Advice to a Mother on the Management of Her Children Part 34

I have here a word or two to say to a mother who is always physicking her family. It is an unnatural thing to be constantly dosing either a child, or any one else, with medicine. One would suppose that some people were only sent into the world to be physicked! If more care were paid to the rules of health, very little medicine would be required! This is a hold a.s.sertion; but I am confident that it is a true one. It is a strange admission for a medical man to make, but, nevertheless, my convictions compel me to avow it.

378. _What is the reason girls are so subject to costiveness_?

The princ.i.p.al reason why girls suffer more from costiveness than boys, is that their habits are more sedentary; as the best opening medicines in the world are an abundance of exercise, of muscular exertion, and of fresh air. Unfortunately, poor girls in this enlightened age must be engaged, sitting all the while, several hours every day at fancy work, the piano, and other accomplishments; they, consequently, have little time for exercise of any kind. The bowels, as a matter of course, become constipated; they are, therefore, dosed with pills, with black draughts, with brimstone and treacle--Oh! the abomination!

--and with medicines of that cla.s.s, almost _ad infinitum_. What is the consequence? Opening medicines, by constant repet.i.tion, lose their effects, and, therefore, require to be made stronger and still stronger, until at length, the strongest will scarcely act at all, and the poor unfortunate girl, when she becomes a woman, _if she ever does become one_, is spiritless, heavy, doll, and listless, requiring daily doses of physic, until she almost lives on medicine!

All this misery and wretchedness proceed from Nature's laws having been set at defiance, from _artificial_ means taking the place of _natural_ ones--from a mother adopting as her rule and guide fashion and folly, rather than reason and common sense. When will a mother awake from her folly and stupidity? This is strong language to address to a lady, but it is not stronger than the subject demands.

Mothers of England do, let me entreat you, ponder well upon what I have said. Do rescue your girls from the bondage of fashion and of folly, which is worse than the bondage of the Egyptian task masters, for the Israelites did, in making bricks without straw, work m the open air--"So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble instead of straw," but your girls, many of them, at least, have no work, either in the house or in the open air--they have no exercise whatever. They are poor, drawling, dawdling, miserable nonent.i.ties, with muscles, for the want of proper exercise, like ribands, and with faces, for the lack of fresh air, as white as a sheet of paper. What a host of charming girls are yearly sacrificed at the shrine of fashion and of folly.

Another, and a frequent cause of costiveness, is the bad habit of disobeying the call of having the bowels opened. The moment there is the slightest inclination to relieve the bowels, _instantly_ it ought to be attended to, or serious results will follow. Let me urge a mother to instil into her daughter's mind the importance of this advice.

379. _Young people are subject to pimples on the face, what is the remedy_?

These hard red pimples (acne--"the grub pimple") are a common and an obstinate affection of the skin, affecting the forehead, the temples, the nose, the chin, and the cheeks, occasionally attacking the neck, the shoulders, the back, and the chest; and as they more frequently affect the young, from the age of 15 to 35, and are disfiguring, they cause much annoyance. "These pimples are so well known by most persons as scarcely to need description; they are conical, red, and hard; after a while, they become white, and yellow at the point, then discharge a thick, yellow-coloured matter, mingled with a whitish substance, and become covered by a hard brown scab, and lastly, disappear very slowly, sometimes very imperfectly, and often leaving an ugly scar behind them. To these symptoms are not unfrequently added considerable pain, and always much unsightliness. When these little cones have the black head of a 'grub' at their point, they const.i.tute the variety termed _spotted acne_. These latter often remain stationary for months, without increasing or becoming red; but when they inflame, they are in nowise different in their course from the common kind."--_Wilson on Healthy Skin_.

I find, in these cases, great benefit to be derived from bathing the face, night and morning, with strong salt and water--a table-spoonful of table-salt to a tea-cupful of water; by paying attention to the bowels; by living on plain, wholesome, nourishing food; and by taking a great of out-door exercise. Sea-bathing, in these cases, is often very beneficial. Grubs and worms have a mortal antipathy to salt.

380. _What is the cause of a Gum-boil_?

A decayed root of a tooth, which causes inflammation and abscess of the gum, which abscess breaks, and thus becomes a gum-boil.

