Coffee will relieve about one-half the cases in which it is tried. The
relief may be temporary or permanent. Give it hot, very strong, and
without sugar or milk, and on an empty stomach.
As before stated, all the above so-called diseases are but varieties of
nervous disease, and a cure can not be expected until the cause has
been ascertained and removed.
Owing to the great prevalence of nervous disease, nervous remedies
are in especial demand. The danger is that when one particular rem-
edy becomes popular it will be used to excess, and in the end prove
detrimental. All nervines are necessarily perilous agents, and should
not be used indiscriminately, only under the direction of a physician.
SICK HEADACHE.
Among the many ills that human flesh is heir to, there is none, per-
haps, more common than headache. Headache may arise from a variety
of causes, and there is no one remedy that is a specific for all. If the
pain is of a throbbing and beating character it indicates fever ; if sharp
and shooting there is congestion of the arteries ; if dull and heavy the
veins are congested. In either case the first thing to do is to try to
draw the blood from the head to the extremities. Put the feet into a
SICK HEADACHE. 265
pail of hot water. Use a pail, not a basin or wash-bowl, as it is neces-
sary that the water should not only cover the feet, but come up as high
on the calves of the legs as possible. Add hot water from time to time
keeping the temperature as hot as can be borne.
Apply cold to the head. This may be done by taking a small bowl
full of ice pounded fine, to which add two tablespoonsf ul of fine salt ;
wrap in a cloth and apply half a minute at a time ; or take one ounce
of chloroform and dissolve in it all the camphor gum it will take' up ;
rub a little of this on the forehead and temples ; then wet a cloth (one
thickness) with it, apply to the painful spot and cover with a dry cloth.
This will cause a smarting sensation. When it becomes too hard to
bear the cloth it may be removed and reapplied, if the headache has not
disappeared.
A remedy, particularly valuable in certain forms of headache, is the
bisulphide of carbon. Put a piece of cotton in a wide-mouth bottle,
such a one as tooth powder usually comes in ; pour on it ten or fifteen
drops of the liquid, and place the mouth of the bottle over the painful
part. In about three minutes a tingling sensation will be felt. Let it
remain until it begins to smart, then move it to another spot. Many
cases have been relieved with this remedy in ten minutes that had been
suffering for hours. The mouth of the bottle should be closely applied
to the skin, excluding all air, as it is the vapor of the carbon acting upon
the cutaneous nerves that produce the result. After using, the bottle
should be tightly corked, as the odor is not a pleasant one.
Page 235
Presented as published in 1886. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
Coffee will relieve about one-half the cases in which it is tried. The relief may be temporary or permanent. Give it hot, very strong, and without sugar or milk, and on an empty stomach.
As before stated, all the above so-called diseases are but varieties of nervous disease, and a cure can not be expected until the cause has been ascertained and removed.
Owing to the great prevalence of nervous disease, nervous remedies are in especial demand. The danger is that when one particular remedy becomes popular it will be used to excess, and in the end prove detrimental. All nervines are necessarily perilous agents, and should not be used indiscriminately, only under the direction of a physician.
SICK HEADACHE.
Among the many ills that human flesh is heir to, there is none, perhaps, more common than headache. Headache may arise from a variety of causes, and there is no one remedy that is a specific for all. If the pain is of a throbbing and beating character it indicates fever ; if sharp and shooting there is congestion of the arteries ; if dull and heavy the veins are congested. In either case the first thing to do is to try to draw the blood from the head to the extremities. Put the feet into a
SICK HEADACHE. 265
pail of hot water. Use a pail, not a basin or wash-bowl, as it is necessary that the water should not only cover the feet, but come up as high on the calves of the legs as possible. Add hot water from time to time keeping the temperature as hot as can be borne.
Apply cold to the head. This may be done by taking a small bowl full of ice pounded fine, to which add two tablespoonfuls of fine salt ; wrap in a cloth and apply half a minute at a time ; or take one ounce of chloroform and dissolve in it all the camphor gum it will take up ; rub a little of this on the forehead and temples ; then wet a cloth (one thickness) with it, apply to the painful spot and cover with a dry cloth. This will cause a smarting sensation. When it becomes too hard to bear the cloth it may be removed and reapplied, if the headache has not disappeared.
A remedy, particularly valuable in certain forms of headache, is the bisulphide of carbon. Put a piece of cotton in a wide-mouth bottle, such a one as tooth powder usually comes in ; pour on it ten or fifteen drops of the liquid, and place the mouth of the bottle over the painful part. In about three minutes a tingling sensation will be felt. Let it remain until it begins to smart, then move it to another spot. Many cases have been relieved with this remedy in ten minutes that had been suffering for hours. The mouth of the bottle should be closely applied to the skin, excluding all air, as it is the vapor of the carbon acting upon the cutaneous nerves that produce the result. After using, the bottle should be tightly corked, as the odor is not a pleasant one.