal use in September, before it is quite ripe. The 
fruit is cut lengthwise, and the juice lightly pressed out. It is then 
strained through a hair sieve and set aside to deposit. Carefully pour 
off the supernatant liquor, pour the sediment on a linen filter and dry it 
on porous tiles, with a gentle heat. This is elaterium, a powerful hydra- 
gogue cathartic, acting chiefly on the intestinal exhalants. It is useful 
in producing copious water discharges in dropsy. Dose, to | grain. 
MONKSHOOD. (See Aconitum Napellus.) 
MONOMANIA, mo-no-ma'-ne-q [Gr. monos, single, and mania, mad- 
ness], a species of insanity. Disordered or erroneous persuasions of the 
mind on one subject. The disease may occur either as acute or chronic, 
and take any form-suicidal, homicidal, etc., and may lead to incen- 
diarism or theft, to religious melancholy, or to the most absurd ideas and 
acts. (See Insanity, Hypochondriasis, Melancholy.) 
MONOTROPA UNIFLORA, mo-not'-ro-pq yu-ne-jio'-rq, or ice- 
plant, known also by the more common names of fit-plant and Indian 
pipe, is a singular plant belonging to the Nat. order Ericaceae. It is a 
native of the Northern and Middle States. The root is tonic, sedative 
and antispasmodic, and is sometimes used as a substitute for opium in 
nervous irritability. In St. Vitus's dance and epilepsy, and especially 
in the convulsions of children, it has been used with success. The 
dose of the powdered root is from to 1 dram, two or three times a 
day. 
MONSEL'S SOLUTION, mori-slz so-lu-shun. Persulphate of iron 
is styptic and haem astatic. It possesses the advantages over other salts MONSEES SOLUTION-MORNING AIR. 
893 
in being less irritant and more astringent, and is peculiarly adapted to 
cases of hemorrhage from surfaces in which it is especially desirable to 
avoid irritation. This solution has been recommended as an efficacious 
styptic in hemorrhage from the stomach and bowels. As an antiperi- 
odic, it has been employed with signal benefit in several cases of inter- 
mittent fever, where quinia had failed, and even produced unpleasant 
effects. Dose, 5 to 15 drops. 
MONSTER, mon'-stur [Lat. m.onstrum\, is applied to any creature 
whose formation deviates in some remarkable way from the usual for- 
mation of its kind. (See Deformity.) 
MONTHLY DISCHARGE. (See Menstruation.) 
MOOR-WART, BROAD-LEAVED. (See Andromeda.) 
MOOSE WOOD. (See Dirca Palustris.) 
MORBID GROWTHS, mor'-bid [Lat. morbidus; morbus, a disease; 
mors, death]. These may consist of structures which naturally form 
part of the body, or which are quite foreign to it in a healthy state; they 
may be owing to mal-secretion by the cells of the structure, or to a supply 
of unhealthy material by the blood. Their nature is commonly deter- 
mined by the structures in which they are found; thus they resemble 
serous membrane in the pleura, cartilage in the joints, and muscle in the 
uterus. 
One of the most common of the morbid growths is fat, which 
is often deposited in situations where it seriously obstructs the formation 
and passage of the secretions, the course of the circulation, or some 
other organic function necessary to a healthy state of existence: hence 
we have atrophy, internal ulceration, softening of the bones, and other 
dangerous results. These, with calculi, or stone in the bladder; albu- 
men and sugar in the urine, constituting Bright's disease; ossification 
of the heart, and calcareous degeneration of the muscles, are all owing 
to morbid growths which may be termed natural; those of an unnatural 
structure generally arise from a morbid state of the blood itself, -the 
ulceration of whose constituent elements causes the formation of cells in 
the parts nourished by the blood, differing from those of the natural 
shape and character; if the mischief is confined to the particular struc- 
ture first affected, we call the morbid growth non-malignant; but if it 
extends to the surrounding structures, pursues the course of the absorb- 
ents, and attacks the lymphatics, then it is malignant deposit. We have 
an example of the former in tubercle; this occurs in scrofulous sub- 
jects ; and of the latter in that fearful disease, cancer. (See Tubercle, 
Cancer. ) 
MORBUS COXARIUS. (See Hip-Joint Disease.) 
MORNING AIR. (See Air.) 894 
MORPHIA, OR MORPHINE-MORTALITY. 
MORPHIA, OR MORPHINE, mor'-fe-a [from Gr. morpheus, the 
god of sleep], an alkaloid discovered in opium in combination with a 
peculiar acid termed meconic. It is in morphine that the narcotic prin- 
ciple of opium resides. Its medical salts are: the acetate, prepared by 
adding to 4 parts of morphine, dissolved in 8 parts of distilled water, 
acetic acid of the specific gravity of 1.075, until the mixture gives a 
slight tinge of red to litmus paper; the solution is then evaporated to 
dryness, and the salt reduced to a powder; the dose of which is from | 
to | a.grain. The sulphate is prepared by pouring dilute sulphuric acid 
into an alcoholic solution of morphine, and evaporating, etc., as above. 
Dose, same as the acetate. The citrate and muriate are prepared by the 
direct combination of these constituents; they have not come much into 
use, and, therefore, need not be more fully noticed here. (See 
Opium. ) 
MORTALITY, mor-tai'-e-te [Lat. mortalitas}. Accounts of the 
number of deaths that have taken place in particular districts within a 
specified time, classified according to their ages, the diseases of which 
they died etc., are termed bills of mortality. They were first compiled 
in London during the great plague of 1593. When their accuracy can 
be depended on they are of the utmost importance, as showing the pro- 
gress of a people in civilization and comfort, and serve as a basis for 
many important calculations. The Northampton table of Dr. Price was 
the first one used for the purpose of computing rates of premium for 
life assurance, but it was found to be faulty, as was also the Carlisle 
table, constructed from observations of Dr. Heysham. The tables now 
principally used for this purpose are those known as Experience Tables, 
constructed by a number of distinguished actuaries from data furnished 
by the experience of several life assurance corporations. They are 
formed by analyzing and collating accurate and sufficiently extensive 
statistics of life and death, and the larger the number of cases analyzed 
the more nearly will an absolutely correct result be arrived at. What is 
meant by the "mean duration of life," frequently called the "expecta- 
tion of life," is the average length of life enjoyed by a given number of 
persons of the same age. For example, in the following table, known 
as the American Experience Table, it will be noticed that of 100,000 
persons living at ten years of age, 749 will die before reaching the age 
of eleven. Upon their next year will then enter the difference between 
100,000 and 749, viz.: 99,251, of whom 746 will die before attaining the 
age of twelve. From this table we find that at the age of ten the 
"expectation of life" is 48.7 years, and at the age of eleven, 48.1 years. 
By the expression "expectation of life" at any age, is meant the mean 
after-lifetime remaining to people of that particular age. MORTALITY-MORTARS AND PESTLES. 
895 
American Experience Table. 
Number of 
Living. 
Number of 
Deaths. 
Expectation, 
Years. 
Age. 
Number of 
Living. 
Number of 
Deaths. 
Expectation, 
Years. 
Age. 
100.000 
749 
48.7 
10 
64,563 
1,199 
17.4 
55 
99,251 
746 
48.1 
11 
63,364 
1,260 
16.7 
56 
98,505 
743 
47.4 
12 
62,104 
1,325 
16.1 
57 
97,762 
740 
46.8 
13 
60,779 
1,394 
15.4 
58 
97,022 
737 
46.2 
14 
59,385 
1,468 
14.7 
59 
96,285 
735 
45.5 
15 
57,917 
1,546 
14.1 
60 
95,550 
732 
44.9 
16 
56,371 
1,628 
13.5 
61 
94,818 
729 
44.2 
17 
54,743 
1,713 
12.9 
62 
94,089 
727 
43.5 
18 
53,030 
1,800 
12.3 
63 
93,362 
725 
42.9 
19 
51.230 
1,889 
11.7 
64 
92,637 
723 
42.2 
20 
49,341 
1,980 
11.1 
65 
91,914 
722 
41.5 
21 
47,361 
2,070 
10.5 
66 
91,192 
721 
40.9 
22 
45,291 
2,158 
10.0 
67 
90,471 
720 
40.2 
23 
43,133 
2,243 
9.5 
68 
89,751 
719 
39.5 
24 
40,890 
2.321 
9.0 
69 
89.032 
718 
38.8 
25 
38,569 
2,391 
8.5 
70 
88,314 
718 
38.1 
26 
36,178 
2,448 
8.0 
71 
87,596 
718 
37.4 
27 
33,730 
2,487 
7.6 
72 
86,878 
718 
36.7 
28 
31,243 
2,505 
7.1 
73 
86,160 
719 
36.0 
29 
28,738 
2,501 
6.7 
74 
85,441 
720 
35.3 
30 
26,237 
2,476 
6.3 
75 
84,721 
721 
34.6 
31 
23,761 
2,431 
5.9 
76 
84,000 
723 
33.9 
32 
21,330 
2,369 
5.5 
77 
83,277 
726 
33.2 
33 
18,961 
2,291 
5.1 
78 
82,551 
729 
32.5 
34 
16,670 
2.196 
4.8 
79 
81,822 
732 
31.8 
35 
14,474 
2,091 
4.4 
80 
81,090 
737 
31.1 
36 
12,383 
1,964 
4.1 
81 
80,353 
742 
30 4 
37 
10,419 
1,816 
3.7 
82 
79,611 
749 
29.6 
38 
8,603 
1,648 
3.4 
83 
78,862 
756 
28.9 
39 
6.955 
1,470 
3.1 
84 
78,106 
765 
28.2 
40 
5,485 
1,292 
2.8 
85 
77,341 
774 
27.5 
41 
4,193 
1,114 
2.5 
86 
76,567 
785 
26.7 
42 
3,079 
933 
2.2 
87 
75,782 
797 
26.0 
43 
2,146 
744 
1.9 
88 
74,985 
812 
25.3 
44 
1,402 
555 
1.7 
89 
74,173 
828 
24.5 
45 
847 
385 
1.4 
90 
73,345 
848 
23.8 
46 
462 
246 
1.2 
91 
72,497 
870 
23.1 
47 
216 
137 
1.0 
92 
71,627 
896 
22.4 
48 
79 
58 
0.8 
93 
70,731 
927 
21.6 
49 
21 
18 
0.6 
94 
69,804 
962 . 
20.9 
50 
3 
3 
0.5 
95 
68,842 
1,001 
20.2 
51 
96 
67,841 
1,044 
19.5 
52 
97 
66,797 
1,091 
18.8 
53 
98 
65,706 
1,143 
18.1 
54 
99 
In the articles Longevity, Occupation and Marriage, will be found 
an account of the influence exerted on mortality by sex, climate, social 
position, occupation, marriage, etc. (See Longevity, Occupation, 
Health, etc.) 
MORTARS AND PESTLES, mor'-turz, pes'-slz [Lat. mortarium}, 
are instruments used for triturating, bruising, reducing to powder, etc., 
the different medicinal substances. They are made of various materials, 
iron, brass, marble, glass, Wedgewood ware, etc., the last being by far 896 
MORTARS AND PESTLES-MORTIFICATION. 
the most generally useful, and quite sufficient for all domestic purposes, 
at least in this country. In emigrant life, an iron mortar might be found 
useful. 
MORTIFICATION, mor-te-fe-ka-shun [Lat. mors, death, and facio, 
I make], or sloughing, is the death of a portion of the living body occur- 
ring after violent or peculiar inflammation of the part; the appearance 
of the mortification varying according to the structure affected. 
Causes.-Some parts are more prone to mortification than others, 
but in all, impeded or deficient circulation of blood is the originator; 
this may be caused by weakness of the body generally, by weakness of 
the circulation of a part such as occurs in paralysis, by impediment to 
the current of blood through the vessels large or small, by pressure on a 
main branch, as by a tumor, or on one spot, as occurs on the back, in 
persons confined by exhausting disease, and by intense cold or heat, 
which destroy the textures, or by the use of unwholesome grain, etc. It 
may also occur from intense inflammation in persons of full habit of 
body. 
Symptoms.-A part in which inflammation is likely to terminate in 
mortification is hot, painful, tense and hard; the color of the skin at 
first dark and angry-looking, becomes mottled, and the surface exhibits 
blisters filled with dark fluid; at this time the previous heat giving way 
to a temperature lower than natural, and the pain diminishing; at last 
the part shrinks, becomes of a dirty gray or ash color, and exhales a 
fetid odor. Coincident with these local symptoms, if the mortification 
be extensive, or situated in an important part, the constitution exhibits 
signs of collapse; the face is pinched, cold, moist; the pulse quick and 
feeble; the tongue brown; the mental faculties depressed or disordered; 
the natural functions are performed involuntarily; and hiccup is a very 
frequent accompaniment. 
Treatment.-In the event of an inflamed part showing symptoms of 
mortification, if a medical man has not been in attendance, he ought to 
be called without delay; in the meantime, warm poultices may be 
applied, those made of oatmeal and bran are often useful; but the best 
applications, if procurable, are the chloride of soda or chloride of lime 
solution, diluted in the proportion of a f to £ an ounce of the solution 
to a pint of water, and used warm as a lotion; at the same time, the 
strength must be supported with wine, strong meat broths, etc., and rest 
procured by means of opium. When a mortified or sloughing part of 
the body is separating, its loose and dead portions are usually cut away 
with scissors, to diminish the fetor; poultices facilitate the separation, 
and after it has taken place, simple water dressing will generally be found 
most suitable. (See Dressing, Gangrene.) MOSCHUS-MOVEMENT CERE. 
897 
MOSCHUS. (See Musk.) 
MOSS, ICELAND. (See Cetraria.) 
MOSS, IRISH, OR CARRAGEEN. (See Chondrus.) 
MOTHER. (See Menstruation, Marriage, Pregnancy, Childbed, 
Children, Nurse.)* 
MOTHER-MARK, muth'-er-mark. The term is applied to stains, 
moles, and other marks, vascular and otherwise, with which a child is 
born, and for which many fanciful causes are assigned. The most 
important mother-marks are the vascular naevi. (See Children.) 
MOTHERWORT. (See Leonurus Cardiaca.) 
MOTION, AND MOTOR CHANGE, mo'-shun [Lat. motid}. Move- 
ment in the living body is the result of contraction of the muscles, or at 
least of the muscular fibres, either voluntarily or involuntarily; this con- 
traction, whenever excited, giving rise to expenditure of the substance 
of the acting fibres, or in other words, to metamorphosis of some of the 
elementary constituents of the fibres, chiefly by combination with the 
oxygen of the arterial blood. This metamorphosis, which there is 
reason to believe is an essential of the process, is what is meant by 
motor change. (See Animal Heat, Blood, Food, etc.) 
MOUNTAIN FEVER, moun'-tin [Lat. montanus, mountainous], a 
form of fever common among the miners in the Pacific States and British 
Columbia. It is supposed to have its origin in "marsh miasm," the 
poisonous exhalation from swamps and marshes, known in some locali- 
ties as swamp poison. It is sometimes intermittent, and sometimes 
continued in its character, and requires the same kind of treatment as 
the very severe cases of intermittent fever, or ague. (See Ague, 
Fever, etc.) 
MOUNT AIN LAUREL. (See Kalmia Latifolia.) 
MOUNTAIN TEA. (See Gaultheria Procumbens.) 
MOUNTAIN TOBACCO. (See Arnica.) 
MOUTH, mouth [Ang.-Sax. mutK], the cavity which contains the 
tongue and teeth, in which is performed the important process of masti- 
cation, and by means of which articulate sound is formed, is inclosed by 
the lips and cheeks, by the upper and lower jaws, by the soft palate and 
tonsils, by the "fauces" generally, and by the mucous membrane, 
stretching from the tongue to the lower jaw; it is further surrounded by 
the salivary glands, which supply its moisture, and which open by the 
ducts into the various parts of its cavity. The portions of the mouth are 
liable to different diseases. These along with other necessary informa- 
tion, are detailed in the individual articles. (See Palate, Saliva, 
Throat, Nursing Sore Mouth, Salivation, Thrush, etc.) 
MOVEMENT CURE, moov'-ment [Fr. mouvement}. This consists 898 
MOVEMENT CURE-MUCUNA. 
of a series of movements, to be performed with or without the aid of an 
assistant, so arranged as to call into play every muscle, and by securing 
a proper circulation of the blood, to render the administration of medi- 
cine unnecessary. The advocates of this comparatively new departure 
aim to provide for the invalid an amount of exercise that will invigorate 
without fatiguing. There is much to be said in favor of this mode of 
treatment, and while the sanguine expectations of many are not realized, 
in some forms of chronic disease it is undoubtedly beneficial. The move- 
ments recommended for the treatment of dyspepsia, constipation of the 
bowels, etc., are simple in their nature and can be performed by any 
one. In a wmrk on " The Movement Cure, " by Dr. Taylor of New York, 
plain directions are given for all suitable cases. The work is worthy of 
perusal, and to it the reader is referred for further information. The 
"Lifting Cure," as its name indicates, is an exercise in lifting, having 
the same objects in view. (See Exercise, Gymnastics.) 
MOXA, mok'-sa, a name given to a soft woolly substance made in 
Japan from the leaves of the Artemisia Chinensis, or Chinese mugwort. 
It is used as a cautery by placing a small cone of it on the skin and then 
setting fire to it. On burning down to the part on which it rests, 
it makes a sore, which is kept open if requisite. It is principally used 
in cases of gout or rheumatism. 
MUCILAGE, mu-sil-gj [Low. Lat. mucilago; from Lat. mucus, slime, 
mucus], a thick, semi-fluid, formed by the solution of gummy or starchy 
matters in water; such as mucilage of gum acacia, arrowroot mucilage, 
etc. (See Arabic, Gum; Gum.) 
MUCILAGINOUS DRINKS, mu-se-laj' -e-nus, are those drinks that 
partake of or resemble mucilage, such as linseed tea, gum arabic, bar- 
ley water, gruel, etc. (See Demulcents.) 
MUCOUS MEMBRANE, mu'-kus [Lat. mucosus; mucus, slime, 
mucus], is a membrane which lines certain portions of the body, and 
which is itself covered on the surface with an epithelium of flattened 
cells, and from which is secreted the thick viscid secretion named mucus. 
(See Mucus.) There are two great systems of mucous membrane: the 
one which lines the mouth, nose, eyes, throat, bronchi or air tubes, and 
is also continued down the gullet and through the stomach and bowels 
to the vent; the other, the genito-urinary membrane, which lines the 
kidneys, bladder, etc. 
The affections to which mucous membranes are subject are suf- 
ficiently entere.d into under such articles as Catarrh or Common Cold ; 
Catarrh, Chronic ; Diarrhcea, etc., where the diseases of the parts they 
line are treated of. (See Membrane.) 
MUCUNA, mu-ku'-ng \Mukuna guaca is the Brazilian name of one MUCUN A-MUMPS, OP PAP OTITIS. 
899 
species], a genius of papilionaceous Leguminosce. The hairs covering 
the legumes of the species j!T. pruriens and prurita are used as a 
mechanical anthelmintic, under the name of cowhage or cow-itch. The 
pods, being dipped into treacle or honey, have the hairs scraped off, until 
the mass has the consistency of an electuary. Dose, 1 to 2 teaspoon 
fuls in syrup, followed after three or four hours with a dose of castor-oil. 
MUCUS, mu'-kus [Lat.], is the thick, somewhat viscid, glairy secre- 
tion, formed on the surface of mucous membranes; examined under the 
microscope, it is seen to contain numerous round granular particles or 
globules, similar to those which are contained in pus or matter. When 
a mucous membrane is inflamed, its secreted mucus becomes thin and 
acrid, as all know it does in a cold in the head, which is simply inflam- 
mation of the mucous membrane lining the nostrils; when the inflamma- 
tion is more intense, or of a peculiar character, the mucus secretion is 
apt to be converted into a purulent one. 
MUG WORT. (See Artemisia.) 
MULLEIN. (See Verbascum Thapsus.) 
MUMPS OR PAROTITIS, mumps., consist essentially of inflamma- 
tion of the salivary glands, particularly the parotid gland (which see) 
hence the technical name parotitis. It is contagious and frequently 
extends among children. 
Symptoms.-The tongue is coated, the skin hot and dry. and the 
pulse quick. The parotid gland becomes much enlarged, the swelling 
extending from the ear to the chin, and the part affected is tender and 
painful. In about four days the disease begins to decline, the swelling 
decreases in size, the febrile disturbance grows less, and the patient is 
soon restored to health. Sometimes, instead of thus leaving the system, 
the disease flies from the salivary glands to the testicles in the male, 
causing pain and swelling, and ought to be treated by rest and fomenta- 
tions. Boys are very much and needlessly alarmed at its occurrence. 
In young females the breasts are occasionally afflicted. Sometimes the 
membranes of the brain are affected, in which case a medical man 
should be promptly summoned. 
Treatment.-The bowels should be moved once a day by some mild 
aperient, as castor-oil or Epsom salts; hot fomentations (see Fomentation) 
should be applied to the swollen glands, and the following given internally: 
Take of Nitrate of potash Twenty grains. 
Bicarbonate of potash Forty grains. 
Sweet spirit of nitre.... Forty drops. 
Syrup One dram. 
Pure water One half ounce.-Mix. 
Give 1 tablespoonful every four hours. This mixture is intended for a 
child two years old. and must be varied according to age. 900 
J/ URIATE-MUSCLE. 
MURIATE, mu'-re-qt, a salt formed by the union of muriatic acid 
and a base, now more*commonly termed hydrochlorate. 
MURIATIC ACID, mu-re-at'-ik, hydrochloric acid or spirit of salt. 
(See Hydrochloric Acid.) 
MUSCLE, mus'-sl [Lat. musculus^ is a term applied to the fibrous 
contractile tissue forming the flesh of men and animals, by means of 
which the many highly-complicated voluntary and involuntary motions of 
the body are performed. Muscular tissue is of two kinds, distinguished 
by structural peculiarities and mode of action, the one embracing the 
muscles of organic life, consisting of simple smooth filaments (except in 
the case of the heart); the other comprising the muscles of animal lite 
and the heart, and consisting of compound and apparently striated fibres, 
or tubes inclosing fibrils. The muscles of organic life, or unstriped 
muscles, consist of fibres, or, rather, elongated spindle-shaped fibre-cells, 
which are usually flat, from to of an inch broad, very clear, granu- 
lar, and brittle. These fibres are collected in fasciculi, and form the 
proper contractile coats of the digestive canal, urinary bladder, gall- 
bladder, arteries, etc. The muscles of animal life, or striped muscles, 
are composed of fleshy bundles enclosed in coverings of fibro-cellular 
tissue, by which each is at once connected with, and isolated from, those 
adjacent to it. Each bundle is again divided into smaller ones similarly 
ensheathed, and similarly divisible through an uncertain number of 
gradations, till just beyond the reach of the naked eye one arrives at the 
primitive fasciculi, or the muscular fibres properly so called. These con- 
sist of tubes of delicate structureless membrane,-the sarcolemma of 
Bowman, varying in breadth from ^-to - in., and enclosing a number 
of filaments. They are of a pale yellow color, and marked by striae 
which pass transversely round them. The primitive fibrils, of which 
each fasciculus contains several hundreds, are the proper contractile 
tissue of the muscle, are cylindrical but somewhat flattened in form, and 
about of an inch in greatest thickness. The peculiar property of 
muscular tissue, its contractility, although commonly brought into action 
by the nervous system, appears to be inherent in the muscular tissue, 
and not derived by it from the nerves, for it may be manifested in a 
muscle after being isolated from the influence of the nervous system by 
division of the nerves supplying it. Muscular contraction is generally 
believed to be effected by an approximation of the constituent parts of 
the fibrils, which, without any alteration in their general direction, 
become closer, flatter, and wider. It is a uniform, simultaneous, and 
steady short-ending of each fibre and its contents. Muscles are usually 
styled voluntary or involuntary, according as they are, or are not, sub- 
ject to the influence of the will; but this division is not strictly accurate, MUSCLE. 
901 
and is of little value in a scientific point of view. They are for the most 
part arranged in pairs; as flexors and extensors, abductors and adductors, 
supinators and pronators, etc. Muscles are attached to bones by means 
of tendons, which are white and shining, rounded or flattened, fibrous 
cords, and very resisting. 
The fixed point of a muscle is called its origin, the movable 
one its insertion. Muscular fibres, especially those of animal life, are 
constantly in a state of slight contraction, as is evident from the fact that 
when the action of certain muscles of a part are injured, the antagonistic 
THE MUSCLES. 902 
M USCLE-MUSTARD 
muscles always draw it towards them. There are in the human 
body no fewer than 527 distinct muscles, of which 261 are in pairs, and 
5 single on the median line. Of these there are 83 in the head and face; 
49 in the neck, 78 in the thorax; 33 in the abdomen, 78 in the back, 98 
in the upper extremities, and 108 in the lower. Yet with all this com- 
plicated machinery, everything is in perfect order and harmony. (See 
Anatomy, Flesh, Tendons, Motor Change.) 
MUSHROOMS, musk'-roomz, are generally considered wholesome 
and nourishing. Poisonous fungi are fully treated of in the article Agari- 
cus, which see. (See also Poisons and their Antidotes. ) 
MUSK, OR MOSCHUS, musk [Fr. muse], a peculiar secretion found 
in the preputial follicles of the mosckus mosckiferus, or musk-deer, a 
native of Thibet and other parts of Central Asia. It is used in medi- 
cine, and when taken in the dose of a few grains, rouses the energy of 
the digestive organs, and soon afterwards stimulates the powers of the 
whole animal system. It increases the action of the heart and arteries, 
is antispasmodic, and in large doses narcotic. Dose, from 5 to 10 grains, 
in pill or mixture. It has been found of service in spasmodic asthma, 
whooping-cough, infantile convulsions, tetanus, epilepsy, hysteria, etc. 
MUSTARD, mus'-turd [Fr. moutarde]. There is perhaps no article 
in domestic use more largely adulterated than mustard. The adultera- 
tion generally consists in the admixture of genuine mustard with wheaten 
flour, highly colored with turmeric, which fortunately possesses no injuri- 
ous properties. 
Mustard when nsed in moderation as a stimulating condiment, is 
wholesome. 
Mustard plaster.-The principal use of mustard in medicinal prac- 
tice is in the well-known mustard plaster, or cataplasm,, as a counter- 
irritant. This application is made in various ways. When speedy, 
energetic action is required, it is best obtained by mixing good fresh 
mustard with water, as for the table, and spreading on calico or paper. 
It is well to interpose a piece of thin gauze or muslin between the mus- 
tard and the skin; this does not in any way interfere with the action of 
the application, and prevents portions of the mustard adhering to the 
skin and irritating it, after the removal of the cataplasm. Some persons 
erroneously mix the mustard with vinegar, thinking to render its action 
stronger; this is a mistake, as it has the reverse effect. Others mix 
with i or flour or bread crumb, while others prepare a very good mus- 
tard poultice by mixing 2| ounces of linseed meal gradually with 10 
fluid ounces of boiling water, and adding 2^- ounces of mustard in powder 
with constant stirring; and these last two methods are very well when 
modified and longer continued action is desirable, not otherwise. MUSTARD-MYRICA CERIFERA. 
903 
The usual length of time a mustard plaster can be borne is from 
twenty minutes to half an hour, and even in this time it often produces 
blistering; it always leaves for some time a deep red mark on the skin, 
a fact not to be forgotten in the case of females. When mustard plas- 
ters are applied to any one in a state of insensibility, they should be 
removed within the half-hour; if allowed to remain, should the person 
recover, troublesome ulceration may be the result. 
From their familiarity and accessibility, mustard plasters are apt to 
be applied somewhat too indiscriminately, both domestically and pro- 
fessionally, and in many cases where a hot bran poultice would be much 
more soothing and beneficial; they often cause much irritability, and if 
applied near the spot where inflammation is going on, as in the case of 
the throat, seem rather to aggravate than to relieve. In the case of a 
lady under the author's care, the application of a mustard plaster to the 
lower part of the spine gave rise to effects resembling those produced 
by the inhalation of laughing gas. 
As an internal remedy, mustard is a safe and effectual emetic, 
in doses of 1, 2, »or 3 teaspoonfuls in 6 or 8 ounces of water. 
The seed of the white mustard, swallowed whole in tablespoonful doses, 
was, some years ago, in much vogue as a stomachic remedy, but is now 
little used. It probably produced any benefit it effected by its mechani- 
cal action upon the alimentary canal. (Se6 Sinapis, Counter-Irrita- 
tion, Condiments, etc.) 
MUSTARD PLASTER, OR POULTICE. (See Poultice, Mus- 
tard. ) 
MUTTON, mut'-tn [Fr. mouton\, when tender, is the meat best 
adapted for invalids and persons of weak digestive powers. The best 
mutton chops are those cut out of the centre of a leg. (See Food.) 
MUTTON BROTH. (See Cookery for the Sick.) 
MYOPIA, mi-o'-pe-a [Gr. muo, I contract, and ops, the eye], is a 
term used to denote near-sightedness. 
MYRICA CERIFERA, me-ri'-ka se-rif-e-ra, or bayberry, a shrub 
belonging to the Nat. order ALyricaceoe. It is commonly called candle- 
berry, waxberry, and wax myrtle. It is found in damp places in many 
parts of the United States; is very abundant in New Jersey. The bark 
of the root is the part used. It is a mild astringent and stimulant. In 
large doses it is liable to produce vomiting. It may also possess expec- 
torant properties, connected with its acridness. This agent is considera- 
bly employed by a class of physicians in the managemtent of scrofulous 
complaints, jaundice, diarrhoea, dysentery and other diseases where an 
astringent stimulant is needed. Dose: of the fluid extract, 1 to 2 tea- 
spoonfuls; the infusion, 1 to 2 fluid ounces. (See Infusion.) 904 
KYPICA GALE-NABALUS ALBUS. 
MYRICA GALE, me-ri '-kg gale, or sweet gale, a plant belonging to the 
Nat. order Myricaceae, and commonly called sweet willow, Dutch myrtle, 
bog myrtle, meadow fern, bay bush. It is found in dry woods or in 
open pastures from Canada to Florida. It is acrid, stimulant and astrin- 
gent. In large doses it proves an emetic, over-burdening the stomach 
with stimulus. It has been administered with benefit in diarrhoea, 
dysentery, and diseases where astringent stimulants are indicated. It 
has also been recommended as a vermifuge, both as an internal and 
external application. Dose: of the fluid extract, to 1 teaspoonful; 
infusion, 1 to 2 fluid ounces, three or four times a day. (See Infusion.) 
MYRISTICA, me-ris'-te-kg, the typical genus of the Nat. order 
dPyristicacew. The most important species is JZ. mosckata or officinalis, 
the nutmeg-tree. It is a native of the Molucca Islands, but is now cul- 
tivated in many tropical regions. The well-known spices nutmegs and 
mace are derived from this species. They are both used in medicine as 
stimulants, carminatives, and flavoring agents. Nutmegs, when dis- 
tilled -with water, yield a volatile oil called volatile or essential oil of 
nutmegs. The oil of nutmeg is given in doses of 2 to 6 drops on sugar. 
The spirit (1 part of the oil to 49 of rectified spirit) is given in doses of 
30 to 60 drops. 
MYROSPERMUM, mi'-ro-sper'-mum [Gr. muron, myrrh; sperma, 
seed], a genus of balsamiferous trees belonging to the Nat. order 
Leguminoscs. The species are natives of South America and the West 
Indies. HP. toluiferum is the source of balsam of Tolu, and JP. Pereira 
that of balsam of Peru. They are largely used in medicine for their 
stimulant and expectorant properties in chronic catarrh, asthma, etc. 
Dose: of the former, 10 to 20 grains; of the latter, 10 to 15 drops; of 
the tincture of Tolu (2| oz. to 1 pint of rectified spirit), the dose is from 
20 to 50 drops; of the syrup, 1 to 2 teaspoonfuls. 
MYRRH. (See Balsamodendron. ) 
N. 
N. In prescriptions, this letter is a contraction for numero, in num- 
ber. Thus PH. Hydrarg, N. xij. means mercurial pill, 12 in number. 
NAB ALUS ALBUS, na'-bg-lus al'-bus, or lion's foot. This plant 
known also as white lettuce and rattlesnake root, is a perennial plant, 
belonging to the Nat. order Composites. It is found in moist woods and 
shady places all over the United States and Canada. It is said to be an 
antidote to the bite of the rattlesnake, hence its name. The milky juice NAB AL US ALB US-NAB COTICS. 
905 
of the plant is taken internally, and the leaves steeped in water, are 
applied to the wound and frequently changed. 
The juice may be taken in tablespoonful doses, repeated every half 
hour until reaction sets in. 
NAILS, nalze [Ang.-Sax. ncegel\ are the appendages to the fingers 
and toes of human beings which correspond with the claws and hoofs of 
other animals. Under the microscope, a portion of newly-formed nail 
is found to consist almost entirely of nucleated cells, which are of exactly 
the same character as those found in the new layers of epidermal tissue. 
No distinct structure can be observed as the nail grows older, but when 
immersed in a weak solution of caustic potash or soda the cells become 
visible. The nails of a human being are produced from a fold in the 
true skin, which has a highly vascular surface, furnished with longitu- 
dinal elevated ridges, to which blood-vessels are copiously distributed, 
and between which the soft inner layer of the nail drops down. The 
growth of the nail is caused by additions to its base; but as it moves, it 
also receives additional matter from the skin, on which it rests. (See 
Nails, Ingrowing of the.) 
NAILS, INGROWING OF THE. Ingrowing of the nails is a 
painful condition that occasionally occurs, particularly with the great 
toes in consequence of tight or ill-fitting boots. In order to cure, the 
nail should be well soaked in warm water, and the side scraped very 
thin. A small pellet of cotton wool should also be carefully inserted 
under the edge of the nail, and the foot rested as much as possible for a 
few days. Tincture of iron should also be applied once a day. Should 
this treatment fail, it will be necessary to remove a portion of the nail, 
an operation which is very painful, and is best done under chloroform. 
When there is any tendency to ingrowing observed, the nails ought 
not to be cut or rounded off at the corner, but allowed to grow quite 
square and large; boots should be worn so as not to press at all upon the 
nail. 
In consumption, as well as in all chronic chest diseases, accompanied 
by emaciation, the nails have a peculiar curved and clubbed appearance, 
quite familiar to medical men. (See Nails.) 
NARCOTICS, nar-kot-iks [Gr. narke, stupor], medicines which in 
small or moderate doses produce stupor or sleep, and which is generally 
preceded by temporary excitement. The stimulating power of most 
narcotics is manifested principally when they are given in small doses, 
while a full dose generally produces the narcotic effect at once, without 
any apparent stimulation preceding it. Considerable skill and experi- 
ence are required in the administration of narcotics, both as regards the 
cases in which they are to be prescribed and the persons to whom they 906 
NAN CO TICS-NA USHA. 
are to be given. Narcotics are employed (1) to produce sleep, (2) to 
allay pain or spasm, (3) to arrest inordinate secretion, (4) to control 
inflammatory action or irritation. A full dose of a narcotic introduced 
into the stomach will, if the stomach be empty, destroy the desire for 
food; while, if it contain food, the digestive process is suspended or 
rendered slower. Their continued or frequent use is therefore injurious 
to the nutrition of the body, as instanced in the persons of opium-eaters. 
The general action of narcotics is modified by a great variety of circum- 
stances, such as the quantity prescribed, the frequency of repetition; also 
the force of habit, climate, or season, and above all by idiosyncrasy. 
The amount of action is also largely determined by the age of the person 
taking the narcotic. Young children bear narcotics badly. The amount 
of the dose should be determined chiefly by the effect produced, and 
should be small at first, particularly in debilitated persons. To this 
class of medicines belong opium, hemlock, henbane, belladonna, aconite, 
stramonium, camphor, digitalis, tobacco, alcohol, ether, nux vomica, 
leopard's-bane, hop, strong-scented lettuce, and a variety of other sub- 
stances. When one narcotic fails, another will frequently be found to 
produce the desired effect. (See Anesthetics, Anodyne, Sedatives.) 
NARCOTINE, nar'-ko-tin, one of the alkaloids of opium. (See 
Opium. ) 
NATURAL MEANS OF CURE. (See Cure by Natural Means). 
NATURAL POWERS OF RECOVERY. (See Disease.) 
NATURE'S CALLS. (See Costiveness, Cathartics, Stools, Diges- 
tion, etc.) 
NAUSEA, naw-she-a [Gt. naus, a ship], or the sensation of sickness 
or of inclination to vomit, is best known from individual experience of 
the sensation. 
Although the feeling of nausea itself is referred to the stomach, and 
may be due to causes connected with that organ simply, it also very 
frequently originates in disorder in other and distant parts of the body, a 
fact which often constitutes it a valuable symptom. Causes which act 
directly upon the brain are among the most frequent originators of nausea, 
and there is every reason to believe that the sensation from which the 
term is probably derived-sea-sickness-is primarily excited in the brain 
itself. As all know, a blow on the head occasions nausea and vomiting; 
severe injuries in other parts of the body, such as dislocations, also 
occasion sickness by acting indirectly upon the stomach; the nausea of 
pregnancy is another example of this sympathetic nausea. Disgusting 
odors are instances of the same thing. The action of drugs of an emetic 
character must be accounted for by their influence on the nervous system, 
for they act equally well as nauseants, if injected in solution into the NA USEA-NECK. 
907 
veins, as if they were swallowed. Lastly, the presence of indigestible 
food, or of bile, etc., in the stomach itself, will also cause nausea, which 
may also be produeed by simple over-distension of the organ by gas or 
fluid. The instances given of sympathetic nausea will explain how it 
comes to be a valuable guiding symptom in the investigation of disease. 
Incipient or advanced affection of the brain; gall-stones; stone in the 
kidney; disease of the womb; pregnancy, and many other conditions of 
of various organs, giving rise to the sensation of nausea, or to actual 
vomiting. 
The complete relaxation of the nervous system which occurs in an 
individual under the influence of nausea, renders its existence favorable 
ito the performance of certain operations upon the body, such as a reduc- 
tion of a dislocation, or of a rupture; it is, therefore, the practice of 
surgeons to induce it artificially-as by the administration of tartar 
emetic-for the above ends. The means of relief in nausea, and its very 
frequent accompaniment, vomiting, must, of course, depend upon the 
cause. When dependent upon brain affection, remedial measures are of 
but little service, but in this, as in other cases, may be resorted to. 
Effervescing draughts, with lemon-juice, will often be extremely useful. 
Creasote is effectual, especially in sea-sickness (see Creasote). A tea- 
spoonful of magnesia in a glass of sherry has been found a good remedy, 
but one which is inadmissible in head affections; a mustard plaster to 
the pit of the stomach may be used with advantage. When the nausea 
is thought to be dependent upon the presence of bile or other matters in 
the stomach, it is soonest relieved by exciting vomiting, which is gener- 
ally easily effected, either by means of luke-warm water alone, infusion 
of chamomile, or at all events by a small dose of ipecacuanha. After 
the stomach has been cleared, effervescing draughts will he at once 
grateful and beneficial. (See Effervescence, Sea-Sickness, Vomiting, 
etc.) 
NAVEL, na'-vl [Ang.-Sax. nafela^ nq/bZ], is the centre of the lower 
part of the abdomen, being the point where the umbilical cord of the foetus 
passed out. When the child is born the navel-string has to be severed 
and tied, and in a few days it sloughs and comes away, leaving the inden- 
tation in the belly which is commonly called the navel. (See Children, 
Rupture, Childbed.) 
NAVEL STRING. (See Childbed.) 
NEAR-SIGHT. (See Vision.) 
NECK, nek [Ang.-Sax. necca\. The bond of connection between 
the head and the trunk of the body, is perhaps the most important 
region of the frame; certainly it is so in a surgical point of view, on 
account of the numerous important parts it comprises. 908 
NECK. 
It is principally made up of the cervical vertebrae, and the numerous 
muscles which cover them and are concerned in tneir different move- 
ments and those of the head and shoulders. The pharynx and oesopha- 
gus are in contact with the front of the vertebral column, and the larynx 
and trachea in front of these. The large blood-vessels of the head pass 
through the neck on the front of the spine, and some important nerves 
take nearly the same course. These several organs, connected together 
rather loosely by cellular substance and surrounded by integuments, 
compose the neck. Diseases which affect the parts situated about the 
neck, such as its glands, etc., fall to be considered under other heads and 
need not be enlarged upon here; and under such articles as Hanging, 
Choking, Artery, etc., will be found information concerning the acci- 
dents to which this region and its parts are liable. 
Impediments to circulation.-There remains, however, for considera- 
tion, the effect of mechanical impediments to the circulation of the blood 
in the neck, connected either with clothing, or with those muscular 
movements of which the part under consideration possesses so wide a 
range. Some persons, particularly those with short necks, or with 
tendency to apoplexy, epilepsy, etc., are much more liable to be affected 
than others, by anything which, even for a very short time, checks the 
free flow of blood through the veins downward from the head; and such 
persons ought to be especially careful, that nothing they wear about the 
neck becomes in the slightest degree tight, not simply when the face is 
looking straight forward, but when it is turned from side to side. It has 
occurred that a person liable to head attacks, has fallen down insensible 
in consequence of the simple fact of turning the head rather more to one 
side than usual, and thus giving a little extra tightness to a shirt-collar. 
It is well known, too, that the tight stock of the soldier has been 
the cause of numerous apoplectic and other affections, in consequence 
of its effect in compressing the large vessels of the neck. 
A similar caution is requisite with regard to children. Accidents have 
occurred in consequence of nurses and others tying too tightly-a very 
common practice-the strings of the night-cap, which, perhaps, become 
still more tightened by some movement during sleep. From a similar 
cause, arises the danger which men incur from sleeping without unfast- 
ening the usual clothing about the neck; apoplexy may result. But not 
only may head affection result from tightness around the neck externally; 
it may, in the predisposed, be the effect of the action of the muscles 
alone; these, if the head is turned strongly to one side, exert strong 
pressure upon the veins and impede the flow of blood, damming it up 
towards the head. On this account, persons who are liable to overful- 
ness of blood, ought to be on their guard against such sudden movements. NECK-NEPETA CAT AR I A. 
909 
Wry neck is caused by the undue permanent contraction of one or 
more of the muscles on one side of the neck. It is remediable by surgical 
operation. A different form of wry neck, or, at least, of an affection 
closely resembling it, is the result of paralysis of the muscles on one 
side, permitting those on the other to draw the head towards their own 
side. 
Stiff neck is the result of rheumatic affection of the muscles. (See 
Circulation of the Blood, Rheumatism, Apoplexy, Epilepsy, Foreign 
Bodies in Air-Passages, Foreign Bodies in Gullet, CEsophagus, Hang- 
ing, Trachea.) 
NEEDLES. (See Pins and Needles.) 
NECROSIS, ne-kro'-sis [Gr. nekros^ is used as synonymous with 
mortification or gangrene; but it is more commonly used in surgery to 
denote the death or mortification of a part or the whole of a bone. 
Necrosis differs from caries of a bone, inasmuch as in the latter case 
the vitality of the bone is only impaired, not destroyed, as in the former; 
in the same way as ulceration of the soft parts differs from gangrene. 
Necrosis is found in either sex, and at all periods of life, and may be 
occasioned either by external causes, as fractures, contusions, etc., or by 
internal or constitutional causes, as a debilitated or deranged habit of 
body. When a portion of a bone becomes dead, it is regarded as an 
extraneous substance, and its removal from the part, either by the action 
of absorbents or by a surgical operation, is absolutely necessary. (See 
Bone, Caries.) 
NEPENTHE, nepen'-the [Gr. ne, not; and pentitos, grief], a word 
adopted from the Greek, signifying a drink calculated to banish the 
remembrance of grief and enliven the spirits. It is now applied to a 
particular preparation of opium. 
NEPETA CATARIA, nep'-e-ta ka-ta'-re-a, catnip or catnep. It is 
diaphoretic and carminative, antispasmodic, emmenagogue and diuretic. 
In warm infusion the extract is used in febrile diseases, as a diaphoretic 
and to allay convulsive action and produce sleep; it is also given as a 
carminative and antispasmodic in the flatulent colic of children. As an 
emmenagogue or uterine tonic, it has proved decidedly beneficial in 
suppression of the menses and painful menstruation, and has likewise 
been successfully employed in asthma and hysteria. 
The fluid extract of catnep and saffron, in the form of a warm infusion, 
is a very popular remedy in colds and diseases accompanied with a rash 
to which the young are subject. This agent sometimes proves efficacious 
in restoring the menstrual flood after other remedies have failed. Dose: 
of the fluid extract of catnep, 2 to 4 teaspoonfuls; the infusion, 1 to 4 
fluid ounces. (See Infusion.) 910 
NEPHRITIS, ETC.-NERVOUS DISEASES. 
NEPHRITIS, OR INFLAMMATION OF THE KIDNEYS, 
nefri'-tis [Lat.], is a comparatively rare disease. 
Causes.-Exposure to prolonged cold or wet, blows, or other injuries 
of the loins, and frequently the presence of a renal calculus or stone. 
Symptoms.-More or less pain in the region of the kidney, shooting 
along the course of the ureter to the bladder, pulse frequent, skin hot, 
bowels costive, nausea and vomiting, with a desire frequently to void 
urine, which, when passed, is commonly of a deep red color. If the 
inflammation be caused by a calculus the urine will be frequently bloody, 
and if an abscess forms, will also contain pus. Acute inflammation of 
this organ is always attended with a great deal of danger. 
Treatment.- If the pain be severe, local bleeding with leeches or 
cupping, should be practised over the region of the kidney, followed by 
warm fomentations, and after the evacuation of the bowels by castor-oil 
or compound jalap powder, opiates may be given every three or four 
hours until the pain is easy. Blisters are dangerous and ought to be 
avoided. Medical aid should be promptly summoned. (See Kidney; 
Kidney, Diseases of the; Urine.) 
NERVE ROOT. (See Cypripedium Pubescens.) 
NERVES. (See Nervous System.) 
NERVOUS DEBILITY. (See Nervous Diseases, Debility, Sexual 
Excesses, etc.) 
NERVOUS DISEASES, ner'-rus [Lat. nervosus ; nervus^ a nerve.] 
Of the numerous disorders to which the human frame is liable, there are 
perhaps none which exert so extensive an influence, and are at the same 
time so little understood, as the whole class of nervous diseases. The 
nervous system is the presiding and governing power of the whole 
animal machine. The sufferings and disorders to which it is liable are 
so varied in their sources, so uncertain in their nature, degree, and com- 
bination, are attended for the most part with such a variety of symptoms, 
that they are not only difficult to describe when observed, but are even 
more so to recognize when they occur. Connecting as does this system 
the mental with the physical, the diseases affecting it are not confined to 
the body, but invade the province of the mind itself. Nervous diseases 
are properly divided into structural and functional; the former arising 
from some morbid change or lesion in the nerve structures, the latter 
including those in which there is no morbid change or lesion to account 
for the symptoms. 
The Structural may be divided into-(1) diseases of the brain and 
spinal cord and their coverings or membranes; and (2) diseases of the 
nerves. The brain and spinal cord are subject to diseases affecting their 
membranes, their substance, and their blood-vessels. (See Brain, NERVOUS DISEASES. 
911 
Diseases of the; Spine, Diseases and Injuries of the.) Diseases of tlie 
nerves themselves are not numerous. They may arise from inflammation 
of the delicate fibrous sheath which envelops the nerves, from the 
development of tumors near the origin or along the course, or amid the 
ramifications of the nerves, or from the bulbous expansion of the 
extremities of divided nerves, occurring after amputation, and causing 
painful stumps. 
The functional diseases of the nervous system manifest themselves 
by irregular, depressed, or exalted conditions of the processes and pecu- 
liar functions of the system; viz., sensation or feeling, and motion. 
They may be enumerated as follows: 1. The numerous varieties of 
neuralgia, which are independent of disease of the nerves or their cen- 
tres. 2. The various forms of insanity and general paralysis, where 
no morbid change occurs in the brain to account for the symptoms. 
3. The various exhibitions of mental and moral perversity consti- 
tuting the diseases known as hysteria, convulsions, paralysis of sei> 
sation and motion, etc. 4. Delirium tremens, that derangement of 
the nervous functions manifested by optical illusions, hallucinations, 
mania, and muscular trembling, which arises from exhaustion of the 
nervous power produced by prolonged stimulation by alcohol. 5. 
Chorea, or St. Vitus's dance, an affection occurring generally in young 
girls, and consisting in irregular contractions of the voluntary muscles, 
and which has been graphically described as "insanity of the muscles." 
6. The convulsions and paralysis that occur in infancy and childhood, 
from the irritation of teething, or from gastric and intestinal derange- 
ments. 7. Tetanus, or lock-jaw, a rigid spasm of the voluntary mus- 
cles, arising from an exalted state of the reflex function of the spinal 
cord, sometimes spontaneous, but more frequently the result of lacerated 
wounds. Hydrophobia may be included under this head. 8. The rare 
and curious derangement known as catalepsy and ecstacy. Epilepsy is 
sometimes a purely functional, sometimes an organic disease. These 
several diseases, their causes, symptoms, treatment, and prevention, will 
be found described under their special heads in other parts of this work, 
■which see. 
Nervousness is a term usually applied to an indefinite affection-a 
mixture of the mental and bodily disorder and irritability, generally the 
product of weakness. The active countryman, the hunter, and those 
who take much exercise in the open air, do not suffer from irritability, 
or nervousness, which attacks the sedentary-those who exhaust the 
brain by too great mental exertion, or the body by dissipation. Females 
are much more liable to nervous disorder than males, independent of 
hysterical affection, which constitutes one of the most marked phases of 912 
NED VO US DISEASES. 
the malady, and many of the remarks on which apply to the present 
subject. 
In nervous disorder there is usually great susceptibility to external 
influences; and at the same time mental emotions, whether of joy or 
grief, fancied or real, exert much influence over the body and its func- 
tions. The heart palpitates, the hand trembles, the face flushes under 
the most trivial excitement; much of this is undoubtedly due to consti- 
tutional timidity; but it is also notably increased in debilitated states of 
the constitution; and those who have never been what is called "ner- 
vous," are apt to become so, in some particular conditions of impaired 
health. The affection, indeed, is very nearly akin to hypochondriasis; 
it is essentially a disorder of weakness, and is relieved by whatever 
increases temporarily or permanently the power of the nervous system. 
The temporary relief to nervous sensations which is afforded by alcoholic 
stimuli, is very apt to lead those who suffer from them to put too much 
trust in, and to resort too habitually to the use of those palliatives-a 
practice which must be followed by pernicious consequences; sometimes, 
too, opiates are habitually made use of, and are no less injurious. 
Undoubtedly, when properly employed, alcoholic stimuli, and even 
opium, are valuable in the treatment of nervous disease, but they must 
never be substituted for more permanent means of invigoration, par- 
ticularly regular and sufficient exercise in the open air, on foot or horse- 
back, good nourishing diet, with a sufficient amount of animal food, 
attention to the bowels, bathing, tonics, etc. The producing cause, 
whether excessive mental exertion, sedentary employment, late hours, 
or excess of any kind, must of course be modified as much as possible. 
The shower-bath is often recommended, and often useful in these affec- 
tions, but some persons cannot bear the shock; when this is the case, 
the cold or tepid douche down the back does much good, particularly if 
there be any tenderness of the spine on pressure, a fact which should 
always be investigated in those who suffer much from nervous disease- 
it very commonly exists and is overlooked. When the tenderness is at 
all marked, it will require special treatment, by counter-irritation, etc.; 
but this, as well as the treatment of aggravated cases of nervous .dis- 
order, will be best managed under the care of a medical man. In addi- 
tion to the regulation of the bowels by the warmer purgatives, or by 
injection, quinine and the preparations of iron are the most generally 
useful remedies; tincture of valerian, sal-volatile, and stimulant carmina- 
tives may be used as palliatives during an aggravated attack, but should 
be sparingly resorted to. Iron should not be used without medical 
sanction by those having a tendency to constipation. (See Costiveness, 
Ikon. ) NERVOUS DISEASES-NERVOUS SYSTEM, ETC. 
913 
Besides attention to the state of the body, it is of the utmost impor- 
tance to strive to maintain a calm and uniform state of mind; one not 
easily disturbed by the crosses and accidents of life. The mind and the 
body reciprocally act upon each other and promote each other's health. 
The elements of mental discipline-which, if steadily pursued, con- 
duce not only to health of mind and body, but also to enduring com- 
fort and happiness-are "the subjugation of gross appetites, the subor- 
dination of all turbulent or violent moral and mental emotions; the 
cultivation of the gentle and contemplative feelings, best cultivated in 
domestic life, and in refined social intercourse; and the regular but 
moderate application of the intellectual powers to some definite object 
or set of objects worthy of pursuit." (See Nervous System and 
Nerves, Neuralgia, Insanity, Mental Exercise, Hysteria, Convul- 
sions, Paralysis, Delirium Tremens, Saint Vitus's Dance, Tetanus, 
Lock-Jaw, Hydrophobia, Catalepsy, Apoplexy, Epilepsy, Melan- 
choly, Hypochondriasis, Semen, Sexual Excesses, Debility, Habit, 
Food, Diet, Digestion, Air, Exercise, Baths and Bathing, Tonics, 
Excitants, Recreation, Health, Longevity, etc.) 
NERVOUSNESS. (See Nervous Diseases.) 
NERVOUS SYSTEM AND NERVES. The nervous system 
embraces that portion of the organism of man by which the mind 
is brought into connection with the physical world. It consists of two 
portions or constituent systems-the cerebrospinal, and the sympathy 
or ganglionic. 
The cerebrospinal system includes the brain and spinal cord, with the 
nerves proceeding from them, and is denominated by Bichat the nervous 
system of animal life. It includes those nervous organs in and through 
which are performed the several functions with which the mind is more 
immediately connected, as those relating to sensation and volition. 
The sympathetic or ganglionic system, named by Bichat the nervous 
system of organic life, consists of a chain of ganglia extending from the 
cranium to the pelvis along each side of the vertebral column, and from 
which nerves with ganglia proceed to the viscera in the thoracic, abdom- 
inal, and pelvic cavities. (See Ganglion.) 
The several organs which constitute the nervous system are coifiposed 
of two distinct substances, which differ from each other in density, color, 
minute structure, and chemical composition. They are the vesicular and 
fibrous matter, the former being also called the gray or cineritious sub- 
stance, the latter the white or medullary. The former is distinguished 
by its dark reddish-gray color and soft consistence, and is found usually 
collected in masses and mingled with fibrous structure, as in the brain, 
spinal cord, and the several ganglia. These masses are termed nervous 914 
NEU VO US SYSTEM, ETC. 
centres, being supposed to be centres in which nervous force is generated 
or propagated. The fibrous nerve-substance, besides entering into the 
composition of the nervous centres, forms alone the nerves or cords of 
communication which connect the various nervous centres with the 
different tissues and organs. The vesicular nervous substance is com- 
posed, as its name implies, of vesicles or corpuscles, commonly called 
nerve or ganglion corpuscles, containing nuclei and nucleoli, the 
vesicles being imbedded in a sort of matrix of granular substance. Each 
vesicle consists of an exceedingly delicate membranous wall, enclosing a 
finely granular material, part of which is occasionally of a coarser kind, 
and of a reddish or yellowish-brown color. The nucleus is vesicular, and 
much smaller than the vesicle. The nucleolus, which is enclosed within 
the nucleus, is also vesicular, of minute size, and peculiarly clear and 
brilliant. 
The nerve-vesicles vary in shape and size; some are small, spherical, 
or ovoidal, wi-th an uninterrupted outline; others are more or less angular 
or irregular in form, or have one or more long processes issuing from 
them. The fibrous nervous matter consists of two different kinds of 
nerve-fibres, which are distinguished as the tubular or white fibre, and 
the gelatinous or gray fibre. In most nerves these two kinds are inter- 
mingled, the tubular fibres being more numerous in the nerves of the 
cerebro-spinal system, the gelatinous predominating in the nerves of the 
sympathetic system. 
The nerve-fibres vary in size, being largest within the trunk and 
branches of the nerves, where they measure from to of an inch, 
and becoming gradually smaller as they approach the brain and spinal 
cord, and usually, also, in the tissues in which they are distributed. In 
the gray matter of the brain and spinal cord they seldom measure more 
than « t0 i44b of an inch- 
The tubular fibres, in a perfectly fresh state, present the appearance 
of simple membranous tubes, perfectly cylindrical, and contain the 
proper nerve-substance. This is a transparent, oil-like, and apparently 
homogeneous material, but, shortly after death, it undergoes a change, 
and has the appearance of being composed of two different materials; 
the internal or central part, occupying the axis of the tube, becoming 
grayish, while the outer or cortical portion becomes opaque, and dimly 
anular or grumous, as if from a kind of coagulation. 
The gelatinous fibres constitute the main part of the trunk and 
branches of the sympathetic nerves, and are intermingled in various 
proportions in the cerebro-spinal nerves. They are flattened, soft, and 
homogeneous in appearance, and, when collected together in great num- 
bers, they present a yellowish-gray color. They differ from the tubular NERVOUS SYSTEM, ETC. 
915 
fibres in being only one-half or one-third of their size, in the absence of 
the rounded form, their apparently uniform structure, and their yellowish- 
gray color. 
The nerves which proceed from the cerebro-spinal axis, or the nerves 
of animal life, are distributed to the organs of the senses, the skin, and 
the muscles; and the sympathetic or ganglionic nerves are distributed 
chiefly to the viscera and blood-vessels, and are termed the nerves of 
organic life. The cerebro-spinal nerves consist almost exclusively of the 
tubular nerve-fibres, the gelatin- 
ous fibres existing only in very 
small proportion. Each cerebro- 
spinal nerve consists of numerous 
nerve-fibres collected together 
and enclosed in a membranous 
sheath. A small bundle of 
primitive fibres so enclosed is 
called a funculus ; and if the 
nerve is of small size, it may 
consist only of a single funculus; 
but if large, the funculi are 
collected together into larger 
bundles or fasciculi, and are 
bound together in a common 
membranous investment termed 
the sheath. 
Nerves, in their course, sub- 
divide into branches, and these 
frequently communicate with the 
branches of a neighboring nerve; 
but in these communications the 
nerve-fibres never coalesce, but 
merely pass into the sheath of 
the adjacent nerve, become intermixed with the nerve-fibres, and 
again pass on to become blended with the nerve-fibres in some 
adjoining fasciculus. Every nerve-fibre in its course proceeds uninter- 
ruptedly from its origin at a nervous centre to its destination, and, how- 
ever long its course, there is no branching or anastomosis, or union with 
the substance of any other fibres. The communications which take place 
between two or more nerves form what is called a plexus, in which the 
component nerves divide, then join, and again subdivide in such a com- 
plex manner that the individual fasciculi become most intricately inter- 
laced. As the small bundles of nerve-fibres approach their final and 
THE CEREBRO-SPINAL SYSTEM. 916 
NERVOUS SYSTEM, ETC.-NETTLE. 
minutest distribution in the several tissues, they commonly form delicate 
"terminal plexuses." The primitive fibres appear to terminate in various 
ways, as in loops, in plexuses, by branching, or by free ends. The cen- 
tral termination of a nerve-fibre is that in connection with a nerve-centre; 
the peripheral termination, that in connection with the different organs 
and tissues. The sympathetic nerves consist of tubular and gelatinous 
fibres, intermixed with a varying proportion of filamentous areolar tissue, 
and enclosed in a sheath of fibro-areolar tissue. The tubular fibres are for 
the most part smaller than those composing the cerebro-spinal nerves, 
and their double contour is less distinct. 
The nerve-fibres both of the cerebro-spinal and sympathetic system 
convey impressions of a twofold kind-the one the impressions made 
upon their peripheral extremities or parts of their course to their nervous 
centres; the other the impressions from the brain and other nervous 
centres to the parts to which the nerves are distributed. For this two- 
fold office two distinct sets of nerve-fibres are provided-the sensitive, 
called also the centripetal, or afferent nerves, which convey impressions 
from the periphery to the centre; and the motor, centrifugal, or efferent 
nerves, which transmit central impulses to the extremities. But, with 
this difference in function, there is no apparent difference in the struc- 
ture of the nerve-fibres by which it might be explained. Nerve-fibres 
appear to possess no power of generating force in themselves, or of 
originating impulses to action; but they possess a certain property of 
conducting impressions, which, however, is never manifested till some 
stimulus is applied. This property of nerves is called excitability, irri- 
tability, or nervous force, and one of its peculiarities is the rapidity with 
'which it travels along the nerve-fibres. In many respects it resembles 
electricity, but the analogy between the two does not amount to identity. 
All stimuli, internal or external, chemical, mechanical, or electrical, 
when applied to sensitive nerves, produce sensations; and when applied 
to motor nerves, excite contractions. There are certain kinds of nerves, 
however, the irritation of which produces effects that are entirely peculiar 
to themselves; thus, irritation of the optic nerves causes the sensation 
of light; of the auditory nerve, of sound; and of the olfactory or gus- 
tatory nerves, of smell and taste. It is a remarkable fact that, whatever 
part of a sensitive nerve be irritated, whether it be the centre, middle, 
or extremity, the same sensation will be produced. (See Nervous Dis- 
eases, Brain, Ganglion.) 
NETTLE, net'-tl [Ang.-Sax. netele, netle\ The common nettle 
belongs to a tribe of plants which includes the hop and others used 
as food, and is itself eaten when cooked, as a wholesome, almost as 
a medicinal, article of diet, in some parts of the country. It is diuretic. NETTLES-NEURAL GLA. 
917 
The fresh juice of the nettle has been highly recommended in cases of 
internal hemorrhage, particularly from the lungs and womb. The dose, 
1 teaspoonful three times a day. (See Hemorrhage. ) 
NETTLE-RASH. (See Skin, Diseases of the.) 
NEURALGIA, nu-ral'-je-g [Gr. neuron, a nerve, and algos, pain], is 
an increased and perverted sensation in a nerve, arising from some dis- 
ease affecting the function or structure of the nerve or its centres. There 
are three principal varieties: 1, Neuralgia of die head and face, com- 
monly called Tic douloureux ; 2, Intercostal neuralgia or pleurodynia; 
and 3, Sciatica or neuralgia of the sciatic nerve. 
Causes.-It may be brought on by many causes of a trivial nature; 
a current of air, a slight touch, or the exertion of speaking or eating 
may give rise to one of its paroxysms. It is more often met with in 
those who are delicate, pale and weak, and who have been reduced by 
some long drain upon the system; it frequently attacks poor women who 
have been suckling their infants for some time past. It not unfrequently 
accompanies disorders of the digestive organs and affections of a rheu- 
matic character. Sometimes it can be traced to the influence of malaria 
and at others to some local irritation, such as pressure from diseased 
bone, or tumors in the course of the nerve affected. 
Symptoms.-The principal symptom is a severe pain experienced in 
the course of a nerve or its branches, liable to frequent paroxysms and 
to intermissions likewise. No inflammatory manifestations, properly 
speaking, accompany neuralgia; no redness, heat, or swelling, though in 
certain cases, one or more of these may be superadded. The attacks of 
pain may occur at intervals of a few seconds, or so long a period as a 
day or two, or even longer, may elapse. They may recur with marked 
regularity, coming on and ceasing at corresponding periods of each day; 
or the attacks and the cessation may be alike irregular. 
Treatment.-The treatment naturally divides itself into external and 
internal. Certain applications tend to mitigate the pain of severe attacks, 
such as warm fomentations, laudanum, belladonna, tincture of aconite, 
chloroform liniment and blistering fluid. Great relief is often obtained 
by the subcutaneous injection of morphia by the hypodermic syringe; of 
course this can only be done by a medical man. The internal treatment 
must vary according to the cause. If the uatient be weak and anaemic, 
the following will be found useful: 
Take of Sulphate of iron Twelve'grains. 
Sulphate of quinine Twenty grains. 
Dilute sulphuric acid One dram. 
Compound tincture of lavender One dram. 
Pure water Six ounces.-Mix. 
Give 2 tablespoonfuls every four hours; while taking the above the 918 
NEURALGIA-NEUTRAL SALTS. 
bowels must be regulated by a couple of the compound colocynth pills 
at bed-time, every third or fourth night. 
If the disease be due to the influence of malaria, quinine must be 
given in full doses. 
Take of Sulphate of quinine Twenty grains. 
Tincture of orange peel One dram. 
Dilute sulphuric acid Forty drops. 
Pure water Six ounces.-Mix. 
Give 2 tablespoonfuls three times a day. 
If the disease depends on, or is connected with rheumatism, the fol- 
lowing will be found useful: 
Take of Iodide of potassium One half dram. 
Bicarbonate of potash Twenty grains. 
Wine of colchicum One dram. 
Pure water... .• Six ounces.-Mix. 
Give 2 table spoonfuls three times a day. 
Muriate of ammonia, sal ammoniac, in doses of 10 grains, three times 
a day, has frequently proved of service in neuralgia. When the cause 
of the pain can be traced to a carious tooth, the offending member must 
be extracted. In some cases where medical treatment has failed, surgery 
has been more successful, and the trunk of the painful nerve has been 
divided with benefit to the wearied sufferer. 
Preventive treatment.-It is important to maintain the skin in a 
healthy state, and for this purpose baths and warm clothing are to be 
used; flannel should always be worn next the skin; appropriate out-door 
exercise must be indulged in, but cold and dampness be scrupulously 
avoided. A nourishing diet should be observed, tea and coffee, and 
much saccharine matter avoided, and milk and cocoa permitted. Atten- 
tion to these simple matters will prevent many an attack of this exceed- 
ingly painful disorder. (See Sciatica, Rheumatism, Nervous System 
and Nerves,Cold, Damp, Aconitum, Chloroform.) 
NEUTRAL MIXTURE, nu'-tral [Lat. neutralis, neuter]. This is 
a solution of the citrate of potash. It is a valuable refrigerant, acting 
mildly on the skin, bowels and kidneys. It is very useful in irritability 
of the stomach, and forms a very grateful draught for fever patients. 
The dose is a tablespoonful diluted with as much water, repeated five or 
six times a day. The solution may be made by saturating lemon-juice 
with bicarbonate of potash and filtering. A similar preparation may be 
given as an effervescent drink by forming solution of lemon-juice and 
water, of each £ an ounce; and another by dissolving bicarbonate of 
potash, drams in 4 ounces of water. The two solutions are to be 
mixed and the whole to be drunk during effervescence. 
NEUTRAL SALTS, are compounds of an acid and an alkali, in NEUTRAL SALTS-NIPPLES. 
919 
which the two constituents completely neutralize one another; the 
resulting compound having neither acid nor alkaline properties. (See 
Salts. ) 
NEW ENGLAND STATES, CLIMATE OF. (See Climate.) 
NEW JERSEY TEA. (See Ceanothus. ) 
NICOTIANA, ne-ko-she-a'-na^ a genus of the Nat. order Atropacece. 
The species and varieties supply the different kinds of tobacco now in 
general use in some form or other all over the globe. Most of the 
tobacco of commerce is yielded by the species N. tabacum^ a native of 
the warm parts of America, but now cultivated in various countries. 
The Shiraz or Persian tobacoo is obtained from N. persica; the Syrian 
and Turkish from W rustica ; and Cuba and Havana from both N. 
tabacum and repanda. (See Tobacco, Nicotine.) 
NICOTINE, OR NICOTIA, nik'-o-tin, a volatile alkaloid contained 
in the tobacco plant ^Nicotiana tabacurn)^ in which it occurs in combina- 
tion with malic and citric acids. It is a limpid, colorless, oily liquid, with 
an irritating and powerful odor of tobacco. It is extremely poisonous, a 
single drop being sufficient to poison a large dog. (See Nicotiana, 
Tobacco, Alkaloids.) 
NIGHT, nite [Ang.-Sax. niht^ nakt}. The period of darkness con- 
sequent upon the absence of the sun's rays is one which unquestionably 
exerts considerable influence over the states and health of the human 
body. The effect of light upon the body, and the injurious consequences 
of its withdrawal, has already been treated of in the article Light, which 
see. The reader is also referred to the articles Sleep, Early Rising, 
Breakfast, etc. t 
NIGHT AIR. (See Air.) 
NIGHT-BLINDNESS, nite'-blind-nos, is a peculiar affection of the 
eye, in which the patient sees very well during the day, but becomes 
blind as night approaches. It is generally met with in warm climates, 
and seems to arise from the excessive stimulus to which the eye is 
exposed during the day by the strong light in warm countries. It 
usually gives way to mild antiphlogistic treatment, purging, and blister- 
ing on the temples, but if not treated in time, it usually terminates in 
amaurosis. (See Amaurosis, Eye, Blindness.) 
NIGHT-BLOOMING CEREUS. (See Cactus Grandiflorus.) 
NIGHTMARE. (See Sleep, Dreaming.) 
NIGHTSHADE, DEADLY. (See Atropa Belladonna.) 
NIGHT-SWEATS. (See Consumption, H^matoxylon. ) 
NIPPLES, nip'-plz [Ang-Sax. nypele\. The nipple of the female 
breast is chiefly composed of tubes which give passage to the milk. 
During pregnancy, and at childbirth, it ought to become more prominent 920 
NIPPLES-NITRATE OF SILVER, ETC. 
and increased in size; but, sometimes, from the pernicious pressure 
of corsets in early life, it lias become so imbedded in the breast that 
it cannot be developed; consequently, when the time of suckling arrives, 
it is perfectly impossible for the infant to seize it. This is a state of 
things which often gives much trouble, causes the individual much pain 
and suffering, and not unfrequently lays the foundation of abscess of the 
breast. When this condition of the nipple exists, every effort should be 
made, during the time of pregnancy, to get it into a better and more promi. 
nent state, by means of the glasses adapted to the purpose, or by suction 
exerted by the mouth of an adult; after childbed, the same means 
should be assiduously practised. The greatest suffering, however, con- 
nected with the nipple during nursing, is in consequence of its becoming 
excoriated and chapped. This may be greatly prevented, if, during the 
latter months of pregnancy, trouble be taken to bathe the nipples, night 
and morning, with a mixture of brandy and water, 1 part of the former 
to 3 or 4 of the latter. When the nipples are inclined to become sore 
from nursing, which is generally within the first fortnight, the best, and, 
indeed, almost a certain remedy, is the tincture of catechu. Prepared 
nipple shields, etc., have been used to cover the nipple in such cases, 
but they do not answer well, and it requires a very strong child to draw 
the milk through them. If the nipples are harsh and dry on the surface, 
glycerine will probably be found of more service than catechu; and if 
they do not heal up under these or similar applications, the child must be 
kept from sucking for a short period, the breasts being emptied by other 
means, and the milk thus drawn given to the child. 
The late Sir Astley Cooper's favorite lotion in sore nipples was com- 
posed of borax, 1 dram; spirit of wine ounce; and water (soft) sufficient 
to make up the |-pint lotion. (See Breast, Pregnancy, Childbed.) 
NITRATE OF SILVER, LUNAR CAUSTIC, ni'-trat. The 
nitrate of silver is made by dissolving silver in strong nitric acid. It 
crystallizes in square, anhydrous, colorless tables, and dissolves in an 
equal weight of water. For convenient use as a caustic, nitrate of silver 
is cast in the form of small cylindrical sticks, which are carried generally 
in silver or silver gilt holders, the best having a "quill" of the metal 
called palladium, to hold the caustic, it being found that in time the 
nitrate of silver acts chemically upon the metallic silver of the holder. 
Cheaper holders of glass, gutta percha, etc., are made. When nitrate 
of silver in the least degree moistened touches the body, it acts as a 
corrosive, and on the skin leaves a deep brownish or black stain, which 
is only removed as the outer skin is worn off, and renewed in course of 
time; or, if it is applied early, by hydriodate of potash. If, however, 
the caustic be rubbed on the skin, it will probably cause blistering. NITRATE OF SILVER, ETC.-NITROGEN. 
921 
Medicinally it' is tonic and antispasmodic, and is recommended in 
chronic diseases of the stomach, attended with pain and vomiting, but of 
course must be used with caution. Dose, to * of a grain: 2 to 4 grains 
to an ounce of water is employed for lotions or injections. It is applied 
■externally to wounds, ulcers, etc. The modes of using nitrate of silver, 
being pointed out in the different articles, such as erysipelas, whitlow 
etc., it is unnecessary to repeat them here. (See Silver.) 
NITRATES, nl'-tratz [Lat. nltras], a term applied to a combination 
between nitric acid and a base. Nearly all the metallic oxides being dis- 
solved by nitric acid, a numerous class of nitrates is thus produced, which, 
if prepared with heat and with excess of acid, generally contain the metal 
at its maximum of oxidation. The nitrates are all decomposed by a red 
heat; they give off oxygen and nitrogen, either separate or combined, 
and the metallic oxide ultimately remains. The nitrates of the different 
substances will be found noticed under their special names. 
NITRE, OR SALTPETRE, nl'-ter, nitrate of potash. (See Potash.) 
NITRE, POISONING BY. (See Alkalies, Poisoning by.) 
NITRE, SWEET SPIRITS OF. (See Ether, Nitrous or Nitric.) 
NITRIC ACID, OR AQUA-FORTIS, nl'-trik as-Id, is one of the 
most powerful of the mineral acids, and is strongly corrosive; it is 
obtained from saltpetre by distillation with oil of vitriol. Pure nitric 
acid is composed of nitrogen and oxygen gases in the proportion of 
one of the former to five of the latter, and should be colorless: it is 
usually met with in the shape of a light straw color and contains water. 
Nitric acid is used externally by surgeons as a caustic, or rather as a 
corrosive ; internally it is employed as a tonic, especially in some forms 
of dyspepsia and liver disorder, the dose 2 to 8 drops well diluted with 
water. Diluted nitric acid, composed of 1 part of the common commer- 
cial acid and 9 parts of water, is used as more convenient than the strong 
acid; of this the dose is from 20 to 30 drops. 
Poisoning by nitric acid or aqua-fortis sometimes occurs, for 
treatment the reader is referred to Poisons and their Antidotes. (See 
Nitrogen.) 
NITROGEN, nl'-tro-jen [Gr. nitron, nitre; gennao, I generate]- 
symbol N; equivalent, 14; density, 14; specific gravity, 0.9713-a trans- 
parent, permanent, colorless gas, well known as one of the constituents of 
the atmosphere which contains volumetrically about 78 per cent., mechan- 
ically united with 22 per cent, of oxygen. Although characterized by its 
inactivity when in a free state, it enters into combination with the other 
elements, forming compounds possessed of the most energetic proper- 
ties. With hydrogen it forms ammonia; with oxygen, nitric acid; with 
carbon, cyanogen ; with carbon, hydrogen and other elements, an almost 922 
NITROGEN-NITROUS, OR NITRIC ETHER. 
infinite number of bodies, known as the vegetable and artificial alka- 
loids, such as quinine, morphine, aniline, etc. Besides these, it is an 
essential constituent of the proximate principles of animal and vegetable 
bodies; such as albumen, fibrine, caseine, etc. It was at first called azote, 
from its incapability of supporting life; but Chaptai named it nitrogen, 
from its entering into the composition of nitre, nitric acid, etc. It is 
readily obtained in a variety of ways by abstracting the oxygen from the 
air. It is incombustible, and does not support combustion. It may be 
breathed with impunity as far as itself is concerned, but destroys life 
from the want of oxygen. Its compounds with the metallic elements 
are of little importance, but the compounds it forms with the non-metallic 
elements are most numerous and important. With oxyen nitrogen forms 
five well-defined compounds-NO, nitrous oxide, or protoxide of nitro- 
gen; NO2, nitric oxide, or deutoxide of nitrogen ; NO3, nitrous acid; NO4, 
peroxide of nitrogen; NO5, nitric acid. The first of these, nitrous 
oxide, is commonly known as laughing gas, from the exhilarating effects 
it produces on the human system when breathed. It was discovered by 
Priestly in 1776, and minutely investigated by Davy. It is a transpar- 
ent, colorless gas, soluble in three-fourths of its bulk of cold water, and 
has a specific gravity of 1.527. It is neutral and non-combustible, but 
supports combustion with great energy. Of all the compounds of oxygen 
and nitrogen, nitric acid is the most important; its power of forming 
useful compounds with most of the bases, and its powerful oxidizing 
properties, render its uses very numerous in the laboratory. It was 
known to the alchemists under the name of aqua-fortzs but its com- 
position was first made out by Cavendish. In its most concentrated 
form, nitric acid contains one equivalent of water, and has a specific 
gravity of 1.52. It is a a colorless limpid, powerfully corrosive, 
liquid, boiling at 184° Fahrenheit, and freezing into a buttery mass at- 
40°. Nitric acid combines with one equivalent of the various bases to 
form neutral salts, known as nitrates. For its medicinal uses the reader 
is referred to the article Nitric Acid. (See also Air, Blood, Food, Respi- 
ration, Ammonia, Laughing Gas, etc.) 
NITRO-MURIATIC ACID, OR AQUA-REGIA, ni'-tro-mu-re-at'-ik, 
as it has been called from its power of acting upon gold, is used in medi- 
cine as a tonic, and it is a very valuable one, but like other poisonous 
medicines, must be used with caution. It may be prepared suffi- 
ciently well by mingling equal measures of nitric and muriatic acids in 
their undiluted condition, and allowing them to stand for a few 
minutes before water is added. The dose is 4 to 8 drops, well diluted 
in water. 
NITROUS, OR NITRIC ETHER. (See Ether, Nitrous or Nitric.), NITE OUS OXIDE-NOSE. 
923 
NITROUS OXIDE. (See Laughing-Gas.) 
NOCTURNAL DISCHARGES, nok-tur'-nal [Lat. nocturnus ; noctu, 
by night], of seminal fluid are apt to cause much mental uneasiness and 
physical debility in those, generally young men, who are the most fre- 
quent subjects of them. They are probably in most cases the result of 
criminal self-indulgence and venereal excesses, from which those thus 
affected should rigorously abstain. Unless very excessive, there is no 
reason that they should be regarded in the almost morbid way they often 
are. Abundant exercise, cold bathing, either general or local, and 
where there is not much debility, the disuse of alcoholic stimuli, the 
avoidance of whatever may tend to excite the secretion in question, and 
the use of the tincture of muriate of iron, in 10 or 15 drop doses twice 
or thrice a day, will, in most cases, effect a cure. It is of great impor- 
tance, along with these measures, to keep the bowels perfectly open, 
and for this purpose, gentle salines, senna, castor-oil, sulphur and mag- 
nesia, from £ to 1 teaspoonful of each for a dose, in milk, aperient min- 
eral waters, or cool injections, are preferable to pills which contain aloes. 
In such cases, one caution is of the highest importance: avoid the 
advertising quacks. The painfully nervous state of the mind in those 
who suffer from the above affection, renders them most timidly credulous, 
and this fact is made use of by designing knaves-first to frighten, by 
attaching exaggerated importance to every slight symptom, and then to 
fleece those they have thus gulled. Persons who are affected with the 
disorder in question, by confiding in some medical man, may speedily be 
relieved. (See Onanism, Semen, Impotence, Sterility, Nervous Dis- 
eases, Diet, Exercise, Mineral Waters, Damiana, Buchu, Salvia 
Officinalis, Strychnos Nux Vomica.) 
NODE, node [Lat. nodus}, is an enlargement of a bone, caused by 
inflammation of the bone itself, or of its covering "periosteum." The 
shin bone is very liable to the disease, often in consequence of venereal 
affection. It is attended with little pain; but sometimes the pain is 
considerable, particularly in the night time. The treatment in general 
consists in attention to the general health, tonics, alteratives, and the 
iodide of potassium. Whilst active inflammation of the part is present, 
perfect rest, leeches, fomentations, poultices, and other remedies, internal 
and external, recommended in inflammation generally, may be used, 
and afterwards blisters. A medical man should be called in. (See 
Syphilis.) 
NOISES IN THE EAR. (See Ear, Diseases of the.) 
NOMENCLATURE, CHEMICAL. (See Chemistry.) 
NORTHWESTERN STATES, CLIMATE OF. (See Climate.) 
NOSE, noze [Ang.-Sax. nose, ncese; Lat. nasus], is the organ of smell 924 
NOSE. 
in vertebrated animals, and in the three highest classes is connected with 
the respiratory function. In man, the nose, anatomically considered, 
consists of two large cavities, called nostrils (nares), a right and a left, 
formed by the bones of the face, and separated from each other by a 
perpendicular flat partition, called the septum narium. Each nostril is 
divided by the spongy bone into chambers, termed the superior, middle, 
and inferior meatus. Besides smell, the nose has ordinary sensation, 
like other parts of the face, depending on filaments of the trifacial or 
fifth pair of cerebral nerves. The external prominent part of the nose, 
which gives character to the feature, is composed of several cartilages, 
connected to the bones and to each other by strong fibrous tissue, suffi- 
ciently firm to preserve the shape of the organ, and so elastic and 
flexible as to permit the expansion and contraction of the nostrils in 
respiration. The nose is not only the organ of smelling, but serves also 
as the chief passage of the air into the lungs, and has a considerable 
influence upon the voice. 
Fracture of the bones is not uncommon, and, like other accidents to 
the organ, is liable to be followed by much bleeding. If the nature of 
the accident is indicated by the alteration in shape and mobility of the 
parts, etc., the nose may, if a medical man is not at hand, be restored 
somewhat to shape by a bystander, the fingers on the outside being 
assisted, if requisite, from within, by means of a firm quill, or piece of 
wood covered with lint, passed up the nostril. After the displacement 
has been rectified, the person should be kept perfectly quiet, the injured 
parts covered with cloths dipped in cold water, and if habit of body is 
full, a sharp purgative administered, for the possibility of the inflamma- 
tion excited extending to the brain must not be forgotten. 
Bleeding from the nose. (See Hemorrhage.) 
Foreign bodies in the nose.-The nose, like the ear, is very liable to 
be made by children the receptacle for anything that will pass into it- 
beans, buttons, stones, or the like. When the things introduced swell, 
by absorption of moisture, there is often considerable difficulty in their 
extraction; sometimes they have been in the nose, unnoticed, for days and 
weeks, and are not discovered until inflammation of, and perhaps dis- 
charge of matter from, the lining membrane attracts attention, a reason, 
when such symptoms occur in a child, for always examining the nose for 
the presence of foreign bodies. The extraction of a foreign body from 
the nostril is always best done by a surgeon; others are very apt to 
make the matter worse by pushing the foreign body further in. If, 
however, circumstances render it desirable to attempt the extraction 
without waiting, it must be done by means of the flat end of a probe, or 
of a bodkin, bent about the eighth of an inch, nearly at right angles with NOSE-NUESE, NUE SEE Y, ETC. 
925 
the rest of the instrument, which bent end being carefully passed beyond 
the body, must be used as a hook to draw it out. Sometimes, when the 
foreign body is not very far in the one nostril, if that on the opposite side 
be closed, and the child can be made to blow forcibly through the other, 
the obstruction will be shot out. 
The lining membrane of the nose is liable to become inflamed and 
ulcerated. In a mild case, washing with warm water-if necessary, by 
means of a syringe-containing a little carbonate of soda in solution, will 
be of service. It is a common popular error to suppose that the nose 
communicates with the brain. It is sufficient to remark that it does not. 
NOSE, BLEEDING FROM. (See Hemorrhage.) 
NOSE, FOREIGN BODIES IN THE. (See Nose.) 
NOSOLOGY, no-sol'-o-je, the scientific classification of diseases. 
NOSTALGIA, OR HOME-SICKNESS, nos-tal'-je-a [Gr. nosteo, I 
return; algos, pain], a term used to denote an intense longing for return 
to one's native country; a disease not unfrequent among young soldiers, 
and those whom circumstances have placed in foreign climes. The Swiss 
are particularly subject to this affection. This vehement home-sickness 
is attended with melancholy, loss of appetite, and want of sleep. (See 
Appetite, Melancholy, Sleep, Tonics, Bitters.) 
NOSTRUM, nos'-trum [Lat. our own], is a term applied to quack 
medicines, the composition of which is kept a secret. (See Quackery.) 
NOURISHMENT. (See Aliment, Digestion, Food, Nutrition, etc.) 
NOXIOUS AIR. (See Air, Malaria, Disinfectants, Houses, Ven- 
tilation. ) 
NURSE, NURSERY, NURSERY MAIDS, nurse [Ang.-Sax. 
norice ; Lat. nutrix ; nutrio, to nourish]. 
Wet-nurse.-The subject of wet-nursing, and the objections to it, 
have already been alluded to under article Children. When a wet- 
nurse is absolutely necessary and resolved upon, the selection is best 
left to the medical man, who will endevor to procure one whose confine- 
ment was as nearly as possible at the same time as that of the mother's, 
whose child she is to nurse; he may at the same time avail himself of 
the aid of the microscope in examining the milk, if there is much power 
of choice. The following characteristics of a good wet-nurse are laid 
down by M. Devergie, who, in 1838, had the responsibility of choosing 
a nurse for the infant Count of Paris. "A good nurse should be from 
twenty-five to thirty years old, strong in constitution, full-chested, of 
sanguine lymphatic temperament, brown-haired, having white healthy 
teeth and well-colored lips. She should have pyriform breasts, with 
well-formed nipples, and without too much development of veins. The 
milk drawn in to aspoon should be white, with a slight bluish tint, its 926 
NURSE, NURSERY, ETC. 
taste saccharine; it should not be too thick." In scrutinizing, however, 
the physical qualifications of a wet-nurse, it is of the highest importance 
that the mental ones-disposition, temper, etc.,-should not be over- 
looked ; for, independent of the influence which may be exerted upon 
the infant by the psychical qualities of the being from which it draws its 
first nourishment, we know that the emotions of the mind always do 
affect the milk in some peculiar way, and cause injury to the child-nay, 
death itself from convulsions, has been the consequence to an infant 
whose mother had, shortly before nursing it, given way to violent pas- 
sion. The late Sir Astley Cooper held the opinion, that the anxiety of 
a mother for her child during teething, by acting on the milk, gave it an 
aperient, and therefore, a salutary property. Again, all nurses well 
know how much the quality of their milk is affected either by food or 
medicine, and this is another reason why a wet-nurse should be selected, 
if possible, who is likely to have sufficient self-control to regulate her 
diet. The difficulty in this, is one, at least, of the objections to wet- 
nurses, especially if kept in the houses of their employers, where they 
are tempted with unaccustomed and richer food and drink. 
The return of menstruation, in a nurse, is always an objection, 
although perhaps not an absolute one, if merely an occasional occur- 
rence ; the child, however, should be withdrawn from the breast during 
the period, and managed as if nursed by hand (see Children), the breasts 
being kept duly emptied by artificial means. (See Childbed.) In the 
event of slight indisposition in the nurse, the same plan may be pursued. 
Perhaps no diet is more suitable for a wet-nurse than one which embraces 
a large proportion of milk and farinacea, with a moderate proportion of 
animal food, and much mischief is often done to both nurse and infant, 
under the idea that stimulant is required during nursing, from the very 
first. Strong healthy women never require it, and are better without it; 
some derive benefit from a moderate allowance of malt liquor, after 
the first two or three months, whilst others, who are deficient in vital 
and digestive power, may be benefited by it from the first. Medi- 
cines taken by the nurse may be so directed as to benefit the child, 
particularly such aperients as castor-oil, senna, etc. Saline aperients 
and acids generally cause griping. (See Weaning.) 
Nursery maids are, unfortunately, as a rule, by no means a very 
trustworthy class of persons, and yet, both physically and morally, how 
much the present and future welfare of our children depends upon them. 
It is most difficult, nay, almost impossible, to meet in one person with that 
rare combination of qualities which would constitute a good nursery 
maid. She should have sprightliness and liveliness enough to amuse the 
children, with sufficient gravity and discretion to keep both herself and NUBSN NUB SEE Y, ETC. 
927 
them within the bounds of prudence; she should have good nature com- 
bined with firmness; good sense, and sufficient education to enable her 
to detect and repress erroneous ideas and principles in the minds of her 
little charge: scrupulously clean should she be, and true and honest; 
she cannot attempt deception, or concealment of anything from her mis- 
tress, without making the child deceptive too; her thoughts, like her 
language, must be pure, or she will inevitably poison the springs of infant 
innocence ; she should be orderly and methodical in her habits ; no gos- 
siper; no believer in old fables and ridiculous stories of ghosts and the 
like. Some children are ready to go into fits if left in the dark, because 
they have been told foolish stories about "bogies," witches and the like. 
The treatment of children in the nursery should never be left alto- 
gether to servants, a mother's superintendence is always required; and 
if circumstances preclude the possibility of this, some near relative or 
staid elderly person, who has herself known and felt the cares and 
responsibilities of maternity should superintend the arrangements. Some 
mothers there are who voluntarily abandon this sacred charge, and 
entrust their children to servants. (See Children.) 
Nurseries.-With regard to nurseries, we may just observe here 
that the aspect of such is of the greatest importance, as the health of 
the inmates depends much on this; there should be plenty of light and 
pure air (see Ventilation, Air, Etc.) The nursery should be at or 
near the top of the house, and the children's bed-room on a level with 
it; the windows should be opened at all convenient seasons, and may 
be left so during the summer nights, provided there are no sleepers in 
it, which there never should be if it is avoidable. A crowded nursery 
will always endanger the health of the children, especially if it be not 
thoroughly ventilated. A very young infant should not be taken into 
a nursery where there are well-grown children, as these will, it is likely, 
be rude and noisy, so as to greatly disturb it, and they too will be 
annoyed and their pleasures interfered with by its crying. 
Nurses for the sick.-Really good sick-nurses, who understand their 
business, are difficult to meet with, especially in the country; and it is 
to be lamented, when it is considered how much of the success of the 
best directed treatment depends upon its being carried out and seconded 
by good and judicious nursing. A very young nurse is not desirable, 
and, perhaps, few are fit for the office under thirty years of age; but a very 
aged one is still more objectionable, when the infirmities, and often the 
irritabilities of age have come on: after sixty, this is too often the case. 
It is sufficiently obvious, that those whose duty it is to wait upon the 
sick, to suffer the necessary confinement, loss of rest and other depres- 
sing influences, should themselves have health as good as possible, and 928 
NURSE, NURSERY, ETC-NURSING, ETC 
be possessed of strength and stature sufficient to enable them to give all 
requisite aid in lifting, etc. Activity, and order, and cleanliness, both 
in their own persons and about those they wait upon, are indispensable. 
All bad habits, such as snuffing, smoking, and it perhaps must be added 
drinking, are insuperable objections; likewise the habit or necessity of 
making unusual noises, such as humming, or habitual cough. Neither 
should nurses be great talkers: some patients are much annoyed with the 
garrulousness of their attendants. A nurse ought to be a light sleeper, 
awake to the slightest call or movement, and no snorer; a light mover 
about a room. 
A good and obliging temper is of course highly desirable; equally so, 
sufficient good judgment in the management of the whims and peevish- 
ness of the sick, and to direct any little conversation into proper chan- 
nels, avoiding all narrations of previous experinces, which are very apt 
to be indulged in. 
Some amount of education is absolutely necessary-especially the 
ability to read writing. Without it, the most serious mistakes may, and 
have occurred. 
In enumerating the qualifications of a good nurse, it is not expected 
that all these are to be found combined and in perfection in one or every 
individual, but some approximation, at least, to them should be attempted. 
Of course in addition to the natural qualifications, experience in the 
management of the sick is more or less requisite, and the more skilled 
the nurse in the performance of the needful operations of the sick-room, 
of course the more valuable. Whilst laying down the qualifications for 
good nurses, one word may be said to those who employ them. If 
active, cheerful attendance is required, it must not be forgotten, that this 
is almost physically impossible, if a nurse be kept day after day, and 
night after night, confined in a close sick-room. Even if averse to it, 
both for her own sake, and for that of the patient, a nurse ought to be made 
to be out in the open air for exercise, for at least an hour in the day. 
There are few cases which will not admit of some member of the family 
taking her place for that time. (See Bed-Room, Sick-Room, Cookery for 
the Sick, etc.) 
NURSING SORE MOUTH, OR APHTHA LACTEA, nursling, 
a troublesome disease of the mouth, occurring in women while nursing 
children. It consists of numerous, irregular, white patches, scattered 
over the lining membrane of the tongue and the cavity of the mouth, 
which, when detached, leave behind them a reddish, raw-looking sur- 
face. It is sometimes dependent on mere derangement of the stomach, 
but more frequently indicates great debility. Sometimes it makes its. 
appearance some weeks before parturition. NUB SING, ETC.-NYCTALOPIA. 
929 
The treatment consists of local applications of borax, or chlorate of 
potash and glycerine (1 dram of the chlorate of potash and | an ounce of 
glycerine to a pint of water), as a gargle, three or four times a day, and 
the internal administration of tonics, such as citrate of iron and quinine 
(5 grains, three times a day), gentian with chloride of iron, as prepared 
by Wyeth of Philadelphia, with nourishing diet, and good sherry w'ine. 
Carbolic acid (1 dram to a pint of water) occasionally answers better than 
the chlorate of potash. It is frequently necessary to wean the child 
before permanent relief can be obtained. 
This affection is sometimes called canker, or cancrum oris; but this 
is scarcely correct, as these terms more properly belong to a severe form 
of aphthous disease occurring in children from two to five years of age, 
in which the mouth becomes gangrenous, emitting a horribly fetid odor, 
and proving fatal, frequently, in a few days. The latter is a disease 
demanding the most prompt interference of a skilful physician. (See 
Thrush, Chlorate of Potash, Gargles.) 
NURSING THE SICK. (SeeNurse, Sick-Room; Bed, Bed-Room; 
Age, Old; Childbed, Child, Cookery for the Sick, and the various 
articles on the treatment of diseases.) 
NUTMEG. (See Myristica.) 
NUTRITION, nu-trish'-un [Low Lat. nutritio, from Lat. nutrio, I 
nourish], is that complicated process by which a perpetual course of 
reproduction is going on in every part of the system. The living body 
is constantly losing part of its constituents; the component particles of 
the various tissues-bone, muscle, nerve, etc. They are disintegrated 
and removed by the vital acts of the organism, and require to be con- 
stantly replaced by new matter in order to be capable of continuing the 
functions necessary to life. Of the mode in which the substitution of 
new tissue takes place our knowledge is as yet very imperfect. Each 
tissue seems to possess an elective affinity for certain constituents of the 
blood, which it appropriates to its own use in the process of conversion 
into organized material. (See Physiology, Digestion, Blood, Food.) 
NUTS, nuts [Ang.-Sax., knut]. This kind of fruit in all its varieties 
must be pronounced decidedly unwholesome. Some persons, but very 
few, may eat nuts with impunity; when new they are generally solid and 
full of oil, so as to defy any but the strongest digestion; nevertheless, 
they are much relished and eaten, especially by children, to whom they 
should be given not at all, or very sparingly. Chestnuts, when roasted or 
boiled, are less objectionable. (See Chestnut, Filberts, Cocoa-Nut, 
ETC.) 
NUX VOMICA. (See Strychnos Nux Vomica.) 
NYCTALOPIA, nik-ta-lo'-pe-a [from Gr. nux, night; ops, vision]; 930 
NY CT AL OPIA- OA TMEAL. 
is the faculty of seeing best at night. A person suffering from this defect 
of vision sees little or nothing during the day, but in evening and night 
has his vision tolerably unobscured. It is owing to a peculiar irritability 
of the retina, which may arise from a sudden or lengthened exposure of 
the eye to too strong a light, or to a deficiency of the black pigment. 
Sedative applications, as dilute tincture of belladonna, with the internal 
use of hyoscyamus or conium and quinine, will be of service when it 
proceeds from removable causes. 
NYMPIItEA ODORATA, nim-fe'-a o-do-ra'-ta, white pond lily, or 
water lily, a plant belonging to the Nat. order Liliaceaz. It is found in 
ponds and marshes throughout the United States and Canada. The root 
is the part used in medicine. The yellow pond lily is said to possess 
similar properties. They are astringent, demulcent, anodyne and altera- 
tive, and are useful in dysentery, diarrhoea, the whites, and scrofula; 
and combined with wild cherry, in bronchial affections. Dose: of the 
fluid extract, J to 1 teaspoonful; of the infusion, to 2 fluid ounces; of 
the syrup, 2 to 8 teaspoonfuls. Lilium Candi dum or meadow lily, the 
common white lily, is used for the same purposes. Boiled in milk it 
is an excellent poultice for ulcers and tumors. 
NYMPHOMANIA, nim-fo-ma'-ne-q, inordinate lust. 
O, in medical prescriptions is used to denote a pint, being a contrac- 
tion of octavus, the eighth, a pint being the eighth part of a gallon. 
OAK. (See Quercus.) 
OAK APPLE, OR GALL-NUT. (See Galls.) 
OAK, POISON. (See Rhus Toxicodendron.) 
OATMEAL, ote'-meel. Oats as an article of diet are generally 
ranked next after wheat as regards nutritive power, the latter holding the 
first place in consequence of its containing a larger amount of gluten; 
in some respects, however, the oat is the superior grain. Oatmeal is 
largely employed in Scotland for the well-known "porridge," which con- 
stitutes the breakfast of a great proportion of the population, and almost 
universally of the children of all classes, and perhaps, a more wholesome 
one could not be found. In a few individuals, the use of oatmeal causes 
heart-burn, and occasionally nausea, and of course, must then be aban- 
doned. One of the most beneficial properties of the oat is its aperient 
power; in many children, the use of oatmeal porridge for breakfast will 
entirely correct a tendency to constipation. The proper method of OATMEAL- O CCUPATION. 
931 
making oatmeal porridge is, to have the requisite quantity of water boil- 
ing upon the fire,'and to sprinkle the meal into it from the hand, stirring 
constantly, not only at the time, but during the twenty minutes that the 
mixture should be boiled. Sufficient salt for seasoning is to be added 
during the process. When the mixture is boiled sufficiently, it must be 
poured into a saucer or soup plate, till it is sufficiently cool. It is gen- 
erally eaten with milk, but butter-milk, or treacle are also used. A pint 
of water, and a tea-saucerful of oatmeal, will make a good soup plateful 
of porridge. When oatmeal, coarsely prepared, is too largely used, 
especially in a dry state, it may cause concretions in the bowels (see 
Concretion), but this effect never follows its proper moderate employ- 
ment. (See Avena.) 
OATMEAL GRUEL. (See Cookery for the Sick.) 
OATMEAL POULTICE. (See Poultice.) 
OATS. (See Avena, Cereals.) 
OBESITY. (See Corpulence, Fat, Fucus Vesiculosus.) 
OBSTETRICS, OR MIDWIFERY, ob-stet'-riks [from Lat. obstetrix, 
a midwife], is that branch of medicine which relates to the management 
of parturition and the treatment of women after delivery. (See Child' 
bed, Parturition.) 
OBSTRUCTION OF THE BOWELS. (See Enteritis, Rectum.) 
OCCIPUT, ok'-seput, the back part of the head. (See Anatomy, 
Caput.) 
OCCUPATION, ok-ku-pa'-shun [Lat. occupatio]. The business or 
calling which a person pursues, either for pleasure or a livelihood, is 
called his occupation. It is a well-known fact that occupation has a 
peculiar effect, not only in modifying health and inducing disease, but 
also in qualifying the actions of medicines administered for purposes of 
relief. Certain occupations predispose to certain diseases. Painters 
and plumbers are subject to severe attacks of colic and to a peculiar form 
of paralysis; the shoemaker and the blacksmith, from so frequently 
bending over, are troubled with affection of the heart, lungs, and the 
stomach; and the tailor, from the cramped position of his legs on the 
table, frequently suffers from paralysis of the lower extremities. The 
housemaid is subject to white swelling ; the chimney-sweep to cancer of 
the scrotum; the lucifer-match maker to caries of the jaw, the effect of 
the phosphorus; and cabmen, owing to their constant exposure to wet 
and cold, are frequent sufferers from rheumatism, inflammation of the 
eyes and pulmonary complaints. 
Those whose occupations lead them into the country, where they get 
plenty of fresh air, abundant exercise, and hearty food, as a rule, are 
healthy, and when disease does come, it is generally of an inflammatory 932 
O CCUPATION-(ESOPIIA G US. 
type; while those who labor in the crowded town or city, breathing the 
dusty atmosphere, and drinking often impure water, are more frequently 
the subjects of scrofula, consumption, typhoid fever, diphtheria, and the 
diseases which are characterized by want of energy and tone. 
Brain laborers are predisposed to apoplexy, softening of the brain, 
nervous debility, and constipated bowels, though moderate mental exer- 
cise is conducive to health. 
Riches, if properly used, and not applied to purposes of dissipation 
and luxurious living, inasmuch as they exempt their possessors to a great 
extent from both severe physical labor and mental toil, predispose to 
health. 
Business men in this country, as a rule, labor too unremittingly to 
be compatible with health, and continue the labor to an age when they 
should be enjoying rather the fruits of their previous toil. There is, of 
course, no stated age when it is proper to retire from business, the pro- 
cess should be made a gradual one. The rate of mortality among those 
who, from a state of restless activity of both body and mind, retire to 
a condition of almost complete inactivity, is very great. 
Notwithstanding influence of occupation, most of the diseases to 
which mankind are liable might be avoided, or at least mitigated by care 
and a due regard to the laws of health; utter carelessness is the rule with 
too many, while the cause of death or loss of health, is laid at the door 
of their occupation instead of their own negligence. (See Health, Lon- 
gevity, Climate, Consumption, Diet, Exercise, Mental Exercise, 
Food, Air, Artizans and their Diseases; Colliers, Diseases of; 
Age, Old; Climacteric Disease.) 
OCULIST, ok'-u-list [Lat. oculus, the eye], is one who treats diseases 
of the eye. (See Eye, Diseases of the.) 
ODONTALGIA, od-on-tal'-je-a [Gr. odous, a tooth, and algos, pain], 
is the toothache. (See Teeth.) 
OEDEMA, e-de-ma [Gr. oideo, I swell], is a swelling occasioned by 
the infiltration of serum into the areolar tissue of any portion of the body. 
It is generally a symptom of some internal disease, the effusion of serum 
being caused by some obstruction to the return of venous blood to the 
heart. It hence generally arises from diseases of the heart and blood- 
vessels, liver, lungs, etc. In all cases, it is simply a symptom produced 
by different causes, and is to be treated according to the cause by which 
it is produced. (See Dropsy.) 
(ESOPHAGUS, e-sof'-a-gus [Gr. phero (piso}, I carry, and phago, I 
eat], is the gullet, or the membranous tube leading from the pharynx 
to the stomach, and forming the passage through which the food 
descends into the latter organ. It commences at the cricoid cartilage, (ESO PHA G US- OILS. 
933 
opposite the fifth cervical vertebra, and, descending along the front of 
the spine, passes through the diaphragm opposite the ninth dorsal ver- 
tebra, and there ends by opening into the cardiac orifice of the stomach. 
Its length is about nine inches, and its direction nearly straight, having 
only two or three slight curvatures. Its walls are composed of three 
coats, an external or muscular, a middle or areolar, and an internal or 
mucous coat. In the neck, the oesophagus lies immediately behind 
the trachea. (See Alimentary Canal, Anatomy, Mouth, Foreign 
Bodies in the Gullet, Deglutition, etc.) 
OFFENSIVE SWEATING OF THE FEET AND ARM-PITS. 
(See Alum, Carbolic Acid, Clay.) 
OFFICINAL, of-fis'-in-al [Lat. officina, a shop], is a term applied to 
such medicines as are mentioned in the pharmacopoeia, and directed to 
be kept by druggists. 
OIL, CASTOR. (See Ricinus Communis.) 
OIL OF VITRIOL. (See Sulphuric Acid.) 
OILS, oils [Lat. oleum, from olea, the olive], are the products of 
either the vegetable or animal kingdom; they are divided into fixed oils- 
which also include the fats-and volatile oils. Oils are also divided into 
drying and non-drying, according to their power of solidification by 
absorption of oxygen from the air. 
Fixed oils vary from the most limpid fluid to the hardest suet, accord- 
ing to the amount of solid or fluid fatty matter in their composition, all 
fixed oils, and animal fats, being separable into two, and often three 
different principles; one named oleine remains fluid at the lowest tem- 
perature, the next, margarine, has a higher melting point, and the third, 
stearine, the highest of all. The separation-under the influence of 
cold-into oleine and margarine may often be witnessed in olive-oil in 
winter. Fixed oils are further distinguished by their leaving a greasy 
stain on paper, which is not dispelled by heat, and by their power of 
forming soaps with the caustic alkalies. 
The principal fixed oils used in medicine are: almond-oil, castor-oil, 
croton-oil, linseed-oil, olive-oil, cod-liver oil. They all possess, more or 
less, aperient properties. Almond-oil is chiefly used as an external applica- 
tion. The reader is referred to the separate articles for further information. 
Volatile oils are of great variety, the odoriferous properties of the 
vegetable kingdom depending on their presence. These oils are gener- 
ally limpid, should be colorless, but are for the most part slightly yellow; 
their taste is usually pungent. Like the fixed oils, the volatile oils 
cause a greasy stain upon paper which, however, entirely evaporates 
under the influence of heat, thus affording an easy test of adulteration 
with a fixed oil, which is sometimes practised. 934 
OILS-OLD AGE. 
Some volatile oils, such as turpentine, oil of lemons, juniper, etc., 
are composed simply of carbon and hydrogen. Others, such as lavender, 
peppermint, etc., also contain oxygen in addition-camphor belongs to 
this division-and a third section, those of garlic, mustard, etc., have 
sulphur added. 
Volatile oils are used chiefly for their pleasant flavor, and for their 
stimulant carminative properties. They form along list: amber, aniseed, 
bergamot, cajeput, camphor, cassia and cinnamon, camomile, cloves, 
copaiba, cubebs, dill, fennel, juniper, lavender, lemon, marjoram, 
mint, orange, peppermint, penny-royal, pimento, rosemary, rue, savine, 
sassafras, turpentine, etc. (See each individual article.) 
OINTMENTS, oint'-ments [Lat. unguentum, from ttnguo, I anoint], 
are greasy or unctuous preparations, about the consistence of firm butter; 
they are much less used as dressings in modern practice than they 
formerly were, and their number might be reduced with much advantage; 
they have been supplanted by the more elegant, cleanly, and in every 
way superior, water-dressing. Occasionally, a greasy application is 
requisite, and then nothing answers better than perfectly fresh lard, or 
when fresh, the simple ointment, containing spermaceti or wax to give 
additional firmness. The form of ointment for purposes of counter-irri- 
tation, inunction, etc., is sometimes convenient, b.ut even this, as in the 
case of tartar emetic, might be often avoided. 
The ointments most likely to be useful for domestic practice are, tar- 
tar emetic ointment, gall ointment, iodide of potash ointment, mercu- 
rial and red precipitate ointments, simple or spermaceti ointment, sul- 
phur ointment, and zinc ointment. 
The composition of these is given under the head of the active ingre- 
dient they contain. Simple spermaceti ointment is made by melting 
together spermaceti 4 ounces, white wax 14 drams, olive-oil 20 ounces, 
stirring continually till the mass is perfectly cold. 
One of the great objections against ointments is, that so many of 
them, if kept, become rancid, and thus form a most irritating applica- 
tion. (See Dressing, Cerate.) 
OKRA, o'-Irra {Abelmoschus Esculentus\ an annual plant belonging 
to the Nat. order JAalvacece, and sometimes known as Gombo. It is a 
native of the Southern States and the West Indies, where it is used for 
soups and pickles. It abounds in mucilage, and for this reason may 
be employed wherever a demulcent is needed. An excellent softening 
poultice is made from the leaves. 
OLD AGE. (See Age, Old ; Brain in Old Age, Climacteric Dis- 
ease, Occupation, Health, Longevity, Bed-Room, Sick-Room, Cookery 
tor the Sick, etc.) OLD AGE, VIGOROUS-ON ANISH. 
935 
OLD AGE, VIGOROUS. (See Longevity.) 
OLEUM MORRHUJE. (See Cod-Liver Oil.) 
OLFACTORY NERVES, ol-fak'-to-re [Lat. olfacio, olfactus, to 
smell], are the nerves of the organ of smell. (See Nose.) 
OLIVE OIL, ol'-i/v, commonly called salad-oil or sweet-oil, the pro- 
duct of the Olea Europoea, or olive-tree, though used in the form of 
preserved olives, are better known as the source of the well-known olive, 
or salad-oil, which is procured by crushing from the perfectly ripe fruit. 
Good olive-oil is of a pale yellow color, and should be almost free from 
either smell or taste. It is often adulterated with the inferior fixed oils. 
As an article of diet, olive-oil agrees well with many, and some persons 
find it useful as an aperient, but it is very weak in action. In pregnancy, 
however, with irritable and yet confined bowels, it occasionally answers 
better than the usual castor-oil. Olive-oil is most used in medicine as an 
external application, both as an addition to ointments and as a liniment. 
A teaspoonful injected into the bowels once a day, for several successive 
days, with a small glass syringe, is an effectual remedy for pin-worms, so 
troublesome to children. (See Liniment, Ointments.) 
OMENTUM, o-men'-tum [Lat. omen, an omen], is one of the numer- 
ous folds or duplicatures of the peritoneum or lining membrane of the 
abdomen. The omentum is attached to the stomach, and lies on the 
anterior surface of the intestines. It is distinguished into the great 
omentum and little omentum, to which some anatomists add the colic 
omentum, and the gastro-splenic omentum. The omentum, which is 
always double, contains between its lamellae adipose tissue or fat. 
ONANISM, o'-nan-izm [from Onan; see Genesis xxxviii, 9.] The 
crime of Onan-self-pollution or masturbation, requires little notice here, 
further than to put parents upon their guard respecting their children, 
in connection with this ruinous vice acquired at school, and indulged in, 
in ignorance either of its sin or evil consequences. Some of the most 
lamentable instances of youthful decrepitude, nervous affections, amau- 
rotic blindness, and mental debility and fatuity in early life, which come 
before medical men, are traceable to this wretched practice. Whenever 
young people, about the age of puberty, exhibit unaccountable symp- 
toms of debility, particularly about the lower limbs, with listlessness and 
love of solitude, look dark under the eyes, etc., the possibility of vicious 
practices being at the root of the symptoms should not be entirely lost 
sight of. 
The advertising quack reaps a rich harvest from those suffering from 
infirmities incurred by this vice, promising speedy and secret cures 
for weaknesses which are frequently irremediable, and which can under 
no circumstances be relieved except by resolutely persistently removing 936 
ONANISM- OPERATION. 
the criminal indulgences that caused them, and by a long and persis- 
tent course of tonic treatment, which depends largely upon constitutional 
and other peculiarities, necessitating in all cases the advice of a physician. 
Masturbation almost invariably ends in the derangement of the nervous 
system to a greater or less extent. Constant employment in some useful 
occupation, and early marriage, are the most effectual correctors, and the 
greatest aids to a permanent restoration to vigor. A vegetable diet 
and cold bathing sometimes help in effecting a cure. (See Noc- 
TUENAL DlSCIIAEGES, IMPOTENCE, StEEILITY, SEMEN, BaEOSMA, DaMIANA, 
Salvia Officinalis, Tonics, Steychnos Nux Vomica, Neevous Dis- 
eases. ) 
ONION AND GARLIC, un'-yun [Lat. unid}. The former of these 
well-known vegetables may be considered either as a condiment or as an 
article of real nourishment. In its raw state especially, the onion, by 
virtue of the volatile oil it contains, is a powerful stimulant, but one only 
to be used with advantage and impunity by the owners of strong stomachs, 
who intend for the time being to eschew civilized society; under this 
proviso, the onion may really, at times, prove, and has done, of much 
value as a stimulant. By boiling, the onion is deprived of much of its 
pungent volatile oil, and becomes an agreeable, mild and nutritious vege- 
table ; it is less wholesome either fried or roasted, a portion of the volatile 
oil being retained, and empyreumatized, and thus rendered very 
irritating to the stomach. The onion possesses diuretic properties. A 
roasted onion, cut in half, and the centre scooped out, is a frequent 
domestic remedy applied to boils, with a view of hastening their 
breaking. 
Garlic is a more powerful stimulant than onion. When applied to 
the skin, either fresh or in a pulp, it acts like a mustard poultice. 
Garlic is diuretic, and possesses other properties; but its abomin- 
able smell Is quite sufficient to exclude it from use, when so many 
more efficient and agreeable substitutes are obtainable. (See Allium.) 
ONYCHIA, o-nik'-e-a [Lat. onyx, onychis], is a species of ulcer very 
difficult to heal, situated at the side of and underneath the nail. It is 
usually dependent on general constitutional debility, which requires to 
be attended to. (See Debility, Tonics, etc.) 
OPACITY, opas-e-te [Lat. opacibas, from opacus, opaque], a term 
applied to any thickening of the cornea, or any change which affects its 
transparency, and which is popularly called film. There are various 
kinds or degrees of opacities, such as (1) albugo or leucoma, the denser 
form; (2) haziness or nebula, the slighter form; and (3) macula, a mere 
patch, or speck. (See Eye, Vision.) 
OPERATION, op-er-a'-shun [Lat. opus, a work], any exercise of the OPERATION-OPHTHALMIA, ETC. 
937 
surgical art, performed by the hand, or by the assistance of instruments. 
It is termed simple when one kind of operation is required, and 
•complicated when it consists of more than one kind, as in cataract, when 
both incision and extraction is necessary. There are several simple surgi- 
cal operations which can be easily performed by a careful nurse or mother, 
such as the extraction of a thorn or splinter, lancing the gums, cutting of 
an ingrowing toe nail, opening a small abscess or fistula, etc.; and some- 
times the tying of a severed artery, cupping, etc. (See Accidents, Gums, 
Dentition; Nails, Ingrowing of the; Abscess, Fistula, Arterial 
Hemorrhage, Cupping, Wounds, Burns and Scalds, Bites and Stings, 
Dislocations, Fractures, etc.) 
OPHELIA CHIB AT A, o-fe'-le-a shi-ra'-tq, or chiretta, an Asiatic 
plant belonging to the Nat. order Gentianaceoe. The herb and roots are 
bitter tonic and stomachic. It promotes digestion, improves the appetite, 
and gives tone to the system, without stimulating or causing constipation. 
Dose: of the fluid extract, 15 to 30 drops; of the tincture, £ to 1 teaspoon- 
ful ; of the infusion, 1 to 2 fluid ounces, three or four times a day. (See 
Infusion.) 
OPHTHALMIA, OR INFLAMMATION OF THE EYES, of-thaV- 
me-q [Gr. ophthalmos, the eye], is an inflammation of the eye. General 
ophthalmia is of very rare occurrence, the disease being in the great 
majority of cases confined to some one of the parts, and having a 
distinct name; as conjunctivitis, iritis, or corneitis, denoting inflamma- 
tions of the conjunctiva, iris, or cornea, respectively. 
Inflammation of the Conjunctiva.-The most frequent form of 
ophthalmia is inflammation of the conjunctiva, or membrane lining the 
outer surface of the eye. 
Causes.-It may be caused by the presence of any irritating body, 
and is frequently produced by cold, when it is known as catarrhal 
ophthalmia. 
Symptoms.-In it the eyes are bloodshot, the redness being produced 
by injection of the network of vessels which covers the white of the eye; 
the lids are swollen, with a great deal of smarting and itching and a 
feeling as if there were sand or other foreign body in the eye. There is at 
first a great flow of tears, which is soon followed by the secretion of a 
thin muco-purulent discharge, which accumulates at the corners of the 
eyes. 
Treatment.-This is ordinarily a mild and manageable complaint, 
and may, in most cases, be got rid of by rest, a brisk purgative, and the 
occasional application of tepid water, or milk and water to the eye. If 
the inflammation does not subside in a day or two, the eye may be 
bathed several times a day with a dilute solution of alum, or of sulphate 938 
OPHTHALMIA, ETC. 
of zinc, 3 grains of the former or 1 grain of the latter-whichever may 
be most convenient-to 1 ounce of water, and in severe cases by 
blood-letting, by means of cupping-glasses or leeches applied to the 
temple. 
Purulent Ophthalmia.-A much more severe form of conjunctivitis 
is purulent ophthalmia, or as it is frequently called, Egyptian ophthalmia, 
from its having been brought by the army returning from the expedition 
to Egypt during the wars of the first Napoleon. 
Symptoms.-In this all the symptoms of the preceding are greatly 
aggravated. The conjunctiva is red and swollen, rising up like a wall 
round the cornea; the eyelids are tense, livid, and often enormously 
swollen; a copious secretion of muco-purulent matter is poured out, and 
there is a burning pain in the eye, with inability to bear the light. 
Treatment.-It requires prompt and decided treatment, as there is 
always great risk of permanent injury to the eye from its tendency to 
produce thickening and granulation of the conjunctiva of the lids, or 
ulceration and sloughing. In the severer forms of the disease recourse 
must be had to bleeding, either general or by means of cupping-glasses 
or leeches, and purgatives. The eye should be frequently cleansed with 
warm water, or a weak solution of alum or bichloride of mercury (2 
grains to 1 ounce of water) and 1 or 2 drops of a weak solution of lunar 
caustic (from 2 to 4 grains to 1 ounce of water) should be let fall into 
the eyes once or twice a day. 
Ophthalmia of New-Born Infants.-Infants of a few days old are 
often subject to a very severe form of inflammation of the conjunctiva, 
to which the name of ophthalmia neonatorum (ophthalmia of new-born 
infants) has been given. 
Treatment.-In mild cases, bathing or cleansing the eye several 
times a day with a weak warm solution of alum may be all that is neces- 
sary; in severe cases a leech should be applied to the temples, purga- 
tives administered, and a weak solution of nitrate of silver (1 grain to 1 
ounce of water) applied to the eye daily. 
Strumous or Scrofulous Ophthalmia occurs in children of scrofulous 
habits, and is chiefly remarkable for the extreme intolerance of light by 
which it is accompanied. The child keeps its head down, shelters its 
eye with the hand, and avoids the light. 
Symptoms.-The eye itself presents little appearance of inflammation, 
merely a faint blush of redness; but in many cases little pustular eleva- 
tions form upon the edges of the cornea. 
Treatment.-In such cases the treatment should be chiefly adapted 
to the constitutional disorder from which it springs. Pure air and exer- 
cise, mild aperients and tonics, especially bark and iodine, should be OPHTHALALIA, ETC.-0 PHTHAL ALO SCOPE. 
939 
administered, and the general health carefully attended to. The follow- 
ing formula will be found useful in these cases: 
Take of Sulphate of iron Two grains. 
Sulphate of quinine Three grains. 
Dilute sulphuric acid Ten drops. 
Pure water One ounce.-Mix. 
Give 1 tablespoonful three times a day. This is intended for a child 
two or three years of age, and must be varied in strength according to 
the patient's age. In addition a teaspoonful of cod-liver-oil may be taken 
twice a day if the stomach will bear it. Slightly astringent lotions may 
also be applied to the eyes, and in the earlier stages a few leeches or 
blisters behind the ear, are of great service. 
In sclerotitis, or inflammation of the sclerotica, when pure (but it is 
apt to be conjoined with inflammation of the conjunctiva, cornea, or iris), 
the redness of the eye is of a pink tint, forming when most marked, a 
zone round the cornea, and gradually shading off towards the circumfer- 
ence of the eye. There is always considerable pain, of a dull, heavy 
kind, which often exists all round the orbit, or over the forehead, and is 
accompanied by an intolerance of the light and profuse secretion of hot 
tears. Warm fomentations are of service locally; besides which a dose 
of calomel and opium, 2 grains of the former to 1 of the latter, at bed- 
time, followed by a purgative on the following morning, will generally 
remove the affection. In severe cases, blood-lettings and counter- 
irritation by means of blisters, are likewise necessary. The other forms 
of ophthalmia are much less common than the above, and their mode of 
treatment does not differ materially from that just given. (See Eye, 
Diseases of the.) 
OPHTHALMOSCOPE, of-thal'-mo-skope, is an instrument recently 
invented for examining the deep-seated structures of the eye, and detect- 
ing disease in them. In its simple form it is a concave circular mirror 
of about eight inches focus, with a hole in the centre. It may be 
mounted on a handle four or five inches long. There is also necessary 
a convex ocular lens an inch and a half in diameter with a focus of two 
and a half to three inches, set in a common eye-glass frame. The 
patient is seated by a table in a dark room with a sliding argand lamp 
by his side close to '"his head, with the flame on a level with the eye, 
from which it is screened by a little flat plate of metal attached to the 
burner. The operator sits directly in front, and holding the instrument 
close to his eye, commences at the distance of about eighteen inches 
from the patient to direct the reflection on the eye. When this is got, 
the convex lens is held at the distance of two and a half inches from the 
eye, and the focussing commenced by moving them slowly backwards 940 
OPHTHALMOS COPE- OP IE EL. 
and forwards till the optic disc and blood-vessels of the retina are brought 
into view. (See Eye; Eye, Diseases of the.) 
