686. An Excellent Way to Prevent the Taste of Medicines
An excellent way to prevent the taste of medicines is to have the medicine in a glass, as usual, and a tumbler of water by the side of it; take the medicine, and retain it in the mouth, which should be kept closed, and if drinking the water be then commenced, the taste of the medicine is washed away. Even the bitterness of quinine and aloes may be prevented by this means. If the nostrils are firmly compressed by the thumb and finger of the left hand, while taking a nauseous draught, and so retained till the mouth has been washed out with water, the disagreeable taste of the medicine will be almost imperceptible.
687. Giving Medicines to Persons
Medicines should be given in such a manner that the effect of the first dose shall not have ceased when the next dose is given, therefore the intervals between the doses should be regulated accordingly.
688. Doses of Medicine for Different Ages
It must be plain to every one that children do not require such powerful medicine as adults or old people, and therefore it is desirable to have some fixed method of determining or regulating the administration of doses of medicine. Now let it be supposed that the dose for a full-grown person is
one drachm
, then the following proportions will be suitable for the various ages given; keeping in view other circumstances, such as sex, temperament, habits, climate, state of