ANOTHER EXCELLENT VERMIFUGE.

Oil of wormseed, 1 ounce, Oil of anise, 1 ounce, Castor oil, 1 ounce, Tinct. of myrrh, 2 drops, Oil of turpentine, 10 drops.

Mix thoroughly.

Always shake well before using.

Give 10 to 15 drops in cold coffee, once or twice a day.



HOW TO TREAT CROUP

SPASMODIC AND TRUE.

SPASMODIC CROUP.

DEFINITION.—A spasmodic closure of the glottis which interferes with respiration. Comes on suddenly and usually at night, without much warning. It is a purely nervous disease and may be caused by reflex nervous irritation from undigested food in the stomach or bowels, irritation of the gums in dentition, or from brain disorders.

SYMPTOMS.—Child awakens suddenly at night with suspended respiration or very difficult breathing. After a few respirations it cries out and then falls asleep quietly, or the attack may last an hour or so, when the face will become pale, veins in the neck become turgid and feet and hands contract spasmodically. In mild cases the attacks will only occur once during the night, but may recur on the following night.

HOME TREATMENT.—During the paroxysm dashing cold water in the face is a common remedy. To terminate the spasm and prevent its return give teaspoonful doses of powdered alum. The syrup of squills is an old and tried remedy; give in 15 to 30 drop doses and repeat every 10 minutes till vomiting occurs. Seek out the cause if possible and remove it. It commonly lies in some derangement of the digestive organs.

TRUE CROUP.

DEFINITION.—This disease consists of an inflammation of the mucous membrane of the upper air passages, particularly of the larynx with the formation of a false membrane that obstructs the breathing. The disease is most common in children between the ages of two and seven years, but it may occur at any age.

SYMPTOMS.—Usually there are symptoms of a cold for three or four days previous to the attack. Marked hoarseness is observed in the evening with a ringing metallic cough and some difficulty in breathing, which increases and becomes somewhat paroxysmal till the face which was at first flushed becomes pallid and ashy in hue. The efforts at breathing become very great, and unless the child gets speedy relief it will die of suffocation.

HOME TREATMENT.—Patient should be kept in a moist warm atmosphere, and cold water applied to the neck early in the attack. As soon as the breathing seems difficult give a half to one teaspoonful of powdered alum in honey to produce vomiting and apply the remedies suggested in the treatment of diphtheria, as the two diseases are thought by many to be identical. When the breathing becomes labored and face becomes pallid, the condition is very serious and a physician should be called without delay.

SCARLET FEVER.

DEFINITION.—An eruptive contagious disease, brought about by direct exposure to those having the disease, or by contact with clothing, dishes, or other articles, used about the sick room.

The clothing may be disinfected by heating to a temperature of 230 [degrees] Fahrenheit or by dipping in boiling water before washing.

Dogs and cats will also carry the disease and should be kept from the house, and particularly from the sick room.

SYMPTOMS.—Chilly sensations or a decided chill, fever, headache, furred tongue, vomiting, sore throat, rapid pulse, hot dry skin and more or less stupor. In from 6 to 18 hours a fine red rash appears about the ears, neck and shoulders, which rapidly spreads to the entire surface of the body. After a few days, a scurf or branny scales will begin to form on the skin. These scales are the principal source of contagion.

HOME TREATMENT.

1. Isolate the patient from other members of the family to prevent the spread of the disease.

2. Keep the patient in bed and give a fluid diet of milk gruel, beef tea, etc., with plenty of cold water to drink.

3. Control the fever by sponging the body with tepid water, and relieve the pain in the throat by cold compresses, applied externally.

4. As soon as the skin shows a tendency to become scaly, apply goose grease or clean lard with a little boracic acid powder dusted in it, or better, perhaps, carbolized vaseline to relieve the itching and prevent the scales from being scattered about, and subjecting others to the contagion.

REGULAR TREATMENT.—A few drops of aconite every three hours to regulate the pulse, and if the skin be pale and circulation feeble, with tardy eruption, administer one to ten drops of tincture of belladonna, according to the age of the patient. At the end of third week, if eyes look puffy and feet swell, there is danger of Acute Bright's disease, and a physician should be consulted. If the case does not progress well under the home remedies suggested, a physician should be called at once.

WHOOPING COUGH.

DEFINITION.—This is a contagious disease which is known by a peculiar whooping sound in the cough. Considerable mucus is thrown off after each attack of spasmodic coughing.

SYMPTOMS.—It usually commences with the symptoms of a common cold in the head, some chilliness, feverishness, restlessness, headache, a feeling of tightness across the chest, violent paroxysms of coughing, sometimes almost threatening suffocation, and accompanied with vomiting.

HOME TREATMENT.—Patient should eat plain food and avoid cold drafts and damp air, but keep in the open air as much as possible. A strong tea made of the tops of red clover is highly recommended. A strong tea made of chestnut leaves, sweetened with sugar, is also very good.

1 teaspoonful of powdered alum, 1 teaspoonful of syrup.

Mix in a tumbler of water, and give the child one teaspoonful every two or three hours. A kerosene lamp kept burning in the bed chamber at night is said to lessen the cough and shorten the course of the disease.

MUMPS.

DEFINITION.—This is a contagious disease causing the inflammation of the salivary glands, and is generally a disease of childhood and youth.

SYMPTOMS.—A slight fever, stiffness of the neck and lower jaw, swelling and soreness of the gland. It usually develops in four or five days and then begins to disappear.

HOME TREATMENT.—Apply to the swelling a hot poultice of cornmeal and bread and milk. A hop poultice is also excellent. Take a good dose of physic and rest carefully. A warm general bath, or mustard foot bath, is very good. Avoid exposure or cold drafts. If a bad cold is taken, serious results may follow.

MEASLES.

DEFINITION.—It is an eruptive, contagious disease, preceded by cough and other catarrhal symptoms for about four or five days. The eruption comes rapidly in small red spots, which are slightly raised.

SYMPTOMS.—A feeling of weakness, loss of appetite, some fever, cold in the head, frequent sneezing, watery eyes, dry cough and a hot skin. The disease takes effect nine or ten days after exposure.

HOME TREATMENT.—Measles is not a dangerous disease in the child, but in an adult it is often very serious. In childhood very little medicine is necessary, but exposure must be carefully avoided, and the patient kept in bed, in a moderately warm room. The diet should be light and nourishing. Keep the room dark. If the eruption does not come out promptly, apply hot baths.

COMMON TREATMENT.—Two teaspoonfuls of spirits of nitre, one teaspoonful paregoric, one wineglassful of camphor water. Mix thoroughly, and give a teaspoonful in half a teacupful of water every two hours. To relieve the cough, if troublesome, flax seed tea, or infusion of slippery-elm bark, with a little lemon juice to render more palatable, will be of benefit.

CHICKEN POX.

DEFINITION.—This is a contagious, eruptive disease, which resembles to some extent small-pox. The pointed vesicles or pimples have a depression in the center in chicken-pox, and in small pox they do not.

SYMPTOMS.—Nine to seventeen days elapse after the exposure, before symptoms appear. Slight fever, a sense of sickness, the appearance of scattered pimples, some itching and heat. The pimples rapidly change into little blisters, filled with a watery fluid. After five or six days they disappear.

HOME TREATMENT.—Milk diet, and avoid all kinds of meat. Keep the bowels open, and avoid all exposure to cold. Large vesicles on the face should be punctured early and irritation by rubbing should be avoided.

HOME TREATMENT OF DIPHTHERIA.

DEFINITION.—Acute, specific, constitutional disease, with local manifestations in the throat, mouth, nose, larynx, wind-pipe, and glands of the neck. The disease is infectious but not very contagious under the proper precautions. It is a disease of childhood, though adults sometimes contract it. Many of the best physicians of the day consider true or membranous croup to be due to this diphtheritic membranous disease thus located in the larynx or trachea.

SYMPTOMS.—Symptoms vary according to the severity of the attack. Chills, fever, headache, languor, loss of appetite, stiffness of neck, with tenderness about the angles of the jaw, soreness of the throat, pain in the ear, aching of the limbs, loss of strength, coated tongue, swelling of the neck, and offensive breath; lymphatic glands on side of neck enlarged and tender. The throat is first to be seen red and swollen, then covered with grayish white patches, which spread, and a false membrane is found on the mucous membrane. If the nose is attacked, there will be an offensive discharge, and the child will breathe through the mouth. If the larynx or throat are involved, the voice will become hoarse, and a croupy cough, with difficult breathing, shows that the air passage to the lungs is being obstructed by the false membrane.

HOME TREATMENT.—Isolate the patient, to prevent the spread of the disease. Diet should be of the most nutritious character, as milk, eggs, broths, and oysters. Give at intervals of every two or three hours. If patient refuses to swallow, from the pain caused by the effort, a nutrition injection must be resorted to. Inhalations of steam and hot water, and allowing the patient to suck pellets of ice, will give relief. Sponges dipped in hot water, and applied to the angles of the jaw, are beneficial. Inhalations of lime, made by slaking freshly burnt lime in a vessel, and directing the vapor to the child's mouth, by means of a newspaper, or similar contrivance. Flour of sulphur, blown into the back of the mouth and throat by means of a goose quill, has been highly recommended. Frequent gargling of the throat and mouth, with a solution of lactic acid, strong enough to taste sour, will help to keep the parts clean, and correct the foul breath. If there is great prostration, with the nasal passage affected, or hoarseness and difficult breathing, a physician should be called at once.



* * * * *

DISEASES OF WOMEN.

DISORDERS OF THE MENSES.

1. SUPPRESSION OF, OR SCANTY MENSES.

HOME TREATMENT.—Attention to the diet, and exercise in the open air to promote the general health. Some bitter tonic, taken with fifteen grains of dialyzed iron, well diluted, after meals, if patient is pale and debilitated. A hot foot bath is often all that is necessary.

2. PROFUSE MENSTRUATION.

HOME TREATMENT.—Avoid highly seasoned food, and the use of spirituous liquors; also excessive fatigue, either physical or mental. To check the flow, patient should be kept quiet, and allowed to sip cinnamon tea during the period.

