Physicians’ treatment for lungs.—­The home treatment should be to put the patient to bed and try to produce sweating.  This will cause the blood to leave the congested lung and return to the full regular circulation.  By doing this, you not only relieve the congested lung, but also the pain.  If the patient is stout and strong, give him the “corn sweat” under La Grippe (see index); or you can put bottles of hot water about the patient.  Use fruit jars, wrap cloths around them so that you will not burn the patient.  Always put one to the feet.  If you have a rubber water bag, fill that and put it to his affected side over the pain.  After you get him into a sweat you can remove a little, of the sweating remedy at a time and when all are removed give him a tepid water sponging.  By this time the physician will be at hand.  If you give medicine you can put fifteen drops of the Tincture of Aconite in a glass one-half full of water and give two teaspoonfuls of this every fifteen minutes for four doses.  Then give it every one-half hour.  Water can be given often, but in small quantities; plain milk alone, or diluted, or beaten with eggs will make a good diet and keep up the strength.

Fomentations.—­Cloths wrung out of hot hop tea are often applied to the affected part with good effect.  Be careful about wetting the patient.  Flaxseed poultices are used.

If used they must be moist and hot.  Some doctors are opposed to them.  An antiphlogistine poultice is good.  Apply it hot.  For children you can grease the whole side of the chest, back and front, with camphor and lard and put over that an absorbent cotton jacket.  In the early life of the country, home treatment was necessary.  Men and women were posted on herbs, etc.  Teas made of them were freely and successfully used.  A great mistake made was the indiscriminate use of lobelia in too large doses.  We have learned that the hot herb drinks in proper doses are of help.  Teas made of boneset, hoarhound, pennyroyal, ginger, catnip, hops, slippery elm, etc., were good and are now.  They produced the desired result—­sweating—­and relieved the congestion of the internal organs and re-established the external or (peripheral) circulation.  So in the home treatment of pneumonia, etc., if you are so situated that you cannot get a physician use teas internally for sweating, fomentations upon the painful part and if done properly and not too excessively, they will accomplish the desired result.  With the corn sweat, I have saved many lives.

Erysipelas.—­Erysipelas is an infectious disease, and it is usually caused by a germ which we call “streptococcus pyogenes.”  The disease shows itself by its local symptoms, pain, swelling, etc., and also by general or constitutional symptoms such as fever, headache, etc., as hereafter given.

Causes.—­It is a disease that occurs at any time, and is sometimes epidemic, that is, attacks many persons at a time, like La Grippe.  It occurs more often in the spring; it is contagious, and can be carried by a third person or in bedding, etc.