OPIATE, o'-pe-at, a name used to denote any preparation of opium 
or any medicine that produces sleep. (See Opium.) 
OPINION, MEDICAL, o-pin-yun [Lat. opinio\. A medical opinion 
on a case of disease includes, first, the "diagnosis" or conclusion 
arrived at respecting the nature of the disease; second, the conclusion 
as to the appropriate treatment; third, the "prognosis" or opinion 
respecting the ultimate termination of the case. Under articles Diag- 
nosis, Prognosis, Death, etc., these points are sufficiently entered into. 
(See also Medical Advice, Disease, Physician, Surgeon.) 
OPIUM, o'-pe-um [Gr. opos, juice], is the milky juice, dried, of the 
seed-vessels of the common garden poppy. It is most familiarly known 
in its action upon the human body, first, by its power of compelling sleep 
-its sedative, soporific, or narcotic property; and second, by its power 
of relieving pain, its anodyne property; these actions, however, are 
much varied, and others are developed in accordance with the influence 
of circumstances, either permanent or accidental, such as the dose, and 
mode of administration; the state of the person taking it at the time, 
whether physical or mental, his temperament, previous habits, etc. It 
is well known that among the Orientals, opium is employed rather as a 
stimulant, as we use wine, than as a sedative, and its use for this pur- 
pose has very widely extended of late years in this country. When taken 
with the above view, the dose requires to be small-that is comparatively 
so according to the habits of the individual-and if sleep approaches, it 
requires to be resisted; after this state if it occurs, in those who are 
stimulated by opium, a state of unusual physical, and especially of mental 
activity is excited, accompanied with exalted brilliancy of ideas; after 
some hours this subsides, leaving drowsiness, inactivity, and low spirits. 
If, however, the dose of opium has been a large one, or if the indi- 
vidual gives way to the inclination to sleep which follows even a mod- 
erate dose, heavy slumber is the result, varying in duration according to 
the dose of the drug, and other contingent circumstances. Such is the 
more ordinary medical effect of opium, but whether the effect produced 
be one of excited, or of sedative action, pain is either modified or wholly 
subdued for the time being. When the effects of an ordinary dose of 
opium are passing off, most persons experience some amount of uncom- 
fortable sensation; dryness of the mouth, headache, low spirits, and 
nausea; this latter symptom especially, is sometimes so distressing as 
almost to debar the use of opium in certain individuals. 
Sometimes opium produces neither sleep nor the pleasing excitement 
so valued by its votaries; but gives rise to feverish restlessness, headache, OPIUM. 
941 
thirst, etc. This may arise from constitutional peculiarity, from a 
state of previous feverish excitement, from the drug having been swal- 
lowed too soon after a meal, or from other causes. 
In whatever way it is conveyed into the system, whether by the 
stomach, by the skin, as by external application, etc., opium seems to 
exert its peculiar effects upon the brain and nervous system ; it further 
modifies the secretions, particularly those of the mucous membranes; it 
checks the flow of bile, and powerfully constipates the bowels; but it 
determines to the skin, and causes sweating. The constipating action 
of opium is sometimes one of its chief inconveniences, but in those who 
consume it regularly, this effect generally soon passes off. 
The action of opium upon the system is in the first place greatly 
modified by custom; persons who habitually take it for purposes of 
intoxication, find it necessary gradually to increase their dose if they 
wish to experience the-to them-agreeable influence. 
Again, the existence of certain diseases, particularly of a spasmodic 
or painful character, very greatly modifies the power of opium over the 
system; this is peculiarly exemplified in such diseases as lock-jaw, etc. 
Persons, even, who are ordinarily very susceptible to the action of 
opium, when suffering severe pain, can often take it in considerable 
quantity, without experiencing its usual effects, or, indeed, any effect 
beyond relief to pain. Age is another circumstance, which, affecting 
the power of action of all medicinal agents, seems peculiarly to do so in 
the case of opium, its influence augmenting in a rapidly increasing pro- 
portion as the earliest epoch of life is approached; indeed, during the 
first two or three years of life, it is impossible to exercise too great 
caution in the administration of opium; many accidents are known to 
ensue from its careless, or ignorant, or criminal use, and doubtless many 
more there are which never come to light. A single drop of laudanum 
has been known to prove fatal to a young infant. Even in infancy, habit, 
nevertheless, enables comparatively large doses of opium to be given, 
but the most lamentable results accrue to the constitution, and, ulti- 
mately, death itself may be the consequence. No one should be tempted 
to give opium in any form to a child, unless under medical sanction, or 
under the pressure of some of such circumstances as are pointed out in 
various parts of this work (see Children), and when it must be given, 
it should be in the form of laudanum, in the most cautiously graduated 
dose. To an infant under two months old, J to | of a drop only should 
be given at once, and repeated at intervals of an hour, if required; and 
even in this way, no unprofessional person should venture to exceed the 
amount of one single drop of laudanum to an infant under six weeks old. 
Poisoning by opium, either by accident or design, is a very common 942 
OPIUM. 
occurrence. The symptoms generally set in from half an hour to an hour 
after the drug has been swallowed; but this circumstance depends partly 
upon the form in which the poison is taken, being delayed longer when 
solid opium has been employed, instead of, as more usually happens, its 
fluid preparation, laudanum. The symptoms are, giddiness and drowsi- 
ness, from which the person may be roused by noises, shaking, etc.; but 
this quickly passes into apoplectic stupor, with slow, "stertorous" 
breathing; and, ultimately, if the case proves fatal, into death, with or 
without convulsions, these being most common in children. In addition 
to the above symptoms, the face is pale and ghastly-looking, the surface 
cold, but may be covered with perspiration; the urine is unpassed; the 
pupils of the eye are generally contracted; the odor of opium may pos- 
sibly be detected in the breath. 
The treatment of a case of poisoning by opium must, in the first place, 
be to procure the evacuation of the poison from the stomach. For this 
purpose, a medical man may use the stomach-pump; but others must 
attempt it by emetics. If sulphate of zinc (white vitriol) be procurable, 
% a dram should at once be given, dissolved in water; or 5 grains of sul- 
phate of copper (blue vitriol), in the same way; or mustard or salt may 
be tried if neither of the above are at hand; or ipecacuanha combined 
with a stimulant-a couple of teaspoonfuls of sal-volatile or of brandy; 
or the throat may be irritated with a feather. In some cases, vomiting 
and even diarrhoea, occur spontaneously, and certainly diminish the 
danger. When the stomach has been cleaned, but not before, vegetable 
acids-lemon-juice, vinegar, cream of tartar-may be given freely; or 
strong coffee, without either milk or sugar. At the same time, every 
means must be used to keep the patient from lapsing into lethargy; cold, 
or alternate cold and hot, water, may be dashed over the body; mustard 
plasters used between the shoulders, and continual movement kept up. 
This is usually, and very properly, done by keeping the patient in con- 
tinual motion for many hours between two assistants. Lastly, galvanism 
or electricity may be used, and artificial respiration kept up. 
Tannin, the active principle of oak bark, has been recommended in 
opium poisoning. In the absence of other remedies, a strong decoction 
of the bark might be used. It must be remembered that in poisoning 
by opium, partial consciousness may be restored, and yet the patient, if 
unattended to, may relapse and die. It has been suggested that many 
of the symptoms of poisoning by opium are the result of the dryness of 
the lining membrane of the air-tubes-which is one of the invariable 
consequences-preventing the due oxygenation or purification of the 
blood; the fact should not be lost sight of, especially as it may be remedied 
by making the patient inhale steam freely. OPIUM. 
943 
The quantity of opium required to destroy life may probably be 
stated at from 4 to 5 grains of solid opium as a dangerous dose to an 
adult, and from to 2 drams of laudanum and upwards. The average 
time in which death ensues, in consequence of poisoning by opium, is 
twelve hours; but it may occur considerably earlier. 
Opium as a medicine is useful in a great variety of diseases, but as 
its employment is mentioned under the separate articles, it is unneces- 
sary to repeat the information here. The most useful preparations of 
opium are- 
Opium powder.-To be kept in a well-stopped bottle. Average dose 
for an adult, 1 grain. 
Laudanum,, or tincture of opium, which contains 1 grainz of solid 
opium in 19 minims. Average dose for an adult, 15 to 20 minims, or 
about 25 to 30 drops. Of all the preparations of opium, this is the most 
generally useful and valuable, and the safest. Its dose may be 
regulated to the minutest proportion, and when properly made, it keeps 
well. 
Paregoric, on tincture of opium with camphor, which contains 1 grain 
of solid opium to the £ ounce. Average dose for an adult, 1 to 3 tea- 
spoonfuls ; for doses for children see Paregoric. 
Dover's powders, or compound opium powders with ipecacuanha, 
which contains 1 grain of solid opium in 10. (See Dover's Powder.) 
Compound opium powder with chalk, which contains 1 grain of opium 
in 40. Average dose, 20 to 40 grains. 
Morphia, or morphine, is the special sedative or narcotic principle of 
opium. (See Alkaloids.) Opium is a very compound body, and includes 
other principles, on some of which its stimulant and other powers more 
particularly depend; morphia, therefore, being separated from these, is 
more purely sedative, and is not found so frequently to occasion the 
disagreeable after-effects which often follow the use of opium; in other 
respects, its action and applications are the same. 
Morphia, on account of its insolubility, is generally prescribed in the 
form of the more soluble acetate or muriate or sulphate of morphia. 
The latter is the best and more certain preparation: dose, from £ to 
% a grain. The graduated morphia lozenge is a most effectual and com- 
paratively agreeable remedy in-irritable cough; 10 or 15 of the lozenges 
may be taken in the course of the same number of hours. 
As external applications the soap opium liniment and the opium 
plaster, are both useful. 
Battlefs sedative solution, a secret remedy, will be found under its 
special article. 
There are many other preparations of opium used, but the above 944 
OPIUM-OPTICAL DELUSIONS. 
would be ample for the best stored emigrant chest; and therefore for any 
home use. Persons generally will find it more advantageous to pur- 
chase the preparations ready made, but in some cases, it may be requisite 
to make laudanum themselves. 
To make laudanum.-Take of opium, sliced, 3 ounces; water, 13 
fluid ounces by measure. Macerate the opium in the water, in a wide- 
mouthed bottle for a couple of days, shaking up occasionally, and then 
add 27 ounces of rectified spirit of wine; macerate for ten days or a 
fortnight, and filter. Of course a much smaller quantity may be made at 
once, observing the same proportions. 
Laudanum and paregoric are best administered in water; Dover's 
powder, or the compound chalk powder, in some thick substance, such 
as gruel. When solid opium is given, it is best in the form of pill, 
without admixture. Laudanum is sometimes used as an external appli- 
cation, being put into poultices, etc.; it is also used to rub on the gums 
in toothache. It must not be forgot, that in any of these ways, if 
employed incautiously, or in excessive quantity, it may affect the system 
and even prove dangerous. For the use of laudanum in injections, the 
reader is referred to the article Clyster. (See Codeia, Anodyne, Nar- 
cotics, Papaver Somniferum, Battley's Solution of Opium, Chloro- 
dyne, Black-Drop.) 
OPODELDOC, op-o-del'-dok, is an old name, seldom used now by 
medical men, applied to external stimulating embrocations. The cam- 
phorated soap liniment is the form most usually indicated by the term, 
popularly. It is made as follows: 
Take of Common white soap Two ounces. 
Camphor One ounce. 
Oil of rosemary Three drams. 
Oil of origanum Two drams. 
Strong solution of ammonia One ounce. 
Alcohol One and a half pint. 
Dissolve the soap in the alcohol, then add the ammonia, the oils, and 
the camphor; agitate until dissolved, and pour into wide-mouthed vials. 
It is of a semi-solid consistency. 
OPTICAL DELUSIONS, op'-te-kal^ the result of diseased or of dis- 
ordered action-are not uncommon. Under the term may be included 
the more obvious disorders of vision, such as those in which one half of 
an object, or one half of a word only, are perceived. From this state, 
up to that in which figures of persons, either known or unknown, are 
seen, either constantly or periodically, every form of optical delusion is 
met with. Such cases are generally connected with disorder in the head, 
either in a form of disease of the brain itself or are occasioned by sym- 
pathy with disordered function in other parts of the body, more OPTICAL DELUSIONS-ORGAN. 
945 
particularly the stomach, and may frequently be removed by a cathartic. 
(See Vision, Eye; Eye, Diseases of the; Cathartics, etc.) 
OPTIC NERVE. (See Eye.) 
ORANGE, or'-qnj [Lat. aurantia}. This well-known and whole- 
some fruit is chiefly produced in Florida, California, and the countries 
bordering the Mediterranean. The two varieties-the bitter or Seville 
orange, and the sweet orange, are too well known to require description. 
The perfume of the orange-flower is highly valued, and the distilled 
water is used as an antispasmodic and anodyne; it is recommended as 
extremely useful in hysteria, in doses of 1 or 2 fluid ounces. 
The chief direct medical use of the orange is derived from the rind, 
which yields an agreeable, aromatic, stimulant bitter; the rind of the 
bitter orange is usually ordered, but that of the sweet may also be used, 
though it is less powerful. A confection, an infusion, a syrup, and a 
tincture of orange peel, are all used. A very good infusion.may be 
made, simply, from an ounce of the dry bitter orange peel, 20 ounces of 
boiling water being poured over, the whole allowed to stand for twenty 
minutes, and then strained; the addition of £ ounce of lemon peel 
to the above quantity may be made with advantage. The dose, as a 
stomachic, is a wine-glassful twice a day. The finest descriptions of 
the sweet orange have a smooth, thin, dark, rind. The juice of the 
sweet orange contains principally mucilage, sugar, and citric acid, 
and is one of the most wholesome vegetable juices we possess, particu- 
larly in the chamber of sickness; the cellular pulp of the orange, how- 
ever, in which the juice is contained, is very indigestible, and when 
swallowed, as it often is by children, is apt to produce disorder, passing 
through the bowels unchanged. It is a good plan in the case of young 
children, to give the orange juice squeezed into a glass. The custom of 
serving oranges and other fruits, as the first dish at the breakfast table 
is a healthful one. (See Citrus, Aurantii Cortex.) 
ORANGE PEEL. (See Aurantii Cortex, Orange.) 
ORBIT, or'-bit [Lat. orbit aorbis, a sphere or a circle], the cavity 
in the skull in which the eye is placed. (See Eye, Skull.) 
OREGON, CLIMATE OF. (See Climate.) 
ORGAN, or'-gqn [Lat. organurn}, a part which has a determinate 
office in the animal economy. We divide organs into 1st, those of cir- 
culation^ as the heart, and arteries, veins, capillaries, etc.; 2nd, of 
absorption, as the lymphatic vessels and glands, the lacteals, etc.; 3rd, 
of sensation, as the eye, ear, nose, tongue, skin, etc.; (in this we 
include the muscular system); 4th, of digestion, as the mouth, the 
stomach, the intestines, etc.; 5th, of respiration, as the lungs, the 
trachea, the bronchi, etc.; 6th, the voice, as the larynx, the cartilages 946 
ORGAN-OS SAUR UAL 
and muscles of the throat, etc.; 7th, of secretion, as the liver for the 
bile, the kidneys for the urine, the lachrymal glands for the tears, etc.; 
Sth, of generation, as the testes, penis, etc., in the male-the puden- 
dum, uterus, etc., in the female. 
ORGANIC MOLECULES, or-gari-ik, a term applied to certain 
floating bodies said to exist in the male semen, and which have been 
regarded as primordial monads of peculiar activity, existing throughout 
all nature, and constituting the nutritive elements of living matter. Dr. 
Darwin termed these vital germs. 
ORIGANUM, o-rig'-a-num, a perennial herb belonging to the Nat. 
order Lamiacece. It is commonly called wild marjoram, and is a com- 
mon garden herb all over both America and Europe. The whole herb 
is officinal. A warm infusion promotes perspiration and tends to bring 
on the monthly discharge when suppressed by cold. No nicety need be 
observed in the dose of the infusion. The oil is one of the ingredients in 
the well-known camphorated soap liniment. (See Infusion.) 
OROBANCIIE VIRGINIANA, o-rodari-ke vir-jin-e-a'-ng, or cancer 
root, a parasitic plant belonging to the Nat. order Orobancheaceoe. It 
springs from the roots of the beech tree, and is known by the common 
name of beech drops. It was named cancer root, from its supposed 
efficacy in cancer. It is needless to say that it possesses no virtue what- 
ever in that terrible disease. It is an astringent, and in hemorrhage of 
the bowels and womb, and also in diarrhoea, has been found useful. It 
is also of service as a local application in erysipelas, aphthous ulcera- 
tions and gangrenous ulcers. A poultice of equal parts of poke, white 
oak and beech drops, is found very useful in herpes and other similar 
affections of the skin. Dose of the powder, 10 to 15 grains, three or 
four times a day. 
ORPIMENT, or'-pe-ment [Lat. auripigmentum ; aurum, gold, and 
pigmentum, pigment]. Orpiment is the yellow sulphuret of arsenic. 
(See Arsenic.) 
ORRIS ROOT. (See Iris Florentina.) 
ORTHOPAEDIC SURGERY, or-tko-ped'-ik. That branch of sur- 
gery which relates to the treatment of deformities, especially of the spine, 
ribs, and pelvis. Much more attention is being paid to it than formerly. 
OSMAZOME, oz-mg-zome, is the animal principle on which the 
peculiar and agreeable flavor of cooked meat depends. It is most mani- 
festly developed in decoctions of meat, such as soups, etc. It may be 
taken as an axiom that the beef-tea is not properly made, unless it con- 
tains all the agreeable and aromatic principles. 
OS, OR OSSIS, os, Latin for bone. (See Bone, Anatomy.) 
OS SACRUM. (See Sacrum, Os.) OSSIFICATION-OXALIC ACID. 
947 
OSSIFICATION, os-se-fe-ka'-shun [from Lat. os, bone; facto, I 
make], the formation of bone. In the growth of the skeleton of man 
and the higher animals, this process goes on naturally, and it occurs in 
the reproduction of new bones after the destruction or loss ot' old ones. 
Ossification also occurs as an unnatural or morbid process, and is 
observed in several tissues of the body. It occurs most frequently in 
the cartilages of the ribs, where the process is almost constantly going 
on in advancing years. The disease called ossification of the heart is 
not an affection of the proper substance of that organ, but of its valves, in 
which earthy matter is sometimes deposited; thus rendering them stiff 
and unyielding. This substance is composed of carbonate and phosphate 
of lime, as bone is; but its particles have no definite arrangement. (See 
Bone. ) 
OSTEOLOGY. (See Anatomy.) 
OSTRYA VIRGINICA, os'-tre-a vir-jin'-e-ka, or iron wood, a 
common American tree belonging to the Nat. order Cupuliferoe. The 
inner wood is the part used medicinally. It is antiperiodic, tonic and 
alterative, and is very useful in intermittent fever or ague, neuralgia, 
dyspepsia and scrofula. Dose of the decoction, 1 or 2 fluid ounces, three 
or four times a day. (See Decoction.) 
OTALGIA AND OTITIS. (See Ear, Diseases of the.) 
OUNCE. (See Weights and Measures.) 
OUT-DOOR ACTIVITIES. (See Air, Exercise.) 
OVARY AND OVARIAN DISEASE, o'-va-re [Lat. ovarium, 
from ovum, an egg], in Anatomy, is the name given to two flat oval 
bodies, about an inch in length, and rather more than half an inch in 
breadth and thickness, situated on either side of the uterus, to which 
they are attached by ligaments and the Fallopian tubes. The ovaries 
are liable to a variety of diseases, but that which is most common is the 
ovarian tumor, or ovarian or encysted dropsy. The tumor sometimes 
attains enormous size. Of the means used to remedy this disease are 
medicines for promoting absorption, or atrophy ; tapping; and ovaritomy, 
an operation requiring great experience and skill. In all cases a medical 
man must be at once consulted. 
OVERDONE MEAT. (See Roasting.) 
OVUM. (See Eggs.) 
OXALIC ACID, oks-al'-ik [Lat. oxalis\, is one of what are called 
the vegetable acids, being found ready formed-in combination with 
potass-in various plants, such as the common wood sorrels, or acetosella, 
the common sorrel, the garden rhubarb, etc. It is also formed in some 
disordered states within the animal body, and is excreted in the urine, 
in combination with lime. 948 
OXALIC ACID-OXYGEN. 
What is known in the drug stores under the name of "essential salt 
of lemons," or salt of sorrel, is a compound of oxalic acid with potassa, 
and was formerly obtained from the wood sorrel. 
Oxalic acid derives its chief importance from its frequent effect as a 
poison, either by accident or design. The accidents have generally 
arisen in consequence of oxalic acid having been sold or taken in mistake 
for Epsom salts, the crystals of the two closely resembling each other; 
the precaution of tasting a single crystal would be sufficient to detect 
the difference. (See Acids, Poisons and their Antidotes.) 
OX-GALL, OR OX BILE, oks-gwwl. The gall or bile of the ox 
has been much lauded as a remedy in habitual constipation. A few 
years ago, it was extensively tried, and undoubtedly proved, and does 
prove serviceable in certain cases, but, perhaps, having been over-praised, 
it seems to have become again almost too much neglected. In some 
cases of constipation in pregnancy, it answers extremely well, and is very 
safe. Its preparation for medicinal purposes is simple, all that is required 
being, to place a quantity of fresh ox-gall into a flat dish, in a sufficiently 
warm situation-such as an oven-and permit evaporation to go on, till 
the gall becomes sufficiently firm to make into pills, of which from 5 to 
10 grains weight may be taken once or twice a day. Besides acting as 
an aperient, ox-gall has been said to assist digestion; this may be, either 
from its bitter-giving tone to the stomach, or from its giving its own 
chemical aid to the solution of certain constituents of the food. 
OXIDATION, oks-e-dd-shun [Fr. oxydation}, is a term applied to 
the union of any body with oxygen, such body being said to be oxidized, 
and the resulting compound being termed an oxide. All the elements, 
except fluorine, combine with oxygen to form oxides. In this act of 
combination heat is always, and light is frequently, given off. 
OXIDES, ox'-idz [Fr. oxyde\, are compounds of other bodies with 
oxygen. It very frequently happens that a body is capable of uniting 
with oxygen in several proportions. Hence the use of the names pro- 
toxide, binoxide or deutoxide, teroxide or tritoxide, peroxide, etc. 
OXYGEN, oks'-e-gen [Gr. oxus, acid, and gennao, I generate]; symbol 
O, equivalent 8, specific gravity (air = 1) 1.1057, ditto (hydrogen = 1) 
16; comb. vol. 1; 100 cubic inches weigh 34.203 grains. Oxygen is the 
most abundant of the elements. It forms $ of water, £ of air, and about 
% of silica, chalk, and alumina, the three chief constituents of the earth's 
surface. It is also the most important element, being essential to the 
support of animal life, and on its presence depends the phenomena of 
combustion, etc. 
Whether the nitrogen gas with which oxygen is mingled in the atmos- 
phere fulfils other objects or not, it certainly does the important one of OXYGEN- O YSTEB. 
949 
diluting it, and of tempering its potent agency, which, were it not for 
this dilution, would act with such chemical energy, as must quickly prove 
destructive to organized life upon our globe as at present constituted. 
Oxygen, in combination, forms what are called basic oxides. These 
are bodies such as potash, soda, oxide of iron, etc., which tend to unite 
with its next class of compounds, the acids. Besides these, oxygen 
forms compounds which do not exhibit aptness for entering into com- 
bination. 
Further, oxygen, by uniting in different proportions with the same 
body-such as nitrogen-may give rise to a variety of very different 
compounds. Oxygen has never been separated in a palpable form; it is 
known by its effects. It is given off by growing plants, under the influ- 
ence of direct sunlight. The important part which oxygen plays in the 
various fulfilments of animal life and existence, has rendered the fore- 
going notice necessary. Under such articles as Animal Heat, Air, 
Blood, Digestion, Motor Change, Respiration, etc., the reader will 
find those fulfilments and effects sufficiently entered into. The employ- 
ment of oxygen in the form of inhalation, as a remedial agent in various 
diseases, has often been proposed, but never established in practice. 
For laboratory use, it is mostly obtained by heating chlorate of potash, 
finely powdered, and mixed with one-eighth its weight of oxide of cop- 
per, iron, or manganese. (See Carbon, Carbonic Acid, etc.) 
OXYMEL, oks'-e-mel [Lat. oxymel^ an acidulous syrup, made of 
honey and vinegar. It is commonly used to form gargles, or as a vehicle 
for expectorant medicine, or to form cooling drinks in fever. The 
oxymel of the Pharmacopoeia is formed by liquefying 40 ounces of clari- 
fied honey, by heat, and adding 5 fluid ounces each of acetic acid or vine- 
gar, and distilled water; dose, 1 to 2 teaspoonfuls. Oxymel of squill 
(vinegar of squill, 1 pint, and clarified honey, 2 lb. mixed, and evaporated 
by water-bath till the product, when cold, has a specific gravity of 1.32), 
dose, to 1 teaspoonful. 
The above are pleasant and useful preparations in some forms of 
catarrh and cough, and may be used alone or combined with other medi- 
cines. 
OYSTER, ois'-tur [Lat. ostrea}. Respecting the wholesomeness of 
this well-known shell-fish, much difference of opinion exists among medi- 
cal men; nutritious, especially when uncooked, they certainly are, but 
their digestibility in all probability depends greatly upon the person by 
whom they are eaten. Some, whose stomachs generally require much 
consideration, can eat oysters in moderation with impunity. Many 
medical men, however, condemn them for invalids. Oysters have, 
though rarely, like other shell-fish, caused symptoms of irritant 950 
OYSTER-PAIN. 
poisoning. The eye of the oyster being exceedingly indigestible, should 
always be taken out before giving to invalids. (See Fish.) 
0Z2ENA, o-ze'-na [Gr. oze, a smell], a disease characterized by a 
discharge of foetid purulent matter from the nostrils. It is owing to 
inflammation or ulceration of the mucous membrane, and may follow on 
a common catarrh. It is most common in persons of scrofulous or deli- 
cate constitutions. 
Treatment.-The treatment consists in strengthening the system by 
means of nourishing diet and tonics, as cinchona bark, with mineral 
acids, iodide of potassium, and cod-liver-oil. A dry, bracing, equable 
climate should also be sought; and the nostrils should be well syringed 
once or twice a day with warm water, to which some alum, zinc, or a 
solution of permanganate of potash (5 or 10 grains to a pint of water), 
may be added. A weak solution of chlorate of potash is also useful- 
used in the same way. In the absence of a syringe, the solution may 
be snuffed up the nostrils. (See Catarrh or Common Cold ; Catarrh, 
Chronic; Chlorate of Potash.) 
OZONE, d-zone [Gr. oze, a stench], a peculiar modification of oxy- 
gen, supposed to be that gas in a permanently negative state, and 
exhibiting very energetic properties as compared with the gas in its ordi- 
nary condition. It bleaches the vegetable colors, converting indigo, for 
instance, into colorless isatine. It appears to act most beneficially as a 
disinfectant in the economy of the world; it having been proved that 
epidemic diseases, such as cholera, fever, etc., are always accompanied 
by decrease, or entire absence of this agent from the atmosphere. (See 
Air, Oxygen.) 
PACIFIC STATES, CLIMATE OF. (See Climate.) 
PAIN, pane [Ang.-Sax. pin, pain, punishment, torture.] The sense 
of pain, like other sensations, originates in the nerves, and very generally 
appears to be located in the parts where their ultimate branches termi- 
nate ; the perception of pain, however, by the sentient being, must 
depend upon the brain, the sense of it being conveyed to that organ by 
the nerves. This we know, certainly, to be the case, for if the nervous 
communications with the brain are cut off, as by injury to ■ the spinal 
cord, or if that organ itself is oppressed, as in stupor, there is no sensa- 
tion, and consequently no pain. There may be the appearance of sensation 
and of pain being felt in consequence of reflex action, but it is appearance PAIN. 
951 
only. If any portion, almost, of the healthy body is injured, pain 
is felt, because the universally distributed nerve branches are injured in 
the process, and, as might be expected, the sensation is referred to the 
seat of the injury; but pain being felt in a particular part, or as if in a 
particular part, is not necessarily indicative of injury at the place where 
it is felt; it may arise from irritation of the nerve cord, which supplies 
the part at almost any part of its course. This is most strikingly 
exemplified in the cases of persons who have suffered amputation of a 
limb, and who often experience the sensation of pain, as if in the member 
they had lost. Similar, in some degree, to the above, are the sympa- 
thetic pains observed in some cases of disease; such, for instance, as the 
pain at the point of the shoulder from affection of the liver, the pain in 
the knee which is so general an accompaniment of hip disease, or the 
pain in the legs which may result from acid in the stomach. Pain, 
therefore, although a most valuable guide in the investigation of dis- 
ease, is by no means an unerring one, and must not be too implicitly 
trusted. 
The faculty or power of feeling pain, the sensibility of the various 
parts of the animal body, when in a healthy condition, varies greatly, 
depending in a great measure, upon the supply of nerves they receive, 
thus, such parts as bones, tendons, ligaments, etc., are generally but 
little sensitive; when, however, they become inflamed, they are acutely 
so. Further, it would seem that certain affections of the central parts of 
the nervous system, greatly increase the sensibility to pain, as well as 
diminish it, more particularly affection of the spinal cord. Such is the 
case in hydrophobia, lock-jaw, etc., in which every portion of the sur- 
face of the body becomes painfully sensitive. 
Lastly, in f unctional disorder, or irritability of the nervous system 
such as occurs in hysteria, there is often intense susceptibility to pain, 
as well as to other outward impressions, but this evidently depends on 
very different causes, and requires very different treatment from the 
cases above mentioned. (See Hysteria.) Pain is not at all times 
referred to the terminations of the nerve, in neuralgia either of the head 
or face, or affecting the great nerve of the thigh and leg-sciatica-the 
pain is often complained of in the site of the main cord of the nerve 
itself. 
Pain varies greatly in kind, as all know; it is dull and aching, sharp 
and cutting, throbbing, tingling, smarting, burning, etc., these differ- 
ences depending in some measure upon the part affected. Inflamma- 
tion of the skin is generally accompanied with pain of a burning, tingling, 
or smarting character, that of a serous membrane, such as lines the 
chest, causes pain that is sharp and cutting, which is the case in pleurisy; 952 
PAIN-PALATE. 
the pain of toothache is dull, aching, and throbbing; the pain of spasm 
is sharp, but distinguished from that of inflammation by not being aggra- 
vated by pressure. 
It is probable-and cases of hysteria justify the supposition-that 
some persons are much more acutely sensible of pain than others; it is 
certain, that some bear it much better, both physically and mentally, than 
others. It is sometimes of importance to ascertain this; it may be done 
at times, by remarking, when it is necessary to apply a blister, how far 
the irritability, either mental or physical, is excited by it. 
Pain is not an unmitigated evil; were it not for its warning, we 
should be liable, unwittingly, to inflict all manner of injuries upon our 
bodies. We see this in cases in which the sensibility to pain is impaired 
or destroyed, in consequence of disease of the brain, or of paralysis of 
the nerves of sensation. In the former case, more especially, as has 
already been alluded to in this work, serious results may follow forget- 
fulness of this fact; the feet, either of an adult or of a child, may be 
parboiled, or a mustard plaster may be kept on the skin till the most 
severe effects are produced, simply because the warning symptom of 
pain is, for the time being, in abeyance. This is no imaginary possi- 
bility, and it is one, the occurrence of which should deservedly bring 
down the censure of gross carelessness upon any one under whose man- 
agement it might happen. 
The absence of sensibility to pain, in connection with cases of apoplec- 
tic stupor, etc., is what we may expect; it sometimes, however, occurs 
whilst the mental faculties remain active; this, when it does happen, is 
generally after some severe accident, such as an extensive burn or the 
like, which seems to overwhelm the nervous system ; in such cases, the 
severest operations may be undergone without suffering, but the symp- 
tom is one of the most fatal import. (See Nerves, Opium, Anaesthetics, 
Chloroform, etc.) 
PAIN IN THE SIDE. (See Side, Pain in the.) 
PAINT AND PAINTING, paint [Fr. peinture\. The injurious 
effects exerted upon the health of those who occupy newly-painted 
houses or rooms, is a circumstance too frequently overlooked. That 
living in, and especially sleeping in, rooms which have been newly- 
painted with "oil colors," does occasion uneasy feelings, such as head- 
ache, etc., most can testify, but that the effect produced is more than 
transient uneasiness, is evident from the fatal influence the same circum- 
stances exert upon birds, etc. (See Lead.) 
PAINTER'S COLIC. (See Colic, Lead.) 
PAINTER'S PARALYSIS. (See Drop-Wrist, Paralysis, etc.) 
-PALATE, pal'-at [Lat. palatum], the roof or upper part of the PALATE-PALPITATION OF THE HEART. 
953 
mouth. In man it is composed of two parts-the hard palate, which 
forms an arch in the anterior part of the mouth; and the soft palate, 
which lies in the posterior part of the mouth, and consists of a membran- 
ous curtain of muscular and cellular tissue, from the middle of which 
hangs the uvula. (See Uvula. ) 
PALLIATIVE, pal'-le-q-tiv [Lat. pallio, I dissemble], is a term 
applied to anything which is used in order to palliate or relieve a disease, 
but which is incapable of curing it. 
PALM-OIL, piim-oil, yielded by the fruit of a species of cocoa-nut, 
is brought to this country as a substance the consistence of butter. It 
is used as an external application for similar purposes as the olive and 
other oils, but is in no way superior. 
PALMS. (See Areca.) 
PALPITATION OF THE HEART, pal-pe-ta'-shun [Lat. palpi- 
tatio; palpito, palpitatus, to palpitate], is unusual action of that organ, 
of which the patient is sensible. 
Causes.-The liability of the heart's action to be increased by excit- 
ing emotions of the mind, almost of any kind, whether of fear or of joy, 
renders palpitation a very common affection, and when it occurs only 
under occasional circumstances like the above, one which cannot be con- 
sidered otherwise than a perfectly natural occurrence. When, however, 
palpitation arises on every trivial occasion, either of mental emotion or 
of physical exertion, or without occasion at all, as it often does, even 
during rest in bed, then it requires attention, not solely on account of the 
discomfort it gives rise to, but because it may lay the foundation of dis- 
ease of the organ which is so constantly subject to over-excitement. It 
is a matter of fact and interest, that heart affections have been observed 
to become more common after seasons of much public excitement of 
any kind, an effect traceable only to the frequent disturbance of the 
organ, by the passions or emotions. 
Palpitation of the heart, independent of disease, is most liable, 
indeed is very liable to occur in the young of both sexes, and in females 
particularly, soon after the age of puberty, in the latter, being very gen- 
erally associated with hysterical tendencies (see Hysteria) ; in such cases, 
it is met with in its most aggravated forms, and often of such violence as to 
prove truly alarming. In any case, the tendency to palpitation is more 
common in the nervous temperament, and is increased by whatever gives 
undue predominance to that temperament, such as indolence, luxurious 
habits, and the indulgence of feelings and imagination artificially 
excited; and having once begun, it is kept up and aggravated by the 
continued attention with wdiich the mind is apt to dwell upon the ail- 
ment; the individuals subject to it easily imagine themselves the subjects 954 
PALPITATION OF THE HEART. 
of heart disease, watch every motion almost, of the heart, and thus, 
under the influence of their own imaginary fears, produce the very symp- 
toms they dread. 
Smoking to excess is a very common cause of palpitation among 
young men, wdio are apt to fancy that they are the subjects of heart dis- 
ease, and are agreeably surprised to find that their bad symptoms vanish 
on their reducing their allowance of tobacco, or entirely relinquishing 
the habit. (See Tobacco.) 
Symptoms.-Palpitation may take the form either of a fluttering sen- 
sation about the region of the heart, perhaps extending into the throat, 
or it may amount to violent beating, either regular or irregular. 
Treatment.-This nervous condition-for it is generally nothing else 
-is only to be got rid of by those measures which give a more vigor- 
ous and healthy tone, both to mind and body; the false excitement of 
imaginative literature-if it has been indulged in-must be exchanged 
for a more healthy mental aliment, something which calls for some 
healthy mental interest. This must, of course, be regulated in some 
measure by the habits and tendencies of the person, but where it will be 
adopted, the pursuit of some branch of natural history, botany, geology, 
or any other out-door occupation, such as gardening or sketching from 
nature, are the best pursuits; they occupy the mind, and draw it away 
from its own morbid fancies, even in the time of exercise, which is ren- 
dered doubly invigorating by the mental excitement which accompanies 
it: along with these means, a system of diet adapted to give good blood 
nourishment, should be adopted; heated and ill-ventilated rooms above 
all things, are to be avoided, early hours observed, and if a feather bed 
has been habitually lain upon, a firm hair or wool mattress substituted. 
One article of diet requires especial mention as being particularly inju- 
rious in such cases-tea of any kind is better avoided, but green tea is 
absolute poison; coffee is scarcely allowable, and cocoa or milk should 
invariably be substituted for either of the above more stimulant 
beverages; wine or malt liquor may be injurious, or the reverse, accord- 
ing to the previous habits of the patient and the nature of the case; if 
depression or debility follow their withdrawal, the tendency to palpita- 
tion is certain to be increased. 
In addition to these measures, regulation of the bowels, the use of 
the shower-bath, or better, of the douche down the spine, and occasional 
mustard plasters on the chest or between the shoulders, are all useful; 
especially if, as frequently happens in cases of aggravated palpitation, 
any tenderness of the spine is found to exist. In cases of nervous pal- 
pitation, medicine is not much called for, unless to remedy other disor- 
ders, such as indigestion. Some patients derive much benefit from a PALPITATION OF THE HEART-PANCREAS. 
955 
teaspoonful of the ammoniated tincture of valerian, taken twice or three 
times a day in water, to which, if there is much nervous irritability, 10 
drops of tincture of hyoscyamus may be added; sal-volatile in teaspoon- 
ful doses is often useful, especially if there is much flatulence; or ether, 
either sulphuric or chloric, may be taken in 10 or 15-drop doses, either 
alone or w'ith the above-mentioned remedies. The ethers, however, are 
more generally serviceable as remedies during an attack of palpitation, 
than when taken regularly. The opium and belladonna plaster, per- 
sistently worn over the heart, often affords great relief in this trouble. (See 
Plasters.) When palpitation is habitual and severe, a medical man 
should be consulted, especially if the mind is at all uneasy; his examina- 
tion will detect the real nature of the affection, and his advice will be 
most likely to indicate with certainty, the remedies which will most 
quickly relieve that which, though but a functional disorder, may, if 
neglected, become an organic disease. With respect to palpitation 
dependant on disease of the heart, enough has been said in the article 
devoted to the subject of heart disease in general. (See Heart, Pulse; 
Heart, Diseases of the; Baths and Bathing, Diet, Digestion, Food, 
Exercise, Mental Exercise, Excitants, Ale, Wine; Stimulants, 
Alcoholic; Tea, Coffee, Cocoa, Dyspepsia, Costiveness, Cathartics, 
Mineral Waters, Air, Ventilation, Houses, Health, etc.) 
PALSY. (See Paralysis.) 
PANACEA, pan-a-se'-q [Gr. pan, all, and akeornai, I heal]. Pana- 
cea is a term applied to remedies which were believed to cure all dis- 
eases. 
PANADA, pa-na'-dq [Lat. panis, bread], a food for children and 
invalids, best made by boiling for a length of time in water, or milk and 
water, thin slices of bread, previously well dried in the oven. (See 
Children, Cookery for the Sick.) 
PANAX QUINQUEFOLIUM, pd-naks kvnndcwe-fo'de-um, or gin- 
seng, a perennial plant belonging to the Nat. order Araliacece. It is a 
native of most of the Middle and Northern States. It grows in rich 
soils and in shady situations, the stem reaching a height of a foot or a 
foot and a half. The root is the part commonly used. It is a mild 
tonic, and is used in loss of appetite, nervous debility and weak stomach. 
The dose of the powder is from 10 to 60 grains, and of the infusion from 
2 to 4 fluid ounces, three or four times a day. (See Infusion.) 
PANCAKES,, pan'-kakes. The w'ell-known article of food; they are 
unsuitable for invalids. (See Fagopyrum.) 
PANCREAS, pang -kre-qs [Greek, pan, all, and kreas, flesh], is a 
single glandular organ, situated transversely across the upper part of the 
abdomen, at the posterior part of the epigastric region, about on a level 956 
PANCREAS-PARALYSIS, OR PALSY. 
with the last dorsal vertebra. It is of an irregular elongated form, from 
six to eight inches in length, an inch and a half in breadth, and from 
half an inch to an inch thick. The right extremity, or head, is curved 
upon itself from above downwards, and is embraced by the concavity of 
the duodenum. Its body tapers towards its left extremity, where it forms 
a tail, terminating at the spleen. The pancreatic duct extends from left 
to right through the substance of the pancreas, giving off numerous 
branches, and terminating in the common choledic duct, which conducts 
its secretions to the duodenum. Its object is believed to be to reduce 
fatty matters to the state of an emulsion, and thereby promote their 
absorption by the lacteals. The amount daily secreted by man is from 
five to seven ounces, and it is most abundant at the commencement of 
digestion. (See Pancreatine, Spleen, Digestion.) 
PANCREATINE, pang'-kre-a-tin. Pancreatine is the organic sub- 
stance of the pancreatic juice where it occurs in great abundance. It 
coagulates by heat and by contact with sulphate of magnesia in excess. 
In its natural condition it is fluid, but has a considerable degree of vis- 
cidity. It is used medicinally in the shape of pancreatine wine and 
pancreatine emulsion, in those states of the system marked by deficiency 
of pancreatic juice and consequent difficulty in digesting fatty particles 
of food. , Dose of the wine, 1 to 2 teaspoonfuls, three times a day. 
PAPAVER SOMNIFERUM, pa-pd-vur som-nif'-e-rum, or common 
garden poppy. It is supposed to be a native of Persia, but is cultivated 
in many parts of the world. The parts used in medicine are the capsules, 
and the juice from the unripe capsules. Their medical properties are 
much feebler than those of opium. They are often given internally to 
promote rest, and to calm irritation. The decoction forms a common 
fomentation, which is applied to burns and inflamed or excoriated parts. 
Dose: of the fluid extract, £ to 1 teaspoonful; the solid extract, 3 to 
10 grains ; the syrup, 1 to 2 teaspoonfuls 
PAPER HANGINGS. (See Arsenic in Wall Paper, Walls and 
Wall Papers.) 
PAPILLA, pq-pil'-la [Gr. pappos^ the sprout of down or buds]. Is 
a small eminence upon the surface of an organized body. The minute 
points visible upon the tongue, are called the papillae. (See Tongue.) 
PAPPOOSE BERRY. (See Blue Cohosh.) 
PARACENTESIS, par-a-sen-te-sis [Lat.] The operation of tapping 
for dropsy. (See Dropsy.) • 
PARALYSIS, OR PALSY, par-al'-e-sis [Gr. paralusis, relaxation], 
is the loss of the natural power of sensation or motion, or both, in any 
part of the body. 
Causes.-It is owing to some diseased condition of the nervous PARALYSIS, OR PALSY. 
957 
system, either of the brain or spinal cord, or of the nerves. If the 
nerves of sensation or their centres be affected, there will be loss of sen- 
sation ; if of motion, then loss of motion; to the latter of which, the 
term paralysis is by some exclusively applied. Each of these kinds may 
again be general or partial, or may have various degrees of severity. It 
may affect only one nerve or muscle, or it may affect a number. The 
most usual form is when one side or half of the body is deprived of sen- 
sation or motion, or both, called hemiplegia; paraplegia is when the 
lower part of the body is paralyzed, while the upper retains both sen- 
sation and motion; facial paralysis affects the muscles of the face; 
painters' paralysis, caused by the absorption of lead into the system, the 
muscles which extend the hand (see Drop-Wrist); and general paralysis 
is when the loss of nervous power extends over nearly every part of the 
body. In hemiplegia, the seat of the disease is one side of the brain, 
usually that opposite to the affected side of the body; in paraplegia, the 
lesion is within the spinal cord; and, when more limited in extent, the 
disease usually arises from some abnormal state of a particular nerve. 
Paralysis frequently follows apoplectic attacks, and this usually in its 
most severe and dangerous form. The prognosis must be looked on as 
extremely unfavorable when the attack is sudden, the paralysis exten- 
sive and complete, and the loss of consciousness protracted; while, on 
the other hand, when the paralysis advances gradually, there is more 
reason to hope for prolonged life, if not for a complete restoration of 
health. (See Apoplexy.) Among the other causes that may give rise 
to paralysis are various injuries and diseases of the brain or spinal cord, 
as tumors, inflammation, external injuries, etc. 
Symptoms.-When paralysis takes place without any previous apo- 
plectic attack, the premonitory symptoms are a general torpor or lassi- 
tude, occasional giddiness, or a sense of weight and pain in the head 
and loss of memory. When it is the result of injury of the spinal 
cord, then, of course, the paralysis takes place instantly. Paraplegia 
sometimes lasts for many years without greatly interfering with any 
function except locomotion; but when it occurs during fevers, and 
advances rapidly, it is of very sinister augury, especially if it involves 
the sphincter muscles of the anus and bladder. Sometimes there is a 
gradual loss of power in the muscle or muscles affected; and in many 
cases the loss of power is preceded by severe pains in the part, 
cramps, a sense of numbness or tingling, and a curious feeling of cold- 
ness. 
Treatment.-Paralysis is not a disease of itself, but only a sign of 
some disorder of the nervous system, probably at a distance from the 
parts affected. In each case, therefore, the cause of the disorder is to be 958 
PARALYSLS, OR PALSY-PAREIRA BRAVA. 
investigated, and the mode of treatment principally directed to its 
removal. In very many cases, however, little can be done, either in the 
way of cure or of alleviation. Where, as in many cases, it is owing to 
a deranged state of the general health, attention should, in the first 
instance, be directed to the best means of re-establishing this. With this 
view, the bowels should be kept gently open, and light nourishing diet 
prescribed; and tonic bitters, with, in some cases, small doses of some 
preparation of iron, have been found useful. Beyond this, regard must 
be had to the age and condition of the patient. If young and of full 
habit, bleeding may have to be had recourse to, more particularly if the 
head be much affected, and this followed by purgatives. The quantity 
of blood drawn should always be regulated by the strength of the patient 
and the degree in which the symptoms approach to those of apoplexy. 
If the patient be feeble and debilitated, the treatment should be confined 
to purgatives; and in both cases stimulants, both external and internal, 
as blisters, hot turpentine liniments, or electricity, etc. In weakly habits 
warm bathing is sometimes found useful. The special remedies used 
in this disase, viz: mix vomica, strychnine, belladonna, etc., are so 
powerful and possess such poisonous properties that they can only be 
safely used by a physician. In painter's paralysis, galvanism to the 
muscles twice a day, besides kneading, shampooing and rubbing them 
with flowers of sulphur, are useful as local remedies, together with the 
hot sulphur bath every other day. At the same time, iodide of potas- 
sum in 3 grain doses, three times a day, will aid in the elimination of the 
lead from the system. (See Apoplexy, Nervous System,. Softening of 
the Brain, Cold, Emaciation, Mental Exercise.) 
PARAPHYMOSIS. (See Phymosis.) 
PARAPLEGIA, par-a-ple-je-g. Palsy of the lower portions of the 
body. (See Paralysis.) 
PARASITE, par'-a-site [Gr. para, near to, and sitos, provisions]. 
Parasite means literally a hanger on at the tables of the great, hence it 
is used to designate animals found in the blood, intestines, muscles, etc., 
of man, or other living creatures, such as the trichina of the muscles, 
hydatids of the brain, intestinal worms, etc. The same name is also 
applied to plants which grow upon others, as moss, mistletoe, etc. (See 
Trichina, Worms, etc.) 
PAREGORIC, par-e-go^ -ik [Gr. par eg or eo, I mitigate or assuage]. 
The camphorated tincture of opium. Dose: for an infant under a year 
old, 5 to 12 drops, according to age ; for a child two to four years old, 
10 to 20 drops; ten years old, 30 drops; and for an adult, 1 to 3 tea. 
spoonfuls. (See Opium.) 
PAREIRA BRAVA. (See Cissampelos. ) PA RENT-PARTURITION. 
959 
PARENT. (See Generation, Menstruation, Pregnancy, Mar- 
riage, Child, Sterility, Hereditary Tendency, Insanity.) 
PARIS GREEN. (See Poisons and their Antidotes.) 
PARONYCHIA. (See Whitlow.) 
PAROTID GLAND, pa-rot-id [Gr. para and ous, otos, the ear], is 
one of the glands which secrete the saliva. It is situated a little below, 
and in front of the ear, and fills up the space beneath the " angle " of 
the lower jaw. Its "duct" which conveys the saliva into the mouth, 
opens between the gum and the cheek opposite the second double tooth. 
(See Mumps.) 
PAROTITIS. (See Mumps.) 
PAROXYSM, par'-oks-izm [Gr. paroxusmos\, is a fit of periodical 
exacerbation of a disease that occurs at intervals, or has decided remis- 
sions or intermissions, as in the case of ague, gout, insanity, etc. 
PARSLEY, pars'-le, or Petroselinum Sativum, an herb which plays 
an important part in cookery. It has diuretic properties. 
PARSLEY SEEDS [Apium Petroselinum\. This drug is aperient 
and diuretic, and is occasionally used in nephritic and dropsical affec- 
tions. Its most valuable uses, however, are as a substitute for quinine 
in malarial diseases; and as an einmenagogue in suppression of the 
menses and difficult menstruation. It is also of value in the night 
sweats of consumption. Dose: of the fluid extract, £ to 1 teaspoonful; 
of the infusion, 1 to 2 fluid ounces, three or four times daily. (See 
Infusion. ) 
PARSNIPS, pars'-nips [corrupted from Lat. pastinacai], contain a 
considerable proportion of saccharine matter, and are nutritious, but 
often disagree with weak stomachs. They are considered diuretic. 
PARTRIDGE BERRY. (See Gaultheria Procumbens.) 
PARTURITION,par-tu-risK-un [Lat. parturitio; parturio, to bring 
forth]; called by the French accouchement. It consists in the expulsion 
of the foetus and its appendages from the cavity of the uterus, and ends 
in the complete separation of the child and the mother. Parturition, 
commonly called labor, occurs, as a rule, at the end of nine calendar 
months, or two hundred and eighty days from the disappearance of the 
last menstrual discharge; the direct exciting cause, whether maternal or 
ovuline, is still a matter of question. The chief expulsive force brought 
into action in the operation is the contraction of the womb itself, aided 
by the contraction of the abdominal muscles. 
For convenience in study, the process is divided into first, second 
and third stages. The precursory symptoms of labor are sinking of the 
abdomen, a frequent desire to pass water, griping or diarrhoea, slight 
uterine contraction, and a mucous discharge from the vagina, called by 960 
PARTURITION 
the nurse "a show;" the commencement of labor, however, maybe 
said to date from- the time the contractions begin to get painful, recur at 
regular intervals, and gradually increase in frequency and power. The 
first stage continues from the commencement of labor until the discharge 
of the liquor amnii, commonly known as "the breaking of the waters," 
which is generally soon followed by the expulsion of the head of the 
child from the uterus. The second stage commences at the conclusion of 
the first, and ends with the expulsion of the child from the mother. The 
third stage includes the detachment and expulsion of the after-birth 
and membranes, called the "secundines." In the first stage, the pains 
are described as "cutting or grinding pains," and during the second 
stage, "bearing down or forcing pains," indicating the different nature 
of the work accomplished during the two periods. 
Different classifications of parturition have been made by different 
authors, according to the meaning they attach to the term "natural 
labor." The following is Churchill's definition, and his classification 
based thereon: "Natural labor is applied to those cases in which the 
head presents, and descends regularly into the pelvis; where the process 
is uncomplicated and concluded by the natural powers within twenty-four 
hours (each stage being of due proportion), with safety to the mother 
and child, and in which the placenta is expelled in due time." By the 
term "presentation," is meant that part of the child that presents at the 
brim of the pelvis; by the term "position," the relation which some 
part of the presentation bears to the pelvis. The principal presentations 
are the head, the breech, the knee, the foot, the elbow, and the hand. 
Dr. Churchill's Classification of Parturition. 
Class I.-Natural Labor. 
Class II.-Unnatural Labor. 
(a.) From abnormal condition of the expulsive force. 
Order 1. Tedious labor. 
2. Powerless labor. 
(b.) From abnormal condition of the passages. 
3. Obstructed labor. 
4. Distortion of pelvis. 
(c.) From abnormal condition of the child. 
5. Malpositions and malpresentations. 
6. Plural births and monsters. 
Class III.-Complex Labor. 
Order 1. Prolapse of cord. 
2. Retention of placenta, or after-birth. 
3. Flooding 
* 4. Convulsions. 
5. Lacerations. 
6. Inversion of the uterus. 
7. Sudden death. PARTURITION-PATELLA, OR KNEE-PAN. 
961 
The management of natural labor and the duty of the nurse during 
both labor and convalescence have been described under the article 
Childbed, which see. (See also Pelvis, After-Birth, After-Pains, 
Caesarean Operation, Nurse.) 
PASSION, OR ANGER, pash'-un. It is sufficient here to allude 
to the serious effects which may follow the indulgence of violent passion. 
Those who give way to it are often themselves sensible, either during the 
paroxysm, or at its close, of unusual sensations about the region of the 
heart. There can be no question that this important organ is much 
influenced by these violent mental emotions, one of which may lay the 
foundation of that disease, which another may ripen into sudden death. 
And what a death! (See Passions, Temper; -Heart, Diseases of the.) 
PASSIONS, [Lat. passio ; patior, passus, to suffer]. The pas- 
sions of the mind are divided into exciting, depressing, and calming, 
and the two former are again divided, in a medical point of view, into 
such as act suddenly and with temporary violence, or more slowly and 
permanently. 
1. Exciting, (a) In a violent degree; as rage, anger, intense enthu- 
siasm. (6) More moderately; as joy, emulation, desire, hope, benevo- 
lence, love, charity. 
2. Depressing, (a) In a violent degree; as terror, grief, despair. 
(5) More moderately; as fear, jealousy, hatred, envy, resentment. 
3. Calming ; as veneration, admiration, contemplation. 
Persons of strong, active imaginations, sanguine in temperament, 
and eager in their pursuits and expectations, are most liable to, and suffer 
most from, the violently exciting passions. The effects are often 
apoplexy, palsy, hemorrhage, jaundice. 
The depressing passions are, in different degrees, sedative. The 
more violent ones are sometimes fatal in a moment; and the less violent 
slowly undermine the constitution, weaken every function, and produce 
indigestion and dropsy. 
The moderately exciting, and the calming passions, under proper 
control, are eminently conducive to cheerfulness of mind and health. 
(See Excitants, Sexual Excesses, Temper, Passion or Anger, Joy, 
Fear; Heart, Diseases of the; Health, etc.) 
PASTRY, paas '-tre, an article of diet unfit for those who have weak 
digestive powers, those of sedentary habits, or those who are inclined to 
be bilious. (See Confectionery.) 
PATELLA, OR KNEE-PAN, partel '-la [Lat. diminutive Ci patina, 
a pan]. The knee-cap, or knee-pan, is the small, somewhat oval, or 
heart-shaped bone, which is contained with the tendon of the extensor 
muscles of the lower extremity, serving at once to protect the important 962 
PATELLA, OR KNEE-PAN. 
point which it covers, and to give proper direction to the muscular power 
on the fore part of the limb. 
The knee-cap is very liable to be fractured, or rather torn across, in 
falls where the individual, in the endeavor to save himself, violently 
exerts the muscles of the limb; a painful shock, as from a blow, is felt, 
and the power of extending or advancing the limb is instantly lost; 
when examined, the deficiency occasioned by the absence of the upper 
half of the knee-cap, is at once apparent, this being drawn more or less 
up the fore part of the thigh by the action of the muscles. When the 
knee-cap is broken, as it sometimes is by direct violence, the displace- 
ment is not so great, but the accident is generally more serious, owing 
to the violence injuring the knee-joint generally. 
The treatment of transverse fracture of the knee-cap might, with 
care, be managed by an unprofessional person in the absence of a medi- 
cal man. The principal object in the treatment of this accident is, to 
remedy the displacement or drawing upwards of the upper fragment of 
the bone, which takes place in consequence of the muscles of the thigh 
with which it is connected, being set free from the counteracting power 
of their attachment to the upper part of the bone of the leg, their com- 
mon tendon in which the knee-cap is imbedded, being torn through, 
as well as the bone. 
The first part of the treatment of this accident is to place the entire 
lower limb on an inclined plane made of any convenient material, and 
cushioned of course; this being done, and the displaced fragment drawn 
as nearly as possible into its natural position, and in contact with the 
lower fragment which does not undergo displacement, some additional 
means must be employed to keep the parts steady; for this purpose, 
many different kinds of apparatus have been used. 
A good apparatus is formed by laying a strip of stout bandage, lon- 
gitudinally, on each side of the injured bone; these strips are then 
secured by a few turns of two circular bandages, passed one round the 
lower part of the thigh, the other round the upper part of the leg, close 
above and below the fractured bone, the ends of the longitudinal ban- 
dages being then tied, the apparatus is complete. It will be advisable 
to add to the inclined plane some additional protection to obviate the 
chance of the limb slipping off the apparatus. It has been observed, 
that those who have suffered fracture of one knee-cap, are more liable 
than others to suffer from a'similar accident on the other leg. This is, 
prpbably, accounted for by the fact, that in a large proportion of cases, 
the two fragments of the patella which has been fractured, are not per- 
fectly closely united, and that the person is, therefore, more liable to 
suffer a fall similar to that which produced the first accident. Some PATELLA, OR KNEEPAN-PELLLTORY. 
963 
individuals, moreover, are more liable to suffer from rupture of the 
tendons generally than others. The knee-cap sometimes suffers displace- 
ment. (See Knee.) 
PATENT MEDICINES. (See Quackery, Nostrum.) 
PATHOLOGY, pa-thol'-o-je [Gr. pathos, disease, and logos, dis- 
course]. The science of the nature of disease. (See Medicine.) 
PEA, pe [Lat. pisum\. The common garden pea, in its fresh or 
green state, and when eaten young, is wholesome and digestible, but 
when it has advanced towards ripening, the outer skin becomes very 
tough and indigestible, and passes through the bowels unacted upon by 
the digestive organs-in this condition it is very liable to lodge in the 
folds or sacculi of the colon, or large bowel. If old peas are eaten 
regularly, and the bowels are at all torpid, a large accumulation of these 
pea-skins may take place, and at length give rise to troublesome irrita- 
tion and diarrhoea. A dose of compound colocynth pill, or of castor-oil, 
is the best remedy. Dried peas can, of course, only be used as human 
food with advantage when reduced to softness, or when ground into 
flour; when thus rendered digestible, they contain more real nutriment- 
that is, plastic matter-adapted to building up the animal frame, than 
even wheat or oats. 
PEACH, peech [Lat. persicus], the well-known fruit is, when ripe, 
sufficiently digestible if eaten in moderation. The peach tribe derive 
their chief interest, in a medical point of view, from the hydrocyanic, or 
prussic acid, which is obtained from various parts of the plants by dis- 
tillation. Peach kernels yield it largely, also the blossoms and the 
young leaves; preparations from these, therefore, must be employed 
with great caution. An infusion of the dried leaves of the peach has 
been used in cases of worms. 
PEACH TREE. (See Amygdalus.) 
PEAR, paar [Lat. pirus, pyrus, a pear tree]. Pears are apt to 
disagree with many persons. 
PEARLASH, perl'-ash, a common name for the impure carbonate 
of potash. (See Potash.) 
PEARLASH, POISONING BY. (See Alkalies, Poisoning by.) 
PEARL-BARLEY. fSee Barley.) 
PECCAN NUTS. (See Carya. ) 
PECTORAL, pelc'-to-ral [Lat. pectoralls, from pectus, the breast], 
of or belonging to the breast; as pectoral medicines, those which relieve 
diseases of the chest; the pectoral muscles, major and minor, which are 
situated on the anterior part of the chest. 
PEEL, ORx^NGE. (See Aurantii Cortex.) 
PELLITORY. (See Anacyclus.) 964 
PAA VIS. 
PELVIS, pel'-vis [Gr. for a basin], literally means a basin, the term 
having been given to the particular region of the body from its fancied 
resemblance to that utensil. The pelvis is the irregular structure of 
bone which supports and rests upon the thigh bones, the round "heads" 
of which are fitted into the cups, or cavities. (See Hip-Joint.) The 
pelvis is composed essentially of three different bone masses; two of 
these, the ossa innominata form, together, the sides and forepart of 
the pelvic cavity, being united in front. The back part of the pelvis is 
formed by the os sacrum, a triangular bone, which fits like the wedge 
or key-stone of an arch between the two side bones of the structure. On 
the top of this bone, which appears, and may be regarded to be a num- 
ber of vertebrae, or spine bones, cemented together, the spine is placed; 
its central canal, or cavity, which incloses the spinal marrow, being con- 
tinued down the centre of the sacrum-in which the holes-give 
passage to small nerves. Although the side bones in the adult are united 
into one piece, they are not so in early life, but are in three divisions; 
for the sake of convenience in describing, etc., anatomists retain these 
distinctions even in the adult bone. A little consideration will show any 
one how much strength is imparted to the important bony construction 
above described, which is, moreover, so placed or balanced, with respect 
to other portions of the body, as to throw the weight on those portions 
of itself best calculated to sustain it, and the whole upon the thigh bones 
in the most advantageous manner possible. Further, the whole struc- 
ture of the pelvis is made as light as can be compatible with strength. 
The sacrum is the lightest bone of the body for its size; and in the 
arrangements of these pelvic bones generally, wherever ligament can be 
substituted for bone, we find it is so; thus, for instance, the two holes 
instead of being filled up with bone, have merely a thin, light, ligament 
stretched across. 
There is considerable difference in shape between the male and female 
pelvis; the latter being more broad, ample, and expanded than the 
former, in every way-a matter of necessity in child-bearing particularly, 
so as to afford sufficient room for the passage of the infant, the head of 
which is for the most part adapted to pass through the pelvic cavity by 
a series of turns. The cavity of the pelvis is inferior to, but continuous 
with that of the abdomen; the contents, or viscera, of the tvro being 
continuous. (See Abdomen.) Fracture of the bones of the pelvis occa- 
sionally occurs in consequence of accident; it is always a serious mishap, 
from the circumstance, that the violence which is capable of fracturing 
these strong bones, must, in all probability, injure some of the impor- 
tant parts-the bladder especially-which they naturally surround and 
guard. The accident is not likely to be detected by an unprofessional PEL VIS-PER CUSS LOE 
965 
person; if suspected, soothing measures to the painful parts, hot fomen- 
tations, poultices, and leeches would be advisable; the body being placed 
in the most easy position, and perhaps a bandage a foot broad sewed 
around the hips, surgical assistance being procured without delay. (See 
Anatomy, Abdomen, Bladder, Hip-Joint, Spine.) 
PENNYROYAL, AMERICAN. (See IIedeoma Pulegioides.) 
PEPPER, BLACK. (See Piper Nigrum.) 
PEPPERMINT. (See Mentha Piperita.) 
PEPSIN, pep'-sin [Gr. pepto, I digest], a peculiar albuminoid exist- 
ing in the gastric juice, to which, in conjunction with the free acid, the 
solvent powers of that fluid seem owing. It is extracted in large quan- 
tities from the gastric juice of the pig, sheep, and calf, and used in med- 
icine as a digestive. That of the pig (pepsina porri) is stronger than 
any other. 
This substance is regarded as a positive anatomical ingredient of the 
gastric juice, both essential to its constitution and physiological action. 
Introduced into the system it increases the appetite, allays irritability of 
the stomach, and promotes changes essential to healthy digestion of the 
nitrogenous elements of food. Dose, 10 to 15 grains, immediately 
before or after meals. (See Pepsin, Wine of.) 
PEPSIN, WINE OF. This elegant cordial contains the diges- 
tive principle of the gastric juice held in solution by pure sherry 
wine, and is acceptable to even those of the most delicate organizations. 
No more grateful and efficient medicine has been tried in dyspepsia and 
kindred diseases. Dose, from a | to 1 wine-glassful shquld be taken 
just before or immediately after meals. (See Pepsin.) 
PERCOLATION, per-lco-la'-shun [Lat. percolo, I strain or filter], a 
species of filtration employed in the making of tincture (which see). It 
is also sometimes applied to the animal secretions, from the action of the 
glands being thought to resemble that of a strainer. 
PERCUSSION,per-kush'-un [Lat. percutio, I strike], is the striking 
a part of the body in order to determine by the sound the condition of 
the subjacent organs. Every one knows that different kinds of sub- 
stances, when struck, give out very different sounds. A wooden cask, 
containing air only, is resonant when struck; fill it half full of water, and 
the lower part will render a flat sound, and the upper empty portion a 
hollow sound-less hollow, however, than when the vessel contained no 
water; fill it with water, and the whole is dull on percussion. It is the same 
with the human chest; if the blow fall over a portion of the healthy lung, 
you will produce a resonant or hollow sound; if the lung has lost its 
spongy character, or its place is supplied by some more solid or inelastic 
substance-by fluid for example-you will hear a dead sound. Some 966 
PER C US SI ON-PERICARDITIS. 
nicety is necessary in the manner of striking the chest, so as to properly 
elicit the sound; and various contrivances have been recommended for 
that purpose; but we believe that none of them are preferable to the 
the fingers when properly used. One or two fingers of the left hand are 
to be laid flat on the part to be examined, and to be struck lightly, but 
rather smartly, with the ends of the three first fingers of the right hand, 
set close together on the same level. Percussion is also of use in deter- 
mining the state of certain organs of the abdomen. (See Auscultation, 
Stethoscope, etc.) 
PERFORATION, per-fo-ra'-shun [Lat. perforo^ to pierce]. The 
term in medicine is chiefly used to express the formation of an aperture 
in some portion of the coats of the alimentary canal, which allows the 
escape of a portion of the contents of the stomach or bowels into the 
cavity or sac of the peritonaeum, thereby causing agonizing pain, severe 
inflammation, and in almost every instance death. As the escape of a 
small portion of the contents of the canal is sufficient to occasion these 
severe symptoms and fatal consequences, a very small opening may be 
the occasion of death. The most common sites of the perforation are 
the stomach, or the small bowel near its junction with the large; in the 
latter case, usually occurring in the progress of fever, and being occa- 
sioned by ulceration. The occurrence of perforation in the stomach is 
often for some time preceded by dyspeptic symptoms, pain, especially 
after food, and perhaps vomiting. Females, especially those of a weak, 
lymphatic, or scrofulous constitution, are more liable to it than 
males; but it may happen in all constitutions, and without previous 
symptoms. 
When perforation occurs, and the contents of some part of the canal 
escape, there is sudden, intense, agonizing, burning pain, perhaps vom- 
iting, and there is extreme depression or collapse of the system gener- 
ally. In such a case, the hope of saving life is very faint, even under 
the most skilful treatment, and of course a medical man should at once 
be procured. All that unprofessional persons can do is to mitigate the 
intense agony, which opium alone can relieve. Full doses of whichever 
of its preparations are most easily procurable may be given, and repeated 
at short intervals, until some relief is obtained. Heat to the bowels may 
afford some comfort. If there be much vomiting, the opium will, as in 
all similar cases, probably be best retained if given solid, in the form 
of pills-of 1 grain each in such a case-opiate injections, containing 
each 30 to 40 drops of laudanum, may be serviceable. When there 
is great depression, if the person survives some time, stimulants, wine 
or brandy, are given. (See Inflammation.) 
PERICARDITIS. (See Heart, Diseases of the.) PERICARDIUM-PERIODICITY. 
967 
PERICARDIUM, per-e-kar'-de-um [Gr. peri^ about, and kardia^ the 
heart], is the membrane that encloses the heart, which see. 
PERICRANIUM, per-e-kra'-ne-um [Gr. kranion, the skull], the 
membrane which invests and adheres to the bones of the skull; in 
other bones the corresponding membrane is named the periosteum. 
PERINtEUM, per-e-ne'-um [Gr. naio, to flow]; the space at the fork 
of the lower limbs, between the fundament and the generative organs. 
At this spot the operation of cutting for the stone, in males, is usually 
performed. Falls, with the legs astride any body sufficiently narrow to 
allow it to bruise the perineum, are apt to be followed by serious conse- 
quences, bloody urine, or complete stoppage. For the same reason, the 
practice of "hoisting,"-carrying an individual astride upon a piece of 
wood-either in the way of practical joke or punishment, is seriously to 
be condemned. 
PERIODICITY, pe-re-o-dls -e-te [Fr.periodicite\. The recurrence at 
regular intervals of marked phenomena in the progress of vegetable or 
of animal life, is at once one of the most interesting, one of the most cer- 
tain, but at the same time-as to cause-one of the most obscure facts 
in the range of scientific inquiry. Among plants, a daily periodicity is 
so well-marked, both as regards their opening and their closing, that it 
is familiar to all-even the children know when the daisies and the 
clover "goto sleep;" and the famous Linnaeus constructed, or rather 
arranged, what he called the floral clock, from the times of the opening 
and shutting of certain plants. It is sufficient to allude to the different, 
but regular times of leafing and flowering of tree and plant, to the cer- 
tain returns of "seed time and harvest," to confirm, that what holds 
good in the revolution of the twenty-four hours, does so throughout the 
year. In the animal kingdom periodicity is equally well-marked, each 
kind carries its young a certain time; with slight variation, the changes 
from the cradle to the grave in man, progress in well-marked periodical 
order. What is observed in health is seen also in disease. The regular 
return of the paroxysm in the quotidian, the tertian, the quartan ague; 
the regularity with which the eruptions of scarlet fever, small-pox, or 
measles, appear and decline, all tell of the same thing; the nightly hectic 
of the consumptive patient does so also. These are well-marked 
instances, so much so, that they cannot fail to attract attention, but 
there are doubtless, numberless others in the progress of disease, equally 
interesting and important, but unobserved. The causes of periodical 
changes are generally very obscure; some, unquestionably, such as the 
lunar influences upon the tides; the effect of prolonged heat and light, 
as from the sun, m stimulating vegetation, we can readily distinguish 
and appreciate, but the majority are beyond our ken. Some may be 968 
PERIODICITY-PERITONITIS, ETC. 
connected with the hidden springs of life, others are more than probably 
linked with the barometric and electric changes, which are continually 
going on in the diurnal revolution of the twenty-four hours. 
PERIODS, SUPPRESSED. (See Menstruation.) 
PERIOSTEUM, per-e-os'-te-um [Gr. peri, and osteon, a bone], is the 
membrane that covers the bone. (See Bone, Anatomy.) 
PERISTALTIC, per-e-stal'-tik [Gr. peristello, I contract], is a term 
applied to that peculiar motion of the intestines by means of which their 
contents are carried onwards. It is a series of contractings and relax- 
ings, the different parts of the bowels rising and falling alternately, so 
as to resemble tho motions of a worm or snake. 
PERITONAEUM, per-e-to-ne'-um [Gr. periteino, I stretch round], is 
the thin serous membrane lining the abdominal cavity, and enveloping 
the contained organs, so as to keep them in their proper places. Like 
the other serous membranes, it is an enclosed sac, covering, but not con- 
taining, the organs in its cavity, with its internal surface smooth and 
shining, and moistened by a serous fluid for aiding the natural move- 
ments of the organs upon each other. The folds which surround the 
small intestines constitute the mesentery : that which hangs down from 
the stomach, and is then reflected upwards and backwards to the colon, 
is the omentum. (See Inflammation, Peritonitis.) 
PERITONITIS, OR INFLAMMATION OF THE PERITON- 
EUM, OR SEROUS COVERING OF THE BOWELS, per-e-to-ni'-tis. 
Causes.-The chief causes of this disease are exposure to cold and 
wet, the abuse of stimulants, or of strong purgative medicines, constipa- 
tion, an overloaded condition of the alimentary canal, and childbirth. 
The peculiar form of peritonitis which follows parturition, or childbirth, 
will be described under the head of Puerperal Fever (which see). 
Symptoms.-Like other inflammatory diseases, it is attended with the 
usual symptoms of fever, languor, depression, shivering, and is followed 
by heat, thirst, and quick pulse. Either simultaneous with these symp- 
toms, or shortly after, there is usually intense cutting or burning pain in 
the abdomen; general, or confined to one spot, according to circumstances. 
This pain is much increased by pressure, so much so, indeed, that even 
the weight of the bed-clothes cannot be borne, and the patient lies on the 
back with the knees drawn up-an attitude very characteristic of this 
disease-in order to keep off the weight of the clothes. At this time, 
the pulse, which is very quick, is usually of a peculiar hard, wiry character. 
The symptoms of peritoneal inflammation of the bowels are usually so 
well marked as to be distinguishable even by an unprofessional person; 
when they do occur, especially under circumstances already pointed out, 
as likely to occasion them, it need scarcely be said here that a medical PERITONITIS, ETC.-PERMANGANIC ACID. 
969 
man should be called with the shortest possible delay. The disease is 
most serious and dangerous, often very rapid in its course, and cannot too 
soon be submitted to the active treatment which skill and experience alone 
can venture upon. 
Treatment. -Place the patient in a warm bath for half an hour, and 
then apply hot fomentations by means of soft flannels wrung out of hot 
water; a few drops of turpentine may be sprinkled over each cloth, or a 
tablespoonful of turpentine mixed with each quart of hot water. The 
fomentations must be applied assiduously, or they do more harm than 
good. If they can be procured, a dozen leeches may be applied over the 
abdomen, followed by a light, warm linseed meal or slippery elm poul- 
tice. The bowels must be relieved by a dose of 2 tablespoonfuls of 
castor-oil, with 15 to 20 drops of laudanum added, to relieve the pain, 
but strong purgatives must be scrupulously avoided. Warm injections 
from time to time, not more than a pint at a time, not only keep the 
bowels clear, but act as an internal fomentation. If the pain is very 
severe, they may contain from 20 to 30 drops of laudanum. Opium is 
the sheet anchor in this dangerous disease; 1, or if the pain is very 
severe, 2 grains maybe given every six hours, until the doctor comes, or 
until the severity of the pain is mitigated. The diet must, of course, be 
reduced, and nothing but thin gruel, or barley or toast water, be allowed. 
Chronic Peritonitis sometimes follows an acute attack, but more fre- 
quently is an independent affection. The symptoms of this form are 
more obscure than those of acute peritonitis, coming on more gradually 
and insidiously; there is pain in the stomach, with some fulness and dis- 
tention, the pain is increased by pressure and all kinds of movements on 
the part of the patient, the functions of the alimentary canal become dis- 
turbed, the sufferer is troubled with sickness and nausea, the bowels are 
constipated, and there is loss of appetite. 
This affection generally occurs to persons of the scrofulous diathesis, 
and in many instances the inflammatory action is set up by the presence 
of myriads of little scrofulous tubercles which have been deposited from 
the blood into the affected membrane. 
Treatment.-A few leeches may be applied to the abdomen, and 
followed by soft and warm linseed poultices; opium may be given inter- 
nally, and when the disease has assumed a still more chronic form, 
blisters applied to the surface of the abdomen will be of great service, 
and the compound iodine ointment may be rubbed in with advantage. 
Cod-liver oil may be given to nourish the strength of the patient and improve 
his general health. (See Peritonaeum, Inflammation, Enteritis, etc.) 
PERMANGANIC ACID, per-man-gan -ik (Mn2 O7).-If a solution 
of manganate of potash be largely diluted with water, it gradually 970 
PERMANGANIC ACID-PET ECIIEE. 
changes from green to violet, from the manganic acid passing to a higher 
stage of oxidation, and permanganate of potash is formed. It crystal- 
lizes in fine dark purple prisms, soluble in 16 parts of water, and forming 
a magnificent crimson solution. Permanganate of potash has received 
a most important application as a deodorizing and disinfecting agent, 
and is known as Condy's disinfecting fluid. From experiments it 
seems to contain oxygen in the ozonic form, which is immediately liber- 
ated on the approach of organic matter in the process of decomposition. 
(See Disinfectants.) 
PERSIMMON. (See Diospyros Virglniana.) 
PERSONAL HEALTH. (See Health, Health Resorts, Sani- 
tary Science, Houses, Climate, Air, Clothing, Food, Diet, Digestion, 
Exercise, Life, Longevity, Tobacco ; Stimulants, Alcoholic ; etc. ) 
PERSONS FOUND DEAD. (See Death.) 
PERSPIRATION, per-spe-ra'-shun [Lat.perspiratio, from per spiro, 
I breathe through], is that watery vapor which is constantly passing off 
through the pores of the skin, and is distinguished into insensible and 
sensible; the former passing off in the form of invisible vapor; the latter 
being more profuse and collecting in drops on the surface. It is calcu- 
lated that about three pounds of water are daily conveyed to the surface 
of the body as insensible perspiration, and this quantity is very consider- 
ably increased during violent exercise or in hot weather. Its expulsion 
from the system is very important; for whenever it is diminished or sus- 
pended, serious derangements may follow. 
Those medicines which promote perspiration are called diaphoretics. 
(See Diaphoretics, Dover's Powder, James' Powder, Antimonial 
Powder, etc.) 
PERSPIRATION OF FEET AND ARM-PITS, FETID. (See 
Carbolic Acid, Alum, Clay.) 
PERTUSSIS. (See Whooping Cough.) 
PERU, BALSAM OF. (See Myrospermum, Balsam.) 
PERUVIAN BARK. (See Cinchona.) 
PESSARY, pes'-sa-re [Gr. pesso, to soften], an instrument used to 
support the womb when displaced. (See Womb.) 
PESTILENCE. (See Epidemic, Plague, Cholera, Yellow Fever, 
ETC.) 
PESTLES. (See Mortars and Pestles.) 
PETECHDE, pe-te'-ke-e, are spots which appear upon the skin in 
certain forms of fever. They often resemble and are mistaken for flea- 
bites. Petechias frequently assume different colors and forms, differ- 
ences which have lately been assumed as one of the distinctive marks 
between the typhus and typhoid forms of fever. PETE OLEUM-PHAE YNGITLS. 
971 
PETROLEUM, pe-tro'-te-um [Gr. petros, a rock, and etalon, oil], 
commonly called rock-oil and Barbadoes tar, a liquid found flowing from 
the clefts of rocks, and now prc^ured in great abundance from the oil 
wells of this continent. For sprains, bruises, chilblains, burns, scalds, 
and frost-bites, kerosene-one of the products of petroleum-is one of the 
most useful of all liniments. Many cases of both rheumatism and 
sciatica have been materially benefited by its use. Internally it has 
been successfully used in doses of 10 to 20 drops in mucilage, three or 
four times a day. Coal-oil, or kerosene, doubtless, from the presence of 
carbolic acid, acts as a preventative of ague. It is a wrell-known fact, 
that persons living in the immediate vicinity of oil-wells or petroleum 
springs do not suffer from this disorder. Vaseline or petroleum jelly is 
said to be useful in the prevention and cure of baldness. (See Vase- 
line, Burns and Scalds, Frost-Bites.) 
Too much caution cannot be exercised in handling kerosene and other 
preparations manufactured from petroleum. Many of these, although 
advertised as both safe and non-explosive, are neither one nor the other, 
and every year scores of fatal accidents occur through the prevailing 
negligence of those who handle them. The fact that a lighted match 
can be held to them without causing an explosion proves nothing, for 
the explosion is invariably caused by the vapor which arises from the oil 
becoming mixed with a certain proportion of atmospheric air. Lamps 
should be kept pretty nearly full; it is when almost empty that explo- 
sions are at all likely to occur. Of course non-explosive oils can be 
obtained, but the extra refining costs something, and they are frequently 
pushed out of the market by the dangerous article because it is cheap. 
PETROLEUM JELLY. (See Vaseline.) 
PHAGEDENIC, fape-den -ik [Gr. phago, I eat], is a term applied 
to ulcers that eat or destroy very rapidly. 
PHALANGES, fa-tan -geez [Gr. a battalion], the name given to the 
small bones of the fingers and toes. (See Foot, Hand.) 
PHARMACOPCEIA, far-mg-kope'-yg [Gr.], a book of directions for 
compounding medicines. This term is usually restricted to an authori- 
tative work issued by a medical college, or other governing body, to 
secure uniformity in the preparations used by its members; the terms 
dispensatory and formulary being left for medical receipt-books which 
have not an authoritative character. 
PHARMACY, fdr'-ma-se [Gr. pkarmakeia, medicament, whether 
salutary or poisonous], the art of preparing medicines. (See Materia 
Medica.) 
PHARYNGITIS, far-in-gi'-tis, inflammation of the pharynx. (See 
Pharynx, Sore Throat.) 972 
PH AR YHX-PHOSPHOR US. 
PHARYNX, far'-inks [Gr. for the throat, from to convey], 
is the muscular funnel-shaped bag at the back part of the mouth, which 
receives the masticated food, and conveys it to the oesophagus. It is 
broadest about the middle, being constricted at either end, more particu- 
larly below, where it terminates in the oesophagus. 
PHENE. (See Benzole.) 
PHLEBITIS, fle-bi!-tis [Gr. phleps, a vein], inflammation of the 
veins. (See Veins.) 
PHLEBOTOMY, OR VENESECTION, fle-bot'-o.me [Gr. phleps, a 
vein, and temno^ I cut], is the opening of a vein for the purpose of taking 
away blood. (See Bleeding.) 
PHLEGM,flem [Gr. phlegma, from phlego, to burn], a term usually 
applied to any aqueous or excrementitious bronchial mucus, or the thick 
viscid matter secreted in the throat, and discharged by coughing. (See 
Mucus.) 
PHLEGMASIA DOLENS. (See Milk Leg.) 
PHOSPHATES, fos-fats [Lat. phosphas^ compounds of phosphoric 
acid. The principal phosphates used in medicine are those of lime, soda, 
potash and iron. A syrup made from these four is known as chemical 
food. It has been suggested in cases of debility, or constitutional languor, 
where the functions of the system lack their normal vitality, and yet 
these morbid symptoms are traceable to no one single positive cause. 
Its use, though, is advised only in those cases where the simple syrup of 
phosphate of iron fails to bring about the desired effect. But the value 
of the several ingredients as nutritive tonics is too well-known to require 
a lengthy notice of the therapeutic properties of the compound. Dose, 
to 1 teaspoonful. (See Lime, Potash, Soda, Iron, Phosphorus.) 
PHOSPHORIC ACID, fos-for -ik, is produced by thp rapid combus- 
tion of phosphorus in oxygen or atmospheric air. When the oxygen is 
perfectly dry, it is obtained as a mere white, flocculent, but very deli- 
quescent powder, hissing when thrown into water, and forming with it 
hydrated phosphoric acid. Diluted phosphoric acid is used in medicine 
as a tonic and refrigerant, having similar properties to sulphuric acid. 
It is said to correct the phosphates in the urine, and is given w'ith phos- 
phate of lime in rickets. Dose, from 10 to 30 drops, largely diluted 
with water. 
PHOSPHORUS, fos'-fo-rus [Gr. phosphoros^ symbol P, equivalent 
32, specific gravity of vapor 4.355. Phosphorus is found in nature only 
in a state of combination, chiefly in the form of phosphate of lime, which 
forms the principal constituent of apatite, phosphorite, coprolites, etc. 
It exists in large proportions in the bodies of animals; in the blood, in 
the urine, in the hair, in the nervous tissues, and in the bones, of which PHOSPHOR US-PHRENOL OGY. 
973 
phosphate of lime forms a large constituent. Animals obtain the phos- 
phate necessary for the formation of their tissues, etc., from plants; 
and plants draw their supply from the soil. Phosphorus appears 
to be a very necessary ingredient in the brain and other centres of ner- 
vous action. Phosphorus is a soft waxy-looking solid, burning in the 
air, and emitting white vapors having a garlicky odor. Its specific 
gravity is 1.83 at 50° Fahr. It fuses at 111.5°, and may be distilled 
unchanged, in close vessels, at 550°. It becomes luminous from slow 
combustion in dry air, and frequently inflames spontaneously. It may, 
however, be cut and handled with impunity under water. Phosphorus 
unites with oxygen in four proportions, forming oxide of phosphorus, 
hypophosphorous acid, phosphorous acid, and phosphoric acid. Hypo- 
phosphorous acid forms an uncrystallizable syrup, with feebly marked 
acid properties. It is interesting from forming a series of salts much 
used in medicine, the hypophosphites. (See Hypophosphites.) 
PHRENITIS, fre-ni-tis [Gr. pkrenes, from phren, the mind], is 
inflammation of the brain, or any of its membranes. (See Bkain, Dis- 
eases of the.) The term phren or phrenic was anciently applied to the 
diaphragm, as being the supposed seat of the soul. From the same root 
we have the term phrensy. 
PHRENOLOGY, fre-nol'-o-je [Gr. pkrenes, and logos, an account). 
Literally a description of the mind; applied by Gall and Spurzheim to a 
new doctrine of mental philosophy, founded on a presumed knowledge 
of the functions of different portions of the brain, which, by their peculiar 
developments, modified the form of the head, so as to make it an indi- 
cation of character. According to this theory, the head may be regularly 
mapped out, and the mental peculiarities of the individual at once deter- 
mined by a comparison of its different parts. Dr. Combe, who fol- 
lowed Spurzheim, and is considered the most eminent authority on 
the subject, divides our faculties into three classes-the intellectual or 
perceptive, the sentiments and emotions, and the animal propensities. 
The front part of the head is assigned to the first of these, the middle 
and upper parts to the second, and the hinder part, including the cere- 
bellum, to the third. Each of these divisions is subdivided into minute 
parts, which are supposed to cover special organs assigned to distinct 
faculties or feelings. 
Much stress has been laid upon the advantages to be derived from 
phrenology as a basis for a system of medical psychology. If, as has 
been asserted, we can ascertain, by certain cranial developments, the 
faculties and feelings, and can, by a proper course of treatment, repress 
the growth of such as are of a bad tendency, and encourage that of those 
of an opposite nature, we shall be able to do much towards producing a 974 
PHU ENOL O G Y-PHYSIO GNOMY. 
perfect character; and, as a sound mind will go far to produce a sound 
body, we shall thus also greatly conduce to a good state of physical 
health. But we do not find that this beautiful theory (for such it cer- 
tainly is) can be brought into practice, without disappointing the expec- 
tations of those who have built upon it hopes of ameliorating the con- 
dition of their fellow creatures. Hence its utility, at all events, in the 
present state of the science, if wre may so call it, is very questionable, 
either as a guide for educating the healthy mind, or for remedying its 
diseased condition. (See Physiognomy, Countenance.) 
PHTHISIS, thi'-sis, or ti'-sis [Gr. phthio}, pulmonary consumption. 
(See Consumption.) 
PHYMOSIS, fi-mo'-sis, a constriction of the prepuce, which prevents 
the glans penis from being uncovered. When it cannot be overcome by 
leeches, poultices or the hot bath, the prepuce must be divided by a 
bistoury, passed along a grooved director, previously introduced. When 
the prepuce is retracted and cannot be returned, but forms a sort of a 
ligature behind the glans, it is called paraphymosis. Cold lotions and 
leeches generally reduce the inflammation and relieve the constriction, 
but if they do not, the prepuce must be divided as in phymosis. This, 
of course, should be done by a medical man. 
PHYSIC, fiz'-ik [Lat. physical a term originally signifying natural 
philosophy, but in modern language restricted to that branch of medicine 
which forms the province of the physician, as opposed to that of surgeon. 
Among the lower orders in some places, the term physic is applied solely 
to purgative medicines. 
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT. (See Marriage, Exercise, Gym- 
nastics, Training, etc.) 
PHYSICAL EXCITANTS. (See Excitants.) 
PHYSICIAN, fe-zisK-an, one who is empowered to practice physic 
by the laws of the land, or who is furnished with a diploma of doctor of 
medicine. (See Surgeon, Medicine, Medical Advice, etc.) 
PHYSIC, INDIAN. (See Gillenia Trifoliata.) 
PHYSIOGNOMY, fiz-e-og'-no-me [Gr. physis, and ginosko, to judge 
of], the study of general character, or of diseased states, from the features 
and cast of the countenance. 
Efforts have been made by Lavater and others to raise this study 
to the rank of a science, but without success; undoubtedly the counte- 
nance will, to a certain extent, indicate character, as the general shape of 
the head will afford some confirmation of the theory of phrenology; 
but there are so many modifying influences, that it is never safe to predi- 
cate by any of these outward and visible signs what the mental or moral 
man may be. Of his state of health we may commonly judge pretty PHYSIO GNOMY-PHYSIOL OGY. 
975 
well by the condition and expression of the countenance. (See Counte- 
nance, Phrenology.) 
PHYSIOLOGY, fiz-e-ol'-o-je [Gr. phusis, nature, and logns, dis- 
course] ; called also the institutes of medicine: is literally the doctrine 
or science of nature, comprehending a knowledge of all the physical and 
natural sciences; and this was the meaning which it originally bore. 
But as these, in course of time, came to be more particularly studied, 
they received distinct names, as natural philosophy, chemistry, astron- 
omy, zoology, geology, etc. To the science which treats of the func- 
tions of living beings the term physiology is still applied, though its 
meaning is becoming more and more restricted as its various branches 
become better defined. By physiology, as at present used, is generally 
understood a knowledge of vital actions in a state of health, as distin- 
guished from pathology, which is a knowledge of the same functions 
when diseased. It is generally considered to embrace a description of 
the various vital functions of the parts composing the human body, as 
well as the more intimate structure of the parts themselves; the relations 
of these parts to each other being referred to descriptive anatomy, and 
their chemical composition to animal chemistry. The modern science 
of histology deals with the elementary textures of the human body and 
their several functions, and is the recognized basis of physiological 
knowledge. The ultimate or elementary tissues are arranged as (1) 
molecule-tissues, (2) cell-tissues, (3) fibre-tissues, and (4) tube-tissues. 
Molecules are minute bodies, presenting to the microscope the appear- 
ance of minute dots or points. All fluids out of which the higher tissues 
are formed are rich in molecules. When we examine living structures 
under high magnifying powers, numerous tissues, but especially the 
fluids, are seen to contain multitudes of minute vesicles, or shut sacs, 
termed cells, which vary greatly in shape, size, and function, and are 
distinguished into permanent cells and cells of transition. Cells undergo 
a variety of changes ; sometimes they gradually dissolve and perish, or 
the cell-wall bursts and liberates its fluid contents; and they unite in 
various ways to form complex tissues. A fibre is a solid elongated body 
like a thread, varying in thickness from -- to of an inch. The 
functions of the fibrous tissues are manifold; the most important, how- 
ever, is that of contractility. The tubular tissues are distinguished from 
fibres by being composed of distinct walls, with contents, as in the nerve- 
tubes, and the blood-tubes or capillaries. These are the four great 
elementary tissues of living beings, on which depend the vital endow- 
ments of growth, contractility, and sensibility. Organized beings pre- 
sent us with only twenty of the sixty-two elementary substances known 
in chemistry; and of these the principal are oxygen, hydrogen, carbon, 976 
PHYSIOLOGY. 
and nitrogen, the others being found only in small quantities and in par- 
ticular tissues. The chemical principles that are to be found more or 
less associated together in every texture and fluid of living beings, some 
prevailing in one, others in another, are (1) the albuminous, (2) the fatty, 
(3) the pigmentary, (4) the mineral principles. The albuminous princi- 
ples consist of albumen, fibrine, and caseine. Fatty matter consists of 
carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, in various proportions. The pigmentary 
principles give color to the various textures, and are evidently allied to 
oily constituents of living beings. Of mineral principles, the most 
important are carbonate and phosphate of lime. The various functions 
of the more complex organs of the human body are distinguished as 
those of nutrition, innervation, and reproduction. The function of 
nutrition consists of five stages-(1) the introduction into the stomach 
and intestinal canal of appropriate aliment; (2) the formation therefrom 
of a nutritive principle, the blood; (3) the transformation of the nutri- 
tive qualities of the blood into tissues; (4) the re-absorption of the 
transformed tissues into the blood; (5) the excretion of the various 
effete matters from the body. The subject of appropriate alimentary 
matters is treated under the heads Food and Drinks. The digestive 
processes-including mastication, or the chewing of the food; insaliva- 
tion, the mixing it with saliva; deglutition, or the swallowing of it; 
chymification, or the action of the stomach; chylification, or the action 
of the intestines ; and the absorption of the chyle-are treated of under 
the head of Digestion. The chyle in the intestines is taken up by the 
lacteals, and by them coveyed to the mesenteric glands, where it is sup- 
posed to undergo some change. From thence it makes its way to the 
right side of the aorta, in the lumbar region, where it is finally dis- 
charged in an elongated pouch, called the receptaculum chyli. From 
this pouch the thoracic duct conveys the chyle upwards to the left side 
of the neck, where it is poured into the left subclavian vein, at its junc- 
tion with the internal jugular; and, being thus mixed with venous blood, 
is carried to the lungs, and there converted into arterial blood. The 
circulation is carried on by means of the heart, arteries, veins, and 
capillaries. The blood is propelled by the heart through the arteries to 
all parts of the body; and from the extremities of the arteries it is 
taken by the capillaries to the extremities of the veins, by means of 
which it is again conveyed to the heart. (See Circulation.) The 
impure blood returned by the veins to the heart is by it propelled into 
the lungs, where it is purified by being exposed to the action of the air, 
and again conveyed to the heart for circulation through the body. 
The lungs are so constructed as to expose a large surface, covered 
with capillary blood-vessels, to the action of the atmosphere. (See PHYSIOLOGY-PHYTOLACCA DEC AH DRA. 
977 
Respiration.) We thus see how nutritive matter is converted into blood, 
and how the blood circulates through all parts of the body. It is from 
the blood that all the different tissues derive their nourishment, each 
possessing a vital property of attraction and selection, whereby the 
necessary materials are drawn through the delicate membranous walls of 
the capillaries and converted into tissues. Hence a sufficient supply of 
nutritious blood is necessary to health, depending, as it does, upon the 
various processes of digestion, circulation, respiration, etc.; and also a 
healthy state of the parts to be nourished, so as to be able to attract and 
select the proper materials. A healthy state of the nervous system is 
also necessary, for on this, too, the various functions of the body depend. 
While the blood is constantly supplying matter to build up the various 
tissues, it is also, at the same time, receiving from these tissues the 
matter which has fulfilled its appointed functions. The new material 
takes exactly the place of the old, so that the general configuration of the 
body is preserved. The blood is thus a wonderfully complex fluid, made 
up partly of organic materials derived from the alimentary canal, and 
partly of organic materials derived from the tissues. (See Blood.) The 
latter are carried to various excretory organs, where they are separated 
and discharged; as by the intestines, kidneys, skin, lungs, and liver. 
The function of innervation is dependent on the brain, spinal cord and 
nerves. (See Brain, Nervous System.) The third and last of these 
functions is that of reproduction, a subject of much interest, but 
comparatively little understood. It is said that the human foetus 
passes through various stages of growth, resembling in turn the different 
inferior beings of the animal scale; at first a zoophyte, then a mollusk, 
then a worm, a fish, a reptile ; and so on. Some, however, regard this 
theory as being more fanciful than real, and founded merely upon loose 
analogies. (See Blood, Digestion, Food, Respiration, Circulation, 
Reproduction, Medicine.) 
PHYSOSTIGMA, fi-sos-tig'-mg [Gr. phusa, a bladder, and stigma, a 
stigma], a genus of the Nat. order Leguminosa. The species P. vene- 
nosum produces the Calabar ordeal-bean, so called from being used as a 
poisonous ordeal, to determine the guilt or innocence of accused persons. 
It possesses in a remarkable degree the power of contracting the pupil 
of the eye, and thus its effects are the contrary of those produced by 
belladonna. The extract is given in doses of * to of a grain, but it is 
chiefly employed externally. 
PHYTOLACCA DECANDRA, fi'-to-lak'-kg de-kan'-drg, or poke, 
a perennial plant belonging to the Nat. order Pliytolaccaceaz, and found 
growing in all parts of the United States, as well as in the south of 
Europe and north of Africa. It is known by the common names of cocum, 978 
PHYTOLACCA DECANDRA-PILES, ETC 
garget, skoke-root and pigeon berry. The leaves, berries and root are 
used in medicine. It is a slow emetic and purgative, and is slightly nar- 
cotic. It is used in chronic rheumatism and syphilis and is an altera- 
tive in scrofula and scrofulous diseases. It contains a peculiar resin 
known as phytolaccin. Dose: of the fluid extract, 10 to 30 drops; the 
solid extract, 1 to 4 grains; the syrup, 1 to 2 teaspoonfuls throe or four 
times a day. 
PIA MATER, pi'-a ma'-tur [Lat., pious mother], is the name given 
to the innermost of the three investing membranes of the brain. (See 
Brain. ) 
PICA, pi'-kg [Lat. the magpie], is a depraved appetite with a strong 
desire for unnatural food. It is very common as a symptom of disease 
in pregnancy, chlorosis, etc. 
PICKLES, pik'-klz, vegetable substances preserved in vinegar. 
Even when well prepared they are not very digestible, but the generality 
of those purchased are deleterious on another account-the more or less 
amount of copper which they contain-this poisonous addition being 
made to impart the fresh green color so generally desired by the pur- 
chasers and consumers of these articles. The slightest impregnation 
with this poison cannot be too strongly condemned, but it is probably 
used at times, in ignorance, for even some cookery-books openly advise 
its employment to green pickles. Fortunately, the detection of this 
adulteration, even in small proportion, is easy. If a perfectly clear and 
bright piece of iron-wire will do-be immersed for a few hours in the 
vinegar of the pickle, if copper is present the metal will be deposited in 
a perceptible, though-thin crust upon the iron. (See Vinegar.) 
PICRATE OF AMMONIUM. (See Carbazotic Acid.) 
PICRIC ACID. (See Carbazotic Acid.) 
PIES AND TARTS. (See Pastry.) 
PIGEON BERRY. (See Phytolacca Decandra.) 
PIGMENT, pig'-ment [Lat. pigmentum}., is a name given to the 
mucous substance which covers the surface of the iris, and gives it its 
beautiful variety of colors; also the black or brownish mucus which 
covers the anterior surface of the choroid membrane contiguous to the 
retina and the interior surface of the ciliary processes. (See Eye.) 
PILES, OR HEMORRHOIDS,pilze [Lat. pila, a ball], are tumors 
which form at the verge of the anus, or fundament, and may be situated 
either within or without the bowel; they are either what are called 
"blind," or they are bleeding piles. Piles are often constituted by an 
enlargement or varicose condition of the veins situated about this part, 
this enlargement being caused by whatever tends to obstruct the return 
of the blood through the veins of the abdomen generally; thus, affections PILES, ETC. 
979 
of the liver, constipation, with overloaded bowels, pregnancy, etc., 
are all frequent causes of this form of piles, in which the swellings are 
generally smooth, and of the color of the surrounding skin. Generally, 
the tumors vary in size, according to the operation of the acting obstruc- 
tion ; if they have occurred in consequence of pregnancy, they diminish 
or disappear after childbirth; if loaded bowels have been the cause, a 
dose of suitable aperient medicine relieves the effect. Sometimes the 
enlarged veins become filled with a fibrinous deposit from the blood, 
and then the tumors are permanent. Another form of pile is more of 
the character of a morbid growth, in it the tumors are more generally 
internal, and are red, florid, and uneven on the surface, and often very 
painful. From the causes of piles already stated, it may be imagined 
that the sedentary, those who are most liable to suffer from constipation 
and liver disorder, are also most likely to be the subjects of piles; the 
same may be expected to be the case with women who have borne large 
families. If the causes which first produced the disease do not continue 
in active operation, or are guarded against, the hemorrhoidal tumors may 
continue long quiescent, and give little trouble; but if from any cause, 
whether neglect of the bowels, cold, the abuse of purgative medicine, 
etc., they become inflamed, much suffering is induced; the state is then 
called a "fit of the piles," which lays the individual up from active exer- 
tion. In other cases, instead of inflammation, bleeding may occur, and 
every time the bowels are relieved a considerable amount of blood may 
be lost by stool. 
The preventive treatment of piles is of the first importance, and the 
causes of the disease pointed out, will at once suggest the remedies, 
which are chiefly, a sufficient amount of exercise, and proper regulation 
of the bowels, with avoidance of food of too heating and stimulating a 
nature. If the liver is apt to get too loaded, it must be regulated (see 
Biliary Disorders), but in doing this, and also in regulating the bowels, 
it is of some importance what aperient medicines are employed; aloes, 
from their power of acting upon the rectum or lower bowel, are too often 
said, when taken too constantly, to produce piles, but their effects in 
this way have perhaps been somewhat overrated. Certainly, if taken 
habitually in quantity to irritate, they will both cause piles and aggra- 
vate them when existing; but, on the other hand, the effect of aloes, in 
thoroughly unloading the lower bowels, and in stimulating the liver, 
renders the medicine a very efficient remover of the causes of piles, 
The moderate use of aloes, therefore, when an aperient is often required, 
need not be entirely eschewed by those who suffer from piles, unless 
they find by experience that the affection is aggravated by the use of the 
drug. The other aperients most useful in piles are, when active effect is 980 
PILES, ETC. 
required, castor-oil, or senna infusion; when a milder action is required, 
rhubarb and magnesia, in the form of Gregory's powder, the electuary 
of senna, or the saline medicines, such as Epsom salts in small doses, 
largely diluted, will be found useful. Sulphur, combined either with an 
equal part of cream of tartar, or of calcined magnesia, forms one of the 
best mild aperients in piles; of either mixture 1 teaspoonful may be 
taken for a dose, the first in treacle, the second in milk. It must be 
remembered, that except for unavoidable purposes, purging is fo be 
avoided in those subject to piles, and that mild easy action of the bowels 
is to be encouraged; above all, such a state of bowels as permits the 
faecal mass to become so hard as that it irritates or scratches the piles in 
passing, must be avoided. This is apt to occur if the bowels have been 
constipated for a day or two, in which case it is advisable to use a small 
injection of warm water, so as to soften the contents of the bowel pre- 
vious to evacuation; indeed, in those subject to piles, injections if care 
be taken not to irritate with the pipe of the instrument-form a most 
valuable adjunct to other means of prevention or of treatment. 
When from any cause, inflammation, or a fit of the piles, is induced, 
the first essential is rest in the horizontal posture, so as to give every 
facility for the return of the blood from the affected parts; the diet 
should be reduced, made as cooling as possible, and the bowels kept lax 
by some of the means pointed out above. If the inflammation is severe, 
four or five leeches may be required; if not, warm fomentations and 
steaming will often give relief; at other times, the cooling lead lotion, 
or an ointment made with -J a dram of goulard extract, rubbed up in an 
ounce of lard, will be most serviceable. An excellent ointment, as an 
external applicaction to piles, is made as follows: 
Take of Galls Eighty grains. 
Opium in powder Thirty-two grains. 
Simple ointment, or fresh lard One ounce.-Mix. 
This is equivalent to the well-known gall and opium ointment. 
Bleeding piles.-When piles show a tendency to bleed, and indeed 
in any case, when they are decidedly developed, a medical man should 
be consulted; not solely on account of the pain and inconvenience result- 
ing from the presence of the tumors themselves, but because of the con- 
stitutional tendencies they exhibit. The treatment of bleeding piles is 
often a delicate matter. If the loss of blood is so great as to mani- 
festly weaken a patient, there can be but little doubt that it must be 
stopped, and may be with safety; but at other times it is a safety- 
valve which cannot without hazard be closed, as long as the cause which 
first opened it continues. That is to say, instead of stopping the loss of blood 
from the piles by direct applications, it must be done by constitutional PILES, ETC.-PILLS. 
981 
remedies, adapted to diminish the plethora, either local or general, 
which originated the disorder; in this case, the preventive treatment of 
piles generally, as already stated, must be resorted to. Apoplexy and 
other diseases have followed upon the unwary closure of bleeding piles. 
After constitutional treatment, however, piles may continue to bleed 
merely from local causes; in this case, the drain is injurious, and must 
be stopped. 
Many remedies for the stoppage of bleeding piles are used. Com- 
mon pitch, rolled into 3 grain pills, and 2 of these, taken twice a 
day, is sometimes very efficient. Cream of tartar alone, in tea- 
spoonful doses, taken stirred in water, answers well in some cases. 
Some recommend, especially when protrusion of the bowel also takes 
place, that after each evacuation, a small injection, composed of 1 grain 
of sulphate of iron, or green vitriol, should be thrown into the bowel, 
and retained. When inward piles are protruded at the evacuation of 
the bowels, it is very important that they should be returned to their 
proper site as soon as possible, otherwise they are very liable to inflam- 
mation and strangulation. A piece of linen, well oiled, is the best 
medium for exerting the pressure requisite for this operation. When 
piles reach a certain point they may require a surgical operation for their 
removal. 
PILLS, pilz [Lat. piluloe\ a very convenient form of administering 
medicines, particularly such as are nauseous in their flavor, or are very 
active in their properties. The ingredients are first finely pulverized, 
and then well mixed together with some tenacious liquid to a proper 
consistency, after which the mass is put into a machine, by which it is 
divided and rolled into pills. For domestic purposes, in the absence of 
a machine, this may, of course, be done with the hands. Small drug- 
gists' scales are indispensable for weighing the ingredients. The abbre- 
viation U. S. P. occurring in this article, signifies United States 
Pharmacopoeia. 
Pills are better kept in a well-corked bottle than in a box. The fol- 
lowing is a list of the most useful pills for domestic use: 
ALOES AND ASSAFCETIDA PILL (U. S. P.) 
Take of Aloes One part. 
Assafcetida One part. 
Castile soap One part.-Mix. 
Form into pills of four grains each. 
It is cathartic with stimulant and carminative properties. Applica- 
ble to costiveness attended with flatulence and debility of the digestive 
organs. Dose, 2 to 5 pills. (See the article Assafcetida.) 982 
PILLS. 
ALGETIC PILL (U. S. P.) 
Take of Socotrine aloes One part. 
Castile soap One part.-Mix. 
Form into pills of four grains each. 
It is cathartic and tonic. Recommended in dyspepsia, suppression 
of the menses, habitual constipation, worms, etc.; ordinarily where 
cathartics are needed. Where piles exist, aloes is unsuitable, unless 
modified by combination, as for instance, in this pill the soap diminishes 
the liability of the aloes to irritate the rectum. Dose: 1 to 3 pills. (See 
the articles Aloes, Soap.) 
ANTHEMIS, OR CHAMOMILE PILL. 
Take of Extract of anthemis. 
Form into pills of two grains each. 
It is a mild tonic. In small doses is agreeable to the stomach. Dose: 
1 to 6 pills. (See the article Anthemis.) 
ANTI-BILIOUS PILL. 
Take of Extract of colocynth Ten grains. 
Podophyllin One grain.-Mix. 
Form into pills of two and three-fourth grains each. 
It is a drastic hydragogue cathartic. By this combination we have 
the purgative energy of colocynth without its violence. Recommended 
in dropsical affections, and liver derangements, in cases where a brisk 
cathartic is needed. Dose: 1 to 4 pills. (See the articles Colocynth, 
Podophyllum Peltatum.) 
ANTI-DYSPEPTIC PILL. 
Take of Strychnine One-fortieth of a grain. 
Extract of belladonna One-tenth of a grain. 
Pulverized ipecac; One-tenth of a grain. 
Extract of colocynth compound Two grains.-Mix. 
Form into one pill of two and a half grains. 
(This pill should be prepared by a competent druggist.) Dose: 1 
pill. (See the articles Strychnine, or Strychnia; Atropa Belladonna, 
Cephaelis, Colocynth. ) 
APERIENT PILL. 
Take of Extract of nux vomica One-third of a grain. 
Extract of hyoscyamus One-half grain. 
Extractof colocynth compound Two grains.-Mix. 
Form into one pill of two and five-sixths grains. 
It promotes excretion. Employed in confirmed torpor of the bowels. 
(This pill should be prepared by a competent druggist.) Dose: 1 to 2 
pills. (See the articles Strychnos Nux Vomica, Hyoscyamus Niger, 
Colocynth.) PILLS. 
983 
ASSAFCETIDA PILL (U. S. P.) 
Take of Assafcetida gum. 
Form into pills of four grains each. 
It is a powerful antispasmodic, moderate stimulant, efficient expec- 
torant and feeble laxative. The disagreeable taste and odor may be con- 
cealed by sugar coating. Dose: 2 to 4 pills. (See the article Assafcetida.) 
ASSAFCETIDA AND IRON (U. S. P.) 
■ Take of Assafcetida Two grains. 
Sulphate of iron .One grain.-Mix. 
Form into one pill of three grains. 
It has especial reference to spasmodic affections dependent on gen- 
eral debility of the system and disorders attended with immoderate dis- 
charges. Dose: 2 to 4 pills. (See the articles Assafcetida, Ikon.) 
BLUE PILL (U. S. P.) 
Take of Blue mass. 
Form into pills of three grains each. 
( Alterative and purgative, and promotes the flow of the saliva. Less 
irritating than the other mercurials. It is employed in constipation, 
biliary derangements, syphilitic diseases, and whenever the influence of 
mercury is desirable. With a view to the alterative effect upon the 
digestive organs one pill may be given every night, or every other night, 
at bed-time, and followed in the morning, if the'bowels should not be 
opened, by a small dose of laxative medicine. From 5 to 15 grains of 
the mass are occasionally given as a cathartic in cases requiring a pecu- 
liar impression upon the liver; but when used for this purpose, it should 
always either be combined with, or speedily followed by, a more certain 
purgative. Dose: 2 to 3 pills. (See the article Blue Pill.) 
BLUE PILL COMPOUND. 
Take of Blue mass One grain, 
Opium in powder One-half grain. 
Ipecac in powder One-quarter grain.-Mix. 
Form into one pill of one and three-quarter grains. 
This combination so modifies the action of blue pill, as to render it a 
more satisfactory laxative and alterative. It is more energetic, while 
its after effects are less objectionable. Dose: 1 to 3 pills. (See the 
articles Blue Pill, Opium, Cepiiaelis.) 
CALOMEL COMPOUND PILL. 
(See the article Plummer's Pill.) 
COLOCYNTH COMPOUND, EXTRACT, PILL. 
Take of Extract of colocynth compound. 
Form into pills of three grains each. 
Produces prompt and free evacuations and is beneficial in liver derange- 
ments. Dose: 2 to 6 pills. (See.the article Colocynth.) 984 
PILLS. 
CONIUM, EXTRACT, PILL. 
Take of Extract of conium. 
Form into pills of one-fourth of a grain each. 
Is narcotic and alterative. It is administered in a variety of complaints 
to alleviate pain. By some it is supposed to possess a curative influence 
over malignant tumors. Beneficial in chronic rheumatic affections; in 
all excitable conditions of the nervous and vascular system. Dose: 
2 to 6 pills. (See the article Conium.) 
COOK'S PILL. 
Take of Aloes One grain. 
Calomel One-half grain. 
Rhubarb in powder One grain. 
Soap One-half grain.-Mix. 
Form into one pill of three grains. 
Is laxative and alterative. A very popular pill on the plantations 
through the South. Dose: 1 to 3 pills. (See the articles Aloes, Mer- 
cury, Rheum Palmatum, Soap. ) 
CYPRIPEDIUM, EXTRACT, PILL. 
Take of Extract of cypripedium. 
Form into pills of two grains each. 
Useful in hysteria, St. Vitus's dance, nervous headache, and all cases of 
nervous irritability. Dose: 2 to 6 pills. (See the article Cypripedium 
M TTTJTT Qr'irTJQ I 
DINNER PILL. (Lady Webster's.) 
, x Take of Aloes Three parts. 
Gum mastich One part. 
Powdered rose leaves One part.-Mix. 
Form into pills of three grains each. 
A favorite pill in indigestion, dyspepsia, and constipation. Dose: 1 to 
3 pills. 
DOVER'S POWDER PILL. 
Take of Opium in powder One part. 
Ipecac in powder One part. 
Sulphate of potash Eight parts.-Mix. 
Form into pills of two and a half grains each. 
This is an admirable anodyne diaphoretic, not surpassed perhaps by 
any other combination in the power of promoting perspiration. Dose: 
1 to 6 pills. (See the article Dover's Powder.) 
GENTIAN, EXTRACT, PILL. 
Take of Extract of gentian. 
Form into pills of two grains each. 
Is a tonic. Promotes the appetite, invigorates digestion, and strengthens 
the system. Dose: 2 to 6 pills. (See the article G-entiana.) PILLS. 
985 
JALAP PILL. 
Take of Extract of jalap. 
Form into pills of one grain each. 
Jalap in small doses is aperient and laxative, in large doses an active 
but safe and convenient purgative. Dose: 1 to 6 pills. (See the 
article Ipomcea Jalapa.) 
KRAMERIA, OR RHATANY, EXTRACT, PILL. 
Take of Extract of krameria. 
Form into pills of two grains each. 
One of the most active vegetable astringents. Used in diarrhoea, dys- 
entery and passive hemorrhages. Dose: 1 to 5 pills. (See the article 
Krameria Triandra.) 
LACTUCA, EXTRACT, PILL. 
Take of Extract of lactuca. 
Form into pills of two grains each. 
It quiets nervous irritation, produces sleep and allays cough. Dose: 1 
to 3 pills. (See the article Lactuca Sativa.) 
LEPTANDRIN PILL. 
Take of Leptandrin. 
Form into pills of one grain each. 
The effect of leptandrin is gently to excite the liver without producing 
the least irritation of the bowels. In torpidity of the liver it is thought 
to be superior to the blue pill. Dose: 1 to 2 pills. (See the article 
Leftandra Virginica.) 
LUPULIN PILL. 
Take of Lupulin. 
Form into pills of three grains each. 
Lupulin is regarded as possessing no inconsiderable power to control 
delirium tremens and watchfulness in connection with nervous irritation, 
anxiety and exhaustion. Dose: 2 to 3 pills. (See the article Humulus 
Lupulus.) 
PLUMMER'S PILL. 
(See the article Plummer's Pill.) 
PODOPHYLLIN COMPOUND PILL. 
Take of Podophyllin One-half grain. 
Extract of hyoscyamus One-eighth grain. 
Extract of nux vomica One-sixteenth grain.-Mix. 
Form into one pill of eleventh-sixteenths grain. 
A reliable purgative, acting on the bowels promptly, and unattended by 
the disagreeable results which generally follow the administration of 
cathartic medicines. Too much can not be said in favor of this 
Lupulus.) 986 
PILLS. 
combination. Dose: 1 to 2 pills. (See the articles Podophylum Pel* 
tatum, Hyoscyamus Niger, Strychnos Nux Vomica.) 
PODOPHYLLIN PILL. 
Take of Podophyllin One-half grain. 
Confection of roses One-half grain.-Mix. 
Form into one pill of one grain. 
A popular and active purgative. Remarkably small doses will affect 
some persons, producing prompt and abundant evacuations. To ensure 
its action on an acid stomach, alkalies should previously be administered 
to neutralize the acid. Dose: 1 to 2 pills. (See Podophyllum Pelta- 
tum.) 
PODOPHYLLUM, OR MANDRAKE, EXTRACT, PILL. 
Take of Extract of podophyllum peltatum. 
Form into pills of one grain each. 
Is hydragogue and deobstruent, and in small doses alterative. Valuable 
in many chronic complaints. Will often break up bilious and typhoid 
fever administered in sufficient quantities in the early stages of these 
complaints. Dose: 3 to 8 pills. (See the article Podophyllum Pel- 
tatum. ) 
QUASSIA, EXTRACT, PILL. 
Take of Extract of quassia. 
Form into pills of one grain each. 
Is stomachic, tonic and febrifuge. It possesses advantages over most 
other vegetable tonics, in that it does not produce constipation, increase 
of animal or arterial excitement. Dose: 3 to 5 Dills. (See the article 
Sim aruba Excels a.) 
QUININE, SULPHATE, PILL. 
Take of Sulphate of quinine One grain. 
Extract of gentian One grain.-Mix. 
Form into one pill of two grains. 
It produces upon the system, so far as can be judged from observation, 
the same effects as Peruvian bark, without being so apt to nauseate and 
oppress the stomach. Dose: 1 to 6 pills. (See the article Quinine. 
QUININE, SULPHATE; IRON AND STRYCHNINE, PILL. 
Take of Sulphate of quinine One grain. 
Carbonate of iron Two grains. 
Sulphate of strychnine One-sixtieth grain.-Mix. 
Form into one pill of three and one-sixtieth grains. 
(This pill should be prepared by a competent druggist.) Is a blood 
restorative, tonic and nervine stimulant. May be employed as a tonic 
in dyspepsia, in some types ot paralysis, Saint Vitus's dance, and sup-, 
pression of the menses. Dose: 1 to 2 pills. (See the articles Quinine, 
Iron, Strychnine.) PILLS. 
987 
RHUBARB, EXTRACT, COMPOUND PILL (U. 8. P.) 
Take of Extract, of rhubarb Two grains. 
Aloes One and a half grain. 
Myrrh One grain. 
Oil peppermint Two drops.-Mix. 
Form into one pill of four and one-half grains. 
A warm tonic, laxative. Useful in costiveness with debility of the 
stomach. Dose: 2 to 5 pills. (See the articles Rheum Palmatum, 
Aloes, Balsamodendron, Mentha Piperitje. ) 
8ANT0NINE PILL. 
Take of Santonine One and a half grains. 
Extract of jalap Two grains.-Mix. 
Form into one pill of three and one-half grains. 
The exclusive anthelmintic principle of A. Santonica. Ilas been 
widely used in Europe and America for worms. Dose: 2 to 4 pills. 
(See the article Santonine.) 
SARSAPARILLA, EXTRACT, PILL. 
Take of Extract of sarsaparilla. 
Form into pills of three grains each. 
This is one of the most highly useful alteratives in the materia 
medica. Dose: 2 to 5 pills. (See the article Smilax.) 
SENNA, EXTRACT, PILL. 
Take of Extract of senna. 
Form into pills of two grains each. 
A reliable and convenient cathartic. Useful in all conditions when 
the object is to produce a slight impression on the bowels. Dose: 1 
to 2 pills. (See the article Cassia.) 
TARAXACUM, OR DANDELION, EXTRACT, PILL. 
Take of Extract of taraxacum, or dandelion. 
Form into pills of three grains each. 
An excellent remedy to remove torpor and engorgement of the liver. 
One of the most valuable properties of dandelion consists in its local 
action on the liver; a torpid state of this organ produces those symp- 
toms which are known as bilious. Dose: 3 to 6 pills. (See the article 
Taraxacum Dens-Leonis. ) 
VALERIAN, EXTRACT, PILL. 
Take of Extract of valerian. 
Form into pills of two grains each. 
It is stimulant tonic and antispasmodic. Dr. Waring says: "It 
ranks in efficacy next to assafoetida, and is said to be a useful adjunct 
to cinchona in intermittents. " This agent has proved eminently useful 
in hysterical headaches, hysteria, mania, melancholy and in some types 
of delirium tremens. Dose: 1 to 5 pills. (See the article Valeriana 
Officinalis.) 988 
PILOCARPUS PENNATIFOLIUS-PINUS, ETC. 
PILOCARPUS PENNATIFOLIUS, p i-lo-kar '-pus pen-na-te-fo * 
le-us, or jaborandi, a new Brazilian drug said to possess extraordinary 
diaphoretic and sialagogue properties, causing perspiration when other 
means fail. Used in the commencement of fevers, pneumonia, chronic 
Bright's disease, diabetes mellitus, and acute rheumatism and bronchitis. 
Dose, of the fluid extract of the leaves, 20 to 60 drops. 
PIMPLES. (See Acne, Impetigo, Eczema, Herpes; Skin, Diseases 
OF THE ; ETC. ) 
PENE-APPLE, pine-ap-pl, the well-known fruit, is rather hazardous 
for those of weak digestive powers. 
