Lastly, and most important, if any indication of fainting comes on, keep the patient's head low, and do not on any account raise it. A few drops of brandy gently poured between the gums and the teeth will trickle slowly down the throat and will improve the pulse, while any attempt to make the patient drink in the usual manner will invariably bring on coughing. Remove the pillow at the same time. When the operation is over, and you wish to bring the patient to, open the doors and windows, and allow the cool air to play upon his face and chest. It is sometimes, but rarely, needful to slap the face with a wet towel. The patient will be drowsy for some hours after- wards, and the best thing to do, for all reasons, is to let him sleep. Sucking a bit of rough ice, if you can get it, always allays the thirst and nausea, in case these should follow. The Evil Effects of Iced Water. — One of the most able and famous French writers on health subjects recently remarked in an interview : " I have heard that you Americans are a people lacking in physical health and power. This is untrue. No people on earth are stronger! It must be so, for you drink iced water and //zr.' It would kill me, or anybody else but an American." THE PHYSICIAN IN THE HOME. I93 The point to be remembered is this : The normal temperature of the stomach is not far from 99°, while the temperature of iced water is probably 39° or 40°. Here, then, we take suddenly into that centre of the body and of the nervous system (for the stomach is only second to the brain and ganglia as a nervous centre) an ice-cold fluid 60° colder than the circulation and the digesting organ into whicfi it is so unceremoniously plunged ! What a shock ! Is it to be wondered that its effect is often fatal ? — that if it does not kill at once, like a bullet, it frequently produces dyspepsia, and other causes of chronic ill health resulting in death ? Cold Tea. — The mistake that most people make in preparing tea for a cold drink is in letting it stand too long on the tea leaves — stand until cold. This brings out all the bitter, indigestible qualities of the tea leaf, which may be somewhat disguised by the lemon and sugar added, but remain to torment the drinker. To get the full benefit of good iced tea, first heat the proper quantity on a tin plate, or any iron plate ; let it get thoroughly hot, so that it would crumble to dust between the finger and thumb. Then scald out the teapot very hot, using an earthen pot, which is the only teapot that has no black de- posit left on it from other tea-makings ; add to this from the kettle the first boiling of water out of the freshly-filled kettle, and let it draw five minutes and no more. Pour off to cool, and when entirely cold, add the same quantity of good milk✪ Cold Tea to your pitcher. You will have not only a refreshing but a nourishing drink. Of course, if lemon is called for, you omit the milk.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

Lastly, and most important, if any indication of fainting comes on, keep the patient's head low, and do not on any account raise it. A few drops of brandy gently poured between the gums and the teeth will trickle slowly down the throat and will improve the pulse, while any attempt to make the patient drink in the usual manner will invariably bring on coughing. Remove the pillow at the same time. When the operation is over, and you wish to bring the patient to, open the doors and windows, and allow the cool air to play upon his face and chest. It is sometimes, but rarely, needful to slap the face with a wet towel. The patient will be drowsy for some hours afterwards, and the best thing to do, for all reasons, is to let him sleep. Sucking a bit of rough ice, if you can get it, always allays the thirst and nausea, in case these should follow. The Evil Effects of Iced Water. — One of the most able and famous French writers on health subjects recently remarked in an interview : " I have heard that you Americans are a people lacking in physical health and power. This is untrue. No people on earth are stronger! It must be so, for you drink iced water and live." It would kill me, or anybody else but an American." The point to be remembered is this : The normal temperature of the stomach is not far from 99°, while the temperature of iced water is probably 39° or 40°. Here, then, we take suddenly into that centre of the body and of the nervous system (for the stomach is only second to the brain and ganglia as a nervous centre) an ice-cold fluid 60° colder than the circulation and the digesting organ into which it is so unceremoniously plunged ! What a shock ! Is it to be wondered that its effect is often fatal ? — that if it does not kill at once, like a bullet, it frequently produces dyspepsia, and other causes of chronic ill health resulting in death ? Cold Tea. — The mistake that most people make in preparing tea for a cold drink is in letting it stand too long on the tea leaves — stand until cold. This brings out all the bitter, indigestible qualities of the tea leaf, which may be somewhat disguised by the lemon and sugar added, but remain to torment the drinker. To get the full benefit of good iced tea, first heat the proper quantity on a tin plate, or any iron plate ; let it get thoroughly hot, so that it would crumble to dust between the finger and thumb. Then scald out the teapot very hot, using an earthen pot, which is the only teapot that has no black deposit left on it from other tea-makings ; add to this from the kettle the first boiling of water out of the freshly-filled kettle, and let it draw five minutes and no more. Pour off to cool, and when entirely cold, add the same quantity of good milk to your pitcher. You will have not only a refreshing but a nourishing drink. Of course, if lemon is called for, you omit the milk.

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Cold Tea

The hearthstone; or, Life at home