most valuable; its soothing properties are still further increased by the addition of an ounce of gum arabic to each pint of liquor. In catarrh, and irritable cough, or simply as an article of mild unstimulating nourishment, it is serviceable. The late Dr. A. T. Thomson recommended equal parts of barley-water and milk, sweetened with a little refined sugar, as a good food for infants brought up by hand. It may act upon the bowels.

BAROMETER, the instrument by which the amount of atmospheric pressure is determined. Late observations would indicate that during the prevalence of epidemic disease, such as cholera and influenza, the indications of the barometer are more than usually affected.

BARRENNESS.-Sterility of the female, may be the result of defect of structure in some portion of the generative organs, or of functional disorder resulting from local or constitutional causes. Such cases always require the care and consideration of a medical attendant

BASILIC VEIN.-Frequently opened in the operation of bleeding from the arm.SEE BLOOD-LETTING.

BASILICON OINTMENT, OR RESIN OINTMENT, is made with three-parts of resin, three of wax, and four of olive-oil. The resin and wax are melted together, the oil added, and the whole squeezed through linen. It is a stimulant ointment not as much used at the present day as formerly.* BATH.-Applications to the surface of the body, either general or partial, in the form of liquid, vapour, or gas, are now comprehended under the term bath.

Water-baths may be simple or medicated. As regards temperature, they may be, cold, tepid, and hot.

As regards application, they may be general or partial, shower, cold affusion, douche, sponge, wet sheet.

Vapour, and hot air, are both used as baths.

The extreme vascularity, the nervous sensibility, and sympathies of the skin, and its important functions as an excreting organ, all render it a most important medium through which to impress and act upon the system generally. The subject, till of late years, has been strangely neglected and overlooked by medical men; brought prominently forward under the name of Hydropathy, or the Water-cure, by Preissnitz and his followers, it has unfortunately been carried far beyond its legitimate lengths, and become associated, in name, with quackery and undue pretensions. That much good is to be done by the use and

application of water, simply, in the treatment of disease and disorder, there can be no question; neither can it be doubted, that much and serious evil has resulted from the indiscriminate and ignorant employment of its powerful agency. With the medical profession it rests to place the subject upon its legitimate basis, by taking it into their own hands, and employing it rationally, and scientifically.

The cold bath may be of any temperature up to 80° or 85°. Fahr., the effect upon the system varying, of course, according to the temperature, the length of time it is endured. and the amount of muscular movement exerted during that time. A single plunge into ice-cold water, may depress less than a longer continued bath of a higher temperature. As a rule, individuals of a weak nervous and circulatory powers, do not bear well the effects of cold bathing, it robs them of an amount of animal heat, which they cannot readily again make up; it produces nervous exhaustion, and, perhaps, internal congestion, unrelieved by reaction to the surface.†

When an individual, after the cold bath, in any form, remains chilled, the fingers and lips blue, the countenance pale; and when languor and drowsiness succeed, he may be certain that more harm than benefit is being derived from the custom, and that it must be modified or given up.

In such a case, if the bath has been usually taken before breakfast, the hour should be altered to a couple of hours after that meal, this with some will be quite sufficient to make the difference between agreeing or not; indeed, it requires a person of very good vital power to derive real benefit and comfort from bathing before breakfast. If the change in hour does not alter the effects of the cold bath, something may be due to its low temperature; or the bather, especially if he be not a swimmer, may expose himself too long to the depressing influence, he may be in the habit of going into the water after his powers have been exhausted by much exercise, or when he is in too chilled a condition. All these points require consideration, before, either the undoubted good effects, or the comfort of bathing are given up as unattainable. The last point mentioned is one on which particular caution is required; many persons in dread of going in to bathe too hot, run to the other extreme, and allow themselves to become so chilled, that reaction will not come on. After coming out of a cold bath, the skin ought to be well rubbed with a rough towel, till a glow is felt; or the hair glove, now so well known, may be used. The above remarks apply

* BASILICON OR Resin OintmenT-The form for making in the new British Pharmacopeia stands thus-take of Resin in coarse powder eight ounces; Yellow Wax four ounces; Simple Ointment sixteen ounces-melc with a gentle heat, strain the mixture while hot, through flannel, and stir constantly till it cools.