PINK-ROOT. (See Spigelia Marilandicaj 
PINS AND NEEDLES, pinz, occasionally get fixed in the throat 
from the careless and reprehensible practice of holding them in 
the mouth. When swallowed, they generally work their way to, and 
show themselves at some distant part of the body. Pins which cannot 
so well work their way out, will, in process of time, be dissolved by the 
acids of the stomach ; a little vinegar taken occasionally will assist this 
process. If they produce pain and a pricking sensation in the bowels, 
castor-oil should be administered. (See Foreign Bodies in the Gullet, 
Foreign Bodies in the Air-Passages.) 
PINT. (See Weights and Measures.) 
PINUS CANADENSIS, OR HEMLOCK, pi'-nus kan-a-den'-sis. 
This is a common forest tree, found in great abundance in the British 
Provinces in North America, and in most of the New England States, 
and also in the mountainous regions of the Middle States. The bark 
contains a large amount of tannin, and is extensively used in the manu- 
facture of leather. The whole plant contains an oleo-resinous substance 
which is manifest by its fragrant exhalations. The extract, furnished 
from the bark, is a valuable remedy in the treatment of chronic diarrhoea, 
in the last stages of dysentery, and cholera infantum. The valuable 
astringent properties have suggested its employment in profuse men- 
struation, etc., as well as in many other cases, in which matico, tan- 
nin and rhatany have been found useful. Dose: of the fluid extract, 1 to 
2 teaspoonfuls; the infusion of the bark, 1 to 2 fluid ounces. (See 
Infusion. ) 
Hemlock gum is an oleo-resin which exudes from this tree. It is a 
mild stimulant, and in contact with the skin, reddens it, and is frequently 
used instead of Burgundy pitch for making plasters. The essential oil 
of hemlock is useful as an external application in croup, rheumatism, 
and other diseases requiring a stimulating local application. The 
essence, in doses of 5 or 10 drops, in sweetened water, every half hour until 
relief is obtained, has been found to allay vomiting in cholera morbus. PIPER CUBEBA-PLAGUE. 
989 
PIPER CUBEBA. (See Cubeba.) 
PIPER NIGRUM, pi'-pur ni'-grum, or black pepper, a plant grow- 
ing in various parts of the East Indies, and belonging to the Nat. order 
Piperaceaz. Pepper, as a condiment, is wholesome when used in mod- 
eration. (See Condiments.) Medicinally, black pepper is a warm car- 
minative stimulant. It appears, in common with cubebs, to exercise a 
specific influence on the mucous membranes of the rectum and genito- 
urinary organs. In large doses it produces inflammation of the stomach 
and acts as an irritant poison. Its chief medicinal application is to 
excite the languid stomach and correct flatulence. In intermittent fever, 
when the stomach is not duly susceptible to the action of quinine, as 
sometimes in drunkards, pepper may be found a useful adjuvant to the 
more powerful febrifuge. It should not be used when there is inflam- 
mation of the stomach or intestines. Dose: of the fluid extract, 10 to 
40 drops; of the tincture, to 2 teaspoonfuls. 
PIPSISSEWA. (See Chimaphila Umbellata.) 
PITCH. (See Tar and Pitch.) 
PITCH, BURGUNDY, pitsh [Lat. pix\, is a resinous exudation 
from the spruce fir {Abies excelsa\ melted and strained. It is imported 
from Switzerland. Its principal use in medicine is in the preparation of 
plasters, used as rubefacients and strengthening applications. (See 
Tar and Pitch, Plasters.) 
PITCHER PLANT. (See Sarracenia Purpurea.) 
PITCH PLASTER, OR BURGUNDY PITCH PLASTER, is 
made by melting together Burgundy pitch, 26 ounces; common frank- 
incense, 13 ounces; resin, 4^ ounces; yellow wax, 4^ ounces; then add 
expressed oil of nutmeg, 1 ounce; olive oil, 2 ounces; water, 2 ounces; 
stir and evaporate to proper consistence. It is warm and rubefacient, 
applied to the chest in chronic pulmonary complaints, to the loins in 
lumbago, etc. 
PLACENTA, pla-sen'-ta, the after-birth. (See After-Birth, Child- 
bed. ) 
PLAGUE, plaig [Gr. plege, a stroke], a contagious fever, generally 
of a very severe kind, rapid in its progress, and accompanied by buboes, 
carbuncles, and petechiae. It spreads rapidly by contact, and is usually 
fatal to two-thirds of those whom it attacks. Surgeon-General Wood- 
worth in a letter to the Congressional Committee on Epidemic Diseases 
-written while the plague was raging in Russia in 1879-gives the fol- 
lowing account of its progress in the past: 
"The people of this generation have considered the plague a scourge 
belonging only to the past, and a few words in reference to its former 
ravages may be of interest. The great epidemics of this disease have 990 
PLAGUE. 
followed as a sequence to wars in unsanitary countries or to great relig- 
ious pilgrimages. The plague prevailed in earliest historic times. The 
first epidemic of which we have any definite record occurred nearly 
3,000 years ago, in the time of David. Next is the great plague which 
commenced 768 years before Christ, which is said to have spread over 
the whole world. The epidemic which commenced in the time of Jus- 
tinian, 541 or 542 years before Christ, is said to have 'almost consumed 
mankind.' It commenced in Egypt and spread to all parts of the then 
known world, " making destruction its only business, and sparing neither 
island, cave, nor top of mountain where mankind inhabited." When 
the pestilence was at its height in Constantinople, as many as 10,000 per- 
ished in a day, so that the dead lay without burying. Procopius com- 
pares the number who perished to the sands of the sea. Another 
general epidemic of the plague prevailed in the year 430 B. C., and was 
especially severe in Athens. During the Christian era the plague has 
frequently visited Europe with great fatality, unequalled by any other 
epidemic disease. It is estimated that there were forty-five epidemics 
of the plague during the seventeenth century. Fourteen of these are 
referred to Holland and twelve to England. The one which occurred in 
London in the year 1665 was as terrible as the great fire of 1666, winch 
put a stop to its ravages. The lowest estimate of deaths in London 
alone in 1665 is given as 68,500. 
" In the present century the plague has occurred chiefly in the coun- 
tries of the Lower Danube and the Black Sea. The last epidemic in 
Western Europe occurred at Marseilles and vicinity in 1720 and 1721, 
causing the death of 200,000 people. The same year it prevailed in the 
Island of Majorka. Europe has been free from the plague since 1841, 
and it has not occurred in Asiatic Turkey since 1843, nor in Egypt since 
1844. In 1858 and 1859 the plague prevailed among the Arabs in the 
vicinity of Berrazi, a seaport of North Africa. In 1857 an epidemic 
occurred in Mesopotamia, and one in Persian Kurdistan in 1871." 
The plague which prevailed to an alarming extent in portions of 
Russia in 1879, was by great vigilance-exercised by Russia and adjoin- 
ing countries-confined to comparatively small limits, and soon disap- 
peared. 
Symptoms.-The first symptoms are headache in the fore and back 
parts of the head, sometimes accompanied by violent and short tremors, 
alternating with heat. The eyes become red, and assume a ferocious 
aspect; the headache increases, and the pain extends to the spine, the 
joints, and the limbs. Then follow vertigo and delirium, at first mild, 
but afterwards fierce. The tongue is dry and yellowish, but without 
thirst. There is nausea, with ineffectual attempts, in most cases, to Plantago Major. (Plantain.) PLAGUE-PLANTS, ROOTS, ETC. 
991 
vomit, or if anything is brought up, it is green bile. The respiration is 
laborious, with general uneasiness. There is nothing particular in the 
alvine excretions, although they are sometimes liquid. The urine is 
often turbid, with an oily aspect. The smell of the patient is occasion- 
ally nauseous; but if the disease has lasted a few days, the perspiration 
has often a sweetish, disagreeable odor. The disease varies in duration 
from three to seven days; but the patient often dies within a few hours 
of the attack. 
Treatment.- The medical treatment of the plague has hitherto been 
of an empirical character; no treatment attempted having been proved 
of real use. In the French army at Jaffa, bark, tamarinds, coffee, and 
camphor were employed, as well as sudorifics, emetics, and blisters, but 
without success. It has been asserted that bleeding and laxatives are of 
great efficacy; but it is known that in many cases they have proved 
utterly ineffectual. Sweating, the use of cold water and of oil, have, in 
turns, been loudly advocated as remedies for this disease, but appar- 
ently on the very vaguest grounds. The sufferer should, if possible, be 
removed as soon as attacked, from the source of the distemper; he 
should be freely exposed to fresh air; secretions should be duly regu- 
lated, and his strength, so far as may be, carefully supported. Friction, 
with olive-oil, has been strongly recommended; but later experience has 
not confirmed the first favorable reports. Like other contagious exan- 
themata it probably runs a prescribed course, which cannot be materi- 
ally shortened, and it has generally been deemed wisest to limit exertion 
to the local treatment of buboes and carbuncles, and give the sufferer the 
best hygienic surroundings attainable. There can be little doubt that 
Europeans, and Americans particularly, owe much of their comparative 
exemption from the pestilence in infected cities of the Levant to their 
personal cleanliness, regular bathing in cold water, superior ventilation 
and moderate habits of living. 
PLANTAGO MAJOR, plan-ta'-go ma'-jur, or plantain, a perennial 
plant belonging to the Nat. order Plantaginacece. It grows in rich moist 
places both in Europe and America. It is alterative, diuretic, and anti- 
septic, and is useful in scrofula, menorrhagia, diarrhoea, dysentery and 
piles. The juice, in ounce doses internally, and also applied to the 
wounds, is in some repute as an antidote to the bites of poisonous snakes. 
An ointment of the bruised leaves is useful in salt rheum, sores and old 
ulcers. Dose: of the fluid extract, i to 1 fluid ounce ; of the infusion, 2 
to 4 fluid ounces. (See Infusion.) 
PLANTAIN. (See Plantago Major.) 
PLANTS, ROOTS, BARKS, SEEDS; COLLECTION AND 
PRESERVATION OF, plants. Many of the vegetable substances 992 
PLANTS, ROOTS, FTC.-PLASTERS. 
used in domestic practice are frequently inactive, from the fact that, 
either they are not gathered at the right time, or are not properly pre- 
pared and taken care of afterward. Roots are best gathered shortly 
after tlw decay of the leaves and flowers in the autumn; those of the 
biennials, or plants which only live two years, should always be gathered 
from the first year's growth. After being gathered they should be 
washed in two or three waters, and if large, cut into slices before being 
dried. The drying process should be conducted very gradually; the 
sun and dry breeze will do the work more efficiently than the furnace, 
only care must be taken that the damp roots are not piled too thickly. 
When nearly dry they may be laid away on a shelf, or in a paper bag, 
or in an old barrel, in a dry place of course, lest they should mould. 
Most roots will take from a month to six weeks to dry properly. Barks 
should be gathered in the spring, just after the sap has ascended. All 
moss and excrescences should be carefully removed before the bark is 
peeled off. Leaves and herbs should be carefully gathered just previously 
to maturity; all faded leaves, worm-eaten leaves, and dry stalks being 
rejected, as they are in most cases inert, or give rise to disagreeable 
symptoms when used. Flowers should be gathered before they com- 
mence to fade, and seeds when they are almost ripe. These may all be 
dried in the same manner as roots, but do not require so much time. 
(See Powders, etc.) 
PLASTER OF PARIS, plas'-tur. Sulphate of lime, or gypsum, is 
sometimes used in the treatment of fractures. It is often used in the 
adulteration of confectionery. (See Calcium.) 
PLASTERS, plas'-turz [Lat. emplastrum\, are compounds of adhe- 
sive tenacious substances. Many are, principally, compounds of an oxide 
of lead and oil, others of wax and resin. Plasters should not adhere to 
the hand when cold; they should be easily spread when heated; and 
should remain tenacious and pliant after they are spread; but should not 
be so soft as to run when heated by the skin. All plasters become too 
consistent and brittle when long kept; but in this case, those which are 
unctuous may be re-melted by a gentle heat, and some oil added to them. 
Plasters may be either simply adhesive, such as the common diachy- 
lon or the isinglass plaster; they may be protective, such as the lead; 
warm, like the galbanum, etc. The most useful plasters are: 
Adhesive or diachylon plaster; belladonna, anodyne; cantharides, 
blistering; galbanum, warm and stimulant; isinglass, adhesive; lead, 
protective; mercurial, discutient; opium, anodyne; roborans or iron, 
supporting; soap, adhesive. (Refer to separate articles.) 
Medical men are constantly in the habit of ordering combinations of 
these plasters as, for instance, opium and belladonna plaster, so useful PLASTERS-PLETLLORA, OR FULNESS. 
993 
in heart affection, accompanied by pain or palpitation. (See Palpita- 
tion of the Heart.) 
The above plasters may be employed for the purposes indicated, and 
should always, if possible, be procured ready spread. As a general 
strengthening plaster, the roborans, or iron plaster, is perhaps the best, 
and undoubtedly gives much comfort and support in many cases, especi- 
ally those in which there is much weakness of the back. 
When spread plasters are warmed for application, the unspread side 
should always be held to the heat. When plasters are to be removed 
from the skin, they should always be well warmed through by warm 
water. 
It is a common popular error to suppose, that the plasters used in 
the treatment of wounds exert some healing influence; whereas, they are 
only used to keep the severed parts as close together as possible, in 
order that the natural healing power may be exerted. It is requisite to 
notice the error, for it might in some cases interfere with the use of sub- 
stances, such as gums, etc., as plasters, which might be advantageously 
used as such. 
It is a very common thing to see sores which might speedily have 
healed if left to nature, kept open for a long time, by applying common 
adhesive plaster to their surface, under the impression that it possessed 
some healing virtue. (See Blisters, Dressing, Wounds, Adhesive 
Plaster; Diachylon, or Lead Plaster.) 
PLEASURE, plezh'-ur [Fr. plaisir}. The cheerful excitement of 
the mind, by what is called pleasure, is rather a preservative of health 
than a remedy in real sickness, when the less stimulant but cheering 
tonic of hope is the better adapted mental remedy. Pleasurable relaxa- 
tion there must be, both for mind and body, and especially for the young; 
and they act unwisely, who, instead of directing the mind to sources of, 
and leading it to find its happiness in innocent, cheerful, well directed 
relaxation and pleasure, would make this world one never-closing work- 
shop, or have it a perpetual valley of tears. (See Exercise, Health 
Resorts, Recreation, Travelling, Excitants.) 
PLETHORA, OR FULNESS, pleth'-o-ra [Gr. plethora, fulness], is 
the term applied to that condition of system in which the blood is super- 
abundant, both in quantity and quality over what the requirements of 
the body call for. It is a condition not uncommon among the well-fed 
and indolent, in whom the digestive organs continue in full vigor. Indi- 
viduals of the sanguine temperament, whilst leading a life of mental 
activity and anxiety, have greater powers of activity than most others, 
but they, in many instances, border upon plethora, and if they become 
so placed that their former activity is either uncalled for or interfered 994 
PLETHORA, OR FULNESS. 
with, provided there is not much mental anxiety, they quickly become 
plethoric; the vessels are overloaded with rich blood, and instead of 
the former power of exertion, oppressive languor and inactivity succeed; 
in fact, the whole of the functions, and the brain and nervous system 
especially, are weighed down and clogged; there is mental sluggishness, 
heavy sleep and inaptitude for exertion. This last symptom is too often 
mistaken for weakness; the person laboring under the mistake resorts 
to additional food and stimulants, it need scarcely be added, only to 
increase the evil. An individual in this condition, it may be said, is ripe 
for inflammation; if cold be taken, it is very likely to light up inflamma- 
tory action somewhere, and once lighted up, the action is very liable to 
be of the severest kind. 
Should febrile disease of any kind, as for instance small-pox, or 
erysipelas, or rheumatic fever, be excited in the constitution, the symp- 
toms run high, and the case is very likely to become one of danger. 
For similar reasons, accidents are not well borne-at least their after- 
effects are often such as to put life in danger. 
If a person suffering from plethora is threatened with an immediate 
attack, such as apoplexy, the condition cannot be too soon or too actively 
removed. Bleeding in some way, free purging, and low diet are the 
immediate remedies; but in the absence of any threatened attack, it is 
not advisable to invoke the aid of these powerful agents; the condition 
should be reduced gradually and steadily, by the formation of, and per- 
severance in, modes of living suited to counteract the tendency. 
Persons who have a tendency to plethora must have exercise, they 
must use up their blood and muscle in active motion; but in doing this, 
especially at first, they must beware of overdoing it; it will not do for a 
plethoric man to commence a new system of living for health, with 
violent exertion, otherwise he may precipitate the very evil he dreads; 
some overloaded vessel may yield under the increased tension caused by 
the muscular exertion and excited circulation. Plethora, to be reduced, 
must be so, steadily, but gradually; active exercise, increased as the 
ability to take it increases, must be balanced with aliment proportioned 
to the amount taken, stimulants being rarely if ever permissible, or 
required, and animal food in very moderate proportion. Early hours, 
and curtailment of the time devoted to sleep, is desirable. In most 
cases, tepid bathing is preferable to either hot or cold, and either by it 
or by sponging, the skin must be kept active. The bowels require 
especial attention, and are better rather lax than otherwise; any slight 
tendency to plethoric oppression being counteracted by acting upon them 
by the compound colocynth, or compound colocyntli and blue pill, or by 
small, largely diluted, doses of Epsom salts, or by Seidlitz powders. If PLETHORA, OR FULNESS-PLEURISY, ETC. 
995 
the kidneys are inactive, the infusion of broom, or of dandelion, carbon- 
ate of potash, or the nitrate of potash-saltpetre-may be taken, or the 
super-tartrate of potash-cream of tartar-used in the form of imperial, 
as a common drink. (See Apoplexy, Corpulence, Debility, etc.) 
PLEURA, plu-ra [Gr.], the name given to the membrane which 
lines the internal surface of the thorax and covers its viscera. (See 
Lungs, Pleurisy.) 
PLEURISY, OR PLEURITIS, plu'-re-se [Gr. pleuron, the side]. 
This term is used to signify inflammation of the pleura, or serous mem- 
brane investing the lungs and lining the cavity of the chest. The mem- 
brane becomes dry and red at first, but soon begins to pour out a serous 
fluid, which ultimately fills the chest, just as we get the cavity of the 
body filled with fluid in the course of the liver disease. 
Causes.-Pleurisy may be caused by local injury, and is frequently 
the result of injuries produced by the rough end of a fractured rib. 
This disease is frequently the immediate cause of death in women 
suffering from cancer of the breast. Sometimes it is due to exposure to 
cold and wet, and it frequently accompanies pulmonary consumption 
and certain morbid conditions of the blood, as in Bright's disease, scarlet 
fever, measles, small-pox, and typhus and typhoid fevors. 
Symptoms.-1This affection may be ushered in by chills, but they are 
neither so severe nor so constant as in the earliest state of the preceding 
disease; the skin becomes hot and dry, the tongue furred, the pulse 
quick and hard, and the patient complains of an acute lancinating pain 
like the stabbing of a sharp instrument on a level, or just beneath one of 
the breasts; this pain is increased by inspiration, cough, and sudden 
movements of the body. The breathing is quick and catching, the 
patient being afraid to expand his chest because of the increase of pain. 
There is a half-suppressed, dry, ineffectual cough, or it may be accom- 
panied by the expectoration characteristic of bronchitis, or inflammation 
of the lungs. The invalid cannot lie on the affected side in the earlier 
stage because of the pain in the chest, but in the later periods of the 
disease he is forced to lie on the diseased side because it is full of fluid, 
and so if not placed below the other lung will embarrass its movements 
also. When 'there is much fluid in the chest the respiratory process 
becomes very difficult and much interfered with, and the patient grows 
pale and begins to flag. 
Treatment.-When due to exposure to cold and wet the hot-air bath 
will sometimes cut short the attack; bleeding is not generally required, 
but five, six, or more leeches may be applied over the diseased spot,* 
and when taken off the whole side should be enveloped in a warm lim 
seed poultice ; opium in doses of 1 grain every six hours, must be given 996 
PLEURISY, ETC.-PLUMMER'S PILL. 
to ease the pain and keep the inflamed parts as much at rest as possible. 
Ten grains of Dover's powder at bed-time where the pain is not extremely 
violent, will be found to answer the purpose. 
The skin must be freely acted upon by the use of the following 
mixture: 
Take of Solution of the acetate of ammonia. Two drams. 
Sweet spirits of nitre One dram. 
Compound tincture of lavender One dram. 
Camphor water Six ounces.-Mix. 
Give 2 tablespoonfuls every three or four hours. 
The bowels must be regulated by the occasional use of a mild purga- 
tive. The diet must be farinaceous, beef-tea and mutton broth may be 
allowed, and stimulants if necessary. When the chest is filled with 
fluid, blisters applied over the affected side will favor its absorption, but 
they must never be used in the earlier stages of this disease. Compound 
iodine ointment rubbed into the chest is very useful also for the same 
purpose. Should the patient be getting low, iron and quinine must be 
ordered, 
Take of Sulphate of iron Twelve grains. 
Sulphate of quinine Half a dram. 
Dilute sulphuric acid One dram. 
Pure water Half a pint.-M'ix. 
Give 1 large tablespoonful every four hours. If dropsy of the chest fol- 
lows, a physician should be promptly called in. Sometimes the fluid 
can only be removed by tapping. When a physician is procurable, the 
treatment of this disease should not be trusted to unprofessional hands. 
Preventive treatment.-As in the case of inflammation of the lungs, 
persons who have had one or more attacks of this disease should take 
every precaution to guard against undue exposure to cold or wet. flannel 
should invariably be worn next the skin, and the chest may be covered 
with a shammy protector. Daily bathing with cold water is a very 
effectual precaution in the case of weak-lunged individuals, but it must 
in all cases be followed by thorough friction with a flesh brush or coarse 
towel, and must be discontinued if followed by chilliness. A sponge 
bath, taken expeditiously, is rarely attended with this danger. Every 
slight accession of cold in the case of such persons should be promptly 
attended to. (See Pneumonia; Bronchitis, Acute.) 
PLEURISY ROOT. (See Asclepias.) 
PLUM. (See Stone Fruit, Prunus.) 
PLUMMER'S PILL, plum'-murz, also called compound calomel pill, 
is one of the most useful alteratives, and gently diaphoretic pills or reme- 
dies in general use; it rarely acts on the bowels, and may be taken for a 
considerable time without affecting the system. Plummer's pill also PLUMMERS PILL-PNEUMONIA. 
997 
contains a preparation of antimony. The dose is from 3 to 10 grains. 
(See Mercury, Antimony.) 
PNEUMONIA, nu-mo'-ne-a [Gr. pneumon, the lung], inflammation 
of the substance of the lungs, commonly called lung fever. When 
associated with bronchitis or with pleurisy, as is frequently the case, it is 
called, in the former case, broncho-pneumonia, and in the latter pleuro- 
pneumonia. It occurs most frequently in the spring and winter months; 
attacks males more frequently than females, owing, no doubt, to the fact 
that the former are more exposed to the changes in the temperature of 
the atmosphere. It very frequently attacks those of robust constitutions 
and full habits of body. It selects the right lung in preference to the 
left. When both lungs are attacked, the patient is said to have double 
pneumonia. It is comparatively rare in infancy, and very frequent and 
fatal in old age and debilitated constitutions. It is not contagious. 
Those who have had a former attack have a greater predisposition to it 
than others. 
Causes.-It may be occasioned by any of the causes which produce 
inflammation in general,-vicissitudes of temperature, the application of 
cold, violent exercises of the body, exertions of voice, etc. The most 
common causes are the application of cold to the body-checking the 
perspiration, and determining a more than usual flow of blood to the 
lungs-and sudden changes of temperature. It is a disease of cold and 
variable climates and seasons; hence, those with a predisposition to it 
should seek an equable mild climate. (See Inflammation, Climate, 
Health Resorts.) 
Symptoms.-It is characterized by a chill, followed by fever, diffi- 
culty of breathing, cough, dryness of the skin, heat, anxiety, thirst, and 
a sense of weight and pain in the chest. The pain is dull, deep-seated, 
and rarely acute, unless the pleura be likewise affected. At first, the 
cough is frequently dry, and without expectoration; but after one or two 
days, matter is brought up, viscid and rusty-colored, and often streaked 
with blood. A flushed condition of the cheeks, one or both, is invariably 
present in the early stages of the disease. When the pain is very severe, 
or a large portion of the lung-tissue is involved, the patient generally lies 
on the back, with the head and shoulders raised. The breathing is fre- 
quent, and is characterized by a rising and falling of the abdomen, and 
is known as abdominal breathing. In favorable cases, this disease may 
decline on the third or fourth day, but more frequently it is protracted to 
ten days or a fortnight. In unfavorable cases, the symptoms increase 
on the third or fourth day, and become more and more aggravated, until 
at length the patient dies, exhausted or asphyxiated. A high degree of 
fever, attended with delirium, great difficulty of breathing, acute pain, 998 
PNEUMONIA-PODOPIIYLL UM PELTATUM. 
and dry cough, denote great danger; while, on the contrary, an abate- 
ment of the febrile symptoms and of the difficulty of breathing and pain, 
taking place on the coming on of a free expectoration, promises fair 
for recovery. 
Treatment.-In many cases, there is not much required, except careful 
nursing; in others, all the skill of the experienced physician is necessary 
to save life. Large linseed meal poultices should be applied to the chest, 
and covered with oiled silk, or linen, to keep in the heat and moisture. 
They should not be changed too frequently, and only when a fresh one 
is just ready to be applied. The bowels should be evacuated at the 
outset, with a dose of castor-oil, or citrate of magnesia. In ordinary 
cases, the diet should be light and unstimulating; milk may be allowed 
all through the case, as well as cold water, for a drink. If much pros- 
tration ensues, strong beef-tea, or beef essence, may be required, and in 
the case of typhoid symptoms setting in, manifested by delirium, of a 
muttering character, coldness of the surface, and extreme prostration, alco- 
holic stimulants will be necessary, as much as a dessertspoonful of brandy 
or whisky in milk or water, every hour or two, being occasionally required. 
The patient must be kept perfectly quiet in bed, company being excluded 
from the apartment, the air of the room be kept moist by the evapora- 
tion of boiling water, and the temperature of the room be maintained at 
about 55° Fahr. Blood-letting, formerly frequently used in this disease, 
is now seldom required, and the same may be said of those drugs which 
lower the system and dissipate the strength. Blisters should not be 
used in this affection, except by direction of a physician, as they are 
potent for either good or harm. One of the expectorant mixtures recom- 
mended under the article Cough may be given if that symptom be very 
troublesome. During convalescence, tonic medicines, such as 2 grains 
of sulphate of quinine, every three or four hours, will be necessary to 
support the strength of the patient, as well as a nourishing, but not 
stimulating, diet. No account is given here of the signs recognized 
by percussion and auscultation, as they can only be appreciated by the 
trained ear of the regular practitioner. 
Prevention consists in the avoidance of the causes, proper attention 
to clothing, seeking a mild, equable climate, paying a due regard to the 
preventive treatment in the article Pleurisy, which see. (See Pleurisy ; 
Bronchitis, Acute; Cold, Catarrh or Common Cold, Cough, Cloth- 
ing, Climate, Health Resorts, Inflammation, Fever, Auscultation, 
Stethoscope, etc.) 
PODOPHYLLIN. (See Podophyllum Peltatum.) 
PODOPHYLLUM PELTATUM, pod-o-fil'-turn [Gr.pous, a foot; 
phuUon, a leaf, from the shape of its leaf], may apple, mandrake, PODOPHYLLUM PELTATUM-POISONS, ETC. 
999 
or wild lemon, a perennial plant-indigenous to the United States and 
Canada-belonging to the Nat. order lianunculacew. The root is the 
part used in medicine. It is a certain cathartic; in large doses an 
emetic, alterative, anthelmintic, hydragogue and sialogogue. It rouses 
the liver to vigorous action, determines the blood to the surface, stimu- 
lates the kidneys, promotes expectoration, augments the glandular func- 
tions, and cleanses the intestinal canal of all irritating substances. In 
small doses it acts as a powerful alterative. Useful in scrofulous and 
syphilitic diseases, affections of the liver, painful menstruation, rheuma- 
tism, gonorrhoea; also administered beneficially in jaundice, dropsies, 
dysentery, diarrhoea, bilious remittent and intermittent fevers, childbed 
fever, typhoid fever, and all glandular enlargements. Its range of appli- 
cation is perhaps more extensive than any other cathartic medicine, and 
is indicated in all cases where the use of mercury is indicated. 
Podophyllin, the active principle of mandrake, is the preparation 
most commonly used. It acts in many respects like mercurial prepara- 
tions. It produces salivation in some persons, and is said to produce a 
powerful and lasting impression upon the glandular system and secre- 
tory organs, unequalled by any other article. Dose: of the fluid extract 
of podophyllum peltatum, J to 1 teaspoonful; the solid extract of podo- 
phyllum peltatum, 3 to 12 grains ; podophyllin, i to grain, and 1 to 3 
grains. 
POISON IVY, OR POISON OAK. (See Rhus Toxicodendron.) 
POISONOUS WALL PAPERS. (See Arsenic in Wall-Paper, 
Walls and Wall-Papers.) 
POISONOUS WOUNDS. (See Wounds, Bites and Stings.) 
POISONS AND THEIR ANTIDOTES,poi'-anz [from Lat. potio, a 
potion, a drink]. Poison is any substance which, when administered in 
small quantities, is capable of acting deleteriously on the body. In general 
language, however, the term is applied to those substances only which 
destroy life in small doses. In medical jurisprudence it is found very 
difficult to lay down the exact boundary line between medicines and 
poisons. Dr. Taylor suggests the following definition: "A poison is a 
substance which, when absorbed into the blood, is capable of seriously 
affecting health, or of destroying life." Some poisons act in the form 
of gases or vapors through the lungs; others are solid or liquid, and 
reach the blood through the stomach or bowels, or through the skin or 
a wound. There are three great classes of poisons, namely, irritants, 
narcotics, and narcotico-irritants. The first class produce their peculiar 
effects on the stomach and bowels, causing much irritation and inflam- 
mation. Some poisons of this class corrode the tissues with which they 
come in contact-such, for example, is the action of the mineral acids; 1000 
POISONS, ETC. 
others, possessing no corrosive action, simply irritate and inflame-of 
this nature is arsenic. The second class affect the brain and spinal cord; 
the phenomena they induce are headache, giddiness, palsy, and insensi- 
bility: the most familiar example is opium. The third class, in con- 
formity with the name, possess a double action; they give rise to great 
irritation in the alimentary canal, like the first class, and after a time 
operate like the second on the nervous system, in producing insensibility 
and convulsions: strychnine and aconite are of this nature. 
As a general rule, the sooner the ejection of the poisonous agent from 
the stomach can be procured the better. In the majority of instances, 
perhaps, nature effects this in a more or less perfect manner before any 
remedy can be employed; indeed the occurrence of vomiting is often 
the first symptom of the action of the poison. 
These natural efforts, however, must not be alone trusted to, even if 
they take place, and, in almost every case, the best thing that can be 
done, is to excite full free vomiting. This may be brought about by 
any of the emetic substances so often mentioned, but sulphate of zinc, or 
white vitriol, in doses of from 10 to 30 grains, when it can be procured, 
is the agent generally preferred for the purpose. In its absence, salt or 
mustard may be used, and are almost always procurable; indeed any 
other emetic at hand should be resorted to-an infusion of chamomile or 
warm water in abundance ; the action of vomiting being also excited by 
irritating the throat with the finger, or with a feather. 
Next to the evacuation of the poisonous substance, its neutralization 
is important; indeed, in the case of such poisons as the mineral acids, it 
is to be the first object. It is unnecessary to repeat here the proper 
remedies which more especially neutralize the effects of different poisons, 
as they are given in the following table, but, as a general rule, milk, oily 
substances, and demulcent fluids, such as linseed tea or barley-water, or 
hasty pudding, or slippery elm tea, will be useful, if given freely, in 
protecting the coats of the stomach from the contact of the poison, and 
by interfering with the absorption of the latter into the system. 
Lastly, it must be an object to counteract the effects of the poison 
upon the system at large; as in the case of opium, the narcotic influence 
is combated with forced exertion, coffee, etc., or in poisoning by prussic 
acid by stimulants and cold affusion. 
When poisoning is known or suspected to have occurred, the first 
thing is to procure proper medical assistance as quickly as possible; 
nothing must stand in the way of that; the next is, to ascertain the 
nature of the poison, if possible, and the amount taken, the remedial 
measures which may be known, either by reference to such works as the 
present, or from other sources of information, being adopted as quickly POISONS, ETC. 
1001 
as may be. All vomited, and other matters-such as evacuations from 
the bowels-which may contain trace of, or afford clue to the poison, 
must be reserved for the inspection of the medical man. Sometimes, 
individuals, from throwing away, in the excitement of the moment, the 
poisoned food, or whatever it may be, have found themselves unpleasantly 
situated, and objects of suspicion. If there is any idea that there has 
been criminal proceeding connected with the poisoning, some respon- 
sible person should secure whatever may guide in the investigation of the 
truth, and place all under lock and key, and seal, till the arrival of the 
authorities; food and vomited matters should be sealed in suitable vessels. 
The symptoms which would give rise to the suspicion of poisoning 
having taken place, are those of sudden illness shortly after taking food 
or medicine, the individual having previously been in good health, or 
at least free from the peculiar, and generally violent, symptoms 
developed, particularly those indicative of irritation of the stomach and 
bowels, or of narcotic or irritant influence upon the nervous system. 
When poisons are either given or taken for criminal purposes, the symp- 
toms usually show themselves quickly and severely, on account of the dose 
of the deleterious substance being generally large. At the same time it is 
to be remarked, that the presence of much food on the stomach, sleep, and 
intoxication, have all been known to retard the development of symp- 
toms from even large doses of poison. If a number of persons who have 
partaken of the same dish, are seized shortly after with symptoms of 
illness, the suspicion of poison is, of course, greatly strengthened. 
In connection with poisons, the fact must not be lost sight of, that it 
is possible for the long-continued daily reception of even minute doses of 
certain poisonous substances, at last, by accumulation, to exert perni- 
cious effects upon the system. (See Mercury, Lead, Digitalis Pur- 
purea, etc.) This must not be confounded with the criminal, secret, 
slow poisoning, so often recorded as the practice in ages gone by, a 
crime which it is more than doubtful could be practised in the present 
day w'ithout certain detection. 
Before leaving the subject of poisoning, it is requisite also to advert 
to the influence which habit exerts over the effects exercised by poisons 
on the human subject. All know how largely the habitual consumers 
of opium can increase their doses, and that the same is observed with 
respect to other drugs, chiefly of the narcotics; but the most remarkable 
instance of this power of habit, is in the case of the arsenic eaters of 
Styria and adjacent provinces, of whom it is an ascertained fact, that 
they habitually consume large and poisonous doses of solid arsenic, not 
only without injury, but with, it is alleged, apparent benefit to health; 
but if the habit be discontinued suddenly, death, with all the symptoms 1002 
POISONS, ETC. 
of arsenical poisoning, ensues. (See Arsenic.) In the following table 
-for the sake of convenient reference, alphabetically arranged-will be 
found a list of the principal poisons, with their symptoms and antidotes. 
It will be noticed that in the treatment there has been no notice taken 
of the stomach-pump as a means of promptly evacuating the contents 
of the stomach. In the hands of an unprofessional person it is a 
dangerous instrument, and is, therefore, not recommended here. 
POISONS. 
SYMPTOMS. 
ANTIDOTES. 
Acids, Mineral: 
Muriatic Acid, or Spir- 
it of Salt; Nitric 
Acid,or Aqua-Fortis; 
Sulphuric Acid, or 
Oil of Vitriol. 
A violent burning in the 
throat, gullet, and stomach, 
with a shrivelled appearance 
of the lining membrane of the 
mouth. Large doses arc speed- 
ily fatal. 
Large draughts of lime- 
water ; or one tablespoonful of 
calcined magnesia in a cupful 
of milk, every hour: or water 
strongly charged with soap; 
or in cases of emergency, lime 
from the wall pounded up and 
mixed with water-a teaspoon- 
ful of the lime to a cupful of 
water. 
Acids, Vegetable: 
Oxalic Acid. 
Burning pain in throat, 
mouth, and stomach; vomit- 
ing matter mixed with blood; 
violent purging, followed by 
stupor and death. 
Emetic of sulphate of zinc 
-in half dram doses, in warm 
water, repeated every quarter 
of an hour-or mustard and 
water until vomiting occurs, 
to be followed by chalk in 
solution; or pounded lime in 
water-a teaspoonful of the 
lime to a cupful of water; or a 
strong solution of soap; or 
common whiting in water-a 
teaspoonful of the whiting to 
a cupful of water. 
Prussic Acid. 
Extreme prostration and loss 
of muscular power. Death 
very speedily. 
Inhalation of ammonia 
vapor; cold douche; vigorous 
friction; artificial respiration. 
Aconite , 
Monkshood or Wolfs- 
bane. 
Burning in mouth, throat, 
and stomach, and numb feel- 
ing in same; stupor. 
Emetic of sulphate of zinc 
-in half dram doses, in warm 
water, repeated every quarter 
of an hour-or mustard and 
water until vomiting occurs; 
then give flax-seed tea, muci- 
lage, or slippery elm in large 
quantities, to protect the 
stomach, and keep up artificial 
respiration; or animal char- 
coal in water-a teaspoonful of 
the charcoal to a cupful of 
water. POISONS, ETC. 
1003 
POISONS. 
SYMPTOMS. 
ANTIDOTES. 
Alcohol: 
Whisky, Brandy, Rum, 
Gin. 
First, burning in throat and 
stomach, followed by loss of 
power and profound stupor. 
(See the article Intoxica- 
tion.) 
Evacuate the stomach by 
emetics, the same as in poison- 
ing by Aconite, and then give 
large draughts of mucilagin- 
ous drinks, which see. (See 
the article Intoxication.) 
Alkalies : 
Ammonia, Smelling 
Salts, Caustic Pot- 
ash, Pearlashes,Soda, 
Lime. 
Burning feeling all through 
the course of alimentary 
canal, cramps, purging, and 
vomiting of bloody matter- 
Vinegar, lime-juice, or 
sweet-oil, to be given freely; 
then flaxseed tea, or mucilage 
of gum arabic, may be given 
freely. 
Ammonia. 
See Alkalies (in this article). 
See Alkalies (in this article). 
Animal Poisons: 
Bites of Poisonous 
Animals. 
(See the article Bites and 
Stings.) 
(See the article Bites and 
Stings.) 
Poisonous Fish: 
Mussels, Crabs, and 
shell-fish. 
Great thirst; constant nau- 
sea; cramps; cold extremities; 
violent purging and great 
prostration. 
Empty the stomach with 
emetic, the same as in poison, 
ing by Aconite, and then give 
cayenne pepper, ten or fifteen 
grains every two hours. 
Stale Fish. 
Pain and sickness at the 
stomach; heat and pain in the 
eyes and head; dizziness, and 
often an eruption on the skin. 
An emetic of sulphate of 
zinc, twenty grains, followed 
by a purgative of salts and 
senna, will be necessary, and 
then the stomach must be 
quieted with soda-water, or 
calcined magnesia, and laud- 
anum, ten drops of the latter 
to twenty grains of the former, 
every hour, in water. 
Antimony : 
Chloride of Antimony, 
Kermes Mineral,Tar- 
tar Emetic. 
N ausea; vomiting; col ic; 
violent purging; difficulty of 
swallowing' and great pros- 
tration. 
Emetics containing much 
sugar-twenty or thirty grains 
of sulphate of zinc in syrup is 
suitable; or powdered nut- 
galls, or ten grains of tannin, 
in water; then mucilaginous 
drinks (which see), and strong 
green tea; then stimulants to 
support the patient, such as 
brandy, a tablespoonful every 
hour. 
Aqua-Fortis. 
See Acids, Mineral; (in this 
article.) 
See Acids, Mineral; (in this 
article.) 1004 
POISONS, ETC. 
POISONS. 
SYMPTOMS. 
ANTIDOTES. 
Arsenic 
and its most common 
preparation, Paris 
Green. 
Symptoms like those of Anti- 
mony; burning in throat, 
mouth, and stomach; faint- 
ness ; pain in stomach; intense 
thirst; vomiting; purging; 
and prostration. 
Hydrated peroxide of iron, in 
tablespoonful doses every five 
minutes; while this is being 
procured, give emetics, the 
same as in poisoning by 
Aconite. If the iron cannot 
be procured, give raw eggs 
beaten up; or large quantities 
of flour and water. 
Baryta. 
Same as poisoning by alka- 
lies. 
Water slightly acidulated 
with sulphuric acid, to be 
given freely; and then give an 
emetic of twenty or thirty 
grains of sulphate of zinc. 
Belladonna, 
Dwale, or Deadly 
Nightshade. 
Great dryness and thirst; 
difficulty of swallowing; vom- 
iting; loss of vision; stupor 
and death. 
Prompt emetics, the same as 
in poisoning by Aconite, to be 
followed by tannin in ten grain 
doses, frequently repeated; ap- 
ply electricity, and give stimu- 
lants, as brandy and water, or 
ten grains of ammonia, or 
twenty grains of cayenne pep- 
per, every hour. At the same 
time, give cold douche, and 
opium in doses of one grain, 
every hour. 
Bismuth. 
Metallic taste in mouth; 
burning pain in throat; vomit- 
ing; purging; cold extremi- 
ties; spasms of the arms and 
legs. 
An emetic of twenty grains 
of sulphate of zinc; or mus- 
tard and water; followed by 
copious draughts of milk. 
Bitter Almonds, Oil 
of. 
Same as Prussic Acid. See 
Acids, Vegetable; (in this 
article.) 
Same as Prussic Acid. See 
Acids, Vegetable; (in this 
article.) 
Blue Vitriol. 
See Copper, Salts of; (in this 
article.) 
See Copper, Salts of; (in this 
article.) 
Brandy. 
See Alcohol (in this article). 
See Alcohol (in this article). 
Cantharides, 
or Spanish Flies. 
Burning in throat and diffi- 
culty of swallowing; violent 
pain in abdomen; thirst; nau- 
sea and vomiting of bloody 
mucus; incessant desire to 
void urine; and passive. 
Flaxseed tea and other 
demulcents (which see); at the 
same time friction with cam- 
phor and laudanum to the 
spine. POISONS, ETC. 
1005 
POISONS. 
SYMPTOMS. 
ANTIDOTES. 
Caustic Potash. 
See Alkalies (in this article). 
See Alkalies (in this article). 
Cedar, Oil of. 
Intense thirst; burning pain 
in throat and stomach; great 
prostration. 
Give an emetic of twenty 
grains of sulphate of zinc; 
followed by large quantities 
of mucilage of gum arabic or 
flaxseed tea. 
Colchicum. 
Diarrhoea; vomiting; faint- 
ness, followed by the most 
dangerous collapse. 
Emetic of sulphate of zinc, 
twenty grains; or mustard and 
water; and then strong coffee 
and stimulants to sustain the 
heart's action. 
Conium Maculatum, 
or Poison Hemlock. 
Dizziness; nausea; a feeling 
as if the eyeballs were strained; 
prostration; stupor. 
Emetic of sulphate of zinc, 
twenty grains; or mustard and 
water; followed by mucilagin- 
ous drinks (which see); fric- 
tion; then cold douche; and 
stimulants to sustain strength. 
Copper, Salts of : 
Sulphate of Copper, or 
Blue Vitriol (also 
called Copperas), 
Verdigris. 
Coppery taste in mouth, 
with intense dryness and 
thirst; nausea; salivation; 
dreadful spasms in stomach 
and bowels. 
Emetic of sulphate of zinc, 
twenty grains; or mustard and 
water; followed by copious 
draughts of milk, and white of 
eggs, and thin syrup; or bak- 
ing soda, ten grains in the 
above liquids every five min- 
utes. 
Copperas: 
(This term is applied 
to the Sulphates of 
Copper and Iron, or 
Blue and Green Vit- 
riol.) 
See Copper, Salts of; and 
Iron, Salts of; (in this article.) 
See Copper, Salts of; and 
Iron, Salts of; (in this article.) 
Corrosive Sub- 
limate. 
See Mercury (in this article). 
See Mercury (in this article). 
Croton Oil. 
Burning pain in throat and 
stomach; cold surface; weak 
pulse; difficult respiration; 
violent purging; collapse and 
death. 
Opiates to relieve the pain, 
twenty-five drops of laudanum, 
repeated in an hour if neces- 
sary; and stimulants, such as 
brandy and water, to sustain 
the strength of the patient. 
Cyanide of Potas- 
sium. 
Same as Prussic Acid. 
Same as Prussic Acid. POISONS, ETC. 
1006 
POISONS. 
SYMPTOMS. 
ANTIDOTES. 
Deadly Nightshade. 
See Belladonna (in this 
article). 
See Belladonna (in this 
article). 
Digitalis, 
or Foxglove. 
Same as Aconite. 
Same treatment as for Acon- 
ite, and twenty to thirty drops 
of aromatic spirit of ammonia 
in water, every five minutes, 
to sustain the heart's action. 
Dogs, Rabid, Bites of. 
(See the article Bites and 
Stings.) 
(See the article Bites and 
Stings.) 
Dulcamaba, 
or Bittersweet. 
Same as Belladonna. 
Same as Belladonna. 
Dwale. 
See Belladonna (in this 
article). 
See Belladonna (in this 
article). 
Fish, Poisonous. 
See Animal Poisons (in this 
article). 
See Animal Poisons (in this 
article). 
Foxglove. 
See Digitalis (in this article). 
See Digitalis (in this article). 
Gas: 
Carbonic Acid, or 
Choke-Damp, Chlor- 
ine, Coal-Gas, and 
other poisonous 
gases. 
Difficult breathing; drowsi- 
ness ; face swollen and blue. 
Friction, and cold douche, 
and artificial respiration; treat- 
ment same as for drowning; in- 
halation of vapor of ammonia. 
(See the articles Drowning, 
Carbonic Acid, Choke- 
Damp.) 
Gin. 
See Alcohol (in this article). 
See Alcohol in (this article). 
Green Vitriol. 
See Iron, Salts of; (in this 
article.) 
See Iron, Salts of; (in this 
article.) 
Hellebore. 
Vomiting and purging, with 
violent pain in abdomen; cold 
sweats; convulsions; and in- 
sensibility. 
Emetic of twenty grains of 
sulphate of zinc; or mustard 
and water; followed by muci- 
laginous drinks (which see); 
friction; and stimulants, such 
as brandy and water, to sustain 
strength. 
Henbane. 
See Hyoscyamus (in this 
article). 
See Hyoscyamus (in this 
article). 
Hyoscyamus, 
or Henbane. 
Same as Opium. 
Same as Opium. 
Ignatius Bean. 
See Nux Vomica, etc., (in this 
article.) 
See Nux Vomica, etc., (in this 
article.) POISONS, ETC. 
1007 
POISONS. 
SYMPTOMS. 
ANTIDOTES. 
Iron, Salts of : 
Sulphate of Iron, or 
Green Vitriol, also 
called Copperas, Mu- 
riate of Iron. 
Heat and dryness of the 
mouth and throat; colic, and 
sometimes vomiting; black 
and swollen appearance of 
tongue and mouth; pulse 
feeble; and skin cold and 
clammy. 
Carbonate of soda (common 
baking soda), as much as will 
lie on a twenty-five cent, piece, 
every ten minutes, in water; 
followed in an hour with half 
an ounce of castor-oil. 
Kermes Mineral. 
See Antimony (in this 
article). 
See Antimony (in this 
article). 
Laudanum. 
See Opium (in this article). 
See Opium (in this article). 
Lead, Salts of : 
Sugar of Lead, etc. 
Inflamed mouth and throat; 
intense pain in abdomen; con- 
stipation ; dilated pupils; lock- 
jaw; cold sweats; violent con- 
vulsions ; paralysis and death. 
Evacuate the bowels as speed- 
ity as possible, with Epsom 
salts; then give white of eggs 
in milk, and chloric ether in 
twenty or thirty drop doses, 
every two hours. 
Lime. 
See Alkalies (in this article). 
See Alkalies (in this article). 
Lunar Caustic. 
See Silver (in this article). 
See Silver (in this article). 
Lye. 
Same as for Alkalies. 
Same as for Alkalies. 
Mad Dogs, Bites of. 
(See the article Bites and 
Stings.) 
(See the article Bites and 
Stings.) 
Mercury 
and its preparations, 
especially Corrosive 
Sublimate. 
Metallic taste; burning and 
constriction in throat; intense 
pain in stomach and bowels; 
vomiting bloody and bilious 
matter; diarrhoea; cramps; 
convulsions; prostration and 
death. 
Emetic of twenty or thirty 
grains of sulphate of zinc; 
followed by whites of eggs, or 
copious drafts of milk, or 
flour and water paste, thin. 
Monkshood. 
See Aconite (in this article). 
See Aconite (in this article). 
Morphine. 
(See Opium in this article). 
See Opium (in this article.) 
Muriatic Acid. 
See Acids, Mineral-, (in this 
article.) 
See Acids, Mineral; (in this 
article.) 
Mushrooms. 
Nausea, dizziness, pain in 
stomach and bowels, and often 
great prostration; purging; 
cramps; great thirst; some- 
times convulsions. 
An emetic as soon as pos- 
sible, of twenty or thirty grains 
of sulphate of zinc; or mus- 
tard and water; followed by 
wTarm sweetened water mixed 
with milk; and a cathartic to 
carry off the poison in the 
bowels, say castor-oil. 1008 
POISONS, ETC. 
POISONS. 
SYMPTOMS. 
ANTIDOTES. 
Nitric Acid. 
See Acids, Mineral; (in this 
article.) 
See Acids, Mineral; (in this 
article.) 
Nux Vomica and 
Saint Ignatius' 
Bean: 
Strychnine. 
Constant twitchings; rigid- 
ity of the muscles; great pain 
in the stomach; sense of suffo- 
cation ; difficult breathing. 
Give an emetic of twenty or 
thirty grains of sulphate of 
zinc, or white vitriol, and 
after vomiting, full doses of 
chloric ether, thirty drops 
every half hour; or five grains 
of camphor in a tablespoon- 
ful of whisky every half 
hour. 
Oil of Vitriol. 
See Acids, Mineral; (in this 
article.) 
See Acids, Mineral; (in this 
article.) 
Opium 
and its preparations- 
Laudanum, Pare- 
goric, Morphine, etc. 
Dizziness, followed by stu- 
por; contracted pupil; cold 
sweats; closed eyes; flabby 
muscles; weak pulse; delir- 
ium and death. 
Give instantly active emetic 
of thirty grains of sulphate of 
zinc; then cold douche; and 
strong coffee; and tannin in 
thirty grain doses, every half 
hour; and Belladonna, a tea- 
spoonful every half hour; ap- 
ply electricity, and give stimu- 
lants, such as brandy and 
water, and keep the patient in 
constant motion. 
Oxalic Acid. 
See Acids, Vegetable; (in 
this article.) 
See Acids, Vegetable; (in 
this article.) 
Paregoric. 
See Opium (in this article). 
See Opium (in this article). 
Paris Green. 
See Arsenic (in this article). 
See Arsenic (in this article). 
Pearlashes. 
See Alkalies (in this article). 
See Alkalies (in this article). 
Phosphorus. 
Garlicky taste and odor; 
burning in throat; thirst; nau- 
sea; severe pain in stomach; 
distension of the abdomen; 
vomiting dark green matter; 
spasms; prostration; collapse. 
A tablespoonful of calcined 
magnesia, followed by an 
emetic of twenty grains of 
sulphate of zinc, and plenty of 
demulcent drinks, as flaxseed 
tea and barley water. 
Poison Hemlock, 
or Conium. 
See Conium Maculatum (in 
this article). 
See Conium Maculatum (in 
this article). 
Potash : 
Strong Lye. 
Same as for Alkalies. 
Same as for Alkalies. POISONS, ETa 
1009 
POISONS. 
SYMPTOMS. 
ANTIDOTES. 
Potassium, Cyanide 
of. 
Same as Prussic Acid. 
Same as Prussic Acid. 
Potato Fly. 
Same as Gantharides. 
Same as C antharides. 
Prussic Acid. 
See Acids, Vegetable; (in this 
article.) 
See Acids, Vegetable; (in this 
article.) 
Rabid Dogs, Bites of. 
(See the article Bites and 
Stings.) 
(See the article Bites and 
Stings.) 
Rum. 
See Alcohol (in this article). 
See Alcohol (in this article). 
Saint Ignatius' Bean. 
See Nux Vomica, etc., (in 
this article.) 
See Nur Vomica, etc., (in 
this article.) 
Sa vine. 
Great pain in stomach and 
bowels, with much excite- 
ment; nausea and vomiting; 
abortion in pregnant females; 
and convulsions. 
Emetic of twenty or thirty 
grains of zinc, at once, fol- 
lowed by large quantities of 
milk or water, and mucilage 
of gum arabic or barley water. 
Serpents, Venomous, 
Bites of. 
(See the article Bites and 
Stings.) 
(See the article Bites and 
Stings.) 
Silver : 
Lunar Caustic. 
Burning pain in throat and 
stomach; difficulty of swal- 
lowing; vomiting; diarrhoea; 
salivation; and great difficulty 
of respiration. 
Emetic, followed by strong 
salt and water. 
Smelling Salts. 
See Alkalies (in this article). 
See Alkalies (in this article). 
Spanish Flies. 
See Gantharides (in this 
article). 
See Gantharides (in this 
article). 
Spirit of Salt. 
See Acids, Mineral-, (in this 
article.) 
See Acids, Mineral; (in this 
article.) 
Stings of Venomous 
Insects. 
(See the article Bites and 
Stings.) 
(See the article Bites and 
Stings.) 
Stramonium, 
or Thorn-Apple. 
Dizziness; headache; per- 
verted vision; drowsiness; 
feeling of suffocation; delir- 
ium ; bowels relaxed. 
Large doses of tannin, 
twenty to thirty grains every 
hour; electricity; stimulants, 
as brandy, a tablespoonful; or 
cayenne pepper, twenty grains; 
or ammonia, twenty grains, 
every hour. 
Strychnine. 
See Nux Vomica (in this 
article). 
See Nux Vomica (in this 
article). 1010 
POISONS, ETC.-POLYGALA SENEGA. 
POISON'S. 
SYMPTOMS. 
ANTIDOTES. 
Sugar of Lead. 
See Lead, Salts of-, (in this 
article.) 
See Lead, Salts of; (in this 
article.) 
Sulphuric Acid. 
See Acids, Mineral; (in this 
article.) 
See Acids, Mineral; (in this 
article.) 
Tartar Emetic. 
See Antimony (in this 
article). 
See Antimony (in this 
article). 
Thorn-Apple. 
See Stramonium (in this 
article). 
See Stramonium (in this 
article). 
Tobacco. 
Vomiting; faintness; flutter- 
ing of the heart; great depres- 
sion and drowsiness. 
Inhalation of vapor of 
ammonia; half a teaspoonful 
of aromatic spirits of am- 
monia in water every ten 
minutes; or brandy and water. 
Venomous Serpents 
and Insects, Bites 
of. 
(See the article Bites and 
Stings.) 
(See the article Bites and 
Stings.) 
Verdigris. 
See Copper, Salts of; (in this 
article.) 
See Copper, Salts of; (in this 
article.) 
Vitriol, Oil of. 
See Acids, Mineral; (in this 
article.) 
See Acids, Mineral; (in this 
article.) 
Whiskey. 
See Alcohol (in this article). 
See Alcohol (in this article). 
White Vitriol. 
See Zinc (in this article). 
See Zinc (in this article). 
Wolfsbane. 
See Aconite (in this article). 
See Aconite (in this article). 
Zinc: 
White Vitriol. 
Vomiting; quick pulse; cold 
skin ; and pale features. 
Large quantities of milk. 
POKE. (See Phytolacca Decandra.) 
POLYGALA SENEGA, po-lig'-a-la sen-e-ga, seneka, or seneca 
snake root. An indigenous plant belonging to the Nat. order Polyga- 
lacew. It is found on hill-sides and in rocky woods in various parts of the 
United States. The dried root is the part used in medicine. In large 
doses, seneka is emetic and cathartic; in ordinary doses it is stimulant, 
expectorant, diuretic, diaphoretic, sialagogue and emmenagogue. It is 
very useful in chronic catarrh, protracted pneumonia, and in the com- 
mencing stages of croup. It should not be used while active inflamma- 
tion exists. Seneka is also useful in suppressed menstruation. Dose: 
of the fluid extract, 20 to 40 drops; of the powdered root, 5 to 20 grains; POLYGALA SENEGA-POLYPUS. 
1011 
of the syrup, to 2 fluid ounces; of the infusion, £ to 2 fluid ounces. 
(See Infusion.) 
POLYGONUM PUNCTATUM, po-lig'-o-num pungk-ta-tum^ water 
pepper, or smart weed, a common plant belonging to the Nat. order 
Polygonacece. It is found growing in low places, and by creeks and 
ditches all over the United States and Canada. The whole plant is used 
in medicine, and has a pungent biting taste. It is stimulant, diuretic 
and emmenagogue. In the form of infusion or fomentation, it has been 
beneficially applied in chronic ulcers, piles, inflammation of the bowels, 
and flatulent colic. The infusion in cold water makes an excellent wash 
in salivation. It has been found eminently serviceable in suppressed 
menstruation from cold and other causes. Dose: of the fluid extract, 
10 to 60 drops; of the solid extract, 2 to 3 grains; of the tincture, 2 to 
3 teaspoonfuls; of the infusion, f to 1 fluid ounce, three or four times 
a day. (See Infusion.) 
POLYPUS, pol'-epus [Gr. polus., and pous, a foot], is a 
tumor, the result of the morbidly excessive growth of the mucous mem- 
brane lining a cavity. It is most frequently met with in the nose and in 
the womb, but also occurs in the ear, larynx, etc 
Polypi vary much in texture, in some cases being easily torn, and 
bleeding after the least injury, at others being firm and almost cartilag- 
inous; their color is usually gray or yellowish, and they possess but little 
sensibility; they are generally attached to the surface whence they spring 
by a narrow neck. The chief inconvenience which results from polypus 
in the nose, is the interruption to breathing through the nostril, at night 
especially; the affected person can only lie with the mouth open, which 
therefore becomes most uncomfortably parched. When polypus, how- 
ever, in this situation, increases to a large size, it necessarily displaces 
the adjacent parts, such as the soft palate, or distends the nostrils. In 
any case, polypus is so uncomfortable a companion, that its removal is 
generally sought. This must, in all cases, be effected by the surgeon, 
by means of ligatures, scissors, or forceps, and, therefore, proper surgi- 
cal advice should be resorted to. Occasionally, polypus in the nose will 
yield to the persevering use of astringent powders, such as that of burnt 
alum, or it may be regularly touched twice a day with tincture of iron, 
by means of a camel-hair brush. Polypus of the womb cannot possibly 
fall under the cognizance of unprofessional persons. 
The use of the new instrument called the laryngoscope, has shown 
that polypus occurs much more frequently in the larynx than was for- 
merly supposed, giving rise to affections of the voice, difficulty of breath- 
ing, resembling asthma, and other symptoms. Laryngeal polypus is 
capable of removal by skilled hands. (See Ear, Diseases of the.) 1012 
POL YTRICHUM JUNIPER UM-PORK. 
POLYTRICHUM JUNIPERUM, pol-e-tri-kum ju-nip -e-rum, or 
hair-cap moss, an evergreen perennial belonging to the Nat. order Poly- 
trichiacece. It grows on high, dry places generally, and is known by the 
common name of ground moss. It is a powerful diuretic, and as such 
has been found very useful in dropsy, gravel, and urinary obstructions. 
The dose of the infusion, made from any part of the plant, is 1 or 2 
fluid ounces, three or four times a day; of the fluid extract, 1 to 2 tea- 
spoonfuls, in a wine-glassful of water. (See Infusion.) 
POMEGRANATE, pumrgran -at [Lat. poinurn, a fruit, an apple, and 
granatum, grained]. This anciently-known tree-a native of Asia and 
Africa, is cultivated in warm countries generally. The flowers, the rind 
of the fruit, and the bark of the root, have been used in medicine as 
astringents, but the more general remedial use in modern medicine, has 
been that of the root bark, as a remedy in tape-worm. The original 
mode of administering it is to steep 2 ounces of the fresh bark in 2 
pints of water for twelve hours, then to boil the whole down to 1 pint, 
and to give 1 wine-glassful of the strained decoction every two hours till 
the whole is taken. The remedy sometimes causes nausea and vomiting. 
The fresh root is most efficacious. When given in powder, the dose of 
pomegranate root is 20 grains. 
POOR. (See Poverty.) 
POOR ROBIN. (See Galium Aparine.) 
POPLAR, AMERICAN OR WHITE. (See Populus Tremuloides.) 
POPPY. (See Pap aver Somniferum.) 
POPULUS TREMULOIDES,pop'-u-lus trem-u-loi'-deez, American, 
or white poplar, a tree belonging to the Nat. order Sallcacea^ and found 
growing abundantly in the Province of Quebec and in the Northern and 
Middle States. The bark, which is the part used in medicine, is tonic 
and febrifuge, and has been Used with success in intermittent fever, in 
debility, want of appetite, feeble digestion, and chronic diarrhoea. It is 
said, also, to possess active diuretic properties. It contains a resin 
called populin. Dose: of the fluid extract, 1 to 2 teaspoonfuls; of the infu- 
sion, 2 to 4 fluid ounces. (See Infusion.) 
PORES, porze [Lat. poms], a term applied to the minute holes or 
openings of the skin. The porosity of the human skin is of such a 
character that it has been calculated that there are a thousand holes, or 
pores, in the length of an inch. The whole surface of the body of a 
middle-sized man being estimated at sixteen square feet, it must contain 
no fewer than 2,304,000 pores. (See Skin.) 
PORK, pork [Lat. porcus\. The flesh of the hog is generally and 
justly considered the most indigestible animal food in common use. In 
Dr. Beaumont's table, showing the average time required for the digestion Populus Tkemuloides. (American Poplar.) PORK-PORT WINK 
1013 
of different articles of food, pork, fat and lean together, is shown to 
require above five hours for digestion. There is no doubt that much of 
the indigestibility of pork is due, not only to the fat, ostensibly existing 
as such, but to the large amount of fatty matter mixed with the mus- 
cular fibres; at the same time, pork more than other meat seems to 
exert marked injurious effects. In some few cases, even symptoms of 
poisoning have followed the use of pork as food, but in these there 
probably must have existed some peculiar "idiosyncracy," or the meat 
must have been diseased. It is by no means unfrequent, however, for 
severe diarrhoea to be the result of pork diet, continued for two or three 
days in succession. (See Bacon, Trichina.) 
PORRIDGE. (See Oatmeal, Corn-Meal.) 
PORRIGO. (See Scald-Head.) 
PORTER, pore-tur [Lat. portitor], the well-known beverage, is 
brewed from malt very highly dried. As a tonic, it is superior to any 
other form of malt liquor, and especially so, because it is less likely to 
disagree and to become acid on the stomach than the other varieties of 
malt beverage; neither is it so likely to give rise to gravelly deposits in 
the urine in the predisposed. Dr. Prout recommends the use of porter 
in diabetes, not only for its tonic properties, but as less likely to prove 
injurious in many cases of that disease than any other drink. 
In convalescence from acute disease, porter is a strengthening 
medium. In order to prove of service, it must not be flat; it is, there- 
fore, better for invalids to drink it bottled. 
The robust do not need porter, nor any other liquor, as a tonic, and 
its habitual use by them is usually injurious. (See Ale, Fermented 
Liquors; Stimulants, Alcoholic; etc.) 
PORT WINE, porte wine, belongs to the class of dry and strong 
wines, containing an average of 22.96 per cent of alcohol. The color of 
port is due to the coloring matter of the grape husk, which is pressed out 
in the preparation, along with a considerable amount of astringency and 
extractive matter, from which the white wines are free. 
There are few, medical men at least, who will decry the virtues of 
port wine as a remedy, either in some stages of acute illness, or in most 
convalescences, but if it is to be of any service it must be genuine. Good 
port wine is often one of the most valuable agents in the hand of the 
physician; in the low stages of low fever, in diseases of debility gener- 
ally, and in convalescence from most of the exhausting diseases. Gar- 
gling with port wine in relaxed sore throat is a good, but perhaps some- 
what unnecessarily expensive remedy. 
Some of our native wines contain the properties of the real port wine 
to a marked extent, and are largely prescribed by our medical men as 1014 
PORT WINE-POSITION 
being preferable to the imported article, the latter being so much more 
liable to adulteration. (See Wine; Stimulants, Alcoholic; etc.) 
POSITION, po-zish'-un [Lat. position vono, positus, to place]. The 
position, either of the whole body, or of the affected part, in those suf- 
fering under illness, or from the effects of accident, is one of the most 
important considerations connected with treatment; it is, moreover, one 
frequently overlooked, particularly by unprofessional persons. 
In regulating position, it has for the most part to be done, either 
with reference to the relaxation of the muscles, to facilitate the flow of 
the blood or other fluids within the body, or to obviate pressure on any 
portion of the body. 
The regulation of position, with reference to the relaxation of certain 
muscles, or sets of muscles, is most generally required after fractures; 
and the principles on which this relaxation is to be adopted, have been 
sufficiently alluded to under the article-Fractures-itself. This mus- 
cular relaxation may also be an object in the treatment of wounds which 
run transverse to the fibres of the muscle directly underneath, such as 
transverse wounds of the thigh. (See Wounds.) 
The regulation of position w'ith reference to the flow of blood or other 
fluids, is often of immense importance and too often neglected. The 
blood may have a tendency to gravitate towards the most dependent 
parts of the body, either from general or from local causes. 
The regulation of position, with reference to the escape of fluids, such 
as matter from any part of the body, requires attention: surgeons gen- 
erally take care that it is properly seen to, but it might escape the notice 
of unprofessional persons. As a general rule, parts should always be 
placed so that any discharge from them may have as free escape as pos- 
sible. It is this fact, in cases of abscess, which often makes the artificial 
opening of the surgeon preferable to the natural one of the disease; he 
chooses the point for his incision where the matter can have the readiest 
escape; that is the lowest portion of the abscess, in the natural and 
unconstrained position of the body in which it is situated. 
Position, with reference to pressure upon different parts of the body, 
particularly in persons long confined to bed, requires much attention; it 
has been already alluded to under articles Beds, Bed-Sokes, Fevers, etc. 
There are many other points connected with the important subject 
of position, but the foregoing remarks-directed rather to principles than 
to details-will probably serve to attract a little more attention than is 
often given to considerations so closely linked, not only with comfort, 
but with the safety and well-being of the sick and infirm. 
The position, or in medical language the decubitus of disease, is of 
great interest, as in fact the posture assumed by the patient in certain POSITION-POTASH, POTASSA. 
1015 
affections is often quite characteristic, and speaks a plain and intelligible 
language to the medical attendant. Thus, for instance, a patient suffer- 
ing from abdominal disease with pain, lies on his back with the legs 
drawn up. One with heart disease and difficulty of breathing, sits up 
in bed and refuses to lie down. One with water in the chest lies on the 
affected side, to give the sound side room to move freely, and cannot 
perhaps lie on the sound side. A patient with rheumatic fever lies on 
his back utterly helpless and immovable, etc. (See Disease, Diagnosis, 
etc.) 
POTASH, POISONING BY. (See Alkalies, Poisoning by.) 
POTASH, POTASSA, pot'-ash, po-tas'-sq [Eng. pot and asA], KO. 
Anhydrous potassa is a hard gray solid, fusible at a red heat, and con- 
vertible into vapor at a high temperature. When thrown into water, it 
seizes an equivalent of that substance with such violence as to become 
red-hot during the process. Its hydrate, ordinary caustic potash, KO. 
HO, is a compound of very great importance. When perfectly pure, it 
is a hard white solid, and is generally met with in commerce in the form 
of cast sticks. It fuses at a red heat, and rises in vapor if the tempera- 
ture be raised. The water it contains cannot be separated by heat alone. 
Exposed to the air, it deliquesces into a syrupy liquid, which gradually 
absorbs carbonic acid. It is the most powerful alkali known. It forms 
well-defined salts with the acids, all of which are soluble in water. Its 
uses in the laboratory and manufactory are manifold, both in the solid 
and liquid conditions. The solid hydrate, from having a great affinity 
for water, is used by the chemist for drying gases, for decomposing 
silicious compounds, and various organic substances. It is used in sur- 
gery as a caustic. It is powerfully escharotic, and is sometimes employed 
in the formation of issues, in the destruction of extraneous growths, and 
in the bites of rabid dogs. Its solution, liquor potassa, is used in medi- 
cine as an antacid; dose, 10 to 60 drops, three times a day. 
The solution should be preserved in green glass bottles, glass 
containing lead being dissolved by it. It should be kept from contact 
with the air, as it greedily absorbs carbonic acid, passing into the form 
of carbonate. The acetate of potash is used as a diuretic and purgative, 
being diuretic in doses of 10 to 20 grains, and purgative in doses of 2 to 
3 drams. The l)itartrate of potash exists in considerable quantities in 
the juice of the grape, and is left as a deposit in wine-casks, forming a 
crystalline incrustation called arqol, or crude tartar. It is purified by 
solution and crystallization, which renders it perfectly white. When in 
fine powder, it is called cream of tartar, or acid tartrate of potash. It 
is cooling and diuretic in doses of 20 to 60 grains, and laxative in from 
60 to 120 grains. There are two carbonates of potash, the ordinary 1016 
POTASH, POTASSA. 
carbonate and the bicarbonate. Carbonate of potash exists in the ashes of 
inland plants, from which it is extracted by lixiviation. The Incarbonate 
is prepared by passing carbonic acid through a saturated solution of 
mono-carbonate, when, being less soluble, it is precipitated. It is occa- 
sionally used in medicine as an antacid in dyspepsia, and as an antilithic 
in urinary affections, where there is a deposition of uric acid. Dose, 10 
to 20 grains. The liquor potassoe effervescens, or effervescing potash 
water, is made of 30 grains of Bicarbonate of potash dissolved in 20 
ounces of water; then passing into it as much carbonic gas as can be 
introduced by the pressure of seven atmospheres, and bottling. Dose, 
5 to 10 ounces. The chlorate of potash is usually formed by passing 
chlorine through a mixture of solution of caustic potash and hydrate of 
•lime. It is useful in scurvy, liver affections, canker, abscesses, saliva- 
tion, boils, scarlet fever, diphtheria, ordinary sore throat, etc. Dose, 10 
grains in water, three or four times a day. (See Chlorate of Potash.) 
The citrate of potash is a white powder of saline, feebly acid taste. 
It is cooling, diaphoretic, and mildly laxative, and is valuable as form- 
ing a cooling drink in fevers, and useful in gout and rheumatism. Dose, 
20 to 60 grains in water. The nitrate of potash-nitre, saltpetre-occurs 
as an incrustation on the surface of the earth in hot climates, more 
especially in India, Arabia, and South America. In more temperate 
countries, especially in those not favorably situated for the importation 
of this salt, it is obtained by artificial processes. The fused salt is 
known in pharmacy as sal prunella. Nitrate of potash, or salt-petre, 
has a cool, saline taste; it dissolves in 5 parts of cold water with con- 
siderable depression of temperature, and in less than its own weight of 
boiling water. It is but very slightly soluble in alcohol. It is much used 
in medicine as a refrigerant, diuretic, and diaphoretic. In acute inflam- 
matory diseases it reduces the febrile excitement, and is also useful as a 
gargle in inflammatory sore throat. Dose: 5 to 20 grains as refrigerant 
and diuretic; 20 to 30 grains as a sedative. There are two sulphates of 
potash, the ordinary sulphate and the acid bisulphate. The sulphate is 
used in medicine as an alterative and a mild purgative, acting usually 
without irritation. Dose: alterative, 10 to 20 grains; purgative, 1 to 2 
teaspoonfuls. Bisulphate of potash is formed on a large scale during the 
manufacture of nitric acid from salt-petre, and is the sal enixum of the 
older writers. For permanganate of potash, see Permanganic Acid. 
Tartrate of potash and sodn, or Rochelle salt, chiefly requires notice 
from its being the active ingredient of the well-known seidlitz powders, 
which consist of the common soda and tartaric acid (effervescing powder), 
with the addition of a dram of the tartrate of potash and soda to the 
alkaline powder. (See Seidlitz Powders.) Rochelle salt may, however, POTASH, POTASSA-POTATO. 
1017 
be used alone as an aperient, well dissolved in water, in doses of from 1 to 
6 or 8 drams; its action is rather milder than, but resembles that of Epsom 
salts; the taste, however, is much more agreeable. Rochelle also, is 
sold, generally, in crystals, but may be bought in powder. (See Chlo- 
rate of Potash, Citrate of Potash.) 
POTASSIUM, po-tas'-se-um, symbol K, equivalent 38.96, specific 
gravity 0.865, melting-point 130°. This remarkable metal, which is the 
base of the alkali potash, was discovered in 1807 by Sir Humphrey Davy. 
It is a silver-white substance, with a slight bluish tint; at 32° Fahr, it is 
brittle, and has a crystalline fracture; at temperatures above freezing- 
point, it gradually becomes malleable, until it reaches 60°, when it is 
pasty. Exposed to the air, it becomes covered with a film of oxide 
almost immediately, and when thrown into water its affinity for oxygen 
is so great that sufficient heat is produced to volatilize and fire the metal. 
The combinations of potassium with the elements are most important. 
The uses of hydrate, nitrate, chlorate, and carbonate of potash have 
already been described. (See Potash.) 
The bromide of potassium is used in medicine as an alterative and 
deobstruent, especially for enlargements of the liver, spleen, etc., and has 
also a special power in subduing irritation of the nervous system, and is 
strongly recommended in hysteria, epilepsy, etc. Dose, 5 to 40 grains. 
The iodide of potassium is an important salt. It is used in medicine 
as an alterative and stimulant of the absorbents; in this respect resem- 
bling iodine, but less irritant in its action. Dose, 2 to 10 grains. (See 
Iodide of Potassium.) An ointment and liniment are also prepared.of 
iodide of potassium. Potassium combines with sulphur in at least five 
different proportions. 
The tersulphuret of potassium, sulphurated potash, or liver of sulphur, 
is used in medicine as an irritant stimulant, and diaphoretic, and both 
-externally and internally in diseases of the skin. Dose, 3 to 8 grains. 
POTATO, po-ta'-to [Fr. patate}, Solanum Tuberosum. This well- 
! known tuber, introduced into Ireland in the sixteenth century, from 
• South America, by Sir Walter Raleigh, not only forms a daily article of 
food throughout a large proportion of the civilized world, but, unfor- 
tunately, owing to the ease with which it is cultivated, has become the 
staple article of nutriment to millions. As an addition to other and 
more nutritive food, the potato is most invaluable; as the sole article of 
• diet, although capable of supporting life, it is a wretched material, and 
. any combination of circumstances which induces or compels a popula- 
tion to depend upon it in too great a degree, must be regarded as most 
'^unfortunate. 
The potato, undoubtedly, contains the elements of nutrition, that is, 1018 
POTATO-POULTICE, OR CATAPLASM. 
starchy and gummy matters (see Food), capable of sustaining the respira- 
tory processes, and also "plastic material," adapted to build up the 
muscular and other constituents of living animal bodies, but those plastic 
materials are so deficient in quantity, their amount is so small compared 
with that of the other constituents of the tuber, which, moreover, con- 
tain a very large amount of water, that a man living solely upon potatoes 
must consume a very large quantity to keep himself in health and 
strength, even if he can do the latter, when undergoing anything like 
exertion. From seven to ten pounds of potatoes per day is by no means 
an unusual amount for a laboring Irishman to consume; but the ten 
pounds of the root contain no more real nutriment than one pound and 
a half of good wheaten bread, although they afford abundant respiratory 
or carbon material. 
Nothing can be more indigestible than badly-cooked potatoes. It is, 
perhaps, superfluous to point out that a well-boiled potato should break 
down in a mealy form to its very centre; by well-boiled, is not meant 
excessively boiled, for wdien this is done, much of the nutriment of the 
root is lost. In Dr. Beaumont's tables, roasted and baked potatoes are 
said to take but two and a half hours for digestion, whilst boiled potatoes 
take an hour longer. 
Potatoes which boil "waxy" are peculiarly unwholesome, and often 
pass through the bowels unchanged; the same may be said of early 
potatoes-not the early kinds wdien matured or ripe, but as they are 
generally used in an immature condition,-mashed potatoes do not 
generally get sufficiently mingled with the saliva to secure the full diges- 
tion of their starchy constituents. (See Digestion.) Potatoes soaked 
with gravy and dripping from roasted meat, though suitable for persons 
of strong digestion, are very liable to disagree with dyspeptics. (See 
Food, Starch.) 
POTATO FLY. (See Cantu arts Vitt ata.) 
POULTICE, OB CATAPLASM, pole'-tis [Lat. puls, pultis, a thick 
pap]. A poultice is generally understood to be an application adapted 
to afford moisture, and generally warmth, through the medium of some 
soft substance; or rather, it ought to afford these essentials, for, too 
often, cold dampness, or hardness and irritation, are the only derived 
effects from the ill-made and badly-applied poultices with which nurses 
are apt to indulge their charges. 
As above stated, any soft substance which will retain heat and mois- 
ture, may be used to form a poultice; but some materials are better 
adapted than others for the purpose. The substances most generally 
used for poultices are, bread, linseed meal, oatmeal, arrowroot, carrots, 
turnips, etc.; bran, so often recommended in this work, as a medium for POULTICE, OR CATAPLASM. 
1019 
applying heat and moisture, can scarcely be considered as a poultice 
properly so called. The mustard cataplasm is also sometimes called a 
poultice. The name cold poultice is also used. 
The essentials of a good poultice are, that it shall be perfectly smooth 
and free from lumps or hardness, that it shall be as soft and moist as 
possible without being sloppy, and that it shall have sufficient bulk to 
retain both its warmth and moisture, without being too heavy. No 
material, perhaps, offers more facility for making a good poultice than 
bread, and accordingly we find that the 
Bread Poultice is, perhaps, more commonly used than any other. 
The best mode of making a bread poultice, is to break the crumb 
of bread into a hot basin, ■pour boiling water over it sufficient to 
soak it thoroughly, and allow it to stand covered over for a few 
minutes by the side of the fire; any superfluous moisture being 
drained off, the pulp should be thickly spread 'upon a piece of cloth of 
the requisite size. In some cases it is advisable to interpose a piece of 
thin muslin between the poultice and the surface on which it is placed. 
The temperature at which a poultice is to be applied, must vary accord- 
ing to circumstances, but generally, the best is that which is most agree- 
able to the patient; occasionally it is useful to have it as warm as it can 
be borne. After a poultice is applied to the body, it is a good plan to 
cover the part, either with a fold of flannel or with oiled silk, to assist in 
retaining the warmth and moisture; the latter, moreover, prevents the 
moisture, which necessarily exhales from the application, damping the 
clothes, etc., often a very great inconvenience in badly-applied poultices, 
and resulting in colds, etc. Even under the most favorable circumstances, 
a poultice requires renewal at least three times in the twenty-four hours. 
The cold bread poultice is often convenient, and must be made simply 
with cold instead of hot water. After the bread poultice, probably the 
Linseed or Flaxseed Meal Poultice is more generally used than any 
other. For this purpose, ground linseed, free from grit should be procured. 
To make the poultice, a sufficient amount of boiling water is to be poured 
into a hot basin, and the meal stirred in till the whole is of the proper con- 
sistence ; the mass being beaten smooth before use, is then to be spread 
evenly upon the cloth. This forms a very smooth poultice when well 
made, and the o.il, which the linseed naturally contains, tends to keep it 
soft. It is rather more stimulating than the bread poultice-occasionally 
it is made, by mistake, of the whole seed instead of the meal. 
The Oatmeal Poultice may be made in a similar way to the linseed, 
but, although oats contain a considerable amount of fatty matter, it is 
not sufficient alone, to make an oily poultice like the linseed; it is, there- 
fore, very common to add a little lard: this, however, must not be done 1020 
POULTICE, OR CATAPLASM. 
when the oatmeal poultice is, as very generally made, the medium for 
the 
Fermenting, or Yeast Poultice which, is best made by adding yeast 
-in the proportion of 2 tablespoonfuls to the J pound of meal- 
to a ready-made oatmeal poultice, mixing thoroughly, and, if requisite, 
heating to a proper temperature. If oatmeal is not at hand, flour may 
be used. This poultice is a very common application in cases of morti- 
fication, or of fetid sores. 
Chlorinated Soda Poultice is an excellent application for fetid, mor- 
tifying, or indolent and unhealthy sores. Boiling water, 8 fluid ounces; 
powdered linseed, 4 ounces; solution of chloride soda, 2 fluid ounces- 
stir constantly. Add the linseed to the water by degrees, then mix in 
the chlorimated soda. 
A Charcoal Poultice is very useful in cases of fetid ulcers and sores 
of a sloughy character. It is made as follows: Wood charcoal in powder, 
% an ounce; bread, 2 ounces; linseed meal, ounces; boiling water, 10 
fluid ounces. Mix the water, bread and linseed, then add half the char- 
coal, and sprinkle the remainder on the surface. 
Mustard Poultice is prepared by mixing 2| ounces linseed meal 
gradually with 10 fluid ounces of boiling water, and adding 2| ounces of 
mustard in powder, with constant stirring. (See Mustard). 
Arrowroot, made as for the table, has been recommended as a sooth- 
ing poultice in irritable sores and the like. 
Other substances, such as carrots, turnips, etc., are often recommended 
and used as poultices, but they possess no advantage over those already 
named, and are objectionable from their smell. When medicated 
poultices are required, it is better to make the bread poultice with the 
infusion or decoction of the medicinal agent. 
Honey, treacle, etc., are not desirable additions to a poultice. 
Bran Poultice.-(See Bran). 
Few applications are more generally used, either in regular or domes- 
tic surgery, than poultices, and, in their proper place, few are more use- 
ful. It is worthy of remark, that the most ancient poultice on record is 
that of figs, applied to King Hezekiah, by the direction of the prophet 
Isaiah. 
In painful swellings, attended with inflammation, such as boils, in 
inflamed wounds, and the like, or for promoting the discharge of matter, 
no application is more suitable than the poultice. For the uses of the 
large hot bran poultice in internal affections (see Bran, Heat.) To the 
use of poultices, however, there is a limit, not always well observed, 
particularly in the case of wounds and ulcers. Up to a certain point 
they are most valuable, beyond it they do harm ; instead of soothing and POULTICE, OR CATAPLASM-POWDERS. 
1021 
encouraging sufficient discharge, they attract the blood too strongly to 
the part, increase, beyond due measure, the discharge, and encourage 
the formation of proud flesh. (See Proud Flesh.) 
After poulticing has been carried sufficiently far the simple water 
dressing (see Dressing), is in most cases most suitable; it is cooler, 
pleasanter, and not so like a hot-bed as the common poultice. (See 
Dressing, Heat, Spongio-Piline, Wounds.) 
POULTRY, pole'-tre [Fr.poulet^ a young fowl; poule, a hen], as 
food, must be considered under the divisions of the oily and non-oily. 
The flesh of the first class, including ducks, geese, etc., is certainly diffi- 
cult of digestion, and perfectly inadmissible, even when plainly cooked, 
for invalids. The flesh of the non-oily kinds, such as common fowls, 
turkeys, etc., is more soluble in the stomach, but it is far from being as 
easily digested as generally imagined, certainly it is not equally digesti- 
ble with tender mutton. The flesh of this description of poultry, as of 
chicken, for example, is more likely to agree if boiled rather than roasted. 
The flesh of poultry, when digested, does not, probably, prove so stimu- 
lant to the system as that of the larger animals, it is therefore more 
useful in many cases of convalescence, when animal food is first per- 
mitted. The broth made from chicken or fowl offers one of the best 
forms for giving animal nourishment in early convalescence. 
POUND. (See Weights and Measures.) 
POVERTY, pov -ur-te [Lat. paupertas]. Whilst poverty is so great 
an aggravation of the evils of sickness, it is, unfortunately, too often one 
of its most general causes. It is a perfectly well-ascertained fact that 
physical deprivation and physical disease are to one another as cause and 
effect; and, however sad the reflection, that the insufficiently fed and 
clothed, and hard-worked laborer, has much less chance of prolonged 
health and life than those more fortunately placed. 
Many of the evils attendant on poverty are, unquestionably, out of 
the power of the poor themselves to rectify, but many others, connected 
with the subjects of ventilation, cleanliness, etc., which do so much 
to ward off the incursions of disease, are in most instances in their own 
hands. (See Riches, Ablution, Abstinence, Hunger, Starvation, Air, 
Bed-Room, Clothing, Drainage, Food, Houses, Water, etc.) 
POWDERS, pow'-durz [Lat. pulvis]. Most of the dried roots, 
barks, and leaves of plants, may be reduced to powder, and this form is 
a very common one for the administration of medicines, as in this way 
the peculiar actions of the drug are more readily and certainly developed. 
As simple powders of the majority of the drugs used in medicine are 
prepared, it would take up unnecessary space to enumerate them here. 
Powders ought always to be kept in well-closed bottles, otherwise 1022 
PO WDERS-PREGNAN OY. 
they lose their medicinal properties; some, such as squill or aloes, 
become damp and caked into a mass. 
Powders are generally administered in some thick vehicle, such as 
preserve, thick gruel, or the like; if given in thin fluids, such as tea, 
etc., they are apt to sink to the bottom, and are partly lost. (See Plants, 
Mortars and Pestles, etc.) 
PRECORDIAL REGION, pre-kor'-de-ql, the fore-part of the chest 
over the heart. (See Chest, Heart.) 
PRECIPITATE, pre-sip-e-tqt [from Lat. pracipito, pracipitatus], 
something thrown down; in chemical language, the term is applied to a 
substance which is separated in a fluid, by decomposition, and which falls 
to the bottom. 
PRECIPITATE, RED. (See Mercury.) 
PRECOCITY, pre-kos-e-te, untimely maturity, is occasionally seen 
in the development of the body, and can only be regarded as a form of 
disease. Precocity of mind is by no means uncommon in children, and 
in too many instances is equally significant with undue physical develop- 
ment, and much to be dreaded. The morbid excitability of brain is but 
the result of disease, and gives no promise of super-eminence in after 
life. As a general rule, a precocious, or strikingly clever child, cannot 
be too much kept back from mental exertion; every effort should be 
made to divert the tendency to cerebral excitement, and by encouraging 
physical exertion, to divert the nervous power to the body at large; too 
often the reverse system is practised. (See Child, Children.) 
PREDISPOSITION. (See Disease, Hereditary Tendency, etc.) 
PREGNANCY, preg'-nqn-se [from Lat. pragnans], is the condition 
of a female between the periods of conception and delivery. The state 
is to be considered, both as regards the symptoms which usually indicate 
its existence, and also with respect to the bodily disorders which are most 
commonly associated with it; some of the symptoms, moreover, are also 
disorders. It is usually considered that pregnancy cannot take place 
before the establishment of menstruation, and, as a general rule, it does 
not, but cases are recorded in which it does. 
Symptoms.-The suppression of the above function, also, is always 
regarded as one of the most unequivocal proofs of pregnancy, but it is 
not by any means invariable; cases have been known in which the secre- 
tion has appeared during the whole period up to the time of delivery, and 
in many it is manifested for one, two, or three months after conception. 
The swelling of the breasts, another sign of pregnancy, does not always 
occur, in a marked manner, if menstruation goes on, and may also be 
excited sympathetically by the presence of tumors, or by other causes of 
irritation connected with the womb. The breasts, also, may increase, PREGNANCY 
1023 
simply from accumulation of fat; in this case, they do not afford the 
somewhat knotty feeling to the hand that they do in pregnancy, but are 
smoother and more uniformly increased in size; probably, too, the 
increased deposition of fat is general. For the first few weeks after 
pregnancy, the abdomen is flatter than usual, that is, before it begins to 
enlarge. The countenance undergoes an alteration, better known than 
to be described; the features look sharper, and the eyes larger than 
heretofore; these appearances, however, are more strongly manifested in 
some women than others. Among the earliest and best known of the 
symptomatic disorders of pregnancy is nausea, with sickness. This is 
sometimes developed very early in the condition, occasionally within the 
first few days, but more generally not for two or three wreeks; it is most 
usual in the morning, on the female first rising, but in some cases is 
almost constant, and is then very distressing. Toothache is not an 
unfrequent attendant on pregnancy in all its stages. Salivation, that is, 
a constant flow of saliva into the mouth, causing constant spitting, is 
another though not very common symptom. Irritability of the bladder 
is common. Heartburn is most general in the later stages of pregnancy, 
but may be suffered from in all. In many, there is no very definite 
symptom, but a general feeling of unrest, with irritability of temper, etc. 
As pregnancy advances, other symptoms, or symptomatic disorders, 
show themselves; but, frequently, after the first few months, the health 
which has been disordered, undergoes a remarkable change for the 
better, and continues good up to the period of childbirth. When this 
change occurs, as a sequence to symptoms of the first stages of preg- 
nancy, and the general symptoms of the condition remain, any doubt of 
the true state of the case, if such has existed, may be laid aside. 
Some women never enjoy such regular good health, as they do during 
the entire nine months they carry their child. About the sixteenth 
week, a little before or after, the symptom of quickening occurs. This 
is popularly, but erroneously, thought to indicate the period when the 
child first becomes endowed with life; the child is living from the com- 
mencement of pregnancy, the symptom of quickening is occasioned by a 
sudden change of the position of the womb, consequent upon its increase 
in volume; after quickening, however, the movements of the child are 
more perceptibly felt. Quickening is generally accompanied with tem- 
porary sickness and faintness, and with a sense of alarm for a short time. 
After its occurrence, the abdomen enlarges more perceptibly. Milk is 
now, or even before this, found in the breasts, and the capability of its 
expression from them, may be taken as a corroborative, but not as an 
absolute sign of pregnancy, for it may occur independent of that condi- 
tion, and in women who have already borne children, milk is apt to 1024 
PREGNANCY. 
linger in the breasts for a considerable period. The nipple is sensibly 
enlarged after conception, and in most cases, is surrounded by a more 
or less colored ring, the areola, as it is called by medical men. In some 
females, especially those with dark hair and skin, the areola is often 
extremely deeply colored, of the deepest brown-from this shade it is 
of every variety, and in some is absent altogether; it, therefore, is not 
an invariable sign of pregnancy, for the reason, more especially, that it 
is sometimes witnessed without that condition 
The urine is found to be in some cases altered during pregnancy, 
particularly in the latter months. If a portion of the secretion is allowed 
to stand four and twenty or six and thirty hours, a greasy-looking scum, 
with a cheesy smell, and presenting peculiar appearances under the 
microscope, is found on the surface. This does not show in all cases. 
From the remarks above made, it may be gathered, that although 
there are many signs and symptoms of pregnancy, there is, probably, 
not one which can by itself be depended upon in doubtful cases. In 
most instances, the combination and perfect development of a certain 
number of the above symptoms make the case certain; but it may hap- 
pen, that there is much difficulty in coming to a satisfactory conclusion, 
especially in the earlier stages, and if there is any desire for concealment. 
Disorders during Pregnancy.-By the fifth month of pregnancy, all 
the symptoms have for the most part become evident, but there are dis- 
orders which more generally show themselves during the latter part of 
the period. One of the most frequent of these is costiveness, occasioned 
doubtless, in part, by the mechanical obstruction, caused by the enlarged 
womb. The legs are apt to become swollen, or their veins to enlarge, 
from the same cause acting upon the large veins within the abdomen. 
The impediment to the flow of blood, also, exhibits itself in the forma- 
tion of piles, which may cause much inconvenience during the last 
months of pregnancy. 
Cramp in the lower limbs, caused by the pressure of the enlarged 
womb upon the nerves, often causes much annoyance, and sympathetic 
nervous pains throughout the body are not uncommon. Irritability of 
the bladder is apt to be much increased at this time; headaches, too, 
occur in some women, and may be of great severity, threatening convul- 
sion. The above is rather a formidable array of the ailments from 
which many pregnant women may suffer, and some unquestionably do 
suffer, and severely so; but very many are free from the majority of 
them, except perhaps in a slight degree; as said above, some women 
never enjoy such perfect health as they do when "in the family way." 
The proper management of the disorders incident to pregnancy will 
certainly do much to alleviate their inconveniences. PREGNANCY. 
1025 
The nausea and vomiting are the first which generally require atten- 
tion. These may in some measure be prevented by attention to diet, 
and by the avoidance of all articles of food which were known to disa- 
gree, or which are found to disagree; for the rule which holds good in 
the ordinary state does not always do so in pregnancy. Effervescing 
draughts, made with soda and tartaric acid or lemon juice (see Effer- 
vescence) are useful, and to each may be added from a | to 1 teaspoon- 
ful of sal-volatile. A medical man may possibly add a drop or two of the 
medicinal prussic acid to each dose, but this must be left to medical 
regulation. If there is much acidity, the bicarbonates of soda or potash, 
or the fluid magnesia, will be found useful, and at the same time check 
the vomiting. In cases of debility, a teaspoonful of calcined magnesia, 
in three parts of a wine-glassful of sherry, may be given with advantage. 
In obstinate heartburn and indigestion, with or without vomiting, a wine- 
glassful of the infusion of calumba, in combination with soda, potash, or 
magnesia, is one of the best remedies, and may be taken twice, or if requi- 
site, thrice a day. In cases of extremely obstinate vomiting, creasote, in 
doses of from 2 to 5 drops, made into an emulsion with gum-arabic, or 20 
to 30 drops of chloric ether may be tried. The tincture of nux vomica, 
in 20 drop doses, will very likely prove serviceable, but can only be given 
with safety by a medical man. 
The oxalate of cerium in 1 grain-dose, three times a day, has been 
strongly advocated by Professor Simpson of Edinburgh. Another remedy 
frequently successful in the sickness of pregnancy, is small lumps of ice 
swallowed at intervals. 
The costiveness of pregnancy is often more troublesome to manage, 
as the usual, convenient, aperient pills are inadmissible, on account of 
the aloes they contain. 
Castor-oil is the most generally useful and safe aperient when it can 
be taken regularly, but very many find it impossible to continue its use 
long, in consequence of the nausea it occasions. Senna infusion may be 
safely taken in the pregnant state, and in those who are of full habit, 
small well-diluted doses of the neutral salts, such as Epsom or Rochelle, 
are extremely useful. Rhubarb and magnesia is a safe combination, but 
generally too mild. The regular use of some form of injection (see 
Clyster) which is found to be sufficiently efficacious is one of the best 
methods of regulating the bowels in pregnancy, and regulated they 
must be in some way, there is nothing more likely, not only to increase 
the uncomfortable sensations incident to the condition itself, but to ren- 
der delivery more difficult and recovery from it more liable to accident, 
than an habitually constipated condition of the bowels. When piles 
occur it is generally in connection with costiveness. 1026 
PREGNANCY. 
Irritability of the bladder, characterized by constant desire to pass 
urine, is sometimes very obstinate, and in the later stages, in which it 
depends on the mechanical pressure of the enlarged womb, very difficult 
to remove. It is most likely to be alleviated by the use of a broad belt 
or band passed round the abdomen, so as to give adequate mechanical 
support to the enlarged womb. 
When, along with irritability of the bladder, the urine is scanty, high- 
colored, and deposits red sediment on standing, 10-drop doses of potash 
solution taken in barley water, twice or three times a day, will probably 
give much relief; in weakly and debilitated constitutions, 10 drops of 
the tincture of muriate of iron, in a wine-glassful of water, twice a day, 
will be perhaps a better remedy. Malt liquor is apt to increase the 
urinary irritation, and must therefore be avoided; and, if stimulants are 
required, wine and water, or weak brandy or whiskey and water are 
substituted. 
Cramp, being dependent on a mechanical cause, is difficult to remove; 
it may, however, be alleviated by the use of the abdominal belt, and by 
strict attention to the state of the bowels and digestive organs; indeed, 
during the whole period of pregnancy, carefulness and moderation in 
diet will be found to influence greatly for the better many of the casual 
inconveniences. 
Swelling of the legs, and of their veins, being dependent, like cramp, 
on mechanical causes, is to be relieved by attention to mechanical modes 
of treatment, particularly by care that no unnecessary accumulation in 
the bowels adds to the obstruction to the return of the blood through the 
veins, keeping the feet and legs up as much as possible; bandaging, 
friction, etc., are all useful in relieving the condition. 
The breasts should be left as free as consistent with appearance, and 
the nipples especially attended to. (See Nipples.) 
Headache, if continued and severe in pregnancy, is a symptom which 
must not be overlooked; it may simply be owing to costiveness, or other 
slight temporary causes, and be easily removable; but if it is continued, 
severe, accompanied with flushing of the features, fulness or redness of 
the eyes, throbbing of the vessels of the head and neck, medical assist- 
ance should be sought without delay; in the meantime, the measures 
recommended in cases of threatened inflammation of the brain are to be 
carried out more or less actively, according to the severity of symptoms. 
Convulsions sometimes occur in pregnancy; a medical man must see 
the case without a moment's unnecessary delay, if possible ; but if delay 
must occur, the patient should be managed as recommended under arti- 
cle Convulsions, or as directed in the remarks upon the same affection 
after delivery. (See Childbed.) PREGNANCY. 
1027 
Fainting is a symptom which may be of grave import: its cause 
should be investigated by a medical attendant; in the meanwhile, it 
must be treated as fainting generally, unless it is dependent on loss of 
blood, as in abortion. (See Fainting, Abortion.) 
Troublesome itching on the skin, sore and ulcerated mouth, are all 
apt to be attendant on the condition of pregnancy ; they are to be treated 
in the ordinary method (see Sore Mouth ; Skin, Diseases of the), but 
are often incurable, and disappear only after delivery. 
The above are the chief physical considerations connected with this 
most important phase of human life; but this article would be very 
incomplete, without some allusion to those moral disorders and require- 
ments, which exert so powerful an influence over the well-being and well- 
doing of both mother and infant. And it may be remarked, that without 
attention to the physical health of the body, the moral atmosphere is much 
more liable to be disturbed, and that the mind is much more apt to 
become irritable, especially if the digestive organs are disordered-as they 
often are-by the too great indulgence of food which is frequently thought 
to be not only allowable, but desirable in the pregnant state. (See Food, 
Dyspepsia.) The same effect follows the indolent habits so often indulged 
in. Unless prohibited for cogent reasons, regular sufficient exercise ought 
to be taken daily, up to the time of confinement-nothing tends more to 
preserve the health of the body or cheerfulness of the mind. It is not by 
any means desirable for a female, during pregnancy, to withdraw from the 
performance of the ordinary active duties of life; the mental engagement 
resulting therefrom is most beneficial, and prevents the thoughts from 
reverting, as they will do sometimes, to disagreeable or gloomy subjects. 
At the same time, a woman, during pregnancy, ought to be freed from any 
of the severer and more harrassing'occupations, and as much as possible 
kept from mental uneasiness, and spared, as far as can be, those things 
which excite unpleasant emotions in the mind. That the infant is 
affected by the mental condition of the mother, is undoubted; she can- 
not be too careful in keeping guard over herself, not for her child's sake 
solely, but for her own in future years, when that child may display ten- 
dencies which it owes to the maternal influences of the first period of its 
existence. 
The morbid longings of pregnancy have been already alluded to. 
(See Longing.) 
The probable extension of pregnancy is important, if only as a matter 
of convenience, to enable the mother to calculate and make the neces- 
sary arrangements for her confinement; but its precise duration, or the 
number of weeks or days required to complete its term, not unfrequently 
becomes of the most serious moment, as a point of law, on which may 1028 
PREGNANCY-PREMATURE BIRTH. 
hinge the inheritance of fortune or of title, or the happiness and fair fame 
of families and individuals. The generally allowed calculation for the 
duration of pregnancy is forty weeks, or two hundred and eighty days, 
from the last menstrual period; but, evidently, such a calculation must 
be liable to some variation. It is certain that cases are frequently pro- 
tracted beyond the fortieth week, of calculation at least, and that these 
generally prove male births. 
The subject of false pregnancy is of considerable interest and impor- 
tance. The following remarks from Dr. Montgomery's "Signs and 
Symptoms of Pregnancy" are instructive, and may put some on their 
guard: "It is necessary," says the author, "to notice a condition of 
the female system of a remarkable kind, most frequently observed about 
the turn of life when the catamenia, becoming irregular, previous to their 
final cessation, are suppressed for a few periods, and at the same time, 
the stomach being out of order, nausea or vomiting is experienced, the 
breasts enlarge, become sensible, or even slightly painful, and some- 
times a serous or sero-lactescent fluid exudes from the nipples and orifices 
of the areolar tubercles ; the abdomen grows fuller, and more prominent, 
especially in women of full habit, and constitutionally disposed to embon- 
point; and the abdominal enlargement progressively increases, partly 
from deposition of fat in the integuments and in the omentum, but still 
more from distension of the intestines by flatulency, which, passing from 
one part to another, communicates a sensation like that produced by the 
motion of a foetus; the nervous system is generally much disturbed, and 
the woman feels convinced that she is pregnant, an idea which, at the 
time of life alluded to, is cherished by the sex with extraordinary devo- 
tion, and relinquished with proportionate reluctance, and not unfrequently 
at the end of the supposed gestation, the delusion is rendered complete, 
and almost assumes the character of reality, by the occurrence of peri- 
odical pains, strongly resembling labor." 
The occurrence of abortion during pregnancy, and the precautions to 
be adopted when the tendency exists, or indeed at any time, having been 
already treated of under the head of Abortion, it is unnecessary to reit- 
erate them here. (See Premature Birth, Dioscorea Villosa, Longing, 
Areola, Breast, Nipples, Costiveness, etc.) 
PREMATURE BIRTH,pre'-ma-ture [Lat.praematurus; before, 
and mat urns, ripe]. One which occurs between the sixth and ninth 
month of pregnancy is generally so called; it is a contingency to be 
most carefully guarded against, for a child born before its regular time can 
scarcely be expected to have the strength and vigor of one, who attains 
its full development in the womb. Nevertheless, cases have been known 
in which the early-born child has grown up hearty and strong, and there PREMATURE BIRTH-PRESSURE. 
1029 
are also cases in which, for the mother's sake, a premature labor is 
desirable, as giving the only possible chance of producing living offspring 
at all. There may be an unusually small pelvic cavity, owing to some 
malformation, or a narrowing of the passage through which the foetus 
has to pass, so that it can only do so by an operation, involving death to 
the child and great danger to the mother. Of course, none but a surgeon 
should be entrusted with the delicate task of bringing about a premature 
labor, and only such a sad necessity as is here hinted at should authorize 
him to attempt it. (See Abortion.) 
PRESCRIPTION, pre-skrip'-shun [Lat. prescript™], is a recipe or 
formula for the exhibition of medicines. The ingredients of a prescrip- 
tion are usually distinguished as (1) the basis, or active ingredient; (2) 
the adjuvans, or that which assists or promotes the operations of the 
former; (3) the corrigens, which is intended to correct anything injuri- 
ous or unpleasant in the others; (4) theconstituens, or that which blends 
or gives an agreeable form to the whole. 
PRESERVED PROVISIONS, pre-zervd'. The preservation of 
provisions may be affected: 1st, by cold-that is, by keeping them at 
a temperature below that at which putrefaction takes place; 2nd, by 
heat, which acts by hardening and coagulating the albumen and other 
constituents, so that they are more disposed to resist chemical change, 
or by heat and dryness combined, so that the water-which is essential 
for the process of putrefaction-is removed ; 3rd, by the use of certain 
agents, or antiseptics-which impart the power of resisting decompose 
tion; and 4th, by excluding the action of the atmosphere, the oxygen 
of which is requisite for the putrefactive process. 
PRESSURE, presh'-ur [Lat. pressure]. The effect of continued 
pressure upon the living body may be regarded either as a cause oi 
disease or as a curative agent. 
The effect of pressure upon the surfaces of the body, if long continued, 
is to cause thickening, as seen in the horny hand of the laborer, or in the 
corn from the tight shoe. When, however, pressure is too suddenly and 
continuously applied to surfaces unused to it, especially in debilitated 
states of body, instead of giving rise to thickening, is apt to occasion 
mortification, or at least ulceration. This effect of pressure is one of the 
most serious complications of most long-continued illnesses, in which the 
difficulty, and often almost the impossibility, of moving a patient, or at 
least of preventing continued pressure upon the most prominent points 
of the body, are a source of much suffering on the one hand, and oi 
anxiety on the other. (See Fever, Bed-Sores, Beds, Air-Beds, Posd 
tion, Elasticity, etc.) 
The effect of pressure, as a curative agents is often valuable. Thus, 1030 
PRESSURE-PRIA OS VERTICILLATUS. 
when thickening of a part, or of a limb, has followed inflammation, the 
continued and even pressure of a bandage, or of an elastic covering, will 
do much to hasten its reduction. Tumors, such as bronchocele, will dis- 
appear under well-applied pressure. Bleeding which threatens life may 
be stopped by pressure properly applied (see Artery), and lately the 
power of pressure has been used as a remedy in aneurism, acting by 
interrupting the circulation of the blood through the vessel with which 
the aneurismal tumor is connected. The continued pressure of the 
atmosphere upon the surface of our bodies at ordinary elevations, by its 
variation, as indicated by the changes of the barometer, probably exer- 
cises a greater influence upon our health and sensations than is generally 
suspected. The distressing effects experienced from the diminished 
pressure, in part at least, by those who ascend great heights, is well 
known. (See Air.) 
PRICKLY-ASH. (See Xanthoxylum Fraxineum.) 
PRICKLY HEAT, prik'-le, is a peculiar affection of the skin which 
effects those who live in hot climates, especially when first resident, and 
which also occurs in hot summers in this country. It is usually, but not 
invariably, accompanied by an eruption of vivid red pimples, not larger 
in general than a pin's head, which spread over the breast, arms, thighs, 
neck, and occasionally along the forehead. This eruption often disap- 
pears in great measure when we are sitting quiet, and the skin is cool; 
but no sooner do we use any exercise that brings out a perspiration, or 
swallow any warm or stimulating fluid, such as tea, soup, or wine, than 
the pimples become elevated, so as to be distinctly seen, and but too dis- 
tinctly felt. 
The proper treatment is light clothing, temperance in eating and 
drinking, avoiding all exercise in the heat of the day, open bowels; and 
last, not least, a determined resolution to resist with stoical apathy its 
first attacks. The intolerant itching in children may be relieved by 
sponging the surface with warm water to which a few grains of soda have 
been added. 
PRINCE'S FEATHER. (See Amaranth.) 
PRINCE'S PINE. (See Chimaphila Umbellata.) 
PRINOS VERTICILLATUS, pri'-nos ver'-te-sil-la'-tus, or black 
alder, a perennial shrub belonging to the Nat. order Aquifoliacece. It 
grows in all parts of the United States and Canada. The bark and the 
berries are the parts used in medicine. Black alder is tonic, alterative, 
astringent, and, as a local application, stimulant. It is recommended 
in intermittent fevers, diarrhoea, and other diseases connected with 
debility, especially mortification and gangrene. It is a popular remedy 
in gangrenous or flabby and ill-conditioned ulcers, and in chronic PEINOS VEETICILLATUS-PIiOLAPSUS ANI, ETC. 
1031 
cutaneous eruptions, given internally and applied externally in form of 
wash or poultice. It has been employed with good effect in jaundice, 
and also in the treatment of dropsy. Dose: of the fluid extract, to 1 
teaspoonful; of the tincture, 2 to 4 teaspoonfuls; of the syrup, the same. 
The infusion is used externally as a wash. A compound infusion, of 
equal parts of black alder and golden seal, in doses of 2 to 4 fluid ounces, 
three or four times a day, is an excellent preparation for dyspepsia. 
PRIVATE DISEASES. (See Gonorrhg£a, Syphilis, Onanism, 
Nocturnal Discharge, Semen, Sterility.) 
PROBANG, pro'-bang [from probe], a flexible piece of whalebone, 
with an oval piece of ivory or a piece of sponge fixed at the end, and 
used by surgeons to push down into the stomach foreign bodies which 
stick in the oesophagus. 
PROBE, probe [Lat. probo, I try], is a surgical instrument of a long 
and slender form, used to find out the depth or extent of wounds, etc. 
PROGNOSIS, prog-no'-sis [Gr. pro, before; gignosko, I know], is 
the opinion formed respecting the future course of a disease from par- 
ticular symptoms; as how long it is likely to continue; whether it is 
likely to terminate in recovery or death, etc. It demands great skill and 
experience, and even the most skilful, however anxious to allay the fears 
and anxieties of the patient and his friends, require to speak on such sub- 
jects with caution, for no human sagacity can anticipate the numberless 
influences for good or evil that may come into play during the course of 
a disease. The principal sources from which the elements of prognosis 
maybe derived are (1) the disease itself; (2) the peculiarities of the 
patient; and (3) the external influences modifying both of the foregoing. 
(See Disease, Death, Diagnosis, Position ; Opinion, Medical ; Medical 
Advice, Physician, Surgeon, etc.) 
PROLAPSUS, pro-lap-sus prolabor, prolapsus, to fall forward], 
is a slipping or falling down of any internal portion of the body, so that 
it appears externally. The term is most commonly used with reference 
to prolapsus, "falling down" of the womb (see Womb, etc.,) and also to 
prolapsus of the lower gut at the fundament, "coming down of the 
bowel," as it is often called. (See Prolapsus Ani, Womb, etc.) 
PROLAPSUS ANI, OR FALLING OF THE BOWEL, is a 
falling down of the lower part or extremity of the bowel. This 
accident is not uncommon in childhood, and in the aged, but occurs at 
any age, frequently in connection with piles. Coming down of the bowel 
often happens from children being permitted to sit too long on the 
chamber vessel, after a movement of the bowels; it is often too, a con- 
sequence of irritation from 'worms, or from stone in the bladder. The 
extent to which the gut is protruded, varies from the slightest possible, 1032 
PROLAPSUS ANI, ETC.-PROPYLAMINE. 
to a considerable length, causing a red or purplish swelling, according 
to the length of time the protrusion has existed. 
If quickly attended to, the protrusion is usually easily returned by 
pressure exerted by the fingers through the medium of a piece of greased 
cloth, the person being of course laid in the horizontal posture; if, who 
ever, the protrusion has been neglected, and allowed to continue unre- 
duced for some hours, it becomes in a measure strangulated, congested 
with blood, and consequently swollen, and is then sometimes very diffi- 
cult to return; in such a case a medical man will probably be required, 
and, indeed, ought to be called; in the meanwhile, by gently squeezing 
the neck of the protrusion, and exerting gentle pressure upwards, having 
previously applied grease of some kind to it, efforts may be made to 
effect its return. When protrusion of the gut occurs habitually, a medi- 
cal man should investigate the cause, so that any source of irritation may 
be removed; the bowels should be kept perfectly lax, so as to prevent 
straining, and in children, especially, too long sitting at stool pre- 
vented, the seat being made so high that the legs cannot touch the 
ground. 
Cold injections, and astringent lotions injected into the bowels are 
often useful. A small quantity of a solution of 1 grain of sulphate of 
iron to 1 ounce of rain or distilled water, may be thrown into the bowel 
after each relief, and retained. Bathing the loins regularly with cold 
water will be of service. 
Some cases of protrusion depend on causes such as internal piles, 
which require a surgical operation for their removal. Persons liable to 
prolapsus of the gut, often experience much comfort from wearing a 
bandage consisting of a sponge, which must be moistened, or of some 
soft or smooth hard material, which is applied to the fundament, and 
kept in place by means of straps, which are best made of elastic material; 
the strap fastening behind and in front, to a belt passed round the body. 
(See Piles, Rectum, Anus.) 
PROLAPSUS OF THE WOMB, OR PROLAPSUS UTERI. 
(See Womb.) 
PROPHYLACTIC, prof-e-lak'-tik [Gr. pro, before, andphylasso, to 
guard]. Any means employed for the preservation of health; but more 
especially a medicine which is intended to act as as a preventive to, or 
a defence against, disease. 
PROPYLAMINE, propil-a-meeri, a peculiar volatile alkali pre- 
pared for medicinal purposes, from herring brine. It is a colorless 
transparent liquid, with a strong ammoniacal odor. It was introduced 
into practice by a Russian physician of note as a remedy for rheumatism, 
and it has also been found successful in the treatment of chorea or St. PROPYLAMINE- PSORIASIS, ETC. 
1033 
Vitus's dance. It may be given in quantities of from 15 to 20 grains a 
day, in divided doses of 3 grains each. (See Rheumatism.) 
PROSTATE, pros-tate [Lat. pro, before, and sto, to stand.] A 
gland situated before the 'vesiculoe seminalis ; it is about the size and 
shape of a chestnut, and surrounds the neck of the male bladder; in 
young men it is liable to become the seat of scrofulous inflammation, 
and in old, of chronic enlargement; the symptoms of both these forms 
of disease are too obscure to admit of domestic treatment. 
PROUD FLESH, proxvd, is applied to the granulations which arise 
on a sore in the process of healing when they project beyond the level of 
the surrounding parts. In such cases it will be necessary to check it by 
applying some caustic substance, as lunar caustic, blue vitriol, or red 
precipitate of mercury. (See Fungus.) 
PROVISIONS, PRESERVED. (See Preserved Provisions.) 
PRUNUS, pru'-nus [Lat.], the plum, a genus of the Nat. order 
Rosaceae, sub-order Anygdaleae or Drupaceae. The species P. domes- 
tica, and its varieties, produce the well-known fruits called plums, green- 
gages, and damsons. Plums, when dried, are termed prunes, or French 
plums. 
Prunes contain a considerable quantity of sugar, and when stewed, 
are wholesome, and at the same time laxative. (See Cathartics.) 
Unless softened by stewing, prunes are indigestible. 
PRUNUS VIRGINIAN A. (See Cerasus.) 
PRURIGO, pru-ri'-go [Lat. prurio, I itch], is a troublesome itching 
of the skin, arising from various causes, and of which there are several 
different kinds. Sometimes it arises from a disordered state of the 
stomach, and is to be treated by laxatives and a change of diet. In other 
cases, frequent washing in tepid water and the use of sulphur internally, 
will be of benefit. 
PRURITUS, pru-ri'-tus, itching of the skin. (See Skin; Skin, Dis- 
eases of THE.) 
PRUSSIAN BLUE, prush'-an, prussiate of iron. (See Iron.) 
PRUSSIC ACID, OR HYDROCYANIC ACID. (See Hydro- 
cyanic Acid.) 
PSOAS, so'-gs [Gr. psoai, the loins], belonging to the loins. The 
psoae muscles are large muscles connected with the loins, etc. A psoas 
abscess is one originating in the loins. (See Lumbar.) 
PSORIASIS, OR SALT-RHEUM, so-ri'-a-sis [Gr. psora, the itch], 
an eruptive disease of the skin; also known as dry tetter. 
Causes.-It is more frequently met with in anaemic persons, with a 
weak circulation of the blood, and a dry skin. Occasionally it is the 
result of hereditary tendency, and when this is not the case, it is generally 1034 
PSORIASIS, ETC.-PTELEA TR1F0LIATA. 
caused by intemperance, the use of highly-salted food, fish, or other 
indigestible substances, or by the depressing passions, auxiety, grief, 
etc. 
Symptoms.-It is characterized by red spots or blotches, irregular in 
shape, slightly elevated above the sound skin, and covered with thin, 
dry, white scales. Sometimes it is confined to small patches on the 
back, shoulders, lips, palms of the hands, and the genitals, and some- 
times it spreads over large portions of the skin, and may come to occupy 
the whole body. The scaly incrustation is frequently intermixed with 
chaps furrowing the skin in all directions, which, when the skin is put upon 
the stretch by the necessary movements of the patient, are apt to bleed 
and become very sore. The disease is almost invariably accompanied 
by an intense itching. 
Treatment.-The disease is frequently one of the most obstinate to 
cure, when it is the result of that form of dyspepsia, characterized by an 
excess of acid, the warm bath and alkaline remedies are indicated, and 
many such cases recover as the result of daily ablutions and the internal 
administration of liquor potassae, to 1 teaspoonful, in milk or water, 
three or four times a day. The diet should be absolutely free from all 
stimulants, and the bowels be regularly relieved by some mild cathartic, 
as the compound colocynth pill, or a glass of one of the aperient mineral 
waters. Preparations of arsenic have sometimes been found very useful 
in this troublesome affection, but it should never be administered except 
by direction of a physician. The local treatment consists, as mentioned 
above, of daily warm baths, temperature from 80° to 90Q, to which a 
handful of washing-soda may be added; and emollient lotions. The 
intense itching may be greatly relieved by the application of glycerine, 
or a lotion made by mixing 20 drops of the oil of bitter almonds with 8 
ounces of rose-water, and after straining, adding 12 grains of corrosive 
sublimate, and the same amount of sal-ammoniac and 1 ounce of rectified 
spirit. Caution would be required in using this, as the corrosive 
sublimate is an active poison. When the disease is not very severe, the 
fresh juice of the phytolacca decandra, or poke-root, will be found of 
much service, applied locally twice or three times a day. An ointment 
of the new remedy, chrysophanic acid, is also said to cure the most 
obstinate cases. (See Calcium, Compound Elixir Iodo-Bromide of.) 
PTELEA TRIFOLIATA, te-le'-a tri-fo-le-a'-ta, or wafer ash, an 
American shrub belonging to the Nat. order Xanthoxylacece. It is 
found growing abundantly west of the Alleghany mountains, where it is 
known as wing seed, ague bark, etc. The bark, which is the part 
employed, is tonic, and is used in remittent and intermittent fevers, in 
asthma and other pulmonary affections. Dose: of the fluid extract, 15 to PTELEA TRIF0L1ATA-PUERPERAL FEVER. 
1035 
60 drops; of the infusion, 1 to 2 fluid ounces, three or four times a 
dav. (See Infusion.) 
PTYALISM, ti'-a-lizm [Gr. ptyo, to spit], the affection of the con- 
stitution by mercury. (See Mercury, Salivation.) 
PUBERTY, pu'-bur-te [Lat. pubertas], is that period of life in which 
boyhood or girlhood ceases and youth begins. The precise period differs 
in different countries, being much earlier in southern than in northern 
climates. The usual period in this country is from the twelfth to the 
fourteenth year in females, and from the fourteenth to the sixteenth in 
males. In colder regions, as Sweden, Russia, etc., it does not occur for 
two or three years later. Various physiological and intellectual changes 
manifest themselves at this period. The organs of respiration and voice 
acquire their full tone, the muscles their due proportion, and the cerebro- 
spinal nervous system its beautiful organization. The child puts away 
childish things and begins to look upon the world with, as it were, new 
senses; the mind becomes stored with new ideas, and hope shines over 
the future. The changes that take place at this period render the indi- 
vidual liable to a variety of diseases, more particularly of an inflammatory 
nature; and those diseases to which a latent tendency exists, may be 
roused into activity. At this time, therefore, a stricter watch than usual 
should be kept upon the health of the young, and any unusual symptoms 
at once submitted to the judgment of a medical man. (See Menstrua- 
tion. ) 
PUBLIC HEALTH. (See Sanitary Science.) 
PUDDINGS, pud'-dingz [Lat. botulus, a sausage], are articles of 
diet, the principal ingredient of which is some farinaceous material, at 
least such ought to be the case when they are made for invalids. The 
puddings most generally admissible, and best adapted for the sick-room, 
are the light egg and flour, or "twenty minute" pudding, as it is often 
called; the simple rice, sago or tapioca pudding, the boiled bread pud- 
ding, etc. Of course, greasy puddings generally are unsuited for 
invalids, and for the same reason butter or sauce must be forbidden. 
(See Food.) 
PUERPERAL, pu-er'-pe-ral, connected with childbed. (See Child- 
bed, Puerperal Fever.) 
PUERPERAL FEVER [Lat. puer, a child, and pario, to bear], 
a fever occurring in a woman who has recently passed through the pains 
of childbirth, and hence commonly called childbed, or lying-in fever. 
