dered ipecacuanha, or the same of sulphate of zinc, may be given to an adult. Temporary relief may be obtained by the patient taking a few whiffs from a pipe of tobacco or stramonium. Ozone papers are useful, as are also Joy's Cigares Anti-asthmatiques Inhaling the fumes from smouldering Himrod's powder gives relief. The general health of the patient should be carefully attended to. Change of air is often beneficial, and so are such tonics as cold sponging and the shower-bath, when there is no other reason to prevent their employment.
Bright's Disease.—This is a name applied to several inflammatory affections of the kidneys, generally associated with albumin in the urine and often with dropsy. It may be either acute or chronic.
Causes.—Acute Bright's disease may occur from cold, from a blow, from taking substances such as turpentine or cantharides, which irritate the kidneys, but more usually it follows some acute febrile disturbance, and more especially scarlet fever.
Symptoms.—Cold shivers, headache, pain in the back, often sickness. The temperature is raised, and the amount of urine excreted is diminished or almost suppressed, is occasionally bloody, and coagulable. Dropsy is often a secondary disorder.
Treatment.—Hot baths do good by causing sweating and giving free action to the excretory power of the skin. They may be taken at bedtime and repeated every night; the water should be about 95° to 98° Fahr., and the patient may remain in it for from 5 to 10 minutes, then be quickly dried and put to bed. Purgatives should be taken, such as compound jalap powder, 20 to 30 grains of which may be taken by an adult. Rest in bed in a warm room is most important, nor ought the patient to think of leaving his room until all the dropsy and acute symptoms have subsided. Light nourishing food may be given, such as bread and milk, veal tea, broth, rice pudding, arrowroot and gruel. During convalescence, great care must be taken to avoid cold, and flannel should be worn. Tonics containing iron and quinine are useful.
In Chronic Bright's Disease, even if an unskilled person were able to detect it, little if anything of practical use can be done except under medical direction.
Bronchitis.—This is an inflammatory disease of the lining membrane of the bronchial tubes. It may be acute or chronic.
Symptoms.—Acute bronchitis is very liable to attack persons in the winter, and during the prevalence of east or north-east winds. It begins like an ordinary cold, succeeded by a feeling of chilliness, and aching pains in the limbs. The patient is thirsty and feverish, with languor and headache, loss of appetite and restlessness; there is an uneasy feeling of soreness behind the breast bone. At first there is a dry, hacking cough, and very little phlegm is brought up; in two or three days the cough becomes looser, and the expectoration is more abundant. Wheezing sounds are heard in the air passages.
