27 November 1880 - 'How to be Healthy' by Medicus

I know for a fact this blog gets a fair bit of traffic from people Googling things that have absolutely nothing to do with the Girl's Own Paper, who might consequently click the link without immediately noticing that this is emphatically NOT a 21st-century lifestyle website. 

So although I know you are all very smart and intelligent people, who immediately realise what's going on and click the Back button on your browser, I must heed my conscience and make the following disclaimer: Everything on this website is at least a hundred years old. Especially the stuff to do with health, medicine and science. 'Highlights From the Girl's Own Paper' is an archival blog, intended for entertainment and interest only. Do not follow any of the directions for the preparation and taking of medicines contained herein. Please. 

The permanganate of potash, which forms the basis of Condy's disinfecting fluid as well as Condy's ozonised water, possesses remarkable powers of purification. It is a reddish brown salt, and can be bought for a reasonable price from any respectable chemist. In cases of sickness it is invaluable as a disinfectant. Redden a quart of water by mixing a teaspoonful of the salt in it and shaking the bottle, and pour a little of this into a saucer, standing it in a room wherever the air is likely to be tainted. A little of this water may be used to slightly tinge the bath, or the water with which you wash the hands, or rinse the mouth. When the breath is offensive, either the stomach, lungs, or teeth are in fault. If the former, a little Gregory's powder is a good thing to take every morning. And three times a day, ten drops of the following mixture should be taken in a little water; twenty grains of permanganate of potash, dissolved in five ounces of pure water. If there is reason to believe that the lungs are weakly, there is nothing in the world better than moderate exercise in the open air, especially on sunny days, and the light brown cod liver oil. Begin with a teaspoonful three times a day after meals, and gradually increase till a tablespoonful can be taken. It may not seem to agree at first, but persist in it, nevertheless. It is a grand remedy for all kinds of constitutional weaknesses.

Many girls between the ages of ten and fifteen suffer from what we medical men call anaemia, or in plain English, poverty of blood. Such girls are often looked upon as merely delicate, and little that can be of any avail is attempted to be done for them. Here is a case in point, and it teaches a lesson that you will do well to lay to heart. Miss Julian A is fourteen years of age; she is an only daughter and adored by her parents. But her mother says, expressively, "Julian won't make old bones." Her mother's words may come true, because this is the way in which she is treated. She is kept and coddled almost constantly within doors, she has always a little fire in her bedroom, and the window is seldom opened. If she goes out she is positively burdened with clothes, and, in addition to all kinds of good living, she is made to drink wine "to keep her up." She is pale and blanched in appearance, too weakly to work, and suffers from back ache. This case, and all others of the same kind, requires plenty of exercise in the open air, the companionship of other girls of the same age, good food, cod liver oil, and tonics of iron, of which the following is an excellent sample; twenty grains each of sulphate of quinine, dried sulphate of iron, and the extract of henbane made into fifteen pills, and one taken twice a day. With this treatment an aloes pill should be taken at night about once a week. I ought to tell you that ten drops three times a day in a little water of the tincture of iron, or "steel drops," is an excellent tonic for pale weakly girls. But they ought by all means to take plenty of open air exercise. They should not make hot-house plants of themselves. Hot-house plants are good enough to look at, but they are of no other use that I know of.

Girls of weakly habit and constitution often suffer from fainting fits. So, too, do older people, and everyone ought to know what to do in a case of this kind. When a person faints, then, or swoons and falls to the ground, place her prone on the floor or sofa, the head being level with the body or not raised above an inch, loosen the clothes, let her have fresh air by opening doors and windows, rub the breast with brandy or spirits, dash cold water in the face, and apply smelling salts to the nostrils. The mistake people generally made in fainting fits are: first, crowding too much around the patient, then excluding the fresh air; and secondly, raising the head above the level of the body. Epilepsy or falling sickness is distinguished from fainting by the convulsions, grinding of the teeth, and foaming at the mouth. Little can be done during the fit further than preventing the patient from hurting herself or biting the tongue; the clothes should be loosened, however, and fresh air admitted.

