The Book of Household Management Part 271

2663. The following preparations, which are constantly given to children by their nurses and mothers, for the purpose of making them sleep, often prove fatal:--_Syrup of Poppies_, and _G.o.dfrey's Cordial_. The author would most earnestly urge all people caring for their children's lives, never to allow any of these preparations to be given, unless ordered by a surgeon.

2664. The treatment in the case of poisoning by _Henbane_, _Hemlock_, _Nightshade_, and _Foxglove_, is much the same as that for opium.

Vomiting should be brought on in all of them.

2665. _Poisonous Food_.--It sometimes happens that things which are in daily use, and mostly perfectly harmless, give rise, under certain unknown circ.u.mstances, and in certain individuals, to the symptoms of poisoning. The most common articles of food of this description are _Mussels_, _Salmon_, and certain kinds of _Cheese_ and _Bacon_. The general symptoms are thirst, weight about the stomach, difficulty of breathing, vomiting, purging, spasms, prostration of strength, and, in the case of mussels more particularly, an eruption on the body, like that of nettle-rash.--_Treatment_. Empty the stomach well with No. 1 draught and warm water, and give two tablespoonfuls of castor-oil immediately after. Let the patient take plenty of arrowroot, gruel, and the like drinks, and if there is much depression of strength, give a little warm brandy-and-water. Should symptoms of fever or inflammation follow, they must be treated as directed in the articles on other kinds of poisoning.

2666. _Mushrooms_, and similar kinds of vegetables, often produce poisonous effects. The symptoms are various, sometimes giddiness and stupor, and at others pain in and swelling of the belly, with vomiting and purging, being the leading ones. When the symptoms come on quickly after taking the poison, it is generally the head that is affected.--The treatment consists in bringing on vomiting in the usual manner, as quickly and as freely as possible. The other symptoms are to be treated on general principles; if they are those of depression, by brandy-and-water or sal-volatile; if those of inflammation, by leeches, fomentations, fever-mixtures, &c. &c.

2667. FOR CURE OF RINGWORM.--Take of subcarbonate of soda 1 drachm, which dissolve in 1/2 pint of vinegar. Wash the head every morning with soft soap, and apply the lotion night and morning. One teaspoonful of sulphur and treacle should also be given occasionally night and morning.

The hair should be cut close, and round the spot it should be shaved off, and the part, night and morning, bathed with a lotion made by dissolving a drachm of white vitriol in 8 oz. of water. A small piece of either of the two subjoined ointments rubbed into the part when the lotion has dried in. No, 1.--Take of citron ointment 1 drachm; sulphur and tar ointment, of each 1/2 oz.: mix thoroughly, and apply twice a day. No. 2.--Take of simple cerate 1 oz.; creosote 1 drachm; calomel 30 grains: mix and use in the same manner as the first. Concurrent with these external remedies, the child should take an alterative powder every morning, or, if they act too much on the bowels, only every second day. The following will be found to answer all the intentions desired.

2668. Alterative Powders for Ringworm.--Take of

Sulphuret of antimony, precipitated . 24 grains.

Grey powder . . . . . 12 grains.

Calomel . . . . . . 6 grains.

Jalap powder . . . . . 36 grains.

Mix carefully, and divide into 12 powders for a child from 1 to 2 years old; into 9 powders for a child from 2 to 4 years; and into 6 powders for a child from 4 to 6 years. Where the patient is older, the strength may be increased by enlarging the quant.i.ties of the drugs ordered, or by giving one and a half or two powders for one dose. The ointment is to be well washed off every morning with soap-and-water, and the part bathed with the lotion before re-applying the ointment. An imperative fact must be remembered by mother or nurse,--never to use the same comb employed for the child with ringworm, for the healthy children, or let the affected little one sleep with those free from the disease; and, for fear of any contact by hands or otherwise, to keep the child's head enveloped in a nightcap, till this eruption is completely cured.

2669. SCRATCHES.--Trifling as scratches often seem, they ought never to be neglected, but should be covered and protected, and kept clean and dry until they have completely healed. If there is the least appearance of inflammation, no time should be lost in applying a large bread-and-water poultice, or hot flannels repeatedly applied, or even leeches in good numbers may be put on at some distance from each other.

