to house and from one community to
another.

The diet should be given regularly and should consist strictly of only
such things as are allowed by the physician.

All medicines should be given absolutely according to directions, as
otherwise having a doctor is worse than useless.

All patients should have a daily bath, special attention being given to
their hair, teeth, mouth and nails. In many cases it is necessary to
wash the patient's mouth frequently with some antiseptic wash. This
should only be done on the expressed instructions of the doctor.

CHAPTER XIV

EMERGENCIES AND ACCIDENTS

Few things are of greater importance, and nothing is more neglected than
instructing school-children how to act in emergencies. Particularly is
such knowledge of value in the country. In cities the need of
understanding matters of this kind is not so great, since it is usually
possible to secure at short notice some one capable of dealing with any
situation that may arise. Children very quickly grasp knowledge of this
character, and opportunities frequently offer for an actual demonstration
of the proper remedies in the case of accidents. When the instructor
speaks of cuts and burns they at once understand what is meant.

The most serious result of our neglect in this particular is that our
children pass through life with the most meagre knowledge of the proper
way in which to meet accidents of all sorts, for where they are not
taught during their school days they, for the most part, remain ignorant
of matters of this kind throughout their maturer years. It is much to be
hoped--though this is somewhat of a digression--that the old unscientific
and senseless system of teaching, which persists even in the present time
to a considerable degree, may in the future give way to a more rational
and practical plan of instruction--one that will deal with perceptible
needs rather than abstractions.

The most common emergencies will now be taken up and considered in
detail.

_Drowning._--The subject of drowning is one of especial interest in rural
districts, since it is here that accidents of this kind are most apt to
occur, and skilled attention is most difficult to obtain. It is of the
utmost importance to remember that people may be resuscitated after
having been under the water for considerable periods of time, and we
should, therefore, look upon no ordinary cases as hopeless until the
proper restorative measures have faile