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Fluid Flow in Fractured Rocks
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Robert W. Zimmerman and Adriana Paluszny
Fluid Flow in Fractured Rocks
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise,
except as permitted by law. Advice on how to obtain permission to reuse material from this title is available
at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions.
The right of Robert W. Zimmerman and Adriana Paluszny to be identified as the authors of this work has
been asserted in accordance with law.
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Contents
Preface ix
Author Biographies xi
About the Companion Website xiii
Preface
Several well-regarded books have been written over the years on fluid flow in porous
media and subsurface hydrology. However, it is now recognized that fractured rocks
are ubiquitous in the subsurface, and that several issues that arise during fluid flow and
transport through fractured rocks are distinct from their analogues in non-fractured porous
media. Moreover, flow and transport through fractured rocks are of great importance in
many technological areas, such as, for example, energy production from geothermal or
hydrocarbon reservoirs, subsurface nuclear waste disposal, carbon sequestration, and
contaminant remediation. Hence, there is a need for a monograph/textbook that provides
a thorough, rigorous, and authoritative introduction to this topic. Our aim in writing this
book has been to address this need.
This book was intended to be written in sufficient detail so as to provide a rigorous and
broad introduction to the field of fluid flow through fractured rocks. It is intended for read-
ers with interests in hydrogeology, hydrology, water resources, structural geology, reservoir
engineering, underground waste disposal, or other fields that involve the flow of fluids
through fractured rock masses. To the extent possible, the mathematical models developed
and discussed in the book are compared to experimental or field data or validated/tested
against numerical simulations. The book contains 157 individual figures, of which 39 are
either images of real fractures or contain actual laboratory or field data.
Chapter 1 introduces the geomechanical background to the nucleation and growth of
fractures in rock and the multi-scale characterization of their geometric traits, such as
aperture, length, roughness, and density. Chapter 2 provides a rigorous treatment of the
mathematics of fluid flow through a single rock fracture, starting with the Navier–Stokes
equations and carefully explaining the conditions under which these equations can be
replaced by the simpler Stokes equations or Reynolds lubrication equation. The effects
of normal and shear stresses on the transmissivity of a rock fracture are discussed in
Chapter 3. Chapter 4 discusses the effects of inertia on fluid flow through a fracture and the
resulting deviations from a Darcy-like linear relation between pressure drop and flowrate.
Some of the coupled thermal, hydraulic, mechanical, and chemical interactions that may
alter the transmissivity of a single fracture are described in Chapter 5. Chapter 6 introduces
the concept of solute transport through single fractures and presents some models for the
advection and dispersion of solutes.
Whereas most of the first six chapters focus on flow and transport through a single frac-
ture, the second half of the book focuses on the behavior of fracture networks and fractured
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x Preface
rock masses. Chapter 7 presents some analytical models for the macroscopic-scale perme-
ability of porous/fractured rocks. Chapter 8 discusses various approaches to the numerical
modeling of fluid flow through geologically realistic fracture networks and fractured rock
masses. Chapter 9 presents “dual-porosity” models for fractured-porous media, starting
from the classical model developed by Barenblatt and his collaborators. Chapter 10 then
gives a detailed treatment of the matrix block shape factors that are crucial ingredients
in dual-porosity models for both flow and transport. Various models for solute transport
through fracture networks and fractured rock masses, both “Fickian” and “non-Fickian,”
are discussed in Chapter 11. Finally, Chapter 12 briefly discusses two-phase flow in single
fractures and fractured rocks.
Although this book might be classified as a monograph, it is hoped that it can also serve
as a textbook for master’s-level or advanced undergraduate courses. For this purpose, sev-
eral problems have been given at the end of each chapter. Some of the problems ask for a
mathematical derivation of an equation that may have been presented in the text without
a detailed derivation. Other problems ask for analysis of data or further analysis and/or
application of some of the mathematical models presented in the book.
This book is intended to be self-contained. Most of the mathematical derivations are pre-
sented in sufficient detail so as not to require the reader to refer to the original sources.
Nevertheless, extensive reference is made to important papers, theses, and books that have
made contributions to the field and/or contain relevant information. The references in each
chapter have been collected at the end of that chapter rather than in a single reference list,
for the convenience of the reader.
