Show COMFORTABLE POULTICES Some Soothing Application That Temper the Sharpest Fain Fundamentally poultices are the means of relaxing the tissues and relieving re-lieving the pressure on the sensuary nerves Their benefit is a question of heat Why hot water bags are not quite as effective is due to the absence of moisture and the touch of rubber on the skin is not so soothing as that of mush I No especial ailment requires a special poultice Any one of the ist may ba J I chosen whether stomach back or brain I I is the tormenting member To produce a good heat nothing is speedier in effect I and simpler in make than the childs poultice of bread and milk Wheat II bread is the best to use The crust of I the bread should be removed the milk I heated without boiling and the whola thoroughly pestled so that no lumps I obtrude The bread retains heat for an I incredible length of time A poultice of flaxseed ds usually considered con-sidered the most efficacious of al Its i soothing quality that penetrates the brain centers comes from the pungent steam of the heated flax an herb whose medicinal benefits were considered fay olden dames a panacea for every ill The flaxseed should be ground up into very coarse meal and slowly incorporated in-corporated with boiling water until a consistent thickness is reached No guide is needed for the quantity oater o-ater to use for even an amateurs eye can judge of the requisite stiffness If the pain is severe a handful of pow dered slippery elm bark added to this is excellent or the poultice can be an equal compound of the two Yeast can be added to the flaxseed to give thick ness if the bark is not procurable If the pain becomes intense tobacco moistened with hot water is very sooth ing and other narcotics serve the same purpose They should be mixed in very thoroughly after the meal has been prepared Doctors universally advocate the usage of mustard leaves instead of the homemade plaster They are more efficacious and less troublesome How ever in case of emergency it is best to stick to plain mustard and water In the makeup unless the sufferers skin is too tender to stand the sting to al leviate this counterirritant vinegar molasses or flour can be sparingly mixed in For ulcers wounds or sores that have healed bady or have not healed at all a poultice made of powdered charcoal mixed with bread or yeast does more tb remedy and reduce irrita tion than any salve It has a parties larly cleansing effect that ds most grat a ifying To make and place a poultice as the nurses at the hospitals do is something of an art as insignificant as it ap pears The sufferer whose racked nerves are sensitive to physical im pression writhes under a badlymade application more than the healthy per son realizes Pounds of irregularly laid meal thick unwashed cloth that irritates the flesh edges not caught together between which the substance oozes over patient and bed clothes are conditions that counteract all probable goocL When your substance is carefully mixed and prepared no lumps and no pools of water appearing Put it aside for a few moments to cool While it is settling down cut a quadrangle of soft washed muslin bwice the size re quired Then slowly put your mixture on one corner leveling it j over the cloth with a knife leaving three inches clear on either side Close the untouched half of muslin over the hot mass and stitch or pin together the edges that everything may be safe and compact Learn to put in a pin bendIng its point back as the nurses do and never fem that it ViII prick Under such a light soft eteamlns plaster the grateful body will SUccumb and the pain be eased while its site would have been torture Oppo If it is not intended to renew the poul tice only heating it anew a modicum of glycerine should be poured on the surface of the cloth otherwise Tthe skin will break out in small pimples or rough patches be left when it Is re moved The application of poultices is too seductive and apt to be abused and the consequence is that the skin be comes white wrinkled and sodden and boils are apt to form and the circula I tion about that part is seriously re tarded HENRY STERLING |