A bare floor, with strips of carpet here and there to deaden noise, is cleanest, and keeps the air freest from dust. Cane-bottomed chairs are preferable to upholstered ones. All unnecessary furniture should be removed out of the way. A straw bed or a mattress is better than feathers. The bed hangings, lace curtains, etc., should be taken down. Creaking hinges should be oiled. Sperm candles are better than kerosene lamps.
Never whisper in a sick room. All necessary conversation should be carried on in the usual tone of voice. Do not call a physician unnecessarily, but if one be employed, obey his directions implicitly. Never give nostrums overofficious friends may suggest. Do not allow visitors to see the patient, except it be necessary. Never bustle about the room, nor go on tiptoe, but move in a quiet, ordinary way. Do not keep the bottles in the continued sight of the sick person. Never let drinking water stand in the room.
Do not raise the patient's head to drink, but have a cup with a long spout, or use a bent tube, or even a straw. Do not tempt the appetite when it craves no food. Bathe frequently, but let the physician prescribe the method. Give written directions to the watchers. Have all medicines carefully marked. Remove all soiled clothing, etc., at once from the room. Change the linen much oftener than in health. When you wish to change the sheets, and the patient is unable to rise, roll the under sheet tightly lengthwise to the middle of the bed; put on the clean sheet, with half its width folded up, closely to the other roll; lift the patient on to the newly-made part, remove the soiled sheet, and then spread oat the clean one.
DISINFECTANTS.
Remember, first, that deodorizers and disinfectants are not the same. A bad smell, for instance, may be smothered by some more powerful odor, while its cause remains uninfluenced. Bear also in mind the fact that no deodorizer and no disinfectant can take the place of perfect cleanliness and thorough ventilation. No purifyer can rival the oxygen contained in strong and continued currents of fresh, cold air, and every disinfectant finds an indispensable ally in floods of scalding water.
An excellent disinfectant may be made by dissolving in a pail of water either of the following: (1), a quarter of a pound of sulphate of zinc and two ounces of common salt for each gallon of water; (2), a pound and a half of copperas, for each gallon of water. Towels, bed linen, handkerchiefs, etc., should be soaked at least an hour, in a solution of the first kind, and then be boiled, before washing. [Footnote: It is best to burn all articles which have been in contact with persons sick with contagious or infectious diseases.
In using the zinc solution, place the articles in it as soon as they are removed from the patient, and before they are taken from the room; if practicable, have the solution boiling hot at the time. In fumigating apartments, all the openings should be made as nearly air-tight as possible. The articles to be included in the fumigation should be so exposed and spread out that the sulphurous vapor may penetrate every portion of them. For a room about ten feet square, at least two pounds of sulphur should be used; for larger rooms, proportionally increased quantities. Put the sulphur in iron pans supported upon bricks placed in washtubs containing a little water, set it on fire by hot coals or with the aid of a spoonful of alcohol, or by a long fuse set on train as the last opening to the room is closed. Allow the apartment to remain sealed for twenty-four hours. Great care should be taken not to inhale the poisonous fumes in firing the sulphur. After the fumigation, allow free currents of air to pass through the apartment; expose all movable articles for as long time as may be to the sun and the wind out of doors; beat and shake the carpets, hangings, pillows, etc.
The disinfectants and the instructions for using them, as given above, are mainly those recommended by the National Board of Health.] Vaults, drains, vessels used in the sick room, etc., should be disinfected by a solution of the second kind; chloride of lime may also be used for the same purpose. Rooms, furniture, and articles that can not be treated with the solution of the first kind, should be thoroughly fumigated with burning sulphur. Where walls are unpapered, re-whitewash with pure, freshly slacked quicklime, adding one pint of the best fluid carbolic acid to every gallon of the fluid whitewash. Powdered stone lime sprinkled on foul, wet places, or placed in pans in damp rooms, will absorb the moisture; and dry, fresh charcoal powder may be combined with it to absorb noxious gases.
WHAT TO DO TILL THE DOCTOR COMES.
The following instructions are intended simply to aid in an emergency. When accidents or a sudden severe illness occur, there is necessarily, in most cases, a longer or shorter interval before a physician can arrive. These moments are often very precious, and life may depend upon a little knowledge and much self-possession. The instructions are therefore given as briefly as possible, that they may be easily carried in the memory. A few suggestions in regard to common ailments are included.