381. _What is the treatment of a Gum-boil_?

Foment the outside of the face with a hot camomile and poppy head fomentation, [Footnote: Four poppy heads and four ounces of camomile blows to be boiled in four pints of water for half an h.o.a.r, and then to be strained to make the fomentation.] and apply to the gum-boil, between the cheek and the gum, a small white bread and milk poultice, [Footnote: Cut a piece of bread, about the size of the little finger-- without breaking it into crumb--pour boiling hot milk upon it, cover it over, and let it stand for five minutes, then apply the soaked bread over the gum-boil, letting it rest between the cheek and the gum.] which renew frequently.

As soon as the gum-boil has become quiet, _by all means_ have the affected tooth extracted, or it might cause disease, and consequently serious injury of the jaw; and whenever the patient catches cold there will be a renewal of the inflammation, of the abscess, and of the gum-boil, and, as a matter of course, renewed pain, trouble, and annoyance. Moreover, decayed fangs of teeth often cause the breath to be offensive.

382. _What is the best remedy for a Corn_?

The best remedy for a _hard corn_ is to remove it. The usual method of cutting, or of paring a corn away, is erroneous. The following is the right way--Cut with a _sharp_ pair of pointed scissors around the circ.u.mference of the corn. Work gradually round and round and towards the centre. When you have for some considerable distance well loosened the edges, you can either with your fingers or with a pair of forceps generally remove the corn bodily, and that without pain and without the loss of any blood: this plan of treating a corn I can recommend to you as being most effectual.

If the corn be properly and wholly removed it will leave a small cavity or round hole in the centre, where the blood-vessels and the nerve of the corn--vulgarly called the root--really were, and which, in point of fact, const.i.tuted the very existence or the essence of the corn. Moreover, if the corn be entirely removed, you will, without giving yourself the slightest pain, be able to squeeze the part affected between your finger and thumb.

_Hard corns_ on the sole of the foot and on the sides of the foot are best treated by filing--by filing them with a sharp cutting file (flat on one side and convex on the other) neither too coa.r.s.e nor too fine in the cutting. The corn ought, once every day, to be filed, and should daily be continued until you experience a slight pain, which tells you that the end of the corn is approaching. Many cases of _hard corn_ that have resisted every other plan of treatment, have been _entirely_ cured by means of the file. One great advantage of the file is, it cannot possibly do any harm, and may be used by a timid person--by one who would not readily submit to any cutting instrument being applied to the corn.

The file, if properly used, is an effectual remedy for a _hard_ corn on the sole of the foot. I myself have seen the value of it in several cases, particularly in one case, that of an old gentleman of ninety five, who had had a corn on the sole of his foot for upwards of half a century, and which had resisted numerous, indeed almost innumerable remedies, at length I recommended the file, and after a few applications entire relief was obtained, and the corn was completely eradicated.

The corns between the toes are called _soft corns_. A _soft corn_ is quickly removed by the strong Acetic Acid--Acid. Acetic Fort--which ought to be applied to the corn every night by means of a camel's hair brush. The toes should be kept asunder for a few minutes, in order that the acid may soak in, then apply between the toes a small piece of cotton wool.

Galbanum Plaster spread either on wash leather, or on what is better, on an old white kid glove, has been, in one of our medical journals, strongly recommended as a corn plaster, it certainly is an admirable one, and when the corn is between the toes is sometimes most comfortable--affording immense relief.

Corns are like the little worries of life--very teazing and troublesome a good remedy for a corn--which the Galbanum Plaster undoubtedly is-is therefore worth knowing.

_Hard corns_, then, on the sole and on the side of the foot are best treated by the file, _hard corns_ on the toes by the scissors, and _soft corns_ between the toes either by the strong Acetic Acid or by the Galbanum Plaster.

In the generality of cases the plans recommended above, if properly performed, will effect a cure, but if the corn, from pressure or from any other cause, should return, remove it again, and proceed as before directed. If the corn have been caused either by tight or by ill fitting shoes, the only way to prevent a recurrence is, of course, to have the shoes, properly made by a clever shoemaker--by one who thoroughly understands his business, and who will have a pair of lasts made purposely for the feet. [Footnote: As long as fashion instead of common sense is followed in the making of both boots and shoes, men and women will, as a matter of course, suffer from corns.

