Part 27

The time of life when hysterics occur is generally from the age of fifteen to fifty. Hysterics come on by paroxysms—hence they are called hysterical fits. A patient, just before an attack, is low spirited: crying without a cause; she is “nervous,” as it is called; she has flushings of the face; she is at other times very pale; she has shortness of breath and occasional palpitations of the heart; her appetite is usually bad; she passes quantities of colorless limpid urine, having the appearance of pump water; she is much troubled with flatulence in her bowels, and, in consequence, she feels bloated and uncomfortable. The “wind” at length rises upward toward the stomach, and still upward to the throat, giving her the sensation of a ball stopping her breathing, and producing a feeling of suffocation. The sensation of a ball in the throat (_globus hystericus_) is the commencement of the fit.

She now becomes _partially_ insensible, although she seldom loses _complete_ consciousness. Her face becomes flushed, her nostrils dilated, her head thrown back, and her stomach and bowels enormously distended with “wind.” After a short time she throws her arms and legs about convulsively, she beats her breast, tears her hair and clothes, laughs boisterously, and screams violently; at other times she makes a peculiar noise; sometimes she sobs, and her face is much distorted. At length she brings up enormous quantities of wind; after a time, she bursts into a violent flood of tears, and then gradually comes to herself.

As soon as the fit is at an end she generally passes enormous quantities of colorless limpid urine. She might, in a short time, fall into another attack similar to the above. When she comes to herself she feels exhausted and tired, and usually complains of slight headache, and of great soreness of the body and limbs. She seldom remembers what has occurred during the fit. Hysterics are sometimes frightful to witness; but, in themselves, are not at all dangerous.

384. _What are the causes of Hysterics?_

Delicate health, chlorosis, improper and not sufficiently nourishing food, grief, anxiety, excitement of the mind, closely confined rooms, want of exercise, indigestion, flatulence, and tight lacing are the causes which usually produce hysterics. Hysterics are frequently feigned; indeed, oftener than any other complaint; and even a _genuine_ case is usually much aggravated by a patient herself giving way to them.

385. _What do you recommend an Hysterical lady to do?_

To improve her health by proper management; to rise early and to take a walk, that she may breathe pure and wholesome air,—indeed, she ought to live nearly half her time in the open air, exercising herself with walking, skipping, etc.; to employ her mind with botany, croquet, archery, or with any other out-door amusement; to confine herself to plain, wholesome, nourishing food; to avoid tight lacing; to eschew fashionable amusements; and, above all, not to give way to her feelings, but if she feel an attack approaching, to rouse herself.

_If the fit be upon her_, the better plan is to banish all the _male_ sex from the room, and not even to have many women about her, and for those around to loosen her dress; to lay her in the center of the room, flat upon the ground, with a pillow under her head; to remove combs and pins and brooches from her person; to dash cold water upon her face; to apply cloths, or a large sponge wetted in cold water, to her head; to throw open the window, and then to leave her to herself; or at all events, to leave her with only one _female_ friend or attendant. If such be done, she will soon come round; but what is the usual practice? If a girl be in hysterics, the whole house, and perhaps the neighborhood, is roused; the room is crowded to suffocation; fears are openly expressed by those around that she is in a dangerous state; she hears what they say, and her hysterics are increased tenfold.

* * * * *

If this book is to be of use to mothers and to the rising generation, as I humbly hope and trust that it has been, and that it will be still more abundantly, it ought not to be listlessly read, merely as a novel, or as any other piece of fiction, but it must be thoughtfully and carefully studied, until its contents, in all its bearings, be completely mastered and understood.

In conclusion, I beg to thank you for the courtesy, confidence, and attention I have received at your hands, and to express a hope that my advice, through God’s blessing, may not have been given in vain.

INDEX.

