A manual of infectious diseases / by E.W. Goodall and J.W. Washbourn.

Date:
1896
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A manual of infectious diseases / by E.W. Goodall and J.W. Washbourn. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    allowed to turn himself in bed, nor, on any account, to sit up. Bed sores must be prevented by cleanliness, hardening the skin with methylated spirit, dusting with zinc and starch powder, and by the use of a water bed to prevent pressure. The diet should consist principally of milk, and should be given in small quantities every hour or two. For an adult, about three pints may be allowed in the twenty-four hours. It may be supplemented by beef tea or the various extracts of meat, custard, and jelly. To allay thirst, ice, soda water, lemonade made from fresh lemons, orange juice freed from pips, and imperial drink are useful. A little tea added to the milk will render it more palatable. If the milk is not digested—and this can be recognised by an examination of the stools—it should be peptonised, or lime-water added. Some patients absolutely refuse milk, and then recourse must be made to cocoa and various prepared foods. The diet during convalescence is also an important point, for there is danger of setting up perforation by injudicious feeding. The usual plan is to abstain from solid food until a week or a fortnight after the temperature has become normal, according to the severity of the case. Then cream, the crumb of bread, or carefully pounded meat mixed with gravy, may be given. In a few days a little fish, freed from bones, can be allowed, and at the end of the third week of convalescence a little chicken. The temperature should be taken for at least a month after convalescence, and on'any sign of a relapse the patient should be put back on a milk diet. If the patient is seen early, before the end of the first week, it is well to give a couple of grains of calomel, to clear the bowel of solid contents. Except for this, drugs are only required as symptoms arise; for no drug