If the patient must be fed with a spoon care should be taken that the liquid is not too hot, but the attendant should not blow upon it to cool it. It should be given from the point of a spoon placed at right angles to the lips, and plenty of time between mouthfuls should be allowed. A swallow should not be given at the moment when the patient is drawing the breath in. Great patience is required if a helpless person is to be fed acceptably. The attendant should sit by the bedside rather than stand, should present at least the appearance of having unlimited time, and should endeavor not to deprive the patient in any way of the satisfaction he may derive from his nourishment. EXERCISES 1. What needs of the body do food substances supply? 2. Give an outline of the digestive process. 3. Describe the effect of different mental states upon digestion, and give examples of the ways by which a knowledge of these effects may be utilized in feeding patients. 4. Why is the problem of nourishing the body of especial importance in sickness? 5. Name the four ordinary classes of diet for the sick, and mention all the articles you can belonging to each class. 6. Why is constipation a common ailment among patients confined to bed, and what attempts should be made to overcome it by the diet? 7. Why is it necessary for sick persons to drink water freely, and what efforts should the attendant make to encourage them to do so? 8. Describe the proper serving of a patient's tray. 9. How should helpless patients be assisted to eat? FOR FURTHER READING Health and Disease--Roger I. Lee, Chapter II. The Human Mechanism--Hough and Sedgwick, Chapters VIII, XIII, XIX. Notes on Nursing--Florence Nightingale, Pages 63-79. How to Live--Fisher and Fisk, Chapter II. Bodily Changes in Pain, Hunger, Fear and Rage--Cannon, Chapter I. Food for the Invalid and the Convalescent--Winifred S. Gibbs. Practical Dietetics--Pattee, Chapters IV, V. Feeding the Family--Rose. Diet in Health and Disease--Friedenwald and Ruhrah. Feeding Children from Two to Seven Years Old--New York City Department of Health. American Red Cross Text Book on Home Dietetics--Ada Z. Fish. Emergency Cooking--Pamphlet 708, American Red Cross. War Diet in the Home--Pamphlet 706, American Red Cross. Red Cross Conservation Food Course for Children and Special Classes--Pamphlet 705, American Red Cross. CHAPTER X MEDICINES AND OTHER REMEDIES ACTION OF DRUGS.--Modern medical practice increasingly emphasizes diet, baths, exercises, and other hygienic measures in the treatment of sickness. Drugs are given far less than they were a generation ago; yet medicines are still the most familiar of all remedies, and the most abused by those who persist in treating themselves. Misuse of medicine even by intelligent people is astonishingly common.