3. PAINFUL MENSTRUATION.

HOME TREATMENT.—Often brought on by colds. Treat by warm hip baths, hot drinks (avoiding spirituous liquors), and heat applied to the back and extremities. A teaspoonful of the fluid extract of viburnum will sometimes act like a charm.

HOW TO CURE SWELLED AND SORE BREASTS.

Take and boil a quantity of chamomile, and apply the hot fomentations. This dissolves the knot, and reduces the swelling and soreness.

LEUCORRHEA OR WHITES.

HOME TREATMENT.—This disorder, if not arising from some abnormal condition of the pelvic organs, can easily be cured by patient taking the proper amount of exercise and good nutritious food, avoiding tea and coffee. An injection every evening of one teaspoonful of Pond's Extract in a cup of hot water, after first cleansing the vagina well with a quart of warm water, is a simple but effective remedy.

INFLAMMATION OF THE WOMB.

HOME TREATMENT.—When in the acute form this disease is ushered in by a chill, followed by fever, and pain in the region of the womb. Patient should be placed in bed, and a brisk purgative given, hot poultices applied to the abdomen, and the feet and hands kept warm. If the symptoms do not subside, a physician should be consulted.

HYSTERIA.

DEFINITION.—A functional disorder of the nervous system of which it is impossible to speak definitely; characterized by disturbance of the reason, will, imagination, and emotions, with sometimes convulsive attacks that resemble epilepsy.

SYMPTOMS.—Fits of laughter, and tears without apparent cause; emotions easily excited; mind often melancholy and depressed; tenderness along the spine; disturbances, of digestion, with hysterical convulsions, and other nervous phenomena.

HOME TREATMENT.—Some healthy and pleasant employment should be urged upon women afflicted with this disease. Men are also subject to it, though not so frequently. Avoid excessive fatigue and mental worry; also stimulants and opiates. Plenty of good food and fresh air will do more good than drugs.

* * * * *

FALLING OF THE WOMB.

CAUSES.—The displacement of the womb usually is the result of too much childbearing, miscarriages, abortions, or the taking of strong medicines to bring about menstruation. It may also be the result in getting up too quickly from the childbed. There are, however, other causes, such as a general breaking down of the health.

SYMPTOMS.—If the womb has fallen forward it presses against the bladder, causing the patient to urinate frequently. If the womb has fallen back, it presses against the rectum, and constipation is the result with often severe pain at stool. If the womb descends into the vagina there is a feeling of heaviness. All forms of displacement produce pain in the back, with an irregular and scanty menstrual flow and a dull and exhausted feeling.

HOME TREATMENT.—Improve the general health. Take some preparation of cod-liver oil, hot injections (of a teaspoonful of powdered alum with a pint of water), a daily sitz-bath, and a regular morning bath three times a week will be found very beneficial. There, however, can be no remedy unless the womb is first replaced to the proper position. This must be done by a competent physician who should frequently be consulted.



* * * * *

MENSTRUATION.

1. ITS IMPORTANCE.—Menstruation plays a momentous part in the female economy; indeed, unless it be in every way properly and duly performed, it is neither possible that a lady can be well, nor is it at all probable that she will conceive. The large number of barren, of delicate, and of hysterical women there are in America arises mainly from menstruation not being duly and properly performed.

2. THE BOUNDARY-LINE.—Menstruation—"the periods"—the appearance of the catamenia or the menses—is then one of the most important epochs in a girl's life. It is the boundary-line, the landmark between childhood and womanhood; it is the threshold, so to speak, of a woman's life. Her body now develops and expands, and her mental capacity enlarges and improves.

3. THE COMMENCEMENT OF MENSTRUATION.—A good beginning at this time is peculiarly necessary, or a girl's health is sure to suffer and different organs of the body—her lungs, for instance, may become imperiled. A healthy continuation, at regular periods, is also much needed, or conception, when she is married, may not occur. Great attention and skillful management is required to ward off many formidable diseases, which at the close of menstruation—at "the change of life"—are more likely than at any time to be developed. If she marry when very young, marriage weakens her system, and prevents a full development of her body. Moreover, such an one is, during the progress of her labor, prone to convulsions—which is a very serious childbed complication.

4. EARLY MARRIAGES.—Statistics prove that twenty per cent—20 in every 100—of females who marry are under age, and that such early marriages are often followed by serious, and sometimes even by fatal consequences to mother, to progeny, or to both. Parents ought, therefore, to persuade their daughters not to marry until they are of age—twenty-one; they should point out to them the risk and danger likely to ensue if their advice be not followed; they should Impress upon their minds the old adage:

"Early wed, Early dead."

5. TIME TO MARRY.—Parents who have the real interest and happiness of their daughters at heart, ought, in consonance with the laws of physiology, to discountenance marriage before twenty; and the nearer the girls arrive at the age of twenty-five before the consummation of this important rite, the greater the probability that, physically and morally, they will be protected against those risks which precocious marriages bring in their train.

6. FEEBLE PARENTS.—Feeble parents have generally feeble children; diseased parents, diseased children; nervous parents, nervous children;—"like begets like." It is sad to reflect, that the innocent have to suffer, not only for the guilty, but for the thoughtless and inconsiderate. Disease and debility are thus propagated from one generation to another and the American race becomes woefully deteriorated.

7. TIME.—Menstruation in this country usually commences at the ages of from thirteen to sixteen, sometimes earlier; occasionally as early as eleven or twelve; at other times later, and not until a girl be seventeen or eighteen years of age. Menstruation in large towns is supposed to commence at an earlier period than in the country, and earlier in luxurious than in simple life.

8. CHARACTER.—The menstrual fluid is not exactly blood, although, both in appearance and properties, it much resembles it; yet it never in the healthy state clots as blood does. It is a secretion of the womb, and, when healthy, ought to be of a bright red color in appearance very much like the blood from a recently cut finger. The menstrual fluid ought not, as before observed, clot. If it does, a lady, during "her periods," suffers intense pain; moreover, she seldom conceives until the clotting has ceased.

9. MENSTRUATION DURING NURSING.—Some ladies, though comparatively few, menstruate during nursing; when they do, it may be considered not as the rule, but as the exception. It is said in such instances, that they are more likely to conceive; and no doubt they are, as menstruation is an indication of a proneness to conception. Many persons have an idea that when a woman, during lactation, menstruates, her milk is both sweeter and purer. Such is an error. Menstruation during nursing is more likely to weaken the mother, and consequently to deteriorate her milk, and thus make it less sweet and less pure.

10. VIOLENT EXERCISE.—During "the monthly periods" violent exercise is injurious; iced drinks and acid beverages are improper; and bathing in the sea, and bathing the feet in cold water, and cold baths are dangerous; indeed, at such times as these, no risks should be run, and no experiments should, for the moment, be permitted, otherwise serious consequences will, in all probability, ensue.

11. THE PALE, COLORLESS-COMPLEXIONED.—The pale, colorless-complexioned, helpless, listless, and almost lifeless young ladies who are so constantly seen in society, usually owe their miserable state of health to absent, to deficient, or to profuse menstruation. Their breathing is short—they are soon "out of breath," if they attempt to take exercise—to walk, for instance, either up stairs or up a hill, or even for half a mile on level ground, their breath is nearly exhausted—they pant as though they had been running quickly. They are ready, after the slightest exertion or fatigue, and after the least worry or excitement, to feel faint, and sometimes even to actually swoon away. Now such cases may, if judiciously treated, be generally soon cured. It therefore behooves mothers to seek medical aid early for their girls, and that before irreparable mischief has been done to the constitution.

12. POVERTY OF BLOOD.—In a pale, delicate girl or wife, who is laboring under what is popularly called poverty of blood, the menstrual fluid is sometimes very scant, at others very copious, but is, in either case, usually very pale—almost as colorless as water, the patient being very nervous and even hysterical. Now, these are signs of great debility; but, fortunately for such an one, a medical man is, in the majority of cases, in possession of remedies that will soon make her all right again.

13. NO RIGHT TO MARRY.—A delicate girl has no right until she be made strong, to marry. If she should marry, she will frequently, when in labor, not have strength, unless she has help, to bring a child into the world; which, provided she be healthy and well-formed, ought not to be. How graphically the Bible tells of delicate women not having strength to bring children into the world: "For the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth."—2 Kings XIX, 3.

14. TOO SPARING.—Menstruation at another time is too sparing; this is a frequent cause of sterility. Medical aid, in the majority of cases, will be able to remedy the defect, and, by doing so, will probably be the means of bringing the womb into a healthy state, and thus predispose to conception.



* * * * *

CELEBRATED PRESCRIPTIONS FOR ALL DISEASES AND HOW TO USE THEM.

VINEGAR FOR HIVES.

After trying many remedies in a severe case of hives, Mr. Swain found vinegar lotion gave instant relief, and subsequent trials in other cases have been equally successful. One part of water to two parts of vinegar is the strength most suitable.

THROAT TROUBLE.

A teaspoonful of salt, in a cup of hot water makes a safe and excellent gargle in most throat troubles.

FOR SWEATING FEET, WITH BAD ODOR.

Wash the feet in warm water with borax, and if this don't cure, use a solution of permanganate to destroy the fetor; about five grains to each ounce of water.

AMENORRHOEA.

The following is recommended as a reliable emmenagogue in many cases of functional amenorrhoea:

Bichloride of mercury, Arsenite of sodium, aa gr. iij. Sulphate of strychnine, gr. iss. Carbonate of potassium, Sulphate of iron, aa gr. xlv.

Mix and divide into sixty pills. Sig. One pill after each meal.

SICK HEADACHE.

Take a spoonful of finely powdered charcoal in a small glass of warm water to relieve a sick headache.

It absorbs the gasses produced by the fermentation of undigested food.

AN EXCELLENT EYE WASH.

Acetate of zinc, 20 grains. Acetate of morphia, 5 grains. Rose water, 4 ounces. Mix.

FOR FILMS AND CATARACTS OF THE EYES.

Blood Root Pulverized, 1 ounce. Hog's lard, 3 ounces.

Mix, simmer for 20 minutes, then strain; when cold put a little in the eyes twice or three times a day.