It has, often struck me as singular, when all the professions and trades are so overstocked, that there should be, as there is in every large town, such a want of chiropodists (corn-cutters)--of respectable chiropodists--of men who would charge a _fixed_ sum for every visit the patient may make, for instance to every working man a shilling, and to every gentleman half-a-crown or five shillings for _each_ sitting, and not for _each_ corn (which latter system is a most unsatisfactory way of doing business). I am quite sure that of such a plan were adopted, every town of any size in the kingdom would employee regularly one chiropodist at least. However we might dislike some few of the American customs, we may copy them with advantage in this particular--namely, in having a regular staff of chiropodists both in civil and in military life.]

The German method of making boots and shoes is a capital one for the prevention of corns, as the boots and shoes are made, scientifically to fit a _real_ and not an _ideal_ foot.

One of the best preventatives of as well as of the best remedies for corns, especially of soft corns between the toes, is washing the feet every morning as recommended in a previous Conversation, [Footnote: Youth--Ablution, page 250.] taking especial care to wash with the thumb, and afterwards to wipe with the towel between each toe.

383. _What are the best remedies to destroy a Wart_?

Pure nitric acid, [Footnote: A very small quant.i.ty of Pure Nitric Acid--just a drain at the bottom of a stoppered bottle--is all that is needed, and which may be procured of a chemist.] carefully applied to the wart by means of a small stick of cedar wood--a camel's hair pencil-holder--every other day, will soon destroy it. Care must be taken that the acid does not touch the healthy skin, or it will act as a caustic to it. The nitric acid should be preserved in a stoppered bottle and must be put out of the reach of children.

Glacial Acetic Acid is another excellent destroyer of warts: it should, by means of a camel's hair brush, be applied to each wart, every night just before going to bed. The warts will, after a few applications, completely disappear.

384. _What is the best remedy for tender feet, for sweaty feet, and for smelling feet_?

Cold water: bathing the feet in cold water, beginning with tepid water; but gradually from day to day reducing the warm until the water be quite cold. A large nursery-basin one-third full of water, ought to be placed on the floor, and one foot at a time should be put in the water, washing the while with a sponge the foot, and with the thumb between each toe. Each foot should remain in the water about half a minute. The feet ought, after each washing, to be well dried, taking care to dry with the towel between each toe. The above process must be repeated at least once every day--every morning, and if the annoyance be great, every night as well. A clean pair of stockings ought in these cases to be put on daily, as perfect cleanliness is absolutely necessary both to afford relief and to effect a cure.

If the feet be tender, or if there be either bunions, or corns, the shoes and the boots made according to the German method (which are fashioned according to the actual shape of the foot) should alone be worn.

385. _What are the causes of so many young ladies of the present day being weak, nervous, and unhappy_?

The princ.i.p.al causes are--ignorance of the laws of health, Nature's laws being set at nought by fashion and by folly, by want of fresh air and exercise, by want of occupation, and by want of self-reliance.

Weak, nervous, and unhappy! Well they might be! What have they to make them strong and happy? Have they work to do to brace the muscles? Have they occupation--useful, active occupation--to make them happy? No! they have neither the one nor the other!

386. What diseases are girls most subject to?

The diseases peculiar to girls are--Chlorosis--Green-sickness--and Hysterics.

387. What are the usual causes of Chlorosis? Chlorosis is caused by torpor and debility of the whole frame, especially of the womb. It is generally produced by scanty or by improper food, by the want of air and of exercise, and by too close application within doors. Here we have the same tale over again--close application within doors, and the want of fresh air and of exercise. When will the eyes of a mother he opened, to this important subject?--the most important that can engage her attention!

388. What is the usual age for Chlorosis to occur and what are the symptoms?

Chlorosis more frequently attacks girls from fifteen to twenty years of age; although unmarried women, much older, occasionally have it. I say _unmarried_, for, as a rule, it is a complaint of the _single_.