2670. FOR SHORTNESS OF BREATH, OR DIFFICULT BREATHING.--Vitriolated spirits of ether 1 oz., camphor 12 grains: make a solution, of which take a teaspoonful during the paroxysm. This is found to afford instantaneous relief in difficulty of breathing, depending on internal diseases and other causes, where the patient, from a very quick and laborious breathing, is obliged to be in an erect posture.

2671. SPRAINS.--A sprain is a stretching of the leaders or ligaments of a part through some violence, such as slipping, falling on the hands, pulling a limb, &c. &c. The most common are those of the ankle and wrist. These accidents are more serious than people generally suppose, and often more difficult to cure than a broken log or arm. The first thing to be done is to place the sprained part in the straight position, and to raise it a little as well. Some recommend the application of cold lotions at first. The editress, however, is quite convinced that warm applications are, in most cases, the best for for the first three or four days. These fomentations are to be applied in the following manner:--Dip a good-sized piece of flannel into a pail or basin full of hot water or hot poppy fomentation,--six poppy heads boiled in one quart of water for about a quarter of an hour; wring it almost dry, and apply it, as hot as the patient can bear, right round the sprained part. Then place another piece of flannel, quite dry, over it, in order that the steam and warmth may not escape. This process should be repeated as often as the patient feels that the flannel next to his skin is getting cold--the oftener the better. The bowels should be opened with a black draught, and the patient kept on low diet. If he has been a great drinker, he may be allowed to take a little beer; but it is better not to do so. A little of the cream of tartar drink, ordered in the case of burns, may be taken occasionally if there is much thirst. When the swelling and tenderness about the joint are very great, from eight to twelve leeches may be applied. When the knee is the joint affected, the greatest pain is felt at the inside, and therefore the greater quant.i.ty of the leeches should be applied to that part. When the shoulder is sprained, the arm should be kept close to the body by means of a linen roller, which is to be taken four or five times round the whole of the chest. It should also be brought two or three times underneath the elbow, in order to raise the shoulder. This is the best treatment for these accidents during the first three or four days. After that time, supposing that no unfavourable symptoms have taken place, a cold lotion, composed of a tablespoonful of sal-ammoniac to a quart of water, or vinegar-and-water, should be constantly applied. This lotion will strengthen the part, and also help in taking away any thickening that may have formed about the joint. In the course of two or three weeks, according to circ.u.mstances, the joint is to be rubbed twice a day with flannel dipped in opodeldoc, a flannel bandage rolled tightly round the joint, the pressure being greatest at the lowest part, and the patient allowed to walk about with the a.s.sistance of a crutch or stick. He should also occasionally, when sitting or lying down, quietly bend the joint backwards and forwards, to cause its natural motion to return, and to prevent stiffness from taking place. When the swelling is very great immediately after the accident has occurred, from the breaking of the blood-vessels, it is best to apply cold applications at first. If it can be procured, oil-silk may be put over the warm-fomentation flannel, instead of the dry piece of flannel. Old flannel is better than new.

2672. CURE FOR STAMMERING.--Where there is no malformation of the organs of articulation, stammering may be remedied by reading aloud with the teeth closed. This should be practised for two hours a day, for three or four months. The advocate of this simple remedy says, "I can speak with certainty of its utility."

2673. STAMMERING.--At a recent meeting of the Boston Society of Natural History, Dr. Warren stated, "A simple, easy, and effectual cure of stammering." It is, simply, at every syllable p.r.o.nounced, to tap at the same time with the finger; by so doing, "the most inveterate stammerer will be surprised to find that he can p.r.o.nounce quite fluently, and, by long and constant practice, he will p.r.o.nounce perfectly well."

2674. SUFFOCATION, APPARENT.--Suffocation may arise from many different causes. Anything which prevents the air getting into the lungs will produce it. We shall give the princ.i.p.al causes, and the treatment to be followed in each case.

2675. 1. _Carbonic Acid Gas. Choke-Damp of Mines_.--This poisonous gas is met with in rooms where charcoal is burnt, and where there is not sufficient draught to allow it to escape; in coalpits, near limekilns, in breweries, and in rooms and houses where a great many people live huddled together in wretchedness and filth, and where the air in consequence becomes poisoned. This gas gives out no smell, so that we cannot know of its presence. A candle will not burn in a room which contains much of it.--_Effects_. At first there is giddiness, and a great wish to sleep; after a little time, or where there is much of it present, a person feels great weight in the head, and stupid; gets by degrees quite unable to move, and snores as if in a deep sleep. The limbs may or may not be stiff. The heat of the body remains much the same at first.--_Treatment_. Remove the person affected into the open air, and, even though it is cold weather, take off his clothes. Then lay him on his back, with his head slightly raised. Having done this, dash vinegar-and-water over the whole of the body, and rub it hard, especially the face and chest, with towels dipped in the same mixture.