↑ BATH, COLD.-Injury from-See Gout.

to the application of cold water generally,, to the skin, in whatever form. Few old people can take cold baths with advantage, and the perseverance in their use may lay the foundation of rheumatic, urinary, or other disease. Those who are liable to head affection, should not take the general cold bath; for them the shower bath is preferable. Females should not bathe in cold water during the menstrual period. Some persons who cannot bathe in freshwater, can do so in the sea; the saline ingredients producing a more stimulant effect upon the skin; sometimes, however, the stimulation goes so far as to produce a painful rash, which forces the person to give up the custom. The restorative and tonic effects of cold bathing, are undoubted in many cases, if the mode of taking it be properly regulated. As a general rule, five or six minutes immersion is sufficiently long. Sea-water undoubtedly exerts a more tonic influence upon the bather than fresh, moreover its temperature is more equable, and seldom so low as that of the latter. From the beginning of June to the end of September, according to weather, may be considered the sea-bathing season, during which the temperature of the water on our shores averages from 55° to 70° Fahr. When a bath is either ordered as a remedy, or desired as a comfort, and if when cold it does not agree

The tepid bath, of a temperature varying from 85° to 94° may be used-about 88° is an agreeable and convenient standard. Of course the tepid bath involves the use of a receptacle for the water. It does not produce the shock to the system like the cold, and the person may remain in it from a quarter of an hour to twenty minutes. The tepid bath relaxes and purifies the skin, and promotes the insensible perspiration. For the purposes of cleanliness and comfort it is most generally applicable.

After

fatigue from travelling, hunting, shooting, &c.; in irritable sta tes of the system, with dry or chafed skin, the tepid bath is at once grateful to the feeling, and salutary. Neither the tepid bath, nor any other, is well If taken soon after a full meal.

somewhat, by the effect required. The hot bath of a temperature of 100° is a powerful stimulant agent, to be used cautiously, and rarely without medical advice; in disease characterized by extreme depression, coldness, &c., it is useful. In the employment of these baths generally, persons who are the subjects of any organic disease, or have a tendency to acute attacks of functional disorder, such as determination of blood to the head, &c., must be very cautious, and ought if possible to have medical advice. The regulation of the temperature of baths ought never to be left to the sensations, the thermometer is the only trustworthy guide, and, indeed, is an article which no house ought to be without; the price of the instrument is now extremely low, and whether for the bath, the temperature of the room, or the instruction of a child, it is equally useful. Baths are made either to contain the whole person-the "slipper bath," fig. A-the hip bath, fig. B-or the foot

C

B

The warm, or hot bath is, or ought to be, a remedial agent only, not one for general use. Its temperature ranges from 95° to 102° Fahr.-96° is the most general stand- and leg bath, fig. C. In choosing a bath, it ard. The warm bath is used to promote is well to have one which will answer the e-action, to allay pain, spasmodic or in- desired purpose with as small a quantity of flammatory, to soothe convulsive action, or water as possible. Every house where it carried to its fullest extent, to cause faint- can be afforded should have the means of ness. The time for remaining in the warm providing a bath, and every village ought bath is generally from twenty to five-and-to have its moveable " Parish Bath," for twenty minutes, but this must be regulated, the use of the poor.

• BATHS.-Baths of artificial sea-water, are now readily procurable at a moderate cost by means of "Tidman's Sea Salt."

