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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 measure: Judge Kelley, recently re-elected for the fifteenth time to Congress, says: “I have the highest opinion not only of the Compound Oxygen Treatment itself, but of Drs. Starkey & Palen as physicians of skill and integrity. William D. Kelley, Philadelphia, Pa.” * Mrs. Mary A. Livermore, whose name is well known wherever the cause of tem perance is urged, writes: Drs. Starkey $ Palen— Since using your Compound Oxygen Treatment I have en joyed almost perfect health and almost youthful vigor. Mary A. Livermore, Melrose, Mass. Drs. Starkey J - Palen — My wife was en tirely cured of the severest kind of bron chitis by the use of your Compound Oxy gen Treatment. M. M. Potter, Sylvania, Ga. Drs. Starkey $ Palen— Your Compound Oxygen Treatment saved my wife from pneumonia. E. W. Jerome, No. 98 Grant Av., New Haven, Conn. Drs. Starkey Palen— Your Compound Oxygen Treatment cured me of desperate lung trouble. Mrs. J. F. Penny, Centre Moriches, L. 1., N. Y. Drs. Starkey Palen— l have concluded to write you a testimonial. I commenced taking your Compound Oxygen Treatment February 10, 1888, nearly one year ago, and I would not write sooner for fear I was not cured. I had consumption of four years standing, and the doctors pronounced me incurable. I lost flesh from 178 pounds to 114 pounds. But your Compound Oxygen Treatment has made a well man of me. The neighbors all think it a miracle that I have had no return of consumption ; but miracle or not, such is the blessed fact. If anybody wants to know what Com pound Oxygen Treatment has done for me, let them write to J. W. Ice, or W. R. Lane, or N. Hunsaker, all of Commercial Point, Illinois. I sincerely recommend your Treatment to all suffering from consumption. • I speak.from the standpoint of personal, positive experience, and that’s what the invalid wants. James W. Ice Commercial Point, 111., Jan. 15, 1889. Drs. Starkey & Palen’s office records show over'so,ooo cases in which their Com pound Oxygen Treatment has been used by physicians in their practice, and by invalids independently in cases of consump tion, bronchitis, asthma, catarrh, dyspep sia, nervous prostration, rheumatism, neu ralgia, and all other complaints of a chronic nature. Their brochure of 200 pages will be forwarded free of charge to any one addressing Drs. Starkey & Palen, No. 1529 Arch street, Philadelphia, Pa.; 120 Sutter street, Sanfrancisco, Cal.; 58 Church street, Toronto, Canada.