Take of castor (not the oil) one drachm, and beat it well with the yolk of an egg; then add a half pint of water. This is frequently given with the best results to women suffering from spasms of the womb, accompanied with hysterics.
Form II.
Take of assafœtida two drachms, to which add from one half to three-quarters of a pint of thin water gruel, and mix well together. This is considered very useful in hysteria, colic, convulsions of children, &c., and for relief of severe pain in the bowels.
Injections for Worms.[2]
Form I.
Take of powdered aloes from ten to fifteen grains, and of starch mucilage one gill. Steep well together, and strain. The same quantity of warm sweet oil or even lamp oil is very useful in these cases, and is known to be a powerful exterminator of pin worms. It may be injected twice a day, if deemed necessary. For this purpose alone, the Improved Injecting Apparatus becomes, in the hands of parents, a valuable means of removing one of the most frightful sources of disease in children.
[2] Worms and their Symptoms.—The worms which mostly infest the human body are the long round worm, the maw or pin worm, the tape worm, and the fluke worm. The long round worm is from four to twelve inches in length, and about as large round as a common pipe stem. This worm is quite common in children, and not unfrequently crawls out at the mouth. It is of a brownish or ash color. The maw or pin worm is generally from two to four inches in length, and of a white color. This worm is most common to children, but is not unfrequently met with in grown persons also. They are frequently found in the intestines in the form of a ball, in such quantities as to prevent the medicines which are usually administered from operating. As a general thing, the symptoms are a bad fetor or smell to the breath, frightful dreams, itching about the navel, pain in the belly, and gnawing about the stomach, itching in the nose, frequent dry cough, with tickling in the throat, constant hunger, and yet the system becomes weak, the head generally becomes affected, face pale and of a yellowish cast. These symptoms, either singly or together, denote worms. Injections are considered a most efficient mode of expulsion, and are much recommended by physicians.
Form II.
Take of sifted wood soot six drachms; to which add half a pint of water. Boil and strain. This injection is useful in destroying thread worms in children. It should be given half an hour before the child goes to bed, and should be administered several days in succession.