The secondary coil now demands attention. A paper tube, precisely similar to b, but of such a size as to slide easily over the primary coil i is prepared, and paraffined. This must be cut exactly the length of the coil k, leaving the knob j projecting. The 2 square pieces of board in which the nicks were cut (c) must then have central holes cut in them to take this paper tube, and then glued, one at each end of the said tube, as shown. Two small binding screws are then to be inserted in the centre of the upper edge of each square. A bung is now placed in each end of the tube, and a ¼ in. iron rod pushed through both, to serve as an axle. This is then mounted on 2 standards, as shown at n; and beginning by attaching one end of the uncovered wire to the binding screw m, about ½ lb. No. 36 silk-covered copper wire is now carefully coiled on, being most diligent in avoiding kinks, breaks, or flaws of every description. Each layer must be paraffined and separated from its neighbour by paraffined paper. When the quantum of wire has been laid on, the finishing end is connected to the binding screw in n. The last coil should be covered with paraffined paper, and finally covered with a jacket of good silk velvet. The secondary coil is then complete, and may be slid in its place over the primary coil o. When it is quite over the primary, the secondary current will be at its strongest, if the metal tube regulator is drawn out; it will be weaker as the metal tube regulator is more and more inserted; or may be even more delicately regulated by sliding the secondary coil itself more or less over the primary. The secondary coil, while the primary is being excited with a freshly made pint bichromate, will give a ½ in. spark when the regulator is out and the secondary coil right over the primary. This will pass easily through a dozen persons. (S. R. Bottone.)
There are various other sickroom appliances demanded in special cases which do not require description here. Most may be had of such well-known firms as Salmon, Ody & Co., 292 Strand, and Savory and Moore, 143 New Bond Street.
Feeding patients
Feeding patients.—A nurse should bear in mind these two leading facts; that while in sickness there is usually a greatly increased tissue-waste, and consequently an increased necessity for nutriment, there is almost always a decreased appetite, or no appetite at all—often such a repugnance to food that, if left to himself, the patient would prefer taking none at all. Hence, although the medical attendant may decide what is the most suitable form of nourishment, on her devolves the more difficult task of inducing the sick person to take it. With this view, she must exercise all her ingenuity to tempt and encourage him, by bringing everything in the neatest possible form. On no pretext whatever should there be any cooking in the sickroom; nor should she take her own meals there; nor should any food be left standing near the patient. On the contrary, though his nutriment must be brought to him frequently—more frequently, of course, the less he can take each time—and punctually, it should only be in such quantity as he is likely to consume; and immediately that is done, everything in connection with food should be removed from sight and smell until the next time.
The nurse must devote much of her attention to the subject of diet, observing carefully the patient’s appetite, and attending carefully to the quantity of food and the effect of it. The sense of taste of many people is very acute when they are ill, and you must take care that the spoon in the arrowroot, which looks perfectly clean, does not taste to the patient of the soup for which it was used last. Eatables should not be kept in a sickroom: if you are obliged to have anything within reach, put it under a cover; a tumbler turned over does very well for biscuits or jelly, and for larger things a bell glass is useful; tin boxes, the next best thing, generally make a noise when they are opened. The water given to a sick person should not only be boiled and allowed to cool, but ought always to be filtered. It should frequently be changed, as it quickly absorbs the impurities with which the air of a sickroom is charged, and becomes injurious, if not dangerous to drink. In cases of faintness, where stimulants are not ordered, the patient should be made to sip some liquid slowly; the mere effort of sipping accelerates the action of the heart.
When solid foods cannot be taken, the best kinds are those which contain the most nourishing properties in the smallest and most easily digested form. Prominent among these is well-made beef tea: not the greasy watery broth which so often goes by that name, but nearly pure beef juice which has been slowly extracted, with the addition of little or no water, from fresh lean beef. A good substitute may be found in Bovril, which has the great advantage in an emergency of being immediately procurable at a chemist’s or grocer’s. Home made beef tea takes a long time to prepare properly, and even then it is deficient in staminal properties, whereas Bovril contains the entire nutritious constituents of pure beef, of which it takes 40 lb. to make 1 lb. of Bovril extract. Of equal value is milk; which, especially when combined with bread and butter, is very nourishing, and forms a most valuable article of sick diet. If it seems to disagree, or curdle on the stomach, it can generally be prevented doing so by the addition of about ⅓-¼ its bulk of lime-water. These may be varied by mutton broth, chicken or rabbit jelly, eggs in any form—plain, in custard, or in pudding with arrowroot and sago—and real turtle soup; which latter is, however, so terribly expensive as to be outside the reach of most people. Jellies made with gelatine, which contains scarcely any nutriment, are almost useless; and tea should be given only as an indulgence when specially wished for, and then it should be very weak, and with plenty of milk. All food given to the sick should be very fresh, of the best quality, and most carefully cooked.
Boiled Flour Gruel.—Where the illness has been long and tedious, and the strength reduced, the following will be found very useful: To prepare the flour, put into a basin as much as it will hold, pressed tightly down. Then tie a cloth over it, and allow it to boil hard for 6 hours. Then take off the cloth, and let the flour stand in the basin till next day, when remove the crust which will have formed, and put the remainder away in a covered jar. For use, mix 4 tablespoonfuls flour smoothly into a paste, then pour on it ½ pint boiling milk or water, and boil for 10 minutes, constantly stirring to avoid lumps. Brandy, sherry, lemon juice or cream may be added, according to taste. Gruel may also be made from baked flour, but it is not so easy of digestion.
Rice Gruel.—1 oz. each rice, sago, and pearl barley boiled in 3 pints water, which, in 2 hours, generally reduces it to 1 qt. Strain and flavour to taste. This forms a good nourishing diet, especially with the addition of a little isinglass.
Onion Posset or Gruel.—This has been found very efficacious for colds, and is made with Robinson’s groats with the addition only of an onion, which should have been previously boiled for 6 hours. The yolk of an egg well beaten is an improvement.
Chicken Broth.—The younger and fatter the birds are for this the better. It is made by immersing the legs, neck, and trunk of a fowl into just as much water as will cover them, and boiling gently for an hour. The white meat makes a delicious entrée if cut up finely and treated as a veal mince. Potato flour is useful for thickening in cases where boiled flour is not handy; but home-made things are always the best, as the ingredients are known.