Tincture of rhubarb: 2-4 tea., cordial and purgative.
Tincture of squills: 1 tea. with wineglassful water, expectorant; take 1 dess. at short intervals to check coughing.
Tincture of steel: 5-15 m. in wineglassful water, tonic, astringent, and diuretic, good in weakness and dyspepsia.
Tincture of valerian: 1 tea. in camphor water, antispasmodic and stimulant, valuable in nervous headache.
Common Complaints.—Without making the least pretence to give such information as will enable the sick man to dispense with the services of the physician or surgeon, whose aid should be promptly sought, there are many matters which by careful study may enable the threatened attack to be warded off, and there are a variety of ailments and troubles which are not generally deemed of sufficient importance to be worth troubling a doctor about. It is these subjects which claim treatment here, and with which the following paragraphs will deal, leaving all special and serious diseases in hands which have been trained to the work.
Accidents and Emergencies
Accidents and Emergencies.—The first piece of advice to every one is to attend a series of lectures given every winter by the St. John’s Ambulance Association at very numerous centres all over the kingdom. This will convey an amount of knowledge and practical experience such as can never be attained by reading alone. Even Volunteers, who have gone through a course for the Army Hospital Corps, will do well to supplement it for every-day life with a course of St. John’s Ambulance lectures.
When you have not witnessed the occurrence of an accident, make some inquiry of the bystanders or patient as to its cause before taking any other steps, as this will often indicate what kind of injury is to be looked for. Never proceed to lift or remove a patient with broken limbs or bleeding wounds till the necessary bandaging and staunching have been done: let traffic be interrupted, if need be, rather than risk converting a simple hurt into a fatal one.
The ordinary accidents and emergencies of every-day life will now be dealt with in alphabetic order.