A fit of hysterics is usually brought on through fatigue, or by mental emotion of some kind. It is too well known to need description. I cannot lay down any general plan of treatment. During the fit, some may be relieved by being gently soothed, others may need a soothing drink, followed by rest; but at all events, as it is only a weakly person who can be subject to hysterics, tonics should be taken in the intervals, quinine and iron &c., with good diet and moderate exercise, and the bath.

Have my readers ever heard of a disease called St Vitus' Dance? It is characterised by uncontrollable movements of the hands, or feet, or face, or even of the whole body, which greatly interfere with walking, or working, or even talking. It is far more common among young girls than among boys. Very distressing though this complaint be, both to the patient herself and to her friends, most cases can be cured by care and kind treatment. Patients who suffer from St. Vitus' Dance are generally irritable in temper. They ought never, therefore, to be excited, far less mimicked. They should have no worry, not even the worry of lessons to learn. The diet should be nutritious, with plenty of milk. The cold shower bath may be tried, it does great good when the shock can be borne. Or the sea-salt bath may be taken every morning before breakfast, cold if possible, if not, tepid. Two large handfuls of sea-salt should be added to each bucketful of water used. Then, exercise out of doors will be found exceedingly beneficial, if taken with regularity and judgment. Meanwhile cod liver oil must not be forgotten, and a tonic; I have great faith in a combination of zinc and steel, with an occasional aloetic pill. Take twenty grains of phosphate of zinc, one drachm of tincture of iron, one drachm of dilute phosphoric acid, and mix in eight ounces of peppermint water. Of course a chemist or druggist must compound this; the dose will be two tablespoonfuls twice a day, for a girl about fifteen; if only about ten years of age, one tablespoonful will be enough.

The old-fashioned plan of treating a common cold is by no means to be despised, and if taken in time is generally effectual. Warm drinks should be taken, according to this method, before going to bed, and about eight grains of Dover's powder for a girl of fourteen or fifteen. A handful of mustard should be thrown into a pailful of hot water, and used as a foot-bath, and an extra blanket should be put upon the bed to induce perspiration. Care should be taken to wrap up well next day, and to live as well as possible.

A teaspoonful of the solution of the acetate of ammonia, with fifteen to thirty drops of the spirits of sweet nitre, taken in cold water, three or four times a day, is a nice mixture to reduce the heat of the body, and the feverishness caused by a cold. So simple a remedy should find a place in every family medicine chest. When the cold attacks the chest, there will be at first a harsh, dry and painful cough; the pain gets less or goes away entirely when the cough is accompanied by expectoration, which it is in the second and last stage. A mustard poultice may be applied to the front of the chest, or friction, till the lower part of the throat and upper part of the chest are well reddened with turpentine. You apply the turpentine by pouring about a tablespoonful of it over a piece of flannel, wrung from water as hot as you can hold it. This and the same treatment as that recommended for a common cold will usually give relief.

Many young girls are greatly troubled with indigestion. This tiresome complaint, trifling though it may seem to some, should never on any account be neglected, because it is the forerunner, and even the cause, of many dangerous and fatal illnesses. Independent of this, no one can look well who suffers from it; the complexion of a dyspeptic girl is never clear, nor is her eye bright and full. Anyone suffering from indigestion should first and foremost find out the cause. Let her ask herself these questions: Do I take sufficient outdoor exercise? Do I practise early rising and always take my matutinal bath? Do I eat intemperately or eat in haste? Are my studies too long and tedious? The lighter and the more easily digested the food which a dyspeptic person takes the better, too long intervals between meals are injurious, and so, of course, is overloading the stomach. Milk is the best beverage, and tea should be avoided. Ginger ale may be taken with dinner; of medicines the fewer the better, but gentian bitters will do good if taken about half-an-hour before meals, and if there be paleness of the countenance, or inside of lips and gums, iron will do good (steel drops). If the tongue be yellow or white in the morning, the liver is probably somewhat in fault, in which case dandelion tea may be taken in doses of half a wineglassful three or four times a day. The proportion is,, of dandelion root sliced and bruised, one ounce boiled for a quarter of an hour in a pint of water. It is then simply strained, and enough water added to make it measure a pint. A teaspoonful or two of cream of tartar may be mixed in water, and half a teaspoonful of Howard's carbonate of soda added, and taken first thing in the morning; this medicine is very cooling and agreeable. A small teaspoonful of carbonate of soda in a wineglassful of water is an instantaneous cure for heartburn.

