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Title: Avis au peuple sur sa santé. English - Advice to the people in general, with regard to their health
Author: Tissot, S. A. D. (Samuel Auguste David), 1728-1797
Language: English
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Advice to the people
_ADVICE_
__to the__
_PEOPLE_ in __General__,
__with__
Regard to their __Health__:
But more particularly calculated for those, who, by their Distance from
regular Physicians, or other very experienced Practitioners, are the
most unlikely to be seasonably provided with the best Advice and
Assistance, in acute Diseases, or upon any sudden inward or outward
Accident.
_WITH_
A Table of the most cheap, yet effectual Remedies, and the plainest
Directions for preparing them readily.
Translated from the _French_ Edition of
Dr. __Tissot's__ _Avis au Peuple_, &c.
Printed at _Lyons_; with all his own Notes; a few of his medical
Editor's at _Lyons_; and several occasional Notes, adapted to this
_English_ Translation,
By J. _Kirkpatrick_, M. D.
_In the Multitude of the People is the Honour of a King; and for
the Want of People cometh the Destruction of the Prince._
Proverbs xiv, 28.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
__LONDON:__
Printed for T. _Becket_ and P. A. _De Hondt_, at _Tully's_ Head, near
_Surry-Street_, in the _Strand_.
M DCC LXV.
_the Translator's_ PREFACE.
Though the great Utility of those medical Directions, with which the
following Treatise is thoroughly replenished, will be sufficiently
evident to every plain and sensible Peruser of it; and the extraordinary
Reception of it on the Continent is recited in the very worthy Author's
Preface; yet something, it should seem, may be pertinently added, with
Regard to this Translation of it, by a Person who has been strictly
attentive to the Original: a Work, whose Purpose was truly necessary and
benevolent; as the Execution of it, altogether, is very happily
accomplished.
It will be self evident, I apprehend, to every excellent Physician, that
a radical Knowledge of the Principles, and much Experience in the
Exercise, of their Profession, were necessary to accommodate such a Work
to the Comprehension of those, for whom it was more particularly
calculated. Such Gentlemen must observe, that the certain Axiom of
_Nature's curing Diseases_, which is equally true in our Day, as it was
in that of _Hippocrates_, so habitually animates this Treatise, as not
to require the least particular Reference. This _Hippocratic_ Truth as
certain (though much less subject to general Observation) as that
Disease, or Age, is finally prevalent over all sublunary Life, the most
attentive Physicians discern the soonest, the most ingenuous readily
confess: and hence springs that wholesome Zeal and Severity, with which
Dr. _Tissot_ encounters such Prejudices of poor illiterate Persons, as
either oppose, or very ignorantly precipitate, her Operations, in her
Attainment of Health. These Prejudices indeed may seem, from this Work,
to be still greater, and perhaps grosser too, in _Swisserland_ than
among ourselves; though it is certain there is but too much Room for the
Application of his salutary Cautions and Directions, even in this
Capital; and doubtless abundantly more at great Distances from it. It
may be very justly supposed, for _one_ Instance, that in most of those
Cases in the Small Pocks, in which the Mother undertakes the Cure of her
Child, or confides it to a Nurse, that Saffron, in a greater or less
Quantity, and Sack or Mountain Whey, are generally still used in the
Sickening before Eruption; to accelerate that very Eruption, whose
gradual Appearance, about the fourth Day, from that of Seizure
inclusive, is so favourable and promising to the Patient; and the
Precipitation of which is often so highly pernicious to them. Most of,
or rather all, his other Cautions and Corrections seem equally necessary
here, as often as the Sick are similarly circumstanced, under the
different acute Diseases in which he enjoins them.
Without the least Detraction however from this excellent Physician, it
may be admitted that a few others, in many other Countries, might have
sufficient Abilities and Experience for the Production of a like Work,
on the same good Plan. This, we find, Dr. _Hirzel_, principal Physician
of _Zurich_, had in Meditation, when the present Treatise appeared,
which he thought had so thoroughly fulfilled his own Intention, that it
prevented his attempting to execute it. But the great Difficulty
consisted in discovering a Physician, who, with equal Abilities,
Reputation and Practice, should be qualified with that _much rarer_
Qualification of caring so much more for the Health of those, who could
never pay him for it, than for his own Profit or Ease, as to determine
him to project and to accomplish so necessary, and yet so self-denying,
a Work. For as the Simplicity he proposed in the Style and Manner of it,
by condescending, in the plainest Terms, to the humblest Capacities,
obliged him to depress himself, by writing rather beneath the former
Treatises, which had acquired him the Reputation of medical Erudition,
Reasoning and Elegance; we find that the Love of Fame itself, so
stimulating even to many ingenuous Minds, was as impotent as that of
Wealth, to seduce him from so benign, so generous a Purpose. Though,
upon Reflection, it is by no Means strange to see wise Men found their
Happiness, which all [however variously and even oppositely] pursue,
rather in Conscience, than on Applause; and this naturally reminds us of
that celebrated Expression of _Cato_, or some other excellent Ancient,
"that he had rather _be_ good, than _be reputed_ so."
However singular such a Determination may now appear, the Number of
reputable medical Translators into different Languages, which this
original Work has employed on the Continent, makes it evident, that real
Merit will, sooner or later, have a pretty general Influence; and induce
many to imitate that Example, which they either could not, or did not,
propose. As the truly modest Author has professedly disclaimed all
Applause on the Performance, and contented himself with hoping an
Exemption from Censure, through his Readers' Reflection on the peculiar
Circumstances and Address of it; well may his best, his faithfullest
Translators, whose Merit and Pains must be of a very secondary Degree to
his own, be satisfied with a similar Exemption: especially when joined
to the Pleasure, that must result from a Consciousness of having
endeavoured to extend the Benefits of their Author's Treatise, to
Multitudes of their own Country and Language.
For my own Particular, when after reading the Introduction to the Work,
and much of the Sequel, I had determined to translate it; to be as just
as possible to the Author, and to his _English_ Readers, I determined
not to interpolate any Sentiment of my own into the Text, nor to omit
one Sentence of the Original, which, besides its being _Detraction_ in
its literal Sense, I thought might imply it in its worst, its figurative
one; for which there was no Room. To conform as fully as possible to the
Plainness and Perspicuity he proposed, I have been pretty often obliged
in the anatomical Names of some Parts, and sometimes of the Symptoms, as
well as in some pretty familiar, though not entirely popular Words, to
explain all such by the most common Words I have heard used for them; as
after mentioning the _Diaphragm_, to add, or _Midriff_--the
_Trachæa_--or _Windpipe_--_acrimonious_, or _very sharp_, and so of many
others. This may a little, though but a little, have extended the
Translation beyond the Original; as the great Affinity between the
_French_ and _Latin_, and between the former and many _Latin_ Words
borrowed from the _Greek_, generally makes the same anatomical or
medical Term, that is technical with us, vernacular or common with them.
But this unavoidable Tautology, which may be irksome to many Ears, those
medical Readers, for whom it was not intended, will readily forgive,
from a Consideration of the general Address of the Work: while they
reflect that meer Style, if thoroughly intelligible, is least essential
to those Books, which wholly consist of very useful, and generally
interesting, Matter.
As many of the Notes of the Editor of _Lyons_, as I have retained in
this Version (having translated from the Edition of _Lyons_) are
subscribed _E. L._ I have dispensed with several, some, as evidently
less within Dr. _Tissot's_ Plan, from tending to theorize, however
justly or practically, where he must have had his own Reasons for
omitting to theorize: a few others, as manifestly needless, from what
the Author had either premised, or speedily subjoined, on the very same
Circumstance: besides a very few, from their local Confinement to the
Practice at _Lyons_, which lies in a Climate somewhat more different
from our own than that of _Lausanne_. It is probable nevertheless, I
have retained a few more than were necessary in a professed Translation
of the original Work: but wherever I have done this, I have generally
subjoined my Motive for it; of whatever Consequence that may appear to
the Reader. I have retained all the Author's own Notes, with his Name
annexed to them; or if ever the Annotator was uncertain to me, I have
declared whose Note I supposed it to be.
Such as I have added from my own Experience or Observation are
subscribed _K_, to distinguish them from the others; and that the
Demerit of any of them may neither be imputed to the learned Author, nor
to his Editor. Their principal Recommendation, or Apology is, that
whatever Facts I have mentioned are certainly true. I have endeavoured
to be temperate in their Number and Length, and to imitate that strict
Pertinence, which prevails throughout the Author's Work. If any may have
ever condescended to consider my Way of writing, they will conceive this
Restraint has cost me at least as much Pains, as a further Indulgence of
my own Conceptions could have done. The few Prescriptions I have
included in some of them, have been so conducted, as not to give the
Reader the least Confusion with Respect to those, which the Author has
given in his Table of Remedies, and which are referred to by numerical
Figures, throughout the Course of his Book.
The moderate Number of Dr. _Tissot's_ Prescriptions, in his Table of
Remedies, amounting but to seventy-one, and the apparent Simplicity of
many of them, may possibly disgust some Admirers of pompous and compound
Prescription. But his Reserve, in this important Respect, has been
thoroughly consistent with his Notion of Nature's curing Diseases; which
suggested to him the first, the essential Necessity of cautioning his
Readers against doing, giving, or applying any thing, that might oppose
her healing Operations (a most capital Purpose of his Work) which
important Point being gained, the mildest, simplest and least hazardous
Remedies would often prove sufficient Assistants to her. Nevertheless,
under more severe and tedious Conflicts, he is not wanting to direct the
most potent and efficacious ones. The Circumstances of the poor Subjects
of his medical Consideration, became also a very natural Object to him,
and was in no wise unworthy the Regard of the humane Translator of
_Bilguer on Amputations_, or rather _against_ the crying Abuse of them;
an excellent Work, that does real Honour to them both; and which can be
disapproved by none, who do not prefer the frequently unnecessary
Mutilation of the afflicted, to the Consumption of their own Time, or
the Contraction of their Employment.
Some Persons may imagine that a Treatise of this Kind, composed for the
Benefit of labouring People in _Swisserland_, may be little applicable
to those of the _British_ Islands: and this, in a very few Particulars,
and in a small Degree, may reasonably be admitted. But as we find their
common Prejudices are often the very same; as the _Swiss_ are the
Inhabitants of a colder Climate than _France_, and generally, as Dr.
_Tissot_ often observes, accustomed to drink (like ourselves) more
strong Drink than the _French_ Peasantry; and to indulge more in eating
Flesh too, which the Religion of _Berne_, like our own, does not
restrain; the Application of his Advice to them will pretty generally
hold good here. Where he forbids them Wine and Flesh, all Butchers Meat,
and in most Cases all Flesh, and all strong Drink should be prohibited
here: especially when we consider, that all his Directions are confined
to the Treatment of acute Diseases, of which the very young, the
youthful, and frequently even the robust are more generally the
Subjects. Besides, in some few of the _English_ Translator's Notes, he
has taken the Liberty of moderating the Coolers, or the Quantities of
them (which may be well adapted to the great Heats and violent _Swiss_
Summers he talks of) according to the Temperature of our own Climate,
and the general Habitudes of our own People. It may be observed too,
that from the same Motive, I have sometimes assumed the Liberty of
dissenting from the Text in a very few Notes, as for Instance, on the
Article of Pastry, which perhaps is generally better here than in
_Swisserland_ (where it may be no better than the coarse vile Trash that
is hawked about and sold to meer Children) as I have frequently, in
preparing for Inoculation, admitted the best Pastry (but not of Meat)
into the limited Diet of the Subjects of Inoculation, and constantly
without the least ill Consequence. Thus also in Note [70] Page 287, 288,
I have presumed to affirm the Fact, that a strong spirituous Infusion of
the Bark has succeeded more speedily in some Intermittents, in
particular Habits, than the Bark in Substance. This I humbly conceive
may be owing to such a _Menstruum's_ extracting the Resin of the Bark
more effectually (and so conveying it into the Blood) than the Juices of
the Stomach and of the alimentary Canal did, or could. For it is very
conceivable that the _Crasis_, the Consistence, of the fibrous Blood may
sometimes be affected with a morbid Laxity or Weakness, as well as the
general System of the muscular Fibres.
These and any other like Freedoms, I am certain the Author's Candour
will abundantly pardon; since I have never dissented for Dissention's
Sake, to the best of my Recollection; and have the Honour of harmonizing
very generally in Judgment with him. If _one_ useful Hint or Observation
occurs throughout my Notes, his Benevolence will exult in that essential
Adherence to his Plan, which suggested it to me: While an invariable
ecchoing Assentation throughout such Notes, when there really was any
salutary Room for doubting, or for adding (with Respect to ourselves)
would discover a Servility, that must have disgusted a liberal manly
Writer. One common good Purpose certainly springs from the generous
Source, and replenishes the many Canals into which it is derived; all
the Variety and little Deviations of which may be considered as more
expansive Distributions of its Benefits.
Since the natural Feelings of Humanity generally dispose us, but
especially the more tender and compassionate Sex, to advise Remedies to
the poor Sick; such a Knowledge of their real Disease, as would prevent
their Patrons, Neighbours and Assistants from advising a wrong Regimen,
or an improper or ill-timed Medicine, is truly essential to relieving
them: and such we seriously think the present Work is capable of
imparting, to all commonly sensible and considerate Perusers of it. A
Vein of unaffected Probity, of manly Sense, and of great Philanthropy,
concur to sustain the Work: And whenever the Prejudices of the Ignorant
require a forcible Eradication; or the crude Temerity and Impudence of
Knaves and Impostors cry out for their own Extermination, a happy
Mixture of strong Argument, just Ridicule, and honest Severity, give a
poignant and pleasant Seasoning to the Work, which renders it
occasionally entertaining, as it is continually instructive.
A general Reader may be sometimes diverted with such Customs and Notions
of the _Swiss_ Peasants, as are occasionally mentioned here: and
possibly our meerest Rustics may laugh at the brave simple _Swiss_, on
his introducing a Sheep into the Chamber of a very sick Person, to save
the Life of the Patient, by catching its own Death. But the humblest
Peasantry of both Nations are agreed in such a Number of their absurd
unhealthy Prejudices, in the Treatment of Diseases, that it really
seemed necessary to offer our own the Cautions and Counsels of this
principal Physician, in a very respectable Protestant Republick, in
Order to prevent their Continuance. Nor is it unreasonable to presume,
that under such a Form of Government, if honestly administered upon its
justest Principles, the People may be rather more tenderly regarded,
than under the Pomp and Rage of Despotism, or the Oppression of some
Aristocracies.
Besides the different Conditions of [1] Persons, to whom our Author
recommends the Patronage and Execution of his Scheme, in his
Introduction, it is conceived this Book must be serviceable to many
young Country Practitioners, and to great Numbers of Apothecaries, by
furnishing them with such exact and striking Descriptions of each acute
Disease and its Symptoms, as may prevent their mistaking it for any
other; a Deception which has certainly often been injurious, and
sometimes even fatal: for it is dreadful but to contemplate the
Destruction or Misery, with which Temerity and Ignorance, so frequently
combined, overwhelm the Sick. Thus more Success and Reputation, with the
Enjoyment of a better Conscience, would crown their Endeavours, by a
more general Recovery of, or Relief to, their Patients. To effect this,
to improve every Opportunity of eschewing medical Evil, and of doing
medical Good, was the Author's avowed Intention; which he informs us in
his Preface, he has heard, from some intelligent and charitable Persons,
his Treatise had effected, even in some violent Diseases. That the same
good Consequences may every where attend the numerous Translations of
it, must be the fervent Wish of all, except the Quacks and Impostors he
so justly characterizes in his thirty-third Chapter! and particularly of
all, who may be distinguishably qualified, like himself, to,
--_Look through Nature up to Nature's GOD!_
[1] Of all these the Schoolmasters, _with us_, may seem the most
reasonably exempted from this Duty.
The AUTHOR's _DEDICATION._
_To the most Illustrious, the most Noble and Magnificent Lords, the
Lords President and Counsellors of the Chamber of Health, of the City
and Republick of_ Berne.
_Most honourable Lords_,
When I first published the following Work, my utmost Partiality to it
was not sufficient to allow me the Confidence of addressing it to Your
Lordships. But Your continual Attention to all the Objects, which have
any Relation to that important Part of the Administration of the State,
which has been so wisely committed to Your Care, has induced You to take
Notice of it. You have been pleased to judge it might prove useful, and
that an Attempt must be laudable, which tends to the Extermination of
erroneous and inveterate Prejudices, those cruel Tyrants, that are
continually opposing the Happiness of the People, even under that Form
and Constitution of Government, which is the best adapted to establish
and to increase it.
Your Lordships Approbation, and the splendid Marks of [2] Benevolence,
with which You have honoured me, have afforded me a juster Discernment
of the Importance of this Treatise, and have inclined me to hope, _most
Illustrious, most Noble, and Magnificent Lords_, that You will permit
this new Edition of it to appear under the Sanction of your Auspices;
that while the Publick is assured of Your general Goodness and
Beneficence, it may also be informed of my profoundly grateful Sense of
them, on the same Occasion.
[2] See the Author's Preface, immediately following this Dedication.
May the present Endeavour then, in fully corresponding to my Wishes,
effectually realize Your Lordships utmost Expectations from it; while
You condescend to accept this small Oblation, as a very unequal
Expression of that profound Respect, with which I have the Honour to be,
_Most Illustrious, Most Noble, and Magnificent Lords,_
_Your most humble_
_And most_
_Obedient Servant_,
_TISSOT._
_Lausanne_,
_Dec. 3, 1762._
THE AUTHOR's _PREFACE._
_If Vanity too often disposes many to speak of themselves, there are
some Occasions, on which a total Silence might be supposed to result
from a still higher Degree of it: And the very general Reception of the
*Advice to the People* has been such, that there would be Room to
suspect me of that most shocking Kind of Pride, which receives Applause
with Indifference (as deeming its own Merit Superior to the greatest) if
I did not appear to be strongly impressed with a just Sense of that
great Favour of the Publick, which has been so very obliging, and is so
highly agreable, to me._
_Unfeignedly affected with the unhappy Situation of the poor Sick in
Country Places in *Swisserland*, where they are lost from a Scarcity of
the best Assistance, and from a fatal Superfluity of the worst, my sole
Purpose in writing this Treatise has been to serve, and to comfort them.
I had intended it only for a small Extent of Country, with a moderate
Number of Inhabitants; and was greatly surprized to find, that within
five or six Months after its Publication, it was become one of the most
extensively published Books in *Europe*; and one of those Treatises, on
a scientific Subject, which has been perused by the greatest Number of
Readers of all Ranks and Conditions. To consider such Success with
Indifference, were to have been unworthy of it, which Demerit, at least
on this Account, I cannot justly be charged with; since Indifference has
not been my Case, who have felt, as I ought, this Gratification of
Self-love; and which, under just and prudent Restrictions, may perhaps
be even politically cherished; as the Delight naturally arising from
having been approved, is a Source of that laudable Emulation, which has
sometimes produced the most essential good Consequences to Society
itself. For my own particular, I can truly aver, that my Satisfaction
has been exquisitely heightened on this Occasion, as a Lover of my
Species: since judging from the Success of this Work (a Success which
has exceeded my utmost Expectations) of the Effects that may reasonably
be expected from it, I am happily conscious of that Satisfaction, or
even Joy, which every truly honest Man must receive, from rendering
essential good Offices to others. Besides which, I have enjoyed, in its
utmost Extent, that Satisfaction which every grateful Man must receive
from the Approbation and Beneficence of his Sovereign, when I was
distinguished with the precious Medal, which the illustrious Chamber of
Health of the Republick of Berne honoured me with, a few Months after
the Publication of this Treatise; together with a Letter still more
estimable, as it assured me of the extraordinary Satisfaction the
Republick had testified on the Impression of it; a Circumstance, which I
could not avoid this publick Acknowledgement of, without the greatest
Vanity and Ingratitude. This has also been a very influencing Motive
with me, to exert my utmost Abilities in perfecting this new Edition, in
which I have made many Alterations, that render it greatly preferable to
the first; and of which Amendments I shall give a brief Account, after
saying somewhat of the Editions, which have appeared elsewhere._
_The first is that, which Messrs. *Heidegger*, the Booksellers published
in the *German* Language at *Zurich*, about a Year since. I should have
been highly delighted with the meer Approbation of *__M. Hirzel__*,
first Physician of the Canton of *Zurich, &c.* whose superior and
universal Talents; whose profound Knowledge in the Theory of Physick;
and the Extent and Success of whose Practice have justly elevated him
among the small Number of extraordinary Men of our own Times; he having
lately obtained the Esteem and the Thanks of all *Europe,* for the
History of one of her [3] Sages. But I little expected the Honour this
Gentleman has done me, in translating the *Advice to the People* into
his own Language. Highly sensible nevertheless as I am of this Honour, I
must always reflect with Regret, that he has consumed that important
Time, in rendering my Directions intelligible to his Countrymen, which
he might have employed much more usefully, in obliging the World with
his own._
_He has enriched his Translation with an excellent Preface, which is
chiefly employed in a just and beautiful Portrait and Contrast of the
true, and of the false Physician; with which I should have done myself
the Pleasure to have adorned the present [4] Edition; if the Size of
this Volume, already too large, had not proved an Obstacle to so
considerable an Addition; and if the Manner, in which *Mr.* *__Hirzel__*
speaks of its Author, had permitted me with Decency to publish his
Preface. I have been informed by some Letters, that there have been two
other *German* Translation of it; but I am not informed by whom.
However, *__M. Hirzel's__* Preface, his own Notes, and some Additions
with which I have furnished him, renders his Edition preferable to the
first in *French*, and to the other *German* Translations already made._
[3] _Le Socrate rustique_, a Work, which every Person should read.
[4] This Preface is indeed premised to this _French_ Edition, but a
Translation of it was omitted, to avoid extending the Bulk and
Price of the Work. Dr. _Tissot_ must then have been ignorant of
this Addition, when first published at _Lyons_.
_The Second Edition is that, which the younger *__Didot__*, the
Bookseller, published towards the End of the Winter at *Paris*. He had
requested me to furnish him with some Additions to it, which I could not
readily comply with._
_The Third Edition is a *Dutch* Translation of it, which will be very
speedily published by *__M. Renier Aremberg__*, Bookseller at
*Rotterdam*. He had begun the Translation from my first Edition; but
having wrote to know whether I had not some Additions to make, I desired
him to wait for the Publication of this. I have the good Fortune to be
very happy in my Translators; it being *__M. Bikker__*, a celebrated
Physician at *Rotterdam* (so very advantagiously known in other
Countries, by his beautiful *Dissertation on Human Nature*, throughout
which Genius and Knowledge proceed Hand in Hand) who will present his
Countrymen with the *Advice to the People*, in their own Language: and
who will improve it with such Notes, as are necessary for a safe and
proper Application of its Contents, in a Climate, different from that in
which it was wrote. I have also heard, there has been an *Italian*
Translation of it._
_After this Account of the foreign Editions, I return to the present
one, which is the second of the original *French* Treatise. I shall not
affirm it is greatly corrected, with Respect to fundamental Points: for
as I had advanced nothing in the first, that was not established on
Truth and Demonstration, there was no Room for Correction, with Regard
to any essential Matters. Nevertheless, in this I have made, 1, a great
Number of small Alterations in the Diction, and added several Words, to
render the Work still more simple and perspicuous. 2, The typographical
Execution of this is considerably improved in the Type, the Paper and
Ink, the Spelling, Pointing, and Arrangement of the Work. 3, I have made
some considerable Additions, which are of three Kinds. Not a few of them
are new Articles on some of the Subjects formerly treated of; such as
the Articles concerning Tarts and other Pastry Ware; the Addition
concerning the Regimen for Persons, in a State of Recovery from
Diseases; the Preparation for the Small Pocks; a long Note on the
Jesuits Bark; another on acid Spirits; one on the Extract of Hemlock:
besides some new Matter which I have inserted; such as an Article with
Regard to proper Drinks; one on the Convulsions of Infants; one on
Chilblains; another on Punctures from Thorns; one upon the Reason of the
Confidence reposed in Quacks, and the thirty-first Chapter entirely: in
which I have extended the Consideration of some former Articles, that
seemed to me a little too succinct and short. There are some Alterations
of this last, this additional, Kind, interspersed almost throughout the
whole Substance of this Edition; but especially in the two Chapters
relating to Women and Children._
_The Objects of the XXXI Chapter are such as require immediate
Assistance, viz. Swoonings, Hæmorrhages, that is, large spontaneous
Bleedings; the Attacks of Convulsions, and of Suffocations; the
Consequences of Fright and Terror; Disorders occasioned by unwholesome
or deadly Vapours; the Effects of Poison, and the sudden Invasions of
excessive Pain._
_The Omission of this Chapter was a very material Defect in the original
Plan of this Work. The Editor of it at Paris was very sensible of this
Chasm, or Blank, as it may be called, and has filled it up very
properly: and if I have not made Use of his Supplement, instead of
enlarging myself upon the Articles of which he has treated, it has only
been from a Purpose of rendering the whole Work more uniform; and to
avoid that odd Diversity, which seems scarcely to be avoided in a
Treatise composed by two Persons. Besides which, that Gentleman has said
nothing of the Articles, which employ the greatest Part of that Chapter,
*viz.* the Swoonings, the Consequences of great Fear, and the noxious
Vapours._
_Before I conclude, I ought to justify myself, as well as possible, to a
great Number of very respectable Persons both here and abroad, (to whom
I can refuse nothing without great Chagrine and Reluctance) for my not
having made such Additions as they desired of me. This however was
impossible, as the Objects, in which they concurred, were some chronical
Distempers, that are entirely out of the Plan, to which I was strictly
attached, for many Reasons. The first is, that it was my original
Purpose to oppose the Errors incurred in Country Places, in the
Treatment of acute Diseases; and to display the best Method of
conducting such, as do not admit of waiting for the Arrival of distant
Succour; or of removing the Patients to Cities, or large Towns. It is
but too true indeed, that chronical Diseases are also liable to improper
Treatment in small Country Places: but then there are both Time and
Convenience to convey the Patients within the Reach of better Advice; or
for procuring them the Attendance of the best Advisers, at their own
Places of Residence. Besides which, such Distempers are considerably
less common than those to which I had restrained my Views: and they will
become still less frequent, whenever acute Diseases, of which they are
frequently the Consequences, shall be more rationally and safely
conducted._
_The second Reason, which, if alone, would have been a sufficient one,
is, that it is impossible to subject the Treatment of chronical
Distempers to the Capacity and Conduct of Persons, who are not
Physicians. Each acute Distemper generally arises from one Cause; and
the Treatment of it is simple and uniform; since those Symptoms, which
manifest the Malady, point out its Cause and Treatment. But the Case is
very differently circumstanced in tedious and languid Diseases; each of
which may depend on so many and various Causes (and it is only the real,
the true Cause, which ought to determine us in selecting its proper
Remedies) that though the Distemper and its Appellation are evidently
known, a meer By-stander may be very remote from penetrating into its
true Cause; and consequently be incapable of chusing the best Medicines
for it. It is this precise and distinguishing Discernment of the real
particular Cause *[or of the contingent Concurrence of more than one]*
that necessarily requires the Presence of Persons conversant in the
Study and the Practice of all the Parts of Physick; and which Knowledge
it is impossible for People, who are Strangers to such Studies, to
arrive at. Moreover, their frequent Complexness; the Variety of their
Symptoms; the different Stages of these tedious Diseases [not exactly
attended to even by many competent Physicians] the Difficulty of
ascertaining the different Doses of Medicines, whose Activity may make
the smallest Error highly dangerous, &c. &c. are really such trying
Circumstances, as render the fittest Treatment of these Diseases
sufficiently difficult and embarrassing to the most experienced
Physicians, and unattainable by those who are not Physicians._
_A third Reason is, that, even supposing all these Circumstances might
be made so plain and easy, as to be comprehended by every Reader, they
would require a Work of an excessive Length; and thence be
disproportioned to the Faculties of those, for whom it was intended. One
single chronical Disease might require as large a Volume as the present
one._
_But finally, were I to acknowledge, that this Compliance was both
necessary and practicable, I declare I find it exceeds my Abilities; and
that I am also far from having sufficient Leisure for the Execution of
it. It is my Wish that others would attempt it, and may succeed in
accomplishing it; but I hope these truly worthy Persons, who have
honoured me by proposing the Achievement of it to myself, will perceive
the Reasons for my not complying with it, in all their Force; and not
ascribe a Refusal, which arises from the very Nature of the thing,
either to Obstinacy, or to any Want of an Inclination to oblige them._
_I have been informed my Citations, or rather References, have puzzled
some Readers. It was difficult to foresee this, but is easy to prevent
it for the future. The Work contains Citations only of two Sorts; one,
that points to the Remedies prescribed; and the other, which refers to
some Passage in the Book itself, that serves to illustrate those
Passages in which I cite. Neither of these References could have been
omitted. The first is marked thus, *Nº.* with the proper Figure to it,
as 1, 2, &c. This signifies, that the Medicine I direct is described in
the Table of Remedies, according to the Number annexed to that
Character. Thus when we find directed, in any Page of the Book, the warm
Infusion *Nº. 1*; in some other, the Ptisan *Nº. 2*; or in a third, the
Almond Milk, or Emulsion *Nº. 4*, it signifies, that such Prescriptions
will be found at the Numbers 1, 2, and 4; and this Table is printed at
the End of the Book._
_If, instead of forming this Table, and thus referring to the
Prescriptions by their Numbers, I had repeated each Prescription as
often as I directed it, this Treatise must have been doubled in Bulk,
and insufferably tiresome to peruse. I must repeat here, what I have
already said in the former Edition, that the [5] Prices of the
Medicines, or of a great Number of them, are those at which the
Apothecaries may afford them, without any Loss, to a Peasant in humble
Circumstances. But it should be remembered, they are not set down at the
full Prices which they may handily demand; since that would be unjust
for some to insist on them at. Besides, there is no Kind of Tax in
*Swisserland*, and I have no Right to impose one._
[5] The Reasons for omitting the Prices _here_, may be seen Page 23 of
this Translation.
_The Citations of the second Kind are very plain and simple. The whole
Work is divided into numbered Paragraphs distinguished by the Mark §.
And not to swell it with needless Repetitions, when in one Place I might
have even pertinently repeated something already observed, instead of
such Repetition at Length, I have only referred to the Paragraph, where
it had been observed. Thus, for Example when we read Page 81, § 50
--*When the Disease is so circumstanced as we have described*, § 46,--
this imports that, not to repeat the Description already given, I refer
the Reader to that last § for it._
_The Use of these Citations is not the least Innovation, and extremely
commodious and easy: but were there only a single Reader likely to be
puzzled by them, I ought not to omit this Explanation of them, as I can
expect to be generally useful, only in Proportion as I am clear: and it
must be obvious, that a Desire of being extensively useful is the sole
Motive of this Work. I have long since had the Happiness of knowing,
that some charitable and intelligent Persons have applied the Directions
it contains, with extraordinary Success, even in violent Diseases: And I
shall arrive at the Height of my Wishes, if I continue to be informed,
that it contributes to alleviate the Sufferings, and to prolong the
Days, of my rational Fellow Creatures._
_N. B._ A Small Blank occurring conveniently here in the Impression, the
Translator of this Work has employed it to insert the following proper
Remark, _viz._
Whenever the Tea or Infusion of the Lime-tree is directed in the Body of
the Book, which it often is, the _Flowers_ are always meant, and not the
_Leaves_; though by an Error of the Press, or perhaps rather by an
Oversight of the Transcribers of this Version, it is printed _Leaves_
instead of _Flowers_ P. 392, as noted and corrected in the _Errata_.
These Flowers are easily procurable here, meerly for gathering, in most
Country Places in _July_, as few Walks, Vistas, &c. are without these
Trees, planted for the pleasant Shade they afford, and to keep off the
Dust in Summer, though the Leaf drops rather too early for this Purpose.
Their Flowers have an agreeable Flavour, which is communicated to Water
by Infusion, and rises with it in Distillation. They were, to the best
of my Recollection, an Ingredient in the antiepileptic Water of
_Langius_, omitted in our late Dispensatories of the College. They are
an Ingredient in the antiepileptic Powder, in the List of Medicines in
the present Practice of the _Hotel Dieu_ at _Paris_: and we think were
in a former Prescription of our _Pulvis de Gutteta_, or Powder against
Convulsions. Indeed they are considered, by many medical Writers, as a
Specific in all Kinds of Spasms and Pains; and __Hoffman__ affirms, he
knew a very tedious Epilepsy cured by the Use of an Infusion of these
Flowers.
I also take this Opportunity of adding, that as this Translation is
intended for the Attention and the Benefit of the Bulk of the
Inhabitants of the _British_ Empire, I have been careful not to admit
any Gallicisms into it; as such might render it either less
intelligible, or less agreeable to its Readers. If but a single one
occurs, I either have printed it, or did intend it should be printed,
distinguishably in Italics. _K._
__Introduction.__
The Decrease of the Number of Inhabitants, in most of the States of
Europe, is a Fact, which impresses every reflecting Person, and is
become such a general Complaint, as is but too well established on plain
Calculations. This Decrease is most remarkable in Country Places. It is
owing to many Causes; and I shall think myself happy, if I can
contribute to remove one of the greatest of them, which is the
pernicious Manner of treating sick People in Country Places. This is my
sole Object, tho' I may be excused perhaps for pointing out the other
concurring Causes, which may be all included within these two general
Affirmations; That greater Numbers than usual emigrate from the Country;
and that the People increase less every where.
There are many Sorts of Emigration. Some leave their Country to enlist
in the Service of different States by Sea and Land; or to be differently
employ'd abroad, some as Traders, others as Domestics, _&c._
Military Service, by Land or Sea, prevents Population in various
Respects. In the first Place, the Numbers going abroad are always less,
often _much_ less, than those who return. General Battles, with all the
Hazards and Fatigues of War; detached Encounters, bad Provisions, Excess
in drinking and eating, Diseases that are the Consequences of Debauches,
the Disorders that are peculiar to the Country; epidemical, pestilential
or contagious Distempers, caused by the unwholsome Air of Flanders,
Holland, Italy and Hungary; long Cruises, Voyages to the East or West
Indies, to Guinea, &c. destroy a great Number of Men. The Article of
Desertion also, the Consequences of which they dread on returning home,
disposes many to abandon their Country for ever. Others, on quitting the
Service, take up with such Establishments, as it has occasionally thrown
in their Way; and which necessarily prevent their Return. But in the
second Place, supposing they were all to come back, their Country
suffers equally from their Absence; as this very generally happens
during that Period of Life, when they are best adapted for Propagation;
since that Qualification on their Return is impaired by Age, by
Infirmities and Debauches: and even when they do marry, the Children
often perish as Victims to the Excesses and Irregularities of their
Fathers: they are weak, languishing, distempered, and either die young,
or live incapable of being useful to Society. Besides, that the
prevailing Habit of Libertinage, which many have contracted, prevents
several of them from marrying at all. But notwithstanding all these
inconvenient Consequences are real and notorious; yet as the Number of
those, who leave their Country on these Accounts, is limited, and indeed
rather inconsiderable, if compared with the Number of Inhabitants which
must remain at home: as it may be affirmed too, that this relinquishing
of their Country, may have been even necessary at some Times, and may
become so again, if the Causes of Depopulation should cease, this kind
of Emigration is doubtless the least grievous of any, and the last which
may require a strict Consideration.
But that abandoning of their Country, or _Expatriation_, as it may be
termed, the Object of which is a Change of the Emigrants Condition, is
more to be considered, being more numerous. It is attended with many and
peculiar Inconveniencies, and is unhappily become an epidemical Evil,
the Ravages of which are still increasing; and that from one simple
ridiculous Source, which is this; that the Success of one Individual
determines a hundred to run the same Risque, ninety and nine of whom may
probably be disappointed. They are struck with the apparent Success of
one, and are ignorant of the Miscarriage of others. Suppose a hundred
Persons might have set out ten Years ago, to _seek their Fortune_, as
the saying is, at the End of six Months they are all forgotten, except
by their Relations; but if one should return the same Year, with more
Money than his own Fortune, more than he set out with; or if one of them
has got a moderate Place with little Work, the whole Country rings with
it, as a Subject of general Entertainment. A Croud of young People are
seduced by this and sally forth, because not one reflects, that of the
ninety nine, who set out with the hundredth Person, one half has
perished, many are miserable, and the Remainder come back, without
having gained any thing, but an Incapacity to employ themselves usefully
at home, and in their former Occupations: and having deprived their
Country of a great many Cultivaters, who, from the Produce of the Lands,
would have attracted considerable Sums of Money, and many comfortable
Advantages to it. In short, the very small Proportion who succeed, are
continually talked of; the Croud that sink are perpetually forgot. This
is a very great and real Evil, and how shall it be prevented? It would
be sufficient perhaps to publish the extraordinary Risque, which may be
easily demonstrated: It would require nothing more than to keep an exact
yearly Register of all these Adventurers, and, at the Expiration of six,
eight, or ten Years, to publish the List, with the Fate, of every
Emigrant. I am greatly deceived, or at the End of a certain Number of
Years, we should not see such Multitudes forsake their native Soil, in
which they might live comfortably by working, to go in Search of
Establishments in others; the Uncertainty of which, such Lists would
demonstrate to them; and also prove, how preferable their Condition in
their own Country would have been, to that they have been reduced to.
People would no longer set out, but on almost certain Advantages: fewer
would undoubtedly emigrate, more of whom, from that very Circumstance,
must succeed. Meeting with fewer of their Country-men abroad, these
fortunate few would oftner return. By this Means more Inhabitants would
remain in the Country, more would return again, and bring with them more
Money to it. The State would be more populous, more rich and happy; as
the Happiness of a People, who live on a fruitful Soil, depends
essentially on a great Number of Inhabitants, with a moderate Quantity
of pecuniary Riches.
But the Population of the Country is not only necessarily lessened, in
Consequence of the Numbers that leave it; but even those who remain
increase less, than an equal Number formerly did. Or, which amounts to
the same Thing, among the same Number of Persons, there are fewer
Marriages than formerly; and the same Number of Marriages produce fewer
Christenings. I do not enter upon a Detail of the Proofs, since merely
looking about us must furnish a sufficient Conviction of the Truth of
them. What then are the Causes of this? There are two capital ones,
Luxury and Debauchery, which are Enemies to Population on many Accounts.
Luxury compells the wealthy Man, who would make a Figure; and the Man of
a moderate Income, but who is his equal in every other Respect, and who
_will_ imitate him, to be afraid of a numerous Family; the Education of
which must greatly contract that Expence he had devoted to Parade and
Ostentation: And besides, if he must divide his Estate among a great
many Children, each of them would have but a little, and be unable to
keep up the State and the Train of the Father's. Since Merit is unjustly
estimated by exterior Shew and Expence, one must of Course endeavour to
attain for himself, and to leave his Children in, a Situation capable of
supporting that Expence. Hence the fewer Marriages of People who are not
opulent, and the fewer Children among People who marry.
Luxury is further prejudicial to the Increase of the People, in another
Respect. The irregular Manner of Life which it introduces, depresses
Health; it ruins the Constitutions, and thus sensibly affects
Procreation. The preceding Generation counted some Families with more
than twenty Children: the living one less than twenty Cousins. Very
unfortunately this Way of thinking and acting, so preventive of
Increase, has extended itself even into Villages: and they are no longer
convinced there, that the Number of Children makes the Riches of the
Countryman. Perhaps the next Generation will scarcely be acquainted with
the Relation of Brotherhood.
A third Inconvenience of Luxury is, that the Rich retreat from the
Country to live in Cities; and by multiplying their Domestics there,
they drain the former. This augmented Train is prejudicial to the
Country, by depriving it of Cultivaters, and by diminishing Population.
These Domestics, being seldom sufficiently employed, contract the Habit
of Laziness; and they prove incapable of returning to that Country
Labour, for which Nature intended them. Being deprived of this Resource
they scarcely ever marry, either from apprehending the Charge of
Children, or from their becoming Libertines; and sometimes, because many
Masters will not employ married Servants. Or should any of them marry,
it is often in the Decline of Life, whence the State must have the fewer
Citizens.
Idleness of itself weakens them, and disposes them to those Debauches,
which enfeeble them still more. They never have more than a few
Children, and these sickly; such as have not Strength to cultivate the
Ground; or who, being brought up in Cities, have an Aversion to the
Country.
Even those among them who are more prudent, who preserve their Morals,
and make some Savings, being accustomed to a City Life, and dreading the
Labour of a Country one (of the Regulation of which they are also
ignorant) chuse to become little Merchants, or Tradesmen; and this must
be a Drawback from Population, as any Number of Labourers beget more
Children than an equal Number of Citizens; and also by Reason, that out
of any given Number, more Children die in Cities, than in the Country.
The same Evils also prevail, with Regard to female Servants. After ten
or twelve Years Servitude, the Maid-Servants in Cities cannot acquit
themselves as good Country Servants: and such of them as chuse this
Condition, quickly fail under that Kind or Quantity of Work, for which
they are no longer constituted. Should we see a Woman married in the
Country, a Year after leaving Town, it is easy to observe, how much that
Way of living in the Country has broke her. Frequently their first
Child-bed, in which Term they have not all the Attendance their Delicacy
demands, proves the Loss of their Health; they remain in a State of
Languor, of Feebleness, and of Decay: they have no more Children; and
this renders their Husbands unuseful towards the Population of the
State.
Abortions, Infants carried out of their Country after a concealed
Pregnancy, and the Impossibility of their getting Husbands afterwards,
are frequently the Effects of their Libertinage.
It is to be apprehended too these bad Effects are rather increasing with
us; since, either for want of sufficient Numbers, or from oeconomical
Views, it has become a Custom, instead of Women Servants, to employ
Children, whose Manners and whole Constitutions are not yet formed; and
who are ruined in the same Manner, by their Residence in Town, by their
Laziness, by bad Examples, and bad Company.
Doubtless much remains still unsaid on these important Heads; but
besides my Intention not to swell this Treatise immoderately, and the
many Avocations, which prevent me from launching too far into what may
be less within the Bounds of Medicine, I should be fearful of digressing
too far from my Subject. What I have hitherto said however, I think
cannot be impertinent to it; since in giving Advice to the People, with
Regard to their Health, it was necessary to display to them the Causes
that impaired it: though what I might be able to add further on this
Head, would probably be thought more remote from the Subject.
I shall add then but a single Hint on the Occasion. Is it not
practicable, in Order to remedy those Evils which we cannot prevent, to
select some particular Part or Canton of the Country, wherein we should
endeavour by Rewards, _1st._ Irremoveably to fix all the Inhabitants.
_2dly._ To encourage them by other Rewards to a plentiful and legitimate
Increase. They should not be permitted to go out of it, which must
prevent them from being exposed to the Evils I have mentioned. They
should by no means intermarry with any Strangers, who might introduce
such Disorders among them. Thus very probably this Canton, after a
certain Time, would become even over-peopled, and might send out
Colonies to the others.
One Cause, still more considerable than those we have already mention'd,
has, to this very Moment, prevented the Increase of the People in
France. This is the Decay of Agriculture. The Inhabitants of the
Country, to avoid serving in the Militia; to elude the Days-Service
impos'd by their Lords, and the Taxes; and being attracted to the City
by the Hopes of Interest, by Laziness and Libertinage, have left the
Country nearly deserted. Those who remain behind, either not being
encouraged to work, or not being sufficient for what there is to do,
content themselves with cultivating just as much as is absolutely
necessary for their Subsistence. They have either lived single, or
married but late; or perhaps, after the Example of the Inhabitants of
the Cities, they have refused to fulfil their Duty to Nature, to the
State, and to a Wife. The Country deprived of Tillers, by this
Expatriation and Inactivity, has yielded nothing; and the Depopulation
of the State has daily increased, from the reciprocal and necessary
Proportion between Subsistence and Population, and because Agriculture
alone can increase Subsistence. A single Comparison will sufficiently
evince the Truth and the Importance of these Principles, to those who
have not seen them already divulged and demonstrated in the Works of
the [6] Friend of Man.
[6] The Marquis of Mirabeau.
"An old Roman, who was always ready to return to the Cultivation of his
Field, subsisted himself and his Family from one Acre of Land. A Savage,
who neither sows nor cultivates, consumes, in his single Person, as much
Game as requires fifty Acres to feed them. Consequently _Tullus
Hostilius_, on a thousand Acres, might have five thousand Subjects:
while a Savage Chief, limited to the same Extent of Territory, could
scarcely have twenty: such an immense Disproportion does Agriculture
furnish, in Favour of Population. Observe these two great Extremes. A
State becomes dispeopled or peopled in that Proportion, by which it
recedes from one of these Methods, and approaches to the other." Indeed
it is evident, that wherever there is an Augmentation of Subsistence, an
Increase of Population will soon follow; which again will still further
facilitate the Increase of Provisions. In a State thus circumstanced Men
will abound, who, after they have furnished sufficient Numbers for the
Service of War, of Commerce, of Religion, and for Arts and Professions
of every kind, will further also furnish a Source for Colonies, who will
extend the Name and the Prosperity of their Nation to distant Regions.
There will ensue a Plenty of Commodities, the Superfluity of which will
be exported to other Countries, to exchange for other Commodities, that
are not produced at home; and the Balance, being received in Money, will
make the Nation rich, respectable by its Neighbours, and happy.
Agriculture, vigorously pursued, is equal to the Production of all these
Benefits; and the present Age will enjoy the Glory of restoring it, by
favouring and encouraging Cultivaters, and by forming Societies for the
Promotion of Agriculture.
I proceed at length to the fourth Cause of Depopulation, which is the
Manner of treating sick People in the Country. This has often affected
me with the deepest Concern. I have been a Witness, that Maladies,
which, in themselves, would have been gentle, have proved mortal from a
pernicious Treatment: I am convinced that this Cause alone makes as
great a Havock as the former; and certainly it requires the utmost
Attention of Physicians, whose Duty it is to labour for the Preservation
of Mankind. While we are employing our assiduous Cares on the more
polished and fashionable Part of them in Cities, the larger and more
useful Moiety perish in the Country; either by particular, or by highly
epidemical, Diseases, which, within a few Years past, have appeared in
different Villages, and made no small Ravages. This afflicting
Consideration has determined me to publish this little Work, which is
solely intended for those Patients, who, by their Distance from
Physicians, are deprived of their Assistance. I shall not give a Detail
of my Plan, which is very simple, in this Part; but content myself with
affirming, I have used my utmost Care to render it the most useful I
possibly could: and I dare hope, that if I have not fully displayed its
utmost Advantages, I have at least sufficiently shewn those pernicious
Methods of treating Diseases, that should incontestably be avoided. I am
thoroughly convinced, the Design might be accomplished more compleatly
than I have done it; but those who are so capable of, do not attempt,
it: I happen to be less timid; and I hope that thinking Persons will
rather take it in good part of me, to have published a Book, the
composing of which is rather disagreeable from its very Facility; from
the minute Details, which however are indispensable; and from the
Impossibility of discussing any Part of it (consistently with the Plan)
to the Bottom of the Subject; or of displaying any new and useful
Prospect. It may be compared, in some Respects, to the Works of a
spiritual Guide, who was to write a Catechism for little Children.
At the same time I am not ignorant there have already been a few Books
calculated for Country Patients, who are remote from Succour: but some
of these, tho' published with a very good Purpose, produce a bad Effect.
Of this kind are all Collections of Receipts or Remedies, without the
least Description of the Disease; and of Course without just Directions
for the Exhibition, or Application, of them. Such, for Example, is the
famous Collection of Madam _Fouquet_, and some more in the same manner.
Some others approach towards my Plan; but many of them have taken in too
many Distempers, whence they are become too voluminous. Besides, they
have not dwelt sufficiently upon the Signs of the Diseases; upon their
Causes; the general Regimen in them, and the Mismanagement of them.
Their Receipts are not generally as simple, and as easy to prepare, as
they ought to be. In short, the greater Part of their Writers seem, as
they advanced, to have grown tired of their melancholy Task, and to have
hurried them out too expeditiously. There are but two of them, which I
must name with Respect, and which being proposed on a Plan very like my
own, are executed in a superior Manner, that merits the highest
Acknowlegements of the Publick. One of these Writers is M. _Rosen_,
first Physician of the Kingdom of _Sweden_; who, some Years since,
employed his just Reputation to render the best Services to his Country
Men. He has made them retrench from the Almanacs those ridiculous Tales;
those extraordinary Adventures; those pernicious astrological
Injunctions, which there, as well as here, answer no End, but that of
keeping up Ignorance, Credulity, Superstition, and the falsest
Prejudices on the interesting Articles of Health, of Diseases, and of
Remedies. He has also taken Care to publish simple plain Treatises on
the most popular Distempers; which he has substituted in the Place of
the former Heap of Absurdities. These concise Works however, which
appear annually in their Almanacs, are not yet translated from the
_Swedish_, so that I was unqualified to make any Extracts from them. The
other is the Baron _Van Swieten_, first Physician to their Imperial
Majesties, who, about two Years since, has effected for the Use of the
Army, what I now attempt for sick People in the Country. Though my Work
was greatly advanced, when I first saw his, I have taken some Passages
from it: and had our Plans been exactly alike, I should imagine I had
done the Publick more Service by endeavouring to extend the Reading of
his Book, than by publishing a new one. Nevertheless, as he is silent on
many Articles, of which I have treated diffusively; as he has treated of
many Distempers, which did not come within my Plan; and has said nothing
of some others which I could not omit; our two Works, without entering
into the Particulars of the superior Merit of the Baron's, are very
different, with Regard to the Subject of the Diseases; tho' in such as
we have both considered, I account it an Honour to me to find, we have
almost constantly proceeded upon the same Principles.
The present Work is by no means addressed to such Physicians, as are
thoroughly accomplished in their Profession; yet possibly, besides my
particular medical Friends, some others may read it. I beg the Favour of
all such fully to consider the Intention, the Spirit, of the Author, and
not to censure him, as a Physician, from the Composition of this Book. I
even advise them here rather to forbear perusing it; as a Production,
that can teach them nothing. Such as read, in order to criticize, will
find a much greater Scope for exercising that Talent on the other
Pamphlets I have published. It were certainly unjust that a Performance,
whose sole abstracted Object is the Health and Service of my Countrymen,
should subject me to any disagreeable Consequences: and a Writer may
fairly plead an Exemption from any Severity of Censure, who has had the
Courage to execute a Work, which cannot pretend to a Panegyric.
Having premised thus much in general, I must enter into some Detail of
those Means, that seem the most likely to me, to facilitate the
beneficial Consequences, which, I hope, may result to others, from my
present Endeavours. I shall afterwards give an Explanation of some Terms
which I could not avoid using, and which, perhaps, are not generally
understood.
The Title of _Advice to the People_, was not suggested to me by an
Illusion, which might persuade me, this Book would become a Piece of
Furniture, as it were, in the House of every Peasant. Nineteen out of
twenty will probably never know of its Existence. Many may be unable to
read, and still more unable to understand, it, plain and simple as it
is. I have principally calculated it for the Perusal of intelligent and
charitable Persons, who live in the Country; and who seem to have, as it
were, a Call from Providence, to assist their less intelligent poor
Neighbours with their Advice.
It is obvious, that the first Gentlemen I have my Eye upon, are the
Clergy. There is not a single Village, a Hamlet, nor even the House of
an Alien in the Country, that has not a Right to the good Offices of
some one of this Order; And I assure myself there are a great Number of
them, who, heartily affected with the Distress of their ailing Flocks,
have wished many hundred Times, that it were in their Power to give
their Parishioners some bodily Help, at the very Time they were
disposing them to prepare for Death; or so far to delay the Fatality of
the Distemper, that the Sick might have an Opportunity of living more
religiously afterwards. I shall think myself happy, if such truly
respectable Ecclesiastics shall find any Resources in this Performance,
that may conduce to the Accomplishment of their beneficent Intentions.
Their Regard, their Love for their People; their frequent Invitations to
visit their principal Neighbours; their Duty to root out all
unreasonable Prejudices, and Superstition; their Charity, their
Learning; the Facility, with which their general Knowlege in Physics,
qualifies them to comprehend thoroughly all the medical Truths, and
Contents of this Piece, are so many Arguments to convince me, that they
will have the greatest Influence to procure that Reformation, in the
Administration of Physick to poor Country People, which is so necessary,
so desirable, an Object.
In the next Place, I dare assure myself of the Concurrence of Gentlemen
of Quality and Opulence, in their different Parishes and Estates, whose
Advice is highly regarded by their Inferiors; who are so powerfully
adapted to discourage a wrong, and to promote a right Practice, of which
they will easily discern all the Advantages. The many Instances I have
seen of their entering, with great Facility, into all the Plan and
Conduct of a Cure; their Readiness and even Earnestness to comfort the
Sick in their Villages; and the Generosity with which they prevent their
Necessities, induce me to hope, from judging of these I have not the
Pleasure to know, by those whom I have, that they will eagerly embrace
an Opportunity of promoting a new Method of doing good in their
Neighbourhood. Real Charity will apprehend the great Probability there
is of doing Mischief, tho' with the best Intention, for want of a proper
Knowledge of material Circumstances; and the very Fear of that Mischief
may sometimes suspend the Exercise of such Charity; notwithstanding it
must seize, with the most humane Avidity, every Light that can
contribute to its own beneficent Exertion.
Thirdly, Persons who are rich, or at least in easy Circumstances, whom
their Disposition, their Employments, or the Nature of their Property,
fixes in the Country, where they are happy in doing good, must be
delighted to have some proper Directions for the Conduct and
Effectuation of their charitable Intentions.
In every Village, where there are any Persons, of these three
Conditions, they are always readily apprized of the Distempers in it, by
their poor Neighbours coming to intreat a little Soup, Venice Treacle,
Wines, Biscuits, or any thing they imagine necessary for their sick
Folks. In Consequence of some Questions to the Bystanders, or of a Visit
to the sick Person, they will judge at least of _what kind_ the Disease
is; and by their prudent Advice they may be able to prevent a Multitude
of Evils. They will give them some Nitre instead of Venice Treacle;
Barley, or sweet Whey, in lieu of Soup. They will advise them to have
Recourse to Glysters, or Bathings of their Feet, rather than to Wine;
and order them Gruel rather than Biscuits. A man would scarcely believe,
'till after the Expiration of a few Years, how much Good might be
effected by such proper Regards, so easily comprehended, and often
repeated. At first indeed there may be some Difficulty in eradicating
old Prejudices, and inveterately bad Customs; but whenever these were
removed, good Habits would strike forth full as strong Roots, and I hope
that no Person would be inclined to destroy them.