FOR BURNS AND SORES.

Pitch Burgundy, 2 pounds. Bees' Wax, 1 pound. Hog's lard, one pound.

Mix all together and simmer over a slow fire until the whole are well mixed together; then stir it until cold. Apply on muslin to the parts affected.

FOR CHAPPED HANDS.

Olive oil, 6 ounces. Camphor beat fine, 1/2 ounce.

Mix, dissolve by gentle heat over slow fire and when cold apply to the hand freely.

INTOXICATION.

A man who is helplessly intoxicated may almost immediately restore the faculties and powers of locomotion by taking half a teaspoonful of chloride of ammonium in a goblet of water. A wineglassful of strong vinegar will have the same effect and is frequently resorted to by drunken soldiers.

NERVOUS DISABILITY, HEADACHE, NEURALGIA, NERVOUSNESS.

Fluid extract of scullcap, 1 ounce. Fluid extract American valerian, 1 ounce. Fluid extract catnip, 1 ounce.

Mix all. Dose, from 15 to 30 drops every two hours, in water; most valuable.

A valuable tonic in all conditions of debility and want of appetite.

Comp. tincture of cinchona in teaspoonful doses in a little water, half hour before meals.

ANOTHER EXCELLENT TONIC

Tincture of gentian, 1 ounce. Tincture of Columba, 1 ounce. Tincture of Collinsonia, 1 ounce.

Mix all. Dose, one tablespoonful in one tablespoonful of water before meals.

REMEDY FOR CHAPPED HANDS.

When doing housework, if your hands become chapped or red, mix corn meal and vinegar into a stiff paste and apply to the hands two or three times a day, after washing them in hot water, then let dry without wiping, and rub with glycerine. At night use cold cream, and wear gloves.

BLEEDING.

Very hot water is a prompt checker of bleeding, besides if it is clean, as it should be, it aids in sterilizing our wound.

TREATMENT FOR CRAMP.

Wherever friction can be conveniently applied, heat will be generated by it, and the muscle again reduced to a natural condition; but if the pains proceed from the contraction of some muscle located internally, burnt brandy is an excellent remedy.

A severe attack which will not yield to this simple treatment may be conquered by administering a small dose of laudanum or ether, best given under medical supervision.

TREATMENT FOR COLIC

Castor oil, given as soon as the symptoms of colic manifest themselves, has frequently afforded relief. At any rate, the irritating substances must be expelled from the alimentary canal before the pains will subside. All local remedies will be ineffectual, and consequently the purgative should be given in large doses until a copious vacuation is produced.



TREATMENT FOR HEARTBURN.

If soda, taken in small quantities after meals, does not relieve the distress, one may rest assured that the fluid is an alkali and requires an acid treatment. Proceed, after eating, to squeeze ten drops of lemon-juice into a small quantity of water, and swallow it. The habit of daily life should be made to conform to the laws of health, or local treatment will prove futile.

BILIOUSNESS.

For biliousness, squeeze the juice of a lime or small lemon into half a glass of cold water, then stir in a little baking soda and drink while it foams. This receipt will also relieve sick headache if taken at the beginning.

TURPENTINE APPLICATIONS.

Mix turpentine and lard in equal parts. Warmed and rubbed on the chest, it is a safe, reliable and mild counter irritant and revulsent in minor lung complications.

TREATMENT FOR MUMPS.

It is very important that the face and neck be kept warm. Avoid catching cold, and regulate the stomach and bowels; because when aggravated, this disease is communicated to other glands, and assumes there a serious form. Rest and quiet, with a good condition of the general health, will throw off this disease without further inconvenience.

TREATMENT FOR FELON.

All medication, such as poulticing, anointing, and the applications of lotions, is but useless waste of time. The surgeon's knife should be used as early as possible, for it will be required sooner or later and the more promptly it can be applied, the less danger is there from the disease, and the more agony is spared to the unfortunate victim.

TREATMENT FOR STABS.

A wound made by thrusting a dagger or other oblong instrument into the flesh, is best treated, if no artery has been severed, by applying lint scraped from a linen cloth, which serves as an obstruction, allowing and assisting coagulation. Meanwhile cold water should be applied to the parts adjoining the wound.

TREATMENT FOR MASHED NAILS.

If the injured member be plunged into very hot water the nail will become pliable and adapt itself to the new condition of things, thus alleviating agony to some extent. A small hole may be bored on the nail with a pointed instrument, so adroitly as not to cause pain, yet so successfully as to relieve pressure on the sensitive tissues. Free applications of arnica or iodine will have an excellent effect.

TREATMENT FOR FOREIGN BODY IN THE EYE.

When any foreign body enters the eye, close it instantly, and keep it still until you have an opportunity to ask the assistance of some one; then have the upper lid folded over a pencil and the exposed surfaces closely searched; if the body be invisible, catch the everted lid by the lashes, and drawing it down over the lower lid, suddenly release it, and it will resume its natural position. Unsuccessful in this attempt, you may be pretty well assured that the object has become lodged in the tissues, and will require the assistance of a skilled operator to remove it.

CUTS.

A drop or two of creosote on a cut will stop its bleeding.

TREATMENT FOR POISON OAK—POISON IVY—POISON SUMACH.—Mr. Charles Morris, of Philadelphia, who has studied the subject closely, uses, as a sovereign remedy, frequent bathing of the affected parts in water as hot as can be borne. If used immediately after exposure, it may prevent the eruption appearing. If later, it allays the itching, and gradually dries up the swellings, though they are very stubborn after they have once appeared. But an application every few hours keeps down the intolerable itching, which is the most annoying feature of sumach poisoning. In addition to this, the ordinary astringent ointments are useful, as is also that sovereign lotion, "lead-water and laudanum." Mr. Morris adds to these a preventive prescription of "wide-open eyes."

BITES AND STINGS OF INSECTS.—Wash with a solution of ammonia water.

BITES OF MAD DOGS.—Apply caustic potash at once to the wound, and give enough whiskey to cause sleep.

BURNS.—Make a paste of common baking soda and water, and apply it promptly to the burn. It will quickly check the pain and inflammation.

COLD ON CHEST.—A flannel rag wrung out in boiling water and sprinkled with turpentine, laid on the chest, gives the greatest relief.

COUGH.—Boil one ounce of flaxseed in a pint of water, strain, and add a little honey, one ounce of rock candy, and the juice of three lemons. Mix and boil well. Drink as hot as possible.

SPRAINED ANKLE OR WRIST.—Wash the ankle very frequently with cold salt and water, which is far better than warm vinegar or decoction of herbs. Keep the foot as cool as possible to prevent inflammation, and sit with it elevated on a high cushion. Live on low diet, and take every morning some cooling medicine, such as Epsom salts. It cures in a few days.

CHILBLAINS, SPRAINS, ETC.—One raw egg well beaten, half a pint of vinegar, one ounce spirits of turpentine, a quarter of an ounce of spirits of wine, a quarter of an ounce of camphor. These ingredients to be beaten together, then put in a bottle and shaken for ten minutes, after which, to be corked down tightly to exclude the air. In half an hour it is fit for use. To be well rubbed in, two, three, or four times a day. For rheumatism in the head, to be rubbed at the back of the neck and behind the ears. In chilblains this remedy is to be used before they are broken.

HOW TO REMOVE SUPERFLUOUS HAIR.—Sulphuret of Arsenic, one ounce; Quicklime, one ounce; Prepared Lard, one ounce; White Wax, one ounce. Melt the Wax, add the Lard. When nearly cold, stir in the other ingredients. Apply to the superfluous hair, allowing it to remain on from five to ten minutes; use a table-knife to shave off the hair; then wash with soap and warm water.

DYSPEPSIA CURE.—Powdered Rhubarb, two drachms: Bicarbonate of Sodium, six drachms; Fluid Extract of Gentian, three drachms; Peppermint Water, seven and a half ounces. Mix them. Dose, a teaspoonful half an hour before meals.

FOR NEURALGIA.—Tincture of Belladonna, one ounce; Tincture of Camphor, one ounce; Tincture of Arnica, one ounce; Tincture of Opium, one ounce. Mix them. Apply over the seat of the pain, and give ten to twenty drops in sweetened water every two hours.

FOR COUGHS, COLDS, ETC.—Syrup of Morphia, three ounces; Syrup of Tar, three and a half ounces; Chloroform, one troy ounce; Glycerine, one troy ounce. Mix them. Dose, a teaspoonful three or four times a day.

TO CURE HIVES.—Compound syrup of Squill, U.S., three ounces; Syrup of Ipecac, U.S., one ounce. Mix them. Dose, a teaspoonful.

TO CURE SICK HEADACHE.—Gather sumach leaves in the summer, and spread them in the sun a few days to dry. Then powder them fine, and smoke, morning and evening for two weeks, also whenever there are symptoms of approaching headache. Use a new clay pipe. If these directions are adhered to, this medicine will surely effect a permanent cure.

WHOOPING COUGH.—Dissolve a scruple of salt of tartar in a gill of water; add to it ten grains of cochineal; sweeten it with sugar. Give to an infant a quarter teaspoonful four times a day; two years old, one-half teaspoonful; from four years, a tablespoonful. Great care is required in the administration of medicines to infants. We can assure paternal inquirers that the foregoing may be depended upon.

CUT OR BRUISE.—Apply the moist surface of the inside coating or skin of the shell of a raw egg. It will adhere of itself, leave no scar, and heal without pain.

DISINFECTANT.—Chloride of lime should be scattered at least once a week under sinks and wherever sewer gas is likely to penetrate.



COSTIVENESS.—Common charcoal is highly recommended for costiveness. It may be taken in tea- or tablespoonful, or even larger doses, according to the exigencies of the case, mixed with molasses, repeating it as often as necessary. Bathe the bowels with pepper and vinegar. Or take two ounces of rhubarb, add one ounce of rust of iron, infuse in one quart of wine. Half a wineglassful every morning. Or take pulverized blood root, one drachm, pulverized rhubarb, one drachm, castile soap, two scruples. Mix and roll into thirty-two pills. Take one, morning and night. By following these directions it may perhaps save you from a severe attack of the piles, or some other kindred disease.

