ood fresh buttermilk. All alcoholic
drinks are damaging in a high degree in such an illness as this. Sweet
milk, if somewhat diluted with good water, will do, but there is
nothing so good as the buttermilk fresh from the churn.

Absolute rest in bed is necessary, and no solid food should be given to
the patient until his temperature has been ten days at normal point.
All food given in the illness should be liquid enough to pass through
the meshes of a milk strainer. Care should be taken in this matter, as
death has often followed the taking of solid food, when otherwise
recovery would have come.

Milk should always form the largest portion of the diet, and may be
given with arrowroot or oatflour. Beef tea is of little use, and is
always to be avoided if there is a tendency to diarrhoea. Plenty of
cold water may always be given.

In a community which is visited by gastric fever as an epidemic this
fact is striking--only a portion of the people are affected by the
visitation. Here is one man who drinks the water which gives gastric
fever to another; that water goes into his stomach as it does into that
of his neighbour, and passes through his system the same, yet death is
the result in one case, and not even sickness or inconvenience in the
other. In the latter case the system has the power of resistance, and
our aim should be to increase this. Therefore we say by all means look
to the healthful state of the lungs and bowels when you have the least
reason to fear that bad water may bring gastric fever to you or yours.
If there is any tendency to constipation get some liquorice, and boil
it thoroughly with about half an ounce of senna leaves to a twopenny
stick. Strain well, and let all in any danger have a teaspoonful of
this thrice a day. It will do wonders in keeping matters in a good
state within. If possible, give a good rubbing all over once a week
with hot vinegar, and follow that up with warm olive oil. That will do
a great deal to keep things right outside. Take and give more rest than
usual to the toil-worn when such danger is near, and have as good food
provided for all as is possible. There may be danger in the air, and
still worse danger in the water to those whose vital force has got low,
while there is none in either to those whose systems are in good tune.

You are, perhaps, ready to ask if we care nothing about bad water?
Certainly; we care a great deal about it, as we do about bad air. By
all means co