e boiled. The water in which they have been steeped will be greenish
with bad juice, and must be thrown away, and the roots boiled in fresh
water as usual, giving a thorough _drying_ after the boiling water is
poured or strained off. So prepared, the potatoes make a very
digestible dish.

Poultice, Bran.--_See_ Bran Poultice.

Prostration, Nervous.--The various articles under Nerves and
Nervousness should be read. Here we give simply the treatment for
failure in the digestion and bowel action. This arises from failure in
the great nerve centres near the middle of the body. External treatment
may be given as follows:--Dip a cotton cloth, four-ply thick, and large
enough to cover the stomach and bowels, into cayenne Lotion (_see_),
and lightly wring it. Lay this gently over the stomach and bowels. Over
this an india-rubber bag of hot water is laid. Take care that the heat
is not _too great_ or the mixture _too strong_. All must be just hot
enough to be comfortable. This application may remain on for two hours,
and then be repeated. The cayenne is greatly to be preferred to mustard
for many reasons. Give the most easily assimilated food possible. A
teaspoonful of gruel each half-hour, increased to a dessertspoonful, if
the digestion will bear it, and preceded in all cases by a
tablespoonful of hot water. This should be continued for twenty-four
hours. Proceed very cautiously then to increase the nourishment, on the
lines of Assimilation, Diet, Digestion, etc., giving oatmeal jelly,
wheaten porridge, Saltcoats biscuits, and such diet, _gradually_
bringing the patient back to ordinary food.

Pulse, Counting the.--Most valuable information as to the nature and
progress of disease is derivable from the pulse. Every one should learn
to count it, and to distinguish the broad differences in the rapidity
and nature of the beat. Such a distinction as that between BRONCHITIS
and ASTHMA (_see these articles_), which require almost directly
opposite treatment, is at once discerned from the pulse. In bronchitis
it beats much too quickly, in asthma it is natural or too slow. In many
cases we have seen asthma, which in cough and spit is very like
bronchitis, treated as bronchitis, with bad results. These would all
have been avoided if the pulse had been intelligently counted. Count
the pulse, if at all possible, for _half-a-minute_. This multiplied by
two will give the rate per minute, by which it is judged. If this rate
per min