In the appropriate application of certain, influences of nature, especially in the diversified applications of water, we possess a mode of procedure which, assisted by an appropriate dietetic regime adapted to the principles of biological healing and to the conditions of life in health and disease, offers advantages which no other treatment affords and benefits the patient to an extent which cannot be too highly estimated.
In the treatment of fever we must, in the first place, follow the impulses of instinct—harmonized, however, with the fundamental laws and methods of biological treatment—if success is to be obtained. Instinctively, in the case of a hot forehead, we turn to the application of cold compresses; for cold feet, the use of such appliances as will bring about heat. Tormenting thirst is assuaged by a mouthful of cooling water. But the instinct of impulse alone might also lead one burning with high fever to seek relief by immersion in cooling water; thus, in order to discover the rational course we must be guided by the fundamental laws of the biological system of healing.
(B) TREATMENT.
To these biological explanations of what fever is, it will be interesting to add some general description and explanation of its treatment, such as may serve in an emergency as an indication of the proper course to be pursued and by the most simple means, pending the attendance of an hygienic physician.
I must again call special attention to the importance of not clinging too literally to the letter of the law,—of every rule laid down,—but rather to study by the light of such laws and with alert intelligence the special features of the case at issue.
Of all hygienic treatments of fever, which have come under my notice in the course of many years, there is none more clearly, simply and intelligibly described than that which Dr. C. Sturm, has published in his book, "Die natur liche Heilmethode" (The Natural Method of Healing). I will, therefore, employ it in my explanations, (as translated from the German) adding to it my advanced methods, especially the hydropathic and dietetic treatments which are more in accordance with the demands of modern biological therapy.
In the first place, as we know, fever is indicated by an abnormally hot skin. This heat is noticeable even by touching the patient with the palm of the hand.
A precise measurement of this heat, of course, requires a thermometer. The best kind is a so-called maximum thermometer.
The temperature is taken by putting the lower end of the glass into the axilla, or arm-pit, of the arm, or in the mouth or the rectum of the patient, and leaving it there for from 8 to 10 minutes. When withdrawn, the temperature of the patient can be read at a glance.
The temperature of the skin, however, is not the only indication of fever. It is accompanied simultaneously by accelerated action of the pulse, up to 120 beats per minute, and even more; also by increased thirst and, as an indication of very intense affection, extreme exhaustion and lassitude. The increased excretion becomes manifest through dark and strong-smelling urine and, especially at the time when the fever begins to abate, through intense perspiration.