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INFLAMMATION AND BRAIN DISEASES. 361*
When Harvey had the gout, he resolutely plunged the
affected foot into a pail of the coldest water he could find.
I believe that this was with no more danger than in any
other species of inflammation. Strict temperance, pas
sional and dietetic, with exercise, is a perfect preventive.
No man, whatever his predispositions, ever had the
gout, without indolence or excess. The gouty patient
must bring himself into healthy conditions, and he will
surely banish the gout. It may be relieved by the cold
bath to the part, the wet bandage, and the wet-sheet
pack. A gouty patient
needs a full course of water-
cure treatment; but he will get well if he follows an
— old prescription
" Live on sixpence a day, and earn
that."
Acute Rheumatism comes on with stiffness and pain
in thp joints or muscles, followed by fever. The pain
is severe, the part swollen and red ; the pulse full, hard,
and frequent, the tongue lightly furred, the skin harsh,
hot, and dry. It lasts ten or twelve days, and then
slowly subsides.
It, is a disease of excess in diet, stimulants, and ama
tive indulgence, with bad air, and want of proper exer
cise. I have seen it usually in young persons of full
habit.
Treatment the same as for fever, with wet bandages
to the parts affected. In these cases, the cold, full,
double, and treble wet-sheet pack is "heaven" to the
patient. It is better than all the opium in the world.
With a course of thorough and —
frequent packing a
dozen a day, if needed—the system is throughly puri
fied. Its prevention is as evident and easy as that of
the gout.
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