I know that many of my youthful readers suffer greatly from that most dreadful complaint called tic doloureux, or neuralgia of the face. The pain is usually confined to one half of the face and head, and comes on in paroxysms of great severity; an attack may last for days or even for weeks. Then it may be absent for quite a long time, when some little irregularity in diet or accidental chill may bring it all back again. It is most common in weakly girls.

To get rid of tic, the first thing to do is to have the teeth examined by a proper dentist. The removal of a bad one will often in itself suffice to effect a cure; a mild pill of aloes and pepsine combined may be taken about once a week, but stronger medicine is objectionable. An ointment composed of one grain or a grain and a half of aconitine with sixty grains of lard may be carefully and cautiously rubbed into the painful part of the cheek in front of the ear. A skilled chemist would tell you exactly how to use this. Liniments of chloroform, belladonna, and aconite are also worthy of a trial. But there is one medicine  for the relief of neuralgic pains that I must not omit mentioning, because it often - mind I do not say, always - acts like a charm; I refer to sal ammoniac. The dose for a grown-up person would be twenty grains in about half a cupful of water, repeated every hour till four doses were taken. If relief is obtained, the medicine should be taken three or four times a day for a week. About half the dose would do for a girl of about twelve.

Having got rid of the torture, a great effort ought to be made to improve the general health, and so prevent its return. Quinine wine should be used three times a day, with steel drops if the patient be pale and bloodless looking. The diet should be nourishing. Milk should be substituted for coffee or tea. The clothing ought to be warm, and the feet especially kept comfortable, white flannel must be worn next the skin. The Turkish bath twice a week is worthy of a trial.

I hope my readers will get any prescriptions I may give from time to time, either in my papers or in my Answers to Correspondents, made up by a regular chemist, except indeed, the more simple of them, such as dandelion or chamomile tea, &c. I would also remind them that unless attention to the ordinary rules of health is paid, such as regulation of diet, exercise, fresh air, early hours, and the bath, medicines will not work the wonders which they ought.

22 May 1880 - Answers to Corresponents - Miscellaneous

MINNIE - Ladies do not accepts presents from gentlemen as a general rule, unless from near relatives or very old family friends. If there be any question of possible proposals of marriage, accept no present until engaged.

GRACE - The three balls of the pawnbrokers form part of the arms of the Dukes of Medici; from whose States, and from Lombardy, nearly all the early bankers  came. These capitalists advanced money on valuable goods, and gradually became pawnbrokers. Hence the name Lombard-street, in the heart of the money-making part of the city, where these Lombards established themselves, and were the first moneylenders in England. The origin of the arms of the Medici is traced to the fact that they were doctors of medicine, and the balls were gilded pills; at the same time that they were amongst the richest merchants and money-lenders of Florence. In the first instance, the pills were blue, and were afterwards gilded - probably in reference to their dealings with gold.

MARIOTTA - You ma "leave off playing with dolls" when you can cut out and make all their clothes neatly and creditably for your age.

MABEL wants "a remedy for stopping decayed teeth."We advise her not to stop them, if doing so requires "a remedy." If, on the contrary, she requires a remedy for teeth *not stopped, we advise her to fill her teeth with a bit of soft wax, until she can go to a dentist and have it properly done.

