In the summer when the range fire is allowed to go down and there is no gas stove, or where the sick room is some distance from the kitchen, it is a good plan to have some way of heating water in the sick room. Do not use a stove which burns kerosene or gasoline; in spite of utmost care, it will exude odors. The use of gas is no better, as it consumes oxygen, and it is seldom that a pipe can be attached tightly enough to prevent all odor from the gas. The best ar rangement is an alcohol lamp. If that is not in the house, you can man age with a five-o'clock teakettle or a chafing dish, which over a hot alcohol flame will boil a pint of water in a few minutes.
The instructions that a doctor lays down about medicine, feeding, or any sort of treatment, must be carried out to the letter. The best plan is to write his instructions concisely dur ing every visit. If he orders medi cine to be given every two hours, do not trust to memory, but reckon the time ahead and write it down—medi cine at ten, twelve, two, four, or whatever the case may be. Be per fectly accurate in measuring, using a medicine dropper for drugs and the average-sized teaspoon for a tea spoonful.
A small clock is a necessity in the sick room; but frequently its ticking will irritate a nervous patient. The best way to overcome this is to cover it with a glass shade. In this way it can be seen but not heard.
Occasionally a doctor orders an application of hot spirits. This is a process which must be very carefully carried out, as the alcohol is liable to take fire. The best way to heat it is to set the whisky into a cup, put in a chafing dish, pour hot water around it, then put on the lid. Afterwards light the flame of the lamp and let the water boil gently for a few min utes. Fold old muslin or gauze into the shape required, dip it in boiling water, and press dry in a potato ricer. Dip it again in hot whisky, squeeze as dry as possible, apply it as hot as can be borne, and cover with a piece of dry flannel. Keep the whisky hot as long as it is need ed, and have two bits of muslin, so one can be changed while the other is on the patient.
When it is necessary to change a nightshirt or nightgown, and the pa tient is too sick to sit up in bed, draw it well up under the arms, slip off a sleeve at a time, and push it up to ward the neck, getting it over the head as deftly as possible. Roll the skirt of the fresh nightdress into a coil till it reaches the sleeve, slip the patient's arm into the sleeve before lifting the head from the pillow, and the nightdress can then be pulled down over the neck very quickly, af terwards sttaightening the skirt. The
easiest plan in severe sickness is to have a nightdress which is open all the way down the front. It can be easily changed by turtling the patient on one side and adjusting the night dress from head to foot, then doing the same on the other side.
The patient's hair should be combed twice a day at least. If it is a wom an's, part it in the middle and back, brush and comb one side at a time, and make it into two neat braids.
When a patient is allowed to sit up for the first time, it is a good idea to make it half an hour at meal time. It is much easier to eat when in a comfortable, upright position, as the food tray can then be put in a more convenient place. Besides, the nov elty of being able to sit up and eat is apt to create a new relish for food. If it can be obtained, a handy thing to have in a sick room is a one-leg adjustable table, which can be set high or low, as needed, and be used for various needs--to serve a meal on, to place the basin on, for the pa tient to wash his face and hands, or during convalescence to hold a book or for a game of solitaire. Although it is not quite as handy, a good sub stitute for this useful bit of furniture is an ordinary sewing table. Unfold two legs, set it on the floor beside the bed, leaving the other legs tucked under. To prevent the weight of the table from resting upon the pa tient's body, put a couple of props 1 under it on the bed. If nothing else is handy, a few books or wooden blocks will serve to keep it steady.
Occasionally, the doctor orders an ice compress for the head. To make it, fold two large handkerchiefs (to be used alternately) so they will not be so wide as to come over the eyes or wet the hair or pillows, and turn in the edges. Put a block of ice with a little water about it in a basin, wring out a handkerchief and lay it on the ice till very cold; then apply, keeping one on ice, the other on the patient's head.
Occasionally, a room is situated so that it is almost impossible to let the air sweep through it as it ought with out blowing on the patient. Ar range a little tent by placing around the invalid a low clotheshorse with three panels. Over this spread a sheet or blanket. If the air is very cold, put a hot bottle at the feet and cover the lower part of the body with extra clothing. In this way there will be no danger of the patient catching cold.