What to do.—The chafed parts ought to be well and thoroughly sponged with tepid rain water—allowing the water from a well-filled sponge to stream over them—and, afterward, they should be thoroughly but tenderly dried with a soft towel, and then be dusted, either with finely-powdered starch made of wheaten flour, or with violet powder, or with finely-powdered native carbonate of zinc, or they should be bathed with finely-powdered fuller’s-earth and tepid water.
INFANCY.—THE FIRST STEP.
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 [61].