It may be unnecessary to declare, that I have more Expectation from the
Care and Goodness of the Ladies, than from those of their Spouses, their
Fathers, or Brothers. A more active Charity, a more durable Patience, a
more domestic Life; a Sagacity, which I have greatly admired in many
Ladies both in Town and Country, that disposes them to observe, with
great Exactness; and to unravel, as it were, the secret Causes of the
Symptoms, with a Facility that would do Honour to very good Practioners,
and with a Talent adapted to engage the Confidence of the Patient:--All
these, I say, are so many characteristical Marks of their Vocation in
this important and amicable Duty; nor are there a few, who fulfil it
with a Zeal, that merits the highest Commendation, and renders them
excellent Models for the Imitation of others.
Those who are intrusted with the Education of Youth, may also be
supposed sufficiently intelligent to take some Part in this Work; and I
am satisfied that much Good might result from their undertaking it. I
heartily wish, they would not only study to _distinguish the Distemper_
(in which the principal, but by no means an insuperable Difficulty
consists; and to which I hope I have considerably put them in the Way)
but I would have them learn also the Manner of applying Remedies. Many
of them have; I have known some who bleed, and who have given Glysters
very expertly. This however all may easily learn; and perhaps it would
not be imprudent, if the Art of bleeding well and safely were reckoned a
necessary Qualification, when they are examined for their Employment.
These Faculties, that of estimating the Degree of a Fever, and how to
apply and to dress Blisters, may be of great Use within the
Neighbourhood of their Residence. Their Schools, which are not
frequently over-crouded, employ but a few of their daily Hours; the
greater part of them have no Land to cultivate; and to what better Use
can they apply their Leisure, than to the Assistance and Comfort of the
Sick? The moderate Price of their Service may be so ascertained, as to
incommode no Person; and this little Emolument might render their own
Situation the more agreeable: besides which, these little Avocations
might prevent their being drawn aside sometimes, by Reason of their
Facility and frequent Leisure, so as to contract a Habit of drinking too
often. Another Benefit would also accrue from accustoming them to this
kind of Practice, which is, that being habituated to the Care of sick
People, and having frequent Occasions to write, they would be the better
qualify'd, in difficult Cases, to advise with those, who were thought
further necessary to be consulted.
Doubtless, even among Labourers, there may be many, for some such I have
known, who being endued with good natural Sense and Judgment, and
abounding with Benevolence, will read this Book with Attention, and
eagerly extend the Maxims and the Methods it recommends.
And finally I hope that many Surgeons, who are spread about the Country,
and who practice Physic in their Neighbourhood, will peruse it; will
carefully enter into the Principles established in it, and will conform
to its Directions; tho' a little different perhaps from such as they may
have hitherto practiced. They will perceive a Man may learn at any Age,
and of any Person; and it may be hoped they will not think it too much
Trouble to reform some of their Notions in a Science, which is not
properly within their Profession (and to the Study of which they were
never instituted) by those of a Person, who is solely employed in it,
and who has had many Assistances of which they are deprived.
Midwives may also find their Attendance more efficacious, as soon as
they are thoroughly disposed to be better informed.
It were heartily to be wished, that the greater Part of them had been
better instructed in the Art they profess. The Instances of Mischief
that might have been avoided, by their being better qualify'd, are
frequent enough to make us wish there may be no Repetition of them,
which it may be possible to prevent. Nothing seems impossible, when
Persons in Authority are zealously inclined to prevent every such Evil;
and it is time they should be properly informed of one so essentially
hurtful to Society.
The Prescriptions I have given consist of the most simple Remedies, and
I have adjoined the Manner of preparing them so fully, that I hope no
Person can be at any Loss in that Respect. At the same time, that no one
may imagine they are the less useful and efficacious for their
Simplicity, I declare, they are the same I order in the City for the
most opulent Patients. This Simplicity is founded in Nature: the
Mixture, or rather the Confusion, of a Multitude of Drugs is ridiculous.
If they have the very same Virtues, for what Purpose are they blended?
It were more judicious to confine ourselves to that, which is the most
effectual. If their Virtues are different, the Effect of one destroys,
or lessens, the Effect of the other; and the Medicine ceases to prove a
Remedy.
I have given no Direction, which is not very practicable and easy to
execute; nevertheless it will be discernible, that some few are not
calculated for the Multitude, which I readily grant. However I have
given them, because I did not lose Sight of some Persons; who, tho' not
strictly of the Multitude, or Peasantry, do live in the Country, and
cannot always procure a Physician as soon, or for as long a Time, as
they gladly would.
A great Number of the Remedies are entirely of the Country Growth, and
may be prepared there; but there are others, which must be had from the
Apothecaries. I have set down the Price [7] at which I am persuaded all
the Country Apothecaries will retail them to a Peasant, who is not
esteemed a rich one. I have marked the Price, not from any Apprehension
of their being imposed on in the Purchase, for this I do not apprehend;
but, that seeing the Cheapness of the Prescription, they may not be
afraid to buy it. The necessary Dose of the Medicine, for each Disease,
may generally be purchased for less Money than would be expended on
Meat, Wine, Biscuits, and other improper things. But should the Price of
the Medicine, however moderate, exceed the Circumstances of the Sick,
doubtless the Common Purse, or the Poors-Box will defray it: moreover
there are in many Country Places Noblemens Houses, some of whom
charitably contribute an annual Sum towards buying of Medicines for poor
Patients. Without adding to which Sum, I would only intreat the Favour
of each of them to alter the Objects of it, and to allow their sick
Neighbours the Remedies and the Regimen directed here, instead of such
as they formerly distributed among them.
[7] This oeconomical Information was doubtless very proper, where our
judicious and humane Author published it; but notwithstanding his
excellent Motives for giving it, we think it less necessary here,
where many Country Gentlemen furnish themselves with larger or
smaller Medicine Chests, for the Benefit of their poor sick
Neighbours; and in a Country, where the settled parochial Poor are
provided with Medicines, as well as other Necessaries, at a
parochial Expence. Besides, tho' we would not suppose our Country
Apothecaries less considerate or kind than others, we acknowledge
our Apprehension, that in such Valuation of their Drugs (some of
which often vary in their Price) might dispose a few of them,
rather to discountenance the Extension of a Work, so well intended
and executed as Dr. _Tissot's_; a Work, which may not be wholly
unuseful to some of the most judicious among them, and will be
really necessary for the rest. _K._
It may still be objected, that many Country Places are very distant from
large Towns; from which Circumstance a poor Peasant is incapable of
procuring himself a seasonable and necessary Supply in his Illness. I
readily admit, that, in Fact, there are many Villages very remote from
such Places as Apothecaries reside in. Yet, if we except a few among the
Mountains, there are but very few of them above three or four Leagues
from some little Town, where there always lives some Surgeon, or some
Vender of Drugs. Perhaps however, even at this Time, indeed, there may
not be many thus provided; but they will take care to furnish themselves
with such Materials, as soon as they have a good Prospect of selling
them, which may constitute a small, but new, Branch of Commerce for
them. I have carefully set down the Time, for which each Medicine will
keep, without spoiling. There is a very frequent Occasion for some
particular ones, and of such the School-masters may lay in a Stock. I
also imagine, if they heartily enter into my Views, they will furnish
themselves with such Implements, as may be necessary in the Course of
their Attendance. If any of them were unable to provide themselves with
a sufficient Number of good Lancets, an _Apparatus_ for Cupping, and a
Glyster Syringe (for want of which last a Pipe and Bladder may be
occasionally substituted) the Parish might purchase them, and the same
Instruments might do for the succeeding School-master. It is hardly to
be expected, that all Persons in that Employment would be able, or even
inclined, to learn the Way of using them with Address; but one Person
who did, might be sufficient for whatever Occasions should occur in this
Way in some contiguous Villages; with very little Neglect of their
Functions among their Scholars.
Daily Instances of Persons, who come from different Parts to consult me,
without being capable of answering the Questions I ask them, and the
like Complaints of many other Physicians on the same Account, engaged me
to write the last Chapter of this Work. I shall conclude this
Introduction with some Remarks, necessary to facilitate the Knowledge of
a few Terms, which were unavoidable in the Course of it.
The Pulse commonly beats in a Person in good Health, from the Age of
eighteen or twenty to about sixty six Years, between sixty and seventy
Times in a Minute. It sometimes comes short of this in old Persons, and
in very young Children it beats quicker: until the Age of three or four
Years the Difference amounts at least to a third; after which it
diminishes by Degrees.
An intelligent Person, who shall often touch and attend to his own
Pulse, and frequently to other Peoples, will be able to judge, with
sufficient Exactness, of the Degree of a Fever in a sick Person. If the
Strokes are but one third above their Number in a healthy State, the
Fever is not very violent: which it is, as often as it amounts to half
as many more as in Health. It is very highly dangerous, and may be
generally pronounced mortal, when there are two Strokes in the Time of
one. We must not however judge of the Pulse, solely by its Quickness,
but by its Strength or Weakness; its Hardness or Softness; and the
Regularity or Irregularity of it.
There is no Occasion to define the strong and the feeble Pulse. The
Strength of it generally affords a good Prognostic, and, supposing it
too strong, it may easily be lowered. The weak Pulse is often very
menacing.
If the Pulse, in meeting the Touch, excites the Notion of a dry Stroke,
as though the Artery consisted of Wood, or of some Metal, we term it
_hard_; the opposite to which is called _soft_, and generally promises
better. If it be strong and yet soft, even though it be quick, it may be
considered as a very hopeful Circumstance. But if it is strong and hard,
that commonly is a Token of an Inflammation, and indicates Bleeding and
the cooling Regimen. Should it be, at the same time, small, quick and
hard, the Danger is indeed very pressing.
We call that Pulse regular, a continued Succession of whole Strokes are
made in equal Intervals of Time; and in which Intervals, not a single
Stroke is wanting (since if that is its State, it is called an
intermitting Pulse.) The Beats or Pulsations are also supposed to
resemble each other so exactly in Quality too, that one is not strong,
and the next alternately feeble.
As long as the State of the Pulse is promising; Respiration or Breathing
is free; the Brain does not seem to be greatly affected; while the
Patient takes his Medicines, and they are attended with the Consequence
that was expected; and he both preserves his Strength pretty well, and
continues sensible of his Situation, we may reasonably hope for his
Cure. As often as all, or the greater Number of these characterizing
Circumstances are wanting, he is in very considerable Danger.
The Stoppage of Perspiration is often mentioned in the Course of this
Work. We call the Discharge of that Fluid which continually passes off
through the Pores of the Skin, _Transpiration_; and which, though
invisible, is very considerable. For if a Person in Health eats and
drinks to the Weight of eight Pounds daily, he does not discharge four
of them by Stool and Urine together, the Remainder passing off by
insensible Transpiration. It may easily be conceived, that if so
considerable a Discharge is stopt, or considerably lessened; and if this
Fluid, which ought to transpire through the Skin, should be transfered
to any inward Part, it must occasion some dangerous Complaint. In fact
this is one of the most frequent Causes of Diseases.
To conclude very briefly--All the Directions in the following Treatise
are solely designed for such Patients, as cannot have the Attendance of
a Physician. I am far from supporting, they ought to do instead of one,
even in those Diseases, of which I have treated in the fullest Manner;
and the Moment a Physician arrives, they ought to be laid aside. The
Confidence reposed in him should be entire, or there should be none. The
Success of the Event is founded in that. It is his Province to judge of
the Disease, to select Medicines against it; and it is easy to foresee
the Inconveniences that may follow, from proposing to him to consult
with any others, preferably to those he may chuse to consult with; only
because they have succeeded in the Treatment of another Patient, whose
Case they suppose to have been nearly the same with the present Case.
This were much the same, as to order a Shoemaker to make a Shoe for one
Foot by the Pattern of another Shoe, rather than by the Measure he has
just taken.
_N. B._ Though a great Part of this judicious Introduction is less
applicable to the political Circumstances of the British Empire, than to
those of the Government for which it was calculated; we think the good
Sense and the unaffected Patriotism which animate it, will supersede any
Apology for our translating it. The serious Truth is this, that a
thorough Attention to Population seems never to have been more expedient
for ourselves, than after so bloody and expensive, though such a
glorious and successful War: while our enterprizing Neighbours, who will
never be our Friends, are so earnest to recruit their Numbers; to
increase their Agriculture; and to force a Vent for their Manufactures,
which cannot be considerably effected, without a sensible Detriment to
our own. Besides which, the unavoidable Drain from the People here,
towards an effectual Cultivation, Improvement, and Security of our
Conquests, demands a further Consideration. _K._
_ADVICE_ _TO THE_ _PEOPLE_,
With Respect to their _HEALTH._
*__Chapter I.__*
_Of the most usual Causes of popular Maladies._
__Sect.__ 1.
The most frequent Causes of Diseases commonly incident to Country People
are, 1. Excessive Labour, continued for a very considerable Time.
Sometimes they sink down at once in a State of Exhaustion and Faintness,
from which they seldom recover: but they are oftener attacked with some
inflammatory Disease; as a Quinsey, a Pleurisy, or an Inflammation of
the Breast.
There are two Methods of preventing these Evils: one is, to avoid the
Cause which produces them; but this is frequently impossible. Another
is, when such excessive Labour has been unavoidable, to allay their
Fatigue, by a free Use of some temperate refreshing Drink; especially by
sweet Whey, by Butter-milk, or by [8] Water, to a Quart of which a
Wine-glass of Vinegar may be added; or, instead of that, the expressed
Juice of Grapes not fully ripe, or even of Goosberries or Cherries:
which wholesome and agreeable Liquors are refreshing and cordial. I
shall treat, a little lower, of inflammatory Disorders. The Inanition or
Emptiness, though accompanied with Symptoms different from the former,
have yet some Affinity to them with Respect to their Cause, which is a
kind of general Exsiccation or Dryness. I have known some cured from
this Cause by Whey, succeeded by tepid Baths, and afterwards by Cow's
Milk: for in such Cases hot Medicines and high Nourishment are fatal.
[8] This supposes they are not greatly heated, as well as fatigued, by
their Labour or Exercise, in which Circumstance free and sudden
Draughts of cooling Liquors might be very pernicious: and it
evidently also supposes these Drinks to be thus given, rather in
Summer, than in very cold Weather, as the Juice of the unripe
Grapes, and the other fresh Fruits sufficiently ascertain the
Season of the Year. We think the Addition of Vinegar to their Water
will scarcely ever be necessary in this or the adjoining Island, on
such Occasions. The Caution recommended in this Note is abundantly
enforced by Dr. _Tissot_, § 4: but considering the Persons, to whom
this Work is more particularly addressed, we were willing to
prevent every Possibility of a Mistake, in so necessary, and
sometimes so vital a Point. _K._
§ 2. There is another Kind of Exhaustion or Emptiness, which may be
termed real Emptiness, and is the Consequence of great Poverty, the Want
of sufficient Nourishment, bad Food, unwholesome Drink, and excessive
Labour. In Cases thus circumstanced, good Soups and a little Wine are
very proper. Such happen however very seldom in this Country: I believe
they are frequent in some others, especially in many Provinces of
_France_.
§ 3. A second and very common Source of Disorders arises, from Peoples'
lying down and reposing, when very hot, in a cold Place. This at once
stops Perspiration, the Matter of which being thrown upon some internal
Part, proves the Cause of many violent Diseases, particularly of
Quinseys, Inflammations of the Breast, Pleurisies, and inflammatory
Cholics. These Evils, from this Cause, may always be avoided by avoiding
the Cause, which is one of those that destroy a great Number of People.
However, when it has occurred, as soon as the first Symptoms of the
Malady are perceiveable, which sometimes does not happen till several
Days after, the Patient should immediately be bled; his Legs should be
put into Water moderately hot, and he should drink plentifully of the
tepid Infusion marked No. 1. Such Assistances frequently prevent the
Increase of these Disorders; which, on the contrary, are greatly
aggravated, if hot Medicines are given to sweat the Patient.
§ 4. A third Cause is drinking cold Water, when a Person is extremely
hot. This acts in the same Manner with the second; but its Consequences
are commonly more sudden and violent. I have seen most terrible Examples
of it, in Quinseys, Inflammations of the Breast, Cholics, Inflammations
of the Liver, and all the Parts of the Belly, with prodigious Swellings,
Vomitings, Suppressions of Urine, and inexpressible Anguish. The most
available Remedies in such Cases, from this Cause, are, a plentiful
Bleeding at the Onset, a very copious Drinking of warm Water, to which
one fifth Part of Whey should be added; or of the Ptisan No. 2, or of an
Emulsion of Almonds, all taken warm. Fomentations of warm Water should
also be applied to the Throat, the Breast and Belly, with Glysters of
the same, and a little Milk. In this Case, as well as in the preceding
one, (§ 3.) a _Semicupium_, or Half-bath of warm Water has sometimes
been attended with immediate Relief. It seems really astonishing, that
labouring People should so often habituate themselves to this pernicious
Custom, which they know to be so very dangerous to their very Beasts.
There are none of them, who will not prevent their Horses from drinking
while they are hot, especially if they are just going to put them up.
Each of them knows, that if he lets them drink in that State, they might
possibly burst with it; nevertheless he is not afraid of incurring the
like Danger himself. However, this is not the only Case, in which the
Peasant seems to have more Attention to the Health of his Cattle, than
to his own.
§ 5. The fourth Cause, which indeed affects every Body, but more
particularly the Labourer, is, the Inconstancy of the Weather. We shift
all at once, many times a Day, from Hot to Cold, and from Cold to Hot,
in a more remarkable Manner, and more suddenly, than in most other
Countries. This makes Distempers from Defluxion and Cold so common with
us: and it should make us careful to go rather a little more warmly
cloathed, than the Season may seem to require; to have Recourse to our
Winter-cloathing early in Autumn, and not to part with it too early in
the Spring. Prudent Labourers, who strip while they are at Work, take
care to put on their Cloaths in the Evening when they return home. [9]
Those, who from Negligence, are satisfied with hanging them upon their
Country Tools, frequently experience, on their Return, the very unhappy
Effects of it. There are some, tho' not many Places, where the Air
itself is unwholsome, more from its particular Quality, than from its
Changes of Temperature, as at _Villeneuve_, and still more at _Noville_,
and in some other Villages situated among the Marshes which border on
the _Rhone_. These Countries are particularly subject to intermitting
Fevers; of which I shall treat briefly hereafter.
[9] This good Advice is enforced in a Note, by the Editor of _Lyons_,
who observes, it should be still more closely attended to, in
Places, where Rivers, Woods or Mountains retain, as it were, a
considerable Humidity; and where the Evenings are, in every Season,
cold and moist.--It is a very proper Caution too in our own
variable Climate, and in many of our Colonies in North _America_.
_K._
§ 6. Such sudden Changes are often attended with great Showers of Rain,
and even cold Rain, in the Middle of a very hot Day; when the Labourer
who was bathed, as it were, in a hot Sweat, is at once moistened in cold
Water; which occasions the same Distempers, as the sudden Transition
from Heat to Cold, and requires the same Remedies. If the Sun or a hot
Air succeed immediately to such a Shower, the Evil is considerably
lighter: but if the Cold continues, many are often greatly incommoded by
it.
A Traveller is sometimes thoroughly and unavoidably wet with Mud; the
ill Consequence of which is often inconsiderable, provided he changes
his Cloaths immediately, when he sets up. I have known fatal Pleurisies
ensue from omitting this Caution. Whenever the Body or the Limbs are
wet, nothing can be more useful than bathing them in warm Water. If the
Legs only have been wet, it may be sufficient to bath them. I have
radically, thoroughly, cured Persons subject to violent Cholics, as
often as their Feet were wet, by persuading them to pursue this Advice.
The Bath proves still more effectual, if a little Soap be dissolved in
it.
§ 7. A fifth Cause, which is seldom attended to, probably indeed because
it produces less violent Consequences, and yet is certainly hurtful, is
the common Custom in all Villages, of having their Ditches or Dunghills
directly under their Windows. Corrupted Vapours are continually exhaling
from them, which in Time cannot fail of being prejudicial, and must
contribute to produce putrid diseases. Those who are accustomed to the
Smell, become insensible of it: but the Cause, nevertheless, does not
cease to be unwholesomly active; and such as are unused to it perceive
the Impression in all its Force.
§ 8. There are some Villages, in which, after the Curtain Lines are
erased, watery marshy Places remain in the Room of them. The Effect of
this is still more dangerous, because that putrify'd Water, which
stagnates during the hot Season, suffers its Vapours to exhale more
easily, and more abundantly, than that in the Curtain Lines did. Having
set out for _Pully le Grand_, in 1759, on Account of an epidemical
putrid Fever which raged there, I was sensible, on traversing the
Village, of the Infection from those Marshes; nor could I doubt of their
being the Cause of this Disease, as well as of another like it, which
had prevailed there five Years before. In other Respects the Village is
wholesomly situated. It were to be wished such Accidents were obviated
by avoiding these stagnated Places; or, at least, by removing them and
the Dunghils, as far as possible from the Spot, where we live and lodge.
§ 9. To this Cause may also be added the Neglect of the Peasants to air
their Lodgings. It is well known that too close an Air occasions the
most perplexing malignant Fevers; and the poor Country People respire no
other in their own Houses. Their Lodgings, which are very small, and
which notwithstanding inclose, (both Day and Night) the Father, Mother,
and seven or eight Children, besides some Animals, are never kept open
during six Months in the Year, and very seldom during the other six. I
have found the Air so bad in many of these Houses, that I am persuaded,
if their Inhabitants did not often go out into the free open Air, they
must all perish in a little Time. It is easy, however, to prevent all
the Evils arising from this Source, by opening the Windows daily: so
very practicable a Precaution must be followed with the happiest
Consequences.
§ 10. I consider Drunkenness as a sixth Cause, not indeed as producing
epidemical Diseases, but which destroys, as it were, by Retail, at all
times, and every where. The poor Wretches, who abandon themselves to it,
are subject to frequent Inflammations of the Breast, and to Pleurisies,
which often carry them off in the Flower of their Age. If they sometimes
escape through these violent Maladies, they sink, a long Time before the
ordinary Approach of old Age, into all its Infirmities, and especially
into an Asthma, which terminates in a Dropsy of the Breast. Their
Bodies, worn out by Excess, do not comply and concur, as they ought,
with the Force or Operation of Remedies; and Diseases of Weakness,
resulting from this Cause, are almost always incurable. It seems happy
enough, that Society loses nothing in parting with these Subjects, who
are a Dishonour to it; and whose brutal Souls are, in some Measure,
dead, long before their Carcases.
§ 11. The Provisions of the common People are also frequently one Cause
of popular Maladies. This happens 1st, whenever the Corn, not well
ripened, or not well got in, in bad [10] _Harvests_, has contracted an
unwholesome Quality. Fortunately however this is seldom the Case; and
the Danger attending the Use of it, may be lessened by some Precautions,
such as those of washing and drying the Grain completely; of mixing a
little Wine with the Dough, in kneading it; by allowing it a little more
Time to swell or rise, and by baking it a little more. 2dly, The fairer
and better saved Part of the Wheat is sometimes damaged in the Farmers
House; either because he does not take due Care of it, or because he has
no convenient Place to preserve it, only from one Summer to the next. It
has often happened to me, on entering one of these bad Houses, to be
struck with the Smell of Wheat that has been spoiled. Nevertheless,
there are known and easy Methods to provide against this by a little
Care; though I shall not enter into a Detail of them. It is sufficient
to make the People sensible, that since their chief Sustenance consists
of Corn, their Health must necessarily be impaired by what is bad. 3dly,
That Wheat, which is good, is often made into bad Bread, by not letting
it rise sufficiently; by baking it too little, and by keeping it too
long. All these Errors have their troublesome Consequences on those who
eat it; but in a greater Degree on Children and Valetudinarians, or
weakly People.
[10] Thus I have ventured to translate _Etés_ (_Summers_) to apply it to
this and the neighbouring Islands. Their Harvests in _Swisserland_
perhaps are earlier, and may occur in _August_, and that of some
particular Grain, probably still earlier. _K._
Tarts or Cakes may be considered as an Abuse of Bread, and this in some
Villages is increased to a very pernicious Height. The Dough is almost
constantly bad, and often unleavened, ill baked, greasy, and stuffed
with either fat or sour Ingredients, which compound one of the most
indigestible Aliments imaginable. Women and Children consume the most of
this Food, and are the very Subjects for whom it is the most improper:
little Children especially, who live sometimes for many successive Days
on these Tarts, are, for the greater Part, unable to digest them
perfectly. Hence they receive a [11] Source of Obstructions in the
Bowels of the Belly, and of a slimy Viscidity or Thickishness,
throughout the Mass of Humours, which throws them into various Diseases
from Weakness; slow Fevers, a Hectic, the Rickets, the King's Evil, and
Feebleness; for the miserable Remainder of their Days. Probably indeed
there is nothing more unwholesome than Dough not sufficiently leavened,
ill-baked, greasy, and soured by the Addition of Fruits. Besides, if we
consider these Tarts in an oeconomical View, they must be found
inconvenient also for the Peasant on that Account.
[11] The Abuse just mentioned can scarcely be intended to forbid the
moderate Use of good Pastry, the Dough of which is well raised and
well baked, the Flower and other Ingredients sound, and the Paste
not overcharged with Butter, even though it were sweet and fresh.
But the Abuse of Alum and other pernicious Materials introduced by
our Bakers, may too justly be considered as one horrible Source of
those Diseases of Children, &c. which our humane and judicious
Author mentions here. What he adds, concerning the Pastries being
rendered still more unwholesome by the sour Fruits sometimes baked
in it, is true with Respect to those Children and others, who are
liable to Complaints from Acidities abounding in the Bowels; and
for all those who are ricketty or scrophulous, from a cold and
viscid State of their Humours. But as to healthy sanguine Children,
who are advanced and lively, and others of a sanguine or bilious
Temperament, we are not to suppose a moderate Variety of this Food
injurious to them; when we consider, that the Sharpness and Crudity
of the Fruit is considerably corrected by the long Application of
Fire; and that they are the Produce of Summer, when bilious
Diseases are most frequent. This suggests however no bad Hint
against making them immoderately sweet. _K._
Some other Causes of Maladies may also be referred to the Article of
Food, tho' less grievous and less frequent, into a full Detail of which
it is very difficult to enter: I shall therefore conclude that Article
with this general Remark; that it is the Care which Peasants usually
take in eating slowly, and in chewing very well, that very greatly
lessens the Dangers from a bad Regimen: and I am convinced they
constitute one of the greatest Causes of that Health they enjoy. We may
further add indeed the Exercise which the Peasant uses, his long abiding
in the open Air, where he passes three fourths of his Life; besides
(which are also considerable Advantages) his happy Custom of going soon
to Bed, and of rising very early. It were to be wished, that in these
Respects, and perhaps on many other Accounts, the Inhabitants of the
Country were effectually proposed as Models for reforming the Citizens.
§ 12. We should not omit, in enumerating the Causes of Maladies among
Country People, the Construction of their Houses, a great many of which
either lean, as it were, close to a higher Ground, or are sunk a little
in the Earth. Each of these Situations subjects them to considerable
Humidity; which is certain greatly to incommode the Inhabitants, and to
spoil their Provisions, if they have any Quantity in Store; which, as we
have observed, is another, and not the least important, Source of their
Diseases. A hardy Labourer is not immediately sensible of the bad
Influence of this moist and marshy Habitation; but they operate at the
long Run, and I have abundantly observed their most evident bad Effects,
especially on Women in Child-bed, on Children, and in Persons recovering
of a preceding Disease. It would be easy to prevent this Inconvenience,
by raising the Ground on which the House stood, some, or several, Inches
above the Level of the adjacent Soil, by a Bed of Gravel, of small
Flints, pounded Bricks, Coals, or such other Materials; and by avoiding
to build immediately close to, or, as it were, under a much higher Soil.
This Object, perhaps, may well deserve the Attention of the Publick; and
I earnestly advise as many as do build, to observe the necessary
Precautions on this Head. Another, which would cost still less Trouble,
is to give the Front of their Houses an Exposure to the South-East. This
Exposure, supposing all other Circumstances of the Building and its
Situation to be alike, is both the most wholesome and advantageous. I
have seen it, notwithstanding, very often neglected, without the least
Reason being assigned for not preferring it.
These Admonitions may possibly be thought of little Consequence by three
fourths of the People. I take the Liberty of reminding them, however,
that they are more important than they may be supposed; and so many
Causes concur to the Destruction of Men, that none of the Means should
be neglected, which may contribute to their Preservation.
§ 13. The Country People in _Swisserland_ drink, either 1, pure Water,
2, some Wine, 3, Perry, made from wild Pears, or sometimes Cyder from
Apples, and, 4, a small Liquor which they call _Piquette_, that is
Water, which has fermented with the Cake or Husks of the Grapes, after
their Juice has been expressed. Water however is their most general
Drink; Wine rarely falling in their Way, but when they are employed by
rich Folks; or when they can spare Money enough for a Debauch. Fruit
Wines and the [12] _Piquettes_ are not used in all Parts of the Country;
they are not made in all Years; and keep but for some Months.
[12] This Word's occurring in the plural Number will probably imply, the
_Swiss_ make more than one Species of this small Drink, by pouring
Water on the Cake or Remainder of their other Fruits, after they
have been expressed; as our People in the Cyder, and perhaps in the
Perry, Counties, make what they call _Cyderkin_, _Perkin_, _&c._ It
should seem too from this Section, that the laborious Countrymen in
_Swisserland_ drink no Malt Liquor, though the Ingredients may be
supposed to grow in their Climate. Now Beer, of different Strength,
making the greater Part of our most common Drink, it may be proper
to observe here, that when it is not strong and heady, but a
middling well-brewed Small-beer, neither too new, nor hard or sour,
it is full as wholesome a Drink for laborious People in Health as
any other, and perhaps generally preferable to Water for such;
which may be too thin and light for those who are unaccustomed to
it; and more dangerous too, when the labouring Man is very hot, as
well as thirsty. The holding a Mouthful of any weak cold Liquor in
the Mouth without swallowing 'till it becomes warm, there, and
spurting it out before a Draught is taken down would be prudent;
and in Case of great Heat, to take the requisite Quantity rather at
two Draughts, with a little Interval between them, than to swallow
the Whole precipitately at one, would be more safe, and equally
refreshing, though perhaps less grateful. _K._
Our Waters in general, are pretty good; so that we have little Occasion
to trouble ourselves about purifying them; and they are well known in
those Provinces where they are chiefly and necessarily used. [13] The
pernicious Methods taken to improve or meliorate, as it is falsely
called, bad Wines, are not as yet sufficiently practiced among us, for
me to treat of them here: and as our Wines are not hurtful, of
themselves, they become hurtful only from their Quantity. The
Consumption of made Wines and _Piquettes_ is but inconsiderable, and I
have not hitherto known of any ill Effects from them, so that our
Liquors cannot be considered as Causes of Distempers in our Country; but
in Proportion to our Abuse of them by Excess. The Case is differently
circumstanced in some [14] other Countries; and it is the Province of
Physicians who reside in them, to point out to their Country-Men the
Methods of preserving their Health; as well as the proper and necessary
Remedies in their Sickness.
[13] The bad Quality of Water is another common Cause of Country
Diseases; either where the Waters are unwholesome, from the Soils
in which they are found, as when they flow through, or settle, on
Banks of Shells; or where they become such, from the Neighbourhood
of, or Drainings from Dunghills and Marshes.
When Water is unclear and turbid, it is generally sufficient to let
it settle in order to clear itself, by dropping its Sediment. But
if that is not effected, or if it be slimy or muddy, it need only
be poured into a large Vessel, half filled with fine Sand, or, for
want of that, with Chalk; and then to shake and stir it about
heartily for some Minutes. When this Agitation is over, the Sand,
in falling to the Bottom of the Vessel, will attract some of the
Foulness suspended in the Water. Or, which is still better, and
very easy to do, two large Vessels may be set near together, one of
which should be placed considerably higher than the other. The
highest should be half filled with Sand. Into this the turbid, or
slimy muddy Water is to be poured; whence it will filter itself
through the Body of Sand, and pass off clear by an Opening or
Orifice made at the Bottom of the Vessel; and fall from thence into
the lower one, which serves as a Reservoir. When the Water is
impregnated with Particles from the Beds of Selenites, or of any
Spar (which Water we call hard, because Soap will not easily
dissolve in it, and Puls and other farinaceous Substances grow hard
instead of soft, after boiling in it) such Water should be exposed
to the Sun, or boiled with the Addition of some Puls, or leguminous
Vegetables, or Bread toasted, or untoasted. When Water is in its
putrid State, it may be kept till it recovers its natural sweet
one: but if this cannot be waited for, a little Sea Salt should be
dissolved in it, or some Vinegar may be added, in which some
grateful aromatic Plant has been infused. It frequently happens,
that the publick Wells are corrupted by foul Mud at the Bottom, and
by different Animals which tumble in and putrify there. Drinking
Snow-water should be avoided, when the Snow is but lately fallen,
as it seems to be the Cause of those swelling wenny Throats in the
Inhabitants of some Mountains; and of endemic Cholics in many
Persons. As Water is so continually used, great Care should be
taken to have what is good. Bad Water, like bad Air, is one of the
most general Causes of Diseases; that which produces the greater
Number of them, the most grieveous ones; and often introduces such
as are epidemical. _E. L. i.e._ the Editor of Lyons.
[14] Many Persons, With a Design to preserve their Wines, add Shot to
them, or Preparations of Lead, Alum, &c. The Government should
forbid, under the most severe Penalties, all such Adulterations, as
tend to introduce the most painful Cholics, Obstruction, and a long
Train of Evils, which it sometimes proves difficult to trace to
this peculiar Cause; while they shorten the lives of, or cruelly
torment, such over credulous Purchasers, as lay in a Stock of bad
Wines, or drink of them, without distinction, from every Wine
Merchant or Tavern. _E. L._
_This Note, from the Editor at_ Lyons, _we have sufficient Reason
for retaining here. K._
__Chapter II.__
_Of the Causes which aggravate the Diseases of the People. General
Considerations._
__Sect.__ 14.
The Causes already enumerated in the first Chapter occasion Diseases;
and the bad Regimen, or Conduct of the People, on the Invasion of them,
render them still more perplexing, and very often mortal.
There is a prevailing Prejudice among them, which is every Year attended
with the Death of some Hundreds in this Country, and it is this--That
all Distempers are cured by Sweat; and that to procure Sweat, they must
take Abundance of hot and heating things, and keep themselves very hot.
This is a Mistake in both Respects, very fatal to the Population of the
State; and it cannot be too much inculcated into Country People; that by
thus endeavouring to force Sweating, at the very Beginning of a Disease,
they are with great Probability, taking Pains to kill themselves. I have
seen some Cases, in which the continual Care to provoke this Sweating,
has as manifestly killed the Patient, as if a Ball had been shot through
his Brains; as such a precipitate and untimely Discharge carries off the
thinner Part of the Blood, leaving the Mass more dry, more viscid and
inflamed. Now as in all acute Diseases (if we except a very few, and
those too much less frequent) the Blood is already too thick; such a
Discharge must evidently increase the Disorder, by co-operating with its
Cause. Instead of forcing out the watery, the thinner Part of the Blood,
we should rather endeavour to increase it. There is not a single Peasant
perhaps, who does not say, when he has a Pleurisy, or an Inflammation of
his Breast, that his Blood is too thick, and that it cannot circulate.
On seeing it in the Bason after Bleeding, he finds it _black, dry,
burnt_; these are his very Words. How strange is it then, that common
Sense should not assure him, that, far from forcing out the _Serum_, the
watery Part, of such a Blood by sweating, there is a Necessity to
increase it?
§ 15. But supposing it were as certain, as it is erroneous, that
Sweating was beneficial at the Beginning of Diseases, the Means which
they use to excite it would not prove the less fatal. The first
Endeavour is, to stifle the Patient with the Heat of a close Apartment,
and a Load of Covering. Extraordinary Care is taken to prevent a Breath
of fresh Air's squeezing into the Room; from which Circumstance, the Air
already in it is speedily and extremely corrupted: and such a Degree of
Heat is procured by the Weight of the Patient's Bed-cloaths, that these
two Causes alone are sufficient to excite a most ardent Fever, and an
Inflammation of the Breast, even in a healthy Man. More than once have I
found myself seized with a Difficulty of breathing, on entering such
Chambers, from which I have been immediately relieved, on obliging them
to open all the Windows. Persons of Education must find a Pleasure, I
conceive, in making People understand, on these Occasions, which are so
frequent, that the Air being more indispensably necessary to us, if
possible, than Water is to a Fish, our Health must immediately suffer,
whenever that ceases to be pure; in assuring them also, that nothing
corrupts it sooner than those Vapours, which continually steam from the
Bodies of many Persons inclosed within a little Chamber, from which the
Air is excluded. The Absurdity of such Conduct is a self-evident
Certainty. Let in a little fresh Air on these miserable Patients, and
lessen the oppressing Burthen of their Coverings, and you generally see
upon the Spot, their Fever and Oppression, their Anguish and Raving, to
abate.
§ 16. The second Method taken to raise a Sweat in these Patients is, to
give them nothing but hot things, especially Venice Treacle, Wine, or
some [15] _Faltranc_, the greater Part of the Ingredients of which are
dangerous, whenever there is an evident Fever; besides Saffron, which is
still more pernicious. In all feverish Disorders we should gently cool,
and keep the Belly moderately open; while the Medicines just mentioned
both heat and bind; and hence we may easily judge of their inevitable
ill Consequences. A healthy Person would certainly be seized with an
inflammatory Fever, on taking the same Quantity of Wine, of Venice
Treacle, or of _Faltranc_, which the Peasant takes now and then, when he
is attacked by one of these Disorders. How then should a sick Person
escape dying by them? Die indeed he _generally_ does, and sometimes with
astonishing Speed. I have published some dreadful Instances of such
Fatality some Years since, in another Treatise. In fact they still daily
occur, and unhappily every Person may observe some of them in his own
Neighbourhood.
[15] This Word, which must be of German, not of French Extraction,
strictly signifies, _Drink for a Fall_, as we say _Pulvis ad
Casum_, &c. Powder for a Fall, or a supposed inward Bruise. Dr.
_Tissot_ informs me, it is otherwise called the vulnerary Herbs, or
the Swiss Tea; and that it is an injudicious _Farrago_ or Medley of
Herbs and Flowers, blended with Bitters, with stimulating, harsh
and astringent Ingredients, being employed indiscriminately in all
their Distempers by the Country People in _Swisserland_. _K._
§ 17. But I shall be told perhaps, that Diseases are often carried off
by Sweat, and that we ought to be guided by Experience. To this I
answer, it is very true, that Sweating cures some particular Disorders,
as it were, at their very Onset, for Instance, those Stitches that are
called spurious or false Pleurisies, some rheumatic Pains, and some
Colds or Defluxions. But this only happens when the Disorders depend
solely and simply on stopt or abated Perspiration, to which such Pain
instantly succeeds; where immediately, before the Fever has thickened
the Blood, and inflamed the Humours; and where before any internal
Infarction, any Load, is formed, some warm Drinks are given, such as
_Faltranc_ and Honey; which, by restoring Transpiration, remove the very
Cause of the Disorder. Nevertheless, even in such a Case, great Care
should be had not to raise too violent a Commotion in the Blood, which
would rather restrain, than promote, Sweat, to effect which
Elder-flowers are in my Opinion preferable to _Faltranc_. Sweating is
also of Service in Diseases, when their Causes are extinguished, as it
were, by plentiful Dilution: then indeed it relieves, by drawing off,
with itself, some Part of the distempered Humours; after which their
grosser Parts have passed off by Stool and by Urine: besides which, the
Sweat has also served to carry off that extraordinary Quantity of Water,
we were obliged to convey into the Blood, and which was become
superfluous there. Under such Circumstances, and at such a Juncture, it
is of the utmost Importance indeed, not to check the Sweat, whether by
Choice, or for Want of Care. There might often be as much Danger in
doing this, as there would have been in endeavouring to force a Sweat,
immediately upon the Invasion of the Disorder; since the arresting of
this Discharge, under the preceding Circumstances, might frequently
occasion a more dangerous Distemper, by repelling the Humour on some
inward vital Part. As much Care therefore should be taken not to check,
imprudently, that Evacuation by the Skin, which naturally occurs towards
the Conclusion of Diseases, as not to force it at their Beginning; the
former being almost constantly beneficial, the latter as constantly
pernicious. Besides, were it even necessary, it might be very dangerous
to force it violently; since by heating the Patients greatly, a vehement
Fever is excited; they become scorched up in a Manner, and the Skin
proves extremely dry. Warm Water, in short, is the best of Sudorifics.
If the Sick are sweated very plentifully for a Day or two, which may
make them easier for some Hours; these Sweats soon terminate, and cannot
be excited again by the same Medicines. The Dose thence is doubled, the
Inflammation is increased, and the Patient expires in terrible Anguish,
with all the Marks of a general Inflammation. His Death is ascribed to
his Want of Sweating; when it really was the Consequence of his Sweating
too much at first; and of his taking Wine and hot Sudorifics. An able
Swiss Physician had long since assured his Countrymen, that Wine was
fatal to them in Fevers; I take leave to repeat it again and again, and
wish it may not be with as little Success.
Our Country Folks, who in Health, naturally dislike red Wine, prefer it
when Sick; which is wrong, as it binds them up more than white Wine. It
does not promote Urine as well; but increases the Force of the
circulating Arteries, and the Thickness of the Blood, which were already
too considerable.
§ 18. Their Diseases are also further aggravated by the Food that is
generally given them. They must undoubtedly prove weak, in Consequence
of their being sick; and the ridiculous Fear of the Patients' dying of
Weakness, disposes their Friends to force them to eat; which, increasing
their Disorder, renders the Fever mortal. This Fear is absolutely
chimerical; never yet did a Person in a Fever die merely from Weakness.
They may be supported, even for some Weeks, by Water only; and are
stronger at the End of that Time, than if they had taken more solid
Nourishment; since, far from strengthening them, their Food increases
their Disease, and thence increases their Weakness.
§ 19. From the first Invasion of a Fever, Digestion ceases. Whatever
solid Food is taken corrupts, and proves a Source of Putridity, which
adds nothing to the Strength of the Sick, but greatly to that of the
Distemper. There are in fact a thousand Examples to prove, that it
becomes a real Poison: and we may sensibly perceive these poor
Creatures, who are thus compelled to eat, lose their Strength, and fall
into Anxiety and Ravings, in Proportion as they swallow.
§ 20. They are also further injured by the Quality, as well as the
Quantity, of their Food. They are forced to sup strong Gravey Soups,
Eggs, Biscuits, and even Flesh, if they have but just Strength and
Resolution to chew it. It seems absolutely impossible for them to
survive all this Trash. Should a Man in perfect Health be compelled to
eat stinking Meat, rotten Eggs, stale sour Broth, he is attacked with as
violent Symptoms, as if he had taken real Poison, which, in Effect, he
has. He is seized with Vomiting, Anguish, a violent Purging, and a
Fever, with Raving, and eruptive Spots, which we call the Purple Fever.
Now when the very same Articles of Food, in their soundest State, are
given to a Person in a Fever, the Heat, and the morbid Matter already in
his Stomach, quickly putrify them; and after a few Hours produce all the
abovementioned Effects. Let any Man judge then, if the least Service can
be expected from them.
§ 21. It is a Truth established by the first of Physicians, above two
thousand Years past, and still further ratified by his Successors, that
as long as a sick Person has a bad Humour or Ferment in his Stomach, his
Weakness increases, in Proportion to the Food he receives. For this
being corrupted by the infected Matter it meets there, proves incapable
of nourishing, and becomes a conjunct or additional Cause of the
Distemper.
The most observing Persons constantly remark, that whenever a feverish
Patient sups, what is commonly called some good Broth, the Fever gathers
Strength and the Patient Weakness. The giving such a Soup or Broth,
though of the freshest soundest Meat, to a Man who has a high Fever, or
putrid Humours in his Stomach, is to do him exactly the same service, as
if you had given him, two or three Hours later, stale putrid Soup.
§ 22. I must also affirm, that this fatal Prejudice, of keeping up the
Patients' Strength by Food, is still too much propagated, even among
those very Persons, whose Talents and whose Education might be expected
to exempt them from any such gross Error. It were happy for Mankind, and
the Duration of their Lives would generally be more extended, if they
could be thoroughly persuaded of this medical, and so very demonstrable,
Truth;--That the only things which can strengthen sick Persons are
those, which are able to weaken their Disease; but their Obstinacy in
this Respect is inconceivable: it is another Evil superadded to that of
the Disease, and sometimes the more grievous one. Out of twenty sick
Persons, who are lost in the Country, more than two Thirds might often
have been cured, if being only lodged in a Place defended from the
Injuries of the Air, they were supplied with Abundance of good Water.
But that most mistaken Care and Regimen I have been treating of,
scarcely suffers one of the twenty to survive them.
§ 23. What further increases our Horror at this enormous Propensity to
heat, dry up, and cram the sick is, that it is totally opposite to what
Nature herself indicates in such Circumstances. The burning Heat of
which they complain; the Dryness of the Lips, Tongue and Throat; the
flaming high Colour of their Urine; the great Longing they have for
cooling things; the Pleasure and sensible Benefit they enjoy from fresh
Air, are so many Signs, or rather Proofs, which cry out with a loud
Voice, that we ought to attemperate and cool them moderately, by all
means. Their foul Tongues, which shew the Stomach to be in the like
Condition; their Loathing, their Propensity to vomit, their utter
Aversion to all solid Food, and especially to Flesh; the disagreeable
Stench of their Breath; their Discharge of fetid Wind upwards and
downwards, and frequently the extraordinary Offensiveness of their
Excrements, demonstrate, that their Bowels are full of putrid Contents,
which must corrupt all the Aliments superadded to them; and that the
only thing, which can prudently be done, is to dilute and attemper them
by plentiful Draughts of refreshing cooling Drinks, which may promote an
easy Discharge of them. I affirm it again, and I heartily wish it may be
thoroughly attended to, that as long as there is any Taste of
Bitterness, or of Putrescence; as long as there is a _Nausea_ or
Loathing, a bad Breath, Heat and Feverishness with fetid Stools, and
little and high-coloured Urine; so long all flesh, and Flesh-Soup, Eggs,
and all kind of Food composed of them, or of any of them, and all Venice
Treacle, Wine, and all heating things are so many absolute Poisons.
§ 24. I may possibly be censured as extravagant and excessive on these
Heads by the Publick, and even by some Physicians: but the true and
enlightened Physicians, those who attend to the Effects of every
Particular, will find on the contrary, that far from exceeding in this
Respect, I have rather feebly expressed their own Judgment, in which
they agree with that of all the good ones, who have existed within more
than two thousand Years; that very Judgment which Reason approves, and
continual Experience confirms. The Prejudices I have been contending
against have cost _Europe_ some Millions of Lives.
§ 25. Neither should it be omitted, that even when a Patient has very
fortunately escaped Death, notwithstanding all this Care to obtain it,
the Mischief is not ended; the Consequences of the high Aliments and
heating Medicines being, to leave behind the Seed, the Principle, of
some low and chronical Disease; which increasing insensibly, bursts out
at length, and finally procures him the Death he has even wished for, to
put an End to his tedious Sufferings.
§ 26. I must also take Notice of another dangerous common Practice;
which is that of purging, or vomiting a Patient, at the very Beginning
of a Distemper. Infinite Mischiefs are occasioned by it. There are some
Cases indeed, in which evacuating Medicines, at the Beginning of a
Disease, are convenient and even necessary. Such Cases shall be
particularly mentioned in some other Chapters: but as long as we are
unacquainted with them, it should be considered as a general Rule, that
they are hurtful at the Beginning; this being true very often; and
always, when the Diseases are strictly inflammatory.
§ 27. It is hoped by their Assistance, at that Time, to remove the Load
and Oppression of the Stomach, the Cause of a Disposition to vomit, of a
dry Mouth, of Thirst, and of much Uneasiness; and to lessen the Leaven
or Ferment of the Fever. But in this Hope they are very often deceived;
since the Causes of these Symptoms are seldom of a Nature to yield to
these Evacuations. By the extraordinary Viscidity or Thickness of the
Humours, that foul the Tongue, we should form our Notions of those,
which line the Stomach and the Bowels. It may be washed, gargled and
even scraped to very little good Purpose. It does not happen, until the
Patient has drank for many Days, and the Heat, the Fever and the great
Siziness of the Humours are abated, that this Filth can he thoroughly
removed, which by Degrees separates of itself. The State of the Stomach
being conformable to that of the Tongue, no Method can effectually scour
and clean it at the Beginning: but by giving refreshing and diluting
Remedies plentifully, it gradually frees itself; and the Propensity to
vomit, with its other Effects and Uneasinesses, go off naturally, and
without Purges.
§ 28. Neither are these Evacuations only negatively wrong, merely from
doing no Good; for considerable Evil positively ensues from the
Application of those acrid irritating Medicines, which increase the Pain
and Inflammation; drawing the Humours upon those Parts that were already
overloaded with them; which by no means expel the Cause of the Disease,
that not being at this time fitted for Expulsion, as not sufficiently
concocted or ripe: and yet which, at the same Time, discharge the
thinnest Part of the Blood, whence the Remainder becomes more thick; in
short which carry off the useful, and leave the hurtful Humours behind.
§ 29. The Vomit especially, being given in an inflammatory Disease, and
even without any Distinction in all acute ones, before the Humours have
been diminished by Bleeding, and diluted by plentiful small Drinks, is
productive of the greatest Evils; of Inflammations of the Stomach, of
the Lungs and Liver, of Suffocations and Frenzies. Purges sometimes
occasion a general Inflammation of the Guts, which [16] terminates in
Death. Some Instances of each of these terrible Consequences have I
seen, from blundering Temerity, Imprudence and Ignorance. The Effect of
such Medicines, in these Circumstances, are much the same with those we
might reasonably expect, from the Application of Salt and Pepper to a
dry, inflamed and foul Tongue, in Order to moisten and clean it.
[16] It is pretty common to _hear_ of Persons recovering from
Inflammations of the Bowels, or Guts, which our Author more justly
and ingenuously considers as general Passports to Death: for it is
difficult to conceive, that a real and _considerable_ Inflammation
of such thin, membranous, irritable Parts, lined with such
putrescent Humours and Contents, and in so hot and close a
Situation, could be restored to a sound and healthy State _so
often_ as Rumour affirms it. This makes it so important a Point, to
avert every Tendency to an Inflammation of these feculent Parts, as
to justify a Bleeding directed, solely, from this Precaution, and
which might have been no otherwise indicated by a Disease, attended
with any Symptom, that threatened such an Inflammation. But when a
Person recovers, there can be no anatomical Search for such
Inflammations, or its Effects, the real or imaginary Cure of which
may well amaze the Patient, and must greatly redound to the Honour
of his Prescriber; so that there may be Policy sometimes in giving
a moderate Disease a very bad Name. _K._
§ 30. Every Person of sound plain Sense is capable of perceiving the
Truth of whatever I have advanced in this Chapter: and there would be
some Degree of Prudence, even in those who do not perceive the real good
Tendency of my Advice, not to defy nor oppose it too hardily. The
Question relates to a very important Object; and in a Matter quite
foreign to themselves, they undoubtedly owe some Deference to the
Judgment of Persons, who have made it the Study and Business of their
whole Lives. It is not to myself that I hope for their Attention, but to
the greatest Physicians, whose feeble Instrument and Eccho I am. What
Interest have any of us in forbidding sick People to eat, to be stifled,
or to drink such heating things as heighten their Fever? What Advantage
can accrue to us from opposing the fatal Torrent, which sweeps them off?
What Arguments can persuade People, that some thousand Men of Genius, of
Knowledge, and of Experience, who pass their Lives among a Croud and
Succession of Patients; who are entirely employed to take Care of them,
and to observe all that passes, have been only amusing and deceiving
themselves, on the Effects of Food, of Regimen and of Remedies? Can it
enter into any sensible Head, that a Nurse, who advises Soup, an Egg, or
a Biscuit, deserves a Patient's Confidence, better than a Physician who
forbids them? Nothing can be more disagreeable to the latter, than his
being obliged to dispute continually in Behalf of the poor Patients; and
to be in constant Terror, lest this mortally officious Attendance, by
giving such Food as augments all the Causes of the Disease, should
defeat the Efficacy of all the Remedies he administers to remove it; and
should fester and aggravate the Wound, in Proportion to the Pains he
takes to dress it. The more such absurd People love a Patient, the more
they urge him to eat, which, in Effect, verifies the Proverb of _killing
one with Kindness_.
__Chapter III.__
_Of the Means that ought to be used, at the Beginning of Diseases; and
of the Diet in acute Diseases._
__Sect.__ 31.
I have clearly shewn the great Dangers of the Regimen, or Diet, and of
the principal Medicines too generally made Use of by the Bulk of the
People, on these Occasions. I must now point out the actual Method they
may pursue, without any Risque, on the Invasion of some acute Diseases,
and the general Diet which agrees with them all. As many as are desirous
of reaping any Benefit from this Treatise, should attend particularly to
this Chapter; since, throughout the other Parts of it, in Order to avoid
Repetitions, I shall say nothing of the Diet, except the particular
Distemper shall require a different one, from that of which I am now to
give an exact Detail. And whenever I shall say in general, that a
Patient is to be put upon a Regimen, it will signify, that he is to be
treated according to the Method prescribed in this Chapter; and all such
Directions are to be observed, with Regard to Air, Food, Drink and
Glysters; except when I expressly order something else, as different
Ptisans, Glysters, &c.
