should be washed in hot soapsuds, rinsed in clean hot water, drained, and when thoroughly dry wrapped in a clean towel or tissue paper. The ordinary fountain syringe hanging for months by a dirty string on a hook in the bath room is an unpleasant and generally an unclean object.
Sprays and Gargles.
—Several other methods of administering medicines are occasionally employed. Some remedies may be applied directly to the throat by gargles, and to the nose and throat by sprays. The throat may be cleansed by gargling with a solution of a teaspoonful of baking soda or common salt in a glass of warm water. Nose sprays should not be used except under medical advice, and it is well to remember that if the mouth washes, gargles, and sprays advertised to be disinfectants were really strong enough to kill germs, they would be too harsh for common or continued use. The nozzles of nose and throat sprays should be boiled immediately after use. A surprising number of families who have progressed far beyond common drinking cups and towels, continue to use a common nose spray without even washing the nozzle. Children while they are well should be taught to gargle the throat; a child with a sore throat and an aching head is in a poor condition to learn anything.
Inhalation
or breathing in, is another method
used to introduce drugs into the membranes of the nose, throat, and lungs. Smelling salts are an example of substances used for inhalation; they are used to stimulate persons who are faint. They should not be placed close to the nostrils, nor used at all when the patient is totally unconscious.
Inhalations of steam are often used in asthma, croup, and bronchitis. Special croup kettles are made for the purpose, but an ordinary pitcher half full of boiling water may be used instead. The patient's head should be held closely over the pitcher, and a towel should be adjusted around the top covering the patient's nose and mouth, but admitting just enough air to make it possible for him to breathe. If a drug is ordered it should be added to the water.
Inunction
, or rubbing a substance into the skin, is sometimes ordered for delicate babies and children. After the skin of the abdomen has been washed with warm soapy water and thoroughly dried, the substance ordered, generally olive oil or cod liver oil, should be applied by means of a circular movement of the palm of the hand. The oil should be warm and the rubbing continued until it is absorbed.
Ointments are also applied by inunction. A small quantity at a time should be rubbed in, using a circular motion. If an ointment is ordered