5640. Stiff Neck

5640.    Stiff Neck. Occasionally an attack is severe, and confinement to the house or bed, with wrapping up of the neck with cotton-wadding or flannel, together with attention to the state of the digestive powers, is necessary. Tho diet in these cases must bo regulated, and an aperient, such as the lenitive electuary (see No. 5154 (Lenitive Electuary)), or castor oil, taken if required by the state of the bowels. If the stiffness be obstinate in its duration, it had better be rubbed with camphorated oil, or some other appropriate liniment.

5641. Anthelmintics

5641.    Anthelmintics. Medicines that destroy worms. Among the principal anthelmintics are santonin (worm-seed), calomel, tin powder, castor oil, oil of turpentine, cowhage, pinkroot, male-fern, and gamboge. A good plan for removing worms from children, is to give 3 to 5 grains of calomel in sugar, over-night, and a dose of castor oil the next morning. The motions should bo observed, and if worms be found, the same treatment may be followed once a week, until they are wholly removed.

5642. Worms

5642.    Worms. The worms found in the human body are mostly the ascarides, tho thread worm, infesting the lower intestine, causing much itching and irritation about the anus. The teres, or long round worms, are generally seated in the small intestines, and stomach. The symptoms denoting the existence of worms are common to the different species, viz.: indigestion, with a variable appetite; foul tongue; offensive breath; hard, full, and tense belly, with occasional gripings and pains about the navel; heat and itching sensation in the rectum and about the anus; the eyes heavy and dull; itching of the nose ; short dry cough; grinding of the teeth; and starting during sleep, attended often with a slow fever.

5643. Dr. Freeman's Vermifuge Oil

5643.     Dr. Freeman's Vermifuge Oil. Oil of worm-seed, 1/2 ounce; oil of turpentine, 2 drachms; castor oil, 11/2 ounces; pinkroot, 1/2 ounce ; hydrastin, 10 grains; syrup of peppermint, 1/2 ounce. Dose, for a child 10 years old, a tea-spoonful 3 times a day, 1 hour before each meal; if it purges too freely, give it less often. This is an excellent vermifuge, and never fails to expel worms when administered for that purpose. Where no worms are present, it answers the purpose of a tonic, correcting tho condition of the mucous membrane of the stomach and bowels, and operating as a mild cathartic.

5644. Spackman's Worm Syrup

5644.      Spackman's Worm Syrup. Take 1/2 ounce pink root; 2 drachms rhubarb root; 1 drachm worm-seed; 1/2 drachm sa-vine leaves; 2 drachms Colombo root, and 1 drachm cardamom seeds. Infuse these ingredients in 1/2 pint boiling water in a covered vessel; when cool, add 1/2 pint molasses and a table-spoonful brandy. Dose for a child 1 year old, 2 tea-spoonfuls 3 times a day.