The hands and feet also should be rubbed with a hard brush. Apply smelling-salts to the nose, which may be tickled with a feather. Dashing cold water down the middle of the back is of great service. If the person can swallow, give him a little lemon-water, or vinegar-and-water to drink. The princ.i.p.al means, however, to be employed in this, as, in fact, in most cases of apparent suffocation, is what is called _artificial breathing_. This operation should be performed by three persons, and in the following manner:--The first person should put the nozzle of a common pair of bellows into one of the patient's nostrils; the second should push down, and then thrust back, that part of the throat called "Adam's apple;" and the third should first raise and then depress the chest, one hand being placed over each side of the ribs.

These three actions should be performed in the following order:--First of all, the throat should be drawn down and thrust back; then the chest should be raised, and the bellows gently blown into the nostril.

Directly this is done, the chest should be depressed, so as to imitate common breathing. This process should be repeated about eighteen times a minute. The mouth and the other nostril should be closed while the bellows are being blown. Persevere, if necessary, with this treatment for seven or eight hours--in fact, till absolute signs of death are visible. Many lives are lost by giving it up too quickly. When the patient becomes roused, he is to be put into a warm bed, and a little brandy-and-water, or twenty drops of sal-volatile, given cautiously now and then. This treatment is to be adopted in all cases where people are affected from breathing bad air, smells, &c. &c.

2676. 2. _Drowning_.--This is one of the most frequent causes of death by suffocation.--Treatment. Many methods have been adopted, and as some of them are not only useless, but hurtful, we will mention them here, merely in order that they may be avoided. In the first place, then, never hang a person up by his heels, as it is an error to suppose that water gets into the lungs. Hanging a person up by his heels would be quite as bad as hanging him up by his neck. It is also a mistake to suppose that rubbing the body with salt and water is of service.--_Proper Treatment_. Directly a person has been taken out of the water, he should be wiped dry and wrapped in blankets; but if these cannot be obtained, the clothes of the bystanders must be used for the purpose. His head being slightly raised, and any water, weeds, or froth that may happen to be in his mouth, having been removed, he should be carried as quickly as possible to the nearest house. He should now be put into a warm bath, about as hot as the hand can pleasantly bear, and kept there for about ten minutes, artificial breathing being had recourse to while he is in it. Having been taken out of the bath, he should be placed flat on his back, with his head slightly raised, upon a warm bed in a warm room, wiped perfectly dry, and then rubbed constantly all over the body with warm flannels. At the same time, mustard poultices should be put to the soles of the feet, the palms of the hands, and the inner surface of the thighs and legs. Warm bricks, or bottles filled with warm water, should be placed under the armpits. The nose should be tickled with a feather, and smelling-salts applied to it.

This treatment should be adopted while the bath is being got ready, as well as when the body has been taken out of it. The bath is not absolutely necessary; constantly rubbing the body with flannels in a warm room having been found sufficient for resuscitation. Sir B. Brodie says that warm air is quite as good as warm water. When symptoms of returning consciousness begin to show themselves, give a little wine, brandy, or twenty drops of sal-volatile and water. In some cases it is necessary, in about twelve or twenty-four hours after the patient has revived, to bleed him, for peculiar head-symptoms which now and then occur. Bleeding, however, even in the hands of professional men themselves, should be very cautiously used--non-professional ones should never think of it. The best thing to do in these cases is to keep the head well raised, and cool with a lotion such as that recommended above for sprains; to administer an aperient draught, and to abstain from giving anything that stimulates, such as wine, brandy, sal-volatile, &c.