§ 32. The greater Part of Diseases (by which I always understand acute
and feverish ones) often give some Notice of their Approach a few Weeks,
and, very commonly, some Days before their actual Invasion; such as a
light Lassitude, or Weariness, Stiffness or Numbness; less Activity than
usual, less Appetite, a small Load or Heaviness at Stomach; some
Complaint in the Head; a profounder Degree of Sleep, yet less composed,
and less refreshing than usual; less Gayety and Liveliness; sometimes a
light Oppression of the Breast, a less regular Pulse; a Propensity to be
Cold; an Aptness to sweat; and sometimes a Suppression of a former
Disposition to sweat. At such a Term it may be practicable to prevent,
or at least considerably to mitigate, the most perplexing Disorders, by
carefully observing the four following Points.
1. To omit all violent Work or Labour, but yet not so, as to discontinue
a gentle easy Degree of Exercise.
2. To bring the Complainant to content himself without any, or with very
little, solid Food; and especially to renounce all Flesh, Flesh-broth,
Eggs and Wine.
3. To drink plentifully, that is to say, at least three Pints, or even
four Pints daily, by small Glasses at a Time, from half hour to half
hour, of the Ptisans Nº. 1 and 2, or even of warm Water, to each Quart
of which may be added half a Glass of Vinegar. No Person can be
destitute of this very attainable Assistance. But should there be a Want
even of Vinegar, a few Grains of common [17] Salt may be added to a
Quart of warm Water for Drink. Those who have Honey will do well to add
two or three Spoonfuls of it to the Water. A light Infusion of Elder
Flowers, or of those of the Linden, the Lime-tree, may also be
advantageously used, and even well settled and clear sweet Whey.
[17] This Direction of our Author's, which may surprize some, probably
arises from his preferring a small Quantity of the marine Acid to
no Acid at all: For though a great Proportion of Salt, in saving
and seasoning Flesh and other Food, generally excites Thirst, yet a
little of it seems to have rather a different Effect, by gently
stimulating the salivary Glands: And we find that Nature very
seldom leaves the great diluting Element wholly void of this
quickening, antiputrescent Principle. _K._
4. Let the Person, affected with such previous Complaints, receive
Glysters of warm Water, or the Glyster Nº. 5. By pursuing these
Precautions some grievous Disorders have often been happily rooted out:
and although they should not prove so thoroughly efficacious, as to
prevent their Appearance, they may at least be rendered more gentle, and
much less dangerous.
§ 33. Very unhappily People have taken the directly contrary Method.
From the Moment these previous, these forerunning Complaints are
perceived, they allow themselves to eat nothing but gross Meat, Eggs, or
strong Meat-Soups. They leave off Garden-Stuff and Fruits, which would
be so proper for them; and they drink heartily (under a Notion of
strengthening the Stomach and expelling Wind) of Wine and other Liquors,
which strengthen nothing but the Fever, and expel what Degree of Health
might still remain. Hence all the Evacuations are restrained; the
Humours causing and nourishing the Diseases are not at all attempered,
diluted, nor rendered proper for Evacuation. Nay, on the very contrary,
they become more sharp, and more difficult to be discharged: while a
sufficient Quantity of diluting refreshing Liquor, asswages and
separates all Matters foreign to the Blood, which it purifies; and, at
the Expiration of some Days, all that was noxious in it is carried off
by Stool, by Urine, or by Sweat.
§ 34. When the Distemper is further advanced, and the Patient is already
seized with that Coldness or Shuddering, in a greater or less Degree,
which ushers in all Disease; and which is commonly attended with an
universal Oppression, and Pains over all the Surface of the Body; the
Patient, thus circumstanced, should be put to Bed, if he cannot keep up;
or should sit down as quietly as possible, with a little more Covering
than usual: he should drink every Quarter of an Hour a small Glass of
the Ptisan, Nº. 1 or 2, warm; or, if that is not at Hand, of some one of
those Liquids I have recommended § 32.
§ 35. These Patients earnestly covet a great Load of covering, during
the Cold or Shivering; but we should be very careful to lighten them as
soon as it abates; so that when the succeeding Heat begins, they may
have no more than their usual Weight of Covering. It were to be wished
_perhaps_, they had rather less. The Country People lie upon a
Feather-bed, and under a downy Coverlet, or Quilt, that is commonly
extremely heavy; and the Heat which is heightened and retained by
Feathers, is particularly troublesome to Persons in a Fever.
Nevertheless, as it is what they are accustomed to, this Custom may be
complied with for one Season of the Year: but during our Heats, or
whenever the Fever is very violent, they should lie on a Pallet (which
will be infinitely better for them) and should throw away their
Coverings of Down, so as to remain covered only with Sheets, or
something else, less injurious than Feather-Coverings. A Person could
scarcely believe, who had not been, as I have, a Witness of it, how much
Comfort a Patient is sensible of, in being eased of his former
Coverings. The Distemper immediately puts on a different Appearance.
§ 36. As soon as the Heat after the _Rigor_, or Coldness and Shuddering,
approaches, and the Fever is manifestly advanced, we should provide for
the Patient's _Regimen_. And
1, Care should be taken that the Air, in the Room where he lies, should
not be too hot, the mildest Degree of Warmth being very sufficient; that
there be as little Noise as possible, and that no Person speak to the
Sick, without a Necessity for it. No external Circumstance heightens the
Fever more, nor inclines the Patient more to a _Delirium_ or Raving,
than the Persons in the Chamber, and especially about the Bed. They
lessen the Spring, the elastic and refreshing Power, of the Air; they
prevent a Succession of fresh Air; and the Variety of Objects occupies
the Brain too much. Whenever the Patient has been at Stool, or has made
Urine, these Excrements should be removed immediately. The Windows
should certainly be opened Night and Morning, at least for a Quarter of
an Hour each Time; when also a Door should be opened, to promote an
entire Renovation or Change of the Air in the Room. Nevertheless, as the
Patient should not be exposed at any Time to a Stream or Current of Air,
the Curtains of his Bed should be drawn on such Occasions; and, if he
lay without any, Chairs, with Blankets or Cloaths hung upon them, should
be substituted in the Place of Curtains, and surround the Bed; while the
Windows continued open, in Order to defend the Patient from the Force of
the rushing Air. If the Season, however, be rigidly cold, it will be
sufficient to keep the Windows open, but for a few Minutes, each Time.
In Summer, at least one Window should be set open Day and Night. The
pouring a little Vinegar upon a red-hot Shovel also greatly conduces to
restore the Spring, and correct the Putridity, of the Air. In our
greatest Heats, when that in the Room seems nearly scorching, and the
sick Person is sensibly and greatly incommoded by it, the Floor may be
sprinkled now and then; and Branches of Willow or Ash-trees dipt a
little in Pails of Water may be placed within the Room.
§ 37. 2. With Respect to the Patient's Nourishment, he must entirely
abstain from all Food; but he may always be allowed, and have daily
prepared, the following Sustenance, which is one of the wholesomest, and
indisputably the simplest one. Take half a Pound of Bread, a Morsel of
the freshest Butter about the Size only of a Hazel Nut (which may even
be omitted too) three Pints and one quarter of a Pint of Water. Boil
them 'till the Bread be entirely reduced to a thin Consistence. Then
strain it, and give the Patient one eighth Part of it every three, or
every four, Hours; but still more rarely, if the Fever be vehemently
high. Those who have Groats, Barley, Oatmeal, or Rice, may boil and
prepare them in the same Manner, with some Grains of Salt.
§ 38. The Sick may also be sometimes indulged, in lieu of these
different Spoon-Meats, with raw Fruits in Summer, or in Winter with
Apples baked or boiled, or Plumbs and Cherries dried and boiled. Persons
of Knowledge and Experience will be very little, or rather not at all,
surprized to see various Kinds of Fruit directed in acute Diseases; the
Benefit of which they may here have frequently seen. Such Advice can
only disgust those, who remain still obstinately attached to old
Prejudices. But could they prevail on themselves to reflect a little,
they must perceive, that these Fruits which allay Thirst; which cool and
abate the Fever; which correct and attemper the putrid and heated Bile;
which gently dispose the Belly to be rather open, and promote the
Secretion and Discharge of the Urine, must prove the properest
Nourishment for Persons in acute Fevers. Hence we see, as it were by a
strong Admonition from Nature herself, they express an ardent Longing
for them; and I have known several, who would not have recovered, but
for their eating secretly large Quantities of those Fruits they so
passionately desired, and were refused. As many however, as are not
convinced by my Reasoning in this Respect, may at least make a Tryal of
my Advice, on my Affirmation and Experience; when I have no doubt but
their own will speedily convince them of the real Benefit received from
this Sort of Nourishment. It will then be evident, that we may safely
and boldly allow, in all continual Fevers, Cherries red and black,
Strawberries, the best cured Raisins, Raspberries, and Mulberries;
provided that all of them be perfectly ripe. Apples, Pears and Plumbs
are less melting and diluting, less succulent, and rather less proper.
Some kinds of Pears however are extremely juicy, and even watery almost,
such as the Dean or Valentia Pear, different Kinds of the Buree Pear;
the St. Germain, the Virgoleuse; the green sugary Pear, and the Summer
Royal, which may all be allowed; as well as a little Juice of very ripe
Plumbs, with the Addition of Water to it. This last I have known to
asswage Thirst in a Fever, beyond any other Liquor. Care should be
taken, at the same Time, that the Sick should never be indulged in a
great Quantity of any of them at once, which would overload the Stomach,
and be injurious to them; but if they are given a little at a Time and
often, nothing can be more salutary. Those whose Circumstances will
afford them China Oranges, or Lemons, may be regaled with the Pulp and
Juice as successfully; but without eating any of their Peel, which is
hot and inflaming.
§ 39. 3. Their Drink should be such as allays Thirst, and abates the
Fever; such as dilutes, relaxes, and promotes the Evacuations by Stool,
Urine and Perspiration. All these which I have recommended in the
preceding Chapters, jointly and severally possess these Qualities. A
Glass or a Glass and a half of the Juice of such Fruits as I have just
mentioned, may also be added to three full Pints of Water.
§ 40. The Sick should drink at least twice or thrice that Quantity
daily, often, and a little at once, between three or four Ounces, every
Quarter of an Hour. The Coldness of the Drink should just be taken off.
§ 41. 4. If the Patient has not two Motions in the 24 Hours; if the
Urine be in small Quantity and high coloured; if he rave, the Fever
rage, the Pain of the Head and of the Loins be considerable, with a Pain
in the Belly, and a Propensity to vomit, the Glyster Nº. 5 should be
given at least once a Day. The People have generally an Aversion to this
kind of Remedy; notwithstanding there is not any more useful in feverish
Disorders, especially in those I have just recounted; and one Glyster
commonly gives more Relief, than if the Patient had drank four or five
Times the Quantity of his Drinks. The Use of Glysters, in different
Diseases, will be properly ascertained in the different Chapters, which
treat of them. But it may be observed in this Place, that they are never
to be given at the very Time the Patient is in a Sweat, which seems to
relieve him.
§ 42. 5. As long as the Patient has sufficient Strength for it, he
should sit up out of Bed one Hour daily, and longer if he can bear it;
but at least half an Hour. It has a Tendency to lessen the Fever, the
Head-ach, and a Light-headiness, or Raving. But he should not be raised,
while he has a hopeful Sweating; though such Sweats hardly ever occur,
but at the Conclusion of Diseases, and after the Sick has had several
other Evacuations.
§ 43. 6. His Bed should be made daily while he sits up; and the Sheets
of the Bed, as well as the Patient's Linen, should be changed every two
Days, if it can be done with Safety. An unhappy Prejudice has
established a contrary, and a really dangerous, Practice. The People
about the Patient dread the very Thought of his rising out of Bed; they
let him continue there in nasty Linen loaden with putrid Steams and
Humours; which contribute, not only to keep up the Distemper, but even
to heighten it into some Degree of Malignity. I do again repeat it here,
that nothing conduces more to continue the Fever and Raving, than
confining the Sick constantly to Bed, and witholding him from changing
his foul Linen: by relieving him from both of which Circumstances I
have, without the Assistance of any other Remedy, put a Stop to a
continual Delirium of twelve Days uninterrupted Duration. It is usually
said, the Patient is too weak, but this is a very weak Reason. He must
be in very nearly a dying Condition, not to be able to bear these small
Commotions, which, in the very Moment when he permits them, increase his
Strength, and immediately after abate his Complaints. One Advantage the
Sick gain by sitting up a little out of Bed, is the increased Quantity
of their Urine, with greater Facility in passing it. Some have been
observed to make none at all, if they did not rise out of Bed.
A very considerable Number of acute Diseases have been radically,
effectually, cured by this Method, which mitigates them all. Where it is
not used, as an Assistance at least, Medicines are very often of no
Advantage. It were to be wished the Patient and his Friends were made to
understand, that Distempers were not to be expelled at once with rough
and precipitate Usage; that they must have their certain Career or
Course; and that the Use of the violent Methods and Medicines they chuse
to employ, might indeed abridge the Course of them, by killing the
Patient; yet never otherwise shortened the Disease; but, on the
contrary, rendered it more perplexing, tedious and obstinate; and often
entailed such unhappy Consequences on the Sufferer, as left him feeble
and languid for the rest of his Life.
§ 44. But it is not sufficient to treat, and, as it were, to conduct the
Distemper properly. The Term of Recovery from a Disease requires
considerable Vigilance and Attention, as it is always a State of
Feebleness, and, thence, of Depression and Faintness. The same Kind of
Prejudice which destroys the Sick, by compelling them to eat, during the
Violence of the Disease, is extended also into the Stage of
Convalescence, or Recovery; and either renders it troublesome and
tedious; or produces fatal Relapses, and often chronical Distempers. In
Proportion to the Abatement, and in the Decline, of the Fever, the
Quantity of Nourishment may be gradually increased: but as long as there
are any Remains of it, their Qualities should be those I have already
recommended. Whenever the Fever is compleatly terminated, some different
Foods may be entered upon; so that the Patient may venture upon a little
white Meat, provided it be tender; some [18] Fish; a little Flesh-Soup,
a few Eggs at times, with Wine property diluted. It must be observed at
the same Time, that those very proper Aliments which restore the
Strength, when taken moderately, delay the perfect Cure, if they exceed
in Quantity, tho' but a little; because the Action of the Stomach being
extremely weakened by the Disease and the Remedies, is capable only, as
yet, of a small Degree of Digestion; and if the Quantity of its Extents
exceed its Powers, they do not digest, but become putrid. Frequent
Returns of the Fever supervene; a continual Faintishness; Head-achs; a
heavy Drowsiness without a Power of Sleeping comfortably; flying Pains
and Heats in the Arms and Legs; Inquietude; Peevishness; Propensity to
Vomit; Looseness; Obstructions, and sometimes a slow Fever, with a
Collection of Humours, that comes to Suppuration.
All these bad Consequences are prevented, by the recovering Sick
contenting themselves, for some Time, with a very moderate Share of
proper Food. We are not nourished in Proportion to the Quantity we
swallow, but to that we digest. A Person on the mending Hand, who eats
moderately, digests it and grows strong from it. He who swallows
abundantly does not digest it, and instead of being nourished and
strengthened, he withers insensibly away.
[18] The most allowable of these are Whitings, Flounders, Plaice, Dabbs,
or Gudgeons; especially such of the last as are taken out of clear
current Streams with gravelly Bottoms. Salmon, Eels, Carp, all the
Skate kind, Haddock, and the like, should not be permitted, before
the Sick return to their usual Diet when in Health. _K._
§ 45. We may reduce, within the few following Rules, all that is most
especially to be observed, in Order to procure a compleat, a perfect
Termination of acute Diseases; and to prevent their leaving behind them
any Impediments to Health.
1. Let these who are recovering, as well as those who are actually sick,
take very little Nourishment at a time, and take it often.
2. Let them take but one sort of Food at each Meal, and not change their
Food too often.
3. Let them chew whatever solid Victuals they eat, very carefully.
4. Let them diminish their Quantity of Drink. The best for them in
general is Water, [19] with a fourth or third Part of white Wine. Too
great a Quantity of Liquids at this time prevents the Stomach from
recovering its Tone and Strength; impairs Digestion; keeps up Weakness;
increases the Tendency to a Swelling of the Legs; sometimes even
occasions a slow Fever; and throws back the Person recovering into a
languid State.
[19] We have known many who had an Aversion to Water, and with whom, on
that very Account, it might probably agree less, find Water very
grateful, in which a thoroughly baked and hot, not burnt, Slice of
Bread had been infused, untill it attained the Colour of fine clear
Small-beer, or light Amber coloured Beer, and we never saw any
Inconvenience result from it. Doubtless pure, untoasted elemental
Water may be preferable for those who like, and have been
accustomed to it. _K._
5. Let them go abroad as often as they are able, whether on Foot, in a
Carriage, or on Horseback. This last Exercise is the healthiest of all,
and three fourths of the labouring People in this Country, who have it
in their Power to procure it without Expense, are in the wrong to
neglect it. They, who would practice it, should mount before their
principal Meal, which should be about Noon, and never ride after it.
Exercise taken before a Meal strengthens the Organs of Digestion, which
is promoted by it. If the Exercise is taken soon after the Meal, it
impairs it.
6. As People in this State are seldom quite as well towards Night, in
the Evening they should take very little Food. Their Sleep will be the
less disturbed for this, and repair them the more, and sooner.
7. They should not remain in Bed above seven, or eight Hours.
8. The Swelling of the Legs and Ancles, which happens to most Persons at
this time, is not dangerous, and generally disappears of itself; if they
live soberly and regularly, and take moderate Exercise.
9. It is not necessary, in this State, that they should go constantly
every Day to Stool; though they should not be without one above two or
three. If their Costiveness exceeds this Term, they should receive a
Glyster the third Day, and even sooner, if they are heated by it, if
they feel puffed up, are restless, and have any Pains in the Head.
10. Should they, after some time, still continue very weak; if their
Stomach is disordered; if they have, from time to time, a little
irregular Fever, they should take three Doses daily of the Prescription
Nº. 14. which fortifies the Digestions, recovers the strength, and
drives away the Fever.
11. They must by no means return to their Labour too soon. This
erroneous Habit daily prevents many Peasants from ever getting perfectly
well, and recovering their former Strength. From not having been able to
confine themselves to Repose and Indolence for some Days, they never
become as hearty hardy Workmen as they had been: and this premature
hasty Labour makes them lose in the Consequence, every following Week of
their Lives, more time than they ever gained, by their over-early
resuming of their Labour. I see every Day weakly Labourers, Vineroons,
and other Workmen, who date the Commencement of their Weakness from that
of some acute Disease, which, for want of proper Management through the
Term of their Recovery, was never perfectly cured. A Repose of seven or
eight Days, more than they allowed themselves, would have prevented all
these Infirmities; notwithstanding it is very difficult to make them
sensible of this. The Bulk, the Body of the People, in this and in many
other Cases, look no further than the present Day; and never extend
their Views to the following one. They are for making no Sacrifice to
Futurity; which nevertheless must be done, to render it favourable to
us.
__Chapter IV.__
_Of an Inflammation of the Breast._
__Sect.__ 46.
The Inflammation of the Breast, or Peripneumony, or a Fluxion upon the
Breast, is an Inflammation of the Lungs, and most commonly of one only,
and consequently on one Side. The Signs by which it is evident, are a
Shivering, of more or less Duration, during which the Person affected is
sometimes very restless and in great Anguish, an essential and
inseparable symptom; and which has helped me more than once to
distinguish this Disease certainly, at the very Instant of its Invasion.
Besides this, a considerable Degree of Heat succeeds the Shivering,
which Heat, for a few ensuing Hours, is often blended as it were, with
some Returns of Chilliness. The Pulse is quick, pretty strong,
moderately full, hard and regular, when the Distemper is not very
violent; but small, soft and irregular, when it is very dangerous. There
is also a Sensation of Pain, but rather light and tolerable, in one Side
of the Breast; sometimes a kind of straitning or Pressure on the Heart;
at other times Pains through the whole Body, especially along the Reins;
and some Degree of Oppression, at least very often; for sometimes it is
but very inconsiderable. The Patient finds a Necessity of lying almost
continually upon his Back, being able to lie but very rarely upon either
of his Sides. Sometimes his Cough is dry, and then attended with the
most Pain; at other times it is accompanied with a Spitting or Hawking
up, blended with more or less Blood, and sometimes with pure sheer
Blood. There is also some Pain, or at least a Sensation of Weight and
Heaviness in the Head: and frequently a Propensity to rave. The Face is
almost continually flushed and red: though sometimes there is a Degree
of Paleness and an Air of Astonishment, at the Beginning of the Disease,
which portend no little Danger. The Lips, the Tongue, the Palate, the
Skin are all dry; the Breath hot; the Urine little and high coloured in
the first Stage: but more plentiful, less flaming, and letting fall much
Sediment afterwards. There is a frequent Thirst, and sometimes an
Inclination to vomit; which imposing on the ignorant Assistants, have
often inclined them to give the Patient a Vomit, which is mortal,
especially at this Juncture. The Heat becomes universal. The Symptoms
are heightened almost every Night, during which the Cough is more
exasperated, and the Spitting or Expectoration in less Quantity. The
best Expectoration is of a middling Consistence, neither too thin, nor
too hard and tough, like those which are brought up at the Termination
of a Cold; but rather more yellow, and mixed with a little Blood, which
gradually becomes still less, and commonly disappears entirely, before
the seventh Day. Sometimes the Inflammation ascends along the Wind-pipe,
and in some Measure suffocates the Patient, paining him considerably in
Swallowing, which makes him think he has a sore Throat.
§ 47. Whenever the Disease is very violent at first, or increases to be
such, the Patient cannot draw his Breath, but when he sits up. The Pulse
becomes very small and very quick; the Countenance livid, the Tongue
black; the Eyes stare wildly; and he suffers inexpressible Anguish,
attended with incessant Restlessness and Agitation in his Bed. One of
his Arms is sometimes affected with a sort of Palsy; he raves without
Intermission; can neither thoroughly wake nor sleep. The Skin of his
Breast and of his Neck is covered (especially in close sultry Weather,
and when the Distemper is extremely violent) with livid Spots, more or
less remarkable, which should be called _petechial_ ones, but are
improperly termed the _pourpre_, or purple. The natural Strength becomes
exhausted; the Difficulty of breathing increases every Moment; he sinks
into a Lethargy, and soon dies a terrible Death in Country Places, by
the very Effects of the inflaming Medicines they employ on such
Occasions. It has been known in Fact, that the Use of them has raised
the Distemper to such a Height, that the very Heart has been rent open,
which the Dissection of the Body has demonstrated.
§ 48. If the Disease rushes on at once, with a sudden and violent
Attack; if the Horror, the Cold and Shivering last many Hours, and are
followed with a nearly scorching Degree of Heat; if the Brain is
affected from the very Onset; if the Patient has a small Purging,
attended with a _Tenesinus_, or straining to Stool, often termed a
_Needy_; if he abhors the Bed; if he either sweat excessively, or if his
Skin be extremely dry; if his natural Manner and Look are considerably
changed; and if he spits up with much Difficulty, the Disease is
extremely dangerous.
§ 49. He must directly, from the first Seizure in this State, be put
upon a Regimen, and his Drink must never be given cold. It should either
be the Barley Water Nº. 2, the Almond Emulsion Nº. 4, or that of Nº. 7.
The Juices of the Plants, which enter into the last of these Drinks, are
excellent Remedies in this Case; as they powerfully attenuate, or melt
down, the viscid thick Blood, which causes the Inflammation.
The Advantage of Bleeding:
As long as the Fever keeps up extremely violent; while the Patient does
not expectorate sufficiently; continues raving; has a violent Head-ach,
or raises up pure Blood, the Glyster Nº. 5 must be given thrice, or at
least twice, in twenty four Hours. However the principal Remedy is
Bleeding. As soon as ever the preceding cold Assault is over, twelve
Ounces of Blood must be taken away at once; and, if the Patient be young
and strong, fourteen or even sixteen. This plentiful Bleeding gives him
more Ease, than if twenty four Ounces had been drawn, at three different
Times.
§ 50. When the Disease is circumstanced as described (§ 46) that first
Bleeding makes the Patient easy for some Hours; but the Complaint
returns; and to obviate its Violence, as much as possible, we must,
except things promise extremely well, repeat the Bleeding four Hours
after the first, taking again twelve Ounces of Blood, which pretty often
proves sufficient. But if, about the Expiration of eight or ten Hours,
it appears to kindle up again, it must be repeated a third, or even a
fourth Time. Yet, with the Assistance of other proper Remedies, I have
seldom been obliged to bleed a fourth Time, and have sometimes found the
two first Bleedings sufficient.
If the Disease has been of several Days Duration, when I have first been
called; if the Fever is still very high; if there be a Difficulty of
Breathing; if the Patient does not expectorate at all, or brings up too
much Blood; without being too solicitous about the Day of the Disease,
the Patient should be bled, though it were on the tenth. [20]
§ 51. In this, and in all other inflammatory Diseases, the Blood is in a
very thick viscid State: and almost immediately on its being drawn, a
white tough Skin, somewhat like Leather, is formed on its Top, which
most People have seen, and which is called the _pleuritic Crust_. It is
thought a promising Appearance, when at each Bleeding it seems less
hard, and less thick, than it was at the preceding ones: and this is
very generally true, if the Sick feels himself, at the same Time,
sensibly better: but whoever shall attend _solely_ to the Appearance of
the Blood, will find himself often deceived. It will happen, even in the
most violent Inflammation of the Breast, that this Crust is not formed,
which is supposed to be a very unpromising Sign. There are also, in this
Respect, many odd Appearances, which arise from the smallest
Circumstances; so that we must not regulate the Repetitions of our
bleeding, solely by this Crust: and in general we must not be over
credulous in supposing, that the Appearances in the Blood, received into
the Bason, can enable us to determine, with Certainty, of its real State
in the Body.
[20] We should however, with the greater Circumspection (of how much the
longer standing the Disease has been, and by how much the more
difficult the viscous Humours are to be melted down and dislodged)
attend to the Coction of the Matter of Expectoration; which Nature
does not often easily effect, and which she effects the more
imperfectly and slowly, the weaker he is. Her last Efforts have
often been attended with such high Paroxysms, as have imposed even
upon very competent Physicians, and have made them open a Vein a
few Hours before the Patients' Death, from their Pulses being
strong, hard and frequent. Excessive Weakness is the Sign, by which
we may discover such unavailing Efforts to be the last. _E. L._
§ 52. When the sick Person is in the Condition described (§ 47) the
Bleeding is not only unattended with Ease; but sometimes it is also
pernicious, by the sudden Weakness to which it reduces him. Generally in
such a Case all Medicines and Means are insignificant: and it is a very
bad Sign in this Disease, when this Discharge is not attended with Ease
and Benefit to the Sick; or when there are some Circumstances, which
oblige us to be sparing of it.
§ 53. The Patient's Legs should every Day, for one half Hour, be put
into a Bath of warm Water, wrapping him up closely; that the Cold may
not check that Perspiration, which the Bath promotes.
§ 54. Every two Hours he should take two Spoonfuls of the Mixture Nº. 8,
which promotes all the Discharges, and chiefly that of Expectoration.
§ 55. When the Oppression and Straitness are considerable, and the Cough
dry, the Patient may receive the Vapour of boiling Water, to which a
little Vinegar has been added. There are two ways of effecting this;
either by placing below his Face, after setting him up, a Vessel filled
with such boiling hot Water, and covering the Patient's Head and the
Vessel with a Linen Cloth, that may inclose the Steam; or else by
holding before his Mouth a Spunge dipped in the same boiling Liquor.
This last Method is the least effectual, but it fatigues the Patient
considerably less. When this bad Symptom is extremely pressing, Vinegar
alone should be used without Water; and the Vapour of it has often saved
Patients, who seemed to have one Foot in the Grave: but it should be
continued for several Hours.
§ 56. The outward Remedies directed in Nº. 9. are also applied with
Success to the Breast, and to the Throat.
§ 57. When the Fever is extremely high, the Sick should take every Hour,
a Spoonful of the Mixture Nº. 10. in a Cup of the Ptisan [21] but
without diminishing on this Account the usual Quantity of his other
Drinks, which may be taken immediately after it.
[21] The Use of Acids, in Inflammations of the Breast, requires no
little Consideration. Whenever the sick Person has an Aversion to
them; when the Tongue is moist, the Stomach is heavy and
disordered, and the Habit and Temperament of the Patient is mild
and soft; when the Cough is very sharp without great Thirst, we
ought to abstain from them. But when the Inflammation is joined to
a dry Tongue, to great Thirst, Heat and Fever, they are of great
Service. Slices of China Oranges sprinkled with Sugar may be given
first; a light Limonade may be allowed afterwards; and at last
small Doses of the Mixture, Nº. 10. if it becomes necessary. _E.
L._--I have chosen to retain this Note of the Editor of _Lyons_,
from having frequently seen the Inefficacy, and sometimes, I have
even thought, the ill Effects of Acids in Peripneumonies and
Pleurisies, in a Country far South of _Swisserland_; and where
these Diseases are very frequent, acute and fatal. On the other
hand I shall add the Substance of what Dr. _Tissot_ says on this
Head in a Note to his Table of Remedies, wherein he affirms, that
he has given in this Disease very large Doses of them, rising
gradually from small ones, and always with great Success;
intreating other Physicians to order this Acid (the Spirit of
Sulphur) in the same large Doses which he directs in this Chapter,
and assuring himself of their thanks, for its good
Consequences--Now the only ill Effect I can surmize here, from
shewing this Diversity of Opinion in these two learned Physicians,
and my own Doubts, is, that the Subjects of this Disease in Country
Places may prove somewhat confused and irresolute by it, in their
Conduct in such Cases. But as all of us certainly concur in the
great Intention of doing all possible Good, by the extensive
Publication of this Treatise, I shall take leave to observe that in
this Disease, and in Pleurisies, more solid Benefit has been
received in _Carolina_, _Virginia_, &c. from the Use of the
_Seneka_ Rattle-snake Root, than from any other Medicine whatever.
Bleeding indeed is necessarily premised to it; but it has often
saved the Necessity of many repeated Bleedings. This Medicine,
which is termed in Latin, the _Polygala Virginiana_, is certainly
rather of a saponaceous attenuating Quality, and betrays not any
Marks of Acidity, being rather moderately acrid. There will be
Occasion to mention it more particularly in the subsequent Chapter,
as such a Liberty can need no Apology to any philosophical
Physician. _K._
§ 58. As long as the Patient shall grow worse, or only continue equally
bad, the same Medicines are to be repeated. But if on the third Day
(tho' it rarely happens so soon) or fourth, or fifth, the Disease takes
a more favourable Turn; if the Exasperation returns with less Violence;
the Cough be less severe; the Matter coughed up less bloody: if
Respiration becomes easier; the Head be less affected; the Tongue not
quite so dry; if the high Colour of the Urine abates, and its Quantity
be increased, it may be sufficient then to keep the Patient carefully to
his Regimen, and to give him a Glyster every Evening. The Exasperation
that occurs the fourth Day is often the highest.
§ 59. This Distemper is most commonly terminated and carried off by
Expectoration, and often by Urine, which on the seventh, the ninth, or
the eleventh Day, and sometimes on the Days between them, begins to let
fall a plentiful Sediment, or Settling, of a pale red Colour, and
sometimes real _Pus_ or ripe Matter. These Discharges are succeeded by
Sweats, which are as serviceable then, as they were injurious at the
Beginning of the Disease.
§ 60. Some Hours before these Evacuations appear, there come on, and not
seldom, some very alarming Symptoms, such as great Anguish;
Palpitations, some Irregularity in the Pulse; an increased Oppression;
convulsive Motions (this being what is called the _Crisis_, the Height,
or Turn of the Distemper) but they are no ways dangerous, provided they
do not occasion any improper Treatment. These Symptoms depend on the
morbid and purulent Matter, which, being dislodged, circulates with the
Humours, and irritates different Parts, until the Discharge of it has
fairly begun; after which all such Symptoms disappear, and Sleep
generally ensues. However I cannot too strongly insist on the Necessity
of great Prudence in such Circumstances. Sometimes it is the Weakness of
the Patient, and at other times Convulsions, or some other Symptoms,
that terrify the By-standers. If, which is most generally the Case, the
absurd Practice of directing particular Remedies for such Accidents
takes place, such as spirituous Cordials, Venice Treacle, Confections,
Castor and Rue; the Consequence is, that Nature being disturbed in her
Operations, the _Crisis_ or Turn is not effected; the Matter which
should be discharged by Stool, by Urine, or by Sweat, is not discharged
out of the Body; but is thrown upon some internal or external part of
it. Should it be on some inward part, the Patient either dies at once;
or another Distemper succeeds, more troublesome and incurable than the
first. Should it be expelled to some outward part, the Danger indeed is
less; and as soon as ever such a Tumour appears, ripening Pultices
should be apply'd to bring it to a Head, after which it should
immediately be opened.
§ 61. In order to prevent such unhappy Consequences, great Care must be
taken, whenever such terrifying Symptoms come on, [about the Time of the
_Crisis_] to make no Change in the Diet, nor in the Treatment of the
Patient; except in giving him the loosening Glyster Nº. 5; and applying
every two Hours a Flannel, squeezed out of warm Water, which may cover
all the Belly, and in a Manner go round the Body behind the Reins. The
Quantity of his Drink may also be increased a little; and that of his
Nourishment lessened, as long as this high and violent State continues.
§ 62. I have not spoken of Vomits or Purges, as being directly contrary
to the Nature of this Disease. Anodynes, or Opiates, to procure Sleep
are also, in general, very improper. In a few Cases, however, they may
possibly be useful; but these Cases are so very difficult to be
sufficiently distinguished, that Opiates should never be admitted in
this Disease, without the Presence and Advice of a Physician. I have
seen many Patients, who have been thrown into an incurable Hectic, by
taking them improperly. When the Disease is not received in a mortal
Degree, nor has been injudiciously treated, and proceeds in a benign
regular Manner, the Patient may be called very well and safe by the
fourteenth Day; when he may, if he has an Appetite, be put upon the Diet
of People who are recovering. But if he still retains an Aversion to
Food; if his Mouth is foul and furred, and he is sensible of some
Heaviness in his Head, he should take the purging Potion Nº. 11.
§ 63. Bleedings from the Nose occur sometimes naturally in this Disease,
even after repeated Bleedings by Art; these are very benign and
favourable, and are commonly attended with more Ease and Relief than
artificial Bleedings. Such voluntary Discharges may sometimes be
expected, when the Patient is sensibly mended in many Respects after the
Use of the Lancet; and yet complains of a great Pain in his Head,
accompanied with quick sparkling Eyes, and a Redness of the Nose.
Nothing should be done to stop these voluntary Bleedings, since it would
be very dangerous: For when Nature has fulfilled her Intention by them,
they cease of themselves. At other times, but more rarely, the Distemper
is carried off by a natural Purging, attended with moderate Pain, and
the Discharge of bilious Matter.
§ 64. If the Expectoration, or hawking up of Matter, stops very
suddenly, and is not speedily attended with some other Evacuation; the
Oppression and Anguish of the Patient immediately return, and the Danger
is great and pressing. If the Distemper, at this Juncture, is not of
many Days standing; if the Patient is a strong Person; if he has not as
yet been plentifully bled; if there be still some Blood mixed with the
Humour he expectorates; or if the Pulse be strong and hard, he should be
bled immediately in the Arm; and constantly receive the Steam of hot
Water and Vinegar by the Mouth, and drink plentifully of the Ptisan Nº.
2, something hotter than ordinary. But if his Circumstances, after this
Suppression, are different from these just mentioned; instead of
bleeding him, two Blisters should be applied to the Legs; and he should
drink plentifully of the Ptisan Nº. 12.
The Causes which oftenest produce this Suppression of his Expectoration
are, 1, a sharp and sudden cold Air. 2, too hot a one. 3, over hot
Medicines. 4, excessive Sweating. 5, a Purge prematurely and
injudiciously timed. and 6, some immoderate Passion of the Mind.
§ 65. When the Sick has not been sufficiently bled, or not soon enough;
and even sometimes, which I have seen, when he has been greatly weakened
by excessive Bleeding; so that the Discharges by Stool, Urine,
Expectoration and Perspiration, have not been sufficiently made; when
these Discharges have been confused by some other Cause; or the Disease
has been injudiciously treated; then the Vessels that have been
inflamed, do not unload themselves of the Humours, which stuff up and
oppress them: but there happens in the Substance of the affected Lung,
the same Circumstance we see daily occur on the Surface of the Body. If
an inflammatory Tumour or Swelling does not disperse itself, and
disappears insensibly, it forms an Imposthume or Abscess. Thus exactly
also in the inflamed Lung, if the Inflammation is not dissipated, it
forms an Abscess, which, in that part, is called a _Vomica:_ and the
Matter of that Abscess, like the external ones, remains often long
inclosed in its Sac or Bag, without bursting open its Membrane or Case,
and discharging the Matter it contains.
§ 66. If the Inflammation was not very deeply seated in the inward
Substance of the diseased Lung; but was extended to its Surface, that
is, very near the Ribs, the Sac will burst on the Surface of the Lung;
and the Matter contained in it must be discharged into the Cavity, or
Hollowness of the Breast, between the Lung, the Ribs, and the Diaphragm
or Midriff, which is the Membrane that divides the Breast and the Belly.
But when the Inflammation is considerably deeper, the Imposthume bursts
withinside of the Lung itself. If its Orifice, or Opening is so small,
that but little can get out at once; if the Quantity of all the Matter
be inconsiderable, and the Patient is at the same Time pretty strong, he
coughs up the Matter, and is very sensibly relieved. But if this
_Vomica_ be large, or if its Orifice is wide, and it throws out a great
Quantity of Matter at once; or if the Patient is very weak, he dies the
Moment it bursts, and that sometimes when it is least expected. I have
seen one Patient so circumstanced expire, as he was conveying a Spoonful
of Soup to his Mouth; and another, while he was wiping his Nose. There
was no present Symptom in either of these Cases, whence a Physician
might suppose them likelier to die at that Instant, than for some Hours
before. The _Pus_, or Matter, is commonly discharged through the Mouth
after Death, and the Bodies very soon become putrified.
§ 67. We call that _Vomica_ which is not burst, an _occult_ or hidden,
and that which is, an evident or open one. It is of considerable
Importance to treat exactly and clearly of this Topic; as a great Number
of Country People die of these Imposthumes, even without a Suspicion of
the Cause of their Death. I had an Instance of it some Days since, in
the School-master of a Village. He had an occult and very considerable
_Vomica_ in the left Lung, which was the Consequence of an Inflammation
of the Breast, that had been treated improperly at the Beginning. He
seemed to me not likely to live twenty four Hours; and really died in
the Night, after inexpressible Anguish.
§ 68. Whatever Distemper is included within the Breast of a living
Patient, is neither an Object of the Sight or Touch whence these
_Vomicas_, these inward Tumours, are so often unknown, and indeed
unsuspected. The Evacuations that were necessary for the Cure, or
sometimes for the Prevention, of them, have not taken place, during the
first fourteen Days. At the End of this Term, the Patient, far from
being cured, is not very considerably relieved; but, on the contrary,
the Fever continues to be pretty high, with a Pulse continually quick;
in general soft and weak; though sometimes pretty hard, and often
fluctuating, or, as it were, waving. His Breathing is still difficult
and oppressed; with small cold Shudderings from Time to Time; an
Exasperation of the Fever; flushed Cheeks, dry Lips, and Thirst.
The Increase of these Symptoms declare, that _Pus_ or Matter is
thoroughly formed: the Cough then becomes more continual; being
exasperated with the least Motion; or as soon as ever the Patient has
taken any Nourishment. He can repose only on the Side affected. It often
happens indeed, that he cannot lie down at all; but is obliged to be set
up all Day; sometimes even without daring to lean a little upon his
Loins, for fear of increasing the Cough and Oppression. He is unable to
sleep; has a continual Fever, and his Pulse frequently intermits.
The Fever is not only heightened every Evening; but the smallest
Quantity of Food, the gentlest Motion, a little Coughing, the lightest
Agitation of the Mind, a little more than usual Heat in the Chamber,
Soup either a little too strong, or a little too salt, increase the
Quickness of his Pulse the Moment they occur, or are given. He is quite
restless, has some short Attacks of the most terrible Anguish,
accompanied and succeeded by Sweatings on his Breast, and from his whole
Countenance. He sweats sometimes the whole Night; his Urine is reddish,
now frothy, and at other times oily, as it were. Sudden Flushings, hot
as Flames, rise into his whole Visage. The greater Number of the Sick
are commonly sensible of a most disagreeable Taste in their Mouth; some
of old strong Cheese; others of rotten Eggs; and others again of
stinking Meat, and fall greatly away. The Thirst of some is
unquenchable; their Mouths and Lips are parched; their Voice weak and
hoarse; their Eyes hollow, with a kind of Wildness in their Looks. They
have a general Disgust to all Food; and if they should ask for some
particular Nourishment without seeing it, they reject it the Moment it
is brought them; and their Strength at length seems wholly exhausted.
Besides these Symptoms, a little Inflation, or _Bloatedness_, as it
were, is sometimes observed on the Breast, towards the Side affected;
with an almost insensible Change of Colour. If the _Vomica_ be situated
at the Bottom of the affected Lobe of the Lungs, and in its internal
Part, that is, nearly in the Middle of the Breast, some _Puffiness_ or
light Swelling may be perceived in some Bodies, by gently pressing the
Pit of the Stomach; especially when the Patient coughs. In short,
according to the Observations of a German Physician, if one strike the
open Hand on the Breast, covered only with a Shirt, it retains in the
Spot, which is directly opposite to the _Vomica_, a flat heavy Sound, as
if one struck a Piece of Flesh; while in striking on the other Side it
gives a clear loud Sound, as from a Drum. I still doubt however, whether
this Observation will generally hold true; and it would be hazardous to
affirm there is no Abscess in a Breast, which does not return this heavy
Sound.
§ 69. When a _Vomica_ is formed, as long as it is not emptied, all the
Symptoms I have already enumerated increase, and the _Vomica_ grows in
Size: the whole Side of the Lung affected sometimes becomes a Bag or Sac
of Matter. The sound Side is compressed; and the Patient dies after
dreadful Anguish, with the Lung full of _Pus_, and without having ever
brought up any.
To avoid such fatal Consequences, it is necessary to procure the Rupture
and Discharge of this inward Abscess, as soon as we are certain of its
Existence: And as it is safer it should break within the Lobe affected,
from whence it may be discharged by hawking up; than that it should
burst and void itself into the Cavity of the Breast, for Reasons I shall
give hereafter, we must endeavour, that this Rupture may be effected
within the internal Substance of the Lungs.
§ 70. The most effectual Methods to procure this are, 1. To make the
Patient continually receive, by his Mouth, the Vapour of warm Water. 2.
When by this Means that part of the Sac or Abscess is softened, where we
could wish the Rupture of it to happen, the Patient is to swallow a
large Quantity of the most emollient Liquid; such as Barley Water,
Almond Milk, light Veal Broth, or Milk and Water. By this Means the
Stomach is kept always full: so that the Resistance to the Lungs being
considerable on that Side, the Abscess and its Contents will naturally
be pressed towards the Side of the Wind-pipe, as it will meet with less
Resistance there. This fulness of the Stomach will also incline the
Patient to cough, which may concur to produce a good Event. Hence, 3, we
should endeavour to make the Patient cough, by making him smell to some
Vinegar, or even snuff up a little; or by injecting into his Throat, by
the Means of a small Syringe or Pipe, such as Children make out of short
Pieces of Elder-Boughs, a little Water or Vinegar. 4. He should be
advised to bawl out aloud, to read loud, or to laugh heartily; all which
Means contribute to burst open the Abscess, as well as those two
following ones. 5. Let him take every two Hours a Soup-Ladle of the
Potion Nº. 8. 6. He should be put into a Cart, or some other Carriage;
but not before he has drank plentifully of such Liquors as I have just
mentioned: after which the Shaking and Jolting in the Carriage have
sometimes immediately procured that Rupture, or breaking of the Bag or
Abscess, we wished for.
§ 71. Some Years since I saw a Country Maid Servant, who was left in a
languishing Condition after an Inflammation of the Breast; without any
Person's suspecting her Ailment. This Woman being put into a Cart, that
was sent for a Load of Hay; one of the Wheels run violently against a
Tree: she swooned away, and at the same Time brought up a great Quantity
of digested Matter. She continued to bring up more; during which I was
informed of her Case, and of the Accident, which effectually cured her.
A _Swiss_ Officer, who served in _Piedmont_, had been in a languid State
of Health for some Months; and returned home to set himself down as
easily as he could, without conceiving any considerable Hopes of
Recovery. Upon entering into his own Country, by the Way of _Mount
Bernard_; and being obliged to go some Paces on Foot, he fell down; and
remained in a Swoon above a Quarter of an Hour: during which Time he
threw up a large Quantity of Matter, and found himself that very Moment
very greatly relieved. I ordered him a proper Diet, and suitable
Medicines: his Health became perfectly established; and the Preservation
of his Life was principally owing to this lucky Fall.
Many Persons afflicted with a _Vomica_, faint away the very Instant it
breaks. Some sharp Vinegar should be directly held to their Nose. This
small Assistance is generally sufficient, where the bursting of it is
not attended with such Appearances as shew it to be mortal, in which
Case every Application is insignificant.
§ 72. If the sick Person was not extremely weak before the Bursting of
the Abscess; if the Matter was white, and well conditioned; if the Fever
abates after it; if the Anguish, Oppression and Sweats terminate; if the
Cough is less violent; if the Patient is sensibly easier in his
Situation or Posture; if he recovers his Sleep and Appetite; if his
usual Strength returns; if the Quantity he expectorates, or brings up,
becomes daily and gradually less; and if his Urine is apparently better,
we may have Room to hope, that by the Assistance of these Remedies I
shall immediately direct, he may be radically, compleatly cured.
§ 73. But if on the contrary; when his Strength is exhausted before the
bursting of the Abscess; when the Matter is too thin and transparent,
brown, green, yellow, bloody and of an Offensive Smell; if the Pulse
continues quick and weak; if the Patient's Appetite, Strength and Sleep
do not improve, there remains no hope of a Cure, and the best Medicines
are ineffectual: Nevertheless we ought to make some Tryal of them.
§ 74. They consist of the following Medicines and Regulations. 1. Give
every four Hours a little Barley or Rice Cream. 2. If the Matter brought
up is thick and glewy, so that it is very difficult to be loosened and
discharged, give every two Hours a Soup-ladle of the Potion Nº. 8; and
between the giving these two, let the Patient take every half Hour a Cup
of the Drink Nº. 13. 3. When the Consistence of the Matter is such, that
there is no Occasion for these Medicines to promote the Discharge of it,
they must be omitted; tho' the same Sort and Quantity of Food are to be
continued; but with the Addition of an equal Quantity of Milk; or, which
would be still more beneficial, instead of this Mixture, we should give
an equal Quantity of sweet Milk, taken from a good Cow, which, in such a
Case, may compose the whole Nourishment of the Patient. 4. He should
take four Times a Day, beginning early in the Morning, and at the
Distance of two Hours, a Dose of the Powder Nº. 14, diluted in a little
Water, or made into a _Bolus_, or Morsel, with a little Syrup or Honey.
His common Drink should be Almond Emulsion, commonly called Almond Milk,
or Barley Water, or fresh Water with a fourth part Milk. 5. He should
air and exercise every Day on Horseback, or in a Carriage, according as
his Strength and his Circumstances will allow him. But of all Sorts of
Exercise, that upon a trotting Horse is, beyond all Comparison, the very
best, and the easiest to be procured by every Body; provided the Disease
be not too far advanced; since in such a Situation, any Exercise, that
was only a little violent, might prove pernicious.
§ 75. The Multitude, who are generally illiterate, seldom consider any
thing as a Remedy, except they swallow it. They have but little
Confidence in _Regimen_, or any Assistance in the Way of Diet, and
consider Riding on Horseback as wholly useless to them. This is a
dangerous Mistake, of which I should be glad to undeceive them: since
this Assistance, which appears so insignificant to them, is probably the
most effectual of any: it is that in Fact, without which they can
scarcely expect a Cure, in the highest Degrees of this Disease: it is
that, which perhaps alone may recover them, provided they take no
improper Food. In brief it is considered, and with Reason, as the real
Specific for this Disease.
§ 76. The Influence of the Air is of more Importance in this Disorder,
than in any others; for which Reason great Care should be taken to
procure the best, in the Patient's Chamber. For this Purpose it should
often be ventilated, or have an Admission of fresh Air, and be sweetened
from Time to Time, tho' very lightly, with a little good Vinegar; and in
the Season it should be plentifully supplied with agreeable Herbs,
Flowers and Fruits. Should the Sick be unfortunately situated, and
confined in an unwholsome Air, there can be but little Prospect of
curing him, without altering it.
§ 77. Out of many Persons affected with these Disorders, some have been
cured by taking nothing whatsoever but Butter-milk; others by Melons and
Cucumbers only; and others again by Summer Fruits of every Sort.
Nevertheless, as such Cases are singular, and have been but few, I
advise the Patient to observe the Method I have directed here, as the
surest.
§ 78. It is sufficient if he have a Stool once in two, or even in three,
Days. Hence, there is no Reason for him, in this Case, to accustom
himself to Glysters: they might excite a Looseness, which may be very
dangerous.
§ 79. When the Discharge of the Matter from the Breast diminishes, and
the Patient is perceivably mended in every Respect, it is a Proof that
the Wound in the Abscess is deterged, or clean, and that it is disposed
to heal up gradually. If the Suppuration, or Discharge, continues in
great Quantity; if it seems but of an indifferent Consistence; if the
Fever returns every Evening, it may be apprehended, that the Wound,
instead of healing, may degenerate into an Ulcer, which must prove a
most embarrassing Consequence. Under such a Circumstance, the Patient
would fall into a confirmed Hectic, and die after some Months Sickness.
§ 80. I am not acquainted with any better Remedy, in such a dangerous
Case, than a Perseverance in these already directed, and especially in
moderate Exercise on Horseback. In some of them indeed Recourse may be
had to the sweet Vapours of some vulnerary Herbs in hot Water, with a
little Oil of Turpentine, as directed Nº. 15. I have seen them succeed;
but the safest Way is to consult a Physician, who may examine and
consider, if there is not some particular Circumstance combined with the
Disease, that proves an Obstacle to the Cure of it. If the Cough
prevents the Patient from Sleeping, he may take in the Evening two or
three Table Spoonfuls of the Prescription Nº. 16, in a Glass of Almond
Milk or Barley Water.
§ 81. The very same Causes which suddenly suppress the Expectoration, in
an Inflammation of the Breast, may also check the Expectoration from a
_Vomica_ already begun: in which Circumstance the Patient is speedily
afflicted with an Oppression and Anguish, a Fever and evident
Feebleness. We should immediately endeavour to remove this Stoppage, by
the Vapour of hot Water; by giving a Spoonful of the Mixture Nº. 3 every
Hour; by a large Quantity of the Ptisan Nº. 12, and by a proper Degree
of Motion or Exercise. As soon as ever the Expectoration returns, the
Fever and the other Symptoms disappear. I have seen this Suppression in
strong Habits quickly followed with an Inflammation about the Seat of
the _Vomica_, which has obliged me to bleed, after which the
Expectoration immediately returned.
§ 82. It happens sometimes, that the _Vomica_ is entirely cleansed; the
Expectoration is entirely finished, or drained off, the Patient seems
well, and thinks himself compleatly cured: but soon after, the
Uneasiness, Oppression, Cough and Fever are renewed, because the
Membrane or Bag of the _Vomica_ fills again: again it empties itself,
the Patient expectorates for some Days, and seems to recover. After some
Time however, the same Scene is repeated; and this Vicissitude, or
Succession, of moderate and of bad Health, often continues for some
Months and even some Years. This happens when the _Vomica_ is emptied,
and is gradually deterged; so that its Membranes, or Sides touch or
approach each other; but without cicatrizing or healing firmly; and then
there drops or leaks in very gradually fresh Matter. For a few Days this
seems no ways to incommode the Patient; but as soon as a certain
Quantity is accumulated, he is visited again with some of the former
Symptoms, 'till another Evacuation ensues. People thus circumstanced, in
this Disease, sometimes appear to enjoy a tolerable Share of Health. It
may be considered as a kind of internal Issue, which empties and
cleanses itself from Time to Time; pretty frequently in some
Constitutions, more slowly in others; and under which some may attain a
good middling Age. When it arrives however at a very considerable
Duration, it proves incurable. In its earliest State, it gives way
sometimes to a Milk-diet, to riding on Horseback; and to the Medicine
Nº. 14.
§ 83. Some may be surprized, that in treating of an Abscess of the
Lungs, and of the Hectic, which is a Consequence of it, I say nothing of
those Remedies, commonly termed _Balsamics_, and so frequently employed
in them, for Instance, Turpentines, Balsam of Peru, of Mecca,
Frankincense, Mastich, Myrrh, Storax and Balsam of Sulphur. I shall
however say briefly here (because it is equally my Design to destroy the
Prejudice of the People, in favour of improper Medicines, and to
establish the Reputation of good ones) that I never in such Cases made
use of these Medicines; because I am convinced, that their Operation is
generally hurtful in such Cases; because I see them daily productive of
real Mischief; that they protract the Cure, and often change a slight
Disorder into an incurable Disease. They are incapable of perfect
Digestion, they obstruct the finest Vessels of the Lungs, whose
Obstructions we should endeavour to remove; and evidently occasion,
except their Dose be extremely small, Heat and Oppression. I have very
often seen to a Demonstration, that Pills compounded of Myrrh,
Turpentine and Balsam of Peru, have, an Hour after they were swallowed,
occasioned a Tumult and Agitation in the Pulse, high Flushings, Thirst
and Oppression. In short it is demonstrable to every unprejudiced
Person, that these Remedies, as they have been called, are truly
prejudicial in this Case; and I heartily wish People may be disabused
with Respect to them, and that they may lose that Reputation so
unhappily ascribed to them.
