when the air is drawn into the chest there is
often a crowing or whistling sound produced from obstruction in the
throat, due to spasm of the muscles and to dried mucus coating the
lining membrane, or to swelling in the larynx. It is impossible to
separate these causes. The child is frightened, as well as his
parents, and cries and struggles, which only aggravates the trouble.
The worst part of the attack is, commonly, soon over, so that as a
rule the doctor arrives after it is past. While it does last, however,
the household is more alarmed than, perhaps, by any other common
ailment.

Death from an attack of croup, pure and simple, has probably never
occurred. The condition described may continue in a less urgent form
for two or three hours, and very rarely reappears on following nights
or days. The child falls asleep and awakens next morning with
evidences of a cold and cough, which may last several days or a week
or two.

The only other disease with which croup is likely to be confused is
membranous croup (diphtheria of the larynx), and in the latter
disorder the trouble comes on slowly, with hoarseness for two or three
days and gradually increasing fever (103 deg. to 105 deg. F.) and great
restlessness and difficulty in breathing, not shortly relieved by
treatment, as in simple croup. In fifty per cent of the cases of
membranous croup it is possible to see a white, membranous deposit on
the upper part of the throat by holding the tongue down with a spoon
handle and inspecting the parts with a good light.

Croup is more likely to occur in children suffering from adenoids,
enlarged tonsils, indigestion, and decayed teeth, and is favored by
dry, furnace heat, by exposure to cold, and by screaming and shouting
out of doors.

=Treatment.=--Place the child in a warm bath (101 deg. F.) and hold a
sponge soaked in hot water over the Adam's apple of the throat,
changing it as frequently as it cools. Hot camphorated oil rubbed over
the neck and chest aids recovery. If the bowels are not loose, give a
teaspoonful of castor oil or one or two grains of calomel. The most
successful remedies are ipecac and paregoric. It is wise to keep both
on hand with children in the house. A single dose of paregoric
(fifteen drops for child of two years; one teaspoonful for child of
seven years) and repeated doses of syrup of ipecac (one-quarter to
one-half teaspoonful) should be given every hour till the child vomits
and the cough loosen