TO CURE DEAFNESS.—Obtain pure pickerel oil, and apply four drops morning and evening to the ear. Great care should be taken to obtain oil that is perfectly pure.

DEAFNESS.—Take three drops of sheep's gall, warm and drop it into the ear on going to bed. The ear must be syringed with warm soap and water in the morning. The gall must be applied for three successive nights. It is only efficacious when the deafness is produced by cold. The most convenient way of warming the gall is by holding it in a silver spoon over the flame of a light. The above remedy has been frequently tried with perfect success.

GOUT.—This is Col. Birch's recipe for rheumatic gout or acute rheumatism, commonly called in England the "Chelsea Pensioner." Half an ounce of nitre (saltpetre), half an ounce of sulphur, half an ounce of flour of mustard, half an ounce of Turkey rhubarb, quarter of an ounce of powdered guaicum. Mix, and take a teaspoonful every other night for three nights, and omit three nights, in a wineglassful of cold water which has been previously well boiled.

RINGWORM.—The head is to be washed twice a day with soft soap and warm soft water; when dried the places to be rubbed with a piece of linen rag dipped in ammonia from gas tar; the patient should take a little sulphur and molasses, or some other genuine aperient, every morning; brushes and combs should be washed every day, and the ammonia kept tightly corked.

PILES.—Hamamelis, both internally or as an injection in rectum. Bathe the parts with cold water or with astringent lotions, as alum water, especially in bleeding piles. Ointment of gallic acid and calomel is of repute. The best treatment of all is, suppositories of iodoform, ergotine, of tannic acid, which can be made at any drug store.

CHICKEN POX.—No medicine is usually needed, except a tea made from pleurisy root, to make the child sweat. Milk diet is the best; avoidance of animal food; careful attention to the bowels; keep cool and avoid exposure to cold.

SCARLET FEVER.—Cold water compress on the throat. Fats and oils rubbed on hands and feet. The temperature of the room should be about 68 degrees Fahr., and all draughts avoided. Mustard baths for retrocession of the rash and to bring it out. Diet: ripe fruit, toast, gruel, beef, tea and milk. Stimulants are useful to counteract depression of the vital forces.

FALSE MEASLES OR ROSE RASH.—It requires no treatment except hygienic. Keep the bowels open. Nourishing diet, and if there is itching, moisten the skin with five per cent. solution of aconite or solution of starch and water.

BILIOUS ATTACKS.—Drop doses of muriatic acid in a wine glass of water every four hours, or the following prescription: Bicarbonate of soda, one drachm; Aromatic spirits of ammonia, two drachms; Peppermint water, four ounces. Dose: Take a teaspoonful every four hours.

DIARRHOEA.—The following prescription is generally all that will be necessary: acetate of lead, eight grains; gum arabic, two drachms; acetate of morphia, one grain; and cinnamon water, eight ounces. Take a teaspoonful every three hours.

Be careful not to eat too much food. Some consider, the best treatment is to fast, and it is a good suggestion. Patients should keep quiet and have the room of a warm and even temperature.

VOMITING.—Ice dissolved in the mouth, often cures vomiting when all remedies fail. Much depends on the diet of persons liable to such attacts; this should be easily digestible food, taken often and in small quantities. Vomiting can often be arrested by applying a mustard paste over the region of the stomach. It is not necessary to allow it to remain until the parts are blistered, but it may be removed when the part becomes thoroughly red, and reapplied if required after the redness has disappeared. One of the secrets to relieve vomiting is to give the stomach perfect rest, not allowing the patient even a glass of water, as long as the tendency remains to throw it up again.

NERVOUS HEADACHE.—Extract hyoscymus five grains, pulverized camphor five grains. Mix. Make four pills, one to be taken when the pain is most severe in nervous headache. Or three drops tincture nux vomica in a spoonful of water, two or three times a day.

BLEEDING FROM THE NOSE.—from whatever cause—may generally be stopped by putting a plug of lint into the nostril; if this does not do, apply a cold lotion to the forehead; raise the head and place both arms over the head, so that it will rest on both hands; dip the lint plug, slightly moistened, in some powdered gum arabic, and plug the nostrils again; or dip the plug into equal parts of gum arabic and alum. An easier and simpler method is to place a piece of writing paper on the gums of the upper jaw, under the upper lip, and let it remain there for a few minutes.

BOILS.—These should be brought to a head by warm poultices of camomile flowers, or boiled white lily root, or onion root, by fermentation with hot water, or by stimulating plasters. When ripe they should be destroyed by a needle or lancet. But this should not be attempted until they are thoroughly proved.

BUNIONS may be checked in their early development by binding the joint with adhesive plaster, and keeping it on as long as any uneasiness is felt. The bandaging should be perfect, and it might be well to extend it round the foot An inflamed bunion should be poulticed, and larger shoes be worn. Iodine 12 grains, lard or spermaceti ointment half an ounce, makes a capital ointment for bunions. It should be rubbed on gently twice or three times a day.

FELONS.—One table-spoonful of red lead, and one tablespoonful of castile soap, and mix them with as much weak lye as will make it soft enough to spread like a salve, and apply it on the first appearance of the felon, and it will cure in ten or twelve days.

CARE FOR WARTS.—The easiest way to get rid of warts, is to pare off the thickened skin which covers the prominent wart; cut it off by successive layers and shave it until you come to the surface of the skin, and till you draw blood in two or three places. Then rub the part thoroughly over with lunar caustic, and one effective operation of this kind will generally destroy the wart; if not, you cut off the black spot which has been occasioned by the caustic, and apply it again; or you may apply acetic acid, and thus you will get rid of it. Care must be taken in applying these acids, not to rub them on the skin around the wart.

WENS.—Take the yoke of some eggs, beat up, and add as much fine salt as will dissolve, and apply a plaster to the wen every ten hours. It cures without pain or any other inconvenience.

* * * * *

HOW TO CURE APOPLEXY, BAD BREATH AND QUINSY.

1. APOPLEXY.—Apoplexy occurs only in the corpulent or obese, and those of gross or high living.

Treatment—Raise the head to a nearly upright position; loosen all tight clothes, strings, etc., and apply cold water to the head and warm water and warm cloths to the feet. Have the apartment cool and well ventilated. Give nothing by the mouth until the breathing is relieved, and then only draughts of cold water.

2. BAD BREATH.—Bad or foul breath will be removed by taking a teaspoonful of the following mixture after each meal: One ounce chloride of soda, one ounce liquor of potassa, one and one-half ounces phosphate of soda, and three ounces of water.

3. QUINSY.—This is an inflammation of the tonsils, or common inflammatory sore throat; commences with a slight feverish attack, with considerable pain and swelling of the tonsils, causing some difficulty in swallowing; as the attack advances, these symptoms become more intense, there is headache, thirst, a painful sense of tension, and acute darting pains in the ears. The attack is generally brought on by exposure to cold, and lasts from five to seven days, when it subsides naturally, or an abscess may form in tonsils and burst, or the tonsils may remain enlarged, the inflammation subsiding.

Home Treatment.—The patient should remain in a warm room, the diet chiefly milk and good broths, some cooling laxative and diaphoretic medicine may be given; but the greatest relief will be found in the frequent inhalation of the steam of hot water through an inhaler, or in the old-fashioned way through the spout of a teapot.

* * * * *

SENSIBLE RULES FOR THE NURSE.

"Remember to be extremely neat in dress; a few drops of hartshorn in the water used for daily bathing will remove the disagreeable odors of warmth and perspiration.

"Never speak of the symptoms of your patient in his presence, unless questioned by the doctor, whose orders you are always to obey implicitly.

"Remember never to be a gossip or tattler, and always to hold sacred the knowledge which, to a certain extent, you must obtain of the private affairs of your patient and the household in which you nurse.

"Never contradict your patient, nor argue with him, nor let him see that you are annoyed about anything.

"Never whisper in the sick room. If your patient be well enough, and wishes you to talk to him, speak in a low, distinct voice, on cheerful subjects. Don't relate painful hospital experiences, nor give details of the maladies of former patients, and remember never to startle him with accounts of dreadful crimes or accidents that you have read in the newspapers.

"Write down the orders that the physician gives you as to time for giving the medicines, food, etc.

"Keep the room bright (unless the doctor orders it darkened).

"Let the air of the room be as pure as possible, and keep everything in order, but without being fussy and bustling.

"The only way to remove dust in a sick room is to wipe everything with a damp cloth.

"Remember to carry out all vessels covered. Empty and wash them immediately, and keep some disinfectant in them.

"Remember that to leave the patient's untasted food by his side, from meal to meal, in hopes that he will eat it in the interval, is simply to prevent him from taking any food at all.

"Medicines, beef tea or stimulants, should never be kept where the patient can see them or smell them.

"Light-colored clothing should be worn by those who have the care of the sick, in preference to dark-colored apparel; particularly if the disease is of a contagious nature. Experiments have shown that black and other dark colors will absorb more readily the subtle effluvia that emanates from sick persons than white or light colors."

* * * * *

LONGEVITY.

The following table exhibits very recent mortality statistics, showing the average duration of life among persons of various classes:

Employment. Years.

Judges 65 Farmers 64 Bank Officers 64 Coopers 58 Public Officers 57 Clergymen 56 Shipwrights 55 Hatters 54 Lawyers 54 Rope Makers 54 Blacksmiths 51 Merchants 51 Calico Printers 51 Physicians 51 Butchers 50 Carpenters 49 Masons 48 Traders 46 Tailors 44 Jewelers 44 Manufacturers 43 Bakers 43 Painters 43 Shoemakers 43 Mechanics 43 Editors 40 Musicians 39 Printers 38 Machinists 36 Teachers 34 Clerks 34 Operatives 32

"It will be easily seen, by these figures, how a quiet or tranquil life affects longevity. The phlegmatic man will live longer, all other things being equal, than the sanguine, nervous individual. Marriage is favorable to longevity, and it has also been ascertained that women live longer than men."



* * * * *

HOW TO APPLY AND USE HOT WATER IN ALL DISEASES.