I know that many Persons, very capable in other Respects, daily make use
of them in these Distempers: such however cannot fail of disusing them,
as soon as they shall have observed their Effects, abstracted from the
Virtues of the other Medicines to which they add them, and which
mitigate the Danger of them. I saw a Patient, whom a foreign Surgeon,
who lived at _Orbe_, attempted to cure of a Hectic with melted Bacon,
which aggravated the Disease. This Advice seemed, and certainly was,
absurd; nevertheless the Balsamics ordered in such Cases are probably
not more digestible than fat Bacon. The Powder Nº. 14 possesses whatever
these Balsamics pretend to: it is attended with none of the
Inconveniencies they produce; and has all the good Qualities ascribed to
them. Notwithstanding which, it must not be given while the Inflammation
exists; nor when it may revive again; and no other Aliment should be
mixed with the Milk.
The famous Medicine called the _Antihectic_, (_Antihecticum Poterii_)
has not, any more than these Balsamics, the Virtues ascribed to it in
such Cases. I very often give it in some obstinate Coughs to Infants
with their Milk, and then it is very useful: but I have seldom seen it
attended with considerable Effects in grown Persons; and in the present
Cases I should be fearful of its doing Mischief.
§ 84. If the _Vomica_, instead of breaking within the Substance of the
Lungs affected, should break without it, the Pus must be received into
the Cavity of the Breast. We know when that has happened, by the
Sensation or Feeling of the Patient; who perceives an uncommon, a
singular kind of Movement, pretty generally accompanied with a Fainting.
The Oppression and Anguish cease at once; the Fever abates; the Cough
however commonly continues, tho' with less Violence, and without any
Expectoration. But this seeming Amendment is of a short Duration, since
from the daily Augmentation of the Matter, and its becoming more acrid
or sharp, the Lungs become oppressed, irritated and eroded. The
Difficulty of Breathing, Heat, Thirst, Wakefulness, Distaste, and
Deafness, return, with many other Symptoms unnecessary to be enumerated,
and especially with frequent Sinkings and Weakness. The Patient should
be confined to his _Regimen_, to retard the Increase of the Disease as
much as possible; notwithstanding no other effectual Remedy remains,
except that of opening the Breast between two of the Ribs, to discharge
the Matter, and to stop the Disorder it occasions. This is called the
Operation for the _Empyema_. I shall not describe it here, as it should
not be undertaken but by Persons of Capacity and Experience, for whom
this Treatise was not intended. I would only observe, it is less painful
than terrifying; and that if it is delayed too long, it proves useless,
and the Patient dies miserably.
§ 85. We may daily see external Inflammations turn gangrenous, or
mortify. The same Thing occurs in the Lungs, when the Fever is
excessive, the Inflammation either in its own Nature, extremely violent,
or raised to such a Height by hot Medicines. Intolerable Anguish,
extreme Weakness, frequent Faintings, Coldness of the Extremities, a
livid and foetid thin Humour brought up instead of concocted Spitting,
and sometimes blackish Stripes on the Breast, sufficiently distinguish
this miserable State. I have smelt in one Case of this Kind, where the
Patient had been attacked with this Disease (after a forced March on
Foot, having taken some Wine with Spices to force a Sweat) his Breath so
horribly stinking, that his Wife had many Sinkings from attending him.
When I saw him, I could discern neither Pulse nor Intellect, and ordered
him nothing. He died an Hour afterwards, about the Beginning of the
third Hour.
§ 86. An Inflammation may also become hard, when it forms what we call a
_Scirrhus_, which is a very hard Tumour, indolent, or unpainful. This is
known to occur, when the disease has not terminated in any of those
Manners I have represented; and where, tho' the Fever and the other
Symptoms disappear, the Respiration, or Breathing, remains always a
little oppressed; the Patient still retains a troublesome Sensation in
one Side of his Breast; and has from Time to Time a dry Cough, which
increases after Exercise, and after eating. This Malady is but seldom
cured; though some Persons attacked with it last many Years, without any
other considerable Complaint. They should avoid all Occasions of
over-heating themselves; which might readily produce a new Inflammation
about this Tumour, the Consequences of which would be highly dangerous.
§ 87. The best Remedies against this Disorder, and from which I have
seen some good Effects, are the medicated Whey Nº. 17, and the Pills Nº.
18. The Patient may take twenty Pills, and a Pint and a half of the Whey
every Morning for a long Continuance; and receive inwardly, now and
then, the Vapour of hot Water.
§ 88. Each Lung, in a perfect State of Health, touches the _Pleura_, the
Membrane, that lines the Inside of the Breast; though it is not
connected to it. But it often happens, after an Inflammation of the
Breast, after the Pleurisy, and in some other Cases, that these two
Parts adhere closely to each other, and are never afterwards separated.
However this is scarcely to be considered as a Disease; and remains
commonly unknown, as the Health is not impaired by it, and nothing is
ever prescribed to remove it. Nevertheless I have seen a few Cases, in
which this Adhesion was manifestly prejudicial.
__Chapter V.__
_Of the Pleurisy._
__Sect.__ 89.
The Pleurisy, which is chiefly known by these four Symptoms, a strong
Fever, a Difficulty of Breathing, a Cough, and an acute Pain about the
Breast; the Pleurisy, I say, is not a different Malady from the
Peripneumony, or Inflammation of the Breast, the Subject of the
preceding Chapter; so that I have very little to say of it,
particularly, or apart.
§ 90. The Cause of this Disease then is exactly the same with that of
the former, that is, an Inflammation of the Lungs; but an Inflammation,
that seems rather a little more external. The only considerable
Difference in the Symptoms is, that the Pleurisy is accompanied with a
most acute Pain under the Ribs, and which is commonly termed a _Stitch_.
This Pain is felt indifferently over every Part of the Breast; though
more commonly about the Sides, under the more fleshy Parts of the
Breast, and oftenest on the right Side. The Pain is greatly increased
whenever the Patient coughs or draws in the Air in breathing; and hence
a Fear of increasing it, by making some Patients forbear to cough or
respire, as much as they possibly can; and that aggravates the Disease,
by stopping the Course of the Blood in the Lungs, which are soon
overcharged with it. Hence the Inflammation of this Bowel becomes
general; the Blood mounts up to the Head; the Countenance looks deeply
red, or as it were livid; the Patient becomes nearly suffocated, and
falls into the State described § 47.
Sometimes the Pain is so extremely violent, that if the Cough is very
urgent at the same Time, and the Sick cannot suppress or restrain it,
they are seized with Convulsions, of which I have seen many Instances,
but these occur almost always to Women; though they are much less
subject than Men to this Disease, and indeed to all inflammatory ones.
It may be proper however to observe here, that if Women should be
attacked with it, during their monthly Discharges, that Circumstance
should not prevent the repeated and necessary Bleedings, nor occasion
any Alteration in the Treatment of the Disease. And hence it appears,
that the Pleurisy is really an Inflammation of the Lungs, accompanied
with acute Pain.
§ 91. I am sensible that sometimes an Inflammation of the Lungs is
communicated also to that Membrane, which lines the Inside of the
Breast; and which is called the _Pleura_; and from thence to the
Muscles, the fleshy Parts, over and between the Ribs. This however is
not very frequently the Case.
§ 92. Spring is commonly the Season most productive of Pleurisies: in
general there are few in Summer: notwithstanding that in the Year 1762,
there were a great many during the hottest Season, which then was
excessively so. The Disease usually begins with a violent Shivering,
succeeded by considerable Heat, with a Cough, an Oppression, and
sometimes with a sensible Straitning, or Contraction, as it were, all
over the Breast; and also with a Head-ach, a Redness of the Cheeks, and
with Reachings to vomit. The Stitch does not always happen at the very
first Onset; often not 'till after several Hours from the first
Complaint; sometimes not before the second, or even the third Day.
Sometimes the Patient feels two Stitches, in different Parts of the
Side; though it seldom happens that they are equally sharp, and the
lightest soon ceases. Sometimes also the Stitch shifts its Place, which
promises well, if the Part first attacked by it continues perfectly free
from Pain: but it has a bad Appearance, if, while the first is present,
another also supervenes, and both continue. The Pulse is usually very
hard in this Distemper; but in the dreadful Cases described § 47 and 90,
it becomes soft and small. There often occur at, or very quickly after,
the Invasion, such an Expectoration, or hawking up, as happens in an
Inflammation of the Breast; at other Times there is not the least
Appearance of it, whence such are named dry Pleurisies, which happen
pretty often. Sometimes the Sick cough but little, or not at all. They
often lie more at Ease upon the Side affected, than on the sound one.
The Progress of this Disease advances exactly like that described in the
preceding Chapter: for how can they differ considerably? and the
Treatment of both is the same. Large Hæmorrhages, or Bleedings from the
Nose, frequently happen, to the great Relief of the Patient; but
sometimes such Discharges consist of a kind of corrupted Blood, when the
Patient is very ill, and these portend Death.
§ 93. This Distemper is often produced by drinking cold Water, while a
Person is hot; from which Cause it is sometimes so violent, as to kill
the Patient in three Hours. A young Man was found dead at the Side of
the Spring, from which he had quenched his Thirst: neither indeed is it
uncommon for Pleurisies to prove mortal within three Days.
Sometimes the Stitch disappears, whence the Patient complains less; but
at the same Time his Countenance changes; he grows pale and sad; his
Eyes look dull and heavy, and his Pulse grows feeble. This signifies a
Translation of the Disease to the Brain, a Case which is almost
constantly fatal.
There is no Disease in which the critical Symptoms are more violent, and
more strongly marked, than in this. It is proper this should be known,
as it may prevent or lessen our excessive Terror. A perfect Cure
supervenes sometimes, at the very Moment when Death was expected.
§ 94. This Malady is one of the most common and the most destroying
kind, as well from its own violent Nature, as through the pernicious
Treatment of it in Country Places. That Prejudice, which insists on
curing all Diseases by Sweating, entirely regulates their Conduct in
treating a Pleurisy; and as soon as a Person is afflicted with a Stitch,
all the hot Medicines are immediately set to Work. This mortal Error
destroys more People than Gunpowder; and it is by so much the more
hurtful, as the Distemper is of the most violent kind; and because, as
there is commonly not a Moment to be lost, the whole depends on the
Method immediately recurred to.
§ 95. The proper Manner of treating this Disease, is exactly the same in
all Respects, with that of the Peripneumony; because, I again affirm, it
is the very same Disease. Hence the Bleedings, the softening and
diluting Drinks, the Steams, the Glysters, the Potion Nº. 8, and the
emollient Poultices are the real Remedies. These last perhaps are still
more effectual in the Pleurisy; and therefore they should be continually
applied over the very Stitch.
The first Bleeding, especially if there has been a considerable
Discharge, almost constantly abates the Stitch, and often entirely
removes it: though it more commonly returns, after an Intermission of
some Hours, either in the same Spot, or sometimes in another. This
shifting of it is rather favourable, especially if the Pain, that was
first felt under the Breast, shifts into the Shoulders, to the Back, the
Shoulder-blade, or the Nape of the Neck.
When the Stitch is not at all abated, or only a little; or if, after
having abated, it returns as violently as at first, and especially if it
returns in the same Spot, and the Height of the other Symptoms continue,
Bleeding must be repeated. But if a sensible Abatement of the Stitch
continues; and if, though it returns, it should be in a smaller Degree,
and by Intervals, or in these Places I have mentioned above; if the
Quickness, or the Hardness of the Pulse, and all the other Symptoms are
sensibly diminished, this repeated Bleeding may sometimes be omitted.
Nevertheless, in a very strong Subject, it seems rather prudent not to
omit it, since in such Circumstances it can do no Mischief; and a
considerable Hazard may sometimes be incurred by the Omission. In very
high and dangerous Pleurisies a frequent Repetition of bleeding is
necessary; except some Impediment to it should arise from the particular
Constitution of the Patient, or from his Age, or some other
Circumstances.
If, from the Beginning of the Disease, the Pulse is but a little quicker
and harder than in a healthy State; if it is not manifestly strong; if
the Head-ach and the Stitch are so moderate as to prove supportable; if
the Cough is not too violent; if there is no sensible Oppression or
Straitness, and the Patient expectorate, or cough up, Bleeding may be
omitted.
With Respect to the administering of other Remedies, the same Directions
are to be exactly followed, which have been already given in the
preceding Chapter, to which the Reader is referred from § 53 to 66.
§ 96. When the Disease is not very acute and pressing, I have often
cured it in a very few Days by a single Bleeding, and a large Quantity
of a Tea or Infusion of Elder-flowers, sweetened with Honey. It is in
some Cases of this kind, that we often find the Water _Faltranc_
succeed, with the Addition of some Honey, and even of Oil: though the
Drink I have just directed is considerably preferable. That Drink which
is compounded of equal Quantities of Wine and Water, with the Addition
of much Venice Treacle, annually destroys a great Number of People in
the Country.
§ 97. In those dry Pleurisies, in which the Stitch, the Fever, and the
Head-ach are strong and violent; and where the Pulse is very hard and
very full, with an excessive Dryness of the Skin and of the Tongue,
Bleeding should be frequently repeated, and at small Intervals from each
other. This Method frequently cures the Disease effectually, without
using any other Evacuation.
§ 98. The Pleurisy terminates, like any other inward Inflammation,
either by some Evacuation; by an Abscess; in a Mortification; or in a
Scirrhosity or hard Tumour; and it often leaves Adhesions in the Breast.
The Gangrene or Mortification sometimes appears on the third Day,
without having been preceded by very vehement Pains. In such Cases the
dead Body often looks very black, especially in the Parts near the Seat
of the Disease: and in such the more superstitious ascribe it to some
supernatural Cause; or draw some unhappy Presage from it, with Respect
to those who are yet unattacked by it. This Appearance however is purely
a natural Consequence, quite simple, and cannot be otherwise; and the
hot Regimen and Medicines are the most prevailing Causes of it. I have
seen it thus circumstanced in a Man in the Flower of his Age, who had
taken Venice Treacle in Cherry Water, and the Ingredients of _Faltranc_
infused in Wine.
§ 99. _Vomicas_ are sometimes the Consequences of Pleurisies; but their
particular Situation disposes them more to break [22] outwardly; which
is the most frequent Cause of an _Empyema_ § 84. "To prevent this, it is
highly proper to apply, at the first Invasion of the Disease, to the
Spot where the Pain chiefly rages, a small Plaister, which may exactly
fit it; since if the Pleurisy should terminate in an Abscess or
Imposthume, the purulent Matter will be determined to that Side.
[22] That is, into the Cavity of the Breast, rather than within the
Substance of the Lungs.
"As soon then as it is foreseen that an Abscess is forming (see § 68) we
should erode, by a light Caustic, the Place where it is expected; and as
soon as it is removed, Care should be taken to promote Suppuration
there. By this Means we may entertain a reasonable Hope, that the Mass
of Matter will incline its Course to that Spot, where it will meet with
the least Resistance, and be discharged from thence. For this Heap of
Matter is often accumulated between the _Pleura_, and the Parts which
adhere to it."
This is the Advice of a very [23] great Physician; but I must inform the
Reader, there are many Cases, in which it can be of no Service; neither
ought it to be attempted, but by Persons of undoubted Abilities.
[23] This is, undoubtedly, Baron _Van Swieten_, with whom he had
premised, he agreed considerably, in all the Diseases they had both
treated of. _K._
With Regard to the Scirrhosity, or Hardness, and to the Circumstances of
Adhesions, I can add nothing to what I have said in § 86 and 87.
§ 100. It has been observed that some Persons, who have been once
attacked by this Disease, are often liable to Relapses of it, especially
such as drink hard. I knew one Man, who reckoned up his Pleurisies by
Dozens. A few Bleedings, at certain proper Intervals, might prevent
these frequent Returns of it; which, joined to their excessive Drinking,
make them languid and stupid, in the very Flower of their Age. They
generally fall into some Species of an Asthma, and from that into a
Dropsy, which proves the melancholy, though not an improper, Conclusion
of their Lives. Such as can confine themselves to some proper
Precautions, may also prevent these frequent Returns of this Disease,
even without bleeding; by a temperate Regimen; by abstaining from Time
to Time, from eating Flesh and drinking Wine; at which Times they should
drink Whey, or some of those Diet-Drinks Nº. 1, 2, 4; and by bathing
their Legs sometimes in warm Water; especially in those Seasons, when
this Disease is the most likely to return.
§ 101. Two Medicines greatly esteemed in this Disease among the
Peasantry, and even extolled by some Physicians, are the Blood of a wild
He Goat, and the [24] Soot in an Egg. I do not contest the Cure or
Recovery of many Persons, who have taken these Remedies; notwithstanding
it is not less true, that both of them, as well as the Egg in which the
Soot is taken, are dangerous: For which Reason it is prudent, at least,
never to make use of them; as there is great Probability, they may do a
little Mischief; and a Certainty that they can do no Good. The _Genipi_,
or [25] Wormwood of the Alps, has also acquired great Reputation in this
Disease, and occasioned many Disputes between some very zealous
Ecclesiastics, and a justly celebrated Physician. It seems not difficult
however to ascertain the proper Use of it. This Plant is a powerful
Bitter; it heats and excites Sweat: it seems clear, that, from such
Consequences, it should never be employed in a Pleurisy, while the
Vessels are full, the Pulse hard, the Fever high, and the Blood
inflamed. In all such Circumstances it must aggravate the Disease; but
towards the Conclusion of it, when the Vessels are considerably emptied,
the Blood is diluted, and the Fever abated, it may then be recurred to;
but with a constant Recollection that it is hot, and not to be employed
without Reflection and Prudence. [26]
[24] This, with great Probability, means that small black Substance
often visible in a rotten Egg, which is undoubtedly of a violent,
or even poisonous Quality. Dr. _Tissot_ terms it expressly--_la
suie dans un Oeuf_. K.
[25] Dr. _Lewis_, who has not taken Notice of this Species of Wormwood
in his Improvement of _Quincy's_ Dispensatory, has mentioned it in
his late _Materia Medica_. K.
[26] This being a proper Place for directing the Seneka Rattle Snake
Root, I shall observe, that the best Way of exhibiting it is in
Decoction, by gradually simmering and boiling two Ounces of it in
gross Powder, in two Pints and a half of Water, to a Pint and a
quarter; and then giving three Spoonfuls of it to a grown Person,
every six Hours. If the Stitch should continue, or return, after
taking it, Bleeding, which should be premised to it, must be
occasionally repeated; though it seldom proves necessary, after a
few Doses of it. It greatly promotes Expectoration, keeps the Body
gently open, and sometimes operates by Urine and by Sweat; very
seldom proving at all emetic in Decoction. The Regimen of Drinks
directed here in Pleurisies are to be given as usual. Dr.
_Tennant_, the Introducer of this valuable Medicine, confided
solely in it, in Bastard Peripneumonies, without Bleeding,
Blistering, or any other Medicines. _K._
__Chapter VI.__
_Of the Diseases of the Throat._
__Sect.__ 102.
The Throat is subject to many Diseases: One of the most frequent and the
most dangerous, is that Inflammation of it, commonly termed a Quinsey.
This in Effect is a Distemper of the same Nature with an Inflammation of
the Breast; but as it occurs in a different Part, the Symptoms, of
Course, are very different. They also vary, not a very little, according
to the different Parts of the Throat which are inflamed.
§ 103. The general Symptoms of an Inflammation of the Throat are, the
Shivering, the subsequent Heat, the Fever, the Head-ach, red
high-coloured Urine, a considerable Difficulty, and sometimes even an
Impossibility, of swallowing any thing whatever. But if the nearer Parts
to the _Glottis_, that is, of the Entrance into the Windpipe, or Conduit
through which we breathe, are attacked, Breathing becomes excessively
difficult; the Patient is sensible of extreme Anguish, and great
Approaches to Suffocation; the Disease is then extended to the
_Glottis_, to the Body of the Wind-pipe, and even to the Substance of
the Lungs, whence it becomes speedily fatal.
The Inflammation of the other Parts is attended with less Danger; and
this Danger becomes still less, as the Disease is more extended to the
outward and superficial Parts. When the Inflammation is general, and
seizes all the internal Parts of the Throat, and particularly the
Tonsils or Almonds, as they are called, the _Uvula_, or Process of the
Palate, and the _Basis_, or remotest deepest Part of the Tongue, it is
one of the most dangerous and dreadful Maladies. The Face is then
swelled up and inflamed; the whole Inside of the Throat is in the same
Condition; the Patient can get nothing down; he breathes with a Pain and
Anguish, which concur, with a Stuffing or Obstruction in his Brains, to
throw him into a kind of furious _Delirium_, or Raving. His Tongue is
bloated up, and is extended out of his Mouth; his Nostrils are dilated,
as tho' it were to assist him in his Breathing; the whole Neck, even to
the Beginning of the Breast, is excessively tumified or swelled up; the
Pulse is very quick, very weak, and often intermits; the miserable
Patient is deprived of all his Strength, and commonly dies the second or
third Day. Very fortunately this Kind, or Degree of it, which I have
often seen in _Languedoc_, happens very rarely in _Swisserland_, where
the Disease is less violent; and where I have only seen People die of
it, in Consequence of its being perniciously treated; or by Reason of
some accidental Circumstances, which were foreign to the Disease itself.
Of the Multitude of Patients I have attended in this Disorder, I have
known but one to fail under it, whose Case I shall mention towards the
Close of this Chapter.
§ 104. Sometimes the Disease shifts from the internal to the external
Parts: the Skin of the Neck and Breast grows very red, and becomes
painful, but the Patient finds himself better.
At other Times the Disorder quits the Throat; but is transferred to the
Brain, or upon the Lungs. Both these Translations of it are mortal, when
the best Advice and Assistance cannot be immediately procured; and it
must be acknowledged, that even the best are often ineffectual.
§ 105. The most usual kind of this Disease is that which affects only
the Tonsils (the Almonds) and the Palate; or rather its Process,
_commonly called_ the Palate. It generally first invades one of the
Tonsils, which becomes enlarged, red and painful, and does not allow the
afflicted to swallow, but with great Pain. Sometimes the Disorder is
confined to one Side; but most commonly it is extended to the _Uvula_,
(the Palate) from whence it is extended to the other Tonsil. If it be of
a mild kind, the Tonsil first affected is generally better, when the
second is attacked. Whenever they are both affected at once, the Pain
and the Anguish of the Patient are very considerable; he cannot swallow,
but with great Difficulty and Complaint; and the Torment of this is so
vehement, that I have seen Women affected with Convulsions, as often as
they endeavoured to swallow their Spittle, or any other Liquid. They
continue, even for several Hours sometimes, unable to take any thing
whatever; all the upper inward Part of the Mouth, the Bottom of the
Palate, and the descending Part of the Tongue become lightly red, or
inflamed.
A considerable Proportion of Persons under this Disease swallow Liquids
more difficultly than Solids; by Reason that Liquids require a greater
Action of some Part of the Muscles, in order to their being properly
directed into their Conduit or Chanel. The Deglutition (the Swallowing)
of the Spittle is attended with still more Uneasiness than that of other
Liquids, because it is a little more thick and viscid, and flows down
with less Ease. This Difficulty of swallowing, joined to the Quantity
thence accumulated, produces that almost continual hawking up, which
oppresses some Patients so much the more, as the Inside of their Cheeks,
their whole Tongue, and their Lips are often galled, and even flead as
it were. This also prevents their Sleeping, which however seems no
considerable Evil; Sleep being _sometimes_ but of little Service in
Diseases attended with a Fever; and I have often seen those, who thought
their Throats almost entirely well in the Evening, and yet found them
very bad after some Hours Sleep.
The Fever, in this Species of the Disease, is sometimes, very high; and
the Shivering often endures for many Hours. It is succeeded by
considerable Heat, and a violent Head-ach, which yet is sometimes
attended with a Drowsiness. The Fever is commonly pretty high in the
Evening, though sometimes but inconsiderable, and by the Morning perhaps
there is none at all.
A light Invasion of this Disease of the Throat often precedes the
Shivering; though most commonly it does not become manifest 'till after
it, and at the same Time when the Heat comes on.
The Neck is sometimes a little inflated, or puffed up; and many of the
Sick complain of a pretty smart Pain in the Ear of that Side, which is
most affected. I have but very seldom observed that they had it in both.
§ 106. The Inflammation either disappears by Degrees, or an Abscess is
formed in the Part which was chiefly affected. It has never happened, at
least within my Knowledge, that this Sort of the Disease, prudently
treated, has ever terminated either in a Mortification, or a Scirrhus:
but I have been a Witness to either of these supervening, when Sweating
was extorted in the Beginning of it, by hot Medicines.
It is also very rare to meet with those highly dangerous Translations of
this Disease upon the Lungs, such as are described in that Species of it
from § 103, 104. It is true indeed it does not occur more frequently,
even in that Species, whenever the Disease is thrown out upon the more
external Parts.
§ 107. The Treatment of the Quinsey, as well as of all other
inflammatory Diseases, is the same with that of an Inflammation of the
Breast.
The Sick is immediately to be put upon a Regimen; and in that Sort
described § 103, Bleeding must be repeated four or five Times within a
few Hours; and sometimes there is a Necessity to recur still oftner to
it. When it assaults the Patient in the most vehement Degree, all
Medicines, all Means, are very generally ineffectual; they should be
tried however. We should give as much as can be taken of the Drinks Nº.
2 and 4. But as the Quantity they are able to swallow is often very
inconsiderable; the Glyster Nº. 5 should be repeated every three Hours;
and their Legs should be put into a Bath of warm Water, thrice a Day.
§ 108. Cupping Glasses, with Scarification, applied about the Neck,
after bleeding twice or thrice, have often been experienced to be highly
useful. In the most desperate Cases, when the Neck is excessively
swelled, one or two deep Incisions made with a Razor, on this external
Tumour, have sometimes saved a Patient's Life.
§ 109. In that kind, and those Circumstances, of this Disease described
§ 105 we must have very frequent Recourse to Bleeding; and it should
never be omitted, when the Pulse is very perceivably hard and full. It
is of the utmost Consequence to do it instantaneously; since it is the
only Means to prevent the Abscess, which forms very readily, if Bleeding
has been neglected, only for a few Hours. Sometimes it is necessary to
repeat it a second Time, but very rarely a third.
This Disease is frequently so gentle and mild, as to be cured without
Bleeding, by the Means of much good Management. But as many as are not
Masters of their own Time, nor in such an easy Situation, as to be
properly attended, ought, without the least Hesitation, to be bled
directly, which is sometimes sufficient to remove the Complaint;
especially if, after Bleeding, the Patient drinks plentifully of the
Ptisan Nº. 2.
In this light Degree of the Disease, it may suffice to bathe the Legs,
and to receive a Glyster, once a Day each; the first to be used in the
Morning, and the last in the Evening. Besides the general Remedies
against Inflammations, a few particular ones, calculated precisely for
this Disease, may be applied in each kind or Degree of it. The best are,
first the emollient Poultices, Nº. 9, laid over the whole Neck. [27]
Some have highly extolled the Application of Swallows Nests in this
Disease; and though I make no Objection to it, I think it certainly less
efficacious than any of those which I direct.
[27] The _English_ avail themselves considerably, in this Disease, of a
Mixture of equal Parts of Sallad Oil, and Spirit of Sal Ammoniac;
or of Oil and Spirit of Hartshorn, as a Liniment and Application
round the Neck. This Remedy corresponds with many Indications; and
deserves, perhaps, the first Place amongst local Applications
against the inflammatory Quinsey. _E. L._
2. Of the Gargarisms (Nº. 19) a great Variety may be prepared, of pretty
much the same Properties, and of equal Efficacy. Those I direct here are
what have succeeded best with me and they are very simple. [28]
[28] Dr. _Pringle_ is apprehensive of some ill Effects from Acids in
Gargarisms [_which is probably from their supposed repelling
Property_] and prefers a Decoction of Figs in Milk and Water, to
which he adds a small Quantity of Spirit of Sal Ammoniac. _E. L._
3. The Steam of hot Water, as directed § 55, should be repeated five or
six Times a Day; a Poultice should be constantly kept on, and often
renewed; and the Patient should often gargle.
There are some Persons, besides Children, who cannot gargle themselves:
and in fact the Pain occasioned by it makes it the more difficult. In
such a Case, instead of gargling, the same Gargarism (Nº. 19) may be
injected with a small Syringe. The Injection reaches further than
Gargling, and often causes the Patient to hawk up a considerable
Quantity of glarey Matter (which has grown still thicker towards the
Bottom of the Throat) to his sensible Relief. This Injection should be
often repeated. The little hollowed Pipes of Elder Wood, which all the
Children in the Country can make, may be conveniently employed for this
Purpose. The Patient should breathe out, rather than inspire, during the
Injection.
§ 110. Whenever the Disease terminates without Suppuration, the Fever,
the Head-ach, the Heat in the Throat, and the Pain in swallowing, begin
to abate from the fourth Day, some times from the third, often only from
the fifth; and from such Period that Abatement increases at a great
Rate; so that at the End of two, three, or four Days, on the sixth,
seventh, or eighth, the Patient is entirely well. Some few however
continue to feel a light Degree of Pain, and that only on one Side, four
or five Days longer, but without a Fever, or any considerable
Uneasiness.
§ 111. Sometimes the Fever and the other Symptoms abate, after the
Bleeding and other Remedies; without any subsequent Amendment in the
Throat, or any Signs of Suppuration. In such Cases we must chiefly
persist in the Gargarisms and the Steams; and where an experienced and
dexterous Surgeon can be procured, it were proper he should scarify the
inflamed Tonsils. These discharge, in such Cases, a moderate Quantity of
Blood; and this Evacuation relieves, very readily, as many as make use
of it.
§ 112. If the Inflammation is no ways disposed to disperse, so that an
Abscess is forming, which almost ever happens, if it has not been
obviated at the Invasion of the Disease; then the Symptoms attending the
Fever continue, though raging a little less after the fourth Day: the
Throat continues red, but of a less florid and lively Redness: a Pain
also continues, though less acute, accompanied sometimes with
Pulsations, and at other Times intirely without any; of which it is
proper to take Notice: the Pulse commonly grows a little softer; and on
the fifth or sixth Day, and sometimes sooner, the Abscess is ready to
break. This may be discovered by the Appearance of a small white and
soft Tumour, when the Mouth is open, which commonly appears about the
Centre or Middle of the Inflammation. It bursts of itself; or, should it
not, it must be opened. This is effected by strongly securing a Lancet
to one End of a small Stick or Handle, and enveloping, or wrapping up
the whole Blade of it, except the Point and the Length of one fourth or
a third of an Inch, in some Folds of soft Linnen; after which the
Abscess is pierced with the Point of this Lancet. The Instant it is
opened, the Mouth is filled with the Discharge of a Quantity of _Pus_,
of the most intolerable Savour and Smell. The Patient should gargle
himself after the Discharge of it with the detersive, or cleansing
Gargarism Nº. 19. It is surprising sometimes to see the Quantity of
Matter discharged from this Imposthumation. In general there is but one;
though sometimes I have seen two of them.
§ 113. It happens, and not seldom, that the Matter is not collected
exactly in the Place, where the Inflammation appeared, but in some less
exposed and less visible Place: whence a Facility of swallowing is
almost entirely restored; the Fever abates; the Patient sleeps; he
imagines he is cured, and that no Inconvenience remains, but such as
ordinarily occurs in the earliest Stage of Recovery. A Person who is
neither a Physician, nor a Surgeon, may easily deceive himself, when in
this State. But the following Signs may enable him to discover that
there is an Abscess, viz. A certain Inquietude and general Uneasiness; a
Pain throughout the Mouth; some Shiverings from Time to Time; frequently
sharp, but short and transient, Heat: a Pulse moderately soft, but not
in a natural State; a Sensation of Thickness and Heaviness in the
Tongue; small white Eruptions on the Gums, on the Inside of the Cheek,
on the Inside and Outside of the Lips, and a disagreeable Taste and
Odour.
§ 114. In such Cases Milk or warm Water should frequently be retained in
the Mouth; the Vapour of hot Water should be conveyed into it; and
emollient Cataplasms may be applied about the Neck. All these Means
concur to the softening and breaking of the Abscess. The Finger may also
be introduced to feel for its Situation; and when discovered, the
Surgeon may easily open it. I happened once to break one under my
Finger, without having made the least Effort to do it. Warm Water may be
injected pretty forcibly, either by the Mouth or the Nostrils: this
sometimes occasions a kind of Cough, or certain Efforts which tend to
break it. I have seen this happen even from laughing. As to the rest,
the Patient should not be too anxious or uneasy about the Event. I never
saw a single Instance of a Person's dying of a Quinsey of this kind,
after the Suppuration is truly effected; neither has it happened perhaps
after the Time it is forming for Suppuration.
§ 115. The glairy Matter with which the Throat is over-charged, and the
very Inflammation of that Part, which, from its Irritation, produces the
same Effect, as the Introduction of a Finger into it, occasions some
Patients to complain of incessant Propensities to vomit. We must be upon
our Guard here, and not suppose that this Heart-Sickness, as some have
called it, results from a Disorder of, or a Load within, the Stomach,
and that it requires a Vomit for its Removal. The giving one here would
often prove a very unfortunate Mistake. It might, in a high
Inflammation, further aggravate it; or we might be obliged (even during
the Operation of the Vomit) to bleed, in order to lessen the Violence of
the Inflammation. Such Imprudence with its bad Consequences, often
leaves the Patient, even after the Disease is cured, in a State of
Languor and Weakness for a considerable Time. Nevertheless, there are
some particular Disorders of the Throat, attended with a Fever, in which
a Vomit may be prudently given. But this can only be, when there is no
Inflammation, or after it is dispersed; and there still remains some
putrid Matter in the first Passages. Of such Cases I shall speak
hereafter. [29]
[29] In Diseases of the Throat, which have been preceded by such
Excesses in Food or strong Drink, as occur too often in many
Countries, when the Patient has very strong Reachings to vomit, and
the Tongue is moist at the same Time; we should not hesitate, after
appeasing the first Symptoms of the Inflammation [by sufficient
Bleedings, &c.] to assist the Efforts of Nature, and to give a
small Dose of Tartar emetic, dissolved in some Spoonfuls of Water.
This Remedy in this Case, promotes the Dispersion of the
Inflammation, beyond any other. _E. L._
§ 116. We often see in _Swisserland_ a Disorder different from these of
the Throat, of which we have just treated; though, like these, attended
with a Difficulty of swallowing. It is termed in French the _Oreillons_,
and often the _Ourles_, or swelled Ears. It is an Overfulness and
Obstruction of those Glands and their Tubes, which are to furnish the
_Saliva_ or Spittle; and particularly of the two large Glands which lie
between the Ear and the Jaw; which are called the _Parotides_; and of
two under the Jaw, called the _Maxillares_. All these being considerably
swelled in this Disease, do not only produce a great Difficulty of
swallowing; but also prevent the Mouth from opening; as an Attempt to do
it is attended with violent Pain. Young Children are much more liable to
this Disease than grown Persons. Being seldom attended with a Fever,
there is no Occasion for Medicines: It is sufficient to defend the Parts
affected from the external Air; to apply some proper Poultice over them;
to lessen the Quantity of their Food considerably, denying them Flesh
and Wine; but indulging them plentifully in some light warm Liquid, to
dilute their Humours and restore Perspiration. I cured myself of this
Disorder in 1754, by drinking nothing, for four Days, but Balm Tea, to
which I added one fourth part Milk, and a little Bread. The same
_Regimen_ has often cured me of other light Complaints of the Throat.
§ 117. In the Spring of 1761, there were an astonishing Number of
Persons attacked with Disorders of the Throat, of two different Kinds.
Some of them were seized with that common Sort which I have already
described. Without adding any thing more particularly, in Respect to
this Species, it happened frequently to grown Persons, who were
perfectly cured by the Method already recited. The other Species, on
which I shall be more particular in this Place (because I know they have
abounded in some Villages, and were very fatal) invaded Adults, or grown
Persons also, but especially Children, from the Age of one Year, and
even under that, to the Age of twelve or thirteen.
The first Symptoms were the same with those of the common Quinsey, such
as the Shivering, the ensuing Heat or Fever, Dejection, and a Complaint
of the Throat: but the following Symptoms distinguished these from the
common inflammatory Quinseys.
1. The Sick had often something of a Cough, and a little Oppression.
2. The Pulse was quicker, but less hard, and less strong, than generally
happens in Diseases of the Throat.
3. The Patients were afflicted with a sharp, stinging and dry Heat, and
with great Restlessness.
4. They spat less than is usual in a common Quinsey; and their Tongues
were extremely dry.
5. Though they had some Pain in swallowing, this was not their principal
Complaint, and they could drink sufficiently.
6. The Swelling and Redness of the Tonsils, of the Palate, and of its
Process were not considerable; but the parotid and maxillary Glands, and
especially the former, being extremely swelled and inflamed, the Pain
they chiefly complained of, was this outward one.
7. When the Disease proved considerably dangerous, the whole Neck
swelled; and sometimes even the Veins, which return the Blood from the
Brain, being overladen, as it were, the Sick had some Degree of
Drowsiness, and of a _Delirium_, or Raving.
8. The Paroxysms, or Returns, of the Fever were considerably irregular.
9. The Urine appeared to be less inflamed, than in other Diseases of the
Throat.
10. Bleeding and other Medicines did not relieve them, as soon as in the
other kind; and the Disease itself continued a longer Time.
11. It did not terminate in a Suppuration like other Quinsies, but
sometimes the Tonsils were ulcerated.
12. [30] Almost every Child, and indeed a great many of the grown
Persons assaulted with this Disease, threw out, either on the first Day,
or on some succeeding one, within the first six Days, a certain
Efflorescence, or Eruptions, resembling the Measles considerably in
some, but of a less lively Colour, and without any Elevation, or rising
above the Skin. It appeared first in the Face, next in the Arms, and
descended to the Legs, Thighs and Trunk; disappearing gradually at the
End of two or three Days, in the same Order it had observed in breaking
out. A few others (I have seen but five Instances of it) suffered the
most grievous Symptoms before the Eruption; and threw out the genuine
_purpura_, or white miliary Eruption.
[30] This seems to have been the same kind of Quinsey, of which Drs.
_Huxham_, _Fothergil_, _Cotton_ and others wrote, though under
different Appellations. _K._
13. As soon as these Efflorescences or Eruptions appeared, the Sick
generally found themselves better. That, last mentioned, continued four,
five, or six Days, and frequently went off by Sweats. Such as had not
these Ebullitions, which was the Case of many Adults, were not cured
without very plentiful Sweats towards the Termination of the Disease:
those which occurred at the Invasion of it being certainly unprofitable,
and always hurtful.
14. I have seen some Patients, in whom the Complaint of the Throat
disappeared entirely, without either Eruptions or Sweats: but such still
remained in very great Inquietude and Anguish, with a quick and small
Pulse. I ordered them a sudorific Drink, which being succeeded by the
Eruption, or by Sweating, they found themselves sensibly relieved.
15. But whether the Sick had, or had not, these external Rednesses or
Eruptions, every one of them parted with their Cuticle or Scarf Skin,
which fell off, in large Scales, from the whole Surface of the Body: so
great was the Acrimony or Sharpness of that Matter, which was to be
discharged through the Skin.
16. A great Number suffered a singular Alteration in their Voice,
different from that which occurs in common Quinsies, the Inside of their
Nostrils being extremely dry.
17. The Sick recovered with more Difficulty after this, than after the
common Quinsies: and if they were negligent or irregular, during their
Recovery; particularly, if they exposed themselves too soon to the Cold,
a Relapse ensued, or some different Symptoms; such as a Stuffing with
Oppression, a Swelling of the Belly, windy Swellings in different Parts;
Weakness, Loathings, Ulcerations behind the Ears, and something of a
Cough and Hoarseness.
18. I have been sent for to Children, and also to some young Folks, who,
at the End of several Weeks, had been taken with a general Inflammation
of the whole Body, attended with great Oppression, and a considerable
Abatement of their Urine, which was also high-coloured and turbid, or
without Separation. They seemed also in a very singular State of
Indifference, or Disregard, with Respect to any Object, or Circumstance.
I recovered every one of them entirely by Blisters, and the Powder Nº.
25. The first Operation of this Medicine was to vomit them: to this
succeeded a Discharge by Urine, and at last very plentiful Sweating,
which compleated the Cure. Two Patients only, of a bad Constitution, who
were a little ricketty, and disposed to glandular Scirrhosity or
Knottiness, relapsed and died, after being recovered of the Disease
itself for some Days.
§ 118. I have bled some adult Persons, and made Use of the cooling
Regimen, as long as there was an evident Inflammation: it was necessary
after this to unload the first Passages; and at last to excite moderate
Sweats. The same Powders Nº. 25 have often effected both these
Discharges, and with entire Success. In other Cases I have made Use of
Ipecacuanha, as directed Nº. 35.
In some Subjects there did not appear any inflammatory Symptom; and the
Distemper resulted solely from a Load of putrid Matter in the first
Passages. Some Patients also discharged Worms. In such Cases I never
bled; but the Vomit had an excellent Effect, at the very Onset of the
Disease; it produced a perceivable Abatement of all the Symptoms;
Sweating ensued very kindly and naturally, and the Patient recovered
entirely a few Hours after.
§ 119. There were some Places, in which no Symptom or Character of
Inflammation appeared; and in which it was necessary to omit Bleeding,
which was attended with bad Consequences.
I never directed Infants to be bled. After opening the first Passages,
Blisters and diluting Drinks proved their only Remedies. A simple
Infusion of Elder Flowers, and those of the Lime Tree, has done great
Service to those who drank plentifully of it.
§ 120. I am sensible that in many Villages a great Number of Persons
have died, with a prodigious Inflation or Swelling of the Neck. Some
have also died in the City, and among others a young Woman of twenty
Years of Age, who had taken nothing but hot sweating Medicines and red
Wine, and died the fourth Day, with violent Suffocations, and a large
Discharge of Blood from the Nose. Of the great Number I have seen in
Person, only two died. One was a little Girl of ten Months old. She had
an Efflorescence which very suddenly disappeared: at this Time I was
called in; but the Humour had retreated to the Breast, and rendered her
Death inevitable. The other was a strong Youth from sixteen to seventeen
Years old, whose sudden Attack from the Disease manifested, from the
very Beginning, a violent Degree of it. Nevertheless, the Symptoms
subsiding, and the Fever nearly terminating, the Sweats which approached
would probably have saved him. But he would not suffer them to have
their Course, continually stripping himself quite naked. The
Inflammation was immediately repelled upon the Lungs, and destroyed him
within the Space of thirty Hours. I never saw a Person die with so very
dry a Skin. The Vomit affected him very little upwards, and brought on a
purging. His own bad Conduct seems to have been the Occasion of his
Death; and may this serve as one Example of it.
§ 121. I chose to expatiate on this Disease, as it may happen to reach
other Places, where it may be useful to have been apprized of its Marks,
and of its Treatment, which agrees as much with that of putrid Fevers,
of which I shall speak hereafter, as with that of the inflammatory
Diseases I have already considered: since in some Subjects the Complaint
of the Throat has evidently been a Symptom of a putrid Fever, rather
than of the chiefly apparent Disease, a Quinsey. [31]
§ 122. Disorders of the Throat are, with Respect to particular Persons,
an habitual Disease returning every Year, and sometimes oftner than once
a Year. They may be prevented by the same Means, which I have directed
for the Preservation from habitual Pleurisies § 100; and by defending
the Head and the Neck from the Cold; especially after being heated by
Hunting, or any violent Exercise, or even by singing long and loud,
which may be considered as an extraordinary Exercise of some of the
Parts affected in this Disease.
[31] I reserve some other interesting Reflections on this Disease, for
the second Edition of my Treatise on Fevers; and the Editor at
_Paris_ has very well observed, that it has some Relation to the
gangrenous sore Throat, which has been epidemical these twenty
Years past, in many Parts of _Europe_.----This Note is from Dr.
_Tissot_ himself.
__Chapter VII.__
_Of Colds._
__Sect.__ 123.
There are many erroneous Prejudices, with Regard to Colds, all of which
may be attended with pernicious Consequences. The first is, that a Cold
is never dangerous; an Error which daily destroys the Lives of many. I
have already complained of it for many Years past; and I have since
beheld a Multitude of such Examples of it, as have but too sufficiently
warranted my Complaints.
No Person however, it is certain, dies merely of a Cold, as long as it
is nothing but a Cold simply; but when, from Inattention and Neglect, it
is thrown upon, and occasions Distempers of the Breast, it may, and
often does, prove mortal. _Colds destroy more than Plagues_, was the
Answer of a very sagacious and experienced Physician to one of his
Friends, who, being asked, how he was in Health, replied, Very well, I
have nothing but a Cold.
A second erroneous Prejudice is, that Colds require no Means, no
Medicines, and that they last the longer for being nursed, or tampered
with. The last Article may be true indeed, with Respect to the Method,
in which the Person affected with them treats them; but the Principle
itself is false. Colds, like other Disorders, have their proper
Remedies; and are removed with more or less Facility, as they are
conducted better or worse.
§ 124. A third Mistake is, that they are not only considered as not
dangerous, but are even supposed wholesome too. Doubtless a Man had
better have a Cold than a more grievous Disease; though it must be still
better to have neither of them. The most that can reasonably be said and
admitted on this Point, is, that when a checked, or an obstructed
Perspiration becomes the Cause of a Distemper, it is fortunate that it
produces rather a Cold, than any very dreadful Disease, which it
frequently does: though it were to be wished, that neither the Cause,
nor its Effect existed. A Cold constantly produces some Disorder or
Defect in the Functions of some Part or Parts of the Body, and thus
becomes the Cause of a Disease. It is indeed a real Disorder itself, and
which, when in a violent Degree, makes a very perceivable Assault upon
our whole Machine. Colds, with their Defluxions, considerably weaken the
Breast, and sooner or later considerably impair the Health. Persons
subject to frequent Colds are never robust or strong; they often sink
into languid Disorders; and a frequent Aptitude to take Cold is a Proof,
that their Perspiration may be easily checked and restrained; whence the
Lungs become oppressed and obstructed, which must always be attended
with considerable Danger.
§ 125. We may be convinced of the Weakness and Fallacy of these
Prejudices, by considering attentively the Nature of Colds; which are
nothing else than the very Diseases already described in the three
preceding Chapters, though in their greatest Degree only.
A Cold in Truth is almost constantly an inflammatory Disease; a light
Inflammation of the Lungs, or of the Throat; of the Membrane or very
thin Skin, which lines the Nostrills, and the Inside of certain Cavities
in the Bones of the Cheeks and Forehead. These Cavities communicate with
the Nose, in such a Manner, that when one Part of this Membrane is
affected with an Inflammation, it is easily communicated to the other
Parts.
§ 126. It is scarcely necessary to describe the Symptoms of a Cold, and
it may be sufficient to remark, 1. That their chief Cause is the same
with that, which most commonly produces the Diseases already treated of,
that is, an obstructed Perspiration, and a Blood somewhat inflamed. 2.
That whenever these Diseases affect great Numbers, many Colds prevail at
the same Time. 3. That the Symptoms which manifest a violent Cold,
greatly resemble those which precede or usher in these Diseases. People
are rarely attacked by great Colds, without a shivering and Fever; which
last sometimes continues for many Days. There is a Cough, a dry Cough,
for some Time; after which some Expectoration ensues; which allays the
Cough, and lightens the Oppression; at which Time the Cold may be said
to be maturated, or ripe. There are pretty often slight Stitches, but
unfixed or flying about, with a little Complaint of the Throat. When the
Nostrills happen to be the Seat of the Disorder, which is then very
improperly termed a Cold of the Brain, it is often attended with a
vehement Head-ach; which sometimes depends on an Irritation of the
Membrane, that lines the Cavities in the Bone of the Forehead, or the
maxillary Sinusses, that is, the Cavities in the Jaws: At first the
Running from the Nose is very clear; thin and sharp; afterwards, in
Proportion to the Abatement of the Inflammation, it becomes thicker; and
the Consistence and Colour of it resemble those of what others cough up.
The Smell, the Taste and the Appetite are commonly impaired by it.
§ 127. Colds seem to be of no certain Duration or Continuance. Those of
the Head or Brain generally last but a few Days; of the Breast longer.
Some Colds nevertheless terminate in four or five Days. If they extend
beyond this Term they prove really hurtful. 1. Because the Violence of
the Cough disorders the whole Machine; and particularly, by forcing up
the Blood to the Head. 2. By depriving the Person afflicted of his usual
Sleep, which is almost constantly diminished by it. 3. By impairing the
Appetite, and confusing the Digestion, which is unavoidably lessened by
it. 4. By weakening the very Lungs, by the continual Agitations from
Coughing; whence all the Humours being gradually determined towards
them, as the weakest Part, a continual Cough subsists. Hence also they
become overcharged with Humours, which grow viscid there; the
Respiration is overloaded and oppressed; a slow Fever appears; Nutrition
almost ceases; the Patient becomes very weak; sinks into a Wasting; an
obstinate Wakefulness and Anguish, and often dies in a short Time. 5. By
Reason that the Fever, which almost constantly accompanies great Cold,
concurs to wear the body down.
§ 128. Wherefore, since a Cold is a Disease of the same kind with
Quinsies, Peripneumonies and Inflammations of the Breast, it ought to be
treated in the same Manner. If it is a violent one, Blood should be
taken from the Arm, which may considerably shorten its Duration: and
this becomes most essentially necessary, whenever the Patient is of a
sanguineous ruddy Complexion, abounds with Blood, and has a strong
Cough, and great Head-ach. The Drinks Nº. 1, 2, 3, 4, should be very
plentifully used. It is advantagious to bathe the Feet in warm Water
every Night at going to Bed. [32] In a Word, if the Patient is put into
a Regimen, the Cure is very speedily effected.
[32] It frequently happens, that the Bathings alone remove the Head-ach,
and the Cough too, by relaxing the lower Parts, and the entire
Surface of the Body. If the Patient is costive, he should receive
Glysters of warm Water, in which some Bran has been boiled, with
the Addition of a little common Soap or Butter. _E. L._
§ 129. The Disorder indeed, however, is often so very slight, that it
may be thought to require very little, if any, medical Treatment, and
may be easily cured without Physick, by abstaining from Flesh, Eggs,
Broth, and Wine; from all Food that is sharp, fat and heavy; and by
dieting upon Bread, Pulse, Fruit, and Water; particularly by eating
little or no Supper; and drinking, if thirsty, a simple Ptisan of
Barley, or an Infusion of Elder Flowers, with the Addition of a third or
fourth Part of Milk. Bathing the Feet, and the Powder Nº. 20 contribute
to dispose the Patient to sleep. Five Tea-Cups of an Infusion of the
Red, or wild Poppy Leaves may also be ventured on safely.
§ 130. When the Fever, Heat and Inflammation wholly disappear; when the
Patient has kept to his Regimen for some Days, and his Blood is well
diluted, if the Cough and Want of Sleep still continues, he may take in
the Evening a Dose of Storax [33] Pill, or of Venice Treacle with Elder
Flower Tea, after bathing his Feet. These Remedies by stilling the
Cough, and restoring Perspiration, frequently cure the Cold in the Space
of one Night. I confess at the same Time, I have seen bad Consequences
from such Opiates, when given too early in the Complaint. It is also
necessary, when they are given, that the Patient should have supt but
very moderately, and that his Supper should be digested.
[33] Under these Circumstances of a tickling Cough from a Cold, without
a Fever, and with very little Inflammation, I have known great and
very frequent Success, from a Dose of _Elixir paregoricum_, taken
at Bed-time, after a very light thin Supper. If the Patient be
sanguine, strong and costive, Bleeding in a suitable Quantity, and
a gently opening Potion, or purging Glyster, may be prudently
premised to it. Grown Persons may take from 30 to 80, or even 100
Drops of it, in Barley Water, or any other pectoral Drink; and
Children in the Chincough from five to twenty Drops; half an Ounce
of it by Measure containing about one Grain of Opium, which is the
Quantity contained in less than quite six Grains of the Storax
Pill; this last being a very available pectoral Opiate too in
Coughs from a Distillation, in more adult Bodies, who may also
prefer a Medicine in that small Size, and Form. _K._
§ 131. An immense Number of Remedies are cried up for the Cure of Colds;
such as Ptisans of Apples or Pippins, of Liquorice, of dry Raisins, of
Figs, of Borage, of Ground-Ivy, of _Veronica_ or Speedwell, of Hysop, of
Nettles, _&c. &c._ I have no Design to depreciate them; as all of them
may possibly be useful: But unfortunately, those who have seen any
particular one of them succeed in one Case, readily conclude it to be
the most excellent of them all; which is a dangerous Error, because no
one Case is a sufficient Foundation to decide upon: which besides none
are qualified to do, who have not often seen a great Number of such
Cases; and who do not so attentively observe the Effects of different
Medicines, as to determine on those which most frequently agree with the
Disorder; and which, in my Judgment, are those I have just enumerated. I
have known a Tea or Infusion of Cherry Stalks, which is not a
disagreeable Drink, to cure a very inveterate Cold.
§ 132. In Colds of the Head or Brain, the Steam of warm Water alone, or
that in which Elder Flowers, or some other mild aromatic Herbs, have
been boiled, commonly afford a pretty speedy Relief. These are also
serviceable in Colds fallen on the Breast. See § 55.
It has been a Practice, though of no very long standing, to give the Fat
of a Whale in these Cases; but this is a very crude indigestible kind of
Fat, and greasy oily Medicines seldom agree with Colds. Besides, this
Whales' Fat is very disagreeable and rancid, that is rank; so that it
were better to forbear using it: I have sometimes seen ill Effects from
it, and rarely any good ones. [34]
[34] This seems but too applicable to the very popular Use of
_Spermaceti_, &c. in such Cases, which can only grease the Passage
to the Stomach; must impair its digestive Faculty, and cannot
operate against the Cause of a Cold; though that Cure of it, which
is effected by the Oeconomy of Nature in due Time, is often
ascribed to such Medicines, as may rather have retarded it. _K._
§ 133. Such Persons as abate nothing of the usual Quantity of their
Food, when seized with a Cold, and who swallow down large Quantities of
hot Water, ruin their Health. Their Digestion ceases; the Cough begins
to affect the Stomach, without ceasing to afflict the Breast; and they
incur a Chance of sinking into the Condition described § 127, Nº. 4.
