eruption.  Nothing can be more injurious than such remedies, for generally the disappearance of the rash will be dependent upon the existence of some internal inflammation, or of too high a fever; for the removal of which the medical man ought to be instantly applied to.  Sometimes, however, it may be fairly traced to a careless exposure to cold:  under such circumstances the child should be instantly, and without hesitation, put into the warm bath.

Measles are frequently followed by cough, and deranged bowels; and there is always great susceptibility about the child for some time.  On this account he should be carefully screened from a cold or damp atmosphere; the diet should be carefully regulated; and flannel worn next to the skin.  If the cough should continue, it must not be neglected on the supposition that it will wear off; for it demands the skilful and careful attention of the medical man.

In conclusion, it may be remarked that very frequently during infancy and childhood, and particularly during the period of teething, eruptions very similar in appearance to this disease occur; unless, however, they are accompanied by the specific fever, and run the regular course, they may at once be decided upon as not being the measles.

Sect.  VII.—­Small-pox.

This disease, the most dreaded of all eruptive fevers, is not so commonly met with in the present day as formerly; thanks to that Providence which led to the discovery of Jenner.  But although its occurrence is not so frequent, it still does occasionally present itself; when it will assume either a mild or severe form.  If it attack a child that has not previously been vaccinated, it is called natural small-pox; and the chances are that the disorder will be severe in character;—­if, on the other hand, it occur in the vaccinated, the disease will generally be much modified in its symptoms; the attack will be mild, and without danger.

Natural small-pox.—­The infection of small-pox having been received into the system of a child that has not been vaccinated, fourteen days (on an average) will transpire before the commencement of the febrile symptoms, or eruptive fever.  A distinct rigor or shivering fit then takes place, accompanied by pain in the back or in the stomach, with sickness, giddiness, or headach; as also great drowsiness.  And if an infant be the subject of the disease, a convulsive fit will sometimes take place, or several in succession.

At the end of eight-and-forty hours from the occurrence of the rigor (in the majority of cases), the eruption comes out; and shows itself first on the face and neck in minute flea-bite spots.  In the course of the next four-and-twenty hours in some cases, and in others not until the expiration of two or three days, it completely covers the body; not being confined exclusively to the skin, but frequently extending to the mouth and throat, and even to the external membrane of the eye.