There are various forms of febrile disease to which women in such cir- 
cumstances are liable, and to which this term is applied. In general, 
however, the name denotes "a continued fever, communicable by con- 
tagion, occurring in connection with childbirth, and often associated with 1036 
PUERPERAL FEVER. 
extensive local affections of the womb or its appendages." Sometimes 
the portion of the peritonaeum covering the womb is the part primarily 
affected, when it is called puerperal peritonitis ; the proper tissue of the 
womb itself may be the seat of the inflammatory action, in which case it 
is spoken of as puerperal hysteritis ; the ovaries, and other appendages 
of the womb, may be the parts diseased; or, lastly, the veins of the 
womb may be the subject of attack, in which case the name uterine 
phlebitis is given to it. There may be a mixture of one or more of these 
varieties in the same case. If the case sets in very violently, and is 
accompanied with low typhoid symptoms and prostration, it is frequently 
spoken of as malignant puerperal fever. To the physician, these dis- 
tinctions are of importance; to the unprofessional attendant, it matters 
very little the particular form the attack assumes, nor the exact location 
of the lesion. It is, under all circumstances, a very formidable disease, 
and when the symptoms hereafter described follow confinement, no time 
should be lost in summoning medical aid. 
Causes.-When not communicated by contagion, it may be the result 
of violence during delivery, of cold, of careless nursing, or the injudicious 
use of stimulants. 
Symptoms.-These will vary somewhat, according to the nature of 
the attack, but almost invariably there is a severe chill, pain, more or 
less intense, over the lower part of the abdomen, followed by heat of the 
skin, great thirst, quick pulse, flushed face, and hurried respiration. To 
these succeed nausea and vomiting, pain in the head, and thickly-coated 
tongue. The secretion of the milk, and sometimes the lochial discharge, 
is often very much diminished, or disappears altogether, and the abdo- 
men becomes swollen and tympanitic. These symptoms may come on 
suddenly the third or fourth day after labor, or they may come on very 
insidiously; but when several of the above symptoms are present, the 
nurse may apprehend danger, and should promptly send for help. 
Treatment.-The treatment consists in allaying the inflammatory 
symptoms and sustaining the strength of the patient until assistance 
arrives; the attendant, after the bowels have been evacuated by a dose 
of castor-oil, may give 1 grain of opium, or 25 drops of laudanum, every 
four hours, if the pain be very severe, and apply soft flannel cloths 
wrung out of hot water in which there are a few drops of turpentine, 
over the abdomen. At the same time, if there is much prostration, the 
strength must be sustained by milk, broths, etc. Wine or brandy, 
unless in a case of pressing emergency, had better be left until the arri- 
val of the medical attendant. This is a disease in which a nurse can 
show her good qualities to great advantage. Quiet and cleanliness are 
absolutely indispensable. (See Childbed, Parturition, Fever.) PUERPERAL SWELLED LEG, ETC.-PULSE. 
1037 
PUERPERAL SWELLED LEG, OR MILK-LEG. (See Milk- 
Leg.) 
PULMONARIA OFFICINALIS, pul-mo-nd-re-a of-fis-in-a'-lis, or 
lungwort, a perennial plant belonging to the Nat. order Boraginaceae. 
It is found on alluvial banks over a great part of the United States and 
Canada. The leaves are demulcent and mucilaginous, and are used in 
hemorrhage from the lungs, and pulmonary affections generally. Dose ; 
of the fluid extract, % to 1 teaspoonful; of the infusion, 1 to 2 fluid 
ounces. (See Infusion). 
PULMONARY, pul-mo-ng-re [Lat. pubmo, a lung], denotes of or 
belonging to the lungs; as pulmonary consumption. (See Consumption.) 
PULSATILLA, pub-sg-til'-la, a preparation manufactured from a 
European species of anemone. It is a favorite remedy with the homoe- 
opathists, and is said to be useful in whooping-cough, to possess emmena- 
gogue properties, and to exert a favorable influence over the mucous 
membrane, rendering it useful in catarrhal inflammations of the nostrils, 
throat, respiratory organs, alimentary canal and urinary passages. 
PULSE, pulse [ Lat. pulsus, a stroke], is the alternate expansion and 
contraction of an artery, occasioned by the propulsion of the blood by 
the heart, in the form of waves. The pulsations of an artery occur 
nearly at the same time as the contractions of the left ventricle of the 
heart, the difference, in a state of health, being only from one-seventh to 
one-sixth of a second, depending on the distance of the part from the 
heart. 
The sympathetic connection of the central organ of the circulation, 
and indeed the circulating system at large, with changes and states of the 
whole system, render the pulse a most important guide in the investiga- 
tion of those states and changes; it is, however, a guide which it 
requires much education and no little practical experience fully to take 
advantage of. Any real, definite, trustworthy information from the 
state of the pulse, requires more practical knowledge than unprofessional 
persons can possess. If the frequency of the pulse was an unvary- 
ing indication of the state of the system, and if the knowledge as to 
frequency or the reverse, was all that could be gathered from feeling 
it, the case would be different; but with certain reservation, the fre- 
quency of the pulse is, in many cases, a far less important piece of 
information to a medical man than its rhythm, or tone, whether it be 
full and bounding or jerking, or soft, or wiry, or compressible, feeble, or 
remittent, or intermittent, all these and other varieties of pulse convey 
impressions to the mind of a medical man, but the ability to receive these 
impressions, and to form conclusions from them, is only the result of 
daily, almost hourly practice. It is unnecessary to say more, to show 1038 
PULSE. 
how very slight and imperfect the information must be which a casual 
feeler of the pulse can gather from the operation. At the same time, 
the author would not discourage intelligent persons from endeavoring 
to gain some practical knowledge respecting the pulse; but the above 
will show, that useful knowledge must be attained, either assisted, or 
unassisted, by practical attention. 
The average pulse of a healthy man in the prime of life, may be taken 
as beating 72 times in the minute; but from this average, there is 
every possible variation, and even in the same individual, the pulse 
varies greatly, according to the period of the twenty-four hours; accord- 
ing to the time of meals; to the posture, whether recumbent, in which 
it is slowest, or sitting or standing, in which it is most frequent; it varies 
also according to physical exercise or mental emotion, and also accord- 
ing to external temperature. 
As a general rule, when the system at large is in a state of excite- 
ment, feverish or otherwise, the pulse is increased in frequency, and 
modified; in depressed states of the system, unless accompanied 
with irritability, the contrary takes place. 
By inflammation, or acute disease, the pulse may be raised to 120, 
or even 160 in the adult. In nearly all inflammatory diseases, the pulse 
is large, full, quick, hard and forcible. In fevers it is full, hard, and 
quick or frequent, though not so full and forcible as in inflammations. 
In continued fever (see Fever), the pulse will beat from 90 to 120 
strokes in a minute. In general, the quicker the pulse, the more severe 
and dangerous the disease. 
In palpitation of the heart, the pulse is usually quick and violent, 
but may be feeble and rapid; and may be either regular or irregular. 
(See Palpitation of the Heart.) 
When there is not much strength in the system, from whatever cause 
generally, the pulse will be small, quick and soft, but sometimes a slow 
pulse accompanies weakness. 
In affections of the brain, causing pressure on or oppression of that 
organ, the pulse is usually slow. If a particular portion of the body be 
inflamed, such as the hand or foot, the pulse in the artery going to the 
part is increased in force, or in the power of its beat, but of course not 
in frequency, unless the entire circulating system is equally excited. 
An intermitting pulse is supposed either to indicate some derange- 
ment or disorder of the heart, a great state of weakness, the approach of 
death, or some nervous affection. By the term intermitting is meant 
that the pulse beats a few times, and then stops a beat or two, and com- 
mences again. It usually indicates the slightest degree of derangement 
of the heart's action. Derangements of the digestive organs, or even a PULSE-PUMPKIN SEEDS. 
1039 
mere nausea or sickness at the stomach, whether produced by disease or 
medicine, will cause an intermitting pulse. It is sometimes produced 
by violent exercise or very rapid walking (see Exercise.) An intermit- 
ting pulse accompanies dropsy of the heart, of the chest, and of the brain. 
It is also met with in cases of disease of the valves, or of the muscular 
tissue of the heart. Some people, however, will have an intermitting 
pulse during nearly their whole lifetime, and without any apparent dis- 
ease, except some slight nervous affection. 
In some persons the pulse is alway quick, ranging at 90, or even 
more; in others it is slow, perhaps does not exceed 40 beats in the 
minute. Age influences greatly the frequency of the pulse. The follow- 
ing is the table drawn up by M. Quetelet: 
Age. 
Average of pulsations per minute. 
Birth 
136 
5 years 
88 
10-15 
78 
15-20 
69 
20-25 
69 
25-30 
71 
30-50 
70 
According to other observations, the pulse in many children is found 
not to be more frequent than it is in adults; as a general rule, however, 
it is so. It is, moreover, a generally received opinion, that the pulse of 
the aged is slower than than that of the young-the reverse is the fact. 
Most persons are aware that the pulse is distinguishable at the wrist, 
about an inch above the wrist-joint of the thumb, the pulsating artery 
lying by the side of the strong tendon of a muscle of the fore-arm. The 
pulse is felt by the fore and middle finger together. Although felt most 
conveniently in the wrist, it may be felt in any ot the arteries of the 
body. It is sometimes more perceptible in the temporal artery-the 
radial artery being small. The radial artery will sometimes divide, and 
the larger branch run upon the outside of the radius. In this case, the 
pulse in the usual place will be weak, while the circulation is really 
strong and vigorous. It devolves upon the physician to guard against 
this mistake, as the patient may be considered very weak, when there is 
nothing ailing him. We have witnessed several instances of this 
nature. (See Artery, Circulation of the Blood, Heart.) 
PUMPKIN SEEDS, pump-kin, are mucilaginous and diuretic, and 
are of service in urinary affections. The infusion may be drunk freely. 
The expressed oil, in doses of from 6 to 12 drops, three or four times a 
day, promptly relieves scalding urine, and spasmodic affections of the 
water passages. A strong infusion of the seeds has been effectual in 
removing tape-worm. M. Mongeny, a physician of the island of Cuba, 1040 
PUMPKIN SEEDS-PURPURA. 
says: "I used to give to patients affected with tape-worm three ounces 
of a paste made with fresh pumpkin seeds, and afterwards six ounces of 
honey, in three doses, the first an hour after giving the paste, and 
the others at the same intervals. Six or seven hours afterwards, the 
tape-worm was generally expelled; and this remedy has succeeded in 
cases which had resisted all the means generally employed. " 
PUMPS, LEAD, pumps, led, for water-are apt to prove dangerous. 
(See Lead.) 
PUMP, STOMACH, is an instrument made on the principal of the 
injection syringe. It ought only to be used by a medical man. 
PUNCTURED WOUNDS. (See Wounds.) 
PUPIL. (See Eye.) 
PURE AIR. • (See Air, Houses, Ventilation, Disinfectants, etc.) 
PURGATIVES. (See Cathartics.) 
PURPLE AVENS. (See Geum Rivale.) 
PURPLES, THE. (See Purpura.) 
PURPURA, pur'-pu-ra [Lat.j, popularly "the purples," is a disease 
in which the blood escapes from the smaller or capillary vessels; it is 
best known from its outward manifestations on the skin, on which account 
it is often but erroneously classed as a skin disease, whereas it is truly 
a constitutional affection, which, although most visibly manifest on the 
skin, yet exhibits its effects in various internal portions of the body. 
Symptoms.-The attack of purpura may be sudden, or it may be 
preceded for a week or more by symptoms of general illness, lassitude, 
feebleness, etc. Purpura generally first shows itself on the legs, in the 
form of red or purple spots, of various sizes, which do not elevate the 
skin, and do not disappear on pressure; in the course of a few days, 
these spots become changed to a brown or greenish yellow; in fact, they 
go through the same changes in color that we see in a bruise, in which, 
as in purpura, effusion of blood has taken place beneath the skin. The 
above description applies to purpura in perhaps its mildest form; when 
more severe, the spots or blotches are spread over the body, and blood 
is discharged from the mucous membranes of the nose, mouth, stomach, 
bowels, bladder, etc., constituting a most fatal affection, which may 
occur either alone, or in connection with other diseases, such as fever, 
measles, small-pox, etc. 
Treatment.-Such a disease as purpura is of course not one for 
domestic management, and ought, if possible, on its earliest appearance, 
to be confided to proper medical care. It may occur in the strong and 
plethoric, in which case, of course, lowering measures, perhaps bleeding, 
may be called for, or at least free purging, with calomel and jalap, or 
podophyllin (which see); the administration, two or three times a day, of 1 PUPPUEA-PUSTULES. 
1041 
or 2 drams of Epsom salts, dissolved in water, each dose being acidulated 
with 15 drops of diluted sulphuric acid, would be very suitable treatment. 
Most frequently, purpura is a disease of debility, and requires treat- 
ment the very reverse of lowering; quinine, in grain doses, three or 
four times in the twenty-four hours, will be useful, along with strong 
animal broths, wine, or porter, and tonic remedial measures generally. 
Turpentine, in 10 or 15-drop doses, given three or four times in the 
twenty-four hours, has proved an invariable remedy. Having been 
found useful in different species of hemorrhage, the juice of the common 
nettle might, in places where other remedies are not procurable, prove of 
service. 
Where the tendency to purpura exists, with debility, means of 
strengthening should be resorted to which have been recommended 
under article Debility. In every case, however, whether threatened or 
actual, a medical man must be called without delay. (See Debility.) 
PURULENT, pu'-rurlent [Lat. purulentus}, consisting of pus or 
matter. (See Pus.) 
PUS, OR MATTER, pus [Lat.], is, or rather ought to be, a smooth, 
yellow, cream-like fluid; when warm it exhales a faint sickly odor. Under 
the microscope, pus is seen to consist of granules-somewhat larger than 
the globules of the blood-which float in a transparent serous fluid. The 
above are the properties of healthy pus, which, however, may differ very 
greatly from the standard; it may be thin, and serous, or flaky as it is 
in a scrofulous abscess; it may be bloody, it may be fetid, etc. Pus is 
a consequent of inflammation, its formation is, in fact, the "termina- 
tion" of that process by "suppuration" (see Inflammation), and may be 
formed in various ituations and textures. It is the most general secre- 
tion from an ulcer. When contained in a cavity formed in the substance 
of any of the bodily tissues, it constitutes an abscess; it is a fre- 
quent consequence of inflammation, either of mucous or of serous mem- 
branes, in the one case constituting a purulent discharge, in the other, a 
purulent effusion, such as takes place in the chest. In some cases, it 
is extremely difficult to distinguish the mucous, purulent, and muco- 
purulent discharges from mucous membranes, from one another. (See 
Abscess, Inflammation, Ulceus and Ulceration, etc.) 
PUSTULES, pus-tulze [Lat. pustula; pus, pus], are elevations on, 
and partly in the skin, which contain matter. A pustule may commence 
as such, when it is usually conical in shape, or it may commence as a 
vesicle, as in the cases of small-pox or cow-pox; the vesicle in the first 
place, containing transparent lymph or fluid, and its contents afterwards 
becoming purulent, constituting it a pustule. (See Skin, Diseases of 
the; Acne, Ecthyma, Impetigo, Scald-Head, Pus or Matter, etc.) 1042 
PUTREFACTION, ETC.-PYRETHRUM, ETC. 
PUTREFACTION, OR PUTREFACTIVE FERMENTATION, 
pu-tre-fah'-shun [Lat. putris, putrid, and/ado, to make], is the peculiar 
chemical change undergone by many organized bodies after death. (See 
Decomposition, Fermentation, Carbonic Acid, Antiseptics.) 
PUTRID SORE THROAT. (See Scarlet Fever, Diphtheria, etc.) 
PYEMIA, pi-e'-me-q, or blood-poisoning, a diseased state of the 
blood caused by the introduction of decomposing animal matter. 
Causes.-The system is predisposed to attacks of this kind by any 
of those causes that produce a low state of the constitution, such as pro- 
fuse loss of blood, deprivation of food, great anxiety of mind, organic 
disease, impure atmosphere, etc. A great many of the cases follow 
injuries or operations on the bones, and others supervene on exposure 
to the contagion of puerperal fever or erysipelas. 
Symptoms.-There is an infinite variety in the symptoms that accom- 
pany an attack of pyemia. In general, however, the patient is seized 
with severe shiverings, has a rapid pulse, dry tongue, sallow skin, 
anxious countenance, headache, nausea, a sense of oppression in the 
region of the heart, and if there be any healthy suppuration going on, 
it is at once arrested. The most characteristic result is profuse suppu- 
ration. Numerous abscesses, known as metastatic, secondary or mul- 
tiple abscesses, are formed, usually in the lungs and liver, but at other 
times in the eye, about the joints, or in any other part. They some- 
times form very rapidly. This disease is always a serious and very 
often a fatal complication. 
Treatment.-If the disease has followed an accident or an operation, 
leaving an open sore, it must be kept scrupulously clean, the dressings 
be changed frequently, the patient's whole body to be daily sponged 
with salt and water, and his linen not allowed to remain unchanged 
more than twenty-four hours; the room must be well-ventilated, and be 
thoroughly disinfected with chloride of lime or carbolic acid. To sus- 
tain the strength of the patient until the poisonous effects pass off, 
stimulants, brandy, wine, ammonia; and tonics, iron, quinine, with 
strong animal broths, must be regularly administered. Patients suffer- 
ing from this dangerous complication should never be trusted to unpro- 
fessional treatment: all the care and skill of the physician is required to 
save life. (See Abscess.) 
PYLORUS, pi-lo'-rus [Gr. pule, a gate, and ora, keeper], is the 
lower orifice of the stomach, through which its contents pass to the 
bowels. (See Stomach.) 
PYRETHRUM PARTHENIUM, pi-re -thrum par-the-ne-um, or 
feverfew, is a European plant, cultivated throughout the United States 
and Canada. The whole herb is used, and is tonic, stimulant, PYRETHRUM, ETC.-PYRUS MALUS, ETC. 
1043 
carminative, and emmenagogue. It is used in flatulence, hysteria, irregu- 
lar menstruation, and suppression of the urine. Dose: of the fluid extract, 
to 1 teaspoonful; infusion, to 2 fluid ounces, three or four times a 
day. (See Infusion.) 
PYREXIA, pi-reks'-e-g [Gr. pur, fire], is a term applied to fevers, 
on account of their burning nature. (See Fever.) 
PYROLA ROTUNDIFOLIA, pi-ro'-la rodun-defo'de-g, or false 
wintergreen, a perennial plant belonging to the Nat. order Ericaceae. 
It grows in damp, shady woods in various parts of the United States 
and Canada. It is sometimes known as canker-lettuce. It is used in sore 
throat, ulcerations of the mouth, and in urinary affections. It forms a 
large part of a popular nostrum for epilepsy. Dose: of the decoction, 2 
fluid ounces, three or four times a day; solid extract, 2 to 5 grains. (See 
Decoction.) 
PYROLIGNEOUS ACID, pi-ro lig'-ne-us [Gr. pur, fire; Lat. lig- 
num, wood], is acetic acid obtained by the "destructive distillation" of 
wood. 
PYROSIS. (See Water-Brash.) 
PYROXYLINE, OR GUN-COTTON, pi-roks'-edin [Gr.pur, fire; 
wulon, wood], a substitutive compound of explosive character, discovered 
by Schonbein, formed by immersing cotton, tow, linen, sawdust, or any 
other form of cellulose, in a mixture of equal measures of oil of vitriol 
and nitric acid. It is specially characterized by its explosibility and 
solubility in a mixture of ether and alcohol. Dissolved in a mixture of 
ether and alcohol, and mixed with a certain proportion of some soluble 
iodide, it forms ordinary photographic collodion, which is also used in 
surgery to form an artificial skin to excoriated surfaces. 
PYRUS MALUS, OR THE APPLE TREE, pi'-rus ma'-lus. This 
is a well-known tree belonging to the Nat. order Eosaceoe. It is a native 
of Europe, but naturalized in this country. The bark is bitter, and con- 
tains a principle called phloridzin. Apple-tree bark is tonic and febri- 
fuge, and has been used with advantage in intermittent fever, and in 
convalescence from acute diseases. The fruit contains malic and acetic 
acid, and is a healthy and useful article of diet. As a general rule, 
uncooked apples should not be eaten by dyspeptics, nor by those predis- 
posed to gout or rheumatism. Baked, stewed, or roasted, the apple is an 
agreeable article of diet in febrile diseases and those affections charac- 
terized by an eruption of the skin. Apple-tea may be made by boiling 
a tart apple in | a pint of water, and sweetening with sugar. Phlorid- 
zin, in doses of from 5 to 20 grains, has cured ague when quinine has 
failed. Dose: of the powdered apple-tree bark, 10 to 20 grains; syrup, 
1 to 2 fluid ounces; decoction, 1 to 4 fluid ounces. (See Decoction.) 1044 
QUACK, QUACKERY, ETC.-QUARANTINE. 
Q. 
QUACK, QUACKERY, AND QUACK MEDICINES, kwak!. 
The following is Johnson's definition of a quack: "A boastful pretender 
to arts which he does not understand; one who proclaims his own 
medical ability in public places; or an artful tricking practitioner in 
physic." Though often confounded, there is a W'ide difference between 
the terms empiric and quack. The latter boasts of a secret mode of 
treatment applicable to all forms of disease; the former, because a cer- 
tain remedy has been found efficacious under certain circumstances, con- 
cludes that it will always effect the same result in the same disease, and 
prescribes accordingly, without any scientific reason for his course of 
action. The empiric must be, to a certain extent, an educated man; 
the quack may be, and generally is, an ignoramus. There, perhaps, 
never was a time when quackery was so rampant, and patent or quack 
medicines so numerous, as at the present day. 
Under this article, the writer cannot do better than quote the 
remarks of Dr. Letheby, of London, as found in the columns of "The 
Family Friend: " 
" If any of our readers have ever been the victims of quackery, we 
venture to say that it was through the medium of a cunningly-devised 
advertisement; for this is at all times the great decoy of the quack. 
He knows its power, for he can count its results by thousands; and he 
spares no pains to use it with advantage. He studies it as he would a 
science; and he pays as much attention to the skilful practice of it, as 
many do to the exercise of a noble art. The idea of curing disease or of 
benefiting mankind has no place in the mind of the quack; and even if 
it had, it is associated with too much ignorance to be of use. The one 
single object which he has in view is that of getting money by decep- 
tion, and he cares not how it is accomplished, or at what cost it may be 
to the life and health of the community." 
QUADRUPED, kwod'-ru-ped [Lat. quatuor, four, and pes, pedis, a 
foot], an animal having four feet. 
QUARANTINE, kwor-qn-teen', or kwor'-an-teen [Low Lat. quaren- 
tena; Lat. quatuor, four]. Among the sanitary regulations which 
nations have agreed to observe in their intercourse with each other is 
that of performing quarantine, which consists in travellers and passen- 
gers from a foreign clime remaining for a certain period in their ship, QUARANTINE-QUININE, OR QUINIA 
1045 
or a building appropriated to such a purpose, before being allowed to 
mix with the inhabitants of the place which they visit. 
QUARTAN, kwor-tqn [Lat. quartanus, belonging to the fourth]. A 
term applied to an ague, the paroxysms of which occur every fourth day. 
(See Ague.). 
QUASSIA. (See Simaruba Excelsa.) 
QUEEN OF THE MEADOW. (See Eupatorium Purpureum.) 
QUEEN'S-ROOT, OR QUEEN'S-DELIGHT. (See Stillingia 
Sylvatica. ) 
QUERCUS, kwer'-kus, the oak. A forest tree belonging to the Nat. 
order Corylacea. There are many species, a large proportion of them 
growing throughout the United States. The quercus alba, or white oak; 
the quercus rvbia, or red oak; and the quercus tinctoria, or black oak, 
being the species most employed in medicine. The bark is the part 
used. Oak bark is somewhat tonic, powerfully astringent, and anti- 
septic. It is used with advantage in intermittent fever, obstinate chronic 
diarrhoea, chronic mucous discharges, and in certain forms of passive 
hemorrhages. It will be found tery serviceable when administered to 
sickly and debilitated children, and in severe diarrhoeas, particularly 
when the result of fevers. It is essential to add aromatics, and some- 
times castor-oil, in cases of diarrhoea and dysentery. The decoction 
forms an excellent gargle for relaxed uvula and sore throat, and an 
astringent injection for the whites, prolapsus ani, piles, etc. The ground 
bark made into a poultice, is very useful in gangrenous or mortified con- 
ditions. Dose: of the fluid extract, | to 1 teaspoonful; solid extract, 
10 to 20 grains; decoction, 1 to 2 fluid ounces. (See Decoction.) 
QUICKENING. (See Pregnancy.) 
QUICKLIME. (See Calcium, Disinfectants.) 
QUICKSILVER. (See Mercury.) 
QUINCE SEEDS, kwinse^ when boiled in water, yield a muci- 
laginous decoction, which is not, however, in any way superior to other 
more common preparations. Two drams of the seeds are ordered 
to be boiled in 2 pints of water for ten minutes, and the decoction 
strained. 
QUININE, OR QUINIA, kwe-nine\ kwin'-ine, kwi'-nine, or kwe- 
neen', kwin'-e-a [Fr.], an alkaloid found in the bark of trees belonging to 
the cinchona or Peruvian bark family. Besides quinine, these barks yield 
five other similar alkaloids; but as they are not used to any extent, it 
will not be necessary to enumerate them. Quinine occurs most in the 
yellow bark, or Cinchona flava. The quantity varies in different speci- 
mens, from one to four per cent. Quinine being very insoluble in water, 
it is generally used in medicine in the form of sulphate or disulphate, 1046 
QUININE, OR QUINTA-QUINSY, ETC. 
which dissolves readily in alcohol and water. Quinine is one of the 
most valuable febrifuges and antiperiodics that we possess. In large or 
long-continued doses it causes headache, deafness, ringing in the cars, 
dizziness, nausea, and sometimes delirium and stupor. When these 
symptoms come on, the system is said to be in a state of cinckonism, and 
they indicate that the full effect of the drug has been produced, and that 
no benefit can follow by continuing it any longer. Quinine acts better 
when given on an empty stomach, and in solution with "dilute sulphuric 
acid," rather than in a solid state. In unprofessional hands, the practice 
of giving large doses of quinine during the paroxysm of ague and other 
periodic affections, is not without danger, and it is as effectually, and 
much more safely given in small doses of from 1 to 2 or 3 grains every 
three hours, during the intervals between the paroxysms. It is used 
principally as a febrifuge and antiperiodic in ague and remittent fever, 
and as an antiperiodic in neuralgia, angina pectoris, rheumatism, nettle- 
rash, puerperal insanity, and many other diseases that generally or occa- 
sionally assume a periodic character. In combination with "dilute sul- 
phuric acid," it is one of the very best*tonics that can be administered in 
convalescence from typhus, typhoid, and scarlet fevers, diphtheria, 
typhoid pneumonia, and other diseases which have greatly prostrated 
the system. (See Sulphuric Acid.) It is powerful in the sinking stage 
of typhoid fever, combined with port wine. When the stomach will not 
bear quinine in solution, it may be administered in the form of pill, and 
its characteristic effect has been produced by giving it in an enema 
(see Clyster), and by injecting it under the skin by the hypodermic 
syringe; this, of course, can only be done by a medical man. 
Many elegant and useful combinations of this substance have recently 
been introduced, among which might be mentioned, valerianate of 
quinine, highly recommended as nervine, antispasmodic, tonic and 
febrifuge; dose, 1 grain; and the citrate of iron and quinine, most 
serviceable in debility and facial neuralgia, etc.; dose, 5 to 10 grains. 
The picrate or carbazolate of ammonium (see Carbazotic Acid) has 
lately been introduced as a substitute for quinine in the treatment of 
ague; it is said to be quite as efficient, and has the advantage of being 
much less expensive. 
Dose: of quinine, as an antiperiodic, 2 to 5 grains, every three or 
four hours, during the intervals of the disease; as a tonic, 1 to 2 
grains, three or four times a day before eating. (See Cinchona, 
Ague. ) 
QUINSY, OR TONSILLITIS, kwin'-ze ton-sil-lV-tis [corrupted from 
Fr. esquinancie q Low Lat. cynanche}. This is a very common disorder, 
consisting of inflammation of the tonsils, uvula, and soft palate; if it QUINSY, ETC. 
1047 
penetrate beyond the mucous membrane it is apt to end in suppuration. 
It recurs from time to time; and when the inflammatory action runs 
high, extends to the neighboring salivary glands. It occurs most fre- 
quently in the young and full-blooded, and some persons seem naturally 
predisposed to it; and it is noticed to run in certain families. 
Causes.-Its most frequent cause is exposure to cold and wet; some- 
times it assumes an epidemic form, attacking many persons in a com- 
paratively short space of time; but it does not spread by contagion. It 
very rarely proves fatal, but runs its course in nine or ten days. In 
some rare instances it has extended into the organs of voice, and 
assumed a much more serious character. 
Symptoms.-On looking into the mouth, the tonsils, uvula, and fauces 
are seen to be red and swollen; sometimes numerous white patches are 
noticed upon the surface of the tonsils, having the appearance of little 
ulcers. There is great difficulty experienced in swallowing, and it is 
attended with acute pain; the eustachian tube leading from the back part 
of the throat to the ear becomes stopped up, and causes partial deafness; 
the breathing is not affected, except in the worst cases. 
Treatment.-The patient should be kept in a warm room, and placed 
on broth diet, as it is impossible for him to swallow any kind of solid 
food; he may take beef-tea, arrowroot, gruel, and tapioca made with 
milk; the bowels must be regulated by mild purgatives, and a linseed 
poultice applied to the throat; in some cases a camphor liniment does 
good. Steam of hot water should be inhaled; and currant jelly may be 
sucked down to act as a stimulus to the relaxed mucous membrane. 
This affection is often constitutional, depending upon a low state of 
health, and then requires supporting treatment. Wine must be freely 
allowed, and some form of iron prescribed; and this drug will be 
rendered more useful by combining it with chlorate of potash, 
which seems to have almost a specific action upon diseases of the 
throat. 
Take of Powdered chlorate of potash One and a half dram. 
Tincture of perchloride of iron Two drams. 
Dilute hydrochloric acid One dram. 
Pure water Eight ounces.-Mix. 
Give 2 tablespoonfuls every four hours. 
When suppuration has set in, and puriform matter is collecting in the 
substance of the tonsils, they must be punctured, or the breathing will 
become much interfered with. In all cases of quinsy in which the 
inflammatory symptoms are severe, we must guard against its extending 
into the air-passages, for then we have a comparatively harmless disease 
converted into one which is most pernicious to life, as we shall see 1048 
QUINSY, ETC.-RANUNCULUS. 
when considering acute inflammation of the larynx, in the article 
Laryngitis. 
QUITCH GRASS. (See Triticum Repens.) 
QUOIT PLAYING. (See Exercise.) 
QUOTIDIAN, kwo-tid'-e-qn [Lat. quotidianus; quotus, what, and 
dies, a day], a term applied to an ague, the paroxysms of which occur 
daily. (See Ague. ) 
R. 
R. or , at the commencement of a medical prescription, is a con- 
traction for recipe. (See Recipe. ) 
RABBIT, rob'-bit. The rabbit, like other game, is extremely easy 
of digestion, apart from the various dressings and stuffings. 
RABIES, ra'-bi-eez, as a term, is usually synonymous with hydro- 
phobia or canine madness. (See Bites and Stings, Hydrophobia.) 
RADISH, rad'-ish [Lat. radix, a root, a radish]. The radish is 
pungent and antiscorbutic; but like most other vegetables which are 
eaten uncooked, is not suitable for persons of weak digestive powers. 
RADIUS, ra'-de-us [Lat.] One of the bones of the fore-arm. (See 
Arm, Anatomy.) 
RAGWEED. (See Ambrosia.) 
RAGWORT, GOLDEN. (See Senecio Aureus.) 
RAIN. (See Barometer, Damp.) 
RAISIN, ra'-zn [from Lat. racemus, a bunch or cluster]. The dried 
grape, in which the mucilaginous, and perhaps acid constituents of the 
fresh fruit have been converted into grape sugar in the process of desic- 
cation. Raisins are used in various medicinal preparations. As an 
article of diet they are unwholesome only if the tough, indigestible skins 
are eaten. In the case of children, much disorder is frequently caused 
by the undigested skins of raisins passing into the bowels, and lodging 
in the sacculi or little pouches of the large intestines, where they cause 
much irritation, and probably troublesome diarrhoea, which is only 
relieved when a dose of castor-oil, or of some other aperient, clears out 
the offending accumulation. Raisin skins may thus lodge in the bowels 
for weeks. 
RANUNCULUS, rq-nurt-ku-lus, or buttercup, a genus of plants 
belonging to the Nat. order Ranunculaceoe. There are many species 
which are common to both America and Europe. The leaves of almost 
all the species possess a very acrid property, said to be due to a RANUNCUL US-REA CTION. 
1049 
crystalline principle called ranunculin. The bruised leaves are useful in 
domestic practice as a rubefacient, and if left long in contact with the 
skin, will produce vesication. They lose their virtue when dried, and 
consequently are not much used. The distilled water will act as a prompt 
emetic. 
RAREFACTION, rar-e-fak'-shun [Lat. rarus, thin, and facto, to 
make]. The act of making a substance less dense; this is generally 
effected by the increase of temperature; the term being mostly applied 
to elastic fluids, which expand by heat, and so become rarefied. To 
solids and liquids we apply the terms dilation and expansion; to aeri- 
form fluids rarefication, which it has been found by experiments with 
the air-pump can be carried to so great an extent as to cause air to 
occupy a volume 13,000 times greater than it does ordinarily. Air in a 
highly rarefied state, as it is at great elevations, which will cause the 
same effect as heat does below, is unfit for breathing. Travellers who 
ascend high mountains, and persons who go up in balloons, frequently 
experience the most acute pains at every breath they draw. 
RASH, rash [Fr. rache], is a popular term for eruptions on the skin, 
more especially such as rose-rash or scarlet-rash, nettle-rash, etc., which 
do not present either vesicles or pustules. Mild aperients, as rhubarb or 
magnesia (which see), attention to diet, cooling drinks, and tepid baths, 
will generally effect a cure in ordinary rashes. For full treatment of 
rose-rash, nettle-rash, etc., see Skin, Diseases of the. (See also Hives, 
Prickly Heat, Erythema, etc.) 
RASPBERRY, raz -l)er-re^ or ras' -ber-re. The raspberry is one of 
the most wholesome fruits we possess, either in its fresh state, or pre- 
served. In the latter form, it is a most grateful addition to the sick- 
room comforts. In fever, and feverish diseases generally, when the acid 
is not an objection, the w'ell-known raspberry-vinegar is both an agreeable 
and salutary beverage. When the acid is inadmissible, a pleasant drink 
is made by mingling the preserve, or jam, with water. The raspberry 
has valuable medicinal properties, for which see Rubus. 
RASPBERRY, GROUND. (See Hydrastis Canadensis.) 
RASPBERRY VINEGAR. (See Raspberry.) 
RAT ANY, OR RHATANY. (See Krameria Triandra.) 
RATTLE-ROOT. (See Black Cohosh.) 
RATTLESNAKE ROOT. (See Nabalus Albits.) 
RATTLESNAKES, BITES OF. (See Bites and Stings.) 
REACTION, re-ak'-shun, in Medicine, is the resistance of the animal 
system to depressing causes; a resistance, however, which tends not 
only to restore to the ordinary level of action, but to go farther, and to 
stimulate to action above that level; thus, after the cold stage of fever, 1050 
REA CT10N-RECREATION. 
the reaction to the hot gives a skin hotter than usual, a pulse quicker 
and probably stronger than usual; the same effect occurs in reaction 
after depression from other causes, such as after accident; in combat- 
ting, therefore, especially by means of stimulants, the depression which 
in such cases at first seems almost to threaten life, the after reaction 
must not be lost sight of, and the means of relieving the depression 
administered with a sparing and judicious hand. When reaction can be 
procured by the natural powers of the system, by external warmth, and 
by warm, comparatively unstimulating fluids, such as tea, etc., it is 
better effected than by the use of more powerful excitants. In some 
cases, however, the latter are absolutely necessary to preserve life, and 
then ammonia, in some form, but especially as sal-volatile, alcoholic 
stimuli, such as wine and brandy, and the others, are all powerful pro- 
moters of reaction. In some peculiar cases, emetics of mustard, by 
rousing the system, greatly assist reaction. (See Shock, Accidents.) 
HEADING, OR SPEAKING ALOUD, reed'-Ing, is a good exer- 
cise for those who have sound healthy lungs, and are free from affections 
of the throat and bronchial passages; but, by those who are predisposed 
to consumption, such exercise should be avoided as much as possible; 
as, if persisted in, there will, probably, ere long be spitting of blood, 
huskiness, dry cough, and other bad symptoms. Where there is a pre- 
disposition to head affections, also, loud and continuous reading or 
speaking, should be avoided, as the quickened respiration and circula- 
tion, which are caused by this practice, will be likely to bring on an 
attack of apoplexy. In cases of hysteria and nervous disorders, how- 
ever, this exercise may be recommended as remedial, provided it be not 
carried beyond the strength of the patient. Those who are obliged to 
read or speak much, as ministers, lecturers, etc., should be careful not 
to expose themselves to fogs or cold air, and to moisten the throat occa- 
sionally with a little water, or some demulcent or acidulous drink. (See 
Singing, Voice, Speech, Clergyman's Sore Throat.) 
RECIPE, res'-e-pe [Lat. take], is a name sometimes applied to a 
medical prescription, from the symbol R denoting recipe, with which it 
begins. 
RECOVERY. (See Convalescence.) 
RECREATION, rek-re-a'-shun [Lat. recreatio}, or the renovation of 
the powers of body or mind, after they have been exhausted by toil, is 
one of the highest pleasures enjoyable by man; a real pleasure, because 
it can only be purchased by those previous exertions, in the performance 
of which, although they are exertions, man feels that he is fulfilling the 
ends of his being. 
The subject of recreation involves a great practical truth. Those RECREATION-RECTUM. 
1051 
who do not work cannot know recreation; without the action, there can 
be no reaction, for the one follows the other as effect follows cause, and 
when all is in order, as a necessary cause. 
Again, recreation must alternate with work, if the power of working 
is to be retained. If recreation cannot be enjoyed without work, neither 
can work be enjoyed, or vigorously pursued, without recreation; but the 
fact has been greatly overlooked in this busy age, and work is pursued 
unceasingly, until either body or mind sink under the never ending 
tension, or, if they do endure, until the power of taking recreation is lost, 
until the mind becomes so immersed in its daily engagements, in its 
daily routine, that it cannot divest itself of the trammels thrown 
around it. 
The kind of recreation in which a man should indulge must, of course, 
depend greatly upon circumstances, but, generally speaking, a complete 
change of scene and air is desirable, such as will break in upon old trains 
of thought, give new ideas, and afford pleasurable recollections, when 
the active exertions of life are again returned to. 
Recreation, reaction after toil, or in other words, periodical stimula- 
uon of mind and body, in those who work, is so strongly instinctive that 
it will be sought, and if not found in one way, in the reading-room, the 
lecture, the concert, the garden, the croquet lawn, the base-ball ground, 
the fete or the excursion, will be procured in the bar-room, or in degrad- 
ing and vicious pursuits. 
To sum up, the stimulus of recreation is one of those stimuli neces- 
sary for the continued healthy tone of both mind and body; it cannot be 
neglected without injury to both; its gratification ought to be directed 
into those channels which will preserve its utility, because they preserve 
it in order, in moderation, and in purity. (See Exercise, Health 
Resorts, Pleasure, Travelling, Excitants, etc.) 
RECTUM, rek'-tum [Lat. rectni, straight]. The rectum is the 
terminating extremity of the large* bowel which opens at the anus, or 
fundament. It derives its name from its straight course, as compared 
with the tortuosity of the other portions of the intestines; it is about nine 
inches in length, lies in front of the sacrum (see Pelvis), and expands 
into a dilatation just above the external opening, or anus, at which it 
is closed by a sphincter muscle, which retains the contents of the 
bowel, unless, when under the influence of the will, it permits their 
expulsion. 
The rectum is subject to various diseases, which generally require 
efficient surgical assistance for their safe and speedy cure. 
Children are occasionally born with what is called " imperforation" 
of the rectum, that is, the gut, instead of being an open canal, is closed 1052 
RECTUM. 
wholly or partially, either at the external opening, or higher up. When 
imperforation of the rectum in an infant is either evident or is sus- 
pected, from the non-passage of the natural contents of the bowel down- 
wards, from the belly becoming tense and full, and from vomiting of the 
contents of the bowels, the child should at once be seen by a surgeon, 
for it is possible that a simple operation, adopted without loss of time, 
may rectify the evil, and preserve life. 
Obstruction of the rectum, painful or otherwise, may occur either in 
adults or children, in consequence of the presence either of hardened 
faeces, in considerable quantity, or of foreign bodies which have 
descended after being swallowed, and become fixed in the gut, just above 
the lower opening, or which have been introduced directly into the canal, 
either by accident or design. 
The dilatation of the rectum just above the anal opening, rather 
favors, in some cases, the accumulation of the hardened faecal contents of 
the bowels, especially in the aged, a condition which is apt to occasion 
much suffering and inconvenience. Such an accumulation generally 
requires the aid of the surgeon, who removes it by mechanical means, 
such as scoops, and such like instruments; or the handle of a spoon is 
sometimes used in the absence of the above. In proper hands, the case 
is, of course, safe, but it would not be well for unprofessional persons to 
attempt such interference; much, however, may be done by the perse- 
vering use of mild injections of about half a pint of fluid at a time, which 
will first soften and finally induce the discharge of the mass. For 
infants, the finger is the best and safest instrument for clearing the 
rectum frem fiecal matter. 
Foreign bodies lodged in the rectum may produce distress simply 
from their bulk, or they may produce much suffering by lacerating the 
lining membrane by sharp edges or points, causing intense pain on any 
attempt being made to evacuate the bowels; children not unfrequently 
suffer in this way, from the stones. of plums, etc., which they have 
swallowed, and the author has seen a case in which the greatest agony 
was apparently caused in a child, by the hard core of an apple becoming 
fixed at the opening. In all such cases, it is advisable to get proper 
advice at once, but in the absence of this, injections of tolerably thick 
gruel may be used, or the finger, well-greased, may be carefully intro- 
duced within the gut, to ascertain, if possible, the presence, and assist 
the removal of any small body within reach, but no instrument can be 
safely used except by a medical man. (See Enteritis.) 
Obstruction of the rectum may likewise be the result of disease 
which causes narrowing or "stricture" of its canal; this disease, 
which generally occurs after middle life, may either be of a simple RECTUM-RED-GUM, OR TOOTH-RASH. 
1053 
or of a cancerous nature. The symptoms of simple stricture are slow, 
painful and imperfect evacuations of the bowels, the desire to empty the 
rectum continuing after the most powerful and prolonged efforts of 
expulsion, the discharge of fluid matters with great force, as if from a 
squirt, the appearance of the solid evacuations in the form of slender 
cylinders, or small round masses, and the admixture of a large quantity 
of mucus, often bloody, with the feculent excretions. The disease 
generally manifests itself very insidiously, and before long is usually 
accompanied with a distended state of the abdomen, which is owing 
partly to retention of the intestinal contents, and partly to a tympanitic 
condition, induced by the irritation thus occasioned. The desire to 
empty the bowels becomes at length almost incessant, and the frequent 
attempts which are made to do so, being seldom followed by any evacua- 
tion, except of fluids, there is a risk of erroneously supposing that the 
patient labors under diarrhoea; and with this view of prescribing medi- 
cines which have a tendency to increase the distension of the intestines. 
It is only requisite to add that when such symptoms as the above show 
themselves, there is but the one course left, that of procuring the best 
advice as soon as possible. (See Enteritis.) 
Ulceration of the lining membrane of the rectum, fissure at the anal 
opening, and other diseases, especially the last-named, which produce 
painful sensations, when the bowels are evacuated, can only be properly 
investigated and treated by a surgeon. 
Falling, or "prolapsus" of the bowel, and piles, have already been 
considered under their proper articles. (See Prolapsus Ani, Piles.) 
Fistula is a disease connected with the rectum, which often causes 
much inconvenience, see Fistula. (See also Alimentary Canal, 
Abdomen, Intestines, etc.) 
RECTUS, rek'-tus [Lat. straight], a term applied to certain muscles 
and some other parts, from their straight appearance, as rectus abdo- 
minalis, etc. 
RED CEDAR. (See Juniperus.) 
RED CENTAURY. (See Sabbatia Angularis.) 
RED CLOVER. (See Clover, Red and White.) 
RED COCKSCOMB. (See Amaranth.) 
RED ELM. (See Ulmus Fulva.) 
RED-GUM, OR TOOTH-RASH, red'-gum, is an affection peculiar 
to infancy, and is characterized by an eruption of small red pimples, 
coming in successive crops, and attended frequently with intense itch- 
ing. Sometimes it covers nearly the whole body. 
Causes.-Too much clothing, unwholesome food, excessive heat of 
the nursery, or painful gums from teething. 1054 
RED-GUM, OR TOOTH-RASH-RELAPSING FEVER. 
Treatment.-If the gums are very much swollen and tender, relief 
may be obtained by freely lancing them; the bowels must be relieved 
by magnesia or castor-oil, and scrupulous cleanliness be enforced, avoid- 
ing at the same time the use of irritating soap, which occasionally gives 
rise to the complaint. The itching may be relieved by sponging the 
surface with lime-water, or the following lotion may be used: 
Take of Borax, powdered Two drams. 
Glycerine, pure One-half ounce. 
Water One-half pint. 
Apply with a soft sponge, two or three times a day. The ventilation of 
the room must, of course, be attended to, and the clothing lessened. 
RED OAK. (See Quercus.) 
RED PEPPER, OR CAYENNE PEPPER. (See Capsicum.) 
RED PRECIPITATE. (See Mercury.) 
RED PUCCOON. (See Sanguinaria Canadensis.) 
RED RASPBERRY. (See Rubus.) 
REDUCTION, re-duk' -shun [Lat. reductid\. In Chemistry this 
signifies the process by which a substance is restored to its original or 
natural state. In Surgery it is the operation by which a dislocated 
bone is restored to its proper situation. (See Dislocations, Chemistry.) 
REDUNDANCY OF BLOOD. (See Plethora). 
REFLEX, re -fleks [Lat. reflecto, rejlexus, to turn back], a name 
given to that kind of nervous action in which impressions made on the 
extremity of one nerve are propagated to the extremity of another 
through the nervous centre without the intervention of the will. 
REFRIGERANTS, re-frij'-ur-gnts [From Lat. re, again, and/r^ws, 
cold], in Medicine, are remedies employed to reduce the existing tem- 
perature'of the body, either locally or generally. The best and most 
direct refrigerant, is the obvious one, cold itself, used through the 
medium of cold air, cold water, or ice, and in most cases, when the 
animal temperature is raised above the natural standard, in some of 
these forms cold is useful. 
REGIMEN, rej'-e-men [Lat. rego, I govern], a term used to denote 
the regulation of the diet and habits of an individual with a view to the 
preservation of health or the cure of disease. As the particulars of 
regimen are sufficiently entered into under the various articles, it is 
superfluous to notice them further here. (See Diet, Meals, Training ; 
Rule, Living by ; Exercise, Clothing, Sleep, Occupation, etc. ) 
RELAPSING FEVER, re-laps -ing [from Lat. re, again, back, and 
labor, to fall or slip]. The variety of fever to which this name has been 
assigned is only known to occur in an epidemic form. Though fre- 
quently severe, it is very rarely indeed fatal. RELAPSING FEVER-REMITTENT, ETC. 
1055 
Symptoms.-Like all febrile complaints, this disease commences with 
shivering, which, as a general rule, comes on quite suddenly, the person 
attacked being up to that time in the enjoyment of his usual health. 
Following the shivering, are headache (often very acute) and the usual 
symptoms of a disordered state of the stomach and bowels-namely, a 
foul tongue, nausea, and not unfrequently vomiting, loss of appetite, and 
thirst. In very severe cases, the surface of the body and the white por- 
tions of the eyes become yellow in color; in short, jaundice supervenes. 
At the termination of a week from the first occurrence of these symp- 
toms, usually on the seventh day, a crisis takes place, generally by a 
profuse perspiration over the whole body; in a few instances by bleeding 
from the nose; in others by a diarrhoea; and then, though considerably 
weakened, the patient is virtually convalescent. The restoration to 
health does not, however, continue for more than five to eight days, for 
usually, within that period, the original symptoms recur, perhaps in a 
mitigated form, but perhaps even more severely than at the first- 
shivering, headache, disorder of stomach, by which the individual is 
again prostrated. This is the relapse. The febrile symptoms which 
constitute it continue for a like period, and are once more terminated by 
a profuse perspiration, or in the other ways already mentioned. After 
this, probably a permanent convalescence commences; but, in not a few 
instances, a second relapse, and in a few even a third, take place. 
Treatment.-In the way of treatment, it will generally be found that 
some degree of relief is afforded by free action of the bowels in the early 
stages, and from the employment of one of the ordinary febrifuge reme- 
dies, such as the spirit of mindererus. Many methods of preventing the 
relapse have been tried ; all have, however, failed. Quinine, bibeerine, 
arsenic, and other antiperiodic remedies, have proved useless; emetics 
and divers plans, quite ineffectual. The relapse will come. It is of 
great consequence, in the interval of freedom from fever, before its recur- 
rence, that the patient should live quietly, and that the appetite, which 
may be fully restored, be not fully indulged. 
RELAXATION. (See Recreation, Exercise, Pleasure, Health 
Resorts, Excitants, etc.) 
REMEDIES FOR THE HOUSEHOLD. (See Household Medi- 
cines.) 
REMITTENT, OR BILIOUS FEVER, re-mit'-tent [from Lat. re, 
back, and mitto, to send], a peculiar form of fever, characterized by intense 
headache, and by the falling and rising of the symptoms once every twenty- 
four hours, giving rise to what is known by physicians as a remission and 
an exacerbation. It is frequently known as bilious, or bilious remittent 
fever, because it is almost invariably associated with symptoms of 1056 
REMITTENT, ETC. 
disordered liver, and lake fever, because it prevails often along the borders 
of inland lakes. A malignant form of remittent fever, met with in the 
Southern and Southwestern States, is known as congestive or pernicious 
remittent fever. Next to the intermittent, it is the most prevailing type of 
fever in the middle, southern and western portions of this continent. It 
is, in fact, the prevailing summer and autumn epidemic of those regions, 
and unacclimated visitors are peculiarly liable to its attacks. 
Causes.-A high degree of atmospherical temperature seems almost 
necessary to the production of this disease, as it may almost always be 
found in hot climates, and is the result of malarial causes, much moisture, 
and decaying vegetable matter. 
Symptoms.-For some days preceding an ordinary attack of remit- 
tent fever, the patient complains of languor, nausea, aversion to food, 
a sense of uneasiness and distress in the stomach, and more or less pain 
and feeling of tightness over the eyes, with, generally, a constipated 
condition of the bowels. These symptoms are followed by a chill, 
sometimes amounting to nothing more than a feeling of coldness, last- 
ing for several hours and succeeded by increased heat of the whole 
surface; the skin is dry, the face Hushed, the eyes red, the respiration 
irregular and the pulse quick aud frequent. There is more or less pain 
in the back and extremities, a feeling of great fulness and tension in the 
head, and constant nausea-often amounting to the ejection of every- 
thing taken into the stomach-the vomited matter having a bitter taste, 
and yellowish or greenish-yellow appearance. There is much thirst, a 
costive condition of the bowels, and an almost constant hawking and 
spitting of a tough, glairy matter; the tongue is generally moist, red at 
the tip and edges, and coated, sometimes very thickly, with a light-brown 
or yellowish fur. After the disease has lasted some days, the skin and 
the white of the eyes acquire a yellow tinge. This train of symptoms, 
constituting the period of exacerbation, lasts from six to twelve hours, 
when they gradually abate, the skin becomes moist, and the patient falls 
asleep, or the skin continuing dry, the patient is restless and uneasy. 
This condition, known as the period of remission, lasts for some hours, 
longer or shorter according to the violence of the attack, when the 
period of exacerbation returns, the symptoms often being marked with 
increased violence. In the more intense forms of this fever, all these 
symptoms are very much aggravated, the exacerbations are longer and 
the remissions are shorter and less distinct, running rapidly into each 
other until the fever becomes almost continued in its character. The 
usual duration of remittent fever is from nine to Hfteen days, but.it fre- 
quently continues three or four weeks, followed by a very protracted 
convalescence. What is known as the congestive or pernicious variety, REMITTENT, ETC. 
1057 
sometimes attacks very suddenly, causing profound prostration, from 
which the patient only partially rallies, and proves fatal in a very few 
days. Jaundice, enlargement or induration of the liver, anasarca and 
affections of the spleen are some of the sequels of remittent fever. 
Treatment.-In the highly inflammatory forms of this disease, and 
where there is great pain in the head and back, much relief is obtained 
by the application of a^few leeches near the seat of the pain, and by 
cupping along the spine. Venesection should not be practised except 
on the advice of a physician. Where there is great and persistent heat 
and dryness of the surface, great benefit results from sponging with cold 
water, and equally important with the external application of cold water 
is the internal administration of the same remedy. The patient may 
be allowed to drink freely of cold water or of iced lemonade. Not only 
does it prove grateful to the patient, but it diminishes the heat of the 
system, relaxes the skin and promotes free perspiration. The bowels 
should be freely evacuated early in the attack, and those cathartics 
should be used which produce viscid, dark-colored stools. The follow- 
ing is an excellent form for this purpose: 
Take of Calomel Six grains. 
Podophyllin Six grains 
Leptandrin Eighteen grains.-Mix. 
Divide into 6 powders, one of which may be given as circumstances 
demand, followed by a dessertspoonful of castor-oil or 1 to 2 fluid 
ounces of senna-tea. Where there is much irritability of the stomach, 
relief may be obtained by the application of a few leeches, or a blister 
over the epigastrium. Small pieces of ice may be allowed to dissolve 
in the mouth, and a few drops of chloric ether or creasote water may be 
given every half hour. Watson says he has seen the most persistent 
vomiting controlled by the administration of 1 grain of sugar of lead in 
a small quantity of water, every hour or two. During the exacerbation, 
1 dessertspoonful of the spirit of mindererus, with 20 drops of sweet 
spirit of nitre, in | an ounce of water, may be given every three hours. 
This serves to promote perspiration and to maintain the secretion from 
the kidneys. When a complete intermission in the symptoms has 
been brought about, and no signs of inflammation are present, quinine 
in doses of 3 grains, with the addition of a few drops of elixir of vitriol,, 
may be given every four or six hours, and will generally accelerate a 
cure. 
The room of a bilious fever patient should be kept perfectly cool and 
well-ventilated, but not exposed to any glaring light. Light bed-clothes 
should be employed, and be frequently changed, and the patient be kept 
as quiet as possible. Until the symptoms are subdued, the patient 
67 1058 
REKITTENT, ETC. 
should not be troubled with much food, and then only of the lightest 
description. During convalescence, the patient must be guarded from 
any sudden changes of temperature, from too much fatigue, such as 
sitting up too long or too often, and from errors in diet; the change 
from light to strong food must be very gradually made. If the appe- 
tite remains weak, a tonic, in the shape of | an ounce of infusion of 
calumba or wild cherry bark, may be given three or four times a day. 
In the graver forms of this fever, medical aid should always be promptly 
summoned. 
Preventive treatment.-The preventive treatment of this disease is 
the same as that described under article Ague. Unacclimated persons 
are generally the first attacked by this disease; persons so exposed 
should also read the directions given under article Acclimatization. 
Remittent, Infantile.-There is a peculiar form of fever, prevalent 
in childhood, to which the name of infantile remittent has been given. 
In the great majority of cases this is typhoid fever, and the cases present 
more or less distinctly the chief features of that malady as it is seen in 
the adult. Children from two to ten years of age suffer from it most 
frequently. 
Symptoms.-Usually the affection comes on suddenly, and the febrile 
excitement runs high; but after the continuance of a hot skin and quick 
pulse, with pain in the head, loss of appetite, and other feverish symp- 
toms, for some hours, these all undergo a great change, becoming much 
less observable; and when morning arrives, the child is found almost 
free from fever. As the day advances, the condition of feverishness 
returns; and so the disease continues for a few days, but it may also be 
for weeks. With these symptoms, there is very generally found some 
sufficient cause of irritation, perhaps in the mouth, the child losing his 
teeth at the time; or, as happens more frequently, in the stomach and 
bowels. The latter are generally very irregular, diarrhoea occurring at 
one time, constipation existing at another; worms, moreover, are often 
present. The child is irritable and very fretful. 
Treatment.-While the disease lasts, small doses of rhubarb and 
magnesia should be given to regulate the bowels, unless diarrhoea exists; 
and, if so, lime water, with a little milk added, will be found useful. 
Quinine should be given in doses proportionate to the age of the 
child (| a grain to 1 grain, three or four times, at intervals, during its 
continuance), and it may be alternated with the mindererus spirit, which, 
when a little sugar is added along with the water, children usually take 
quite readily. The warm bath, or the application of hot fomentations 
over the belly, should not be neglected. 
As to diet, that must for a time be of the simplest possible description, REAIITTENT, ETC.-RESPIRATION. 
1059 
the lighter farinaceous articles being alone permitted-arrowroot and 
sago. The child is thirsty, and may be allowed water to drink. 
Cases of this nature must always be carefully watched, for during 
their progress various symptoms of a serious and alarming nature are 
apt to be developed, sometimes connected with the head, sometimes 
with the belly. 
When convalescence is fully established, much caution is requisite in 
regard to diet. 
RENAL, re-not [Lat. Venae's/ renes, the reins], belonging to the 
kidneys. (See Kidney; Kidney, Diseases of the.) 
RENNET, OR RUNNET, reri -n^fAng.-Sax. gerunnen, coagulated], 
the inner membrane of the calf's stomach, which, when infused in hot 
water, yields a fluid which has the property of coagulating milk, and con- 
verting it into curd and whey. 
REPRODUCTION. (See Sterility.) 
RESIDENCE. (See Houses. ) 
RESIN, OR ROSIN, rez'-in, roz'-in [Lat. resinai], the residue of the 
distillation of turpentines from various species of Pinus and Abies. The 
color of the resin depends on the amount of heat applied, the greater the 
heat the darker the color. It is never given internally; finely powdered, 
it is occasionally applied as a styptic to recent wounds. The ointment 
is useful in cases of foul and indolent ulcers. A substitute for the 
basilicon ointment is made by melting together 8 ounces of powdered 
rosin, 4 ounces of yellow wax, and 16 ounces of simple ointment. (See 
Basilicon.) 
RESOLUTION, rez-o-lri-shun [Lat. resolvo, I loosen], is applied to 
the dispersion of swellings, indurations, etc., or the termination of 
inflammation without any abscess, mortification, etc. (See Inflamma- 
tion. ) 
RESPIRATION, res-pe-ra-shun [Lat. re, and spiro, I breathe]. 
Breathing, in its widest sense, is the process by which atmospheric air is 
brought into contact with the fluids existing in the interior oi organized 
beings, whether vegetables or animals; in man, it is the function by 
which atmospheric air is introduced or drawn into the lungs or respira- 
tory organs, and again expelled, after its oxygen has been exchanged for 
the carbonic acid with which the venous blood is loaded as it enters the 
lungs. The air brought into contact with the blood is decomposed, its 
oxygen uniting with the blood, whilst its nitrogen is returned by expira- 
tion unchanged, with an additional quantity of carbonic acid gas. Thus 
the process of respiration in man comprises, first, the act of drawing in 
the air, or inspiration ; and secondly, that of expelling the air, or expira 
tion. The mechanical part of the function of respiration is effected by 1060 
RESPIRA TION-REVER Y. 
the action of the ribs and diaphragm. About twenty respirations take 
place in a minute. The quantity of air changed by each act of respira- 
tion is variously estimated by different observers; but the average 
amount may be stated to be from twenty to twenty-five cubic inches. 
For much further information on the important subject of respiration, 
see Aeration, Air, Oxygen, Nitrogen, Carbonic Acid Gas, Choke- 
Damp, Blood, Chest, Circulation oe the Blood, Lungs, Physiology, 
Ventilation, Respirator, etc. 
RESPIRATOR, res' -pe-rcv-tur, is the name of an instrument worn 
over the mouth in order to impart warmth to the air which is drawn into 
the lungs in breathing. It is composed of numerous layers of wirework, 
usually from eight to twenty-four, fixed in frames of very thin silver or 
other metal, and the whole bound together or enclosed in a border or 
case of soft leather, with usually an outer coat of a very fine and open 
woolen fabric over it. The warmth of the exhaled air in passing through 
the wires is imparted to the metal, and. is communicated to the fresh air 
before being inspired. In this way the lungs are protected from the 
influence of cold air, and those in whom these organs are delicate are 
in this way enabled to go out in the open air even when the weather is 
severe. 
A handkerchief of silk or woolen material is at once a simple and 
efficient respiratory protector. When respirators of close material cause 
difficulty of breathing, open knitted protectors of Shetland wool may be 
used. (See Respiration, Air, etc.) 
REST. (See Sleep.) 
RESUSCITATION, re-sus-se-ta -shun [Lat. resuscitatio}. The restora- 
tion to sensibility of persons apparently dead, is sufficiently treated of 
under articles Carbonic Acid, Choke-Damp, Cold, Drowning, Hanging, 
etc. 
RETCHING, reech'-ing [Sax. hroecan, to stretch, to vomit; properly, 
to reach], an ineffectual attempt to vomit. (See Nausea, Vomiting, etc.) 
PETE MUCOSUM, re'-te mu-ko'-sum [Lat. for mucous net], the 
internal layer of the outer or scarf-skin. (See Skin.) 
RETENTION OF URINE. (See Ischuria; Urine; Bladder, 
Diseases of the; etc.) 
RETINA. (See Eye.) 
RETIRING FROM BUSINESS. (See Occupation.) 
RE-VACCINATION. (See Vaccination.) 
RE VERY, rev'-e-re [Fr. rever, to dream, or be light-headed], prop- 
erly raving or delirium, but as generally understood, a voluntary abstrac- 
tion, an inactivity of the whole or greater part of the external senses to 
the impressions of surrounding objects during wakefulness. Dr. Good REVER Y-RHEUM A TISM. 
1061 
describes three species of this mental aberration, which he calls: (1) 
Absence of mind, in which the attention is truant, and does not yield 
readily to the dictates of the will; (2) Abstraction of mind, in which the 
attention is riveted, at the instigation of the will itself, to some particular 
theme unconnected with surrounding objects ; (3) Brown study, in which 
the attention has the control of the will to relax itself, and give play to 
whatever trains of thought are uppermost. 
RHAMNUS CATIIARTICUS, ram'-nus kath-ar'-te-kus, or buck- 
thorn, a European plant belonging to the Nat. order Rhamnaceoe. The 
berries and juice are powerfully purgative. They are seldom used alone, 
but generally to assist the action of other medicines. Dose: of the fluid 
extract, 1 to 2 teaspoonfuls; of the syrup, to 1 fluid ounce. 
RHATANY, OR RAT ANY. (See Krameria Triandra.) 
RHEUMATIC FEVER. (See Rheumatism.) 
RHEUMATISM, ru'-ma-tizm [Gr. reuma, a watery humor, and reo, 
to flow], is the term applied-not very accurately, it must be allowed- 
to pains situated in the joints, and in various parts of the muscular sys- 
tem, for these may differ essentially, both in their nature and exact seat. 
Rheumatism may be defined as a blood disorder, in which there is a 
tendency to inflammatory affections of the fibrous textures of the body; 
its usual manifestation is in those parts where fibrous textures exist, and 
more especially in the joints. 
It rarely .occurs in infancy, very seldom before puberty, and only 
occasionally in old age; the affection which is called rheumatism in the 
aged is most generally only stiffness of the muscles, accompanied with a 
considerable amount of pain. The greatest number of cases occur in per- 
sons from fifteen to forty years of age, and from their increased exposure 
to cold and wet, men are more subject to its attacks than women. 
There are more persons attacked in spring, summer, or fall, than in 
winter, it being the variable character of the weather, and the sudden 
transitions in the temperature, rather than the degree of cold, that pre- 
disposes to the disease. Rheumatism is not contagious, and is rendered 
dangerous chiefly from the fact that it is liable to be accompanied or fol- 
lowed by serious affections of other organs, more particularly inflamma- 
tion of the heart or its appendages, and dropsy. 
It is customary to speak of two kinds of rheumatism, which, though 
in numerous examples, perfectly distinct the one from the other, are, in 
not a few, so blended as almost insensibly to pass into each other. The 
one is acute rheumatism, or, as it is often named, rheumatic fever, 
inflammatory rheumatism, or articxdar rheumatism; the other, chronic 
rheumatism. Severe rheumatic pain in the muscles of the back is 
known as muscular rheumatism, or lumbago (see Lumbago), in the 1062 
RHEUMATISM. 
muscles of the neck, stiff-neck (see Neck), and in the muscles of the 
side pleurodynia. In the latter case it is often mistaken for an attack 
of pleurisy. (See Side, Pain in the.) 
Causes.-As may be inferred from what has already been written, 
the chief causes of rheumatism are hereditary tendency, over-exertion of 
the physical system, impure air and food, and undue exposure to cold 
and moisture, especially to sudden alternations of temperature. 
Acute Rheumatism, Rheumatic Fever, or Inflammatory Rheuma- 
tism.-Symptoms.-Acute rheumatism, or rheumatic fever, is character- 
ized by symptoms of high inflammatory fever, there is shivering, great 
heat of skin, followed by profuse sour-smelling perspiration; the pulse 
is rapid and full; the tongue, covered with a white, creamy looking fur, 
is red at the tip and margins ; there is much thirst, and the appetite is 
deficient. Delirium does not often occur, unless the heart becomes 
involved As a rule the bowels are constipated, though occasionally 
there is diarrhoea, and the urine is scanty and high-colored and loaded 
with uric acid. Coincident with the above constitutional symptoms, one 
or more of the large joints, or some of the tissues in the neighborhood 
of a joint, become exquisitely tender, swollen, and inflamed, the skin 
over the affected part turning red. Whatever may be the part or joint 
first affected in a case of acute rheumatism, it rarely becomes the fixed 
seat of the disease, which, before long, almost invariably transfers the 
site of its manifestation to some other joint, leaving the one previously 
affected entirely free, or nearly so; this shifting from one place to 
another, goes on during the whole period of the disease, and, indeed, 
constitutes its most characteristic and well-marked feature. 
Treatment.-The treatment of acute rheumatism is not, either likely 
or desirable, except under peculiar circumstances, to be trusted to 
unprofessional management; the long continuance of the disease, its 
painful nature, and above all, the possibility, almost probability, of so 
serious a complication as affection of the heart arising during its 
progress, all combine to render proper medical assistance from the first, 
highly desirable. 
When an individual suspects the disease to be impending, the first 
effort should be to excite the free action of the skin. If a warm 
or vapor bath can be procured, it is highly desirable; if it can- 
not, the best substitute will be a well-wanned bed, with hot bran 
bags, or hot bottles, and the free use of warm diluent drinks. A 
draught, composed of | an ounce of sweet spirit of nitre, 1 dram of 
paregoric, and 15 drops of ipecacuanha, in a wine-glassful of water, 
may be given every four or five hours. To this draught, 10 grains of 
the bicarbonate of potash may be added with advantage. Under the RHEUMATISM. 
1063 
above circumstances, any stimulant diaphoretic may be given with 
benefit, even a little whiskey, or other spirit, or wine, well-diluted with hot 
water; these stimuli being used, of course, only at first, and whilst 
fever is not yet present. 
When an attack of acute rheumatism characterized by the symptoms 
detailed at the commencement of this article, is unequivocally estab- 
lished, if medical assistance is not immediately procurable, the patient 
must be kept in bed, moderately warm, the thirst quenched by the free 
use of simple diluent drinks, and the diet reduced to a very low scale, 
anything like alcoholic stimuli, or animal preparations, being strictly 
forbidden, except in the cases of very debilitated persons, when animal 
broths, such as beef-tea, may be permitted in moderation. If fever runs 
high, tartar emetic, in from | to of a grain dose, may be given 
every four, five, or six hours, and with this, from 6 to 10 drops of 
laudanum may be combined, to alleviate the pain. Instead of simple 
laudanum, Dover's powder, in doses of from 10 to 20 grains, may be 
given. The bowels should be evacuated daily, and for this purpose the 
saline purgatives, as the sulphate of magnesia (Epsom salts), and the 
potassio-tartrate of soda (Rochelle salts), are the best. More recently, the 
treatment of acute rheumatism by lemon-juice has come into practice, and 
seems in many cases to answer extremely well. This treatment has the 
advantage of being perfectly safe, and therefore, where the lemon-juice can 
be procured, may without danger, be pursued in the absence of a medical 
man. One tablespoonful, or £ an ounce of lemon-juice, is to be given 
every four hours. The alkaline treatment of acute rheumatism is fol- 
lowed by some; 15 to 30 grains of bicarbonate, or the same quantity of 
the acetate, of potash being given, well-diluted in water, every four 
hours. 
As regards the local treatment of the inflamed joints, little is to be 
done in a disease which shifts its site as rapidly as acute rheumatism, 
for even if it can be driven from one joint, it must, as long as the poison 
is in the constitution, show itself elsewhere, it may be in the heart; 
above all things, leeching the joints, unless under peculiar circumstances, 
of which a medical man only can judge, is to be avoided; hot bran bags 
or flannels, saturated with hot water, or a hot solution of common baking- 
soda, an ounce to a pint of water, or the application of cloths moistened 
with laudanum or tincture of belladonna, sometimes give relief, but 
probably the following plan, laid down by Dr. Todd, will be the most 
advantageous local method of treatment. When the joints are much 
swollen and painful, much ease may be given by enveloping them in a 
large quantity of the soft carded cotton-"cotton wool" - over which 
there is wrapped completely a piece of oiled silk. By this air-tight 1064 
RHEUMATISM. 
covering, the joints are kept in a perfect vapor bath, and when it is 
removed, after twelve or twenty-four hours, the wool will be found satu- 
rated with moisture which is strongly acid. Tincture of iodine, applied to 
the affected part morning and evening, with a camel's hair brush, and the 
application of small blisters to the swollen joints, have been highly recom- 
mended, and sometimes give great relief. Great attention should be 
given to nursing a rheumatic fever patient; his bed should be very 
smoothly and evenly made, all cotton must be avoided, both on bed and 
patient, and the bed so placed in the room as to make it impossible for 
draughts of cold air to fall on the sufferer. Care must also be taken to 
maintain the atmosphere at an even and somewhat elevated temperature. 
Strong testimony has quite recently been advanced of the value of 
salicylic acid, salicylate of soda, and salicine, in the treatment of this 
disease. In doses of 3 or 4 grains every four hours, especially of the 
salicylic acid, the temperature and the frequency of the pulse have 
both been reduced, the dyspnoea and the pain have been materially 
lessened, and free perspiration prompted. On account of its acridity, 
the salicylic acid should either be taken in the form of pills, or in com- 
bination with an equal quantity of carbonate of soda. Propylamine is 
another remedy which has been found very successful in the treatment 
of both acute and chronic cases. The following is a good formula for its 
use: 
Take of Propylamine Twenty drops. 
Pure water Six ounces. 
Essence of peppermint Two drams.-Mix. 
Give 1 teaspoonful every hour. 
Heart complication.-symptoms of inflamed heart, in the above 
disease, may come on suddenly-whilst medical aid is hours distant. 
The patient is seized with palpitation, increased rapidity of pulse, oppres- 
sion of breathing, and sense of extreme anxiety in the region of the 
affected organ; pain may or may not be present. Every minute is of 
consequence. Leeches, if procurable, should be put on over the region 
of the heart, to the number of twelve or eighteen, according to the con- 
dition of the patient, followed by a warm linseed-meal poultice, or, better 
still, a poultice composed of equal parts of linseed-meal and mustard. 
Medical aid, if possible, should be promptly procured. 
Rheumatic fever, with heart complication, is probably one of the 
most fertile sources of heart diseases. (See Heart, Diseases of the.) 
Great care is necessary during convalescence, both in regard to diet, 
exercise and exposure. A relapse is frequently the result of negligence 
in these particulars. Where there is a tendency to recurrence of the 
symptoms, and the person formerly afflicted has warnings premonitory RHEUMATISM. 
1065 
of the fever, in the form of slight rheumatic pains in individual joints, 
which have been exposed to cold and wet, every precaution should be 
taken, and salicine, salicylic acid, or some alkaline medicine, should be 
used, by which means the attack may generally be averted. (See Sali- 
cine, Salicylic Acid, Alkali, etc.) 
Chronic Rheumatism.-Symptoms.-By chronic rheumatism, in the 
proper sense, should be meant a disease somewhat resembling the acute 
form, accompanied with but slight febrile derangement, if there is fever 
at all, and affecting one or more of the joints, generally the smaller ones, 
which continue for a greater or less length of time swollen and tender, 
the inflammation either subsiding without effect, or after long continu- 
ance, causing permanent thickening around the joints, probably with 
permanent distortion, the process being more or less accompanied with 
pain. In this form of rheumatism, instead of heat, there is often a sensa- 
tion of cold around the affected parts. 
Treatment.-The chronic nature of this disease must generally place 
it under proper medical control; the chief efforts of the unprofessional 
must be to correct any slight deviations from the general health, to pro- 
tect the affected parts especially from cold, by means of warm clothing, 
and to use friction, either with simple oil, or by means of the soap and 
opium liniment. Much comfort is not only derived from friction, but if 
combined with proper exercise of the joint or joints, it may do much to 
prevent permanent deformity. In chronic rheumatism, warmth of cli- 
mate is of much importance, and as much should be done towards the 
attainment of this as circumstances will permit. Dampness of the 
weather is never well borne, and climates remarkable for it should be 
avoided by all rheumatic patients. The Gettysburg mineral spring, the 
hot springs of Arkansas, and the magnetic springs of Michigan and 
Wisconsin, are excellent resorts for rheumatic sufferers. (See Health 
Resorts.) 
Sulphureous vapor, and Turkish baths, have been found of great 
service when persistently followed up. The chronic form of rheu- 
matism is frequently relieved by the use of the galvanic battery, and also 
by the local application of coal-oil, or of vaseline, which is an odorless 
preparation of petroleum. The Populus Tremuloides^ or American 
poplar, in doses of a teaspoonful of the powder, two or three times a day, 
a strong infusion of horse-radish, and a strong tea made from the 
Virginia snake-root, are popular remedies in many parts, and frequently 
very successful. Those cases of chronic rheumatism which are charac- 
terized by coldness of the parts are very likely to be benefited by the 
use of the guaiac mixture of the British Pharmacopoeia. It may be given 
in 2 tablespoonful doses every six hours. (See Guaiacum.) 1066 
RHEUMATISM. 
Salicylic Acid (which see) is often used with much benefit in this 
form of rheumatism. This is a new remedy. 
If the disease, as it sometimes does, assumes an intermittent char- 
a^er, the following will be found very useful: 
Take of Sulphate of quinine Twelve grains. 
Sulphate of iron Ten grains. 
Dilute sulphuric acid Half a dram. 
Pure water Six ounces.-Mix. 
Give 2 tablespoonfuls three times a day. 
Sometimes the symptoms resemble those of acute rheumatism, and 
require.a similar treatment. 
For description and treatment of another of its forms, see Lumbago. 
(See also Sciatica, Neuralgia.) 
Preventive treatment.-Cold and wet are particularly to be guarded 
against, and after exposure, the preventive measures already laid down 
adopted. Flannel or woolen, worn next the skin, must always be 
regarded as one of the chief preventives; it should, of course, be pro- 
portioned in thickness to the season and temperature. Some persons 
imagine that their liability to rheumatism, either acute or chronic, is 
increased by flannel; if it is, it is probably because the wool keeps the 
skin in too excited a state, and by increasing perspiration, increases the 
risk of suppression; in such cases, woven silk, when it can be afforded, 
is useful, or spun cotton may be used in winter. Many rheumatic patients 
And their chief protection in an under-dress of chamois leather. At all 
events, perfectly warm clothing, and protection against suppressed per- 
spiration, is essential in all such cases. Many of the above precautionary 
measures apply likewise to chronic rheumatism. Persons of full habit, 
liable to rheumatic attacks, should eschew malt liquor generally, should 
take animal food sparingly, and avoid violent exertions which heat the 
body. Persons of spare or feeble habit may live better, and indeed 
require to keep up the condition of the body to as good a pitch as 
possible. 
Hereditary predisposition to acute rheumatic affection ought always 
to be considered by parents in directing or advising upon the future des- 
tinations of their children, who ought never to engage in any occupa- 
tions which may involve much exposure to the vicissitudes of weather, 
for if they do, they almost certainly become the victims of rheumatic 
fever, involving long and painful present illness, and in all probability 
laying the foundation of years of future suffering, and of half-usefulness, 
from heart disease. Indeed, so serious are the considerations involved 
in hereditary predisposition to acute rheumatic disease, as to make it a 
question whether persons thus predisposed would not find it their best RHEUMATISM-RHEUM PALMATUM. 
1067 
plan to leave a changeable and often damp climate and make their home 
in one free from such objections; provided, of course, that after the 
removal, occupations are not engaged in which involve exposure. A visit 
to some of the mineral springs mentioned above, with proper treatment 
at the same time, will frequently ward off an attack of rheumatism. (See 
Damp, Cold, Clothing, Chloroform, Salicylic Acid, Salicine, Petro- 
leum, Vaseline; Calcium, Compound Elixir Iodo-Bromide of; Propy- 
lamine, Colchicum, Lemon, Acupuncture, Neuralgia, Sciatica, Lum- 
bago, etc.) 
RHEUMATISM-WEED. (See Chimaphila Umbellata.) 
RHEUM PALMATUM, re'-um pal-ma'-turn, or rhubarb. A plant 
belonging to the Nat. order Polygonaceoe. The exact source of the 
officinal rhubarb has not been definitely ascertained. The medicinal 
properties of rhubarb are peculiar and valuable. Its most remarkable 
peculiarity is the union of the cathartic and astringent power, the latter 
not interfering with the former, as the purgative effect precedes the 
astringent. From its mildness it is an appropriate laxative in mild cases 
of diarrhoea, chronic diarrhoeas and dysentery, by first evacuating any 
irritating matter contained in the bowels, and afterwards acting as an 
astringent. Also in convalescence from exhausting diseases, enfeebled 
condition of the bowels, dyspepsia, and scrofulous enlargement of the 
glands. It is one of the best laxatives for general use in infancy, for 
it is not apt to act with unexpected violence, and its tonic and astringent 
virtues render it peculiarly fit for the treatment of infantile cases attended 
with enfeebled digestion and irritation of the alimentary canal, as well 
as in a variety of children's complaints, as cholera infantum, summer 
complaints, etc. In nervous and putrid fevers it is preferable to saline 
and other purgatives. Powdered rhubarb has been recommended as an 
application to old and indolent ulcers for the purpose of promoting their 
granulation. The fluid extract is a safe and convenient preparation in 
most cases where a laxative is indicated. 
A combination of rhubarb and senna is prepared, suitable for cases 
where a simple cathartic is required. By the union of these drugs in 
the concentrated form of a fluid extract, and in due proportion, a 
cathartic is obtained'which is safe, unattended by unpleasant symptoms, 
and not followed by constipation. This preparation of rhubarb is pecu- 
liarly adapted to those cases where a tendency to constipation exists. 
"Rhubarb alone is unadvisable in cases of habitual constipation, on 
account of its subsequent astringent effect." 
Some persons habitually carry a piece of the root in their pockets, 
and cut off small fragments as they think them required. Chewing a 
small portion after meals, is often beneficial when the person is troubled 1068 
RHEUM PALMATUM-RHUS GLABRUM. 
with wind on the stomach. Dose: of compound rhubarb pill, 5 to 10 
grains; compound rhubarb powder, 20 to 60 grains (for children, 5 to 
10 grains); aromatic syrup of rhubarb, 1 to 4 teaspoonfuls (for children, 
| to 1 teaspoonful); tincture of rhubarb, as a stomachic, 1 to 2 tea- 
spoonfuls-as a purgative, 1 to 2 tablespoonfuls; wine of rhubarb, 1 to 
2 teaspoonfuls; fluid extract of rhubarb, to 1 teaspoonful; fluid 
extract of rhubarb and senna, £ to 1 teaspoonful; solid extract of rhubarb, 
2 to 10 grains; infusion of rhubarb, 1 to 2 fluid ounces. (See Infusion; 
Rhubarb, Garden. ) 
RHINOPLASTIC OPERATION, ri-no-plas-tik. The operation of 
restoring a mutilated nose. It is done by paring away the edges of the 
injured organ, and then cutting a flap of skin from the forehead of 
sufficient size to make good the mutilation, and adjusting it to the nose 
by means of sutures. 
RHONCUS, ron'-kus, is a term employed in auscultation, to denote 
a rattling or wheezing sound, occasioned either by the passing of the air 
through fluids in the lungs, or by constriction of the bronchial tubes. 
RHUBARB. (See Rheum Palmatum.) 
RHUBARB, GARDEN, too'-barb. As a cooling article of diet, it 
is wholesome for most persons, but some cannot take it without suffer- 
ing after, from stomach disorder, and others who have any tendency to 
certain urinary disorders, must most strictly avoid it; indeed, if garden 
rhubarb is too freely indulged in, it may give rise to urinary irritation. 
(See Malic Acid, Oxalic Acid, Rheum Palmatum.) 
RHUS GLABRUM, rus gla'-brum, or sumach. A short shrub 
belonging to the Nat. order Anacardiaceaz. It is common to the 
United States and Canada, and yields an active principle called rkusine. 
The bark and berries are both used. It is astringent and refrigerant, 
and. to an extent, febrifuge, and has been found valuable in gonorrhoea, 
leuchorrhoea, diarrhoea, dysentery, hectic fever and scrofula. A decoc- 
tion of the inner bark of the root is serviceable in sore mouth, caused 
by mercurial .salivation, and is much used internally in mercurial dis- 
eases. Syphilitic affections are said to be much benefited by a free use 
of sumach, in combination with the barks of slippery elm and white 
pine. A poultice of the bark applied to ulcers and gangrenous con- 
ditions, claims attention for its antiseptic properties. The infusion, 
sweetened with honey, is serviceable in the same way, for cleansing the 
mouth in putrid fevers. It is a cooling drink in ulceration of the throat. 
Dose: of the fluid extract, 1 to 2 teaspoonfuls; rhusine, 1 to 2 grains; 
decoction of sumach bark, 1 to 4 fluid ounces; infusion of sumach 
berries, 1 to 4 fluid ounces ; three or four times a day. (See Decoction, 
Infusion. ) RHUS TOXICODENDRON-RICE. 
1069 
RHUS TOXICODENDRON, rus' toks-e-ko-den'-drun, commonly 
known as poison ivy and poison oak, is a low creeping shrub, belonging 
to the Nat. order Anacardiacew. It grows all over the United States 
and Canada. The fresh juice is powerfully irritant, producing in some 
persons blistering of the skin, accompanied with a good deal of fever. 
The emanations from the plant are said to produce the same effect on 
some constitutions at quite a distance off. The irritation of the skin 
may be overcome by saline laxatives, and cooling applications to the 
surface. In doses of from 1 to 5 grains, the powdered leaves are said to 
produce effects similar to nux vomica. (See Strychnos Nux Vomica.) 
RIBS, ribz [Ang.-Sax. rib, ribb]. The ribs are the curved bones 
which inclose the chest and upper part of the abdomen. They are 
twelve in number on each side. Of these, the first seven on each side 
are directly connected with the breast-bone, or sternum, and are called 
the true ribs; the remaining five are called the false ribs; of these, the 
upper three are indirectly connected with the breast-bone, by means of 
cartilages attached to the cartilage of the last two ribs; the lowest two 
are unconnected with the breast-bone, or other ribs in front, and are 
therefore called floating ribs. The cartilages, by which the seven 
superior ribs are connected with the breast-bone, and by which the 
three upper false ribs are connected with the cartilage of the last true 
rib, are very elastic in early life; as, however, age advances, they become 
less so, and ultimately are converted into bone. The posterior extremity, 
or head of the rib, is attached to the spine by means of ligaments, which 
admit of a certain amount of movement. These ligaments are so strong 
as completely to resist displacement of the bone by violence; fracture, 
generally about the angle, taking place instead. (See Fractures.) 
The ribs are likewise attached in front to the breast-bone, by means 
of ligaments, and are connected to each other by short intercostal mus- 
cles, which act in the efforts both of inspiration and of expiration. 
The use of the ribs is to cover and defend the lungs and heart; and 
their articulations with the vertebrae and sternum admitting of a slight 
motion, they assist in respiration. (See Anatomy, Chest, Fractures.) 
RIBS, BROKEN. (See Fractures.) 
RICE, rise [Lat. oryza\. This well-known grain is far below most 
others of the class in actual nutritive power-not yielding more than 
three or four per cent, of plastic nutriment. Its chief constituent is 
starch, of which it contains eighty per cent. The property of rice, in 
tending to confine the bowels, renders it a valuable adjunct to sick 
cookery, when such an effect is required; in this case, it is most bene- 
ficial in the form of ground rice, or of rice-flour. In cases of diarrhoea, 
or of irritability of the stomach or bowels, rice-water, that is, water 1070 
RICE-EICIN US COMMUNIS. 
prepared from rice, as barley-water is from barley, is very useful as a drink. 
It may be flavored with lemon-peel, or any other condiment. If the case 
is a severe one, the solution of a teaspoonful of isinglass, or gelatine, in 
every pint of the water, is a useful addition. 
Arrack, a spirit used by the Orientals, is made from rice. (See 
Cereals. ) 
RICE WATER. (See Cookery for the Sick.) 
RICHES. (See Occupation.) 
RICH-WEED. (See Black Cohosh.) 
RICINUS COMMUNIS, ris'-e-nus kom'-mu-nis [Lat. ricinus, a tick, 
which its seed resembles.] The castor-oil plant, or palma christi; a 
native of India, belonging to the Nat. order Eupkorbiacece. Castor-oil 
is obtained from the seeds, either by expression with or without the aid 
of heat, or by decoction, or sometimes by the aid of alcohol. It is one 
of the most certain and the safest of our aperients; in most persons, it 
acts quickly, without pain, clears the bowels effectually, leaves them 
with a greater tendency to relaxation than before, and does not require 
the dose to be increased in consequence of repetition. 
On account of its gentle but effectual action, it is most valuable as 
an aperient, in properly-regulated doses, for persons of weak habit of 
body. Its certain action, the tendency to relaxation which remains after 
its employment, and the circumstance that the dose requires rather to be 
diminished than increased by continued use, render castor-oil peculiarly 
adapted for those who suffer from habitual constipation. In all con- 
ditions of body in which it is desirable to clear the bowels, effectually, 
but without much disturbance, the oil is invaluable, in pregnancy more 
particularly. Irritation of the mucus lining of the bowels, whether 
inflammatory, or in the form of simple diarrhoea, is in many cases more 
quickly relieved by castor-oil than by any other remedy. 
The great objection to castor-oil, its sickly nauseousness, has given 
rise to a variety of modes of taking it. Floated in brandy and water, 
barley-water, or some aromatic water, are favorite modes with many; 
others take it best in hot fluids, tea, coffee, or gruel, the heat getting rid 
of the feeling of oily consistency so disgusting to some. A piece of 
orange or lemon-peel, chewed just previous to taking a dose of castor-oil, 
blunts the acuteness of the nerves of taste. Castor-oil may be taken in 
emulsion, made with mucilage or milk; but rubbed up with yelk of egg 
is the best form of mixture. In this way, it is not so active an aperient 
as when uncombined; but in irritable and inflamed conditions of the 
lining membrane of the bowels, it is especially valuable when combined 
with opium. Six teaspoonfuls of castor-oil are to be well triturated in a 
mortar with the yelk of one egg, and to this, soft water, or some aromatic KICINUS COMMUNIS-HING WOHM. 
1071 
distilled water, is to be added gradually, to the extent of 6 ounces. If 
an aromatic water is not used, a few drops of some essential oil, such as 
cinnamon, may be added before the water. The mixture resembles 
custard in consistence. The dose, 1 ounce or 2 tablespoonfuls. The 
usual dose of castor-oil alone is 1 to 2 tablespoonfuls, for adults; 1 to 3 
teaspoonfuls, for infants. (See Eggs, Emulsion.) 
RICKETS, OR RACHITIS, rik'-ets [Lat. rachitis], is a disease 
of the bones, in which they are of unnatural softness, and become 
bent under the weight of the superincumbent parts of the body. It 
is confined to the young, and commonly makes its appearance between 
the first and third year. As soon as the weight of the body is thrown on 
the limbs, they become bent and twisted in the most extraordinary 
manner; the joints become enlarged, the chest and pelvis deformed, and 
the head large and swollen. The bones in this disease are found to be 
soft and cellular, and deficient in earthy matter. In addition to this, the 
muscles are always pale and weak, with other signs of general debility; 
besides which the brain and organs contained in the chest and abdomen 
are liable to suffer. 
Treatment.-1The nature of this disease requires that its treatment be 
directed chiefly to strengthening the general constitution by a good and 
well-regulated diet, pure air, warm clothing, bathing or sponging with 
sea water, and such active exercise as may be borne without fatigue. In 
addition to these, cod-liver oil, iron, and phosphate of lime should be 
given; and splints or other mechanical means employed to bring the 
parts into their natural shape. This treatment, however, can only be 
properly carried out by a medical man. 
RIDING. (See Exercise.) 
RIGOR, rig'-ur [Lat. rigor; rigeo, to stiffen], is the sudden sensa- 
tion of cold, accompanied with shaking, or in other words, the shivering 
which precedes the inflammatory stage of many acute diseases. It is 
probably a nervous affection, for it occurs likewise in many states of the 
body in which there is neither fever nor inflammation. It is a common 
symptom of the presence of bile on the stomach; it is a concomitant on 
the passage of gall-stone or of gravel; it often occurs at the commence- 
ment of labor, and may even be caused in a slight degree by certain 
sounds. (See Shivering.) 
RING, FIXED. (See Fingers.) 
RINGING IN THE EARS. (See Ear, Diseases of the.) 
RINGWORM, ring'-wurm. The real nature of this very trouble- 
some affection of the skin has been the subject of much dispute. It is 
now ascertained to be dependent upon the presence of a definite parasitic 
growth, which splits up and destroys the hair follicles. 1072 
HING NORM. 
Symptoms.-The most usual site of the disease is the scalp, but it is 
apt to appear on, or extend to, the forehead, the neck, the arms, and 
hands. Generally, the first indications of the presence of ringworm are 
the falling or breaking off of the hair, which leaves a bald, generally cir- 
cular, patch, and the itching which accompanies the disorder. If 
examined at this time, the patch will be found scurfy, slightly red, with 
the irregularly-broken hairs protruding. If the disease be unchecked by 
treatment, it goes on extending, until at last it involves almost the entire 
scalp. The hair, which is not detached, on the affected parts, becomes 
lighter in color, and woolly in character. If pustules form, the dis- 
charge from them dries upon the surface in the form of scurfy scabs, or 
in crusts. That the disease is highly contagious, there can be no ques- 
tion ; it is frequently, too, extended to different portions of the same head, 
by combs, brushes, etc., or by the nails, which children are apt to use 
freely on account of the itching. 
Treatment.-Few diseases give more trouble or vexation in the 
management than ringworm, for it often resists for months the best 
directed treatment, and that which succeeds admirably in one case often 
fails to make any impression in another. 
The late Dr. Thomson says: " The application which I have found 
most beneficial is a solution of 1 dram of nitrate of silver in | ounce of 
dilute nitric acid. The diseased circles, after the scalp has been shaved, 
should be pencilled over with the solution, and in ten or fifteen minutes 
afterwards, the parts should be well-sponged, first with tepid water, and 
then covered with pledgets of lint dipped in cold water, and the evapora- 
tion diminished, by covering the wet lint with oiled silk." 
Another high authority in skin diseases lays more stress than many 
others on the constitutional treatment in this affection. He remarks: 
"Improper food is a frequent predisposing cause, and one of the common 
causes in schools. I have seen it in children fed too exclusively on a 
vegetable diet." For these, and similar reasons, he advocates particular 
attention to clothing, ventilation, exercise, and to the nutrition, aided by 
tonic medicines, such as iron, quinine, and mineral acids. With regard to 
external remedies, after irritation has been subdued, the same author 
remarks: "An ointment which I have found of great service, is one 
composed of 1 dram of sulphate of zinc to 1 ounce of simple cerate." 
Sulphate of zinc in lotion may also be used. "It is beneficial to wash 
the head with soap once a day, and when dried to anoint it with 
pomatum; keeping the scalp constantly moistened with some oleaginous 
matter, is an important adjunct to cure." 
An application made by dissolving 1 dram of powdered borax in 1 
ounce of vinegar, is said often to prove of service. A lotion formed by RING WORM- ROOTS, COLLECTION, ETC. 
1073 
adding 2 ounces of the saturated solution of sulphurous acid gas to 6 
ounces of water, makes an effectual application in this troublesome dis- 
ease. The tarry oil, which distils from the end of a piece of coarse 
brown paper, when rolled up in the form of a match and lighted, is said, 
if allowed to drop upon the diseased patch, to effect a cure when other 
means have failed. 
When ringworm is present, the hair should either be cut very short, 
or the scalp shaved. An oil-silk cap is frequently recommended to be 
worn, but one of linen is preferable, being less heating and exciting to 
the skin. 
ROARING IN THE EARS. (See Ear, Diseases of the.) 
ROASTING, roste'-ing. Literally, roasting means cooking without 
water or other fluid, by exposure to heat, before a fire, but the term as 
used, more generally implies cooking in an oven. The old method of 
roasting meat before the fire renders the meat more juicy, palatable and 
digestible than the modern mode of baking in a confined oven: but 
meat cooked in the improved ventilating ovens has all the sapidity 
and digestibility that is obtained by the original means of roast- 
ing. In Great Britain, cooking in confined ovens is always termed 
baking. 
During roasting, the watery portions of the meat evaporate, and 
much fat is melted out, at the same time, the coagulation of the albumen, 
the usual result of heat on animal food, takes place. The loss of fat in 
roasting renders meat thus cooked more digestible. It retains, more- 
over, the gelatine, which is greatly dissolved out in the process of boil- 
ing. If, however, the cooking is carried too far, the meat overdone, its 
nutritious properties are impaired. On the other hand, if meat is under- 
done, although more nutritious, it is certainly less digestible. (See 
Boiling, Broiling, Empyreuma, etc.) 
ROBINIA PSEUDO-ACACIA, robin'-e-g su-do-a-ka'-ske-a^ or 
locust tree, a tree belonging to the Nat. order Legximinosaz. It is also 
known by the names of black locust, and yellow locust. It is found 
principally in the Middle States. The bark and the leaves are the parts 
used in medicine, the bark of the root being the most active. It is 
tonic in small doses, emetic and purgative in large ones. An ounce of 
the bark boiled in f of a pint of water, operates as a cathartic, in doses 
of 1 ounce morning and evening. 
ROCHELLE-SALT, ro-shel'-salt. Tartrate of soda and potash. 
(See Potash.) 
ROCK ROSE. (See Helianthemum Canadense.) 
ROOTS, COLLECTION AND PRESERVATION OF. (See 
Plants.) 1074 
R OSA-R UBBING. 
ROSA, ro'-zg [Gr. rltodon, a rose]. The rose, a genus of the Nat. 
order Rosacea?,. The species and varieties are well-known for the beauty 
and fragrance of their flowers. The fruits, commonly called hips, are 
employed in medicine for their refrigerant and astringent properties. It 
is chiefly used as a confection and a pill basis. The confection is pre- 
pared by beating to a pulp, in a stone mortar, and rubbing through a 
sieve 1 pound of hips, deprived of their seeds, adding 2 pounds of 
refined sugar, and mixing thoroughly. Dose, 1 teaspoonful or more. 
The dried petals of the unexpanded flowers of R. gallica, constitute the 
red-rose leaves, kept at drug stores; these are used medicinally as mild 
astringents and tonics. Rose-water is prepared by distilling the fresh 
petals of R. centifolia with water. 
ROSE. (See Rosa.) 
ROSE, roze. An old popular name for erysipelas. (See Erysipelas.) 
ROSEBAY. (See Epilobium Angustifolium. ) 
ROSE - COLD. (See Hay Asthma. ) 
ROSEMARY. (See Rosmarinus Officinalis.) 
ROSEOLA, OR ROSE-RASH. (See Skin, Diseases of the.) 
ROSE PINK. (See Sabbatia Angularis.) 
ROSE-RASH. (See Skin, Diseases of the.) 
ROSIN. (See Resin or Rosin.) 
ROSIN WEED. (See Silphium Gummiferum.) 
ROSMARINUS OFFICINALIS, roz-ma-ri'-nus offis-e-na'-lis, or 
rosemary, is chiefly used on account of its fragrant volatile oil, which 
is stimulant and antispasmodic. The oil may be added to liniments, as 
a fragrant stimulant addition to these applications. Dose of the oil, 
internally, from 3 to 6 drops. 
ROTTLERA TINCTORIA, rot'-tl-rg tink-to'-re-g, kamela, or 
kameela, a dark-red mealy powder, mixed with the hairy spiculae brushed 
from the outer surface of the capsules of an East Indian tree, belonging 
to the Nat. order Eupkorbiaceoe. It has obtained some notoriety as a 
remedy for tape-worm, and there is no doubt that in doses of from 2 
drams to | ounce, it will frequently expel that troublesome parasite. It 
is sometimes given in tincture, of which the dose is | ounce. Although 
much has been said in its favor, it is generally esteemed inferior in its 
effects to the oil of male fern. Kamela applied on moistened lint is 
said to be an effectual remedy in herpes and other allied eruptions. 
ROUGE, roozk\fr.^ a pigment formerly much used for painting the 
cheeks; it was commonly prepared from the dye called safflower. 
ROUND SHOULDERS. (See Chest ; Spine, Diseases Etc. , of the. ) 
ROWING. (See Exercise.) 
RUBBING. (See Friction, Rheumatism.) R UBEFA CIENT-R ULE, LIVING BY 
1075 
RUBEFACIENT, ru-be-fa'-shent [Lat. rubefacio, to make red], an 
application which reddens the skin. (See Counter-Irritation.) 
RUBEOLA, OR MEASLES. (See Measles.) 
RUBIA TINCTORUM, ru-be-q tlngk-to'-rum [Lat. ruber, red], or 
madder, a plant belonging to the Nat. order Rubiaceoe. This species 
yields the important dye-stuff called madder, which is also used in medi- 
cine as a tonic. It is supposed to promote the menstrual and urinary 
discharges. Dose, 30 grains, three or four times a day. 
RUBUS, ru'-bus, a genus of plants belonging to the Nat. order 
Rosacea. The rubus 'viUosus, or blackberry, the rubus strigosus, or red 
raspberry, and the rubus trivialis, or low blackberry, are all natives of 
the United States and Canada, and all possess similar medicinal prop- 
erties. The bark of the roots of the blackberry and low blackberry, and 
the leaves of the raspberry, are the parts used. They are tonic and 
astringent, and are excellent remedies in diarrhoea, dysentery, cholera 
infantum, chronic diarrhoea, hemorrhage from the stomach and bowels, 
etc. Blackberry is said to exert an influence over the uterus during 
parturition when other remedies have failed. Dose: of the decoction 
or infusion of these plants, from 1 to 4 fluid ounces, several times a day. 
(See Decoction, Infusion.) Dose: of the fluid extract of blackberry, 
£ to 1 teaspoonful; of the solid extract of blackberry, 4 to 6 grains. 
RUE. (See Ruta Graveolens.) 
RULEj LIVING BY, rool [Lat. regula, a straight piece of wood, a 
rule, a pattern.] There are few departments of practical medicine 
which have been carried out to a more mischievous extent of refinement 
than that which is noticed in this article. Mischievous, because an 
important principle has been overlooked, in the prescription or following 
out of petty detail. That principle is, that there is nothing more likely 
either to create or to keep up disorder in any part of the organs of the 
body, which usually act independent of the will, than continued, especially 
anxious attention, directed to them whilst in active operation. It is 
unquestionable, that in some diseases, such as diabetes, dysentery, etc., 
the strictest regulation of diet and regimen is absolutely necessary; 
neither can it be doubted that in most ailments, even in those of a trivial 
character, some general regulations as to living are required; it is not 
against such as these that these remarks are directed, but against the 
absurd "living by rule," the worse than useless clock-work regulation of 
every action of daily life, eating, sleeping, walking, etc., which many 
dyspeptic and hypochondriac patients either adopt for themselves or are 
advised into. In such cases, instead of a wholesome varied diet, the 
nature of the food is confined within an unwholesomely narrow compass, 
and its amount, if not weighed physically, is at least so mentally, by the 1076 
RULE, LIVING BY-RUMEX. 
trammelled invalid, who trembles lest, inadvertently, half an ounce more 
than the prescribed quantity should find its way into his stomach, and 
then, after his meal, disturbs the digestive process, by thinking how it 
is going on, and by directing his attention to the sensations of his 
stomach, which is petted, and considered, and allowed to choose its own 
work, and mode of working, till, of itself, it nauseates the uniformity of 
too regulated a diet, and sours even to mutton of the tenderest, and to 
the most unexceptionable brown bread. At last, forcing its miserable 
possessor to the conclusion that he is yet over-taxing its powers, the 
animal diet is perhaps eschewed, and farinaceous foods of different kinds 
are resorted to, as more digestible by the "very weak stomach." As 
already remarked, rules of life, and stringent ones, too, must often be 
laid down by medical men, for persons laboring under serious disease, 
nor can they be too strictly attended to, but these cases are abundantly 
different from that numerous class of nervous and dyspeptic complaints, 
which are fostered by the too close attention to health, by the "living 
by rule," the weighing and measuring, and considering every morsel of 
food, and every action of the body or mind. The stomach, and other 
organs, too, must, in part at least, be brought up to their work by 
observation of the rules of health generally; the endeavor to bring the 
work down to the organs is worse than useless. (See Food, Diet, Diges- 
tion, Exercise, Health, Regimen, etc.) 
RUM, rum [Fr. rhum, this well-known spirit is distilled from the 
products of the sugar cane; when genuine, it contains about fifty-three per 
cent, of alcohol. New rum is apt to contain lead, dissolved off the leaden 
worm of the still in which it is made. When this is the case, the rum 
is of course unwholesome, and may give rise to symptoms of colic ; but 
after the liquor has been permitted to stand some time in casks of oak 
wood, it becomes freed from the lead, which forms an insoluble com- 
pound with the tannin of the oak, and falls to the bottom. Rum has 
been a favorite domestic remedy in cases of incipient cold. It possesses, 
probably, no advantage over other stimulants, and in such cases, the use 
of an alcoholic stimulant at all may do harm. (See Alcohol.) 
RUMEX, ru'-meks, or dock, a plant belonging to the Nat. order 
Polygonaceoe. There are several varieties of the dock family used in 
Medicine, namely: Rumex Aquaticus, or great water dock, Rumex 
Britannica, or yellow-rooted water dock, Rumex Obtusifolius, or blunt- 
leaved dock, and the Rumex Crispus, or yellow dock. They possess 
similar properties, but the latter is the one most commonly used. They 
are all common in various parts of the United States. Dock is astringent 
and gently tonic, and is supposed to possess an alterative property. 
It is said to have proved useful in scrofula and syphilis. The extract is Rumex Crispus. (Yellow-Dock.) RUMEN-RUPTURE, HERNIA. 
1077 
astringent, alterative, and tonic, uniting a laxative power with these, 
and resembling rhubarb in its mode of operation. It is considered 
eminently useful in scurvy, scrofulous, cancerous, and syphilitic affec- 
tions, leprosy, etc. An ointment of yellow dock and root-bark of the 
false bittersweet is confidently affirmed by others, to form an infallible 
remedy for the itch. Immediate effects must not be expected to follow 
the use of this agent. Yellow dock contains a principle called rumicin. 
Dose : of the decoction of these plants, 2 to 4 fiuid ounces (see Decoc- 
tion); fiuid extract of yellow dock, 1 to 2 teaspoonfuls; solid extract, 4 
to 8 grains ; rumicin, 4 to 8 grains ; to be taken three or four times a day. 
RUMINATION, ru-me-na'-shun [Lat. ruminatio, a thinking over]. 
A voluntary regurgitation of food for further mastication, peculiar to the 
ox, sheep, and other animals having several stomachs; is is commonly 
called chewing the cud. 
RUNNING. (See Exercise.) 
RUNROUND. (See Whitlow.) 
RUPTURE, HERNIA, rupt'-yur [Lat. rumpo, to break]. Hernia 
signifies the protrusion of any organ from its natural cavity, but is a 
term generally used in reference to the intestines. Packed together 
loosely as the bowels are, and being surrounded on all sides by strong 
muscular structures, they must be ever subject to more or less pressure, 
especially during violent exertion of the body, such as lifting heavy 
weights. The bowels being thus pressed upon at one point, must in 
time make pressure upon some other part of the abdominal walls, and 
portions of them escape through those regions of the abdomen which 
are naturally weak. Thus, hernial protrusions are frequent at the navel, 
and in one or other groin. A rupture in the groin is termed bubonocele. 
In some cases the abdominal walls have been previously weakened by 
disease or injury, such as wounds, abscesses, or distension from within. 
The structures from which the bowels receive the most pressure are 
the diaphragm or midriff from above, and the abdominal muscles in 
front; the former descending with every act of inspiration, and the 
latter contracting in assisting in the expiratory process. 
Ruptures are divided into three kinds :-First, the reducible, or that 
which will return into the abdomen of itself, or can be put back by a 
little gentle pressure and manipulation, technically called the taxis. 
The second form is the irreducible hernia, or that which cannot be 
returned into the abdomen,-always remaining down and never going 
back; but the cavity of the bowel still remains free, and the circulation 
of the blood in its vessels has not been arrested. The last kind of rup- 
ture is by far the most important, as being very dangerous to life; it is 
called strangulated hernia. Like the previous form, it never recedes 1078 
RUPTURE, HERNIA. 
into the abdominal cavity; but it differs from irreducible hernia in the 
passage of the bowel being blocked up, the constriction allowing no 
faeces to pass, and effectually preventing the circulation of the blood 
beyond its grasp. This state of things soon ends in inflammation and 
gangrene, if the bowel be not set free. 
Ruptures are also divided into inguinal^ so called because the pro- 
trusion takes place through the inguinal canal; and/^momZ, because the 
protrusion is through the femoral ring. The former is most common in 
males, and the tumor appears above the fold of the groin; and the latter 
in females, and the tumor appears below the fold of the groin. When 
the protrusion extends into the scrotum or bag containing the testicles; 
it is known as the scrotal hernia, and when through the navel as 
umbilical. 
Reducible Hernia.-When a portion of the intestine escapes from 
the abdominal cavity, a soft, rounded, compressible, elastic tumor 
is suddenly formed at some part of the abdominal parietes, growing 
larger as the patient coughs, or when he is in the upright position, but 
decreasing in size and almost disappearing on his assuming the hori- 
zontal posture. Flatulent noises are heard in such tumors, and they 
return into the abdomen with a kind of gurgling. 
Treatment.-There are two plans of treatment to be tried, one the 
palliative, consisting in the application and constant use of a truss; the 
other, the radical cure, for which a surgeon who has made this subject 
his special study, must be consulted. 
Irreducible Hernia is that form in which the bowel cannot be 
returned, its cavity remaining clear, and its contents passing freely; 
the circulation of the blood through the tumor is not arrested. This 
kind of rupture gives rise to many disagreeable symptoms, such as con- 
stipation, dragging pains in the stomach, and vomiting; and the 
misplaced bowel is in constant danger of becoming strangulated. 
Treatment.-The only treatment which is applicable, consists of sup- 
porting the tumor, and preventing its increasing in size by the applica- 
tion of a bag truss. 
Strangulated Hernia.-In this form the bowel is irreducible, 
its passage occluded, and the circulation in its vessels stopped. We 
soon have all the symptoms of intestinal obstruction presenting them- 
selves, and these are followed in a very short time by those of abdomi- 
nal inflammation. There are flatulent pains in the belly, obstinate 
constipation of the bowels, and vomiting of biliary and mucous matters. 
As time advances, so the disease increases in severity. The abdo- 
men becomes distended; there is intense pain and tenderness on 
pressure; the vomiting becomes stercoraceous; the countenance is RUPTURE, HERNIA-RUTA GRAVEOLENS. 
1079 
expressive of intense anxiety; the features shrink, and are bathed in 
cold perspiration; and the patient is restless, his pulse being weak, 
quick, feeble, and irregular. Prostration grows extreme; the sufferer 
lies on his back, with his knees drawn up; the sphincters relax, and 
faeces pass involuntarily; sores cover his lips and teeth; and death soon 
terminates the miserable scene. 
Treatment.-The principle guiding us in the treatment of strangu- 
lated hernia is, to relieve the constriction and return the intestine. The 
passage which was previously occluded being thus again set free, and 
the circulation which was just now arrested being again started off, the 
patient is soon freed from danger, if the disease had not previously 
made too great advance. In all cases, the assistance of an experienced 
surgeon is necessary at the very outset, and he will first try to reduce 
the strangulated bowel by gentle manipulation with his hands, having 
previously emptied the patient's bladder, and put him under the influ- 
ence of chloroform. Should the taxis be unsuccessful, an operation will 
be necessary, and should be early performed before the strangulated intes- 
tine has become inflamed and gangrenous. 
The time to treat this affection is, when it first appears in the reduci- 
ble form ; the truss should be constantly worn by day, and if the patient 
will not wear it at night, it should be applied in the morning before he 
rises. 
Not only has this affection been subdivided according to the actual 
condition of the hernial tumor, but several forms have been separately 
described according to the place at which the bowel leaves the abdomi- 
nal cavity; of these, only one needs to be considered in a work written 
for general family use. 
Umbilical Hernia.-When the hernial protrusion is situated in the 
region of the navel it receives the above name; this form is most com- 
mon in infants, but is frequently met with in women who have borne 
many children. * 
Treatment.-The rupture must be reduced, and kept back by a pad 
placed over it, and bound in that position by a bandage or elastic belt, 
the pad being made of ivory, india-rubber, or cork. Hernial protru- 
sions appearing in other positions must be treated on the same general 
plan, viz., by reducing them and keeping them back by some form of 
truss. 
RUPTURE OF THE BLADDER. (See Bladder, Diseases of 
THE.) 
RUTA GRAVEOLENS, ru'-ta grav-e-o-lens, or rue, an herb belong- 
ing to the Nat. order Rutacea. The leaves are usually employed. They 
are emmenagogue, anthelmintic, and antispasmodic. This agent has 1080 
RUTA GRAVEOLENS-SACRUM, OS. 
been successfully employed in flatulency, colic, hysteria, epilepsy, many 
nervous disorders, and nervous disturbances caused by worms. It 
should be administered in every form with caution. In large quantities, 
it operates as a poison. If administered during pregnancy, it is very 
liable to produce abortion. In moderate doses, this agent proves an 
emmenagogue, while in large doses, it determines irritation of the uterus. 
Dose: of the fluid extract, 20 to 40 drops; of the solid extract, 2 to 4 
grains; of the oil, 2 to 6 drops; of the infusion, 1 to 2 fluid ounces; of 
the decoction, 1 to 2 fluid ounces. (See Infusion, Decoction.) 
RYE, ri [Ang.-Sax. ryge, rige\. This hardy grain possesses a nutri- 
tive power about equal to that of barley. It has slight aperient prop- 
erties. The chief point of interest connected with this grain is the 
peculiar diseased or fungus growth-the ergot of rye-which is apt to be 
developed upon the seed. (See Rye, Ergot of; Cereals.) 
RYE, ERGOT OF. (See Secale Cornutum.) 
s. 
SABADILLA. (See Asagrjea.) 
SABBATIA ANGULARIS, sab-ba'-she-q an-gu-la'-ris, or red 
centaury, a perennial plant belonging to the Nat. order Gentianacem. 
It is also known as rose pink, and is common in various parts of the 
United States. It is an excellent, pure, bitter tonic, without astringency, 
and is employed in periodic febrile diseases, both as a preventive and a 
remedy. It is also useful in dyspepsia and convalescence from fevers; 
but principally to invigorate the stomach and alimentary canal. The 
warm infusion has received considerable notoriety as a domestic remedy 
for worms, and for restoring the menstrual secretions. Dose: of the 
fluid extract, i to 1 teaspoonful; of the tincture, 1 to 2 teaspoonfuls ; of 
the powder, to 1 dram; of the infusion, 4 fluid ounces, every two or 
three hours. (See Infusion.) 
SACCHARUM, sak'-ka-rum. Latin for sugar. (See Sugar.) 
SACCHARUM LACTIS, sak'-kq-rum lak'-tis, sugar of milk, is a 
crystallized sugar obtained from the whey of cow's milk by evaporation. 
It is chiefly used as a vehicle for medicinal powders, but is also recom- 
mended for consumptive patients and for infants; a solution of this 
mixed with cow's milk being said to form an excellent substitute for that 
of the mother. 
SACRUM, OS, sa'-krum [Lat. sacred bone], so called probably from SACRUM, OS-SAINT VITUS'S DANCE, OR CHOREA. 
1081 
being offered in sacrifices by the ancients], is the bone which forms the 
basis of the vertebral column. (See Pelvis.) 
SADNESS. (See Melancholy, Hypochondriasis, Habit, Dys- 
pepsia, Health.) 
SAFFRON. (See Crocus Sativus.) 
SAGE. (See Salvia Officinalis.) 
SAGO, sd-go. This well-known dietetic article is the produce of 
various species of palm-tree, being obtained from the cellular substance 
contained within the stems of that tribe of plants. The remarks made 
upon the nutritive properties and dietetic uses of arrowroot, apply 
equally to sago. (See Arrowroot, Cookery for the Sick, Starch, etc.) 
SAINT ANTHONY'S FIRE. (See Erysipelas.) 
SAINT IGNATIUS' BEAN. (See Strychnos Ignatii.) 
SAINT JOHNSWORT. (See Hypericum Perforatum.) 
SAINT VITUS'S DANCE, OR CHOREA, ko-re'-a [Lat.], is the 
name of a disease characterized by convulsive motions of the limbs, as 
of a person dancing. It is common to both sexes, but it is more com- 
mon with females, and rarely attacks before the age of eight, or after 
that of sixteen years. 
Causes.-It is often the result of a depraved state of the bowels, of 
constipation, or of the presence of worms; in females, it is not unfre- 
quently connected with the menstrual function, especially if it be delayed, 
or imperfect. It is frequently the result of fright. The irritation of the 
coming of the second teeth has been assigned as a cause; and there is 
no doubt that imitation, especially among females, may spread the dis- 
ease, which is most general, as might be expected, in persons of a ner- 
vous tendency; and it is said, those with dark hair and eyes are more 
liable to it than those of a blonde complexion. 
Symptoms.-This disease is marked by irregular, involuntary and 
convulsive movements of various parts of the body, beginning in the 
face and arms; the features assume an absent look, various small mus- 
cles of the face are in constant action, the mouth is opened and shut 
alternately, and the patient has the look of one who is making faces at 
you; she speaks in a hurried and disjointed manner, and articulates 
with difficulty. When asked to put out her tongue, there is some hesi- 
tation, then it is quickly thrust out, and as suddenly withdrawn, the 
teeth often closing with a distinct snap. Both sides of the body may be 
affected, but usually one side suffers more than the other; the hands 
and arms are moved about in various hideous ways; as the patient lifts 
her food to her mouth her arm makes a sudden start, and her object is 
defeated. Alternating movements are frequently noticed, the back of 
the hand is first placed upon the lap, the hand is then turned round, and 1082 
. SAINT VITUS'S DANCE, OR CHOREA-SALADS. 
the palm placed downwards; and these kinds of movements take place 
sometimes with marvellous rapidity; the feet are shuffled upon the floor, 
and she writhes and contorts her shoulders. 
Treatment.-Dr. Watson says that when pain in the head exists, he 
finds benefit from the moderate abstraction of blood by leeches, and if 
persistent pain does exist, the application of four or five leeches might 
be had recourse to, if the individual is of full florid habit. In any case, 
no harm, but almost certain benefit, will result from acting on the 
bowels freely-more moderately, of course, in a weak subject than in a 
strong one. For this purpose, the compound colocynth pill, for two or 
three doses in succession, will be of service, or compound decoction of 
aloes draught may be given. After the bowels have been well cleared, 
if the patient be weak and pallid, iron will be required. The red car- 
bonate of iron has been found extremely useful in large doses, from 1 dram 
upwards, given twice or three times a day; other preparations of iron, 
however, may be given, or quinine, in doses of from one to three grains, 
dissolved in tincture of iron. Arsenic is a remedy which, when properly 
used, is found very useful in the treatment of chorea. It is best given 
in the form of Fowler's solution, 3 to 5 drops, three times a day, after 
eating. The shower-bath is often serviceable in this disease, but for 
some individuals the shock is too powerful, and seems rather to in- 
crease the disease; for such, the douche down the spine may be sub- 
stituted, or sponging with salt water. In cases of delicate children, 
the -water should, for a time at least, be used tepid. Speedy relief 
is often obtained by the daily application of ether spray, for five 
minutes at a time, over the spine. When painful dentition exists, 
the state of the teeth must be carefully attended to. Extraction of 
one or more of the first teeth, to make room for the second, will 
probably be required. When worms exist in the bowels, then such 
means are to be employed as will be found detailed in the article 
Worms. It is in many cases necessary to employ sedatives in order to 
diminish the movements. Those most to be recommended are cannabis 
Indica, the Indian hemp, the bromide of potassium and chloral hydrate. 
For doses and administration, see articles Cannabis, Potassium, Chloral. 
The diet in cases of chorea should be light, all articles of food likely to 
disagree being strictly prohibited. The patient, moreover, should be 
carefully protected from any violent emotions, kept as tranquil as pos- 
sible, and permitted to enjoy moderate exercise, when the weather is 
fine, in the open air. The proper ventilation of the sleeping-apartments 
of such patients must be scrupulously attended to. (See Dancing 
Mania.) 
SALADS, sal-adz [Fr. salade}, generally, being composed of raw SALADS-SALICYLIC ACID. 
1083 
vegetables, are unsuited for persons of weak digestion, though they may 
often be tolerated by the addition of salad oil; when, however, the 
stomach is capable of digesting them, the general effect on the system 
appears to be beneficial. 
SAL-AMMONIAC. (Se Ammonia.) 
SALERATUS, sal-e-ra'-tus [Lat. sal, salt, and aer, air], bicarbonate 
of potash. (See Potash.) 
SALICINE, sal'-e-sin [Lat. salix, a willow], is a peculiar bitter 
crystallizable principle, obtained from the bark of the willow, or of the 
poplar. Salicine possesses tonic properties in an eminent degree. It 
has been employed as a substitute for the alkaloids of the Peruvian barks, 
particularly in ague, and has attracted much attention from its asserted 
efficacy in the cure of this complaint. It is applicable in cases in which 
quinine is inadmissible, being less likely to heat, or to cause headache. 
It is also very useful in rheumatism. The dose, as a tonic, is 1 to 
2 grains, three or four times a day; in fever and ague (intermittent fever), 
2 to 8 grains, and repeated, so that from 20 to 40 grains may be taken 
daily, or between the paroxysms of the intennittents; in rheumatism, 5 
grains, every four hours. If a stimulant be required, it may be taken in 
a little sherry. The infusion of the willow bark is often used in the 
absence of salicine. (See Quinine, Salicylic Acid, Salix Alba, Rheu- 
matism.) 
SALICYLIC ACID, sal-e-sil'-ik, an acid formed in the laboratory 
by oxidizing salicilous acid, and by heating salicine with an excess of 
potash. When pure, it is a white crystalline powder, free from odor, 
and having an astringent taste. It is one of the most powerful anti- 
septic agents known, and has, to some extent, replaced carbolic acid in 
the surgical treatment of wounds. 