Burnt Brandy and spiced Wine are very pernicious in the Beginning of
Colds, and the Omission of them must be a very prudent Omission. If any
good Effects have ever been known to attend the Use of them, it has been
towards the going off of the Cold; when the Disorder maintained its
Ground, solely from the Weakness of the Patient. Whenever this is the
Case, there is not the least Room for farther Relaxation; but the
Powders Nº. 14, should be taken every Day in a little Wine; and should
the Humours seem likely to be thrown upon the Lungs, Blisters ought to
be applied to the fleshy Part of the Legs.
§ 134. Drams, or _Liqueurs_, as they are called in _French_, agree so
very little in this last State, that frequently a very small Quantity of
them revives a Cold that was just expiring. There really are some
Persons who never drink them without taking Cold, which is not to be
wondered at, as they occasion a light Inflammation in the Breast, which
is equivalent to a Cold or Distillation.
Nevertheless, People in this Disorder should not expose themselves to
violent cold Weather, if there is a Possibility of avoiding it: though
they should equally guard too against excessive Heat. Those, who inclose
themselves in very hot Rooms, never get quite cured; and how is it
possible they should be cured in such a Situation? Such Rooms,
abstracted from the Danger of coming out of them, produce Colds in the
same Manner that Drams do, by producing a light inflammation in the
Breast.
§ 135. Persons subject to frequent Colds, which Habits are sometimes
termed _fluxionary_, or liable to Distillations, imagine, they ought to
keep themselves very hot. This is an Error which thoroughly destroys
their Health. Such a Disposition to take Cold arises from two Causes;
either because their Perspiration is easily impaired; or sometimes from
the Weakness of the Stomach or the Lungs, which require particular
Remedies. When the Complaint arises from the Perspiration's being easily
disturbed and lessened, the hotter they keep themselves, the more they
sweat, and increase their Complaint the more. This incessantly warm Air
lets down and weakens the whole Machine, and more particularly the
Lungs; where the Humours finding less Resistance, are continually
derived, and are accumulated there. The Skin, being constantly bathed in
a small Sweat, becomes relaxed, soft, and incapable of compleating its
Functions: from which Failure the slightest Cause produces a total
Obstruction of Perspiration; and a Multitude of languid Disorders ensue.
These Patients thus circumstanced, redouble their Precautions against
the Cold, or even the Coolness of the Air, while their utmost Cautions
are but so many effectual Means to lower their Health; and this the more
certainly, as their Dread of the free Air necessarily subjects them to a
sedentary Life, which increases all their Symptoms; while the hot Drinks
they indulge in, compleat their Severity. There is but one Method to
cure People thus situated; that is, by accustoming them gradually to the
Air; to keep them out of hot Chambers; to lessen their Cloathing by
Degrees; to make them sleep cool; and to let them eat or drink nothing
but what is cold, Ice itself being wholesome in their Drink: to make
them use much Exercise; and finally, if the Disorder be inveterate, to
give them for a considerable Time the Powder Nº. 14, and make them use
the cold Bath. This Method succeeds equally too with those, in whom the
Disease originally depended on a Weakness of the Stomach, or of the
Lungs: and in fact, at the End of a certain Period, these three Causes
are always combined. Some Persons who have been subject, for many Years,
to catch Colds throughout the Winter; and who, during that Season, never
went out, and drank every thing warm, have been evidently the better,
during the Winter of 1761, and 1762, for the Direction I have given
here. They now walk out every Day; drink their Liquids cold; and by this
Means entirely escape Colds, and enjoy perfect Health.
§ 136. It is more customary indeed in Town, than in the Country, to have
different Troches, and Compositions in the Mouth. I am not for excluding
this Habit; though I think nothing is so efficacious as Juice of
Liquorice; and provided a sufficient Dose be taken, it affords certain
Relief. I have taken an Ounce and a half in one Day, and have felt the
good Consequences of it very remarkably.
__Chapter VIII.__
_Of Diseases of the Teeth._
__Sect.__ 137.
The Diseases of the Teeth, which are sometimes so tedious and so
violent, as to cause obstinate Wakefulness, a considerable Degree of
Fever, Raving, Inflammations, Abscesses, Rottenness of the Bones,
Convulsions and Faintings, depend on three principal Causes. 1. On a
_Caries_ or Rottenness of the Teeth. 2. On an Inflammation of the Nerves
of the Teeth, or of the Membrane which invests and covers them; and
which affects the Membrane of the Gums. 3. A cold Humour or Defluxion
that is determined to the Teeth, and to their Nerves and Membrane.
§ 138. In the first of these Cases, the _Caries_ having eat down to, and
exposed the naked Nerve, the Air, Food and Drink irritate, or, as it
were sting it; and this irritation is attended with Pain more or less
violent. Every thing that increases the Motion or Action of the affected
Part, as Exercise, Heat or Food, will be attended with the same
Consequence.
When the Tooth is greatly decayed, there is no other Cure besides that
by extracting it, without which the Pain continues; the Breath becomes
very offensive; the Gum is eat down; the other Teeth, and sometimes even
the Jaw-bone, are infected with the Rottenness: besides, that it
prevents the Use of the other Teeth, which are infected with a kind of
tartarous Matter, and decay.
But when the Disorder is less considerable, the Progress of it may
sometimes be restrained, by burning the Tooth with a hot Iron, or by
filling it with Lead, if it is fitted to receive and to retain it.
Different corroding Liquids are sometimes used on these Occasions, _Aqua
fortis_ itself, and Spirit of Vitriol: but such Applications are highly
dangerous, and ought to be excluded. When the Patients, from Dread,
reject the Operations just mentioned, a little Oyl of Cloves may be
applied, by introducing a small Pellet of Cotton, dipt in it, to the
rotten hollow Tooth; which often affords considerable Ease, and Respite.
Some make use of a Tincture of Opium, or Laudanum, after the same
Manner; and indeed these two Medicines may be used together in equal
Quantities. I have often succeeded with _Hoffman's_ mineral anodyne
Liquor; which seemed indeed, for a few Moments, to increase the Pain;
but Ease generally ensues after spitting a little Time. A Gargarism made
of the Herb _Argentina_; that is Silver-weed or wild Tansey, in Water,
frequently appeases the Pain that results from a _Caries_ of the Teeth:
and in such Cases many People have found themselves at Ease, under a
constant Use of it. It certainly is an Application that cannot hurt, and
is even beneficial to the Gums. Others have been relieved by rubbing
their Faces over with Honey.
§ 139. The second Cause is the Inflammation of the Nerve within the
Substance, or of the Membrane on the Outside, of the Tooth. This is
discovered by the Patient's Temperament, Age and Manner of living. They
who are young, sanguine, who heat themselves much, whether by Labour, by
their Food, their Drink, by sitting up late, or by any other Excess:
they who have been accustomed to any Discharges or Eruptions of Blood,
whether natural or artificial, and who cease to have them as usual, are
much exposed to the Tooth-ach, from this Cause.
This Pain, or rather Torment, if in an acute Degree, commonly happens
very suddenly, and often after some heating Cause. The Pulse is strong
and full; the Countenance considerably red; the Mouth extremely hot:
there is often a pretty high Fever, and a violent Head-ach. The Gums, or
some Part of them, become inflamed, swelled, and sometimes an Abscess
appears. At other times the Humours throw themselves upon the more
external Parts; the Cheek swells, and the Pain abates. When the Cheek
swells, but without any Diminution of the Pain, it then becomes an
Augmentation, but no essential Change, of the Disorder.
§ 140. In this Species of the Disease, we must have Recourse to the
general Method of treating inflammatory Disorders, and direct Bleeding,
which often produces immediate Ease, if performed early. After Bleeding,
the Patient should gargle with Barley Water, or Milk and Water; and
apply an emollient Cataplasm to the Cheek. If an Abscess or little
Imposthume appears, the Suppuration or ripening of it is to be promoted,
by holding continually in the Mouth some hot Milk, or Figs boiled in
some Milk: and as soon as ever it seems ripe, it should be opened, which
may be done easily, and without any Pain. The Disorder, when depending
on this Cause, is sometimes not so violent, but of a longer Duration,
and returns whenever the Patient heats himself; when he goes to Bed;
when he eats any heating Food, or Drink, Wine or Coffee. In this Case he
should be bled, without which his other Medicines will have little
Effect; and he should bathe his Feet in warm Water for some Evenings
successively, taking one Dose of the Powder Nº. 20. Entire Abstinence
from Wine and Meat, especially at Night, has cured several Persons of
inveterate and obstinate Maladies of the Teeth.
In this Species of Tooth-ach, all hot Remedies are pernicious; and it
often happens that Opium, Venice Treacle, and Storax Pills, are so far
from producing the Relief expected from them, that they have aggravated
the Pain.
§ 141. When the Disease arises from a cold Distillation, or Humour,
tending to these Parts, it is commonly (though equally painful) attended
with less violent Symptoms. The Pulse is neither strong, full nor quick;
the Mouth is less heated, and less swelled. In such Cases, the afflicted
should be purged with the Powder Nº. 21, which has sometimes perfectly
cured very obstinate Complaints of this Sort. After purging they should
make Use of the Diet Drink of the Woods Nº. 22. This has cured
Tooth-achs, which have baffled other Attempts for many Years; but it
must be added, this Drink would be hurtful in the Disease from a
different Cause. Blisters to the Nape of the Neck, or [35] elsewhere, it
matters not greatly where, have often extraordinary good Effects, by
diverting the Humour, and restoring a compleat Perspiration. In short in
this Species, we may employ, not only with Safety, but with Success
(especially after due purging) Pills of Storax, Opium and Venice
Treacle. Acrid sharp Remedies, such as hard spun [35] Tobacco, Root of
Pellitory of _Spain_, &c. by exciting much Spitting, discharge part of
the Humour which causes the Disease, and hence diminish the Pain. The
Smoke of Tobacco also succeeds now and then in this Disorder, whether
this happens from the Discharge of the Rheum or Spittle it occasions; or
whether it is owing to any anodyne Efficacy of this Plant, in which it
resembles Opium.
[35] A small Blister behind the Ear of the affected Side, or both Ears,
has very often removed the Pain, when from a Defluxion. It is
pretty common for the Subjects of this Disease to be very costive,
during the Exacerbations of it, which I have sometimes experienced
to be pretty regularly and severely quotidian, for a Week or two.
The Custom of smoking Tobacco very often, which the Violence of
this Pain has sometimes introduced, often disposes to a Blackened
and premature Decay of the Teeth, to which the Chewers of it are
less obnoxious: and this Difference may result from some particles
of its chemical Oil rising by Fumigation, and being retained in the
Teeth, which Particles are not extracted by Mastication. But with
Regard to the habitual Use of this very acrid and internally
violent Herb, for, but chiefly after, this Disease, it should be
considered well, whether in some Constitutions it may not pave the
Way to a more dangerous one, than it was introduced to remove. _K._
§ 142. As this last Cause is often the Consequence of a Weakness in the
Stomach, it daily happens that we see some People, whose Disorder from
this Cause is augmented, in Proportion as they indulge in a cooling,
refreshing Way of living. The Increase of the Disorder disposes them to
increase the Dose of what they mistake for its Remedy, in Proportion to
which their Pain only increases. There is a Necessity that such Persons
should alter this Method; and make use of such Medicines as are proper
to strengthen the Stomach, and to restore Perspiration. The Powder Nº.
14. has often produced the best Consequences, when I have ordered it in
these Cases; and it never fails to dissipate the Tooth-ach very
speedily, which returns periodically at stated Days and Hours. I have
also cured some Persons who never drank Wine, by advising them to the
Use of it.
§ 143. But besides the Diseases of the Teeth, that are owing to these
three principal Causes, which are the most common ones; there are some
very tedious and most tormenting Disorders of them, that are occasioned
by a general Acrimony, or great Sharpness, of the Mass of Blood, and
which are never cured by any other Medicines but such, as are proper to
correct that Acrimony. When it is of a scorbutic Nature, the wild
Horse-radish (Pepperwort) Water Cresses, Brooklime, Sorrel, and
Wood-sorrell correct and cure it. If it is of a different Nature, it
requires different Remedies. But very particular Details do not come
within the Plan of this Work. As the Malady is of the chronical or
tedious kind, it allows Time to consider and consult more particularly
about it.
The Gout and the Rheumatism are sometimes transferred to the Teeth, and
give Rise to the most excruciating Pains; which must be treated like the
Diseases from which they arise.
§ 144. From what has been said on this Disorder, the Reader will
discern, in what that imaginary Oddness may consist, which has been
ascribed to it, from the same Application's relieving one Person in it,
and not affording the least Relief to another. Now the plain Reason of
this is, that these Applications are always directed, without an exact
Knowledge of the particular Cause of the Disease, in different Subjects
and Circumstances; whence the Pain from a rotten Tooth, is treated like
that from an Inflammation; that from an Inflammation, like the Pain from
a cold Humour or Fluxion; and this last like a Pain caused by a
scorbutic Acrimony: so that the Disappointment is not in the least
surprizing. Perhaps Physicians themselves do not always attend
distinctly enough to the Nature of each particular Disorder: and even
when they do, they content themselves with directing some of the less
potent Medicines, which may be inadequate to accomplish the necessary
Effect. If the Distemper truly be of an inflammatory Disposition,
Bleeding is indispensible to the Cure.
It happens in Fact, with Regard to the Diseases of the Teeth, as well as
to all other Diseases, that they arise from different Causes; and if
these Causes are not opposed by Medicines suited to them, the Disease,
far from being cured, is aggravated.
I have cured violent Tooth-achs, of the lower Jaw, by applying a
Plaister of Meal, the White of an Egg, Brandy and Mastich, at the Corner
of that Jaw, over the Spot where the Pulsation of the Artery may be
perceived: and I have also mitigated the most excruciating Pains of the
Head, by applying the same Plaister upon the temporal Artery.
__Chapter IX.__
_Of the Apoplexy._
__Sect.__ 145.
Every Person has some Idea of the Disease termed an Apoplexy, which is a
sudden Privation or Loss of all Sense, and of all voluntary Motion; the
Pulse at the same Time being kept up, but Respiration or Breathing,
being oppressed. I shall treat of this Disease only in a brief Manner,
as it is not common in our Country Villages; and as I have expatiated on
it in a different Manner in a Letter to Dr. _Haller_, published in 1761.
§ 146. This Disease is generally distinguished into two Kinds, the
sanguineous and serous Apoplexy. Each of them results from an
Overfulness of the Blood Vessels of the Brain, which presses upon, and
prevents or impairs the Functions of the Nerves. The whole Difference
between these two Species consists in this, that the sanguineous
Apoplexy prevails among strong robust Persons, who have a rich, heavy,
thick and inflammable Blood, and that in a large Quantity; in which
Circumstance it becomes a genuine inflammatory Distemper. The serous, or
humoral Apoplexy invades Persons of a less robust Constitution; whose
Blood is more dilute or watery; and rather viscid, or lightly
gelatinous, than heavy or rich; whole Vessels are in a more relaxed
State; and who abound more in other Humours than in red Blood.
§ 147. When the first kind of this Disease exists in its most violent
Degree, it is then sometimes termed, an apoplectic Stroke, or thundering
Apoplexy, which kills in a Moment or instantaneously, and admits of no
Remedies. When the Assault is less violent, and we find the Patient with
a strong, full and raised Pulse, his Visage red and bloated, and his
Neck swelled up; with an oppressed and loud hoarse Respiration; being
sensible of nothing, and capable of no other Motions, except some
Efforts to vomit, the Case is not always equally desperate. We must
therefore immediately,
1. Entirely uncover the Patient's Head, covering the rest of his Body
but very lightly; procure him instantly very fresh free Air, and leave
his Neck quite unbound and open.
2. His Head should be placed as high as may be, with his Feet hanging
down.
3. He must lose from twelve to fifteen Ounces of Blood, from a free open
Orifice in the Arm: the Strength or Violence with which the Blood
sallies out, should determine the Surgeon to take a few Ounces more or
less. It should be repeated to the third or fourth Time, within the
Space of three or four Hours; if the Symptoms seem to require it, either
in the Arm, or in the Foot.
4. A Glyster should be given of a Decoction of the first emollient
opening Herbs that can be got, with four Spoonfuls of Oil, one Spoonful
of Salt: and this should be repeated every three Hours.
5. If it is possible, he should be made to swallow Water plentifully, in
each Pot of which three Drams of Nitre are to be dissolved.
6. As soon as the Height and Violence of the Pulse abates; when his
Breathing becomes less oppressed and difficult, and his Countenance less
inflamed, he should take the Decoction Nº. 23; or, if it cannot be got
ready in Time, he should take three Quarters of an Ounce of Cream of
Tartar, and drink Whey plentifully after it. This Medicine succeeded
extremely well with me in a Case, where I could not readily procure any
other.
7. He should avoid all strong Liquor, Wine, distilled Spirit, whether
inwardly or by outward Application, and should even be prevented
from [36] smelling them.
[36] I have been very authentically assured of the Death of a hale Man,
which happened in the very Act of pouring out a large Quantity of
distilled Spirits, by Gallons or Bucketfulls, from one Vessel into
another. _K._
8. The Patient should be stirred, moved, or even touched, as little as
it is possible: in a Word every Thing must be avoided that can give him
the least Agitation. This Advice, I am sensible, is directly contrary to
the common Practice; notwithstanding which it is founded in Reason,
approved by Experience, and absolutely necessary. In Fact, the whole
Evil results from the Blood being forced up with too much Force, and in
too great a Quantity, to the Brain; which being thence in a State of
Compression, prevents every Movement and every Influence of the Nerves.
In Order, therefore, to re-establish these Movements, the Brain must be
unloaded, by diminishing the Force of the Blood. But strong Liquors,
Wines, Spirits, volatile Salts, all Agitation and Frictions augment it,
and by that very Means increase the Load, the Embarrassment of the
Brain, and thus heighten the Disease itself. On the contrary, every
Thing that calms the Circulation, contributes to recall Sensation and
voluntary Motion the sooner.
9. Strong Ligatures should be made about the Thighs under the Ham: By
this Means the Blood is prevented in its Ascent from the Legs, and less
is carried up to the Head.
If the Patient seems gradually, and in Proportion as he takes proper
Medicines, to advance into a less violent State, there may be some
Hopes. But if he rather grows worse after his earliest Evacuations, the
Case is desperate.
§ 148. When Nature and Art effect his Recovery, his Senses return:
though there frequently remains a little _Delirium_ or Wandering for
some Time; and almost always a paralytic Defect, more or less, of the
Tongue, the Arm, the Leg, and the Muscles of the same Side of the Face.
This Palsy sometimes goes off gradually, by the Help of cooling Purges
from Time to Time, and a Diet that is but very moderately and lightly
nourishing. All hot Medicines are extremely hurtful in this Case, and
may pave the Way to a repeated Attack. A Vomit might be even fatal, and
has been more than once so. It should be absolutely forbidden; nor
should we even promote, by Draughts of warm Water, the Efforts of the
Patient to vomit. They do not any ways depend on any Humour or Mass in
the Stomach; but on the Oppression and Embarrassment of the Brain: and
the more considerable such Efforts are, the more such Oppression is
increased: by Reason that as long as they continue, the Blood cannot
return from the Head, by which Means the Brain remains overcharged.
§ 149. The other Species of Apoplexy is attended with the like Symptoms,
excepting the Pulse not being so high nor strong; the Countenance being
also less red, sometimes even pale; the Breathing seems less oppressed;
and sometimes the Sick have a greater Facility to vomit, and discharge
more upwards.
As this Kind of the Disease attacks Persons who abound less in Blood;
who are less strong, and less heated or inflamed, Bleeding is not often
at all necessary: at least the Repetition of it is scarcely ever so: and
should the Pulse have but a small Fulness, and not the least unnatural
Hardness, Bleeding might even be pernicious.
1. The Patient however should be placed as was directed in the former
Mode of this Disease; though it seems not equally necessary here.
2. He should receive a Glyster, but without Oil, with double the
Quantity of Salt, and a Bit of Soap of the Size of a small Egg; or with
four or five Sprigs of Hedge Hyssop. It may be repeated twice a Day.
3. He should be purged with the Powder Nº. 4. [37]
[37] Vomits which are so pernicious in the sanguineous Apoplexy, where
the Patient's Countenance and Eyes are inflamed; and which are also
dangerous or useless, when a Person has been very moderate in his
Meals, or is weakened by Age or other Circumstances, and whole
Stomach is far from being overloaded with Aliment, are nevertheless
very proper for gross Feeders, who are accustomed to exceed at
Table, who have Indigestions, and have a Mass of viscid glairy
Humours in their Stomachs; more especially, if such a one has a
little while before indulged himself excessively, whence he has
vomited without any other evident Cause, or at least had very
Strong _Nauseas_, or Loathings. In brief, Vomits are the true
Specific for Apoplexies, occasioned by any narcotic or stupifying
Poisons, the pernicious Effects of which cease, the Moment the
Persons so poisoned vomit them up. An attentive Consideration of
what has occurred to the Patient before his Seizure; his small
natural Propensity to this Disease, and great and incessant
Loathings, render it manifest, whether it has been caused by such
Poisons, or such poisonous Excesses. In these two Last Cases a
double Dose of Tartar emetic should be dissolved in a Goblet or Cup
of Water, of which the Patient should immediately take a large
Spoonful; which should be repeated every Quarter of an Hour, till
it operates. _E. L._
4. His common Drink may be a Strong Infusion of Leaves of Balm.
5. The Purge should be repeated the third Day.
6. Blisters should immediately be applied to the fleshy Part of the
Legs, or between the Shoulder Blades. [38]
[38] These Blisters may be preceded by Cupping with Scarification on the
Nape of the Neck. This Remedy, often used by the ancient
Physicians, but too little practiced in France, is one of the most
speedy, and not the least efficacious, Applications in both
sanguine and serous Apoplexies. _E. L._
7. Should Nature seem disposed to relieve herself by Sweatings, it
should be encouraged; and I have often known an Infusion of the _Carduus
benedictus_, or blessed Thistle, produce this Effect very successfully.
If this Method be entered upon, the Sweat ought to be kept up (without
stirring if possible) for many Days. It has then sometimes happened,
that at the End of nine Days, the Patient has been totally freed from
the Palsy, which commonly succeeds this Species of the Apoplexy, just as
it does the other.
§ 150. Persons who have been attacked with either kinds of this Disease
are liable to subsequent ones; each of which is more dangerous than that
preceding: whence an Endeavour to obviate or prevent such Relapses
becomes of the utmost Importance. This is to be effected in each Sort by
a very exact, and rather severe Diet, even to diminishing the usual
Quantity of the Patient's Food; the most essential Precaution, to be
observed by any who have been once assaulted with it, being entirely to
leave off Suppers. Indeed those, who have been once attacked with the
_first_, the _sanguineous Apoplexies_, should be still more exact, more
upon their Guard, than the others. They should deny themselves whatever
is rich and juicy, hot or aromatic, sharp, Wine, distilled Liquors and
Coffee. They should chiefly confine themselves to Garden-Stuff, Fruits
and Acids; such should eat but little Flesh, and only those called
white; taking every Week two or three Doses of the Powder Nº. 24, in a
Morning fasting, in a Glass of Water. They should be purged twice or
thrice a Year with the Draught Nº. 23; use daily Exercise; avoid very
hot Rooms, and the violent Heat of the Sun. They should go to Bed
betimes, rise early, never lie in Bed above eight Hours: and if it is
observed that their Blood increases considerably, and has a Tendency
towards the Head, they should be bled without Hesitation: and for some
Days restrain themselves entirely to a thin and low Regimen, without
taking any solid Food. In these Circumstances warm Bathings are hurtful.
In the other, the serous, Apoplexy, instead of purging with Nº. 23, the
Patient should take the Purge Nº. 21.
§ 151. The same Means, that are proper to prevent a Relapse, might also
obviate or keep off a primary or first Assault, if employed in Time: for
notwithstanding it may happen very suddenly, yet this Disease foreshews
itself many Weeks, sometimes many Months, nay even Years beforehand, by
Vertigos, Heaviness of the Head; small Defects of the Tongue or Speech;
short and momentary Palsies, sometimes of one, sometimes of another,
Part: sometimes by Loathings and Reachings to vomit; without supposing
any Obstruction or Load in the first Passages, or any other Cause in the
Stomach, or the adjoining Parts. There happens also some particular
Change in the Looks and Visage not easy to be described: sharp and short
Pains about the Region of the Heart; an Abatement of the Strength,
without any discernible Cause of it. Besides there are still some other
Signs, which signify the Ascent of the Humours too much to the Head, and
shew, that the Functions of the Brain are embarrassed.
Some Persons are liable to certain Symptoms and Appearances, which arise
from the same Cause as an Apoplexy; and which indeed may be considered
as very light benign Apoplexies, of which they sustain many Attacks, and
yet without any considerable Annoyance of their Health. The Blood, all
at once as it were, flushes up to their Heads: they appear heedless or
blundering; and have sometimes Disgusts and _Nauseas_, and yet without
any Abatement of their Understanding, their Senses, or Motion of any
Sort. Tranquillity of Mind and Body, once Bleeding, and a few Glysters
usually carry it off soon after its Invasion. The Returns of it may be
prevented by the Regimen directed § 150; and especially by a frequent
Use of the Powder Nº. 24. At the long Run however, one of these Attacks
commonly degenerates into a mortal Apoplexy: though this may be retarded
for a very long Time by an exact Regimen, and by avoiding all strong
Commotions of the Mind, but especially that of Anger or violent Rage.
__Chapter X.__
_Of the violent Influence, or Strokes, of the Sun._
__Sect.__ 152.
This Appellation is applied to those Disorders, which arise from too
violent an Influence of the Heat of the Sun, immediately upon the Head;
and which in one Word may be termed _Insolation_.
If we consider that Wood, Stone and Metals, when long exposed to the
Sun, become very hot, and that even in temperate Climates, to such a
Degree, that they can scarcely be touched without some Sensation of
burning, we may easily conceive the Risk a Person undergoes, in having
his Head exposed to the same Degree of Heat. The Blood-Vessels grow dry,
the Blood itself becomes condensed or thickened, and a real Inflammation
is formed, which has proved mortal in a very little Time. It was this
Distemper, a Stroke of the Sun, which killed _Manasses_ the Husband of
_Judith_. 'For as he was among the Labourers who bound up the Sheafs in
the Fields, the Heat struck upon his Head, and he was taken ill; he went
to Bed and he died.' The Signs which precede and attend this Disease
are, being exposed in a Place where the Sun shines forth with great
Force and Ardour; a violent Head-ach, attended with a very hot and
extremely dry Skin: the Eyes are also dry and red, being neither able to
remain open, nor yet to bear the Light; and sometimes there is a kind of
continual and involuntary Motion in the Eyelid; while some Degree of
Relief is perceivable from the Application of any cooling Liquor. It
often happens that some cannot possibly sleep; and at other times they
have a great Drowsiness, but attended with outrageous Wakenings: there
is a very strong Fever; a great Faintness, and a total Disrelish and
Loathing. Sometimes the Patient is very thirsty, and at other times not
at all: and the Skin of his Face often looks as though it were burnt.
§ 153. People may be affected with the Disease from this Cause, at two
different Seasons of the Year; that is, either in the Spring, or during
the very raging Heats; but their Events are very different. Country
People and Labourers are but little liable to the former. They chiefly
affect the Inhabitants of Cities, and delicate Persons, who have used
very little Exercise in the Winter, and abound with superfluous Humours.
If thus circumstanced they expose themselves to the Sun, as even in the
Spring he attains a considerable Force; and, by the Course of Life they
have led, their Humours are already much disposed to mount to the Head;
while the Coolness of the Soil, especially when it has rained, prevents
their Feet from being so easily warmed; the Power of the Sun acts upon
their Head like a Blister, attracting a great Quantity of Humours to it.
This produces excruciating Pains of the Head, frequently accompanied
with quick and violent Shootings, and with Pain in the Eyes;
notwithstanding this Degree of the Malady is seldom dangerous. Country
People, and even such Inhabitants of Cities and Towns, as have not
forbore to exercise themselves in Winter, have no Sort of Dread of these
Strokes of the Sun, in the Spring of the Year. Its Summer Strokes are
much more vehement and troublesome, and assault Labourers and
Travellers, who are for a long Time exposed to the Fervour of it. Then
it is that the Disease is aggravated to its highest Pitch, those who are
thus struck often dying upon the Spot. In the hot Climates this Cause
destroys many in the very Streets, and makes dreadful Havock among
Armies on the March, and at Sieges. Some tragical Effects of it, on such
Occasions, are seen even in the temperate Countries. After having
marched a whole Day in the Sun, a Man shall fall into a Lethargy, and
die within some Hours, with the Symptoms of raving Madness. I have seen
a Tyler in a very hot Day, complaining to his Comrade of a violent Pain
in his Head, which increased every Moment almost; and at the very
Instant when he purposed to retire out of the Sun, he sunk down dead,
and fell down from the House he was slating. This same Cause produces
very often in the Country some most dangerous Phrenzies, which are
called there hot or burning Fevers. Every Year furnishes but too many of
them.
§ 154. The Vehemence of the Sun is still more dangerous to those, who
venture to sleep exposed to it. Two Mowers who fell asleep on a Haycock,
being wakened by some others, immediately on waking, staggered, and
pronouncing a few incoherent unmeaning Words, died. When the Violence of
Wine and that of the Sun are combined, they kill very suddenly: nor is
there a single Year in which Peasants are not found dead on the
Highroads; who being drunk endeavoured to lie down in some Corner, where
they perished by an Apoplexy, from the Heat of the Sun and of strong
Drink. Those of them who escape so speedy and premature a Death, are
subject for the Remainder of their Lives, to chronical, or tedious
Head-achs; and to suffer some little Disorder and Confusion in their
Ideas. I have seen some Cases, when after violent Head-achs of some Days
Continuance, the Disease has been transferred to the Eyelids, which
continued a long Time red and distended, so that they could not be kept
asunder or open. It has also been known, that some Persons have been
struck by the Sun into a _Delirium_ or Raving, without a Fever, and
without complaining of a Head-ach. Sometimes a _Gutta Serena_ has been
its Consequence; and it is very common to see People, whose long
Continuance under the strong Light and Influence of the Sun, has made
such an Impression upon the Eyes, as presents them with different Bodies
flying about in the Air, which distract and confuse their Sight.
A Man of forty two Years of Age, having been exposed for several Hours
to the violent Heat of the Sun, with a very small Cap or Bonnet; and
having past the following Night in the open Air, was attacked the next
Day with a most severe Head-ach, a burning Fever, Reachings to vomit,
great Anguish, and red and sparkling Eyes. Notwithstanding the best
Assistance of several Physicians, he became phrenitic on the fifth Day,
and died on the ninth. Suppurated Matter was discharged from his Mouth,
one of his Nostrils, and his right Ear, a few Hours before his Death;
upon Dissection a small Abscess was found within the Skull; and the
whole Brain, as well as all the Membranes inclosing it, were entirely
corrupted.
§ 155. In very young Children, who are not, or never should be, exposed
for any long Time to such excessive Heat (and whom a slight Cause will
often affect) this Malady discovers itself by a heavy deep Drowsiness,
which lasts for several Days; also by incessant Ravings mingled with
Rage and Terror, much the same as when they are affected with violent
Fear: and sometimes by convulsive Twitchings; by Head-achs which
returned at certain Periods, and continual Vomitings. I have seen
Children, who, after a Stroke of the Sun, have been harrassed a long
Time with a little Cough.
§ 156. Old Men who often expose themselves imprudently to the Sun, are
little apprized of all the Danger they incur by it. A certain Person,
who purposely sunned himself for a considerable Time, in the clear Day
of an intermitting tertian Fever, underwent the Assault of an Apoplexy,
which carried him off the following Day. And even when the Disease may
not be so speedy and violent, yet this Custom (of sunning in hot
Weather) certainly disposes to an Apoplexy, and to Disorders of the
Head. One of the slightest Effects of much solar Heat upon the Head is,
to cause a Defluxion from the Brain, a Swelling of the Glands of the
Neck, and a Dryness of the Eyes, which sometimes continues for a
considerable Term after it.
§ 157. The effect of too much culinary, or common Fire, is of the same
Quality with that of the Sun. A Man who fell asleep with his Head
directly opposite, and probably, very near to the Fire, went off in an
Apoplexy, during his Nap.
§ 158. The Action of too violent a Sun is not only pernicious, when it
falls upon the Head; but it is also hurtful to other Parts; and those
who continue long exposed to it, though their Heads should not be
affected, experience violent Pains, a disagreeable Sensation of Heat,
and a considerable Stiffness in the Parts that have been, in some
Manner, parched by it; as in the Legs, the Knees, the Thighs, Reins and
Arms; and sometimes they prove feverish.
§ 159. In contemplating the Case of a Patient, _Sun-struck_, as we may
term it, we must endeavour to distinguish, whether there may not be also
some other joint Causes concurring to the Effect. A Traveller, a
labouring Man, is often as much affected by the Fatigue of his Journey,
or of his Labour, as he is by the Influence of solar Heat.
§ 160. It is necessary to set about the Cure of this Disease, as soon as
ever we are satisfied of its Existence: for such as might have been
easily preserved by an early Application, are considerably endangered by
a Neglect of it. The Method of treating this is very much the same, with
that of the inflammatory Diseases already mentioned; that is, by
Bleeding, and cooling Medicines of various Kinds in their Drinks, by
Bathings, and by Glysters. And 1. If the Disease be very high and
urgent, a large Quantity of Blood should be taken away, and occasionally
repeated. _Lewis_ the XIV. was bled nine Times to prevent the Fatality
of a Stroke of the Sun, which he received in Hunting in 1658.
2. After Bleeding, the Patient's Legs should be plunged into warm Water.
This is one of the Applications that affords the most speedy Relief; and
I have seen the Head-ach go off and return again, in Proportion to the
Repetition, and the Duration, of these Bathings of the Legs. When the
Disorder is highly dangerous, it will be necessary to treat the Patient
with _Semicupia_, or warm Baths, in which he may sit up to his Hips; and
in the most dangerous Degrees of it, even to bathe the whole Body: but
the Water in this Case, as well as in Bathings of the Feet, should be
only sensibly warm: the Use of hot would be highly pernicious.
3. Glysters made from a Decoction of any of the emollient Herbs are also
very effectual.
4. The Patient should drink plentifully of Almond Emulsion Nº. 4; of
Limonade, which is a Mixture of the Juice of Lemons and Water, (and is
the best Drink in this Disease) of Water and Vinegar, which is a very
good Substitute for Limonade; and of, what is still more efficacious,
very clear Whey, with the Addition of a little Vinegar. These various
Drinks may all be taken cold; Linen Cloths dipt in cold Water and
Vinegar of Roses may be applied to the Forehead, the Temples, or all
over the Head, which is equivalent to every other Application used upon
such Occasions. Those which are the most cried up, are the Juice of
Purslain, of Lettuce, of Houseleek, and of Vervain. The Drink Nº. 32 is
also serviceable, taken every Morning fasting.
§ 161. Cold Baths have sometimes recovered Persons out of such violent
Symptoms, from this Cause, as have been almost quite despaired of.
A Man twenty Years of Age, having been a very long Time exposed to the
scorching Sun, became violently delirious, without a Fever, and proved
really mad. After repeated Bleedings, he was thrown into a cold Bath,
which was also frequently repeated; pouring cold Water, at the same
Time, upon his Head. With such Assistance he recovered, though very
gradually.
An Officer who had rode Post for several Days successively, in very hot
Weather, swooned away, immediately on dismounting; from which he could
not be recovered by the ordinary Assistance in such Cases. He was saved
however, in Consequence of being plunged into a Bath of freezing Water.
It should be observed however, that in these Cases the cold Bath should
never be recurred to, without previous Bleeding.
§ 162. It is past Doubt, that if a Person stands still in the violent
Heat of the Sun, he is more liable to be struck with it, than if he
walks about; and the Use of white Hats, or of some Folds of clean white
Paper under a black one, may sensibly contribute to prevent any Injury
from the considerable Heat of the Sun; though it is a very incompetent
Defence against a violent Degree of it.
The natural Constitution, or even that Constitution, which has been
formed from long Custom and Habit, make a very great Difference between
the Effects of solar Heat on different Persons. People insensibly
accustom themselves to the Impressions of it, as they do to those of all
the other Bodies and Elements, which are continually acting upon us; and
by Degrees we arrive at a Power of sustaining his violent Heat with
Impunity: just as others arrive at the Hardiness of bearing the most
rigid Colds, with very little Complaint or Inconvenience. The human Body
is capable of supporting many more Violences and Extremes, than it
commonly does. Its natural Force is scarcely ever ascertained among
civilized Nations; because their Education generally tends to impair and
lessen it, and always succeeds in this Respect. If we were inclined to
consider a purely natural, a simply physical Man, we must look for him
among savage Nations; where only we can discover what we are able to be,
and to bear. We certainly could not fail of being Gainers, by adopting
their corporal Education; neither does it seem as yet to have been
infallibly demonstrated, that we should be great Losers in commuting our
moral Education for theirs. [39]
[39] As some may think an Apology necessary for a Translation of this
Chapter on a Disease, which never, or very seldom, exists in this
or the adjacent Island, I shall observe here, that, abstracted from
the Immorality of a narrow and local Solicitude only for ourselves,
we are politically interested as a Nation always in Trade, and
often at War (and whose Subjects are extended into very distant and
different Climates) to provide against a sudden and acute
Distemper, to which our Armies, our Sailors and Colonies are
certainly often exposed. A Fatality from this Cause is not
restrained to our Islands within the Tropic, where several
Instances of it have occurred during the late War: but it has also
been known to prevail as far Northward as _Pensylvania_, in their
Summers, and even in their Harvests. I once received a sensible
Scald on the Back of my Thumb, from the Sun suddenly darting out
through a clear Hole, as it were, in a Cloud, after a short and
impetuous Shower in Summer; which Scald manifestly blistered within
some Minutes after. Had this concentrated Ray been darted on my
bare Head, the Consequence might have been more dangerous; or
perhaps as fatal as some of the Cases recorded by Dr. _Tissot_, in
this Chapter. _K._
__Chapter XI.__
_Of the Rheumatism._
__Sect.__ 163.
The Rheumatism may exist either with or without a Fever. The first of
these may be classed among the Diseases, of which I have already
treated; being an Inflammation which is manifested by a violent Fever,
preceded by Shivering, a subsequent Heat, hard Pulse, and a Head-ach.
Sometimes indeed an extraordinary Coldness, with general Uneasiness and
Inquietude, exists several Days before the Fever is perceived. On the
second or third Day, and sometimes even on the first, the Patient is
seized with a violent Pain in some Part of his Body, but especially
about the Joints, which entirely prevents their Motion, and which is
often accompanied with Heat, Redness and a Swelling of the Part. The
Knee is often the first Part attacked, and sometimes both the Knees at
once. When the Pain is fixed, an Abatement of the Fever frequently
happens; though in some other Persons it continues for several Days, and
increases every Evening. The Pain diminishes in one Part after a
Duration of some Days, and then invades some other. From the Knee it
descends to the Foot, or mounts to the Hip, to the Loins, the
Shoulder-blades, Elbow, Wrist, the Nape of the Neck, and frequently is
felt in the intermediate Parts. Sometimes one Part is quite free from
Pain, when another is attacked; at other Times many Parts are seized
nearly at the same Instant; and I have sometimes seen every Joint
afflicted at once. In this Case the Patient is in a very terrible
Situation, being incapable of any Motion, and even dreading the
Assistance of his Attendants, as he can scarcely admit of touching,
without a sensible Aggravation of his Pains. He is unable to bear even
the Weight of the Bed-clothes, which must be, as it were, arched over
his Limbs by a proper Contrivance, to prevent their Pressure: and the
very walking across the Chamber increases his Torments. The Parts in
which they are the most excruciating, and obstinate, are the Region of
the Loins, the Hips, and the Nape or hinder Part of the Neck.
§ 164. This Disease is also often extended over the Scalp and the
Surface of the Head; and there the Pains are excessive. I have seen them
affect the Eyelids and the Teeth with inexpressible Torment. As long as
the Distemper is situated in the more external Parts, the Patient,
however painful his Situation may prove, is in no great Danger, if he be
properly treated: but if by some Accident, some Error, or by any latent
Cause, the Disease be repelled upon an internal Part or Organ, his Case
is extremely dangerous. If the Brain is attacked, a frantic raging
_Delirium_ is the Consequence; if it falls upon the Lungs, the Patient
is suffocated: and if it attacks the Stomach or the Bowels, it is
attended with the most astonishing Pains, which are caused by the
Inflammation of those Parts, and which Inflammation, if violent, is [40]
speedily fatal. About two Years since I was called to a robust Man,
whose Guts were already in a gangrenous State, which was the Consequence
of a Rheumatism, that first attacked one Arm and one Knee; the Cure of
which had been attempted by sweating the Patient with some hot Remedies.
These indeed brought on a plentiful Sweat; but the inflammatory Humour
seized the Intestines, whose Inflammation degenerated into a Gangrene,
after a Duration of the most acute Pain for thirty-six Hours; his
Torments terminating in Death two Hours after I saw him.
[40] See Note [16] to Page 59.
§ 165. This Malady however is often in a less violent Degree; the Fever
is but moderate, and ceases entirely when the Pain begins; which is also
confined to one, or not more than two Parts.
§ 166. If the Disease continues fixed, for a considerable Time, in one
Joint, the Motion of it is impaired for Life. I have seen a Person, who
has now a wry Neck, of twenty Years standing, in Consequence of a
Rheumatism in the Nape of the Neck; and I also saw a poor young Man from
_Jurat_, who was Bed-ridden, and who had lost the Motion of one Hip and
both Knees. He could neither stand nor sit, and there were but a few
Postures in which he could even lie in Bed.
§ 167. An obstructed Perspiration, an inflammatory Thickness of the
Blood, constitute the most general Cause of the Rheumatism. This last
concurring Cause is that we must immediately encounter; since, as long
as that subsists, Perspiration cannot be perfectly re-established, which
follows of Course, when the Inflammation is cured. For which Reason this
Distemper must be conducted like the other inflammatory ones, of which I
have already treated.
§ 168. As soon as it is sufficiently manifest, the Glyster Nº. 5, should
be injected; and twelve Ounces of Blood be taken from the Arm an Hour
after. The Patient is to enter upon a Regimen, and drink plentifully of
the Ptisan Nº. 2, and of Almond Milk or Emulsion Nº. 4. As this last
Medicine may be too costly in Country Places for the poor Peasantry;
they may drink, in Lieu of it, very clear Whey, sweetened with a little
Honey. I have known a very severe Rheumatism cured, after twice
bleeding, without any other Food or Medicine, for the Space of thirteen
Days. The Whey also may be happily used by Way of Glyster.
§ 169. If the Distemper is not considerably asswaged by the first
Bleeding, it should be repeated some Hours after. I have ordered it four
Times within the first two Days; and some Days after I have even
directed a fifth Bleeding. But in general the Hardness of the Pulse
becomes less after the second: and notwithstanding the Pains may
continue as severe as before, yet the Patient is sensible of less
Inquietude. The Glyster must be repeated every Day, and even twice a
Day, if each of them is attended only with a small Discharge; and
particularly if there be a violent Head-ach. In such Cases as are
excessively painful, the Patient can scarcely dispose himself into a
proper Attitude or Posture to receive Glysters: and in such
Circumstances his Drinks should be made as opening as possible; and a
Dose of the Cream of Tartar Nº. 24 should be given Night and Morning.
This very Medicine, with the Assistance of Whey, cured two Persons I
advised it to, of rheumatic Pains, of which they had been infested with
frequent Returns for many Years, and which were attended with a small
Fever.
Apples coddled, Prunes stewed, and well ripened Summer Fruits are the
properest Nourishment in this Disease.
We may save the Sick a good deal of Pain, by putting one strong Towel
always under their Back, and another under their Thighs, in order to
move them the more easily. When their Hands are without Pain, a third
Towel hung upon a Cord, which is fastened across the Bed, must
considerably assist them in moving themselves.
§ 170. When the Fever entirely disappears, and the Hardness of the Pulse
is removed, I have ordered the Purge Nº. 23 with a very good Effect; and
if it is attended with five or six Motions, the Patient is very sensibly
relieved. The Day but one after it may be repeated successfully, and a
third Time, after an Interval of a greater Number of Days.
§ 171. When the Pains are extremely violent, they admit of no
Application: Vapour-Baths however may be employed, and provided they are
often used, and for a considerable Time, they prove very efficacious.
The Purpose of these Baths is only to convey the Steam of boiling Water
to the Parts affected; which may always easily be effected, by a Variety
of simple and easy Contrivances; the Choice of which must depend on the
different Circumstances and Situation of the Sick.
Whenever it is possible, some of the emollient Applications Nº. 9,
should be continually employed. A half Bath, or an entire Bath of warm
Water, in which the Patient should remain an Hour, after sufficient
Bleedings and many Glysters, affords the greatest Relief. I have seen a
Patient, under the most acute Pains of the Loins, of the Hips, and of
one Knee, put into one. He continued still under extreme Torment in the
Bath, and on being taken out of it: but an Hour after he had been put to
Bed, he sweated, to an incredible Quantity, for thirty six Hours, and
was cured. The Bath should never be made use of, until after repeated
Bleedings, or at least other equivalent Evacuations: for otherwise
timed, it would aggravate the Disease.
§ 172. The Pains are generally most severe in the Night; whence it has
been usual to give composing soporific Medicines. This however has been
very erroneous, as Opiates really augment the Cause of the Disease, and
destroy the Efficacy of the proper Remedies: and, even not seldom, far
from asswaging the Pains, they increase them. Indeed they agree so
little in this Disease, that even the Patient's natural Sleep at the
Invasion of this Complaint, is rather to his Detriment. They feel, the
very Moment they are dropping asleep, such violent Jirks as awaken them
with great Pain: or if they do sleep a few Minutes, the Pains are
stronger when they awake.
§ 173. The Rheumatism goes off either by Stool, by turbid thick Urine
which drops a great Proportion of a yellowish Sediment, or by Sweats:
and it generally happens that this last Discharge prevails towards the
Conclusion of the Disease. It may be kept up by drinking an Infusion of
Elder Flowers. At the Beginning however Sweating is pernicious.
§ 174. It happens also, though but very seldom, that Rheumatisms
determine by depositing a sharp Humour upon the Legs; where it forms
Vesications, or a kind of Blisterings; which burst open and form Ulcers,
that ought not to be healed and dried up too hastily; as this would
occasion a speedy Return of the rheumatic Pains. They are disposed to
heal naturally of themselves, by the Assistance of a temperate regular
Diet, and a few gentle Purges.
§ 175. Sometimes again, an Abscess is formed either in the affected
Part, or in some neighbouring one. I have seen a Vineyard Dresser, who
after violent Pains of the Loins, had an Abscess in the upper Part of
the Thigh, which he neglected for a long Time. When I saw him, it was of
a monstrous Size. I ordered it to be opened, when at once above three
Pots of [41] Matter rushed out of it: but the Patient, being exhausted,
died some Time after it.
[41] This, according to our Author's Estimation of the Pot-Measure at
_Berne_, which is that he always means, and which he says contains
exactly (of Water we suppose) fifty one Ounces and a Quarter
(though without a material Error it may be computed at three Pounds
and a Quarter) will amount at least to nine Pounds and three
Quarters of Matter, supposing this no heavier than Water. By
Measure it will want but little of five of our Quarts: a very
extraordinary Discharge indeed of _Pus_ at once, and not unlikely
to be attended by the Event which soon followed. _K._
Another Crisis of the Rheumatism has happened by a kind of Itch, which
breaks out upon all the Parts adjacent to the Seat of this Disease.
Immediately after this Eruption the Pains vanish; but the Pustules
sometimes continue for several Weeks.
§ 176. I have never observed the Pains to last, with considerable
Violence, above fourteen Days, in this Species of the Rheumatism; though
there remains a Weakness, Numbness, and some Inflation, or Puffing, of
the adjoining Parts: and it will also be many Weeks, and sometimes even
Months; especially if the Distemper attacked them in the Fall, before
the Sick recover their usual Strength. I have known some Persons, who,
after a very painful Rheumatism, have been troubled with a very
disagreeable Sensation of Lassitude; which did not go off till after a
great Eruption, all over the Body, of little Vesications or Blisterings,
full of a watery Humour; many of them burst open, and others withered
and dried up without bursting.
§ 177. The Return of Strength into the Parts affected may be promoted by
Frictions Night and Morning, with Flannel or any other woollen Stuff; by
using Exercise; and by conforming exactly to the Directions given in the
Chapter on Convalescence, or Recovery from acute Diseases. The
Rheumatism may also be prevented by the Means I have pointed out, in
treating of Pleurisies and Quinsies.
§ 178. Sometimes the Rheumatism, with a Fever, invades Persons who are
not so sanguine, or abounding in Blood; or whose Blood is not so much
disposed to Inflammation; those whose Flesh and Fibres are softer; and
in whose Humours there is more Thinness and Sharpness, than Viscidity
and Thickness. Bleeding proves less necessary for Persons so
constituted, notwithstanding the Fever should be very strong. Some
Constitutions require more Discharges by Stool; and after they are
properly evacuated, some Blisters should be applied, which often afford
them a sensible Relief as soon as ever they begin to operate.
Nevertheless they should never be used where the Pulse is hard. The
Powder Nº. 25 answers very well in these Cases.
§ 179. There is another Kind of Rheumatism, called chronical, or
lasting. It is known by the following Characters or Marks. 1. It is
commonly unattended with a Fever. 2. It continues a very long Time. 3.
It seldom attacks so many Parts at once as the former. 4. Frequently no
visible Alteration appears in the affected Part, which is neither more
hot, red, or swelled than in its healthy State; though sometimes one or
other of these Symptoms is evident. 5. The former, the inflammatory,
Rheumatism assaults strong, vigorous, robust Persons: but this rather
invades People arrived at a certain Period of Life, or such as are weak
and languishing.
§ 180. The Pain of the chronical Rheumatism, when left to itself, or
injudiciously treated, lasts sometimes many Months, and even Years. It
is particularly and extremely obstinate, when it is exerted on the Head,
the Loins, or on the Hip, and along the Thighs, when it is called the
_Sciatica_. There is no Part indeed which this Pain may not invade;
sometimes it fixes itself in a small Spot, as in one Corner of the Head;
the Angle of the Jaw; the Extremity of a Finger; in one Knee; on one
Rib, or on the Breast, where it often excites Pains, which make the
Patient apprehensive of a Cancer. It penetrates also to the internal
Parts. When it affects the Lungs, a most obstinate Cough is the
Consequence; which degenerates at length into very dangerous Disorders
of the Breast. In the Stomach and Bowels it excites most violent Pains
like a Cholic; and in the Bladder, Symptoms so greatly resembling those
of the Stone, that Persons, who are neither deficient in Knowlege nor
Experience, have been more than once deceived by them.
§ 181. The Treatment of this chronical Rheumatism does not vary
considerably from that of the former. Nevertheless, in the first Place,
if the Pain is very acute, and the Patient robust, a single Bleeding at
the Onset is very proper and efficacious. 2. The Humours ought to be
diluted, and their Acrimony or Sharpness should be diminished, by a very
plentiful Use of a Ptisan of [42] Burdock Roots Nº. 26. 3. Four or five
Days after drinking abundantly of this, the purging [43] Powder Nº. 21
may be taken with Success. In this Species of the Rheumatism, a certain
Medicine is sometimes found serviceable. This has acquired some
Reputation, particularly in the Country, where they bring it from,
_Geneva_; under the Title of the Opiate for the Rheumatism, tho' I
cannot say for what Reason; as it is indeed neither more nor less than
the Electuary _Caryocostinum_, which may be procured at our
Apothecaries. I shall observe however, that this Medicine has done
Mischief in the inflammatory Rheumatism, and even in this, as often as
the Persons afflicted with it are feeble, thin and of a hot Temperament;
and either when they have not previously taken diluting Drinks, or when
it has been used too long. For, in such a Circumstance, it is apt to
throw the Patient into an irrecoverable Weakness. The Composition
consists of the hottest Spices, and of very sharp Purgatives.
[42] Half a Pint of a pretty strong Infusion of the Leaves of Buckbean,
which grows wild here, taken once a Day rather before Noon, has
also been found very serviceable in that Species of a chronical
Rheumatism, which considerably results from a scorbutic State of
the Constitution. _K._
[43] Another very good Purge, in this Kind of Rheumatism, may also be
compounded of the best Gum Guiacum in Powder from 30 to 40 Grains;
dissolved in a little Yolk of a fresh Egg; adding from 6 to 10
Grains of Jallap powdered, and from 3 to 5 Grains of powdered
Ginger, with as much plain or sorrel Water, as will make a purging
Draught for a stronger or weaker grown Patient. Should the Pains
frequently infest the Stomach, while the Patient continues costive,
and there is no other Fever than such a small symptomatic one, as
may arise solely from Pain, he may safely take, if grown up, from
30 to 45 Drops of the volatile Tincture of Gum Guiacum, in any
diluting Infusion, that may not coagulate or separate the Gum. It
generally disposes at first to a gentle _Diaphoresis_ or Sweat, and
several Hours after to one, and sometimes to a second Stool, with
little or no Griping. _K._
§ 182. When general Remedies have been used, and the Disorder still
continues, Recourse should be had to such Medicines, as are available to
restore Perspiration; and these should be persisted in for a
considerable Time. The Pills Nº. 18, with a strong Infusion of Elder
Flowers, have often succeeded in this Respect: and then after a long
Continuance of diluting Drinks, if the Fever is entirely subdued; if the
Stomach exerts its Functions well; the Patient is no ways costive; if he
is not of a dry Habit of Body; and the Part affected remains without
Inflammation, the Patient may safely take the Powder Nº. 29, at Night
going to Bed, with a Cup or two of an Infusion of _Carduus benedictus_,
or the blessed Thistle, and a Morsel of Venice Treacle of the Size of a
Hazel Nut, or a Filberd. This Remedy brings on a very copious Sweating,
which often expells the [44] Disease. These Sweats may be rendered full
more effectual, by wrapping up the affected Part in a Flanel dipt in the
Decoction Nº. 27.