1. THE HOT WATER THROAT BAG. The hot water throat bag is made from fine white rubber fastened to the head by a rubber band (see illustration), and is an unfailing remedy for catarrh, hay fever, cold, toothache, headache, earache, neuralgia, etc.

2. THE HOT WATER BOTTLE. No well regulated house should be without a hot water bottle. It is excellent in the application of hot water for inflammations, colic, headache, congestion, cold feet, rheumatism, sprains, etc., etc. It is an excellent warming pan and an excellent feet and hand warmer when riding. These hot water bags in any variety can be purchased at any drug store.

3. Boiling water may be used in the bags and the heat will be retained many hours. They are soft and pliable and pleasant to the touch, and can be adjusted to any part of the body.

4. Hot water is good for constipation, torpid liver and relieves colic and flatulence, and is of special value.

5. Caution. When hot water bags or any hot fomentation is removed, replace dry flannel and bathe parts in tepid water and rub till dry.

6. By inflammations it is best to use hot water and then cold water. It seems to give more immediate relief. Hot water is a much better remedy than drugs, paragoric, Dover's powder or morphine. Always avoid the use of strong poisonous drugs when possible.

7. Those who suffer from cold feet there is no better remedy than to bathe the feet in cold water before retiring and then place a hot water bottle in the bed at the feet. A few weeks of such treatment results in relief if not cure of the most obstinate case.

HOW TO USE COLD WATER.

Use a compress of cold water for acute or chronic inflammation, such as sore throat, bronchitis, croup, inflammation of the lungs, etc. If there is a hot and aching pain in the back apply a compress of cold water on the same, or it may simply be placed across the back or around the body. The most depends upon the condition of the patient.



* * * * *

PRACTICAL RULES FOR BATHING.

1. Bathe at least once a week all over, thoroughly. No one can preserve his health by neglecting personal cleanliness. Remember, "Cleanliness is akin to Godliness."

2. Only mild soap should be used in bathing the body.

3. Wipe quickly and dry the body thoroughly with a moderately coarse towel. Rub the skin vigorously.

4. Many people have contracted severe and fatal diseases by neglecting to take proper care of the body after bathing.

5. If you get up a good reaction by thorough rubbing in a mild temperature, the effect is always good.

6. Never go into a cold room, or allow cold air to enter the room until you are dressed.

7. Bathing in cold rooms and in cold water is positively injurious, unless the person possesses a very strong and vigorous constitution, and then there is great danger of laying the foundation of some serious disease.

8. Never bathe within two hours after eating. It injures digestion.

9. Never bathe when the body or mind is much exhausted. It is liable to check the healthful circulation.

10. A good time for bathing is just before retiring. The morning hour is a good time also, if a warm room and warm water can be secured.

11. Never bathe a fresh wound or broken skin with cold water; the wound absorbs water, and causes swelling and irritation.

12. A person not robust should be very careful in bathing; great care should be exercised to avoid any chilling effects.

* * * * *

ALL THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF BATHS, AND HOW TO PREPARE THEM.

THE SULPHUR BATH.

For the itch, ringworm, itching, and for other slight irritations, bathe in water containing a little sulphur.

THE SALT BATH.

To open the pores of the skin, put a little common salt into the water. Borax, baking soda or lime used in the same way are excellent for cooling and cleansing the skin. A very small quantity in a bowl of water is sufficient.

THE VAPOR BATH.

1. For catarrh, bronchitis, pleurisy, inflammation of the lungs, rheumatism, fever, affections of the bowels and kidneys, and skin diseases, the vapor-bath is an excellent remedy.

2. APPARATUS.—Use a small alcohol lamp, and place over it a small dish containing water. Light the lamp and allow the water to boil. Place a cane bottom chair over the lamp, and seat the patient on it. Wrap blankets or quilts around the chair and around the patient, closing it tightly about the neck. After free perspiration is produced the patient should be wrapped in warm blankets, and placed in bed, so as to continue the perspiration for some time.

3. A convenient alcohol lamp may be made by taking a tin box, placing a tube in it, and putting in a common lamp wick. Any tinner can make one in a few minutes, at a trifling cost.

THE HOT-AIR BATH.

1. Place the alcohol lamp under the chair, without the dish of water. Then place the patient on the chair, as in the vapor bath, and let him remain until a gentle and free perspiration is produced. This bath may be taken from time to time, as may be deemed necessary.

2. While remaining in the hot-air bath the patient may drink freely of cold or tepid water.

3. As soon as the bath is over the patient should be washed with hot water and soap.

4. The hot-air bath is excellent for colds, skin diseases, and the gout.

THE SPONGE BATH.

1. Have a large basin of water of the temperature of 85 or 95 degrees. As soon as the patient rises rub the body over with a soft, dry towel until it becomes warm.

2. Now sponge the body with water and a little soap, at the same time keeping the body well covered, except such portions as are necessarily exposed. Then dry the skin carefully with a soft, warm towel. Rub the skin well for two or three minutes, until every part becomes red and perfectly dry.

3. Sulphur, lime or salt, and sometimes mustard, may be used in any of the sponge baths, according to the disease.

THE FOOT BATH.

1. The foot bath, in coughs, colds, asthma, headaches and fevers, is excellent. One or two tablespoonfuls of ground mustard added to a gallon of hot water, is very beneficial.

2. Heat the water as hot as the patient can endure it, and gradually increase the temperature by pouring in additional quantities of hot water during the bath.

THE SITZ BATH.

A tub is arranged so that the patient can sit down in it while bathing. Fill the tub about one-half full of water. This is an excellent remedy for piles, constipation, headache, gravel, and for acute and inflammatory affections generally.

THE ACID BATH.

Place a little vinegar in water, and heat to the usual temperature. This is an excellent remedy for the disorders of the liver.

A SURE CURE FOR PRICKLY HEAT.

1. Prickly heat is caused by hot weather, by excess of flesh, by rough flannels, by sudden changes of temperature, or by over-fatigue.

2. TREATMENT—Bathe two or three times a day with warm water, in which a moderate quantity of bran and common soda has been stirred. After wiping the skin dry, dust the affected parts with common cornstarch.

* * * * *

DIGESTIBILITY OF FOOD.

ARTICLE OF FOOD; CONDITION; HOURS REQUIRED

Rice; Boiled; 1.00 Eggs, whipped; Raw; 1.30 Trout, salmon, fresh; Boiled; 1.30 Apples, sweet and mellow; Raw; 1.30 Venison steak; Broiled; 1.35 Tapioca; Boiled; 2.00 Barley; Boiled; 2.00 Milk; Boiled; 2.00 Bullock's liver, fresh; Broiled; 2.00 Fresh eggs; Raw; 2.00 Codfish, cured and dry; Boiled; 2.00 Milk; Raw; 2.15 Wild turkey; Roasted; 2.15 Domestic turkey; Roasted; 2.30; Goose; Roasted; 2.30 Suckling pig; Roasted; 2.30 Fresh Lamb; Broiled; 2.30 Hash, meat and vegetables; Warmed; 2.30 Beans and pod; Boiled; 2.30 Parsnips; Boiled; 2.30 Irish potatoes; Roasted; 2.30 Chicken; Fricassee; 2.45 Custard; Baked; 2.45 Salt beef; Boiled; 2.45 Sour and hard apples; Raw; 2.50 Fresh oysters; Raw; 2.55 Fresh eggs; Soft Boiled; 3.00 Beef, fresh, lean and rare; Roasted; 3.00 Beef steak; Broiled; 3.00 Pork, recently salted; Stewed; 3.00 Fresh mutton; Boiled; 3.00 Soup, beans; Boiled; 3.00 Soup, chicken; Boiled; 3.00 Apple dumpling; Boiled; 3.00 Fresh oysters; Roasted; 3.15 Pork steak; Broiled; 3.15 Fresh mutton; Roasted; 3.15 Corn bread; Baked; 3.15 Carrots; Boiled; 3.15 Fresh sausage; Broiled; 3.20 Fresh flounder; Fried; 3.30 Fresh catfish; Fried; 3.30 Fresh oysters; Stewed; 3.30 Butter; Melted; 3.30 Old, strong cheese; Raw; 3.30 Mutton soup; Boiled; 3.30 Oyster soup; Boiled; 3.30 Fresh wheat bread; Baked; 3.30 Flat turnips; Boiled; 3.30 Irish potatoes; Boiled; 3.30 Fresh eggs; Hard boiled; 3.30 Fresh eggs; Fried; 3.30 Green corn and beans; Boiled; 3.45 Beets, Boiled; 3.45 Fresh, lean beef; Fried; 4.00 Fresh veal; Broiled; 4.00 Domestic fowls; Roasted; 4.00 Ducks, Roasted; 4.00 Beef soup, vegetables and bread Boiled; 4.00 Pork, recently salted; Boiled; 4.30 Fresh veal; Fried; 4.30 Cabbage, with vinegar; Boiled; 4.30 Pork, fat and lean; Roasted; 5.30

* * * * *

HOW TO COOK FOR THE SICK.

Useful Dietetic Recipes.

GRUELS.

1. OATMEAL GRUEL.—Stir two tablespoonfuls of coarse oatmeal into a quart of boiling water, and let it simmer two hours. Strain, if preferred.

2. BEEF TEA AND OATMEAL.—Beat two tablespoonfuls of fine oatmeal, with two tablespoonfuls of cold water until very smooth, then add a pint of hot beef tea. Boil together six or eight minutes, stirring constantly. Strain through a fine sieve.

3. MILK GRUEL.—Into a pint of scalding milk stir two tablespoonfuls of fine oatmeal. Add a pint of boiling water, and boil until the meal is thoroughly cooked.

4. MILK PORRIDGE.—Place over the fire equal parts of milk and water. Just before it boils, add a small quantity (a tablespoonful to a pint of water) of graham flour or cornmeal, previously mixed with water, and boil three minutes.

5. SAGO GRUEL.—Take two tablespoonfuls of sago and place them in a small saucepan, moisten gradually with a little cold water. Set the preparation on a slow fire, and keep stirring till it becomes rather stiff and clear. Add a little grated nutmeg and sugar to taste; if preferred, half a pat of butter may also be added with the sugar.