Equations are numbered consecutively within each chapter, so that, for example,
“Eq. (5.7)” denotes the seventh equation in Chapter 5. Tables and figures are also numbered
in this same manner, i.e., numbering is not restarted within each section of a chapter. All
symbols and variables are defined in the text, as soon as they are first used. When a variable
is first defined, its “dimensions” are listed in brackets, in terms of the SI units that would
typically be used for that variable, rather than in terms of the “Mass-Length-Time” conven-
tion. Efforts have been made to adhere to a consistent nomenclature, sometimes at the cost
of not using the same notation as was used in the original sources of some of the equations.
The large number of variables mentioned in the book made it unavoidable that some letters
be used to denote different properties in different chapters. To avoid confusion, a single
List of Symbols has been included at the end of the book, which in particular explains the
meaning of those symbols that are used for different purposes in different chapters.
To aid in the use of this book as a textbook, all figures can be freely downloaded (see
‘About the Companion Page’ on page xiii). The authors welcome feedback from readers or
users of this book, including notification of any errors that may be detected.
Author Biographies
Robert W. Zimmerman earned BS and MS degrees from Columbia University and a PhD
from the University of California at Berkeley. He has been a staff scientist at the Lawrence
Berkeley National Laboratory, the Head of the Division of Engineering Geology and
Geophysics at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, and is currently a Professor
of Rock Mechanics at Imperial College in London. He has been the Editor-in-Chief
of the International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences since 2007 and is
co-author, with J.C. Jaeger and N.G.W. Cook, of Fundamentals of Rock Mechanics, 4th ed.
(Wiley-Blackwell, 2007).
Adriana Paluszny earned an Ing. degree cum laude in Computational Engineering from
Universidad Simón Bolívar in Caracas, Venezuela, and a PhD in Computational Geome-
chanics from Imperial College. She is an Associate Editor of the Journal of Geophysical
Research: Solid Earth, was the inaugural recipient of the Chin-Fu Tsang Coupled Processes
Award, and is the main developer of the Imperial College Geomechanics Toolkit. She is cur-
rently a Royal Society University Research Fellow, and a Reader in Computational Geome-
chanics at Imperial College in London.
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28 November 2023
London, UK
Adriana Paluszny
To my children
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xiii
www.wiley.com/go/zimmerman/fluidflowinfracturedrocks
This book is accompanied by a companion website.
(a) (b)
Figure 1.1 (a) Fractures at the centimeter and meter scales cross-cut each other to form complex
multi-scale patterns. (b) Fractures in limestone exposed in Somerset, UK.
in the past. Fractures can also be induced or enhanced to increase local fluid flow in order
to turn an otherwise impermeable rock into a permeable medium. Figure 1.1 shows some
examples of fractures that were formed due to folding of layered limestones off the coast of
Somerset, UK.
Isolating the behavior of fractures in a rock formation often represents a bounding
scenario for safety cases in evaluating the integrity of underground waste repositories.
In the field of geological carbon dioxide storage, for example, a project is commonly
considered unsafe if injection-induced overpressure may cause slip along fractures. In
geological nuclear waste disposal, the limiting case is often considered to be one in
which fluid flow occurs only within the connected system of fractures and whether the
ensuing radionuclide transport within this network exceeds some threshold. It follows that
fractures are a logical point at which to start investigations on the impact that human inter-
ference has on an embedded geological setting, in terms of its mechanical and hydraulic
properties.
Materials that are quasi-brittle, such as most rocks in the upper crust of the Earth, are
subjected to stresses resulting from gravity as well as a variety of local and regional stresses
such as tectonic stresses, burial, uplifting, and folding, along with chemical, thermal, and
fluid flow-related stresses. As a result, rocks deform in several stages. First, they develop
micro-cracks that occur on a small scale, often along the boundaries of individual grains of
a rock. These micro-cracks start to grow and form preferential paths which, when aligned,
become material flaws. Flaws induce stress concentrations at their tips, the leading edge
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1.2 Formation of Fractures in Rock 3
(a)
(b) (c)
(d)
Figure 1.2 Fractures at the centimeter and millimeter scales in (a) and (c) limestone and (b) shale,
respectively. The small fractures in (b) arise in one of the shale outcrops that cap the shallow Orcutt
oil field in California, USA. In (a) and (c), fractures are filled with calcite, and in (b), fractures are
tinted with naturally migrating hydrocarbon. The tracing of the fracture pattern in (c) for aperture
quantification is shown in (d).
of the shape of the fracture, causing them to grow and extend into other areas of the rock.
