y the taking
of irritant or corrosive drugs.

Gastric indigestion causes sudden, repeated vomiting, with prostration
and occasional fever. It is caused by unsuitable food, the wrong
quantity of food, irregular feeding, and food the quality of which is
not good.

Treatment.--The stomach should be immediately washed out. Until the
physician arrives the mother can encourage the child to drink a large
quantity of cool boiled water. This will be vomited and it will wash out
the stomach at the same time. No further treatment may be necessary, as
the vomiting may stop. All food should be withheld for at least
twenty-four hours. A high rectal irrigation should now be given. It is
essential to know that the bowel is absolutely clean in all vomiting
cases. The normal salt solution is the best agent to use for a high
enema in infants. (See page 586.)

After twelve or twenty-four hours' abstinence from food, the child can
be given teaspoonful doses every twenty minutes of cooled boiled water,
or barley or albumen water, weak tea, or chicken broth. Cold liquids are
better retained and more readily taken than those that are heated. If
the liquid feedings are vomited, another twelve hours must elapse before
trying stomach feedings. In these cases we must try to satisfy the
thirst by giving cold colon flushings. If the case becomes protracted
and we find it impossible to nourish the child by the mouth, we must
wash the stomach out once every day with a five per cent. solution of
bicarbonate of soda, and feed the child by the rectum. Sometimes we can
feed through the stomach tube. Liquids will frequently be retained when
put into the stomach through a tube when they will be vomited if
swallowed.

The best food by the rectum is plain peptonized milk.

Drugs are absolutely useless. If the vomiting persists, despite the
above efforts to stop it, there is nothing to be gained by
experimenting. You will not only render the condition worse but you will
weaken the child. Morphine given hypodermatically is the only remedy.
Given in appropriate doses, according to age, it is absolutely harmless.
It will not only stop the vomiting, but it will give the child a
much-needed rest, by allowing it to go to sleep. When it wakes up it
will be stronger and its stomach will most likely retain small doses of
nourishment.

Great care must be exercised, in getting the child back on a normal
diet, not to try to go too fast.

In cases of persistent v