sibilant sound will pierce his slumbers and awaken him.  Let all remarks be made in a low-pitched undertone.  Never, even at the risk of causing offence, allow discussion of any subject to occur in the presence of the invalid.  You may imagine that he does not mind it, that his mind will be diverted; but the argument ended, there may be noticed a flush on the cheek and a rapidity of breathing that bodes ill.  One admirable physician makes it a rule never to permit political or religious topics to be canvassed in the hearing of one of his “cases,” as a wide experience has taught him that such matters cannot be talked of without causing some degree of excitement, and thus retarding the patient’s progress on the road toward health.  For the same reason, try, by every effort, to keep your charge from thinking of work which should be done, and of any possible inconvenience he may be causing.  There never was, and never will be, a convenient time for a person to be ill, so, whenever it comes, resolve to make the best of it.  There is no greater cruelty than that of allowing a sick person to imagine that, but for his ill-timed indisposition, you might be able to go here or there, or to do this or that.  Under such an idea the couch becomes a bed of clipped horse-hairs to the helpless sufferer, and he feels himself to be a useless hulk.  This unkindness is oftentimes unintentional, and due more to thoughtlessness than to deliberate hard-heartedness.  To avoid causing such discomfort do not look worried or distracted while ministering to your patient’s wants, and do not fussily “fly around” in straightening and setting the room to rights.  Let everything be done decently and in order, rapidly and quietly.

Another desideratum of the chamber of illness is cleanliness in the minutest particular.  When the disease permits it, the sick person should be sponged all over daily, the teeth cleansed and the hair brushed.  Wash the face and hands often during the day, as this process rests and refreshes.

The same gown should not be worn day and night, and the sheets must be changed frequently.  If practicable, place a lounge at the side of the bed and lift or roll the patient off upon that, and turn mattresses and beat up pillows before re-making the bed.  If this cannot be done with safety, the sheets may be removed, and others adjusted, simply by moving the invalid from one side to the other of the bed, rolling up the soiled sheet closely to the body, and spreading on the clean one in its place.  Then the patient may be moved back to his original place, and the fresh sheet spread on the other side of the couch.

Air the room often, covering the patient warmly for a moment while you let in a sluice of ozone.  Do not allow the chamber to become overheated, or to grow so cold as to chill the hands and face.  The sick person may wear over the shoulders a flannel “nightingale” or jacket, to leave the arms at liberty.