MOTHER AND HOME.

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXII, Issue 2669, 20 December 1928, Page 2

MOTHER AND HOME.

It is always rather difficult to keep the air in a sick room fresh and cool, and especially so in very hot weather. If there is a prolonged spell of hot weather and the patient is a good plan to choose another room with a cooler aspect. If this is impossible, shade a sunny room with dark curtains or blinds or sunblinds during the bright hours of the day. Sunblinds are really best, as they permit the windows to be wide open and a free current of air to come into the room, while at the same time they keep out the glare and heat. A piece of very thin muslin or gauze stretched across the window-frame will keep out gnats and flies- and other insects and yet not exclude air. If it is very hot and bright one can cool the air by hanging a wet sheet in front of the window and another in the doorway, but this is not necessary unless the temperature is extraordinarily high. Remove all unnecessary ornaments and draperies from a sickroom, and in hot weather have only a few flowers in the room, and those not heavily scented ones, and change their water every day. A large lump of ice wrapped in flannel and placed in an earthenware flower-pot will cool the atmosphere in a sickroom, and ice placed in a bowl on the bedside table is a refreshing sight. Be liberal in the use of eau-de-Cologne in very hot weather. A few drops of eau-de-Cologne added to the water which is used to wash the patient's hands and sprinkled on handkerchief, nightdress and pillow, and a touch of eau-de-Cologne put on the invalid's temples and. behind the ears, will be refreshing for both patient and nurse. The bedroom which has rugs placed on a polished floor is more hygienic and easier to keep clean at most times than one which is carpeted, and when there is an invalid in the house this treatment of floors is almost essential. The rugs can be rolled up and taken outside to be brushed and shaken, and the floor cleaned in a few minutes with the aid, of a mop. If there are plain boards to be v/ashed, put some disinfectant into the water. Nevei leave food about in a sickroom, and be more than usually particular about cleanliness and freshness. Have all the milk boiled at once, and see that fruit, etc., is perfectly fresh. A few grapes, skinned, and stoned, are usually allowed even in cases of severe illness, and they are most refreshing to a convalescent.