Ablution of a child, 108

Ablution of an infant, 19

Ablution of a youth, 274

Ablution, thorough, of a boy and girl, 274

Accidents of children, 256

Acne, or red pimples, symptoms and treatment of, 335

Advice to a mother if her infant be poorly, 105

Advice to _Mr. Paterfamilias_, 163

Ailments, the distinction between _serious_ and _slight_, 79

Ailments, slight, of infants, 77

Air and exercise for youth, 290

Air, the importance of good, 134

Air, the necessity of fresh, and changing the, 134

American ladies, health and beauty of, 342

Amusements for a child, 155

Amusements for a girl, 296

Amusements for a boy, 294

Ankles, of a babe, weak, 104

Antipathies of a child, 132

Aperients for a child, 221

Aperients, the effect of, on an infant, 83

Aperients, the effect of, on a new-born babe, 78

Aperients, the effect of, on a youth, 331

Aperients, danger in frequent use of, 331

Appeal to mothers, 334

Appetite, on a child losing his, 130

Applications, warm external, 254

Apron to wear when washing, 25

Archery, croquet, skating, etc., 296

Arnold, Dr., on corporal punishment, 300

Arrow-root, the use of, for an infant, 40

Artificial food for an infant, 36

Asses’ milk more suitable for the delicate, 44

Babes should kick about on the floor, 70

Baby-slaughter, or “massacre of the innocents”, 43

Baked crumb of bread for an infant, 37

Baked flour for an infant, 38

Bakers’ and home-made bread, 132

Band, when to discontinue the use of, 30

Bathing after a _full_ meal, 279

Baths, cold, tepid and warm, 280

Baths, warm, instead of cordials and carminatives, 88

Beard as a respirator, covering and improvement, 326

Bed, on placing the child in his, 165

Beds, feather, ill effects of, 164

Beds, cleansing and purification of, 206

Bed-rooms, the ventilation of, 308

Bed-rooms should be cool, 166

Bed-rooms, a plan to ventilate, 308

Bee, best application for the sting of a, 268

Beef, salted or boiled, 126

Belladonna, poisoning by, 270

Beverage for a child, 127

“Black eye,” remedies for a, 257

Bleeding of infant, how nurse can restrain, 27

Bleeding, violent, from the nose, 328

Blood, the spitting of, 332

Blows and bruises of child, 256

Boarding-schools for females, 301

Boarding-schools, remarks on cheap, 303

Boiled bread for infants, 36

Boiled flour for infants’ food, 37

Boils, the best application for, 218

Boots and shoes for the prevention of corns, 339

Bottles, the use of, in giving artificial food, 40

Boulogne sore throat, or diphtheria, 188

Bow legs, the causes and treatment of, 239

Bowels, care in regard to, 76

Bowels, large, of children, 220

Bowels, various symptoms in regard to, 90

Bowels, the protrusion of lower, 223

Boys should be made strong, 295

Brain, symptoms of water on the, 173

Bran, for the purpose of softening water, 242

Bran poultices, best way to make, 256

Breakfast of a child, what should be the, 120

Breakfast of a youth, in regard to the, 286

Breathing exercise, the desirability of, 295

Brimstone and treacle, the giving of, 225

Brown and Polson’s Corn Flour, 39

Bronchitis, the care and treatment of, 186

Broth, the use of, for infants, 103

Broth, the use of, for a quite young infant, 40

Broth and soup, wholesomeness of, 288

Brothers and sisters, association of, 302

Bruises, immediate remedies for, 256

Burns and scalds, which most dangerous, 261

Burning, danger of, among females, 135

Bullying and snubbing of a child, 146

Butter, wholesomeness and advantage of, 120

Calomel, the danger of a mother prescribing, 86

Calomel, the ill effects of, 331

Camphor makes teeth brittle, 314

Caning and flogging of a boy, 298

Caps, flannel, the necessity of, 29

Carpets in nurseries, the effects of using, 150

Carriage exercise, the advantages of, 293

Carron oil in burns, value of, 263

Castor oil, its effects as a healer, 87

Cat, bites and scratches of a, 268

