The author wishes to acknowledge his indebtedness to the late Dr. Henry Lindlahr's book. The Practice of Natural Therapeutics, for much of the information contained in the present section.

A FIRST-AID SECTION has been included in the present book so as to make it as complete and comprehensive as possible. When faced with an accident, an injury, etc., many adherents of Natural-Cure methods do not quite know what to do for the best, and hesitate to adopt orthodox measures, believing that they might be suppressive in some way. This is particularly true of the orthodox treatment for cuts, wounds, etc., the antiseptic drugs used on these occasions really interfering with rather than helping the healing process. It is hoped, therefore, that the present section will supply a long-felt want in the homes of the many thousands of followers of Natural-Cure methods of living.

When a stroke occurs, the patient should be laid quite flat, with the head and shoulders slightly raised. Then the fleshy parts of the body and the extremities should be briskly rubbed for a few minutes. Wet packs applied to the body and the extremities will help to draw the blood away from the head, as also will a hot mustard bath applied to the feet. (Wet packs are described in detail in the Appendix, Part A.) A warm-water enema should be given as soon as possible to clear the bowel, this is a most helpful procedure indeed.

Kneel athwart the legs of the patient and place the spread hands on both sides of the small of the back; exert steady but gentle pressure, thus compressing the lower ribs and chest. The pressure is gradually released, allowing the lungs to fill with air. This alternating compression and relaxation is then steadily continued at the same rate as the normal rate of breathing, which is about fifteen breaths to the minute in an adult and a little more in children. With adults, therefore, each complete movement should take up about four seconds, including expiration and inspiration, and about three seconds with children.

While compressing the chest, the operator should at the same time apply strong vibration. This is accomplished by vibrating the hands loosely and vigorously from the wrist joint. The slow, uniform counting corresponds to the tempo of regular normal breathing.

Inspiration is induced by the arm-raising movement, and expiration by the downward movement. The alternate movements must be continued at the rate of fifteen complete movements to the minute for adults and twenty to the minute for children.

The treatment consists, first, in artificial respiration just previously described and, secondly, in restoring the circulation of the blood and nerve currents. The latter part of the treatment is carried out by means of cold rubs and massage. For the cold rubbing a cloth can be dipped in plain cold water or else in water in which some common salt or some Epsom salts have been placed (� lb. to a large bowlful). The fleshy parts of the body and the extremities should be rubbed vigorously with the cloth and then given a good massaging.

Some cases of asphyxiation may require long and persistent effort to revive them. Cases have been known where a person has been brought round after three or even four hours of continuous effort.

While rescuing a person from a room filled with smoke or poisonous gases, a wet handkerchief or other suitable piece of wet cloth should be tied over the mouth and nostrils. Breathing should be restrained as much as possible, and the windows of the room should be opened at once, or broken if necessary.

To prevent any possible infection from a bite, a fast for a day or two (or longer if deemed necessary) should be undertaken, followed by a further period on the all-fruit diet, after which normal diet can be begun if the patient feels quite all right. It must be emphasised that FASTING is the surest method of preventing any poisoning from bites or stings of any kind.

In cases of snake-bite it is very unwise to administer whisky or stimulating drugs. These only make the condition worse, not better, in the end. Very few people die as a direct result of snake-bite; on the other hand, very many have died as a result of the hasty administration of large doses of whisky after a bite. The worst results occur with people who are not usually in the habit of taking alcohol, the large quantity of whisky given tending seriously to complicate the effect upon the system of the snake poison and the shock from the bite, death often ensuing as a result.

While removing the clothing from one who has been badly burned or scalded, do not tear the clothing off where it is stuck to the flesh, but cut around these places. The best treatment for burns and scalds consists in applying a mixture of ordinary baking soda (bicarbonate of soda) and olive oil. This treatment for burns and scalds is as effective as it is simple. The alkaline sodium neutralises the poisonous acids which form in the sores, and the oil keeps the flesh in a softened condition and prevents caking and cracking.

In cases of very extensive burns or scalds, immersion of the whole body in a bath of water at body temperature or just over (100 degrees Fahr.) is often very beneficial. The patient may have to be kept in the water for days, until such time as the flesh can be exposed to the air without any undue suffering. Burning of the eyes and face by strong acids, slaked lime, etc., is best treated by the immediate application of olive oil and baking-soda mixture.

If the patient is a child, place him face downwards over your lap, and slap him vigorously between the shoulders. If this does not remove the obstruction, then compress the nostrils, which forces him to open the mouth and throat widely, and insert the fingers of the other hand very quickly into the mouth and try to grasp the obstructing object. If this is not possible, tickle the palate with a feather or a finger or a handkerchief rolled to a point.

This will induce coughing or hawking, which may dislodge the obstruction. An adult may throw himself over a chair or table with the head hanging downwards, while another slaps him vigorously between the shoulders, or, if necessary, performs the operations mentioned in the previous paragraph.