6. CREAM GRUEL.—Put a pint and a half of water on the stove in a saucepan. Take one tablespoon of flour and the same of cornmeal, mix this with cold water, and as soon as the water in the saucepan boils, stir it in slowly. Let it boil slowly about twenty minutes, stirring constantly then add a little salt and a gill of sweet cream. Do not let it boil after putting in the cream, but turn into a bowl and cover tightly. Serve in a pretty cup and saucer.

DRINKS.

1. APPLE WATER.—Cut two large apples into slices and pour a quart of boiling water on them, or on roasted apples; strain in two or three hours and sweeten slightly.

2. ORANGEADE.—Take the thin peel of two oranges and of one lemon; add water and sugar the same as for hot lemonade. When cold add the juice of four or five oranges and one lemon and strain off.

3. HOT LEMONADE.—Take two thin slices and the juice of one lemon; mix with two tablespoonfuls of granulated sugar, and add one-half pint of boiling water.

4. FLAXSEED LEMONADE.—Two tablespoonfuls of whole flaxseed to a pint of boiling water, let it steep three hours, strain when cool and add the juice of two lemons and two tablespoonfuls of honey. If too thick, put in cold water. Splendid for colds and suppression of urine.

5. JELLY WATER.—Sour jellies dissolved in water make a pleasant drink for fever patients.

6. TOAST WATER.—Toast several thin pieces of bread a slice deep brown, but do not blacken or burn. Break into small pieces and put into a jar. Pour over the pieces a quart of boiling water; cover the jar and let it stand an hour before using. Strain if desired.

7. WHITE OF EGG AND MILK.—The white of an egg beaten to a stiff froth, and stirred very quickly into a glass of milk, is a very nourishing food for persons whose digestion is weak, also for children who cannot digest milk alone.

8. EGG COCOA.—One-half teaspoon cocoa with enough hot water to make a paste. Take one egg, beat white and yolk separately. Stir into a cup of milk heated to nearly boiling. Sweeten if desired. Very nourishing.

9. EGG LEMONADE.—White of one egg, one tablespoonful pulverized sugar, juice of one lemon and one goblet of water. Beat together. Very grateful in inflammation of of lungs, stomach or bowels.

10. BEEF TEA.—For every quart of tea desired use one pound of fresh beef, from which all fat, bones and sinews have been carefully removed; cut the beef into pieces a quarter of an inch thick and mix with a pint of cold water. Let it stand an hour, then pour into a glass fruit can and place in a vessel of water; let it heat on the stove another hour, but do not let it boil. Strain before using.

JELLIES.

1. SAGO JELLY.—Simmer gently in a pint of water two tablespoonfuls of sago until it thickens, frequently stirring. A little sugar may be added if desired.

2. CHICKEN JELLY.—Take half a raw chicken, tie in a coarse cloth and pound, till well mashed, bones and meat together. Place the mass in a covered dish with water sufficient to cover it well. Allow it to simmer slowly till the liquor is reduced about one-half and the meat is thoroughly cooked. Press through a fine sieve or cloth, and salt to taste. Place on the stove to simmer about five minutes When cold remove all particles of grease.

3. MULLED JELLY.—Take one tablespoonful of currant or grape jelly; beat it with the white of one egg and a little loaf sugar; pour on it one-half pint of boiling water and break in a slice of dry toast or two crackers.

4. BREAD JELLY.—Pour boiling water over bread crumbs place the mixture on the fire and let it boil until it is perfectly smooth. Take it off, and after pouring off the water, flavor with something agreeable, as a little raspberry or currant jelly water. Pour into a mold until required for use.

5. LEMON JELLY.—Moisten two tablespoonfuls of cornstarch, stir into one pint boiling water; add the juice of two lemons and one-half cup of sugar. Grate in a little of the rind. Put in molds to cool.

MISCELLANEOUS.

1. TO COOK RICE.—Take two cups of rice and one and one-half pints of milk. Place in a covered dish and steam in a kettle of boiling water until it is cooked through, pour into cups and let it stand until cold. Serve with cream.

2. RICE OMELET.—Two cups boiled rice, one cup sweet milk, two eggs. Stir together with egg beater, and put into a hot buttered skillet. Cook slowly ten minutes, stirring frequently.

3. BROWNED RICE.—Parch or brown rice slowly. Steep in milk for two hours. The rice or the milk only is excellent in summer complaint.

4. STEWED OYSTERS.—Take one pint of milk, one cup of water, a teaspoon of salt; when boiling put in one pint of bulk oysters. Stir occasionally and remove from the stove before it boils. An oyster should not be shriveled in cooking.

5. BROILED OYSTERS.—Put large oysters on a wire toaster Hold over hot coals until heated through. Serve on toast moistened with cream. Very grateful in convalescence.

6. OYSTER TOAST.—Pour stewed oysters over graham or bread toasted. Excellent for breakfast.

7. GRAHAM CRISPS.—Mix graham flour and cold water into a very stiff dough. Knead, roll very thin, and bake quickly in a hot oven. Excellent food for dyspeptics.

8. APPLE SNOW.—Take seven apples, not very sweet ones, and bake till soft and brown. Then remove the skins and cores; when cool, beat them smooth and fine; add one-half cup of granulated sugar and the white of one egg. Beat till the mixture will hold on your spoon. Serve with soft custard.

9. EGGS ON TOAST.—Soften brown bread toast with hot water, put on a platter and cover with poached or scrambled eggs.

10. BOILED EGGS.—An egg should never be boiled. Place in boiling water and set back on the stove for from seven to ten minutes. A little experience will enable anyone to do it successfully.

11. CRACKED WHEAT PUDDING.—In a deep two-quart pudding dish put layers of cold, cooked, cracked wheat, and tart apples sliced thin, with four tablespoonfuls of sugar. Raisins can be added if preferred. Fill the dish, having the wheat last, add a cup of cold water. Bake two hours.

12. PIE FOR DYSPEPTICS.—Four tablespoonfuls of oatmeal, one pint of water; let stand for a few hours, or until the meal is swelled. Then add two large apples, pared and sliced, a little salt, one cup of sugar, one tablespoonful of flour. Mix all well together and bake in a buttered dish; makes a most delicious pie, which can be eaten with safety by the sick or well.

13. APPLE TAPIOCA PUDDING.—Soak a teacup of tapioca in a quart of warm water three hours. Cut in thin slices six tart apples, stir them lightly with the tapioca, add half cup sugar. Bake three hours. To be eaten with whipped cream. Good either warm or cold.

14. GRAHAM MUFFINS.—Take one pint of new milk, one pint graham or entire wheat flour; stir together and add one beaten egg. Can be baked in any kind of gem pans or muffin rings. Salt must not be used with any bread that is made light with egg.

15. STRAWBERRY DESSERT.—Place alternate layers of hot cooked cracked wheat and strawberries in a deep dish; when cold, turn out on platter; cut in slices and serve with cream and sugar, or strawberry juice. Wet the molds with cold water before using. This, molded in small cups, makes a dainty dish for the sick. Wheatlet can be used in the same way.

16. FRUIT BLANC MANGE.—One quart of juice of strawberries, cherries, grapes or other juicy fruit; one cup water. When boiling, add two tablespoonfuls sugar and four tablespoonfuls cornstarch wet in cold water; let boil five or six minutes, then mold in small cups. Serve without sauce, or with cream or boiled custard. Lemon juice can be used the same, only requiring more water. This is a very valuable dish for convalescents and pregnant women, when the stomach rejects solid food.



* * * * *

SAVE THE GIRLS.

1. PUBLIC BALLS.—The church should turn its face like flint against the public ball. Its influence is evil, and nothing but evil. It is a well known fact that in all cities and large towns the ball room is the recruiting office for prostitution.

2. THOUGHTLESS YOUNG WOMEN.—In cities public balls are given every night, and many thoughtless young women, mostly the daughters of small tradesmen and mechanics, or clerks or laborers, are induced to attend "just for fun." Scarcely one in a hundred of the girls attending these balls preserve their purity. They meet the most desperate characters, professional gamblers, criminals and the lowest debauchees. Such an assembly and such influence cannot mean anything but ruin for an innocent girl.

3. VILE WOMEN.—The public ball is always a resort of vile women who picture to innocent girls the ease and luxury of a harlot's life, and offer them all manner of temptations to abandon the paths of virtue. The public ball is the resort of the libertine and the adulterer, and whose object is to work the ruin of every innocent girl that may fall into their clutches.

4. THE QUESTION.—Why does society wonder at the increase of prostitution, when the public balls and promiscuous dancing is so largely endorsed and encouraged?

5. WORKING GIRLS.—Thousands of innocent working girls enter innocently and unsuspectingly into the paths which lead them to the house of evil, or who wander the streets as miserable outcasts all through the influence of the dance. The low theatre and dance halls and other places of unselected gatherings are the milestones which mark the working girl's downward path from virtue to vice, from modesty to shame.

6. THE SALESWOMAN, the seamstress, the factory girl or any other virtuous girl had better, far better, die than take the first step in the path of impropriety and danger. Better, a thousand times better, better for this life, better for the life to come, an existence of humble, virtuous industry than a single departure from virtue, even though it were paid with a fortune.

7. TEMPTATIONS.—There is not a young girl but what is more or less tempted by some unprincipled wretch who may have the reputation of a genteel society man. It behooves parents to guard carefully the morals of their daughters, and be vigilant and cautious in permitting them to accept the society of young men. Parents who desire to save their daughters from a fate which is worse than death, should endeavor by every means in their power to keep them from falling into traps cunningly devised by some cunning lover. There are many good young men, but not all are safe friends to an innocent, confiding young girl.

8. PROSTITUTION.—Some girls inherit their vicious tendency; others fall because of misplaced affections; many sin through a love of dress, which is fostered by society and by the surroundings amidst which they may be placed; many, very many, embrace a life of shame to escape poverty While each of these different phases of prostitution require a different remedy, we need better men, better women, better laws and better protection for the young girls.



