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For Woman’s Work.
A DREAM OF THE PAST.
KITTY M’CARTHY.
Fair summer glides e’er the earth,
Trailing her gorgeous train
Os golden sunbeams and gladsome mirth;
And song birds are filling
The air with their thrilling,
And flowers are spilling
Their sweets on the plain.
My heart knows a rapture sweet,
Os a new-born love, so bright,
So full of joy that every beat
Is a life of bliss,
Marked by a kiss;
Ah! more than this—
Is love’s delight.
The earth wears a robe of white,
And the frozen stars on high
Send shivering rays o’er the plain of night;
And the wind in a wail
Tells a sorrowful tale
To the lowly vale—
Pale Death is nigh!
Ah! death to the buds and the flowers,
And death in my heart so cold,
And I weep alone thro’ the silent hours.
My joy is gone,
My hope has flown
My love—my own—
Sleeps in the mold.
Jpintte
«!»,
V?g
v ’ y/ " '
STAINBACK WILSON, M. D., ATLANTA, GA.
Note.—Questions pertaining to health
and disease will be answered in this paper
when it can be done with propriety. "When,
from the nature of the case, or other rea
sons, a private answer is desired, a full de
scription should be sent. Address as above,
writing my name in full, and enclose
stamp.
INCISED OR CUTTING WOUNDS.
It will be remembered that wounds have
been divided into several classes. Having
treated of most of these, I now come to the
most common of all wounds, the most
dangerous from loss of blood, but generally
easily managed by those who understand
the use of the means now to be given.
As just intimated, the great danger in
cutting wounds is the bleeding; and the
most important thing is to know how to
stop the flow of blood.
The parts divided should be brought to
gether without delay, and then cold water
should be freely applied. If a limb is
wounded, it should be elevated so as to be
higher than the body,as directed in the case
of sprains. The injured parts should then
be bound together by adhesive strips, or a
bandage, or both. In the absence of ad
hesive plaster, strips of linen, an inch or
an inch and a half wide, wet in cold wa
ter, and drawn across the wound, will an
swer every purpose, are always at hand,
and can be applied without delay or ex
pense.
During the war, when all medical sup
plies were often unattainable, these extem
orized plasters were used with perfect satis
faction in our hospitals; and I found them
better than the lead plasters, being cooling,
requiring no heat to prepare them for use,
and, as water dressings &ere used, adher
ing better than either lead or isinglass
plasters, both of which are detached by
the application of water, while the linen
strips require constant wetting to make
them stick—this constant wetting being
the very thing needed in the treatment.
In Wounds of the Abdomen, if the
bowels protrude, they should be cleansed,
if necessary by teeming warm water on
them from a sponge or piece of cloth, and
then a clean cloth wet in warm wa
ter, should be laid over them and kept
constantly applied till some one can be
found competent to replace them. No
handling of the bowels or attempts to force
them back should be made in the absence
of a physician.
Stopping the Bleeding is the prime
consideration in all cutting wounds; and
where no very large blood-vessel is cut.
any intelligent, well informed person, can
in almost all cases do this effectually ; or at
least check the flow, and save life till surgi
cal aid can be procured.
When the bleeding is from small vessels,
all that is needed is to press the wound to-
gether or to put a sponge or piece of cloth
on it and keep it wet with cold water, and
elevate the part, if an arm or leg.
When a large vein is cut, the blood flows
in a steady, constant stream, and is of a
dark color. In these cases, moderately
firm pressure should be made,and continued
over and below the wound till the bleeding
ceases; and then the part should be band
aged, and the bandages kept wet with cold
water. Bleeding from the arteries is very
dangerous. This is distinguished from
bleeding from veins by the bright red color,
and by the flow coming in spurts or jerks
corresponding with the beats of the heart.
If a large artery is cut, death will general
ly ensue before anything can be done; but
in many cases the bleeding may be stopped
by knowing what to do.