This self-organization occurs at larger and larger scales, up to the kilometer scale or larger.
During this process, micro-fractures continue to form at different scales around fracture
tips, as a result of stress field interactions, as well as other nonlocal chemical and thermal
processes. This results in fracture growth across multiple scales to accommodate the
ubiquitous deformation of the subsurface. Figure 1.2 shows several examples of interacting
fractures. In all of these cases, the fractures are filled with material that delineates their
shape, which is not always the case in the subsurface, but is convenient for visualization
and interpretation purposes.
During or after fracture growth, the opposing fracture walls can be displaced in relation
to one another. Under tension, fracture walls move directly apart (mode I), creating “thick-
ness” or “aperture.” Under shear (modes II and III), fracture walls slide against each other
in a direction perpendicular to or parallel to the tip of the crack, respectively. A specific case
of a displaced fracture is a “fault,” which exhibits relative displacement of its walls and can
appear under normal or shear deformation at scales that span from the centimeter up to
the kilometer scale (Gudmundsson, 2000).
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4 1 Genesis and Morphology of Fractures in Rock
Fractures localize across large scales, usually along a preferential plane, and eventually
link together to form larger features. From this moment onwards, stress is preferentially
concentrated at the tips of the newly formed high-aspect ratio fracture, and growth drives
the formation and linkage of larger discontinuities. As rocks are subjected to a variety of
mechanical, hydraulic, thermal, and chemical changes over millions of years, many of
these flaws form around pre-existing weaknesses in the matrix, pockets of low-integrity
rock matrix that have resulted from localized processes. Heterogeneities leading to
micro-fractures have been found to follow a Gaussian size distribution (Underwood, 1970),
and in brittle rocks, they often appear as thin, penny-shaped microcavities distributed
across the matrix (Herrmann, 1990).
Computerized tomography (CT) can reveal fractures with apertures up to five times
smaller than the resolution provided by a scanner (Fig. 1.3), due to the strong density
contrast between rock and gas/air. CT has been used to characterize micro-fracturing
(Cnudde and Boone, 2013) and can yield three-dimensional images of micro-fractures
embedded in porous rocks.
Many of the rocks in the upper crust, reaching a depth of around 50–70 km, are, in the
most general, informal sense, “rigid,” and are elasto-frictional, quasi-brittle materials.
A brittle rock subjected to stresses will undergo elastic deformation, but if the stress sur-
passes the “strength” of the rock, the rock will undergo irreversible, nonlinear deformation,
leading to the creation of fractures. Numerous failure criteria have been devised to describe
the triggering of fracturing due to stress concentrations, including Mohr–Coulomb (Jaeger
et al., 2007), Hoek–Brown (Hoek and Brown, 1980), Drucker–Prager (Drucker and Prager,
1952), Mogi (Mogi, 1971), and their generalizations, derivations, and combinations (Bigoni
and Piccolroaz, 2004). However, failure of a rock is rarely caused by the propagation of
a single crack; instead, it is triggered by the coalescence of multiple aligned cracks that
form during deformation (Hoek and Bieniawski, 1965). Furthermore, these types of failure
criteria, based on the “continuum” stresses that are implicitly averaged over lengths much
greater than those of individual pores or microcracks, cannot predict the complex crack
paths that originate during crack propagation due to interaction with neighboring cracks
(Brace and Bombolakis, 1963).
Failure of an initially intact, brittle material is usually a two-stage process that begins with
diffuse, inelastic degradation of the material, also known as “damage.” At a very small scale,
damage can result from dislocations in the matrix of a crystal, localizing into micro-cracks
within a grain of rock or between rock grains. Damage is followed by localization of the loss
2 mm
(a) (b)
Figure 1.3 Micro-CT image of a fractured sandstone in (a), from which fracture surface can be
extracted, as shown in (b), using standard segmentation techniques. Source: Iglauer et al. (2011) /
Reproduced from John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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16 1 Genesis and Morphology of Fractures in Rock
stochastic fracture networks is the speed at which two- and three-dimensional fracture
datasets can be generated. However, purely stochastic approaches necessarily make various
assumptions. For example, fractures are usually assumed to be planar, elliptically shaped,
stand-alone features, as opposed to free-form intersecting surfaces that form in nature.