The wet sheet bath is sometimes, by misnomer, called the cold wet sheet. It is, in fact, a warm bath, or rather a large warm poultice, kept warm by the animal heat. It is formed by enveloping the person in a sheet, wrung out of cold or tepid water, and covering or packing him up with layers of blankets; very free perspiration is the result. It is a most useful remedy and might with advantage be more generally used. Sponging with cold water after the use of this bath is occasionally practised. BATH.-A very powerful and convenient vapour bath may be extemporised thus-Procure three or four new porous bricks, boil them in water for an hour and half, till perfectly saturated, then place them on the floor; seat the patient on a chair-of open cane work, if possible-over the bricks, and pin a blanket round the neck or waist, as the case may be, so as to surround the person, and confine the steam, which rises abundantly. This form of bath is far more available in the houses of the poor than a hot water bath, and is more efficient-for sciatica and rheumatism of the lower limbs it is of much value. BATH-Turkish Bath

See Appendix. † BATH, WARM-How to manage for children-See Children.

BATTLEY'S SOLUTION OF OPIUM, is a secret preparation, but one largely prescribed by medical men on account of its efficacy. It is more purely sedative than the other preparations of opium, and is said to be twice the strength of laudanum, but this it is not. Twenty drops of the sedative solution are almost equal to thirty-four of laudanum. It more certainly produces sleep than the latter, and excites less.

BEAN.-The various species of bean are most nutritious to those whose stomachs can digest them; they are used either young and fresh gathered, or old. The nutriment they afford, as shown in the case of the miners in South America, who live almost exclusively upon them, is calculated to sustain a high condition of muscular development and vigour. Garden-beans as brought to table in this country, must be avoided by those of weak digestion. They are less likely to disagree if deprived of their skins. BÉBEERINE.-A recently introduced substitute for quinine. A powerful bitter, and slightly stimulant tonic.*

tions, rendering sleep unrefreshing, and waking a painful, rather than a pleasurable operation; it cannot be otherwise, after the poison of carbonic acid has been regularly inhaled for the last few hours of slumber.

If the door of a sleeping-apartment must be locked, the upper panels ought to be perforated for the admission of air, but the purpose is much better answered by the door being left ajar, while it may be rendered equally secure by means of a chain-bolt. There is an advantage in admitting the fresh air by this channel, for it must be warmed in some degree in its passage through the house.

Air may be admitted directly from without, through the window, left slightly open at the top, or better, by means of barred glass, or perforated zinc, fig. 1, A, B, C.

0 0

BED-Bed-room-in health-in sickness. The fact that civilized people spend on an average, about one-third of their lives in their bed-rooms, is quite conclusive as to the importance of their salubrity_being a first consideration with every one. Whatever the public rooms, bed-rooms should be as spacious, lofty, and well aired, as circumstances will permit. Unfortunately the reverse of this is the general rule, and we have close, small sleeping apartments, crowded and ill-ventilated nurseries, and bad health. Good ventilation will do much, but it will do far more if aided by plenty of space. During the day-time, there is much less danger of persons generally, suffering from want of fresh air, than during the night, when, in sleep, they are many hours confined to one place. Every respiration of the sleeper contaminates a eertain amount of air, and as a matter of course, the smaller the space around, the sooner will the contamination of the whole It is not sufficient to let in pure air, the body of air contained in that space be impure must have some means of escape, and completed, it will become loaded with an for this, the chimney-and no sleeping-room amount of carbonic acid, injurious to health. either for rich or poor should be without The room must be sufficiently large,-and one-is the most ready channel, and perhaps this is rarely the case in modern houses-to the best, if under proper arrangemer.ts. In supply pure air for respiration during six former times, when fire-places were ample or eight hours, or some means must be and lofty, the chimneys were of themselves provided for carrying off the impure atmo- sufficient to carry off bad air; but since, by sphere. This, certainly, is not to be effected change of fashion, the openings have been by closed doors and windows, and blocked- lowered and contracted, they cannot do this. up chimneys, assisted in their injurious The air, warmed by respiration, ascends to operation by closely-drawn curtains, which the top of the room, where it must remain might be contrived for the special purpose till become cooler, but not more wholesome, of enveloping sleepers in their own exhala- it descends to be rebreathed, and reaches BEEEERINE, or rather Sulphate of Bebeerine, may be given in pill or in mixture. In the latter case five or ten drops of dilute sulphuric acid are added to each dose. The dose is from two to four grains. Bebeerine is considered by some an efficacious tonic in "* "Whites."

