Medicine bag

“ The nostrum is received in due time, and is accompanied by a second circular, in which the patient is coolly informed that he must not expect to be cured by one bottle, box, or package, as the case may be, but that five or six, or sometimes a dozen will be necessary to complete the cure, especially if the case is as desperate and stubborn as the letter applying for the medicine seems to indicate. Many are foolish enough to take the whole half dozen bottles or packages, and in the end are no better in health than they were at first. ”

“ The fountain syringe bag should not be raised more than six to twelve inches above the patient who is lying down with her hips raised on pillows and her knees drawn up. Medicines can be used in all the douches. ”

“ Those who are subject to cold feet should be provided with short boots of coarse cloth, to slip on and off, over their ordinary boots, as occasion may require, and a small feet-warmer should be placed in the carriage. A large medicine chest, which is a constant companion of many families, will be cumbersome and unnecessary, as almost all medicines of good quality may be obtained in all the towns frequented by invalids. ”

“ The medicine packets were brought forth. The first was a grey powder. A man who had been lame from youth upwards was made to limp out. The powder mixed with water, according to directions, was given him. He hobbled away in frightful convulsions, and nearly injured his whole limb in so doing.
The second packet was then unsealed—it contained pills. ”

“ Lastly, never accumulate powerful remedies, in the belief that they may be required on some future occasion. It is highly probable that many of our readers will have a family medicine chest in which there is a place for every bottle, and in which every bottle must be in its place, and the whole in beautiful order. This is the very idea for a medicine cupboard—not only a place for everything, and everything in its place, but all plainly and correctly marked. As a rule, however, nothing can be further from the reality than such a picture. ”

“ Dip a four-ply cotton cloth in cayenne lotion, and lightly wring out. Lay this gently over the stomach and bowels, and over this an india-rubber bag full of hot water. All must be only hot enough to be comfortable. This application may remain on for two hours without any change, then it is repeated. Where no bag can be had, a good thick fomentation should be used instead. See Nerves, Shaken ”

“ The law which limits the length of time that food products may be kept in cold storage could with advantage have its scope extended to include “patent medicine” testimonials. Physicians recently received through the mails—at a time when the mails were frightfully congested with Christmas business—a sixteen page pamphlet sent out in a plain envelop as first class matter. ”

“ All medical stores are kept in the presidency dispensaries, with branch depots at convenient places in the interior. All instruments and the greater part of medicines are imported from England. However, the Assistant-surgeon will do well to provide himself with a complete pocket dressing case and a small portable medicine chest,which he will find very useful when unattached, and when he has no access to the public stores; and if he has good mechanical hands, a portable tool chest will be of great service. ”

“ All bottles should be labeled plainly, and the stoppers should be tied about with a piece of gauze—not very attractive, I admit, but one of the best safeguards against making a mistake as to the ‘right bottle.’ Poisons should not be kept in the general medicine closet, but in a place by themselves—unless we except iodine, which has such a decided odor that it may be kept in a more accessible place, ready for its many uses. ”

“ In this chapter we wish to instruct the mother or the caretaker in doing the one thing needful for every one of the more common household accidents and emergencies while waiting for the doctor.
In every household there should be found an accident and emergency "kit" of necessary paraphernalia for the quick application of the one necessary medicine, dressing, etc. This "kit" should contain baking soda for burns, bandages and sterile gauze for cuts or tears, together with adhesive plaster, needle and thread, etc. ”

“ All, who have seen them at work, agree that their methods are dirty and septic to a degree, and the oft-expressed wonder has ever been, not that their results are so bad, but that they are ever good. Their surgical equipment is carried in a bag or in a box, which would be considered dirty alongside of the tool-chest or work-basket of any English artisan. ”

“ Dear Sir:—I have great pleasure in expressing my entire approval of your underwear. It affords a better protection to the body in our variable climate than any kind of flannel in use. Nothing but wool is fit to maintain the capillary circulation of the skin, preserve warmth and promote insensible perspiration, without which good health impossible. I find your garments invaluable in the treatment of lung complaints, and recommend them to all my patients. ”

“ Sitting down by the patient, after some inquiries, he produces out of his medicine box a pebble, or a boar's tusk, or some other charm, and gently strokes the body with it. If there be several medicine men called in, the leader undertakes the preliminary examination, the rest giving their assent. ”

“ The tops of the lids for these boxes are not covered by the box-maker as a general rule. Druggists who buy these boxes paste their own printed round labels to the lids of the boxes as physicians’ prescriptions for pills, capsules, etc., are filled.
One can form some idea of the large number of round pill boxes which are being consumed in this country when considering the number of drug stores that are located in all sections of the United States. The demand for high grade round pill boxes is constantly increasing. ”

“ Medicine-chest.—Every vessel of one hundred and fifty tons or upwards, navigated by ten or more persons in all, and bound on a voyage beyond the United States, and every vessel of seventy-five tons or upwards, navigated by six or more persons in the whole, and bound from the United States to any port in the West Indies, is required to have a chest of medicines, put up by an apothecary of known reputation, and accompanied by directions for administering the same. The chest must also be examined at least once a year, and supplied with fresh medicines. ”

“ You just ought to see what a tube of pink toothpaste can do to a bag of mail, but the worst of all were the jam and the talcum powder. You would not believe that a large can of Colgate’s talcum powder could break right in two, but I have seen two of them broken clean through the middle. And as for the comfort bags for soldiers, you ought to see the way some of those have arrived, sans paper, sans string, together just because the things were in a bag and the address was tied to the bag string. Cardboard boxes never arrive intact. Tin containers get stove in. ”