[44] Gum Guaiacum, given from six to ten Grains Morning and Night, is
often very successful in these Cases. It may be made into Pills or
Bolusses with the Rob of Elder, or with the Extract of Juniper. _E.
L._
§ 183. But of all these Pains, the Sciatica is one of the most tedious
and obstinate. Nevertheless I have seen the greatest Success, from the
Application of seven or eight Cupping-Glasses on the tormented Part; by
which, without the Assistance of any other Remedy, I have cured, in a
few Hours, Sciaticas of many Years standing, which had baffled other
Remedies. Blisters, or any such stimulating Plaisters, as bring on a
Suppuration and Discharge from the afflicted Part, contribute also
frequently to the Cure; tho' less effectually than Cupping, which should
be repeated several Times. Green Cere-cloth, commonly called Oil-cloth,
(whether the Ingredients be spread on Taffety or on Linen) being applied
to the diseased Part, disposes it to sweat abundantly, and thus to
discharge the sharp Humour which occasions the Pain. Sometimes both
these Applications, but especially that spread on Silk (which may be
applied more exactly and closely to the Part, and which is also spread
with a different Composition) raise a little Vesication on the Part as
Blisters do. A Plaister of Quicklime and Honey blended together has
cured inveterate Sciaticas. Oil of Eggs has sometimes succeeded in such
Cases. A Seton has also been successfully made in the lower Part of the
Thigh. Finally some Pains, which have not yielded to any of these
Applications, have been cured by actual burning, inflicted on the very
Spot, where the most violent Pain has been felt; except some particular
Reason, drawn from an anatomical Knowlege of the Part, should determine
the Surgeon not to apply it there. The Scull or Head should never be
cauterized with a burning Iron.
§ 184. The hot Baths of _Bourbon_, _Plombiers_, _Aix-la-Chapelle_ and
many others are often very efficacious in these chronical Pains:
notwithstanding I really think, there is no rheumatic Pain that may not
be cured without them. The common People substitute to these a Bath made
of the Husk of Grapes, after their Juice is expressed, which cures some
by making them sweat abundantly. Cold Baths however are the best to keep
off this Disease; but then they cannot always be safely ventured on.
Many Circumstances render the Use of them impracticable to particular
Persons. Such as are subject to this chronical Rheumatism, would do very
well to rub their whole Bodies every Morning, if they could, but
especially the afflicted Parts, with Flanel. This Habit keeps up
Perspiration beyond any other Assistance; and indeed sometimes even
increases it too much. It would be serviceable too, if such Subjects of
this cruel Disease wore Flanel all over their Skin, during the Winter.
After a violent Rheumatism, People should long be careful to avoid that
cold and moist Air, which disposes them to relapse.
§ 185. Rheumatic People have too frequent a Recourse to very improper
and hurtful Medicines, in this Distemper, which daily produce very bad
Consequences. Such are spirituous Medicines, Brandy, and Arquebusade
Water. They either render the Pain more obstinate and fixed, by
hardening the Skin; or they repell the Humour to some inward Part. And
Instances are not wanting of Persons who have died suddenly, from the
Application of Spirit of Wine upon the Parts, that were violently
afflicted with the Rheumatism. It also happens sometimes that the
Humour, having no Outlet through the Skin, is thrown internally on the
Bone and affects it. A very singular Fact occurred in this Respect, an
Account of which may be serviceable to some Persons afflicted with the
Disease. A Woman at Night was chaffing the Arm of her Husband, who had
the Rheumatism there, with Spirit of Wine; when a very lucky Accident
prevented the Mischief she might have occasioned by it. The Spirit of
Wine took Fire from the Flame of the Candle she made use of, and burned
the diseased Part. It was drest of Course, and the Suppuration that
attended it, entirely cured the Rheumatism.
Sharp and greasy Unctions or Ointments produce very bad Effects, and are
equally dangerous. A _Caries_, a Rottenness of the Bones, has ensued
upon the Use of a Medicine called, The Balsam of Sulphur with
Turpentine. I was consulted in 1750, three Days before her Decease,
about a Woman, who had long endured acute rheumatic Pains. She had taken
various Medicines, and, among the rest, a considerable Quantity of a
Ptisan, in which Antimony was blended with some purging Medicines, and a
greasy spirituous Balsam had been rubbed into the Part. The Fever, the
Pains, and the Dryness of the Skin soon increased; the Bones of the
Thighs and Arms became carious: and in moving the Patient no more than
was necessary for her Relief and Convenience, without taking her out of
her Bed, both Thighs and one Arm broke. So dreadful an Example should
make People cautious of giving or applying Medicines inconsiderately,
even in such Diseases, as appear but trifling in themselves. I must also
inform the Readers, there are some rheumatic Pains, which admit of no
Application; and that almost every Medicine aggravates them. In such
Cases the afflicted must content themselves with keeping the Parts
affected from the Impressions of the Air, by a Flanel, or the Skin of
some Animal with the Fur on.
It is also more advisable sometimes to leave a sufferable and inveterate
Pain to itself, especially in old or weakly People, than to employ too
many Medicines, or such violent ones, as should affect them more
importantly than the Pains did.
§ 186. If the Duration of the Pains fixed in the same Place, should
cause some Degree of Stiffness in the Joint affected, it should be
exposed twice a Day to the Vapour of warm Water, and dried well
afterwards with hot Linen: then it should be well chaffed, and lastly
touched over with Ointment of Marsh-mallows. Pumping, if superadded to
this Vapour, considerably increases its Efficacy. I directed, for a Case
of this Sort, a very simple Machine of white Tin, or Lattin, which
combined the Application of the Steam and the Pump.
§ 187. Very young Children are sometimes subject to such violent and
extended Pains, that they cannot bear touching in any Part, without
excessive Crying. We must be careful to avoid mistaking these Cases, and
not to treat them like Rheumatisms. They sometimes are owing to Worms,
and go off when these have been discharged.
__Chapter XII.__
_Of the Bite of a mad Dog._
__Sect.__ 188.
Men may contract the particular and raging Symptom, which is very
generally peculiar to this Disease from this Cause, and even without any
Bite; but this happens very rarely indeed. It is properly a Distemper
belonging to the canine _Genus_, consisting of the three Species of
Dogs, Wolves, and Foxes, to whom only it seems inherent and natural;
scarcely ever arising in other Animals, without its being inflicted by
them. Whenever there occurs one of them who breeds it, he bites others,
and thus the Poison, the Cause of this terrible Disease, is diffused.
Other Animals besides the canine Species, and Men themselves being
exposed to this Accident, do sometimes contract the Disease in all its
Rage and Horror: though it is not to be supposed, that this is always an
unfailing Consequence.
§ 189. If a Dog who used to be lively and active, becomes all at once
moapish and morose; if he has an Aversion to eat; a particular and
unusual Look about his Eyes; a Restlessness, which appears from his
continually running to and fro, we may be apprehensive he is likely to
prove mad; at which very Instant he ought to be tied up securely, that
it may be in our Power to destroy him as soon as the Distemper is
evident. Perhaps it might be even still safer to kill him at once.
Whenever the Malady is certain, the Symptoms heighten pretty soon. His
Aversion to Food, but especially to Drink, grows stronger. He no longer
seems to know his Master, the Sound of his Voice changes; he suffers no
Person to handle or approach him; and bites those who attempt it. He
quits his ordinary Habitation, marching on with his Head and his Tail
hanging downwards; his Tongue lolling half out, and covered with Foam or
Slaver, which indeed not seldom happens indifferently to all Dogs. Other
Dogs scent him, not seldom at a considerable Distance, and fly him with
an Air of Horror, which is a certain Indication of his Disease.
Sometimes he contents himself with biting only those who happen to be
near him: while at other Times becoming more enraged, he springs to the
right and left on all Men and Animals about him. He hurries away with
manifest Dread from whatever Waters occur to him: at length he falls
down as spent and exhausted; sometimes he rises up again, and drags
himself on for a little Time, commonly dying the third, or, at the
latest, on the fourth Day after the manifest Appearance of the Disease,
and sometimes even sooner.
§ 190. When a Person is bit by such a Dog, the Wound commonly heals up
as readily, as if it was not in the least poisonous: but after the
Expiration of a longer or shorter Term, from three Weeks to three
Months; but most commonly in about six Weeks, the Person bitten begins
to perceive, in the Spot that was bit, a certain dull obtuse Pain. The
Scar of it swells, inflames, bursts open, and weeps out a sharp, foetid,
and sanious, or somewhat bloody Humour. At the same Time the Patient
becomes sad and melancholy: he feels a kind of Indifference,
Insensibility, and general Numbness; an almost incessant Coldness; a
Difficulty of breathing; a continual Anguish, and Pains in his Bowels.
His Pulse is weak and irregular, his sleep restless, turbid, and
confused with Ravings; with starting up in Surprize, and with terrible
Frights. His Discharges by Stool are often much altered and irregular,
and small cold Sweats appear at very short Intervals. Sometimes there is
also a slight Pain or Uneasiness in the Throat. Such is the first Degree
of this Disease, and it is called by some Physicians the dumb Rage, or
Madness.
§ 191. Its second Degree, the confirmed or downright Madness, is
attended with the following Symptoms. The Patient is afflicted with a
violent Thirst, and a Pain in drinking. Soon after this he avoids all
Drink, but particularly Water, and within some Hours after, he even
abhors it. This Horror becomes so violent, that the bringing Water near
his Lips, or into his Sight, the very Name of it, or of any other Drink;
the Sight of Objects, which, from their Transparence, have any
Resemblance of Water, as a Looking Glass, _&c._ afflicts him with
extreme Anguish, and sometimes even with Convulsions. They continue
however still to swallow (though not without violent Difficulty) a
little Meat or Bread, and sometimes a little Soup. Some even get down
the liquid Medicines that are prescribed them, provided there be no
Appearance of Water in them; or that Water is not mentioned to them, at
the same Time. Their Urine becomes thick and high-coloured, and
sometimes there is a Suppression or Stoppage of it. The Voice either
grows hoarse, or is almost entirely abolished: but the Reports of the
bitten barking like Dogs are ridiculous and superstitious Fictions, void
of any Foundation; as well as many other Fable, that have been blended
with the History of this Distemper. The Barking of Dogs however is very
disagreeable to them. They are troubled with short _Deliriums_ or
Ravings, which are sometimes mixed with Fury. It is at such times that
they spit all around them; that they attempt also to bite, and sometimes
unhappily effect it. Their Looks are fixed, as it were, and somewhat
furious, and their Visage frequently red. It is pretty common for these
miserable Patients to be sensible of the Approach of their raging Fit,
and to conjure the Bystanders to be upon their Guard. Many of them never
have an Inclination to bite. The increasing Anguish and Pain they feel
become inexpressible: they earnestly wish for Death; and some of them
have even destroyed themselves, when they had the Means of effecting it.
§ 192. It is with the Spittle, and the Spittle only, that this dreadful
Poison unites itself. And here it may be observed, 1, That if the Wounds
have been made through any of the Patient's Cloaths, they are less
dangerous than those inflicted immediately on the naked Skin. 2, That
Animals who abound in Wool, or have very thick Hair, are often preserved
from the mortal Impression of the Poison; because in these various
Circumstances, the Cloaths, the Hair, or the Wool have wiped, or even
dried up, the Slaver of their Teeth. 3, The Bites inflicted by an
infected Animal, very soon after he has bitten many others, are less
dangerous than the former Bites, because their Slaver is lessened or
exhausted. 4, If the Bite happens in the Face, or in the Neck, the
Danger is greater, and the Operation of the Venom is quicker too; by
Reason the Spittle of the Person so bit is sooner infected. 5, The
higher the Degree of the Disease is advanced, the Bites become
proportionably more dangerous. From what I have just mentioned here it
may be discerned, why, of many who have been bitten by the same
Sufferer, some have been infected with this dreadful Disease, and others
not.
§ 193. A great Number of Remedies have been highly cried up, as famous
in the Cure of this Disease; and, in _Swisserland_ particularly, the
Root of the Eglantine or wild Rose, gathered at some particular times,
under the favorable Aspects of the Moon, and dried with some
extraordinary Precautions. There is also the Powder of _Palmarius_ of
calcined Egg Shells, that of the _Lichen terrestris_, or Ground
Liverwort, with one third Part of Pepper, a Remedy long celebrated in
_England_; Powder of Oyster-Shells; of Vervain; bathing in Salt Water;
St. Hubert's Key, _&c. &c._ But the Death of a Multitude of those who
have been bitten, notwithstanding their taking the greatest Part of all
these boasted Antidotes; and the Certainty of no one's escaping, who had
been attacked with the high raging Symptom, the _Hydrophobia_, have
demonstrated the Inefficacy of them all, to all _Europe_. It is
incontestable that to the Year 1730, not a single Patient escaped, in
whom the Disease was indisputably manifest; and that every Medicine then
employed against it was useless. When Medicines had been given before
the great Symptom appeared, in some of those who took them, it
afterwards appeared, in others not. The same different Events occurred
also to others who were bitten, and who took not the least Medicine; so
that upon the whole, before that Date, no Medicine seemed to be of any
Consequence. Since that Time, we have had the Happiness to be informed
of a certain Remedy, which is Mercury, joined to a few others.
§ 194. In short there is a Necessity for destroying or expelling the
Poison itself, which Mercury effects, and is consequently the
Counter-poison of it. That poison produces a general Irritation of the
Nerves; this is to be removed or asswaged by Antispasmodics: so that in
Mercury, or Quicksilver, joined to Antispasmodics, consists the whole
that is indicated in the Cure of this Disease. There really have been
many Instances of Persons cured by these Medicines, in whom the
Distemper had been manifest in its Rage and Violence; and as many as
have unfortunately received the Cause of it in a Bite, should be firmly
persuaded, that in taking these Medicines, and using all other proper
Precautions, they shall be entirely secured from all its ill
Consequences. Those also in whom the Rage and Fury of this Distemper is
manifest, ought to use the same Medicines, with entire [45] Hope and
Confidence, which may justly be founded on the many Cures effected by
them. It is acknowledged however, that they have proved ineffectual in a
few Cases; but what Disease is there, which does not sometimes prove
incurable?
[45] This Advice is truly prudent and judicious; Hope, as I have
observed on a different Occasion, being a powerful, though
impalpable, Cordial: and in such perilous Situations, we should
excite the most agreeable Expectations we possibly can in the
Patient; that Nature, being undepressed by any desponding
melancholy ones, may exert her Functions the more firmly, and
co-operate effectually with the Medicines, against her internal
Enemy. _K._
§ 195. The very Moment after receiving the Bite, is it happens to be in
the Flesh, and if it can safely be effected, all the Part affected
should be cut [46] away. The Ancients directed it to be cauterized, or
burnt with a red hot Iron (meer Scarification being of very little
Effect) and this Method would very probably prove effectual. It requires
more Resolution, however, than every Patient is endued with. The Wound
should be washed and cleansed a considerable Time with warm Water, with
a little Sea-Salt dissolved in it. After this into the Lips and Edges of
the Wound, and into the Surface of the Part all about it, should be
rubbed a Quarter of an Ounce of the Ointment Nº. 28; and the Wound
should be dressed twice daily, with the soft lenient Ointment Nº. 29, to
promote Suppuration; but that of Nº. 28 is to be used only once a Day.
[46] I knew a brave worthy Gentleman abroad, who above forty Years past
thus preserved his Life, after receiving the Bite of a large
Rattle-Snake, by resolutely cutting it and the Flesh surrounding it
out, with a sharp pointed Penknife.--Perhaps those who would not
suffer the Application of the actual Cautery, that is, of a red hot
Iron (which certainly promises well for a Cure) might be persuaded
to admit of a potential Cautery, where the Bite was inflicted on a
fleshy Part. Though even this is far from being unpainful, yet the
Pain coming on more gradually, is less terrifying and horrid. And
when it had been applied quickly after, and upon the Bite, and kept
on for 3 or 4 Hours, the Discharge, after cutting the _Eschar_,
would sooner ensue, and in more Abundance, than that from the
actual Cautery; the only Preference of which seems to consist in
its being capable perhaps of absorbing, or otherwise consuming, all
the poisonous _Saliva_ at once. This Issue should be dressed
afterwards according to our Author's Direction; and in the gradual
healing of the Ulcer, it may be properly deterged by adding a
little Præcipitate to the Digestive. Neither would this interfere
with the Exhibition of the _Tonquin_ Powder Nº. 30, nor the
antispasmodic _Bolus_ Nº. 31, if they should be judged necessary.
And these perhaps might prove the most certain Means of preventing
the mortal Effects of this singular animal Poison, which it is so
impossible to analyze, and so extremely difficult to form any
material Idea of; but which is not the Case of some other Poisons.
_K._
In point of Regimen, the Quantity of Nourishment should be less than
usual, particularly in the Article of [47] Flesh: he should abstain from
Wine, spirituous Liquors, all Sorts of Spices and hot inflaming Food. He
should drink only Barley-Water, or an Infusion of the Flowers of the
Lime-tree. He should be guarded against Costiveness by a soft relaxing
Diet, or by Glysters, and bathe his Legs once a Day in warm Water. Every
third Day one Dose of the Medicine Nº. 30 should be taken; which is
compounded of Mercury, that counterworks the Poison, and of Musk which
prevents the Spasms, or convulsive Motions. I confess at the same Time
that I have less Dependance on the Mercury given in this Form, and think
the rubbing in of its Ointment considerably more efficacious, which I
should hope may always prevent the Fatality of this dreadful, surprizing
Disease. [48]
[47] It seems not amiss to try the Effects of a solely vegetable Diet
(and that perhaps consisting more of the acescent than alcalescent
Herbs and Roots) in this Disease, commencing immediately from the
Bite of a known mad Dog. These carnivorous Animals, who naturally
reject all vegetable Food, are the only primary Harbingers or
Breeders of it; though they are capable of transmitting it by a
Bite to graminivorous and granivorous ones. The Virtue of Vinegar
in this Disease, said to have been accidentally discovered on the
Continent, seems not to have been hitherto experienced amongst us;
yet in Case of such a morbid Accident it may require a Tryal; tho'
not so far, as to occasion the Omission of more certainly
experienced Remedies, with some of which it might be improper. _K._
[48] The great Usefulness of mercurial Frictions, we may even say, the
certain Security which they procure for the Patients, in these
Cases, provided they are applied very soon after the Bite, have
been demonstrated by their Success in _Provence_, at _Lyons_, at
_Montpellier_, at _Pondacherry_, and in many other Places. Neither
have these happy Events been invalidated by any Observations or
Instances to the contrary. It cannot therefore be too strongly
inculcated to those who have been bitten by venomous Animals, to
comply with the Use of them. They ought to be used in such a
Quantity, and after such a Manner, as to excite a moderate
Salivation, for fifteen, twenty, or even thirty Days. _E. L._
Though this Practice may justly be pursued from great Caution, when
no Cautery had been speedily applied to, and no such Discharge had
been obtained from, the bitten Part; yet wherever it had, this long
and depressing Salivation, I conceive, would be very seldom
necessary; and might be hurtful to weak Constitutions. _K._
§ 196. If the raging Symptom, the Dread of Water, has already appeared,
and the Patient is strong, and abounds with Blood, he should, 1, be bled
to a considerable Quantity, and this may be repeated twice, thrice, or
even a fourth Time, if Circumstances require it.
2, The Patient should be put, if possible, into a warm Bath; and this
should be used twice daily.
3, He should every Day receive two, or even three of the emollient
Glysters Nº. 5.
4, The Wound and the Parts adjoining to it should be rubbed with the
Ointment Nº. 28, twice a Day.
5, The whole Limb which contains the Wound should be rubbed with Oil,
and be wrapped up in an oily Flanel.
6, Every three Hours a Dose of the Powder Nº. 30, should be taken in a
Cup of the Infusion of Lime-tree and Elder Flowers.
7, The Prescription Nº. 31, is to be given every Night, and to be
repeated in the Morning, if the Patient is not easy, washing it down
with the same Infusion.
8, If there be a great Nauseousness at Stomach, with a Bitterness in the
Mouth, give the Powder Nº. 35, which brings up a copious Discharge of
glewy and bilious Humours.
9, There is very little Occasion to say any thing relating to the
Patient's Food, in such a Situation. Should he ask for any, he may be
allowed Panada, light Soup, Bread, Soups made of farinaceous or mealy
Vegetables, or a little Milk.
§ 197. By the Use of these Remedies the Symptoms will be observed to
lessen, and to disappear by Degrees; and finally Health will be
re-established. But if the Patient should long continue weak, and
subject to Terrors, he may take a Dose of the Powder Nº. 14, thrice a
Day.
§ 198. It is certain that a Boy, in whom the raging Symptom of This
Disease had just appeared, was perfectly cured, by bathing all about the
wounded Part with Sallad-Oil, in which some Camphire and Opium were
dissolved; with the Addition of repeated Frictions of the Ointment Nº.
28, and making him take some _Eau de luce_ with a little Wine. This
Medicine, a Coffee-Cup of which may be given every four Hours, allayed
the great Inquietude and Agitation of the Patient; and brought on a very
plentiful Sweat, on which all the Symptoms vanished.
§ 199. Dogs may be cured by rubbing in a triple Quantity of the same
Ointment directed for Men, and by giving them the Bolus Nº. 33. But both
these Means should be used as soon as ever they are bit. When the great
Symptom is manifest, there would be too much Danger in attempting to
apply one, or to give the other; and they should be immediately killed.
It might be well however to try if they would swallow down the Bolus, on
its being thrown to them.
As soon as ever Dogs are bit, they should be safely tied up, and not let
loose again, before the Expiration of three or four Months.
§ 200. A false and dangerous Prejudice has prevailed with Regard to the
Bites from Dogs, and it is this--That if a Dog who had bit any Person,
without being mad at the Time of his biting, should become mad
afterwards, the Person so formerly bitten, would prove mad too at the
same Time. Such a Notion is full as absurd, as it would be to affirm,
that if two Persons had slept in the same Bed, and that one of them
should take the Itch, the Small-Pocks, or any other contagious Disease,
ten or twelve Years afterwards, that the other should also be infected
with that he took, and at the same Time too.
Of two Circumstances, whenever a Person is bit, one must certainly be.
Either the Dog which gives the Bite, is about to be mad himself, in
which Case this would be evident in a few Days; and then it must be said
the Person was bitten by a mad Dog: Or else, that the Dog was absolutely
sound, having neither conceived, or bred in himself, nor received from
without the Cause, the Principle, of Madness: in which last Case I ask
any Man in his Senses, if he could communicate it. No Person, no Thing
imparts what it has not. This false and crude Notion excites those who
are possessed with it to a dangerous Action: they exercise that Liberty
the Laws unhappily allow them of killing the Dog; by which Means they
are left uncertain of his State, and of their own Chance. This is a
dreadful Uncertainty, and may be attended with embarrassing and
troublesome Consequences, independant of the Poison itself. The
reasonable Conduct would be to secure and observe the Dog very closely,
in Order to know certainly whether he is, or is not, mad.
§ 201. It is no longer necessary to represent the Horror, the Barbarity
and Guilt of that cruel Practice, which prevailed, not very long since,
of suffocating Persons in the Height of this Disease, with the
Bed-cloaths, or between Matrasses. It is now prohibited in most
Countries; and doubtless will be punished, or, at least ought to be,
even in those where as yet it is not.
Another Cruelty, of which we hope to see no repeated Instance, is that
of abandoning those miserable Patients to themselves, without the least
Resource or Assistance: a most detestable Custom even in those Times,
when there was not the least Hope of saving them; and still more
criminal in our Days, when they may be recovered effectually. I do again
affirm, that it is not very often these afflicted Patients are disposed
to bite; and that even when they are, they are afraid of doing it; and
request the Bystanders to keep out of their Reach: So that no Danger is
incurred; or where there is any, it may easily be avoided by a few
Precautions.
__Chapter XIII.__
_Of the Small-Pocks._
__Sect.__ 202.
The Small-Pocks is the most frequent, the most extensive of all
Diseases; since out of a hundred Persons there are not more than [49]
four or five exempted from it. It is equally true however, that if it
attacks almost every Person, it attacks them but once, so that having
escaped through it, they are always secure from [50] it. It must be
acknowleged, at the same Time, to be one of the most destructive
Diseases; for if in some Years or Seasons, it proves to be of a very
mild and gentle Sort, in others it is almost as fatal as the Plague: it
being demonstrated, by calculating the Consequences of its most raging,
and its gentlest Prevalence, that it kills one seventh of the Number it
attacks.
[49] As far as the Number of inoculated Persons, who remained entirely
uninfected (some very few after a second Inoculation) has enabled
me, I have calculated the Proportion naturally exempted from this
Disease, though residing within the Influence of it, to be full 25
in 1000. See Analysis of Inoculation, Ed. 2d. P. 157. Note *. _K._
[50] It has sometimes been observed (and the Observation has been such,
as not to be doubted) that a very mild distinct Small-Pocks has
sometimes invaded the same Person twice: But such Instances are so
very rare, that we may very generally affirm, those who have once
had it, will never have it again. _E. L._----In Deference to a few
particular Authorities, I have also supposed such a repeated
Infection. (Analysis of Inoculation, Ed. 2d. P. 43.) though I have
really never seen any such myself; nor ever heard more than two
Physicians affirm it, one at _Versailles_, and another in _London_;
the last of whom declared, he took it upon the Credit of a Country
Physician, thoroughly acquainted with this Disease, and a Witness
to the Repetition of it. Hence we imagine the Editor of this Work
at _Lyons_ might have justly termed this Re-infection _extremely_
rare, which would have a Tendency to reconcile the Subjects of the
Small-Pocks, more generally, to the most salutary Practice of
Inoculation. Doubtless some other eruptive Fevers, particularly,
the Chicken Pocks, Crystals, _&c._ have been often mistaken for the
real Small-Pocks by incompetent Judges, and sometimes even by
Persons better qualified, yet who were less attentive to the
Symptoms and Progress of the former. But whoever will be at the
Pains to read Dr. _Paux' Paralléle de la petite verole naturalle
avec l'artificielle_, or a practical Abstract of Part of it in the
Monthly Review. Vol. XXV. P. 307 to 311, will find such a just,
clear and useful Distinction of them, as may prevent many future
Deceptions on this frequently interesting Subject. _K._
§ 203. People generally take the Small-Pocks in their Infancy, or in
their Childhood. It is very seldom known to attack only one Person in
one Place: its Invasions being very generally epidemical, and seizing a
large Proportion of those who have not suffered it. It commonly ceases
at the End of some Weeks, or of some Months, and rarely ever appears
again in the same Place, until four, five or six Years after.
§ 204. This Malady often gives some Intimation of its Approach, three or
four Days before the Appearance of the Fever, by a little Dejection;
less Vivacity and Gaiety than usual; a great Propensity to sweat; less
Appetite; a slight Alteration of the Countenance, and a kind of pale
livid Colour about the Eyes: Notwithstanding which, in Children of a lax
and phlegmatic Constitution, I have known a moderate Agitation of their
Blood, (before their Shivering approached) give them a [51] Vivacity,
Gaiety, and a rosy Improvement of their Complexion, beyond what Nature
had given them.
[51] The same Appearances very often occur in such Subjects by
Inoculation, before actual Sickening, as I have observed and
instanced, Ed. 1st. P. 62, Ed. 2. P. 75, 76. _K._
Certain short Vicissitudes of Heat or Coldness succeed the former
introductory Appearances, and at length a considerable Shivering, of the
Duration of one, two, three or four Hours: This is succeeded by violent
Heat, accompanied with Pains of the Head, Loins, Vomiting, or at least
with a frequent Propensity to vomit.
This State continues for some Hours, at the Expiration of which the
Fever abates a little in a Sweat, which is sometimes a very large one:
the Patient then finds himself better, but is notwithstanding cast down,
torpid or heavy, very squeamish, with a Head-ach and Pain in the Back,
and a Disposition to be drowsy. The last Symptom indeed is not very
common, except in Children, less than seven or eight Years of Age.
The Abatement of the Fever is of small Duration; and some Hours after,
commonly towards the Evening, it returns with all its Attendants, and
terminates again by Sweats, as before.
This State of the Disease lasts three or four Days; at the End of which
Term, and seldom later, the first Eruptions appear among the Sweat,
which terminates the Paroxysm or Return of the Fever. I have generally
observed the earliest Eruption to appear in the Face, next to that on
the Hands, on the fore Part of the Arms; on the Neck, and on the upper
Part of the Breast. As soon as this Eruption appears, if the Distemper
is of a gentle Kind and Disposition, the Fever almost entirely vanishes:
the Patient continues to sweat a little, or transpire; the Number of
Eruptions increases, others coming out on the Back, the Sides, the
Belly, the Thighs, the Legs, and the Feet. Sometimes they are pushed out
very numerously even to the Soles of the Feet; where, as they increase
in Size, they often excite very sharp Pain, by Reason of the great
Thickness and Hardness of the Skin in these Parts.
Frequently on the first and second Day of Eruption (speaking hitherto
always of the mild Kind and Degree of the Disease) there returns again a
very gentle Revival of the Fever about the Evening, which, about the
Termination of it, is attended with a considerable and final Eruption:
though as often as the Fever terminates perfectly after the earliest
Eruption, a very distinct and very small one is a pretty certain
Consequence. For though the Eruption is already, or should prove only
moderate, the Fever, as I have before said, does not totally disappear;
a small Degree of it still remaining, and heightening a little every
Evening.
These Pustules, or Efflorescences, on their first Appearance, are only
so many very little red Spots, considerably resembling a Flea-bite; but
distinguishable by a small white Point in the Middle, a little raised
above the rest, which gradually increases in Size, with the Redness
extended about it. They become whiter, in Proportion as they grow
larger; and generally upon the sixth Day, including that of their first
Eruption, they attain their utmost Magnitude, and are full of _Pus_ or
Matter. Some of them grow to the Size of a Pea, and some still a little
larger; but this never happens to the greatest Number of them. From this
Time they begin to look yellowish, they gradually become dry, and fall
off in brown Scales, in ten or eleven Days from their first Appearance.
As their Eruption occurred on different Days, they also wither and fall
off successively. The Face is sometimes clear of them, while Pustules
still are seen upon the Legs, not fully ripe, or suppurated: and those
in the Soles of the Feet often remain much longer.
§ 205. The Skin is of Course extended or stretched out by the Pustules;
and after the Appearance of a certain Quantity, all the Interstices, or
Parts between the Pustules, are red and bright, as it were, with a
proportionable Inflation or Swelling of the Skin. The Face is the first
Part that appears bloated, from the Pustules there first attaining their
utmost Size: and this inflation is sometimes so considerable, as to look
monstrous; the like happens also to the Neck, and the Eyes are entirely
closed up by it. The Swelling of the Face abates in Proportion to the
scabbing and drying up of the Pustules; and then the Hands are puffed up
prodigiously. This happens successively to the Legs, the Tumour or
Swelling, being the Consequence of the Pustules attaining their utmost
Size, which happens by Succession, in these different Parts.
§ 206. Whenever there is a very considerable Eruption, the Fever is
heightened at the Time of Suppuration, which is not to be wondered at;
one single Boil excites a Fever: How is it possible then that some
hundred, nay some thousand of these little Abscesses should not excite
one? This Fever is the most dangerous Period, or Time of the Disease,
and occurs between the ninth and the thirteenth Days; as many
Circumstances vary the Term of Suppuration, two or three Days. At this
painful and perilous Season then, the Patient becomes very hot, and
thirsty: he is harrassed with Pain; and finds it very difficult to
discover a favourable easy Posture. If the Malady runs very high, he has
no Sleep; he raves, becomes greatly oppressed, is seized with a heavy
Drowsiness; and when he dies, he dies either suffocated or lethargic,
and sometimes in a State compounded of both these Symptoms.
The Pulse, during this Fever of Suppuration, is sometimes of an
astonishing Quickness, while the Swelling of the Wrists makes it seem,
in some Subjects, to be very small. The most critical and dangerous Time
is, when the Swellings of the Face, Head and Neck are in their highest
Degree. Whenever the Swelling begins to fall, the Scabs on the Face to
dry [_supposing neither of these to be too sudden and premature, for the
visible Quantity of the Pustules_] and the Skin to shrivel, as it were,
the Quickness of the Pulse abates a little, and the Danger diminishes.
When the Pustules are very few, this second Fever is so moderate, that
it requires some Attention to discern it, so that the Danger is next to
none.
§ 207. Besides those Symptoms, there are some others, which require
considerable Attention and Vigilance. One of these is the Soreness of
the Throat, with which many Persons in the Small-Pocks are afflicted, as
soon as the Fever grows pretty strong. It continues for two or three
Days; feels very strait and troublesome in the Action of Swallowing; and
whenever the Disease is extremely acute, it entirely prevents
Swallowing. It is commonly ascribed to the Eruption of Pustules in the
Throat; but this is a Mistake, such Pustules being almost
constantly [52] imaginary. It begins, most frequently, before the
Eruption appears; if this Complaint is in a light Degree, it terminates
upon the Eruption; and whenever it revives again in the Course of the
Disease, it is always in Proportion to the Degree of the Fever. Hence we
may infer it does not arise from the Pustules, but is owing to the
Inflammation; and as often as it is of any considerable Duration, it is
almost ever attended with another Symptom, the Salivation, or a
Discharge of a great Quantity of Spittle. This Salivation rarely exists,
where the Disease is very gentle, or the Patient very young; and is full
as rarely absent, where it is severe, and the Patient is past seven or
eight Years old: but when the Eruption is very confluent, and the
Patient adult, or grown up, the Discharge is surprizing. Under these
Circumstances it flows out incessantly, allowing the afflicted Patient
no Rest or Respite; and often incommodes him more than any other Symptom
of the Distemper; and so much the more, as after its Continuance for
some Days, the Lips, the Inside of the Cheeks, the Tongue, and the Roof
of the Mouth are entirely peeled or flead, as it were. Nevertheless,
however painful and embarrassing this Discharge may prove, it is very
important and salutary. Meer Infants are less subject to it, some of
them having a Looseness, in Lieu of it: and yet I have observed even
this last Discharge to be considerably less frequent in them, than a
Salivation is in grown People.
[52] As Pustules are, and not very seldom, visible on the Tongue, and
sometimes on the Roof, even to its Process called the Palate, which
I have plainly seen; it seems not very easy to assign any
insuperable Obstacle to the Existence of a few within the Throat;
though this scarcely ever occurs, in the distinct Small-Pocks.
Doubtless however, a considerable Inflammation of that Part will be
as likely to produce the great Difficulty of Swallowing, as the
Existence of Pustules there; which our learned Author does not
absolutely reject, and consequently will forgive this Supposition
of them; especially if he credits the ocular Testimony of Dr.
_Violante_, cited in the Analysis, Ed. 2d. p 71. _K._
§ 208. Children, to the Age of five or six Years, are liable to
Convulsions, before Eruption: these however are not dangerous, if they
are not accompanied with other grievous and violent Symptoms. But such
Convulsions as supervene, either when Eruption having already occurred,
suddenly retreats, or _strikes in_, according to the common Phrase; or
during the Course of the Fever of Suppuration, are greatly more
terrifying.
Involuntary Discharges of Blood from the Nose often occur, in the first
Stage of this Distemper, which are extremely serviceable, and commonly
lessen, or carry off, the Head-ach. Meer Infants are less subject to
this Discharge; though they have sometimes a little of it: and I have
known a considerable _Stupor_ or Drowsiness, vanish immediately after
this Bleeding.
§ 209. The Small-Pocks is commonly distinguished into two Kinds, the
confluent and the distinct, such a Distinction really existing in
Nature: but as the Treatment of each of them is the same; and as the
Quantity or Dose of the Medicines is only to be varied, in Proportion to
the Danger of the Patient (not to enter here into very tedious Details,
and such as might exceed the Comprehension of many of our Readers; as
well as whatever might relate particularly to the malignant Small-Pocks)
I shall limit myself within the Description I have premised, which
includes all the Symptoms common to both these Kinds of the Small-Pocks.
I content myself with adding here, that we may expect a very confluent
and dangerous Pock, is, at the very Time of seizure, the Patient is
immediately attacked with many violent Symptoms; more especially if his
Eyes are extremely quick, lively, and even glistening, as it were; if he
vomits almost continually; if the Pain of his Loins be violent; and if
he suffers at the same Time great Anguish and Inquietude: If in Infants
there is great _Stupor_ or Heaviness; if Eruption appears on the third
Day, and sometimes even on the second: as the hastier Eruptions in this
Disease signify the most dangerous Kind and Degree of it; and on the
contrary, the slower Eruption is, it is the safer too; supposing this
Slowness of the Eruption not to have been the Consequence of great
Weakness, or of some violent inward Pain.
§ 210. The Disorder is sometimes so very mild and slight, that Eruption
appears with scarcely any Suspicion of the Child's having the least
Ailment, and the Event is as favourable as the Invasion. The Pustules
appear, grow large, suppurate and attain their Maturity, without
confining the Patient to his Bed, or lessening either his Sleep, or
Appetite.
It is very common to see Children in the Country (and they are seldom
more than Children who have it so very gently) run about in the open
Air, through the whole Course of this Disease, and feeding just as they
do in Health. Even those who take it in a somewhat higher Degree,
commonly go out when Eruption is finished, and give themselves up,
without Reserve, to the Voracity of their Hunger. Notwithstanding all
this Neglect, many get perfectly cured; though such a Conduct should
never be proposed for Imitation, since Numbers have experienced its
pernicious Consequences, and several of these Children have been brought
to me, especially from _Jurat_, who after such Neglect, in the Course of
the mild and kindly Sort of this Distemper, have contracted Complaints
and Infirmities of different Kinds, which have been found very difficult
to subdue.
§ 211. This still continues to be one of these Distempers, whose Danger
has long been increased by its improper Treatment, and especially by
forcing the Patients into Sweats; and it still continues to be
increased, particularly among Country People. They have seen Eruption
appear, where the Patient sweats, and observed he found himself better
after its Appearance: and hence they conclude that, by quickening and
forcing out this Eruption, they contribute to his Relief; and suppose,
that by increasing the Quantity of his Sweats, and the Number of his
Eruptions, the Blood is the better cleared and purified from the Poison.
These are mortal Errors, which daily Experience has demonstrated, by
their tragical Consequences.
When the Contagion or Poison, which generates this Disease, has been
admitted into the Blood, it requires a certain Term to produce its usual
Effects: at which Time the Blood being tainted by the Venom it has
received, and by that which such Venom has formed or assimilated from
it, Nature makes an Effort to free herself of it, and to expell it by
the Skin, precisely at the Time when every Thing is predisposed for that
Purpose. This Effort pretty generally succeeds, being very often rather
too rapid and violent, and very seldom too weak. Hence it is evident,
that whenever this Effort is deficient, it ought not to be heightened by
hot Medicines or Means, which make it too violent and dangerous: for
when it already exceeds in this Respect, a further Increase of such
Violence must render it mortal. There are but few Cases in which the
Efforts of Nature, on this Occasion, are too languid and feeble,
especially in the Country; and whenever such rare Cases do occur, it is
very difficult to form a just and proper Estimation of them: for which
Reason we should be very reserved and cautious in the Use of heating
Medicines, which are so mortally pernicious in this Disease.
Wine, Venice Treacle, cordial Confections, hot Air, and Loads of
Bed-cloths, annually sweep off Thousands of Children, who might have
recovered, if they had taken nothing but warm Water: and every Person
who is interested in the Recovery of Patients in this Distemper, ought
carefully to prevent the smallest Use of such Drugs; which, if they
should not immediately aggravate it to a fatal Degree, yet will
certainly increase the Severity and Torment of it, and annex the most
unhappy and tragical Consequences to it.
The Prejudice in this Point is so strongly rooted, that a total
Eradication of it must be very difficult: but I only desire People would
be convinced by their own Eyes, of the different Success of the hot
Regimen, and of that I shall propose. And here indeed I must confess, I
found more Attention and Docility, on this Point, among the Inhabitants
of the City, and especially in the last epidemical spreading of the
Small-Pocks, than I presumed to hope for. Not only as many as consulted
me on the Invasion of it, complied exactly with the cooling Regimen I
advised them; but their Neighbours also had Recourse to it, when their
Children sickened: and being often called in when it had been many Days
advanced, I observed with great Pleasure, that in many Houses, not one
heating Medicine had been given; and great Care had been taken to keep
the Air of the Patient's Chamber refreshingly cool and temperate. This
encourages me to expect, that this Method hereafter will become general
here. What certainly ought most essentially to conduce to this is, that
notwithstanding the Diffusion or spreading of this Disease was as
numerous and extensive as any of the former, the Mortality, in
Consequence of it, was evidently less.
§ 212. At the very Beginning of the Small-Pocks (which may be reasonably
suspected, from the Presence of the Symptoms I have already described;
supposing the Person complaining never to have had it, and the Disease
to prevail near his Residence) the Patient is immediately to be put on a
strict Regimen, and to have his Legs bathed Night and Morning in warm
Water. This is the most proper and promising Method to lessen the
Quantity of Eruption in the Face and Head, and to facilitate it every
where else on the Surface. Glysters also greatly contribute to abate the
Head-ach, and to diminish the Reachings to vomit, and the actual
Vomitings, which greatly distress the Patient; but which however it is
highly absurd and pernicious to stop by any stomachic cordial
Confection, or by Venice Treacle; and still more dangerous to attempt
removing the Cause of them, by a Vomit or Purge, which are hurtful in
the beginning of the Small-Pocks.
If the Fever be moderate, the Bathings of the Legs on the first Day of
sickening, and one Glyster may suffice then. The Patient must be
restrained to his Regimen; and instead of the Ptisan Nº. 1, 2, 4, a very
young Child should drink nothing but Milk diluted with two thirds of
Elder Flower or Lime-tree Tea, or with Balm Tea, if there be no
perceivable Fever; and in short, if they have an Aversion to the Taste
of them all, with only the same Quantity of good clear [53] Water. An
Apple coddled or baked may be added to it; and if they complain of
Hunger, a little Bread may be allowed; but they must be denied any Meat,
or Meat Broth, Eggs and strong Drink; since it has appeared from
Observations frequently repeated, that Children who had been indulged
with such Diet proved the worse for it, and recovered more slowly than
others. In this early Stage too, clear Whey alone may serve them instead
of every other Drink, the good Effects of which I have frequently been a
Witness to; or some Buttermilk may be allowed. When the Distemper is of
a mild Species, a perfect Cure ensues, without any other Assistance or
Medicine: but we should not neglect to purge the Patient as soon as the
Pustules are perfectly scabbed on the greater Part of his Face, with the
Prescription Nº. 11, which must be repeated six Days after. He should
not be allowed Flesh 'till after this second Purge; though after the
first he may he allowed some well-boiled Pulse, or Garden-stuff and
Bread, and in such a Quantity, as not to be pinched with Hunger, while
he recovers from the Disease.
[53] A Negro Girl, about five or six Years old, under a coherent Pock,
stole by Night out of the Garret where she lay, into a Kitchen out
of Doors, where she drank plentifully of cold Water. How often she
repeated these nightly cooling Potions I never could certainly
learn, though they occurred in my own House in _South-Carolina_ in
Summer. But it is certain the Child recovered as speedily as
others, whose Eruption was more distinct, and who drank
Barley-Water, very thin Rice or Indian Corn Gruel, Balm Tea, or the
like. In fact, throughout the Course of this Visitation from the
Small Pocks in _Carolina_ in 1738, we had but too many
Demonstrations of the fatal Co-operation of violent Heat with their
Contagion; and not a very few surprizing Instances of the salutary
Effects of being necessarily and involuntarily exposed to same very
cooling Accidents after Infection, and in some Cases after Eruption
too: which I then more particularly mentioned is a small
controversial Tract printed there. _K._
§ 213. But if the Fever should be strong, the Pulse hard, and the Pain
of the Head and Loins should be violent, he must, 1. immediately lose
Blood from the Arm; receive a Glyster two Hours after; and, if the Fever
continues, the Bleeding must be repeated. I have directed a Repetition
of it even to the fourth Time, within the two first Days, to young
People under the Age of eighteen; and it is more especially necessary in
such Persons as, with a hard and full Pulse, are also affected with a
heavy Drowsiness and a _Delirium_, or Raving.
2. As long as the Fever continues violently, two, three, and even four
Glysters should be given in the 24 Hours; and the Legs should be bathed
twice.
3. The Patient is to be taken out of Bed, and supported in a Chair as
long as he can tolerably bear it.
4. The Air of his Chamber should frequently be renewed, and if it be too
hot, which it often is in Summer, in Order to refresh it, and the
Patient, the Means must be employed which are directed § 36.
5. He is to be restrained to the Ptisans Nº. 2 or 4; and if that does
not sufficiently moderate the Fever, he should take every Hour, or every
two Hours, according to the Urgency of the Case, a Spoonful of the
Mixture Nº. 10; mixed with a Cup of Ptisan. After the Eruption, the
Fever being then abated, there is less Occasion for Medicine; and should
it even entirely disappear, the Patient may be regulated, as directed, §
212.
§ 214. When, after a Calm, a Remission or Intermission of some Days, the
Process of Suppuration revives the Fever, we ought first, and
especially, to keep the [54] Body very open. For this Purpose, _a_ an
Ounce of _Catholicon_ should be added to the Glysters; or they might be
simply made of Whey, with Honey, Oil and Salt. _b_ Give the Patient
three times every Morning, at the Interval of two Hours between each,
three Glasses of the Ptisan Nº. 32. _c_ Purge him _after_ two Days, with
the Potion Nº. 23, but on that Day he must not take the Ptisan Nº. 32.
[54] We must remember that Dr. _Tissot_ is treating _here_ of the higher
or confluent Degrees of this Disease; for in the distinct
Small-Pocks, it is common to find Persons for several Days without
a Stool, and without the least perceiveable Disorder for Want of
one (their whole Nourishment being very light and liquid) in which
Cases, while Matters proceeded well in all other Respects, there
seems little Occasion for a great Solicitude about Stools: But if
one should be judged necessary after four or five Days Costiveness,
accompanied with a Tightness or Hardness of the Belly, doubtless
the Glyster should be of the lenient Kind (as those directed by our
Author are) and not calculated to produce more than a second Stool
at the very most. Indeed, where there is Reason to apprehend a
strong secondary Fever, from the Quantity of Eruption, and a
previously high Inflammation, it is more prudent to provide for a
Mitigation of it, by a moderately open Belly, than to suffer a long
Costiveness; yet so as to incur very little Hazard of abating the
Salivation, or retarding the Growth or Suppuration of the Pustules,
by a Superpurgation, which it may be too easy to excite in some
Habits. If the Discharge by spitting, and the Brightness and
Quantity of Suppuration, have been in Proportion to the Number of
Eruptions; though the Conflict from the secondary Fever, where
these have been numerous, is often acute and high; and the Patient,
who is in great Anguish, is far from being out of Danger, yet
Nature pretty generally proves stronger than the Disease, in such
Circumstances. As the _Elect. Catholicon_, is little used, or made
here, the lenitive Electuary of our Dispensatory may be substituted
for it, or that of the _Edinburgh_ Dispensatory, which was
calculated particularly for Glysters. _K._
2. He must, if the Distemper be very violent, take a double Dose of the
Mixture Nº. 10.
3. The Patient should be taken out of Bed, and kept up in a Room well
aired Day and Night, until the Fever has abated. Many Persons will
probably be surprized at this Advice; nevertheless it is that which I
have often experienced to be the most efficacious, and without which the
others are ineffectual. They will say, how shall the Patient sleep at
this Rate? To which it may be answered, Sleep is not necessary, nay, it
is hurtful in this State and Stage of the Disease. Besides, he is really
unable to sleep: the continual Salivation prevents it, and it is very
necessary to keep up the Salivation; which is facilitated by often
injecting warm Water and Honey into his Throat. It is also of
considerable Service to throw some up his Nostrils, and often thus to
cleanse the Scabs which form within them. A due Regard to these
Circumstances not only contributes to lessen the Patient's Uneasiness,
but very effectually also to his Cure.
4. If the Face and Neck are greatly swelled, emollient Cataplasms are to
be applied to the Soles of the Feet; and if these should have very
little Effect, Sinapisms should be applied. These are a kind of Plaister
or Application composed of Yeast, Mustard-flower, and some Vinegar. They
sometimes occasion sharp and almost burning Pain, but in Proportion to
the Sharpness and Increase of these Pains, the Head and Neck are
remarkably relieved.
§ 215. The Eyelids are puffed up and swelled when the Disease runs high,
so as to conceal the Eyes, which are closed up fast for several Days.
Nothing further should be attempted, with Respect to this Circumstance,
but the frequent moistening of them with a little warm Milk and Water.
The Precautions which some take to stroke them with Saffron, a gold
Ducat, or Rose-water are equally childish and insignificant. What
chiefly conduces to prevent the Redness or Inflammation of the Eyes
after the Disease, and in general all its other bad Consequences, is to
be content for a considerable Time, with a very moderate Quantity of
Food, and particularly to abstain from Flesh and Wine. In the very bad
Small Pocks, and in little Children, the Eyes are closed up from the
Beginning of the Eruption.
§ 216. One extremely serviceable Assistance, and which has not been made
use of for a long Time past, except as a Means to preserve the
Smoothness and Beauty of the Face; but yet which has the greatest
Tendency to preserve Life itself, is the Opening of the Pustules, not
only upon the Face, but all over the Body. In the first Place, by
opening them, the Lodgment or Retention of _Pus_ is prevented, which may
be supposed to prevent any Erosion, or eating down, from it; whence
Scars, deep Pitts and other Deformities are obviated. Secondly, in
giving a Vent to the Poison, the Retreat of it into the Blood is cut
off, which removes a principal Cause of the Danger of the Small-Pocks.
Thirdly, the Skin is relaxed; the Tumour of the Face and Neck diminish
in Proportion to that Relaxation; and thence the Return of the Blood
from the Brain is facilitated, which must prove a great Advantage. The
Pustules should be opened every where, successively as they ripen. The
precise Time of doing it is when they are entirely white; when they just
begin to turn but a very little yellowish; and when the red Circle
surrounding them is quite pale. They should be opened with very fine
sharp-pointed Scissars; this does not give the Patient the least Pain;
and when a certain Number of them are opened, a Spunge dipt in a little
warm Water is to be repeatedly applied to suck up and remove that _Pus_,
which would soon be dried up into Scabs. But as the Pustules, when
emptied thus, soon fill again, a Discharge of this fresh Matter must be
obtained in the same Manner some Hours after; and this must sometimes be
repeated five or even six Times successively. Such extraordinary
Attention in this Point may probably be considered as minute, and even
trivial, by some; and is very unlikely to become a [55] general
Practice: but I do again affirm it to be of much more Importance than
many may imagine; and that as often as the Fever attending Suppuration
is violent and menacing, a very general, exact and repeated opening,
emptying, and absorbing of the ripened Pustules, is a Remedy of the
utmost Importance and Efficacy; as it removes two very considerable
Causes of the Danger of this Disease, which are the Matter itself, and
the great Tension and Stiffness of the Skin.
[55] This Practice which I had heard of, and even suggested to myself,
but never seen actually enterprized, seems so very rational as
highly to deserve a fair Trial in the confluent Degrees of the
Small-Pocks [for in the distinct it can scarcely be necessary]
wherein every probable Assistance should be employed, and in which
the most potent Medicines are very often unsuccessful. We have but
too many Opportunities of trying it sufficiently; and it certainly
has a more promising Aspect than a Practice so highly recommended
many Years ago, of covering all the Pustules (which is sometimes
the whole Surface of the Patient) in Melilot, or suppose any other
suppurating, Plaister; which will effectually prevent all
Perspiration, and greatly increase the Soreness, Pain and
Embarrassment of the Patient, at the Height of the Disease. I can
conceive but one bad Consequence that might possibly sometimes
result from the former; but this (besides the Means that may be
used to avert it) is rather remote, and so uncertain, until the
Trial is repeatedly made, that I think it ought not to be named, in
Competition with the Benefits that may arise from it in such Cases,
as seem, otherwise, too generally irrecoverable. _K._
§ 217. In the Treatment of this Disease, I have said nothing with
Respect to Anodynes, or such Medicines as procure Sleep, which I am
sensible are pretty generally employed in it, but which I scarcely ever
direct in this violent Degree of the Disease, and the Dangers of which
Medicine in it I have demonstrated in the Letter to Baron _Haller_,
which I have already mentioned. For which Reason, wherever the Patient
is not under the Care and Direction of a Physician, they should very
carefully abstain from the Use of Venice Treacle, Laudanum, _Diacodium_,
that is the Syrup of white Poppies, or even of the wild red Poppy; Syrup
of Amber, Pills of Storax, of _Cynoglossum_ or Hounds-tongue, and, in
one Word, of every Medicine which produces Sleep. But still more
especially should their Use be entirely banished, throughout the
Duration of the secondary Fever, when even natural Sleep itself is
dangerous. One Circumstance in which their Use may sometimes be
permitted, is in the Case of weakly Children, or such as are liable to
Convulsions, where Eruption is effected not without Difficulty. But I
must again inculcate the greatest Circumspection, in the Use of such
Medicines, whose Effects are fatal, [56] when the Blood-vessels are
turgid or full; whenever there is Inflammation, Fever, a great
Distension of the Skin; whenever the Patient raves, or complains of
Heaviness and Oppression; and when it is necessary that the Belly should
be open; the Urine plentifully discharged; and the Salivation be freely
promoted.
