rupt changes of
temperature. With these special observations, we shall proceed to give a
description of the disease, as recognized by its usual--

2549. _Symptoms_, which commence with cold chills and flushes,
lassitude, heaviness, pain in the head, and drowsiness, cough,
hoarseness, and extreme difficulty of breathing, frequent sneezing,
deduction or running at the eyes and nose, nausea, sometimes vomiting,
thirst, a furred tongue; the pulse throughout is quick, and sometimes
full and soft, at others hard and small, with other indications of an
inflammatory nature.

2550. On the third day, small red points make their appearance, first on
the face and neck, gradually extending over the upper and lower part of
the body. On the fifth day, the vivid red of the eruption changes into a
brownish hue; and, in two or three days more, the rash entirely
disappears, leaving a loose powdery desquamation on the skin, which rubs
off like dandriff. At this stage of the disease a diarrhoea frequently
comes on, which, being what is called "critical," should never be
checked, unless seriously severe. Measles sometimes assume a typhoid or
malignant character, in which form the symptoms are all greatly
exaggerated, and the case from the first becomes both doubtful and
dangerous. In this condition the eruption comes out sooner, and only in
patches; and often, after showing for a few hours, suddenly recedes,
presenting, instead of the usual florid red, a dark purple or blackish
hue; a dark brown fur forms on the gums and mouth, the breathing becomes
laborious, delirium supervenes, and, if unrelieved, is followed by coma;
a fetid diarrhoea takes place, and the patient sinks under the congested
state of the lungs and the oppressed functions of the brain.

2551. The unfavourable symptoms in measles are a high degree of fever,
the excessive heat and dryness of the skin, hurried and short breathing,
and a particularly hard pulse. The sequels, or after-consequences, of
measles are, croup, bronchitis, mesenteric disease, abscesses behind the
ear, ophthalmia, and glandular swellings in other parts of the body.

2552. _Treatment_.--In the first place, the patient should be kept in a
cool room, the temperature of which must be regulated to suit the
child's feelings of comfort, and the diet adapted to the strictest
principles of abstinence. When the inflammatory symptoms are severe,
bleeding, in some form, is often necessary, though, when adopted, i