Local boundary stresses, as determined by local fault and fracture interaction, are not
taken into account, although they are key to fracture pattern formation (Pollard and Aydin,
1988). Fracture data measured in a specific borehole or in a specific sample may not be
representative of the entire fractured rock mass.
Various alternatives coexist with the purely stochastic approach. For example, Srivastava
et al. (2005) developed a sophisticated data-informed geostatistical model that honors
geometric field data by pseudo-randomly growing cracks. Rives et al. (1994) devised
a set of rules to generate fracture sets based on probability and geological constraints,
including strain and curvature attributes. In contrast to statistic-based approaches, full
geomechanical modeling reconstructs the geometry of a system based on the analysis of
the events that formed it (Nelson, 2001). This approach seeks to reproduce topology and
connectivity of fracture networks, as well as fracture sizes, apertures, and patterns that
arise due to growth, interaction, and coalescence (Paluszny and Zimmerman, 2013).
Numerical codes attempt to reproduce the genesis of fracture patterns by modeling the
process by which stresses affect the geometry of fractures in a rock. Olson and Pollard (1989)
applied the boundary element method to numerically compute the energy release rates and
estimate growth of a set of straight cracks and curving fractures. Ingraffea and Saouma
(1985) introduced a finite element-based method for crack propagation. Belytschko and
Black (1999) developed the extended finite element method, in which cracks are tracked
independently of a discretizing mesh. Huang et al. (2003) demonstrated the applicability of
this method to the simultaneous growth of multiple cracks.
Previous studies have given rise to two main approaches for fracture analysis: discrete and
smeared, also known by the dichotomies of geometric/nongeometric, or grid/sub-grid. Both
approaches have a domain of application. Discrete modeling is appropriate for simulating
the growth of one or more dominant cracks, whereas the smeared approach is designed
to model diffuse cracking patterns that arise due to the heterogeneity of rocks and other
quasi-brittle materials (de Borst et al., 2004).
Discrete fracture networks are characterized using various concepts. The next sub-section
describes the techniques used to study spatial organization of the generated fractured rock
analogs.
559. She ought, after the lapse of an hour or two, to be moved from
one side of the bed to the other. It ought to be done in the most
tender and cautious manner. She must not, on any account
whatever, be allowed to sit erect in the bed. While being moved, she
herself should be passive—that is to say, she ought to use no
exertion, no effort, but should, by two attendants, be removed from
side to side; one must take hold of her shoulders, the other of her
hips.
560. A patient, after delivery, usually feels shivering and starved;
it will therefore be necessary to throw additional clothing, such as a
blanket or two, over her, which ought to envelop the body, and
should be well tucked around her; but the nurse ought to be careful
not to overload her with clothes, or it might produce flooding,
fainting, etc.; as soon, therefore, as she is warmer, let the extra
clothing be gradually removed. If the feet be cold, let them be
wrapped in a warm flannel petticoat, over which a pillow should be
placed.
561. A frequent change of linen after confinement is desirable.
Nothing is more conducive to health than cleanliness. Great care
should be taken to have the sheets and linen well aired.
REFRESHMENT.
POSITION.
570. The room to be kept cool and well ventilated.—A nurse is too
apt, after the confinement is over, to keep a large fire. Nothing is
more injurious than to have the temperature of a lying-in room high.
A little fire, provided the weather be cold, to dress the baby by, and
to encourage a circulation of the air, is desirable. A fire-guard ought
to be attached to the grate of the lying-in room. The door must
occasionally be left ajar, in order to change the air of the apartment;
a lying-in woman requires pure air as much as any other person; but
how frequently does the nurse fancy that it is dangerous for her to
breathe it!
571. After the affair is over, the blinds ought to be put down, and
the window curtains should be drawn, in order to induce the patient
to have a sleep, and thus to rest herself after her hard work. Perfect
stillness must reign both in the room and in the house.