[56] The Use of Opiates in this Disease undoubtedly requires no Small
Consideration, the great _Sydenham_ himself not seeming always
sufficiently guarded in the Exhibition of them; as far as
Experience since his Day has enabled Physicians to judge of this
Matter. In general our Author's Limitations of them seem very just;
though we have seen a few clear Instances, in which a light Raving,
which evidently arose from Want of Sleep (joined to some Dread of
the Event of the Disease by Inoculation) was happily removed, with
every other considerable Complaint, by a moderate Opiate. In sore
and fretful Children too, under a large or middling Eruption, as
the Time gained to Rest is taken from Pain, and from wasting their
Spirits in Crying and Clamour, I have seen Suppuration very
benignly promoted by _Diacodium_. But in the _Crisis_ of the
secondary Fever in the confluent or coherent Pock, when there is a
morbid Fulness, and Nature is struggling to unload herself by some
other Outlets than those of the Skin, which now are totally
obstructed (and which seems the only Evacuation, that is not
restrained by Opiates) the giving and repeating them then, as has
too often been practised, seems importantly erroneous; for I think
Dr. _Swan_ has taken a judicious Liberty of dissenting from the
great Author he translates, in forbidding an Opiate, if the
Spitting abates, or grows so tough and ropy, as to endanger
Suffocation. As the Difference of our Oeconomy in the
Administration of Physic from that in _Swisserland_, and Dr.
_Tissot's_ just Reputation may dispose many Country Practitioners
to peruse this Treatise, I take the Liberty of referring such
Readers, for a Recollection of some of my Sentiments of Opiates,
long before the Appearance of this Work in French, to the second
Edition of the Analysis from P. 94 to 97, _&c._ _K._
§ 218. If Eruption should suddenly retreat, or strike in, heating,
soporific, spirituous and volatile Remedies should carefully be avoided:
but the Patient may drink plentifully of the Infusion Nº. 12 pretty hot,
and should be blistered on the fleshy Part of the Legs. This is a very
embarrassing and difficult Case, and the different Circumstances
attending it may require different Means and Applications, the Detail
and Discussion of which are beyond my Plan here. Sometimes a single
Bleeding has effectually recalled Eruption at once.
§ 219. The only certain Method of surmounting all the Danger of this
Malady, is to inoculate. But this most salutary Method, which ought to
be regarded as a particular and gracious Dispensation of Providence, can
scarcely be attainable by, or serviceable to, the Bulk of the People,
except in those Countries, where Hospitals [57] are destined
particularly for Inoculation. In these where as yet there are none, the
only Resource that is left for Children who cannot be inoculated at
home, is to dispose them happily for the Distemper, by a simple easy
Preparation.
[57] That I have long since had the Honour of agreeing with our learned
Author, in this Consideration for the Benefit of the Body of the
People, which is the Benefit of the State, will appear from p. 288
of Analys. Ed. 1st. and from p. 371, 372 of the Second. _K._
§ 220. This Preparation consists, upon the whole, in removing all Want
of, and all Obstructions to, the Health of the Person subject to this
Disease, if he have any such; and in bringing him into a mild and
healthy, but not into a very robust and vigorous, State; as this
Distemper is often exceedingly violent in this last.
It is evident, that since the Defects of Health are very different in
different Bodies, the Preparations of them must as often vary; and that
a Child subject to some habitual Disorder, cannot be prepared in the
same Method with another who has a very opposite one. The Detail and
Distinctions which are necessary on this important Head, would be
improper here, whether it might be owing to their unavoidable Length; or
to the Impossibility of giving Persons, who are not Physicians,
sufficient Knowlege and Information to qualify them for determining on,
and preferring, the most proper Preparation in various Cases.
Nevertheless I will point out some such as may be very likely to agree,
pretty generally, with Respect to strong and healthy Children. [58]
[58] The Substance of this Section flows from the Combination of an
excellent Understanding with great Experience, mature Reflection,
and real Probity; and fundamentally exposes both the Absurdity of
such as universally decry any Preparation of any Subject previous
to Inoculation, (which is said to be the Practice of a present very
popular Inoculator in _Paris_) and the opposite Absurdity of giving
one and the very same Preparation to all Subjects, without
Distinction; though this was avowed to have been successfully fully
practised in _Pensylvania_, some Years since; which the Reader may
see Analys. Ed. 2d, from p. 329 to 331 and the Note there. _K._
The first Step then is an Abatement of their usual Quantity of Food.
Children commonly eat too much. Their Limitation should be in Proportion
to their Size and Growth, where we could exactly ascertain them: but
with Regard to all, or to much the greater Number of them, we may be
allowed to make their Supper very light, and very small.
Their second Advantage will consist in the Choice of their Food. This
Circumstance is less within the Attainment of, and indeed less necessary
for, the common People, who are of Course limited to a very few, than to
the Rich, who have Room to make great Retrenchments on this Account. The
Diet of Country People being of the simplest Kind, and almost solely
consisting of Vegetables and of Milk-meats, is the most proper Diet
towards preparing for this Disease. For this Reason, such Persons have
little more to attend to in this Respect, but that such Aliments be
sound and good in their Kind; that their Bread be well baked; their
Pulse dressed without Bacon, or rancid strong Fat of any sort; that
their Fruits should be well ripened; that their Children should have no
Cakes or Tarts, [But see Note [11], P. 40, 41.] and but little Cheese.
These simple Regulations may be sufficient, with Regard to this Article
of their Preparation.
Some Judgment may be formed of the good Consequences of their Care on
these two Points, concerning the Quantity and Quality of the Childrens
Diet, by the moderate Shrinking of their Bellies; as they will be
rendered more lively and active by this Alteration in their living; and
yet, notwithstanding a little less Ruddiness in their Complexion, and
some Abatement of their common Plight of Body, their Countenances, upon
the whole, will seem improved.
The third Article I would recommend, is to bathe their Legs now and then
in warm Water, before they go to Bed. This promotes Perspiration, cools,
dilutes the Blood, and allays the Sharpness of it, as often as it is
properly timed.
The fourth Precaution, is the frequent Use of very clear Whey. This
agreeable Remedy, which consists of the Juices of Herbs filtred through,
and concocted, or as it were, sweetened by the Organs of a healthy
Animal, answers every visible Indication (I am still speaking here of
sound and hearty Children). It imparts a Flexibility, or Soupleness to
the Vessels; it abates the Density, the heavy Consistence and Thickness
of the Blood; which being augmented by the Action of the poisonous Cause
of the Small-Pocks, would degenerate into a most dangerous
inflammatory [59] Viscidity or Thickness. It removes all Obstructions in
the _Viscera_, or Bowels of the lower Cavity, the Belly. It opens the
Passages which strain off the Bile; sheaths, or blunts, its Sharpness,
gives it a proper Fluidity, prevents its Putridity, and sweetens
whatever excessive Acrimony may reside throughout the Mass of Humours.
It likewise promotes Stools, Urine and Perspiration; and, in a Word, it
communicates the most favourable Disposition to the Body, not to be too
violently impressed and agitated by the Operation of an inflammatory
Poison: And with Regard to such Children as I have mentioned, for those
who are either sanguine or bilious, it is beyond all Contradiction, the
most effectual preparatory Drink, and the most proper to make them
amends for the Want of Inoculation.
[59] There may certainly be an inflammatory Acrimony or Thinness, as
well as Thickness of the Blood; and many medical Readers may think
a morbid Fusion of the red Globules to be a more frequent Effect of
this Contagion, than an increased Viscidity of them. See Analys.
Ed. 2d. p. 75 to 83. But this Translation, conforming to the Spirit
of its Original, admits very little Theory, and still less
Controversy, into its Plan. _K._
I have already observed, that it may also be used to great Advantage,
during the Course of the Disease: but I must also observe, that however
salutary it is, in the Cases for which I have directed it, there are
many others in which it would be hurtful. It would be extremely
pernicious to order it to weak, languishing, scirrhous, pale Children,
subject to Vomitings, Purgings, Acidities, and to all Diseases which
prove their Bowels to be weak, their Humours to be sharp: so that People
must be very cautious not to regard it as an universal and infallible
Remedy, towards preparing for the Small-Pocks. Those to whom it is
advised, may take a few Glasses every Morning, and even drink it daily,
for their common Drink; they may also sup it with Bread for Breakfast,
for Supper, and indeed at any Time.
If Country People will pursue these Directions, which are very easy to
observe and to comprehend, whenever the Small-Pocks rages, I am
persuaded it must lessen the Mortality attending it. Some will certainly
experience the Benefit of them; such I mean as are very sensible and
discreet, and strongly influenced by the truest Love of their Children.
Others there are Alas! who are too stupid to discern the Advantage of
them, and too unnatural to take any just Care of their Families.
__Chapter XIV.__
_Of the Measles._
__Sect.__ 221.
The Measles, to which the human Species are as generally liable, as to
the Small-Pocks, is a Distemper considerably related to it; though,
generally speaking, it is less fatal; notwithstanding which, it is not a
little destructive in some Countries. In _Swisserland_ we lose much
fewer, immediately in the Disease, than from the Consequences of it.
It happens now and then that the Small-Pocks and the Measles rage at the
same Time, and in the same Place; though I have more frequently
observed, that each of them was epidemical in different Years. Sometimes
it also happens that both these Diseases are combined at once in the
same Person; and that one supervenes before the other has finished its
Course, which makes the Case very perilous.
§ 222. In some Constitutions the Measles gives Notice of its Approach
many Days before its evident Invasion, by a small, frequent and dry
Cough, without any other sensible Complaint: though more frequently by a
general Uneasiness; by Successions of Shivering and of Heat; by a severe
Head-ach in grown Persons; a Heaviness in Children; a considerable
Complaint of the Throat; and, by what particularly characterizes this
Distemper, an Inflammation and a considerable Heat in the Eyes, attended
with a Swelling of the Eye-lids, with a Defluxion of sharp Tears, and so
acute a Sensation, or Feeling of the Eyes, that they cannot bear the
Light; by very frequent Sneezings, and a Dripping from the Nose of the
same Humour with that, which trickles from the Eyes.
The Heat and the Fever increases with Rapidity; the Patient is afflicted
with a Cough, a Stuffing, with Anguish, and continual Reachings to
vomit; with violent Pains in the Loins; and sometimes with a Looseness,
under which Circumstance he is less persecuted with Vomiting. At other
times, and in other Subjects, Sweating chiefly prevails, though in less
Abundance than in the Small-Pocks. The Tongue is foul and white; the
Thirst is often very high; and the Symptoms are generally more violent
than in the mild Small-Pocks.
At length, on the fourth or fifth Day, and sometimes about the End of
the third, a sudden Eruption appears and in a very great Quantity,
especially about the Face; which in a few Hours is covered with Spots,
each of which resembles a Flea-bite; many of them soon joining form red
Streaks or Suffusions larger or smaller, which inflame the Skin, and
produce a very perceivable Swelling of the Face; whence the very Eyes
are sometimes closed. Each small Spot or Suffusion is raised a little
above the Surface, especially in the Face, where they are manifest both
to the Sight and the Touch. In the other Parts of the Body, this
Elevation or Rising is scarcely perceivable by any Circumstance, but the
Roughness of the Skin.
The Eruption, having first appeared in the Face, is afterwards extended
to the Breast, the Back, the Arms, the Thighs and Legs. It generally
spreads very plentifully over the Breast and the Back, and sometimes red
Suffusions are found upon the Breast, before any Eruption has appeared
in the Face.
The Patient is often relieved, as in the Small-Pocks, by plentiful
Discharges of Blood from the Nose, which carry off the Complaints of the
Head, of the Eyes, and of the Throat.
Whenever this Distemper appears in its mildest Character, almost every
Symptom abates after Eruption, as it happens in the Small-Pocks; though,
in general, the Change for the better is not as thoroughly perceivable,
as it is in the Small-Pocks. It is certain the Reachings and Vomitings
cease almost entirely; but the Fever, the Cough, the Head-ach continue;
and I have sometimes observed that a bilious Vomiting, a Day or two
after the Eruption, proved a more considerable Relief to the Patient
than the Eruption had. On the third or fourth Day of the Eruption, the
Redness diminishes; the Spots, or very small Pustules, dry up and fall
off in very little branny Scales; the Cuticle, or superficial Skin also
shrivels off; and is replaced by one succeeding beneath it. On the ninth
Day, when the Progress of the Malady has been speedy, and on the
eleventh, when it has been very slow, no Trace of the Redness is to be
found; and the Surface immediately resumes its usual Appearance.
§ 223. Notwithstanding all which the Patient is not safe, except, during
the Course of the Distemper, or immediately after it, he has had some
considerable Evacuation; such as the Vomiting I have just mentioned; or
a bilious Looseness; or considerable Discharges by Urine; or very
plentiful Sweating. For when any of these Evacuations supervene, the
Fever vanishes; the Patient resumes his Strength, and perfectly
recovers. It happens sometimes too, and even without any of these
perceivable Discharges, that insensible Perspiration expels the Relics
of the poisonous Cause of this Disease, and the Patient recovers his
Health. Yet it occurs too often, that this Venom not having been
entirely expelled (or its internal Effects not having been thoroughly
effaced) it is repelled upon the Lungs, where it produces a slight
Inflammation. In Consequence of this the Oppression, the Cough, the
Anguish, and Fever return, and the Patient's Situation becomes very
dangerous. This Outrage is frequently less vehement, but it proves
tedious and chronical, leaving a very obstinate Cough behind it, with
many Resemblances of the Whooping-Cough. In 1758 there was an epidemic
State of the Measles here extremely numerous, which affected great
Numbers: Almost all who had it, and who were not very carefully and
judiciously attended, were seized in Consequence of it with that Cough,
which proved very violent and obstinate.
§ 224. However, notwithstanding this be the frequent Progress and
Consequence of this Disease, when left entirely to itself, or
erroneously treated, and more particularly when treated with a hot
Regimen; yet when proper Care was taken to moderate the Fever at the
Beginning, to dilute, and to keep up the Evacuations, such unhappy
Consequences have been very rare.
§ 225. The proper Method of conducting this Distemper is much the same
with that of the Small-Pocks.
1, If the Fever be high, the Pulse hard, the Load and Oppression heavy,
and all the Symptoms violent, the Patient must be bled once or twice.
2, His Legs must be bathed, and he must take some Glysters: the
Vehemence of the Symptoms must regulate the Number of each.
3, The Ptisans Nº. 3 or 4 must be taken, or a Tea of Elder and Lime-tree
Flowers, to which a fifth Part Milk may be added.
4, The Vapour, the Steam of warm Water should also be employed, as very
conducive to asswage the Cough; the Soreness of the Throat, and the
Oppression the Patient labours under.
5, As soon as the Efflorescence, the Redness becomes pale, the Patient
is to be purged with the Draught Nº. 23.
6, He is still to be kept strictly to his Regimen, for two Days after
this Purge; after which he is to be put upon the Diet of those who are
in a State of Recovery.
7, If during the Eruption such Symptoms supervene as occur [at the same
Term] in the Small-Pocks, they are to be treated in the Manner already
directed there.
§ 226. Whenever this Method has not been observed, and the Accidents
described § 223 supervene, the Distemper must be treated like an
Inflammation in its first State, and all must be done as directed § 225.
If the Disease is not vehement, [60] Bleeding may be omitted. If it is
of some standing in gross Children, loaded with Humours, inactive, and
pale, we must add to the Medicines already prescribed the Potion Nº. 8,
and Blisters to the Legs.
[60] Our Author very prudently limits this Discharge, and the Repetition
of it, in this Disease (§ 225) as an erroneous Excess of it has
sometimes prevailed. I have seen a very epidemical Season of the
Measles, where Bleeding was not indicated in one third of the
infected. And yet I have known such an Abuse of Bleeding in it,
that being repeated more than once in a Case before Eruption (the
Measles probably not being suspected) the Eruption was retarded
several Days; and the Patient, a young Lady of Condition, remained
exceeding low, faint and sickish; 'till after recruiting a very
little, the Measles appeared, and she recovered. In a Youth of a
lax Fibre, where the Measles had appeared, a seventh or eighth
Bleeding was ordered on a Stitch in the Side, supervening from
their too early Disappearance, and the Case seemed very doubtful.
But Nature continued very obstinately favourable in this Youth, who
at length, but very slowly, recovered. His Circulation remained so
languid, his Strength, with his Juices, so exhausted, that he was
many Weeks before he could sit upright in a Chair, being obliged to
make Use of a Cord depending from the Ceiling, to raise himself
erectly in his Seat. _K._
§ 227. It often happens from the Distance of proper Advice, that the
Relics, the Dregs as it were, of the Disease have been too little
regarded, especially the Cough; in which Circumstance it forms a real
Suppuration in the Lungs, attended with a slow Fever. I have seen many
Children in Country Villages destroyed by this Neglect. Their Case is
then of the same Nature with that described § 68 and 82, and terminates
in the same Manner in a Looseness, (attended with very little Pain) and
sometimes a very foetid one, which carries off the Patient. In such
Cases we must recur to the Remedies prescribed § 74, Article 3, 4, 5; to
the Powder Nº. 14; and to Milk and Exercise. But it is so very difficult
to make Children take the Powder, that it may be sometimes necessary to
trust to the Milk without it, which I have often seen in such Situations
accomplish a very difficult Cure. I must advise the Reader at the same
Time, that it has not so compleat an Effect, as when it is taken solely
unjoined by any other Aliment; and that it is of the last Importance not
to join it with any, which has the least Acidity or Sharpness. Persons
in easy Circumstances may successfully take, at the same Time,
_Pfeffer_, [61] _Seltzer_, _Peterstal_, or some other light Waters,
which are but moderately loaded with mineral Ingredients. These are also
successfully employed in all the Cases, in which the Cure I have
mentioned is necessary.
[61] Bristol Water will be no bad Substitute for any of these, in such
Cases. _K._
§ 228. Sometimes there remains, after the Course of the Measles, a
strong dry Cough, with great Heat in the Breast, and throughout the
whole Body, with Thirst, an excessive Dryness of the Tongue, and of the
whole Surface of the Body. I have cured Persons thus indisposed after
this Distemper, by making them breathe in the Vapour of warm Water; by
the repeated Use of warm Baths; and by allowing them to take nothing for
several Days but Water and Milk.
Before I take leave of this Subject, I assure the Reader again, that the
contagious Cause of the Measles is of an extremely sharp and acrid
Nature. It appears to have some Resemblance to the bilious Humour, which
produces the _Erisipelas_, or St. Anthony's Fire; and thence it demands
our particular Attention and Vigilance; without which very troublesome
and dangerous Consequences may be apprehended. I have seen, not very
long since, a young Girl, who was in a very languid State after the
Measles, which she had Undergone three Years before: It was at length
attended with an Ulceration in her Neck, which was cured, and her Health
finally restored by _Sarsaparilla_ with Milk and Water.
§ 229. The Measles have been communicated by [62] Inoculation in some
Countries, where it is of a very malignant Disposition; and that Method
might also be very advantageous in this. But what we have already
observed, with Respect to the Inoculation of the Small-Pocks, _viz._
That it cannot be extended to the general Benefit of the People, without
the Foundation of Hospitals for that very Purpose, is equally applicable
to the Inoculation of the Measles.
[62] The only Account I have read of this Practice, is in the learned
Dr. _Home's_ _Medical Facts and Experiments_, published in 1759,
which admits, that but nine out of fifteen of the Subjects of this
Practice took. Cotton dipt in the Blood of a Patient in the Measles
was inserted into the Arms of twelve; and three received the Cotton
into their Nostrils, after the Chinese Manner of infusing the
Small-Pocks; but of these last not one took, and one of those who
had taken, had the Measles again two Months after. We think the
sharp hot Lymph distilling from the inflamed Eyes of Persons in
this Disease, a likelier Vehicle to communicate it than the Blood,
especially the dry Blood, which was sometimes tried; since the
human _Serum_ seems the Fluid more particularly affected by it; and
this must have been evaporated when the Blood grew dry. A few
practical Strictures on this Work, and particularly on this
Practice described in it, appeared in the Monthly Review Vol. XXI.
P. 68 to 75. _K._
__Chapter XV.__
_Of the ardent or burning Fever._
__Sect.__ 230.
The much greater Number of the Diseases I have hitherto considered,
result from an Inflammation of the Blood, combined with the particular
Inflammation of some Part, or occasioned by some Contagion or Poison,
which must be evacuated. But when the Blood is solely and strongly
inflamed, without an Attack on any particular Part, this Fever, which we
term hot or burning, is the Consequence.
§ 231. The Signs which make it evident are, a Hardness and Fulness of
the Pulse in a higher Degree than happens in any other Malady; an
excessive Heat; great Thirst; with an extraordinary Dryness of the Eyes,
Nostrils, Lips, of the Tongue, and of the Throat; a violent Head-ach;
and sometimes a Raving at the Height of the Paroxysm, or Increase of the
Fever, which rises considerably every Evening. The Respiration is also
somewhat oppressed, but especially at the Return of this Paroxysm, with
a Cough now and then; though without any Pain in the Breast, and without
any Expectoration, or coughing up. The Body is costive; the Urine very
high coloured, hot, and in a small Quantity. The Sick are also liable to
start sometimes, but especially when they seem to sleep; for they have
little sound refreshing Sleep, but rather a kind of Drowsiness, that
makes them very little attentive to, or sensible of, whatever happens
about them, or even of their own Condition. They have sometimes a little
Sweat or Moisture; though commonly a very dry Skin; they are manifestly
weak, and have either little or no Smell or Taste.
§ 232. This Disease, like all other inflammatory ones, is produced by
the Causes which thicken the Blood, and increase its Motion; such as
excessive Labour, violent Heat, Want of Sleep, the Abuse of Wine or
other strong Liquors; the long Continuance of a dry Constitution of the
Air, Excess of every kind, and heating inflaming Food.
§ 233. The Patient, under these Circumstances, ought, 1, immediately to
be put upon a Regimen; to have the Food allowed him given only every
eight Hours, and, in some Cases, only twice a Day: and indeed, when the
Attack is extremely violent, Nourishment may be wholly omitted.
2, Bleeding should be performed and repeated, 'till the Hardness of the
Pulse is sensibly abated. The first Discharge should be considerable,
the second should be made four Hours after. If the Pulse is softened by
the first, the second may be suspended, and not repeated before it
becomes sufficiently hard again, to make us apprehensive of Danger: but
should it continue strong and hard, the Bleeding may be repeated on the
same Day to a third Time, which often happens to be all the Repetitions
that are necessary.
3, The Glyster Nº. 5 should be given twice, or even thrice, daily.
4, His Legs are to be bathed twice a Day in warm Water: his Hands may be
bathed in the same Water. Linen or Flanel Cloths dipt in warm Water may
be applied over the Breast, and upon the Belly; and he should regularly
drink the Almond Milk Nº. 4 and the Ptisan Nº. 7. The poorest Patients
may content themselves with the last, but should drink very plentifully
of it; and after the Bleeding properly repeated, fresh Air and the
plentiful Continuance of small diluting Liquors generally establish the
Health of the Patient.
5, If notwithstanding the repeated Bleedings, the Fever still rages
highly, it may be lessened by giving a Spoonful of the Potion Nº. 10
every Hour, till it abates; and afterwards every three Hours, until it
becomes very moderate.
§ 234. Hæmorrhages, or Bleedings, from the Nose frequently occur in this
Fever, greatly to the Relief and Security of the Patient.
The first Appearances of Amendment are a softening of the Pulse, (which
however does not wholly lose all its Hardness, before the Disease
entirely terminates) a sensible Abatement of the Head-ach; a greater
Quantity of Urine, and that less high coloured; and a manifestly
approaching Moisture of the Tongue. These favourable Signs keep
increasing in their Degree, and there frequently ensue between the ninth
and the fourteenth Day, and often after a Flurry of some Hours
Continuance, very large Evacuations by Stool; a great Quantity of Urine,
which lets fall a palely reddish Sediment; the Urine above it being very
clear, and of a natural Colour; and these accompanied with Sweats in a
less or greater Quantity. At the same Time the Nostrils and the Mouth
grow moist: the brown and dry Crust which covered the Tongue, and which
was hitherto inseparable from it, peels off of itself; the Thirst is
diminished; the Clearness of the Faculties rises; the Drowsiness goes
off, it is succeeded by comfortable Sleep, and the natural Strength is
restored. When Things are evidently in this Way, the Patient should take
the Potion Nº. 23, and be put upon the Regimen of those who are in a
State of Recovery. It should be repeated at the End of eight or ten
Days. Some Patients have perfectly recovered from this Fever, without
the least Sediment in their Urine.
§ 235. The augmenting Danger of this Fever may be discerned, from the
continued Hardness of the Pulse, though with an Abatement of its
Strength; if the Brain becomes more confused; the Breathing more
difficult; if the Eyes, Nose, Lips and Tongue become still more dry, and
the Voice more altered. If to these Symptoms there be also added a
Swelling of the Belly; a Diminution of the Quantity of Urine; a constant
Raving; great Anxiety, and a certain Wildness of the Eyes, the Case is
in a manner desperate; and the Patient cannot survive many Hours. The
Hands and Fingers at this Period are incessantly in Motion, as if
feeling for something upon the Bed-Cloths, which is commonly termed,
their hunting for Flies.
__Chapter XVI.__
_Of putrid Fevers._
__Sect.__ 236.
Having treated of such feverish Distempers, as arise from an
Inflammation of the Blood, I shall here treat of those produced by
corrupt Humours, which stagnate in the Stomach, the Guts, or other
Bowels of the lower Cavity, the Belly; or which have already passed from
them into the Blood. These are called putrid Fevers, or sometimes
bilious Fevers, when a certain Degeneracy or Corruption of the Bile
seems chiefly to prevail in the Disease.
§ 237. This Distemper frequently gives Notice of its Approach, several
Days before its manifest Attack; by a great Dejection, a Heaviness of
the Head; Pains of the Loins and Knees; a Foulness of the Mouth in the
Morning; little Appetite; broken Slumber; and sometimes by an excessive
Head-ach for many Days, without any other Symptom. After this, or these
Disorders, a Shivering comes on, followed by a sharp and dry Heat: the
Pulse, which was small and quick during the Shivering, is raised during
the Heat, and is often very strong, though it is not attended with the
same Hardness, as in the preceding Fever; except the putrid Fever be
combined with an inflammatory one, which it sometimes is. During this
Time, that is the Duration of the Heat, the Head-ach is commonly
extremely violent; the Patient is almost constantly affected with
Loathings, and sometimes even with Vomiting; with Thirst, disagreeable
Risings, a Bitterness in the Mouth; and very little Urine. This Heat
continues for many Hours, frequently the whole Night; it abates a little
in the Morning, and the Pulse, though always feverish, is then something
less so, while the Patient suffers less, though still greatly dejected.
The Tongue is white and furred, the Teeth are foul, and the Breath
smells very disagreeably. The Colour, Quantity and Consistence of the
Urine, are very various and changeable. Some Patients are costive,
others frequently have small Stools, without the least Relief accruing
from them. The Skin is sometimes dry, and at other Times there is some
sensible Perspiration, but without any Benefit attending it. The Fever
augments every Day, and frequently at unexpected irregular Periods.
Besides that _great_ Paroxysm or Increase, which is perceivable in all
the Subjects of this Fever, some have also other _less_ intervening
ones.
§ 238. When the Disease is left to itself, or injudiciously treated; or
when it proves more powerful than the Remedies against it, which is by
no Means seldom the Case, the Aggravations of it become longer, more
frequent and irregular. There is scarcely an Interval of Ease. The
Patient's Belly is swell'd out like a Foot-ball; a _Delirium_ or Raving
comes on; he proves insensible of his own Evacuations, which come away
involuntarily; he rejects Assistance, and keeps muttering continually,
with a quick, small, irregular Pulse. Sometimes little Spots of a brown,
or of a livid Colour appear on the Surface, but particularly about the
Neck, Back and Breast. All the Discharges from his Body have a most
foetid Smell: convulsive Motions also supervene, especially in the Face;
he lies down only on his Back, sinks down insensibly towards the Foot of
the Bed, and picks about, as if catching Flies; his Pulse becomes so
quick and so small, that it cannot be perceived without Difficulty, and
cannot be counted. His Anguish seems inexpressible: his Sweats stream
down from Agony: his Breast swells out as if distended by Fullness, and
he dies miserably.
§ 239. When this Distemper is less violent, or more judiciously treated,
and the Medicines succeed well, it continues for some Days in the State
described § 237, without growing worse, though without abating. None of
these Symptoms however appear, described § 238; but, on the contrary,
all the Symptoms become milder, the Paroxysms, or Aggravations, are
shorter and less violent, the Head-ach more supportable; the Discharges
by Stool are less frequent, but more at once, and attended with Relief
to the Patient. The Quantity of Urine is very considerable, though it
varies at different Times in Colour and Consistence, as before. The
Patient soon begins to get a little Sleep, and grows more composed and
easy. The Tongue disengages itself from its Filth and Furriness, and
Health gradually, yet daily, advances.
§ 240. This Fever seems to have no critical Time, either for its
Termination in Recovery, or in Death. When it is very violent, or very
badly conducted, it proves sometimes fatal on the ninth Day. Persons
often die of it from the eighteenth to the twentieth; sometimes only
about the fortieth; after having been alternately better and worse.
When it happens but in a light Degree, it is sometimes cured within a
few Days, after the earliest Evacuations. When it is of a very different
Character, some Patients are not out of Danger before the End of six
Weeks, and even still later. Nevertheless it is certain, that these
Fevers, extended to this Length of Duration, often depend in a great
Measure on the Manner of treating them; and that in general their Course
must be determined, some time from the fourteenth to the thirtieth Day.
§ 241. The Treatment of this Species of Fevers is comprized in the
following Method and Medicines.
1, The Patient must be put into a _Regimen_; and notwithstanding he is
far from costive, and sometimes has even a small Purging, he should
receive one Glyster daily. His common Drink should be Lemonade, (which
is made of the Juice of Lemons, Sugar and Water) or the Ptisan Nº. 3.
Instead of Juice of Lemons, Vinegar may be occasionally substituted,
which, with Sugar and Water, makes an agreeable and very wholesome Drink
in these Fevers.
2, If there be an Inflammation also, which may be discovered by the
Strength and the Hardness of the Pulse, and by the Temperament and
Complexion of the Patient; if he is naturally robust, and has heated
himself by any of the Causes described, § 232, he should be bled once,
and even a second Time, if necessary, some Hours after. I must observe
however, that very frequently there is no such Inflammation, and that in
such a Case, Bleeding would be hurtful.
3, When the Patient has drank very plentifully for two Days of these
Liquids, if his Mouth still continues in a very foul State, and he has
violent Reachings to vomit, he must take the Powder Nº. 34, dissolved in
half a [63] Pot of warm Water, a [64] Glass of it being to be drank
every half Quarter of an Hour. But as this Medicine vomits, it must not
be taken, except we are certain the Patient is not under any
Circumstance, which forbids the Use of a Vomit: all which Circumstances
shall be particularly mentioned in the Chapter, respecting the Use of
such Medicines, as are taken by way of Precaution, or Prevention. If the
first Glasses excite a plentiful Vomiting, we must forbear giving
another, and be content with obliging the Patient to drink a
considerable Quantity of warm Water. But if the former Glasses do not
occasion Vomiting, they must be repeated, as already directed until they
do. Those who are afraid of taking this Medicine, which is usually
called, the Emetic, may take that of Nº. 35, also drinking warm Water
plentifully during its Operation; but the former is preferable, as more
prevalent, in dangerous Cases. We must caution our Readers at the same
Time, that wherever there is an Inflammation of any Part, neither of
these Medicines must be given, which might prove a real Poison in such a
Circumstance; and even if the Fever is extremely violent, though there
should be no particular Inflammation, they should not be given.
[63] That is about two Ounces more than a Pint and a half of our
Measure.
[64] About three Ounces.
The Time of giving them is soon after the End of the Paroxysm, when the
Fever is at the lowest. The Medicine Nº. 34 generally purges, after it
ceases to make the Patient vomit: But Nº. 35 is seldom attended with the
same Effect.
When the Operation of the Vomit is entirely over, the Sick should return
to the Use of the Ptisan; and great Care must be taken to prohibit them
from the Use of Flesh Broth, under the Pretext of working off a Purging
with it. The same Method is to be continued on the following Days as on
the first; but as it is of Importance to keep the Body open, he should
take every Morning some of the Ptisan Nº. 32. Such, as this would be too
expensive for, may substitute, in the room of it, a fourth Part of the
Powder Nº. 34 in five or six Glasses of Water, of which they are to take
a Cup every two Hours, beginning early in the Morning. Nevertheless, if
the Fever be very high, Nº. 32 should be preferred to it.
4, After the Operation of the Vomit, if the Fever still continue, if the
Stools are remarkably foetid, and if the Belly is tense and distended as
it were, and the Quantity of Urine is small, a Spoonful of the Potion
Nº. 10 should be given every two Hours, which checks the Putridity and
abates the Fever. Should the Distemper become violent, and very
pressing, it ought to be taken every Hour.
5, Whenever, notwithstanding the giving all these Medicines as directed,
the Fever continues obstinate; the Brain is manifestly disordered; there
is a violent Head-ach, or very great Restlessness, two blistering
Plaisters Nº. 36 must be applied to the inside and fleshy Part of the
Legs, and their Suppuration and Discharge should be continued as long as
possible.
6, If the Fever is extremely violent indeed, there is a Necessity
absolutely to prohibit the Patient from receiving the least Nourishment.
7, When it is thought improper, or unsafe, to give the Vomit, the
Patient should take in the Morning, for two successive Days, three Doses
of the Powder Nº. 24, at the Interval of one Hour between each: This
Medicine produces some bilious Stools, which greatly abate the Fever,
and considerably lessen the Violence of all the other Symptoms of the
Disease. This may be done with Success, when the excessive Height of the
Fever prevents us from giving the Vomit: and we should limit ourselves
to this Medicine, as often as we are uncertain, what ever the
Circumstances of the Disease and the Patient will admit of the Vomiting;
which may thus be dispensed with, in many Cases.
8, When the Distemper has manifestly and considerably declined; the
Paroxysms are more slight; and the Patient continues without any Fever
for several Hours, the daily use of the purging opening Drinks should be
discontinued. The common Ptisans however should be still made use of;
and it will be proper to give every other Day two Doses of the Powder
Nº. 24, which sufficiently obviates every ill Consequence from this
Disease.
9, If the Fever has been clearly off for a long Part of the Day; if the
Tongue appears in a good healthy State; if the Patient has been well
purged; and yet one moderate Paroxysm of the Fever returns every Day, he
should take four Doses of the Powder Nº. 14 between the End of one
Return and the Beginning of the next, and continue this Repetition some
Days. People who cannot easily procure this Medicine, may substitute,
instead of it, the bitter Decoction Nº. 37. four Glasses of which may be
taken at equal Intervals, between the two Paroxysms or Returns of the
Fever.
10, As the Organs of Digestion have been considerably weakened through
the Course of this Fever, there is a Necessity for the Patient's
conducting himself very prudently and regularly long after it, with
Regard both to the Quantity and Quality of his Food. He should also use
due Exercise as soon as his Strength will permit, without which he may
be liable to fall into some chronical and languishing Disorder,
productive of considerable Languor and Weakness. *
[*] As our Jail, Hospital, and Camp Fevers may often be ranged in this
Class, as of the most putrid Kind, and not seldom occasioned by bad
Food, bad Air, unclean, unwholesome Lodging, _&c._ a judicious Use
may certainly be made of a small Quantity of genuine, and not
ungenerous, Wine in such of them, as are not blended with an
inflammatory Cause, or inflammable Constitution, or which do not
greatly result from a bilious Cause; though in these last, where
there is manifest Lowness and Dejection, perhaps a little Rhenish
might be properly interposed between the Lemonade and other Drinks
directed § 241. Doubtless Dr. _Tissot_ was perfectly apprized of
this salutary Use of it in some low Fevers; but the Necessity of
its being regulated by the Presence of a Physician has probably
disposed him rather to omit mentioning it, than to leave the
Allowance of it to the Discretion of a simple Country Patient, or
his ignorant Assistants. _K._
__Chapter XVII.__
_Of malignant Fevers._
__Sect.__ 242.
Those Fevers are termed malignant, in which the Danger is more than the
Symptoms would make us apprehensive of: they have frequently a fatal
Event without appearing so very perilous; on which Account it has been
well said of this Fever, that it is a Dog which bites without barking.
§ 243. The distinguishing _Criterion_ or Mark of malignant Fevers is a
total Loss of the Patient's Strength, immediately on their first Attack.
They arise from a Corruption of the Humours, which is noxious to the
very Source and Principle of Strength, the Impairing or Destruction of
which is the Cause of the Feebleness of the Symptoms; by Reason none of
the Organs are strong enough to exert an Opposition sufficiently
vigorous, to subdue the Cause of the Distemper.
If, for Instance or Illustration, we were to suppose, that when two
Armies were on the Point of engaging, one of them should be nearly
deprived of all their Weapons, the Contest would not appear very
violent, nor attended with great Noise or Tumult, though with a horrible
Massacre. The Spectator, who, from being ignorant of one of the Armies
being disarmed, would not be able to calculate the Carnage of the
Battle, but in Proportion to its Noise and Tumult, must be extremely
deceived in his Conception of it. The Number of the Slain would be
astonishing, which might have been much less (though the Noise and
Clangor of it had been greater) if each Army had been equally provided
for the Combat.
§ 244. The Causes of this Disease are a long Use of animal Food or Flesh
alone, without Pulse, Fruits or Acids; the continued Use of other bad
Provisions, such as Bread made of damaged Corn or Grain, or very stale
Meat. Eight Persons, who dined together on corrupt Fish, were all seized
with a malignant Fever, which killed five of them, notwithstanding the
Endeavours of the most able Physicians. These Fevers are also frequently
the Consequence of a great Dearth or Famine; of too hot and moist an
Air, or an Air, which highly partakes of these two Qualities; so that
they happen to spread most in hot Years, in Places abounding with
Marshes and standing Waters. They are also the Effect of a very close
and stagnant Air, especially if many Persons are crouded together in it,
this being a Cause that particularly tends to corrupt the Air. Tedious
Grief and Vexation also contribute to generate these Fevers.
§ 245. The Symptoms of malignant Fevers are, as I have already observed,
a total and sudden Loss of Strength, without any evident preceding
Cause, sufficient to produce such a Privation of Strength: at the same
Time there is also an utter Dejection of the Mind, which becomes almost
insensible and inattentive to every Thing, and even to the Disease
itself; a sudden Alteration in the Countenance, especially in the Eyes:
some small Shiverings, which are varied throughout the Space of
twenty-four Hours, with little Paroxysms or Vicissitudes of Heat;
sometimes there is a great Head-ach and a Pain in the Loins; at other
Times there is no perceivable Pain in any Part; a kind of Sinkings or
Faintings, immediately from the Invasion of the Disease, which is always
very unpromising; not the least refreshing Sleep; frequently a kind of
half Sleep, or Drowsiness; a light and silent or inward Raving, which
discovers itself in the unusual and astonished Look of the Patient, who
seems profoundly employed in meditating on something, but really thinks
of nothing, or not at all: Some Patients have, however, violent Ravings;
most have a Sensation of Weight or Oppression, and at other Times of a
Binding or Tightness about, or around, the Pit of the Stomach.
The sick Person seems to labour under great Anguish: he has sometimes
slight convulsive Motions and Twitchings in his Face and his Hands, as
well as in his Arms and Legs. His Senses seem torpid, or as it were
benumbed. I have seen many who had lost, to all Appearance, the whole
five, and yet some of them recover. It is not uncommon to meet with
some, who neither see, understand, nor speak. Their Voices change,
become weak, and are sometimes quite lost. Some of them have a fixed
Pain in some Part of the Belly: this arises from a Stuffing or
Obstruction, and often ends in a Gangrene, whence this Symptom is highly
dangerous and perplexing.
The Tongue is sometimes very little altered from its Appearance in
Health; at other Times covered over with a yellowish brown Humour; but
it is more rarely dry in this Fever than in the others; and yet it
sometimes does resemble a Tongue that has been long smoaked.
The Belly is sometimes very soft, and at other Times tense and hard. The
Pulse is weak, sometimes pretty regular, but always more quick than in a
natural State, and at some Times even very quick; and such I have always
found it, when the Belly has been distended.
The Skin is often neither hot, dry, nor moist: it is frequently
overspread with petechial or eruptive Spots (which are little Spots of a
reddish livid Colour) especially on the Neck, about the Shoulders, and
upon the Back. At other Times the Spots are larger and brown, like the
Colour of Wheals from the Strokes of a Stick.
The Urine of the Sick is almost constantly crude, that is of a lighter
Colour than ordinary. I have seen some, which could not be
distinguished, merely by the Eye, from Milk. A black and stinking
Purging sometimes attends this Fever, which is mortal, except the Sick
be evidently relieved by the Discharge.
Some of the Patients are infested with livid Ulcers on the Inside of the
Mouth, and on the Palate. At other Times Abscesses are formed in the
Glands of the Groin, of the Arm-pit, in those between the Ears and the
Jaw; or a Gangrene may appear in some Part, as on the Feet, the Hands,
or the Back. The Strength proves entirely spent, the Brain is wholly
confused: the miserable Patient stretched out on his Back, frequently
expires under Convulsions, an enormous Sweat, and an oppressed Breast
and Respiration. Hæmorrhages also happen sometimes and are mortal, being
almost unexceptionably such in this Fever. There is also in this, as in
all other Fevers, an Aggravation of the Fever in the Evening.
§ 246. The Duration and _Crisis_ of these malignant, as well as those of
putrid Fevers, are very irregular. Sometimes the Sick die on the seventh
or eighth Day, more commonly between the twelfth and the fifteenth, and
not infrequently at the End of five or six Weeks. These different
Durations result from the different Degree and Strength of the Disease.
Some of these Fevers at their first Invasion are very slow; and during a
few of the first Days, the Patient, though very weak, and with a very
different Look and Manner, scarcely thinks himself sick.
The Term or Period of the Cure or the Recovery, is as uncertain as that
of Death in this Distemper. Some are out of Danger at the End of fifteen
Days, and even sooner; others not before the Expiration of several
Weeks.
The Signs which portend a Recovery are, a little more Strength in the
Pulse; a more concocted Urine; less Dejection and Discouragement; a less
confused Brain; an equal kindly Heat; a pretty warm or hot Sweat in a
moderate Quantity, without Inquietude or Anguish; the Revival of the
different Senses that were extinguished, or greatly suspended in the
Progress of the Disease; though the Deafness is not a very threatening
Symptom, if the others amend while it endures.
This Malady commonly leaves the Patient in a very weak Condition; and a
long Interval will ensue between the End of it, and their recovering
their full Strength.
§ 247. It is, in the first place, of greater Importance in this
Distemper than in any other, both for the Benefit of the Patients, and
those who attend them, that the Air should be renewed and purified.
Vinegar should often be evaporated from a hot Tile or Iron in the
Chamber, and one Window kept almost constantly open.
2, The Diet should be light; and the Juice of Sorrel may be mixed with
their Water; the Juice of Lemons may be added to Soups prepared from
different Grains and Pulse; the Patient may eat sharp acid Fruits, such
as tart juicy [65] Cherries, Gooseberries, small black Cherries; and
those who can afford them, may be allowed Lemons, Oranges and
Pomgranates.
[65] The French Word is _Griettes_, which _Beyer_ englishes, _the
Agriot, the red or sour Cherry_; and _Chambaud, the sweeter large
black Cherry or Mazzard_--But as Dr. _Tissot_ was recommending the
Use of Acids, it is more probably the first of these: so that our
Morellas, which make a pleasant Preserve, may be a good Substitute
to them, supposing them not to be the same. Our Berbery Jam, and
Jelly of Red Currants, may be also employed to answer the same
Indication. _K._
3, The Patient's Linen should be changed every two Days.
4, Bleeding is very rarely necessary, or even proper, in this Fever; the
Exceptions to which are very few, and cannot be thoroughly ascertained,
as fit and proper Exceptions to the Omission of Bleeding, without a
Physician, or some other very skilful Person's seeing the Patient.
5, There is often very little Occasion for Glysters, which are sometimes
dangerous in this Fever.
6, The Patient's common Drink should be Barley Water made acid with the
Spirit Nº. 10, at the Rate of one Quarter of an Ounce to at least full
three Pints of the Water, or acidulated agreeably to his Taste. He may
also drink Lemonade.
7, It is necessary to open and evacuate the Bowels, where a great
Quantity of corrupt Humours is generally lodged. The Powder Nº. 35 may
be given for this Purpose, after the Operation of which the Patient
generally finds himself better, at least for some Hours. It is of
Importance not to omit this at the Beginning of the Disease; though if
it has been omitted at first, it were best to give it even later,
provided no particular Inflammation has supervened, and the Patient has
still some Strength. I have given it, and with remarkable Success, on
the twentieth Day.
8, Having by this Medicine expelled a considerable Portion of the bad
Humours, which contribute to feed and keep up the Fever, the Patient
should take every other Day, during the Continuance of the Disease, and
sometimes even every Day, one Dose of the Cream of Tartar and Rhubarb
Nº. 38. This Remedy evacuates the corrupt Humours, prevents the
Corruption of the others; expells the Worms that are very common in
these Fevers, which the Patient sometimes discharges upwards and
downwards; and which frequently conduce to many of the odd and
extraordinary Symptoms, that are observed in malignant Fevers. In short
it strengthens the Bowels, and, without checking the necessary
Evacuations, it moderates the Looseness, when it is hurtful.
9, If the Skin be dry, with a Looseness, and that by checking it, we
design to increase Perspiration, instead of the Rhubarb, the Cream of
Tartar may be blended with the Ipecacuana, Nº. 39, which, being given in
small and frequent Doses, restrains the Purging, and promotes
Perspiration. This Medicine, as the former, is to be taken in the
Morning; two Hours after, the Sick must begin with the Potion Nº. 40,
and repeat it regularly every three Hours; until it be interrupted by
giving one of the Medicines Nº. 38 or 39: After which the Potion is to
be repeated again, as already directed, till the Patient grows
considerably better.
10, If the Strength of the Sick be very considerably depressed, and he
is in great Dejection and Anguish, he should take, with every Draught of
the Potion, the Bolus, or Morsel Nº. 41. If the _Diarrhoea_, the Purging
is violent, there should be added, once or twice a Day to the Bolus, the
Weight of twenty Grains, or the Size of a very small Bean, of
_Diascordium_; or if that is not readily to be got, as much Venice
Treacle.
11, Whenever, notwithstanding all this Assistance, the Patient continues
in a State of Weakness and Insensibility, two large Blisters should be
applied to the fleshy Insides of the Legs, or a large one to the Nape of
the Neck: and sometimes, if there be a great Drowsiness, with a manifest
Embarrassment of the Brain, they may be applied with great Success over
the whole Head. Their Suppuration and Discharge is to be promoted
abundantly; and, if they dry up within a few Days, others are to be
applied, and their Evacuation is to be kept up for a considerable Time.
12, As soon as the Distemper is sufficiently abated, for the Patient to
remain some Hours with very little or no Fever, we must avail ourselves
of this Interval, to give him six, or at least five Doses of the
Medicine Nº. 14, and repeat the same the next Day, which may prevent the
Return of the Fever: [66] after which it may be sufficient to give daily
only two Doses for a few Days.
[66] Observation and Experience have demonstrated the Advantage of the
Bark, to obviate a Gangrene, and prevent the Putrefaction of animal
Substances. We therefore conclude it may be usefully employed in
malignant Fevers, as soon as the previous and necessary Evacuations
shall have taken Place. _E. L._--Provided there be very clear and
regular Remissions at least. _K._
13, When the Sick continue entirely clear of a Fever, or any Return,
they are to be put into the _Regimen_ of Persons in a State of Recovery.
But if his Strength returns very slowly, or not at all; in Order to the
speedier Establishment and Confirmation of it, he may take three Doses a
Day of the _Theriaca Pauperum_, or poor Man's Treacle Nº. 42, the first
of them fasting, and the other twelve Hours after. It were to be wished
indeed, this Medicine was introduced into all the Apothecaries Shops, as
an excellent Stomachic, in which Respect it is much preferable to Venice
Treacle, which is an absurd Composition, dear and often dangerous. It is
true it does not dispose the Patients to Sleep; but when we would
procure them Sleep, there are better Medicines than the Treacle to
answer that Purpose. Such as may not think the Expence of the Medicine
Nº. 14, too much, may take three Doses of it daily for some Weeks,
instead of the Medicine Nº. 42, already directed.
§ 248. It is necessary to eradicate a Prejudice that prevails among
Country People, with Regard to the Treatment of these Fevers; not only
because it is false and ridiculous, but even dangerous too. They imagine
that the Application of Animals can draw out the Poison of the Disease;
in Consequence of which they apply Poultry, or Pigeons, Cats or sucking
Pigs to the Feet, or upon the Head of the Patient, having first split
the living Animals open. Some Hours after they remove their strange
Applications, corrupted, and stinking very offensively; and then ascribe
such Corruption and horrid Stink to the Poison they suppose their
Application to be charged with; and which they suppose to be the Cause
of this Fever. But in this supposed Extraction of Poison, they are
grosly mistaken, since the Flesh does not stink in Consequence of any
such Extraction, but from its being corrupted through Moisture and Heat:
and they contract no other Smell but what they would have got, if they
had been put in any other Place, as well as on the Patient's Body, that
was equally hot and moist. Very far from drawing out the Poison, they
augment the Corruption of the Disease; and it would be sufficient to
communicate it to a sound Person, if he was to suffer many of these
animal Bodies, thus absurdly and uselessly butchered, to be applied to
various Parts of his Body in Bed; and to lie still a long Time with
their putrified Carcases fastened about him, and corrupting whatever Air
he breathed there.
With the same Intention they fasten a living Sheep to the Bed's-foot for
several Hours; which, though not equally dangerous, is in some Measure
hurtful, since the more Animals there are in a Chamber, the Air of it is
proportionably corrupted, or altered at least from its natural
Simplicity, by their Respiration and Exhalations: but admitting this to
be less pernicious, it is equally absurd. It is certain indeed, the
Animals who are kept very near the sick Person breathe in the poisonous,
or noxious Vapours which exhale from his Body, and may be incommoded
with them, as well as his Attendants: But it is ridiculous to suppose
their being kept near the Sick causes such Poison to come out of their
Bodies. On the very contrary, in contributing still further to the
Corruption of the Air, they increase the Disease. They draw a false
Consequence, and no Wonder, from a false Principle; saying, if the Sheep
dies, the Sick will recover. Now, most frequently the Sheep does not
die; notwithstanding which the Sick sometimes recover; and sometimes
they both die.
§ 249. The Cause of Malignant Fevers is, not infrequently, combined with
other Diseases, whose Danger it extremely increases. It is blended for
Instance, with the Poison of the Small-Pocks, or of the Measles. This
may be known by the Union of those Symptoms, which carry the Marks of
Malignity, with the Symptoms of the other Diseases. Such combined Cases
are extremely dangerous; they demand the utmost Attention of the
Physician; nor is it possible to prescribe their exact Treatment here;
since it consists in general of a Mixture of the Treatment of each
Disease; though the Malignity commonly demands the greatest Attention.
__Chapter XVIII.__
_Of intermitting Fevers._
__Sect.__ 250.
Intermitting Fevers, commonly called here, Fevers and Agues, are those,
which after an Invasion and Continuance for some Hours, abate very
perceivably, as well as all the Symptoms attending them, and then
entirely cease; nevertheless, not without some periodical or stated
Return of them.
They were very frequent with us some Years since; and indeed might even
be called epidemical: but for the five or six last Years, they have been
much less frequent throughout the greater Part of _Swisserland_:
notwithstanding they still continue in no small Number in all Places,
where the Inhabitants breathe the Air that prevails in all the marshy
Borders of the _Rhone_, and in some other Situations that are exposed to
much the same humid Air and Exhalations.
§ 251. There are several Kinds of intermitting Fevers, which take their
different Names from the Interval or different Space of Time, in which
the Fits return.
If the Paroxysm or Fit returns every Day, it is either a true Quotidian,
or a double Tertian Fever: The first of these may be distinguished from
the last by this Circumstance, that in the Quotidian, or one Day Fever,
the Fits are long; and correspond pretty regularly to each other in
Degree and Duration. This however is less frequent in _Swisserland_. In
the double Tertian, the Fits are shorter, and one is alternately light,
and the other more severe.
In the simple Tertian, or third Day's Fever, the Fits return every other
Day; so that three Days include one Paroxysm, and the Return of another.
In a Quartan, the Fit returns every fourth Day, including the Day of the
first and that of the second Attack: so that the Patient enjoys two
clear Days between the two sick ones.
The other kinds of Intermittents are much rarer. I have seen however one
true Quintan, or fifth Day Ague, the Patient having three clear Days
between two Fits; and one regularly weekly Ague, as it may be called,
the Visitation of every Return happening every Sunday.
§ 252. The first Attack of an intermittent Fever often happens, when the
Patient thought himself in perfect Health. Sometimes however it is
preceded by a Sensation of Cold and a kind of Numbness, which continue
some Days before the manifest Invasion of the Fit. It begins with
frequent Yawnings, a Lassitude, or Sensation of Weariness, with a
general Weakness, with Coldness, Shivering and Shaking: There is also a
Paleness of the extreme Parts of the Body, attended with Loathings, and
sometimes an actual Vomiting. The Pulse is quick, weak, and small, and
there is a considerable Degree of Thirst.
At the End of an Hour or two, and but seldom so long as three or four
Hours, a Heat succeeds, which increases insensibly, and becomes violent
at its Height. At this Period the whole Body grows red, the Anxiety of
the Patient abates; the Pulse is very strong and large, and his Thirst
proves excessive. He complains of a violent Head-ach, and of a Pain in
all his Limbs, but of a different sort of Pain from that he was sensible
of, while his Coldness continued. Finally, having endured this hot
State, four, five or six Hours, he falls into a general Sweat for a few
more: upon which all the Symptoms already mentioned abate, and sometimes
Sleep supervenes.
At the Conclusion of this Nap the Patient often wakes without any
sensible Fever; complaining only of Lassitude and Weakness. Sometimes
his Pulse returns entirely to its natural State between the two Fits;
though it often continues a little quicker than in perfect Health; and
does not recover its first Distinctness and Slowness, till some Days
after the last Fit.
One Symptom, which most particularly characterises these several Species
of intermitting Fevers, is the Quality of the Urines which the Sick pass
after the Fit. They are of a reddish Colour, and let fall a Sediment, or
Settling, which exactly resembles Brick-dust. They are sometimes frothy
too, and a Pellicle, or thin filmy Skin, appears on the Top, and adheres
to the Sides of the Glass that contains them.
