Homoeopathic domestic medicine / by J. Laurie ; arranged as a pratical work for students ; containing a glossary of medical terms.

  • Laurie, Joseph, -1865.
Date:
1853
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Homoeopathic domestic medicine / by J. Laurie ; arranged as a pratical work for students ; containing a glossary of medical terms. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    to the adoption of a plain and rational diet for children, and to the avoidance of confectionery, cakes, pastry and coffee, with which their tender stomachs are too often surfeited, abused, and permanently injured. 4. Worms. Verminous irritation unquestionably produces convulsions. The existence of this cause should not be too hastily decided upon, for, with all the care taken to elaborate its symptomatic phenomena, they so closely simulate those arising from other kinds of irritation, that no strong reliance can be placed upon this discrimination, except when aided by the absolute presence of the worms in the evacuations either from the stomach or intestines. This uncertainty should serve as a salutary caution to the presuming, who are so fond of deluging infants with pink-root and other vermifuges, thus producing or magnifying the very sufferings they aim to relieve. The maw or thread worms (ascarides vermicu- lares), small white worms that gather in countless numbers at the lower part of the intestinal canal; and the common round worm (ascarides lumbricoides) are the two prominent species to be sought for as exciting causes of convulsive difficulty in children. 5. Mechanical injuries. Falls and blows upon the head and other parts of the body have produced convulsions both immediately and remotely. The mechanical depression of a part of the skull-bone, or the presence of a splinter in the fleshy part of the body, have been known to excite convul- sions, until the bone was elevated or the splinter removed. 6. Fright. This is not an unfrequent agent in the pro- duction of spasms. Nurses, who, having some ulterior views of comfort or occupation, were desirous of silencing crying or fretful children, have been known to frighten the little sufferers into convulsions. Thoughtless children have pursued the same course with their younger associates with similar results. Mothers, as they value the future health and mental capacity, or the very existence of their offspring, should guard against such misconduct with extreme vigilance. 7. Various unknown causes. Convulsions occasionally 32