It has recently been introduced into practice as a remedy for rheuma- 
tism, diphtheria, scarlet fever, and cystitis. In doses of 5 grains, every 
six hours, it certainly exercises a marked control in both acute and 
chronic rheumatism, and in the same doses, every three hours, the throat 
symptoms and fever in scarlet fever and diphtheria rapidly abate. It is 
best given suspended in mucilage. The following is a good form for use 
in these cases: 
Take of Salicylic acid One or two drams. 
Simple syrup Four drams. 
Mucilage of tragacanth One ounce. 
Tincture of orange peel Four drams. 
Water sufficient to make Six ounces.-Mix. 
Give a dessertspoonful every two or three hours. 
The salts of salicylic acid have not as yet proved equal to the acid 
itself as therapeutic agents. (See Salix Alba, Salicine, Rheumatism.) 1084 
SALINES-SALIX ALBA. 
SALINES, sa-linze' [Lat. salina ; sal, salt]. Salines are better illus- 
trated by their many well-known examples, such as common salt, potash, 
soda, Epsom salts, etc., than by any description. (See Epsom Salts, 
Potash, Salt, Soda, etc.) 
SALIVA, OR SPITTLE, sa-li'-va [Lat., from sal, salt], is the fluid 
by which the mouth and tongue are constantly moistened in their natural 
state, and which is supplied by glands which form it, called the salivary 
glands. There are three pairs of salivary glands-the parotid, the sub- 
maxillary, and the sublingual. The saliva itself has neither color nor 
smell, and is tasteless. It is supposed that about ten ounces are secreted 
in twelve hours. Its uses are to augment the taste of food by the evolu- 
tions of sapid matter; to mix with, dissolve, and resolve into its princi- 
ples, the food during mastication, so as to change it into a pultaceous 
mass fit to be swallowed ; to moderate thirst, by moistening the cavity 
of the mouth and fauces. In the healthy state, it consists of at least four- 
fifths of water, having besides, mucilage, albumen, muriate of soda, phos- 
phate of lime, and phosphate of ammonia. (See Digestion, Mastication, 
Teeth, etc.) 
SALIVATION, OR PTYALISM, sal-e-va'-shun [Gr. ptualizo, I 
spit frequently], denotes an increased and involuntary flow of the saliva. 
This may be caused in a variety of ways, as by the use of certain medi- 
cines, by strong mental emotions, etc.; and it is also symptomatic of 
various diseases of the mouth and neighboring parts, as in dentition, 
scarlatina, small-pox, etc. Mercury is by far the most common agent in 
the production of salivation. The quantity required to produce saliva- 
tion differs in different persons, and consequently its effects require to 
be watched to prevent excessive action. It acts whether used externally 
or internally, and generally after a short time, and even with a small 
quantity. At first, the mouth feels uncommonly hot, with a coppery or 
metallic taste; the flow of saliva is much increased, the breath becomes 
foetid, the gums red and tender, and at length the whole mouth, tongue 
and throat become sore and swollen; and ulcers and sloughs quickly 
form on the mucous membrane. In the treatment of mercurial saliva- 
tion, a nutritive diet, pure air, and mild purgatives are required. Cold 
is to be particularly guarded against, as well as the other extreme of 
heat. Gargles of chlorate of soda or lime, or of chlorate of potash, are 
useful in cleansing the mouth and correcting the fetor of the breath. 
(See Mercury, Chlorate of Potash, Smilax, etc.) 
SALIX ALBA, sa'-liks al'-ha, or white willow, a tree belonging to 
the Nat. order Salicacea. It is a native of Europe, but has for many 
years been an inhabitant of the western hemisphere. The bark is the 
part used in medicine. It yields a bitter principle called salicine. SALIX ALBA-SALT. 
1085 
Willow bark is tonic, antiperiodic and astringent. It has been used suc- 
cessfully in ague, and in dyspepsia, dependent on weakness of the diges- 
tive organs. In chronic diarrhoea and dysentery, it is a very eligible 
remedy. Dose: of the powdered bark, 1 teaspoonful; of the decoction, 
1 to 2 fluid ounces. (See Salicine, Salicylic Acid, Decoction.) 
SALMON, sam-un [Lat. salmd]. Like the other oily fishes, is less 
digestible than white fish generally, for persons of weak stomach. It is 
apt to prove highly injurious, if eaten in a state of decomposition. (See 
Food, Poisons and their Antidotes.) 
SAL-PRUNELLA, sal-pru-nel'-la, is salt-petre, or nitrate of potash, 
which has been fused by heat, and cast in a mould, generally of a globu- 
lar form. The preparation is used by some persons in incipient sore 
throat or sore mouth, with advantage; the ball of the salt being allowed 
to dissolve gradually in the mouth. 
SALT, sault [Lat. sal], or chloride of sodium. Common salt is a 
compound of soda and muriatic acid, or in another view, of chlorine 
and sodium and water. It is, therefore, either a muriate of soda, or a 
chloride of sodium with water. Indeed, common salt, is one great 
source whence the soda of commerce, now so cheap, and so extensively 
used, is obtained. 
Salt unquestionably assists, and renders more perfect the process of 
digestion, moreover, it forms one of the constituents of the blood, and 
of the body generally. If salt be denied, the digestion is weakened; 
the general tone and nourishment of the body are impaired, and it is 
observed, that worms are more likely to be generated in the intestines. 
Salt, therefore, ought to be an addition to the food of all, and atten- 
tion should be paid to children in this respect. 
Salted Meats.-It is, however, a very different thing, to eat salt with 
food, and to live upon meat or fish, which has been salted. In the 
latter case, it is well ascertained, that certain chemical effects are 
exerted upon the meat and its nutrient constituents, by the salt, which 
modify considerably the nutriment afforded to the body. Indeed, the 
effects of a continued diet of salted meat are most injurious. (See 
Scurvy.) The exclusive and continued use of salted provisions is here 
alluded to, not their moderate occasional employment. Salt may almost 
be regarded as medicinal in some cases of convalescence, in which the 
craving for it becomes intense. It should be allowed. It appears to 
act as a tonic. From 1 to 2 ounces of salt dissolved in | a pint of water, 
forms a good, and not unfrequent domestic emetic. It may, however, 
purge, instead of causing vomiting. It is used in the form of injection, 
to destroy worms. The occasional use of salt in the treatment of typhus 
fever, and of cholera, etc., does not require notice here. Externally, 1086 
SALT-SAMBUCUS CANADENSIS. 
salt is used in solution, generally as in sea or salt-water cold bathing, in 
which cases it seems to exert a tonic effect; warm saline bathing is 
efficacious in rheumatism. For local bathing after injuries, such as 
sprains, etc., the salt-water douche is well adapted to give strength. 
For the above purposes, 1 pound of salt dissolved in 3 gallons of water, 
is a good average strength. (See Salines, Condiments, etc.) 
SALT-BAG. A flannel bag containing hot, dry salt, is a useful 
application in chronic rheumatism and neuralgia. 
SALTED MEATS. (See Salt.) 
SALT OF LEMONS. (See Oxalic Acid.) 
SALT-PETRE, OR NITRATE OF POTASH. (See Potash, Sal- 
Prunella. ) 
SALT-RHEUM. (See Psoriasis.) 
SALT-RHEUM WEED. (See Ciielone Glabra.) 
SALTS. (See Salines.) 
SALTS, EPSOM. (See Epsom Salts.) 
SALVE, sav or salv [Lat. salvus, safe]. A common name for an 
ointment. (See Ointment.) 
SALVIA OFFICINALIS, sal'-ve-a of-fis-e-na'dis, or sage. An 
herb, native to Europe, but naturalized in this country, belonging to the 
Nat. order Lamiacea. Sage unites a slight degree of tonic power and 
astringency with aromatic properties. It is beneficial in flatulence, con- 
nected with gastric debility, efficacious in restraining the exhausting 
sweats of hectic fever, or to allay nausea. The infusion is an excellent 
worm remedy, and is useful as a gargle for inflammation and ulceration 
of the throat, and relaxed uvula. It has achieved considerable notoriety 
in spermatorrhoea, and as an antaphrodisiac. Dose: of the fluid extract, 
to 1 teaspoonful; powdered leaves, 20 to 30 grains; infusion, 2 to 4 
fluid ounces, three or four times a day. (See Infusion.) 
SAL-VOLATILE. (See Ammonia.) 
SAMBUCUS CANADENSIS, sam-bu'-kus kan-a-den'-sis, or the 
common elder-tree, a native of the United States and Canada, belonging 
to the Nat. order Caprifoliaceaz. The flowers, bark, and berries, are 
the parts used in medicine. The expressed juice of the latter, evap- 
orated to a syrup, in doses of 1 fluid ounce, is a valuable cathartic. The 
inner green bark is cathartic, and an infusion of it in some, will purge 
moderately, in doses of | to 1 fluid ounce. The flowers, when made 
into a warm infusion, are diaphoretic and gently stimulant; in cold 
infusion, diuretic, alterative and cooling. Elder flowers may be used in 
all diseases requiring such action, as in derangements of the liver in 
children. In erysipelas, elder flowers, both as a laxative and cooling 
medicine, are exceedingly valuable. Dose: of the fluid extract of the Sanguinaria Canadensis. (Bloodroot.) SANBUCUS CANADENSIS-SANITABY SCIENCE. 
1087 
flowers, | to 1 teaspoonful; infusion of the flowers, 1 to 2 fluid ounces, 
three or four times a day. (See Infusion.) 
SANGUINARIA CANADENSIS, sang-gwe-na'-re-a kan-a-den'-sis, 
bloodroot, or red puccoon, is a perennial plant belonging to the Nat. 
order Papaveracew. It is found growing throughout the United States 
and Canada. The root yields an active principle named sanguinarin. 
Bloodroot is an acrid emetic, with narcotic and stimulant proper- 
ties. It is actively stimulant in its primary operations. In small doses, 
it excites the stomach, and accelerates the circulation; more largely 
given, produces nausea and consequent depression of the pulse; and in 
the full dose occasions active vomiting. The effects of an overdose are 
violent vomiting, dizziness, faintness, alarming prostration, etc. The 
powder, applied to fungous growths, and indolent ulcers, proves of 
utility. The infusion with vinegar, as a local application, has been found 
valuable in removing ringworms, warts, etc. (See Infusion). Bloodroot 
has been given in typhoid pneumonia, catarrh, whooping-cough, croup, 
pulmonary consumption, inflammation of the lungs, scarlet fever, rheu- 
matism, jaundice, dyspepsia, dropsy of the chest, and some other affec- 
tions, either as an emetic, nauseant, or alterative, and its virtues are 
highly praised by many physicians. As an excitant to the liver, it is 
given in small doses. Dose: of the fluid extract, 5 to 15, and 40 to 60 
drops; solid extract, £ to 1|, and 2| to 5 grains; powder, as an emetic, 
10 to 20 grains; as a stimulant and expectorant, 3 to 5 grains; as an 
alterative, to 2 grains. 
SANITARY SCIENCE, san'-e-ta-re [Lat. sanitas, health], is that 
department of human knowledge which regards the laws of the human 
body, and of the agents by which it is surrounded, with a view to the 
preservation of health and the warding off of disease and death. The 
practical application of these laws constitutes hygiene, or the art of pre- 
venting disease. This is commonly divided into public and private 
hygiene, the former having regard to the healthy condition of persons in 
communities, barracks, workhouses, etc.; the latter to the health of 
individuals. (See Health, etc.) 
Principles.-When we regard mankind in general, we find that the 
external agents by which we are surrounded act very differently on 
different individuals, arising from temperament, age, idiosyncrasy, habit, 
hereditary tendency, etc., all of which it is of importance to keep in 
view in any application of hygienic rules. Thus, the conditions which 
would ensure the health of an American are not applicable to the 
Esquimaux or Hindoo. There are certain diseases to which youth is 
most liable, others to which age; and persons of different temperaments 
exhibit very different tendencies with respect to disease; and so with 1088 
SANITARY SCIENCE-SANTONINE. 
other peculiarities. Of external agents, influencing health, the principal 
are the atmosphere, light, heat, electricity, water, and soil. (See Air, 
Light, Heat, Damp, Cold, Water, etc.) The soil is an important 
agent in regard to health, some soils retaining moisture and giving rise 
to malaria, others rapidly absorbing damp. (See Malaria.) The internal 
agents, or those which act more directly on the functions of the body, 
are generally included under the heads of Food, Clothing, Exercise, 
Mental Exercise, Occupation, Sleep, etc. (which see). 
Public hygiene has for its object a particular knowledge of all the cir- 
cumstances affecting the health of a community, and the application of 
rules and remedies to the many unwholesome influences that spring out 
of a social existence. It takes cognizance of the geographical positions 
of cities, towns and villages, the arrangement of streets, the situation and 
construction of houses, including warming, lighting, ventilating, etc.; 
the construction and ventilation of cellars, privies, water-closets, etc.; 
the cleansing of the public ways, including draining, sewering, scaveng- 
ing, etc.; the purity and sufficiency of the water supply, offensive and 
injurious trades; the situation of obnoxious manufactories, slaughter- 
houses, workshops, etc.; public vaccination; the location of cemeteries, 
and the proper disinfection and disposal of the dead; the unwholesome 
exhalations from vaults and cemeteries; the proper inspection of hos- 
pitals and markets, including the adulteration of food, the sale of impure 
meat and half-decayed vegetables; the origin, spread and prevention of 
epidemic and contagious diseases, and an almost infinite number of kin- 
dred subjects. For the further investigation of this all-important sub- 
ject, see Health, Disease, Air, Ventilation, Houses, Bed-Room, Chim- 
ney, Drainage, Water, Whitewashing, Walls and Wall Papers, 
Arsenic in Wall Paper, Cold, Damp, Heat, Light, Malaria, Con- 
tagion, Water-Closets, Disinfectants, Vaccination, Hospitals, Quar- 
antine, Adulteration of Food, Life, Clothing, Flannel, Cold Feet, 
Ablution, Baths and Bathing, Toilet, Climate, Acclimatization, 
Health Resorts, Mineral Waters, Food, Meals, Digestion, Diet, 
Regimen, Training, Habit, Drinks ; Stimulants, Alcoholic ; Exercise, 
Recreation, Excitants, Passions, Mental Exercise, Occupation, 
Poverty, Sleep, Early Rising, Electricity ; Age, Old ; Climacteric 
Disease, Children, Temperament, Hereditary Tendency, Marriage. 
SANTONINE, san -to-nin^ a crystalline principle obtained from the 
Artemesia Santonica, or Artemesia Contra. When pure, it occurs in 
colorless prisms, possessing a feebly bitterish taste, which upon exposure 
to the light assume a brilliant yellow color. It is the most certain 
remedy we possess for the expulsion of round worms (Ascarides Lum- 
bricoides). Three doses should be given in succession, at intervals of SANTONINE-SCABIES, OR ITCH. 
1089 
six or eight hours, the last dose to be combined with an aperient, or 
followed by one a few hours after. After the lapse of three or four days, 
the three doses may be repeated, if necessary. It discolors the urine and 
the white of the eye, and gives a deep yellow hue to all the objects of 
vision. The dose for children under four years is from 2 to 4 grains; 
above twelve years, from 6 to 8 grains. It is best given in thin syrup 
on an empty stomach. 
SAPONARIA OFFICINALIS, sa-po-na'-re-a of-fis'-e-na'-lis^ or 
soapwort, a perennial plant found growing in water places, both in 
Europe and America. The roots and leaves are the parts used in medi- 
cine. The roots when soaked with water become frothy like soap suds. 
It is tonic, diaphoretic, and alterative, and is used in the treatment of 
syphilis, scrofula, and skin diseases, also in jaundice, affections of the 
liver, and rheumatism. Dose: of the fluid extract, £ to 1 teaspoonful; 
infusion, 2 to 4 fluid ounces. (See Infusion.) 
SARRACENIA PURPUREA, sar-ra-se-ne-apur-pu'-re-a} or pitcher 
plant, known also by the common names, side-saddle plant, fly-trap, 
huntsman cap, water cup, Eve's cup, and small-pox plant. It is an 
American plant, belonging to the Nat. order Sarraciniacew. It grows 
in the Southern States from Florida north, and flowers in June. The 
whole plant is used medicinally. Stimulating, tonic, diuretic and laxa- 
tive. Used in uterine derangements, dyspepsia and other gastric diffi- 
culties. It has sustained considerable reputation in the treatment ot 
small-pox, and is said to arrest the development of pustules, killing, as 
it were, the virus, thereby changing the character of the disease, and 
preventing the pitting. Dose : of the powder, 20 to 30 grains; infusion, 
2 to 3 fluid ounces, three or four times a day. (See Infusion.) 
SARSAPARILLA. (See Smilax.) 
SASKATCHEWAN, VALLEY OF THE, CLIMATE OF. (See 
Climate. ) 
SASSAFRAS OFFICINALE, sas'-sa-frasof-Jis-e-na'-^ or sassafras. 
A tree belonging to the Nat. order Lauracea. It is a native of North 
America. It is stimulant, diuretic, diaphoretic, and alterative. It is 
used in scrofula, chronic rheumatism, and cutaneous eruptions. The oil, 
in doses of from 5 to 10 drops on sugar, is useful in obstructed men- 
struation, and also to relieve after-pains. Dose : of the fluid extract, £ 
to 1 teaspoonful; tincture, | to 1 fluid ounce; infusion, 1 to 2 fluid 
ounces. (See Infusion.) 
SAUSAGE, saw'-saj [Fr. saucisse]. Sausage, generally speaking, is 
indigestible, as an article of diet. 
SAVIN. (See Juniperus.) 
SCABIES, OR ITCH. (See Itch.) 1090 
SCALD-HEAD-SCALES, OLI SCORE. 
SCALD-HEAD, skawld' died, known as favus, porrigo, and tinea 
favosa, is a fungus parasitic disease, composed of cup-shaped scabs, 
sometimes distinct and separate, and at other times running into each 
other, capable of being transferred from one person to another, and 
having for its most common site, the hairy scalp. 
Symptoms.-It commences with a slight itching, which continues 
for several hours, and is followed by an eruption of small red points, 
very sensitive to the touch, and in the course of twelve or fifteen hours, 
crowned with a small yellowish point, giving the head the appearance 
of being covered with a sulphur-yellow coating. These points exude a 
peculiar fluid which soon becomes dry and brittle, each scab containing 
a cup-like depression in the centre. Sometimes the eruption comes in 
successive crops, affecting the same, or different parts, of the head at 
distant intervals. When the disease has become somewhat advanced, 
a thick, tenacious fluid is secreted in such abundance as to form a thick 
crust over the whole head. 
Treatment.-This is both constitutional and local. The former 
includes the proper regulation of the bowels with small doses of 
rhubarb and soda, and the administration of tonics, such as the infu- 
sion of cascarilla, or the compound infusion of gentian (sometimes the 
administration of Dowler's solution of arsenic does much good); and 
the latter, the application of some one or more, in turn, of the many 
remedies recommended in medical works for this disease. The first 
indication is to destroy the fungus; this is recommended to be done by 
shaving the head, and applying a bread poultice until nearly all the 
scabs are removed, and then washing the site of the disease with tar- 
water, or anointing it with the tar ointment, made by rubbing well 
together equal parts of tar, soft soap, whiskey, and lard. This oint- 
ment should be washed off with soap and water, and applied fresh, 
morning and evening, and to prevent spreading, the affected one must 
be isolated from the rest of the family. In the early stages of the 
disease, the application of spirits of turpentine, twice a day, will fre- 
quently effect a cure. 
When the disease has become advanced, the application of some of 
the following will generally succeed : sulphate of copper, 7 grains to 10 
ounces of water; nitrate of silver, 5 grains to 8 ounces of water, or the 
mild nitrate of mercury. The application of a wash, made by putting 
5 grains of veratria to 1 pint of alcohol, is also highly recommended. 
It must be used with great caution on account of its poisonous proper- 
ties. Oxide of zinc, 1 dram to 1 ounce of lard, is also a favorite remedy. 
SCALDS. (See Burns and Scalds.) 
SCALES, OR SCURF. (See Desquamation.) SCALP. 
1091 
SCALP, skalp [Lat. scalpo, to cut, to scrape, to carve], or the skin 
of the head, is tolerably thick and firm, and is connected to the parts 
immediately subjacent, by a rather loose cellular tissue. These circum- 
stances often give a peculiar character to the effects of violence, and to 
wounds of the head, for the skin being firm, and the cellular tissue being 
easily torn, large portions of the scalp are occasionally separated in 
flaps, either entirely or partially. 
Scalp Wounds.-Bleeding from wounds in the scalp is often profuse, 
especially if an arterial branch has been divided; it may, however, gen- 
erally be stopped by the use of cold, or by pressure. One chief danger 
to be apprehended after wounds of the scalp-independent of the 
violence to the brain which is often a concomitant of such accidents-is 
the occurrence of erysipelas, which may set in, spread over the head, 
cause extensive formation of matter under the skin, and perhaps destroy 
the patient. Such a case must, of course, be treated as erysipelas from 
any other cause; but if a medical man has not before seen the patient, 
he ought to do so now without delay; it may require all his skill to save 
life. (See Wounds.) 
Scalp eruptions.-The scalp is the seat of different forms of eruption, 
or of skin disease, especially in children. The first great object in erup- 
tions of the scalp is to get them under treatment as early as possible, 
the next to observe the strictest cleanliness. If the eruption is exten- 
sive, it is better to cut the hair close off altogether at once. The hair 
having been removed by clipping, in preference to shaving, washing 
with good brown soap, with warm soft water, night and morning, is a 
process which will cure many a scalp eruption, especially among those 
classes in whom deficient cleanliness is often the cause of the evil. 
When this does not suffice, an ointment made with 10 grains of the 
red oxide of mercury to 1 ounce of lard, smeared slightly over the 
affected part, is often of much service. As long, however, as there are 
any scabs or incrustations on the head, there is no use applying either 
this ointment or any other application; these, therefore, should be 
removed in the first place by poulticing. In some kinds of scalp erup- 
tions, such as scald-head, alkaline washes are often of service. For 
treatment in full, see Scald-Head. 
In all cases of tendency to eruption on the scalp, the diet should be 
attended to, salted meats forbidden, and in those of full habit, the allow- 
ance of animal food curtailed, and milk and farinaceous diet substituted, 
more or less according to circumstances ; on the other hand, in the weak 
and delicate, it may be requisite to improve the diet both in nourishment 
and stimulation. (See Erysipelas, Skull, Wounds, Dandriff, Scald- 
Head, Hair, Baldness.) 1092 
SCALPEL-SCARLET FEVER, OR SCARLATLNA. 
SCALPEL, skal'pel [Lat. scalpellum, from scalpo, to scrape]. A 
common dissecting knife. 
SCAMMONY. (See Convolvulus Scammonia.) 
SCAPULA, OR SHOULDER-BLADE, skap'-u-lg [Lat., the shoul- 
der-blade], is the name given to that flat, triangular bone passing from the 
shoulder-joint in a direction towards the vertebral column, and extend- 
ing, when the arms hang loosely, from the first to about the seventh, 
rib. (See Shoulder.) 
SCAR. (See Cicatrix.) 
SCARIFICATION, skar-efie-ka -shun [Lat. scarification is the opera- 
tion of making small cuts or punctures in the skin by means of a 
lancet or other cutting instrument, particularly that used in cupping. 
(See Cupping.) 
SCARIFICATOR, skar'-e-fe-ka-tur. An instrument used by sur- 
geons to evacuate blood. It is made in the form of a box, in which are 
fitted ten, twelve, or more lancets. The instrument is so constructed 
that the depth to which the lancets penetrate, may be made greater or 
less, at the option of the operator. (See Cupping.) 
SCARLATINA, skar-la-te-na [Lat.], is but another name for scar- 
let fever, although, popularly, the former is considered a milder and 
less dangerous disease than the latter, on account of rose-rash or scarlet- 
rash often being improperly called scarlatina. (See Scarlet Fever.) 
SCARLET FEVER, OR SCARLATINA skar'-let fe'-vur [Lat.], 
are both designations for one and the same disease. It is an extremely 
contagious disease, and the poison lingers in clothes and around the 
rooms for a long time ; instances have been known where the poison ex- 
isted and gave rise to the disease at the expiration of a year. After the 
poison has found access to the blood, it lies dormant for from five to 
seven days; this is called the period of incubation. This disease is 
divided into three forms: one called simple scarlatina, in which the throat 
remains unaffected; another, called scarlatina anginosa, in which both 
the skin and the throat are involved, and scarlatina maligna, in which 
the throat is very severely implicated. In rare cases, scarlet fever 
occurs in what is called the latent form, the throat being sore, and 
swallowing difficult, but there is no eruption. 
Symptoms.-Generally, the first symptom complained of in the 
incipient stage of scarlet fever, is sore throat, either accompanied, or 
quickly succeeded by the usual symptoms of a feverish attack, shiver- 
ing, headache, loss of appetite, perhaps vomiting, followed by heat of 
skin, quick pulse and thirst. The eruption appears early, on the second 
day after the first symptoms of indisposition; it first shows itself in 
minute red points on the chest and arms, especially about the elbow's, the SCARLET FEVER, OR SCARLATINA. 
1093 
points becoming more numerous, till they form one diffused surface of a 
tolerably bright scarlet eruption, which extend to the neck, face, and 
abdomen, and body generally. On the second day, when the eruption is 
appearing, the symptoms of general fever, and especially the heat of skin, 
continue unabated, the throat is more inflamed, and the tongue assumes 
the appearance characteristic of this disease. It is probably covered with 
a white, creamy-looking fur, through which the papillae on its fore part, 
about the tip especially, project like red points; this appearance may 
continue, but in many cases, the fur comes off as it were in patches at a 
time, and ultimately leaves the tongue preternaturally clean and red, 
covered with the elongated papillae, in some cases, almost like a pile 
upon it. The eruption in scarlet fever generally looks more* patchy 
upon the extremities than it does upon the trunk. In a moderately 
favorable case of scarlet fever, the eruption begins to fade between the 
third and fourth day from its appearance, and with it, the feverish 
symptoms, and other general symptoms of the disease, such as sore 
throat, etc. The patient, of course, is left weakened, but with moderate 
care, convalescence is for the most part speedy. The chief care is 
required until the desquamation or peeling of the skin is completed; 
during this period, also, the power of communicating the disease by 
contagion, appears to be retained. 
Although favorable cases of scarlet fever pass through the course 
nearly as described above, there are much severer forms of the disease. 
The feverish symptoms from the first may have a high inflammatory 
form; or the reverse, may give evidence of an extreme condition of 
bodily depression, with tendency to malignant disease, and to a putres- 
cent or typhoid condition. In such cases the eruption is tardy, and 
when it does appear, patchy and dusky in color; the swelling of the 
throat is great, and if they can be seen, the tonsils are evidently ulcer- 
ated, the breath offensive, the tongue swollen, and swallowing difficult, 
if not impossible; offensive discharges take place from the nose, and at 
the same time there is evident extreme depression of the constitutional 
powers, with delirium. Between the comparatively mild form first 
described, so mild indeed at times as scarcely to constitute a perceptible 
disease, and the malignant, scarlatina is met with in every degree of 
severity. Asa general rule, the severity or mildness of the attacks of 
scarlet fever depend greatly upon the type of the prevailing epidemic, 
which at one time may be so favorable, that almost every case does 
well, whilst at another, the greatest fatality attends it. 
It is very important to remember, that after scarlet fever there are 
certain affections-some of a very serious nature-which may be, and 
often are, developed. Such are termed sequelae. Foremost among 1094 
SCARLET FEVER, OR SCARLATINA. 
these, in the frequency of its occurrence, and by reason of the danger 
which attends it, is dropsy. It is chiefly, though by no means exclu- 
sively, in the young subjects of the disease that dropsy occurs. The 
development of dropsy is generally preceded by certain sufficiently well- 
marked symptoms: languor, headache, loss of appetite, and very speci- 
ally by a diminished, perhaps suppressed, secretion of urine. In this 
state of the patient, even more alarming symptoms may come on-con- 
vulsions, or extreme drowsiness. When dropsical swelling appears, it 
is usually first noticed about the ankles, or over the shins, or on the 
face, under the lower eyelids; but when it increases, other parts of the 
body become its seat, and there not uncommonly occurs dropsy of the 
chest. 'The latter is apt to take place suddenly, and to be accompanied 
by much difficulty of breathing, and other symptoms. 
Among the other sequelae of scarlet fever are permanent enlargement, 
often ending in suppuration of the glands of the neck, and deafness; 
the latter condition not unfrequently being found in connection with a 
discharge of matter from the ear-itself a source of great annoyance, 
and, so long as it continues, not free from danger. 
Treatment.-The great variation in the severity of the attacks of 
scarlet fever must render the variation in the treatment equally great. 
When the form of the prevailing epidemic is extremely mild, little if 
any treatment is required, and many cases get none at all, not even 
confinement to the house, and certainly not to bed. This is not well, 
even for the sake of others, and should the weather be ungenial, or 
should cold be taken, a mild affection may be at once converted into a 
dangerous disease. A moderately active attack of scarlet fever requires, 
certainly, confinement to bed, in as well-ventilated a room as possible, 
kept at an average temperature of 60° Fahr.; the diet should be kept 
low, and should consist of milk, farinaceous articles, etc., and the thirst 
may be freely indulged with diluent drinks, such as barley-water, or 
thin gruel, the patient must not be covered with bedclothes, which will 
keep up feverish heat. If the heat of skin is great, and indeed in most 
cases of this disease, sponging the surface of the body with tepid water, 
with or without the addition of a little vinegar, is at once most beneficial 
and grateful to the patient; rubbing the surface with clean fresh lard is 
also productive of much comfort. A gentle aperient should be repeated 
once or twice in the course of the disease, a tablespoonful of castor-oil, 
a dose of magnesia and rhubarb, or from half to a whole seidlitz powder, 
may be required, or in fuller habits or where fever runs high, a more 
active purgative still. 
The effervescing citrate of magnesia may be permitted in moderation 
to all; but more freely-and, indeed the salines generally-to persons SCARLET FEVER, OR SCARLATINA. 
1095 
of full habit. From 5 to 10 grains-according to age-of chlorate of 
potash given every six or eight hours, in a little sugar and water, is one 
of the most appropriate cooling salines in this disease. 
If the feverish symptoms run high, of course the lowering and cooling 
remedies must be more actively enforced. In most cases much relief is 
afforded to the throat by the frequent use of cold water, both externally 
and internally; small pieces of ice may be allowed to dissolve in the 
mouth. Externally, cloths wrung out of cold water, or a bag with 
pounded ice, are also of much service to the throat. When the throat 
is very much swollen, leeches may be requisite, but so much caution is 
called for in the abstraction of blood in scarlet fever, that this should 
only be done under medical sanction. Great enlargement of the glands 
around the jaw, and in the neck, must always be seriously regarded. 
When a case of scarlet fever presents symptoms of malignancy, every 
method of supporting the strength by wine, broths, etc., must be used, 
and the preparations of chlorine employed both internally and as washes 
and gargles, to the nose, mouth, tonsils, etc. The chlorate of potash in 
from 5 to 10 grain doses, must be given every three or four hours; or 
muriatic acid in 5-drop doses in sweetened water. Two drams of the solu- 
tion of chloride of soda, in £ pint of water, will make a convenient wash, 
to be used with a syringe, if the child or person is unable to gargle. 
Salicylic acid has recently been introduced as a remedy in the treatment 
of this disease. In doses of from 3 to 5 grains every four hours, in the 
form of emulsion with mucilage, it certainly exerts a favorable influence 
upon the throat symptoms, and lessens the tendency to dangerous 
complications. (See Salicylic Acid.) 
After the eruption has faded, the person may sit up, and gradually 
return to fuller diet, such as pudding, broth, fish, etc., the bowels being 
kept free, but not purged, and close attention given to the state of the 
urine as to the quantity and appearance. At this stage, too, much com- 
fort and benefit will accrue from the use of two or three warm baths. 
These relieve greatly the discomfort arising from the harsh and dry 
state of the peeling skin, and what is more important, encourage and 
keep active its ordinary perspiratory functions, which are apt to be 
impaired or impeded, and thus to give rise to a dropsical condition con- 
nected with a disordered state of the kidneys. The attacks of dropsy 
are most likely to occur from the end of the first fortnight to the end of 
the fourth week after the decline of the eruption. 
Although mild cases of scarlet fever may be, and every day are, 
carried safely through with simple nursing, should the case be at all an 
active one, it ought to be visited by a medical man; if it is severe, his 
presence is indispensable, equally so, whatever the case may have been, 1096 
SCARLET FEVER, OR SCARLATINA. 
if the least symptoms of the after-dropsy show themselves. Should this 
last contingency occur, warm baths ought to be used to restore, if pos- 
sible, the functions of the skin, hot bran poultices applied to the body, 
and if there is pain about the kidneys, blood taken by leeches or cupping. 
The bowels should be well cleared, or rather purged, by the calomel 
and colocynth pill, or better still, by calomel and compound powder of 
jalap; at the same time a draught consisting of a dram of nitrous ether, 
an ounce of spirit of mindererus, and 10 or 15 drops of ipecacuanha 
wine, in a wine-glassful of water, may be given every four or five hours. 
These measures ought to be sufficient till medical assistance is procured; 
if, as sometimes occurs, convulsions or delirium come on, they are to be 
treated as directed in the articles Convulsions, Typhoid Fever. If the 
affection of the throat has extended to the ears by the eustachian tubes, the 
structure of the organs of hearing may be materially damaged, and deaf- 
ness, total or partial, be the result. Frequently, runnings from the 
external ears, from the nose or eyes, continue for long after the sub- 
sidence of scarlet fever, and if the attack has been a severe one, a per- 
manent state of impaired health may be the consequence. Of course, 
if a patient, after an attack of scarlet fever, remains weak, tonic medi- 
cines, quinine, or iron, with wine and good nourishment will be required, 
also warm clothing. 
Preventive treatment.-Inasmuch as scarlet fever is an exceedingly 
contagious disease, and in its severer forms very fatal, it is of the 
utmost importance that all should be acquainted with the best means of 
preventing its ravages. In the first place, persons who never have had 
it, should be very careful about exposing themselves to its influence, and 
when the exposure is unavoidable, great care should be taken to live 
regularly. A proper amount of sleep and food should be taken, the 
clothing be frequently changed, and a bath taken once a day. In the 
shape of drugs, belladonna, 3 or 4 drops of the tincture, three or four 
times a day, has been highly lauded as a preventive. Opinion is very 
much divided as to its efficacy, but it is worth trying. Sulpho-carbolate 
of soda, in doses of 20 grains, three times a day, by destroying the 
germs of disease in the blood, holds out a much better hope of efficient 
prevention. Tar, in the shape of pills, 5 grains, three or four times a 
day, is another remedy which has been used with success. It is also a 
good plan to take 20 or 30 drops of sweet spirit of nitre, three times a 
day. When the disease has obtained entrance to a home, the patient 
should be placed in a roomy, well-ventilated apartment, as far from the 
other inmates as possible, from which all unnecessary articles have been 
removed. The nurse should hold as little intercourse as possible with 
the rest of the family, and should, when going to other portions of the SCARLET FEVER, OR SCARLATINA-SCIATICA. 
1097 
house, wash her hands with carbolic acid water. All discharges from 
the patient, all slops from the sick-room, and all cloths used around the 
bed, should be disinfected with carbolic acid, and destroyed. All dishes 
used by the patient should also be thoroughly cleansed. After the 
recovery of the patient or patients, all clothing, bedding, and furniture 
of the room should be thoroughly cleansed and disinfected, and the 
room itself be well scrubbed, the paper removed, the ceiling white- 
washed, and be left for at least a month, unoccupied. (See Children, 
Cold Feet, Fever, Bromo-Chloralum, Disinfectants, Diphtheria.) 
SCARLET-RASH, OR ROSE-RASH. (See Skin, Diseases of 
THE.) 
SCHOOL, skool [Lat. schola}. It too often happens, that in con- 
sequence either of ignorance or of carelessness, the health of young 
people suffers irretrievable injury during the years of instruction. In 
day-schools, the chief source of injury is from insufficient ventilation. 
The consequences of this, and the remedies, are sufficiently entered 
into under such articles as Air, Bcd-Room, Ventilation, Houses, etc., 
and require no further comment here. 
In boarding-schools, the health of the pupils is, of course, subject to 
those general conditions and laws of health, which are commented on 
in the various sanitary articles; and parents would do well to assure 
themselves that due attention is paid to these, ere they commit the 
daily life of their children to influences over which they have no control. 
It is to be hoped, that there are few seminaries or colleges for the 
young, in which actual deficiency of food occurs; but it is possible, that 
in the selection and preparation of the food, there may be defects, 
which, to strong-constitutioned children, are of comparatively little 
moment, but which are of the greatest importance to the delicate. The 
point should not be overlooked. It is impossible, in the limited space 
of this work, to enter into particulars, but the reader is referred to the 
various articles on Food, Digestion, Diet, and the principles of Ali- 
ment. Equally important with quantity and quality of food, is the per- 
mission of sufficient time for meals (see Meals), not only for the mere 
eating, but for rest after, before school work is resumed. (See Diges- 
tion, Dyspepsia, Health, Sanitary Science, Ablution, Baths and 
Bathing, Exercise, Clothing, Cold Feet, Education, Chest.) 
SCIATICA, si-at'-e-ka [corrupted from the Gr. ischion, the hip], is 
neuralgia or nervous rheumatism, affecting the great or sciatic nerve of 
the lower extremity. This nerve, the largest in the body, passes down 
the back of the thigh to the ham, a little above which it divides into two 
branches. 
Symptoms.-The sciatic nerve sometimes becomes the seat of fevers. 1098 
SCIATICA-SCOURING RUSH. 
Neuralgic pain, felt down its entire course, or perhaps in the hips only, 
or sometimes in the foot and ankle only; the pain comes on in paroxysms, 
and is generally increased by exercise; in some cases, pressure upon the 
course of the nerve causes pain. 
Treatment.-Sciatica is often attended with so much suffering, that 
it affects the general health to a considerable degree; moreover, it is 
frequently most difficult to get rid of. For these reasons, the case should 
be under medical superintendence. Leeches and cupping, in the first 
instance, down the course of the nerve, especially in plethoric subjects, 
followed by blisters, are useful; or heat and moisture may be used with 
advantage, in the form of the bran poultice, followed twice or three times 
a day by an embrocation composed of 1 part of turpentine and 2 of soap 
and opium liniment. Two drams of this should be rubbed in for ten min- 
utes at a time. Tincture of aconite, or the chloroform liniment may 
also be applied to the affected part. The bowels being cleared by a 
purgative, if there is no tendency to fever, dram-doses of carbonate of 
iron, given three times in the twenty-four hours, often cures quickly; or 
turpentine, in doses of 15 drops, given in milk, three times a day, may 
be tried; or quinine, in 2 grain doses, every eight hours. There is 
considerable uncertainty in the effect of remedies in sciatica, even in 
skilful hands. It frequently requires the use of some anodyne, and for 
this purpose morphia injected under the skin by the hypodermic syringe, 
has often been productive of much benefit; of course it can only be done 
by a physician. Sciatica is often connected with rheumatism, and in 
such circumstances, may be removed by the use of those remedies which 
prove useful in that disorder. When other means fail, benefit has fre- 
quently resulted from the use of electricity, particularly the constant 
current, and warm saline baths. 
SCILLA MARITIMA, sil'-la mar-e-ti'-mq, or squill, a perennial 
plant belonging to the Nat. order Liliaceae. It is a native of all parts 
of the Mediterranean coast. The bulb, which is the part used in medi- 
cine, is expectorant, diuretic, and in large doses, emetic and purgative. 
As an expectorant, it is generally combined with senega, as in the com- 
pound syrup of squill, and used in affections of the bronchial membrane, 
and in spasmodic croup. As a diuretic, it is used in dropsy to increase 
the secretion from the kidney. For this purpose, it is generally com- 
bined with digitalis. In large doses it is an irritant poison. Dose : of 
the fluid extract, as an expectorant and diuretic, 2 to 6 drops; as an 
emetic, 10 to 20 drops; powder, 1 to 2 grains; vinegar of squill, 30 to 
60 drops; syrup, £ to 1 teaspoonful; tincture, 10 to 30 drops; com- 
pound syrup of squill, known as hive syrup, 10 drops to | a teaspoonful. 
SCOURING RUSH. (See Equisetum Hyemale.) SCREAMING OF INFANTS-SCROFULA, ETC. 
1099 
SCREAMING OF INFANTS, skreem'-ing, if continued, and if 
increased on particular movements of the body, should not be neglected. 
Intermittent screaming may be indicative of painful affection of the 
chest or abdomen, which incites the child to scream; whilst, on the 
other hand, the aggravation of the pain thus induced, compels it again 
to desist, thus giving the intermittent character. Screaming of children 
during, or on awaking from sleep, may arise from the irritation of teeth- 
ing, or of worms, etc., or from indigestible matters in the bowels; for 
these causes the suitable remedies are to be used, as directed in the 
proper places. (See Dentition, Worms, Colic, Obstruction of the 
Bowels.) Screaming in sleep may be simply a bad habit, untraceable 
to any cause, or may be attributable to dreams, or excitement of mind 
produced by fright during the day, excited accidentally, or by design, 
by foolish nurses. Lastly, screaming may arise from incipient disease 
of the brain. If the affection be persistent, its cause should be investi- 
gated by a medical man. (See Cry of Children; Child, Children ; etc.) 
SCROFULA, OR KING'S EVIL, skrof-vrla [Lat. scrofuloe, 
scrofa], sometimes called struma. The condition of scrofula is com- 
mon to certain persons; and, when they possess it, they are said to 
be scrofulous. During early life, such have pale, flabby, pasty-looking 
complexions, large heads, narrow and often malconstructed chests 
(chicken-breasted), with protuberant belly, a soft muscular system, and 
feeble, languid circulation. These are the characteristics of the leuco- 
plflegmatic temperament; but the scrofulous constitution is not con- 
fined to that temperament alone-it may be present with the sanguine 
and melancholic. In the former it is indicated by light red hair, long 
eyelashes, sluggish, generally dilated pupils, fair brilliant skin and com- 
plexion. Such children are sometimes quite precocious ; they cause the 
flattering hopes of parents, but gloomy forebodings to the physician. 
In the latter, the mental state is sluggish, the skin dark and muddy, 
the bodily energies defective. In those persons whose chief character- 
istics have thus been noticed, scrofula, in a marked form, is apt, sooner 
or later, to be developed. 
Causes.-Of the causes of scrofula, there can be no doubt that 
hereditary predisposition is the cause above all others; the fact is 
beyond dispute, and there are few families who have not, indirectly at 
least, practical connection with the fact. It is to be observed, however, 
that the predisposition is strengthened, if a parent adds to the taint an 
acquired state of bad health, or if in a father the bodily powers are 
impaired by age; probably the reverse holds good, that whatever con- 
duces to health and vigor, even in parents tainted with scrofula, tends 
to improve the constitution of offspring as regards the predisposition. 1100 
SCROFULA, ETC. 
Further, it is undoubted, that whatever hereditary tendencies children 
may possess, they are greatly retarded or strengthened by the external 
conditions to which such children are exposed. If the climate in which 
they reside is dry and bracing, if they are so placed that healthy habita- 
tions, good clothing, and nourishing food, are provided for them, and 
especially if their parents and guardians are awake to the importance of 
these things, of being on the watch for any tendency to failing health, 
or to disease, the chances of health and life are far greater, than they 
are for children of even originally better constitution, who are exposed 
to a damp, cold climate, and to the unhealthy influences attendant upon 
the circumstances of poverty. 
Symptoms.-The following description of the signs of scrofula by 
Dr. Phillips, one of the highest authorities on the subject, is peculiarly 
truthful: "In the form of the body there is usually observable a want 
of muscular development; but even this is often absent. There is often 
an appearance of plumpness and roundness, which is the result, not of 
muscular development, but simply of an infiltrated condition of the 
cellular tissue, and which rapidly disappears under fatiguing exercise, 
privation, or disease. Commonly, there is a general paleness and cold- 
ness of the surface of the body, which is owing to a feeble circulating 
apparatus; but in a large number of cases, that paleness does not 
extend to the face. The color of the hair is very variable, but for the 
most part it inclines to a dark tint. Of nearly nine thousand scrofulous 
children examined, a little over thirty-twTo per cent, had light hair and 
eyes. The abdomen is commonly tumid-discharges from the nose, 
the eye, and the ear are common-the tongue has commonly a dirty- 
whitish coating; the tonsils are usually enlarged, and they are often so 
tumid as to impress a disagreeable and frequently husky character upon 
the voice, and to cause snoring when the patient is asleep. The stomach 
and bowels are frequently disordered, and digestion is ill-performed. 
Sometimes the evacuations are clay-colored, very offensive, and of vary- 
ing consistency, at others having a redundancy of bile. The skin, 
though often dry and hard, is often the seat of a considerable greasy 
exhalation, sometimes it is found to be fetid and sour. The scalp and 
other parts of the cutaneous integument are often the seat of eruptive 
affections. The absence of vascular and muscular energy, often causes 
the child to lie and sit about much, and indisposes him to enter into the 
energetic games of his playfellows. As to the intellectual development 
claimed for scrofulous persons, that is usually wanting. That many 
scrofulous children present that character is quite true; but the result of 
very careful observation," says Dr. Phillips,"has convinced me that the 
overwhelming majority are without those superior intellectual qualities, SCROFULA, ETC.-SCURF. 
1101 
which have been pointed out as their ordinary characters." Moreover, 
if the intellectual powers are forced, as too often happens, ''and the 
nervous and intellectual systems have the vital actions concentrated on 
them too intensely, the sufferer loses flesh, the general health languishes, 
and the intellectual faculties may give way, destroyed by an opposite, 
but not less sure, method, than that which breaks down the poor man's 
child." 
As noticed above, the very common idea that scrofula is usually 
associated with light hair and complexion, is far from being correct, the 
larger proportion of scrofulous subjects have dark hair and eyes, with a 
dingy complexion, and some are ruddy, and to the common observer 
look robust; others with delicate skin, inclined to freckle, have red hair. 
Treatment.-In the way of treatment, much good is often to be done; 
but, owing to poverty and privation, numbers of persons who might 
possibly have been saved are cut off. Fresh air, warm clothing, clean- 
liness in person, generous diet, plenty of sleep, a residence at the seaside, 
with daily sea-bathing are the chief particulars; and as adjuvants rank 
the whole series of tonic medicines,-more particularly may mention be 
made of cod-liver oil. The oil may be taken alone, its taste dismissed 
with lemon-juice, or cinnamon, or in combination with the hypophos- 
phites, as prepared by many first class houses in this country. Cod-liver 
oil undoubtedly exercises a remedial influence over scrofula. If, as 
sometimes happens, the stomach will not retain the oil in any shape or 
combination, it may be rubbed into the skin over the chest and abdomen, 
a tablespoonful morning and evening. 
Iodine is another remedy which has been successfully used in the 
treatment of scrofula. It is generally employed in the shape of Lugol's 
solution, 5 to 10 drops, in sweetened water, three times a day; or as 
syrup of the iodide of iron, in doses of from 10 to 30 drops, three times 
a day. The juice prepared from the berries of the black elder, a strong 
decoction made from the fresh roots of the burdock, and fresh juniper 
berries are common remedies, all of which exert a favorable influence in 
scrofula, and frequently effect a cure when other means fail. For the 
care as well as the prevention of scrofula, there is the most undoubted 
testimony in favor of a prolonged residence at the seaside, and the daily 
use of salt water baths. The chalybeate waters of the Virginia mineral 
springs, as well as the salt water of the salt springs of Florida, are also 
highly beneficial. (See Calcium, Compound Elixir Iodo-Bromide of.) 
SCROFULA PLANT. (See Helianthemum Canadense.) 
SCRUPLE. (See Weights and Measures.) 
SCULLCAP. (See Scutellaria Lateriflora.) 
SCURF. (See Dandriff.) 1102 
SCUT VY-SEARCHING. 
SCURVY, sieur'-re [Lat. scorbutus}, is a disease which, two centuries 
ago, was endemic in all the northern countries of Europe, but which 
has now been almost entirely extinguished. It is requisite here to 
explain that what is meant by scurvy in this article, is a very different 
disease from that meant in the popular acceptation of the term, which 
is applied to undefined cutaneous disorders, especially of a scaly 
character. The error has probably arisen from the dry, scurvy appear- 
ance of the skin which often precedes an attack of the real scurvy. 
Causes.-True scurvy is a severe disease, unquestionably owing to 
deterioratiori of the blood, as a result of inappropriate nourishment, 
especially of nourishment unvaried by the admixture of fresh vegetables, 
milk, etc. It is not contagious, neither is it caused by cold weather, by 
impure air, nor by the continued use of salt provisions, all of which 
have frequently been alleged. 
Symptoms.-It is characterized by a state of general feebleness and 
incapacity for exertion, with livid spots or patches over the surface of 
the body, and particularly the limbs-parts of these are, moreover, 
swollen, hard, and painful; there is bleeding from the gums on the 
slightest degree of pressure, and a tendency to hemorrhage from, and 
ulceration of, other mucous surfaces; the breath, too, is very fetid. 
Treatment.-It is owing solely to the privation, for a considerable 
length of time, of fresh succulent vegetables, and is infallibly and 
rapidly cured by the administration of these or of lemon-juice. The 
latter is really a specific against scurvy, whether it be employed as a 
preventive or as a remedy. It supplies something to the blood which is 
essential to its healthy properties. As for the rest, fresh animal food, 
with wine, porter, or ale, is of advantage; but bleeding, blistering, or 
mercury in any form should be religiously avoided. 
SCUTELLARIA LATERIFLORA, sku-tel-la ~re-a la'-ter-e-flo'-ra, 
scullcap, or skullcap. A perennial herb, growing in damp places 
throughout the United States, and belonging to the Nat. order Lam- 
iaceoe. It is sometimes known as hood-wort and mad weed. The whole 
herb is used in medicine. Scullcap is a valuable nervine and tonic. 
It has also sudorific and diuretic properties. It is used in facial neu- 
ralgia, St. Vitus's dance, convulsions, tetanus, delirium tremens, as well 
as in ordinary diseases of the nerves. Dose: of the fluid extract, to 
1 teaspoonful; infusion, 1 wine-glassful, three times a day. 
SEA-AIR. (See Air, Climate.) 
SEA-BATHING. (See Baths and Bathing.) 
SEARCHING, serch'-ing. Technically applied to the operation of 
introducing a metallic instrument through the urethra into the bladder, 
for the purpose of ascertaining the presence of a Calculus (which see). Scutellaria Lateriflora. (Scullcap.) SPA - SI CPNPSS. 
1103 
SEA-SICKNESS, se'-sik-nes. Causes.-The primary cause of the 
distressing affection, sea-sickness, has been a good deal disputed, but its 
dependence upon peculiar affection of the brain, by the motion of the 
vessel, seems now very generally admitted. It has been imagined, that 
the effect upon the brain was conveyed through the medium of the eye, 
and caused by the apparent movement of the objects of sight; as how- 
ever, blind people suffer from sea-sickness, the affection must be excita- 
ble by other means than the above. Possibly, as has been suggested, 
it partly results from disturbance of certain portions of the brain which 
have for their function the preservation of the equilibrium of the body. 
That, however, sight is in some degree accessory to the excitement of 
nausea is evident from the fact, that some persons experience the sensa- 
tion simply from objects appearing to move before them, as they do from 
a ship moved by the waves, or, indeed, in some cases by the mere 
appearance of a waving pattern upon a wall paper. The affection is 
more readily caused by long heaving waves, than by a short, rough sea. 
The treatment consists principally in prevention. 
Preventive treatment.-The best preventives seem to be the hori- 
zontal posture, as near the centre of the vessel, and therefore the centre 
of motion, as possible; that is, where the motion is least. Exposure to 
the open air renders the liability less. Stimulants, combined with seda- 
tives, appear to have considerable effect in preventing or alleviating the 
affection. A pill, composed of 4 grains of cayenne pepper, with 2 
or 3 of extract of henbane, taken at intervals, may be found useful. 
Creasote is also an excellent antidote. (See Creasote.) Five to 10 drops 
of chloroform on a little white sugar has lately been suggested as a good 
remedy. Iced champagne has also been highly recommended both as a 
cure and a preventive. An ice-bag to the spine and a coating of collo- 
dion over the stomach, are other means which have been used with 
success. Some persons find themselves less liable to sea-sickness if they 
take food freely, with others the reverse is the case ; the effect probably 
depends upon the state of the digestive powers of the stomach, tempo- 
rary or permanent. If these are vigorous, the excitement of digesting 
food acts probably as a counteragent to the cause of the nausea. Sea- 
sickness of itself is rarely injurious, but it should be a subject of con- 
sideration with persons who are liable, or likely to be, to head-affection, 
who are the subjects of rupture, prolapsus, etc., how far they should 
incur the risk of these being aggravated by the mechanical action of 
vomiting. Some who do not suffer from sickness while on the water, 
experience nausea and other uncomfortable sensations after landing-an 
effect, doubtless, due to a partial disturbance of the digestive organs, 
and probably to biliary disorder. One or two doses of compound 1104 
SEA-SICKNESS-SECRETION. 
colocynth, or compound rhubarb pill, will generally remove this incon- 
venience. (See Chlorodyne.) 
SEASONS, se'-znz [from Lat. statio, station]. There are certain 
general rules of climate, connected with the seasons, which are well 
ascertained; such, for instance, as the greater prevalence of inflamma- 
tory attacks, and of disorders of the respiratory organs during winter 
and spring; the frequent occurrence of apoplexy during frost, and the 
epidemic of biliary disorder towards the close of summer and autumn, 
after the high temperature has permitted the accumulation of carbona- 
ceous compounds in the system. At no period of life is the influence of 
the seasons on mortality more perceptible than in old age ; and at no 
age less than between twenty and twenty-five, when the physical man, 
fully developed, enjoys the plenitude of power. (See Acclimatization,. 
Climate, Clothing, Flannel, Cold, Heat, Animal Heat, etc.) 
SEA-WEEDS. (See Alg^. ) 
SEA-WRACK. (See Fucus Vesiculosus.) 
SEBACEOUS, se-ba'-shus [Lat. sebum, suet], a term applied to 
glands which secrete a suety substance, and likewise to the matter 
secreted. These glands are situated in the skin, and are most numerous 
about the face and nose. (See Acne.) 
SECALE CORNUTUM, se-ka'-le kor-nu-turn, or ergot of rye, is a 
peculiar diseased or fungoid growth which is developed upon the seed of 
the common rye. The affected grain is sometimes called " spurred 
rye." As a remedial adjunct in the hands of the accoucheur, ergot of 
rye is most valuable, but is not likely to form part of the domestic 
medicine chest. It has been used in medicine in hemorrhage and other 
diseases, but chiefly on account of its undoubted action upon the womb. 
It can only be safely used by medical men. Dose: of the fluid extract, 
20 drops to a teaspoonful; tincture, 30 drops to 1 teaspoonful; 
infusion, 1 to 2 fluid ounces; powder, 20 to 30 grains. (See Infu- 
sion. ) 
SECONDARY, sek'-und-a-re [Lat. secundarius'], something that acts 
as second, or in subordination to another. Thus, in diseases, we have 
secondary symptoms. 
SECRETION, se-kre'-shun [Lat. secretid}, in Physiology, is that 
process by which materials are separated from the blood, and from the 
organs in which they are formed, for the purpose either of serving some 
ulterior object in the animal economy, or of being discharged from the 
body as excrement. Secretion is one of the natural functions of the 
living body, and is as necessary to health as nutrition. The glands 
are the principal organs to which the office of secreting is more 
especially ascribed, and the number of them is considerable. The SECRETION-SEMEN. 
1105 
glandular secretions are of seven different sorts-namely, the tears, 
saliva, bile, pancreatic fluid, urine, semen, and milk. 
SECUNDINES, sek'-un-dinze [Lat. secundus, second], the after-birth 
and membranes cast off after the birth of the child. (See After-Birth, 
Childbed.) 
SEDATIVES, sed'-a-tivz [Lat. sedatus, calm], in Medicine, agents 
which produce direct depression of the action of the vascular system 
with little sensible evacuation. Inasmuch as their depressing effects are 
not preceded by any obvious excitement or increased movement of the 
heart or arteries, they differ from narcotics. Sedatives should be used 
with caution, in consequence of their depressing effects; and as most of 
them are active poisons, the dose should be strictly regulated. (See 
Narcotics.) 
SEDENTARY HABITS. (See Exercise, Pleasure, Recreation, 
Diet, Food, Digestion, Dyspepsia, Air, Health Resorts, Health, etc.) 
SEEDS, COLLECTION AND PRESERVATION OF. (See 
Plants, etc.) 
SEIDLITZ POWDERS, sed'ditz pow'-durz, are two distinct pow- 
ders, the one contained in a white paper, consisting of 2 drams of 
Rochelle salt, and 40 grains of carbonate of soda; the other in a blue 
paper, consisting of 35 grains of tartaric acid. The contents of the 
first paper are to be dissolved in half a pint of spring water, and the 
contents of the blue paper to be added, and the mixture drunk during 
effervescence. This forms a grateful and cooling aperient. (See 
Cathartics, Effervescence, Salines, etc.) 
SEIDLITZ WATER. (See Mineral Waters.) 
SELF-ABUSE. (See Onanism, Semen, Nocturnal Discharges, 
Sterility, etc.) 
SELTZER WATER. (See Mineral Waters.) 
SEMEN, se'-men [Lat. sero, to sow], the spermatic secretion or 
seminal fluid. This secretion frequently becomes excessive by criminal 
secret indulgence, obscene conversation, books and pictures; and by a 
perverted imagination. This excess produces nervous exhaustion, mani- 
fested by listlessness, paleness of the skin, the incapacity of concentrating 
the mind upon any particular subject, nocturnal and involuntary emis- 
sions, horrors, nervous debility, dyspepsia, emaciation, and sometimes 
by a state of languor and inanity, closely allied to idiocy. Where the 
above symptoms exist, no mode of treatment can be prescribed that 
would be suitable to all cases, except it be the absolute discontinuance 
of all the practices which caused them; a course of tonics : a regular 
and temperate life, with gentle exercise, sea-bathing when convenient, 
and a tolerably generous diet, and early marriage. (See Onanism, 1106 
SEMEN-SETON. 
Nocturnal Discharges, Impotence, Sterility, Buchu, Damiana, Salvia 
Officinalis, Tonics, Strychnos Nux Vomica, Nervous Diseases.) 
SEMINAL WEAKNESS. (See Semen, Onanism, Nocturnal Dis- 
charges, Sterility, etc.) 
SEMINARIES. (See School.) 
SENDING FOR THE DOCTOR. (See Medical Advice.) 
SENECIO AUREUS, sen-e'-she-o aw'-re-us, life-root, golden senecio, 
or golden ragwort, a perennial plant growing on banks of creeks, and in 
low, marshy grounds throughout the Northern and Western States and 
Canada. The root and herb are the parts used in medicine, and they 
yield a peculiar principle called senecin. Life-root is diuretic, diapho- 
retic, and tonic, and is used in gravel, strangury, and other urinary 
affections. It is said also to possess useful properties in the treatment 
of female diseases. Dose: of the fluid extract, £ to 1 teaspoonful; 
infusion, 1 to 4 fluid ounces; senecin, 3 to 5 grains, three or four times a 
day. (See Infusion.) 
SENEKA OR SENECA SNAKE - ROOT. (See Polygala Senega. ) 
SENNA. (See Cassia.) 
SENSATION, sen-sa'-shun [From Lat. sensus, perception]. When 
an impression made on the extremity of a nerve is communicated to the 
sensorium-or common centre of sensations-so as to excite the con- 
sciousness of the mind, it is called a sensation. (See Nervous System 
and Nerves.) 
SENSES, sen'-sez [Lat. sensus, perception; sentio, to perceive, to 
feel]. These are the faculties by which we become acquainted with the 
condition of our bodies, and with certain properties and states of exter- 
nal things, such as their color, taste, odor, size, form, density, etc. 
The senses are five in number, viz., sight, hearing, taste, touch, and 
smell (all of which see). They have been well called the "five gate- 
ways of knowledge." Their messengers, which convey all impressions 
to the brain, are the Nerves, which see. (See Sensibility, Sensation.) 
SENSIBILITY, sen-se-bil'-e-te [Fr. sensibilite\, that faculty of living 
parts by which they are capable of receiving impressions, which increase, 
diminish, alter, or suspend their actions. (See Nervous System.) 
SEQUELA, se-hwe'-lq [Lat. sequor, to follow], in Medicine, any sec- 
ondary affection which follows upon a disease. Thus the sequelae of 
scarlet fever, or measles, are anasarca, the development of phthisis, 
scrofula, etc. 
SERPENTARIA, OR SERPENTARY. (See Aristolochia. ) 
SERPENTS' BITES. (See Bites and Stings.) 
SETON, se'-tn [Lat., from seta, a bristle]. A seton is usually formed 
by means of a portion of a skein of silk, passed under the true skin, so SETONS HEEP LAUREL. 
1107 
that it excites suppuration; it is, in fact, an issue. Caoutchouc and 
other tapes, are used for setons as well as silk. Setons are seldom used 
at the present day. 
SEVEN-BARKS. (See Hydrangea Arborescens. ) 
SEVUM PR^EPARATUM, se'-vum [Lat. prepared suet], is the 
internal fat of the abdomen of the sheep, purified by melting and strain- 
ing. It is used in cantharides plaster and ointment of mercury. 
SEWER, sod-er or shore, a passage to carry water under ground; 
a drain. (See Drainage, Houses, Sanitary Science.) 
SEX, seks [Lat. sexus]. With regard to the question of sex, in con- 
nection with childbirth, there can be little doubt that a pregnancy it 
which the child is a«nale, is likely to be more prolonged than one in 
which it is a female. According to the most reliable researches made 
on the influence of the age of parents, it is found that in general when 
the mother is older than the father, fewer boys than girls are born; the 
same is the case where the parents are of equal ages; but the more the 
father's age exceeds that of the mother's, so is the ratio of boys greater. 
The nearer the sexes approach puberty, the greater is the consideration 
required for the different tendencies of constitution, and after that 
period the peculiar differences, of the female at least, require constant 
consideration. As a general rule, females require medicine in smallet 
doses than men. 
SEXUAL EXCESSES. (See Onanism, Semen, Nocturnal Dis- 
charges, Impotence, Sterility, Gonorrhcea, Syphilis.) 
SHADE TREES, shade. Too much cannot be said in favor of the 
beauty and comfort of shade trees on the lawn, or by the dusty roadside, 
or as a protection from the biting cold blasts of winter, and th'e malari- 
ous exhalations from marshes; yet, in large clusters, very near a dwell- 
ing, shade trees with heavy, dense foliage are productive of much evil. 
They intercept the light and the refreshing breeze, harbor innumerable 
insects, and frequently give rise to damp walls, with all their bad 
results. (See Cold, Malaria, Light, Damp, Walls anh Wall Papers, 
Ague, Houses.) 
SHAMMY UNDERCLOTHES. (See Clothing.) 
SHAMPOOING, sham-poo'-ing, is a system of mechanical manipula- 
tion of various parts of the body, for the cure of disease. In rheumatic 
affections, sprains, etc., it is said to be useful. The practice is much 
followed in the East. The practice of shampooing, or kneading the 
muscles of emaciated limbs, is of the highest value in retaining and 
promoting their nutrition. 
SHAVE-GRASS. (See Equisetum Hyemale.) 
SHEEP LAUREL. (See Kalmia Latifolia.) 1108 
SHEER Y-SHO ELDER. 
SHERRY, slier'-re, one of the dry strong wines, contains, as imported 
into this country, rather more than nineteen per cent, of alcohol. It is 
free from the astringency of port wine, and generally agrees better with 
persons of weak digestive powers. To be good, it ought to be free from 
acid, or nearly so. (See Wine.) 
SHINGLES. (See Herpes. ) 
SHIP FEVER, ship, a form of typhus. (See Typhus Fever.) 
SHIVERING, shiv'-ur-ing, as a symptom of illness, is the sensation 
as of cold. The cause of the sensation of shivering is probably from the 
nervous system. 
Shivering, or rigor, is a symptom which frequently accompanies the 
formation of pus or matter within the body, in the course of inflammatory 
disease. (See Rigor.) 
SHOCK, shok [Fr. choc\, in medical language, is the depressing 
impression imparted to the nervous system, and, through it, to the 
constitution generally, as a consequence of severe pain or injury. The 
extent of the shock, its duration, and even its fatality, often depends 
more upon the part or organ through which it is received, than upon the 
actual extent of the living body injured, or the pain suffered. Thus, 
a comparatively slight blow over the region of the heart, upon the pit of 
the stomach, or on the neck, in all of which situations, nerves are collected 
in numerous interlacements, is apt to be followed by immediate, and, it 
may be, fatal shock. The depression of the system which follows a 
blow on the head is of a similar nature. Again, injuries which involve 
large portions of the body in destruction, which cause severe pain, or 
much effusion of blood, are all followed by shock. This subject is 
sufficiently treated of in the articles Blows, Concussion, Concussion of 
the Brain, Accidents. 
The immediate treatment of a person who lias suffered a shock 
is similar to that recommended in cases of Fainting, and of Concussion 
of the Brain (which see) with the same precaution as to the use of 
stimulants. (See Reaction.) 
SHOES, TIGHT-FITTING. (See Foot, Corns.) 
SHORT -SIGHT. (See Vision.) 
SHOULDER, shole'-dur [Ang.-Sax. sculder, sculdor}. The shoul- 
der, in addition to the muscles and other soft parts, by which it is 
surrounded, is made up specially of the three bones, the shoulder-blade 
or scapula, the clavicle or collar-bone, and the humerus or arm-bone, the 
round head of which fits to the cup of the shoulder-blade-to form the 
shoulder-joint. The upper ribs may also be considered as entering into 
the formation of the shoulder region generally. (See Anatomy, Dis- 
locations, Fractures, Clavicle, Ligament, Axilla, etc.) SHO ELDER-BLADE-SICK- RO OH. 
1109 
SHOULDER-BLADE. (See Scapula.) 
SHOWER-BATH. (See Baths and Bathing.) 
SIALAGOGUES, si-al'-a-gogz [Gr. sialon, saliva; and ago, I drive], 
are medicines which increase the flow of saliva, as mercury. 
SICK-ROOM, sik'-room. It is very much to be regretted that so 
much ignorance prevails in this country, respecting the domestic 
management of the sick-room, and that this ignorance is chiefly dis- 
played by those whose duty it is to W'atch over the sick-bed, and carry 
out the directions of the medical adviser ; yet it is a matter of congratu- 
lation, that this department of sanitary science is making immense 
strides, and acquiring fresh importance every day. To discuss this sub- 
ject would require a volume in itself, and we confine ourselves to a few 
important points, with which all heads of families, nurses, and every one 
who may have charge of a sick-room should be familiar. 
Choice of a sick-room.-With regard to the sick-room itself, when a 
choice can be made, it should always be large, lofty, quiet, and well- 
ventilated. If the patient must be in a small room, this great disad- 
vantage must be compensated for by attending, in every possible way, 
to the ventilation. Many object to open windows; but there is no 
danger whatever, if only care be taken to avoid draughts, and the 
occurrence of a chill upon the patient's surface. All experience teaches 
us that every sick-room should have an open chimney, and further, that 
ventilation can be only properly effected by open windows. In cases 
where an open window in the room cannot be borne, it is often desirable 
to ventilate the room by means of air transmitted through an open 
window in the adjoining room. (See Air, Houses, Ventilation; Bed, 
Bedroom; etc.) 
Exposure to light.-All creatures, whether animal or vegetable, turn 
themselves joyfully to the light, and especially for growing children, 
light is almost as essential as fresh air. In addition to light and air, a 
good view from the window is a great advantage. 
Of course, in many cases where there is great nervous excitement, 
in fevers, cerebral diseases, etc., as well as in many affections of the eye, 
light for a time must be partially, if not entirely, excluded. This can, 
however, always be readily done, by means of a blind of a green, or still 
better, of a slate color, which can be pulled up or down at pleasure. 
For all chronic diseases, and indeed, it may be said, for almost all 
diseases, with the few exceptions above named, an abundant supply of 
light is of the first necessity. 
Quiet.-How often does it happen that a doctor leaves his patient 
with the injunction that he is to be kept perfectly quiet, to which the 
patient assents, and the nurse promises obedience: and yet, no sooner 1110 
SICK-ROOM. 
is the doctor's back turned, than the sick-room, instead of being sacred 
and unmolested, is made the scene for the reception of a levee, or for 
the transaction of all manner of domestic business. How often do troops 
of sympathizing friends force their way into its precincts, and each in his 
turn require to know the nature of the disease, and of the treatment 
which is being carried on, relating, at the same time, their own weari- 
some experiences of what they fancy to be precisely similar cases, and 
contrasting and commenting freely upon the different plans pursued, 
with the effect, perhaps, of not only grievously fatiguing the patient, 
but of filling his mind with groundless anxiety and alarm. It is, or it 
ought to be, quite sufficient to prevent such intrusions merely to say, 
that all visitors are prohibited by the medical attendant. The physician 
should leave a written paper to be shown to visitors. But there are a 
great many other respects in which the patient is to be kept quiet and 
undisturbed. Everything connected with the arrangements for the 
patient's comfort, where practicable, should be done outside the sick- 
room, so that he may not be annoyed by any arrangements of a noisy 
character which can be avoided. The very least sudden or unwonted 
noise may alarm and seriously injure a patient suffering from nervous 
disease, and any noise which suddenly wakes a patient out of sleep does 
him real harm. 
It is not the absolute loudness of a noise which is injurious, but there 
are some noises which are exceedingly irritating, especially to the excit- 
able ears of a sick person. Such are all rustling of dresses, whisperings, 
shakings, rattlings, jarrings of all kinds, the creaking of doors or of 
shoes, and the rattling of windows; the jarring tread of people over- 
head, or running up and down stairs, is frequently a source of great 
irritation to the sick man, who will tell you that he feels every step go 
through him. 
The walls of the sick-room.-Green papers are to be avoided, as 
many of them contain arsenic, and the exhalations from them being 
breathed night and day by the patient, may give rise to poisonous symp- 
toms. Secondly, papers which have been put on with bad size, or which 
have a nasty smell, are noxious in the extreme. A room, the walls of 
which are oil painted, and which can consequently be well dusted or 
washed, is perhaps the most suitable that can be found in a private 
house. 
Carpets.-Were it not that it is desirable to keep the sick-room as 
quiet as possible, we should recommend that carpets should be altogether 
abolished from it, as they afford a nidus for the accumulation of morbid 
poisons. If neither carpet nor matting is used, light shoes or slippers 
must be worn by the attendants. 81CK-I100M. 
1111 
Temperature of the sick-room.-In many diseases of the chest, as, 
for instance, inflammation of the lungs, cold air not only increases the 
discomfort of the patient, but makes the cough worse, and aggravates 
the disease. Now it is not safe to trust to our own feelings as a guide 
by which the temperature of a sick-room can be regulated: therefore, a 
thermometer placed at a distance from the fire ought to be frequently 
consulted, and the temperature should be kept up to at least 60° Fahr. 
But wdiilst the room is kept warm, the bed-clothing of the patient must 
be regulated accordingly (and this requires particular attention in the 
case of children), since it would be extremely injudicious both to keep 
the room warm and to heap blankets upon the patient. A warm air and 
a comparatively light covering to the bed, are what is required. How- 
ever warm the room may be, or appear to be, the patient should always 
have a loose, warm dressing-gown at hand, to be put on when he leaves 
bed, so that perspiration may not be suddenly checked. As a general 
rule, it must be remembered that infants and old persons require much 
more artificial external warmth than adults, especially when sick. New- 
born children are said to require a temperature of from 65° to 70° Fahr., 
and old people (with few exceptions) are said to require a still higher 
amount. Healthy, well-clad, and well-fed adults will bear a degree of cold 
five or ten degrees lower without any inconvenience ; while some people 
seem to have an extraordinary power of adapting themselves to different 
temperatures. It is probable that, in some acute diseases of a febrile char- 
acter, attended by great heat of skin, a low temperature, with a current of 
cooling air passing over the body, is of decided advantage ; and this would 
seem to be proved by the fact that cases of fever treated in tents during 
great epidemics have generally done well. Most medical men seem to 
be agreed that in convalescence from all kinds of diseases there is great 
susceptibility to, and intolerance of cold, so that it is often desirable to 
keep a convalescent at a higher temperature than when he was the sub- 
ject of acute disease. 
As to the different methods of heating the sick-room, there can be 
no doubt that the common grate with an open chimney is by far the 
best and healthiest. 
The air of the sick-room, generally, should not be too dry; but in 
some special instances, it is desirable that the patient should breathe a 
warm and moist atmosphere. This may be done very simply in a 
variety of ways. Perhaps the simplest of all is to allow the steam of a 
common kettle to diffuse itself throughout the room. Stoves are very 
objectionable for the sick-room ; but where they are used, special atten- 
tion must be paid to keep the atmosphere moist. (See Houses, Ther- 
mometer, Bed-Room, Beds, Childbed, Children, Convalescence ; Age, 1112 
SICK- R 0 OM-SIL VER. 
Old; Air, Ventilation, Fever, Cookery for the Sick, and all the indi- 
vidual articles on the various diseases throughout the work.) 
SIDE, PAIN IN THE, side [Ang. Sax. side'}. This very common 
affection arises from a great variety of causes. If situated high up, in 
the region of the chest, it may be occasioned by inflammatory affection 
of the lungs, but in this case will be accompanied with more or less 
fever, and other symptoms indicative of the disorder. It may, however, 
be caused in the same situation, by a kind of rheumatism, or neuralgia 
of the muscles connected with the ribs. In this form there is not, 
generally, fever, and the usual signs of affection of the lungs are absent; 
the pain, moreover, is much more liable to aggravation by pressure 
externally, and by slight movement, than that of inflammation of the 
lungs. The affection requires, chiefly, the local treatment of rheumatism 
(see Rheumatism); bran poultice, and anodyne and turpentine liniment. 
A mustard plaster is a good substitute in the absence of liniments. The 
above pains may of course occur on either side of the chest. Pain on 
the right side, lower down, may be owing to affection of the liver (see 
Liver Complaint), on the left side to affection of the spleen. (See Splen- 
itis, Spleen.) Pain on the left side, however, often occurs as a sympa- 
thetic affection, sometimes of the heart or lungs, in either sex. It is most 
common in females, and is then very often sympathetic of disorder, 
functional, or otherwise, of the womb. Any person becoming the sub- 
ject of continued pain in the side, should have the cause investigated by 
a medical man. 
SIDE-SADDLE FLOWER. (See Sarkacenia Purpurea.) 
SIGHT. (See Eye, Vision.) 
SIGNS OF A LONG LIFE. (See Longevity.) 
SILK UNDERCLOTHES. (See Clothing.) 
SILK-WEED. (See Asclepias.) 
SILPHIUM GUMMIFERUM, sil'-fe-um gum-mif'-e-rum, or rosin 
weed, a perennial plant found growing throughout the Western States. 
The root is the part used in Medicine. It is tonic, diaphoretic, and 
alterative, and has been highly recommended in dry, obstinate coughs. 
It has quite a reputation as a diuretic, and is used in dropsy and asthma. 
Dose: of the fluid extract, 20 to 40 drops ; infusion, £ to 2 fluid ounces, 
three or four times a day. (See Infusion.) 
SILVER, sil'vur [Ang.-Sax., seolfer, sylfor}, symbol Ag. (Lat. 
argentum^ equiv. 108, spec. grav. 10.53. It fuses at about 1,873° Fahr. 
The nitrate of silver is made by dissolving silver in strong nitric acid. 
(See Nitrate of Silver.) There are three oxides of silver, the sub- 
oxide, the protoxide, and the peroxide. The protoxide has the same 
general medicinal effects as the nitrate, without being escharotic, and SIL VEH-SKIN. 
1113 
is a valuable astringent in diarrhoea. Dose, | to 2 grains, in form of 
pill. 
SIMABA CEDRON, sim-a'-bq se'-drun, or cedron seed. A remedy 
lately introduced from New Grenada. It is said to be a valuable tonic, 
antiperiodic, and antispasmodic. Recommended in malarial diseases, 
spasms of the stomach and bowels, dyspepsia and neuralgia. Dose, of 
the fluid extract, 1 to 8 drops, three times a day. 
SIMARUBA EXCELSA, sim-a-ru'-bq ek-sd'-sq, or quassia. A large 
tree growing in the West Indies, and belonging to the Nat. order Simor 
rubaeece. The wood of this tree furnishes the quassia of commerce. It 
is a bitter tonic and stomachic, febrifuge and anthelmintic; it is free from 
all constipating properties, is used in remittent fever, and in ague, 
likewise in dyspepsia, and debility from exhausting diseases. The 
infusion is made by steeping 3 drams of the rasped wood in 1 pint of 
cold water for twenty-four hours. Of this, a wine-glassful may be 
taken, three times a day, either alone or with a cup of ginger-tea. 
A strong decoction of quassia, well sweetened with brown sugar or 
molasses, is an effectual fly destroyer, and certainly preferable to the 
poisonous articles generally used for this purpose. 
Dose : of the fluid extract, | to 1 teaspoonful; tincture, £ to 2 tea- 
spoonfuls ; powder, 30 grains ; solid extract, 3 to 5 grains, three or 
four times a day. 
SINAPIS, se-na'-pis [Lat.], mustard, a genus of the Nat. order 
Crucifer az. Flour of mustard is used as a stimulant, diuretic, and 
'emetic; externally, as an irritant and rubefacient. (See Mustard.) 
SINAPISM, sin -a-piam, a mustard plaster or poultice. (See Mus- 
tard, Counter-Irritation.) 
SINGING, sing'-ing, is open to the same objections, to the delicate 
chested, as reading aloud, to the remarks on which the reader is referred. 
(See Reading Aloud, Voice.) 
SINGING IN THE EAR. (See Ear, Diseases of the.) 
SINKING, sink'-ing, the sensation of sinking at the pit of the 
stomach, is a nervous one, generally connected with disordered digestion, 
and often with overloaded bowels. Persons are too apt to have recourse 
to stimuli for its removal, which would often be better effected by the 
use of an aperient, and by regulation of the digestive organs. (See 
Dyspepsia.) 
SITZ-BATH, OR HIP-BATH. (See Baths and Bathing.) 
SKATING. (See Exercise.) 
SKELETON. (See Anatomy, Bones.) 
SKIN, skin [Ang.-Sax. sciri], is that membrane of variable thickness 
which covers the whole body externally, and extends inwards into all 1114 
SKIN-SKIN, DISEASES OE THE. 
the natural openings, where it changes its properties, becoming soft and 
moist, and hence known as mucous membrane. The skin is generally 
described as composed of three layers,-the cuticle, qy scarf-skin, the 
rete mucosum, and the cutis vera, the last being the most internal. The 
cutis {dermis}, or true skin, consists of twro layers, of which the deeper 
is called the corium, and the more superficial the papillary layer. The 
corium is composed of numerous fibres closely interlaced, and forming a 
smooth surface for the support of the papillary layer. It varies in 
thickness, being, as a general rule, thick on the exposed parts and thin 
on the protected. The papillary layer is soft, and formed by numerous 
papillae, which cover its wdiole surface. It contains the expansions of 
the sensitive nerves. The rete mucosum (mucous network) lies imme- 
diately over the cutis, and in some measure diminishes the inequalities 
of the surface, being thicker between the papillae and thinner on their 
summits. It is composed of minute nucleated cells, and is almost pulpy 
in consistence. It is very slightly developed in the white races, but is 
very distinct and thick in those that are darker, the cells, which are 
filled with a pigment, being that which gives the dark color to their skin. 
The cuticle, scarf-skin, or epidermis, is a disorganized scaly substance, 
serving to protect from injury the more delicate cutis. It is thickest on 
the most exposed parts; and on the palms of the hands and soles of the 
feet it consists of several layers. The skin performs various important 
functions. It is the seat of common sensation, and is furnished with 
numerous pores or openings, which give passage to the sweat and other 
exhalations. (See Ablution, Baths and Bathing, Absorption, Hair, 
Scalp, Nails; Skin, Diseases of the; Desquamation.) 
SKIN BOUND. This is an affection, peculiar to infancy, origi- 
nating in chronic inflammation of the cellular membrane. The whole 
surface of the body swells and becomes hard, and the skin is cold and 
tightly bound. It may be relieved by warm baths, and gentle laxatives. 
SKIN, CARE OF THE. (See Ablution, Baths and Bathing, 
Skin; Skin, Diseases of the; Scalp, Flesh Brush, Hair Glove.) 
SKIN, DISEASES OF THE. Very various classifications of skin 
diseases have been made by different authorities on the subject. 
The Exanthemata, or Eruptive Fevers, include measles, scarlet fever, 
small-pox, cow-pox, and chicken-pox, some of the most important affec- 
tions connected with the skin, which are fully noticed under their 
separate articles. Many other eruptive diseases are accompanied with 
febrile symptoms, but not of such marked peculiarity and uniformity as 
those which characterize the above; some authors, however, include 
in the class of eruptive fevers, erysipelas and erythema, nettle-rash and 
rose-rash (which see). SKIN, DISEASES OF THE. 
1115 
Nettle-Rash cannot be better described, than as an eruption which 
closely resembles nettle stings, both in appearance and in the sensations 
it gives rise to. When acute, it is generally accompanied with more or 
less fever. 
Causes.-The nettle-rash, in almost all cases, arises from disorder of 
the digestive organs, caused either by indigestible food, or in some 
persons by particular kinds of food. Kernels or seeds, such as almond, 
peach, etc., which contain prussic acid, seem especially apt to cause 
nettle-rash, and in some individuals even the pits of an apple have been 
known to produce the disorder. Fish, particularly shell-fish, also bring 
it on, or mushrooms ; also certain medicines, such as turpentine ; teeth- 
ing, hurry and agitation of mind in adults, and other irritations, also 
give rise to nettle-rash. 
Treatment.-The generally known causes of this affection, indicate 
the remedy-the removal from the alimentary canal of offending 
matters. If there is tendency to nausea, and if the eruption appears 
soon after a meal, an emetic is the appropriate remedy, but whether this 
is given or not, there should be given an aperient. As acid in the 
bowels often accompanies the condition, a dose of magnesia with rhubarb 
is very suitable, or some other antacid may be had recourse to, and, 
afterwards, castor-oil. External remedies are comparatively of little 
service in the acute forms of nettle-rash. A lotion composed of carbonate 
of ammonia and sugar of lead, of each 1 dram, in £ a pint of water, will 
give relief. Dr. Watson recommends flour dusted over the surface. If 
nettle-rash takes a chronic form, that is, continues, and keeps recurring, 
after the use of such mild aperients as recommended above, and after 
regulation of the diet, the case should be seen by a medical man. 
Rose-Rash, ok Scarlet-Rash, occurs both in children and adults, 
in the form of rose-red patches, of various sizes, somewhat resembling 
measles in many cases, but of a redder hue. The disease is generally 
accompanied with some slight constitutional disorder or fever, but 
the symptoms differ from those which accompany measles. It is 
devoid of danger, and generally subsides after the administration of a 
simple aperient. If either rose-rash or nettle-rash are thought to be 
connected with teething, the gums should be scarified. 
A class of skin diseases are called papular ; they consist essentially, of 
the elevation of minute papulae, or points, upon the surface; to this class of 
diseases belongs the red gum, of infants (which see); also, two other dis- 
eases named lichen and prurigo (which see), which are both extremely 
troublesome, from the intense itching with which they are accompanied, 
and the obstinacy with which at times they resist treatment. The affec- 
tion named prickly heat (which see), is a species of lichen. 1116 
SKIH, DISEASES OF THE-SLEEP. 
The vesicular class of skin diseases includes chicken-pox and cow- 
pox (which see), which also may be classed with eruptive fevers, also 
shingles (which see) and similar herpetic eruptions. Eczema (which 
see) is one of the vesicular eruptive diseases; crusta lactea has its fre- 
quent site upon the scalp and face (see Scalp.) The class of pustular 
eruptions (see Pustules), also comprises various scalp diseases. In 
many of the affections of this class, however, the pustular eruptions 
extend over various portions of the body. 
The class of bullce are characterized by the development of blebs or 
small blisters, which resemble those occasioned by a scald, or by the 
use of a common blister. This form of skin disease is generally 
associated with great debility of constitution. 
The scaly diseases of the skin are many of them extremely obstinate, 
and sometimes resist every form of treatment. (See Leprosy, etc.) 
Tubercular diseases of the skin are equally difficult to get rid of. 
Mother-marks, freckles, etc. (which see), are all included in the cate- 
gory of skin affections. 
No description could possibly enable an unprofessional person to 
distinguish one chronic skin disease from another, nor would it answer 
any good purpose if the knowledge could be imparted. These affections 
are, in a majority of instances, indicative of some peculiar disordered 
condition of the blood, or of the digestive processes, primary or second- 
ary, which require the strictest investigation of a medical man, and, 
probably, a long continued course of treatment-e.ven under the best 
directed remedial measures, they often prove intractable. 
It has been stated that the majority of skin diseases are of constitu- 
tional origin, and such is the case; some, however, are not so. Itch 
(which see), probably, is simply due to the presence of the insect; and 
the form of skin disease-eczema-(see Eczema, Impetigo) from which 
grocers, bakers, and others suffer from handling flour, sugar, etc., 
is undoubtedly local. (See Acne, Impetigo, Ecthyma, Scald-Head, 
Prurigo.) 
SKULL, skul [Lat. cranium}, is that hard, bony case which encloses 
the brain and forms the head. (See Anatomy, Fractures.) 
SKULL-CAP. (See Scutellaria Lateriflora.) 
SKUNK CABBAGE. (See Symplocarpus Fcetidus.) 
SLEEP, sleep. Sleep may be defined as that state of natural uncon- 
sciousness, in which the voluntary powers are in a condition of insensi- 
bility, whilst the involuntary functions of nutrition, secretion, etc., are 
going on, increased, diminished, or unaltered, according to circum- 
stances. 
It is often asked: "Is it not the same thing whether 1 sleep in the SLEEP. 
1117 
day or the night, so as I get enough?" It is not the same thing. Inde- 
pendent of the argument that the natural laws of our constitution can 
never be infringed with impunity, and that man cannot, without injury 
to health, spend those hours in sloth and sleep, during which he ought 
to be active under the sanative influence of diffused daylight, experience 
has long testified, that during the night, many sources of disease act 
more energetically upon those exposed to them. 
As, however, in northern countries, in winter, the term of daylight 
is too considerably curtailed, and the hours of darkness too prolonged, 
to permit of their all being spent in sleep; it becomes a question which 
portion of the latter may most advantageously be devoted to wakeful- 
ness, under the influence of artificial light. Experience has proved, 
that to rise early and spend the morning hours by artificial light, is not 
by any means so salutary a custom, as to add to the latter part of the 
day by the same means. This is probably, in part, due to the greater 
activity of the nervous system in the after-part of the day, causing the 
absence of the stimulus of the sun's light to be less felt. 
The amount of sleep required by different individuals varies greatly; 
as already stated, the infant requires the most, sleeping at least twenty 
hours out of the twenty-four. The hours of sleep which are requisite, 
diminish up to adult maturity, when from six to eight hours is the 
average requirement during the most active periods of life. There are, 
indeed, instances of persons who could do well with a much smaller 
average of sleep-four, three, two hours, or even less; but these are 
exceptional instances, and the individuals have generally been persons 
of strong constitutional powers. The extension of the hours of sleep 
beyond the term of eight, or at least nine hours, is generally the result 
of habitual indulgence. 
Many of the external conditions requisite for sound and healthy 
sleep having been noticed under Bed and Bed-Room, it is unnecessary 
to repeat them here; it may be added, that no portion of clothing 
which tends, either in the way of wristband or of neck fastening, to con- 
fine in the least degree, should be worn. Especial attention should be 
directed, especially in the case of children, to the injurious effects of 
sleeping with mouth or head covered over with the bed-clothes. The 
practice is a common but most hurtful one. 
In the above remarks, sleep has been considered as a natural healthy 
process, but sleep is often occasioned by excessive use of alcohol, or 
by narcotic drugs, by the action of heat, or by the depression of extreme 
cold ; it may result from overfulness of blood, from deterioration of the 
vital fluid, or from chlorotic or ansemic conditions of the system. (See 
Chlorosis.) In such cases, although the powers of the body are in 1118 
SLEEP. 
some degree recruited by the sleep, it is not followed by the same 
feelings of health as the natural sleep of the properly but not over-fed- 
well-exercised, but not exhausted-worker of either mind or body, pro- 
vided the worker of the mind neglect not the physical exercise. 
Sleeplessness arises from various causes. It is often a distressing 
concomitant of old age (see Age, Old), but mental causes, anxieties, 
excitements, distresses, most frequently give rise to it, and especially 
intellectual exertion of the mind late in the evening, and just before 
retiring to rest. Want of due physical exercise also occasions sleepless- 
ness ; it is the result of dietetic errors, either eating heavy meals too 
late in the evening, retiring to rest without sufficient nourishment, and 
especially is it caused by strong tea or coffee taken at a late hour, in some 
people at any hour. Early rising, moderate attention to diet, and moderate 
exhaustion of both body and mind by exertion, ought to be the means 
tried to bring back the soft restorer. Sometimes, the mere alteration in 
the hour of a meal, a biscuit before retiring to bed, instead of going 
with an empty stomach, or some apparently trifling alterations in habits, 
is all that is requisite as a corrective. 
Disturbed Sleep, Nightmare.-Disturbed sleep is almost a constant 
attendant upon disorder of the digestive organs, either as exhibited in mere 
restlessness, or unpleasant dreams, or in the more aggravated form of 
nightmare, which is generally considered to depend upon impeded respira- 
tion and circulation within the chest, causing those disagreeable sensa- 
tions connected with the condition, of which all must at times have been 
conscious. It'is probable that the uncomfortable sensation in the chest, in 
the first place gives rise to the "suggestive dream." Nightmare, if of fre- 
quent occurrence, may depend on disease connected with the heart or circu- 
lation, but more usually it is the result of causes much more easily remov- 
able,' such as indulgence in heavy suppers, or excess of food generally- 
in fact, of indigestion-mental irritation, great fatigue, or lying in an 
uneasy position. Disturbed sleep in children is very common, taking 
either the form of moaning or restlessness, with grating of the teeth, or 
talking; of awaking suddenly, frightened and screaming; or of getting 
out of bed, -when it becomes somnambulism or sleep-walking. The 
excitability of the nervous system in children renders them liable to be 
thus affected by even slight disorders of the bowels, and especially by 
worms, etc.; in such cases, therefore, it is always right to make sure 
that nothing offends in this way, by clearing out the canal by means of 
an active purge. If the affection does not seem to depend on disorder 
of the bowels, so much as upon general excitability, everything in the 
way of mental excitement which can increase this, must be avoided; cold 
bathing of the head every morning, and the cold douche to the back SLEEP-SALALL-POX, OR VARLOLA. 
1119 
should be used, and the nervous system tired before bed-time by 
active but not exhausting exercise. 
Somnambulism, or sleep-walking, in adults, belongs to the class of 
mental, or rather psychological, phenomena not yet generally under- 
stood ; it evidently resembles, if it is not identical with, the mesmeric 
condition of which some, and generally the same class of persons, are 
susceptible. Where a tendency to sleep-walking does exist, it is perhaps 
scarcely requisite to remark, that every means of guarding the person, 
so unfortunately affected, from accident, should be had recourse to. 
Night is the natural season for rest; but in warm climates, a day 
sleep, both in man and animals, seems beneficial. In temperate 
climates, after the age of childhood, it is not an advisable custom. After 
any unusual fatigue, however, a short sleep before-not after-dinner, is 
often very serviceable. (See Eakly Rising, Dreaming; Bed, Bed- 
Room; Dyspepsia, Diet, Regimen, etc. ) 
SLEEPLESSNESS. (See Sleep.) 
SLEEP-WALKING. (See Sleep.) 
SLIPPERY ELM. (See Ulmus Fulva.) 
SLOE. (See Viburnum Prunifolium.) 
SLOUGH, sluf. A slough is a dead portion of tissue cast off from 
a living animal body. Bed-sores are the result of sloughing, more or 
less complete, of the skin and subjacent cellular tissue, occasioned by 
pressure. (See Bed-Sores.) 
SMALL-POX, OR VARIOLA, smawl'-poks, va-ri'-o-lq [Lat. vari- 
olai], like scarlet fever and measles, belongs to the class of eruptive fevers. 
Varioloid is the modified form of small-pox, which sometimes attacks 
those who have been vaccinated. It is marked by no secondary fever, 
and is not very dangerous. 
Cause.-Small-pox is the effect of specific contagion, communicated 
by contact, or through the air. There is no disease of which the conta- 
gion is so sure, and which operates at a greater distance, than that of 
small-pox; but it rarely attacks the same individual more than once. 
The poison begins to manifest itself about twelve days after its absorp- 
tion. It is not a little remarkable that a small quantity of the matter 
taken from a pustule and inserted beneath the skin of a healthy individual 
gives rise to a much milder form of the disease than would arise in the 
natural way, i.e., by inhaling the contagious poison; and to this fact are 
we indebted for the great means of guarding against the disease. (See 
Inoculation, Vaccination.) Small-pox occurring in persons unprotected 
by inoculation or vaccination is fatal on the average to one in every 
three ; whilst in those attacked after efficient vaccination the mortality 
is very small, probably not more than two or three per cent; still a 1120 
SMALL-POX, OR VARIOLA. 
physician should always be called upon the first indication of this dread 
disease. 
Symptoms.-Small-pox commonly commences with the usual febrile 
symptoms; as rigors, pain in the back and loins, great prostration 
of strength, followed by heat and dryness of the skin, a hard and 
frequent pulse, loss of appetite, pain in the epigastrium, with nausea, 
vomiting, headache, and sometimes delirium or convulsions. About 
the third day, an eruption of small, hard, red-colored pimples makes its 
appearance about the face and neck, and gradually extends over the 
trunk and extremities. The pimples gradually ripen into pustules, 
which, on the eighth day, generally begin to break, and crusts or scabs 
form, these last falling off in four or five days more. The severity of 
the disease varies much in different instances, but is almost always in 
direct relation to the quantity of the eruption. When the pustules are 
numerous, they run together, and form an irregular outline; when 
fewer, they are distinct, and of a regularly circumscribed circular form. 
The former is technically called 'variola confluens, the other variola 
discreta; the former being never free from danger, the latter seldom 
or ever dangerous. The most important difference between the two 
forms is in the secondary fever, which sets in about the eighth day of' 
the eruption, or just when the maturation of the pustules is complete. 
It is slightly marked in the distinct small-pox, but generally very intense 
and perilous in most instances of the confluent; being the period at 
which death oftenest occurs. Both kinds are accompanied by sore 
throat, salivation, and frequently diarrhoea. A peculiar disagreeable 
odor also usually proceeds from the body of the patient. Like measles 
and scarlet fever, this disease frequently gives rise to others of a trouble- 
some or dangerous nature, as glandular swellings, abscesses, pleurisy, 
loss of sight, consumption, etc. 
Treatment.-The simpler cases of small-pox, unattended by much 
eruption, scarcely require any further treatment than confinement of the 
patient to the house, generally to bed, the exhibition at the commence- 
ment of a dose of laxative medicine, and, until the eruption appear, of 
a diaphoretic. One tablespoonful of spirit of mindererus, every two hours, 
will be the best. In more severe cases, there are individual symptoms 
of an unfavorable nature not unlikely to be developed, and these must be 
met. The imperfect filling or maturation of the pustules is generally 
accompanied by a low form of fever, requiring the use of stimulants- 
wine and brandy; these must, of course, be administered with great 
caution. When the febrile excitement, after the filling of the pustules 
(about the ninth day), runs high, the use of opium alone, or with a little 
antimonial wine, often succeeds in allaying the general disturbance, and SMALL-POX, OP VAPLOLA. 
1121 
particularly the wakefulness, restlessness, and even delirium which ac- 
company it. It may be given thus: 10 drops of laudanum, with 30 
drops of antimonial wine, in an ounce of water, every three or four 
hours, until rest follows. In all stages, if the patient present a sunken 
look and the pulse be feeble, the employment of stimulants is indi- 
cated. 
The sarracenia purpurea, or pitcher plant, was introduced some few 
years ago as a remedy in this disease, but it has not proved itself 
worthy of the early reputation it acquired. 
To prevent the itching over the skin in the early and later stages of 
the eruption, various applications have been recommended: perhaps 
the simplest, as well as best, is olive-oil gently smeared over the face by 
means of a camel-hair pencil. For the same purpose, and as likely to 
prevent the occurrence of pitting, at least to the full extent, a solution 
of nitrate of silver (2 drams to the ounce of distilled water) has been 
recommended to be applied from time to time. Nothing leads more 
certainly to the deformity, which it is so important, if possible, to avoid, 
as the picking by the patient of the pustules during their later stages. 
In the instance of children, it is well to prevent this self-mutilation by 
tying the hands, or placing them in bags. 
The application of collodion to the face and hands, is said to prevent 
pitting. Opening each pustule with the point of a lancet, and touching 
it with the solid nitrate of silver; the application of a mercurial plaster, 
smearing the face with blue ointment or sweet-oil, or with powdered 
charcoal made into a paste with fresh lard or butter, free from salt, are 
various methods, more or less effectual for preventing the pitting which 
is so much dreaded in this disease. 
Preventive treatment.-Vaccination is, of course, the great method 
of prevention, and in many places is made imperative by law. When 
the disease is in a neighborhood, the cases should all be completely 
isolated. The nurses should, if possible, be parties who have had 
small-pox, and they, as well as all clothing, bedding, furniture, and 
utensils, should be treated as in strict quarantine. 
All the slops and discharges from the patient should be immediately 
emptied, the utensil cleansed with carbolic acid water, 1 ounce to the 
gallon of water, and the receptacle, as well as all outhouses and closets, 
be thoroughly disinfected by a mixture, composed of 4 pounds of green 
copperas in 3 gallons of water, to which 1 ounce of carbolic acid may 
be added. After recovery of the disease, the house, furniture, and such 
of the bedding and clothing as it is not deemed necessary to destroy, 
may be fumigated by burning | a pound of sulphur, in some iron 
vessel; strict personal attention and household cleanliness must be 1122 
SMALL-POX, OR VARIOLA-SNEEZING. 
observed by those who would escape, and above all, breathe plenty of 
pure fresh air. (See Vaccination, Bromo-Chloralum, Disinfectants, 
Fever.) 
SMALL-POX PLANT. (See Sarracenia Purpurea.) 
SMALL SPIKENARD. (See Aralia.) 
SMARTWEED. (See Polygonum Punctatum.) 
SMELL. (See Nose.) 
SMELLING SALTS. (See Ammonia.) 
SMELLING SALTS, POISONING BY. (See Alkalies, Poison- 
ing by.) 
SMILAX, smi'-laks [Gr.], or sarsaparilla, the typical genus of the 
Nat. order Srnilaceoe. The roots of several species or varieties consti- 
tute the sarsaparilla of the Materia Medica. The kind most valued is 
that known as Jamaica sarsaparilla, obtained from the species A. offici- 
nalis. It is not the produce of Jamaica, but of Central America and 
the northern parts of South America. 
Sarsaparilla is an alterative, although stated by some to possess 
diuretic, diaphoretic and emetic properties. It possesses a high reputa- 
tion as an alterative, in the treatment of chronic rheumatism, scrofulous 
affections, cutaneous affections, and inveterate syphilis. It is highly 
advantageous in the treatment of that shattered state of the system 
which oftentimes follows ah imprudent use of mercury in syphilitic 
affections, as also in that depraved condition of the general health to 
which it is difficult to apply a name. The decoction is formed by digest- 
ing for an hour 2£ ounces of the root, cut transversely, in pints of 
boiling water, then boiling for ten minutes, cooling, and straining to 
make 1 pint. Dose: of the fluid extract, 1 teaspoonful; solid extract, 
5 to 20 grains; infusion or decoction, 2 to 4 fluid ounces; syrup, 
to 1 fluid ounce. 
SMOKING. (See Tobacco.) 
SMOOTH ALDER. (See Alnus Rubra.) 
SMOTHERING. (See Asphyxia, Suffocation, etc.) 
SNAKE-HE AD. (See Chelone Glabra.) 
SNAKE-ROOT, SENEKA. (See Polygala Senega.) 
SNAKE-ROOT, VIRGINIAN. (See Aristolochia.) 
SNAKES, BITES OF. (See Bites and Stings.) 
SNEEZING, sneez'-ing, is a convulsive or spasmodic effort, the 
result of reflex action, originating in irritation of the lining membrane 
of the nostril, by which air is forcibly sent through the passage so as to 
expel any cause of irritation. Sneezing is one of the first symptoms of 
cold, ■ of influenza, of measles, and of' diseases which involve the air- 
passages. Continued sneezing is a spasmodic affection said to be SNEEZING-SODA. 
1123 
relieved by emetics. (See Catarrh or Common Cold, Influenza, 
Measles, etc.) 
SNUFF. (See Tobacco.) 
SNUFFLES, snuf'-fla. In the young child, a common cold in the 
head often passes under the vulgar name of "the snuffles." When res- 
piration through the nose is greatly interfered with, owing to the thick 
incrustations round the nostrils, the child is unable to suck; and if 
applied to the breast, it will scarcely have seized the nipple when a 
threatening of suffering compels it to desist. 
Treatment.-The child should be taken from the breast and fed with 
the spoon. If the fever be marked, a few drops of the mindererus spirit, 
with 1 or 2 drops of ipecacuanha wine, or syrup, may be given at 
intervals of a few hours. A little castor-oil should be given in order 
to move the bowels. If the child become low and depressed, 
a little wine may be required. To so young a child, wine is best 
administered in the form of white wine whey (1 tablespoonful of wine 
with 3 tablespoonfuls of new milk are boiled together, and then strained). 
Local applications to the nose are sometimes beneficial: of these, nitrate 
of silver (5 grains to the ounce of distilled water), and alum (20 grains 
to the same quantity) are the best. (See Catarrh or Common Cold, 
Children.) 
SOAP, sope [Ang.-Sax. sape]. Hard, or white castile soap, is, 
in large and frequent doses, very efficient in removing gall-stones. 
Combined with rhubarb, it is useful in dyspepsia attended with consti- 
pation or torpor of the liver. Dose, 5 to 15 grains. Soap plaster is 
formed by adding 6 ounces of hard soap, and 1 ounce of resin, to 2| 
pounds of lead plaster, melted by a gentle heat, and then evaporated to 
the proper consistence with constant stirring. Soap of any kind is an 
antidote in poisoning by the mineral acids, and might be used in the 
absence of better remedies. (See Plasters.) 
SOAP PLASTER. (See Soap.) 
SOAPWORT. (See Saponaria Officinalis.) 
SODA, so'-dg. In Chemistry, NaO, the protoxide of the alkaline 
metal sodium (see Sodium). Soda resembles potash in its medicinal quali- 
ties. Tartrated soda forms a mild, cooling purgative for delicate stom- 
achs. Dose, 2 to 4 drams. The arseniate is used in skin diseases, and 
other cases where arsenic is indicated. Dose, ~ to | of a grain. The 
bicarbonate is useful in dyspepsia, gout, and lithic deposits. Dose, 10 to 
30 grains. For effervescing solution, or soda-water (see Effervescence.) 
The carbonate is used chiefly to counteract acidity of the stomach in 
dyspepsia, etc. Dose, 5 to 30 grains. A solution of the bicarbonate of 
soda is a very useful remedy in the treatment of burns and scalds. 1124 
SODA-SOLANUM DULCAMARA. 
Salicylate of soda is used in the treatment of diphtheria and rheumatism. 
Dose, 5 to 8 grains, every four hours. The phosphate is a mild purga- 
tive, well suited to children and persons of delicate stomach. Dose, J to 
1 ounce. The sulphate, popularly known as Glauber's salt, is an excel- 
lent cooling aperient in doses of to 1 ounce. (See Sodium, Citrate of 
Soda, Borax, Hypophosphites, Labarraque's Disinfecting Fluid, Salt.) 
SODA-AVATER. (See Effervescence.) 
SOFT CANCER. (See Fungus.) 
SODIUM, so'-de-um, in Chemistry,-symbol Na (natrium,) equiva- 
lent 22.97, specific gravity 0.972, fusing point 194° Fahr.,-the alkaline 
metal of which soda is the oxide. It occurs in large quantities in nature, 
chiefly in combination with chlorine, as sea salt. The two salts, brom- 
ide and iodide of sodium, occur sparingly in sea-water, and in the ashes 
of sea-plants. They are the principal commercial sources of iodine and 
bromine, and are used sometimes as substitutes for bromide and iodide 
of potassium. Dose, 5 to 20 grains of each. The chloride of sodium 
constitutes the rock-salt of commerce, or common table-salt. (See Soda.) 
SOFTENING OF THE BRAIN, sof'-fn-ing, is, properly speak- 
ing, not so much a disease itself, as the consequence of certain morbid 
conditions. One form of softening is intimately connected with inflam- 
matory action, and others are quite unconnected with such; the latter, 
while sometimes consequent upon the escape of blood from the proper 
vessels, may also occur as a gradual process, equally independent of 
that condition and of inflammation. Though not a consequence, soften- 
ing of the brain is, in many instances, a forerunner of apoplexy. 
The symptoms of softening of the brain are various, owing to the 
different positions in which it is found, as well as the particular action, 
inflammatory or otherwise, on which it depends. Gradually advancing 
palsy, with failure of the mental power, the latter manifesting itself in 
different ways, are among the chief symptoms. 
The treatment of such affections will be under medical super- 
intendence, and must include attention to the general state of the 
patient, with freedom from all anxiety, cares of business, and all kinds 
of excitement. (See Brain; Brain, Diseases of the; Brain in Old 
Age, Apoplexy, Palsy, etc.) 
SOLANUM DULCAMARA, soda-num dul-hg-ma' -rg, or bitter- 
sweet. Commonly called woody nightshade, nightshade, scarlet berry, 
violet bloom, etc. It is a plant belonging to the Nat. order Solanaceae, 
and is common in both Europe and North America. It is narcotic, 
alterative, diuretic, diaphoretic, and slightly tonic, but is now mainly 
confined to the treatment of cutaneous eruptions, particularly those of a 
scaly character, as lepra, salt-rheum, and scurf. Dose: of the fluid SOLANUM D UL CAMARA-SORE THR OAT. 
1125 
extract, to 1 teaspoonful; of the solid extract, 3 to 8 grains; of the 
decoction, 1 to 2 fluid ounces, three or four times a day. In large doses 
it is poisonous. (See Poisons, etc.; Decoction.) 
SOLDIER'S ITCH, OR CAMP ITCH, sole'-jurz. These are names 
given to an eruption of dry, small pimples, which appear generally on 
the outside of the fore-arms, legs and thighs, and give rise to an intol- 
erable itching, always worse after retiring to rest. The parts affected 
should be washed daily for three or four days with soap and water, and 
then bathed night and morning with tar water, made by dissolving 1 
tablespoonful of tar in £ pint of water. 
SOLIDAGO ODORA, so-lid'-a-go o-do'-ra, or golden rod, a common 
perennial plant, found growing in most parts of the United States. The 
leaves are diaphoretic, carminative and stimulant, and are used in flatu- 
lent colic, and in convalescence from severe dysentery, diarrhoea, and 
cholera morbus. Dose: of the fluid extract, £ to 1 teaspoonful; of the 
infusion, 2 fluid ounces, three or four times a day. (See Infusion.) 
SOLOMON'S SEAL. (See Convallaria Multiflora.) 
SOLUTION, so-lu'-shun [Lat. solutio; solvo, solutus, to loosen, to 
solve], is the disappearance of solid body in a liquid menstruum or 
solvent. 
SOLUTION, IODIDES OF ARSENIC AND MERCURY, OR 
DONOVAN'S SOLUTION, is a powerful alterative, and is particu- 
larly adapted to the treatment of syphilis or venereal diseases, cancerous 
diseases, nettle-rash, lepra, diseases of the scalp, and other obstinate 
cutaneous affections. A persistent use of this medicine for months is 
requisite. Sometimes it will occasion derangement of the stomach, con- 
flnement of the bowels, headache, nausea, mental disturbances, and 
even salivation, when it should be discontinued, and a purga- 
tive administered. Dose, 5 to 10 drops, in water, given three times a 
day. This is a medicine scarcely suitable for unprofessional hands. 
SOMNAMBULISM. (See Sleep.) 
SOOT, soot [Ang.-Sax.], is a common remedy for the bowel com- 
plaints of children, and for colic. It is of the same nature as creasote, 
and is administered in the form of tea. 
SOPORIFICS, sop-o-rif'-iks, substances which produce sleep. (See 
Narcotics. ) 
SORE MOUTH. (See Nursing Sore Mouth, Thrush, Salivation, 
Stomatitis, Chlorate of Potash, Gargles.) 
SORES. (See Ulcers, Wounds, Dressing, Granulations, Clay, etc.) 
SORE THROAT, sore throte, is not only a concomitant of other 
affections, such as scarlet fever, diphtheria, etc., but is one of the most 
frequent effects of common cold. (See Catarrh, or Common Cold.) 1126 
SORE THROAT-SPASM. 
Some persons are peculiarly liable to it. One of the simplest forms of 
throat affection from cold, is relaxation of the uvula. (See Uvula.) 
Perhaps on waking in the morning, the sensation of there being some- 
thing in the throat which requires to be coughed up, is experienced, 
and along with this, tickling cough, from the uvula irritating the top of 
the windpipe. The condition is easily discovered by means of a looking- 
glass, the uvula appearing longer than usual. Frequently the affection 
passes off in the course of a few hours. If it does not, the use of a solu- 
tion of chlorate of potash, or some other astringent gargle, will remove 
it. (See Chlorate of Potash, Gargles.) 
Sore throat may be simply inflammation of the mucous membrane of 
the throat; there is an uncomfortable feeling of roughness or rawness 
about the fauces and tonsils, with some pain in swallowing, probably 
accompanied with symptoms of cold, shivering, etc. This form of sore 
throat may pass away in the course of a day or two without going 
further, or it may spread into the air-passages, causing cough and 
catarrhal symptoms. This form of the affection is often quickly relieved 
by the use of sal-prunella balls, one or two being allowed gradually to 
dissolve in the mouth, or by a gargle of chlorate of potash. It is gener- 
ally best treated as a common cold-with the addition of hot bran or 
linseed meal poultices up the angles of the jaws, and the use of hot 
gargles of simple warm water or gruel. Mustard plaster and hartshorn 
and oil may be advantageously used at a later stage. 
Ulcerated sore throat.-Local applications are of great service in the 
treatment; and specially the application of the solid nitrate of silver, or 
of the sulphate of copper in substance, or in liquid form by the atomizer. 
Five grains to an ounce of water would be the proper strength to use 
either of the above in this way. In the absence of the atomizer, attach 
a small piece of sponge to the end of a piece of whalebone, and apply 
the nitrate of silver in liquid form to the parts affected occasionally, 
but not too often. (See Tonsils.) 
For other forms of sore throat, see Quinsy, Clergyman's Sore 
Throat, Diphtheria, Scarlet Fever, Croup, Laryngitis, etc. (See 
also Catarrh, Chronic; Fur, Gargles, Bromo-Ciiloralum, Sal-Pru- 
nella, Cold Feet, Cough, Expectorants, etc.) 
SOUR STOMACH. (See Acidity of the Stomach, Heart-Burn, 
Water-Brash, Dyspepsia.) 
SOUTHERN STATES, CLIMATE OF. (See Climate.) 
SOUTHERNWOOD. (See Artemisia.) 
SPANISH FLIES. (See Cantharides.) 
SPANISH NEEDLES. (See Bidens Bipinnata.) 
SPASM, spazm [Gr. spasmos, from spao, I draw], is an involuntary SPASM-SPICE- WOOD. 
1127 
contraction of the muscles which is not disposed to alternate with relaxa- 
tion ; when the contractions alternate with relaxation, and are frequently 
and preternaturally repeated, they are called convulsions. (See Colic, 
Convulsions, Cramp, Asthma, Epilepsy, Tetanus, Lock-Jaw, Saint 
Vitus's Dance, etc.) 
SPASMODIC DISEASES. (See Tetanus, Lock-Jaw, Saint Vitus's 
Dance, Spasm, etc.) 
SPASM OF THE HEART, OR ANGINA PECTORIS. (See 
Angina Pectoris.) 
SPEARMINT. (See Mentha Viridis.) 
SPECIFIC, spe-sif'-ik, is a term applied to a medicine which is 
knowm from experience to cure a particular disease or set of symptoms, 
the action by which it does so being unexplained. Thus, quinine is 
specific in ague and other periodic diseases-specific, at least, within 
certain limits. 
SPECTACLES. (See Vision.) 
SPECULUM, spek'-u-lum [Lat.], a surgical mirror, adapted to assist 
the examination of internal parts of the body. 
SPEECH, speetsh [Ang.-Sax. sprcec, spac.J Distinctness of speech, 
or articulation, is so intimately connected with the full command and free 
movement of the tongue, that indistinctness is often a valuable leading 
symptom in the investigation of disease, especially of a nervous char- 
acter. 
Stammering in the speech cannot be said to be a disease, being 
rather a functional disorder; this is evident from the fact that under cer- 
tain circumstances, a habitual stammerer does not stammer, and that 
cases have occurred in which most inveterate stammering has been com- 
pletely cured by the exertion of the will. Moreover, stammering is 
often caused either by imitation in children, or by nervousness in both 
children and adults. This nervousness is often the result of debility, 
and of weak constitution-a fact which should not be lost sight of, for if 
such be the case, every means of strengthening should be used. (See 
Children, Debility, etc.) At the same time, wdiilst the general health 
is sustained, much may be done by checking children, and making 
them speak at all times slowly. Articulation is sometimes indistinct 
from the tongue being tied, that is, too much confined in its motions by 
its natural bridle or frenum. In early childhood it is very easily 
rectified. 
SPERMACETI. (See Cetaceum.) 
SPERMATORRIICEA. (See Onanism, Semen, Nocturnal Dis- 
charge, Salvia Officinalis, Buchu, Damiana, StrychnosNux Vomica.) 
SPICE-WOOD. (See Benzoin Odoriferum.) 1128 
SPIDER'S WEB-SPINE, DISEASES, ETC 
SPIDER'S WEB. (See Cobweb.) 
SPIGELIA MARILANDICA, spi-jeel'-ya ma-re-lan'-de-ka^ or pink- 
root, known also by the common names of wormgrass, Indian pink-root, 
and star-bloom. It is a perennial plant belonging to the Nat. order 
Rubiacece^ and grows in various parts of the United States. This plant 
is a well-known worm remedy, possessed of narcotic and cathartic 
powers. When a full dose is given at night, it is well to follow it by a 
purge in the morning. It is usually combined with senna, or some 
other cathartic, to insure its action on the bowels. In large doses, it is 
poisonous. The well-known worm tea, or spigelia compound, is composed 
pink-root, | ounce; senna, 2 drams; savin, dram; manna, 2 drams. 
Mix, and infuse (see Infusion) in 1 pint of water. Dose, 1 to 2 fluid 
ounces. Dose: of the fluid extract, | to 1^ teaspoonfuls; of the powdered 
pink-root, 1 to 2 drams. 
SPIKENARD. (See Aralia.) 
SPINE, DISEASES AND INJURIES OF THE, spine. 
Malformation of the spine. -The spine is liable to be the seat of a 
peculiar malformation at birth. This consists in the deficiency of the 
posterior portions of a certain number of the vertebrae, generally those 
of the loins, by which the membranes lining the interior of the spinal 
canal are left uncovered, except by the skin, both membranes and skin 
being distended into a livid-looking semi-transparent bag containing 
fluid. This peculiar malformation generally ends fatally, but not so 
invariably as to justify the child being left to its fate without an attempt 
to save it. This attempt can only be made by the surgeon. 
Concussion of the spinal cord is not unfrequent, as a consequence of 
heavy falls on the feet, or of direct blows on the back. The usual symp- 
toms are depression of the system, with loss of sensation and power of 
motion of the lower portions of the body, which either passes off in the 
course of a few days, or remains permanently, perhaps passing into dis- 
ease. The speedy presence of a surgeon is requisite in every case 
of the accident in question. The best thing that can be done until 
aid is procured, is to place the patient as carefully as possible in the 
most easy position, and to keep him perfectly quiet. 
Displacement of the vertebrae can rarely take place without extreme 
violence, and, even then, fracture generally accompanies the accident, 
except in the case of the upper vertebrae of the neck. Displacement is 
accompanied to a greater or less extent by injury to the spinal cord, and 
consequently by paralysis of the parts below; if the injury is high up, 
instant, or at least speedy death being the result. In the event 
of an individual surviving, for a longer or shorter time, all that 
others can do, till proper assistance is procured, will be to place the Spigelia Marilandica. (Pink Root.) SPINE, DISEASES, ETC. 
1129 
person in an easy posture, to administer stimulants with due caution, and 
to endeavor to preserve the proper heat of the paralyzed parts, by fric- 
tion and warm applications. 
The spine is liable to various diseases, such as inflammation, apoplexy 
of the cord, softening, etc., the latter being not an unfrequent concomi- 
tant of epilepsy. Pain in the part, and disorders of the functions of 
sensation and motion, and convulsive twitching, are the most usual 
symptoms. It is not possible, that beyond temporary soothing mea- 
sures, such as bran poultices, etc., unprofessional interference in such 
cases can be usefully employed. In cases of severe pain, however, 
opiates may be cautiously given till a medical man sees the case. In 
some forms of fever, and of lock-jaw, the spine is affected. 
Functional disorder, and what is called irritation of the spine, are 
extremely common, especially in females, and are often at the root of the 
obstinate palpitations, and many of the nervous and hysterical derange- 
ments of the sex. In such cases, if the bach be carefully examined, a 
tender spot may generally be discovered somewhere in the upper part of 
the spine, and often, when there is more than one tender spot, lower 
down. Such cases are generally connected with debility of constitution, 
and require the well-directed treatment of a medical attendant. The use 
of the tepid or cold douche down the spine, followed by friction with a 
rough towel or flesh-brush, does much to relieve in such cases, often 
more than counter-irritation. The general health requires attention, 
and, generally, tonics, quinine and iron, are called for. Exercise must be 
regular, but not carried to fatigue, which is injurious. In severe cases, 
repeated small blisters are sometimes useful. 
Curvature of the spine is far from being uncommon; it is of three 
varieties-the angular curvature, lateral curvature, and curvature back- 
wards. The first of these, angular curvature, is caused by disease- 
caries-of the bodies of some of the vertebrae themselves, which, per- 
mitting the bone to yield under the weight of the body, causes angular 
distortion at the seat of the affection. It usually occurs in children, and 
in young people of delicate, and especially of scrofulous, constitution. 
The first symptom of this disease may be the child wincing or crying out 
from sudden pain in some movement of the spine. If allowed to go on 
unchecked, very great deformity ensues, and the constitution is at length 
worn out. This form of curvature can only be properly treated under 
medical superintendence. 
Lateral curvature is not, like the above, the result of disease, but is 
the mechanical effect of repeated and continual malposition of the body. 
It is the form of spinal curvature from which nurse-girls who are put at 
too early an age to carry heavy children frequently suffer; it is also the 1130 
SPINE, DISEASES, ETC.-SP1E1IS. 
affection met with among the pupils of injudiciously-conducted female 
schools. It of course is most liable to occur in weakly subjects, but may 
take place in any young person, who is compelled, habitually, to main, 
tain the body, even without additional weight, in one position for any 
length of time (see Education). The causes of the above common 
deformity which have been pointed out, naturally indicate that the first 
step towards cure must be the removal of the producing cause. 
Such a course, with 'general tonic measures, rest of the body for 
a considerable portion of the day, equal exercise of the muscles con- 
nected with the upper extremities, and cold or tepid salt douche, with 
regular general exercise, will probably remove the tendency to curvature 
in incipient cases. If, however, deformity has made any progress, other 
and probably mechanical means, will be required for its removal, which 
can only be properly employed under medical direction. 
The curvature of the spine from before backwards occurs in weakly 
children, and constitutes the stoop, or round-shoulder of the young. It is 
usually connected with general debility of constitution, which requires to be 
corrected by the ordinary means, the local deformity being relieved by the 
horizontal posture, by the moderate use of a back-board when the patient 
is of sufficient age, and by the douche, friction, etc. (See Education, 
Spine, Fractures, etc.) 
