Supposing he cannot retain the mixture—the stomach rejecting it as soon as swallowed—what then? Give the opium, mixed with small doses of mercury with chalk and sugar, in the form of powder, and put one of the powders dry on the tongue every three hours:
Take of—Powdered Opium, half a grain;
Mercury with Chalk, nine grains;
Sugar of Milk, twenty-four grains:
Mix well in a mortar, and divide into twelve powders.
Now, suppose the dysentery has for several days persisted,
and that, during that time, nothing but mucus and
blood—that no real stool—has come from the bowels,
then a combination of castor oil and opium ought, instead
of the medicine recommended above, to be given. My
friend, the late Dr. Baly, who had made dysentery his
particular study, considered the combination of opium
and castor oil very valuable in dysentery.
Take of—Mixture of Acacia, three drachms;
Simple Syrup, three drachms;
Tincture of Opium, ten drops (not minims);
Castor oil, two drachms;
Cinnamon Water, four drachms:
Make a Mixture. A teaspoonful to be taken every four hours, first well shaking the bottle.
A warm bath, at the commencement of the disease, is
very efficacious; but it must be given at the commencement.
If he has had dysentery for a day or two, he will
be too weak to have a warm bath; then, instead of the
bath, try the following: Wrap him in a blanket which
has been previously wrung out of hot water, over which
envelop him in a dry blanket. Keep him in this hot,
damp blanket for half an hour; then take him out, put
on his night-gown and place him in bed, which has been,
if it be winter time, previously warmed. The above