HYACINTH - Do not attempt to "improve your figure" otherwise than by holding yourself well up, and resting your back when fatigued by lying down on a hard sofa.

AMABAL - 1. Your writing is peculiar which you evidently design it to be. 2. The first day of January became our New Year's day, legally, in the year 1752, in the reign of George II. England was the last amongst all European nations to adopt the change of the day from the 25th of March, which was the date of the commencement of the old Jewish year.

3 March 1880 - Answers to Correspondents - Miscellaneous

MADCAP:- Weak eyes are common enough in young girls of fair complexion and a somewhat feeble constitution.  WEak cold green tea is the best and safest application, but cod liver oil - a dessertspoonful three times a day often works wonders in such cases.  The oil should be gradually increased till a tablespoonful can be taken.  The dose is from five to ten drops thrice daily in a little water.  Frequently bathing the forehead in cold water also does good.

J.W.C.F.:- 1. The simplest remedy for tightening the teeth when they are inclined to be loose is the tincture of murrh.  A few drops should be put in about a tablespoonful of water, and applied three times a day with a soft tooth-brush.  Also use any astringent tooth-paste, say that with rhatany root in it.  The causes of loose teeth are generally indigestion or general weekness.  A few drops, say fifteen, of the tincture of gentian before meals does good.  2. The best plan to make the hair grow thick, soft and glossy is to wash it once a week in lukewarm spring water, using the yolks of two eggs instead of soap.  No oils should be used, but a natural gloss may be got by daily brushing and combing for some minutes every morning.  This treatment stimulates the growth of the hair.  3. The best application known for softening the skin and preventing its injury from cold irritating winds is rose glycerine.

POLLY DUNSTONE:- Your little black-and-tan terrier, you say, has taken cold.  You do not give us the symptoms, however; but if it is hot and feverish, get a little mindererus spirit and give it a dessertspoonful at night, and a teaspoonful of castor oil in the morning.  Then, after two days, let it have three times daily ten drops of paragoric and about twenty each of the honey of squilla and syrup of poppies.  Keep warm and dry, and feed well.

FRANK:- We advise all young girls to rise at 7 a.m. and to be in bed by 10 p.m.  Should breakfast be at 8 you should not take anything previously.  Only an invalid should take any description of food or drink before rising when breakfast is served so early.  2. Perhaps your tooth requires stopping, or you mayu have caught cold in the jaw.  getting the feet wet is a common cause of toothache.  We have heard that using flour of sulphur as a tooth powder will prevent your being attacked by it.  3. What do you mean by "straightening yourself?  IF you mean that you stoop, the old-fashioned "face-board" stuck into your belt is the best cure that we can recommend.  This can easily be made for it.  It is shaped like a battledore with the middle cut out, only of a flat piece of wood.  4. Your last question "Is it right to be ambitoius?" is too vague.  A certain amount of ambition is very justifiable, as, for example, for a man to "covet to be a bishop" according to St Paul.  But there should be a limit to its indulgence, and ambition must be well balanced with other qualities, and so kept in proper check, or it may become a vice.  Much also necessarily depends on the direction which the ambition takes.

19 June 1880 'Bright Eye and Teeth Like Pearl' by Medicus

"Do not read in bed; it is a slothful habit to say the very least of it." It's been too long since I transcribed a Medicus column. Today, as the title suggests, is about eye care and oral hygiene. Once you've used your mouthwash made from rosewater and potassium permanganate, be sure to brush with charcoal.

Bright eyes and pearly teeth. That is the dose your doctor brings you this week, and he does not think you'll require any coaxing or bribing with sugar-plums to make you take it either.

