[99]. “Dr. Vose (of Liverpool) said, that once, when in the remote valleys of Westmoreland and Cumberland, he used to ask the people how they got on without medical aid, particularly in regard to midwifery cases. People wondered that he should ask. He found that they had no midwives even; when a woman begins her troubles, they told him, they give her warm beer; if she is worse, more warm beer; but if that fails, then ‘she maun dee.’ So they give stimulants from the first. One word in the paper read seemed to contain the gist of the matter; we must treat the patients according to ‘common sense.’”—Diet Suitable after Childbirth. British Medical Journal, December 12th, 1863.
[100]. As a rule, the “waters break” just before the head is born, then there is no fear of a membrane covering the mouth, as the head passes through the ruptured membrane. “In other instances, the membrane does not burst before the expulsion of the head of the fœtus [child] externally, which it covers, and in such cases the infant is said by nurses to be born with a caul, and this is advertised in the London newspapers in our day, and sold at a high price by midwives, as it is superstitiously supposed to prevent shipwreck.”—Ryan’s Manual of Midwifery.
[101]. Shakspeare.
[102]. See page [232], paragraph 554.
[103]. The female slipper may be procured either at any respectable earthenware warehouse, or of a surgical-instrument-maker.
[104]. “The female slipper,” and the French bed-pan and the bed-pan of the Liverpool Northern Hospital, may be procured either at any respectable earthenware warehouse or of a surgical-instrument-maker.
[105]. Boil two handfuls of marshmallows and two handfuls of chamomile blows in two quarts of water for a quarter of an hour, and strain.
[106]. Which may be obtained either of a surgical-instrument-maker or at an india-rubber warehouse.
[107]. There are few persons who know how to make beef-tea: let me tell you of a good way. Let the cook mince very fine—as fine as sausage-meat—one pound of the shoulder blade of beef, taking care that every particle of fat be removed; then let her put the meat either into a saucepan or into a digester with three pepper corns and a pint and a half of cold water; let it be put on the fire to boil; let it slowly boil for an hour, and then let it be strained; and you will have most delicious beef-tea, light and nourishing, grateful to the stomach and palate. When cold, carefully skim any remaining fat (if there be any) from it, and warm it up when wanted. It is always well, when practicable, to make beef-tea the day before it is wanted, in order to be able to skim it when quite cold. It may be served up with a finger or two of dry toast, and with salt to suit the taste. Sometimes a patient prefers the beef-tea without the pepper corns; when such be the case, let the pepper corns be omitted.
If you wish your beef-tea to be particularly strong and nourishing, and if you have any beef bones in the house, let them be broken up and slowly boiled in a digester for a couple of hours, or even longer, with the finely minced-up beef.