Chafings, the best treatment of, 80

Chairs, the use of straight-backed, 304

Change of air, the effect of, 227

Change of linen in sickness, 230

Chapped hands and limbs of a child, 242

Chapped lips, excellent application for, 243

Chest, keeping warm the upper part of the, 283

“Chicken-breasted” and narrow-breasted children, 207

Chicken-pox, nature and symptoms of, 223

Chilblains, the way to prevent and cure the, 241

Child, when he should commence to dine with his parents, 133

“Child-crowing,” the perilous disorder of, 179

“Child-crowing,” the treatment of a paroxysm of, 181

Children’s hour, the right method at, 142

Children’s parties, the great follies of, 159

Chimneys, on the stopping of, 150, 229

Chiropodists, the great want of respectable, 338

Chlorosis, causes, symptoms and cure of, 340, 341

Chlorosis is rare in rural districts, 343

“Choking,” what is to be done in a case of, 265

Cisterns, the best kind of, 127

Clothes, on airing an infant’s, 32

Clothes, the ill effects of tight, 111

Clothing, the proper, for children, 111

Clothing, the best kind, for infants, 30

Clothing, the proper kind, during winter, 32

Clothing, the proper kind, for youths, 282

Coffee as an aperient, the use of, 245, 286

Coffee and tea, 286

Coin, on the swallowing of a, 272

Cold bed-room healthy, 167

Cold, a feverish, the best course in case of, 255

Cold, on child always catching, 228

Cold feet, method to warm, 142

Concluding remarks on infancy, 106

Constipation, prevention and cure of, 331

Consumption attacks the _upper_ part of the lungs, 283

Consumption, the age at which it usually appears, 321

Consumption, the causes of, 323

Consumption, the death-rate, 321

Consumption, importance of early consulting a medical man in, 320

Consumption, spitting of blood in, 320

Consumption, the symptoms attending, 321

Consumptive patient, the treatment of a, 324

Convulsions of children, 61, 81

Convulsions from hooping-cough, 82

Cooked fruit for child, the wholesomeness of, 120

Coroners’ inquests on infants, 75

Corporal punishment at schools, 298

Corns, their nature, cause and best remedy, 337, 338

Costiveness in the young, the means to prevent, 86

Costiveness, the best remedies for, 82

Costiveness, the reason why so prevalent, 334

Cough, the danger of stopping a, 68

Cow, the importance of having the milk from ONE, 41, 45

Cream and egg, the advantages of, 121

Cream and water for a babe, 121

Crinoline and the danger to ladies, 135

Croquet for girls, the amusement of, 296

Crossness in a sick child, proper treatment of, 232

Croup, the times for and dangers of, 175

Croup, the treatment of, 176

Cry of an infant, the language in the, 103

Cure, artificial and natural, means of, 239

“Curious phenomenon” in scarlet fever, 197

Cut finger, the best application for, 256

Dancing and skipping, the benefits of, 295

Danger of constantly giving physic, 106

Delicate child, plan to strengthen a, 226

Dentition, the period when begins, 58

Dentition, the lancing of gums in, 60

Dentition, the period of second, 169

Dentition, symptoms and treatment of painful, 66

Diarrhœa in infants, the symptoms of, 90

Diarrhœa in infants, the treatment of, 92

Diet of a child who has cut his teeth, 120

Diet of children generally, 118

Diet of a child raised on artificial food, 44

Diet of a child turned from the natural food, 51

Diet of infants, 33

Diet, on a mother being particular in attending to, 126

Diet of youth, breakfast, 286

Dietary, an infant’s, 36

Dinner for a child, 119

Dinner for a youth, 287

Diphtheria, symptoms, causes and treatment of, 188–193

Dirty child, a, the mother’s disgrace, 77

Diseased nature and strange eruptions, 250

Diseases of children and the symptoms, 170

Diseases of girls, and the causes and symptoms, 340

Diseases of infants and symptoms, 77