SPINE-OR SPINAL, OR VERTEBRAL COLUMN [Lat. spina, 
a thorn], is a chain of twenty-four bones, called the vertebrae (see 
Anatomy), so beautifully contrived and fitted to each other, that while 
they permit the most extensive motion of the trunk of the body, they at 
the same time preserve it-in man at least-firm and erect, and guard 
the spinal cord or marrow (see Nervous System) against all but the 
violent injury. The spinal cord, thus guarded, is inclosed in the spinal 
canal, which is continued through the vertebral chain, from the head 
downwards, to and into the sacrum bone of the pelvis. (See Anatomy; 
Spine, Diseases and Injuries of the.) 
SPIRAEA TOMENTOSA, spi-re'-a to-men-to'-za, or hardback, a 
common American shrub, known as steeplebush and meadow-sweet. 
The root, which is the part used in medicine, is tonic and astringent, 
and is peculiarly adapted for cases of debility. It is used in diarrhoea, 
and is an excellent remedy for the summer complaints of children. 
Dose: of the fluid extract, 4 to 20 drops ; of the infusion, | to 2 fluid 
ounces, three or four times a day. (See Infusion.) 
SPIRITS, spir'-its [Lat. spiritus], include alcohol and spirituous 
solutions of vegetable matters formed by simple mixture, by maceration, 
and by distillation. (See Alcohol, Brandy, Gin, Rum, Whiskey; Stim- 
ulants, Alcoholic; etc.) Smb^ea Tomentosa. (Hardback.) SPITTING OF BLOOD- SPRAIN, OR STRAIN. 1131 
SPITTING OF BLOOD. (See Hemorrhage, Lungs.) 
SPLEEN, OK MILT, spleen [Lat. splen\. The spleen is situated in 
the left hypochondriac region (see Abdomen.) It is of a spongy texture, 
and is capable of containing blood so largely, that its office has been 
supposed to be that of a blood reservoir. The spleen is liable to be- 
come greatly enlarged in cases of continued ague. (See Ague, Ague 
Cake, Splenitis, etc.) 
SPLENITIS, OK INFLAMMATION OF THE SPLEEN, sple-ni'. 
tis, rarely occurs except accompanied by ague. It may be acute or 
chronic. The disease is marked by pain and swelling of the left side, 
followed sometimes by symptoms of dropsy. What is known as ague 
cake is enlargement or hypertrophy of the spleen. In the treatment, 
both bleeding and mercury must be avoided. In some parts, the fol- 
lowing, known as spleen mixture, has proved very efficacious. 
Take of Powdered jalap One dram. 
Powdered rhubarb One dram. 
Powdered calumba One dram. 
Powdered ginger One dram. 
Powdered cream of tartar... One dram. 
Sulphate of iron Ten grains. 
Tincture of senna One-half ounce. 
Peppermint water Nine and one-half ounces.-Mix 
Of this mixture, 1 or ounce, is to be taken twice a day. When this 
fails, 5 to 10 grains of bromide of potassium, three times a day, will 
prove serviceable. (See Spleen.) 
SPONGING, OR SPONGE BATH. (See Baths and Bathing.) 
SPONGIO-PILINE, spun'-je-o-pil-ine', is a fabric composed of 
sponge and w'ool felted together in three layers, and coated on one of its 
surfaces with India-rubber. When the soft or inner surface is moistened 
with water, it forms a substitute for the ordinary poultice. Moistened 
with liquor ammonia, it is stated to raise a blister in four minutes, 
being more efficacious than any other vesicant. (See Poultice.) 
SPOTTED FEVER, spot'-ted, a name often applied to typhus fever, 
cerebro-spinal meningitis, and to the plague. (See Typhus Fever, 
Cerebro-Spinal Meningitis, Plague.) 
SPRAIN, OR STRAIN, sprane, this painful injury is the result of 
forcible overstretching of the ligaments of a joint. When a sprain has 
occurred, complete rest is the first necessity, accompanied by the sooth- 
ing influences of fomentation and poultice (see Fomentation, Poultice,) 
well and thoroughly made use of, from the very first; the early employ- 
ment of the remedies doing much to alleviate the suffering. After the 
joint has been soothed for some days by rest, with poultices, and 
fomentations, it will be advisable to change these applications for a 1132 
SPRAIN, OR STRAIN-STARVATION 
bandage, which is to be kept wet with tepid water, lightly applied to the 
injured part, which, if agreeable to the feelings of the patient, may be 
enveloped in some warm material. (See Bandages.) As soon as it 
can be borne, friction night and morning, with the soap liniment or 
soap and opium liniment, will be found agreeable and serviceable. (See 
Liniment.) Kerosene and vaseline (which see) are also useful applica- 
tions in sprains. Lastly, instead of the morning rubbing, the cold 
water douche-salt-water or sea-water is perhaps preferable to fresh: 
whichever is employed, it ought to be continued till the joint aches 
slightly, the after reaction being promoted by rubbing well with a towel. 
SQUAW-ROOT. (See Blue Cohosh.) 
SQUILL. (See Scilla Mabitima.) 
SQUINTING, OR STRABISMUS, skwint'-ing [Low Lat., from 
Lat. strabo, a squint-eyed person], when permanent, arises from con 
traction or. permanent shortening of one of the "straight" muscles oj 
the eye-ball. (See Eye.) The only effectual remedy is a surgical opera- 
tion. This consists simply in cutting through the muscle, the con- 
tracted condition of which occasions the squint. It always requires the 
aid of a surgeon-who has made ocular surgery a specialty-for its per- 
formance, and he must decide as to the probability of its affording pros- 
pect of permanent cure. (See Vision.) 
STAMMERING. (See Speech.) 
ST. ANTHONY'S FIRE. (See Ebysipelas.) 
STARCH, OR FECULA, startsh. Starch is one of the chief elements 
of nourishment derived from the vegetable kingdom for the support of 
animal life. Amid other examples, arrowroot is nearly pure starch. 
The composition of starch is simple, that is to say, it is made up of 
carbon and water, or carbon and the components of water,-oxygen and 
hydrogen,-but it contains no nitrogen, or earthy matter. But though 
starch, and such-like compounds, such as sugar, gum, etc., cannot build 
up bone and muscle, they can protect them, they can furnish respira- 
tory aliment, or fuel, and also, when not thus required, assist largely in 
the formation of fat. (See Food, Aeeowboot, Bbead, Fat, Sago, etc.) 
STARVATION, star-va'-shun. Deprivation of food, either total or 
partial. When total deprivation of food has extended even to twenty- 
four hours-when partial deprivation has gone so far as to produce pain 
at the stomach, and marked debility-return to a proper supply of 
nourishing food must be very gradual; the stomach and its sources of 
nervous stimulation partake of the general depression, and are no more 
fit for much exertion than the rest of the body; consequently, food must 
be given in small quantity, and in such a form as will most easily enter 
the circulation, such as good broths, along with a small proportion of STARVATION-STERILITY, OR BARRENNESS. 
1133 
alcoholic stimulant, very carefully given, and warmed. "When partial 
starvation or continued deficiency of food has been in operation for 
some time, it lays the individual open to the attacks of epidemic and 
endemic disease, and, indeed, seems to be the exciting cause of disease, 
as observed in the Irish fever which followed the famine. (See Absti- 
nence, Debility, Food, Hunger, Thirst, Cold, Animal Heat, etc.) 
STATICE CAROLINIANA, sta-ti'-se kar-odin-e-a-nq., or marsh 
rosemary, also known by the common names seathrift, meadow root, ink 
root, sea lavender. It is a perennial belonging to the Nat. order 
Plumbaginacew. It is common to the salt marshes and Atlantic shores 
of the United States. The root is the part used, and contains a large per 
centage of tannic acid. It is powerfully astringent. In large doses it 
acts as an emetic, and in smaller quantities, as a powerful expectorant. 
It is said to be highly useful as a gargle in putrid sore throat, and in 
dysentery after the acute stage is passed. Applied externally, it is 
valuable in piles. Dose: of the fluid extract, 15 to 40 drops; infusion, 
| to 1 fluid ounce, three or four times a day. (See Infusion.) 
STAVESACRE. (See Delphinium.) 
STELLARIA MEDIA, stel-la-re-q me-de-q, or chickweed, a bien- 
nial plant belonging to the Nat. order CaryophyUaceoe. It is common 
throughout the United States and Canada. It is a cooling demulcent. 
(See Demulcents.) The infusion may be used freely. (See Infusion.) 
The fresh leaves, bruised and applied as a poultice is very useful in 
indolent ulcers and acute ophthalmia. 
STERILITY, OR BARRENNESS, ste-ril'-e-te [from sterilis^ bar- 
ren], is the want of power to beget or bear a child, and hence applied to 
both male and female. To understand the causes of sterility it is neces- 
sary to have a knowledge of the laws of generation. The process of 
reproduction is one of the most interesting studies connected with the 
history of organized bodies, but for obvious- reasons it cannot be fully 
presented in a work of this character. As a general rule, both young 
animals and plants are produced from the bodies of the elder, sustain- 
ing to each other the relationship of parent and offspring; there is, 
however, a theory that in some instances certain organisms are produced 
from inanimate substances without any similar organisms having preceded 
them. This is known as spontaneous generation; but its existence is 
discredited by the ablest physiologists of the present day, and the doc- 
trine maintained, that plants and animals are invariably produced from 
parents of the same species existing previously. Two sets of organs 
are necessary for the performance of the function of reproduction, and 
by the union of the product of each of these sets, a new individual is 
produced. From belonging to the different sexes, these organs are 1134 
STERILITY, OR BARRENNESS. 
known as the "male and female organs of generation, the latter producing 
a germ or egg which is capable of being developed into a new organism, 
and the former, the spermatic fluid, containing the zoosperms, which 
are necessary to vivify the germ and enable it to complete its develop- 
ment. In the human species, and all the higher animals, these tw'o sets 
of organs are situated in different individuals, the male being character- 
ized by the presence of testicles, and the female of ovaries. In all such, 
the conjunction of the sexes, and actual contact of the zoosperms and 
the germ, is absolutely necessary to the process of reproduction. The 
accessory organs of generation are, in the male, the penis, the vesiculae 
seminales, and the prostate gland; and in the female, the uterus or 
womb, the fallopian tubes, the vagina, and the mammary gland. The 
generative apparatus in both the male and female remains in a state of 
inactivity from the time of birth until a period varying from twelve to 
twenty years of age, when it enters upon a period of functional activity, 
which continues in the female until the cessation of menstruation, and 
in the male, often, until advanced age. The reader will now be pre- 
pared to understand the causes of sterility. 
The male is sterile:- 
1. When from age, deformity, debility in the sexual organs arising from 
sexual abuse and excesses, intemperance, strictures, or other influ- 
ences, he is incapable of performing his part in the sexual act. 
2. When from congenital malformation, or acquired disease, such as 
inflammation of the testicle, from blows or falls, or as a sequence of 
parotitis or gonorrhoea, the testicle has been so injured as to destroy 
the vitalizing power of the spermatic fluid. Sterility in the male is, 
as a rule, a more hopeless infirmity than in the female; it is not as 
amenable to treatment. 
The female is sterile:- 
1. From causes which prevent the passage of the ovum or egg from the 
ovary, through the fallopian tube, to the cavity of the uterus; some 
previous inflammatory action of the fallopian tubes, or their fimbri- 
ated extremity, may conduce to this condition of affairs. 
2. From causes which prevent the passage of the zoosperms from the 
vagina to the cavity of the uterus. These are: 
(a) Malposition of the womb, a condition which may be remedied by 
the manual interference of a skilled physician. 
(5) The presence of a large tumor in the cavity of the womb; many of 
these tumors can now be removed by the surgeon. 
(c) The presence of endo-metritis, or inflammation of the lining mem- 
brane of the uterus; this also is a condition capable of being 
remedied. 
Abnormal curvature of the neck of the womb, and the presence of STERILITY, OR BARRENNESS-STILLINGIA, ETC. 
1135 
tumors in the cervical canal. These are conditions which are 
often set right by surgical means. 
(e) Abnormal condition of the secretions of the utero-cervical canal, 
causing the death, in a few hours, of the zoosperms. This 
deranged condition of the secretions is often found where there is 
every external appearance of perfect health. In most cases, both 
local and constitutional treatment is required. 
(y7) Small condition of the mouth of the uterus, so that the semen 
cannot enter it. This condition may be remedied by enlarging 
the orifice by surgical interference. 
3. The absence of the ovaries, or vagina, and the total closure of the 
womb, will render the female incurably sterile. 
The reader will see that most of these conditions described are 
improper for unprofessional treatment. In all cases of sterility, both 
in the male and female, the very best professional skill should be 
employed. (See Menstruation, Pregnancy, Chlorosis, Sexual Ex- 
cesses, Impotence, Health, etc.) 
STERNUM, ster'-num [Gr. sternori], the breastbone, an oblong, flat, 
irregularly-shaped bone, placed at the fore part of the thorax. It serves 
for the articulation of the seven upper or true ribs on each side, and is 
of use in aiding respiration, and defends the heart and lungs. 
STETHOSCOPE, steth'-o-skope [Gr. stetkos, the chest, and skopeo, I 
explore], an instrument which consists of a tube about ten inches in 
length, made of wood or gutta-percha, widening considerably at one end, 
and but slightly at the other. The wide end is applied to the chest or 
other part of the patient, the physician putting his ear to the other end; 
and from the sounds emitted by the heart, lungs, etc., the state of these 
parts may be ascertained. (See Auscultation, Percussion, Heart.) 
STEWING, stu'-ing, which is the slow cooking of food by heat which 
does not reach the boiling point, renders meat peculiarly digestible; and, 
as the juice of the meat, or gravy, is usually eaten with the meat, the 
w'hole nutriment is preserved. Stewing may, of course, be rendered 
injurious to some invalids by the addition of much fatty matter, or by 
that of vegetables. 
STICKWORT. (See Agrimony.) 
STIFF JOINT. (See Anchylosis.) 
ST. IGNATIUS BEAN. (See Strychnos Ignatii.) 
STILLBORN. (See Abortion, Childbed, Children.) 
STILLINGIA SYLVATICA, stil-lin -je-g sil-vat'-e-kg, or queen's 
root, a perennial plant belonging to the Nat. order Eupliorbiacea. It is 
commonly known as queen's delight, cock-up-hat, yaw root, silver leaf, 
and is found growing in pine barrens and sandy soils from Virginia to 
Florida; also in Mississippi and Louisiana. The root is the part used 1136 
STILLINGIA, ETC-STIMULANTS, ALCOHOLIC. 
in medicine. In large doses it is emetic and cathartic; in small doses, 
alterative, with marked influence over the secretions. It is used in the 
treatment of secondary syphilis, scrofula, cutaneous diseases, chronic 
affections of the liver, and other complaints ordinarily benefited by 
alteratives. Dose: of the fluid extract of stillingia, 5 to 15 drops; 
of the tincture, to 1 teaspoonful; of stillingin (active principle), 2 to 5 
grains; of the decoction of stillingia, 1 to 2 fluid ounces. (See 
Decoction. ) 
STIMULANTS, stim'-udants [Lat. stimulo, I stir up], medicinally 
speaking, are all those remedies which possess the power of exciting the 
nervous energies, and through them the other bodily functions. Stimu- 
lants are useful in all cases of debility unaccompanied by inflammation, 
and especially in the last stages of many grave diseases, when life 
appears to be about to terminate. They require, however, to be used 
with caution, and their effects watched. The more common are wine, 
brandy, whiskey, spirits, ether, ammonia, spices, volatile oils, and resins 
of various kinds. (See Stimulants, Alcoholic; Excitants.) 
STIMULANTS, ALCOHOLIC. Alcoholic stimulants are classed as 
fermented and distilled. The principal fermented liquors in use in this 
country are grape wines-domestic or home-made and imported wines- 
liquor from the fermented juice of the apple, cider; and malt liquors, 
ale, lager beer, porter, etc., from various grains, principally barley. 
The distilled liquors most commonly in use are brandy, whisky, gin, and 
rum, or preparations from these. As the special characters of the various 
alcoholic liquors in use are entered into under their separate articles, the 
following observations are directed to the action of alcoholic stimulants, 
generally, upon man, and to their employment by him-their " use and 
abuse." Pure alcohol itself (see Alcohol) is ranked among the narcotico- 
acrid poisons; a large quantity, quickly taken, sometimes producing 
immediate death. (See Poisons and their Antidotes, Intoxication.) 
The effect of alcoholic fluids upon the digestive organs and their 
functions, has been the subject of much discussion and observation. The 
actual effects probably vary according to the amount and strength of the 
fluid taken, and upon the habits of the individual, but immoderate doses 
of strong wine or spirit undoubtedly interfere with digestion. Ardent 
spirits, drank regularly to excess, exemplify the baneful influence most 
strikingly; the most usual consequences being, a low degree of inflam- 
mation of the stomach, followed by thickening of its coats, and great 
impairment of its digestive power; and along with these, frequently, 
hemorrhage from the bowels. The close connection of the liver with the 
stomach, renders it liable to be affected equally with the latter organ, and, 
in fact, the liver affection of drunkards is a matter of popular information. STIMULANTS, ALCOHOLIC-STOMACH. 
1137 
If the abuse of alcoholic liquors is injurious to the body, equally so 
is it to the manifestations and tendencies of the mind. Passing over 
the milder forms of excitement, we find, under the influence of excess, 
that faculty which keeps the will subordinate to the judgment weakened, 
or for the time destroyed; there is produced, in fact, a state of tempo- 
rary insanity. (See Insanity, Dipsomania.) 
It is under the temporary insane excitement, produced by abuse of 
alcoholic liquor, whether purposely or accidentally, that a large proportion 
of the petty and many of the most fearful, crimes are perpetrated by 
man. 
In considering the effect of alcoholic stimulants upon the system, due 
attention must always be given to the form in which they are taken. It 
is certain, that ardent spirits-which it may be remarked should never 
be taken but as medicine-will exert a much more irritating effect upon 
the nervous system, both locally in the stomach and at large, than the 
fermented liquors. 
If the question be asked, whether alcoholic liquors form a necessary 
part of the sustenance of healthy men generally, it must be answered 
certainly not; that they are not necessary is proved by the history of 
many nations, both ancient and modern. 
The propriety and benefit of alcoholic stimulation in the treatment of 
certain phases of disease, is admitted, and having been noticed under the 
heads of various diseases, in this work, it is unnecessary to discuss 
the matter here, or to point out under what external conditions 
and circumstances, and under what peculiar conditions of mind and 
body, the use of alcoholic stimulants is either serviceable or necessary. 
(See Stimulants, Excitants, Ale, Porter, Wine, Brandy, Gin, Rum, 
Whiskey, Alcohol, Intoxication, Dipsomania, Delirium Tremens; 
Heart, Diseases of the; Insanity, Carbon, Cold, Animal Heat.) 
STIMULANTS, MENTAL. (See Excitants, Passions, Mental 
Exercise, Recreation, Pleasure, Travelling, Occupation, etc.) 
STIMULANTS, PHYSICAL. (See Excitants, Heat, Light, Elec- 
tricity, Air, Food, Exercise, Gymnastics, Training, etc.) 
STINGS. (See Bites and Stings.) 
STITCHES, STITCH IN THE SIDE, stitsh'-ez. These transient 
pains, which all persons are apt to experience at times, are probably of a 
neuralgic or rheumatic character. (See Side, Pain in the; Neuralgia, 
Rheumatism.) 
STOMACH, stum -ok [Gr. stomachos^ also gaster]. The stomach is 
the large membranous receptacle which receives the food from the 
oesophagus, and within which it is acted upon by the gastric juice and 
converted into chyme. It is situated in the left hypochondriac and 1138 
STOMACH-STOMATITIS, ETC. 
epigastric regions, and when distended it lias the shape of an irregular 
cone, having a rounded base, and being curved upon itself. The left 
extremity is the larger, and is called the greater or splenic end of the 
stomach; the right or small end being called the pyloric. The oesopha- 
gus terminates in the stomach two or three inches from the great 
extremity by the cardiac orifice; while by the pyloric orifice at the other 
end, the digested matter enters the duodenum. When moderately filled, 
the stomach is about ten or twelve inches in length, and its diameter at 
the widest part about four inches. The walls of the stomach consist of 
four distinct coats, held together by fine areolar tissue, and named, in 
order from without inwards, the serous, muscular, areolar, and mucous 
coats. At the pyloric orifice, leading from the stomach into the duode- 
num, there is a sphincter muscle which contracts the aperture and pre- 
vents the passage of any matter into the intestines until properly 
digested. The food is propelled along the oesophagus, and enters the 
stomach in successive waves through its cardiac orifice. It is then sub- 
jected to a peculiar peristaltic motion, having for its object to produce a 
thorough intermixture of the gastric fluid with the alimentary mass, and 
to separate that portion which has been sufficiently reduced from the 
remainder. This motion causes not only a constant agitation or churn- 
ing of the contents, but also moves them slowly along from one extremity 
to the other. These revolutions are completed in from one to three 
minutes, being slower at first than after chymification has more advanced. 
The passage of the chyme or product of the gastric digestion through 
the pyloric orifice into the commencement of the intestinal tube is at first 
slow; but when the digestive process is nearly completed, it is trans- 
mitted in much larger quantities. (See Digestion, Gastric Juice.) 
The chief disorders to which the stomach is liable have already been 
entered into under the heads Dyspepsia, Gastritis, Spasm, etc. Blows 
over the region of the stomach are often serious, and may be immedi- 
ately fatal. (See Blows, Shock, Alimentary Canal, Abdomen, Diges- 
tion, Dyspepsia, Physiology, Anatomy, etc.) 
STOMACHIC, sto-mak '-ik. That which excites and strengthens the 
action of the stomach. (See Bitters, Tonics, etc.) 
STOMACH PUMP. (See Pump, Stomach.) 
STOMATITIS, OR INFLAMMATION OF THE MOUTH, stum-a- 
ti'-tis. This disease occurs in three principal forms. 1. Simple 
erythema, occasioned by hot or acrid substances taken into the mouth, 
by irritation of the teeth, or by derangement of the stomach. Small 
doses of magnesia, or rhubarb and soda, will generally effect a cure. 2. 
Thrush, a disease which frequently attacks new-born infants. (For a 
description of it, and for treatment, see Thrush.) And 3. Follicular STOMATITIS. ETC.-STOOLS. 
1139 
stomatitis, or inflammation of the follicles of the mucous membrane. 
This disease is marked by the appearance of small, round, grayish or 
white vesicles, with a ring round the base of each. These soon rup- 
ture, and an ulcer forms, which spreads rapidly. In some forms, para- 
sitic plants are discovered by the microscope. The solution of pernitrate 
of iron in 10-drop doses, mixed with syrup of orange-peel, or simple 
syrup, given three or four times a day, will be found the best remedy. 
When parasitic plants occur, which of course can only be shown by the 
microscope, in the hands of a medical man, sulphite of soda, 1 dram to 1 
ounce of water, applied locally, will destroy the fungus in twenty-four 
hours, and effect a cure. 
STONE-FRUIT, stone'-froot, generally speaking, is less digestible 
when eaten raw than the other descriptions of fruit; to healthy persons, 
however, when ripe, and consumed in moderation, it is not injurious. 
STONE IN THE BLADDER. (See Calculus, Urine, Lithotomy, 
Lithotrity.) 
STONE-ROOT. (See Collinsonia Canadensis.) 
STOOLS, stoolz [Ang.-Sax. stol\. The evacuations from the bowels 
afford important indications of the state of health. 
In infancy, the discharges from the bowels are generally lighter 
colored than they are as life advances, this, perhaps, being partly, but 
not altogether, due to the usual milk nourishment. In infancy, more- 
over, the appearance of the natural evacuations is liable to vary greatly 
in color, and, especially when there is disorder, acidity, etc., to assume 
a green tinge, either as directly passed from the bowels, or soon after 
exposure to the air. The nature of these green evacuations is not satis- 
factorily explained; they generally,however,follow attacks of pain, with 
much acid. As children get beyond infant life, the stools, particularly 
in those with light hair and complexion, are apt to become of a clay-color. 
The true cause of clay-colored stools, in most instances, is the inability 
of the blood to furnish an adequate supply of the healthy bile. A course 
of iron tonics, with a good supply of animal food, is likely to bring the 
color of health, permanently and beneficially. 
In adult life, the stools become clay-colored, or chalky, from a dif- 
ferent cause, or causes, the most usual being obstruction of the flow of 
bile (see Jaundice), but also from deficient secretion consequent upon 
disease of the liver, such as occurs in drunkards. The stools may vary 
in consistence, being either too hard or too liquid; the former is the case 
in persons of costive habit, in whom the ftecal contents pass so slowly 
through the bowels, that their liquid components are too much absorbed. 
(See Costiveness.) In the latter case, the too liquid condition of the 
motions is associated, generally, with tendency to diarrhoea. (See 1140 
STOOLS. 
Diarrhoea.) The general bulk of the stools must of course depend 
much upon the amount and quality of the food ; inattention to this fact 
sometimes misleads. It is not uncommon for persons to imagine that, 
so as the bowels are regularly moved once a day, they must be in a per- 
fectly free state, forgetting that though they may discharge a por- 
tion of their contents, they do not necessarily discharge all; in old 
people, especially, enormous accumulations of fecal matter are apt 
to take place, whilst the person is under the impression that 
because there is a daily stool, the bowels are fully relieved. On the 
other hand, again, the popular impression seems to be that the bowels 
fulfil no other office than that of a passage for the food refuse. (See Alimen- 
tary Canal, Digestion.) Various articles of food, such as the seeds 
and skins of fruits, will affect the appearance of the stools, and medi- 
cines do so more especially; iron, in particular, forms an inky black with 
the coloring matter of the bile. Rhubarb, senna, etc., in some degree, 
impart their color to the stools. Mercurials modify them, causing an 
olive or deep-green appearance, which may be kept up for a length of 
time, if mercurials are too continuously given. Persons are thus 
deceived at times, and under the idea that the motions do not become 
healthy, go on purging with the mercurials, which are themselves the 
cause of the unhealthy appearance. Other purgatives may have the 
same effect in a lesser degree. In unhealthy states of the system, and 
especially in some febrile affections, the stools become much more offen- 
sive than usual. When such is the case, the bowels generally require 
purging. The stools may contain blood. If this comes from the 
stomach, or high up in the intestinal canal, it is usually black and pitchy 
in appearance, and often highly offensive; stools of this kind often occur 
after severe bleeding at the nose when the blood has been swallowed. 
The blood may be fresh and clotted, either dark or florid. (See Piles.) 
In some cases, the stools contain large quantities of mucus, simple or 
gelatinous-looking, or they contain matter. In all such cases, the 
motions should be kept for inspection, and a medical man sent for as 
soon as may be. 
Straining at stool may arise simply from costiveness, and therefore 
is probably habitual; it is, moreover, one of the chief evils of costiveness, 
for not only is it apt to induce rupture in the predisposed, but, in the 
aged, it may bring on head attacks. Straining, or, as it is called medi- 
cally, tenesmus, occurs as a consequence of an inflamed and swollen con- 
ditition of the lining membrane of the rectum (see Rectum), such as 
occurs in diarrhoea, etc.; there is the sensation as if the bowel was still 
unrelieved, and constant instinctive efforts are made to free it; they 
only increase the evil, and should, by an effort of the will, be desisted STO OLS-STRICTURE. 
1141 
from, if possible. In children, straining and sitting too long when the 
bowels are evacuated, may cause falling down of the bowel. The custom 
should be corrected. (See Cathartics, Biliousness.) 
STOOPING. (See Chest; Spine, Diseases, etc., of the.) 
STOPPAGE OF URINE. (See Bladder, Diseases of the.) 
STORKSBILL. (See Erodium Cicutarium.) 
STORMS. (See Barometer.) 
STOVES, stovze [Ang.-Sax. stofa, a stove, a bath], for heating apart- 
ments, are not so wholesome as the open fire-place, if but for the one 
reason, the very defective ventilation they afford; moreover, a stove is 
apt to cause a dryness of the air of an apartment, which is really injuri- 
ous ; and further, in many forms of stoves, vapors of sulphur, or of car- 
buretted hydrogen, are apt to escape. In any room heated by a stove, 
extra provision should be made, both for ventilation (see Bed-Room) and 
for furnishing moisture to the atmosphere. (See Chimney, Ventilation, 
Houses, Sick-Room.) 
STRAINING AT STOOL. (See Stools.) 
STRAMONIUM. (See Datura Stramonium.) 
STRANGURY, strang'-gu-re [Lat. stranguria}, a difficulty and 
pain in passing the urine, which is excreted by drops. (See Bladder, 
Diseases of the ; Urine.) 
STRAWBERRY, straw'-ber-re [Ang.-Sax. straw-berie, streowberie}. 
This delicious fruit must be classed with the most wholesome produc- 
tions of the vegetable kingdom. The leaves are astringent, and have 
been used with good effect in diarrhoea and dysentery. The roots are 
diuretic, and steeped in hot water are beneficial in urinary diseases. 
Dose, of the infusion, 1 to 2 fluid ounces, every two or three hours. (See 
Infusion.) 
STRICTURE, strikt'-yur [Lat. strictura}, a contracted state of some 
part of a tube or duct. It also denotes in strangulated hernia the 
narrowest part of the aperture through which the viscera protrudes. 
The parts in which stricture most commonly occurs are 1st, the oesopha- 
gus, which is rare, and quite beyond the reach of domestic treatment; 
2nd, the rectum, this being a mechanical closing of the bowel, caused 
either by chronic inflammation or malignant disease; in this the faeces 
are passed with much difficulty, being sometimes no larger than the 
stem of a tobacco pipe in diameter; here, domestic treatment is 
of little or no avail; 3rd, the urethra, the passage of which must be 
gradually enlarged by the introduction of a succession of instruments 
called bougies and catheters. (See Bougie, Catheter.) This kind of 
stricture is, generally, the result of excesses in early life; it sometimes 
amounts to complete stoppage of the urine, and causes very great suffer- 1142 
STRICTURE-STRYCHNOS NUX VOMICA. 
ing; when immediate relief cannot be obtained by the use of the above- 
named instruments, a partial measure of it may, by warm moist applica- 
tion to the parts, or a resort to the hip-bath. (See Urethra, Rec- 
tum.) 
STRUMOUS, stroo'-mus, of the nature of scrofula. (See Scrofula.) 
STRYCHNINE, OR STRYCHNIA, strik'-nine, strik'-ne-a. ' One 
of the alkaloids found in the Strychnos nux vomica, and the Strychnos 
Ignatii, or Ignatius bean, in company with brucine and igasurine. 
Strychnine is one of the most powerful of the vegetable bases. In 
minute portions, from the thirtieth to the twelfth of a grain, it is used 
as a tonic in medicine, with a special action on the nerves of motion. 
Hence it is of value in paralytic affections, torpidity of the digestive 
organs, etc. In doses of two or three grains it is a most powerful and 
fatal poison. The solution of strychnine is given in doses of 5 to 10 
drops, every six or eight hours. On account of strychnine being a 
powerful poison, it should be taken in the following form: 
Take of Liquor Strychnia (Br. Ph.) Two drams. 
Rain water or distilled water Four ounces.-Mix. 
Take 1 teaspoonfm every six hours in a tablespoonful of water. 
Strychnine is now much used for destroying vermin, and occasionally 
proves fatal to the human subject by design or accident. (See Poisons 
and their Antidotes.) Strychnine should not be employed except 
under the careful direction of a physician. The above prescription is 
the only form in which it can under any circumstances be safely used 
domestically. (See Strychnos Ignatii, Strychnos Nux Vomica, Alka- 
loids.) 
STRYCHNOS IGNATII, strik'-nus ig-na'-she-i, or Saint Ignatius' 
bean, a tree belonging to the Nat. order Loganiaceae. It is a native of 
Cochin-China, the Philippine Islands, and other parts of Asia. The 
seeds are the part used in medicine, and contain about one and two- 
tenths per cent, of strychnine. It is applicable in the wide range of 
symptoms known as dyspeptic. It has a tonic, stimulating effect on all 
the organs connected with the digestive functions, by its acting directly 
on their nervous energies, exciting and equalizing their weakened and 
disturbed action. The large amount of strychnine in the ignatia calls 
for great care in administering it. Dose: of the fluid extract, 3 to 8 
drops; of the solid extract, £ to 1 grain. (See Strychnos Nux Vomica, 
Strychnine, Poisons and their Antidotes.) 
STRYCHNOS NUX VOMICA, strik'-nus nuks vom'-e-kg, or nux 
vomica, a tree belonging to the Nat. order Loganiaceae. It is also called 
poison nut tree. It is a moderate sized tree, a native of many parts of 
the East Indies, abounding particularly on the Malabar and Coromandel STUYCHNOS AUX VOMICA-STYPTICS. 
1143 
coasts. It owes its active medicinal properties to the presence of strych- 
nine and brucia. The seeds are the part used in medicine. 
Nux vomica is a violent excitant of the cerebro-spinal system, and 
in large doses is an active poison. In small doses, frequently repeated, 
it is tonic, diuretic, and even laxative. It is employed principally in 
the treatment of paralysis. It is useful in local palsies of the bladder, 
in amaurosis, spermatorrhoea and impotence. As nux vomica contains 
a large amount of strychnine, it should be administered with great 
caution. Dose: of the fluid extract, 5 to 10 drops; of the solid extract, 
| to 1 grain. (See Strychnos Ignatii, Strychnine, Poisons and their 
Antidotes. ) 
STUPOR, OR COMA. (See Coma.) 
STUTTERING,OR STAMMERING. (See Speech.) 
ST. VITUS'S DANCE. (See Saint Vitus's Dance.) 
STY, OR STYE, sti [Ang.-Sax. stigend}. This well-known inflam- 
matory tumor in the eyelid is often very troublesome ; delicate and 
unhealthy children are much subject to the affection, but sometimes 
adults, and even those in robust health, are liable to it. 
Symptoms.-1-kX first there is a little irritation and itching in the 
upper or lower lid of the eye, but more frequently in the former ; then 
there is redness and swelling, and a small boil is developed among the 
roots of the eyelashes; after two or three days this bursts, and matter 
escapes ; a scale forms, which soon drops off, and probably in a few days 
there is no symptom remaining to mark the spot. 
Treatment.-Commence by fomenting the eyelids, night and morn- 
ing, with warm water, or decoction of poppies, and keep on during the 
night a warm bread poultice; continue with this until the matter is 
formed and discharged; then, when the scab is formed, smear the mar- 
gin of the lids night and morning, with a little dilute citrine ointment, 
taking care that it does not go into the eye ; this may be continued for a 
week or so, and at the same time the system should be strengthened by 
purgatives followed by tonics. Persons who are subject to styes, should 
bathe their eyelids with a weak solution of salt in water, every night and 
morning. 
STYPTICS, stip'-tiles [Gr. stupto, I constringe], are applications, 
usually of an astringent character, which possess the power of arresting 
hemorrhage. It is to external arresters to bleeding that the term styptic 
is applied in this article. 
Oak-bark decoction, and gall-nuts in powder or infusion, which owe 
their efficacy to the tannin they contain, are used as external styptics. 
(See Quercus.) In addition to these, matico and turpentine (w'hich see) 
are styptics derived from the vegetable kingdom ; also the agaric fungus 1144 
STYPTICS- SUGAR. 
popularly known as the "fuz-ball," which is frequently applied to bleed- 
ing wounds, and with apparent benefit. From the mineral kingdom 
many styptic applications may be derived, such as the salts of iron (see 
Ikon), especially the sulphate and muriate, the sulphates of copper and 
zinc, the acetate of lead, and the nitrate of silver. Cold, the actual 
cautery, or red-hot iron, etc., are all styptic applications. (See Iron, 
Copper, Zinc, Lead, Silver, Cold, Hemorrhage.) 
STYRAX, sti'-raks, the typical genus of the Nat. order StyracacecB. 
8. Benzoin, the benjamin tree, yields the well-known balsamic exudation 
called gum-benjamin. The product now called liquid storax comes from 
a species of the genus Liquidambar. (See Benzoin, Liquidambar.) 
SUCCINUM, OR AMBER SUCCINUM, suk'-se-num [Lat.], the 
resin from a coniferous tree found growing in Northern Europe and 
Eastern Asia. It yields on distillation, oil of amber, which, in doses of 
5 to 10 drops, was formerly regarded as a good remedy in whooping- 
cough, epilepsy, and hysteria. It is now rarely prescribed. 
SUDORIFICS, su-do-rif'-iks [Lat. sudor, sweat, and/acw, to make], 
those medicines which promote perspiration. (See Diaphoretics.) 
SUET. (See Sevum Pr^eparatum.) 
SUFFOCATION, suffo-ka-shun [Lat. suffocatio], is the act of 
choking or producing death by the interruption of the breath. The 
three ordinary ways in which suffocation may be effected are hanging, 
drowning, and the respiration of fixed air, or carbonic acid gas. In 
every case of suffocation, our attempts at reanimation should be directed 
to renew respiration by inflation of the lungs; to restore the animal heat 
by exposure to warm pure air, and by assiduous friction of the surface; 
to rouse by stimulants, and by brushing the soles of the feet and palms 
of the hands; and when necessary, to relieve cerebral congestion by 
moderate and cautious bleeding. (See Asphyxia, Drowning, Hanging, 
Carbonic Acid, Choke-Damp, Foreign Bodies in Air-Passages, Foreign 
Bodies in the Gullet, Accidents; Animation, Suspended; etc.) 
SUGAR, shug'-ar [Lat. saccharwm\, is for the most part a product of 
the vegetable kingdom, but not entirely so, for it occurs in milk, and in 
eggs in small quantity, and is also produced by the animal body. Sugar 
is formed principally of two distinct varieties,-cane, or ordinary sugar, 
and sugar of fruits, or grape sugar. Both are composed of the elements, 
carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen, but differ somewhat in the proportions 
in which these are combined. For sugar of milk, see Saccharum Lactis. 
As an article of nutriment, sugar is of course the representative of the 
saccharine principles, which include starch, gum, etc.; the position 
which these principles hold, and the part they fulfil in the processes of 
nutrition generally, having been sufficiently entered into under article SU GAU-SUICIDE, ETC. 
1145 
Food, it is unnecessary to repeat them here. With regard to the diges- 
tibility of sugar by different individuals, there is considerable variation. 
Some persons cannot consume it, even in small quantity, without being 
disordered and suffering from acidity, whilst others seem actually to 
digest their food better when sugar is mingled with it, and, undoubtedly, 
a moderate proportion is wholesome for people generally, except under 
those peculiar states of constitution, or rather disease, when the tendency 
of the assimilative powers generally is to form sugar. This animal 
sugar has not only been detected in the blood, but in the stomach, after 
a person had been fed for days upon animal food alone. 
For impurities in sugar, see Adulteration of Food. (See also 
Diabetes, Fermentation, Food, Syrup.) 
SUGAR OF LEAD. (See Lead.) 
SUGAR OF MILK. (See Saccharum Lactis.) 
SUICIDE, SUICIDAL TENDENCY, su'-e-side [Lat. sui, of one's 
self, and ccedo, to kill]. In opposition to the hitherto prevalent opinion, 
that the cause of self-destruction is, in the majority of cases, a mental 
act, unconnected with a disturbed condition of the bodily functions, and 
incurable by any process of medical treatment, Dr. Forbes Winslow 
asserts his belief that the suicidal idea is almost generally connected 
with a morbid condition of the body, and is often the only existing evi- 
dence of such an affection ; that it is, with a few exceptions, universally 
associated with physical disorder, disturbing the healthy balance of the 
understanding; and that this bodily affection, which is, in nine cases out 
of ten, the cause of mental irregularity, is easily curable by the judicious 
application of remedial means. 
The argument to be adduced from this belief is, that persons who 
manifest suicidal tendencies should be looked upon not as hopelessly 
insane, but as diseased persons, whose malady is quite within the reach 
of proper remedies. 
But to base too much upon the bodily condition may hold out induce- 
ments to those who are afflicted with the suicidal tendency to abandon 
that moral and religious control of their actions which is so powerful, 
and which in many cases will overcome in the end. If an elevated 
religious and moral tone had nothing to do with controlling the pro- 
pensity to crimes, and to that of suicide among the number, statistics 
would not furnish the evidence of the preponderance of these crimes 
among people who notoriously cast aside the practical regulation of 
religion in their lives, individually or socially. 
The subject of human responsibility, where, overcome by the evil 
tendencies originating in physical derangement, it ceases to be responsi- 
bility, is perhaps one which man can never fathom, but it is one which 1146 
SUICIDE, ETC-SULPHURIC ACID, ETC. 
ought to be upheld to the utmost in such conditions as a tendency to 
suicide; whilst giving every attention to the medical treatment of the 
physical condition, there should at the same time be given every 
encouragement to those who show the least tendency to this derange- 
ment, to keep, if they can, and as long as they can, the reins of reason. 
The mind can, and often will, overcome mental depression from physi- 
cal causes, but it must be exerted. The reader is referred to some 
observations under article Habit. The tendency to suicide is found to 
be less in persons who are occupied out of doors. (See Melancholy, 
Hypochondriasis, Insanity, Hereditary Tendency.) 
SULPHATES, sul'-fatz, are salts, in which the base, such as an 
alkali, or a metallic oxide, is united with sulphuric acid. 
SULPHUR, BATH. (See Baths and Bathing.) 
SULPHUR, BRIMSTONE, sul'-fur [Lat.], belongs to the elemen- 
tary bodies. It is found in large quantities in some volcanic countries, 
such as Sicily. In medical practice sulphur is variously employed, its 
best known application, however, being for the cure of itch, in the form 
of ointment. (See Itch.) In various skin diseases sulphur is prescribed 
by medical men; it is also used as a mild laxative in pregnancy and in 
cases of piles. For the latter purposes it is advantageously mingled 
with three or four times its weight of cream of tartar, or with its own 
weight of magnesia. The sublimed, or flowers of sulphur, is the form 
in most common use; but the precipitated, or milk of sulphur, is rather 
a more elegant preparation. One very serious objection to the use of 
sulphur is the abominable odor which it imparts to the person, particu- 
larly to the insensible perspiration. 
The dose of sulphur as a laxative, is, alone, 2 drams; when mixed 
with cream of tartar or magnesia, from £ to 1 dram. It is best given in 
a little milk. (See Sulphur, Iodide of.) 
SULPHURIC ACID, OR OIL OF VITRIOL, sul-fu'-rik, SO,, 
is formed by the oxidation of sulphurous acid, or some other oxide 
of sulphur. It melts at 65° Fahr., and boils at 110° Fahr., form- 
ing a colorless vapor. When pure, it is a heavy, oily, colorless, 
inodorous liquid, having a specific gravity of 1.842. Sulphuric acid is a 
powerful caustic, burning and destroying the parts with which it comes 
in contact. Thus in a large dose or undiluted it is a violent corrosive 
poison. In small doses properly diluted it is tonic, refrigerant, astrin- 
gent, exciting the appetite, and promoting digestion. 
In relaxed states of the system, it is one of our best tonics. When 
taken medicinally, it ought, like the other mineral acids, to be sucked 
through a quill, or small glass tube, to prevent injury to the teeth, on 
which it acts powerfully. Unless absolutely required in a concentrated SULPHURIC ACID, ETC.-SUMMER-COMPLAINT. 
1147 
form for some special object, sulphuric acid should never be kept in a 
private house otherwise than diluted. 
Dilute sulphuric acid is formed by mixing 7 ounces of the acid with 
77 ounces of distilled water, and when cooled to 60°, adding more water, 
so as to make 83^ fluid ounces. Dose: 5 to 30 drops. The aromatic 
sulphuric acid or elixir of vitriol is formed by mixing gradually 3 fluid 
ounces of sulphuric acid with 2 pints of rectified spirit, then adding 2 
ounces of cinnamon bark and 1^ ounce of ginger, both in coarse powder, 
macerating for seven days, and then filtering. Dose, 5 to 30 drops 
In consequence of its employment for various household purposes, 
poisoning by sidphuric acid is not very uncommon, and if the acid be 
strong, is one of the most distressing accidents of this nature which can 
happen. For symptoms and antidotes see Poisons and their Antidotes. 
SULPHUR, IODIDE OF, sul'-fur. Its principal use is as an exter- 
nal application. Pereira observes: "It is a very stimulant remedy, 
adapted to cases of chronic skin diseases, which have survived the stage 
of inflammation during the whole course, such as salt-rheum, leprosy, 
etc." It may also be given internally in the dose of from 1 to 6 grains. 
When taken internally its action resembles, if it be not identical with, 
that of iodine. (See Sulphur.) 
SULPHUROUS ACID, sul'fur-us, in Chemistry, SO2, an acid 
formed by the union of an equivalent of sulphur with two of oxygen. At 
ordinary temperatures, sulphurous acid is a gas ; but it may be readily 
condensed into a liquid by a pressure of three atmospheres, or by a 
freezing mixture of ice and salt. Sulphurous acid is a powerful deodor- 
izing and disinfecting agent, being destructive to minute vegetable and 
animal organisms. It is employed externally in the form of baths for 
diseases of the skin, and is also used internally for the same purpose. 
It is also valuable in diseases of the stomach, particularly when owing 
to fungous growth, as sarcina ventriculi. Dose, | to 1 teaspoonful in 
water. 
SULPHUR SPRINGS. (See Mineral Waters.) 
SUMACH, OR SUMAC. (See Rhus Glabrum.) 
SUMMER. (See Seasons, Heat, Sunstroke.) 
SUMMER-COMPLAINT, OR CHOLERA INFANTUM, sum'- 
mmr-complant, a very common, and frequently fatal disease, occurring 
during the hot season, among young children. 
Cause.-Improper food, impure air, want of cleanliness, unhealthy 
dwellings, and lack of care are the most common causes, but even with 
the best care, during dentition, children raised by hand are frequently 
the victims of this troublesome affection. 
Symptoms.-Purging, vomiting, great thirst, prostration, loss of 1148 
SUMMER- COMPLAINT-SUNSTROKE, ETC. 
appetite, and more or less colicky pain. These symptoms are some- 
times followed by stupor and death, in thirty-six hours, but generally 
they are prolonged for weeks, the little sufferer constantly wasting 
away. 
Treatment.-The patient must be kept as quiet as possible, and lying 
down the most of the time. The first indication is to relieve the vomit- 
ing and purging: for this purpose a light poultice, made of equal parts 
of mustard and linseed-meal, should be placed over the stomach and 
allowed to remain until the skin is red, and at the same time a teaspoon- 
ful of lime-water and milk, equal parts of each, may be given every 
twenty or thirty minutes. This mixture may be improved by adding to 
each ounce a drop or two of creasote, or 8 to 10 drops of chloric ether. 
If the stomach will not tolerate the milk, the. lime-water may be given 
alone, or instead, a few grains of baking soda in a teaspoonful of water. 
Food, other than the milk and lime-water, should not be given until the 
vomiting has ceased. To relieve the thirst, white of eggs, made thin with 
a little Seltzer water,, may be given. When there is very great prostra- 
tion, the celebrated French physician, Prof. Trousseau, recommended a 
diet of raw meat. The lean of beef or mutton cut into small pieces and 
thoroughly pounded in a mortar, and then passed through a fine sieve, 
and a few grains of salt added, may be given in £ teaspoonful doses, 
every two or three hours. In this way 2 tablespoonfuls may be taken in 
the course of twenty-four hours. If the stomach bears it the doses may 
be increased in a day or two. As soon as convalescence has so far pro- 
gressed that the child may be safely removed, it should be taken to the 
seashore, or if this be not practicable, to some cool, salubrious point in 
the country. This treatment, if not too long deferred, generally succeeds 
in restoring the little patient to health. (See Children, Diarrhcea.) 
SUMMER-SAVORY, sum-mur-sa-vo-re, a small plant growing wild 
in Europe, and extensively cultivated in this country. The leaves are 
the part employed in medicine. They are stimulant, carminative and 
emmenagogue, and in the shape of warm infusion are beneficial in colds, 
suppressed menstruation, and flatulent colic, and the cold infusion is a 
gentle stimulating tonic during convalescence from fevers. Dose: of 
the infusion, either cold or hot, 1 to 4 fluid ounces, frequently repeated. 
(See Infusion.) 
SUNBURN. (See Almond Emulsion, Vaseline.) 
SUNFLOWER. (See Helianthus Annuus.) 
SUNSTROKE, OR COUP DE SOLEIL, sun'-stroke, is a disease 
affecting those who are exposed to the direct beams of a hot sun, particu- 
larly during any labor or active exercise. It is not uncommon among 
troops in long marches. They fall down insensible, and often die in a SUNSTROKE, ETC.-SUPPER, OR TEA. 
1149 
very short time. The nature of this complaint is not well under- 
stood. According to some, it is a sort of apoplexy, while others hold 
that it is more of the nature of concussion. It would appear that the 
sun's rays act upon the brain like a shock, suddenly and extensively 
influencing the nervous system, and arresting the movements of the 
heart. 
Cause. -It is a mistake to suppose that only those who are exposed 
to the direct rays of the sun are in danger of sunstroke. Many of the 
cases occur in the shade and in heated rooms. Habits of intemperance, 
impure air, and over-exertion, predispose to attack. 
Symptoms.-Dizziness, headache, listlessness, followed by stupor; 
the breathing is irregular, the pulse weak and fluttering, and sometimes 
there is jerking and twitching of the limbs. 
Treatment.-Place the patient in the recumbent position, in a cool, 
shady place; remove the clothing, and dash cold water over the head 
and chest, calves of the legs, and feet. Some physicians recommend to 
rub the body with pieces of ice. If the patient can swallow, give plenty 
of good strong tea, which is even better than spirits. 
Preventive treatment.-Those who are compelled to expose them- 
selves to the direct heat of the sun in summer, either travelling or work- 
ing, should be clad loosely, advance slowly, rest often, drink no spirits, 
and protect the neck with a linen cape, or even a handkerchief attached 
to the hat. A wet sponge or towel placed in the hat keeps the head 
cool. Small pieces of ice allowed to dissolve in the mouth are better 
than drinking much cold water. (See Heat.) 
SUPPER, OR TEA, sup'-pur [Ang.-Sax. supan, to sup]. The 
last meal of the day is properly supper, or tea. Much has been 
said respecting the unwholesomeness of eating suppers-much depends 
upon circumstances. Generally speaking, animal food once a day 
is sufficient; if, therefore, an individual for whom it is enough, after 
a sufficiently good meat dinner, adds a superfluous meat supper 
shortly before retiring to rest, there can be little wonder if he pays the 
penalty in sleep disturbed by dreams and nightmare, and by a furred 
tongue and unrefreshed waking in the morning. This is especially the 
case if the superfluity is indulged in after a dinner made in the latter 
part of the day. If dinner is early, if much exercise is taken between 
that and the evening meal, and if supper is not eaten at too late an 
hour, many persons can take with benefit a moderate proportion of 
animal food. Those to whom suppers are most injurious are the ple- 
thoric, or such as suffer from head symptoms. Some persons, however, 
especially dyspeptic invalids, do themselves harm by abstaining from 
suppers of every kind, especially when the principal meal has been 1150 
SUPPER, OR TEA-SURGERY, SURGEON 
taken early in the day. (See Breakfast, Luncheon, Dinner, Meals, 
Diet, Food, Regimen, etc.) 
SUPPOSITORY, sup-poz-e-tur-e [Lat. suppositorius, that is placed 
underneath], is a medicine in a solid form passed up into the rectum. 
In some cases, this mode of administering remedies is very convenient, 
especially when the stomach cannot receive them readily. Generally, 
it is most suitable in painful diseases-such as those of the bladder, 
womb, etc.,-situated in the vicinity of the lower bowel. In such cases, 
the suppository must of course be anodyne, usually opiate, which may 
be thus made to exercise its effects without disordering the stomach. 
A grain of powdered opium, with 5 or 6 of firm henbane extract, 
makes a very good suppository. A suppository may be introduced 
into the bowel on the point of the finger, both being well greased; the 
operation is, however, better and more conveniently done by the sup- 
pository tube made for the purpose. 
SUPPRESSION OF THE MENSES. (See Chlorosis, Menstru- 
ation. ) 
SUPPURATION, suppu-ra'-shun [Lat. suppuratio}. The forma- 
tion of pus or matter. (See Inflammation, Pus, Suppuratives, etc.) 
SUPPURATIVES, sup'-pu-ra-tivz [Lat. sub, beneath, and pus, 
matter.] Applications that promote or facilitate the formation of matter. 
Suppuratives are applied to abscesses, boils, etc., to hasten their ripen- 
ing, as it is called. Among those most commonly used are warm linseed 
poultices and hot fomentations. (See Suppuration.) 
SURGERY, SURGEON, sur'-je-re, sur'-jun. Surgery was anciently 
called Chirurgery [Gr. cheir, the hand, and ergon, work]. It is that 
branch of the healing art which employs manual procedure, whether by 
instruments or not, in the reparation of injury or cure of disease, as dis- 
tinguished from the practice of medicine, which treats disease by the 
administration of drugs or other substances of a sanative tendency. 
This distinction, however, exists more in name than in reality, for the 
two are indissolubly connected, and the successful practice of the one is, 
of necessity, dependent on a knowledge of the principles of the other. 
The skilful surgeon requires to be possessed of some of nature's choicest 
gifts. He requires to be possessed of a strong, steady hand, a clear, quick 
sight, and great coolness and courage. Dexterity in the use of the 
instruments is also of the utmost importance. 
The different operations of surgery will be found noticed under their 
proper heads in other parts of this work. (See Medicine, Amputation, 
Dislocations, Fractures, Wounds, Burns and Scalds, Bites and Stings, 
Accidents, Suture, Bandages, Dressing, Lithotomy, Anaesthetics, 
Chloroform; Instruments, Surgical; etc.) SURGICAL INSTR UALENTS-S WELLING. 
1151 
SURGICAL INSTRUMENTS. (See Instruments, Surgical.) 
SUSPENDED ANIMATION. (See Animation, Suspended ; As- 
phyxia, Suffocation, Drowning, Hanging, Death.) 
SUTURE, sute'-yur [Lat. suo, to sew], a mode of uniting the edges 
of a wound by stitches. 
It is sometimes advisable, in the absence of professional aid, for the 
edges of a bad wound to be drawn together, and this may be effected by 
a tolerably strong needle, threaded with a piece of strong silk; the 
stitches should be set some way in from the edges of the cut, and should 
not be placed very near together. (See Wounds, Dressing, etc.) 
Suture is a term also applied to the junction of the bones of the 
cranium. (See Anatomy.) 
SWALLOWING. (See Deglutition.) 
SWALLOW WORT. (See Asclepias. ) 
SWAMP BEGGAR-TICK. (See Bidens Bipinnata.) 
SWAMP DOGWOOD. (See Cornus Florida.) 
SWAMP FEVER, OR AGUE. (See Ague.) 
SWAMP HELLEBORE. (See Veratrum Viride. 
SWAMP SASSAFRAS. (See Magnolia.) 
SWEAT. (See Perspiration.) 
SWEATING MEDICINES. (See Diaphoretics, Antimonial Pow- 
der, Dover's Powder, James' Powder, Perspiration.) 
SWEATING OF FEET AND ARMPITS, FETID. (See Car- 
bolic Acid, Alum, Clay.) 
SWEDISH MOVEMENT CURE. (See Movement Cure.) 
SWEET ALMOND. (See Amygdalus.) 
SWEET FENNEL. (See Fceniculum.) 
SWEET FERN. (See Comptonia Asplenifolia. ) 
SWEET FLAG. (See Acorus Calamus.) 
SWEET GALE. (See Myrica Gale.) 
SWEETMEATS AND SWEET-CAKES. (See Confectionery.) 
SWEET-OIL. (See Olive-Oil.) 
SWEET SPIRIT OF NITRE. (See Ether, Nitrous or Nitric.) 
SWEET WILLOW. (See Myrica Gale.) 
SWELLED-LEG, OR MILK-LEG. (See Milk-Leg.) 
SWELLING, swel'-ing. Increase of size of different portions of the 
textures of the living body may arise from a variety of causes. The 
swelling may be either of a fluid or of a solid character. In the former 
case, it may be caused by increased accumulation or determination of 
blood in or to the part, the blood being contained within the blood- 
vessels; more usually, however, fluid swelling is caused by blood or 
other fluid not contained within the vessels, but effused into the textures 1152 
S WELLING-SYMPL0 CARPUS F(ET1D US. 
where the swelling occurs. Of this nature is the swelling which occurs 
after violence; it is, in fact, the result of the effusion of blood-inward 
bleeding-or of serum into the tissues. The formation of matter also 
causes swelling. Fluid swellings are in many cases of rapid formation ; 
solid swellings, from their nature, are in general necessarily of slow 
increase. In rupture, of course, the presence of gas in the protruded 
bowel renders that a cause of swelling, though comparatively an unfre- 
quent one. The different forms of swelling are noticed under other 
articles. (See Tumor, Wiiite-Swtelling, Rupture, Aneurism.) 
SWIMMING. (See Exercise.) 
SWIMMING BATH. (See Baths and Bathing.) 
SWOON, OR SYNCOPE. (See Fainting.) 
SYMPATHY, 8im'pa-the[Qr. pathos, affection]. In man, probably 
in the higher animal tribes, there exists between certain different portions 
and organs of the same living body, a bond of connection, or at least of 
relative action, through which excited or diseased action in the one is 
excited in the other, sympathetically, as it is called, or by sympathy. It is 
evident, how'ever, that what are called sympathetic actions arise, appar- 
ently, at least, in very different ways. Some which are classed as such 
are evidently the result of contiguity, others of reflex action (see Nervous 
System), or at least of nervous communication, others of derivative 
action. 
SYMPHYTUM OFFICINALE, sim-fi'-tum. of-fis-e-na'-le, or comfrey. 
A perennial European plant belonging to the Nat. order Boraginaceaz. 
It is much cultivated in our gardens for medicinal purposes. The root 
is the part used. Comfrey is demulcent, and somewhat astringent. It 
belongs to that class of agents by which scrofulous and anaemic con- 
ditions are beneficially treated. (See Scrofula, Chlorosis.) Useful in 
diarrhoea, dysentery, coughs, bleeding from the lungs, other lung affec- 
tions, and in leucorrhcea and female debility. Dose: of the fluid extract, 
2 to 4 teaspoonfuls; of the infusion, 1 to 2 fluid ounces; of the syrup,. 
to 1 fluid ounce. (See Infusion.) 
SYMPLOCARPUS FCETIDUS, simploBar'pusfet'-e-dxis, or skunk- 
cabbage, a perennial plant belonging to the Nat. order Araceaz. It 
growrs in moist grounds in various parts of the United States. The 
whole plant has an extremely disagreeable odor; thought to resemble 
that of the animal after which it is named. The root is the part gener- 
ally used. Skunk-cabbage is stimulant, antispasmodic, and narcotic. 
In large doses, it will occasion nausea, vomiting, dizziness and dimness 
of vision. The leaves, when bruised, form a very good stimulating 
application to blisters. It was introduced at first as a remedy for 
asthma, and it has since been considered an excellent remedy in chronic SYMPLO CARPUS F(ETID US-SYMPTOMS. 
1153 
catarrh, chronic coughs, whooping-coughs, pulmonary and bronchial 
affections, hysteric paroxysms, dropsy, rheumatism, and even epilepsy. 
Dose: of the fluid extract, 20 to 80 drops; of the infusion, 1 to 2 fluid 
ounces; of the syrup, 1 to 2 teaspoonfuls, three or four times a day. 
SYMPTOMS, sim'-tumz [Fr. symptome}. In a state of perfect 
health, all the functions of the living body are performed in regular 
series, and according to certain modes of action, which we recognize as 
those of health. When, however, these series or modes become 
deranged or altered, there arise certain signs, or, as they are generally 
called, symptoms, which, as they vary according to the nature of the 
cause that produced them as effects, afford to the medical man a clue to 
the detection of the cause, more or less perfect, according to the state of 
his knowledge, experience, and means of investigation-they in fact 
furnish the means by which he forms his diagnosis in the first instance, 
and which guide his opinion as to the treatment and ultimate issue of 
the case. 
By systematizing inquiries and observations, a much clearer idea 
will be gained of the state of an individual who is an object of care and 
solicitude, than by making them at random. Thus, beginning at the 
head, attention should be directed to any unusual sensations complained 
of by the person, or any unusual manifestations apparent to others. 
These are pain, giddiness, affection of the senses, confusion of thought, 
or impairment of mental power; flushings, twitchings, drawing of the 
features to one side; disturbed sleep; moaning; grating of the teeth ; 
sleeplessness, or too great somnolency. Passing downwards to the 
organs of respiration; alterations in the character of the voice; in the 
respiration, as to the frequency or otherwise; in the power of lying in 
any or every posture, are all matters for observation ; also any habitual 
cough, and its character. When the digestive organs are disordered, 
the times of their chief disorder, as connected with taking food, is an 
important symptom; whether the uneasiness comes on quickly after a 
meal, or not for some hours; whether it is worse after long fasting, or 
the reverse; whether there is habitual vomiting, etc. With respect to 
the bowels, the nature of the motions or stools is to be inquired into, 
and especially the fact of thorough daily relief. In inquiry into the state 
of the urinary organs, the amount of the secretion, its nature as to color, 
or its tendency to deposit sediment immediately after being passed, or 
when it becomes cool, are principal objects. If the calls are too fre- 
quent, it is to be noticed whether this depends on increased quantity or 
on diminution, which causes irritation from greater concentration. In 
this way, by carefully and systematically considering a case, even an 
unprofessional person may acquire very considerable knowledge of its 1154 
SYMPTOMS-SYR UPS. 
leading features, sufficient probably to enable him to refer to those 
articles in this work from which he will derive proper information; in 
many cases, sufficient to open the eyes to a condition of health that calls 
for the prompt submission to proper medical advice; and when this is 
determined on, the observation of symptoms, either in his own case or in 
that of another, such as a child, will enable an individual to furnish a 
medical man, even at a first interview, with such a history as will afford 
him much assistance in forming his opinion. (See Diagnosis, Health, 
Disease.) 
SYNCOPE, sing'-hope [Lat. syncope, syncopa.] A state of swoon or 
fainting. (See Fainting.) 
SYNOVIA, OR SYNOVIAL FLUID, si-no'-ve-a [Lat. ovum], is the 
fluid which is secreted within the joints by the lining or synovial mem- 
brane, for the purpose of lubricating the opposed cartilaginous surfaces 
of the bones, and facilitating their movements upon one another. It 
contains a considerable amount of albumen, and from its unctuous quality 
is known popularly as joint-oil. 
SYPHILIS, sif'-e-lis, commonly called pox, or the venereal disease, 
is disease contracted in consequence of impure connection. The fear- 
ful constitutional consequences which may result from this affection; 
consequences, the fear of which may haunt the mind for years, which 
may taint the whole springs of health, and be transmitted to circulate 
in the young blood of innocent offspring, are indeed terrible considera- 
tions, too terrible not to render the disease one of those which must 
unhesitatingly, and without any delay, be placed under medical 
care. In the meantime, if any delay must occur, the pustule sores 
which may be observable must be well touched with lunar caustic, 
nitrate of silver (see Chancres), the diet should be reduced and deprived 
of stimulants, and the bowels acted upon by moderately active aperients; 
violent exercise being at the same time avoided. 
Whatever the circumstances may be, once and for all, the author 
would warn against any trust being placed in the specious advertise- 
ments in connection with the disease in question, which are so persever- 
ingly and disgustingly paraded before the public eye, by quacks, who 
endeavor to fleece the silly dupes who resort to them, by first exciting 
their fears. (See Bubo, Node.) 
SYRINGE, sir'-ing [Lat. syrinx). This well-known instrument is 
useful domestically for many purposes, and its employment is recom- 
mended in various articles in the present work. For full information con- 
cerning the use of the syringe, see Clyster. (See'also Ear Syringe.) 
SYRUPS, sir'-ups [Lat. syrupis], are saturated solutions of sugar in 
water, either simple, or united with other substances. They are chiefly SYE UPS-SYSTOLE. 
1155 
employed to render unpalatable medicines more acceptable. Simple 
syrup is made by dissolving 5 pounds of refined sugar in 2 pints of pure 
water with the aid of heat, and then after cooling, adding as much water 
as may be necessary to make the weight pounds. Syrup should be 
kept in a situation with the temperature under 55° Fahr. The following 
are a few of the most useful syrups with the formulae for their prepara- 
tion : 
BLACKBERRY, SYRUP OE. 
Take of Fluid extract of blackberry.. .One-half pint. 
Syrup One and a half pint.-Mix. 
Tonic and astringent; useful in diarrhoea, dysentery, summer-complaint, 
and in most cases of debility in children affected with loss of appetite. 
Dose, | to 2 teaspoonfuls every two or three hours. 
CHAMOMILE, SYRUP OF. 
Take of Fluid extract of chamomile Four ounces. 
Syrup Twelve ounces.-Mix. 
Useful as a tonic. Dose, 2 to 4 teaspoonfuls, three or four times a day. 
IPECAC, SYRUP OF. 
Take of Fluid extract of ipecac Two ounces. 
Syrup Thirty ounces.-Mix. 
Useful as an emetic and expectorant. Dose : as an emetic for an adult, 
from | to 1 ounce ; for a child, 30 drops to 1 teaspoonful, repeated every 
fifteen minutes until it acts. As an expectorant, for an adult, £ to 1 
teaspoonful; for a child, from 2 to 10 drops. 
RHUBARB, SYRUP OF. 
Take of Fluid extract of rhubarb Thirty ounces. 
Syrup Twenty-nine ounces.-Mix. 
A mild cathartic especially adapted for infants. Dose, for adults, 1 to 
4 teaspoonfuls; for children, | to 1 teaspoonful, according to age. 
WILD CHERRY, SYRUP OF. 
Take of Fluid extract of wild cherry Thirty ounces. 
Syrup Thirteen ounces.-Mix. 
Very useful in pectoral affections. Dose, 1 to 2 tablespoonfuls. 
For cough syrups, or cough mixtures, see the article Cough. 
SYSTOLE, sis'-to-le [Fr. systole], is the contractile action of the 
heart, by which the blood is expelled from the cavities. It is the reverse 
of diastole. 1156 
TABES-TANNIN, ETC. 
TABES, ta'-beez [Lat.], a wasting of the body, characterized by 
emaciation, weakness, and fever, but without cough or expectoration. 
It is commonly distinguished from atrophy by being attended with 
fever, which the latter is not. It is generally supposed to arise from 
some acrimony or poison in the blood. The treatment consists in 
endeavoring to strengthen the system by tonics, nourishing diet, change 
of air, sea-bathing, etc.; in short, the same treatment as for scrofula, for 
tabes or tabes mesent erica, is simply scrofula of the mesenteric gland. 
(See Scrofula, Atrophy, Emaciation, etc.) 
TABLE OF DOSES. (See Dose.) 
TABLE OF MORTALITY. (See Mortality.) 
TAG-ALDER. (See Alnus Rubra.) 
TAMARAC. (See Larix Americana.) 
TAMARINDS, tam'-a-rindz. Preserved tamarinds in form of infu- 
sion are cooling and aperient, and a welcome addition to the sick-room 
dietary in many febrile diseases. 
TANACETUM VULGARE, tan-g-se-tumvul-ga'-re, tansy or double 
tansy, a perennial herb belonging to the Nat. order Asteracea. It is a 
native of Europe, but has become naturalized all over the American 
continent. It is an aromatic tonic and anthelmintic. In the warm 
infusion it possesses both emmenagogue and diaphoretic properties. In 
overdoses bad consequences follow its use. In small doses it will be 
found useful in convalescence from exhausting diseases, in hysteria, and 
dyspepsia complicated with flatulency. The vinous preparation is said 
to be beneficial in strangury, and in debility of the kidneys. It is 
especially serviceable in worms. The oil of tansy has been used for the 
purpose of procuring abortion, but it is highly dangerous, Dose: of 
the powder, 30 to 60 grains ; of the fluid extract, to 1 teaspoonful; 
of the tincture, 1 to 2 teaspoonfuls ; of the oil, 2 to 10 drops; of the 
infusion, 1 to 3 fluid ounces. (See Infusion.) 
TANNIN, OR TANNIC ACID, tan'-nin, is obtained from the nut- 
gall of the oak, which contains two-thirds of its weight of this acid. 
Glycerine of tannic acid (| ounce of acid and 4 fluid ounces of glycerine 
mixed) is a valuable astringent application to piles and relaxed, bleeding, 
or inflamed parts. As a suppository, tannin acid is useful in piles, 
bleeding, or relaxation of the lower bowel. Taraxacum Dens-Leonis. (Dandelion.) TANNIN, ETC.-TARAXA CUN DENS-LEONIS. 
1157 
In passive and exhausting hemorrhage, whether proceeding from the 
lungs, stomach, womb or kidney, tannin, in doses of from 3 to 6 grains, 
three or four times a day, proves very useful by its powerfully astringent 
and tonic properties. In the chronic stage of whooping-cough, in ^-grain 
doses, every two hours, combined with enough senna to relax the bowels, 
the paroxysms have entirely ceased; 5 grains to an ounce of water is 
found useful as an application to sore nipples. One part of tannin, to 
thirty parts of water, makes a useful local application, in both acute and 
chronic conjunctivitis. 
TANSY. (See Tanacetum Vulgare.) 
TAPE-WORM. (See Worms, Aspidium, Pomegranate, Pumpkin 
Seeds, Rousso, Rottlera Tinctoria.) 
TAPIOCA, tap-e-o'-kg, is a starchy substance, or fecula, like sago; 
it is procured from the root of a shrub, which is cultivated chiefly in the 
West Indies. Tapioca is used in sick-room cookery for the same pur- 
poses as arrowroot and sago. 
TAPPING, tapping, in medical practice, is the withdrawal of fluid 
which has collected in unnatural quantity in any of the natural cavities 
of the body. The operation can only be performed by a medical man. 
TAR AND PITCH, tar, pitsh. The well-known black viscid sub- 
stance tar, is obtained from the wood of the different species of pines, 
by the agency of heat. For medical purposes tar has been used from 
the most ancient times as a remedy in chest affections, chronic bron- 
chitis, incipient consumption, etc. Tar is usually administered in the 
form of tar-water, which is best made by digesting-stirring occasionally 
-1 ounce of tar in 32 ounces of water for seven or eight days, and then 
straining. The dose is | a pint twice a day mixed with milk. Pitch is 
the hard, black, brittle residue left after tar has been exposed to heat. 
It is little used. Pills made of pitch are a popular, and certainly at 
times a successful, remedy, in bleeding piles. 
TARAXACUM DENS-LEON IS, tg-raks'-g-kum dens-le-o'-nis, or 
dandelion, a plant belonging to the Nat. order Asteracece. It is a native 
of Greece, but is now found growing abundantly in fields, gardens, and 
along the roadsides throughout Europe and America. The root is the 
part used in medicine, and should be collected early in the autumn, 
while the plant is in flower. Dandelion is a valuable alterative, tonic, 
diuretic and aperient. It has a specific action on the liver, exciting it to 
secretion when languid. It is used with good effect in dyspepsia, dis- 
eases of the liver and spleen, and in irritable conditions of the 
stomach and bowels. Dose: of the fluid extract, 1 to 2 teaspoonfuls; 
of the solid extract, 10 to 20 grains; of the decoction, 1 to 2 fluid 
ounces, three or four times a day. (See Decoction.) 1158 
TARTAR-EMETIC-TEA. 
TARTAR-EMETIC. (See Antimony. ) 
TARTAR-EMETIC OINTMENT, tar'-tar. This ointment is made 
as follows: 
Take of Tartarized antimony in fine powder. ...One-fourth ounce. 
Simple ointment, or fresh lard One ounce.-Mix. 
It is used for purposes of counter-irritation; two or three applications 
bringing out a crop of pustules. It should be used by unprofessional 
persons with caution. 
TARTARIC ACID, tar-tar'-ik, an organic acid, obtained principally 
from the crude tartar formed on the inside of the casks in which wine is 
stored. It is much used in medicine, the dose being from 10 to 30 grains 
in water. One of its principal uses is to form the acid ingredient of 
effervescing mixtures of various kinds, and for this purpose, it is well 
adapted, wholesome and cheap. Tartaric acid is a dibasic, and exhibits 
a strong tendency to form double salts, of which there are several varie- 
ties. The most important salts of this acid are hitartrate of potash, or 
pure cream of tartar. (See Potash.) Tartrate of potash and soda, or 
Rochelle salt, which is much used in medicine as an aperient (see Potash), 
and tartrate of potash and antimony, or tartar emetic, which has long 
been extensively used in medicine. (See Antimony.) 
TASTE. (See Tongue.) 
TAXIS, taks'-is [Gr. tasso, to put in order], the operation of reduc- 
ing a rupture by the continued pressure of the hand. (See Rup- 
ture. ) 
TEA, tee [Chinese tcha, cha, thaf Thea or tea, in Botany, is the 
typical genus of the Nat. order Theacew. The properties of tea depend 
chiefly upon the presence of a principle called theine, which is identical 
with caffeine in coffee. (See Caffeine.) Tea is well-known for its 
refreshing and exhilarating effects. It acts as a sedative on the nervous 
system, and will often remove headache. When too much or too fre- 
quently indulged in, however, its effects are injurious on the nervous 
system, and it produces forms of dyspepsia. In persons unaccustomed 
to it, it frequently occasions wakefulness. In general, tea is unsuitable 
for children, while of benefit to the old. Green tea is so greatly adul- 
terated, that although there certainly is a genuine preparation of this 
kind, it seems doubtful whether any is sold pure. 
The action of tea, in exciting mental phenomena, is equally remark- 
able with its influences upon the body. Most students are familiar with 
its power of clearing the mind, and facilitating its working; many, too, 
have experienced its baneful effect, in preventing sleep and occasioning 
mental irritability. Many cases of hypochondriasis are traceable to the 
inordinate use of tea. Generally speaking, however, black tea, when TEA-TEETH. 
1159 
taken in moderation, produces effects at once agreeable and beneficial. 
Tea-especially green tea-often disagrees with those having a tendency 
to palpitation of the heart. It has been strongly recommended by Dr. 
Edward Smith to give a strong infusion of tea frequently in cases of sun- 
stroke, as it stimulates the nervous and respiratory systems, and increases 
the activity of the skin-all most important desiderata in this disorder. 
(See Coffee, Breakfast, Supper; Caffeine, or Theine.) 
TEA, OR SUPPER. (See Supper, or Tea.) 
TEARS, teerz [Lat. lacrymoe]. The watery saline secretion named 
the tears, is formed by the lachrymal gland (see Eye), which is situated 
in the outer and upper corner of the socket, or orbit. The secretion is 
continually passing over the fore-part of the eye-ball, keeping it clear, 
bright, and free from dirt, and facilitating the movements of the eyelids, 
any superfluity of moisture being taken up at the inner angle of the lids, 
and conveyed into the nose. (See Eye.) 
TEETH, teeth [Ang.-Sax. teth; Lat. dentes; Gr. odontes^ are certain 
hard bodies inserted in the jaws, and serving to masticate the food. Every 
tooth consists of two hard parts; one external, white, uniform, somewhat 
like ivory; the other internal, somewhat like the compact structure of 
bone. The former, which is called the enamel, is very close in texture, 
perfectly uniform and homogeneous, yet presenting a fibrous arrange- 
ment. It is seen only on the body of the tooth, the upper and outer 
part of which consists of this substance. The internal portion of the 
tooth and the root consist of close-grained bony matter, as dense as the 
compact walls of the long bones. In the interior of the bony part of 
each tooth is a cavity, which descends into the root and communicates 
at its extremity with the outer surface by openings corresponding to the 
number of branches into which the tooth is divided. This cavity, w'hich 
is large in young or newly-formed teeth, and small in those which are 
old, contains a delicate vascular membrane, which has been named the 
pulp of the tooth. In the child, the teeth usually begin to cut through 
the gum about the sixth or seventh month after birth, and the tem- 
porary or deciduous set of teeth, twenty in number, are generally com- 
pleted by the end of the third year. The period of dentition is usually 
a period of disordered health to children, especially if anything occurs 
to prevent the ready yielding of the gum to the pressure of the tooth 
below. (See Dentition.) The deciduous teeth begin to fall out about 
the age of seven or eight, and are replaced by the adult or permanent 
set. These are thirty-two in number, or sixteen in each jaw; namely, 
four incisors or front teeth, two cuspidati or canine teeth, four bicuspidati, 
and six molars. The last two molars are called dentes sapiential or 
wisdom teeth, on account of their not making their appearance till about 1160 
TEETH. 
the age of eighteen or twenty, or later, when one is supposed to have 
reached the years of discretion. There.are a few instances on record of 
a third partial teething even in old age. 
Care of the teeth.-The carelessness or neglect in the preservation of 
the teeth, which prevails among all classes, can result only from igno- 
rance of the important purposes they subserve in the animal economy, 
and' of how closely their perfection and efficiency are linked with health; 
there is no question that the possession of a good set of teeth may make 
all the difference between a hale and prolonged old age, and premature 
decay of the powers of life. 
There is no more certain cause of decay in teeth than indigestion, 
and particularly if the saliva becomes acid. (See Dyspepsia.) In no 
way is it possible to remove the continually-forming incrustations on 
the teeth but by the tooth-brush, which should be used regularly after 
each meal. When the gums become spongy, and the teeth inclined 
to loosen, it may be well to use some astringent application for the 
purpose of strengthening the gums. A few drops of the tincture of 
myrrh on the tooth-brush, is the best application in most cases. (See 
Dentifrice. ) 
The regular use of the toothpick after each meal-the quill being the 
best-is quite as important as the use of the brush. 
Dentistry has been brought to great perfection in this country, and 
the masses of the people are fast becoming educated in its importance. 
Those who value their teeth as they should, will have them thoroughly 
examined by their dentist, at least once a year; and where cavities 
exist-though small-have them filled, and thus effectually check decay. 
And those who have any regard for their health, comfort or appearance, 
should avail themselves of artificial teeth in the absence of natural ones. 
As gold filling is not affected by chemical action, it is the most 
effectual in preserving the teeth, the most durable, and in the end the 
most economical. A good gold filling will often last most of a lifetime. 
Toothache.-When, in the course of decay, the cavity of the tooth, 
which contains the nerve pulp, is opened into, toothache begins. Un- 
doubtedly, extraction is the most certain cure' for toothache, and when a 
tooth is so utterly decayed that it cannot be filled, and is of no use, its 
removal cannot too soon be submitted to. The aching of a decayed 
tooth is very often excited by cold, by disorder of the digestive organs, 
etc.; when, therefore, the pain commences, the possibility of such causes 
should be investigated, and if they exist, they should be rectified. If, 
however, after this has been done, the neuralgic irritation still continues, 
it may be advisable to give quinine, and also opium. The applications 
used to cure toothache would make a long list; among the latest, TEETH-TEMPERAMENT. 
1161 
chloroform and creasote are the most useful. Strong ammonia is also 
sometimes used with success. The most effectual application which the 
author has ever used, is composed of creasote and strong solution of 
ammonia, of each 1 part, tincture of myrrh 2 parts. These liquid 
applications are best introduced into the decayed tooth by means of a' 
small pellet of cotton wool, soaked in them, and lightly laid in the cavity. 
When the gums are much inflamed in toothache, much relief is some- 
times given by lancing them freely around the tooth. (See Dentition, 
Forceps, Balsamodendron, Chloroform, etc.) 
TEETHING. (See Dentition.) 
TEMPER, tern-pur, this is the disposition or constitution of the 
mind, particularly with regard to the passions and affections; thus we 
say "a calm, hasty, or fretful temper: how much it contributes to make 
or mar the happiness of man we are fully aware, but its effect upon the 
bodily health is not perhaps so open to observation, although the 
medical man frequently has occasion to notice, and allow for it, in his 
diagnosis of disease. The patient of a calm contented disposition is 
much more easy to treat than one who is fretful and irritable, giving 
way frequently to gusts of passion and fits of impatience ; and very often 
the cure of a malady is greatly retarded, if not rendered altogether 
impossible, by want of control over the temper. 
It is generally admitted by medical men that the action of the heart is 
greatly influenced by violent mental emotions, and those who give way 
to strong passions always run a great risk of laying the foundations of 
disease in that important organ, if they do not at once suffer the pun- 
ishment of their unbridled license. (See Passion, Passions; Heart, 
Diseases of the.) 
TEMPERAMENT, tern-pur-q-ment [Lat. temperamentum}., is a term 
which took its origin in the earlier stages of medical science, when the 
constitution of the body was supposed to depend upon the proportional 
mixture or tempering of the four principal fluids or humors-the blood, 
the phlegm or lymph, the yellow, and the black bile. Hence, correspond- 
ing with these, there were the sanguine, the phlegmatic or lymphatic, the 
bilious, and the melancholic. As these distinctions are applicable to cer- 
tain recognized types of constitution, they are still retained, with the addi- 
tion of the nervous temperament. The sanguine temperament is usually 
distinguished by the ruddy complexion, blue eyes, and brown hair, and 
generally full large habit of body, with vigorous performance of the 
functions of life. The phlegmatic, generally now called lymphatic 
temperament, is almost the reverse of the first. The functions of life 
are usually more feebly performed, probably owing to the deficient 
quality of the blood, the skin is pale, the hair light in color. The 1162 
TEMPERAMENT-TENESMUS. 
choleric or bilious temperament is characterized by black, often curling, 
hair and beard, the latter being generally thick and strong; the eyes 
dark, the complexion ruddy though dark, and the circulation good. In 
the melancholic temperament the hair is black but straight, the skin is 
dark, but wants the red tinge of the true bilious; the circulation and 
the functions are slow and languid. The above temperaments are not 
unfrequently met with, strongly defined in individuals, but in the majority 
they are mixed up one with another. 
Viewing temperament as a predisposing cause of disease, we may 
say that sanguine persons are more liable to acute inflammation than 
others; nervous, to mental disorders and affections of the nerves; 
phlegmatic, to scrofula; phlegmatico-sanguine, to gout; and bilious, to 
hypochondria, and disorders of the digestive organs. (See Disease, 
Hereditary Tendency, Complexion, Hair, Beard, etc.) 
TEMPERATURE, tem'-per-q-ture [Lat. tempero, to mix various 
things in due proportion]. The comparative degree of active heat 
accumulated in a body as measured by an instrument, or by its effects 
on other bodies. (See Heat, Thermometer, Cold, Climate.) 
For the proper regulation of temperature, see Houses, Sick-Room, etc. 
TEMPERATURE OF THE HUMAN BODY. (See Heat.) 
TEMPERATURE OF THE SICK-ROOM. (See Sick-Room.) 
TEMPLES, tem'-plz [Lat. tempus, time], are the lateral and flat 
parts of the head above the ears; so called because time, or the age of 
an individual, is denoted by the hair becoming first gray here. (See 
Anatomy. ) 
TEMPORAL, tem'po-rql [Lat. temporalis^ connected with the 
temples. (See Temples.) 
TENACULUM. (See Instruments, Surgical.) 
TENDENCY TO HEALTH. (See Disease.) 
TENDERNESS, ten'-dur-nes, on pressure of any portion of the 
body, is a symptom which is always much regarded in the investigation 
of disease, seeing that it is in most instances, if not in all, indicative of 
irritation or acute inflammation. 
TENDONS, ten'-dunz [Lat. tendo, I stretch], are the strong fibrous 
extensions or " cords," by means of which the muscles are attached 
to the bones. All tendons are liable to be divided by wound or by rup- 
ture; in these cases the nature of the accident is indicated by the loss 
of power over the limb or members. The treatment required is the 
relaxation of all the muscles which are connected with the injured part, 
for a sufficient period to permit union. 
TENESMUS, te-nez-mus [Gr. teino, to strain], is the sensation in the 
rectum (see Rectum), which causes involuntary straining, or effort to TENESM US-THERMOMETER. 
1163 
empty the bowels. It is a frequent symptom in diarrhoea, dysentery, 
etc. (See Stools, Diarrhiea, Dysentery, Bilious Cholera, etc.) 
TERTIAN AGUE, ter'-shan, a certain form of ague. (See Ague.) 
TESTICLES, tes'-te-klz [Lat. testiculus, testis ; testis, a witness], 
the male organs, are liable to various affections. Inflammation or 
orchitis, is accompanied with severe pain and swelling; it requires the 
treatment of inflammation generally; leeching, fomentation, poultices, 
calomel and Dover's powder, and aperients, with perfect rest in bed and 
low diet. Enlargement of the veins (see Veins), accumulation of fluid 
(see Hydrocele), and various chronic enlargements and diseases, occur 
in connection with these glands, but, for all, a medical man's attendance 
is absolutely necessary. In the meantime, if the symptoms are urgent 
and painful, perfect rest in bed, avoidance of all stimulants, and attention 
to the state of the bowels are the best measures. If circumstances pre- 
vent absolute rest, support should be given by a bag-truss. 
TETANUS, tet'-a-nus [Gr. teianos, from teino, to strain], is a disease 
characterized by a violent and rigid spasm of many or all of the muscles 
of voluntary motion. It frequently arises from some irritation of the 
nerves, in consequence of local injury by puncture, incision, or laceration, 
but it is also sometimes occasioned by exposure to cold and damp. The 
most common form of the disease is known as lock-jaw (which see). 
Frequently, however, the disease extends farther, and the muscles of 
the spine become affected, so as to bend the body forcibly backwards, 
or, on the other hand, the muscles of the abdomen are affected, and the 
body bent forwards ; and sometimes the muscles both before and behind 
are affected. These spasms are attended with the most severe pain, but 
seldom with any fever. This disease is frequently fatal, and, unfortunately, 
it too often resists every mode of treatment. For treatment see Lock-Jaw. 
TETTER. (See Psoriasis.) 
TEXAS, CLIMATE OF. (See Climate.) 
TIIEINE. (See Caffeine or Theine.) 
THE PURPLES. (See Purpura.) 
THERAPEUTICS, tlier-apu -tiks [Gr. therapeuo, to heal]. Thera- 
peutics is the art and science of the application of remedies for the cure 
of disease. (See Disease, Medicine.) 
THERMOMETER, ther-mom -e-tur [Gr. therma, heat, and metron, 
a measure]. An instrument for determining the degree of active heat 
existing in the atmosphere or other bodies; there are several kinds, but 
the one generally used is Fahrenheit's. The thermometer has lately 
been brought prominently forward in the diagnosis of disease. The 
difference of a few degrees in the temperature of the body of the patient 
is full of good or evil. Handy pocket thermometers for placing in the 1164 
THERMOMETER-THROAT. 
axilla (see Axilla) are now manufactured, and nurses should be in- 
structed in their use. 
For the proper regulation of the temperature of rooms, etc., see 
Houses, Sick-Room, etc. 
THIGH, thi [Ang.-Sax, theo\ thegK}, the portion of the body which 
extends from the hip to the knee, is composed principally of a mass of 
fleshy powerful muscles. The fold-the groin-at the junction of the 
thigh with the trunk, is one of the most important regions of the body in 
a surgical point of view, for here is the most usual seat of rupture (see 
Rupture), and at this point, towards the lower end, the large vessels 
which pass to and from the lower extremity, lie very superficially. 
Wounds of the groin are, therefore, particularly dangerous, and if the 
main artery be perforated, life is placed in the most immediate peril. 
(See Artery.) A little below the groin, the vessel becomes more deeply 
imbedded in the muscles, and ultimately passes round the inner side of 
the thigh-bone to reach the ham. The thigh-bones are the longest bones 
of the skeleton ; from their ball and socket joint at the hip, they incline 
inwards towards one another at the knee. (See Hip-Joint, Knee, Pel- 
vis, Fractures, Dislocations, etc.) 
THIRST, thurst [Ang.-Sax. thurst], in the animal economy is that 
peculiar sensation which attends the desire to drink. During the opera- 
tion of the animal functions a great quantity of moisture is consumed, 
the loss of which must be supplied; and thirst is the voice of nature 
calling upon the animal to supply the place of the lost moisture by 
drinking. Water is the proper object of this desire; and the quantity 
necessary for this purpose varies greatly according to the different cir- 
cumstances of age, sex, and temperament; and still more according to 
the nature of the food taken, the state of the atmosphere, the mode of 
life, and the custom of the individual. An outward application of 
moisture is found to diminish thirst; and sailors have been able to 
sustain life by bathing in the sea. Thirst is a sensation much more 
difficult to bear than hunger, leading from restlessness to anxiety, 
despair, and madness. (See Hunger.) 
THORACIC DUCT, tho-ras'-ik, is the great trunk formed by the 
junction of the absorbent vessels; it is about eighteen or twenty inches 
in length, and near its orifice, in the abdomen, as large as a goose-quill, 
but as it ascends it diminishes in size. 
THORAX, tho'-raks [Gr. for the chest.] (See Chest.) 
THORN-APPLE. (See Datura Stramonium.) 
THROAT, throte [Ang.-Sax. throte]. The throat comprehends the 
parts situated at the back of the mouth, and includes the uvula and soft 
palate, with its arches, and the tonsils; also the pharynx or funnel-like THROAT-THYMUS VULGARIS. 
1165 
muscular expansion at the top of the gullet. It is generally understood 
to mean that part of the human frame in which are situated the passages 
for food and breath, namely, the gullet and windpipe ; or all that hollow 
cavity which may be looked into when the mouth is wide open. For 
further information, see Neck, Alimentary Canal, (Esophagus, Tra- 
chea, Mouth, Tongue, Palate, Tonsils, Uvula, Larynx, Pharynx, 
Fauces, Digestion, Cut-Throat, Foreign Bodies in the Gullet, 
Foreign Bodies in the Air-Passages, Sore Throat, Aphonia, etc. 
THROAT, CUT. (See Cut-Throat.) 
THRUSH, OR APHTHA INFANTUM, thrush [Ang.-Sax. thrisc], 
is characterized by small, round, white ulcers, resembling particles of 
curd, appearing upon the tongue and other parts of the mouth, and 
sometimes extending down the oesophagus. These ulcers are known as 
aphtha. This is a disease frequent with children during the period of 
lactation, and is usually attended with other symptoms, as drowsiness, 
sickness, diarrhoea, and some feverishness. It generally runs its course 
in eight or ten days, and is not attended with much danger. It is 
generally owing to improper diet, or bad milk, and is to be treated by 
light nourishing food and tonics, such as citrate of iron and quinine, -1 
grain three times a day. Where the aphthae are troublesome, they may 
be painted with glycerine or borax. Chlorate of potash, 1 teaspoonful 
to 1 teacupful of water, and given in teaspoonful doses every two hours, 
will be found useful. Aphthae sometimes occur in adults, denoting 
general debility, or a deranged state of the digestive organs ; and occur- 
ring in the course of other diseases, as phthisis, they frequently cause 
death. (See Stomatitis, Nursing Sore Mouth.) 
THUJA OCCIDENTALIS, thu'-ja ok-se-den -^a-Z£s,commonV known 
as arbor vitae, is an evergreen tree growing all over this country. In 
the form of decoction, the leaves have been found useful in intermittent 
fever, also in scurvy and rheumatism. It has lately acquired a reputa- 
tion as a remedy in cancerous and other malignant affections. It is 
worthy of a thorough trial. Dose: of the decoction, 1 to 2 fluid ounces ; 
of the fluid extract, £ to 1 teaspoonful, three or four times a day. 
THYME. (See Thymus Vulgaris.) 
THYMUS VULGARIS, thi'-mus md-ga'-ris, or thyme. A small 
shrub belonging to the Nat. order Lamiacea. Thyme is indigenous to 
the south of Europe, and with us is cultivated in gardens. The whole 
herb is used, and should be collected when in flower. 
It is tonic, carminative, emmenagogue and antispasmodic, and is 
used as a stimulating tonic in hysteria, flatulence, colic, headache, pain- 
ful menstruation, etc. It is beneficial in an irritable and weak state of 
the stomach, in convalescence from exhausting diseases, promotes the 1166 
THYMUS VULGARIS-TOBACCO 
appetite and favors the early re-establishment of digestion. Dose : of 
the fluid extract, to 1 teaspoonful; of the oil, 2 to 10 drops on sugar; 
of the infusion, 1 to 3 fluid ounces. (See Infusion.) 
TIBIA, tib'-e-a [literally, a flute or pipe], the great bone of the leg, 
commonly called the shin-bone. (See Anatomy, Leg.) 
TIC DOULOUREUX, tik'-doodoo-roo', facial neuralgia. (See 
Neuralgia.) 
TIGHT-LACING. (See Chest, Education.) 
TIN, tin [Lat. stannum^ symbol Sn., is a white, malleable, easily 
fusible metal, not much affected by exposure to dry or moist air at ordinary 
temperatures, but becoming oxidized superficially when heated, burning 
with a brilliant flame if the temperature be raised sufficiently high. It 
is seldom used in medicine 
TINCTURES, tingkt'-yurz [Lat. tinctura^ are solutions of medicinal 
substances in alcoholic spirit, either "rectified " or "proof." Different 
strengths are employed according to the solubility in spirit, of the active 
principles of the drug from which the tincture is made. The general 
directions for making tinctures are, that the drug, if it is in solid sub- 
stance, should be divided into small fragments, or into coarse or fine 
powder, as the case may be; it is then to be macerated in the spirit in a 
closed bottle for a certain period-generally from seven days to a fort- 
night, and after that strained through a cloth, or filtered through paper, 
or both. 
As medicinal preparations, tinctures, like fluid extracts, possess many 
special advantages, not the least being their keeping properties. Since the 
introduction of the fluid extracts, tinctures are not so much used. Unless 
stimulant action is required, or at least admissible, a medicine ought 
never to be given in tincture, if the dose which must be administered 
involves an amount of spirit which will be felt by the system. (See 
Extracts, Decoction, Infusion.) 
TISSUE, tisK-u [Lat.], in Anatomy, texture, or organization of 
parts. The peculiar intimate structure of a part is called its tissue. 
(See Anatomy.) 
TOASTED BREAD, toste'-ed, if not cut too thick, and if toasted 
slowly, is probably somewhat more digestible than simple bread-it is 
more thoroughly cooked. Toast, when soaked with melted butter, is one 
of the most unwholesome and irritating articles of diet an invalid can take. 
TOBACCO, to-bak'-ko [from the Indian word tabacos, the name which 
the Caribees gave to the pipe in which they smoked the plant; Lat. 
tabacum], is the common name of the plants comprised in the genus 
Nicotiana. Tobacco is a powerful sedative and narcotic, but in excess 
it produces nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, cold sweats, headache, extreme TOBACCO-TOLU. 
1167 
debility, and even convulsions. It particularly affects the heart, causing 
frequently great depression. It is useful in relieving violent spasmodic 
constriction, and hence it is sometimes recommended to be smoked in 
cases of asthma. It sometimes also relieves obstinate constipation or 
suppression of urine. It is occasionally used as snuff for affections of the 
head. Some derive peculiar restorative influences from smoking, ex- 
periencing, especially under conditions of exhaustion or irritability, a 
mixture of stimulant and sedative action which is described as peculiarly 
grateful. 
The most obvious injury which is apt to result from smoking, more 
or less, according to the extent in which it is indulged, is disorder and 
irritation of the digestive organs, frequently accompanied with depres- 
sion of spirits, etc. The habit of chewing tobacco acts as an excitant 
upon the salivary glands ; if the saliva is swallowed, the narcotic proper- 
ties of the drug are called into action. The waste of saliva in chewing 
and smoking, may explain in a great measure, for the disordered diges- 
tion from which so many suffer who use tobacco constantly. When the 
habit of snuffing causes injury, it is also more usually to the digestive 
organs, and in some persons it certainly gives rise to dyspepsia; indeed, 
it may occasion malignant disease of the stomach and liver. Under 
article Lip, the occurrence of cancer, in those who habitually smoke 
from a short pipe, was noticed. The injury to the teeth from smoking, 
and especially their discoloration, is notorious. Although the use of 
tobacco may be indulged in by some, perhaps by many, and to a con- 
siderable extent, without very evident injury, there is a large proportion 
of constitutions to which it is almost a direct poison, sapping the whole 
foundations of health. 
In any case in which the use of tobacco has produced the symptoms 
described at the commencement of this article in alarming degree, gen- 
eral treatment, somewhat similar to that prescribed in poisoning from 
belladonna may be employed. (See Poisons and tiieik Antidotes.) 
Tobacco contains a volatile alkaloid called nicotine. (See Nicotine, 
Nicotiana.) 
TOE-NAILS, INGROWING OF THE. (See Nails, Ingrowing 
OF THE.) 
TOILET, toi'-let [Fr. toilette]. The toilet, from a hygienic view, 
must be considered in its relation to the skin, hair, beard, teeth, etc As 
these subjects have been sufficiently treated under their respective heads, 
we would refer the reader to them, and other articles relating thereto. 
(See Skin, Hair, Baldness, Beard, Teeth, Baths and Bathing, Ablu- 
tion, Lip, Cosmetic, Nails.) 
TOLU. (See Myrospermum, Balsam.) 1168 
TOMATO-TONG UK 
TOMATO, to-ma -to, or to-ma'-to [Solanum Lycopersicon}. Like the 
potato, the tomato came originally from South America. The fruit con- 
tains an acid, a resinous substance, and an alkaloid. It is now much 
used as an article of food, and exerts a healthy influence upon the liver 
and biliary organs. 
TONGUE, tung [Ang.-Sax. tunge'}. The organ of speech and taste 
is composed of muscular fibres running through it in different directions, 
mingled with a considerable amount of cellular and fatty matter; it is 
abundantly supplied with vessels and nerves. The tongue is divided in 
the centre by a depressed line, the raphe. It is covered by a dense 
mucous membrane, continuous with that of the mouth, on which are 
numerous papillae, small towards the tip, but becoming much enlarged 
towards the base of the tongue. At the tip, underneath, the tongue, as 
any may see in their own person, is confined by a bridle or tie, or 
fraenum; at its root, the tongue is connected with a curved bone, the 
hyoid; at the base of the tongue is the epiglottis. (See Throat, Larynx, 
etc.) Through this organization the tongue is not only enabled to 
assist in mastication, but it becomes the principal source of enjoyment 
in the taking of food that is agreeable to the taste. 
The sense of taste resides in what are called the gustatory nerves, 
whose filaments are found in the papillae of various size, which exist all 
over the upper surface of the tongue, especially towards the tip. 
In a medical point of view, the tongue has to be regarded both 
with reference to its own disorders, and to the indications it affords of 
disorder in other parts of the system. 
Inflammation of the tongue is not common. It may result from 
various causes, as mechanical injury, exposure to cold, the use of 
mercury, etc. When it occurs, the most prominent symptom, in addi- 
tion to the constitutional affection, is the enormous swelling, which 
causes the organ to protrude from the mouth, and at the same time 
threatens suffocation; it is, therefore, a very serious affection, and 
one which requires the immediate attention of a medical man. In 
the severe forms, leeches may be applied to the part, but the remedial 
measure which gives most relief is to make two free longitudinal incisions 
down each side of the tongue; these, of course, admit of copious bleed- 
ing, but as the tongue diminishes in size, the cuts and the flow of blood 
also diminish. The remedy is one which might be practised by an 
unprofessional person in a case of urgent necessity ; at least it would be 
better to do it, even at some risk, than to permit an individual to die of 
suffocation, whilst medical assistance was being procured. In mild 
cases, ice and the use of purgatives will afford relief. A gargle of the- 
chlorate of potash will also be found useful. (See Chlorate of Potash.) TONG UK 
1169 
Ulceration of the tongue may occur as a symptom of digestive dis- 
order, as a consequence of mercurial salivation, or from local causes, 
such as the presence of decayed teeth, especially with ragged or sharp 
edges. Of course, when teeth stumps are the exciting cause, they should 
at once be removed. In any cases of ulceration, the local treatment 
recommended under Thrush, Nursing Sore Mouth, Salivation, Chlo- 
rate of Potash, and Gargles, may be pursued with advantage. 
Cancer of the tongue is one of the most distressing maladies to which 
humanity is liable; it may in some cases be removed with advantage by 
operation; at all events, any persistent sore upon the organ should be 
submitted, without delay, to the examination of a medical man. The 
disease is most frequent in women. Excision of the whole tongue for 
cancer is an operation which has been several times performed, although 
it is still an unsettled question among surgeons whether or not it is 
justifiable. (See Cancer.) 
The condition and appearance of the tongue are indications almost 
always consulted by a medical man in investigating a case of disease. 
It is sometimes loaded, as it is termed, the upper surface being covered 
with a layer of mucous substance which may be scraped off with a 
tongue scraper; this indicates a foul stomach; in severe cases of 
dyspepsia this coating often becomes very thick and peels off, leaving 
the tongue red, moist, and tender; sometimes the coating is dark 
brown, resembling fibres, which admit of being separated by the fingers ; 
it is then said to be furred, and this is symptomatic of great local irri- 
tation arising from inflammation. In feverish conditions of the system 
the tongue becomes very dry and hot, parched, as it is called; if 
clammy and viscid, there is usually derangement of the digestive func- 
tions ; a yellow tinge on the coating of the tongue indicates biliary 
disorder ; a thin creamy-white, inflammatory disease in the abdomen; 
in sore throat we often find it of a dingy whitish color; in scarlet fever 
we have elongated papillae, presenting bright red spots; and in some 
forms of intestinal irritation and hemorrhage, it is morbidly clean and 
red. In anaemic patients we find this organ partaking of the general 
condition of the system, being pale and flaccid ; in paralysis it is drawn 
on one side ; in delirium tremens, and nervous affections, it is tremulous ; 
and in low stages of fever it becomes almost black, and cannot be pro- 
truded. Thus to the instructed eye the tongue affords a pretty sure 
indication of the state of the system. When the appearances of the 
tongue, however, are admitted as evidence, consideration must always be 
given to the natural state of the organ in the individual, for some never 
have a clean tongue, whilst in others it scarcely becomes furred, even 
when considerable disorder is going on in the system. 1170 
TONG UE- TIED-TONSILS. 
TONGUE-TIED. (See Children, Speech.) 
TONICS, ton'-iks [Gr. tonoo, I strengthen], are medicines employed 
to improve the tone or strength of the system by acting on the muscular 
fibres through the nerves. Tonics are stimulants of a certain kind, but 
differ from ordinary stimulants in the permanence of their effects. They 
are usually prescribed in small doses frequently repeated, and are per- 
severed in for some time. It is generally necessary to begin with a 
mild tonic, before taking one more powerful. If carried to excess or too 
long-continued, tonics act as irritants, weaken the system, or induce dis- 
ease. Among the tonics in more common use may be mentioned cin- 
chona, quassia, gentian, chiretta, cusparia, calumba, chamomile, cascarilla, 
salicine, strychnine (which see), certain mineral waters, the various 
preparations of iron, bismuth, copper, zinc, arsenic; hydrochloric, nitric, 
and phosphoric acids (which see). The non-medicinal tonics are Cold, in 
its various forms and applications (which see), Exercise (which see), 
and mental emotions of a pleasing and stimulating character. (See Exci- 
tants, Passions, Recreation, Travelling, etc.) For further information 
the reader is referred to the individual articles on the various tonics, 
which will be found in their proper places in this work. (See also 
Bitters, Stimulants ; Stimulants, Alcoholic ; Pleasure, Health Re- 
sorts, Mineral Waters, etc.) . 
TONSILLITIS. (See Quinsy.) 
TONSILS, ton'-silz [Lat. tonsilloe] are the almond-shaped bodies 
situated on each side of the "fauces" (see Throat), and between the 
folds or "pillars" of the soft palate (see Palate). They are glands 
which secrete a mucous fluid. 
The tonsils are liable to inflammation, constituting sore throat, or 
quinsy (see Sore Throat, Quinsy). They may also be the seat of 
ulcerations, and often become enlarged. In the case of ulceration- 
astringent gargles may be used, or if that fails, a solution of nitrate of 
silver, 10 grains to 1 ounce of rain water, may be applied occasionally, 
with a swab (a small piece of sponge attached to a rod), and any disorder 
of the general health attended to. (See Gargles, Chlorate of Potash. ) 
Enlargement of the tonsils is a very common affection, particularly in 
scrofulous constitutions, and may come on very early in life. (See Sore 
Throat, Quinsy.) When the enlargement is great, and causes much 
inconvenience, it is remedied by the simple, and not very painful, opera- 
tion of slicing off the most prominent portion of each gland; this of 
course must be done by a surgeon. Much may be done, however, to 
reduce the size of the glands, by the persevering use of astringent 
gargles (see Gargles, Chlorate of Potash), and by attention to any 
deficiency, as want of tone, in the general health. There is a special TONSILS-THAINING. 
1171 
instrument by which caustic is safely and efficiently applied to diminish 
the enlarged tonsils, but it is doubtful whether the amount of pain is 
less than by cutting. 
TOOTHACHE. (See Teeth.) 
TOOTH-RASH. (See Red-Gum.) 
TOURNIQUET, tur'-ne-ket [from the French, to turn], is an instru- 
ment used by surgeons to stop the flow of blood, in a limb, during 
operations, or after accidents. For the latter purpose, the tourniquet 
might be found of great service in out-of-the-way places, and might well 
form an addition to the outfit of the emigrant. (See Artery, Arterial 
Hemorrhage; Instruments, Surgical.) 
TRACHEA, OR WINDPIPE, tra'-ke-g [Gr. tracheia, from trackus, 
rough], commonly called windpipe, is the cartilaginous and membranous 
canal through which the air passes into the lungs. Its upper part is 
called the larynx, the uppermost and smallest part of which is called 
the epiglottis, being placed over the glottis, or mouth of the larynx, and 
serving to close the passage to the lungs in the act of swallowing. (See 
Larynx.) From the lower end of the larynx the canal takes the name 
of trachea, and extends as far down as the fourth or fifth vertebra of the 
back, where it divides into two branches, which are the right and left 
bronchial tubes. Like the larynx, it is formed of cartilages, united to 
each other by means of very elastic ligamentous fibres. It is also fur- 
nished with fleshy or muscular fibres, some of which pass through its 
whole extent longitudinally, while others are carried round it in a circu- 
lar direction; and hence it may shorten or lengthen itself, or contract 
or dilate its passage. (See Throat, Foreign Bodies in Air-Passages, 
Tracheotomy.) 
TRACHEOTOMY, OR BRONCHOTOMY, tra-ke-ot'-o-me [Gr. 
tracheia^ and temno, I cut], is the operation of cutting into the trachea, 
or windpipe, for the purpose of admitting air into the lungs when the 
upper part of the air-passages is obstructed, or for the extraction of 
foreign bodies from the trachea. It is necessary in many diseases, and, 
though not without danger, it is often the means of affording instant 
relief. After the opening is effected, a small silver tube is introduced, 
through which the operation of breathing is carried on. (See Trachea.) 
TRAILING ARBUTUS. (See Uva Ursi.) 
TRAINING, trane'-ing, is a system which has been practised, both 
in ancient and modern times, for bringing the animal body up to as 
high a pitch of health, tone, and muscular power as possible. If the 
ulterior purposes for which training is practised in these days are neither 
desirable nor elevated, the system itself, and the effects of it, are worthy 
of attention as bearing upon the subject of health and development. 1172 
TRAINING-TRICHINA. 
Of course those in whom great muscular power is desired as the result 
of training, must possess at first some amount of constitutional vigor, 
good assimilative powers, and be free from disease, or even disorder of 
a temporary nature; if the latter should exist, it must be removed by 
medicine or otherwise. It is now pretty generally agreed, however, 
even among professional trainers themselves, that some of their fanciful 
restrictions as to diet are quite unnecessary, and that common sense, 
after all, ought to guide one as to the quantity and quality of food taken. 
It is probable that fewer dangers to individuals will occur from the 
improved system, and also that the good condition obtained from a 
course of such judicious training will be more lasting. (See Food, 
Diet, Exercise, Sleep, Ablution, Baths and Bathing ; Stimulants, 
Alcoholic; Regimen, Health, etc.) 
TRANCE, CATALEPSY. (See Catalepsy.) 
TRANSFUSION, trans-f u -zhun [Lat. transfundo, I pour from one 
vessel into another], in Surgery, is an operation sometimes had recourse 
to in cases of excessive loss of blood or extreme weakness, of injecting 
into the veins blood from a healthy individual. This is done by means 
of a syringe, so filled with blood as not to admit of even a bubble of 
air, inserted into one of the patient's veins at the bend of the arm, and 
injected very slowly and cautiously. 
TRAVELLING, trav'-el-ling, is both an excitant and a tonic, and, as 
a remedial measure, in some cases offers advantages by no other mode 
attainable. (See Recreation.) Most persons, when undergoing con- 
tinued travelling, suffer from slight irritable feverishness of the system, 
particularly if the usual rest be interfered with; the effects of this are 
best counteracted by spare diet and avoidance of stimulants. Animal 
food, if taken at all, should be so, sparingly, and the best restorative, 
except, of course, in real debility, when wine is required, is a cup of tea 
or coffee. A warm bath at about 92° is an excellent soother of the 
system after travelling. (See Health, Health Resorts, Mineral 
Waters, Climate, Etc.) 
TREES. (See Shade Trees.) 
TREMOR, OR TREMBLING, tre-mur [Lat. trema, to tremble], is a 
symptom and accompaniment of nervous debility and exhaustion, as 
exemplified in those who exhaust the system by the abuse of ardent 
spirits. In some diseases, such as fever, the occurrence of tremor is a 
grave symptom, indicative of giving way of the vital power. (See 
Rigor, Shivering, Debility, Fever, Intemperance, etc.) 
TRICHINA, tre-ki'-ng. The occurrence of some of the most dread- 
ful accidents that have happened in the history of mankind, owing to the 
presence of a small microscopic worm in the muscles or flesh of certain TRICHINA-TH IL HUM PEND UL UM. 
1173 
animals used in human food, has lately directed much attention to the 
above subject, so much so that the word trichina has become a sound of 
terror to many ears. 
The worm is called the Trichina spiralis from its spiral form, being 
generally found coiled up in the muscles in a cork-screw shape. It can 
be distinctly seen by a microscope of low magnifying power; and, indeed, 
in certain states it can be seen by the naked eye as a minute speck stud- 
ding the surface of the muscle containing it. When the worms are taken 
into the human stomach, they pierce through the coats of the stomach or 
intestines in their endeavors to find their way to the muscles, their natural 
habitat; and it may be easily imagined that their presence gives rise to 
symptoms of the most alarming nature, indicating not unfrequently inflam- 
mation of internal organs, which often ends fatally. 
If the patient is enabled to survive this part of the process-viz., the 
boring through the stomach and bowels-the worms become imbedded 
or encapsuled in his muscles, and either give rise to severe symptoms 
from their presence there, or else remain quietly at rest, causing no other 
disturbance, perhaps, than pains, cramp in the muscles, etc. 
Many remedies have been proposed for patients affected with trichi- 
nosis, but it is more than doubtful if any of them have had any effect 
whatever. Still, any cases suspected to be of such a nature ought at 
once to be submitted to a medical man. 
The greatest care ought to be exercised in the cooking of meat of all 
kinds, but especially of pork. 
The following results are given of some experiments on this subject, 
by Prof. Virchow, of Berlin: 1. Trichinae are destroyed by the thorough 
salting of meat for a considerable time, and afterwards subjecting the 
sausages made from it to twenty-four hours' hot smpking. 2. They 
were, however, not destroyed by a three days' cold smoking; and it also 
appears that, when meat is boiled, they are not killed. 3. The trichina 
appears to be destroyed in cold smoked sausages which have been pre- 
served for a considerable time; but this is somewhat doubtful. 
TIiICIIINOSIS, tre-ki-no'-sis. A peculiarly fatal disease, caused by 
eating meat containing the parasite known as Trichina spiralis. (See 
Trichina.) 
TRILLIUM PENDULUM, tril'-le-um pen -du-lum., or bethroot, a 
perennial plant found growing abundantly in the Middle and Western 
States, and known in different localities by the common names birth- 
root, cough-root, wake-robin, and Indian balm. The root, which is the 
part used in medicine, is tonic, astringent and antiseptic. It is used in 
the whites, cough, asthma, and difficult breathing. The root made 
into a poultice, is of service in promoting healthy action in indolent and 1174 
TRILLIUM PEND TIL UM-TUBER OLE. 
ill-conditioned ulcers, and to check gangrene. Dose: of the fluid 
extract, 1 to 3 teaspoonfuls; of the infusion, 1 to 3 fluid ounces, three 
or four times a day. (See Infusion.) 
TRIOSTEUM PERFOLIATUM, tri-os-te-tim per-fo'-le-a'-turn, or 
fever-root, a plant belonging to the Nat. order Caprifoliaceoe. It is 
found in limestone soils throughout the United States, and is frequently 
known by the name of wild ipecac. The bark of the root is emetic, 
cathartic, tonic and diaphoretic. It has been recommended as a laxative 
tonic in dyspepsia, autumnal fevers, and in convalescence from febrile 
diseases. Dose: of the tincture, 1 to 2 teaspoonfuls; of the solid 
extract, from 5 to 15 grains; of the powder, from 20 grains to 1 
dram. 
TRITICUM REPENS, trit'-e-kum re-pens, a plant belonging to the 
Nat. order Graminea, and commonly known as couch grass, dog's grass, 
and quitch grass; it is a troublesome weed found in most gardens and 
cultivated grounds. The root is the part used in medicine. It is demul- 
cent and slightly aperient, and is highly recommended in irritable condi- 
tions of the bladder and urethra. The plant should be gathered in spring 
to be effectual. Dose : of the infusion or decoction, 2 to 4 fluid ounces, 
three or four times daily; of the fluid extract, 1 to 2 teaspoonfuls. (See 
Decoction, Infusion.) 
TROCHE, OR LOZENGE, tro'-ke, a hard compound of sugar and 
gum, which contains either simple flavoring, or some medicinal agent. 
The system of giving medicine in the lozenge form has fallen into com- 
parative disuse. 
TROPICS AND TROPICAL DISEASES, trop'-iks [Lat. tropicus, 
pertaining to a turning]. As might be expected, the forms and types 
of disease which occur in hot, tropical climates, are frequently very 
different from those which are met within this and other temperate 
regions. Under such articles as Acclimatization, Climate, Biliary 
Disorders ; Cholera, Asiatic ; Bilious Cholera, Dysentery, Remit- 
tent or Bilious Fever, Heat, etc., the reader will And information 
illustrative of the effects of a residence in a warm climate upon the 
system; to enter into the subject further, here, would answer no good 
purpose. (See also Beriberi, Frambcesia, Geographical Distribution 
of Disease.) 
TRUSS, trus [Fr. trousse}, is an instrument employed in cases of 
hernia to prevent the protrusion of the part. They are of different 
kinds, but in general they consist of a pad which presses on the seat of 
the injury, and a band or steel spring passing round the body and 
keeping it in its proper place. (See Rupture.) 
TUBERCLE, tu'-ber-kl [Lat. tuberculum, a little tuber], is a peculiar TUBERCLE-TYMPANY, ETC. 
1175 
morbid product occurring in various textures of the body in scrofulous 
subjects, particularly in the lungs. (See Consumption.) 
TUMOR, tu-mur [Lat. tumor, from tumeo, to swell], in its widest 
acceptation, denotes a swelling of any kind on any part of the body; 
but it is commonly restricted to a swelling of a permanent nature, while 
such as arise from inflammation and disappear along with the cause are 
usually known as tumefactions. Tumors are commonly distinguished 
into sarcomatous and encysted. In all cases of tumor it would be well 
at once to consult a medical man, who alone can properly diagnose 
and treat them. (See Cancer, Cyst, Swelling, Ovary and Ovarian 
Disease.) 
TURKEY. (See Poultry.) 
TURKEY CORN. (See Corydalis Formosa.) 
TURKISH-BATH. (See Baths and Bathing.) 
TURMERIC. (See Curcuma.) 
TURNIP, tur'-nip. The turnip is nutritious, somewhat laxative and 
diuretic ; it is, however, liable to disagree and cause flatulence in persons 
of weak digestion. (See Brassica.) 
TURN OF LIFE. (See Menstruation.) 
TURPENTINE, tur'-pen-tine [Lat. terebinthinai], a semi-solid resin- 
ous substance, which exudes from various species of pine on cutting 
incisions in the bark. There are several kinds of turpentine known in 
commerce; that obtained from the Pinus Abies constitutes common 
turpentine. It is used in medicine as a counter-irritant-acting like 
mustard-and is employed as a liniment in chronic inflammations, rheu- 
matism, lumbago, sciatica, etc. Internally it is stimulant, diuretic, and 
diaphoretic, antispasmodic and vermifuge, and in large doses cathartic. 
It acts particularly upon the kidneys, sometimes producing dangerous 
symptoms when taken in large doses, and the purgative action is not 
fully developed. Dose, 10 to 30 drops in milk. 
TUSSILAGO FARFARA, tus-se-la'-go far'-fg-rg, or coltsfoot, a 
plant belonging to the Nat. order Composita. It is indigenous to both 
Europe and America. The leaves and roots are the parts used in medi- 
cine ; they are demulcent, tonic and expectorant, and have been found 
useful in coughs, asthma, whooping-cough, and other pulmonary affec- 
tions. Dose; of the fluid extract, | to 1 teaspoonful; of the infusion, 
1 to 3 fluid ounces; of the syrup, 2 to 4 teaspoonfuls. (See Infusion.) 
TWINLEAF. (See Jeffersonia Diphylla.) 
TYMPANY, WIND-DROPSY, OR AIR-SWELLINGS, tim'-pa-ne, 
is unusual distension of the stomach and intestines with gas. This is 
apt to occur in fever and in acute inflammation within the abdomen. In 
such cases it is a symptom which must often be seriously regarded. 1176 
TYMPANY, ETC.-TYPHOID, ETC. 
Tympany, however, sometimes occurs as a chronic affection. In any 
case, it may proceed to a great extent, distending enormously the whole 
abdomen and impeding the breathing. Injections of assafoetida, turpen- 
tine, or other stimulant aromatics give relief, and aromatics, sal-volatile, 
tincture of cardamoms, .etc., are often given internally, but many cases 
derive more benefit from the mineral acids. (See Injection.) 
TYPE OF A DISEASE, tipe, is the combination of characteristic, 
prominent symptoms, which mark all the cases of a prevailing disease, 
such as fever, etc. (See Change of Type.) 
TYPHOID, ENTERIC, OR GASTRIC FEVER, ti'-foid. One of 
the forms of continued fever, and formerly supposed to be identical with 
typhus, but now known to be an entirely distinct disease. Young per- 
sons, and those who have not yet attained the prime of life, are more 
subject to its attacks than those of riper years. 
Causes.-Typhoid fever is due, as is the case with typhus, to the 
presence of some subtle poisonous material in the blood; but it still 
remains a very warmly-disputed point as to whether it spreads by con- 
tagion. The balance of evidence is certainly in favor of such a view; 
but its contagious properties are very slight, it being a very rare thing 
for one patient to catch the disease of another in the large wards of the 
metropolitan hospitals; and yet there are many cases on record which 
tend to establish the fact that it may be conveyed from one patient to 
another. In typhoid fever, the discharge from the bowels contains the 
specific poison, so that the excrements should not be allowed to stand in 
the sick-room; but, being previously mixed with chloride of lime, should 
be conveyed away at once. This distemper may be often traced to bad 
ventilation, or defective drainage, and in some cases to the use of impure 
drinking water. In all cases where this disease is rife in certain dis- 
tricts, three things should be carefully inquired into by competent men- 
viz., the ventilation, drainage, and water supply. 
Symptoms.--For several days preceding the attack, the patient com- 
plains of languor and headache, which is soon followed by a feeling of 
chilliness, and very often vomiting and purging. The diarrhoea is a 
troublesome symptom all through the disease. There is great thirst, 
ringing in the ears, frequent pulse, red tongue, and great heat of the 
surface. Frequently one of the earliest symptoms is bleeding at the 
nose ; the abdomen becomes swollen, and sounds when struck as if filled 
with air, and there is almost always more or less tenderness in the right 
iliac region. (See Abdomen.) Typhoid fever is marked by a peculiar 
eruption on various parts of the body, especially on the chest, back and 
abdomen. It conies out at the end of the eighth or twelfth day, and 
consists of a few small, circular, elevated and well-defined rose-colored TYPHOID, ETC. 
