237. In an obstinate case of Hooping-cough, what is the best remedy?
Change of air, provided there be no active inflammation, to any healthy spot. A farm-house, in a high, dry, and salubrious neighbourhood, is as good a place as can be chosen. If, in a short time, he be not quite well, take him to the sea-side: the sea breezes will often, as if by magic, drive away the disease.
238. Suppose my child should have a shivering fit, is it to be looked upon as an important symptom?
Certainly. Nearly all serious illnesses commence with a shivering fit: severe colds, influenza, inflammations of different organs, scarlet fever, measles, small-pox, and very many other diseases, begin in this way. If, therefore, your child should ever have a shivering fit, instantly send for a medical man, as delay might be dangerous. A few hours of judicious treatment, at the commencement of an illness, is frequently of more avail than days and weeks, nay months, of treatment, when disease has gained a firm footing. A serious disease often steals on insidiously, and we have perhaps only the shivering fit, which might be but a slight one, to tell us of its approach.
A trifling ailment, too, by neglecting the premonitory symptom, which, at first might only be indicated by a slight shivering fit, will sometimes become a mortal disorder:—
"The little rift within the lute, That by-and-by will make the music mute, And ever widening slowly silence all." [Footnote: The above extract from Tennyson is, in my humble opinion, one of the most beautiful pieces of poetry in the English language. It is a perfect gem, and a volume in itself, so truthful, so exquisite, so full of the most valuable reflections; for instance—(1.) "The little rift within the lute,"—the little tubercle within the lung "that by-and-by will make the music mute, and ever widening slowly silence all," and the patient eventually dies of consumption. (2.) The little rent—the little rift of a very minute vessel in the brain, produces an attack of apoplexy, and the patient dies. (3.) Each and all of us, in one form or another, sooner or later, will have "the little rift within the lute." But why give more illustrations?—a little reflection will bring numerous examples to my fair reader's memory.]
239. In case of a shivering fit, perhaps you will tell me what to do?
Instantly have the bed warmed, and put the child to bed. Apply either a hot bottle or a hot brick, wrapped in flannel, to the soles of his feet. Put an extra blanket on his bed, and give him a cup of hot tea. As soon as the shivering fit is over, and he has become hot, gradually lessen the extra quantity of clothes on his bed, and take away the hot bottle or the hot brick from his feet.
What NOT to do.—Do not give either brandy or wine, as inflammation of some organ might be about taking place. Do not administer opening medicine, as there might be some "breaking out" cooling out on the skin, and an aperient might check it.
240. My child, apparently otherwise healthy, screams out in the night violently in his sleep, and nothing for a time will pacify him: what is likely to be the cause, and what is the treatment?