Mother's Remedies Part 11

4. The following is from Professor Stille:

Spigelia 1/2 ounce Senna 2 drams Fennel seed 2 drams Manna 1 ounce Boiling water 1 pint

Mix and make into an infusion (tea). Dose for a child, one or two teaspoonfuls. For an adult, one or two winegla.s.sfuls.

THREAD WORM OR PIN WORM.--(Oxyuris Vermicularis.)--This common worm occupies the r.e.c.t.u.m and colon. They produce great irritation and itching, particularly at night, symptoms which become intensely aggravated by the nightly migration (traveling) of the parasite. They sometimes in their travels enter the v.a.g.i.n.a. Occasionally abscesses are formed around the bowel (r.e.c.t.u.m) containing numbers of worms. The patient becomes extremely restless and irritable, for the sleep is very often disturbed, and there may be loss of appet.i.te and also anemia. These worms are most common in children, but they can occur in all ages. The worms can easily be seen in the feces. The infection takes place through the drinking of water and possibly through salads, such as lettuce and cresses, and various other means. A person who is the subject of worms pa.s.ses ova (eggs) in large numbers in the feces, and the possibility of reinfection must be guarded against very scrupulously.

MOTHERS' REMEDIES.--1. Pin worms, Aloes treatment for.--"Pin worms or seat worms are usually found in children and sometime cause a great deal of annoyance to the child. They are usually very restless at night and pull at the r.e.c.t.u.m both day and night. This condition may be relieved by an injection, of powdered aloes,--five grains; hot water one-half pint." This is sufficient for two injections and should be used at about blood heat.

[ANIMAL PARASITES 47]

2. Pin worms, Pink Root for.--"Take one ounce pink root, and one pint of water. Make a decoction of this by boiling the above to half a pint. Give a teaspoonful three times a day for two days, following this up by a good dose of castor oil or cream of tartar to thoroughly cleanse the system."

3. Pin worms, Qua.s.sia chips for.--"I knew of a child who had not slept three hours a night for several months, and several doctors had been called and none of them seemed to get down to the real trouble. Finally the mother tried an injection made by steeping qua.s.sia chips for two or three hours slowly, then straining it and injecting about one pint (luke warm) once a day. This gave the child immediate relief and improvement could be seen within a week."

4. Pin worms, Lime-water injection for.--"A very simple remedy is an injection of a teacupful of lime water once a day, preferably in the morning, as the worms are usually lodged in the r.e.c.t.u.m and this injection will bring them away, giving the child relief at once."

5. Worms-Stomach, Salt Remedy for.--"Encourage the child to eat as much salt as possible and give an injection of salt and water, about one teaspoonful of salt to two quarts of water, once a day."

PHYSICIANS' TREATMENT.--1. Santonin in small doses and mild purgatives like rhubarb. Santonin in doses of one-tenth of a grain can be given for two days, three or four times a day, preceded by spiced syrup of rhubarb, one dram dose, and also followed by the rhubarb. In children the cold injections of strong salt and water is effective. They should be repeated for ten days. The hips should be well elevated so that the injection can be retained for some time.

2. Qua.s.sia chips 1 ounce Common salt 1/2 ounce Water 1 pint

Soak over night and inject slowly all the bowels will hold. Repeat once each week till all are removed.

3. Dr. Tooker of Chicago, Illinois, recommends the following:--Give an injection of an infusion of fresh garlic for two or three nights in succession, using, to make the infusion, a small bunch of garlic in a pint of water, steeped down to one-quarter pint.

4. Dr. Tooker gives another method which is often successful. Anoint the a.n.u.s for several nights in succession with sweet oil, using the little finger to insert the oil as far into the r.e.c.t.u.m as the fingers will reach.

5. Another Remedy. Inject cod-liver oil (pure) into the bowel or make into an emulsion with the yolk of an egg and then inject.

[48 MOTHERS' REMEDIES]

6. Spearmint Remedy.--Make an infusion of the common spearmint and inject some in the bowel every night for one week. Some can be taken internally at the same time.

Oil of Wormseed 1/2 ounce Oil of Turpentine 1-1/2 dram Castor Oil 2 ounces Fluid extract of Pink Root 3 drams Hydrastin 10 grains Syrup of Peppermint 4 drams

One teaspoonful three times a day one hour before meals to a child ten years old. If it physics to much give less often. Good for both kinds of worms.

8. Tincture of Cina; to accompany any injection.--I give the Tincture of Cina (Homeopathic preparation) in from one-quarter to two or three drop doses, three or four times a day, always after I have given the other worm remedies. It can be given for weeks without producing bad effects. The dose can be made less for weakly children; or greater in grown people. It is good to give in small doses in pin worms when injections are used. It seems to prevent their formation. It is also a good remedy for the worms puppies are troubled with. I have saved the lives of a good many little fellows with this remedy.

TAPE WORM, PORK.-(Taenia Solium). It is six to twelve feet long, but it is not a common form in this country. The head is small, round, not so large as the head of a pin and provided with four sucking ducts and a double row of hooklets. By these hooklets and disks, the parasite attaches itself to the mucous membrane of the small intestine in man. Below the head is a constricted neck, which is followed by a large number of segments, increasing in size from the neck onward. Each segment contains the generative organs of both s.e.xes. The parasite (worm) becomes fully grown in three to three and one-half months. Segments then continually break off and are discharged at stool. Each ovum (egg) contains a single embryo, armed with six hooklets and contained in a thick sh.e.l.l. When swallowed by a pig or man these sh.e.l.ls are digested and the embryos migrate (travel) to various parts of the body, where they change to Cysticerci or "Measles."