It is wrong to close cuts with adhesive plaster, because this prevents elimination and shuts off air and light. In large wounds, however, the edges may be kept together by means of narrow strips of plaster just sufficient to keep the lips together for healing and to allow drainage. When bleeding has stopped, the cut or wound should be covered with porous gauze, in order to let the light and air in.

If the wound should prove painful or become inflamed, frequent bathing in cold running water is the best remedy for this. USE NO ANTISEPTICS OR MEDICAL PREPARATIONS OF ANY KIND.

When trying to remove objects from the ear, pull the outer ear up and back. This straightens the canal and makes the removal of the object in question much easier. The wire loop is the best thing to use as a general rule for the removal of foreign substances from the ear. Foreign bodies in the nose may be removed in similar manner to those in the ears.

For the removal of grit or other foreign bodies in the eye, the best thing is to pull the lid of the affected eye outward, and bend it backwards over a toothpick, a match, or other suitable piece of wood. This exposes the inner surface, and .the object can then be removed with a piece of cotton material if embedded in the lid, or with a toothpick or sharp instrument if embedded in the cornea. Cold compresses and cold eye-baths are the best way of treating inflammation.

Observe the odour of the breath. This will indicate such poisons as alcohol, chloroform, ether, etc. If the tongue has been bitten it indicates epilepsy. If the eyes are sensitive to touch and light, there is no brain injury. Unequal contraction of the pupils indicates brain trouble. Pupils contracted to pin-points indicate opium poisoning. Slow, weak breathing indicates collapse or shock. Snoring or stertorous breathing and slow, weak pulse indicates brain trouble (stroke). Rapid pulse points to sunstroke. A hot skin and rapid pulse indicate sunstroke or high fever. Cold skin and weak pulse may be the result of fainting, freezing, or of acute alcoholism.

If the patient is still breathing, place him in a comfortable position, the head somewhat lower than the rest of the body. Open or cut the clothing wherever it constricts the body, and expose the patient to a draught of fresh air. If in the open, fan the air over his face. In order to stimulate heart action, apply alternate hot and cold compresses to the chest; sprinkle or dash cold water over the face and neck ; also apply hot and cold fomentations to the spine. Give the extremities a good rubbing with the hands. If breathing is very slow and faint, apply artificial respiration, as described earlier in the present section also dash cold water on the neck and on the soles of the feet.

Other additional measures which are very valuable in many cases are : salt-water rubs, made by wringing out a cloth in salt water and rubbing the fleshy parts of the body and the extremities therewith, and the administration of a warm-water enema. Do NOT TRY TO ADMINISTER WATER OR STIMULANTS WHILST THE PATIENT IS UNCONSCIOUS. THAT WOULD ONLY CHOKE HIM.

When the patient revives give sips of fresh water or water mixed with acid fruit juices. Do not give whisky, brandy, or other alcoholic stimulants. The reaction produced after the first stimulating effect of such drinks often proves fatal in serious cases.

If a person has become unconscious through freezing, he must be taken into a cold room and treated with cold rubs by means of either ice-water or snow until the circulation in the various parts is restored. As before stated, great care must be taken not to break the frozen parts.

If breathing and heart action are very low or imperceptible, artificial respiration should be resorted to, but with due precaution. When normal breathing commences, place the patient in a cold bed and heat the room very gradually. When the body becomes warm, rub with warm flannels, but the frozen parts must still be treated with cold applications and snow rubs.

Warm the body from within by giving hot lemon water sweetened with honey or brown sugar. Black coffee with lemon juice will stimulate heart action and circulation. Do NOT GIVE ALCOHOL IN ANY FORM. The benumbing after-effects of strong stimulants such as these will induce numbness and sleep when wakefulness is necessary to resist the freezing.

For first-aid treatment the patient should be placed in a recumbent position and given small quantities of cold water and lemon juice to sip at frequent intervals. A trunk or body pack will draw the blood away from the stomach and relieve congestion.

If the blood is dark in colour and flows smoothly, then some vein has been opened, and the ligature should be applied just below the wound (except in the head and neck, when it should be above the wound). Any strap, rope, or handkerchief may be used for this purpose ; and the ligature may be applied more tightly by inserting a stick, pipe, or similar object below the knot and twisting it.

Do not try to remove any clots of blood ; they are Nature's provision for stopping the haemorrhage. Haemorrhages from large arteries may be stopped temporarily by compressing the blood-vessel with the fingers. Cold water is very effective for stopping Haemorrhages. If possible, it should be allowed to run over the area around the wound in a constant stream. This inhibits the circulation and favours the clotting of blood. Care must be taken not to run the water directly on the wound itself, however, as this might prevent the forming of clots.