Diseases in children, causes of obscure, 244

Diseases, the prevention of, 315

Diseases produced by tight lacing, 284

Diseases, symptoms of _serious_, 79

Doctor, on early calling in the, 253

Dog supposed to be mad, the bite of a, 266

Doleful child, the sight of a, 139

Drainage of the house and neighborhood, 136, 206

Dress, female, health and fashion in, 285

Dress of a child while asleep, 73

Drinking fountains a great boon, 128

Dropping a child, danger of injury in, 258

Dry-raised children, the best food for, 45

“Dusting material” for infants, old-fashioned, 23

Dysentery, symptoms and treatment of, 93–97

Ear, nature and treatment of discharges from the, 220

Ear, removal of a pea or bead from the, 271

Earache, best treatment of the, 219

Earwig in the ear of a child, 272

Early rising, benefit of, 167, 311

Education of children, best plan of, 161

Education in infant schools, 160

Education, home, the best for girls, 301

Education, modern, the best, 301

Education for youth, plan of, 298

Eggs for children, the use of, 126

Enema apparatus an important requisite, 226

Engravings and paintings should be hung in nurseries, 137

Eruptions about the mouth, 249

Excoriations, applications for, 24

Excoriations, the best remedy for, 24

Exercise in the open air, 69, 151, 290

Exercise the best composing medicine, 290

Exercise, importance of, for children, 151

Exercise in wet weather, 153

Exercise, on violently tossing infants for, 70

Exercise, horse and pony, for boys and girls, 292

Exercise, an infant himself taking, 69

Exercise, the best, for youth, 291

Fecal matter in pump water, 206

Fainting, in case of a young lady, 329

Fainting from unhealthy condition, 330

Fainting from general debility, 330

Fainting from a disordered stomach, 330

Falling-off of hair, to prevent, 282

Falls on the head, the best course in case of, 257

Fashion, dangerous effects of strictly attending to, 285

Fashion, the present, of dressing children, 117

Fashionable _desiderata_ for complexion, 342

Favoritism both hurtful and wrong, 147

Feeding of infants, proper time to begin the, 42

Feeding of infants, proper intervals for the, 42

Feet, remedy for smelling, 339

Feet, remedy for sweating, 339

Feet, remedy for tender, 339

Female dress in ball-room, 285

Fire, on a child playing with, 260

Fire, danger of sitting with the back to, 136

Fire, the use of, in night nursery, 166

Fire, the manner of extinguishing, if clothes be on, 260

Fire-guards, the use of, 135, 260

Fire-proof, dresses can be made perfectly, 261

Flannel night-gowns, the wearing of, 113

Flannel shirts for a delicate child, 113

Flannel waistcoats, nothing equal to, 282

Fleas, best way to drive away, 235

Flute, bugle and other wind instruments, 296

Fly-pole as an exercise for the muscles, 297

Fog, on sending child out in, 153

Folly of giving physic after vaccination, 57

Food, artificial, while using the natural, 42

Food, care in preparing infants’, 40

Food for infants artificially fed, 36, 44

Food for infants naturally fed, 36

Frightening a child should never be indulged in, 140

Fruit, as an aperient, 222

Garters impede the circulation, 114

Gin or peppermint in infants’ food, 51

Giving joy to a child, 143

Glass, a child swallowing broken, 272

Gluttony kills more than the sword, 290

Glycerin soap, an excellent remedy, 242

Goat’s milk as a substitute, 44

_Godfrey’s Cordial_ as a remedy, 88

Godfrey’s Cordial, poisoning by, treatment in case of, 269

Grazed skin, the best application for a, 269

Great desideratum, 77

Green dresses are poisonous, 137, 286

Green paper-hangings for nurseries objectionable, 137

“Gripings,” symptoms, causes and treatment of, 89

“Gross superstition,” usual style of, 199

Gums, the lancing of the, 60

Gum-boil, cause and treatment of a, 336

Gum-sticks, the best of, 62

Gymnasium, the value of a, 295