The patient, first of all, complains of being languid, tired, and out of spirits; she is fatigued with the slightest exertion; she has usually palpitation of the heart (so as to make her fancy that she has a disease of that organ, which, in all probability, she has not); she has shortness of breath, and a short dry cough; her face is flabby and pale; her complexion gradually a.s.sumes a yellowish or greenish hue--hence the name of chlorosis; there is a dark, livid circle around her eyes; her lips lose their colour, and become almost white; her tongue is generally white and pasty, her appet.i.te is bad, and is frequently depraved--the patient often preferring chalk, slate pencil, cinder, and even dirt, to the daintiest food, indigestion frequently attends chlorosis, she has usually pains over the short-ribs, on the _left_ side, she suffers greatly from "wind"--is frequently nearly choken by it, her bowels are generally costive, and the stools are unhealthy, she has pains in her hips, loins, and back, and her feet and ankles are oftentimes swollen. _The menstrual discharge is either suspended or very partially performed_, if the latter, it is usually almost colourless. Hysterical fits not unfrequently occur during an attack of chlorosis.

389. _How may Chlorosis be prevented_?

If health were more and fashion were less studied, chlorosis would not be such a frequent complaint. This disease generally takes its rise from mismanagement--from Nature's laws having been set at defiance. I have heard a silly mother express an opinion that it is not _genteel_ for a girl to eat _heartily!_ Such language is perfectly absurd and cruel. How often, too, a weak mother declares that a healthy, blooming girl looks like a milk maid! It would be well if she did! How true and sad it is, that "a pale, delicate face, and clear eyes, indicative of consumption, are the fashionable _desiderata_ at present for complexion."--_Dublin University Magazine._

A growing girl requires _plenty_ of _good_ nourishment--as much as her appet.i.te demands, and if she have it not, she will become either chlorotic, or consumptive, or delicate. Besides, _the greatest beautifier in the world is health_, therefore, by a mother studying the health of her daughter, she will, at the same time, adorn her body with, beauty! I am sorry to say that too many parents think more of the beauty than of the health of their girls. Sad and lamentable infatuation! Nathaniel Hawthorne--a distinguished American--gives a graphic description of a delicate young lady. He says--"She is one of those delicate nervous young creatures not uncommon in New England, and whom I suppose to have become what we find them by the gradually refining away of the physical system among young women. Some philosophers choose to glorify this habit of body by terming it spiritual, but in my opinion, it is rather the effect of unwholesome food, bad air, lack of out-door exercise, and neglect of bathing, on the part of these damsels and their female progenitors, all resulting in a kind of hereditary dyspepsia."

Nathaniel Hawthorne was right. Such ladies, when he wrote, were not uncommon, but within the last two or three years, to their great credit be it spoken, "a change has come o'er the spirit of their dreams," and they are wonderfully improved in health, for, with all reverence be it spoken, "G.o.d helps them who help themselves," and they have helped themselves by attending to the rales of health--"The women of America are growing more and more handsome every year for just this reason. They are growing rounder of chest, fuller of limb, gaining, substance and development in every direction. Whatever may be urged to the contrary we believe this to be a demonstrable fact. When the rising generation of American girls once begin to wear thick shoes, to take much exercise in the open air, to skate, to play at croquet, and to affect the saddle, it not only begins to grow more wise but more healthful, and which must follow as the night the day--more beautiful"--_The Round Table_.

If a young girl had plenty-of wholesome meat, varied from day to day, either plain roast or boiled, and neither stewed, nor hashed, nor highly seasoned for the stomach, if she has had an abundance of fresh air for her lungs, if she had plenty of active exercise, such as skipping, dancing, running, riding, swimming, for her muscles, if her clothing were warm and loose, and adapted to the season, if her mind were more occupied with active _useful_ occupation, such as household work, than at present, and if she were kept calm and untroubled from the hurly-burly and excitement of fashionable life--chlorosis would almost be an unknown disease. It is a complaint of rare occurrence with country girls, but of great frequency with fine city ladies.

390. _What treatment should you advise_?

The treatment which would prevent should be adopted when the complaint first makes its appearance. If the above means do not quickly remove it, the mother must then apply to a medical man, and he will give medicines _which will soon have the desired effect_. Chlorosis is very amenable to treatment. If the disease be allowed for any length of time to run on, it may produce either organic--incurable--disease of the heart, or consumption or indigestion, or confirmed ill-health.

391. _At what period of life is a lady most p.r.o.ne in Hysterics, and what are the symptoms_?