tting up. A still
better plan is to have several towels wrung out to begin with--these
may be hung over a rail or chairs until required. When the first has
been heated it must be hung over the rail or chair so as to be as much
spread out as possible. Evaporation will then cool it sufficiently to
be used when its turn comes again. Each towel is to be treated in a
similar way in turn. Four towels will give an hour's cooling with very
little trouble in this way. So a bran poultice may be prepared and laid
on the bed, so that one can lie down on it, and with the cold towels
handy, as above, most effective treatment given. Common sense is the
guide here, as everywhere in our treatment, and a little thought will
solve difficulties at first apparently insoluble.

Damp Beds.--An ordinary bed which has not been slept in for some weeks,
although perfectly dry to begin with, will _become_ damp, even in a dry
house, and, unless properly dried, will be a great danger to its next
occupant. This is a preventable danger, and all who entertain guests
should see that they are not exposed to it. Many a fatal illness is due
to the culpable carelessness of those who put a guest into such a bed.
Ignorance in such a matter is shameful. All who have charge in a house
should fully understand their responsibility in this matter.

But if you are put into such a bed it is infinitely better to rise and
dress, and make the best of a night of discomfort, than to sleep among
the damp. If, however, you have so slept, and feel the bad effect, the
best cure will be the SOAPY BLANKET (_see_). If this cannot be had, a
good hot footbath, with the heat kept just comfortable for half-an-hour
or more, will do very well. This should be done at the earliest
possible moment.

It will add greatly to the efficiency of such treatment if hot water
can be had to drink in small quantities, and often. A few drops of
cayenne "tea" in the water will act as a gentle stimulant.
Old-fashioned folk place great confidence in a "hot drink" in such a
case. This is all very well if they only keep the alcohol out of it:
that destroys vital resources, but never supplies them. We have known
cases in which all power was lost through a single night in a damp bed.
Possibly in these cases it might not have been easy to restore the lost
vitality by any amount of treatment; but we rather think that a speedy
application of genial heat all over would have restored it. In some
apparentl