9. A STARTLING FACT.—Startling as it may seem to some, it is a fact in our large cities that there are many girls raised by parents with no other aim than to make them harlots. At a tender age they are sold by fathers and mothers into an existence which is worse than slavery itself. It is not uncommon to see girls at the tender age of thirteen or fourteen—mere children—hardened courtesans, lost to all sense of shame and decency. They are reared in ignorance, surrounded by demoralizing influences, cut off from the blessings of church and Sabbath school, see nothing but licentiousness, intemperance and crime. These young girls are lost forever. They are beyond the reach of the moralist or preacher and have no comprehension of modesty and purity. Virtue to them is a stranger, and has been from the cradle.

10. A GREAT WRONG.—Parents too poor to clothe themselves bring children into the world, children for whom they have no bread, consequently the girl easily falls a victim in early womanhood to the heartless libertine. The boy with no other schooling but that of the streets soon masters all the qualifications for a professional criminal. If there could be a law forbidding people to marry who have no visible means of supporting a family, or if they should marry, if their children could be taken from them and properly educated by the State, it would cost the country less and be a great step in advancing our civilization.

11. THE FIRST STEP.—Thousands of fallen women could have been saved from lives of degradation and deaths of shame had they received more toleration and loving forgiveness in their first steps of error. Many women naturally pure and virtuous have fallen to the lowest depths because discarded by friends, frowned upon by society, and sneered at by the world, after they had taken a single mis-step. Society forgives man, but woman never.

12. IN THE BEGINNING of every girl's downward career there is necessarily a hesitation. She naturally ponders over what course to take, dreading to meet friends and looking into the future with horror. That moment is the vital turning point in her career; a kind word of forgiveness, a mother's embrace a father's welcome may save her. The bloodhounds, known as the seducer, the libertine, the procurer, are upon her track; she is trembling on the frightful brink of the abyss. Extend a helping hand and save her!

13. FATHER, if your daughter goes astray, do not drive her from your home. Mother, if your child errs, do not close your heart against her. Sisters and brothers and friends, do not force her into the pathway of shame, but rather strive to win her back into the Eden of virtue, an in nine cases out of ten you will succeed.

14. SOCIETY EVILS.—The dance, the theater, the wine-cup, the race-course, the idle frivolity and luxury of summer watering places, all have a tendency to demoralize the young.

15. BAD SOCIETY.—Much of our modern society admits libertines and seducers to the drawing-room, while it excludes their helpless and degraded victims, consequently it is not strange that there are skeletons in many closets, matrimonial infelicity and wayward girls.

16. "'KNOW THYSELF,'" says Dr. Saur, "is an important maxim for us all, and especially is it true for girls.

"All are born with the desire to become attractive girls especially want to grow up, not only attractive, but beautiful. Some girls think that bright eyes, pretty hair and fine clothes alone make them beautiful. This is not so. Real beauty depends upon good health, good manners and a pure mind.

"As the happiness of our girls depends upon their health, it behoves us all to guide the girls in such a way as to bring forward the best of results.

17. "THERE IS NO ONE who stands so near the girl as the mother. From early childhood she occupies the first place in the little one's confidence she laughs, plays, and corrects, when necessary, the faults of her darling. She should be equally ready to guide in the important laws of life and health upon which rest her future. Teach your daughters that in all things the 'creative principle' has its source in life itself. It originates from Divine life, and when they know that it may be consecrated to wise and useful purposes, they are never apt to grow up with base thoughts or form bad habits. Their lives become a happiness to themselves and a blessing to humanity.

18. TEACH WISELY.—"Teach your daughters that all life originates from a seed a germ. Knowing this law, you need have no fears that base or unworthy thoughts of the reproductive function can ever enter their minds. The growth, development and ripening of human seed becomes a beautiful and sacred mystery. The tree, the rose and all plant life are equally as mysterious and beautiful in their reproductive life. Does not this alone prove to us, conclusively, that there is a Divinity in the background governing, controlling and influencing our lives? Nature has no secrets, and why should we? None at all. The only care we should experience is in teaching wisely.

"Yes lead them wisely teach them that the seed, the germ of a new life, is maturing within them. Teach them that between the ages of eleven and fourteen this maturing process has certain physical signs. The breasts grow round and full, the whole body, even the voice, undergoes a change. It is right that they should be taught the natural law of life in reproduction and the physiological structure of their being. Again we repeat that these lessons should be taught by the mother, and in a tender, delicate and confidential way. Become, oh, mother, your daughter's companion, and she will not go elsewhere for this knowledge which must come to all in time, but possibly too late and through sources that would prove more harm than good.

19. THE ORGANS OF CREATIVE LIFE in women are: Ovaries, Fallopian tubes, uterus, vagina and mammary glands. The ovaries and Fallopian tubes have already been described under "The Female Generative Organs."

"The uterus is a pear-shaped muscular organ, situated in the lower portion of the pelvis, between the bladder and the rectum. It is less than three inches in length and two inches in width and one in thickness.

"The vagina is a membranous canal which joins the internal outlet with the womb, which projects slightly into it. The opening into the vagina is nearly oval, and in those who have never indulged in sexual intercourse or in handling the sexual organs is more or less closed by a membrane termed the hymen. The presence of this membrane was formerly considered as undoubted evidence of virginity; its absence, a lack of chastity.

"The mammary glands are accessory to the generative organs. They secrete milk, which the All-wise Gatherer provided for the nourishment of the child after birth.

20. "MENSTRUATION, which appears about the age of thirteen years, is the flow from the uterus that occurs every month as the seed-germ ripens in the ovaries. God made the sexual organs so that the race should not die out. He gave them to us so that we may reproduce life, and thus fill the highest position in the created universe. The purpose for which they are made is high and holy and honorable, and if they are used only for this purpose and they must not be used at all until they are fully matured they will be a source of greatest blessing to us all.



21. "A CAREFUL STUDY of this organ, of its location, of its arteries and nerves, will convince the growing girl that her body should never submit to corsets and tight lacing in response to the demands of fashion, even though nature has so bountifully provided for the safety of this important organ. By constant pressure the vagina and womb may be compressed into one-third their natural length or crowded into an unnatural position. We can readily see, then, the effect of lacing or tight clothing. Under these circumstances the ligaments lose their elasticity, and as a result we have prolapsus or falling of the womb.

22. "I AM MORE ANXIOUS for growing girls than for any other earthly object. These girls are to be the mothers of future generations; upon them hangs the destiny of the world in coming time, and if they can be made to understand what is right and what is wrong with regard to their own bodies now, while they are young, the children they will give birth to and the men and women who shall call them mother will be of a higher type and belong to a nobler class than those of the present day.

23. "ALL WOMEN CANNOT have good features, but they can look well, and it is possible to a great extent to correct deformity and develop much of the figure. The first step to good looks is good health, and the first element of health is cleanliness. Keep clean wash freely, bathe regularly. All the skin wants is leave to act, and it takes care of itself.

24. "GIRLS SOMETIMES GET THE IDEA that it is nice to be 'weak' and 'delicate,' but they cannot get a more false idea! God meant women to be strong and able-bodied, and only by being so can they be happy and capable of imparting happiness to others. It is only by being strong and healthy that they can be perfect in their sexual nature; and It is only by being perfect in this part of their being that you can become a noble, grand and beautiful woman.

25. "UP TO THE AGE of puberty, if the girl has grown naturally, waist, hips and shoulders are about the same in width, the shoulders being, perhaps, a trifle the broadest. Up to this time the sexual organs have grown but little. Now they take a sudden start and need more room. Nature aids the girls; the tissues and muscles increase in size and the pelvis bones enlarge. The limbs grow plump, the girl stops growing tall and becomes round and full. Unsuspected strength comes to her; tasks that were once hard to perform are now easy; her voice becomes sweeter and stronger. The mind develops more rapidly even than the body; her brain is more active and quicker; subjects that once were dull and dry have unwonted interest; lessons are more easily learned; the eyes sparkle with intelligence, indicating increased mental power; her manner denotes the consciousness of new power; toys of childhood are laid away; womanly thoughts and pursuits fill her mind; budding childhood has become blooming womanhood. Now, if ever, must be laid the foundation of physical vigor and of a healthy body. Girls should realize the significance of this fact. Do not get the idea that men admire a weakly, puny, delicate, small-waisted, languid, doll-like creature, a libel on true womanhood. Girls admire men with broad chests, square shoulders, erect form, keen bright eyes, hard muscles and undoubted vigor. Men also turn naturally to healthy, robust, well-developed girls, and to win their admiration girls must meet their ideals. A good form, a sound mind and a healthy body are within the reach of nine out of ten of our girls by proper care and training. Physical bankruptcy may claim the same proportion if care and training are neglected.

26. "A WOMAN FIVE FEET TALL should measure two feet around the waist and thirty-three inches around the hips. A waist less than this proportion indicates compression either by lacing or tight clothing. Exercise in the open air, take long walks and vigorous exercise, using care not to overdo it. Housework will prove a panacea for many of the ills which flesh is heir to. One hour's exercise at the wash-tub is of far more value, from a physical standpoint, than hours at the piano. Boating is most excellent exercise and within the reach of many. Care in dressing is also important, and, fortunately, fashion is coming to the rescue here. It is essential that no garments be suspended from the waist. Let the shoulders bear the weight of all the clothing, so that the organs of the body may be left free and unimpeded.

27. "SLEEP SHOULD BE HAD regularly and abundantly. Avoid late hours, undue excitement, evil associations; partake of plain, nutritious food, and health will be your reward. There is one way of destroying health, which, fortunately, is not as common among girls as boys, and which must be mentioned ere this chapter closes. Self-abuse is practised among growing girls to such an extent as to arouse serious alarm. Many a girl has been led to handle and play with her sexual organs through the advice of some girl who has obtained temporary pleasure in that way; or, perchance, chafing has been followed by rubbing until the organs have become congested with blood, and in this accidental manner the girl discovered what seems to her a source of pleasure, but which, alas, is a source of misery, and even death.