If the wound is large enough, a finger
should be thrust into it and pressed firmly
against the bleeding vessel, and, if possible,
it should be grasped between the thumb
and finger. But the principal reliance is
to press the bleeding artery above the
wound, but as near to it as possible.
In wounds of the hand, the bleeding can
generally be stopped by grasping the wrist
and holding it firmly. In wounds near to,
but below the elbow, grasp the arm just
above the elbow.
Wounds of the foot and leg should be
treated in the same way.
To make firm and continued pressure,
take a handkerchief, tie a knot in it, place
the knot over the bleeding vessel, as near
above the wound as possible, and then run
a stick under the handkerchief and twist it
till the blood ceases to flow. This is known
as the “Spanish Windless,” and is a very
effectual means of arresting hemorrhage.
When the wound is high up on the arm,
or in the upper part of the thigh, pressure
should be made in the arm-pit, or on the
inside of the thigh, near the groin. If the
wound is in the arm-pit, the bleeding may
sometimes be stopped by wrapping the
handle of a key with cloth, and then press
ing it firmly upward and backward beneath
the collar bone.
In Fainting from loss of blood or from
any other cause, the best thing to be done
is to lay the patient down, if he has not
already fallen down ; and the head should
be as low, or rather lower than the body,
so that the blood can flow to the brain—the
fainting being caused by a want of suffi
cient blood in the brain. Nature generally
remedies this difficulty, as patients not
held up by ignorant persons, fall flat down,
increasing the flow of blood to the brain.
The next thing is to sprinkle the face
and chest with cold water, so as to arouse
the breathing and circulation by the shock
of the water. “Smelling salts’*’ and strong
applications to the nose, amount to blit lit
tle; and sometimes do harm by causing
unnecessary irritation of the tender lining
of the nose.
Railroad and Machinery lyou.Nos
are attended generally with butlituh hem
orrhage, as the crushing of the vesselslends
to prevent this. All that should be at
tempted in such cases' is to bind up t*h e
parts and to keep them moderately wet
with cold water. The free use of cold wa
ter is not best in these cases, as the circu
lation is feeble on account of the shock. If
the depression arising from the shock is
great, small and frequent doses of brandy
or whiskey may be given.
Os course medical assistance will be
sought in such serious injuries.
CONVULSIONS IN CHILDREN.
After all the details in this and previous
articles, which many mothers may regard as
belonging to Surgery, and for which, they
may suppose, they are not very likely to
have a use, I come to something so com
mon, so alarming, as to claim the attention
of every mother.
While convulsions in a child cannot
properly be called an accident, it is cer
tainly a most shocking occurrence, demor
alizing the whole family, and is an emer
gency requiringprompt action. •
Such an occurrence is not an accident,
nor a Providential, nor unavoidable ca
tastrophe, but it can generally be traced
to a cause or causes; and these causes, when
known, are avoidable.
Convulsions in children are more frequent
during the teething age than at any other
time; and they are then said to be caused
by the irritation of the gums,resulting from
the pressure of the teeth in making their
way through the gums, commonly called
“cutting the teeth.” But in a healthy
child, properly led, the mere irritation of
cutting teeth would very seldom give rise
to the terrible nervous commotions and
horrid contortions, known as convul
sions or “fits ;” with the stiffened body, Hie
rolled-back eye-balls, the twitching muscres;
clenched hands, labored or suspended
breathing, and livid face; an array of
symptoms which once seen,is photographed
on the brain of every mother, and ean
never be forgotten.
. Too well does every mother know when
her child has a fit.
The great thing is to know what causes
them, and how to avoid them. Be it known
then, that cutting teeth alone will not, by
itself, often cause convulsions. The most
frequent causes are sudden checking of a
diarrhoea or looseness of the bowels by
opiates and astringents, and by adding to
the existing excitement of cutting teeth,by
giving children gross stimulating food and
drinks entirely unsuited to their age and
digestive powers; such as meat, coffee, tea,
alcoholic drinks, unripe fruits, fine flour
bread, and indeed everything that they
should not eat before they have teeth to
chew food, and at a time when they should
be confined to the mother’s breast,or fed, if
at all, on soups, gruels, milk, and such
nourishment as requires no mastication,
and having no stimulating properties.
