If, in a few days, the parts be not healed, discontinue the above treatment, and use the following application: Beat up well together the whites of two eggs, then add, drop by drop, two tablespoonfuls of brandy. When well mixed put it into a bottle and cork it up. Before using it let the excoriated parts be gently bathed with lukewarm rain water, and, with a soft napkin, be tenderly dried; then, by means of a camel’s-hair brush, apply the above liniment, having first shaken the bottle.
But bear in mind, after all that can be said and done, that there is nothing in these cases like water—there is nothing like keeping the parts clean, and the only way of thoroughly effecting this object is by putting him every morning INTO his tub.
What NOT to do.—Do not apply white lead, as it is a poison. Do not be afraid of using plenty of water, as cleanliness is one of the most important items of the treatment.
94. What are the causes of convulsions in an infant?
Stuffing him, in the early months of his existence, with food, the mother having plenty of breast-milk the while; the constant physicking of a child by his own mother; teething; hooping-cough, when attacking a very young baby.
I never knew a case of convulsions occur—say for the first four months (except in very young infants laboring under hooping-cough)—where children lived on the breast-milk alone, and where they were not frequently quacked by their mothers!
For the treatment of the convulsions from teething, see page [66].
What to do in a case of convulsions which has been caused by feeding an infant either with too much or with artificial food. Give him, every ten minutes, a teaspoonful of ipecacuanha wine, until free vomiting be excited, then put him into a warm bath (see Warm Baths); and when he comes out of it administer to him a teaspoonful of castor oil, and repeat it every four hours until the bowels be well opened.
What NOT to do.—Do not, for at least a month after the fit, give him artificial food, but keep him entirely to the breast. Do not apply leeches to the head.
What to do in a case of convulsions from hooping-cough.—There is nothing better than dashing cold water on the face, and immersing him in a warm bath of 98 degrees Fahr. If he be about his teeth, and they be plaguing him, let the gums be both freely and frequently lanced. In convulsions from hooping-cough I have found cod-liver oil a valuable medicine. Convulsions seldom occur in hooping-cough, unless the child be either very young or exceedingly delicate. In either case cod-liver oil is likely to be serviceable, as it helps to sustain and support him in his extremity.