Most scrupulous care should be taken in regard to cleanliness and neatness in every detail. Old pieces of linen, cheese-cloth, paper napkins, should be used wherever convenient or necessary and then at once burnt. All soiled clothing that cannot well be burnt should be put to soak at once in disinfectants, and afterward boiled apart from the family wash. Dishes and all utensils should be kept scrupulously clean by frequent boiling. For the bed and person old and worn articles of clothing that can be destroyed should be worn so far as possible. During convalescence, or when ready to leave isolation, the patient should be thoroughly bathed in water properly disinfected, the hair and nails especially being carefully treated. Many details of the after treatment depend upon the special disease, as the rubbing of the body with carbolized vaseline after scarlet fever, the care of the eyes after measles, and other particulars of which space does not admit mention here. Poisons and Their Antidotes. 390. Poisons. A poison is a substance which, if taken into the system in sufficient amounts, will cause serious trouble or death. For convenience poisons may be divided into two classes, irritants and narcotics. The effects of irritant poisons are evident immediately after being taken. They burn and corrode the skin or membrane or other parts with which they come in contact. There are burning pains in the mouth, throat, stomach, and abdomen, with nausea and vomiting. A certain amount of faintness and shock is also present. With narcotic poisoning, the symptoms come on more slowly. After a time there is drowsiness, which gradually increases until there is a profound sleep or stupor, from which the patient can be aroused only with great difficulty. There are some substances which possess both the irritant and narcotic properties and in which the symptoms are of a mixed character. 391. Treatment of Poisoning. An antidote is a substance which will either combine with a poison to render it harmless, or which will have a directly opposite effect upon the body, thus neutralizing the effect of the poison. Hence in treatment of poisoning the first thing to do, if you know the special poison, is to give its antidote at once. If the poison is unknown, and there is any delay in obtaining the antidote, the first thing to do is to remove the poison from the stomach. Therefore cause vomiting as quickly as possible. This may be done by an emetic given as follows: Stir a tablespoonful of mustard or of common salt in a glass of warm water and make the patient swallow the whole. It will usually be vomited in a few moments. If mustard or salt is not at hand, compel the patient to drink lukewarm water very freely until vomiting occurs.