&c. As a general rule, a person dies in three minutes and a half after he has been under water. It is difficult, however, to tell how long he has actually been _under_ it, although we may know well exactly how long he has been _in_ it. This being the case, always persevere in your attempts at resuscitation until actual signs of death have shown themselves, even for six, eight, or ten hours. Dr. Douglas, of Glasgow, resuscitated a person who had been under water for fourteen minutes, by simply rubbing the whole of his body with warm flannels, in a warm room, for eight hours and a half, at the end of which time the person began to show the _first_ symptoms of returning animation. Should the accident occur at a great distance from any house, this treatment should be adopted as closely as the circ.u.mstances will permit of. Breathing through any tube, such as a piece of card or paper rolled into the form of a pipe, will do as a subst.i.tute for the bellows. To recapitulate: Rub the body dry; take matters out of mouth; cover with blankets or clothes; slightly raise the head, and place the body in a warm bath, or on a bed in a warm room; apply smelling-salts to nose; employ artificial breathing; rub well with warm flannels; put mustard poultices to feet, hands, and insides of thighs and legs, with warm bricks or bottles to armpits. _Don't bleed_. Give wine, brandy, or sal-volatile when recovering, and _persevere till actual signs of death are seen._

2677. Briefly to conclude what we have to say of suffocation, let us treat of _Lightning_. When a person has been struck by lightning, there is a general paleness of the whole body, with the exception of the part struck, which is often blackened, or even scorched.--_Treatment_. Same as for drowning. It is not, however, of much use; for when death takes place at all, it is generally instantaneous.

2678. CURE FOR THE TOOTHACHE.--Take a piece of sheet zinc, about the size of a sixpence, and a piece of silver, say a shilling; place them together, and hold the defective tooth between them or contiguous to them; in a few minutes the pain will be gone, as if by magic. The zinc and silver, acting as a galvanic battery, will produce on the nerves of the tooth sufficient electricity to establish a current, and consequently to relieve the pain. Or smoke a pipe of tobacco and caraway-seeds. Again--

2679. A small piece of the pellitory root will, by the flow of saliva it causes, afford relief. Creosote, or a few drops of tincture of myrrh, or friar's balsam, on cotton, put on the tooth, will often subdue the pain.

A small piece of camphor, however, retained in the mouth, is the most reliable and likely means of conquering the paroxysms of this dreaded enemy.

2680. WARTS.--Eisenberg says, in his "Advice on the Hand," that the hydrochlorate of lime is the most certain means of destroying warts; the process, however, is very slow, and demands perseverance, for, if discontinued before the proper time, no advantage is gained. The following is a simple cure:--On breaking the stalk of the crowfoot plant in two, a drop of milky juice will be observed to hang on the upper part of the stem; if this be allowed to drop on a wart, so that it be well saturated with the juice, in about three or four dressings the warts will die, and may be taken off with the fingers. They may be removed by the above means from the teats of cows, where they are sometimes very troublesome, and prevent them standing quiet to be milked. The wart touched lightly every second day with lunar caustic, or rubbed every night with blue-stone, for a few weeks, will destroy the largest wart, wherever situated.

2681. To CURE A WHITLOW.--As soon as the whitlow has risen distinctly, a pretty large piece should be snipped out, so that the watery matter may readily escape, and continue to flow out as fast as produced. A bread-and-water poultice should be put on for a few days, when the wound should be bound up lightly with some mild ointment, when a cure will be speedily completed. Constant poulticing both before and after the opening of the whitlow, is the only practice needed; but as the matter lies deep, when it is necessary to open the abscess, the incision must be made _deep_ to reach the suppuration.

2682. WOUNDS.--There are several kinds of wounds, which are called by different names, according to their appearance, or the manner in which they are produced. As, however, it would be useless, and even hurtful, to bother the reader's head with too many nice professional distinctions, we shall content ourselves with dividing wounds into three cla.s.ses.

2683. 1. _Incised wounds or cuts_--those produced by a knife, or some sharp instrument.

2684. 2. _Lacerated, or torn wounds_--those produced by the claws of an animal, the bite of a dog, running quickly against some projecting blunt object, such as a nail, &c.

2685. 3. _Punctured or penetrating wounds_--those produced by anything running deeply into the flesh; such as a sword, a sharp nail, a spike, the point of a bayonet, &c.

