HEALTH COLUMN.

Otago Witness, Issue 1917, 17 August 1888, Page 37

HEALTH COLUMN.

SOOTHE THE DYING. ( If there is one spectacle of ignorant impotence more to be deplored than any other, it is the sight of friends and attendants standing helplessly by while some poor mortal is passing through the dark valley of the shadow of death, when so much can be done to make smoother the rough pathway which all of us must tread. The worn-out body, consumed by the fire of fever, and enduring torture,' intensified by sufferings which have made it less able to endure, often — alas! too often — has its agonies j augmented by the sheer imcompetence of attendants. It is a sad, sorry sight to behold 'people, agony depicted on their faces, wringing their hands in impotent despair when ! they might be better occupied in attempting to relieve the pains of the sufferer, and make a little smoother the dark pathway of death. When the temperature of the body is at fever height, and the perspiration streaming from every pore, a clammy exudation clings to the skin, to the great discomfort of the sufferer, besides increasing the fever heat by checking perspirations. Let anyone who is privileged to watch over a sick bed try what AN OCCASIONAL SPONGE BATH will do in such a case, and he will require no doctor to tell him that it ought to be done a second time. Tepid water, to which a little vinegar— or, better still, acetic acid— has been added is the best. The sponging should be done thoroughly all over the bocy, but great care must be taken to exclude the cold air. The sponging had best, therefore, be done under the bed clothes, disturbing the patient as little as possible, and repeated at least every 12 hours, and oftener if the sufferer desires it. The head and hands and face should be sponged over frequently with .either cold or tepid water, according to the choice of the sick person. Let anyone carry out these simple attentions — trifling almost they may appear to a well person, but none the less of vital import to one tossing on a sick bed — and they will be astonished to see how much the temperature can be lowered and the comfort of the patient increased. Sometimes annoying itchiness torments a person who has lain a long time in bed, and this can generally be cured by adding a little carbolic instead of vinegar to the sponging water. Care must be taken not to make the solution too strong. Test the strength of the carbolic and water by sponging your own brow with it ; if it does not sting it will not hurt the tender skin of.the sick person, but if it feels at all strong when applied to the attendant's face then more water must be added. Many fear to use carbolic, under the impression that it is^dangerous ; but its value in the sickroom should overcome any diffidence there might be in using it. A little intelligent care is all that is required. Then again, who that has had any experience beside a sick bed has failed to learn THE VALUE OF COLD WATER ? Time was when — and is, I fear, yet in far more cases than one would credit— cold water for a sick person was dreaded as though it were certain death to give it. And, oh 1 who can describe the agonies that the poor sufferers endured in those days of barbarism — nay, worse than barbarism— for the untutored savage drags his exhausted body to the edge of some brook, and while he has strength to drink does so, and dies in peace I Not so the poor wretch who has civilised attendants. Poisons of every kind that medical skill can compound are given without stint at the doctor's command ; but God's own beverage — cold, pure water — it must not so much as touch the tip of his tongue! If a Dante wished to picture vividly the torments of the lost, he could not better do so than by describing how some Christian sufferers have been tortured while enduring the pangs of nature's dread debt by their attendants — how amidst the mists and shadows of sleep the dying have raved of rippling brooks and dreamed of rivers of water flowing by, which they strove to reach in vain. A poor mortal doing battle with some masterful disease is as one being consumed by fire. His very yitals seemed parched, and what is so cooling and refreshing as a cup of cold water to such a one? Then why witbold it? Because there is some vague idea that it will do harm, or perhaps the doctor has not ordered it, or, worse still, has distinctly forbidden it ? Then I care not for ten thousand doctors, for I rise above their superstitions, and take Nature for my guide. There is no form of illness accompanied by high fever in which the patient may not drink as much cold water as he desires with perfect and' absolute safety and certain benefit, if given intelligently. It would not do to drench the .oyerbeated stomach with floods of cold water, as the check given might prove fatal ; but if given a little and often, cold water is more powerful in the cure of disease than any drug that ever has been discovered. Give a small wineglassful of the coldest, purest water procurable, every 10 minutes if asked for, and banish for ever all qualms of conscience that you may -be doing wrong ; for such is not the case, as the grateful patient will soon convince you, and unerring Nature is on your side.. The abnormal perspiration of a sick person suffering from a sharp attack of disease soon robs the blood and the tissues of the body of their natural supply of water ; and how can you replace what Nature so sternly demands better than by giving the sufferer as much water as he cries out for ? I deplore the fact that has come under my notice so frequently, tbat the old-time superstition regarding cold water still lingers among the masses, and I earnestly hope that all who read this may profit by the instruction. Distressing pains seize some part of the body, or even what in health might be a trifling discomfort worry the sufferer, and these, too, must not be neglected. Try how soothing A GOOD HOT PACK is in such cases and you will never again diubt its efficacy. Wring a four-fold thickness of soft flannel out of boiling hot water, lift the piece of flannel out with a fork or a stick into a towel, and then let two persons wring the towel till all superfluous water is squezed out of the flannel. As soon as it is cool enough to be borne by the patient, apply it over the distressed part, and cover over with a piece of oilcloth or macintosh,

when it will keep hot for an hour, or maj be changed oftener if necessary. The hot pack so applied, by its' moist heat, will allay most pains, and give almost incredible relief to all distressing symptoms. These, and a hnndred other little attentions, each trifling in itself to the healthy attendant, go towards making up the sum of a sufferer's happiness, as far as that is procurable in the intervals of pain ; and the smile of gratitude which expresses the thanks that words cannot speak will amply repay you for your kidness. F. A. J.