Most parents believed that to keep a child healthy, they should be purged and de-wormed regularly, and the changes of the seasons, always prompted the administering of large doses of sulphur and molasses.
Another common complaint was Dropsy, which was cured by applying leeches to the temples; but according to the 1851 Ladies Indispensable Assistant, for many illnesses like rickets, scarlet fever, diptheria and whooping cough; "death often closes the scene".
permanently injured. If medicine must be given at all, give it to the nurse".
For parents who didn't ascribe to constant purging, it was necessary to diagnose the problem before administering the cure. But did you know that the pitch and tone of a sick child's cries, was generally a symtom of a certain disease? Listen carefully to what else Light on Dark Corners had to offer:
RESPIRATORY DISEASES - Respiratory diseases of the throat and lungs have their origin, as a rule, in want of care and judgement in matters of clothing, bathing and exposure to cold and drafts. A child should always be dressed to suit the existing temperature of the weather.
SKIN AFFECTIONS - Skin affections are generally due to lack of proper care of the skin, to improper clothing or feeding, or to indiscriminate association with nurses and children, who are carriers of contagious diseases.
PERMANENT INJURY - Permanent injury is often caused by lifting the child by one hand, allowing it to fall, permitting it to play with sharp instruments, etc. (duh!)
RULES AND PRINCIPLES - Every mother should understand the rules and principles of home nursing. Children are very tender plants and the want of proper knowledge is often very dangerous if not fatal. Study carefully and follow the principles and rules which are laid down in the different parts of this work on nursing and cooking for the sick.
WHAT A MOTHER SHOULD KNOW - Infant Feeding: The care of milk, milk sterilization, the care of bottles, preparation of commonly employed infant foods, the general principles of infant feeding, with rules as to quantity and frequency. Bathing: The daily bath; the use of hot, cold and mustard baths. Hygiene of the Skin: Care of the mouth, eyes and ears. Ventilation, temperature, cleanliness, care of napkins, etc.
THE CRY OF A SICK CHILD - The cry of a child is a language by which the character of its' suffering to some extent may be ascertained. The manner in which the cry is uttered, or the pitch and tone, is generally a symptom of a certain kind of disease.
STOMACHACHE - The cry of a child in suffering with pain of the stomach is loud, excitable and spasmodic. The legs are drawn up and as the pain ceases, they are relaxed and the child sobs itself to sleep, and rests until awakened again by pain.
LUNG TROUBLE - When a child is suffering with an affection of the lungs or throat, it never cries loudly or continuously. A distress in breathing causes a sort of subdued cry and low moaning. If there is a slight cough it is generally a sign that there is some complication with the lungs.
DISEASE OF THE BRAIN - In disease of the brain the cry is always sharp, short and piercing. Drowsiness generally follows each spasm of pain.
FEVERS - Children rarely cry when suffering with fever unless they are disturbed. They should be handled very gently and spoken to in a very quiet and tender tone of voice.
THE CHAMBER OF THE SICKROOM - The room of the sick child should be kept scrupulously clean. No noise should disturb the quiet and rest of the child. If the weather is mild, plenty of fresh air should be admitted; the temperature should be kept at about 70 degrees. A thermometer should be kept in the room, and the air should be changed several times during the day. This may be done with safety to the child by covering it up with woolen blankets to protect it from the draft, while the windows and doors are opened. Fresh air often does more to restore the sick child than the doctor's medicine.
VISITORS - Carefully avoid the conversation of visitors or the loud and boisterous playing of children in the house. If there is much noise about the house that cannot be avoided, it is a good plan to put cotton in the ears of the patient.
LIGHT IN THE ROOM - Light has a tendency to produce nervous irritability, consequently it is best to exclude as much daylight as possible and keep the room in a sort of twilight until the child begins to improve. Be careful to avoid any odor from a burning lamp in the night. When the child begins to recover, give it plenty of sunlight. After the child begins to get better let in all the sunlight the windows will admit Take a south room for the sick bed.
SICKNESS IN SUMMER - If the weather is very hot it is a good plan to dampen the floors with cold water, or set several dishes of water in the room but be careful to keep the patient out of the draft, and avoid any sudden change of temperature.
BATHING - Bathe every sick child in warm water once a day unless prohibited by the doctor. If the child has a spasm or any attack or a serious nervous character in absence of the doctor, place him in a hot bath at once. Hot water is one of the finest agencies for the cure of nervous diseases.
SCARLET FEVER AND MEASLES - Bathe the child in warm water to bring out the rash, and put in about a dessertspoonful of mustard into each bath.
DRINKS - If the child is suffereing with fevers, let it have all the water it wants. Toast-water will be found nourishing. When the stomach of the child is in an irritable condition, nourishments containing milk or any other fluid should be given very sparingly. Barley-water and rice-water are very soothing to an irritable stomach.
FOOD - Mellin's Food and milk is very nourishing, if the child will take it. Oatmeal gruel, white of egg yolks, etc. are excellent and nourishing articles.
EATING FRUIT - Let children who are recovering from sickness eat moderately of good fresh fruit. Never let a child, whether well or sick, eat the skins of any kind of fruit. The outer covering of fruit was not made to eat, and often has poisenous matter very injurious to health upon it's surface. Cantagious and infectious diseases are often communicated in that way.
SUDDEN STARTINGS - with the thumbs drawn into the palms, portend trouble with the brain, and often end in convulsions, which are far more serious in infants than in children. Convulsions in children often result from a suppression of urine. If you have occasion to believe that such is the case, get the patient to sweating as soon as possible. Give it a hot bath, after which cover it up in bed and put bags of hot salt water over the lower part of the abdomen.
SYMPTOMS OF INDIGESTION - If the baby shows symtoms of indigestion, do not begin giving it medicine. It is wiser to decrease the quantity and quality of the food and let the little one omit one meal entirely, that his stomach may rest. Avoid all starchy foods, as the organs of disgestion are not sufficiently developed to receive them.
morning for a child eight years old." And "External Application: sweet oil and brandy simmered with one onion sliced, and anoint the spine, chest and soles of the feet night and morning."
FOR SCARLET FEVER (1869 Housekeeper's Encyclopedia) "Take an onion, cut it in halves; cut out a portion of the centre, and into the cavity put a spoonful of saffron; put the pieces together, then wrap in a cloth and bake in an oven until the onion is cooked so that the juice will run freely, then squeeze out all the juice, and give the patient a spoonful, at the same time rubbing the chest and throat with goose grease or rancid bacon if there is any cough or soreness of the throat."
For the child who wasn't easily fooled, an English doctor invented a special spoon that was available in Canada by mid-century. It was advertised in drug-house catalogues as "a kind of spoon which shuts up, so that medicine, if disagreeable may be carried to the throat without touching the tongue or mouth, and they are also so stout that a dose of castor oil may be crammed down an unruly urchin's throat, whether he will or no, and that without danger of harm. They are perfectly irresistible, stand biting, and all manner of resistance".
