88. VENTILATION ALL-IMPORTANT.
If the circulation of air is necessary in any other form of scarlet-fever, it is all-important in torpid reaction, especially when it inclines to a typhoid type. We should never forget that it is the oxygen of the air that nourishes the process of combustion going on in every living body, and that in the same manner as no fire can burn bright without a sufficient supply of air, the combustion within the patient will be slower in proportion as there is less pure air in the sick-room, and consequently his reaction will be weaker, and vice versa. A sick-room, filled with a number of people, and with a large fire in it, or fed with the corrupted air of a furnace, without the access of pure air, will always prove a dangerous place for a patient in torpid fever, the fire and every living soul in it absorbing the oxygen indispensable to his recovery. And if the case become typhoid, there is little hope of saving the patient's life without plenty of pure air.
89. CONTINUATION OF PACKS—CONVALESCENCE.
Whether the eruption appear or not, the packs should be continued during the whole course of the disorder, and as long as the throat continues troublesome; and one pack and bath a day should be given during some ten or twelve days, after every symptom has disappeared. The patient, during convalescence should not go out, except after his bath and in fine sunny weather, till he feels quite well. However, he should not be kept unnecessarily too long in-doors either, as exercise in the open air will assist him in regaining his strength. If the weather is clear and bright, the low temperature of the air need not be minded. I never saw any one take cold after a pack and bath that walked out warmly dressed in clear and cold weather.
90. MINERAL ACIDS, IN CASE OF SEVERE SORE-THROAT.
In case the throat be very troublesome, there cannot be any objection to using the mineral acid, as I have indicated above (35), except homœopathic remedies should be thought preferable and found to afford sufficient relief. Some good may, and no harm can be done by either.