“ A japanned cash-box makes as good a medicine chest as anything. One about twelve inches long, six inches broad, and six inches deep, makes a capital medicine chest. Certainly it is quite large enough! What would you have? What is the good of a medicine box that you cannot carry about?
We keep a medicine chest of the size above mentioned. We find it quite large enough for when we are travelling “off duty.” It is quite sufficiently large to carry all that we require for emergencies. ”

“ So he took out the silver box and ate one of the small, round disks it contained.
"What are those?" inquired the old gentleman in a soft voice. "You are too young to be taking patent medicines."
"There are not medicines, exactly," answered the boy, with a smile. "They are Concentrated Food Tablets, sorted with nourishment by means of electricity. One of them furnishes a person with food for an entire day."
The old gentleman stared at Rob a moment and then laid down his magazine and took the box in his hands, examining the tablets curiously. ”

“ They should be labelled with the names of the drugs, their doses, and the complaints for which they are used.
Mind you, this box is to treat emergencies. It is to serve you when you cannot obtain medical aid. Do not imagine that when you possess this box you can consider yourself independent of medical science. This box is for emergencies, and for emergencies only. ”

“ Dose,54 one tablet every four hours. Indications, colds and catarrh, bilious fevers, specific in malaria. No. 6: Elaterin, gr. 1/16. Dose, one tablet. Indications, to remove all fermenting food matters in the stomach and bowels, produces excessive watery evacuations. Valuable in dropsy; especially applicable where you want to get rid of the entire contents of the bowels. No. 7: Phenacetine, gr. 5. Dose, one tablet every three hours to profuse perspiration. Indications, reduce fever where pulse is full and bounding. Relieves headache; taken early cures severe cold. ”

“ Preparations of this class are not in all cases very clearly marked off from those recommended for some special disease, such as have been dealt with in previous chapters, for many of them are recommended for some one disease, of which nearly all others are asserted to be variations.
Dr. MARTIN’S MIRACLETTS.
These wonders are supplied by a Medicine Co., from an address in London. The prices are 1s. 11⁄2d., 2s. 9d., 4s. 6d., and 11s. per bottle. A 2s. 9d. bottle contained sixty tablets.
They are described on the package as:
A real Elixir of Life in solid form. ”

“ As soon as collected they should be transferred to pill-boxes and the greatest care should be exercised to avoid mutilating them, as the slightest touch will denude them of a portion of their scales or break their limbs or antennæ. Lord Walsingham thus gives his experience in collecting Micros:
I go out with a coat provided with large pockets inside and out, containing an assortment of pill-boxes, generally of three sizes, glass-bottomed pill-boxes preferred, a bag slung over my shoulder, and a net. ”

“ Wrap the body in dry blankets and commence rubbing the limbs upwards firmly and energetically under the blanket or over warm clothing, which can generally be got from bystanders. Then put the patient into a warm bed, and cover over with hot flannels, applying bottles or bladders of hot water, or heated bricks, to the pit of the stomach, the armpits, between the thighs, and to the soles of the feet. When the patient is able to swallow, give him warm fluids by spoonfuls—coffee, tea, brandy and water, wine—but not in too great quantities. ”

“ To this day pills are made behind its tall prescription desk—pills rolled out on its own pill-tile, divided with a spatula, rolled with the finger and thumb, dusted with calcined magnesia and delivered in little round pasteboard pill-boxes. The store is on a corner about which coveys of ragged-plumed, hilarious children play and become candidates for the cough drops and soothing syrups that wait for them inside. ”

“ Another girl stood ready with my machine to label the corked bottles and hand them to the three packers, who slipped them into their outer papers and put them, with a pad of corrugated paper between each pair, into a little groove from which they could be made to slide neatly into position in our standard packing-case. It sounds wild, I know, but I believe I was the first man in the city of London to pack patent medicines through the side of the packing-case, to discover there was a better way in than by the lid. ”

“ Poisonous drugs should have rough glass bottles and conspicuous labels. All medicine bottles should be kept well corked, since evaporation may take place and the remaining solution, by becoming stronger, may be dangerous to use in the ordinary amount. Pills and tablets sometimes deteriorate by standing, and may become so hard that they pass through the stomach and intestines without dissolving. It is best to buy drugs and [216] surgical supplies in small quantities; when it is cheaper to buy more at a time the druggist should be asked whether they will deteriorate or not. ”

“ If there is no available closet, there will have to be a commodious cupboard for storing the prophylactic supplies. A large stock of these must always be kept on hand, so that the nurse may refill her bag before starting out again on her afternoon rounds. A telephone in the office, or at least in the same building, is of course necessary. ”

“ They have four classes of medicines, each calculated to counteract the disturbances caused by each of the four elements. The modus operandi of each individual class is supposed to be as various as the specific diseases. For instance, medicine for wind in the head is quite different, and acts differently from medicine for wind in the bowels. A sternutatory snuff, a wash for the head, a patch or plaster, may dispel the wind in the head, whilst it will require a carminative to allay the storm in the bowels. ”

“ Shrink wrap provides adequate protection. Fiberboard sheathing provides adequate protection against mustard agents, but not against nerve agents.
2. The low-density polyethylene used to construct the menu bag can absorb chemical agents and possibly toxins. If the menu bag is removed from the shipping container and is exposed to liquid contamination, enough agent may pass through the bag to create a health hazard. ”

“ The dress of the consumptive patient should be adapted to equalize the temperature of the body, so loose that it interferes in no way with the natural functions. The underclothing should be woolen, either lamb's wool or flannel. After an extended observation of the benefits derived from wearing the "Jaros Hygienic Underclothing,"—a wool fleece knit material of graded weights, adapted to the season, I believe to be the best protective devices yet known for these patients. ”