In order to accomplish this, it is as well to place some protecting object directly over the wound, and allow the water to play freely over and around this. Water mixed with lemon juice applied directly to the wound acts as a natural antiseptic and astringent, thus favouring clotting. Clay or mud packs must never be applied to open cuts or wounds. (See also treatment for Cuts and Wounds).

As regards first-aid treatment, the patient should be removed to a cool place and given a brisk rubbing with a cloth wrung out in cold water. If heart action is feeble, a hot lemon drink will stimulate this. The head should be frequently laved with cold water. Cold packs to the body will be very beneficial in many cases.

If the body temperature is subnormal and death seems imminent, the legs should be wrapped in woollen blankets saturated with hot water. (Care must be taken not to scald the flesh.) Around the wet blanket wrap several layers of dry sheeting or a dry blanket in order to retain the heat. The patient should take at intervals small quantities of hot lemon and water.

Ordinary hiccough requires little or no special attention. If it persists, one of the best remedies is to sip water until one or two of the spasms have been missed. Anything that will break the regularity of the spasm will stop it. Out of this fact grew the old- fashioned notion of " frightening the hiccough " by sudden motion or exclamation.

In its most serious forms, that due to drug poisoning, hiccough needs full naturopathic treatment for its overcoming. Manipulative treatment is very beneficial in these cases, but a full scheme of natural treatment is required.

The end of the tube outside is then suddenly lowered below the level of the stomach and water siphoned out of it. This process may be facilitated by the patient lying prone on his face during the draining of the stomach.

In emergency cases, mustard, common salt, or powdered alum may be given as emetics in the proportion of one teaspoonful of either to a glass of water. A lukewarm solution of soap in water is a simple and efficacious emetic. If no emetics are available, cold water should be taken copiously, and vomiting induced by tickling the throat.

After washing out the stomach (as described in the first paragraph), white of egg, milk, or sugared water should be given freely. They are soothing to the inflamed membranes and give the stomach something to work on. The bowels should be washed out repeatedly with warm-water enemas, in order to eliminate the poison from the intestines. (A little common salt may be added to the enema water if desired.) When the patient is strong enough, hot baths and wet packs will stimulate elimination of the poison through the skin.

In corrosive sublimate or other forms of mercurial poisonings, retained rectal enemas of milk or white of egg beaten up in warm water will help to neutralise the destructive action of the metallic poison.

In all cases, fasting, with dilute fruit juices, should be enforced until the system has eliminated the poison and the injured membranes of the internal tracts have been repaired. Where the latter have been severely burned, fruit juices may cause burning pain unless they are very much diluted with water. In the mild dilute form they will antidote the destructive effects of the poisons.

Narcotic poisons like opium, morphine, belladonna, digitalis, poisonous mushrooms, ptomaine�s, alcohol, strychnine, etc., cause loss of consciousness, stertorous breathing, redness of the face, cramps, and delirium. If the victim of poisoning is unconscious, artificial respiration must be resorted to, and the neck, chest, and other parts of the body sprinkled with cold water. (See earlier part of the present section for details as to how artificial respiration is carried out.) A brisk, cold, salt-water rub is very efficacious in reviving the vital activities. As a stimulant, small doses of black coffee can be given.

Arsenic, phosphorus, Paris green, vitriol, carbolic acid, hydrochloric acid, and lye do not as a rule cause unconsciousness, but give rise to violent pains in the oesophagus, stomach, and abdomen, followed by choking and vomiting. Some of these poisons burn the lips, mouth, oesophagus, and stomach ; such burns may be treated with a solution of baking soda or powdered chalk. The treatment otherwise is the same as given for alkaline and acid poisoning. IN ALL CASES OF SERIOUS POISONING A DOCTOR SHOULD BE CALLED IN AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

Ptomaine poisoning results from eating putrefying or decayed meats, fish, cheese, ice-cream, or other animal food products. The usual symptoms are collapse, subnormal temperature, and pain in the digestive tract. Nature generally tries to remedy the trouble by vomiting and diarrhoea, and both these forms of natural elimination should be encouraged by the swallowing of large quantities of warm water, and by the administration of warm-water enemas.

The treatment for ptomaine poisoning is very much the same as for other forms of poisoning, and after the stomach and intestines have been cleansed as thoroughly as possible by the measures described in the previous paragraph, the patient should drink copious quantities of fresh water mixed with acid fruit juices. This is much better than the taking of poisonous antiseptics.

External poisoning, by means of plants such as the poison ivy, etc., should never be treated by suppressive drugs, but should be treated by the usual natural methods for inducing elimination through the skin and other organs of depuration. If possible, the sufferer should be thoroughly washed or scrubbed all over as soon as the presence of the poison on the skin has been detected. This will greatly lessen its harmful effects. If soap and water are not procurable for this, water only, or even sand or tufts of grass can be used for the purpose.

