Jasper Republican, Volume 1, Number 22, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 February 1875 — Anointing For Scarlet Fever. [ARTICLE]

Anointing For Scarlet Fever.

Upon the recommendation of Scheeman, the anointing of the body with fat has been extensively practiced in Germany during the past ten years, with the view of lowering the temperature and hastening the desquamation. Dr. Bayles suggests, in this connection, the employment of cocoa butter, as producing a more cooling and refreshing effect upon the patient, and emitting a more agreeable odor in the sick chamber. This agent, on account of its solid consistence, is more readily applied than either fat or oil, and is more easily absorbed by the skin. Furthermore, it is thought to afford the system a certain amount of nourishment.

In severe fevers the entire surface of the body should be rubbed with this substance every hour, or least once every four hours. Its application is also recommended in typhoid fever, in cases where the patients manifest a dread of water, or where the application of water is impossible; likewise iff other inflammatory diseases, especially the severer forms of inflammatory rheumatism and tuberculosis.— Herald of Health. Some years ago an acquaintance of ours had several children very sick with scarlet fever. After their recovery he communicated his recipe, which was published at the time in this paper; he had kept his little patients well anointed with the rind of smoked hams. He believed his treatment to have saved his children, and we remember to have received at the time a number of letters ’from persons who had practiced the method after our publication, commending the ham remedy as important to the community. —Scientific American.