Advice to a Mother on the Management of Her Children

by Pye Henry Chavasse

WARM EXTERNAL APPLICATIONS.

283. In case of a child suffering pain either in his stomach or in his bowels, or in case he has a feverish cold, can you tell me of the best way of applying heat to them?

In pain either of the stomach or of the bowels, there is nothing usually affords greater or speedier relief than the external application of heat The following are four different methods of applying heat:—1. A bag of hot salt—that is to say, powdered table-salt—put either into the oven or into a frying-pan over the fire, and thus made hot, and placed in a flannel bag, and then applied, as the case may be, either to the stomach or to the bowels. Hot salt is an excellent remedy for these pains. 2. An india-robber hot-water bottle, [Footnote: Every house where there are children ought to have one of these India-rubber hot-water bottles. It may be procured at any respectable Vulcanised India-rubber warehouse.] half filled with hot water—it need not be boiling—applied to the stomach or to the bowels, will afford great comfort 3. Another and an excellent remedy for these cases is a hot bran poultice. The way to make it is as follows:—Stir bran into a Vessel containing either a pint or a quart (according to size of poultice required) of boiling water, until it be the consistence of a nice soft poultice, then put into a flannel bag and apply it to the part affected. When cool, dip it from time to time in hot water. 4. In case a child has a feverish cold, especially if it be attended, as it sometimes is, with pains in the bowels, the following is a good external application.—Take a yard of flannel, fold it in three widths, then dip it in very hot water, wring it out tolerably dry, and apply it evenly and neatly round and round the bowels; over this, and to keep it in its place, and to keep in the moisture, put on a dry flannel bandage, four yards long and four inches wide. If it be put on at bed-time, it ought to remain on all night. Where there are children, it is desirable to have the yard of flannel and the flannel bandage in readiness, and then a mother will be prepared for emergencies. Either the one or the other, then, of the above applications will usually, in pains of the stomach and bowels, afford great relief. There is one great advantage of the external application of heat—it can never do harm; if there be inflammation, it will do good; if there be either cramps or spasms of the stomach, it will be serviceable; if there be colic, it will be one of the best remedies that can be used; if it be a feverish cold, by throwing the child into a perspiration, it will be beneficial.

It is well for a mother to know how to make a white bread poultice; and as the celebrated Abernethy was noted for his poultices, I will give you his directions, and in his very words:—"Scald out a basin, for you can never make a good poultice unless you have perfectly boiling water, then, having put in some hot water, throw in coarsely crumbled bread, and cover it with a plate. When the bread has soaked up as much water as it will imbibe, drain off the remaining water, and there will be left a light pulp. Spread it a third of an inch thick on folded linen, and apply it when of the temperature of a warm bath. It may be said that this poultice will be very inconvenient if there be no lard in it, for it will soon get dry; but this is the very thing you want, and it can easily be moistened by dropping warm water on it, whilst a greasy poultice will be moist, but not wet."—South's Household Surgery.