Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1890-06-20
THE HOUSEHOLD.



It often seems TO the mother Of a family
too trivial an affair to send for the doctor
every time that the child ails slightly She
is trained to small economies and fears the
expense, and she thinks the doctor may
laugh at her, or be vexed at being called
from more important cases to one so
trifing Thus she takes the chances and
applies the remedies herself; and perhaps
there was nothing the matter that her little
dose could not remedy; and perhaps there
was some great evil at work, and her dose
was no better than deadly poison. For it
is not She the totally ignorant practitioner,
who can detect the first symptoms Of scar
let fever or diphtheria or peritonitis; but
for all that, she unhestatingly gives, for
the fever and mdidise that she does detect,
dose Of physic that destroys all the little
patients chances, and then she calls in the
doctor only when hope may perhaps be
over.
There are really few remedies that it is
safe TO administer without skilled advice,
and those are the simplest, and might all
be included in list comprising only hot
water, castor oil, and a very little tincture
Of rhubarb When a child has been in
dulging in Illicit food, swallowing cherry
stones or eating unripe raspberries whose
hard seeds lodge in the little sack that
seems to be in the bowels for the express
purpose of making trouble, the poor
mothers first idea is to give it at once re-
lieving and discharging potion; and she
puts the child under immediate sentence of
death in doing SO, the physic having an in
| AammatOry influence which is the very
thing to be avoided And, on the other
hand, when child gives evidence of a
diarrhpal disorder of the bowels, the poor
mother flies to her medicine closet, takes
down the phial of chalk mixture, and ad-
mires herself for stopping the immediate
symptoms, not knowing that the fever and
distress and worse ensuing symptoms are
due to the effect of the chalk mixture,
which prevents the system from relieving
itself, and that she should have given in
stead an unloading and clearing dose of
stor.oil
OF course in the wilderness, on remote
farms and suburbs the mother Of family
must, in spite of any danger from igno
rance, keep many remedies on hand GHd
administer them as best she can, because
physician is unattainabe there at shor
notice But, in that case, as much hel
duty as it is TO have the medicines, it is b,
know how and when to administer them
and so she must make her own suficen
knowledge of the simpler and more com
mon ailments to be able to treat them prop
erly in their preliminary stages; and thi
ought to be as much part of every girl
education as bread making, sewing, read
ing, and the multiplication table. Blu
when a doctor is in the next street or 18th
in easy call, and drugs are at hand roun
the corner, a mother is wise who takes II
, more upon herself in this regard than sh
cannot help, and contents herself until edit
Gated help can be had with making use {
copious draughts Of hot water aud of sootf
ing sweats.
r As unwise as it is to administer othe
medicines in ignorance, it is to take til
various patent medicines prescribed 10y II
: one in authority, aud compounded Of Il
one knows whnt-those things that al
recommended for the "blood'-tonics, ut
0 rifers, and universal cure als-mnde
reality, and as u general thing, of Il
. strongest drugs aud the vilest alcohol All
r capable of producing the worst results
the system, even to the Inflammation of Il
= stomach, the induration of the liver, Il
weakening of the heart, and the degener
= ton of the kidneys, every one of whiC
4 evils can be wrought without the patient
e knowledge of what is going on until Il
g end approaches. As no one nevada,
s would think of taking calomel in the hul
!. doses formerly given, and scarcely at d
a without physicians order, and even the
IS possibly, with some doubt and questioning
e so it may come to pass that in time Il
l patent medicine and the unneeded stint
! liant will be locke at with similar distrust al
disfavor. If one is so poorly" as to fe
IS the need of stimulant, which is, after a
e of but temporary relief; if one is miserah
n and does not know what the matter is-tl
II only course to be pursued is to call in
= practitioner whose business it is to be (
h miliar with such affairs, and who, with p
ir thence and obedience on the part of Il
sufferer, will put things into as near
right shape as it is possible they should b
Eternal though the life beyond the gray
IN there is but one life here, and that has
ID be lived in connection with the body; al
NJ it would seem that at the slightest hint
Of disaster to this so necessary body, '
lie should put the care of it into the hands
those most skilled in such matters, and n
r.. run the risk of parting with it, or of doll
er it an irremediable damage -Haipe
Ii Bazaar.
as
Ia A Haunted House.