1177 
papules, disappearing on pressure, there being several crops produced, 
each composed of from twenty to thirty spots. The thermometer placed 
in the armpit often registers 105° or 106°. Twenty-two days is about 
the average duration of the disease. 
Treatment.-Fresh air, cleanliness, an even temperature in the apart- 
ment (60° is about right), and frequently changing the position of the 
patient, are prerequisites in the management of typhoid fever. Depressant 
remedies are not well borne ; the fever may be controlled by frequently 
sponging the surface, and the headache by the application of ice-water, 
vinegar and water, or Florida water, to the head. The diarrhoea should 
be controlled, not arrested ; this may be done by the use of lime-water 
and milk, or by the following: 
Take of Prepared chalk, in powder Two drams. 
Gum acacia, in powder Two drams. 
Tincture of catechu Three drams 
Water Six ounces.-Mix. 
Give 2 tablespoonfuls after each stool. Should this mixture fail, 
the laudanum injection may be tried. 
Take of Laudanum Twenty-five drops. 
Decoction of starch Four ounces.-Mix. 
Make an injection for the bowels. Hot fomentations may be applied 
to the abdomen, if there is much pain, and should there be any hemor- 
rhage from the bowels, as is often the case, give the following: 
Take of Turpentine Two drams. 
Mucilage of acacia Three ounces. 
Pure water Three ounces.-Mix. 
Give 2 tablespoonfuls every four hours. If the above should fail in 
arresting the hemorrhage, try the following: 
Take of Tannic acid One dram. 
Dilute sulphuric acid One dram. 
Water Six ounces.-Mix. 
Give 2 tablespoonfuls every three hours. An excellent plan of treat- 
ment in both typhoid and typhus fevers is to give quinine and nitro- 
muriatic acid, as follows : 
Take of Sulphate of quinine Fifteen grains. 
Dilute nitro-muriatic acid Forty drops. 
Water Eight ounces.-Mix. 
Give 2 tablespoonfuls every four hours. Iced lemonade or barley- 
water may be given as a drink, and the diet must be nourishing and 
given in liquid form. Beef-tea, beef essence, animal broths, calves' foot 
jelly, milk, writh other suitable preparations, described under article 
Cookery for the Sick, must form the chief part of the diet. When 
any marked failure of the circulation occurs, stimulants must be given, 1178 
TYPHOID, ETC.-TYPHUS FEVER. 
wine, brandy or whiskey, and carbonate of ammonia, in 5-grain doses, 
every three or four hours. 
The delirium, which is often of a wild and noisy character, and 
accompanied with a great deal of restlessness, may be treated as follows : 
Take of Battley's solution of opium... .Twenty drops. 
Water One and a half ounce.-Mix. 
Make a draught, to be taken at bedtime and at intervals of not less 
than four or six hours, if necessary. One or two doses of bromide of 
potassium, 15 to 20 grains each, with an interval of two hours between, 
will often succeed better than the opiate. 
Preventive treatment.-This consists in thoroughly ventilating all 
the apartments of the dwelling, frequently whitewashing the walls and 
ceilings, and cleaning the curtains, carpets, mats, etc., and regularly 
disinfecting all cellars, closets, privies, drains, sewers, cisterns, and 
other places from which unwholesome odors may proceed. The greatest 
care should be taken to see that the water is not contaminated with any 
impurity whatever. Persons who live in healthy localities, and take these 
precautions, are not likely to be troubled with either typhoid or typhus 
fevers. (See Fever, Bromo-Chloralum, Disinfectants, Bed-Sores, 
Convalescence, Typhus Fever, etc.) 
TYPHUS FEVER, ti'-fus [Gr. tupho, I smoulder, or burn and 
smoke without vent], is a kind of continued fever, characterized by 
the ordinary symptoms of fever, with debility in the nervous and vascu- 
lar systems and a tendency in the fluids to putrefaction. It has been 
known by the following different names : jail or gaol fever, camp fever, 
ship fever, famine fever and hospital fever. 
Causes.-Any of the ordinary causes of fever may give rise to typhus, 
but by far the most common cause of typhus is contagion of febrile 
miasm, the activity of which is much increased by the crowding in close 
and ill-ventilated places; filth, insufficient nutriment, and other causes 
tending to depress the vital power. It is eminently contagious and 
infectious, and often prevails epidemically. 
Symptoms.-It does not always commence in the same way, and 
sometimes it may be several days before the disease assumes its proper 
aspect, during which the patient may continue his ordinary occupations, 
but complaining of chilliness, nausea, thirst, loss of appetite, languor, and 
headache. Frequently, however, the precursory stage is short, or 
altogether wanting, and it commences with symptoms which are com- 
mon to many acute diseases. Sometimes it sets in with a shivering fit 
or a severe headache, accompanied with great prostration and muscular 
pains in various parts. There are also dryness and heat of skin, thirst, 
constipation, and rapid pulse, with great irritability and restlessness TYPHUS FEVER. 
1179 
towards the evening. Sometimes, even during the first stage of the 
disorder, the prostration of strength is so great that the patient lies on 
his back motionless, and insensible to all that is going on around him. 
Towards the end of the first week, the eruption peculiar to typhus begins 
to show itself. It consists of irregular spots of a dusky or mulberry hue, 
disappearing on pressure, and feeling as if slightly raised above the skin. 
They maybe few and single, or numerous and large, owing to the coales- 
cence of several of them ; their number and depth of color being usually 
in proportion to the severity of the attack. In a day or two they become 
of a brick-dust color, aud remain till the end of the fever. They are 
rarely absent in adults, but in children, particularly in mild cases, they 
are not unfrequently absent. 
During the second week the pulse becomes more frequent, weaker 
and more compressible, the tongue darker and browner, and the voluntary 
movements very much weakened. The voice becomes feeble, and the 
patient can scarcely utter an audible sound; perhaps he may be unable 
to swallow, which is always regarded as a very bad symptom. During 
this stage there is great deficiency of sensation and insensibility to im- 
pressions. It is in the course of the second w'eek that the disease is most 
apt to terminate fatally. As it approaches this termination, a peculiar 
foetor is exhaled by the patient's body; his tongue becomes dry, black, 
and fissured; his teeth are covered with dark sordes; sloughs form on 
different parts, and in extreme cases the toes have mortified. During 
the third week the patient's chance of recovery improves; in which case 
the more formidable symptoms begin gradually to diminish and abate. 
He begins once more to take an interest in what is going on around him, 
the temperature of his skin becomes more natural, the tongue moist 
and cleaner, and the frequency of the pulse much less. Typhus fever 
sometimes becomes complicated with inflammation of the brain, conges- 
tion of the lungs, or disease of the heart. 
Treatment.-The treatment of this disease, hygienic, medical and 
preventive, corresponds almost exactly with that of typhoid fever. Fresh 
air, nourishing food, frequent change of position, with stimulants in case 
of prostration, and occasional aperients to relieve the constipation, 
instead of astringents to check the diarrhoea, as in typhoid, constitute 
the main part of the treatment. The delirium, and the restlessness, 
may be controlled in the same manner as in typhoid. The nurse in 
both these classes of continued fever must be on the look-out for bed-sores, 
and also see that the bladder is regularly evacuated. Convalescence is 
likely to be protracted. (See Fever, Bromo-Chloralum, Disinfectants, 
Typhoid Fever, Bed-Sores, Convalescence, etc.) 1180 
ULCERATED SORE THROAT-ULMUS FUL VA. 
ULCERATED SORE THROAT. (See Sore Throat.) 
ULCERS AND ULCERATION, ul'-surz [Lat. ulcus}, is an open 
sore occurring in some of the soft parts of the body, either opening to 
the surface or to some internal cavity, and attended with a secretion of 
pus or some kind of discharge. Ulcers may arise from a variety of 
causes, as from wounds, specific irritation of the absorbents, from cancer, 
scurvy, scrofulous virus, etc. Wounds in the flesh, if at all deep, are 
very likely to pass into ulcers ; and persons in whom, from any cause, the 
circulation has become sluggish, are more liable to ulcerations, and these 
of an unhealthy kind, than others. In simple ulcer, almost all that 
requires to be done is to keep the surface clean by putting on a little dry 
lint, if there be much discharge, and if not, a dressing of simple oint- 
ment. Where the part or the constitution is too weak to carry on the 
healthy action, general as well as local treatment is required; and the 
system has to be strengthened by nutritious diet, tonics, etc. In indolent 
ulcers, the applications require to be principally of a stimulating nature, 
as basilicon ointment, and occasional sprinkling with red oxide of 
mercuYy. 
The great requisite in the treatment of ulcers of the lower extremity 
is rest, and rest in bed, or at least in the horizontal posture, so that the 
circulation of the affected limb may become properly balanced. It is 
often surprising how quickly, under this proceeding alone, and without 
other treatment, the swelling around an ulcer subsides, and the sore 
itself alters to a more healthy character. 
There are cases of ulceration which require all the skill and patience 
which a medical man can bring to bear upon their treatment, and where 
an ulcer is continued, and appears to extend, it should always be placed 
under proper medical superintendence. (See Plasters, Dressing, Sore 
Throat. Sore Mouth.) 
ULMUS FULVA, ul'-mus ful'-va, or slippery elm, sometimes known 
as red elm, a tree belonging to the Nat. order IJlmacew. The inner bark is 
the part used medicinally. Elm bark is nutritive, expectorant, diuretic, 
demulcent and emollient, and in the shape of a mucilaginous drink is used 
in inflammations of the lungs, bowels, stomach, bladder or kidneys, as well 
as in diarrhoea, dysentery, coughs, pleurisy, strangury, and sore throat. 
The elm poultice is found a useful application to wounds, burns, scalds, ULMUS FULVA-URINE. 
1181 
bruises and ulcers. The infusion is the form in which it is generally taken, 
and it may be drunk without regard to dose. (See Infusion.) 
UMBRELLA-TREE. (See Magnolia.) 
UNCONSCIOUSNESS. (See Coma, Fainting, Apoplexy, Intoxica- 
tion, Concussion, Concussion of the Brain, Shock, etc.) 
UNDER-CLOTHING. (See Clothing, Flannel.) 
UNICORN ROOT. (See Helonias Dioic a.) 
UREA. (See Urine.) 
URETER, yu'-re-ter [Gr. ouron, urine]. The tube which conveys 
the urine from the kidney into the bladder. (See Kidney, Bladder.) 
URETHRA, yu-re -thra, is the passage for the urine from the blad- 
der. (See Bladder.) This passage is liable to be atfected in various 
ways, especially in males ; sometimes it is injured by violence, at others, 
small stones, or calculi, are apt to be impacted in it, and cause much 
suffering. (See Urine.) The most frequent affection, however, of the 
urethra, is stricture, or diminution of its size. This painful disorder in 
males generally takes its origin from diseases contracted in the irregu- 
larities of early life, especially, but may continue to afflict-or punish- 
even in old age. Stricture is of course of every degree, but sometimes 
proceeds so far as to occasion complete impediment to the discharge of 
urine, causing much distress and suffering, and requiring the instru- 
mental interference of the surgeon. (See Catheter.) If there is any 
necessary delay in procuring assistance, the measures recommended in 
article Bladder, Diseases of the, for stoppage of urine, will give relief 
in the meanwhile. In this disease, as w'ell as in others which affect the 
urinary organs, it is again repeated, avoid the quacks. (See Bladder, 
Diseases of the.) 
URIC ACID, yu'-rik, occurs in small quantities in human urine, to 
the extent oflrather less than one per cent, of the solid matter contained 
in it. It is met with in much greater abundance in the excrement of 
birds and reptiles. When excess of uric acid is secreted in the sys- 
tem, it deposits hard crystalline grains in the bladder, which, if retained, 
gradually form concretionary calculi, and grow into the disease known 
as gravel or stone. (See Calculus, Urine.) In gouty patients, uric 
acid accumulates round the joints, forming white friable concretions 
known improperly as chalk-stones. (See Gout.) 
URINE, yu'-rin [Lat. urina}, a highly complex fluid, secreted from 
the blood by the kidneys. In a healthy person, when recently voided, 
it is a clear limpid fluid, of a pale yellow or amber color, with a peculiar 
faint aromatic odor, which becomes pungent and ammoniacal when 
decomposition takes place. Often, however, as it cools, it becomes opaque 
and turbid, from the deposition of part of its constituents previously 1182 
URINE. 
held in solution; and this may be consistent with health. The quan- 
tity secreted in twenty-four hours depends upon the amount of fluid 
drunk and the quantity secreted by the skin; but generally it is about 
from thirty to forty fluid ounces. In 1,000 parts of ordinary urine there 
are 933 parts of water and 67 parts of solid matter. 
Urea.-The principal and most characteristic ingredient of the 
urine is its urea, a body which acts as a base to or combines with 
acids; it is the retention of this compound in the blood which causes the 
symptoms of narcotic poisoning when the urinary secretion is suppressed. 
Uric Acid.-Next in importance to the urea of the urine is its 
peculiar acid, generally known as uric or lithic acid. (See the article 
Uric Acid.) Perhaps the most common disorder to which the urine is 
liable, is excess of this acid; that is, in such excess, that instead of 
remaining dissolved, as in healthy urine, it becomes precipitated ; in 
other words, there is so much of it that the urine cannot hold it dis- 
solved. Thus, uric acid may exist uncombined, in which case it is 
deposited in the form of crystalline sand, of a yellow or red hue ; very 
commonly, however, it exists in combination with ammonia, as a urate 
of ammonia; in which case it does not crystallize, but takes the form of 
a cloudy precipitate. This urate of ammonia forms the fawn-colored 
sediment, with which most are familiar, as a consequence of a chill, or 
common cold; it also assumes a pink, sometimes a deep red or purple 
hue, especially in affections of the liver. Urate of ammonia is extremely 
soluble in warm water or urine, and much less so in cold; so that, 
although when the urine is passed, it may contain it abundantly, the 
secretion is perfectly transparent, and it is only as it cools, and can no 
longer hold the urate in solution, that the latter becomes visible. The 
principal causes of excess of uric acid, or red or pink gravel, are malt 
liquors, when hard or old, suppressed perspiration, disorder of the 
digestive organs, and extra fatigue; or it may exist in excess in the 
blood; such is the case in gout. (See Gout.) 
The white sand or gravel is by no means so common as the red, and 
is usually connected with an alkaline condition of the urine; it, and 
indeed the white sediments generally, are more usually met with in the 
aged, and in states of debility. 
yVhen red, or pink, or fawn-colored gravel appears to be permanent, 
and to be connected with derangement of the digestive organs, the 
symptoms should not be neglected. If food has been taken at all in 
excess, it should be reduced, and the allowance of animal food especially 
moderated, malt liquor of every kind being sedulously avoided. If stimu- 
lants are necessary, a little sound sherry, or whiskey with water, are the 
best. Exercise should be taken freely, but not to exhaust; the skin URINE. 
1183 
should be well cared for by frequent ablution. As regards medicine, the 
alkalies at once naturally suggest themselves as remedies, and most 
valuable they are. (See Potash, Soda, etc.) They quickly cause the 
acid to disappear, and were the disappearance of the acid all that is 
required, they alone might suffice; but the cause of the gravel, especially 
of the pink variety, is generally some derangement of the digestive 
processes, which must be rectified, if permanent amendment is desired. 
On this account, quite the safest plan is to consult a medical man on 
the subject, but if this is not done, along with the alkalies, some one 
of the tonic bitters should be combined; in fact, the digestive organs 
should be attended to as recommended in article Dyspepsia. 
One caution is here requisite. Persons who have been the subject of 
red gravel are very apt to continue too long the use of alkaline remedies, 
and thus seriously to injure the constitution and the digestive powers, 
and in the end to induce a permanent alkaline condition of the urine, 
which is a more serious and intractable malady than the opposite acid 
state. The presence of white gravel is often so indicative of serious dis- 
ease, that as soon as its presence is suspected, a medical man ought to 
be consulted. Whatever the form of the gravel, the skin and the diges- 
tive organs require especial attention. It is always desirable to keep the 
flow of urine free, and for this purpose sweet nitre, or infusion of broom 
or dandelion, are well adapted. Many find gin, used in moderation, of 
much service. When, however, the symptoms of gravel are constant, a 
medical man ought to be consulted, for it is not solely the immediate 
inconvenience which is to be obviated, but the liability of the gravel, 
whatever its nature, to accumulate, either in the kidney or bladder, in 
which case the result is either a most painful attack, a fit of the gravel, 
or the formation of stone. 
A fit of the gravel is caused by a small gravelly concretion, or stone, 
passing either from the kidney down the ureter into the bladder, or 
through the passage-the urethra-from the bladder; in either case giv- 
ing rise to intense suffering. (See Calculus.) 
Stone, that is, a concretion of gravel so large that it cannot pass by 
the natural outlets, may form either in the cavity of the kidney, or in 
that of the bladder. This affection is more common either before 
puberty or after middle age. (See Calculus.) 
Bloody Urine, etc.-Blood may occur in the urine in small quantity, 
giving the fluid merely a dark smoky tinge, or it may be discharged in 
large quantity as nearly pure blood. In some cases, matter and thick glairy 
mucus are discharged with the urine. In pregnancy, occasionally, a thin 
creamy-like scum forms on the urine, if it be allowed to stand for a day 
or two. Deviations from the healthy character of the urine are important. 1184 
URINE-UVULA. 
first, a indicative of deranged states of the system; and, second, from 
their own local effects. Some individuals are much more liable to 
have the urine disordered than others, but in none can the condition be 
permitted to continue without risk, nor ought it to be without the 
cause being investigated by a physician. 
Albumen in the urine has already been referred to in the article 
Bright's Disease. 
Stoppage of the Urine, and strangury, are sufficiently entered into 
under article Bladder. Diseases of the; to which the reader is referred. 
Incontinence of Urine is treated of in the articles Bladder, Dis- 
eases of the ; and Bed-Wetting. 
Dribbling of Urine, either in the aged or in those confined to bed by 
some continued and exhausting disease, is a not an unfrequent occurrence, 
which occasions much discomfort both to the patient and others, in con- 
sequence of the offensive ammoniacal odor. This is best counteracted 
by bags filled with peat charcoal, when it can be procured, placed under 
the patient, or by bags of bran slightly moistened with diluted sulphuric 
acid. (See Sulphuric Acid.) In some cases, a large coarse sponge 
may be used to absorb the urine. In such cases, it is expedient to have 
two sponges, so that one may be cleaned and dried whilst the other is in 
use. (See Ischuria.) 
When permanent increase or diminution of the quantity of urine 
occurs without being accounted for, and especially if symptoms of con- 
stitutional disorder or debility, or of dropsy, show themselves, a medical 
man should at once be consulted. 
UTERUS, yu'-te-rus. The womb. (See Womb.) 
UVA URSI, yu'-va ur'-si. The leaves of the Arctostapkylos, or 
Arbutus Uva Ursi, a plant belonging to the Nat. order Ericaceae. It is a 
native of both Europe, Asia and North America, and is known by the 
common names of trailing arbutus, wild cranberry, and bearberry. 
The leaves are astringent and diuretic, and have been used with 
advantage in the whites, chronic gonorrhoea and gleet, profuse menstrua- 
tion, and in irritable states of the bladder and kidneys, chronic diarrhoea, 
dysentery, diabetes. Dose: of the infusion, 1 to 2 fluid ounces ; of the 
fluid extract, | to 1 teaspoonful; of the powdered leaves, 10 to 20 
grains, three or four times a day. (See Infusion.) 
UVULA, yu'-vu-la [Lat. uva, a grape], is a small fleshy protuberance 
which hangs at the middle of the posterior margin of the soft palate. In 
the case of sore throat, it frequently becomes enlarged and inflamed, and 
is to be treated by the application of stimulants and astringents in gar- 
gles. When other means fail it may require to be amputated, an opera- 
tion which is neither painful nor dangerous- (See Sore Throat.) VACCINATION. 
1185 
VACCINATION, vak-se-na'-shun [Lar. vacca, a cow], is the artificial 
production of a disease known as the cow-pox, by inserting some of the 
matter of the disease under the skin. The cow-pox was so called from 
being communicated to the human subject from certain specific sores on 
the teats and udders of cows. Milkers were particularly liable to this 
disease, and among the great dairy farms in Gloucestershire, England, 
there was a popular belief that no person who had had the cow-pox could 
afterwards take the small-pox. This having excited the attention of Dr. 
Jenner, he satisfied himself of the truth of it by inoculating with small- 
pox matter several individuals who had had the cow-pox; and at length 
conceived the happy idea of propagating the cow-pox from one individual 
to another, and so preventing in all cases the dangerous distemper of small- 
pox. The great advantage of vaccination over inoculation is that it only 
produces a slight disorder, which is attended with no risk, and not com- 
municable except by direct engrafting. The operation is usually per- 
formed by making an oblique puncture through the epidermis, and 
introducing a portion of the virus on the point of the lancet or needle. 
If the operation has been successful, a small inflamed spot is discernible 
about the third or fourth day. This increases in size, becomes hard and 
elevated, and about the sixth day a small quantity of fluid may be dis- 
tinguished in the centre. About the eighth day, when the pustule is 
fully formed, the constitutional effects begin to appear-headache, shiver- 
ing, loss of appetite, etc., which gradually subside in one or two days. 
Afterwards, the fluid dries up, and a dark-brown scab forms, which 
remains for about a fortnight, and on disappearing leaves a depression. 
From the operation being imperfectly performed, or from other causes 
not well understood, vaccination does not in all cases afford absolute 
immunity from the disease; but in those cases in which it does occur, it 
is almost always in a very mitigated form. 
The best period of life for the performance of vaccination is infancy, 
between the third and fifth months, before the constitution becomes dis- 
turbed by the process of teething; it may, however, be performed at 
any time, from immediately after birth, should circumstances, such as 
exposure to the contagion of small-pox,.render it advisable, and of course 
at any period of after life. A child ought to be free from illness or dis- 
order at the time of vaccination ; any tendency to fever, to diarrhoea, etc., 1186 
FA CC1NAT10N- VA CC1NL UM. 
or any eruption, should be removed before the process is undergone. It 
is always preferable to vaccinate from the fresh arm, if possible; when 
this cannot be done, vaccine virus or lymph is used, which has been pre- 
served for the purpose. 
The part of the body on which vaccination is usually performed is the 
arm, about half-way between the shoulder and elbow ; a point not of very 
great importance in males, but to be attended to in females, who may 
wear low dresses, or short sleeves, and who will not thank the doctor for 
a scar upon a visible part. 
The management during the progress of the vaccine disease is 
very simple, the principal being the protection of the vesicles from 
injury, either by rubbing or by the dress. A piece of soft linen should 
be placed upon them on the fifth day. If the inflammation of the arm 
is severe, as sometimes happens, a cold poultice of bread and water 
should be applied. A little goulard water will allay the after-irritation, 
if troublesome. A dose of some simple aperient, castor-oil or senna, 
should be given on the tenth or eleventh day, and repeated once or twice 
afterwards. Care should be taken that the scabs are not forcibly 
detached, otherwise a sore, sometimes difficult to heal, may be the con- 
sequence ; in which case it may be dressed with cold cream or simple water 
dressing (see Dressing), or may require a weak astringent lotion, such as 
2 grains of the sulphate of zinc to the ounce of water. Occasionally, an 
eruption of vaccine vesicles comes out all over the body; it is not a cir- 
cumstance of importance, and makes no difference in the treatment. 
Re-vaccination.-The question of re-vaccination is much mooted. 
If the process has been properly passed through in early life there can 
be no possible necessity for its repetition before puberty; but after that 
period, during which the constitution undergoes considerable change, it 
is an expedient precautionary measure which ought to be resorted to. The 
process of a second vaccination is very different from that of a first, 
being irregular in every way, sometimes causing the slightest degree 
of irritation, at other times giving rise to rapid, almost erysipelatous 
inflammation of the arm. When it takes effect, it usually occasions 
slight feverish symptoms, loss of appetite, and headache for a day or 
two. A dose or two of aperient medicine should be taken when these 
symptoms are passing away. The virus of a second vaccination is quite 
inefficient, and should never be taken. (See Small-Pox.) 
VACCINIUM, vale-sin'-e-um, or bilberry, a plant belonging to the 
Nat. order Ericaceae. It is common to the Northern States. The fruit 
of this and other members of the whortleberry family, are diuretic and 
astringent, and eaten alone, or with milk and sugar, are useful in scurvy, 
dysentery, and derangements of the urinary organs. VAGINA -VASELINE, OR PETROLEUM JELLY. 
1187 
VAGINA, va-ji'-na [Lat. for a sheath), the name given to the canal 
leading to the exterior orifice of the womb. (See Womb.) 
VALERIAN. (See Valeriana Officinalis.) 
VALERIANA OFFICINALIS, va-le-re-a'-na of-fis-e-na'dis, or vale- 
rian, a perennial plant belonging to the Nat. order Valerianacece. It is 
a native of both Europe and the United States. The root is the part 
used in medicine. Valerian is tonic in its action, antispasmodic and 
calmative; subdues unusual and convulsive excitement of the system, 
without exerting narcotic effects. Wherever there is irregular nervous 
action, if unconnected with inflammation or excited condition of the 
system, valerian is useful in subduing it. It has been used in ague in 
combination with cinchona; as also it is administered in the restlessness 
and irritability occurring in hysterical constitutions, in the morbid vigi- 
lance of fevers, in epilepsy, brow ague, hysteria and hypochondriasis. 
In large doses it produces a sense of heaviness, and dull pain in the 
head, with other effects indicating nervous disturbance. Dose: of the 
fluid extract, £ to 1 teaspoonful; of the solid extract, 3 to 10 grains; of 
the tincture, | to 1| teaspoonfuls; of the infusion, 2 to 4 fluid ounces 
(see Infusion) ; of the compound tincture, 1 to 2 teaspoonfuls, three or 
four times a day. 
VALVE, valv [Lat. valvce, a folding door]. 1. In Anatomy, a mem- 
branous elongation in canals, which prevents the reflux of fluids; 
applied to the valve of the colon, and to thin and transparent membranes 
situated within arteries, veins, and absorbents. 2. In Botany, the 
divisions of the fruit. (See Heart, Artery, Veins, Circulation of the 
Blood, etc.) 
VALVULAR DISEASE OF THE HEART. (See Heart, Dis- 
eases OF THE.) 
VANILLA. (See Vanilla Aromatica.) 
VANILLA AROMATICA, wi-nil'da ar-o-mat'-e-ka, or vanilla, a 
climbing shrub belonging to the Nat. order Vanidlacece. It grows in 
Mexico and the tropical parts of South America. The fruits or pods, 
which are the parts used, are aromatic and stimulant, and in the form of 
infusion, are useful in hysteria, rheumatism and low fevers. It is much 
used in perfumery, and to flavor medicines and confectionery. Dose: 
of the powder, from 8 to 10 grains; of the infusion, | a fluid ounce, 
three or four times a day. (See Infusion.) 
VARICOSE VEINS. (See Veins.) 
VARIOLA, OR SMALL-POX. (See Small-Pox.) 
VARIOLOID, var'-e-odoid, or va'-re-odoid, the small-pox modified 
by previous inoculation or vaccination. (See Small-Pox.) 
VASELINE, OR PETROLEUM JELLY, vas'-edin, a concentrated 1188 
VASELINE, OR PETROLEUM JELLY-VEINS. 
essence of petroleum ; is very useful as a local application in burns, frost 
bites, wounds, sprains, sun-burn, chilblains, rheumatism, skin diseases, 
etc.; and is recommended to be taken internally in croup, colds, coughs, 
sore throat, etc. Vaseline and other preparations of petroleum are said 
to be efficacious in the prevention and cure of baldness; vaseline, not 
being an advertised nostrum, and being quite odorless, is preferable to 
any. By the addition of perfume it makes an excellent pomade. Vase- 
line is fast taking the place of lard in the preparation of ointments, 
cerates, etc. 
VEAL, veel [Lat. vitellus}, is not so digestible as the flesh of the 
adult animal, but it is rendered more injurious to persons of weak diges- 
tion by the conventional methods of cooking with melted butter, etc. 
The objection to veal, as invalid diet, does not extend to the broth 
made from it, which is often peculiarly adapted to the requirements of 
convalescence and illness, from the amount of gelatine it contains. The 
knuckle of veal, stewed so as to be very tender, affords food which 
agrees remarkably well with weak, and especially with irritable stom- 
achs. (See Food.) 
VEGETABLES. (See Food, and articles on individual vegetables.) 
VEINS, vanz [Lat. vena, a vein; Fr. veine\, are those organs of 
circulation by which the blood is taken up from the extremities of the 
arteries and conveyed to the heart. (See Circulation of the Blood.) 
Veins are liable to inflammation from wounds, from inflammation 
extending from the adjacent parts, etc. This is a most dangerous affec- 
tion, and frequently resists the best directed efforts of medical skill. 
The affected vessel is painful, feels hard, and the skin covering it, and 
the parts around, are red and inflamed; there is much constitutional 
fever, which tends quickly to a low or typhoid form. The most that 
could be done by an unprofessional person in such a case would be to 
use repeated fomentations to the inflamed parts, and to administer from 
£ to Vgrain doses of opium, with 2-grain doses of calomel, every three, 
four, or five hours, according to circumstances, until the arrival of a 
medical man. 
A "varicose" condition of the veins is chiefly met with on the lower 
extremities. The affection consists, essentially, in the veins becoming 
elongated, so as to permit of their assuming a tortuous knotted condi- 
tion, while they are at the same time enlarged. The most frequent 
causes of the varicose veins are such as cause impediment to the upward 
flow of the blood through the large veins of the abdomen. In this way, 
pregnancy, if frequent, is a most common exciter of the condition, 
habitual costiveness, diseases of the liver, tumors of any kind within the 
abdomen, act in a similar manner. The truss worn on account of rupture, VEINS- VENTILATION 
1189 
or garters too tightly tied, likewise excite the varicose condition, which 
is usually more common in persons whose occupations require much 
standing, especially if they are of tall stature. The causes of it, 
which have been just alluded to, naturally suggest the best means of 
alleviation and cure, that is, the removal as far as possible of all inter- 
ruptions to the upward flow of the blood, and the horizontal posture of 
the body or limb. As these conditions, however, cannot in all proba- 
bility be perfectly carried out, it is desirable that in all cases of varix, 
the veins and limbs generally, should be supported by some one of the 
forms of elastic stocking; these can now be obtained at so moderate a 
price, that none need be without their valuable aid. Some individuals 
cannot, however, wear an elastic stocking of any kind; for such cases, 
an elastic tape fixed to the foot by a stirrup, and wound spirally round 
the limb, has been successfully employed. Spaces of about three inches 
being left between the spirals, each time the band crosses the vein, it 
acts like a valve. (See Heart, Artery, Circulation of the Blood, 
Bleeding, Hemorrhage, etc.) 
VENEREAL DISEASE, OR SYPHILIS. (See Syphilis.) 
VENESECTION, OR BLEEDING. (See Bleeding, or Blood- 
Letting.) 
VENISON, ven-zn or ven'-e-zn [Fr. venaison, from Lat. venatio, a 
hunting; venor, to hunt]. The flesh of the deer, like that of other wild 
or hunted animals, is particularly digestible, and is probably rendered 
more so by the custom of long keeping. (See Food.) 
VENTILATION, ven-te-la -shun [from Lat. ventilo, ventilatus, to 
fan, to brandish in the air; ventus, wind], is the renewal of the air con- 
tained in enclosed spaces. The object of the operation is to provide in 
the first place for the escape or withdrawal of air which has become 
deteriorated from any cause, such as animal respiration: and in the 
second, to supply the place of the deteriorated withdrawn air, by that 
which is fresh and pure. Under the head of ventilation, moreover, the 
heating and cooling of air may, perhaps, be included. Under such articles 
as Air, Aeration, Blood, Lungs, Respiration, Circulation of the Blood, 
etc., the requirements of the animal constitution, which render a regular 
supply of pure air necessary for health, have been sufficiently entered 
into, and need not be repeated: and under the articles Bed-Room, 
Houses, Sick-Room, Chimney, Air, etc., much information on the sub- 
ject of ventilation itself will be found-to these subjects the reader is 
referred. (See also Oxygen, Carbonic Acid Gas, Stoves, Choke-Damp, 
Malaria, Disinfectants, etc.) 
The entire surface of the earth is subject to a vast system of ventila- 
tion, effected by means of the currents of air, or winds, which are con- 1190 
VENTILATION- VERBASCUM TIIAPSUS. 
tinually passing over it, especially by those which, like the "trade," 
and other winds, blow continually in one direction for months together. 
It is one of the saddest reproaches of the age in which we live that, 
as yet, no system of ventilation has been proposed that has not been 
found in some respects inefficient, and many thousands of dollars have 
been spent in attempting to ventilate public buildings without effect. 
The great desideratum, especially for hospitals and for manufactories 
where the artizans are often overheated (see Air), is to get efficient and 
proper ventilation without draughts. (See Health, Longevity, etc.) 
VENTRICLE, ven'-tre-ld [Lat. ventriculus, the belly, the stomach, 
a ventricle of the heart], a term applied to two cavities of the heart. 
(See Heart, Circulation of the Blood.) 
VERATRIA, OR VERATRINE, ve-ra'-tre-a. An alkaloid pre- 
pared from the veratrum album and other plants. It is a powerful 
poison, and is rarely used internally, even by physicians. Its principal 
use is as an external application, in the form of ointment, in neuralgia, 
hemicrania, and some diseases of the eye. Great caution is necessary in 
its application. (See Alkaloids, Poisons and their Antidotes.) 
VERATRUM VIRIDE, ve-ra-trumvir -e-de, or American hellebore, 
sometimes known as swamp hellebore, or Indian poke, is a perennial 
plant belonging to the Nat. order dtlelanthaceoe. It is a native of the 
United States. The root is the part used in medicine. It is an acrid 
expectorant, diaphoretic and emetic ; it is chiefly, however, as an arterial 
sedative that it has acquired its reputation. Under its use, in a short 
time the pulse can be reduced from seventy-five or eighty per minute to 
thirty-five or forty. It contains a considerable quantity of the alkaloid, 
veratria, which is a powerful poison. On account of its very active and 
powerful properties, it is best used only under the direction of a physi- 
cian. It is employed chiefly as a sedative to reduce the heart's action 
in acute inflammation. Dose: of the fluid extract, 2 to 10 drops; of the 
tincture, 2 to 10 drops; of the infusion, 2 to 4 teaspoonfuls, every two or 
three hours, until the pulse is sufficiently reduced. (See Infusion, 
Poisons and their Antidotes.) 
VERBASCUM THAPSUS, ver-las'-kum thap'-sus, or mullein. A 
common biennial plant belonging to the Nat. order Scrophulariacea. 
The leaves and flowers are the parts used; they are demulcent, diuretic, 
anodyne and antispasmodic, and in the shape of infusion are useful in 
coughs, catarrh, diarrhoea, dysentery and piles. The leaves and the 
pith of the stalk form an excellent poultice to white swellings, and a 
good fomentation in quinsy and the mumps. The seeds are said to be 
narcotic. The infusion of the leaves and flowers may be drunk freely. 
(See Infusion.) VERBENA HASTATA- VIB URN UN PR UN1F0LIUN. 
1191 
VERBENA HASTATA, ver-be'-nq has-ta'-tq, or vervain. A native 
American plant, the roots and tops of which are used in medicine. They 
are tonic, emetic, diaphoretic and expectorant, and are used in catarrh, 
intermittent fever, obstructed menstruation and scrofula. Dose: of the 
fluid extract, j to 1 teaspoonful; of the infusion, 2 to 4 fluid ounces, 
three or four times a day. (See Infusion). 
VERDIGRIS, ver'-de-grees. Sub-acetate of copper. (See Copper.) 
VERMIFUGE, ver -me-f uje [Lat. vermis, a worm, and/w/o, to cause 
to flee]. A medicine that expels worms from the body, or one that pre- 
vents their development. (See Worms, Anthelmintics.) 
VERNONIA FASICULATA, ver-no'-ne-q fa-sik-yu-la'-tq, or iron- 
weed, a perennial plant belonging to the Nat. order Asteracece. It is a 
very common plant in the Western States, growing in the woods and 
prairies, and along streams. The root, which is the part used, is tonic 
and alterative. It is used in the form of decoction in the different 
forms of menstrual irregularities and in scrofula. It has been useful 
also in intermittent fever, or ague. The powdered root and leaves in 
the form of a poultice, is an excellent application to tumors. Dose: of 
the decoction, 1 or 2 fluid ounces; of the tincture, 1 or 2 teaspoonfuls, 
three or four times a day. (See Decoction. ) 
VERTEBRAE, ver'-te-bre [Lat. from ver to, to turn], the bones which 
compose the spine or backbone. (See Spine.) 
VERTIGO. (See Giddiness.) 
VERVAIN. (See Verbena Hast ata.) 
VESICANT, ves'-e-kqnt, an application for blistering. (See Blister, 
Blisters.) 
VESICATION, ves-e-ka'-shun, the act of blistering. (See Blister, 
Blisters.) 
VESICLE, ves'-e-kl [Lat. vesicula, diminutive of vesica, a bladder, a 
blister], a little bladder or blister filled with a watery fluid. 
VIBURNUM OPULUS, vi-bur'-num op'-u-lus, cramp bark, or high 
cranberry, is a handsome shrub growing in low, rich lands in the North- 
ern States and Canada. It is a powerful antispasmodic, from which 
property it has received its name, cramp bark. It is used in spasms, 
cramp, asthma, and by females subject to convulsions during pregnancy, 
or at childbirth. It is said to prevent these attacks entirely if used daily 
for the last two or three months of gestation. Dose: of the fluid extract, 
1 to 2 teaspoonfuls; of the infusion, 2 to 4fluid ounces, three times a day. 
VIBURNUM PRUNIFOLIUM, vi-bur'-num pru-ne-fo'-le-um, black 
haw, or sloe, is an American tree belonging to the Nat. order Caprifo- 
liacece. The bark of the root is the part used ; it yields a resinous prin- 
ciple called viburnin. Black haw is tonic, astringent, diuretic and 1192 
VIB URN mi PR UNIFOLIUM- VISION. 
alterative. It is useful in chronic diarrhoea and dysentery. It exerts a 
tonic influence on the womb, and is highly recommended as a preventa- 
tive in cases of threatened abortion or habitual miscarriage. It will also 
promptly relieve severe after-pains. Dose: of the infusion (see Infusion), 
| a tluid ounce, three or four times a day; of the tincture, a teaspoonful 
every three or four hours; of the powder, 30 to 60 grains. 
VIGOROUS OLD AGE. (See Longevity, Health.) 
VINE. (See Vitis.) 
VINEGAR, ACETIC ACID, ACETUM, vin'-e-gar [Fr. vinaigre}. 
Acetic acid is the volatile acid principle, which, diluted with water, con- 
stitutes vinegar. (See Acetic Acid.) Vinegar is a solution of acetic 
acid in water; it is of variable strength, and contains coloring matter, 
and usually, also, spirituous and etherial principles. It is prepared from 
wine, malt, sugar, cider, etc. It is produced by the acetous fermenta- 
tion, which is carried on under a temperature approaching 80° Fahr. 
The wine vinegars are made chiefly from the lighter wines by a 
careful process of fermentation. The domestic manufacture of vinegar 
is so simple, that those who wish it can easily render themselves inde- 
pendent of the manufacturer, and, indeed, many housekeepers do manu- 
facture their own, thus avoiding the risk of obtaining an adulterated 
article. In moderate proportions, vinegar assists digestion, taken 
immoderately it is very injurious, destroying the digestive powers, and 
even inducing actual disease of the stomach. In the subject Acetic 
Acid, the action of vinegar upon the system is discussed from a medici- 
nal as well as a dietetic point of view. (See Acetic Acid, Condiments, 
Honey and Vinegar Syrup, etc.) 
VIPERS, BITES OF. (See Bites and Stings.) 
VIRGIN BOWER. (See Clematis Virginiana. ) 
VIRGINIA CREEPER. (See Ampelopsis.) 
VIRGINIAN SNAKE - ROOT. (See Aristolochia. ) 
VISION, vizh'-un [from Lat. video, visus, to see], is the power of 
taking cognizance of the size, color, position, etc., of objects, external 
to the body, by means of rays of light, which are received upon a ner- 
vous expansion, capable of conveying the impressions received by it to 
the sentient being. In the lowest tribes of animals, the organs of vision, 
or eyes, are of comparatively simple construction, but the same organs 
in man are most exquisitely elaborate. Under article Eye, this struc- 
ture has already been entered into as far as space permitted. (See Eye.) 
Glasses, spectacles, short-sight.-In many eyes, the cornea projects 
too much, is too convex; the consequence is, that the rays which pass 
through it from external objects placed at the ordinary distance from the 
eye, are too rapidly collected or brought together, so that, instead of VISION-VOMITING OF BLOOD. 
1193 
forming the distinct or focal image exactly in the retina, they form it a 
little in front, and therefore confusedly. It is usual to remedy the 
defect by the use of glasses, which, being made concave, the reverse of 
the too convex cornea, counteract the effect of the latter, by somewhat 
scattering the rays of light before they reach the eye. In old age, gen- 
erally, the condition of the eye is exactly the reverse of the above, the 
cornea becomes flattened, so that instead of collecting the rays too 
quickly, it does not collect them quickly enough, consequently, the dis- 
tinct image they form, or ought to form, will fall rather behind the 
retina, and the image in the retina will be indistinct. To remedy this 
defect, convex glasses or lenses are used, in the form of spectacles, etc., 
as they assist the cornea to collect the rays more quickly than in its 
flattened condition it is capable of doing. Such are the nature, causes, 
and rational modes of correcting some of the most common derange- 
ments to which vision is liable. (See Amaurosis, Blindness, Color 
Blindness, Eye; Eye, Diseases of the ; Ophthalmia, etc.) 
VTTIS, vi'-tis, the vine, a gends of the Nat. order Vitacece. K 
vinifera is the plant commonly known as the grape vine. The varieties 
which have been developed by cultivation are very numerous, more than 
300 being distinguished. The leaf of the vine is astringent, and has 
been used in diarrhoea. (See Wine.) 
VITRIOL. (See Sulphuric Acid, Copperas.) 
VOICE, vois [Lat. vox}, or vocal sound,-produced in the larynx,- 
is the endowment of animals generally, and differs from speech, possessed 
by man alone; the latter, physically speaking, depending upon the 
formation and action of the parts about the mouth. (See Speech, 
Larynx, Lungs, Cry of Children, Aphonia, etc. ) 
VOMITING, vom -it-ing, is the action of discharging the contents of 
the stomach through the gullet and mouth by muscular effort, or rather 
by a combination of muscular efforts. Formerly, it was imagined that 
vomiting depended upon convulsive action of the stomach alone; after 
that it was thought that the stomach was passive in the act, and that the 
pressure of the muscles of the belly, thrown into violent action, was the 
sole cause; it is now well ascertained that both these agencies are called 
into play when vomiting occurs; that the stomach does, by the action of 
its muscular fibres, assist in the expulsion of its contents, but that its 
efforts are greatly aided by the muscles of the abdomen, including the 
diaphragm. 
For causes and treatment of vomiting, see Nausea. The reader is 
also referred to Sea-Sickness, Emetics, Poisons and their Antidotes, 
Creasote, Ice, Effervescence. 
VOMITING OF BLOOD. (See Hemorrhage.) 1194 
WAFER ASH- WARTS. 
WAFER ASH. (See Ptelea Trifoliata.) 
WAHOO. (See Euonymus Atropurpureus.) 
WAKEFULNESS. (See Sleep. 
WALKING. (See Exercise.) 
WALKING IN SLEEP. (See Sleep.) 
WALLS AND WALL PAPERS, wawlz. The principal object, 
on the score of health, to be regarded in the external walls of dwell- 
ings is, that they shall be sufficiently thick for warmth, that they 
shall be hollow, and that they shall not be of such porous material as 
will too readily absorb or give out moisture. Some kinds of stone and 
badly-made bricks do this, and render dwellings unwholesome. The 
defect of outer-walls, either as regards material or thickness, may be con- 
siderably ameliorated by lathing and plastering within. In covering the 
inner walls of houses either with paint or paper, too little regard, per- 
haps, has hitherto been paid to the effect of the materials which are used 
on health. In other parts of this work,. it is stated that colors con- 
taining lead, and wall papers colored with arsenical green, have been 
found to affect injuriously the occupants of rooms, on the walls of which 
they have been used. (See Lead, Arsenic inWall Paper.) Moreover, 
as light exerts so strong an influence upon health, it is not unlikely that 
wall colors, especially in the variation from light to dark, may be found 
to do the same. 
Wall papers are liable to another objection, namely, that connected 
with the size, by means of which they are attached. Many a fever has 
been caused by the horrible nuisance of corrupt size used in paper-hang- 
ing in bed-rooms. The nausea which the sleeper is aware of on waking 
in the morning, in such a case, should be a warning needing no repeti- 
tion. Down should come the whole paper, at any cost or inconvenience; 
for it is an evil which allows of no tampering. (See Houses, Arsenio 
inWall Paper, Sick-Room, Damp, etc.) 
WALNUT, WHITE. (See Juglans Cinerea.) 
WARM BATH. (See Baths and Bathing.) 
WARMING HOUSES. (See Houses, Sick-Room, Chimney, 
Stoves. ) 
WARTS, wawrts [Ang.-Sax. weart], are hard unsightly excres- 
cences or tumors that form on the cuticle or outer skin, usually of the WAA7N- WATER. 
1195 
hands or some other conspicuous place. They are of slow growth, small, 
insensible, and generally conical in form. When situated on the hands, 
they often disappear of themselves; when their removal is desired, 
strong acetic acid, applied every two or three days, is quite the best 
remedy; caustic, however, or tying, or cutting them off, are measures 
also resorted to. When a wart on the face, especially in those advanced 
in life, appears inclined to become ulcerated, or irritated, it ought to be 
shown to a medical man. It sometimes, though rarely, requires removal, 
from degenerating into cancer. 
WASTING OF FLESH. (See Atrophy, Emaciation, Tabes.) 
WATER, waw'-tur [Ang.-Sax. wceter}. Chemically speaking, water 
consists of hydrogen and oxygen united in equal equivalents, by weight of 
eight parts of oxygen to one of hydrogen; or by measure, one part of 
oxygen to two of hydrogen. Absolutely pure water is only obtained by dis- 
tillation (aqua distillatad) It is a colorless, transparent liquid, without 
either taste or smell. A cubic inch of it, at a temperature of 60°, weighs 
252^ grains; reduced to a temperature of 32°, it becomes solid, and raised 
to a temperature of 212°, it passes into steam. On account of the remark- 
able solvent powers of water, it is, in its natural state, contaminated with 
more or less impurities. Soft water contains comparatively small quan- 
tities of impurities, and when used with soap forms a lather. Hard 
water, on the other hand, contains large quantities of calcareous and 
other salts, which through their presence curdle the soap and render the 
water unfit for many domestic purposes. Rain and snow waters, if 
collected in large vessels in the open field after the dust has become 
settled, are the purest of the natural waters. They are both sufficiently 
pure for medicinal purposes. Spring water is marked by the character 
of the strata through which it passes, being the most pure when it passes 
through sand or gravel. River water, being made up mostly of rains, 
has less saline matter than spring water, but it frequently is mixed with 
more or less insoluble vegetable and animal matters, which render it less 
transparent and more impure. Well water, unless brought from a great 
depth and from a well that is constantly used, is liable to be mixed with 
a great deal of impurity. On account of the great depth of artesian wells, 
the water from them is comparatively pure and wholesome. Lake water 
possesses no invariable qualities; the water from most of the large lakes 
of the United States and Canada is pure and wholesome. Marsh water 
contains much decomposed matter, is always unhealthy, and should 
never be used for medicinal purposes. For the description and uses of 
the so-called mineral waters, see article under that heading. For the 
medicinal uses of water, ice, sea-water, mineral waters, etc., see articles 
Ablution, Baths and Bathing, Ice, Mineral Waters, Hemorrhage, etc. 1196 
WATER-WATER ERYNGO. 
For the uses of water as a drink, see Drinks ; and for distilled water, 
see Aqua. 
WATER. AVENS. (See Geum Rivale.) 
WATER-BRASH, PYROSIS, waw'-tur-brash, is a disorder charac- 
terized by copious vomiting of clear fluid-either sourish or tasteless- 
from the stomach. It is a frequent accompaniment of chronic dyspepsia, 
and those who live much on innutritive vegetable food are peculiarly 
liable to it. Before the fluid is brought up, there is often pain, more or 
less severe, experienced at the pit of the stomach. Improved diet, and 
the treatment of dyspepsia generally, are the most suitable measures. 
The following can be highly recommended to those who suffer from this 
annoying affection: 
Take of White bismuth Twelve grains. 
Aromatic powder Five grains.-Mix. 
The powder to be taken twice a day in a little milk. (See Dyspepsia, 
Acidity of the Stomach, Heartburn.) 
WATER CHICKWEED. (See Callitriche Verna.) 
WATER-CLOSETS AND PRIVIES, waw'-tur kloz'-ets. The faulty 
regulation, insufiicient supply, or even total want of these necessary 
appendages of every habitation, are the sources of some of the greatest 
nuisances of our large towns especially, are most fertile sources of disease 
in crowded localities, and have presented, and still present, great difficul- 
ties in the way of sanitary reformation. In country places, the difficulty 
of procuring a sufficient supply, and proper arrangement of the water 
requisite for a closet, render privies almost matters of necessity; this, 
under the circumstances, is matter of less consequence, provided these 
places are situated at a sufficient distance from the house, and are kept 
properly regulated and cleansed. It is desirable, from time to time, to 
throw into the cesspool of a privy some dry absorbent material, such as 
earth, lime, etc. These, and similar places, should never be cleansed out in 
warm weather; if they become offensive, chloride of lime in some form 
should be employed about the place, or thrown into the cesspool, until 
cool weather permits the removal of the nuisance. In towns and crowded 
places, privies should never be permitted, but efficient water-closets, with 
■well-constructed drains (see Drainage) substituted; and one should be 
attached to every house, both for the sake of cleanliness and of decency. 
(See Earth-Closet, Sanitary Science.) 
WATER-CRESSES. (See Cresses.) 
WATER-CURE. (See Hydropathy.) 
WATER-DRESSING. (See Dressing. ) 
WATER ERYNGO. (See Eryngium Aquaticum.) WATERING-PLACES-WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. 
1197 
WATERING-PLACES. (See Health Resorts, Mineral Waters, 
Climate, etc.) 
AV ATER IN THE CHEST. (See Dropsy.) 
AV ATER IN THE HEAD. (See Hydrocephalus.) 
AV ATER LILY. (See Nymph^ea Odorata.) 
AV ATER ON THE BRAIN. (See Hydrocephalus.) 
AV ATER PEPPER. (See Polygonum Punctatum.) 
AV ATER PLANTAIN. (See Alisma Plantago.) 
AVATER STARWORT. (See Callitriche Verna.) 
AVAX. (See Cera.) 
AVAX IN THE EAR. (See Cerumen, Deafness.) 
AVEAKNESS. (See Debility.) 
AVEAKNESS OF THE BLADDER. (See Bladder, Diseases of 
the.) 
WEALTH. (See Occupation.) 
AVEANING, ween'-ing. The weaning of infants must depend upon 
two considerations, the condition and health of the mother or nurse, 
and the age of the child. If the mother be in such a condition of health 
that she cannot nurse her infant, with benefit either to herself or it, 
weaning of course must take place at once; but in the generality of 
cases, the proper time is about the ninth or tenth month, when the first 
four teeth have appeared. Indeed, the development of the teeth may 
be taken as the signal that other food is required; if, therefore, their 
appearance is delayed, suckling may in most instances be prolonged, 
for the reason, that the late appearance of the teeth is frequently associ- 
ated with delicacy of constitution, and then it is desirable for the child 
to be kept longer at the breast. 
Previous to weaning, the child should be gradually accustomed to 
other food. It is desirable for weaning to take place in fine weather, 
when the infant can be carried a good deal out of doors. Should 
disorder of the bowels or other symptoms of illness arise, it must 
be managed as recommended under article Children, to which 
the reader is referred. (See also Nurse, Milk, Dentition, Teeth, 
ETC.) 
WEATHER. (See Seasons, Cold, Damp, Heat, Climate, Barom- 
eter, etc.) 
AVEEPING EYE, weep'-ing, is the flow of tears over the cheek, in 
consequence of the lachrymal sac and passage into the nose being 
obstructed. Relief can only be obtained by proper surgical interference. 
(See Eye, Diseases of the.) 
WEIGHTS AND MEASURES, mates, mezh'-urz. The weights and 
measures used in this country are those known commonly as apothe- 1198 
WEIGHTS AND MEASURES-WET-NURSE. 
caries' weights, and apothecaries' measures. The following tables set 
the whole matter in a plain light: 
APOTHECARIES' WEIGHT. 
Pounds. 
Ounces. 
Drams. 
Scruples. 
Grains, 
lb 1 
= 12 = 
96 = 
288 = 
5,760 
i 1 = 
8 = 
24 = 
480 
3 1 = 
3 - 
60 
9 1 = 
gr. 20 
APOTHECARIES' MEASURE. 
Gallon. 
Pints. 
Fluid Ounces. 
Fluid Drams, 
Minims. 
Cong. 1 
.= 8 
- 128 = 
1,024 = 
61,440 
0 1 
= 16 = 
128 = 
7,680 
fl 1 
8 = 
480 
fZ 1 = 
m. 60 
In domestic practice small quantities of medicines are often estimated 
by drops, and the drop is set down as equal to the minim, or one-sixtieth 
part of a fluid dram. It is an uncertain method, and will not answer if 
much exactness is required. The size of the drop depends on the 
density of the liquid, its greater or lesser viscidity, and the shape of the 
vessel from which it is poured. Certain household vessels, of a capacity 
approaching to uniformity, are made use of for the administration of 
medicines. Such are: 
The Tea-cup, estimated to contain Four ounces. 
Wine-glass, estimated to contain Two ounces. 
Tablespoon, estimated to contain Half an ounce. 
Teaspoon, estimated to contain One dram. 
Dessertspoon, estimated to contain Two drams. 
Graduated medicine glasses are now manufactured and can be pro- 
cured of any respectable dealer, having the tablespoon, dessertspoon, 
and teaspoon marked thereon, containing exactly the the and the 
■J of the fluid ounce. For a description of the French system of weights 
and measures now coming into vogue in this country, see the article 
Metric System. (See Dose, Household Medicines, Medical Signs.) 
WEN, wen [Aug.-Sax. wenn}, an encysted tumor, varying exceed- 
ingly in size and character, and commonly situated immediately under 
the skin, but occurring also in some of the internal viscera. It is com- 
prised in a membrane called a cyst, and its contents sometimes resemble 
fat or suet; at other times it contains serum, or a thin foetid brown or 
black fluid. Frequently the cyst, especially when small, may be punc- 
tured, and its contents pressed out; but sometimes this gives rise to very 
severe inflammatory action. The other and safer mode of treatment is 
for the surgeon to dissect it out with the knife, wherever its position will 
admit of it. 
WET-NURSE. (See Nurse, Child.) WETT1N G THE BED- WHITES, ETC. 
1199 
WETTING- THE BED. (See Bed-Wetting; Bladder, Diseases of 
the. ) 
WHEAT. (See Cereals, Flour, Bread, Food, Cracked Wheat.) 
WHISKEY, kuns'-ke [Gaelic usquebaugh, pronounced wisky bay, 
water of life], a spirit that is distilled from barley, wheat, rye, maize or 
Indian corn, potatoes, etc., and contains about fifty per cent, by weight 
of alcohol. Much of the whiskey consumed in this country is prepared 
artificially by reducing raw spirits with water, and then adding certain 
substances to impart the desired flavor. To avoid these adulterations, 
the purchaser should be careful to obtain it from none but the most 
respectable dealers. Whiskey and other ardent spirits should only be 
used as a medicine. The medicinal properties of whiskey are identical 
with those of brandy, for which it is largely substituted in medicine, and 
if pure, and of good age, is preferable to the grades of brandy usually 
met with in this country. (See Brandy, Alcohol ; Stimulants, Alco- 
holic; Wine, Ale, Porter, etc.) 
WHITE OAK. (See Quercus.) 
WHITE POND LILY. (See Nymph^a Odorata.) 
WHITE POPLAK. (See Populus Tremuloides.) 
WHITES, FLUOR ALBUS, OR LEUCORRHCEA, twites [Gr. 
leukos, and rheo, to flow]. 
Symptoms.-The affection passing under these names, from which 
females suffer, is characterized by the discharge of a white milky fluid 
from the womb, dependent on irritation seated there. When present 
in a marked degree, the menstrual discharge is either scanty, and accom- 
panied by much pain, or it is entirely suppressed. In certain cases the 
white discharge immediately succeeds the normal menstrual flow; in 
others it precedes it, and is checked by the occurrence of the latter. 
Females suffering from the whites are often unhealthy in appearance, 
the complexion being sallow and often pale, with an expression of great 
languor. A peculiar uneasiness, often a kind of gnawing pain, is expe- 
rienced in the lower part of the back, and the patient is unable to walk- 
sometimes is rendered unfit to maintain the erect posture. Appetite is 
lost, and the health generally is often much depressed. 
Persons who are subject to rheumatism and gout are apt to be 
affected by this form of ailment: it often takes its rise after pregnancy 
or delivery, or is connected with some form or other of irregularity in 
the function of the parts. A careful inquiry into the history of each 
individual case is required, in order to determine the probable cause of 
its commencement, and for this reason if the disease does not yield to 
the simple treatment here enjoined, a physician should be at once 
consulted. 1200 
WHITES, ETC.-WHITLOW, ETC. 
Treatment.-In the treatment of this affection, special care must be 
directed to the state of the general health-that must be maintained by 
suitable diet, and tonic remedies; specially under the latter head rank 
the preparations of iron. The hip-bath, with cold water, and the bracing 
measure of the shower-bath, are often salutary. Something, too, is to 
be done by local means: the greatest attention to cleanliness is necessary; 
and the injection, by means of the female syringe, either of cold water, 
or of a solution of alum (2 drams to an ounce of alum in the quart of 
water), or the decoction of oak bark, is often serviceable. Local pain 
and uneasiness may be relieved by the use of anodyne liniments (chloro- 
form or belladonna), and rest in the recumbent posture. 
WHITE-SWELLING, hwite-swel-ing, in Surgery, is a disease of the 
joints, so called from being unattended by any discoloration of the 
skin. It occurs most frequently in scrofulous constitutions. The knee- 
joint is the most subject to its attack. It is the result of chronic 
inflammation in the bones, cartilages, or membranes constituting the 
joint, and is always attended with swelling, the part being sometimes 
hard, at other times soft and yielding. For treatment, see the article 
Knee. 
WHITE VITRIOL. (See Zinc.) 
WHITE WALNUT. (See Juglans Cinerea.) 
WHITEWASHING, hwite-wosh-ing, by means of lime, is one of 
the most powerful means of general household purification which it is 
possible to employ, especially on the large scale on which such purifica- 
tion is often required in the dwellings of the poorer classes, particularly 
in towns. Lime absorbs powerfully the carbonic acid from the atmos- 
phere, and in this, and probably in other ways, tends greatly to remove 
the most fertile sources of disease. (See Carbonic Acid, Houses, 
Light, Walls and Wall Papers.) 
WHITE WILLOW. (See Salix Alba.) 
WHITE WOOD. (See Liriodendron Tulipifera.) 
WHITLOW, FELON, RUNROUND, OR PARONYCHIA, hwit'-lor 
[Ang.-Sax. whit^ white, and low. aflame], is abscess of a finger or thumb, 
but in this situation is rendered extremely distressing, and even serious, 
as regards the use of the member, in consequence of the matter being 
generally confined by the firm skin, and subjacent firm fasciae or fibrous 
membranes which are connected with the tendons, by means of which 
the fingers are moved. The matter often has great difficulty of reaching 
to the surface, and of being discharged, and probably lies next the bone. 
The consequence of all this, especially if the inflammation is very acute, 
is to give rise to disease of the bone, or to mortification of the finger 
generally; in either case, the member is rendered worse than useless, or WHITLOW, ETC. 
1201 
requires amputation. Whitlows are certainly more common in those 
who employ their hands in hard labor, also in cooks and individuals who 
are exposed to wounds from bones, etc. 
Symptoms.-The symptoms are deep-seated throbbing pain in the 
affected member, which continues increasing till it becomes almost intol- 
erable, the finger feels ready to burst, and if examined, the skin is found 
tense and hard, and more or less inflamed. If nothing be done to remedy 
this state of things, the symptoms increase, the whole arm is affected, 
is more or less swollen and inflamed, especially in the course of the 
absorbent vessels (see Absorbents), and the glands in the arm-pit are 
swollen and painful. At last the matter finds exit somewhere by the 
skin being ulcerated, not unfrequently about the nail. When this hap- 
pens, there is relief to the severe symptoms, but probably so much 
mischief has been done to the member, that the results above described 
-mortification or death of the bone and the finger-occur, and it is lost. 
To prevent such a serious consequence, it is needless to say that active 
measures should at once be resorted to, and the case seen by a medical 
man as soon as possible. 
Treatment.-On the first symptoms of whitlow occurring, the 
disease may in some cases be arrested at once, by thoroughly rub- 
bing over the whole of the affected member with lunar caustic. (See 
Nitrate of Silver.) This proceeding, however, must be resorted to ao 
once, and accompanied with reduced diet and active purging. It must 
be confessed, too, it is more efficacious in those the skin of whose fingers 
has not been hardened by labor, and in whom the disease is generally 
least severe. Quite the most efficacious proceeding in whitlow, when 
there is evidence of matter having formed (see Inflammation, Pus,) is 
to lay open the finger down to the bone, by means of a lancet or knife; this 
proceeding, of course, ought to be done by a medical man if possible, but, 
under some circumstances, it might be resorted to by an unprofessional 
person. It is certainly attended with great momentary pain, but gives 
otherwise very great relief, and often saves a finger; after it is done, the 
ordinary treatment of abscess, poultice and water dressing, will be 
requisite. (See Abscess, Poultice, Dressing.) When from timidity on 
the part of a patient-although chloroform might certainly be used-or 
other cause, a whitlow is not opened early, the only proceeding is to 
poultice assiduously till the matter finds vent, to support the hand and 
arm in a sling, to regulate the bowels, and to soothe the excessive 
suffering by opiates. After the matter is discharged, poultice for a short 
time, followed by water dressing, will be most suitable if the finger is 
saved. In some of these cases, the simple poultice or water requires 
shortly to be exchanged for a more stimulating and astringent applica- 1202 
WHITL 0 Wj ETC.- WHO OPING-CO UGH, ETC. 
tion. None answers better than tincture of myrrh, in the proportions 
of from 2 drams to 1 ounce to the | pint of water. 
WHOOPING-COUGH, OR PERTUSSIS, hoop'-ing-kof [Ang.- 
Sax.], written also hooping-cough \ a cough in which the patient hoops 
or whoops with a deep inspiration of breath. On account of the 
violence of the cough attending this disease, the term pertussis has 
been applied to it; and on account of the recurrence of the cough 
in paroxysms, it is also known by the name of "chin," or "kink" 
cough. It is specially a disease of early childhood: thus of 130 children 
affected by it, M. Blache found 106 under the age of seven years, and 
24 only between seven and fourteen. Whooping-cough is, in fact, one 
of the diseases from which the generality of persons in our climate suffer 
when young; the predisposition to it is so strong that comparatively 
few pass through childhood without having suffered from it. If they 
have so passed, then the predisposition is very greatly diminished, 
though the disease may occur at any period of life. 
Causes.-Various opinions have been formed as to the true pathology 
of this disease. Some think it due to inflammation, others to some 
irritation of the brain, or pneumogastric nerve, or some of its branches, 
while Dr. Ley supposes that the glands of the neck become enlarged, 
and press upon the substance of this nerve. 
Symptoms.-The symptoms commence with a simple catarrh, indi- 
cated by a cough, and the expectoration of a limpid fluid, by redness of 
the conjunctiva, a watery discharge from the eyes and nostrils, hoarse- 
ness, and occasional sneezing. These symptoms are generally accom- 
panied by slight feverishness, and the patient is low-spirited and languid. 
Thus far, the disease closely resembles a common cold ; but at about the 
end of one or two weeks, the character of the affection changes. The 
fits of coughing become longer and more frequent; a sensation of tickling 
in the larynx and trachea accompanies each fit, during which the inspira- 
tions are irregular, especially in the case of children, whose faces bear 
an expression of anxiety and fear. When the fit comes on, they cling 
firmly to the persons or objects near, and, if asleep, start up. The efforts 
of coughing then become so rapid and violent as to take away the breath; 
during the intervals between it is difficult to perceive any inspiratory 
movements, excepting at times when the cough is interrupted by a 
peculiar whooping sound, which has given this disease its common name. 
In young children, whooping-cough often becomes complicated with 
other diseases. The most common complication with children at the 
breast is cerebral congestion, giving rise to convulsions. Whooping- 
cough prevails as an epidemic disease, and children from birth to the 
period of second dentition are chiefly liable to it. Adult persons, how- WHOOPING-COUGH, ETC. 
1203 
ever, are not exempt from it, and it sometimes occurs even in old age. 
The disease is very contagious, and when it once finds admission into a 
house, very few young persons, who have not had it previously, escape. 
It rarely affects the same individual twice, although this sometimes 
occurs. 
Treatment.-In many cases, if the attack of whooping-cough is toler- 
ably mild, parents never require medical attendance; but in the event 
of their not doing so, it is their duty to watch their children closely, and 
on the slightest appearance, either of inflammatory affection of the 
lungs, or of a tendency to convulsion, to call in proper advice, using in 
the interval-if there must be one-such modes of management as are 
recommended under these articles. (See Inflammation of the Lungs, 
Convulsions.) As regards the actual treatment of the disease itself, 
it is questionable whether any system of medicine is of very great 
service, but much depends upon proper and judicious management. 
The diet of the child should be strictly attended to, and ought to con- 
sist chiefly of milk and farinaceous preparations, rice, barley, corn 
starch, tapioca, etc. (See Cookery for the Sick.) Roast apples are 
good; in short, a mild, unheating diet, meat being better avoided 
altogether, unless the child is very delicate, in which case, tolerably 
good broth will be the best mode of giving animal food. The bowels 
ought to be kept in as regular a condition as possible by means of 
simple aperients, and the child protected from the influence of weather. 
(See Clothing.) Indeed, if whooping-cough occurs in winter, the safer 
plan is to confine the child entirely to the house, and especially during 
the prevalence of the east winds in spring. 
When expectoration is difficult, an emetic of ipecacuanha, given three 
or four times a week, will be useful, and a simple cough mixture con- 
taining either syrup or wine of ipecac, may be used regularly. If the 
cough is very troublesome, a couple of grains of Dover's powder, given 
to a child of three years of age, at bed-time, will moderate it. Dr. 
Golding Bird recommends alum as in the following prescription: 
Take of Alum ... .Twenty-five grains. 
Extract of henbane Six grains. 
Syrup of poppies Two drams. 
Peppermint water sufficient to make a three-ounce mixture.-Mix. 
Of which a dessertspoonful may be given every six hours. External 
remedies, such as embrocations, are often employed. The following 
will be found useful: Olive-oil, two parts; oil of amber and oil of cloves, 
each one part. It is stimulating, but probably any other stimulating 
embrocations, such as camphorated or ammoniated oil, would answer 
equally well. Mustard poultices, containing linseed-meal and mustard, 
(see Poultice), to the chest, and between the shoulders, are often found 1204 
WHO OPING- CO UGH, ETC. - WINE. 
beneficial. If anything can be said to cure whooping-cough, it is 
change of air, which, in the latter stages of the affection, seems to act 
like a charm, and should always, when circumstances permit, be had 
recourse to. When the disease has passed, or is passing away, if the 
child, as perhaps it may be, is much reduced, strengthening remedies, 
tincture of iron, 5 drops, three times a day, or other tonics, with good 
diet, may be required. For some time after an attack of whooping- 
cough, more than ordinary care must be taken to guard against cold, 
which is very apt to bring back-in degree-the symptoms, and even 
the "whoop." (See Atomizer, Children.) 
WILD ALLSPICE. (See Benzoin Odoriferum. ) 
WILD CHEERY. (See Cerasus.) 
WILD CINNAMON. (See Canella Alba.) 
WILD GINGER. (See Asarum.) 
WILD INDIGO. (See Baptisia Tinctoria.) 
WILD IPECAC. (See Triosteum Perfoliatum. ) 
WILD JESSAMINE. (See Gelseminum Sempervirens. ) 
WILD MARJORAM. (See Origanum.) 
WILD TURNIP. (See Arum.) 
WILD YAM. (See Dioscorea Villosa.) 
WILLOW HERB. (See Epilobium Angustifolium.) 
WILLOW, WHITE. (See Salix Alba.) 
WIND. (See Flatulence.) 
WIND-DROPSY. (See Tympany.) 
WINDPIPE. (See Trachea, Foreign Bodies in Air-Passages.) 
WINE, wine [Lat. vinum]. Under the articles Alcohol ; Stimu- 
lants, Alcoholic ; Port Wine, Sherry, Madeira Wine, Claret, Canary 
Wine, etc., nearly all has been said necessary to say on this subject, and 
this article is introduced for the purpose of noticing our native American 
wines. The wines of California resemble very much those manufactured 
in the countries of the Mediterranean, being somewhat fiery and heady, 
and containing from ten and a half to fourteen per cent, of alcohol. 
Those made from the native American grapes, east of the Rocky Moun- 
tains, resemble more closely the wines of France and Germany, but are 
characterized by a peculiar foxy flavor belonging to the American berry. 
Wine, when good and of a proper age, is cordial and tonic; but 
when new, it is flatulent, debilitating and purgative, and intoxicates 
sooner than old wine. 
The total vine production of the United States and Canada now 
reaches something like 20,000,000 of gallons of wine, nearly 5,000,000 
gallons of which is manufactured in California. These facts point to the 
time as not far distant when foreign wines will be almost entirely WIFE- WOMB, OB UTEBUS. 
1205 
excluded from this market. Many prominent physicians now prescribe 
the American wines in preference to any other. 
To avoid adulterated wines, we would advise our readers to purchase 
of none but the most respectable dealers. 
WINTER. (See Seasons.) 
WINTERGREEN. (See Gaultheria Procumbens.) 
WITCH HAZEL. (See Hamamelis Virginica.) 
WOLFSBANE. (See Aconitum Napellus.) 
WOMB, FALLING OF THE. (See Womb, or Uterus.) 
WOMB, OR UTERUS, woom [Ang.-Sax. wamb, the womb, the 
belly]. This most important organ is, in its ordinary condition, situated 
in the cavity of the pelvis, but when distended, as in pregnancy, it rises 
into the cavity of the abdomen. (See Abdomen.) Somewhat triangular 
in form, it is covered by the general lining membrane of the abdomen 
and pelvis, the peritoneum, and is held in its place by various ligaments. 
The affections of the womb may be considered as those which are con- 
nected with the state of pregnancy (see Pregnancy), and those which are 
not. In the latter case, it is liable, though rarely, to be the seat of 
inflammation, the affection being characterized by the usual symptoms 
of inflammation, local and constitutional, and requiring the same man- 
agement as inflammatory affection of the bowels generally. (See Inflam- 
mation of the Bowels.) Congestion of blood, enlargements, tumor, and 
polypus, diseases of its neck, including cancer, etc., are among the affec- 
tions to which the womb is liable. It is also exposed to displacements, 
dislocations as it were, from before backwards, or the reverse ; and like- 
wise to coming or falling down, or as it is called, prolapsus. 
Falling of the womb is the most usual after the time of child-bearing 
is past, in women who have borne large families, and especially in those 
who have neglected themselves after confinement, by getting up too 
soon. The falling, or prolapsus, of the womb, is permitted by general 
laxity of the parts, but especially of the ligaments which ought to retain 
the organ in place: it is further aggravated by the congested and 
enlarged state of it, which thence results. Such a state of matters 
cannot be too soon rectified, and by all means ought to be placed under 
the management of a medical man, who will recommend such an one of 
the various instruments contrived for such cases, as may appear most 
suitable. In the meanwhile, rest in the horizontal posture, and general 
soothing treatment, are the best palliatives. 
The other displacements of the womb, backwards or forwards, are 
more usual in its enlarged condition; in pregnancy especially, the former 
is often the result of permitting the bladder to become unduly distended, 
so that by its weight it presses the womb out of place, and into such a 1206 
WOMB, OB UTERUS. 
position that it cannot easily recover itself. In these, and indeed in all 
affections of this organ, the assistance of a medical man cannot be too 
soon procured; domestic treatment can do little or nothing for their 
permanent relief, although it may, if properly directed, palliate consider- 
ably the more urgent symptoms. The affections of the womb may of course 
develop with greater or less rapidity; some are sudden in their onset, and 
urgent in their symptoms ; others arise almost imperceptibly, and go on 
slowly. In most cases, however, there is sense of uneasiness and 
dragging weight about the parts, perhaps actual pain of more or less 
severity ; the functions of the bladder may be interfered with, irritability 
or difficulty occasioned ; or difficulty or pain be experienced in emptying 
the bowels. Under some circumstances, discharges of blood or matter 
may take place. (See Menstruation, Whites, etc.) The constitution 
may more or less sympathize, and irritable fever arise, or obstinate 
vomiting, or dyspepsia, with excessive nervous irritability and hysteria. 
Under circumstances, when symptoms like the above, or others sus- 
pected to be in connection with the womb, show themselves, an indi- 
vidual can scarcely err in assuming, if possible, entirely the horizontal 
posture; if there is much pain, and especially any symptoms of feverish- 
ness, fomentations to the lower bowels, perhaps leeches, may be used; 
and when the suffering is great, opium given by the mouth or in injec- 
tion; at the same time, the strictest attention must be paid to the due 
action of the bowels, by means of castor-oil, senna, etc., or in full habits 
by salines, perhaps following moderate doses of blue pill, but all prepara- 
tions containing aloes must be sedulously avoided. Injections of cold, 
tepid, or warm water simply, or rendered more aperient by the addition 
of medicines, are often useful. The diet must be regulated according to 
the habit and constitution of the patient; if this be full, a reduction, 
especially in stimulants, may safely be made; but if the habit be mod- 
erate, the diet may be kept so too. In the weakly and debilitated, it may 
require to be increased, especially if there is any drain, such as discharge 
of blood, etc., going on. (See Abortion, Menstruation, Whites, etc.) 
The above are palliative measures, which may be safely resorted to under 
most circumstances ; they are, however, palliative only; curative means 
can only be carried out by a medical man, under whose care all affec- 
tions of this organ, so closely connected with female health, happiness, 
and well-being, should be placed without delay-without waiting for 
serious symptoms to arise. Moreover, it should be remembered, that 
there are states of impaired health, of a dyspeptic and nervous character, 
especially, dependent on uterine derangement, which of itself gives no 
marked sign. 
In some affections of the womb, it becomes absolutely necessary for WOMB, OR UTERUS-WORMS. 
1207 
a medical man to resort to means of examination, which, though they 
cannot fail to be highly repugnant to the feelings, no woman of truly 
delicate and pure mind would object to, when it has been fully explained 
to herby a professional attendant in whom her confidence is placed, that 
such examination is positively required. It may be that the zeal of some 
has led them to disregard, perhaps too much, the feelings of patients 
suffering from these peculiar diseases, and to be too ready to avail them- 
selves of all means of investigation, but these are the exceptions. (See 
Cancer, Polypus, Tumor.) 
WOODBINE. (See Gelsemium Sempervirens.) 
WOODY NIGHTSHADE. (See Solanum Dulcamara.) 
WORM - BARK. (See Andira.) 
WORM GRASS. (See Spigelia Marilandica.) 
WORMS, wurmz [Ang.-Sax. wyrm, worm, warm, Lat. vermis], 
parasitical animals which infest the intestinal canal of man. They 
are of five different kinds - the Ascarides, or small thread-worms, 
varying from an eighth of an inch to one and a half inch in length, and 
having usually their seat in the rectum, or last gut; the Lumbrici, or 
long round worms, from two or three to ten or more inches in length, 
and usually occupying the small intestines, and sometimes the stomach; 
the Trichuris, or long, hair-tailed thread-worm, occupying the csecum; 
and the Taenia, or tape-worm, of which there are two kinds, occupying 
the whole tract of the intestines, and sometimes thirty or forty feet in 
length. Worms appear most frequently in those of a relaxed habit, with 
weak digestive organs. 
Symptoms.-From the highly organized and sensitive parts which 
they occupy, worms give rise to great constitutional derangement, 
and produce a variety of symptoms, more particularly affecting the 
stomach and head. Among these are variable appetite; fetid breath; 
picking of the nose; hardness and fulness of the belly; sensation of heat 
and itching in the anus; preternaturally red tongue, or alternately clean, 
and covered with a white slimy mucus; grinding of the teeth during 
sleep; short, dry cough; frequent slimy stools; emaciation; slow fever, 
with sourness of the stomach in the evening, with an evening exacerba- 
tion; irregular pulse; and sometimes convulsions or fainting fits. 
Treatment.-The short and the long thread-worms, occupying, as they 
do, the lower bowel, are almost entirely beyond the reach of medicine 
administered by the stomach, and require to be treated almost entirely 
by injections. These may be made of infusion of quassia, of lime-water, 
or of olive-oil. One tablespoonful of the oil, carefully injected once a day 
for several days will almost invariably get rid of the parasites. Many 
remedies have been proposed for the destruction of the lumbrici, or 1208 
WORMS. 
round worms, such as tin filings, cowhage, croton-oil, wormseed, turpen- 
tine, and santonine. It will be only necessary to give the mode of 
administration of the latter, as it is almost always successful. It may 
be given to children under four years, in doses of from 1 to 4 grains; 
and to children above twelve years, in doses of 6 to 8 grains, every 
six hours, until three doses are taken. The last dose must either be 
combined with 5 grains of rhubarb, or followed in two or three hours 
with a dose of castor-oil. It is best given,in thin syrup on an empty 
stomach. This course may be repeated, if necessary, after the lapse 
of a couple of days. (See Santonine, Worm-Tea, Ascarides.) 
Tape-worm may be treated with the spirits of turpentine, given after 
the patient has fasted for twelve hours. It may be combined with castor- 
oil, the mild aperient carrying off the injurious properties of the turpen- 
tine, and preventing real congestion. 
Take of Turpentine One dessertspoonful. 
Castor-oil Half an ounce.-Mix. 
Make a draught to be given the first thing in the morning. 
The bowels should be kept freely open after the expulsion of the 
worm, so as to shield the system from the injurious effects of the anthel- 
mintic. 
Liquid extract of male fern is very useful in getting rid of tape- 
worm, and may be given thus to the patient fasting: 
Take of Fluid extract of male fern One dram. 
Mucilage of acacia One ounce.-Mix. 
Let the draught be taken early in the morning. 
This remedy acts by killing the worm ; and an active purgative must 
be given after an interval to expel it. A new remedy for this kind of 
worm has recently been admitted into the Pharmacopoeia, which has been 
much used in India, called kamela. It purges freely, and may be given 
in doses varying from 1 to 2 drams. Rousso, which consists of the 
dried flowers of the bray er a antlielmintica, a tree growing naturally in 
Abyssinia, has also been recommended in the treatment of tape-worm; 
and it acts very efficiently, and is much more palatable than turpen- 
tine ; but sometimes its action is attended with some degree of nausea. 
It has no cathartic effect, but acts like the liquid extract of male fern, 
by killing the worm, which must be afterwards expelled by the exhibi- 
tion of some active aperient. Rousso itself may be given to adults in 
^-ounce doses, and to children in doses varying from 1 to 2 drams. 
There is also an officinal infusion, the dose of which for adults is from 
4 to 8 fluid ounces. The bark of the pomegranate root has, too, been 
recommended, but is not much used, nor is its action so efficient as that 
of the preceding remedies. The author prefers the liquid extract of won MS- WO UNDS. 
1209 
male fern, as being less violent in its action than turpentine, and at the 
same time a very effectual remedy. (See Aspidium, Rottlera Tinc- 
toria, Rousso, Pumpkin Seeds, Pomegranate.) 
WORMSEED. (See Chenopodium Anthelminticum. ) 
WORM TEA. (See Spigelia Marilandica. ) 
WORMWOOD. (See Artemisia.) 
WOUNDS, woondz or wowndz [Ang.-Sax. wund ; Lat. vulnusi} A 
wound is defined as "a solution of the continuity of a soft part of the 
body, effected by some external agent, and attended with a greater or 
less amount of bleeding." Wounds are of various kinds, and are 
generally distinguished as incised, lacerated, contused, and punctured. 
An incised wound, or cut, is a simple division of the fibres made by 
a sharp-cutting instrument. A lacerated wound is one in which the 
fibres, in place of being cleanly divided by a sharp instrument, are torn 
asunder by violence, the edges of the wound being in this case jagged 
and uneven. A contused or bruised wound is one made by a violent 
blow from some blunt instrument, the part being bruised as well as 
torn. A punctured wound, or stab, is one made with a narrow pointed 
instrument, as a sword or bayonet. 
In incised wounds, the first thing to be attended to is to stop the 
hemorrhage. This is usually accomplished by simply bringing the edges 
of the wound together; but if any of the larger blood-vessels have been 
injured, pressing the trunk, by means of a bandage or tourniquet (see 
Bandages, Tourniquet), will be necessary; and should this not suc- 
ceed, the vessels must be secured with ligatures. (See Artery, Arte- 
rial Hemorrhage, Hemorrhage, Ligature.) Next, care should be 
taken that all extraneous substances are removed from the wound. 
This may be accomplished by the careful use of a small forceps, and by 
washing the part with cold water. Then the edges of the wound are to be 
brought together, and retained either by straps of adhesive plaster, or in 
some situations by one or two stitches. (See Suture.) Generally such 
wounds heal very quickly, without any suppuration taking place, or, as 
it is said, "by the first intention." When, however, this is not the case, 
and suppuration comes on, all attempts to procure union by the first 
intention should be abandoned, the plasters and bandages removed, poul- 
tices and warm dressings (see Poultice, Dressing,) had recourse to, to 
remove inflammation, and afterwards healing ointments applied. (See 
Ointments.) One of the very best applications to suppurating wounds is 
a thorough washing, morning and evening, with carbolic acid and water, 
1 dram of the acid to 1 pint of water. 
Lacerated and contused wounds require to be similarly treated ; but 
they heal less kindly, and suppuration almost always takes place. The 1210 
WOUNDS. 
swelling and inflammatory symptoms which commonly attend contused 
wounds are to be diminished by cooling lotions or emollient poultices. 
(See Lotions, Poultice.) 
Punctured wounds are dangerous from their depth, and the internal 
effusion of serum and blood which usually attends them. They are fre- 
quently also followed by severe inflammation and suppuration. The 
same general principles apply in this case too. Sometimes it may be 
necessary to enlarge the wound a little, so as to remove the stretching 
of the parts; and to lessen the inflammation, leeches and fomentations 
are often required. (See Fomentation.) 
Poisoned wounds are wounds in which the division of the tissues, or 
even the abrasion of the outer skin is accompanied with the insertion of 
poison of some kind, whether that of a gnat or of a wasp, of a rabid dog or 
of a snake. For full treatment of this class of wounds, see Bitesand Stings. 
Poisoned wounds, such as those sometimes received in dissection by 
medical men, or by cooks, and others who have to handle dead animal 
substances, are apt to give rise to symptoms resembling whitlow or felon, 
and require similar treatment. (See Whitlow.) They may, however, 
place life in much jeopardy by the constitutional affection they give rise 
to, and by causing the formation of abscesses in various parts of the body. 
Such, and indeed any severe cases of poisoned wounds, ought to be put 
under medical care without delay. 
Gunshot wounds, is a term employed to denote wounds produced by 
cannon balls, bullets, fragments of shell, etc., striking against the body. 
They differ in many respects from ordinary wounds. When a ball enters 
the body, the wound appears somewhat smaller than the ball itself; its 
edges are ragged and inverted, and the part around has a bluish or 
black color from the bruise. When it passes through the part, the 
aperture by which it makes its exit presents quite a different appear- 
ance. It seems somewhat larger than the ball, the edges are everted, 
and there is little discoloration about the wound. Frequently a ball, if 
it enter obliquely, or be nearly spent, instead of pursuing a straight 
course, becomes deflected, and may be found lodged in, or may pass 
out, at a part at a considerable distance from that at which it entered. 
Excessive bleeding is not so common after gunshot wounds as after other 
kinds; but it sometimes occurs, and may be fatal if not attended to. 
Where it can be done, the finger should be inserted into the wound, and 
pressed upon the vessel, otherwise a handkerchief should be tied very 
tightly round the limb above the wound. It is well to examine the 
wound as early as possible, in order to ascertain the amount of injury; 
at least, so far as this can be done without aggravating the case. The 
ball or other foreign substance ought to be removed, if that can be easily WOUNDS- XANTHORHIZA APIIFOLIA. 
1211 
effected; but otherwise, it ought, in the meantime, to be let alone. As 
the walls of the wound slough and suppurate, the opening will become 
larger, and it may then fall out or be easily removed. Sometimes it may 
remain embedded in the tissues, without producing much or any incon- 
venience. If, after the sloughing and suppuration, the ball remains 
fixed, and if much irritation continues to be excited, and abscesses form 
about its track, then it may be necessary to find out its seat, and use 
every means to remove it. The simplest dressings should only at first 
be applied to the wound; as a piece of linen, spread with some mild 
ointment, fixed on lightly by strips of adhesive plaster, and covered with 
a rag kept constantly moist with cold water. Aperient medicines should 
also be given, and sometimes it is advisable to bleed the patient. After 
a few days, when suppuration has set in, the treatment should be 
changed, and in place of the cold application, some warm emollient 
poultice, or lint dipped in warm water, should be adopted, and the sys- 
tem strengthened by mild tonics and a nutritious diet. The inflamma- 
tion which precedes suppuration is usually very intense, accompanied 
with great swelling, heat, and pain of the surrounding parts, and severe 
constitutional disturbance, fever, sleeplessness, etc. These symptoms 
change when suppuration is fairly established, the surrounding inflam- 
mation is lessened, the fever subsides, and in slight cases the health may 
seem but little affected. In severe cases, however, hectic fever super- 
venes, with debility, copious night sweats, and diarrhoea. Secondary 
hemorrhage not unfrequently occurs during the separation of the slough, 
in consequence of the ulceration of some of the larger blood-vessels, 
which may have been injured by the ball. In all these cases it will be 
absolutely necessary to secure the assistance of a competent medical man. 
(See Axilla, Bandages, Coagulable Lymph, Dressing, Suture.) 
WRIST. (See Carpus, Dislocations.) 
WRIST-DROP. (See Drop-Wrist.) 
WRY NECK. (See Neck.) 
XANTHORHIZA APIIFOLIA, zan-tho-ri'-za a'pe-i-fo'-le-a, or 
yellow root, a small perennial shrub belonging to the Nat. order Ranun- 
culaceae. It is found along river banks and on the sides of mountains 
in the Middle, Western and Southwestern States. It is a very bitter 
tonic, said by some to be superior to Colombo, and may be used in all 
cases where simple bitter tonics are required. Dose: of the fluid 1212 
XANTHORILLZA AP11F0LIA- YELL O JU FEVER. 
extract, | to 1 teaspoonful; of the tincture, 1 to 2 teaspoonfuls; of the 
decoction, 1 to 2 tablespoonfuls; and of the powdered root, 20 to 40 
grains, three or four times a day. (See Decoction.) 
XANTHOXYLUM FRAXINEUM, zandhoks-e-lum fraks-in'-e-um, 
or prickly ash, an American tree belonging to the Nat. order Xanthoxy- 
laceai. It is found growing in woods and on river banks in various parts 
of the United States and Canada. It is known by the common names, 
yellow wood, pellitory and toothache bush. The bark and the berries are 
the parts generally used in medicine. It is stimulant, tonic and alterative, 
and is used in languid conditions of the system, in rheumatism and 
derangements of the liver. It is a valuable tonic in low fevers. It 
yields a resin named xanthoxylin. Dose : of the fluid extract, 15 to 45 
drops; of the tincture, £ to teaspoonfuls; of the infusion, 1 pint to 
be taken in divided doses during the twenty-four hours (see Infusion) ; 
xanthoxylin 2 to 6 grains. 
YAM, WILD. (See Dioscorea Villosa.) 
YARROW, yar'-ro {Achillea Millefolium}, a perennial plant belong- 
ing to the Nat. order Asteracece. It is known also by the name of 
milfoil. It is a native of both Europe and North America. It is a mild 
aromatic tonic, antispasmodic and astringent, and is employed in inter- 
mittent fever, flatulent colic, and nervous affections, for the suppression 
of hemorrhages, profuse mucous discharges, and in low forms of eruptive 
fevers. Dose: of the fluid extract, from to 1 teaspoonful; of the infu- 
sion, 2 to 4 fluid ounces, three or four times a day; and of the essential 
oil, from 5 to 20 drops. (See Infusion.) 
YAWNING. (See Gaping, or Yawning.) 
YAWS. (See Frambcesia, or Yaws.) 
YEAST. (See Cerevisi?e Fermenti.) 
YELLOW BARK. (See Cinchona.) 
YELLOW DOCK. (See Rumex.) 
YELLOW-FEVER, yel'-lofe'-vur, is a specific fever of a continuous 
type, produced by a specific germ, propagated by contagion, and attended 
by yellowness of the conjunctiva and skin, delirium, suppression of 
urine, hemorrhages, black stools, a slow, and at times an intermittent 
pulse, and black vomit, or the vomiting of a black or dark-colored fluid, 
when about to terminate fatally. Cases have occurred as high as four 
thousand feet above the level of the sea, but as a rule it is endemic in Xanthoxylum Fraxineum. (Prickly Ash.) YELLOW-FEVER. 
1213 
low districts, near the sea-coast. The mortality is always very great, 
particularly among the young and robust. It generally lasts from three to 
seven days, but death frequently comes in a few hours. To no other great 
nation is the yellow fever so calamitous as the United States. In the 
year 1878 more than one hundred thousand were stricken, and twenty 
thousand lives sacrificed. It has invaded the United States in eighty- 
eight different years. For seventy-seven of these we have evidence of 
importation, and in many cases the evidence points to the West Indies 
as the source of infection. 
Symptoms.-The principal symptoms are those already enumerated, 
and also great pain in the front of the head and eyes, excessive restless- 
ness, great anxiety with feebleness of both mind and body. 
Treatment.-The treatment of yellow fever is still in a very unsatis- 
factory state. One thing is certain, that rest and quiet in a large airy 
room, under the care of a good nurse, is an indispensable part of the 
treatment. No specific is known for the disease. Small doses of quinine, 
2 grains every hour, are said to be productive of good. In some 
epidemics 5 to 10 minims of chlorodyne administered every two hours, 
have proved very efficacious. Where there is suppression of the urine, 
dry cupping over the region of the kidneys, followed by friction and 
stimulating liniments, are indicated. There is much evidence in favor of 
what is known as the cold water treatment. Ice in small quantities is 
given the patient, and at the same time he is enveloped in wet blankets 
renewed every fifteen minutes or half an hour, and kept up for four or 
five hours. The following are the results arrived at by the Yellow 
Fever Commission appointed by the Government during the late terrible 
epidemic of 1878: 
1. We have not in a solitary instance found a case of yellow fever 
which we could justifiably consider as of de novo origin, indigenous to 
its locality. 2. In respect to most of the various towns which wre visited, 
and which were points of epidemic prevalence, testimony showing the 
importation was direct and convincing in its character. 3. The trans- 
mission of yellow fever between points separated by any considerable 
distances appeared to be wholly due to human intercourse. In some 
instances the poison was carried in the clothing or about the people 
going into infected districts. In others it was conveyed in such fomites 
as cotton bagging or other goods of same description. 4. The weight 
of the testimony is very pronounced against the further use of disinfec- 
tants. Physicians in infected towns almost without exception, state 
that they are useless agents to arrest the spread of yellow fever, while 
some of them affirm that their vapors are seriously prejudicial to the sick. 
5. Personal prophylaxis, by means of drugs or other therapeutic means, 1214 
YELL 0 IF- FEVER-ZLNC. 
has proved a constant failure. A respectable number of physicians think 
that the use of small doses of quinine is of some use in prevention. 
6. Quarantines established with such degree of surveillance and rigor 
that absolute non-intercourse is the result, have effectually and without 
exception protected its subjects from yellow fever. (See Fever.) 
YELLOW GUM, OR ICTERUS INFANTUM, yel'-lo gum. A form 
of jaundice which affects infants, at, or shortly after their birth, and 
usually continues for some days. It is not dangerous, and as a rule dis- 
appears without any treatment. Two grains of gray powder may be 
given to operate on the bowels, followed by the time-honored saffron-tea. 
It can at least do no harm, if it do no good. 
YELLOW JESSAMINE. (See Gelseminum Sempervirens.) 
YELLOW LOCUST. (See Robinia Pseudo-Acacia.) 
YELLOW OR BROWNISH SPOTS. (See Ephelis, Freckles.) 
YELLOW PARILLA. (See Menispermum Canadense.) 
YELLOW POND LILY. (See Nymph^a Odorata.) 
YELLOW PUCCOON. (See Hydrastis Canadensis.) 
Y^ELLOW ROOT. (See Xanthorhiza Apiifolia.) 
YELLOW-ROOTED WATER DOCK. (See Rumex.) 
YOUTH. (See Puberty.) 
z. 
ZERO, ze-ro [probably from the Arabic tsaphara, empty]. This 
term, meaning nothing, is used to denote a cypher, and fill the blank 
between the ascending and descending numbers in a scale or series. 
Zero, in the thermometers of Celsus and Reaumur, is the point at which 
water congeals. The zero of Fahrenheit's instrument is fixed at the 
point at which the mercury stands when immersed in snow and common 
salt, and is 32° below the freezing point of water. In Wedgewood's 
pyrometer, the Zero corresponds with 1077° in Fahrenheit's scale. (See 
Thermometer, Cold, Heat.) 
ZINC, zingk [Ger.], is a bluish-white lustrous metal, having a 
crystalline lamellar structure, moderate hardness, and fusing at 773° 
Fahr. In medicine, oxide of zinc is used externally, or in the form of 
ointment, as an astringent and desiccant, and internally as a tonic, espe- 
cially in cases of nervous debility brought on by drinking. Dose, from 2 
to 10 grains. Nitrate of zinc is prepared by dissolving zinc in dilute 
nitric acid. Sulphate of zinc, or 'white vitriol, is used in medicine as 
an emetic. In small doses of 1 or 2 grains, it is tonic and astringent, ZINC-ZYMOTIC. 
1215 
and is used chiefly in spasmodic diseases, as epilepsy, Saint Vitus's 
dance, etc.: it is also used as a styptic, and as a wash for indolent ulcers. 
Carbonate of zinc, or calamine, is the chief ore of zinc, and is employed 
in its impure state in medicine as an exsiccant, and in healing cerates. 
The acetate of zinc is given in doses of 1 to 2 grains as a tonic, and 10 to 
20 grains as an emetic. Chloride of zinc, or butter of zinc, is remark- 
ably soluble in water, and its strong affinity for that substance renders it 
of great use as a desiccating agent in organic research. In solution, it 
forms Burnett's disinfecting fluid. It is a powerful escharotic when 
applied to the skin, and is used in surgery for that purpose. Valerianate 
of zinc is used in medicine in combating nervous disorders, in doses of 1 
tc 3 grains. 
ZINGIBER OFFICINALE, zin-ji-bur of-fis-e-ndde, or ginger 
plant, belonging to the Nat. order Zingiberaceoe. The root is the portion 
in which the virtues of the plant reside. It is a native of the East and 
West Indies and of tropical America. The Jamaica ginger is considered 
the best. Ginger is a grateful stimulant and carminative, often given in 
dyspepsia, flatulency and imperfect digestion, as well as in colic, nausea, 
gout, spasms, cholera morbus, etc. It is particularly valuable to 
travelers, who are exposed to complaints of the bowels, arising from 
change of climate and exposure, or from the use of unwholesome water. 
It is much used to mask nauseous drugs, and to prevent their tendency 
to produce griping. A local application of the concentrated tincture 
(one part of ginger and two of proof spirits) over the whole forehead, has 
been attended with remarkable success in shortsightedness. Dose: of 
the fluid extract, to 1 teaspoonful; of the tincture, 10 to 60 drops; of 
the syrup, 1 to 2 teaspoonfuls; of the powder, 10 to 20 grains. The 
infusion, commonly known as "ginger tea," is an excellent preparation 
to take in the incipient stages of common cold. 
ZOOLOGY, zo-ol'-o-je [Gr. zoon, an animal, and logos, a descrip- 
tion]. That branch of natural history which treats of animals. 
ZYMOTIC, zi-mot'-ik. The term includes the various epidemic, 
endemic, and contagious diseases, such as fever, small-pox, etc., which 
originate, or are supposed to originate, from a morbid poison being 
introduced into, and gradually extending itself throughout the system. 
The process is likened to that of fermentation, and the term is derived 
form the Greek verb signifying to ferment. APPENDIX. 
Diseases of Domestic Animals, 
-GIVING- 
f 
CAUSES, SYMPTOMS AND TREATMENT. 
EDITED BY 
N. H. PAAREN, M. D„ V. S. PREFACE. 
In the following appendix to the Cyclopaedia of Domestic Medi- 
cine and Household Surgery, we have undertaken to give in a 
condensed form, and in plain language, a description of the causes, 
symptoms, and treatment of such diseases and accidents as most com- 
monly occur among domestic animals. Within the limited space allot- 
ted us by the publishers, it will be obvious that only the most essential 
points could be touched upon, and that the contents, therefore, should 
be regarded only as hints, intended for those, who, in the absence of 
skilled veterinary assistance and advice, are obliged to act for them- 
selves. 
N. H. PA AREN, M. D., V. S 
Chicago, III., August, 1880. NOTE. 
For a long time we were in receipt of letters from our canvassers, in various parts of the country, inform- 
ing us that they were frequently asked, why the publishers did not make the treatment of diseases of domestic 
animals a part of the Cyclopaedia. After due consideration, we determined to make the desired addition, and 
at once engaged the services of Dr. N. H. Paaben, of Chicago, Ill., who is a regularly graduated physician and 
veterinary practitioner of over twenty years' experience in public service and private practice. The foundation 
of this gentleman's reputation as a veterinary expert, which extends over the whole United States, was laid at 
the Royal Veterinary and Agricultural College of Copenhagen, Denmark, where he devoted five years to the 
study of his profession. During the last three years of the late war, he was, by official appointment, Chief 
Veterinary Surgeon and Special Inspector of the Cavalry Bureau, U. S. Army; in which position, aided by a 
Corps of Assistants, he was held strictly responsible to the War Department for the proper and efficient treat- 
ment of a daily average af over three thousand sick and disabled horses, as the records will show. This 
truly grand opportunity, together with unlimited facilities, afforded an amount of rare and valuable experience, 
which, under ordinary circumstances, could not possibly be gained during the practice of a life-time. The 
columns of The National Live Stock Journal, since its commencement; of The Prairie Farmer, for more 
than fourteen years; and of The Western Rural, Factory and Farm, and other Farm Journals, bear 
witness to his capacity as a veterinary writer. Dr. Paaben is also the officially appointed Veterinary Adviser of 
the Illinois State Board of Agriculture. It is conceded on all sides that he stands high in the Veterinary 
Profession. Through his many years of editorial connection with the Agricultural Press, he has disseminated, 
with unusual ability and liberality, valuable practical instruction in the proper treatment and manage- 
ment of domestic animals; and his advice is now called for, through large daily mails and by telegraph, from 
all parts of the United States and Territories. 
THE PUBLISHERS. CONTENTS. 
I. General and Constitutional 
Diseases. 
Page. 
Strangles, or Distemper 7 
Influenza 8 
Glanders and Farcy 8 
Rheumatism 9 
II. Diseases of the Nervous 
System. 
Inflammation of the Brain 10 
Megrims, or Vertigo 10 
Staggers, or Coma 10 
Sunstroke 11 
Partial Paralysis 12 
Lock-jaw 12 
Spinal Meningitis 13 
III. Diseases of the Organs of 
Breathing. 
Catarrh, or Common Cold 14 
Nasal Gleet 14 
Sore Throat 14 
Bronchitis 15 
Congestion of the Lungs 16 
Inflammation of the Lungs 16 
Pleurisy 17 
Broken Wind, or Heaves 17 
Thick Wind 18 
Cough 18 
IV. Diseases of the Digestive 
Organs. 
Crib-biting, or Wind Sucking 18 
Diseases, etc., of the Teeth 19 
Wolf Teeth (so-called) 19 
Lampas 20 
Loss of Appetite 20 
Indigestion 21 
Spasmodic Colic 21 
Windy, or Flatulent Colic 22 
Diarrhoea 22 
THE HORSE 
Page. 
Costiveness 23 
Inflammation of the Bowels 23 
Inflammation of the Peritoneum 23 
Bots 24 
Worms 25 
V. Diseases of the Urinary 
Organs. 
Inflammation of the Kidneys 25 
Inflammation of the Bladder 25 
Retention of Urine 26 
Diabetes, or Profuse Staling 26 
VI. Diseases of the Eye. 
Superficial Inflammation of the Eye.... 27 
Specks, or Films on the Eye 27 
Periodic Ophthalmia 27 
Cataract 28 
Amaurosis 28 
VII. Diseases of the Skin. 
Surfeit 29 
Mange 29 
Hide-bound 29 
Cracked Heels, or Scratches 29 
Warts 30 
Lice 30 
VIII. Diseases of the Feet and 
Legs. 
Founder, or Laminitis 30 
Wounds in the Feet 31 
Quittor 31 
Cracks in the Hoof 32 
Contraction 32 
Navicular Disease 33 
Corns 33 
Tread and Over-Reach 34 
Thrush 34 
Ringbone 35 CONTENTS 
Page. 
Spavin 35 
Splent 35 
Sprain of the Back Tendons 36 
Shoulder Lameness 36 
Sweeny (so-called) 37 
Curb 37 
W ind-galls 37 
Lameness of the Hip 38 
Stifle Lameness 38 
Capped Hock and Capped Elbow 39 
Swelled Legs 39 
THE HOUSE.-(Continued.) 
IX. Wounds and Bruises. 
Page. 
Broken Knees 40 
Open Joint 40 
Wounds 41 
Bruises 41 
Abscess 41 
Saddle and Harness Galls 42 
Poll Evil 42 
Fistulous Withers 42 
Speedy Cut 43 
Striking, or Interfering 43 
HORNED CATTLE. 
I. General and Miscellaneous 
Diseases. 
Black Quarter, or Bloody Murrain 44 
Tuberculosis 44 
Rheumatism 45 
Foul in the Foot 45 
Warbles 46 
Ringworm 46 
Mange 46 
Lice 47 
II. Diseases of the Organs of 
Breathing. 
Catarrh 47 
Bronchitis 47 
Bronchitis from Worms 48 
Pleurisy 48 
Inflammation of the Lungs 49 
Cough 49 
III. Diseases of the Organs of 
Digestion. 
Loss of Cud 49 
Faulty Teeth 50 
Choking 50 
Bloating 50 
Diarrhoea 51 
Diarrhoea in Calves 51 
Fardel-bound 52 
IV. Diseases of the Generative 
Organs, etc. 
Abortion 52 
Milk Fever 53 
Retention of the After-birth 53 
Expulsion of the Womb 54 
Garget, or Caked Udder 54 
Sore Teats 55 
Bloody Milk 55 
Turn-Sick, or Staggers 56 
Grubs in the Head 56 
Catarrh and Bronchitis 57 
Bloating 57 
Diarrhoea 57 
Abortion 58 
SHEEP 
Foot Rot 58 
Wounds and Bruises 58 
Fractures 59 
Scab 59 
Ticks 60 
SWINE 
Coughing 61 
Epilepsy 61 
Sniffle Disease 61 
Malignant Sore Throat 62 
Inflammation of the Lungs 62 
Diarrhoea 62 
Worms 63 
Hog Cholera (so-called) 63 
Kidney Worm (so-called) 63 
Rheumatism 64 
Lice 64 
Sows Eating Their Pigs 64 
GENERALITIES 
See pages 65-67. Diseases of Domestic Animals. 
THE HORSE. 
I. GENERAL CONSTITUTIONAL DISEASES. 
Strangles, or Distemper. 
Causes.-Young colts and horses under three years old, are predis- 
posed to the development of this disease, which is an eruptive fever 
peculiar to the horse. Certain favorable circumstances tend to its 
development, such as change of location and atmospheric influences. 
Symptoms.-Begins with signs of common cold, depression of spirit, 
loss of appetite, occasional coughing; coat becomes staring, mouth dry 
and clammy, throat sore, nose red and discharging a thick, yellowish, 
slimy matter; breathing more or less distressed. Between the branches 
of the lower jaw appears a hard, painful tumor, which gradually increases 
in size; festering ensues, and Anally it bursts and matter escapes. 
Bowels costive, urine scanty, and there is loss of flesh and strength. 
Treatment.-Physic, bleeding and sedatives highly injurious. The 
disease must run its natural course; to check its progress endangers 
fatal complications. Good nursing, to keep up strength during the 
course of the disease, is most essential. Steam the nose with hot bran 
and hayseed in sack hung over the head, twice or thrice daily. Boil or 
steam barley and oats, mixed with sliced carrots, rendering chewing and 
digestion easy. In spring and summer, give freshly cut grass. Procure 
fresh air, avoiding cold draft. Apply from beginning, warm poultices 
of bran and flaxseed meal to the swelling under the jaw. If the tumor 
matures too slow, shorten the hairs and apply blister of 1 part of pow- 
dered Spanish fly mixed with 6 parts of hog's lard. Give, morning 
and evening, 1 dram of carbonate of iron, 3 drams of powdered gentian, 
and 2 drams of flaxseed meal, made into a thick paste with treacle, by 
placing it on the root of the tongue. 8 
APPENDIX. 
Influenza 
Causes.-Occurs most frequently among young horses, and especially 
during spring and autumn. It is more or less general in its appearance, 
so that a number of horses in a locality, or over a large extent of 
country, may become affected at the same time, and is recognized as an 
epizootic disease. 
Symptoms.-It occurs in various forms, and accordingly denominated 
either catarrhal, gastric, bilious, and may partake of a rheumatic or 
erysipelatous character. The catarrhal form is the most frequent. 
Among the first symptoms is dullness and rapidly increasing weakness, 
loss of appetite, hanging head, drooping ears, staggering gait, staring 
coat, quickened breathing, frequent pulse, occasional coughing, lips 
hanging, upper eyelid drooping, scantiness of dung and urine; gradu- 
ally the membranes of the eyelids and mouth assume a yellow, bilious- 
looking appearance, the chest becomes painful to the touch, and dropsical 
swellings may appear under the chest, abdomen and in the limbs. 
Treatment.-All that is said in regard to the feeding and care in the 
case of strangles, also applies to this disease, and in no disease is good 
nursing and care more essential than in this. Physics and bleeding 
must be omitted. Apply a light blanket and bandage the legs. 
Clysters of lukewarm soap-suds should be given several times daily. If 
there is cough and breathing is hurried, give thrice daily, 3 drams of 
fiuid extract of belladonna, 1 dram of camphor, and 1 ounce of sweet 
spirit of nitre, in £ a pint of cold water, carefully administered; or give 
thrice daily, 2 drams of nitre, 1 dram of carbonate of ammonia, and 8 
ounces of solution of acetate of ammonia, in a pint of cold watery 
Frequently offer the horse cold water to drink. Apply liniment of 
ammonia to the throat, and hot water to the chest, succeeded by a 
mustard poultice to both sides of the chest. When symptoms abate, 
give tonics, the same as recommended for strangles. Steaming the head 
is beneficial in the beginning of the disease. Rowels or setons should 
not be used. 
Causes.-Foul air in close stables, privation, bad food, inoculation or 
contact with glandered horses. Some chronic diseases may result in 
farcy or glanders. Farcy and glanders are twin diseases, or identical, 
and either of the two diseases generally terminates with both forms fully 
developed. 
Symptoms.-Farcy affects the superficial lymphatic glands and ves- 
sels, showing itself in painful, corded swellings on various parts of the 
body, but especially between the hind legs. Gradually the tumors, 
which are termed farcy buds, suppurate, and discharge unhealthy look- 
Glanders, or Farcy. DISEASES OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 
9 
ing pus. Glanders mainly affects the nose, gradually extending to the 
throat and lungs. Pustules form in the lining membrane of the septum 
in one or both nostrils, frequently the left. These break, and leave ulcers, 
with uneven, inflamed and thickened edges. The ulcers increase in 
number, and gradually destroy the membrane. There is a discharge of 
variously colored, gluey or sticky consistency, having a tendency to dry 
and form dark crusts on the edge of the nostrils. There is also a hard, 
nodular swelling of the gland, closely adhering to the inside of one or 
both lower jaw bones. According to progress of the disease, more or 
less frequent cough exists. Two forms of the disease, acute and 
chronic. Both glanders and farcy are highly contagious. 
Treatment.-Glanders is an absolutely incurable disease. Treat- 
ment of farcy only to be recommended in the beginning of the disease. 
To the farcy ulcers apply either strong solution of chloride of lime, car- 
bolic acid, or lunar caustid; or touch with pointed hot iron. Internally 
give £ a dram, twice daily, of iodide of copper, or iodide of iron, with 
% an ounce of gentian root. An ounce of aloes, with | an ounce of salt- 
petre, may be given every fortnight. Good, nourishing food, in liberal 
quantity, daily exercise, and attention to cleanliness. Keep such horses 
separated from others. Thorough disinfection of premises and of 
utensils necessary. 
Rheumatism. 
Causes.-Frequent in cold and wet seasons. Also occasioned by 
exposure to draughts of cold air, especially when the animals are warm 
from work. Often connected with influenza. 
Symptoms.-Generally affects the tendons, ligaments, and fibrous 
textures of the body and limbs, and has a tendency to change its loca- 
tion. Generally recognized by heat, swelling, pain and stiffness of the 
affected parts, causing more or less immobility and lameness; also more 
or less fever. When the loins are affected, it is called lumbago, and 
when the shoulders are affected, ckest-founder. 
Treatment.-Clothe the body, bandage the legs, place in comfort- 
able, well-ventilated stable, without draught. Apply friction with stimu- 
lants, such as hartshorn liniment; or apply blister of Spanish fly, or 
insert a seton. Give bran mashes or loosening diet A laxative, com- 
posed of 6 drams of aloes, and 2 drams each of nitre and ginger. 
Next, thrice daily, one of the following powders: 4 ounces of powdered 
nitre, 2 ounces of powdered squills, 2 ounces of powdered colchicum seeds; 
mix, and divide into twelve powders. In summer, give liberty on 
pasture. APPENDIX. 
10 
II. DISEASES OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. 
Causes.-Seldom occurs from other causes than local injury, such as 
concussion from bruises or knocks, or fracture of the skull, causing con- 
gestion and inflammatory changes. 
Symptoms.-In the beginning of the disease, generally delirium and 
convulsions. A high fever supervenes, evidenced by bloodshot eyes, 
and reddened membrane of the nose, as w'ell as by frequent pulse; 
breathing laborious and loud ; pupils of the eye contracted. The great 
sensitiveness from the beginning, soon changes to extreme dullness and 
insensibility. Appetite lost, bowels costive and urine scanty. Occa- 
sional convulsions, which increase in unfavorable cases towards death, 
generally in the course of a week. 
Treatment.-Constant application of cold water, or chopped ice to 
the head. Later, setons or blisters. Internally, before the horse 
becomes insensible, give 1 ounce of aloes, 20 drops of croton oil, and 2 
drams each of nitre and ginger, made into 2 balls, with sufficient flaxseed 
meal and treacle, which give both at once. Give frequent injections of 
blood-warm soap-suds. Place the horse in a cool, roomy, well-bedded 
shed, or large box-stall, where he should be allowed to go loose. 
Bleeding, if practiced, should be done in the beginning, otherwise, use- 
less and injurious. Give bromide of potassium in doses of 2 drams 
every three hours. 
Inflammation of the Brain. 
Megrims, or Vertigo. 
Causes.-A state of vertigo or giddiness may occur in the horse from 
a plethoric state of body, overwork, or uphill work in hot weather, 
undue pressure upon the jugular veins by a tight-fitting collar, obstruct- 
ing the return of blood from the brain, etc. 
Symptoms.-A certain twitching or trembling of the muscles of the 
neck, dilation of the veins of neck and head, and unusual excitability may 
first be noticed; after which the gait becomes unsteady, the horse reels 
and staggers, and suddenly falls to the ground in a state of insensibility. 
Treatment.-In cases of seizures of this kind, it is necessary to> 
unbuckle the throat latch, bearing rein and the collar, as quickly as pos- 
sible; then unhitch the horse from the vehicle, and procure a plentiful 
supply of cold water, to be dashed on the head. The horse will soon 
regain consciousness, look around as if wondering what has happened, 
and then get on his feet, when no further treatment is required. To 
prevent recurrences of this kind, avoid the causes. 
Staggers, or Coma. 
Causes.-Generally occurs at middle age, and in horses of coarse DISEASES OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 
11 
breed, of which those with narrow foreheads seem especially predis- 
posed to it. Among special causes may be mentioned over-feeding, 
together with keeping the horses a long time idle in hot and badly 
ventilated stables. Continued feeding on coarse, bulky diet. 
Symptoms.-Comes on slowly, with gradually increasing dullness 
and listlessness, torpidity of the bowels, varying appetite, occasional 
colicky symptoms, and scanty urine of high color and strong odor. 
Breathing and pulsation become considerably slower than normally. 
While eating, the horse will suddenly stop chewing, and stand with the 
food between the lips. When drinking, he will put the head into the 
water far above the nose. The symptoms become more intense, appe- 
tite is lost, he refuses to move, and when made to move, he reels and 
staggers. He generally stands with the head pressed against the wall. 
As the disease advances, delirium, cramps and convulsions occur at 
uncertain intervals. 
Treatment.-Before the stupor becomes too great, a dose of physic 
should be given, like that prescribed for inflammation of the brain; also, 
frequent injections per rectum. Walking exercise should be given 
several times daily. He should be placed in a cool stable or open shed. 
Setons should be applied to the neck, and strong hartshorn liniment 
rubbed in along the spine and on the limbs. Fifteen grains of powdered 
nux vomica, 1 dram of carbonate of iron, and 3 drams of powdered 
gentian root, mixed with a little treacle, should be smeared upon the 
root of the tongue thrice daily. After recovery, pasturage when in 
season. Never bleed in this disease. 
Snn-Stroke. 
Causes.-Occurs during hot days, under the influence of strong 
reflected rays of the sun, and is mamly produced from the same causes 
mentioned under the head of megrims. 
Symptoms.-More or less suddenly, the horse will droop in the 
harness, become unmindful of the whip, unsteady in the gait, perspire 
more or less suddenly or freely, and breathe rapidly and audibly. The 
nostrils are wide open, eyes red and protruding, and pupils contracted. 
With increasing prostration, insensibility supervenes, and the animal 
falls to the ground and may die in convulsions. 
Treatment.-Remove all harness, and bring the horse to a cool, 
shaded place. Liberal applications of cold water to head and body. 
With a view of equalizing circulation, apply friction and strong harts- 
horn liniment to the limbs, and Spanish fly blister to the sides of the 
neck as counter-irritation. Give injections per rectum, of 2 ounces of 
aqua ammonia, mixed with 1 pint of raw linseed oil. If the pulse 12 
APPENDIX. 
appears failing, give 2 dram doses of carbonate of ammonia in water, or 
2 ounce doses of whisky in | pint of water. If convulsions prevail, 
give £ ounce doses of bromide of potassium, or | ounce doses of chloral 
hydrate. 
Partial Paralysis. 
Causes.-Palsy of the lips or portions of face, may be occasioned by 
external violence, as bruises, blows, or undue pressure from ill-fitting 
halter or head-stall. Also as a sequel to brain diseases, or from pres- 
sure on the brain. Paralysis or palsy of one half of the body, such as 
the hinder half, may be caused by severe straining of the back, from 
being cast in the stall, or turning in a narrow stall; fractures of the 
bones of the spine, heavy blows on the loins, etc. Heavy blows over 
the crupper or at the root of the tail, may produce paralysis of the tail. 
Symptoms.-In paralysis of the face or lips, the affected side is 
flabby and motionless; the lips, especially the lower, hang down so as 
to expose the teeth, while the healthy side is drawn up. There is diffi- 
culty in drinking, as well as in grasping the food and in chewing it. In 
paralysis of the hinder half of the body, the animal lies down unable to 
rise or move the parts. In less severe cases, a standing position may 
be possible, but the movements are performed with more or less diffi- 
culty. In paralysis of the tail, there is inability to lift or move the tail. 
With the loss of motor power, there is generally also loss of sensibility. 
Treatment.-If paralysis is caused by pieces of fractured bone pres- 
sing upon the spinal marrow, or the nerves emanating therefrom, or 
from bony tumors pressing on the same, no cure is possible. Paralysis 
of the hinder half of the body may be regarded as incurable. In cases 
of paralysis of the face, or lips, remove the cause, if removable. Dur- 
ing twelve hours, apply cold water or chopped ice continuously. Then 
apply hot iron lightly, in streaks oi*dots, followed by Spanish fly blister- 
ing; or use such blister alone over the whole affected surface, repeating 
it every fourteen days. The same treatment may succeed in paralysis 
of the tail, by applying it to crupper and root of the tail. Electricity 
also useful. Internally, 10 to 15 grain doses of nux vomica, twice daily. 
Recovery always slow. 
Causes. - Two distinct forms, idiopathic and traumatic. Idiopathic 
form arises spontaneously, from exposure to cold and wet, certain mor- 
bid conditions of the digestive organs, or from unknown causes. The 
traumatic form is due to wounds or other injuries of the body and limbs, 
and especially punctured wounds of the joints and feet. 
Symptoms.-Among the first symptoms may be noticed some diffi- 
culty in turning the neck and in swallowing. Gradually the muscles of 
Lock-J aw. DISEASES OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 
13 
the neck and jaws become hard and stiff, and the jaws drawn together, 
so that opening of the mouth and chewing becomes partly or entirely 
impossible. The same spasmodic contraction gradually involves the 
muscles of the whole body and limbs. The head is protruding, ears 
fixed, eyes retracted in their socket, staring, and the haw drawn forward 
from the inner corner of the eyes, and constantly visible. Saliva flows 
constantly from the mouth. The position is straddling and stiff, and 
movements difficult, from inability to bend the body. Breathing is 
quick, the belly tucked up, and the tail carried more or less outstretched 
and quivering. The bowels are costive and the urine scanty. Appetite 
remains undiminished, and great thirst prevails, but very little can be 
swallowed. Great excitability prevails throughout the disease. 
Treatment.-At once remove the animal to a dark, quiet and cool 
place. Before the jaws become fixed, give a dose of physic, composed 
of 1 ounce of powdered aloes and 2 drams each of nitre and ginger, 
made into a ball; and with a view of keeping the bowels open, place 
between the back teeth once a day, or every other day, 1 dram of solid 
extract of belladonna, mixed with | a dram of podophyllin. Apply 
blankets, wrung out of hot water, over the body. Keep constantly 
placed before the horse, a bucket with fresh cold water, and another 
bucket with thin oatmeal gruel, which both should be frequently renewed. 
Allow no moving or touching of the horse, or loud talk by strangers. 
Apply poultice to wounds. With small syringe inject into the mouth 
thrice daily, the first day 15 drops, increasing daily with 5 drops, until 
100 drops are reached, of dilute prussic acid; then diminish the doses 
gradually at the same rate. Lock-jaw generally proves fatal. Recovery 
very slow. 
Spinal Meningitis. 
Causes.-This disease is generally due to the same causes that pro- 
duce inflammation of the brain. 
Symptoms.-Begins with excitement, tremors, labored breathing, 
quick pulse, and often profuse sweating. Cramps or convulsions ensue, 
gradually ending in paralysis of portions of the body, often the hinder 
half. Often much tenderness of back and loins. 
