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Consumption, Asthma, Pleurisy

acrid mucus from the nose; hoarseness; cough; ❘ reputation in this complaint: two or three grains fever, etc.

Treatment. If the symptoms be violent, bleed and give twenty drops of hartshorn in half a pint of warm vinegar whey. Hoarhound and boneset tea, taken in large quantities, are very useful.

The patient should be confined to his bed, and be freely purged. If there is great pain in the breast, apply a blister to it. To ease the cough take one teaspoonful of No. 1 every thirty minutes, or till relief is obtained. The Influenza is nothing more than an aggravated and epidemic state of catarrh, and is to be cured by the same remedies. No cough or cold is too light to merit attention. Neglected colds lay the foundations for diseases that every year send thousands to the grave.

No. 1. Cough Mixture.-Paregoric + an ounce; syrup of squills 1 ounce; antimonial wine 2 drachms; water 6 ounces. Dose is one teaspoonful every thirty minutes, or at longer intervals, till the cough abates.

Asthma.

Symptoms. A tightness across the breast; frequent short breathing, attended with a wheezing, increased by exertion and when in bed. It comes on in fits or paroxysms.

Treatment. If the cough be violent and frequent, with great pain in the breast, and the patient be young and robust, it may be necessary to bleed or cup him. In old people it should be resorted to with caution. The tincture of lobelia is highly recommended in asthma. It should be taken in doses of a very few drops at first, and cautiously increased. If the pulse sinks under it, or nausea, giddiness, etc., is produced, it must be laid aside. In fact, it is hardly prudent to take this active and dangerous article, except under a physician's care. The dried roots of the thornapple and skunk-cabbage are sometimes smoked through a pipe for the same purpose, soaked in a solution of nitre and dried. Asthma is a disease that is seldom completely cured by art; nature, however, occasionally effects it.

Pleurisy. of it, with from a half to a whole grain of opium, may be taken every three or four hours, and in severe cases, where the blood flows rapidly, five or six grains, with two of opium, may be taken at once. The most perfect rest should be strictly enjoined, and the diet should be cooling and simple. Consumption.

Symptoms. A short, dry cough, languor and gradual loss of strength, pulse small, quick, and soft, pain in the breast, expectoration of a frothy matter, that at last becomes solid and yellow, the breathing grows more anxious and hurried, the emaciation and pain increase, hectic fever, night sweats, and a looseness of the bowels come on, and the patient, unsuspicious of danger, dies.

Causes. Neglected colds, dissipation, hereditary tendency, etc. Distinguish it by the longcontinued cough, pain in the breast, and great emaciation, by the substance thrown up containing pus, in common language, matter. It is known by its being opaque, mixing with water, and heavier than it, so that if thrown into a vessel containing that fluid it sinks to the bottom. When thrown upon hot coals it yields an offensive odor.

When Treatment. In a confirmed state of consumption, nothing that art has hitherto been able to do can afford us any solid hopes of a cure. once the disease is firmly seated in the lungs all that is possible is to smooth the passage to the grave, and perhaps for a while to retard it. If, however, the disease is taken in its very bud, much may be done by a change of climate, a milk diet, cod-liver oil, moderate daily exercise on horseback, and by carefully avoiding cold and all exciting causes. should be the first step taken, if practicable; if not, a voyage to sea or a long journey on horseback. A complete suit of flannel, worn next the skin, is an indispensable article for every one who A removal to a warm climate is even inclined to this most fatal disorder.

Palpitation of the Heart.

The symptoms of this complaint must be obvious from its name. When it arises from organic disease of the heart or its vessels, nothing can be done to cure it. The patient should be careful to avoid a full habit of body, and abstain from violen. exercise and sexual indulgences. He should Symptoms. A sharp pain or stitch in the side, increased upon breathing, inability to lie on the affected side, pulse hard, quick and corded, tongue live low, and keep as quiet and composed as poswhite. Treatment. Take away at once from twelve to fifteen ounces of blood, place a large blister over the side, and give a full dose of Epsom salts.

Follow the bleeding by cups if relief is not obtained; and afterwards a blister. All the remedies for the reduction of inflammation must be actively employed. The patient should be confined to his bed, with the head and shoulders a little elevated, and if pain be severe, especially at night, 10 grains of Dover's powder may be given. The diet should always consist of rice or barley-water, gruel, etc.

Spitting of Blood.