2686. Cla.s.s 1. _Incised wounds or cuts_.--The danger arising from these accidents is owing more to their position than to their extent. Thus, a cut of half an inch long, which goes through an artery, is more serious than a cut of two inches long, which is not near one. Again, a small cut on the head is more often followed by dangerous symptoms than a much larger one on the legs.--_Treatment_. If the cut is not a very large one, and no artery or vein is wounded, this is very simple. If there are any foreign substances left in the wound, they must be taken out, and the bleeding must be quite stopped before the wound is strapped up. If the bleeding is not very great, it may easily be stopped by raising the cut part, and applying rags dipped in cold water to it. All clots of blood must be carefully removed; for, if they are left behind, they prevent the wound from healing. When the bleeding has been stopped, and the wound perfectly cleaned, its two edges are to be brought closely together by thin straps of common adhesive plaster, which should remain on, if there is not great pain or heat about the part, for two or three days, without being removed. The cut part should be kept raised and cool. When the strips of plaster are to be taken off, they should first be well bathed with lukewarm water. This will cause them to come away easily, and without opening the lips of the wound; which accident is very likely to take place, if they are pulled off without having been first moistened with the warm water. If the wound is not healed when the strips of plaster are taken off, fresh ones must be applied. Great care is required in treating cuts of the head, as they are often followed by erysipelas taking place round them. They should be strapped with isingla.s.s plaster, which is much less irritating than the ordinary adhesive plaster. Only use as many strips as are actually requisite to keep the two edges of the wound together; keep the patient quite quiet, on low diet, for a week or so, according to his symptoms. Purge him well with the No. 2 pills (five grains of blue pill mixed with the same quant.i.ty of compound extract of colocynth; make into two pills, the dose for an adult). If the patient is feverish, give him two tablespoonfuls of the fever-mixture three times a day. (The fever-mixture, we remind our readers, is thus made: Mix a drachm of powdered nitre, 2 drachms of carbonate of potash, 2 teaspoonfuls of antimonial wine, and a tablespoonful of sweet spirits of nitre in half a pint of water.) A person should be very careful of himself for a month or two after having had a bad cut on the head. His bowels should be kept constantly open, and all excitement and excess avoided. When a vein or artery is wounded, the danger is, of course, much greater. Those accidents, therefore, should always be attended to by a surgeon, if he can possibly be procured. Before he arrives, however, or in case his a.s.sistance cannot be obtained at all, the following treatment should be adopted:--Raise the cut part, and press rags dipped in cold water firmly against it.

This will often be sufficient to stop the bleeding, if the divided artery or vein is not dangerous. When an artery is divided, the blood is of a bright red colour, and comes away in jets. In this case, and supposing the leg or arm to be the cut part, a handkerchief is to be tied tightly round the limb _above_ the cut; and, if possible, the two bleeding ends of the artery should each be tied with a piece of silk. If the bleeding is from a vein, the blood is much darker, and does not come away in jets. In this case, the handkerchief is to be tied _below_ the cut, and a pad of lint or linen pressed firmly against the divided ends of the vein. Let every bad cut, especially where there is much bleeding, and even although it may to all appearance have been stopped, be attended to by a surgeon, if one can by any means be obtained.

2687. Cla.s.s 2. _Lacerated or torn wounds_.--There is not so much bleeding in these cases as in clean cuts, because the blood-vessels are torn across in a zigzag manner, and not divided straight across. In other respects, however, they are more serious than ordinary cuts, being often followed by inflammation, mortification, fever, and in some cases by locked-jaw. Foreign substances are also more likely to remain in them.--_Treatment_. Stop the bleeding, if there is any, in the manner directed for cuts; remove all substances that may be in the wound; keep the patient quite quiet, and on low diet--gruel, arrowroot, and the like; purge with the No. 1 pills and the No. 1 mixture. (The No. 1 pill: Mix 5 grains of calomel and the same quant.i.ty of antimonial powder, with a little bread-crumb, and make into two pills, which is the dose for an adult. The No. 1 mixture: Dissolve an ounce of Epsom salts in half a pint of senna tea. A quarter of the mixture is a dose.) If there are feverish symptoms, give two tablespoonfuls of fever-mixture (see above) every four hours. If possible, bring the two edges of the wound together, _but do not strain the parts to do this_. If they cannot be brought together, on account of a piece of flesh being taken clean out, or the raggedness of their edges, put lint dipped in cold water over the wound, and cover it with oiled silk. It will then fill up from the bottom. If the wound, after being well washed, should still contain any sand, or grit of any kind, or if it should get red and hot from inflammation, a large warm bread poultice will be the best thing to apply until it becomes quite clean, or the inflammation goes down. When the wound is a very large one, the application of warm poppy fomentations is better than that of the lint dipped in cold water. If the redness and pain about the part, and the general feverish symptoms, are great, from eight to twelve leeches are to be applied round the wound, and a warm poppy fomentation or warm bread poultice applied after they drop off.