Bright eyes. Yes, I'll take the eyes first, because I don't think there is a single girl who reads these lines who does not wish to have beautiful eyes, and to know how to keep them so. I have little to say about the actual colour of the iris. This may be as dark and deep as caves of ocean, or blue as the forget-me-not, and each colour and every colour will find admirers, but even the iris may lack lustre when late hours have been kept or over indulgence in sweets and dainties has brought on a fit of indigestion. Over-tiredness and worry, too, makes the iris look less brilliant in this way; the pupil, that is the black point in the centre, becomes smaller, is contracted, and this gives to the eye what some might be rude enough to call a fishy appearance. Before going to a party, some ladies I happen to know apply some mixture to the eyelid; it is easily washed off, and gives an extra brightness to the eye for the time being by enlarging the pupil. Before you go to a party, do nothing of the kind. I only mention the practice to put you on your guard against it. Good health and spirits will make your eyes sparkle more brightly than all the belladonna in the world. To say nothing of the danger to the eyesight, the languid, dreamy far-off look that the use of this drug at first gives to the eye is soon changed into one which I can only describe as decidedly lackadaisical and lack-lustrous. There are few blessings we possess equal to good eyesight, and we ought to take care of it in the days of youth.

The white of the eye, on the other hand, is very much affected by the state of the health and state of the stomach. If a girl really wants to look her best and brightest on any particular day she must take care to take plenty of exercise for some days beforehand, and take care what she eats and drinks as well. The slightest tinge of yellow in the white of the eye  makes a great difference, and detracts from the beauty of the whole face. This, however, can nearly always be avoided by keeping the general health up to the mark, early rising, fresh air, temperance in diet, peace of mind, and avoidance of late hours, and overindulgence in pastry or sweets.

Now, independent of the fact that a clear, healthy-looking eye is nearly always an indication of good sight, and that we can keep the eye healthy by keeping the body so, you must never forget that your eyesight is intended to be a blessing to you throughout life, and much may be done in youth to make it so.

"He that is stricken blind can ne'er forget / The previous treasure of his eyesight lost."

But there is a minor kind of blindness, if I may call it so, which young people can do much to avoid. I refer to defective vision and to weak eyes. The first is what is generally called short-sightedness. IN some cases a book printed in ordinary type cannot be read unless held close to the eyes. Now, although this state of the eyesight cannot be cured, it may be prevented, and when present it may usually be kept from getting worse, and on the other hand, if the ailment increases year by year there is a great chance of the sight being lost entirely.

In order then to preserve the sight, nothing that puts a strain upon it or tries it too much should be undertaken, or, if undertaken, should not be continued too long. Young folks should not read too small type, or do too fine drawing work, or very fine needlework; even the pens and ink they use should be of the best, and the desks at which they write ought to be high to prevent unnecessary stooping. The book that is read should be held up high and boldly at a reasonable distance from the face, and there should be no bending of the neck. The work done should not be continuous; frequent rest is imperative. All work and no play is very bad for Jack, and it isn't good for Jill.

Never read or sew in the dusk, and never read or sew in a powerful sunlight, or by the fierce glare of a lamp. Reading in railway carriages is also bad for the eyesight.

Glasses should not be worn without real necessity, and if they are they should not be strong ones.

I may add, as regards reading, that it is better to sit up while so engaged, and to throw down the book or magazine as soon as the eyes feel weak or the brain gets tired.

Again, do not read in bed; it is a slothful habit, to say the very least of it. There is a kind of weakness of the eyes that many girls complain of. Their eyes feel painful and hot, and tears come into them on the least excitement, or even when talking or laughing. This is a state of matters that cannot be removed by local treatment alone; it demands constitutional treatment as well, because it points to a feeble condition of the nerves and system generally.

Tonics should be had recourse to, the citrate of iron and quinine mixture should be taken with an occasional (about once a week) pill of aloes and myrrh. The chemist will give the dose according to the age. after taking the citrate of iron and quinine for a fortnight, small doses of the phosphate of iron, or almost any mild preparation of iron, may be taken for some time longer.

Cod liver oil should also be used along with the iron, and good, easily digested, nourishing diet, with plenty of eggs and cream, and exercise in the open air. The only local application likely to be of much service is cold water, bathing eyes and forehead three or four times a day. A weak solution of green tea makes a harmless and useful eye-wash, so does five drops of the tincture of arnica to one ounce of water.

