MEDICAL.
Minerva.—How often we hear a girl say, “Oh! I have such a bad memory.” You do not often meet with a person who complains, “Oh! I am so very stupid,” or “My intelligence is strictly limited,” at least, not in earnest. Yet of all the powers of the mind, the memory is the one which is most easily trained. We are not going to say that if a person has a bad memory it is her own fault; but in the majority of cases it is due to neglect either by herself or by her tutors. You say you are twenty years old, and ask us if you are not past the age at which it is possible to educate the memory? No! most certainly you are not too old to learn. One method of learning is as follows:—Take an interesting, well-written and instructive book; carefully read through one chapter on Monday morning. On Monday afternoon write a short epitome of what you have read; and in the evening re-read the chapter, and read your own account afterwards. Next day write another account, and compare that with the original text and with your first manuscript. Then wait till Saturday and write a third treatise, and compare this with the original one and see how you have improved. The next week read two chapters, and increase your amount gradually every week till you can read a book in the first week of the month, and write a brief account of its chief features a month or two hence. This is the kind of memory to aim at; the mere parrot memory is worth very little. You should also read and write as much as you can, learn a little poetry by heart, and attempt to master the elements of some simple science.
Courage.—Your complaint is too serious for us to deal with. There are so many possible causes for your trouble, and most of them are so important, that it would be extremely wrong to treat you without a personal examination. The best advice we can give you is to go to your doctor at once.
Esther.—1. We published an article on blushing some short time ago. Read the answer to “Minerva” for the treatment of a feeble memory.—2. The food you mention should not be given to children.
Charlotte M.—1. We thank you very much for your letter. Let your sister bathe her legs in warm water every day. Gentle massage may do her good. See that her boots fit properly and do not bend at the waist. Flat foot is a very common cause of cramps in the legs.—2. April 2nd, 1884, was a Wednesday.
Buttercup.—The condition of your head is known as “alopecia areata.” We do not think that it was caused by your wearing a comb; but as the disease is exceedingly obscure, we have no alternative cause to suggest. The best thing to do for it is to paint the place with tincture of iodine every day till it becomes slightly sore. Another way of treating it is to use white precipitate ointment. How much good is done by treatment we cannot say; we have never yet seen a case in which the hair did not grow again, whether the condition had been treated or not. Sometimes the patches remain bald for a considerable time; at other times hair begins to grow again in a week or so.
Lizzie.—The best way to treat warts is the following. Wash your hand well with soap and water, and then let the hand soak in hot water for two or three minutes so as to soften the wart; wipe your hand quite dry, and apply a little vaseline round the wart. You must not let the vaseline get on the wart. It is painted on the skin to prevent the caustics applied to the wart from injuring the adjacent skin. Now drop one drop of glacial acetic acid on to the wart; leave it one minute, and then rub the wart thoroughly with a stick of lunar caustic. This treatment may need to be repeated, but it rarely fails if properly done. Solvine is also of value in removing warts. Warts are frequently due to irritation of the skin, and are undoubtedly locally infective.
Morella.—It is easy enough to account for boils recurring. It is by no means uncommon to hear this sort of account, “Six months ago I had a boil; it went away after a time, but another one developed shortly afterwards. This in its turn went away, and another came, and in this manner I have had twenty boils in succession.” In days when nobody knew anything about the diseases of the skin, this was explained thus—“The blood is in a bad state, and the matter in the boil is the impurity of the blood finding its way out.” This, we now know, is incorrect. The proper explanation is this—the first boil resulted from the inoculation of microbes into a hair follicle or sweat gland. These germs increased, poisoned the part, and produced the pus by their irritation. The boil was untreated, it burst and set free these organisms, which at once started to find a new home in a fresh follicle or gland. Had the boil been properly treated at first by destroying the microbes, the trouble would then and there have ceased. Boils are not dependent upon bad blood, nor are they influenced by internal treatment or dieting. They can be completely cured by applying hot fomentation wrung out in solution of carbolic acid (1 in 40). Poultices should never be applied to boils.
Tearful.—You have a serious disease of your eye. In all probability the tube which conveys the tears from the eye into the nose is blocked. Go to a surgeon at once and have the eye seen to. At present a trivial operation will cure you, but if you wait many months you will probably lose the use of your eye.
Mercia.—Anæmia or indigestion or both are causing your symptom. Of course it may be due to chest disease, but it is exceedingly unlikely. We cannot here repeat the treatment for these conditions. We have done so times without number during the last two years. The answers to correspondents in back numbers of this paper will tell you all you require.