r nitrate (dipped in
water) is of service.

=HIVES; NETTLERASH= (_Urticaria_).--Hives is characterized by the
sudden appearance of hard round or oval lumps in the skin, from the
size of a pea to that of a silver dollar, of a pinkish-white color, or
white in the center and often surrounded by a red blush. The rash is
accompanied by much itching, burning, or tingling, especially at night
when the clothes are removed. The peculiarity of this eruption is the
suddenness with which the rash appears and disappears; the itching,
the whitish or red lumps, the fact that the eruption affects any part
of the body and does not run together, are also characteristic.
Scratching of the skin often brings out the lumps in a few minutes.
The swellings may last a few minutes or hours, and suddenly disappear
to reappear in some other place. The whole trouble usually continues
only a few days, although at times it becomes a chronic affection.

Scratching alters the character of the eruption, and causes red, raw
marks and crusts, but the ordinary swellings can be seen usually in
some part of the body. Rarely, the eruption comes in the throat and
leads to sudden and sometimes dangerous swelling, so that suffocation
has ensued. With hives there are no fever, sore throat, backache,
headache, which are common to the contagious eruptive disorders, as
measles, scarlet fever, etc.

Indigestion is the most frequent cause. Certain articles of diet are
almost sure to bring on an attack of hives in susceptible persons;
these include shellfish, clams, lobsters, crabs, rarely oysters; also
oatmeal, buckwheat cakes, acid fruits, particularly strawberries, but
sometimes raspberries and peaches. Nettlerash is common in children,
and may follow any local irritation of the skin caused by rough
clothes, bites of mosquitoes and fleas, and the stings of jellyfish,
Portuguese man-of-war, and nettles.

=Treatment.=--Remove any source of irritation in the digestive canal,
or externally, and employ a simple diet for a few days, as bread and
milk.

A dose of castor oil, one teaspoonful for children; one tablespoonful
for adults, or some other cathartic is advisable. Locally we use, as
domestic remedies, a saturated solution of baking soda (or saleratus)
in water, or equal parts of alcohol or vinegar and water to relieve
the itching. The bath containing soda and starch (p. 141) is the most
useful treatment when the nettlerash is general. Calamine lotion is
one