2688. Cla.s.s 3. _Punctured or penetrating wounds_.--These, for many reasons, are the most serious of all kinds of wounds.--_Treatment_. The same as that for lacerated wounds. Pus (matter) often forms at the bottom of these wounds, which should, therefore, be kept open at the top, by separating their edges every morning with a bodkin, and applying a warm bread poultice immediately afterwards. They will then, in all probability, heal up from the bottom, and any matter which may form will find its own way out into the poultice. Sometimes, however, in spite of all precautions, collections of matter (abscesses) will form at the bottom or sides of the wound. Those are to be opened with a lancet, and the matter thus let out. When matter is forming, the patient has cold shiverings, throbbing pain in the part, and flushes on the face, which come and go. A swelling of the part is also often seen. The matter in the abscesses may be felt to move backwards and forwards, when pressure is made from one side of the swelling to the other with the first and second fingers (the middle and that next the thumb) of each hand.

MEDICAL MEMORANDA.

2689. ADVANTAGES OF CLEANLINESS.--Health and strength cannot be long continued unless the skin--_all_ the skin--is washed frequently with a sponge or other means. Every morning is best; after which the skin should be rubbed very well with a rough cloth. This is the most certain way of preventing cold, and a little subst.i.tute for exercise, as it brings blood to the surface, and causes it to circulate well through the fine capillary vessels. Labour produces this circulation naturally. The insensible perspiration cannot escape well if the skin is not clean, as the pores get choked up. It is said that in health about half the aliment we take pa.s.ses out through the skin.

2690. THE TOMATO MEDICINAL.--To many persons there is something unpleasant, not to say offensive, in the flavour of this excellent fruit. It has, however, long been used for culinary purposes in various countries of Europe. Dr. Bennett, a professor of some celebrity, considers it an invaluable article of diet, and ascribes to it very important medicinal properties. He declares:--1. That the tomato is one of the most powerful deobstruents of the _materia medica_; and that, in all those affections of the liver and other organs where calomel is indicated, it is probably the most effective and least harmful remedial agent known in the profession. 2. That a chemical extract can be obtained from it, which will altogether supersede the use of calomel in the cure of diseases. 3. That he has successfully treated diarrhoea with this article alone. 4. That when used as an article of diet, it is almost a sovereign remedy for dyspepsia and indigestion.

2691. WARM WATER.--Warm water is preferable to cold water, as a drink, to persons who are subject to dyspeptic and bilious complaints, and it may be taken more freely than cold water, and consequently answers better as a diluent for carrying off bile, and removing obstructions in the urinary secretion, in cases of stone and gravel. When water of a temperature equal to that of the human body is used for drink, it proves considerably stimulant, and is particularly suited to dyspeptic, bilious, gouty, and chlorotic subjects.

2692. CAUTIONS IN VISITING SICK-ROOMS.--Never venture into a sick-room if you are in a violent perspiration (if circ.u.mstances require your continuance there), for the moment your body becomes cold, it is in a state likely to absorb the infection, and give you the disease. Nor visit a sick person (especially if the complaint be of a contagious nature) with _an empty stomach_; as this disposes the system more readily to receive the contagion. In attending a sick person, place yourself where the air pa.s.ses from the door or window to the bed of the diseased, not betwixt the diseased person and any fire that is in the room, as the heat of the fire will draw the infectious vapour in that direction, and you would run much danger from breathing it.

2693. NECESSITY OF GOOD VENTILATION IN ROOMS LIGHTED WITH GAS.--In dwelling-houses lighted by gas, the frequent renewal of the air is of great importance. A single gas-burner will consume more oxygen, and produce more carbonic acid to deteriorate the atmosphere of a room, than six or eight candles. If, therefore, when several burners are used, no provision is made for the escape of the corrupted air and for the introduction of pure air from without, the health will necessarily suffer.

LEGAL MEMORANDA.

CHAPTER XLIV.

