5565. Bleeding from the Nose

5565.    Bleeding from the Nose. This may be caused by violence, or may arise from an impoverished state of the blood. "When it occurs in persons of middle age it is more serious, as it is then often a symptom of some other disease. The bleeding can generally be stopped by making the patient raise both his arms above his head, and hold them there for some time. Sponging with cold or iced water to the forehead and face, or applying a towel wet with cold water between the shoulders, will, in most cases, succeed. The application of a strong solution of alum or iron-alum to the inside of the nostrils, or plugging the nostrils with lint or cotton wool soaked in the solution, may be necessary if the bleeding is profuse. The health of persons subject to these attacks should be improved by nutritious diet, animal food, with potatoes, water-cresses, and fruit. The following prescription may be relied on: Tincture of steel, 2 drachms; dilute muriatic acid, 1 drachm; syrup of orange peel, 1 ounce; infusion of calumba, 7 ounces. Mix. For a child, 1 table-spoonl'ul in a wine-glass of water before meals; for an adult the dose may bo increased.

5566. To Stop Bleeding at the Nose

5566.    To Stop Bleeding at the Nose. Placing a small roll of paper or muslin above the front teeth, under the upper lip, and pressing hard on the same, will arrest bleeding from the nose, checking the passage of blood through the arteries leding to the nose.

5567. Astringent for Leech-Bites

5567.     Astringent for Leech-Bites. Dissolve 1 part of crystallized perchloride of iron in 6 parts of collodion very gradually. A drop or two of the product formus an admirable styptic.

5568. Antispasmodics

5568.       Antispasmodics. Medicines that allay spasms and other pains. Bark, opium, camphor, ether, musk, castor, assa-foetida. valerian, and chalybeates, are antispasmodics.

5569. Nervines

5569.      Nervines - sometimes called neurotics - are substances or agents which relieve disorders of the nerves. Antispasmodics, chalybeates, and vegetable tonics belong to this class.

5570. Treatment of Nervousness

5570.      Treatment of Nervousness. The cure of nervousness is best effected by restoring the healthy action of the stomach and bowels, and by the use of proper exercise, especially in the open air. The stomach should not be overloaded with indigestible food, and the bowels should be occasionally relieved by the use of some mild aperient. Abernethy's injunction to a nervous and dyspeptic lady, " Dismiss your servants, madam, and make your own beds," should bo recollected by all as a proof of the importance that eminent surgeon attached to exercise. Valerian is a medicine of great use in nervous disorders, hysteria, lowness of spirits, restlessness, and diseases of the bladder, &e. The common dose is from a scruple to a drachm, in powder; and in infusion from 1 to 2 drachms. Its unpleasant flavor may be neutralized by the addition of mace. Assafcetida is also recommended. Take assafcetida, 11/2 drachms; water, 6 fluid ounces. Dose, 1 to 3 table-spoonfuls thrice or oftener, daily. But there is no remedy for nervous disorders of every kind, comparable to the proper and constant use of magnetic electricity.