fficient.

Care must be taken not to leave either a mustard leaf or a paste in
place long enough to blister the skin. After the application has been
removed; the part should be protected by a soft cloth until redness
disappears. Vaseline or sweet oil should be applied to the skin if it is
greatly irritated.

Other counter-irritants in common use are iodine, turpentine, ammonia,
kerosene, camphorated oil, capsicum vaseline, and various liniments.
Tincture of iodine may be diluted with alcohol for especially sensitive
skins; it sometimes causes blisters, and should not be applied more than
once a day at most. Ammonia and turpentine cause blisters; they should
not be used as counter-irritants except by a doctor's order, and then
only after exact directions have been obtained. Turpentine and kerosene
are inflammable and hence dangerous to use. It should be remembered that
the action of all counter-irritants is physiologically the same, so that
no advantage is obtained from the use of dangerous substances like
kerosene and turpentine.

EXERCISES

1. What are the causes and symptoms of inflammation?

2. Describe the process of inflammation.

3. What is the effect of heat on an inflamed area? of cold?

4. What are the dangers from hot applications, and how may they be
guarded against?

5. How should you fill a hot water bag? How should you cover it?

6. Describe the method of preparing and applying a flaxseed poultice.

7. Tell how to prepare and apply fomentations.

8. How should you apply cold compresses to the head? to the eyes?

9. How should you make a mustard paste for a baby six months old? for a
grown person only slightly ill? for a feeble old person with a sensitive
skin?

FOR FURTHER READING

Essentials of Medicine--Emerson, Chapter I.

The Human Mechanism--Hough and Sedgwick, Chapter IX.

CHAPTER XII

CARE OF PATIENTS WITH COMMUNICABLE DISEASES

The first chapter of this book described the ways in which communicable
diseases are carried from person to person, and also some principles
underlying methods of prevention. This chapter aims to show how these
principles apply in the actual care of patients whose diseases are
transmissible. In order to apply them intelligently, it is necessary to
keep in mind certain facts in regard to the transmission of infections.
A brief summary of these facts follows.

Disease germs are present in the bodies of persons suffering from
communicable di