Hair, the best application for the, 282

Hair, to perfume the, 282

Hair, plan of making tidy the, 281

Half-washed and half-starved child, the, 155

Hand-swing, the, a capital exercise, 296

Happiness to a child, importance of, 143

Happy, how to make a child, 143

Hards’ Farinaceous Food, 38

Hardening of children’s constitutions, 113

Hardening of infants, the, 71

Hats for a child, the best kind of, 112

Hawthorne, Nathaniel, on American ladies, 342

Head, if a child fall upon his, 257

Heat, external application of, 254

Hiccoughs of infants, causes of, 90

Hints conducive to the well-doing of a child, 139

Home of childhood—the nursery, 139

Hooping-cough, brief history of, 210

Hooping-cough an obstinate disease, 215

Hooping-cough, the treatment of, 212

Horse exercise for boys or girls, 292

Horse and pony exercise, 292

Hot water bag or bottle, the use of a, 254

Household work for girls as a means of health, 305

Hydrophobia, antidote for, 266

Hysterics, when a lady is most prone to, 344, 346

India-rubber hot water bottle, use of an, 254

Infants and the use of aperients, 77

Infants should be encouraged to use exertion, 69

Infants, about the weight of, 74

Infant schools, health in, 160

Infant, wheezing of an, 77

Ipecacuanha wine, preservation of, 179

Ladies “affecting the saddle”, 296

Laudanum, treatment in case of poisoning by, 269

Law, physic and divinity, 306

Leaden cisterns, using water from, 127

Learning without health, 237

Leech-bites, the way to restrain bleeding from, 105

Lessons, confining a child to his, 158

Lice on the head after illness, 234

Light, best artificial, for nursery, 138

Light, the importance of, to health, 138

Lime in the eye, to remove, 264

Lime to harden the bones, 248

Lime-water and milk, the use of, 125

Love of children, the results of, 144

Lucifer matches, the poisonous effects of, 138, 260

Luncheon for a child, the, 125

Lungs, inflammation of the, 113, 181

Lungs, inflammation of, precautions to prevent, 236

Lungs, inflammation of, symptoms of, 181

Lungs, inflammation of, treatment of, 182

Lying lips of a child, the, 147

Mad dog, the bite of a, 266

Mad dog, a description of a, 267

Magnesia to cool a child, 87

Manner and proper time for turning a child to artificial food, 50, 51

Many die under five years of age, 43

Mattresses, horse-hair, best for a child, 164

Meals should be varied, a child’s, 128

Measles described, the symptoms of, 193

Measles and scarlet fever, the, 196

Measles, the treatment of the, 194

Meat, daily, on giving a boy, 287

Meat, raw, in long-standing disease, 227

Meat, in exhaustive diseases, 227

Meat, when a child should commence taking, 118

Meddlesome treatment of wiseacres, 250

Medical man, a mother’s treatment toward the, 250

Medicine, the best way of administering, 228

Medicine, on giving new-born infants, 78

Medicine, on making palatable, 229

Mercury, on the danger of parents giving, 85, 331

Milk, on the importance of having it from ONE cow, 36, 45

Milk, bad, very nasty, 123

Milk for babe indispensable, 46

Milk, or meat, or both, 124

Milk, a plan to make a child take, 124

Milk, the value of, for children, 121

Milk, a way to prevent, turning sour, 125

Milk-crust, a troublesome complaint, 249

Mismanaged, children, through want of instruction, 18

Modified small-pox and chicken-pox, 209

Mother, fretting, injurious to infant, 50

Mother, a foolish, course of, 75

Mother, the, of many diseases, 324

Mother should supervise the mixing of milk, 36

Motions, to understand the, of children, 90

Mumps, the best treatment of, 217

Nature’s remedies the best, 106

Nervous and unhappy young ladies, 340

Nettle-rash, its symptoms and the best treatment, 97

Night-terrors, best treatment of, 141

Nose, removal of foreign substances from, 271

Nose, bleeding from, means to restrain, 328

Nurse, on the choice of a, 139