Some of these zinc plates-C-are made so that the perforations may be opened or closed at pleasure.

† BED OF BED-ROOM.-See Appendix,-Articles, Sick-room-Air, etc.

the level of the breather's nostrils before it, can pass up an ordinary chimney. All this may be obviated, by making a proper opening for the escape of the impure warm air into the chimney. Dr. Neil Arnott's chimney ventilator, fig. A, is contrived for this pur

gases. None who regard health will have curtained beds; it is difficult to conceive what other purpose the huge masses of drapery around a "four-post bed," can serve, than to collect dust, and when drawn, to confine impure air around the sleepers.

For the young and middle-aged, hair, or where these cannot be afforded, firm wool mattresses should always be used; feather beds never. The cotton mattress requires more frequent dressing and cleaning than the hair. For the aged, who are deficient in natural warmth, a feather bed is quite admissible. However perfect the provision for ventilation of a bed-room during the night may be, it must require additional purification in the morning. As a rule, the window should be opened as soon as the occupant is about to leave the room, or even before, in summer, and the bed-clothes turned down over the end of the bedstead, or thrown entirely off, for at least an hour before the bed is made up for the day; in this way, perspiration, and emanations which take place from every animal body, are evaporated and got rid of. Turn-up beds, box-beds, and all enclosures of the kind, are perfect abominations. Slops of all kinds should be removed from sleeping-rooms as early as possible. Children even more than adults require fresh pure air during sleep, yet how often are nurseries crowded and shut close up during the night; the beds made as soon as left vacant; and the little creatures confined to the room in which they have slept, for a great part of the day. This ought not to be, nor would it be, but for the generally prevailing ignorance upon all points connected with health, and the rules for its preservation. There are few parents but would make sacrifices to give their children a change of room were they sufficiently aware of the importance of so doing; even self-interest would dictate the course, could they know how often the first cause of illness, and all its expenses, has originated in the badly-aired nursery.

pose. A brick is taken out of the wall at
the top of the room, so as to make an opening
into the shaft of the chimney, the opening
being kept closed, and smoke prevented
during the use of fires, by means of a
balance valve, b. Thus, a bed-room to be
healthy, must have a sufficient entrance for
good air; must have a proper exit for that
which has been rendered impure, should
have space if possible; the greater the
number of sleepers, the more requisite the
fulfilment of these conditions. It must also
be borne in mind, that a light, and especially
a gas-light, equally with the lungs contami-
nates the air. It is advisable when a light
is burned in a sleeping-room, to place it so
that the fumes may pass up the chimney,
if a gas-light, it ought to be provided with
a special tube to carry off its fumes; without
this it must be a source of evil, with it, of
good, for in the latter case, it increases the
current of air through the room generally.*
Fires in bed-rooms are frequent sources
of impure air, uncomfortable sleep, and
morning headaches. During the first hours
of night, when burning briskly, the fire
promotes ventilation; but when, as often
occurs, towards morning, it smoulders down,
and becomes choked with ashes, it has not
sufficient power to create a draught; the
current of air is reversed, instead of passing
up the chimney, it passes down, carrying
with it into the room a very deteriorated
atmosphere, perhaps loaded with sulphurous twice a-year.

It is much to be regretted that in the houses of the poor, crowding at night is so frequently compelled by circumstances; if it must be so, its evils ought to be counteracted by the means of ventilation already pointed out, and by strict cleanliness; at the same time, floors should not be washed in damp weather, and when they are washed, it should be done early enough in the day to permit of their being thoroughly dry before the room window is closed for the night. Rooms which are at all crowded at night, ought to be whitewashed at least

BED-ROOM.-It must be confessed that Arnott's chimney ventilator has not come into such general use as was expected, owing doubtless to its frequently being attended with inconveniences, and the question of thorough, safe, and agreeable ventilation is still unsettled. Refer to Appendix.-Articles, Sick-roomAir, etc., for additional information.