28. "AS IN THE BOY, SO IN THE GIRL, self-abuse causes an undue amount of blood to flow to those organs, thus depriving other parts of the body of its nourishment, the weakest part first showing the effect of want of sustenance. All that has been said upon this loathsome subject in the preceding chapter for boys might well be repeated here, but space forbids. Read that chapter again, and know that the same signs that betray the boy will make known the girl addicted to the vice. The bloodless lips, the dull, heavy eye surrounded with dark rings, the nerveless hand, the blanched cheek, the short breath, the old, faded look, the weakened memory and silly irritability tell the story all too plainly. The same evil result follows, ending perhaps in death, or worse, in insanity. Aside from the injury the girl does herself by yielding to this habit, there is one other reason which appeals to the conscience, and that is, self-abuse is an offence against moral law it is putting to a vile, selfish use the organs which were given for a high, sacred purpose.

29. "LET THEM ALONE, except to care for them when care is needed, and they may prove the greatest blessing you have ever known. They were given you that you might become a mother, the highest office to which God has ever called one of His creatures. Do not debase yourself and become lower than the beasts of the field. If this habit has fastened itself upon any one of our readers, stop it now. Do not allow yourself to think about it, give up all evil associations, seek pure companions, and go to your mother, older sister, or physician for advice.

30. "AND YOU, MOTHER, knowing the danger that besets your daughters at this critical period, are you justified in keeping silent? Can you be held guiltless if your daughter ruins body and mind because you were too modest to tell her the laws of her being? There is no love that is dearer to your daughter than yours, no advice that is more respected than yours, no one whose warning would be more potent. Fail not in your duty. As motherhood has been your sweetest joy, so help your daughter to make it hers."



* * * * *

SAVE THE BOYS.

PLAIN WORDS TO PARENTS.

1. With a shy look, approaching his mother when she was alone, the boy of fifteen said, "There are some things I want to ask you. I hear the boys speak of them at school, and I don't understand, and a fellow doesn't like to ask any one but his mother."

2. Drawing him down to her, in the darkness that was closing about them, the mother spoke to her son and the son to his mother freely of things which everybody must know sooner or later, and which no boy should learn from "anyone but his mother" or father.

3. If you do not answer such a natural question your boy will turn for answer to others, and learn things, perhaps, which your cheeks may well blush to have him know.

4. Our boys and girls are growing faster than we think. The world moves; we can no longer put off our children with the old nurses' tales; even MacDonald's beautiful statement,

"Out of the everywhere into the there",

does not satisfy them when they reverse his question and ask, "Where did I come from?"

5. They must be answered. If we put them off, they may be tempted to go elsewhere for information, and hear half-truths, or whole truths so distorted, so mingled with what is low and impure that, struggle against it as they may in later years, their minds will always retain these early impressions.

6. It is not so hard if you begin early. The very flowers are object lessons. The wonderful mystery of life is wrapped in one flower, with its stamens, pistils and ovaries. Every child knows how an egg came in the nest, and takes it as a matter of course; why not go one step farther with them and teach the wonder, the beauty, the holiness that surrounds maternity anywhere? Why, centuries ago the Romans honored, and taught their boys to honor, the women in whose safety was bound up the future of their existence as a nation! Why should we do less?

7. Your sons and mine, your daughters and mine, need to be wisely taught and guarded just along these lines, if your sons and mine, your daughters and mine, are to grow up into a pure, healthy, Christian manhood and womanhood.



8.[Footnote: This quotation is an appeal to mothers by Mrs. P.B. Saur, M.D.] "How grand is the boy who has kept himself undefiled! His complexion clear, his muscles firm, his movements vigorous, his manner frank, his courage undaunted, his brain active, his will firm, his self-control perfect, his body and mind unfolding day by day. His life should be one song of praise and thanksgiving. If you want your boy to be such a one, train him, my dear woman, to-day, and his to-morrow will take care of itself.

9. "Think you that good seed sown will bring forth bitter fruit? A thousand times, No! As we sow, so shall we reap. Train your boys in morality, temperance and virtue. Teach them to embrace good and shun evil. Teach them the true from the false; the light from the dark. Teach them that when they take a thing that is not their own, they commit a sin. Teach them that sin means disobedience of God's laws of every kind.

10. "God made every organ of our body with the intention that it should perform a certain work. If we wish to see, we use our eyes; if we want to hear, our ears are called into use. In fact, nature teaches us the proper use of all our organs. I say to you, mother, and oh, so earnestly: 'Go teach your boy that which you may never be ashamed to do, about these organs that make him specially a boy.'

11. "Teach him they are called sexual organs; that they are not impure, but of special importance, and made by God for a definite purpose. Teach him that there are impurities taken from the system in fluid form called urine, and that it passes through the sexual organs, but that nature takes care of that. Teach him that these organs are given as a sacred trust, that in maturer years he may be the means of giving life to those who shall live forever.

12. "Impress upon him that if these organs are abused, or if they are put to any use besides that for which God made them and He did not intend they should be used at all until man is fully grown they will bring disease and ruin upon those who abuse and disobey the laws which God has made to govern them. If he has ever learned to handle his sexual organs, or to touch them in any way except to keep them clean, not to do it again. If he does he will not grow up happy, healthy and strong.

13. "Teach him that when he handles or excites the sexual organs all parts of the body suffer, because they are connected by nerves that run throughout the system; this is why it is called 'self-abuse.' The whole body is abused when this part of the body is handled or excited in any manner whatever. Teach them to shun all children who indulge in this loathsome habit, or all children who talk about these things. The sin is terrible, and is, in fact, worse than lying or stealing. For, although these are wicked and will ruin their souls, yet this habit of self-abuse will ruin both soul and body.

14. "If the sexual organs are handled, it brings too much blood to these parts, and this produces a diseased condition; it also causes disease in other organs of the body, because they are left with a less amount of blood than they ought to have. The sexual organs, too, are very closely connected with the spine and the brain by means of the nerves, and if they are handled, or if you keep thinking about them, these nerves get excited and become exhausted, and this makes the back ache, the brain heavy and the whole body weak.

15. "It lays the foundation for consumption, paralysis and heart disease. It weakens the memory, makes a boy careless, negligent and listless. It even makes many lose their minds; others, when grown, commit suicide. How often mothers see their little boys handling themselves, and let it pass, because they think the boy will outgrow the habit, and do not realize the strong hold it has upon them. I say to you who love your boys 'Watch!'

16. "Don't think it does no harm to your boy because he does not suffer now, for the effects of this vice come on so slowly that the victim is often very near death before you realize that he has done himself harm. The boy with no knowledge of the consequences, and with no one to warn him, finds momentary pleasure in its practice, and so contracts a habit which grows upon him, undermining his health, poisoning his mind, arresting his development, and laying the foundation for future misery.

17. "Do not read this book and forget it, for it contains earnest and living truths. Do not let false modesty stand in your way, but from this time on keep this thought in mind 'the saving of your boy.' Follow its teachings and you will bless God as long as you live. Read it to your neighbors, who, like yourself, have growing boys, and urge them for the sake of humanity to heed its advice.

18. "Right here we want to emphasize the importance of cleanliness. We verily believe that oftentimes these habits originate in a burning and irritating sensation about the organs, caused by a want of thorough washing.

19. "It is worthy of note that many eminent physicians now advocate the custom of circumcision, claiming that the removal of a little of the foreskin induces cleanliness, thus preventing the irritation and excitement which come from the gathering of the whiteish matter under the foreskin at the beginning of the glands. This irritation being removed, the boy is less apt to tamper with his sexual organs. The argument seems a good one, especially when we call to mind the high physical state of those people who have practiced the custom.

20. "Happy is the mother who can feel she has done her duty, in this direction, while her boy is still a child. For those mothers, though, whose little boys have now grown to boyhood with the evil still upon them, and you, through ignorance, permitted it, we would say, 'Begin at once; it is never too late.' If he has not lost all will power, he can be saved. Let him go in confidence to a reputable physician and follow his advice. Simple diet, plentiful exercise in open air and congenial employment will do much. Do not let the mind dwell upon evil thoughts, shun evil companions, avoid vulgar stories, sensational novels, and keep the thoughts pure.

21. "Let him interest himself in social and benevolent affairs, participate in Sunday-school work, farmers' clubs, or any organizations which tend to elevate and inspire noble sentiment. Let us remember that 'a perfect man is the noblest work of God.' God has given us a life which is to last forever, and the little time we spend on earth is as nothing to the ages which we are to spend in the world beyond; so our earthly life is a very important part of our existence, for it is here that the foundation is laid for either happiness or misery in the future. It is here that we decide our destiny, and our efforts to know and obey God's laws in our bodies as well as in our souls will not only bring blessings to us in this life, but never-ending happiness throughout eternity."

22. A QUESTION. How can a father chew and smoke tobacco, drink and swear, use vulgar language, tell obscene stories, and raise a family of pure, clean-minded children? LET THE ECHO ANSWER.



* * * * *

THE INHUMANITIES OF PARENTS.

1. Not long ago a Presbyterian minister in Western New York whipped his three-year-old boy to death for refusing to say his prayers. The little fingers were broken; the tender flesh was bruised and actually mangled; strong men wept when they looked on the lifeless body. Think of a strong man from one hundred and fifty to two hundred pounds in weight, pouncing upon a little child, like a Tiger upon a Lamb, and with his strong arm inflicting physical blows on the delicate tissues of a child's body. See its frail and trembling flesh quiver and its tender nervous organization shaking with terror and fear.

2. How often is this the case in the punishment of children all over this broad land! Death is not often the immediate consequence of this brutality as in the above stated case, but the punishment is often as unjust, and the physical constitution of children is often ruined and the mind by fright seriously injured.

3. Everyone knows the sudden sense of pain, and sometimes dizziness and nausea follow, as the results of an accidental hitting of the ankle, knee or elbow against a hard substance, and involuntary tears are brought to the eyes; but what is such a pain as this compared with the pains of a dozen or more quick blows on the body of a little helpless child from the strong arm of a parent in a passion? Add to this overwhelming terror of fright, the strangulating effects of sighing and shrieking, and you have a complete picture of child-torture.

4. Who has not often seen a child receive, within an hour or two of the first whipping, a second one, for some small ebullition of nervous irritability, which was simply inevitable from its spent and worn condition?