When a child’s system is deranged by
such causes, it is only necessary that the
additional excitement of cutting teeth be
added, to produce the terrific explosion
known as convulsions ; when under proper
feeding, the process of teething would go
on without disturbance, as nature designed
it. Who ever heard of any young animal,
except a poor mismanaged little human
creature,having fits from teething? Na
ture is too good and wise to have any such
abnormal thing in her programme when
left to do things in her own way.
Convulsions sometime come on sudden
ly, without any premonition ; but general
ly they are preceded by a slight feverish
ness, twitching of the muscles in sleep,
half closed lids, with eyes turned back
and showing the whites, and jerking of
the muscles, especially of the fingers and
mouth. When' any of these symptoms
appear, they are danger signals, and im
mediate steps should be be taken to prevent
the coming storm.
If the bowels are constipated, they should
be moved by a little castor oil or manna
tea, or syrup of rhubarb. If the skin is hot
and dry, it should be sponged frequently
with tepid water, and if the symptoms per
sist, the child should be put,without delay,
in a warm bath, and while in the bath, the
head should be kept cool by applying thin
cloths to it, wet in cold water, and cold
water should be poured gently, but con
tinuously on the head.
When the convulsions come on, the
child should be put in the bath, cold water
poured on the head, and the little sufferer
should be kept in the bath till the convul
sion passes off. Then, without dressing,
wrap him in a sheet or blanket, apply
cold cloths to the head, and keep the water
ready for repeating the bath on the occur
rence of another convulsion, or strong
symptoms indicating its approach. For
these convulsions nothing will compare
with the warm bath and cold water to the
head; and they are about the only remedies
that ihould be resorted to in domestic
practice. I have stopped the most terrific
convulsions by these means, when the
child was considered in a dying condition;
doing nothing else, except to give a dose
of castor oil. The water should be deep
enough to come up to the chin of the child,
and every family should have a vessel
suitable for this purpose.
If the gums are swollen, they should
certainly be cut, as they add so much to
the existing excitement that the convul
sions will not yield till this is done. Any
one can do this with a sharp knife. But
as I said in the beginning, the best way of
:iU is to prevent all this suffering of the
cmld, and heart-rending agony of the
mother, by feeding and rearing the child
right; avoiding the causes mentioned. If
this is done your children will not be like
ly to have convulsions; and the warm bath
and cold water, with, perhaps, a little laxa
tive medicine and cutting the gums, will,
in most cases, bring them safely through.
Under such trying circumstances as I
have described in giving the symptoms at
tending the convulsions, of children, it is
very consoling to mothers to be informed
that the disorder is more frightful than
dangerous; and that recovery may be ex
pected in the great majority of cases,
under the treatment prescribed; and it
should not be lightly esteemed because it
is so simple. Simple remedies are often
the most efficient.
TO CORRESPONDENTS.
I send out a pamphlet explaining my
treatment for expectant mothers, in which
it is distinctly stated, that the treatment
is not a patent medicine, but a scientific
course of treatment, with written directions,
and with medicines adapted to the requir
ments of each case ; and yet I receive some
such orders as this: Send me a bottle of
your “ Glad Tidings;’ mistaking the title
of the pamphlet for some nostrum or pat
ent medicine.
•I will take pleasure in giving all the
information desired as to my treatment,
but wish it understood that I do not have
anything to do with patent medicines,
which are sent out with printed directions;
but that special and specific directions are
written to meet the symptoms and com
plications of each case, embracing the many
ailments to which mothers are subject.
It makes success; it leads it to
Continuous ovation,
If you can point to what you do
Byway of illustration.
See how Drs. Starkey & Palen fit this
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William D. Kelley,
Philadelphia, Pa.”
*
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