Treatment.-In cases of complete paralysis of hinder parts, with 
inability to void urine and dung, treatment is useless. Otherwise, 
applications during twelve to twenty hours, to the back and loins, of a 
continuous stream of cold water, or ice, succeeded by blisters of Spanish 
fly. Place the animal on liberal bedding in cool place, and turn him 
over every four or five hours. Success has followed the use of 40 drops, 
twice daily, of a mixture of 1 grain of atropia, 10 drops of diluted 
sulphuric acid, and 8 ounces of spring water. Give sloppy food, flax- 14 
APPENDIX. 
seed tea to drink, and frequent injections of blood-warm soap suds per 
rectum. While tremors and convulsions exist, give every two or three 
hours, 2 drams of bromide of potassium in a little water. If the urine 
is not discharged by the animal, it should be withdrawn thrice daily, by 
means of a catheter. 
III. DISEASES OF THE ORGANS OF BREATHING. 
Catarrh, or Common Cold. 
Causes.-Exposure to cold and wet, especially when warm or sweat- 
ing; cold draughts of air. Allowing the horse to remain wet, after 
washing the body or limbs. 
Symptoms.-Redness of the membranes of the eye and nose, with 
watery discharge, which later becomes mucous. Dullness, sneezing and 
coughing, partial loss of appetite. Later, chills, succeeded by warmth 
of the skin, slight increase of the pulse and quickened breathing. 
Treatment.-Place the horse in a cool, well-ventilated stable, with- 
out draught. Clothe the body, and apply friction and bandages to the 
legs. Give bran mashes or loosening food. In each half-pail of cold 
■drinking water, dissolve 2 teaspoonfuls of nitre. If the throat is sore, 
apply hartshorn liniment. 
Nasal Gleet. 
Causes.-Often the result of neglected catarrh. 
Symptoms.-Continuous discharge from one or both nostrils of a slimy 
pus. Little or no enlargement of the glands under the jaw. Generally 
not much coughing, but frequent snorting. Appetite varying, coat 
staring, and the animal more or less unthrifty-looking, or hidebound. 
Gradually the animal becomes poor and thin, and finally the disease 
may end in glanders. 
Treatment.-Injections into the nose of an astringent solution, such 
as | a dram of sulphate of zinc to each pint of water. The following 
may be given once daily: | a dram each of powdered sulphate of cop- 
per and sulphate of zinc, and 3 drams of powdered gentian root, which 
may be made into a ball with a little flaxseed meal and treacle, or mixed 
with a little treacle, it may be placed on the root of the tongue. Give 
occasionally loosening fluid, but feed liberally, and if the bowels are 
costive, give a dose of 6 drams of aloes, and 2 drams each of nitre and 
ginger, made into a ball. 
Sore Throat. 
Causes.-May exist in connection with catarrh and nasal gleet. As 
an independent affection, its causes are the same as in catarrh. DISEASES OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 
15 
Symptoms.-More or less swelling and tenderness of the throat; the 
•cough, which from the beginning is frequent, dry, and painful, becomes 
later of less frequency, looser and rattling. Pulse and breathing accele- 
rated. The degree of redness of the membranes of eyes and nose, indi- 
cative of intensity of the disease. First watery, then slimy discharge 
from the nose ; movements of the head impeded, and nose held forward. 
Difficulty in swallowing, the drinking-water escaping through the nose. 
Treatment.-Place the horse in a cool, well-ventilated stable, without 
draught. Cover the body lightly; apply friction and bandages to the 
legs. Steam the head; apply woolen rug around th'e neck. Give fre- 
quent lukewarm water injections per rectum. Apply warm poultices of 
bran and linseed meal to the throat; later, a liniment of 1 part of aqua 
ammonia and 6 parts of oil of camphor. Internally give morning, noon 
and evening, a tablespoonful of an electuary composed of 4 scruples of 
tannin, 3 ounces of brandy and six ounces of honey. Give sloppy or 
steamed food, and frequently offer the horse fresh cold water. 
Bronchitis. 
Causes.-May be a sequel to the above disease, or be produced by 
the same causes. Is an affection of the windpipe and its ramifications 
in the lungs, and like the foregoing not always an independent disease, 
but may co-exist with other diseases of the organs of breathing. 
Symptoms.-The animal is languid and dull; and the symptoms 
mentioned in the foregoing disease appear in this disease more intensi- 
fied, with the exception of the soreness and swelling of the throat. 
Appetite is lost, but there is great thirst. The legs and ears are cold, 
and the animal does not readily move. 
Treatment. - Do as recommended in the first four lines of treatment 
of sore throat. Give every two hours until six doses have been given, 
•each time 10 drops of tincture of aconite root. Thirst should be satiated 
by frequently offering fresh cold water, in which some nitre has been dis- 
solved. Apply mustard to the chest and along the windpipe, or a blister 
■composed of 1 ounce each of powdered Spanish fly and oil of turpentine 
to every 5 ounces of hog's lard; meanwhile tying the horse so he cannot 
interfere with the blistered parts during six hours. After the aconite, give 
morning, noon and and evening, until signs of recovery appear, or during 
two days, a dose of 2 drams each of muriate of ammonia and nitrate of 
potassa, and 1 ounce of powdered marshmallow root, made into an elec- 
tuary with a little water. Afterwards support strength and recovery by 
giving thrice daily 1 ounce each of aromatic spirit of ammonia and com- 
pound tincture of gentian. 16 
APPENDIX. 
Congestion of the Lungs. 
Causes.-Consists in over-gorging of the lungs with blood or bloody 
serum. Most frequent in young and plethoric animals. Induced by 
hard running, or severe exertions, especially after illness; exposure to 
sudden and extreme cold, etc. 
Symptoms.-Labored, quick and audible breathing, nostrils widely 
extended, eyes protruding and blood-shot, membranes of nose and eyes 
of a deep red or bluish color. Legs extended and cold, more or less sweat- 
ing, countenance anxious, and expressive of great suffering and distress. 
Heart beating tumultuously. Pulse quick and hardly perceptible. 
Treatment.-Remove harness or saddle. Provide cool place with 
fresh air. Strong stimulants of greatest importance ; 2 ounces each of 
tincture of ginger and aromatic spirit of ammonia, in pint of water; 
or 4 ounces of whisky in | pint of water, repeated every hour. Apply 
whisky or alcohol, with equal parts of w'ater, together with continued 
smart friction to the limbs. If possible apply to the body a blanket 
wrung out of very hot water, and cover this with several dry blankets. If 
hot water is not at hand, bleed from the jugular vein, except when great 
stupor prevails. Give frequent warm water injections per rectum. 
Inflammation of the Lungs, 
Causes.-These are mainly the same that produce other diseases of 
the organs of breathing. The last described disease generally results 
in inflammation of the lungs, unless rapidly relieved. 
Symptoms begin with loss of spirit, cold shivering, staring coat; sur- 
face of body and limbs, is cold. This is succeeded by fever heat, quick 
and full pulse, quick and subsequently laborious breathing; hot and 
clammy mouth, yellowish red color of membranes of nose and eyes. 
Gradually breathing becomes panting, nostrils widely expanded, fore 
legs separated, countenance anxious, membranes become bluish, a pain- 
ful and increasing cough ensues. Great drowsiness and loss of appetite. 
Urine and dung scanty. 
Treatment.-Provide cool and well-ventilated place. Blanket lightly 
without surcingle ; apply friction and bandaging to the legs. Give fre- 
quent warm water injections. Give tincture of aconite root as recom- 
mended for bronchitis. Apply mustard poultice to the chest. After 
the aconite, give every three hours an ounce each of sweet spirits of nitre 
and aromatic spirit of ammonia, in | pint of cold water, carefully from a 
bottle. Provide frequently fresh drinking water, into which may be 
thrown a handful of bran. When recovery becomes evident, support 
strength by giving thrice daily an ounce each of aromatic spirit of DISEASES OF DOMESTIC-ANIMALS. 
17 
ammonia and compound tincture of gentian. Give sloppy or steamed 
food, and in summer newly-cut grass. 
Pleurisy. 
Causes.- Inflammation of the pleura, or serous membrane which 
lines the inside of the chest, and covers the lungs, co-exists generally 
more or less with inflammation of the lungs. As an independent dis- 
ease it may be caused by exposure to cold and wet, and by changes of 
temperature, wounds of the chest, or broken ribs. 
Symptoms.-Not unlike those of inflammation of the lungs. The 
inspiration of air is short and painful, the expiration of air is slow and 
full, cough painful and short; pressure with the fingers between the ribs 
causes the animal to grunt; fore legs wide apart, position crouched, a 
ridge along the sides of the belly; nose thrust forward. Pulse quick 
and rising. Occasional twitchings seen at the sides of the chest, gener- 
ally after the second day, evidenced by apparent but temporary relief, 
and the ridge mentioned generally disappears. 
Treatment.-The same as recommended for inflammation of the 
lungs. Besides this give on the third day a laxative, composed of 4 
drams of aloes, dram of podophyllin, and 3 drams of nitre, made into 
a ball. Follow this up by giving morning, noon and evening during 
two days, 1 scruple of powdered digitalis, and | an ounce each of nitre 
and powdered juniper berries, administered in the form of electuary. 
When symptoms subside, give tonics as above. Tapping the chest, 
though of temporary relief, is generally not successful. 
Broken Wind, or Heaves. 
Causes.-Continued feeding on dry, bulky food, such as coarse hay, 
especially when musty or dusty, over-exertion on a full stomach ; also 
supposed to be due to a deranged state of the nervous centres, and 
especially of the parvagus nerve. 
Symptoms.-A feeble, dry, hacking or suppressed cough; abnor- 
mally expanded nostrils; unthrifty appearance ; breathing is accom- 
panied with a peculiar jerking motion ; the expulsion of air from the lungs 
is effected with a double movement of the abdominal muscles, after which 
the flanks suddenly fall down, and it takes a longer time to expel the air 
than to draw it in. Thirst and appetite greedy. There is a tendency to 
windy expansion of the abdomen, or flatulence and indigestion. 
Treatment.-In confirmed cases no remedy will remove the distress 
in breathing. Give only nutritive food in small bulk ; cut hay of best 
quality, mixed with sound oats, slightly damped; also, sliced carrots or 
turnips. Avoid timothy hay. Give every other day a meal of sloppy 18 
APPENDIX. 
or steamed food, with a pint of flaxseed meal. Never feed or water 
immediately before using the horse. Slow and easy work preferable. 
Thick Wind. 
Causes.-This is a difficulty in breathing, which is due to a thickening 
of the mucous membrane of the windpipe and its ramifications in the 
lungs, and is generally the result of repeated or prolonged attacks of 
bronchitis; or it may be the sequel to inflammation of the lungs, when 
this has resulted in disorganization of portions of the lungs. 
Symptoms.-Breathing is quicker than normally; the inhalation and 
exhalation of air are equally increased, and not irregular as in broken 
wind. During fast or heavy work, or exertions uphill, breathing 
becomes distressing, loud and wheezing, while nostrils are expanded to 
the utmost. The cough is short and dry, and much louder than in 
heaves. 
Treatment.-Though generally an incurable disease, it may be 
much mitigated by observing the same rules as mentioned for broken 
wind. Much relief may also be obtained by giving 2 drams of fluid 
extract of belladonna and £ an ounce of Fowler's solution of arsenic, 
twice daily, during every other week. 
Causes.-The question frequently occurs, "What is good for a cough ?" 
This is very difficult to answer satisfactorily, without knowing the cause. 
Cough accompanies all diseases of the organs of breathing, and remains 
often as a permanent result of disease of these organs, as exemplified in 
the two above last described affections. It also accompanies chronic 
diseases of the liver, indigestion, and may be excited by the presence of 
intestinal worms, as well as by bots, lodged in the gullet. 
Symptoms.-It need scarcely be mentioned that this consists in a 
more or less loud and forcible expulsion of air from the lungs. 
Treatment must depend upon the cause or causes. Their successful 
treatment, or amelioration of the conditions upon which the cough 
depends, will partially or entirely cause its cessation. 
Cough. 
IV. DISEASES OF THE DIGESTIVE ORGANS. 
Crib-Biting, or Wind-Sucking. 
Causes.-This habit may be regarded as either the effect or the 
cause of indigestion, though it often proceeds from idleness and from one 
horse imitating another that is cribbing. In the course of time it is apt 
io interfere with the condition of the horse, as well as with his endurance. DISEASES OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 
19 
Symptoms.-The act consists in the horse taking hold of, or fixing 
his teeth against any protruding object within easy reach, at the same 
time curving his neck, and with or without swallowing of air, produces 
an eructating or grunting noise. By a peculiar movement of the head, 
some horses have a habit of swallowing air, without fixing the teeth 
against any object; this is called wind-sucking. 
Treatment.-The horse should.be placed in a stall where the manger 
is lower than the knees, and the lowest part of the hay rack, as well as 
the window or air-hole, are higher than the top of his withers. The 
arrangement of the muscles of the neck and jaws is such, that he can 
only practice the cribbing when these can be brought into exertion at a 
certain leverage. Therefore remove all protruding objects within the 
heights mentioned, as he cannot crib when stretching the neck up or 
down. When young horses are continually licking their manger, which 
generally precedes the habit of cribbing, the above arrangement should 
be made forthwith, and some salt constantly kept before them; and the 
habit may thus in the start be effectively prevented. 
Diseases and Irregularities of the Teeth. 
Causes.-Irregularities and diseases of the teeth are frequent causes 
of loss of desire to eat, poor condition, and much suffering. Injury or 
disease of the jaw, often the cause of, or co-existing with disease of the 
teeth. Irregularity in the growth and wear of the teeth are often due 
to difficult or protracted shedding of milk teeth. Irregularity in the 
rows of the teeth cause irregular wear. Decay of the teeth is often 
caused by external injury to the jawbones. 
Symptoms.-The horse may have become hide-bound and emaciated, 
before the teeth are suspected to be the cause of his condition. Project- 
ing parts of one or more teeth, sharp corners or edges, often bruise and 
cut the tongue or cheek, the pain causing the horse to drop pellets of 
half-chewed food out of his mouth. More or less slavering. Decaying 
teeth produce the same symptoms, besides offensive odor from the 
mouth. Diseased grinders in the upper jaw may produce offensive dis- 
charge from the nose. 
Treatment.-Small points or projections may be leveled with the 
tooth rasp; larger ones by means of a chisel, constructed for this pur- 
pose. Stuffing decayed teeth with gutta-percha is of questionable utility. 
Their extraction and subsequent filling of the tooth socket with gutta- 
percha or caoutchouc, preferable. 
Wolf Teeth (so-called). 
Causes,-These are two small tooth-like nodules, one of which is 20 
APPENDIX. 
inserted in front of each upper row of molars. They are supernumerary 
teeth, which are not concerned in masticatior^ 
Symptoms.-It is a prevailing opinion among horsemen that these 
teeth are productive of certain diseases of the horse's eye. This is a 
mistake, as there is no connection whatever between these teeth and the 
eyes. Very rarely they diverge from their normal direction to one side 
or the other, or have a sharp point, and which may cause wounding of 
the cheek or tongue. 
Treatment.-These teeth generally drop out with the shedding of the 
milk teeth, before the fifth year; but occasionally they remain. When 
not deviating from a straight direction, or having a very sharp projecting 
point, it is better to leave them alone, than to break them off, as they 
are utterly harmless. 
Im in pas. 
Causes.-Appears most frequently between the second and fifth year, 
during which time the animal sheds its teeth. When occurring in older 
horses, it is generally due to indigestion, the presence of large numbers 
of worms, etc. 
Symptoms.-In young animals, there is swelling, redness and tender- 
ness of the gums and the ridges of the palate, often to such an extent 
that it interferes with mastication. The enlargement of the ridges of 
the palate in older animals, is generally not accompanied with redness 
or pain. 
Treatment.-Instead of the cruel and barbarous practice of burning 
or tearing out the enlarged ridges, make slight incisions with a lancet or 
penknife, and when bleeding has ceased, apply a solution of alum in 
water. When due to indigestion or worms, treat as mentioned in the 
description of these ailments. In all cases, give access to salt, by plac- 
ing it within reach of the animal. 
L<oss of Appetite. 
Causes.-Exists to a greater or less degree in all internal diseases, 
and when external ones are of a painful nature. May also be due to 
irregular wear of the teeth, difficult teething, or diseases of the teeth or 
the jaws. Sometimes it exists without any discernable cause. 
Treatment depends upon the nature of the cause; when this is 
ameliorated or removed, the appetite will return. If the cause can not 
be ascertained, that is, when the animal to all appearance is healthy, 
change the diet; give a laxative of 10 ounces of Glauber's salts dis- 
solved in a pint of warm water, and to which add an ounce of ground 
ginger; place salt within reach of the horse ; give regular daily exercise; 
in proper season, give liberty on grass. DISEASES OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 
21 
Causes.-Sudden changes of food, especially from green to dry and 
bulky food, or the reverse. Musty, dusty, or otherwise unsound grain 
or hay. Too much food and want of exercise. Overwork, with long 
hours, or irregular intervals between feeding. Improper chewing on 
account of diseased teeth. 
Symptoms.-Loss of spirit and strength; loss of condition; hide- 
bound ; tucked up appearance of the belly; tongue and mouth coated 
and slimy; animal sweats easily; appetite at times indifferent, and at 
other times ravenous. The dung is either dry, hard and slimy, or like 
cow's dung, of a strong, sour or fetid smell, and mixed with whole grain. 
Occasionally the horse may look around to his sides, paw with his feet, 
switch the tail, and evince signs of colic. Sometimes he licks the wall 
or the ground, and prefers eating his dirty litter. Occasional coughing. 
Treatment.-Change the diet, and give small rations at short inter- 
vals. Steamed or boiled food, or pasturage. In advanced cases give 
laxative dose as for loss of appetite. Place magnesia or powdered chalk 
within reach; also some salt. Give tonic and alterative medicines, such 
as | an ounce each of carbonate of soda, gentian and ginger, repeating 
the dose morning and evening during a week, and repeat after a week's 
interval, if necessary. Regular daily grooming and exercise. 
Indigestion. 
Spasmodic Colic. 
Causes.-Exposure to cold and wet; constipation ; overfeeding and 
overwork ; irregular feeding; exhaustion. Large numbers of worms ; 
intestinal tumors and stones ; drinking large quantity of cold water, 
when in a heated condition. 
Symptoms. -Sudden uneasiness, pawing with the fore feet and strik- 
ing the belly with the hind feet, switching with the tail, turning the head 
round to the flanks ; getting up and down rapidly and frequently ; lying 
on the back, and rolling around frequently; occasional grinding of the 
teeth. These symptoms alternate with short intervals of quiet, during 
which moments he may take to his food. The symptoms gradually 
decrease in severity with prolonged intervals of quiet, or they increase in 
severity, when inflammation of the bowels set in, ending with mortifica- 
tion and death. 
Treatment.-With a view of removing the cause, give the following 
dose of medicine: Dissolve 1 ounce each of aloes and carbonate of 
soda in a pint of hot water, and add thereto 1 ounce of tincture of 
ginger. Apply friction with straw whisks to the abdomen; lead the 
horse beside another in gentle trot, not in gallop. If no other stimulant 
is at hand, give every half hour, 3 ounces of whisky in | a pint of water; 22 
APPENDIX. 
otherwise procure % an ounce each of fluid extract of belladonna and 
aromatic spirit of ammonia, and 1 ounce of laudanum, to be given 
in % a pint of water, and repeated every half hour until symptoms abate. 
Give as often lukewarm injections of soap-suds, 1 or 2 quarts at a time. 
After recovery, feed lightly on loosening food. 
Windy, or Flatulent Colic. 
Causes.-These are mainly the same as those that produce spasmodic 
colic. 
Symptoms.-This form of colic may be considered as a complication 
of spasmodic colic, and the main differences in the symptoms of both are, 
that in flatulent colic the belly is more or less extensively expanded from 
distension of the intestines with gas; there is frequent eructation of 
wind through the mouth, discharge of dung with gas, and rumbling 
noise within the abdomen; the pain is also more continuous than in 
spasmodic colic. 
Treatment.-Abdominal friction; injections; walking exercise; the 
administration of alkalies to neutralize the gases and stop fermentation. 
Give every half hour 3 drams of aqua ammonia in a pint of cold water. 
When the symptoms lessen in severity, give every hour, until all symp- 
toms have disappeared, a dose of £ an ounce each of sweet spirits of 
nitre, tincture of ginger, and tincture of gentian, in a pint of cold 
water. Subsequently feed lightly on easily digested food. 
Causes.-This feverless disease may be caused by sudden change 
from dry to green food; new hay; the presence of worms; exposure to 
inclement weather; the presence of some irritating substance in the 
intestinal canal; deteriorated state of the blood; general debility; and 
either co-existing with other diseases, or a sequel to various exhausting 
diseases. 
Symptoms.-Frequent and abundant discharges of fluid excrements, 
mixed with slime, and more or less foetid; generally accompanied with 
discharge of flatus, and with more or less straining; great thirst; im- 
paired appetite; often with signs of colic; coldness of extremities; 
more or less rapid wasting of body; and, if unchecked, death from 
exhaustion. 
Treatment.-Ascertain and remove the cause; if due to indigestible 
or irritating substances, remove the same by means of a laxative dose, 
composed of 3 to 4 drams of aloes, and 1 ounce each of bicarbonate of 
soda and ginger. Give only small quantities of drinking water; no 
exercise; frequent injections of lukewarm water. If diarrhoea continues,. 
Diarrhoea. DISEASES OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 
23 
or is due to unknown causes, give every two to three hours, 1 ounce 
each of tincture of catechu, sweet spirits of nitre and tincture of 
gentian, in a pint of gruel. When due to general debility, or when 
much prostration exists, give every three hours 2 drams of chloride of 
lime, and 1 ounce each of tincture of ginger and compound tincture of 
gentian. 
Costiveness. 
Causes.-Functional derangement of the liver; continued feeding on 
dry and bulky food, with want of exercise; often co-exists with, or is a 
result of various diseases. 
Symptoms.-Prolonged intervals between passage of smaller than 
usual pellets of dung, which are dry, hard, dark colored, and sometimes 
covered with thick and stringy slime or mucus. There may be slight 
symptoms of colic, repeated almost daily; or the signs of colic may 
occur in all their intensity. 
Treatment.-Change the diet to easily digested food, and give occa- 
sional bran mashes; regular daily exercise; if accompanied with colic, 
give laxative dose of medicine and injections, as recommended in 
spasmodic colic. In summer, give grass. If due to existing disease, 
costiveness will disappear with the disease. Place salt constantly within 
reach of the horse. 
Inflammation of the Bowels. 
Causes.-Overloading of the stomach and bowels; exposure to cold 
and wet weather; constipation; irritating or poisonous substances; a 
sequel to colic. 
Symptoms.-More or less restlessness, which may or may not increase 
to severe colicky symptoms. Loss of appetite; thirst; quickened 
breathing and pulsation; occasional stretching; belly tucked up and 
hard; legs and ears very cold; more or less sweating; pulse becomes 
weak, quick and hardly perceptible; breathing irregular and sighing; 
membranes of eyes and nose very red, changing to purple or blue; great 
prostration and listlessness; clammy and cold sweat, trembling and con- 
vulsions in fatal cases. 
Treatment.-Give pint doses of olive oil every hour, besides large 
quantities of flaxseed tea; also, hourly lukewarm water injections. 
Apply to the abdomen blankets wrung out of very hot water, frequently 
renewed, and succeeded by a mustard poultice, extending over the whole 
abdominal surface and the flanks. No exercise; ample bedding in roomy 
box-stall or shed, where the animal should go loose. 
Causes.-Inflammation of the peritoneum or serous membrane, 
Inflammation of the Peritoneum. 24 
APPENDIX. 
which lines the inside of the abdominal cavity, and forms the outer coat 
of the intestines, co-exists more or less with inflammation of the bowels. 
Otherwise, it may be caused by exposure to cold and wet, external 
injury, such as cuts, punctures or lacerations of the abdomen; and it 
may occur after castration, when exposed to cold and wet. 
Symptoms.-More or less restlessness; chills, succeeded by fever; 
cold extremities; belly tucked up, tense and very tender to the touch; 
loss of appetite; urine and dung scanty; more or less straining; quick 
and painful breathing; quick and small pulse; weakness and unsteady 
gait. Sometimes swelling under the belly. 
Treatment.-Give a purgative composed of % an ounce of aloes, 1 
dram of podophyllin, and 2 drams each of nitre and ginger. Then give 
every hour 10 drops of tincture of aconite root, until 6 doses are given. 
Give hourly warm water injections. Apply to the abdomen a blanket 
wrung out of very hot water, often repeated; succeed this with mustard 
poultice to the abdomen and flanks. 
Bots. 
Causes.-Mostly among horses kept in the country, or city horses 
that have been pastured. During the latter part of summer, the horse- 
fly or gad-fly deposits its eggs mainly on the fore-legs and shoulders of 
the horse, who, by licking himself, gets the eggs or larvae in his mouth, 
and swallows them with his food. The larvae fasten themselves to the 
cardiac end of the stomach, where they remain until the following 
spring, when they loosen their hold and pass out together with the 
dung, and after a few weeks transformation become gad-flies. 
Symptoms.-Unless present in considerable numbers, or are so situ- 
ated in the stomach as to interfere with the passage of food into the 
intestines, they rarely inconvenience the horse. In many cases of colic, 
due to other causes, the bots are blamed, even when the horse has not 
been to grass for years, and consequently can have none within him. 
During their passage into the stomach, a few may remain lodged in the 
gullet, and become a subsequent cause of irritation and cough. Colic 
caused by the presence of bots in the stomach cannot be distinguished 
from colic produced by other causes. 
Treatment.-Bots, lodged in the gullet, may be removed by the hand 
through the balling iron. The bots, lodged in the stomach, cannot be 
removed by any means at our command. As colic produced by the 
presence of bots is similar to spasmodic colic, the horse should be treated 
as recommended for that disease. Keep salt placed constantly within 
reach of the horse. DISEASES OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 
25 
Causes.-Various kinds of worms are found in the alimentary canal 
of the horse. 
Symptoms are not very marked unless they are present in consider- 
able numbers. Indigestion may be a result of their presence as well as 
a cause of their increase in numbers. Appetite irregular; at one time 
indifferent, at other times ravenous. Generally loss of spirit, flesh and 
strength; hide-bound; staring coat; occasional symptoms of colic; 
sometimes coughing; and the passage of worms with the dung. 
Treatment.-Frequent change of diet; place salt within reach of the 
horse; give morning and evening during a week, 1 dram of carbonate of 
iron and 3 drams of powdered gentian, mixed among the food; then 
give a purgative composed of 6 drams of aloes, | a dram of calomel, 
and 2 drams each of nitre and ginger. So-called pin-worms may be dis- 
lodged by occasional injections of 2 ounces of oil of turpentine and 1 
pint of raw linseed oil, which should be done when the rectum is empty. 
Worms. 
V. DISEASES OF THE URINARY ORGANS. 
Inflammation of the Kidneys. 
Causes.-Exposure to cold and wet; unsound or musty food; exces- 
sive use of nitre, rosin, etc.; the eating of injurious herbs (ranunculi, 
etc.) with the grass; external injuries of the loins, blows, strains, etc. 
Symptoms.-The usual signs of fever, a quick and hard pulse, fre- 
quent breathing, hot and dry skin, clammy mouth, redness of the mem- 
branes of the eye and nose, thirst, loss of appetite, bowels constipated, 
urine scanty, discharged with straining, and more or less red and bloody, 
slimy, or mixed with pus; the back is arched, hind legs straddling, gait 
stiff and unsteady, loins hot and tender. No inclination to lie down. 
Treatment.-Give every hour, 10 drops of tincture of aconite root, 
until 6 doses are given; apply hot wet rag over the loins, frequently 
renewed, and succeeded with mustard poultice; give hourly warm water 
injections per rectum, and all the cold linseed tea the horse will drink. 
A pint of linseed oil may be given every six hours, until the bowels 
become loose. If symptoms continue with much pain, give every three 
hours, until symptoms subside, 1 dram each of camphor and opium, and 
3 drams of powdered marshmallow root, made into electuary with a little 
treacle. Sloppy or loosening food, grass, etc. 
Causes.-May co-exist with inflammation of the bowels or the 
Inflammation of the Bladder. 26 
APPENDIX. 
kidneys. Often due to the same causes that induce inflammation of the 
kidneys; stone in the bladder; internal use of Spanish fly. 
Symptoms.-These are mainly the same as in inflammation of the kid- 
neys. Urine passes off in small quantity by frequent efforts and strain- 
ing. More or less sexual excitement in the beginning. Often consider- 
able irritation of the digestive organs. 
Treatment.-Similar as for inflammation of the kidneys, with the 
exception of the laxative doses of oil. 
Causes.-Spasm of the neck of the bladder; paralysis of the bladder; 
stone or tumor in the neck of the bladder or in the urethra, or inflam- 
mation of the same; mechanical injuries of the urethra. 
Symptoms.-Frequent and ineffectual efforts at urinating, attended 
with all the symptoms of spasmodic colic, with which latter disease it 
often co-exists. Through the rectum the bladder may be felt distended 
with urine. 
Treatment.-If due to the presence of stone, this should be removed 
by surgical means; if due to other causes, these should be removed or 
overcome. In the case of spasm, give frequent warm water injections, 
and draw the urine from the bladder by means of a catheter. Inter- 
nally, give every half hour, 1 ounce of laudanum, and | an ounce each of 
fluid extract of belladonna and aromatic spirit of ammonia, in | a pint 
of cold water. Apply blanket, frequently wrung out of very hot water, 
to the loins and the abdomen. 
Retentive Urine. 
Diabetes, or Profuse Staling. 
Causes.-New oats, new hay, or the same musty; mow-burnt hay; 
continued use of nitre or rosin; certain acrid and diuretic plants among 
grass or hay; exposure to cold and wet. 
Symptoms.-Frequent discharge of large quantities of clear and 
nearly inodorous urine; impaired appetite, loss of spirit and strength, 
costiveness, rough and dry skin, paleness of the tongue and the mem- 
branes of the eye and nose, and great thirst. 
Treatment.--Entire change of food; instead of water, give linseed 
tea to drink, in which is dissolved some magnesia or carbonate of soda; 
give thrice daily, a ball composed of | a dram each of iodide of potas- 
sium and alum, 3 drams of linseed meal, and sufficient treacle; or as 
often, a ball composed of | a dram each of alum and iodide of iron, and 
3 drams of linseed meal with treacle. DISEASES OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 
27 
VI. DISEASES OF THE EYE. 
Causes.-Inflammation of the delicate membrane, which lines the 
inner surface of the eyelids, and covers the surface of the eyeball, be- 
sides being caused by cold and damp, is often produced by hay-seed or 
particles of dirt, or by a stroke from the whip, etc. 
Symptoms.-Swelling of the eyelids, copious flow of tears, redness, 
intolerance of light, and later the appearance of a "scum" on the sur- 
face of the eyeball. 
Treatment.-Secure the head and turn the upper eyelid inside out, 
to ascertain if any dirt, etc., is present, in which case it should be 
removed. Then bathe the eye frequently with lukewarm water or milk, 
by means of a sponge. Place the horse in a darkened stall, and apply 
thrice daily a portion of a mixture of 2 drams each of laudanum and 
fluid extract of belladonna, and 1 pint of soft water or rain water. 
Superficial Inflammation of the Eye. 
Specks, or Films on the Eye. 
Causes.-Generally the result of inflammation of the eye, internally 
and externally, or result from wounds of the cornea or surface of the 
eyeball. 
Symptoms.-More or less extended spots of a dull-colored or whitish 
appearance, which, according to their size and numbers, interfere more 
or less with the eyesight, and often causes the animal to shy at 
objects. 
Treatment.-When of recent origin, blow into the eye once or twice 
a day, a small portion of 1 part of calomel and 2 parts of white sugar, 
very finely powdered, and apply twice daily, between the eyelids, by 
means of a small camel's hair pencil, a portion of a solution of 3 grains 
of nitrate of silver in each ounce of distilled water. When resulting 
from a wound, they are generally not removable. 
Periodic Ophthalmia. 
Causes.-This disease, which is also known by the name of moon 
blindness, though the changes of the moon have nothing to do with its 
appearance, may be caused by want of ventilation and drainage of 
stables, a plethoric state of the body, irritation consequent upon shed- 
ding of the teeth; is peculiar to coarse bred horses, especially in low, 
marshy localities, and is also transmitted from parents to offspring. 
Symptoms.-Generally attended with symptoms of fever. Oftener 
affects one eye at a time, or both alternately. Eyelids swollen and 28 
APPENDIX. 
closed, copious discharge of hot tears; white of the eye shows reddened 
blood vessels, and inside of eyelid very red; the pupil is contracted ; a 
discoloration is observed within the transparent portion of the eyeball, 
from accumulating matter of a dirty yellow color. There is great 
intolerance of light. Urine scanty, bowels costive, and appetite im- 
paired. 
Treatment.-Place the horse in a darkened stall. Give a purgative 
ball, composed of 5 drams of aloes, 1 dram of podophyllin, 2 drams of 
nitre, and 1 dram of capsicum. Bathe the eyes thrice daily with warm 
water, by means of a soft sponge, and apply between the lids, by means 
of a small camel's hair pencil, a portion of a mixture of | an ounce of 
Goulard's extract, 1 ounce of fluid extract of belladonna, and 1 pint of 
distilled water. Externally, apply to the eyelids and to the hollow over 
the eye, a portion of fluid extract of belladonna. Give loosening food 
in small quantities. The disease is not permanently curable; but the 
causes should be avoided as much as possible. 
Cataract. 
Causes.-Is generally the result of repeated attacks of periodic 
ophthalmia. It may also result from other causes, as well as from 
old age. 
Symptoms.-Within the more or less enlarged pupil may be noticed 
a white speck, or white radiating streaks, or the whole of the optic lens 
may be dim or white, so as to cause the pupil to look more or less com- 
pletely white. By this partial or complete opacity of the optic lens, the 
eyesight is correspondingly more or less completely destroyed. 
Treatment is generally unsatisfactory. 
Amaurosis. 
Causes.-Generally due to a diseased condition of the brain, or the 
optic nerve. Also, a result of concussion of the brain from falls or hard 
knocks. 
Symptoms. -A sudden change from darkness to strong light, or the 
reverse, causes no expansion or contraction of the pupil, which in this 
disease is often more round than oval. The eye has a peculiar glassy 
appearance, and to the casual observer looks sound. Nevertheless the 
horse is as blind as a bat. He lifts his feet high, carries his head high, 
and his ears are constantly moving. 
Treatment is generally useless, although, when the evil is of recent 
origin, and depending on such affections of the brain or digestive organs 
as may be curable, the sight may return together with the removal of 
the cause, or the cure of the original disease. DISEASES OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 
29 
VII. DISEASES OF THE SKIN 
Surfeit. 
Causes.-Sudden atmospheric changes ; exposure to cold and wet; 
suddenly checked prespiration ; high feeding. 
Symptoms.-Circumscribed flat swellings of various size, appear 
suddenly on the neck, shoulders, sides, back, or on the limbs, some- 
times accompanied with itching. The animal otherwise seems well. 
The swellings sometimes disappear as suddenly as they came. 
Treatment.-Blanket the horse, and give bran mashes or steamed 
food. Daily exercise. Bathe the affected parts with a solution of | an 
ounce of oxide of zinc in 1 pint of soft water. Among the food may be 
given, morning and evening, 1 tablespoonful of Fowler's solution of 
arsenic. 
Mange. 
Cause.-Filth, privation, poor condition of body, contact with mangy 
horses, or the harness and halter which have been used for such horses. 
Symptoms.-Pimples and blisters, singly or clustered, especially on 
the neck and withers, but also on the rump and tail. Considerable 
itching. Hairs mat together and fall off in patches, and the skin be- 
comes rough and wrinkled. 
Treatment.-Give loosening food and a purgative composed of 5 
drams of aloes, 1 dram of calomel, and 2 drams of nitre, made into a 
ball. In summer green food. After cleaning the skin with soap-suds, 
apply a solution of 1 ounce of bicarbonate of potash in 1| pints of 
soft water. Give morning and evening, among the food, 1 tablespoonful 
of Fowler's solution of arsenic. Attend to cleanliness of the horse, 
his surroundings, the harness, the curry comb and brush, etc. 
Hide-bound. 
Causes.-Exposure to inclement weather; chronic diseases ; derange- 
ment of the organs of digestion ; poor and innutritions food, etc. 
Symptoms.-This condition can not be called a disease, because it is 
in itself only a symptom attending a variety of existing evils or wants. 
The skin feels dry and rough, and lies tight to the ribs; the coat 
has lost its gloss and is staring, and the animal is generally in a poor 
condition. 
Treatment.-Avoid the causes. The successful treatment of such 
diseases upon which it may depend, will cause its disappearance. 
Cracked Heels, or Scratches, 
Causes.-Want of cleanliness; cold and wet; derangement of the 
digestive or urinary organs. 30 
APPENDIX. 
Symptoms.-Cracks and fissures in the skin of the heels, generally 
of the hinder limbs, accompanied with more or less swelling, heat, red- 
ness and pain ; sometimes fetid discharge. 
Treatment.-Attend to cleanliness; apply poultice of equal parts of 
bran, linseed meal and powdered charcoal. Apply oxide of zinc oint- 
ment, or an ointment of 1 part of sulphur, 2 parts of tar, and 3 parts of 
simple cerate. Give loosening food, among which may be mixed 2 
drams of nitrate of potassa, morning and evening. 
Warts. 
Causes.-A morbid development of the cuticle or scarf skin, due to 
excessive vascularity of the underlaying true skin. 
Symptoms.-A hardening of the cuticle, with development of tumors 
of various appearance and size, having a narrow or a broad base. 
Treatment.-When small, they may be removed with scissors. 
Larger warts, having a narrow base, may be strangulated by means of 
a strong, waxed thread, tied tightly round their base. Warts, having a 
broad base, may be removed with a knife and the bleeding stopped by 
careful touching with a hot iron, or by dressing with tincture of iodine, 
phenic acid, or butter of antimony, in all cases taking particular care 
not to touch the healthy skin. 
Lace. 
Causes.-Neglect of cleanliness and contact with lousy animals. 
May also be communicated by means of blankets, harness, brush and 
curry comb, used on lousy animals. Where poultry is allowed to roost 
in the stable, or the hen house is attached to the stable, horses are often 
troubled much by hen lice. 
Treatment. -Proper attention to cleanliness of the premises, and 
daily grooming of the horses. Burning the hairs removed by curry 
comb and brush. Washing with soap-suds, and the application, by 
means of a stiff brush, of a solution of 2 drams of borax in 20 ounces of 
warm water, to which, when cold, add 14 ounces of acetic acid. As 
poultry are a nuisance in the stable, they should be kept out of it, and 
the hen house should not be near to the stable. 
VIII. DISEASES OF THE FEET AND LEGS. 
Founder, or Laminitis. 
Causes.-Inflammation of the vascular and sensitive laminae of the 
foot, may be caused by sudden changes of temperature, over-exertion 
on hard road, over-feeding, large draughts of cold water, standing in DISEASES OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 
31 
snow or ice-water while warm; or it may be due to rheumatism, stran- 
gles, or influenza, etc. 
Symptoms.-Fever, which may come on suddenly; also, abnormal 
heat of the feet, accompanied with great tenderness; frequent shifting 
of the fore feet, which are brought forward, while the hind feet are 
placed forward under the body to relieve the fore feet of the weight of 
the body. Inability to stand on one fore foot while the other is lifted 
up, and unwillingness to move. Lays down much, and is difficult to 
get up. In severe cases, loss of appetite and costive bowels. Thirst. 
Treatment.-If shod, remove the shoes. Cut down the rim of the 
hoof all around, to such an extent that only the sole and frog touches 
the ground. Do not pare away anything from sole or frog. Then place 
him on earthen floor, or well bedded floor. Envelop the feet in large, 
soft, cold poultices of equal parts of linseed meal and bran. If much 
tenderness prevails, scarify the skin above the hoof, and place the feet 
in hot water, to stimulate bleeding. Give 5 drams of aloes, and 1 dram 
each of podophyllin and capsicum. Give every hour from the begin- 
ning, 10 drops of tincture of aconite root, until six doses are given. If, 
after two or three days, the fever and pain in the feet do not decrease, 
thin down the sole at the toe, and make an incision sufficiently deep to 
start bleeding, and encourage the same by placing the foot in warm 
water. Later, apply blister round the pastern. Give loosening food, 
or fresh cut grass. Subsequently give liberty outdoors, if season and 
weather permits. 
Wounds in the Feet, 
Causes.-Sharp or pointed bodies, such as pieces or projections of 
iron, nails, glass; nails going in a wrong direction in shoeing, or com- 
ing too close to the quick. 
Symptoms.-Lameness; bleeding, when the wound is large; abnor- 
mal heat of the foot; the horse does not stand firmly on the foot, or 
rests it on the toe; more or less fever. 
Treatment.-Remove the shoe ; search for and remove the offending 
object, if yet remaining. If due to picking up a nail on the road, or to 
a shoe nail, follow the entrance of the nail to the quick; when matter 
may be found. The smith is then apt to apply some butter of antimony 
or nitric acid; but this practice should never be allowed. Apply poul- 
tice of linseed meal and bran during a day or two, and subsequently, if 
necessary, apply equal parts of tincture of myrrh and tincture of aloes. 
Quittor. 
Causes.-Fistula of the coronet, the sequel to an abscess in the foot; 
may be caused by corns, pricks, bruises, quarter cracks, or when gravel 32 
APPENDIX. 
or dirt finds its way into fissures between the sole and the wall. It may 
also result from treads and over-reaching. 
Symptoms.-Lameness; more or less swelling, heat and tenderness; 
discharge of matter from one or more small openings, connecting within 
the foot, more or less deeply. 
Treatment.-After removing the shoe and ascertaining the cause, 
which should be removed, if present, poultice the foot. If due to a 
corn, this should be cut down, so as to facilitate escape of matter from 
below. By means of a small syringe, inject thrice daily, during the 
first two days, a portion of a solution of a scruple of corrosive sublimate 
in 1 ounce of alcohol; injections once daily thereafter will suffice. It 
is sometimes of service to also apply a blister to the swelling or to the 
pastern above. If delay in healing is due to detachment of a portion of 
bone, this should be removed.by surgical means. 
Causes.-Dryness and softness of the hoof alternating; faulty shoe- 
ing ; too much rasping of the wall; brittleness of the hoof. 
Symptoms.-A crack or fissure in the wall of the hoof, of more or 
less extent, generally from above downwards; often attended with 
lameness, heat and tenderness, from pinching of the sensible parts with- 
in, and the entrance of sand or dirt. 
Treatment.-The edges of the crack should be rounded off, without 
cutting into the depth of the crack. Cleanse the parts, and soften the 
horn by a poultice, the shoe being removed. In extensive cracks, the 
edges may be held together by means of carefully inserted rivets. To 
prevent entrance of dirt, fill the crack with shoemaker's wax. Apply a 
light bar shoe, and if the split extends through the length of the hoof, 
remove the bearing of the wall of the hoof from the split backwards, if 
the split is in the quarter near the heel; otherwise about half an inch 
each side of the split. Apply a mild blister to the coronet. 
Cracks in the Hoof. 
Contraction. 
Causes.-Contraction exists with most chronic diseases of the feet, 
or is the result of such. May also result from long-continued idleness, 
improper paring, rasping and shoeing ; also due to a diminution of local 
vitality and nutrition. In some horses, the feet are small and narrow, 
without being contracted; but then the size of the fore feet corresponds 
to that of the hinder ones. The foot may be oblong, or shaped like a 
mule's, without being contracted. 
Symptoms.- The heels are drawn together, often to the extent of 
overlapping; the frog is diminished, and is hard and dry, giving a DISEASES OE DOMESTIC AM IMAIS. 
33 
drawn-up or arched appearance of the frog and sole. Sometimes the 
contraction is only on one side of the hoof. There may be lameness 
and pointing forward of the foot, but not always. 
Treatment.-Removal of the shoes, and their disuse for some length 
of time. Proper paring of the hoof, without opening the heels. Plac- 
ing the horse on moist earthen floor, or liberty outdoors on soft ground. 
Pasturage during summer; application of hoof ointments; thence the 
use of shqes without bevelling, or with a slight outward slant of the sur- 
face of the shoe. 
Navicular Disease. 
Causes.-A diseased condition of the navicular bone, the perforans 
tendon, synovial sac and the ligaments connected with the navicular 
joint, is caused by overwork, concussion, bruises of the sole, improper 
shoeing, and the same causes that produce contraction. 
Symptoms.-These are mainly the same as those attending contrac- 
tion. Lameness not always immediate. When standing in the stable, 
the horse points the foot forward, the heel lightly resting on the ground 
or lifted from it. A short, tripping gait, with tendency to stumble; 
lameness abating when the animal is driven a distance. Undue heat 
may be noticed at the quarters and heels. Muscles of the leg, shoulders 
and breast wasting, which wasting is commonly called sweeny. 
Treatment.-Similar to that recommended for contraction. The 
application of blisters, setons and firing, often useless ; but of these, the 
insertion of a seton through the heel, emerging through the frog, is pre- 
ferable. Great care in its insertion is required. Nerving, by which 
sensibility of the parts is removed, is often performed as a last resort, 
but is not to be recommended without reservation, on account of the 
attendant danger, and possible fatal results, from picking up nails, etc.; 
besides, this operation does not stop the progress of the disease. 
Corns. 
Causes.-Bruising of the sole at the angle of generally the inside 
heel of the fore feet, from faulty shoeing, or from letting too long time 
(over four weeks) pass between shoeing or re-setting of the shoes. May 
occur at both ifnside and outside heels. 
Symptoms.-Lameness, abnormal heat, tenderness. The horse rests 
the foot more or less on the toe, and favors the heel in walking. Pinch- 
ing the foot, or tapping the quarter with a hammer causes flinching. 
On removing the shoe, and paring the sole, there will be found a dis- 
coloration of the horn, extending to the sensible parts. In severe cases 
there is swelling of the coronet, with much tenderness, and there are 34 
APPENDIX. 
evidences of the formation of matter within, or there may be escape of 
matter. 
Treatment.-Remove the shoe, and apply poultice. If much lame- 
ness, tenderness and swelling prevails, pare down the corn to the quick, 
without starting blood. Matter may then be found, when a poultice 
may be re-applied. In case of escape of matter above, treat as recom- 
mended for quittor. In slight cases, lower the heel, and apply a shoe 
with the calking moved forward of the corn. In aggravated cases apply 
a bar shoe, after some oakum, or tow, dipped in tar, has been placed in 
the cavity of the corn. In very flat feet, with weak and deficient heels, 
apply leather between the bar shoe and the heels. Re-set or renew the 
shoeing every three to four weeks regularly. 
Tread and Over-reach. 
Causes.-Bruises or wounds of the coronet or the heels may occur, 
from the horse treading on the coronet with the fellow foot, or on the cor- 
onet of the hinder foot with the shoe of the forefoot, in backing with a 
heavy load, or on yielding ground or deep soil. Bruises or wounds 
may be inflicted upon the heels of the fore feet by a blow of the hind 
shoe, when the horse over-reaches, which may happen in trotting, or 
when the horse gallops over loose and deep soil, or when he stumbles. 
Symptoms.-There may be evidences of a bruise, with swelling, and 
with or without abrasion of the skin; or this may be abraded, or 
lacerated and bleeding, and the underlying parts may be more or less 
cut and bruised. 
Treatment.-Cleanse the parts with warm water. Clip the hair 
short around the injury, and remove detached shreds of skin and tissues. 
Apply a warm poultice, or rags frequently saturated with warm water. 
In slight cases apply a coat of tar; when the bruise and laceration is 
extensive, apply a mixture of 1 part each of Goulard's extract and laud- 
anum, and £ a pint of soft water, protecting the part with linen bandag- 
ing. If, in the course of healing, there should be much sprouting of 
granulations, or so-called proud-flesh, apply powdered sulphate of cop- 
per, or tincture of iron, or powdered sulphate of zinc. 
Thrush. 
Causes.-A diseased condition of the frog of the foot may be caused 
by the horse standing in decaying filth, or in manure and urine; exces- 
sive paring of the frog ; wounds and bruises of the frog ; diseased state 
of the heels ; and from constitutional causes. 
Symptoms.-More or less lameness; tenderness of the frog and 
heels; more or less fetid discharge from the cleft of the frog; detach- 
ment of portions of the frog, and discoloration of the horn. DISEASES OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 
35 
Treatment.-Place the horse on a dry floor; remove all detached 
and decayed parts, but with care not to injure sound parts or to draw 
blood. By means of a blunt-pointed, small, fiat stick, clean out all 
matter and dirt from the cleft, and by the same means insert, once a 
day, a portion of powdered sulphate of zinc, or sugar of lead, or calomel, 
and cover the same with a wad of oakum, or tow dipped in tar. If the 
horse is not lame, he may be used for work, but only on dry ground or 
on dry roads. If the ailment is due to other affections of the foot or the 
heels, it will disappear when these are successfully treated. 
Ringbone. 
Causes.-Enlargement of the small or large pastern bones, from 
deposit of bony matter; may be caused by concussion, bruises and knocks, 
faulty nutrition, and hereditary tendency. 
Symptoms.-Inflammation of the investing membrane of the bone, 
with more or less swelling of neighboring parts, accompanied with more 
or less lameness ; gradual hardening and increase of the enlargement; 
knuckling over of the fetlock ; lameness worse on hard ground. 
Treatment.-Rest and continued cold applications, succeeded by the 
use of blisters or firing with hot iron, or firing and blistering both. 
Treatment does not remove the enlargement, and more or less stiffness 
remains. 
Spavin. 
Causes.-Concussion, sprains of the hock, severe labor; constitutional 
tendency. 
Symptoms.-Spavin may exist without being visible, which is termed 
occult spavin; or it may be accompanied with enlargement, visible on 
the lower part of the inner side of the back joint; lameness and stiff- 
ness of the joint. The lameness, which is most perceptible when the 
horse first starts, gradually decreases as he keeps moving. The horse 
wears the toe of the shoe on the afflicted limb more than on the other 
shoes. When standing, he rests the foot on the toe. When made to 
step sideways, he steps on the toe of the afflicted limb. 
Treatment.-Rest, cold applications, continued during two to three 
days, and succeeded by blistering, or the insertion of a seton, or by 
firing. If firing is resorted to, blister may be applied simultaneously. 
Subsequently, liberty on pasturage when in season, or work on soft 
ground. Bony enlargement not removed by treatment, and more or less 
stiffness of the hock joint will remain. 
Splent. 
Causes.-Concussion, and bruises or knocks on the shank bone; a 
constitutional tendency or predisposition to bony enlargements. 36 
APPENDIX. 
Symptoms.-One or more small bony enlargements on one or both 
sides, but generally on the inner side of the shank, between the shank 
bone and the so-called splent bone, whereby these become firmly united. 
Associated with more or less lameness, or with no lameness. When 
near the knee, they are more likely to produce lameness. There may 
be more or less heat, swelling and tenderness of the neighboring soft 
parts. When lameness is present, it increases on hard road and with 
continuance of exercise or work. 
Treatment.-Rest and continued cold applications, such as a con- 
stant stream of cold water during one to two days. Then application of 
blister, or firing. When the swelling of the soft parts has subsided, 
and much tenderness and lameness remains, relief may be obtained by 
making a lengthwise incision through the membrane which invests the 
bone. Splents generally disappear as the horse gets old. 
Causes.-Sprains of the tendons and ligaments from back of the knee 
down to the foot, may occur from severe exertions, rapid work on hard 
roads, and from leaping and galloping. 
Symptoms.-Lameness, swelling, heat and tenderness. The animal 
rests the foot on the toe, and has a stumbling gait. In old cases, there 
are more or less thickening of the tendons and ligaments, or knotty 
tumors along the cords. Crooked knees often result. 
Treatment.-Complete rest, continued cold applications, blistering 
or firing, or both. Subsequent long rest, or, when in season, two to 
three months' liberty on pasture. When put to work, a shoe with very 
low or no toe-piece, and high heels, should be used. 
Sprains of the Back Tendons. 
Shoulder Lameness. 
Causes.-Spraining of the muscles of the shoulder blade, or of the 
tendons passing over the front part of the shoulder joint, may occur 
from severe labor, sudden starting and pulling of heavy loads, pulling in 
deep and heavy ground, sudden wheeling round, or severe efforts to 
extricate the limbs from heavy soil. Spraining of the muscles of the 
shoulder blade most common in young horses. Shoulder lameness may 
also be due to rheumatism. 
Symptoms.-More or less local tenderness on pressure, generally 
not much swelling. The horse favors the affected limb, carries it more 
or less stiffly forward, and when made to move, especially in a trot, the 
leg is not carried straight forward, but in an outward swinging manner. 
There is more or less dragging of the leg, and in severe cases, difficulty 
in lifting the foot from the ground. DISEASES OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 
37 
Treatment.-Rest and continued hot fomentations. Subsequently 
applications of strong hartshorn liniment, mild or strong blisters, accord- 
ing to the severity of the case. Setons are sometimes useful; but firing 
is not to be recommended. After treatment, put the animal to very 
light work; or, when the case was severe, give liberty out-doors for some 
time. 
Causes.-A wasting of the muscles of the shoulder alone, or includ- 
ing all the muscles of the fore limb, as well as of the crupper and haunch 
of the hinder limb, may be due to diseases of the lower parts of the 
limbs, especially when they are accompanied by much pain, and disuse 
of the limb in consequence, or from chronic diseases of the legs and 
feet, especially when the bones and joints are affected. In young 
horses, just put to work, local wasting of the muscles of the shoulder is 
not uncommon. 
Symptoms.-When the limb on one side is affected, the difference in 
appearance and fullness of the affected and the sound side is often very 
considerable. As a consequence of the wasting, there is a want of 
strength and activity of the limb, and more or less lameness. 
Treatment.-In young horses, when due to unsteady or hard pulling, 
treat as recommended for shoulder lameness. Subsequently give only 
light work in breast harness, or in a soft or padded, well-fitting collar, 
until the animals become used to pulling. When the so-called sweeny 
is the result of diseased conditions of the limbs, treatment will avail 
nothing, so long as the cause remains. When weather and season 
permits give liberty out-doors. 
Sweeny (so-called). 
Curb. 
Causes.-Sprain of the tendon that passes over the point of the hock 
and downwards, may be caused by compelling the horse to back with a 
heavy load, especially in deep soil or on uneven ground; also from fre- 
quent rearing. 
Symptoms.-More or less soft or hard swelling, heat, tenderness and 
lameness. Instead of a straight line from the point of the hock down- 
wards, there is more or less bulging below the point of the hock, espe- 
cially noticeable from a side view. 
Treatment.-Rest, continued cold or hot applications, succeeded by 
repeated blistering, or firing and blistering, with subsequent liberty out- 
doors. Apply a shoe with low toe-piece and high heels. 
Windfalls. 
Causes.-Puffy enlargements about the fetlock joint, and about the 
hock joint, which are given various names, such as thorough-pin, bog 38 
APPENDIX. 
spavin, and windgalls, consist of an increased accummulation of synovial 
fluid, or joint oil, whereby the joint capsules become distended. They 
are generally caused by hard work. 
Symptoms.-More or less fluctuating, or hard, circumscribed tumors, 
more or less movable beneath the skin. Heat, tenderness and lame- 
ness are generally not present. 
Treatment.-Rest and wet bandaging, or bandages soaked with de- 
coction of white oak bark. To old hardened windgalls, blistering or 
firing, or both. Windgalls are always apt to return when the animal is 
again put to steady work. 
Lameness of the Hip. 
Causes.-May be the result of slips and falls, or severe efforts in 
extricating the limbs in heavy soil, or of severe exertions in galloping 
or leaping. 
Symptoms.-1The leg is carried forward in a stiff, dragging manner, 
and with a short step. The animal exhibits pain when the leg is lifted 
forwards and upwards. In severe and protracted hip lameness, there is 
more or less wasting of the muscles. 
Treatment.-Rest and cold applications. Strong blister, applied 
over a large surface, or the insertion of one or two setons, together with 
liberty out-doors. 
Stifle Lameness. 
Causes.-A dislocation of the stifle-cap or the patella, is peculiar to 
young horses, and may be due to a relaxed state of the ligaments con- 
nected with the patella. Sudden sliding in getting up from a slanting- 
and slippery stall floor may produce it. 
Symptoms.-The dislocation may be known by a hard protuberance, 
of the size of a small closed hand, on the side of the stifle joint. In 
moving, the horse is unable to bring the leg forward, and drags it out- 
stretched after him, while limping on three legs. Often while moving, 
the patella slips suddenly into its place. By dislocation of the patella 
inwards, the leg is held forwards and upwards. The stifle joint is often 
wrongly supposed to be the seat of lameness. 
Treatment.-While an assistant brings the leg forwards and upwards,, 
the knee-pan or patella is easily pushed into its place. Then place the 
animal on a level floor, and apply a constant stream of cold water, from 
half an hour to an hour; thereafter bathe the parts frequently for a few 
days with strong oak bark decoction. When much relaxation exists, 
benefit is derived from applying a pitch plaster, or blister. The appli- 
cation of a shoe with an upward curved projection at the toe, is of much 
service in protracted cases. DISEASES OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 
39 
Capped Hock and Capped Elbow. 
Causes.-Capped hock is generally caused by horses kicking against 
the siding of the stall, or while in harness, or it may result from blows; 
may also be due to a sprain of the tendon. Capped elbow is caused by 
the horse bruising the point of the elbow on the shoe in lying down; 
or it may be caused by blows. 
Symptoms.-Swelling and more or less heat and tenderness ; rarely 
lameness. In both cases the swelling contains bloody fluid. If the 
injury or bruising is repeated, inflammation and suppuration may ensue; 
or the swelling becomes gradually hardened. 
Treatment.-Apply warm fomentations; then blister; when much 
accumulation exists, evacuate the contents. A larger opening may be 
made in the case of capped elbow, which should then be treated as 
advised for open wounds. If abscess forms, treat as advised for abscess* 
In the case of capped elbow alter the shoe, and apply, while the 
horse is in the stable, a leather pad, covering the heel s of the shoe. In 
the case of hardened tumor at the elbow, it maybe removed by excision 
with the knife, after which treat as for open wounds. If the enlarge- 
ment at the point of the hock is due to sprain of the tendon, apply a 
high-heeled shoe without toe-piece. 
Swelled Degs, 
Causes.-Result of debilitating or protracted internal and external 
diseases; glanders and farcy; a lymphatic constitution; exposure to 
filth, wet and cold. 
Symptoms.-More or less lameness, stiffness, heat and tenderness, 
or none of these. Pressure with the fingers leaves indented marks, 
which soon disappear; the swelling may extend from the feet up to the 
body, or may be confined to the leg below the hock. 
Treatment.-When the swelling co-exists with internal or external 
diseases, it generally continues during the duration of these. If it 
remains after these have been cured, and is a result of constitutional or 
general debility, the internal administration of tonics, as advised for 
these, together with fomentations of decoction of oak bark, bandaging, 
friction, proper exercise and nutritive food, should be resorted to. If 
due to a lymphatic constitution, or inactivity of the kidneys, give morn- 
ing and evening | a dram of camphor, 2 drams each of nitrate of potassa 
and linseed meal, made into a ball with treacle. 40 
APPENDIX. 
IX. WOUNDS AND BRUISES. 
Broken Knees. 
Causes.-Striking the knee against any hard body; falling. 
Symptoms.-There may be a laceration of the true skin, exposing the 
tendons, or even the bones, or laying open the joint; swelling; heat, 
tenderness, bleeding, or escape of joint oil. 
Treatment.-Rest, and continued cold applications; removal of 
shreds ; but flaps of skin should be saved and united by means of plas- 
ter after the hairs round the wound have been removed. One or more 
small openings should be left for the escape of matter. In slight cases, 
bathing should be succeeded by a solution of 1 part each of Goulard's 
extract and laudanum, and 15 parts of soft water; apply linen bandage. 
When much laceration exists, together with exposure of the ligaments 
or bones, the horse should be prevented from lying down, and the body 
supported by a sling. Poultices may be applied, succeeded by applica- 
tions of the above solutions, together with light bandaging. In the case 
of open joint, treat as recommended below. If much fever and restless- 
ness exists, give 10 drops of tincture of aconite every hour, until six 
doses have been given; or, besides this, give 5 drams of aloes, and a 
dram each of podophyllin and capsicum, made into a ball. Give loosen- 
ing food. 
Open Joint. 
Causes.-Severe bruises by falls, kicks or knocks. Injuries by nails, 
pitchforks, broken glass, knives, etc. 
Symptoms.-Heat, swelling, tenderness, and escape of a pale yellow- 
ish fluid, of the consistency of the white of an egg, escaping more freely 
when the limb is moved. There is disinclination or inability to rest on 
the affected limb, and fever, which increases, when inflammation of the 
joint sets in. 
Treatment. -Secure the horse in a sling ; give physic ball and acon- 
ite as advised for broken knees ; if much laceration of the skin exists, 
unite the edges by plasters, after the hairs have been clipped short, and 
the wound has been cleansed from dirt, leaving openings sufficient for 
escape of matter ; then apply a constant stream of cold water for a day 
or two, and without friction, succeeded by blistering, if the wound is a 
punctured one ; otherwise apply poultices saturated with a weak solution 
of carbolic acid, and thereafter, strong astringent solutions by means of 
wads of tow or oakum, secured by light linen bandage. To prevent 
movements of the joint, which is absolutely necessary, apply splints of DISEASES OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 
41 
light, flat sticks of wood, secured by separate bandages. Coagulated 
joint oil must not be removed from the orifice. Give loosening food. 
Wounds. 
Treatment depends upon the extent of the injury and the nature of 
the wound. In all cases, first cleanse the wound, and search for and 
remove any foreign body that may be lodged within. If a large blood 
vessel is severed, secure the ends and ligate them. Then clip the hairs 
short round the wound. If a clean cut is immediately attended to, it 
may heal without further treatment by carefully bringing the edges 
together, securing them there by sticking plasters. Otherwise, unite 
the edges by stitches, not drawn too tight, and apply a solution of 1 
part of carbolic acid to 25 parts of water. In lacerated wounds, after 
removing shreds of tissues, unite the flaps evenly by stitches, leaving 
opening below for escape of matter. Apply above solution, or equal 
parts of tincture of myrrh and tincture of aloes, or Friar's balsam. 
The same treatment will apply to bruised wounds. To punctured 
wounds apply first bathing and warm poultices. If matter becomes 
penned up within, enlarge the opening, and use above remedies. If 
much fever and pain exists, give 10 drops of tincture of aconite root 
every hour in six hours. Give loosening food. If much sprouting, or 
so-called proud flesh ensues, apply powdered alum, or powdered sul- 
phate of zinc. 
Bruises. 
Symptoms.-More or less swelling, with more or less abrasion of 
the skin. Heat, tenderness, and interference with normal functions of 
injured organs. Extravasation of bloody water under the skin, fester- 
ing, or sloughing. 
Treatment.-Warm fomentations, diluted tincture of arnica. If 
there is evidence of accumulated fluid within, make incision with knife 
at the lowest place. If festering ensues, treat as advised for abscess. 
If there is sloughing of tissues, apply yeast poultices, solution of chlor- 
ide of zinc, or of bichloride of mercury. 
Abscess. 
Causes.-The result of local inflammation caused by a bruise, or the 
presence of a foreign body, such as a nail, splinter, etc. Also the result 
of certain internal diseases, as strangles or influenza. 
Symptoms.-Swelling, heat, tenderness, and more or less fever. The 
swelling, which at first is hard and diffused, generally becomes soft; if 
the abscess is located immediately under the skin, there will be some 
pointing and loss of hairs at the place where the abscess will break and 42 
APPENDIX. 
discharge its contents. If situated beneath horn, sinews, or other resist- 
ing parts, the contents are apt to burrow in various directions and pro- 
duce fistula. 
Treatment.-If foreign bodies ar present, these should be removed. 
Continued warm bathing, warm poultices, if necessary succeeded by blis- 
tering. When sufficiently mature, liberate the contents by incision of 
the lowest or most dependent or prominent part of the tumor, taking 
care not to injure important nerves or blood vessels, etc. Deeper seated 
abscesses may be emptied by means of a trocar, and subsequent careful 
enlargement of the orifice. Attend to cleanliness and treat as advised 
for wounds. 
Saddle and Harness Galls. 
Treatment.-Discontinue the use of ill-fitting saddle, harness or col- 
lar. If the horse must be used, apply proper padding, so as to remove 
bearing from the scalded or bruised parts. Remove portions of the 
stuffing of collar, or soak the collar and make indentions with a hammer, 
to correspond to the location of the galls. Every evening sponge sweat 
and dirt off collar and harness, and noon and evening, remove sweat and 
dirt from the shoulders and back of the horse with wet sponge. Then 
bathe with diluted tincture of arnica, or apply rags saturated with this, 
or spirits of camphor; fluctuating tumors should be emptied with small 
trocar. Freedom from work. 
Causes.-Halter-pulling, hitting the poll against a low door or any 
other object; hard knocks. 
Symptoms*-Heat, tenderness, with painful swelling, resulting in 
abscess and fistula. 
Treatment.-Remove the halter and let the horse go loose in a box 
stall. In the beginning cold applications, succeed by blister. When 
fluctuation can be detected, make free incision to evacuate matter, and 
apply solution of 1 grain of chloride of zinc to each ounce of water, or 
a solution of 1 part of carbolic acid to 25 parts of water. If a fistula 
has formed, lay the same completely open by free incisions, lengthwise 
with the neck; remove all diseased surfaces, scraping off decayed por- 
tions of bone, if such are found; then insert wads of tow soaked with 
above solutions. In cases of unhealthy granulations or sloughing, apply 
a solution of | a dram of chloride of zinc to each 6 ounces of water. 
Poll Evil. 
Fistnlous Withers. 
Causes.-Ill-fitting saddles, or harness, bruises and knocks. 
Symptoms.-The same as in poll evil. 
Treatment.-The same as in poll evil. Fistulas should be freely DISEASES OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 
43 
explored with the knife. When very deep-seated, insert setons through 
the various canals, pushing the seton needle through the same and 
out through the skin. Thus dependent openings are made for escape 
of matter, and the remedies recommended for poll evil may be injected 
from above. If caries or decay of bones of the spine exist, remove the 
decayed portions by scraping. No cure so long as decay of bone exists. 
Speedy Cut. 
Causes.-Hitting the lower part of the inner side of the opposite 
knee with the hoof or edge of the shoe. 
Symptoms.-More or less swelling, heat, tenderness, with or without 
lameness. 
Treatment.-Cold applications continued during one to two days, 
with bandaging. Then applications of a lotion of 1 ounce of Goulard's 
extract and a pint of water. If much accumulation of fluid in the 
swelling, withdraw with small trocar, inserted through the lowest part. 
If swelling does not subside, apply blister. If abscess forms, lay the 
tumor open, and use carbolic acid solution, 1 part to 25 of water. To 
prevent speedy cut, apply knee-cap, and rasp off the sharp edges of the 
shoes. 
Striking, or Interfering. 
Causes.-Faulty action, due to faulty conformation; may be due to 
weakness, in which case it ceases on regainment of strength; faulty 
shoeing; fatigue. 
Symptoms.-More or less abrasion of skin, bruising and wounding, 
swelling and tenderness on the inner side of the fetlock or the shank, of 
either the fore or hind legs, oftener the latter. More or less lameness ; 
sometimes causing inflammation and abscess. 
Treatment.-According to the extent of the injury, treat as advised 
for bruises, wounds, and abscess. In regard to prevention by means of 
shoeing, ascertain with what particular part of the foot or shoe the horse 
strikes the opposite limb; remove or straighten the part of the shoe 
that strikes, leaving out one or two nails at the place, according to cir- 
cumstances, and rasp the hoof to correspond. If the horse strikes only 
with one foot, apply a shoe with a thicker inside heel to the foot of the 
limb that is struck. If the interfering cannot be prevented by shoeing, 
apply pads. HORNED CATTLE. 
I. GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS DISEASES. 
Causes.-A form of anthrax peculiar to young cattle kept in high 
condition. Rich pasturage ; ill-drained lands ; change from poor to rich 
pasturage. 
Symptoms.-The disease appears suddenly and progresses rapidly, 
generally ending in death within twelve, twenty-four or thirty-six hours. 
Lameness, generally in one or both hind quarters. Head and neck out- 
stretched, great bodily heat; dry muzzle, red eyes, mouth partly open, 
pulse about seventy, breathing hurried, appetite gone. Restlessness, 
succeeded by stupor. Tenderness and swellings on various parts of the 
body, which crackle under the touch, as if underlying tissues were filled 
with air. Gangrene of the skin and sloughing ensues. Urine scanty, 
high-colored or bloody. Dung very fetid, often blood-streaked. 
Treatment.-Bleeding only at the very beginning of the disease; 
purgative of an ounce each of common soda and Barbadoes aloes, dis- 
solved in | a pint of hot water, together with an ounce of oil of turpen- 
pentine and a pound of Glauber's salts, given in one dose, in -J a gallon 
of thin gruel, to cattle over a year and a half old ; half of this to cattle 
from eight months to a year and a half old, and a third of the dose to 
younger ones. Plenty of salt water injections per rectum. Then give 
every hour | a dram each of muriatic acid and nitric acid, mixed in a 
pint of cold water. Plenty of fresh cold water to drink. Remove to 
cool shady place out doors. Scarify the tumors deeply, and frequently 
apply solution of 1 part of chloride of lime to 20 parts of cold water. 
Separate sound from sick ones, and move them to distant spare pastur- 
age on high land or wood land. Insert seton in dewlap of all young 
stock, as preventive, and give access to plenty of salt, and pure drinking 
water. 
Black Quarter, or Bloody Murrain. 
Causes.-Hereditary predisposition; faulty state of the blood; 
debilitating influences ; continued in-breeding. 
Symptoms.-More or less dullness; more or less frequent husky or 
Tuberculosis. DISEASES OE DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 
45 
hoarse cough ; irregular appetite, poor condition, diarrhoea and consti- 
pation alternating; milk thin and blue; swelling of the glands about 
the neck and head, or about the joints, causing more or less lameness; 
barrenness. 
Treatment.-Generally incurable. Food must be liberal, of most 
nourishing kind, easily digested, such as ground food, steamed or boiled, 
and mixed with flaxseed meal, potatoes, and cut hay. Internally, give 
tonics, as an ounce each of tincture of iron and tincture of gentian in a 
pint of water, once or twice daily. In case of diarrhoea, treat as advised 
for this elsewhere. If bowels are costive, give a pint of treacle daily 
among ground food. When external tumors are large, apply blister, 
and when fluctuating, open them, and apply a weak solution of carbolic 
acid, or diluted tincture of iron. Being unfit for breeding purposes, 
and the milk being poor and unhealthy, such animals should be fattened 
for the shambles. 
Causes. -Exposure to draught, cold and wet; a sequel to other 
diseases. 
Symptoms.-Loss of spirit and appetite; stiffness, disinclination to 
move, lameness, arching of the back, tenderness and swelling of loins 
or the joints of the limbs. The disease often changes from one place to 
another, more or less fever, scanty urine, and costiveness; hurried breath- 
ing, quick pulse; thirst. 
Treatment.-Place the animal in a warm, dry and well-bedded stall. 
Blanket the body and bandage the limbs; give in one dose, a pound of 
Epsom salts, dissolved in a pint of hot water ; add thereto an ounce of 
ground ginger and a pint of treacle. Give every two hours 10 drops of 
tincture of aconite root, until 6 doses are given. Apply to the tender 
parts, rags wrung out of very hot water, continued for several hours; 
then rub dry and apply several times daily strong hartshorn liniment; 
or, in chronic rheumatism, blister, or insert a seaton. Give easily 
digested and nutritive food, and access to salt. 
Rheumatism. 
Font in the Feet. 
Causes.-Low and wet grounds; filthy stable floor; injury by foreign 
bodies. 
Symptoms.-More or less lameness, pain, swelling of the heels, and 
discharge of fetid matter from the cleft between the hoofs ; ulceration 
and sprouting, or proud flesh. 
Treatment.-Remove the animal to a dry, well-bedded stall; cleanse 
the parts thoroughly ; apply ample poultice of equal parts of linseed 
meal, bran and charcoal, during a day or two ; then apply, twice or 46 
APPENDIX. 
thrice daily, by means of a feather, a portion of a mixture of 2 ounces of 
oil of turpentine, an ounce of sulphuric acid, and 1 ounce of olive oil. 
Carefully remove decayed portions of horn. Fill the cleft with pledgets 
of oakum or tow, saturated with equal parts of tar and tallow, melted 
together. 
Causes.-A species of gad-fly deposits its eggs beneath the skin along 
the back of the cow, during the summer. 
Symptoms.-Gradually as the larvae develop, swellings or tumors 
appear, having a small orifice in the centre. When present in large 
numbers, they cause considerable irritation of the skin, but generally do 
not interfere with the health or condition of the animal. 
Treatment.-They may be removed by squeezing them out through 
the orifice. 
Warbles. 
Cause.-A tendency to parasitic growths, especially in young animals. 
Symptoms.-A dry, white scurf appears in small spots, gradually 
enlarging, and forming round patches denuded of hair. The surround- 
ing hairs have a broken appearance. Generally appears during winter 
and spring, and affects mainly the head and neck. Spreads by contact 
from one animal to another. 
Treatment.-Remove the diseased hairs surrounding the patches; 
cleanse the skin with warm soap-suds, and apply either a light coat of 
tincture of iodine, or a mixture of equal parts of tincture of iodine and 
oil of tar. Attend to general cleanliness. 
Ringworm, 
Mange. 
Cause.-Filth, poverty and bad management. Also, contact with 
mangy cattle. 
Symptoms.-More or less extensive patches of denuded skin and 
ruffled hair, especially along the back and tail. Skin covered with 
pimples, or small sores and scabs. There is much itchiness, and the 
animal is continually rubbing herself. Appetite is diminished, and the 
general condition poor. The disease spreads by contact. 
Treatment.-Separate diseased from healthy cattle. Thoroughly 
wash the skin with soap and water, and dry it. Apply, every other day, 
a portion of a mixture of equal parts of oil of tar, oil of turpentine and 
raw linseed oil. On the day after each dressing, cleanse the skin with 
soft soap and warm water. If the cow is in poor condition or debili- 
tated, give every evening during a fortnight, % an ounce of Fowler's 
solution of arsenic and 1 ounce of tincture of iron, in a pint of thin 
gruel. Feed liberally, and attend to cleanliness of the animal and the 
premises. DISEASES OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 
47 
Lice. 
Causes.-Want of attention to cleanliness, poverty, confinement, etc. 
Treatment.-Lice may be eradicated by dusting the body with finely 
sifted wood ashes once or twice a week, and giving a thorough brushing 
the following day ; or by applying with a stiff brush, once or twice 
weekly, a portion of a mixture of kerosene with water, in the proportion 
of a gill of kerosene to each gallon of water, well skaken together. The 
animals should be kept clean by regular grooming during the winter 
months. The wood-work should be lime washed occasionally, and old 
bedding removed. 
II. DISEASES OF THE ORGANS OF BREATHING. 
Catarrh. 
Causes.-Sudden alterations of temperature ; draughts of cold air; 
keeping the animals out-doors during cold and wet weather. 
Symptoms.-Watery discharge from the nose, which later becomes 
thick and mattery ; dullness, loss of appetite, loss of cud, increase of 
pulse and quickened breathing, cough, discharge of tears from the eyes ; 
decrease of milk. 
Treatment.-Place the cow in a comfortable, cool stable, with access 
of fresh air without draught. Cover the body with a blanket. Give 
from 6 to 10 ounces of Glauber's salts, dissolved in a pint of hot water, 
to which add a pint of treacle. Steam the nose with hot mashes, placed 
in a deep bag, fastened to the horns. Give every three hours 4 ounces 
of solution of acetate of ammonia with 2 ounces of sweet spirits of nitre. 
Give loosening food, and frequently offer linseed tea to drink. 
Bronchitis. 
Causes.-Frequently the result of catarrh, or produced by the causes 
of catarrh. 
Symptoms.-Frequent, painful, hoarse cough ; dullness, quickened 
pulse and breathing ; the expelled air hot; loss of appetite, loss of cud, 
coat staring, bowels costive; discharge from the nose ; outstretched 
head ; difficulty in swallowing. 
Treatment.-Furnish comfortable, cool stable and blanket the body. 
Steam the nose and give laxative, as for catarrh. Frequently apply 
friction to the limbs and to the back. Give every two to three hours 
4 ounces of solution of acetate of ammonia with 2 drams of chlorate of 
potassa. Apply hartshorn liniment (1 part to 4) to the throat and along 
the windpipe. Give frequent blood-warm injections of soap-suds or salt 
water. Linseed tea to drink. Warm mashes or steamed food. If much 48 
APPENDIX. 
weakness exists on recovery, give morning and evening an ounce each 
of tincture of iron and tincture of gentian, in a pint of gruel or linseed 
tea 
Bronchitis from Worms. 
Causes.-Calves and young stock are liable to suffer from the pres- 
ence of a species of thread-worm in the windpipe, and which are taken 
in with the food and water. 
Symptoms.-A frequent dry, husky cough ; dullness, loss of appetite, 
loss of cud, quickened breathing, increased pulse, loss of flesh and gen- 
eral emaciation ; often a soft swelling under the jaws. The presence of 
large numbers may cause death by suffocation. 
Treatment.-Internal remedies alone can not effect the expulsion of 
the worms from the windpipe. Inhalations of gases are effectual, such 
as chlorine gas, the fumes from slowly burning sulphur in small quanti- 
ties, either of which should be done with care in a closed room, and 
repeated daily so long as the cough remains; also, often repeated inhala- 
tion of chloroform, not sufficient to cause insensibility. Internally give 
thrice daily 1 to 2 drams of oil of turpentine with 1 to 2 ounces of linseed 
oil. If the animal on recovery is very weak, give 1 to 2 drams of tinc- 
ture of iron and an ounce of tincture of gentian in a gill of linseed 
tea or gruel. When the cough has entirely ceased, place the animals on 
high and dry pasturage, free from clover. 
Pleurisy. 
Causes.-May be a sequel to catarrh or bronchitis, or co-exist with 
these, or with inflammation of the lungs. External injuries, such as 
penetrating wounds or broken ribs 
Symptoms.-Dullness, loss of appetite, loss of cud, dry muzzle ; in- 
spiration of air short, expiration of air prolonged and grunting ; painful, 
short or suppressed cough ; outstretched head, clammy, slimy mouth ; a 
peculiar constant quivering over the shoulders and chest; pressure 
between the ribs causes much pain. Great weakness. 
Treatment.-Give a laxative dose of salts as advised for catarrh. 
Apply mustard poultice with oil of turpentine to the whole surface of 
the chest, or blister, made of 3 ounces of powdered cantharides and 5 
ounces each of oil of turpentine and olive oil. Apply a coat of oil to the 
blistered surface daily. Secure the cow so she can not interfere with 
the mouth during six hours after applying the blister. Give every three 
hours an ounce of fluid extract of belladonna, 1 ounce of sweet spirits 
of nitre and 4 ounces of solution of acetate of ammonia, in % a pint of 
linseed tea. When the symptoms abate, give every four hours 1 dram 
of iodide of potassium, and 1 ounce each of tincture of gentian and DISEASES OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 
49 
sweet sweet spirits of nitre. Give sloppy or steamed food and linseed 
tea to drink. Later give iron and gentian as advised in bronchitis. 
Inflammation of the Lungs. 
Causes.-The same as those productive of other diseases of the 
organs of breathing; often co-exists with, or is a sequel to bronchitis or 
pleurisy. 
Symptoms.-Dullness; hanging head with extended nose; dry muzzle; 
clammy mouth; frequent deep, dry cough; loss of appetite; loss of cud; 
breathing laborious and quick; pulse quick and full, later quick and 
small; discharge from the nose first thin and clear, later slimy and 
thick; there is much thirst, bowels constipated, and urine scanty and of 
dark color; hide-bound. 
Treatment.- Cool, comfortable stable, with access of fresh air without 
draught. Blanket the body. Apply mustard poultice or blister to the 
chest as advised in pleurisy, and give the same laxative medicine and 
internal treatment. Give frequent injections of blood-warm soap-suds. 
Sloppy or steamed food, and linseed tea to drink. 
Cough. 
Causes.-Generally precedes all diseases of the organs of breathing, 
accompanies the same, and may remain as a sequel to these. Chronic 
cough in cattle is often a symptom of tubercular deposits in the lungs. 
Treatment must be regulated according to the nature of the disease 
of which the cough is a symptom. With the cure of the disease, the 
cough will generally disappear; but in the case of chronic disease of the 
organs of breathing, such as pleuro-pneumonia, tuberculosis, etc., the 
cough remains as a consequence of the existing evil. 
III. DISEASES OF THE ORGANS OF DIGESTION. 
Causes.-In most internal diseases of cattle, the functions of the 
organs of digestion become more or less involved, whereby the • natural 
acts of regurgitation and remastication-more commonly known as 
" chewing the cud "-become temporarily suspended, and from which 
the common appellation of "loss of the cud" is derived. 
Treatment must necessarily vary with the nature of the disease which 
produces this symptom of impaired digestive functions. The treating 
or attempting to treat one of the symptoms of any disease, which may 
be remote from the digestive organs, would lead to nothing but loss of 
time and risk of the life of the animal. 
Loss of Cud. 50 
APPENDIX. 
Symptoms.-Apparent loss of appetite; the animal is slow in eating; 
often drops partly chewed food out of the mouth; there is more or less 
slavering at the mouth, and often a fetid smell from the same, peculiar 
to decaying teeth, or from ulcerating wounds induced by sharp projec- 
tions of the teeth. 
Treatment.-Proceed as we have advised for the same affections in 
the mouth of the horse. 
Faulty Teeth. 
Choking. 
Causes.-This is generally induced by pieces of turnips, corn cob, 
apples, potatoes, etc., becoming lodged in the gullet. 
Symptoms.-More or less urgent distress; coughing, slavering, con- 
tinued efforts at swallowing, and retching. If the animal attempts to 
drink, or any fluid is poured down, it is immediately returned. When 
the obstructing body is lodged in the neck-portion of the gullet, the 
enlargement produced by its presence can be felt by examination. If 
lodged further down, the symptoms named must be guiding. Bloating 
develops more or less rapidly. 
Treatment.-After administering a small quantity of oil, attempt by 
manipulations to move the obstructing body upwards or downwards. If 
this fails, or the body is lodged further down, apply a gag with a hole 
in the middle, and fastened by strings over the head. Through this 
insert a flexible probang, or rattan covered with leather, and having a 
thick, cup-shaped end; or, if such can not be obtained, the thick end of 
a flexible and smooth whip handle. Apply gentle and steady con- 
tinued pressure on the obstructing body; forcible or jerking pressure 
must be avoided, as thus the gullet may become lacerated, and serious 
consequences ensue. If the object is lodged in the neck-portion of the 
gullet, and can not be moved either up or down, it may be removed by 
making an incision lengthwise with the neck; but this should be done 
by a veterinarian or a physician. When the object is dislodged, feed 
the animal for a few days on sloppy food. 
Bloating. 
Causes.-Rich pasturage, especially clover, when wet from dew or 
rain; over-feeding, indigestion, choking, and some chronic diseases. 
Symptoms.-Swelling or distention of the abdomen, especially notice- 
able on the left flank; which gives a drum-like sound when struck by 
the hand ; more or less retching and escape of gas through the mouth ; 
difficult breathing; mouth frothy and half-opened, eyes staring, head DISEASES OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 
51 
outstretched, back arched, and the animal stands immovably in one 
place, grunting and moaning. 
Treatment.-Give every half hour, | an ounce of aqua ammonia in 
a pint of cold water. When bloating has lasted over twelve hours, a 
different kind of gas is generated, and different remedies must be used, 
such as 2 drams of chloride of lime, dissolved in a pint of cold water, 
and given every hour. After a severe attack of bloating, always give a 
purgative dose, such as advised for black quarter. In urgent cases, 
when medicine can not soon be had, plunge the trocar into the left flank, 
inward, downward and forward, inserting it midway between the last rib 
and the haunch bone, and eight inches from the bones of the loin. When 
away out in the field, and no trocar obtainable, a long-bladed pen knife 
may be used, putting it in to the handle, and holding it in its position 
so long as gas escapes. But the knife is not a safe instrument, as par- 
ticles of food are apt to pass into the abdominal cavity and cause fatal 
inflammation. 
Diarrhoea. 
Causes.-Damaged food, impure water, exposure to cold and wet, 
sudden change from green to dry food, or the reverse. Co-exists with 
various diseases. Chronic diarrhoea often due to tuberculosis, or a sequel 
to exhausting diseases. 
Symptoms.-Frequent evacuation of semi-fluid or watery dung, of 
more or less sour and fetid odor. Appetite irregular, coat staring, legs 
and horns cold, back arched, emaciation, dullness, and loss of milk ; 
thirst. 
Treatment.-Change of food and water; give first a quart of olive 
oil with 2 ounces of laudanum. After three to four hours, give 2 ounces 
each of powdered catechu, ginger and gentian in a pint of linseed tea, to 
cattle over two years old; half the dose to stock under two years and 
over nine months old, and one-fourth to one-third to younger stock, 
repeating the dose thrice daily, and withholding it as soon as discharges 
diminish. Give linseed tea to drink and nourishing food. In chronic 
diarrhoea give, morning and evening, 1 dram of ammoniated sulphate of 
copper, dissolved in half a pint of cold water. 
Diarrhoea in Calves. 
Causes.-Withholding the cow's first milk from the new-born calf; 
giving milk in unlimited quantities from the pail, especially when cold 
and sour. 
Symptoms.-Partial or total loss of appetite; discharge of thin, whey- 
like dung, in small quantities ; more or less restlessness, bloating, gnash- 
ing of the teeth and bloating; loss of flesh and strength, succeeded by 
stupor. 52 
APPENDIX. 
Treatment.-Give first 2 to 3 ounces of castor oil with 3 to 4 drams 
of laudanum ; after three to four hours, give 2 drams of compound chalk 
powder with opium, 1 dram of powdered gentian, 1 ounce of pepper- 
mint water, and 3 ounces of starch emulsion. This may be given twice 
or thrice daily. 
Causes.-The third stomach may become impacted from the eating 
of coarse and indigestible food in large quantities, such as corn stalks, 
smutty corn, withered grass, or grass in seed, together with insufficiency 
of water, or when this is hard. 
Symptoms.-Gradual loss of appetite, loss of cud, dullness, some- 
times diarrhoea succeeded by constipation; pulse and breathing quick- 
ened. •The brain becomes affected, and there may be either great stupor 
or delirium with frenzy, running about wildly and against everything 
with loud bellowing. The disease may end fatally within a day, or may 
continue during one to two weeks, ending with extensive inflammation 
of the stomach and intestines. 
Treatment.-Give the purgative dose as advised for black quarter, and 
repeat half such dose every six hours. At every intervening hour, give 
a gallon of linseed tea with an ounce of ground ginger; or a pint 
of linseed oil or treacle. Inject as often blood-warm soap-suds or 
salt water, per rectum. If there is no relief after twenty-four hours, 
continue with linseed oil in pint doses. Give walking exercise. After 
recovery, give sloppy food, among which is mixed a small handful of 
ground willow bark, morning and evening. 
Fardel-bound; Dry Murrain (so-called). 
IV. DISEASES OF THE GENERATIVE ORGANS, ETC. 
Abortion. 
Causes.-Fright, blows, falls, over-driving, the eating of grasses con- 
taining ergot, hoar-frosted grass, nauseating smells, mow-burned or rusty 
and musty hay. Abortion occasionally assumes an epidemic character. 
A cow that has once aborted, is liable to abort again. 
Prevention.-When a cow in a herd has aborted, others are likely to 
follow. Remove the aborting cow, together with the calf and the after- 
birth, from the field or stable, and disinfect the stall with chloride of 
lime or powdered copperas. Ascertain the cause ; if due to ergotty^rass 
or other deleterious plants, remove the cows to better pasturage; if due 
to bad hay or musty food, discontinue its use. The bull should not go 
loose among the cows that are in calf. DISEASES OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 
53 
Milk Fever. 
Causes.-A predisposition in heavy milkers; occurs mostly in sum- 
mer ; keeping the cows in too high condition; feeding too liberally 
before and immediately after calving. 
Symptoms.-Soon after calving, the cow may lose her appetite, and 
appear dull, with signs of fever; horns hot, muzzle dry, bowels 
constipated, breathing and pulse quickened, restless movements with the 
hind legs or weakness in these ; the udder is hot and distended with milk. 
At last the cow staggers about and falls to the ground, making ineffectual 
efforts to rise; the legs are stretched out and the head tossed about, or 
it is held continuously to the side, close to the chest or abdomen. The 
eyes are staring and glassy, with widened pupil; the legs are cold; 
breathing difficult and rattling; great stupor and insensibility ensues; 
there may be more or less bloating. 
Treatment.-Place the cow in a cool, shaded place, or roomy box 
stall, well bedded. Give purgative dose as advised for black leg. Fol- 
low this up every half hour with stimulants, such as £ an ounce of aro- 
matic spirits of ammonia and 1 ounce of tincture of ginger and sweet 
spirits of nitre, given in a pint of cold water or linseed tea. Apply rags 
to the head, constantly wetted with cold water, or a bag loosely filled 
with chopped ice and sawdust. Apply strong hartshorn liniment or 
blister along the spine, and friction with equal parts of alcohol and water 
to the limbs. Keep the udder constantly free from milk. In case of 
much bloating, insert the trocar in the left flank, as advised for bloating. 
Give frequent injections of soap-suds. On recovery, give tonic medicine, 
such as 1 scruple of powdered nux vomica, 1 dram of powdered sulphate 
of iron, and 1 ounce of powdered gentian, in a pint of thin gruel or 
linseed tea. 
Retention of the After-birth. 
Causes.-Poor condition; want of tone and contractibility of the 
womb; too early closing of the neck of the womb. 
Symptoms.-Portions of the after-birth may protrude through the 
external parts, or there may be a discharge of slimy matter, more or less 
fetid. If retained long, considerable irritation may be caused by putre- 
faction of the after-birth. The cow then becomes feverish, loses appe- 
tite and becomes poor. Fatal consequences may ensue from blood- 
poisoning. 
Treatment.-When retained longer than twenty-four hours, give 1 
pound of Epsom salts, dissolved in 1 pint of water, and add to the solu- 
tion a pint of treacle and an ounce of ginger. When the bowels begin 
to move, the after-birth may also become discharged; if not, introduce 54 
APPENDIX. 
the previously oiled hand and arm, and carefully loosen it from its 
attachments, using no force whatever. If attended with fetid discharge, 
make injections into the womb of a solution of 1 part of chloride of lime 
in 35 parts of cold water. Give loosening food, among which mix 1 tea- 
spoonful of nitre morning and evening. 
Causes.-Often a consequence of protracted or difficult calving, espe- 
cially when undue force has been used by assistance. 
Treatment.-Before returning the protruding womb, cleanse it with 
warm water., and remove attached portions of the after-birth, if present. 
An assistant on each side holds a sheet or apron, upon which the womb 
is lifted up. The operator places his closed hand against the fundus or 
bottom of womb, and by steady pressure pushes the protruding part 
within itself, and follows this up until the womb is completely returned. 
The straining or expulsive efforts of the cow, may be counteracted by 
placing a bag filled with corn or sand over the loins. The cow should 
be placed in a narrow stall, and the litter placed under her hind feet, so 
that she comes to stand with the heels of the hind legs on a level with 
the knees of the fore legs. A truss made of two ropes, twisted in the 
middle, should be applied over the external parts, an end of each rope 
passed over the back and fastened to a girth, and the two other ends, 
after passing down along each side of the udder, should likewise be 
fastened to the girth. 
Expulsion of the Womb. 
Garget, or Caked Udder. 
Canses*-Not stripping the udder clean at each milking; exposure to 
cold and wet; bruises, etc. 
Symptoms.-One or more of the quarters may be hot, tender and 
swollen; the cow is feverish and costive, loss of appetite, loss of cud ; 
milking painful; milk mixed with blood or matter; gradual hardening 
of the bag, and formation of tumors filled with matter. 
Treatment.-Frequently remove the milk; apply warm poultices in 
bandage fastened over the loins, and leaving holes for the teats to pro- 
trude. If milking is difficult, use milking tube; then apply hartshorn 
liniment with friction. When abscesses form, they should be lanced 
when mature, and basilicon ointment applied to the wounds. Give a 
laxative dose as advised for the retention of the after-birth. Give loosen- 
ing food. If hard swellings remain, apply with friction by the palm of 
the hand, several times daily, a portion of a liniment made of 1 ounce 
of aqua ammonia, 3 ounces of olive oil, and 1 dram of iodine. Recovery 
slow. DISEASES OE DOMESTIC AMMALS. 
55 
Sore Teats. 
Causes.-Rude milking, bruises, warts, frost-bite, cow-pox. 
Symptoms.-The presence of cracks, fissures and scabs; restlessness 
and pain at milking; milk sometimes tinged with blood; the lower part 
of the udder may be hot and tender; the teats may be raw and sore 
from cow-pox, which appears as pimples, nodules and blisters, of various 
size and of a pinkish color, on the teats and udder. 
Treatment.-Bathing with warm water; poultices; in the case of 
cracks or sores, apply basilicon ointment or Friar's balsam. Instead of 
milking the usual way, draw the milk by means of a milking tube, in all 
cases of sore or diseased teats. In the case of cow-pox, besides the ex- 
ternal applications named, give internally 8 ounces of Glauber's salts 
dissolved in 1 pint of hot water, and add thereto 1 ounce of ground 
ginger. Warts maybe clipped off close to their base, a portion only of 
the number at a time, and an ointment of 1 part of white lead and 4 parts 
of lard, applied. The teats should be washed clean before each milking, 
with soap-suds. 
Causes.-Inflammation, or internal lesion of the udder, sudden 
change to rich feeding, eating of acrid or resinous plants, brutal milk- 
ing, etc. 
Symptoms.-Besides the symptoms accompanying diseased condi- 
tions of the udder and teats, if such exist, the milk is more or less 
streaked with blood while it is being drawn, and when allowed to stand 
in a vessel, the blood falls to the bottom. 
Treatment.-If due to diseased conditions of the udder or teats, it 
will cease with the cure of these. When due to noxious plants, change 
the pasturage. When due to unknown causes, give morning and even- 
ing, a dram of powdered camphor, and | an ounce each of powdered 
oak bark and ginger, in a pint of gruel; or, give morning and even- 
ing, a dram of tannin and 3 drams of powdered gentian, in £ a pint 
of gruel. 
Bloody Milk SHEEP. 
Turn-Sick, or Staggers. 
Causes.-The presence in the brain of a cyst or bladder worm; 
mostly occurring in the spring and summer, especially among young 
sheep, and on low, wet and marshy pasturage. 
Symptoms.-Displacement and pressure upon the brain, from the 
presence in the cavities or on the surface of the same, causes the head 
to be held high and to one side. Loss of spirit and appetite, loss of cud, 
more or less stupor and listlessness, a stumbling gait, pale bluish appear- 
ance of the eyes, and a tendency to wander round in a circle. Loss of 
flesh, emaciation and death. The bladder worm is frequently lodged on 
the surface of the brain on the left side, and the pressure upon the bones 
of the skull, causes the bone to become thin and yielding to the touch 
of the fingers. 
Treatment.-If a soft or yielding spot can be detected on the skull, 
dissect a flap of the skin back, and carefully remove a small portion of 
the bone; then open the bladder, and holding the sheep securely, turn 
the back of the head down. When the fluid has escaped, seize the edge 
of the sac and withdraw it. As the inner wall of the sac contains the 
heads of numerous minute tapeworms, it should be burned. After 
removing the sac, replace the flap of skin, secure it with a pitch plaster, 
and apply a hood over the head. Place the animal in a quiet, cool shed, 
and give loosening food during a week or ten days. More or less diffi- 
culty often experienced in locating the bladder worm, and removing it, 
and. if located anywhere else than under the upper part of the skull, 
treatment is generally unsuccessful. 
Grubs in the Head. 
Causes.-The disease consists in the presence of the larvae of the 
gadfly {oestrus ovis) within the sinuses of the forehead. During the 
summer months, the gadfly deposits its eggs about the nostrils of the 
sheep, whence the larvae crawl up into the cavities of the head, and 
remain till next summer. 
Symptoms.-The presence of these larvae often causes much local 
irritation, discharge of matter from the nose, sneezing and coughing. 
Treatment.-The only successful treatment consists in their removal, DISEASES OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 
57 
by way of opening the cavities of the head with a small trephine. But 
a knowledge of the location of the sinuses is necessary, in order not to 
injure the sheep. By injecting lukewarm water through the openings 
made, the larvae are readily dislodged, and no other treatment is then 
necessary. 
Causes.-Change of weather or exposure to cold and wet, especially 
in spring and fall. Cold nights and warm days. 
Symptoms.-Cough, sneezing, and discharge from the nose; loss of 
appetite, quickened breathing. 
Treatment.-Place the animal in a comfortable, cool stable. Give 4 
ounces of Glauber's salts, dissolved in a % pint of hot water, and add 
an ounce of tincture of ginger. Then give thrice daily, 1 ounce of 
acetate of ammonia, 2 drams of fluid extract of belladonna and 3 drams 
of sweet spirits of nitre, mixed with a gill of linseed tea. Give loosen- 
ing food and linseed tea to drink. Cleanse the nose with a wet sponge. 
Apply liniment of ammonia to the throat. If much weakness succeeds 
bronchitis, give, in a gill of.linseed tea, one-third to one-half of the 
above doses of medicines for younger animals. 
Catarrh and Bronchitis. 
Bloating. 
Causes.-Similar to those causing the same disease in cattle. 
Symptoms.-More or less rapidly increasing expansion of the abdo- 
men, especially on the left side; the swelling is elastic and gives a drum- 
like sound when struck with the fingers; drowsiness, and quick breath- 
ing. 
Treatment.-If occurring on a distant field, and no knife or other 
instrument is at hand, but a river near by, plunge the animals into the 
water, and let them swim for a while. Otherwise, insert carefully, a 
male horse catheter through the gagged mouth into the paunch ; or push 
a small trocar into the most prominent part of the left flank, and let it 
remain so long as any gas escapes. The insertion of a penknife, only 
to be resorted to in an emergency, as it is dangerous for the same rea- 
sons mentioned by bloating in cattle. If medicines are readily obtained, 
and the bloating not too rapid, use the same remedies advised for 
bloating in cattle, with the same frequency, but only one-fourth to one- 
third of the doses there mentioned, and the same after-treatment. 
Diarrhoea. 
Causes.-Sudden change from dry food to grass; exposure to cold 
and wet; most frequent among lambs ; tuberculosis. 58 
APPENDIX. 
Symptoms.-Frequent discharge of liquid dung; loss of appetite and 
flesh; emaciation. 
Treatment.-Give 2 to 3 ounces of castor oil with 2 to 3 drams of 
laudanum. One-third to one-half of this dose to lambs. Thereafter 
give morning and evening, | an ounce of compound chalk powder, 2 
drams of powdered gentian root, 3 ounces of peppermint water, and 2 
ounces of starch emulsion, mixed together. One-third to one-half this 
dose for lambs. Or, 1 part of the white of an egg and 6 parts of water, 
well shaken together, may be given in unlimited quantity. Keep the 
animals indoors, especially in cold, damp weather; change food and 
pasturage, and give access to salt. 
Abortion. 
Causes.-May occur at any period of gestation, but most frequently 
when the ewe is about half gone. Among the causes are a too free use 
of salt among their food ; excessive feeding on roots, especially turnips, 
and particularly when these are frozen ; ergot or spurred rye in the hay 
or on the grasses in the field; timothy grass is often full of this. 
Sudden fright, being worried by dogs, jumping over ditches, crowding 
through narrow doors or gateways. 
Prevention.-Avoid the causes named. Stop feeding bad or ergotty 
hay, remove to other and sound pastures; remove aborting sheep, 
together with the dead lambs and the after-birth ; and if it occurs while 
stabled, disinfect with chloride of lime. 
Treatment.-Give the sheep that has aborted, a mild laxative, such 
as advised for catarrh, and give loosening food. 
Foot Rot. 
Causes.-Wet and low pastures; filthy barn yards or sheds. 
Symptoms.-Lameness and more or less swelling of the heels and 
coronet, where the hoofs are more or less detached. 
Treatment.-All loose and detached horn should be pared away, 
without wounding the vital parts. Cleanse and bathe the parts with 
warm water. Then dip the foot into tar, and place the animal on dry 
well bedded floor, or on dry pasturage. Examine the feet twice a week, 
and repeat the tar coating, if necessary. In bad cases, with sprouting 
sores, apply a few times a coat of tincture of iron. If kept indoors 
sprinkle some dry, air-slaked lime on the floor. 
Wounds and Bruises, 
Treatment.-Remove foreign substances, cleanse the wound, and if 
there is much bleeding, apply strong solution of copperas, or tincture of 
iron, by means of a pledget of tow, if the wound is deep. Clip the wool DISEASES OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 
59 
off around the wound, and if the edges are even, and the wound not 
deep, unite the edges with sticking plaster and light bandaging; other- 
wise by stitches, not drawn tight. Discharging wounds should be treated 
by daily applications of Friar's balsam, or equal parts of tincture of 
myrrh and tincture of aloes. If there is too much sprouting of flesh, 
apply powdered sulphate of zinc, or tincture of iron. Bruises should be 
treated, by warm bathing, warm poulticing, and applications of equal 
parts of arnica and water. If the bruised place is fluctuating and con- 
tains bloody water, or if there is formation of abscess, and the same has 
become sufficiently mature, make incision in the lowest or most depend- 
ent part, to liberate the same, after which apply the last mentioned 
remedy by means of a pledget of tow. Attend to daily cleanliness of 
the parts. 
Fractures. 
Symptoms.-Loss of mobility; the limb hangs pendulous, or twisted 
around, and cannot support the weight of the body; the animal unwill- 
ing to move, and when moving, or when the limb is manipulated, a 
grating sound may be heard. More or less swelling, pain and fever. 
Treatment.-If the skin has been penetrated by the broken ends of 
the fractured bone, or if the bone is broken into several pieces, and the 
fleshy or soft parts have been much bruised, treatment is generally un- 
successful, and the animal had better be slaughtered. If the fracture is 
located in the fleshy part of the limb, where no bandaging can be applied, 
the animal may recover, if kept in perfect rest, but there will in such 
a case always be a distortion and much shortening of the limb. Frac- 
tures most frequently occur below the hock and the knee. In the first 
place, adjust the fractured ends to their proper situation. Then envelop 
the limb with a strip of cotton or linen, two to three inches wide ; over 
this place a layer of cotton wadding or loose tow, and then apply light 
wooden splints. Care should be taken not to bandage too tight. Ex- 
amine the bandage often in case there should be swelling, when it will 
be necessary to readjust it. When all swelling has disappeared, the 
bandage should remain on the limb during four to six weeks, the animal 
meanwhile being kept quiet and comfortable, and liberally fed. Other 
methods of bandaging consist in the use of ^tiff pasteboard, previously 
soaked; also, bandages of cotton, soaked with starch, or with plaster of 
Paris. 
Causes.-The presence of minute insects (acari), occasioned by con- 
tact with scabby sheep, loose wool from such, or contact with posts, 
trees, fences, etc., where such sheep have been rubbing. As predispos- 
ing causes, may be mentioned, filth, poverty, etc. 
Scab. 60 
APPENDIX. 
Symptoms.-Frequent scratching and rubbing; the appearance of 
rough and hard, red pimples, dry crusts or scabs, and denuded sores, 
mainly along the neck, back and sides ; also detachment of wool, leaving 
the skin bare in patches, or over a larger surface. 
Treatment.- Efficacy considered, tobacco is the cheapest remedy. 
For one hundred sheep, take 25 pounds of common coarse tobacco, and 
steep it in as many gallons of boiling water. Stir it occasionally until 
it is cold, when it should be strained. Add to this fluid as much cold 
water as to make the whole quantity 100 gallons. Six pounds of soft 
soap may be added ; but it should first be dissolved in warm water, and 
added to the strained liquid before the cold water is added, and the whole 
should be contained in a large tub, into which two men dip the sheep, 
taking care not to immerse the head, which may be wetted afterwards 
by the hand. Choose the forenoon of a warm day. New pasture. The 
old pasture, sheds and yards should not be used for three months. 
Repeat the dipping about the tenth day. Cleanse sheds and yards; 
burn all loose wool, bedding, and old wood-work. 
Symptoms.-This insect, which at first is small and active, gradually 
increases to the size of a pea, and holds itself with much tenacity to the 
skin, even allowing its body to be torn from the head, rather than let go 
its hold. It is mainly found on the neck and shoulders, often causing 
considerable irritation of the skin. 
Treatment.-They should not be picked off with the fingers. Apply 
tobacco infusion, the same strength as for scab ; or, mix together equal 
parts of coal oil and lard oil; make furrows in the wool, some three 
inches apart along the neck, back, sides and quarters, and smear a por- 
tion into the skin along these furrows. This may be repeated once a 
month. Ticks are more easily eradicated at shearing time. 
Ticks. SWINE. 
Epilepsy. 
Causes.-Generally due to irritation of the digestive organs, from 
improper food, worms, etc. 
Symptoms.-More or less dullness; white of the eye streaked with 
red; quickened breathing; loss of Strength and condition; running 
about, apparently blind ; foaming, champing and crying; falling to the 
ground in convulsions. 
Treatment.-Change of food and comfortable quarters; plenty of 
sour milk, unripe fruit, ample range of liberty; pure water. Treat as 
advised for worms. 
Coughing. 
Causes.-Exposure to cold and wet; worms; accompanies all dis- 
eases of the organs of breathing. 
Treatment.-Dry, comfortable and well-ventilated housing; change 
of food. If due to a cold, give to each pig, morning and evening, £ a 
dram each of sulphuret of antimony and camphor, and 1 dram of pow- 
dered liquorice root, mixed with a little treacle and placed on the roof 
of the tongue. If due to worms, treat accordingly. 
Sniffle Disease, 
Causes.-A sequel to catarrh; insufficient shelter, want of drainage, 
and bad management generally ; scrofula. 
Symptoms.-Inflammation of the membrane lining the nasal pas- 
sages, with swelling of the parts; disorganization of the bones of 
the nose; nose drawn to one side; difficult breathing ; frequent sniffling 
or endeavors to clear the nose of mucus, which sometimes is blood- 
streaked. Loss of appetite, gradual emaciation, general consumption. 
Treatment.-Comfortable quarters; sloppy food; give thrice daily, 
| a dram of muriate of ammonia, and 8 grains of camphor in a teaspoonful 
of treacle. Externally, apply along the nose, a portion of 1 part each 
of laudanum and Goulard's solution with 12 parts of water. Give fre- 
quent injections per rectum. 62 
APPENDIX. 
Malignant Sore Throat. 
Causes.-Filthy, ill-drained, hot and insufficiently ventilated styes; 
bad food; contagion. 
Symptoms.-Dumpishness, loss of appetite, cough, swelling of the 
glands about the throat, quick breathing, difficult swallowing, frothing 
from the open and hot mouth, eyes red, tongue red, swollen and pro- 
truding ; the increasing swelling threatens suffocation; discoloration of 
the skin on the head, neck and breast. 
Treatment often unsatisfactory, on account of the rapid progress of 
the disease. The swelling about the throat and the tongue should be 
freely scarified, and the wounds penciled with tincture of iron or carbolic 
acid, succeeded by hot poulticing of the neck. In the beginning of 
the disease give 10 grains of tartar emetic in a little water ; then a laxa- 
tive. When swallowing is impossible, give frequent hypodermic injec- 
tions of antiseptics. Give acidulated water to drink. Separation of 
diseased from sound animals. Disinfection. 
Inflammation of the Lungs. 
Causes.-Exposure to wet and cold; want of drainage, proper venti- 
lation and cleanliness of the stye. 
Symptoms.-Begins with shivering and cough; quickened breathing; 
blood-shot eyes, outstretched head, with opened mouth and protruding 
tongue. Loss of appetite; thirst. 
Treatment.-Change to comfortable, dry and well-ventilated quar- 
ters. Give 10 grains each of tartar emetic and powdered white helle- 
bore in a little gruel, to produce nausea and vomiting. Then place 
upon the root of the tongue, thrice daily, a powder consisting of a 
grain of tartar emetic, 5 grains of powdered white hellebore, and 10 
grains of nitre. If it induces vomiting, skip one dose. Apply to the 
chest a liniment composed of equal parts of aqua ammonia, olive oil, and 
oil of turpentine. 
Diarrhoea. 
Causes.-Sudden changes of food; musty or otherwise bad food; 
worms ; exposure to wet and cold ; impure water. 
Treatment.-One to 2 ounces of olive oil with 1 to 2 drams of lauda- 
num. Three to four hours thereafter, and morning and evening, give 1 
to 2 tablespoonfuls of a mixture of 1 ounce of powdered prepared chalk, 
£ an ounce of powdered catechu, 2 drams of powdered ginger, £ a dram 
of powdered opium, and | a pint of peppermint water. Keep the ani- 
mals warm and comfortable; entire change of diet essential. DISEASES OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 
63 
Worms. 
Symptoms.-Varied appetite, loss of flesh, diarrhoea or costiveness, 
occasional vomiting and coughing; frequently, palsy of the hind quar- 
ters, etc. Wormy pigs often scream considerably, especially towards 
feeding time. 
Treatment.-No simpler, more harmless and effective remedy can be 
used than flour of sulphur. The animals readily partake of it when 
mixed in gruel or other sloppy food. For pigs under three months old, 
a teaspoonful is a dose, and for older ones a small tablespoonful. It may 
be given four days in succession, morning and evening, and repeated 
every other week. Give sour-milk, butter milk, with sliced raw onions, 
green fruit, celery tops, acorns. Avoid stagnant and putrid water. 
Swine should always have ready access to charcoal, wood ashes, and 
salt, which should be supplied them in some convenient sheltered corner. 
Hog Cholera (so-called). 
Causes.-Contagion ; filthy, ill-drained, hot and insufficiently venti- 
lated styes, impure water, unsound food. 
Symptoms.-Depraved appetite, listlessness, hanging head, staring 
•coat, rapidly increasing weakness, cough, quickened breathing, hiding 
away by itself, vomiting, diarrhoea or constipation; excrements very 
fetid, sometimes blood-streaked ; great thirst. 
Treatment.-Treatment generally unsatisfactory ; those that recover 
are worth very little afterwards for any purpose. So soon as the disease 
makes its appearance, remove all healthy swine to a place some distance 
from the styes. Destroy the diseased ones, and burn them instead of 
burying them. Burn all old bedding and wood-work, especially old floor- 
ing and feeding troughs, and thoroughly disinfect the premises. Give 
the walls, the ceiling, the fences, etc., one or more coats of tar. Pro- 
vide charcoal, ashes or chalk. Slightly acidulate the drinking water 
with sulphuric acid.-Make frequent, but gradual changes in the diet. 
Causes.-A paralytic state of the hind quarters, not always due to 
worms in the kidneys. Probably oftener due to reflex irritation, caused 
by large numbers of worms in the intestines, coupled with constipation. 
Symptoms.-Impaired appetite; diarrhoea or constipation ; unsteady 
movements of hind limbs, partial or total inability to support the body 
with the hind limbs, which are dragged along the ground. 
Treatment.-Laxative of 2 or 3 drams of powdered castor oil seeds, 
mixed among a small quantity of gruel, to be eaten first thing in the 
morning. Frequent small injections of salt water; liniment of cantharides 
Kidney Worm (so-called). 64 
APPENDIX. 
applied to the loins. Give twice or thrice daily, 15 grains of pow- 
dered camphor, 4 grains powdered nux vomica, and | a dram of ginger, 
mixed with a little treacle, and smeared upon the root of the tongue. 
Half this dose for pigs under four months old. Sloppy food, sour milk, 
pure water. 
Rheumatism. 
Causes.-Improper housing, want of drainage and ventilation, ex- 
posure to cold and wet, cold draughts of air, etc. 
Symptoms.-More or less heat, tenderness and swelling of joints or 
of the loins, etc.; stiffness, lameness ; more or less inability or unwilling- 
ness to move; loss of appetite, costiveness. 
Treatment.-Provide comfortable, well-bedded, dry quarters ; give 
sloppy food; give a dose of oil as for diarrhoea ; apply liniment of am- 
monia or tincture of cantharides to the affected parts. Mix among the 
food, morning and evening, a tablespoonful of cod liver oil. 
Eice. 
Causes.-Filth, privation, confinement, contact with lousy hogs. 
Treatment.-Brush them over once a week with a mixture of 1 part 
of kerosene and 5 parts of water ; or, mix together 1 part of benzine, 6 
parts of soft soap, and 15 parts of soft water. Thoroughly cleanse and 
lime-wash all parts with which the hogs have been in contact; remove 
and burn all dirt and old bedding. Give the floors a good coat of lime- 
wash. Feed liberally, and place in a dry corner some charcoal and 
sulphur. 
Causes.-A disordered state of the sympathetic or visceral system of 
the nerves; feeding the hogs on offal from slaughtering houses ; close 
confinement. 
Symptoms.-The sow, soon after farrowing, becomes excited, violent, 
and acts as if crazy; rummaging her bedding around, rooting in the 
ground, looking around with wild and savage glances, and while in this 
state of excitement, she consumes her pigs. 
Treatment.-Remove the after-birth as soon as it is expelled. Secure 
the pigs, and cover them with a thin paste made of powdered aloes and 
water, or colocynth and water. When the sow cools down, let the pigs 
get to her; the very bitter application to them will disgust the sow. 
Create nausea in the sow by giving her immediately after farrowing, 8 
grains of tartar emetic and 20 grains of powdered root of white helle- 
bore, and repeat the same after two hours. 
Sows Eating their Pigs. GENERALITIES. 
Ventilation of the stable is as necessary for the health of the animal 
placed therein, as is pure drinking water and wholesome food. The air 
which has been once respired becomes poison to him; but because the 
temperature of his body is generally higher than that of the atmosphere 
around him, as soon as he has discharged any air from the lungs, it 
ascends away from him into the great purifying laboratory of the atmos- 
phere, and new takes its place. This process of natural ventilation 
necessarily goes on in every stable ; and where the simple law is allowed 
to take its course, by giving the heated and vitiated air an opportunity of 
escape by the roof, and the fresh air to enter by a lower point, the ani- 
mals inhabiting those places would be much more comfortably situ- 
ated than they usually are. Doubtless animals live that have been kept 
in all sorts of stables, and sometimes in very bad ones; but animals also 
die that have been kept in them; and many of these stables have been 
the occasion of more deaths than they are accused of. 
Dampness in stables, arises either from ground damp or want of 
ventilation. Drainage and raising the floor will mostly have the effect in 
one instance, and making proper vents for the heated 'vapor to escape 
near the roof, will also nearly always be sufficient in the other. 
Every stable should have a closet, made so that all things wanted 
can stand in it, or on shelves and pegs also shut in. There will 
be a place for buckets, forks, shovels, brooms, dressing tools, etc. Also 
a separate place for harness, saddles, blankets, etc. Anything like a 
shelf in a stable should never be seen. It is scarcely necessary to say 
that nails or hooks in the walls are a nuisance. A wooden peg or two 
to hang a bridle or a part of the harness while the horse is being har- 
nessed, is a convenience, and not objectionable, if never used for any 
other purpose. 
Numerous accidents happen when utensils are allowed to stand in 
the stable. Horses coming in and out are almost sure to strike against 
them. This frightens them; they run back, hit something else, or run 
against other horses and get kicked. Should such a thing occur as a 
horse getting loose in the night, probably if he walked quietly about, or 
even into another horse's stall, if used to each other, no harm might 
happen ; but if, in the dark, he gets kicking the buckets about the stable, 66 
APPENDIX. 
he gets frightened, frightens the - other horses, and they all get kicking 
and snorting together; then it is two thousand, five hundred and thirty- 
eight to one, that some mischief ensues. 
Whether a horse is shod or not, the feet should never remain more 
than four weeks without being subjected to the drawing knife of the 
blacksmith, and the shoes properly replaced. Do what we may, how- 
ever, horses that are required to "go the pace," will always be more or 
less subject to diseased feet. In very many cases, bad feet are caused 
by neglect of the colt up to the age of five years. We have often seen 
colts with deformed feet at one year old, especially when they have been 
kept much of the time indoors. Now, if the feet are thus early 
neglected, the hoof and the internal parts, even the bones, become 
gradually altered in shape; and if these parts have become thus injured 
during the growth of the animal, but little improvement can be effected 
afterwards. 
If the toes of a colt be allowed, from the want of exercise and a 
consequent lack of wear, to overgrow, the weight of the animal is 
necessarily thrown chiefly on the heels. The same result follows from 
wearing the shoes for a great length of time. The remedy is obvious. 
The hoofs are constantly growing; and whether the shoes are worn 
much or little, they ought to be removed, and the feet properly trimmed 
at least every four weeks. Horse owners and blacksmiths ought to 
know enough of the feet to understand this, but few of them do so 
understand it. 
Medicines are given to animals in the form of balls, electuaries, 
powders, or liquids. For cattle and sheep, powders and liquids are 
most proper, the powders being conveniently mixed among food, 
slightly damped. Before administering medicines to a horse, he should 
be untied, and backed up into his stall. The person administering the 
medicines should stand on the right side of the horse. If a ball is to 
be given, he should grasp the tongue with the left hand, which should 
rest edgeways in the space between the grinders and nippers, wfliile with 
the index finger and the two next fingers of the right hand, the ball is 
held by one end, and thus passed up along the roof of the mouth, and 
dropped on the back part of the tongue. This done, the hand is quickly 
withdrawn, the tongue let go, and the mouth held closed. The ball is 
brought up to the gullet by the horse drawing his tongue in, and then 
swallowed. The use of a so-called balling iron, facilitates the adminis- 
tration of the ball in the hands of inexperienced persons. Electuaries 
are placed upon the upper portion of the tongue by means of a strong 
wooden ladle. 
Fluids, or mixtures, are given from a strong, straight-necked GENERALITIES. 
67 
bottle, such as a soda-water bottle, or, more safely, from a horn. 
By giving medicines in a fluid form, they should not be poured down 
in a continuous stream, but in small draughts, while the tongue is 
gently held (not pulled) forward. The head should not be held higher 
than to allow the ridge of the nose and the forehead to be on a level; 
if held higher, the horse cannot perform the act of swallowing without 
too great danger of particles entering the windpipe and lungs. Vio- 
lent pinching of the throat is dangerous, as a fit of coughing may be 
brought on, and the medicines held in the mouth are then lost, and 
portions may enter the windpipe. Pressure, if necessary, may be made 
more safely between the upper part of the lower jaws. Should a horse, 
while the medicine is being administered, make an effort to cough, the 
head should at once be let loose, whether the mouth is full of medicine 
or not, otherwise there will be danger of choking. The same rules ap- 
ply in giving medicines to cattle and sheep. 
It has been found that the administration of fluids to swine is much 
facilitated by the use of a small shoe, from which the toe part of the 
upper leather is removed. While the shoe is placed in the animal's 
mouth, the fluid is poured in through the instep, and the contents are 
thus sucked in. 
The causes, symptoms and treatment of diseases in mules and asses, 
are similar to those mentioned for the horse. The medicinal doses should 
be regulated according to the smaller size of these animals, by deduct- 
ing one-fourth to one-third from the quantities as prescribed for the 
horse. The doses prescribed for sheep, are also applicable to the goat, 
who is liable to the same diseases. 
The horse's pulse may be felt most conveniently at the edge of the 
lower jaw-bone, about three inches forward of the angle of the jaw. It 
may also be felt on the inner side of the fore-arm, and in the middle of 
the inner side of the tail. The same applies to other animals. The heart 
beats may be felt on the left side, just behind the elbow. In a state of 
health, the pulse beats from 35 to 40 times per minute in the horse; 
in the mule and ass, from 40 to 45; in horned cattle, from 40 to 50; in 
the sheep, the goat, and the hog, from 70 to 80 per minute. 
Except when the animal is in a state of excitement, or fright, or in 
a state of debility, or as a result of rapid travel or heavy work, any 
material increase of the pulsations should be regarded with suspicion, as 
indicating either approaching or existing disease.