Nurse, the acts of a lazy, 142

Nurse, the value of a strong and active, 140

Nurse, a young, not desirable, 140

Nurse, the kind of, for the sick, 232

Nursery-basin, the employment of a, 20

Nursery a child’s own domain, 139, 157

Nursery, selection, warming, ventilation, arrangements of, 133

Nursery of a sick child, 229

Nursery, on the light of a, 138

Nursery, a, must be airy, 133

Nursery, further observations in regard to a, 134

Nursery, windows to be often opened in a, 138

Opium, a case of poisoning by, 68

Opium, the danger of administering, to infants, 88

Opium, the treatment of poisoning by, 269

Over-education among children, 161

Over-feeding with artificial food, 87

Paint-boxes dangerous as toys, 158

Peevishness of a child, the plan to allay, 144

Perambulators, the use of, 152

Pies and puddings, the nature of, 119

Pimples of the face, treatment of, 335

Pin, on a child’s swallowing a, 272

Play, a course of education in, 162

Play and useful knowledge, 160

Play-grounds for children, 160

Pleasant words to a child, importance of, 146

Poisoning, accidental, 269

Poisoning a child with his breath, 165

Poppy-syrup, injurious effects of, 88

Pork an improper meat for children, 125

Position of a sleeping child, 166

Potatoes for children, the use of, 126

Poultice, a celebrated white-bread, 255

Powder, “dusting,” the best, 23

Precocity of intellect, 315

Precocious youths, the health of, 316

Princess of Wales and her child, 24

Professions and trades, choice of, 305

Proper management of infants, 106

Proper persons to wash an infant, 24

Proper position of child in sleep, 239

Prunes, the best way of stewing, 222

Profession or trade, choice of, for delicate youth, 305

Profession or trade, delicate youths should be brought up to, 306

Puddings for children, the use of, 119

Quack Medicines, the danger in, 88

Quacking an infant, the habit of, 86

Quicklime in the eye, 264

Red-gum, the symptoms and treatment of, 98

Regularity of habits among the young, 332, 334

Respiration, products of, poisonous, 309

Rest, the best time for a child to retire to, 165

Revaccination, importance of, 54

Revaccination every seven years, 54

Rheumatic fever, flannel vest and drawers in, 283

Ribs, bulging out of the, 319

Rice, prepared as an infant’s food, 39

Richardson, Dr., the ether spray of, 328

Rickets, the nature and effects of, 245

Rickets, the various degrees of, 246

Rocking-chairs, and rockers to the cradle, 72

Rocking infants to sleep, 72

Rooms, ill effects of dark, 138

Round shoulders, cause and treatment of, 238, 318

Round-worm, nature and cure of, 243

Running scall, description of and remedy for, 249

Rupture through meddlesomeness, 27

Rupture, nature and best treatment, 28, 29

Rusks, boiled, as food, 38

Sallowness, cause of, in young girls, 290

Salt water and fresh water, 279

Salt should be added to an infant’s food, 42

Salt, bag of hot, use of a, 254

Salt necessary to human life, 245

Salt meats for children, 125

Salt and water ablutions for a delicate child, 110

Salt and water for teeth and gums, 313

Scalds and burns, which most dangerous, 261

Scalds of mouth and throat, 261

Scarlatina, the nature of, 190

Scarlet fever, the symptoms of, 196

Scarlet fever, the contagion of, 205

Scarlet fever, the danger of giving aperients in, 196

Scarlet fever, the dropsy of, 197, 205

Scarlet fever, management of child after, 205

Scarlet fever and measles, the importance of distinguishing between, 197

Scarlet fever, the principal danger in, 197

Scarlet fever, the purification of the house after, 206

Scarlet fever, the treatment of, 198

Schools, observations upon female boarding, 301

Schools, observations upon public, 300

Screaming in sleep, children, 216

Scrofula, how to ward off, 316

Scrofula, the prevention of, 316

Scurfy head, a remedy for, 109