A stye is a very common, and for the time being, very painful affliction of the eyelid. Hot fomentations and a bread poultice will make the matter point, when it may be let out with a fine pointed needle. At the same time a little rhubarb and magnesia should be taken to cool the blood. If styles are of frequent occurrence much good is done by a course of quinine and cod liver oil.

A good eye lotion for weak eyes may be made by dissolving a grain and a half of sulphate of zinc in an ounce of pure water, and adding fifteen drops of the wine of opium. Use it three or four times a day. Nothing is more beautiful in a young girl than long sweeping eyelashes.

Just one word about what are called preservers – those unsightly-looking, non-magnifying, blue spectacles that some people wear. They may be of use in places like Malta, where the sun glares and the red earth stares, and where only lizard can live in comfort at noon-tide, but I question whether yellow glasses of the colour photographers make use of as panes for their dark rooms would not be better and more natural. This hint may be taken for what it is worth.

And now for a word on the teeth. As you are well aware, these were not given to us merely to be ornamental, but to be useful as well. Mastication is the very first act in the process of digestion, and in order to prevent that most unpleasant ailment, indigestion, from which even young people at times suffer, our food must be thoroughly and not too quickly masticated in order to be properly triturated and mixed with the juices from the glands in the mouth. Eating quickly is not only not graceful, but it does positive harm, for it gives the stomach far more to do than it would otherwise have, and thus the liver is irritated and beauty often spoiled.

Many an early wrinkle might be traced to a restless night occasional by a slight attack of indigestion brought on probably by hurry to eating.

Well, if nature has furnished you with good teeth, it is your duty to make the best of them, for if the permanent teeth once fall out remember they will never come again.

The toothbrushes you use should not be too hard. I should recommend a medium hardness. The teeth ought to be cleansed every morning before breakfast – not merely the outside, but the inside as well – and after every meal. If this be done, the mouth will always be wholesome and clean. If toothpicks are necessary, let them be made of quill, and not of metal. Care of the teeth prevents them from decaying, and prevents the breath from being offensive. Use soft water instead of hard in brushing the teeth. If this be not readily procurable a little carbonate of soda should be added to the hard. Charcoal tooth powder is good, although not pretty; it is likewise safe, and that is more than ca be said of a good many of the tooth powders and pastes sold in the shops, which often contain substances that soon wear off the enamel or beautiful pearly covering of the teeth.  

A very good and efficient tooth powder may be made by mixing two teaspoonfuls each of powdered orris root and camphor with four of precipitated chalk.

Powders that contain acids are likewise unsafe, as they destroy the enamel. Pure bicarbonate of soda alone is often useful as a tooth powder.

A teaspoonful of tincture of myrrh and the same quantity of the tincture of bark in two ounces of rose water is useful as a wash when the gums are soft, spongy, and liable to bleed. The permanganate of potash mouth-wash is made of rose water, with a few grains of this salt in it, just enough to make it a pretty red colour. This is also a capital wash to sweeten the breath and prevent toothache. It stains the teeth a little, so the brush and a little charcoal should be used after it. If you should want a tooth powder to strengthen the gums, ask for one containing chalk, myrrh and borax.

Toothache can usually be prevented by the use of such powders and washes, as I have now given you, and by keeping the health well up to par. Most girls need a tonic now and then, and there is nothing better than tincture of iron, generally called steel drops – done, ten drops three times a day in a little cold water for a fortnight or three weeks. A saline aperients of sufficient strength, say, a good dose of Epsom salts, has often a wonderful effect in stopping inflammatory toothache. When this troublesome complaint comes on periodically, quinine should be taken in full doses in the intervals. Do not have the teeth pulled out unless they be very far decayed. If you do you will miss them sadly when you get older.

It is preferable to have them stopped. If you conclude to do this be sure to go to the very best dentist you know of. It will be the cheapest in the long run, for is it an operation which should be most carefully performed.