Each contains a scolex or tape-worm. When meat, improperly cooked and containing "measles," is eaten, the cyst is dissolved in the human stomach and the free scolex or head attaches itself to the intestinal mucous membrane and grows into a tapeworm.

TAPE WORM, BEEF.--(Taenia Saginata). This is a larger and longer parasite than the Pork Tape Worm. It is the common form found in this country. It may grow fifteen to twenty feet or more and possesses a large head in comparison with the Taenia Solium. It is square shaped and has four large sucking disks, but no hooklets. The ripe segments are larger and they are pa.s.sed as in the Taemia Solium, and are eaten by cattle, in the flesh or organs of which the eggs develop into the Cysticerci.

[ANIMAL PARASITES 49]

Symptoms.--These worms (parasites) are found at all ages. They are not uncommon in children, and may be found in nursing children. They may cause excessive appet.i.te, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, or abdominal pain or sometimes anemia. The knowledge of the presence of this worm may cause great nervousness or depression. The presence of the segment in the stools proves their presence in the bowels.

Treatment, preventive.--This is most important. Careful attention should be given to three points: First, all tapeworm segments should be burned.

They should never be thrown into the water-closet or outside; secondly, special inspection of all meat; and, thirdly, cooking the meat sufficiently to kill the parasites.

MOTHERS' REMEDIES.--1. Tape Worms, Pumpkin Seed Tea for.--"One pint pumpkin seeds skinned and steeped. Add water enough to make three tumblers. Take one tumbler every half hour, then a good dose of castor oil. The worm will come with oil. My mother helped prepare the seeds and saw the tapeworm which came from a woman as a result of this dose."

2. Tape Worms, Another good Remedy for.--

"Powdered Kamala 3 drams Syrup simple 3 ounces

Two doses of this mixture hardly ever fails to bring the worm. Give oil and turpentine two hours after the last dose." Of the oil and turpentine an average dose would be a half ounce of castor oil and fifteen drops of turpentine.

3. Tape Worm, Ontario Mother's Remedy for.--"Don't eat until very hungry (extremely so), then eat one-half pint of pumpkin seeds. This is good and will remove the worm every time." This remedy is different from the above in that you eat the seeds instead of making a tea.

4. Tape Worm, Successful Remedy for Children or Adult.--

"Turpentine 15 drops Castor Oil 1 teaspoonful Milk 1 teacupful

Mix and for adult take at one dose. If not successful repeat the next day.

For child under ten years, one-half the quant.i.ty."

[50 MOTHERS' REMEDIES]

PHYSICIANS' TREATMENT.--Preparing the Patient; Giving the Remedy, and Receiving the Worm.--Whenever a round or tape worm is to be attacked, the patient must be starved for at least twelve to twenty-four hours, in order that no food in the intestinal (bowel) tract may protect the worm from the action of the drug. During this time a little milk can be given, and after a night of fasting, before breakfast, the worm medicine (anthelmintic) must be swallowed. In addition, nearly all the drugs must be followed by purges in order to dislodge the intruder while he is paralyzed and has lost his hold; and in many it is well to have a basin of salt and water ready so that when a pa.s.sage occurs a rectal injection may be given to wash out the segments of the worm which remain in the r.e.c.t.u.m. I am giving many remedies and the different ways of administering them. Not every one can be cured with the same remedy. One will act better in some people than in others. So I give a variety and they are all good.

1. For two days prior to the administration of the remedies the patient should take a very light, diet and have the bowels moved by a saline (salts) cathartic. As a rule the male fern acts promptly and well. The etheral extract of male fern in two dram doses may be given; fast, and follow in the course of a couple of hours by a brisk purgative; that is, calomel followed by salts.

Fasting means this: Light diet for a day or two and a cathartic at night, no supper except a gla.s.s of milk before the worm medicine is given. Then at bed-time take two to three grains of calomel with ten grains of bicarbonate of sodium; roch.e.l.le salts, one-half to one ounce, upon awakening. As soon as the bowels have moved give oleorisin of aspidium, one dram in capsules. A saline cathartic should be given one-half to one hour later. Never give castor oil or any oil after this remedy, When calomel is given it should be given about one hour after taking the worm medicine and followed in one or one and one-half hours by a half to one ounce of salts.

2. Pelletierine Remedy for.--This comes in bottles of the proper dose. It is dear, but effective. It must be taken lying down, and followed by some cathartic or a dose of epsom salts in two hours after taking.

3. Infusion and Emulsion for.--An infusion of

Pomegranate root 1/2 ounce Pumpkin seeds 1 ounce Powdered ergot 1 dram Boiling water 10 ounces

To an emulsion of the male fern (a dram of the ethereal extract) made with acacia powders, two drops of croton oil are added. The patient should have had a low diet on the previous day and have taken a dose of salts in the evening.

The emulsion and infusion are mixed and taken at nine in the morning. If the bowels do not move in two hours, salts should be taken.

4. An Old Remedy.--Chew freely of slippery elm bark. This, it is stated, is very effective and as it is cheap and will not injure, it is worth a thorough trial. I am often surprised at the value of the seemingly simple remedies.

[ANIMAL PARASITES 51]

TRICHINIASIS (Trichinosis).--The disease is caused by the trichina spiratis, a parasite introduced into the body by eating imperfectly cooked flesh of infected hogs. The "embryos" pa.s.s from the bowel and reach the voluntary muscles, where they finally become "encapsulated larvae,"--muscle trichinae. It is in the migration of these embryos that the group of symptoms known as trichiniasis is produced.