MEDICINE.——If the patient be young, of a full sanguine habit, and complains of pain in the right side about the region of the liver, bleeding will be necessary. After this a vomit must be administered, and if the disease proves obstinate, it may be repeated once or twice. No medicines are more beneficial in the jaundice than vomits, especially where it is not attended with inflammation. Half a drachm of ipecacuanha in powder will be a sufficient dose for an adult. It may be wrought off with weak camomile-tea, or lukewarm water. The body must likewise be kept open by taking a sufficient quantity of Castile soap, or the pills for the jaundice recommended in the Appendix. Fomenting the parts about the region of the stomach and liver, and rubbing them with a warm hand or flesh-brush, are likewise beneficial; but it is still more so for the patient to sit in a bath of warm water up to the breast. He ought to do this frequently, and should continue in it as long as his strength will permit. Many dirty things are recommended for the cure of the jaundice; as lice, millepedes, &c. But these do more harm than good, as people trust to them, and neglect more valuable medicines; besides, they are seldom taken in sufficient quantity to produce any effects. People always expect that such _things_ should act as charms, and consequently seldom persist in the use of them. Vomits, purges, fomentations, and exercise, will seldom fail to cure the jaundice when it is a simple disease; and when complicated with the dropsy, a scirrhous liver, or other chronic complaints, it is hardly to be cured by any means. Numberless British herbs are extolled for the cure of this disease. The author of the _Medicina Britannica_ mentions near a hundred, all famous for curing the jaundice. The fact is, the disease often goes off of its own accord; in which case the last medicine is always said to have performed the cure. I have sometimes however seen considerable benefit, in a very obstinate jaundice, from a decoction of hempseed. Four ounces of the seed may be boiled in two English quarts of ale, and sweetened with coarse sugar. The dose is half an English pint every morning. It may be continued for eight or nine days. I have likewise known Harrowgate sulphur-water cure a jaundice of very long standing. It should be used for some weeks, and the patient must both drink and bathe. The soluble tartar is a very proper medicine in the jaundice. A drachm of it may be taken every night and morning in a cup of tea or water-gruel. If it does not open the body, the dose may be increased. Persons subject to the jaundice ought to take as much exercise as possible, and to avoid all heating and astringent aliments. CHAP. XXXVII. OF THE DROPSY.