younger persons by the following treatment. Beginning,
say on a Tuesday, let the lower back be well rubbed with hot olive oil,
the patient sitting with the back to the fire, and well covered, except
where being rubbed. Continue this rubbing for half-an-hour and not
longer than three-quarters-of-an-hour. On Wednesday, soap the back well
with soap lather (_see_) and after the soap rub with oil again. Next
night, rub with acetic acid (Coutts's) full strength, until the skin is
red and smarts moderately. Repeat this on Friday, and on Saturday and
Sabbath do nothing. On Monday rub with acid again, and on Tuesday,
etc., proceed as before. All treatment is best done at night, and the
patient must be kept warm. He should also spend as much time as
possible in the open air.

Lumbago.--Lumbago differs from both paralysis and cramp of the lower
back in that it is not chiefly nervous, as these are, but is a trouble
in the muscular substance itself. The muscles are either sprained or
chilled, so as to have lost for the time their elasticity. Blistering,
burning, and all such irritating treatment are only so many helps to
the disease. The true method is found in gentle moist heating of the
lower back by a BRAN POULTICE (_see_), not too hot, but renewed, if
need be, for an hour each evening. Follow this up with a rubbing with
hot olive oil. Wear a belt of new flannel round the body night and day
in winter, or if exposed to cold. The treatment is simple, but if
persevered in, cures most obstinate cases.

Lungs, Bleeding from.--This is usually taken as a most alarming, and
even hopeless, symptom. It is not necessarily so at all, and even when
a considerable amount of blood is lost, the patient may recover.
Therefore, let friends not be frightened when this occurs, but bend
their energies to proper treatment, and all danger may be averted. All
alcohol must be avoided; it is most hurtful in such cases. Pack the
feet and legs in a hot blanket FOMENTATION (_see_) and press cold
cloths gently and equally over the chest or back where the blood is
felt to be coming from: thus you stimulate the enfeebled nerves and
brace the relaxed lungs at one and the same time. Relief will usually
be felt at the end of two or three minutes. Continue the application
till all pain and uneasiness are gone.

_Before_ taking the legs out of the warm pack, dry the chest carefully,
rub it with warm olive oil, and wrap it up in good new flannel. Then
take ou