572. It is really surprising, in this present enlightened age, how
much misconception and prejudice there still is among the
attendants of a lying-in room; they fancy labor to be a disease,
instead of being what it really is—a natural process; and that old-
fashioned notions, and not common sense, ought to guide them.
573. The patient should, after the labor, be strictly prohibited from
talking; and noisy conversation ought not to be allowed; indeed, she
cannot be kept too quiet, as she may then be induced to fall into a
sweet sleep, which would recruit her wasted strength. As soon as the
baby is washed and dressed, and the mother is made comfortable in
bed, the nurse ought alone to remain; let every one else be banished
the lying-in room. Visitors should on no account, until the medical
man gives permission, be allowed to see the patient.
THE BLADDER.
THE BOWELS.
To make a clyster.
Another capital enema for the purpose is one made of Castile soap
dissolved in warm water.
583. If the patient object both to the taking of the castor oil and to
the administration of an enema, then the following draught will be
found useful; it will act kindly, and will neither gripe the mother nor
the child:
Take of—Concentrated Essence of Senna, half an ounce;
Syrup of Ginger, one drachm;
Distilled Water, seven drachms:
DIETARY.
600. For the first day the diet should consist of nicely made and
well-boiled gruel, arrow-root and milk, bread and milk, tea, dry toast
and butter, or bread and butter; taking care not to overload the
stomach with too much fluid. Therefore, either a cupful of gruel, or of
arrow-root, or of tea, at a time, should not be exceeded, otherwise
the patient will feel oppressed; she will be liable to violent
perspiration, and there will be a too abundant secretion of milk.
601. For the next—the second day.—Breakfast,—either dry toast
and butter, or bread and butter, and black tea. Luncheon,—either a
breakfast-cupful of strong beef-tea,[107] or of bread and milk, or of
arrow-root made with good fresh milk. Dinner,—either chicken or
game, mashed potatoes, and bread. Tea, the same as for breakfast.
Supper,—a breakfast-cupful of well-boiled and well-made gruel,
made either with water or with fresh milk, or with water with a
tablespoonful of cream added to it.
602. If beef-tea and arrow-root and milk be distasteful to the
patient, or if they do not agree, then for luncheon let her have either
a light egg pudding or a little rice pudding instead of either the beef-
tea or the arrow-root.
603. On the third and fourth days.—Similar diet to the second
day, with this difference, that for her dinner the patient should have
mutton—either a mutton-chop or a cut out of a joint of mutton,
instead of the chicken or game. The diet ought gradually to be
improved, so that at the end of four days she should return to her
usual diet, provided it be plain, wholesome, and nourishing.
604. The above, for the generality of cases, is the scale of dietary;
but of course every lying-in woman ought not to be treated alike. If
she be weak and delicate, she may from the beginning require good
nourishment, and instead of giving her gruel, it may, from the very
commencement, be necessary to prescribe good strong beef-tea, veal-
and-milk broth,[108] chicken-broth, mutton-chops, grilled chicken,
game, the yelk and the white of an egg beaten up together in half a
teacupful of good fresh milk, etc. Common sense ought to guide us in
the treatment of a lying-in as of every other patient. We cannot treat
people by rule and compass; we must be guided by circumstances;
we can only lay down general rules. There is no universal guide, then,
to be followed in the dietary of a lying-in woman; each case may and
will demand separate treatment; a delicate woman, as I have just
remarked, may, from the very first day, require generous living;
while, on the other hand, a strong, robust, inflammatory patient
may, for the first few days, require only simple bland nourishment,
without a particle of stimulants. “And hence the true secret of
success rests in the use of common sense and discretion—common
sense to read nature aright, and discretion in making a right use of
what the dictates of nature prescribe.”[109]
BEVERAGE.
605. For the first week, either toast and water, or barley-water and
milk,[110] with the chill taken off, is the best beverage. Wine, spirits,
and beer, during this time, unless the patient be weak and exhausted,
or unless ordered by the medical man, ought not to be given. All
liquids given during this period should be administered by means of
a feeding-cup; this plan I strongly recommend, as it is both a comfort
and a benefit to the patient; it prevents her from sitting up in bed
every time she has to take fluids, and it keeps her perfectly still and
quiet, which, for the first week after confinement, is very desirable.
606. When she is weak, and faint, and low, it may, as early as the
first or second day, be necessary to give a stimulant, such as either a