ply of air through windows open night and
day, would save the life which such "exercise and air" would send out
of the world. It requires only a little common sense to see this. "He
must be weakened by lying in bed so long." There is no such "must" in
the nature of things. On the contrary, it may be absolutely necessary
to his getting strength that he should lie still for weeks on end. You
may, no doubt, give us instances in which a person was compelled to get
up, and was thereby made to lose the delusion that he was not able to
do so; but such instances in any number will not make one strong who is
actually weak. Make sure first that vital energy is supplied, and when
that supply rises to a certain degree it will not be easy to keep your
patient in bed.

We would also note that true rest can never be had in a forced
position. A limb bound down is not resting. The agonising desire to
change its position shows this. True rest is found always in _freedom_
and _ease_. It may be necessary to put splints on a limb, but it must
never be done where rest is aimed at. Usually there is a position of
comfort to be found. Let the patient find and keep that. He will then
have rest.

For instance, an exhausted patient is lying at full length in bed, but
under the waist there is a hollow which is bridged over by the back.
This part of the back calls for a considerable amount of force to hold
it over this hollow, but we get a pillow inserted under the back, the
muscles relax, and the patient rests. In packing and fomenting an
inflamed knee, for example, it is usually better done in a slightly
_bent_ position, which is more restful than a straight one. Employ two
or three small pillows to prop it comfortably. And so on, in multitudes
of cases, the earnest healer will be guided by the patient's own
restful feelings. _See also_ Noise; Veins.

Restlessness.--In slight cases, where the patient simply cannot sleep
for tossing about in bed, a cold towel placed along the spine, with a
dry one above, will usually relieve, especially if changed and cooled
several times as it grows warm. If heat be specially in the head, then
that may be cooled in the same manner till peace settles down in the
brain.

But we must go on to consider those cases of restlessness in which
there is no extra heat in either spine or brain. Tea may have been
taken in a rather strong infusion, or so late that its peculiar
influence may be the cause of the restlessne