For a grown person, the smallest amount
likely to do good in such a way is thirt}'' or
forty drops of laudanum. It is best to mix
it, for injection, with a small amount of
starch (prepared as for the laundry, only
thin enough to pass through a syringe) , and
then to use a small syringe — holding from
half an ounce to two ounces only. The ol)-
ject here is to have the material injected to
remain in the bowel, as long as it will ; so
that the anodyne (laudanum) may have time
to take effect. Sometimes great suffering
will justify sixty-drop injections oflaudanum,
511
48
THE FAMILY DOCTOR
or even more ; but such had better be
used only under the advice of a physician.
Other medicines also are occasionally pre-
sented for administration in the same way.
Now and then four-ounce enemata oi flax-
seed tea are employed in dysentery.
Nourishing enemata are often resorted
to, when, for various reasons, food cannot
be taken by the mouth. Half or a quarter of
a pint will be enough at a time for this pur-
pose ; as it is important for it to remain and
be absorbed. Beef- tea, milk, or raw eggs
beaten up with milk, will be the best ma-
terials. Sometimes pure fresh beefs blood
is so used. An example of a nourishing in-
jection may be the following :
To five ounces of finely scraped meat,
and five and a half ounces of finely chopped
sweetbread freed from fat, add three or four
fluidounces of lukewarm water✪ Nourishing Enema. Stir to-
gether into a pulp. It will be well to wash
out the lower bowel with an injection of
warm water, about an hour before intro-
ducing a nourishing enema.
It may be mentioned, in viev/ of a pos-
sible emergency in the absence of a phy-
sician, that the instrument used for hypo-
dermic injection is a small glass syringe
made for the purpose, ending in a tube of
steel or silver to puncture the skin and in-
troduce the liquid. Having drawn into the
syringe the amount to be used, the skin of
the part selected (an arm, the back, abdo-
men, a thigh, or the calf of one of the legs)
is drawn up with the forefinger and thumb
of the left hand. With the right hand, the
point of the tube (after being oiled) is pushed
almost horizontally through the skin, and
then the fluid is rather slowly pressed out of
the syringe. The latter is to be withdrawn
without twisting it ; all must be done so as
to cause as little irritation as possible.
From one-third to one-half of the dose by
the mouth is the quantity of any drug em-
ployed in this way. Anodyne and stUmdant
medicines are, more than any others, used
hypodermically. Sometimes the habit of
taking hypodermic injections of morphia is
acquired, and is as hard to break as smoking
opium or laudanum drinking.
Iodine. — Lug oV s iodine solutioji ^ the tinc-
ture of iodine, and iodide of potassiicm , all
have medical uses ; but not, as a rule, in
512
domestic practice. We may except, per-
haps, the outward application of tinctnre of
iodine, which may be/>(^/;z/<^'(^upon the chest
(with a large camel's-hair pencil) for a con-
tinual cough (chronic bronchitis), or may
be used as a counter-irritant in several other
kinds of cases.
Page 180 · 1 recipe record on this page
Presented as published in 1901. 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
For a grown person, the smallest amount likely to do good in such a way is thirty or forty drops of laudanum. It is best to mix it, for injection, with a small amount of starch (prepared as for the laundry, only thin enough to pass through a syringe) , and then to use a small syringe — holding from half an ounce to two ounces only. The object here is to have the material injected to remain in the bowel, as long as it will ; so that the anodyne (laudanum) may have time to take effect. Sometimes great suffering will justify sixty-drop injections of laudanum,
or even more ; but such had better be used only under the advice of a physician. Other medicines also are occasionally presented for administration in the same way. Now and then four-ounce enemata oi flaxseed tea are employed in dysentery.
Nourishing enemata are often resorted to, when, for various reasons, food cannot be taken by the mouth. Half or a quarter of a pint will be enough at a time for this purpose ; as it is important for it to remain and be absorbed. Beef- tea, milk, or raw eggs beaten up with milk, will be the best materials. Sometimes pure fresh beefs blood is so used. An example of a nourishing injection may be the following :
To five ounces of finely scraped meat, and five and a half ounces of finely chopped sweetbread freed from fat, add three or four fluidounces of lukewarm water. Stir together into a pulp. It will be well to wash out the lower bowel with an injection of warm water, about an hour before introducing a nourishing enema.
It may be mentioned, in view of a possible emergency in the absence of a physician, that the instrument used for hypodermic injection is a small glass syringe made for the purpose, ending in a tube of steel or silver to puncture the skin and introduce the liquid. Having drawn into the syringe the amount to be used, the skin of the part selected (an arm, the back, abdomen, a thigh, or the calf of one of the legs) is drawn up with the forefinger and thumb of the left hand. With the right hand, the point of the tube (after being oiled) is pushed almost horizontally through the skin, and then the fluid is rather slowly pressed out of the syringe. The latter is to be withdrawn without twisting it ; all must be done so as to cause as little irritation as possible. From one-third to one-half of the dose by the mouth is the quantity of any drug employed in this way. Anodyne and stimulant medicines are, more than any others, used hypodermically. Sometimes the habit of taking hypodermic injections of morphia is acquired, and is as hard to break as smoking opium or laudanum drinking.
Iodine. — Lugol's iodine solution ^ the tincture of iodine, and iodide of potassium , all have medical uses ; but not, as a rule, in
domestic practice. We may except, perhaps, the outward application of tincture of iodine, which may be painted upon the chest (with a large camel's-hair pencil) for a continual cough (chronic bronchitis), or may be used as a counter-irritant in several other kinds of cases.
Records on this page
Nourishing Enema