2694. Humorists tell us there is no act of our lives which can be performed without breaking through some one of the many meshes of the law by which our rights are so carefully guarded; and those learned in the law, when they do give advice without the usual fee, and in the confidence of friendship, generally say, "Pay, pay anything rather than go to law;" while those having experience in the courts of Themis have a wholesome dread of its pitfalls. There are a few exceptions, however, to this fear of the law's uncertainties; and we hear of those to whom a lawsuit is on agreeable relaxation, a gentle excitement. One of this cla.s.s, when remonstrated with, retorted, that while one friend kept dogs, and another horses, he, as he had a right to do, kept a lawyer; and no one had a right to dispute his taste. We cannot pretend, in these few pages, to lay down even the principles of law, not to speak of its contrary exposition in different courts; but there are a few acts of legal import which all men--and women too--must perform; and to these acts we may be useful in giving a right direction. There is a house to be leased or purchased, servants to be engaged, a will to be made, or property settled, in all families; and much of the welfare of its members depends on these things being done in proper legal form.

2695. PURCHASING A HOUSE.--Few men will venture to purchase a freehold, or even a leasehold property, by private contract, without making themselves acquainted with the locality, and employing a solicitor to examine the t.i.tles,; but many do walk into an auction-room, and bid for a property upon the representations of the auctioneer. The conditions, whatever they are, will bind him; for by one of the legal fictions of which we have still so many, the auctioneer, who is in reality the agent for the vendor, becomes also the agent for the buyer, and by putting down the names of bidders and the biddings, he binds him to whom the lot is knocked down to the sale and the conditions,--the falling of the auctioneer's hammer is the acceptance of the offer, which completes the agreement to purchase. In any such transaction you can only look at the written or printed particulars; any verbal statement of the auctioneer, made at the time of the sale, cannot contradict them, and they are implemented by the agreement, which the auctioneer calls on the purchaser to sign after the sale. You should sign no such contract without having a duplicate of it signed by the auctioneer, and delivered to you. It is, perhaps, unnecessary to add, that no trustee or a.s.signee can purchase property for himself included in the trust, even at auction; nor is it safe to pay the purchase money to an agent of the vendor, unless he give a written authority to the agent to receive it, besides handing over the requisite deeds and receipts.

2696. The laws of purchase and sale of property are so complicated that Lord St. Leonards devotes five chapters of his book on Property Law to the subject. The only circ.u.mstances strong enough to vitiate a purchase, which has been reduced to a written contract, is proof of fraudulent representation as to an enc.u.mbrance of which the buyer was ignorant, or a defect in t.i.tle; but every circ.u.mstance which the purchaser might have learned by careful investigation, the law presumes that he did know.

Thus, in buying a leasehold estate or house, all the covenants of the original lease are presumed to be known. "It is not unusual," says Lord St. Leonards, "to stipulate, in conditions of sale of leasehold property, that the production of a receipt for the last year's rent shall be accepted as proof that all the lessor's covenants were performed up to that period. Never bid for one clogged with such a condition. There are some acts against which no relief can be obtained; for example, the tenant's right to insure, or his insuring in an office or in names not authorized in the lease. And you should not rely upon the mere fact of the insurance being correct at the time of sale: there may have been a prior breach of covenant, and the landlord may not have waived his right of entry for the forfeiture." And where any doubt of this kind exists, the landlord should be appealed to.

2697. Interest on a purchase is due from the day fixed upon for completing: where it cannot be completed, the loss rests with the party with whom the delay rests; but it appears, when the delay rests with the seller, and the money is lying idle, notice of that is to be given to the seller to make him liable to the loss of interest. In law, the property belongs to the purchaser from the date of the contract; he is ent.i.tled to any benefit, and must bear any loss; the seller may suffer the insurance to drop without giving notice; and should a fire take place, the loss falls on the buyer. In agreeing to buy a house, therefore, provide at the same time for its insurance. Common fixtures pa.s.s with the house, where nothing is said about them.

2698. There are some well-recognized laws, of what may be called good-neighbourhood, which affect all properties. If you purchase a field or house, the seller retaining another field between yours and the highway, he must of necessity grant you a right of way. Where the owner of more than one house sells one of them, the purchaser is ent.i.tled to benefit by all drains leading from his house into other drains, and will be subject to all necessary drains for the adjoining houses, although there is no express reservation as to drains.