QUAINT “ CURES ” FOR SEASICKNESS.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 3351, 18 October 1911, Page 8

QUAINT “ CURES ” FOR SEASICKNESS.

a - great, many., preventives of sea-sickness, and very weird some of them are. It is difficult to imagine a person in the throes of mal-de-mer calling for petrol to ease his suffering, yet petrol—in powder, not as a liquid • —has been suggested as an infallible cure. Triturated petrol, the powder question, is not so difficult to take as petrol itself would be, but most people prefer sea-sickness. WANTS IT CHEAP. Some of the “cures” are very ingenious. A French physician puts forward the theory that sea-sickness is due to a lack of pure air, and recommends oxygen to relieve the breathing of the sufferer. As, however, the seasick one has to pump thirty to forty pints of pure oxygen into him to get. the fuLl benefit of this dee-tor’s cure, this scheme is not likely to please the average traveller, who wants something cheap and compact. Another gentleman, an Italian Ambassador, believes in placing a mirror before his bed, and in gazing steadily at his reflection. In hi* ca*e this strange remedy certainly gives relief, but it is hardly likely to apply to invalids in general. ONLY IMAGINATION. A well-known foreign gentleman has another theory.. In his opinion it is best for the sufferer to shut his eyes and forget the sea and every evil connected with it. Unfortunately, an attack of sea-sickness is not so easy to forget. - * One other peculiar cure recently put forward by a doctor advises travellers to eat very' heartily both before and on their travels. Lack of confidence in his opinion is the real cause of sea- j I sickness. People imagine they are go- j i ing to be sick, and get so resigned to! their lot that if they are not sea-sick ] they are quite disappointed. j A Christian scientist has suggested the; repetition of a--formula, such as, j There is no sea-sickness. It’s only my imagination. I wonder what’s for j dinner. The writer, having crossed the Channel recently, has to disagree very strongly with this “cure.” RED SPECTACLES. “When sea-sick drink hot tea and ’ wear red spectacles,” advises a Con-1 tinental doctor, who has decided that j soa-sickness is due to a lack of blood j supply to the brain. This “cure” certainly causes the blood to rush to the! head, but red spectacles are bad for I the eyes, and there are other draw- * backs to this wonderful idea. j “After a good dose of saline, procure j a long strip of flannel and wrap it tightly round the stomach,” suggests another medical man. Exactly how this is going to prevent sea-sickness he doesn’t explain, but is is certainly a novel idea. Of course, there are nu-

merous patent medicines, and these undoubtedly give relief in individual cases; but an absolutely infallible cure that will satisfy everybody has yet to be found.

Aerated waters are very good, - and champagne usually gives wonderful relief. Sufferers should also diet very carefully before taking a sea-trip.