ics.

We sometimes see distressing complications with mumps. In boys,
orchitis, or inflammation of the testicles, occasionally occur. In
girls, ovaritis, or inflammation of the ovaries may be present. These
complications may be avoided by keeping the patients in bed.

Treatment.--Keep the child in bed until the fever is gone. Keep him
in the house for one week after the swelling has entirely subsided. He
should be put on a liquid diet while the fever lasts. The bowels should
move each day.

The mouth should be kept clean by an antiseptic mouth wash. If there is
much pain in the swollen gland, warm, wet dressings give the best
results. Sometimes it is advisable to paint the gland with belladonna
ointment. If it is not very painful, the most comfortable way to dress
the gland is simply to place over it a large pad of absorbent cotton
held in place by a broad strip of flannel cloth.

CHICKEN POX. VARICELLA

Chicken pox is an affection almost entirely special to children, in whom
it may be observed from their first year, although it is especially
frequent from the ages of two to six. It appears often in the epidemical
form and spreads by contagion.

Some doctors are inclined to regard varicella as a very attenuated form
of smallpox, hence the name "chicken pox," by which it is popularly
known. This opinion is based merely on the analogy between the two types
of skin eruptions and the coincidence sometimes observed between two
epidemics of smallpox and chicken pox. But the theory falls on
considering that, on the one hand, chicken pox offers no safeguard
against infection by smallpox and does not prevent the effects of
vaccination, and, on the other hand the disease may occur in children
who have been vaccinated or who have had smallpox. Chicken pox, too,
differs essentially from smallpox in the course of its development.

After a period of incubation, extending over a fortnight, chicken pox
becomes apparent by such symptoms as slight shivering, extreme fatigue
and a general but not very intense condition of fever. In less than
twenty-four hours small pink spots will appear on the skin, and these
after a few hours are topped by a vesicle, and the next day the whole
rash shows a vesiculous appearance.

The vesicles are sometimes small and pointed, sometimes more voluminous
and globular in form. They are filled with a limpid or a slightly
yellowish liquid. Their base is sometimes surrounded by an inflammatory
ring.