This thorough cleansing of the body should be followed by the administration of full body packs, repeated at frequent intervals, and by frequent cold ablutions. The packs and cold ablutions are the best means of allaying the intolerable itching and burning.

Here are some antidotes for acute poisoning:

By lead : magnesia, soda, or chalk water.

By phosphorous : thick liquid gum, white of egg, flour, bread, magnesia and cold water, for the purpose of enveloping and isolating the poisoning. Do not give milk or liquids containing alcohol or oily matter.

By caustic acids, such as sulphuric, muriatic, carbolic, or nitric acid : large quantities of soap, chalk, salt, lime water, or milk.

By copper and verdigris (frequently contracted through foods or drinks prepared in copper vessels or by drinks from soda-water fountains when the copper has become exposed through the wearing away of the zinc lining) : dilute white of egg, milk, water mixed with honey or sugar.

By iodine : starch or flour paste.

By nitrate of silver : strong salt-water solution, white of egg.

By oxalic acid : chalk or lime water.

By strychnine : meat burned to a cinder, decoction of acorn coffee, tan or gall-apple.

By arsenic : warm milk, sweetened water.

As regards a cure for seasickness, it may be said right away that there is none ; but the following directions have in many cases either prevented or greatly alleviated its symptoms :

Before embarking on a sea voyage it is best to have a fast for a day or two, using the enema to cleanse the bowels, and to live as closely as possible to a raw food diet when on board. This may be rather difficult in some cases, but the more the diet approximates to a fruit and salad diet, the better will it be. The heavy, rich, greasy foods served with such over-abundance on board ships undoubtedly has much to do with the bringing on of the gastric disturbance.

Much of the invigorating effects of a sea voyage are lost by the crass over-eating which takes place on such occasions, so that the adoption of a more or less simple raw food diet will add much to the health-giving effects of the trip in every way, besides doing a great deal to obviate the possibility of seasickness. Apart from dietetic measures, another most important point is to relax oneself as much as possible when on board. Many people involuntarily tense themselves against the rolling of the ship, and in this way bring on seasickness. If these people would make up their minds to RELAX as completely as possible, and let their bodies go with the movement of the ship, it is surprising what a difference that will make as regards liability to seasickness. (The same thing applies to train-sickness. If the sufferer will only let himself go with the vibration and movement of the train instead of tensing himself against it, he will find train-sickness soon becoming a thing of the past, in the great majority of cases.)

Treatment for shock should be the same as for Fainting given earlier in the present section. If there is haemorrhage, this should be treated in accordance with the instructions given under that heading. Where the trouble is due to emotional factors, cool behavior and reassuring suggestions are necessary to dispel fear, allay anxiety, etc.

If swelling or pain makes it impossible to remove parts of the clothing or shoes and stockings, these should be cut away with a sharp knife. It is not advisable to apply hot applications of any kind. Rest of the injured member is essential after the adjustment has been made.

The characteristic features of sunstroke are suddenness of onset, loss of consciousness, pallor, feeble pulse, and rapid failure of the heart and respiration. The condition may be a very serious one, and often terminates fatally, especially if treated along orthodox lines. Those addicted to the free use of alcohol are most likely to fall victims to sunstroke.

The patient should be quickly undressed and cold water poured all over his body, also over the head. This should be followed by brisk salt-water rubs. A cloth is wrung out in cold water in which common salt or Epsom salts has been placed (� lb. to a bowlful), and the body briskly rubbed all over with it. In place of salt-water rubs the patient may be wrapped in a wet sheet, which must be kept wet by pouring cold water over it from time to time. If collapse has taken place and vitality is very low, the patient must be put to bed and well covered with blankets, so as to produce a warm reaction.

The acute inflammatory toothache is best treated by retaining cold or cool water in the mouth until it warms up, when it should be spit out and replaced. At the same time cooling compresses or packs should be applied to the cheek on the affected side. Gentle massage of the lower head and neck will bring relief in some cases, and manipulative treatment is very beneficial too.

In the neuritic type of toothache there is no heat or swelling, but intense pain, and hot applications sometimes give more relief here than cold. A remedy worth trying if the former treatment fails to give relief, is partly to fill a muslin bag with hot salt�as hot as it can be borne and apply to the affected cheek, holding the bag in place with a bandage.

If toothache persists, a dentist should be seen as soon as possible. Never use pain-killers to deaden the pain of toothache or drugs of any kind. A general all-round scheme of health-building treatment, along Natural-Cure lines, is most beneficial in cases where toothache is of frequent occurrence, as it is a toxic condition of the system which is at the root of the trouble in such conditions, and systemic cleansing treatment is the surest method of getting rid of the trouble in a permanent way. In all cases where toothache is present, the patient should be fasted while the symptoms are severe.