§ 253. The Duration of each Fit is of no fixed Time or Extent, being
various according to the particular sort of Intermittents, and through
many other Circumstances. Sometimes they return precisely at the very
same Hour; at other Times they come one, two, or three Hours sooner, and
in other Instances as much later than the former. It has been imagined
that those Fevers, whose Paroxysms returned sooner than usual, were
sooner finally terminated: but there seems to be no general Rule in this
Case.
§ 254. Intermitting Fevers are distinguished into those of Spring and
Autumn. The former generally prevail from February to June: the latter
are those which reign from July to January. Their essential Nature and
Characters are the very same, as they are not different Distempers;
though the various Circumstances attending them deserve our
Consideration. These Circumstances depend on the Season itself, and the
Constitution of the Patients, during such Seasons. The Spring
Intermittents are sometimes blended with an inflammatory Disposition, as
that is the Disposition of Bodies in that Season; but as the Weather
then advances daily into an improving State, the Spring Fevers are
commonly of a shorter Duration. The autumnal Fevers are frequently
combined and aggravated with a Principle of Putrefaction; and as the Air
of that Season rather degenerates, they are more tedious and obstinate.
§ 255. The autumnal Fevers seldom begin quite so early as July, but much
oftner in August: and the Duration to which they are often extended, has
increased the Terror which the People entertain of Fevers that begin in
that Month. But that Prejudice which ascribes their Danger to the
Influence of August, is a very absurd Error; since it is better they
should set in then than in the following Months; because they are
obstinate in Proportion to the Tardiness, the Slowness of their
Approach. They sometimes appear at first considerably in the Form of
putrid Fevers, not assuming that of Intermittents till some Days after
their Appearance: but very happily there is little or no Danger in
mistaking them for putrid Fevers, or in treating them like such. The
Brick-coloured Sediment, and particularly the Pellicle or Film on the
Surface of the Urine, are very common in autumnal Intermittents, and are
often wanting in the Urine of putrid Fevers. In these latter, it is
generally less high coloured, and leaning rather to a yellow, a kind of
Cloudiness is suspended in the Middle of it. These also deposite a white
Sediment, which affords no bad Prognostic.
§ 256. Generally speaking, intermitting Fevers are not mortal; often
terminating in Health of their own Accord (without the Use of any
Medicine) after some Fits. In this last Respect Intermittents in the
Spring differ considerably from those in the Fall, which continue a long
Time, and sometimes even until Spring, if they are not removed by Art,
or if they have been improperly treated.
Quartan Fevers are always more obstinate and inveterate than Tertians;
the former sometimes persevering in certain Constitutions for whole
Years. When these Sorts of Fevers occur in boggy marshy Countries, they
are not only very chronical or tedious, but Persons infested with them
are liable to frequent Relapses.
§ 257. A few Fits of an Intermittent are not very injurious, and it
happens sometimes, that they are attended with a favourable Alteration
of the Habit in Point of Health; by their exterminating the Cause or
Principle of some languid and tedious Disorder; though it is erroneous
to consider them as salutary. If they prove tedious and obstinate, and
the Fits are long and violent, they weaken the whole Body, impairing all
its Functions, and particularly the Digestions: They make the Humours
sharp and unbalmy, and introduce several other Maladies, such as the
Jaundice, Dropsy, Asthma and slow wasting Fevers. Nay sometimes old
Persons, and those who are very weak, expire in the Fit; though such an
Event never happens but in the cold Fit.
§ 258. Very happily Nature has afforded us a Medicine, that infallibly
cures these Fevers: this is the _Kinkina_, or Jesuits Bark; and as we
are possessed of this certain Remedy, the only remaining Difficulty is
to discover, if there be not some other Disease combined with these
Fevers, which Disease might be aggravated by the Bark. Should any such
exist, it must be removed by Medicines adapted to it, before the Bark is
given. [67]
[67] This admirable Medicine was unknown in Europe, till about one
hundred and twenty Years past; we are obliged to the Spaniards for
it, who found it in the Province of Quito in Peru; the Countess of
Chinchon being the first European who used it in America, whence it
was brought to Spain, under the Name of the Countesses Powder. The
Jesuits having soon dispensed and distributed it abroad, it became
still more publick by the Name of the Jesuits Powder: and since it
has been known by that of _Kinkina_ or the Peruvian Bark. It met
with great Opposition at first; some deeming it a Poison, while
others considered it as a divine Remedy: so that the Prejudices of
many being heightened by their Animosity, it was nearly a full
Century, before its true Virtue and its Use were agreed to: and
about twenty Years since the most unfavourable Prejudices against
it pretty generally subsided. The Insufficience of other Medicines
in several Cases; its great Efficaciousness; and the many and
surprizing Cures which it did, and daily does effect; the Number of
Distempers; the different kinds of Fevers, in which it proves the
sovereign Remedy; its Effects in the most difficult chirurgical
Cases; the Comfort, the Strength and Sprits it gives those who need
and take it, have at length opened every Persons Eyes; so that it
has almost unanimously obtained the first Reputation, among the
most efficacious Medicines. The World is no longer amused with
Apprehensions of its injuring the Stomach; of its fixing, or
_shutting up_ the Fever (as the Phrase has been) without curing it;
that it shuts up the Wolf in the Sheepfold; that it throws those
who take it into the Scurvy, the Asthma, the Dropsy, the Jaundice.
On the contrary they are persuaded it prevents there very Diseases;
and, that if it is ever hurtful, it is only when it is either
adulterated, as most great Remedies have been; or has been wrongly
prescribed, or improperly taken: or lastly when it meets with some
latent, some unknown Particularities in a Constitution, which
Physicians term an _Idiosyncrasy_, and which prevent or pervert its
very general Effects. _Tissot._
§ 259. In the vernal, or Spring-Fevers, if the Fits are not very severe;
if the Patient is evidently well in their Intervals; if his Appetite,
his Strength, and his Sleep continue as in Health, no Medicine should be
given, nor any other Method be taken, but that of putting the Person,
under such a gentle Intermittent, upon the Regimen directed for Persons
in a State of Recovery. This is such a Regimen as pretty generally
agrees with all the Subjects of these Fevers: for if they should be
reduced to the Regimen proper in acute Diseases, they would be weakened
to no Purpose, and perhaps be the worse for it. But at the same Time if
we were not to retrench from the Quantity, nor somewhat to vary the
Quality of their usual Food in a State of Health; as there is not the
least Digestion made in the Stomach, during the whole Term of the Fit;
and as the Stomach is always weakened a little by the Disease, crude and
indigested Humours would be produced, which might afford a Fuel to the
Disease. Not the least solid Food should be allowed, for at least two
Hours before the usual Approach of the Fit.
§ 260. If the Fever extends beyond the sixth, or the seventh Fit; and
the Patient seems to have no Occasion for a Purge; which may be learned
by attending to the Chapter, which treats of Remedies to be taken by Way
of Precaution; [68] he may take the Bark, that is the Powder Nº. 14. If
it is a Quotidian, a daily Fever, or a double Tertian, six Doses,
containing three Quarters of an Ounce, should be taken between the two
Fits; and as these Intermissions commonly consist of but ten or twelve,
or at the most of fourteen or fifteen Hours, there should be an Interval
of only one Hour and a half between each Dose. During this Interval the
Sick may take two of his usual Refreshments or Suppings.
[68] It happens very seldom that intermitting Fevers require [69] no
Purge towards their Cure, especially in Places, which are disposed
to generate Putridity. There is always some material Cause
essential to these Fevers, of which Nature disembarrasses herself
more easily by Stools, than by any other Discharge: And as there is
not the least Danger to be apprehended from a gentle Purge, such at
those of Nº. 11 or 23, we think it would be prudent always to
premise a Dose or two of either to the Bark. _E. L._
[69] Yet I have known many in whom no Purge was necessary, and have seen
some rendered more obstinate and chronical by erroneous Purging.
But a Vomit is very generally necessary before the Bark is given.
_K._
When the Fever is a Tertian, an Ounce should be given between the two
Fits: which makes eight Doses, one of which is to be taken every three
Hours.
In a Quartan I direct one Ounce and a half, to be taken in the same
Manner. It is meer trifling to attempt preventing the Returns with
smaller Doses. The frequent Failures of the Bark are owing to over small
Doses. On such Occasions the Medicine is cried down, and censured as
useless, when the Disappointment is solely the Fault of those who do not
employ it properly. The last Dose is to be given two Hours before the
usual Return of the Fit.
The Doses, just mentioned, frequently prevent the Return of the Fit; but
whether it returns or not, after the Time of its usual Duration is past,
repeat the same Quantity, in the same Number of Doses, and Intervals,
which certainly keeps off another. For six Days following, half the same
Quantity must be continued, in the Intervals that would have occurred
between the Fits, if they had returned: and during all this Time the
Patient should inure himself to as much Exercise, as he can well bear.
§ 261. Should the Fits be very strong, the Pain of the Head violent, the
Visage red, the Pulse full and hard; if there is any Cough; if, even
after the Fit is over, the Pulse still is perceivably hard; if the Urine
is inflamed, hot and high-coloured, and the Tongue very dry, the Patient
must be bled, and drink plentifully of Barley Water Nº. 3. These two
Remedies generally bring the Patient into the State described § 259: in
which State he may take on a Day, when the Fever is entirely off, three
or four Doses of the Powder Nº. 24, and then leave the Fever to pursue
its own Course for the Space of a few Fits. But should it not then
terminate of itself, the Bark must be recurred to.
If the Patient, even in the Interval of the Returns, has a foetid,
furred Mouth, a Loathing, Pains in the Loins, or in the Knees, much
Anxiety, and bad Nights, he should be purged with the Powder Nº. 21 or
the Potion Nº. 23, before he takes the Bark.
§ 262. If Fevers in Autumn appear to be of the continual kind, and very
like putrid Fevers, the Patients should drink abundantly of Barley
Water; and if at the Expiration of two or three Days, there still
appears to be a Load or Oppression at the Stomach, the Powder Nº. 34 or
that of 35 is to be given (but see § 241): and if, after the Operation
of this, the Signs of Putridity continue, the Body is to be opened with
repeated Doses of the Powder Nº. 24; or, where the Patients are very
robust, with Nº. 21; and when the Fever becomes quite regular, with
distinct _Remissions_ at least, the Bark is to be given as directed §
260.
But as autumnal Fevers are more obstinate; after having discontinued the
Bark for eight Days; and notwithstanding there has been no Return of the
Fever, it is proper to resume the Bark, and to give three Doses of it
daily for the succeeding eight Days, more especially if it was a
Quartan; in which Species I have ordered it to be repeated, every other
eight Days, for six Times.
Many People may find it difficult to comply with this Method of Cure,
which is unavoidably expensive, through the Price of the Bark. I thought
however this ought not to prevent me from averring it to be the only
certain one; since nothing can be an equivalent _Succedaneum_ or
Substitute to this Remedy, which is the only sure and safe one in all
these Cases. The World had long been prepossessed with Prejudices to the
contrary: it was supposed to be hurtful to the Stomach; to prevent which
it has been usual to make the Sick eat something an Hour after it.
Nevertheless, very far from injuring the Stomach, it is the best
Medicine in the Universe to strengthen it; and it is a pernicious
Custom, when a Patient is obliged to take it often, to eat an Hour after
it. It had also been imagined to cause Obstructions, and that it
subjected Patients to a Dropsy: but at present we are convinced, it is
the obstinate and inveterate Duration of the Intermittent, that causes
Obstructions, and paves the Way to a Dropsy. The Bark, in Consequence of
its speedily curing the Fever, does not only prevent the former Disease;
but when it continues, through an injudicious Omission of the Bark, a
proper Use of it is serviceable in the Dropsy. In a Word, if there is
any other Malady combined with the Fever, sometimes that indeed prevents
the Success of the Bark, yet without rendering it hurtful. But whenever
the intermitting Fever is simple and uncombined, it ever has, and ever
will render the Patient all possible Service. In another Place I shall
mention such Means and Methods as may in some Degree, though but
imperfectly, be substituted instead of it.
After the Patient has begun with the Bark, he must take no purging
Medicine, as that Evacuation would, with the greatest Probability,
occasion a Return of the Fever.
§ 263. Bleeding is never, or extremely seldom indeed necessary in a
Quartan Ague, which occurs in the Fall oftner than in the Spring; and
with the Symptoms of Putridity rather than of Inflammation.
§ 264. The Patient ought, two Hours before the Invasion of the Fit, to
drink a small Glass of warm Elder Flower Tea, sweetened with Honey,
every Quarter of an Hour, and to walk about moderately; this disposes
him to a very gentle Sweat, and thence renders the ensuing Coldness and
the whole Fit milder. He is to continue the same Drink throughout the
Duration of the cold Fit; and when the hot one approaches, he may either
continue the same, or substitute that of Nº. 2, which is more cooling.
It is not necessary however, in this State, to drink it warm, it is
sufficient that it be not over cold. When the Sweat, at the Termination
of the hot Fit, is concluded, the Patient should be well wiped and
dried, and may get up. If the Fit was very long, he may be allowed a
little Gruel, or some other such Nourishment during the Sweat.
§ 265. Sometimes the first, and a few successive Doses of the Bark purge
the Patient. This is no otherwise an ill Consequence, than by its
retarding the Cure; since, when it purges, it does not commonly prevent
the Return of the Fever; so that these Doses may be considered as to no
Purpose, and others should be repeated, which, ceasing to purge, do
prevent it. Should the Looseness notwithstanding continue, the Bark must
be discontinued for one entire Day, in order to give the Patient half a
Quarter of an Ounce of Rhubarb: after which the Bark is to be resumed
again, and if the Looseness still perseveres, fifteen Grains of Venice
Treacle should be added to each Dose, but not otherwise. All other
Medicines which are superadded, very generally serve only to increase
the Bulk of the Dose, while they lessen its Virtue.
§ 266. Before our thorough Experience of the Bark, other bitter
Medicines were used for the same Purpose: these indeed were not
destitute of Virtue in such Cases, though they were considerably less
available than the Bark. Under Nº. 43, some valuable Prescriptions of
that kind may be seen, whose Efficacy I have often experienced: though
at other Times I have been obliged to leave them off, and recur to the
Bark more successfully. Filings of Iron, which enter into the third
Prescription, are an excellent Febrifuge in particular Cases and
Circumstances. In the Middle of the Winter 1753, I cured a Patient of a
Quartan Ague with it, who would not be prevailed on to take the Bark. It
must be confessed he was perfectly regular in observing the _Regimen_
directed for him; and that, during the most rigid Severity of the
Winter, he got every Day on Horseback, and took such a Degree of other
Exercise in the open Air, as disposed him to perspire abundantly.
§ 267. Another very practicable easy Method, of which I have often
availed my Patients, under tertian Fevers (but which succeeded with me
only twice in Quartans) was to procure the Sufferer a very plentiful
Sweat, at the very Time when the Fit was to return, in its usual Course.
To effect this he is to drink, three or four Hours before it is
expected, an Infusion of Elder Flowers sweetened with Honey, which I
have already recommended § 264; and one Hour before the usual Invasion
of the Shivering, he is to go into Bed, and take, as hot as he can drink
it, the Prescription Nº. 44.
I have also cured some Tertians and even Quartans, in 1751 and 1752, by
giving them, every four Hours between the Fits, the Powder Nº. 45. But I
must acknowledge that, besides its having often failed me, and its never
succeeding so speedily as the Bark, I have found it weaken some
Patients; it disorders, or disagrees with, their Stomachs: and in two
Cases, where it had removed the Fever, I was obliged to call in the Bark
for a thorough Establishment of the Patient's Health. Nevertheless, as
these Medicines are very cheap and attainable, and often do succeed, I
thought I could not properly omit them.
§ 268. A Multitude of other Remedies are cried up for the Cure of
Fevers: though none of them are equally efficacious with those I have
directed: and as many of them are even dangerous, it is prudent to
abstain from them. Some Years since certain Powders were sold here,
under the Name of the _Berlin_ Powders; these are nothing but the Bark
masqued or disguised (which has sometimes been publickly discovered) and
have always been sold very dear: though the Bark well chosen, and
freshly powdered when wanted, is greatly preferable.
§ 269. I have often known Peasants, who had laboured for several Months
under intermitting Fevers; having made Use of many bad Medicines and
Mixtures for them, and observed no Manner of Regimen. Such I have
happily treated by giving them the Remedies Nº. 34, or 35; and
afterwards, for some Days, that of Nº. 38; at the End of which Time, I
have ordered them the Bark (See § 260) or other Febrifuges, as at § 266,
267; and then finally ordered them for some Days, to take Morsels of the
poor Man's Treacle (See § 247, _Art._ 13) to strengthen and confirm
their Digestions, which I have found very weak and irregular.
§ 270. Some Intermittents are distinguished as pernicious or malignant,
from every Fit's being attended with the most violent Symptoms. The
Pulse is small and irregular, the Patient exceedingly dejected, and
frequently swooning; afflicted with inexpressible Anguish, Convulsions,
a deep Drowsiness, and continual Efforts to go to Stool, or make Urine,
but ineffectually. This Disease is highly pressing and dangerous; the
Patient may die in the third Fit, and rarely survives the sixth, if he
is not very judiciously treated. Not a Moment should be lost, and there
is no other Step to be taken, but that of giving the Bark continually,
as directed § 260, to prevent the succeeding Fits. These worst Kinds of
Intermittents are often combined with a great Load of putrid Humours in
the first Passages: and as often as such an aggravating Combination is
very evident, we should immediately after the End of one Fit, give a
Dose of Ipecacuana Nº. 35, and, when its Operation is finished, give the
Bark. But I chuse to enter into very few Details on this Species of
Intermittents, both as they occur but seldom, and as the Treatment of
them is too difficult and important, to be submitted to the Conduct of
any one but a Physician. My Intention has only been to represent them
sufficiently, that they may be so distinguished when they do occur, as
to apprize the People of their great Danger.
§ 271. The same Cause which produces these intermitting Fevers,
frequently also occasions Disorders, which return periodically at the
same Hour, without Shivering, without Heat, and often without any
Quickness of the Pulse. Such Disorders generally preserve the
Intermissons of quotidian or tertian Fevers, but much seldomer those of
Quartans. I have seen violent Vomittings, and Reachings to vomit, with
inexpressible Anxiety; the severest Oppressions, the most racking
Cholics; dreadful Palpitations and excessive Tooth-achs: Pains in the
Head, and very often an unaccountable Pain over one Eye, the Eyelid,
Eyebrow and Temple, on the same Side of the Face; with a Redness of that
Eye, and a continual, involuntary trickling of Tears. I have also seen
such a prodigious Swelling of the affected Part, that the Eye projected,
or stood out, above an Inch from the Head, covered by the Eyelid, which
was also extremely inflated or puffed up. All these Maladies begin
precisely at a certain Hour; last about the usual Time of a Fit; and
terminating without any sensible Evacuation, return exactly at the same
Hour, the next Day, or the next but one.
There is but one known Medicine that can effectually oppose this Sort,
which is the Bark, given as directed § 260. Nothing affords Relief in
the Fit, and no other Medicine ever suspends or puts it off. But I have
cured some of these Disorders with the Bark, and especially those
affecting the Eyes, which happen oftner than the other Symptoms, after
their Duration for many Weeks, and after the ineffectual Use of
Bleeding, Purging, Baths, Waters, Blisters, and a great Number of other
Medicines. If a sufficient Dose of it be given, the next Fit is very
mild; the second is prevented; and I never saw a Relapse in these Cases,
which sometimes happens after the Fits of common Intermittents seemed
cured.
§ 272. In Situations where the Constitution of the Air renders these
Fevers very common, the Inhabitants should frequently burn in their
Rooms, at least in their lodging Rooms, some aromatic Wood or Herbs.
They should daily chew some Juniper Berries, and drink a fermented
Infusion of them. These two Remedies are very effectual to fortify the
weakest Stomachs, to prevent Obstructions, and to promote Perspiration.
And as these are the Causes which prolong these Fevers the most
obstinately; nothing is a more certain Preservation from them than these
cheap and obvious Assistances. [70]
[70] I have seen several Cases in very marshy maritime Countries, with
little good drinking Water, and far South of _Swisserland_, where
intermitting Fevers, with Agues at different Intervals, are
annually endemic, very popular, and often so obstinate as to return
repeatedly, whenever the weekly precautionary Doses of the Bark
have been omitted (through the Patient's nauseating the frequent
Swallowing of it) so that the Disease has sometimes been extended
beyond the Term of a full Year, and even far into a second,
including the temporary Removals of it by the Bark. Nevertheless,
in some such obstinate Intermittents, and particularly Quartans
there, wherein the Bark alone has had but a short and imperfect
Effect, I have known the following Composition, after a good Vomit,
attended with speedy and final Success, _viz._ Take of fresh
Sassafras Bark, of Virginia Snake-root, of Roch-Allom, of Nutmeg,
of diaphoretic Antimony, and of Salt of Wormwood of each one
Drachm. To these well rubbed together into fine Powder, add the
Weight of the whole, of the best and freshest Bark; then drop in
three Drops of the chemical Oil of Mint, and with Syrup of Cloves
make it into the Consistence of an Electuary or Bolus, for 12 Doses
for a grown Person, to be taken at the Distance of three or four
Hours from each other, while the Patient is awake, according to the
longer or shorter Intermission of the Fever.
I have also known, particularly in obstinate autumnal Agues there,
an Infusion of two Ounces of the best Bark in fine Powder, or two
Ounces and a half in gross Powder, in a Quart of the best Brandy,
for three or four Days (a small Wine Glass to be taken by grown
Persons at the Distance of from four to six Hours) effectually and
speedily terminate such intermittent Agues, as had given but little
Way to the Bark in Substance. This was certainly more suitable for
those who were not of a light delicate Habit and Temperament, and
who had not been remarkable for their Abstinence from strong
Liquors: the inebriating Force of the Brandy being remarkably
lessened, by the Addition and long Infusion of the Bark. These
Facts which I saw, are the less to be wondered at, as in such
inveterate, but perfectly clear and distinct Intermittents, both
the State of the Fluids and Solids seem very opposite to their
State in an acutely inflammatory Disease. _K._
__Chapter XIX.__
_Of the Erisipelas, and the Bites of Animals._
__Sect.__ 273.
The Erisipelas, commonly called in English, St. Anthony's Fire, and in
Swisserland _the Violet_, is sometimes but a very slight Indisposition
which appears on the Skin, without the Person's being sensible of any
other Disorder; and it most commonly breaks out either in the Face, or
on the Legs. The Skin becomes tense, or stiff, rough and red; but this
Redness disappears on pressing the Spot with a Finger, and returns on
removing it. The Patient feels in the Part affected a burning Heat,
which makes him uneasy, and sometimes hinders him from sleeping. The
Disorder increases for the Space of two or three Days; continues at its
Height one or two, and then abates. Soon after this, that Part of the
Skin that was affected, falls off in pretty large Scales, and the
Disorder entirely terminates.
§ 274. But sometimes this Malady is considerably more severe, beginning
with a violent Shivering, which is succeeded by a burning Heat, a
vehement Head-ach, a Sickness at Heart, as it is commonly termed, or
Reachings to vomit, which continue till the _Erisipelas_ appears, which
sometimes does not happen before the second, or even the third Day. The
Fever then abates, and the Sickness goes off, though frequently a less
Degree of Fever, and of Sickness or Loathing remain, during the whole
Time, in which the Disease is in its increasing State. When the Eruption
and Inflammation happen in the Face, the Head-ach continues, until the
Decline, or going off, of the Disease. The Eyelid swells, the Eye is
closed, and the Patient has not the least Ease or Tranquillity. It often
passes from one Cheek to the other, and extends successively over the
Forehead, the Neck, and the Nape of the Neck; under which Circumstance
the Disease is of a more than ordinary Duration. Sometimes also when it
exists in a very high Degree, the Fever continues, the Brain is
obstructed and oppressed; the Patient raves; his Case becomes extremely
dangerous; whence sometimes, if he is not very judiciously assisted, he
dies, especially if of an advanced Age. A violent _Erisipelas_ on the
Neck brings on a Quinsey, which may prove very grievous, or even fatal.
When it attacks the Leg, the whole Leg swells up; and the Heat and
Irritation from it is extended up to the Thigh.
Whenever this Tumour is considerable, the Part it seizes is covered with
small Pustules filled with a clear watery Humour, resembling those which
appear after a Burn, and drying afterwards and scaling off. I have
sometimes observed, especially when this Distemper affected the Face,
that the Humour, which issued from these little Pustules, was extremely
thick or glewy, and formed a thick Scurf, or Scabs nearly resembling
those of sucking Children: they have continued fast on the Face many
Days before they fell off.
When the Disease may be termed violent, it sometimes continues eight,
ten, twelve Days at the same Height; and is at last terminated by a very
plentiful Sweat, that may sometimes be predicted by a Restlessness
attended with Shiverings, and a little Anxiety of some Hours Duration.
Throughout the Progress of the Disease, the whole Skin is very dry, and
even the Inside of the Mouth.
§ 275. An _Erisipelas_ rarely comes to Suppuration, and when it does,
the Suppuration is always unkindly, and much disposed to degenerate into
an Ulcer. Sometimes a malignant kind of _Erisipelas_ is epidemical,
seizing a great Number of Persons, and frequently terminating in
Gangrenes.
§ 276. This Distemper often shifts its Situation; it sometimes retires
suddenly; but the Patient is uneasy and disordered; he has a Propensity
to vomit, with a sensible Anxiety and Heat: the _Erisipelas_ appears
again in a different Part, and he feels himself quite relieved from the
preceding Symptoms. But if instead of re-appearing on some other Part of
the Surface, the Humour is thrown upon the Brain, or the Breast, he dies
within a few Hours; and these fatal Changes and Translations sometimes
occur, without the least Reason or Colour for ascribing them either to
any Error of the Patient, or of his Physician.
If the Humour has been transferred to the Brain, the Patient immediately
becomes delirious, with a highly flushed Visage, and very quick
sparkling Eyes: very soon after he proves downright frantic, and goes
off in a Lethargy.
If the Lungs are attacked, the Oppression, Anxiety, and Heat are
inexpressible.
§ 277. There are some Constitutions subject to a very frequent, and, as
it were, to an habitual _Erisipelas_. If it often affects the Face, it
is generally repeated on the same Side of it, and that Eye is, at
length, considerably weakened by it.
§ 278. This Distemper results from two Causes; the one, an acrid sharp
Humour, which is commonly bilious, diffused through the Mass of Blood;
the other consists in that Humour's not being sufficiently discharged by
Perspiration.
§ 279. When this Disease is of a gentle Nature, such as it is described
§ 273, it will be sufficient to keep up a very free Perspiration, but
without heating the Patient; and the best Method to answer this Purpose
is putting him upon the Regimen so often already referred to, with a
plentiful Use of Nitre in Elder Tea. Flesh, Eggs and Wine are prohibited
of Course, allowing the Patient a little Pulse and ripe Fruits. He
should drink Elder Flower Tea abundantly, and take half a Drachm of
Nitre every three Hours; or, which amounts to the same Thing, let three
Drachms of Nitre be dissolved in as much Infusion of Elder Flowers, as
he can drink in twenty-four Hours. Nitre may be given too in a Bolus
with Conserve of Elder-berries. These Medicines keep the Body open, and
increase Urine and Perspiration.
§ 280. When the Distemper prevails in a severer Degree, if the Fever is
very high, and the Pulse, at the same Time, strong or hard, it may be
necessary to bleed once: but this should never be permitted in a large
Quantity at a Time in this Disease; it being more adviseable, if a
sufficient Quantity has not been taken at once, to bleed a second Time,
and even a third, if the Fever should prove very high, as it often does,
and that sometimes in so violent a Degree, as to render it extremely
dangerous: and in some such Cases Nature has sometimes saved the
Patients by effecting a large Hemorrhage, or Bleeding, to the Quantity
of four or five Pounds. This Conduct a very intelligent and prudent
Physician may presume to imitate; but I dare not advise the same Conduct
to that Class of Physicians, for which only I write: it being safer for
them to use repeated Bleedings in such Cases, than one in an excessive
Quantity. These erisipelatous Fevers are often excited by a Person's
being too long over-heated.
After Bleeding the Patient is to be restrained to his Regimen; Glysters
are to be given until there is a sensible Abatement of the Fever; and he
should drink the Barley Water freely, Nº. 3.
When the Fever is somewhat diminished, either the Purge Nº. 23 should be
given, or a few Doses every Morning of Cream of Tartar Nº. 24. Purging
is absolutely necessary to carry off the stagnant Bile, which is
generally the first Cause of the violent Degrees of this Distemper. It
may sometimes be really necessary too, if the Disease is very tedious;
if the Loathing and Sickness at Stomach is obstinate; the Mouth
ill-favoured, and the Tongue foul, (provided there be only a slight
Fever, and no Fear of an Inflammation) to give the Medicines Nº. 34 or
35, which, in Consequence of the Agitation, the Shaking they occasion,
remove these Impediments still better than Purges.
It commonly happens that this Disease is more favourable after these
Evacuations; nevertheless it is sometimes necessary to repeat them the
next Day, or the next but one; especially if the Malady affects the
Head. Purging is the true Evacuation for curing it, whenever it attacks
this Part. By carrying off the Cause of the Disease, they diminish it,
and prevent its worst Effects.
Whenever, even after these Evacuations, the Fever still continues to be
very severe, the Patient should take every two Hours, or occasionally,
oftner, two Spoonfuls of the Prescription Nº. 10, added to a Glass of
Ptisan.
It will be very useful, when this Disease is seated in the Head or Face,
to bathe the Legs frequently in warm Water; and where it is violent
there, also to apply Sinapisms to the Soles of the Feet. I have seen
this Application, in about four Hours attract, or draw down an
_Erisipelas_ to the Legs, which had spread over the Nose, and both the
Eyes. When the Distemper once begins to go off by Sweating, this should
be promoted by Elder-flower Tea and Nitre (See § 279) and the Sweating
may be encouraged to Advantage for some Hours.
§ 281. The best Applications that can be made to the affected Part are
1st, The Herb Robert, a Kind of _Geranium_, or Crane's-Bill; or Chervil,
or Parsley, or Elder Flowers: and if the Complaint be of a very mild
Disposition, it may be sufficient to apply a very soft smooth Linen over
it, which some People dust over with a little dry Meal.
2, If there is a very considerable Inflammation, and the Patient is so
circumstanced as to be very tractable and regularly attended, Flanels
wrung out of a strong Decoction of Elder-flowers and applied warm,
afford him the speediest Ease and Relief. By this simple Application I
have appeased the most violent Pains of a St. Anthony's Fire, which is
the most cruel Species of an Erisipelas, and has some peculiar Marks or
Symptoms extraordinary.
3, The Plaister of Smalt, and Smalt itself Nº. 46, are also very
successfully employed in this Disease. This Powder, the farinaceous, or
mealy ones, or others cried up for it, agree best when a thin watery
Humour distills or weeps from the little Vesications attending it, which
it is convenient to absorb by such Applications; without which
Precaution it might gall, or even ulcerate the Part.
All other Plaisters, which are partly compounded of greasy, or of
resinous Substances, are very dangerous: they often repel, or strike in
the _Erisipelas_, occasioning it to ulcerate, or even to gangrene. If
People who are naturally subject to this Disease should apply any such
Plaister to their Skin, even in its soundest State, an _Erisipelas_ is
the speedy Consequence.
§ 282. Whenever the Humour occasioning the Distemper is repelled, and
thrown upon the Brain, the Throat, the Lungs, or any internal Part, the
Patient should be bled; Blisters must be applied to the Legs; and Elder
Tea, with Nitre dissolved in it, should be plentifully drank.
§ 283. People who are liable to frequent Returns of an Erisipelas,
should very carefully avoid using Milk, Cream, and all fat and viscid,
or clammy Food, Pies, brown Meat, Spices, thick and heady Liquors, a
sedentary Life, the more active Passions, especially Rage, and, if
possible, all Chagrin too. Their Food should chiefly consist of Herbage,
Fruits, of Substances inclining to Acidity, and which tend to keep the
Body open; they should drink Water, and some of the light white Wines;
by no Means omitting the frequent Use of Cream of Tartar. A careful
Conformity to these Regulations is of real Importance, as, besides the
Danger of the frequent Visitations of this Disease, they denote some
slight Indispositions of the Liver and the Gall-bladder; which, if too
little attended to, might in Time prove very troublesome and pernicious.
Such mineral Waters as are gently opening are very proper for these
Constitutions, as well as the Juice of Succory, and clarified Whey, of
which they should take about three Pints every Morning, during the five
or six Summer Months. This becomes still more efficacious, if a little
Cream of Tartar and Honey be added to it.
_Of the Stings, or little Wounds, by Animals._
§ 284. The Stings or little Bites of Animals, frequently producing a
kind of _Erisipelas_, I shall add a very few Words concerning them in
this Place.
Of the Serpents in this Country none but the Vipers are poisonous; and
none of these are found except at _Baume_, where there is a _Viperary_,
if we may be allowed that Word. We have no Scorpions, which are somewhat
poisonous; our Toads are not in the least so: whence the only Stings we
are exposed to, are those of Bees, Wasps, Hornets, Muskitos or Gnats,
and Dragon [71] Flies: all of which are sometimes attended with severe
Pain, a Swelling, and a very considerable erisipelatous Redness; which,
if it happens in the Face, sometimes entirely closes the Eyes up;
occasioning also a Fever, Pains of the Head, Restlessness, and Sickness
at Heart; and, when the Pains are in a violent Degree, Faintings and
Convulsions, though always without any mortal Consequence. These
Symptoms go off naturally within a few Days, without any Assistance:
Nevertheless they may either be prevented, diminished in Degree, or
shortned in Duration.
[71] These, in some Parts of America, are called Muskito Hawks; but we
do not recollect their biting there. _K._
1, By extracting the Sting of the Animal, if it is left behind.
2, By a continual Application of one of the Remedies directed § 281,
Article 1 and 2, particularly the Infusion of Elder-flowers, to which a
little Venice Treacle is added; or by covering the Part affected with a
Pultice, made of Crum of Bread, Milk, Honey, and a little Venice
Treacle. [72]
[72] Pounded Parsley is one of the most availing Applications in such
Accidents. _E.L._
3, By bathing the Legs of the Person stung repeatedly in warm Water.
4, By retrenching a little of their customary Food, especially at Night,
and by making them drink an Infusion of Elder-flowers, with the Addition
of a little Nitre. Oil, if applied very quickly after the Sting,
sometimes prevents the Appearance of any Swelling, and from thence the
Pains that attend it.
__Chapter XX.__
_Of spurious, or false Inflammations of the Breast, and of spurious,
bilious, Pleurisies._
__Sect.__ 285.
The Inflammation of the Breast and that Pleurisy, which is called
_bilious_, are the same Disease. It is properly a putrid Fever, attended
with an Infarction or Stuffing of the Lungs, though without Pain; in
which Circumstance it is called a putrid or bilious Peripneumony: but
when attended with a Pain of the Side, a Stitch, it is called a spurious
or bastard Pleurisy.
§ 286. The Signs which distinguish these Diseases from the inflammatory
ones of the same Name, described Chap. IV and V, are a less hard and
less strong, but a quicker Pulse, though unaccompanied with the same
Symptoms which constitute the inflammatory ones (See § 47 and 90). The
Mouth is foul, and has a Sensation of Bitterness; the Patient is
infested with a sharp and dry Heat; he has a Feeling of Heaviness and
Anxiety all about his Stomach, with Loathings: he is less flushed and
red in these, than in the inflammatory Diseases, but rather a little
yellow. He has a dejected wan Look; his Urine resembles that in putrid
Fevers, and not that of inflammatory ones; and he has very often a small
bilious Looseness, which is extremely offensive. The Skin is commonly
very dry in this Disease; the Humour spit up is less thick, less
reddish, and rather more yellow than in the inflammatory Diseases of the
same Names.
§ 287. They must be treated after the manner of putrid Fevers, as in §
241. Supposing some little Degree of Inflammation to be combined with
the Disease, it may be removed by a single Bleeding. After this the
Patient is to drink Barley Water Nº. 3, to make Use of Glysters; and as
soon as all Symptoms of any Inflammation wholly disappear, he is to take
the vomiting and purging Draught Nº. 34. But the utmost Caution must be
taken not to give it, before every Appearance of any Inflammation is
totally removed; as giving it sooner would be certain Death to the Sick:
and it is dreadful but to think of agitating, by a Vomit, Lungs that are
inflamed, and overloaded with Blood, whose Vessels burst and discharge
themselves, only from the Force of Expectoration. After an Interval of
some Days, he may be purged again with the Medicine Nº. 23. The
Prescription Nº. 25 succeeds also very well as a Vomit. If the Fever is
violent, he must drink plentifully of the Potion Nº. 10.
Blisters to the Legs are very serviceable, when the Load and Oppression
are not considerably abated after general Evacuations.
§ 288. The false Inflammation of the Breast is an Overfulness or
Obstruction in the Lungs, accompanied with a Fever; and it is caused by
extremely thick and tenacious Humours; and not by a really inflammatory
Blood, or by any putrid or bilious Humour.
§ 289. This Distemper happens more frequently in the Spring, than in any
other Season. Old Men, puny, ill-constitutioned Children, languid Women,
feeble young Men, and particularly such as have worn their Constitutions
out by drinking, are the Subjects most frequently attacked by it;
especially if they have used but little Exercise throughout the Winter:
if they have fed on viscid, mealy and fat Aliments, as Pastry, Chesnuts,
thick Milk or Pap, and Cheese. All their Humours have contracted a thick
glutinous Quality; they are circulated with Difficulty, and when Heat or
Exercise in the Spring increases their Motion at once, the Humours,
already stuffing up the Lungs, still more augment that Plenitude, whence
these vital Organs are fatally extended, and the Patient dies.
§ 290. This Distemper is known to exist,
1, By the previous Existence of the Causes already mentioned.
2, By the Symptoms which precede and usher it in. For Example, the
Patient many Days before-hand has a slight Cough; a small Oppression
when he moves about; a little Restlessness, and is sometimes a little
choleric or fretful. His Countenance is higher coloured than in Health;
he has a Propensity to sleep, but attended with Confusion and without
Refreshment, and has sometimes an extraordinary Appetite.
3, When this State has continued for some Days, there comes on a cold
Shivering, though more considerable for its Duration than its Violence;
it is succeeded by a moderate Degree of Heat, but that attended with
much Inquietude and Oppression. The sick Person cannot confine himself
to the Bed; but walks to and fro in his Chamber, and is greatly
dejected. The Pulse is weak and pretty quick; the Urine is sometimes but
little changed from that in Health; at other Times it is discharged but
in a small Quantity, and is higher coloured: he coughs but moderately,
and does not expectorate, or cough up, but with Difficulty. The Visage
becomes very red, and even almost livid; he can neither keep awake, nor
sleep well; he raves for some Moments, and then his Head grows clear
again. Sometimes it happens, especially to Persons of advanced Age, that
this State suddenly terminates in a mortal Swoon or Fainting: at other
Times and in other Cases, the Oppression and Anguish increase; the
Patient cannot breathe but when sitting up, and that with great
Difficulty and Agony: the Brain is utterly disturbed and embarrassed;
this State lasts for some Hours, and then terminates of a sudden.
§ 291. This is a very dangerous Distemper; because, in the first Place,
it chiefly attacks those Persons whose Temperament and Constitution are
deprived of the ordinary Resources for Health and Recovery: in the
second Place, because it is of a precipitate Nature, the Patient
sometimes dying on the third Day, and but seldom surviving the seventh;
while the Cause of it requires a more considerable Term for its Removal
or Mitigation. Besides which, if some Indications present for the
Employment of a Remedy, there are frequently others which forbid it; and
all that seems to be done is, as follows;
1, If the Patient has still a pretty good Share of Health; if he is not
of too advanced an Age; if the Pulse has a perceivable Hardness, and yet
at the same Time some Strength; if the Weather is dry, and the Wind
blows from the North, he should be bled once, to a moderate Quantity.
But if the greater Part of these Circumstances are wanting, Bleeding
would be very prejudicial. Were we obliged to establish some general and
positive Rule in this Case, it were better to exclude Bleeding, than to
admit it.
2, The Stomach and the Bowels should be unloaded from their viscid
glutinous Contents; and the Medicines which succeed the best in this
Respect are Nº. 35, when the Symptoms shew there is a great Necessity
for vomiting, and there is no Inflammation; or the Prescription Nº. 25,
which after vomiting, purges by Stool, promotes Urine, breaks down and
divides the viscid Humours that occasion the Disease, and increase
Perspiration. When we are afraid of hazarding the Agitation of a Vomit
and its Consequences, the Potion, Nº. 11 may be given; but we must be
very cautious, in Regard to old Men, even with this; as such may expire
during the Operation of it.
3, They should, from the Beginning of the Disease, drink plentifully of
the Ptisan Nº. 26, which is the best Drink in this Disease; or that of
Nº. 12, adding half a Dram of Nitre to every Pint of it.
4, A Cup of the Mixture Nº. 8 must be taken every two Hours.
5. Blisters are to be applied to the Insides of the Legs.
When the Case is very doubtful and perplexing, it were best to confine
ourselves to the three last-mentioned Remedies, which have often been
successful in severe Degrees of this Disease; and which can occasion no
ill Consequence.
§ 292. When this Malady invades old People, though they partly recover,
they never recover perfectly, entirely, from it: and if due Precaution
is not taken, they are very liable to fall into a Dropsy of the Breast
after it.
§ 293. The spurious or false Pleurisy is a Distemper that does not
affect the Lungs, but only the Teguments, the Skin, and the Muscles
which cover the Ribs. It is the Effect of a rheumatic Humour thrown upon
these Parts, in which, as it produces very sharp Pains resembling that
which is called a _Stitch_, it has from this Circumstance, been termed a
Pleurisy.
It is generally supposed by the meer Multitude, and even by some of a
different Rank, that a false Pleurisy is more dangerous than a genuine,
a true one; but this is a Mistake. It is often ushered in by a
Shivering, and almost ever attended with a little Fever, a small Cough,
and a slight Difficulty of breathing; which, as well as the Cough, is
occasioned from the Circumstance of a Patient's (who feels Pain in
Respiration, or Breathing) checking Breathing as much as he can; this
accumulates a little too much Blood in the Lungs; but yet he has no
Anguish, nor the other Symptoms of acute true Pleurisies. In some
Patients this Pain is extended, almost over the whole Breast, and to the
Nape of the Neck. The sick Person cannot repose himself on the Side
affected.
This Disorder is not more dangerous than a Rheumatism, except in two
Cases; 1, When the Pain is so very severe, that the Patient strongly
endeavours not to breathe at all, which brings on a great Infarction or
Stoppage in the Lungs. 2, When this Humour, like any other rheumatic
one, is transferred to some internal Part.
§ 294. It must be treated exactly like a Rheumatism. See § 168 and 169.
After bleeding once or more, a Blister applied to the affected Part is
often attended with a very good Effect: This being indeed the Kind
of [73] Pleurisy, in which it particularly agrees.
[73] The Seneka Rattle-Snake root, already recommended in true
Pleurisies, will, with the greatest Probability, be found not less
effectual in these false ones, in which the Inflammation of the
Blood is less. The Method of giving it may be seen P. 118,
N. ([26].) By Dr. _Tissot's_ having never mentioned this valuable
Simple throughout his Work, it may be presumed, that when he wrote
it, this Remedy had not been admitted into the Apothecaries Shops
in _Swisserland_. _K._
§ 295. This Malady sometimes gives Way to the first Bleeding; often
terminating on the third, fourth or fifth Day, by a very plentiful
Sweat, and rarely lasting beyond the seventh. Sometimes it attacks a
Person very suddenly, after a Stoppage of Perspiration; and then, if at
once before the Fever commences, and has had Time to inflame the Blood,
the Patient takes some _Faltrank_, it effects a speedy Cure by restoring
Perspiration. They are such Cases as these, or that mentioned § 96,
which have given this Composition the Reputation it has obtained in this
Disease: a Reputation nevertheless, which has every Year proved tragical
in its Consequences to many Peasants, who being deceived by some
misleading Resemblances in this Distemper, have rashly and ignorantly
made Use of it in true inflammatory Pleurisies.
__Chapter XXI.__
_Of the Cholic and its different Kinds._
__Sect.__ 296.
The Appellation of a Cholic is commonly given to all Pains of the Belly
indiscriminately; but I apply it in this Place only to such as attack
the Stomach, or the Intestines, the Guts.
Cholics may and do result from very many Causes; and the greater Number
of Cholics are chronical or tedious Complaints, being more common among
the inactive Inhabitants of Cities, and Workmen in sedentary Trades,
than among Country People. Hence I shall treat here only of the small
Variety of Cholics, which happen the most usually in Villages. I have
already proved that the fatal Events of some Distempers were occasioned
by endeavouring to force the Patients into Sweats; and the same unhappy
Consequences have attended Cholics, from accustoming the Subjects of
this Disease to Drams, and hot inflaming spirituous Liquors, with an
Intention to expel the Wind.
_Of the inflammatory Cholic._
§ 297. The most violent and dangerous kind of Cholic is that, which
arises from an Inflammation of the Stomach, or of the Intestines. It
begins most commonly without any Shivering, by a vehement Pain in the
Belly, which gradually becomes still more so. The Pulse grows quick and
hard; a burning Pain is felt through the whole Region of the Belly;
sometimes there is a watery _Diarrhoea_, or Purging; at other Times the
Belly is rather costive, which is attended with Vomiting, a very
embarrassing and dangerous Symptom: the Countenance becomes highly
flushed; the Belly tense and hard; neither can it be touched scarcely
without a cruel Augmentation of the Patient's Pain, who is also
afflicted with extreme Restlessness; his Thirst is very great, being
unquenchable by Drink; the Pain often extends to the Loins, where it
proves very sharp, and severe; little Urine is made, and that very red,
and with a kind of burning Heat. The tormented Patient has not a
Moment's Rest, and now and then raves a little. If the Disease is not
removed or moderated, before the Pains rise to their utmost Height and
Violence, the Patient begins at length to complain less; the Pulse
becomes less strong and less hard than before, but quicker: his Face
first abates of its Flush and Redness, and soon after looks pale; the
Parts under the Eyes become livid; the Patient sinks into a low stupid
Kind of _Delirium_, or Raving; his Strength entirely deserts him; the
Face, Hands, Feet, and the whole Body, the Belly only excepted, become
cold: the Surface of the Belly appears bluish; extreme Weakness follows,
and the Patient dies. There frequently occurs, just a Moment before he
expires, an abundant Discharge of excessively foetid Matter by Stool;
and during this Evacuation he dies with his Intestines quite gangrened,
or mortified.
When the Distemper assaults the Stomach, the Symptoms are the very same,
but the Pain is felt higher up, at the Pit of the Stomach. Almost every
thing that is swallowed is cast up again; the Anguish of the tortured
Patient is terrible, and the Raving comes on very speedily. This Disease
proves mortal in a few Hours.
§ 298. The only Method of succeeding in the Cure of it is as follows:
1, Take a very large Quantity of Blood from the Arm; this almost
immediately diminishes the Violence of the Pains, and allays the
Vomiting: besides its contributing to the greater Success of the other
Remedies. It is often necessary to repeat this Bleeding within the Space
of two Hours.
2, Whether the Patient has a Looseness, or has not, a Glyster of a
Decoction of Mallows, or of Barley Water and Oil, should be given every
two Hours.
3, The Patient should drink very plentifully of Almond Milk Nº. 4; or a
Ptisan of Mallow Flowers, or of Barley, all which should be warm.
4, Flanels dipt in hot, or very warm Water should be continually applied
over the Belly, shifting them every Hour, or rather oftner; for in this
Case they very quickly grow dry.
5, If the Disease, notwithstanding all this, continues very obstinate
and violent, the Patient should be put into a warm Water Bath, the
extraordinary Success of which I have observed.
When the Distemper is over, that is to say, when the Pains have
terminated, and the Fever has ceased, so that the Patient recovers a
little Strength, and gets a little Sleep, it will be proper to give him
a Purge, but a very gentle one. Two Ounces of Manna, and a Quarter of an
Ounce of Sedlitz [74] Salt dissolved in a Glass of clear Whey is
generally sufficient, at this Period, to purge the most robust and hardy
Bodies. Manna alone may suffice for more delicate Constitutions: as all
acrid sharp Purges would be highly dangerous, with Regard to the great
Sensibility and tender Condition of the Stomach, and of the Intestines
after this Disease.
[74] Glauber or Epsom Salt may be substituted, where the other is not to
be readily procured. _K._
§ 299. It is sometimes the Effect of a general Inflammation of the
Blood; and is produced, like other inflammatory Diseases, by
extraordinary Labour, very great Heat, heating Meats or Drinks, _&c._ It
is often the Consequence of other Cholics which have been injudiciously
treated, and which otherwise would not have degenerated into
inflammatory ones; as I have many Times seen these Cholics introduced
after the Use of heating Medicines; one Instance of which may be seen §
164.
§ 300. Ten Days after I had recovered a Woman out of a severe Cholic,
the Pains returned violently in the Night. She, supposing them to arise
only from Wind, hoped to appease them by drinking a deal of distilled
Walnut Water; which, far from producing any such Effect, rendered them
more outrageous. They soon were heightened to a surprising Degree, which
might reasonably be expected. Being sent for very early in the Morning,
I found her Pulse hard, quick, short; her Belly was tense and hard; she
complained greatly of her Loins: her Urine was almost entirely stopt.
She past but a few Drops, which felt as it were scalding hot, and these
with excessive Pain. She went very frequently to the Close-stool, with
scarcely any Effect; her Anguish, Heat, Thirst, and the Dryness of her
Tongue were even terrifying: and her wretched State, the Effect of the
strong hot Liquor she had taken, made me very apprehensive for her. One
Bleeding, to the Quantity of fourteen Ounces, somewhat abated all the
Pains; she took several Glysters, and drank off a few Pots of _Orgeat_
in a few Hours. By these Means the Disease was a little mitigated; by
continuing the same Drink and the Glysters the Looseness abated; the
Pain of the Loins went off, and she passed a considerable Quantity of
Urine, which proved turbid, and then let fall a Sediment, and the
Patient recovered. Nevertheless I verily believe, if the Bleeding had
been delayed two Hours longer, this spirituous Walnut Water would have
been the Death of her. During the Progress of this violent Disease, no
Food is to be allowed; and we should never be too inattentive to such
Degrees of Pain, as sometimes remain after their Severity is over; lest
a _Scirrhus_, an inward hard Tumour, should be generated, which may
occasion the most inveterate and tedious Maladies.
§ 301. An Inflammation of the Intestines, and one of the Stomach, may
also terminate in an Abscess, like an Inflammation of any other Part;
and it may be apprehended that one is forming, when, though the Violence
of the Pains abates, there still remains a slow, obtuse, heavy Pain,
with general Inquietude, little Appetite, frequent Shiverings; the
Patient at the same Time not recovering any Strength. In such Cases the
Patient should be allowed no other Drinks, but what are already directed
in this Chapter, and some Soops made of Pulse, or other farinaceous
Food.
The Breaking of the Abscess may sometimes be discovered by a slight
Swoon or fainting Fit; attended with a perceivable Cessation of a Weight
or Heaviness in the Part, where it was lately felt: and when the _Pus_,
or ripe Matter, is effused into the Gut, the Patient sometimes has
Reachings to vomit, a _Vertigo_, or Swimming in the Head, and the Matter
appears in the next Stools. In this Case there remains an Ulcer within
the Gut, which, if either neglected, or improperly treated, may pave the
Way to a slow wasting Fever, and even to Death. Yet this I have cured by
making the Patient live solely upon skimmed Milk, diluted with one third
Part Water, and by giving every other Day a Glyster, consisting of equal
Parts of Milk and Water, with the Addition of a little Honey.
When the Abscess breaks on the Outside of the Gut, and discharges its
Contents into the Cavity of the Belly, it becomes a very miserable Case,
and demands such further Assistance as cannot be particularized here.
_Of the bilious Cholic._
§ 302. The bilious Cholic discovers itself by very acute Pains, but is
seldom accompanied with a Fever; at least not until it has lasted a Day
or two. And even if there should be some Degree of a Fever, yet the
Pulse, though quick, is neither strong nor hard: the Belly is neither
tense or stretched as it were, nor burning hot, as in the former Cholic:
the Urine comes away with more Ease, and is less high-coloured:
Nevertheless the inward Heat and Thirst are considerable; the Mouth is
bitter; the Vomiting or Purging, when either of them attend it,
discharge a yellowish Humour or Excrement; and the Patient's Head is
often vertiginous or dizzy.
§ 303. The Method of curing this is,
1, By injecting Glysters of Whey and Honey; or, if Whey is not readily
procurable, by repeating the Glyster, Nº. 5.
2, By making the Sick drink considerably of the same Whey, or of a
Ptisan made of the Root of Dog's-Grass (the common Grass) and a little
Juice of Lemon, for want of which, a little Vinegar and Honey may be
substituted instead of it. [75]
[75] Pullet, or rather Chicken Water, but very weak, may often do
instead of Ptisan, or serve for a little Variety of Drink to some
Patients. _E. L._--K.
3, By giving every Hour one Cup of the Medicine Nº. 32; or where this is
not to be had, half a Drachm of Cream of Tartar at the same short
Intervals.
4, Fomentations of warm Water and Half-baths are also very proper.
5, If the Pains are sharp and violent, in a robust strong Person, and
the Pulse is strong and tense, Bleeding should be used to prevent an
Inflammation.
6, No other Nourishment should be given, except some maigre Soops, made
from Vegetables, and particularly of Sorrel.
7, After plentiful Dilution with the proper Drink, if no Fever
supervenes; if the Pains still continue, and the Patient discharges but
little by Stool, he should take a moderate Purge. That directed Nº. 47
is a very proper one.
§ 304. This bilious Cholic is habitual to many Persons; and may be
prevented or greatly mitigated by an habitual Use of the Powder Nº. 24;
by submitting to a moderate Retrenchment in the Article of Flesh-meat;
and by avoiding heating and greasy Food, and the Use of Milk.
_Of Cholics from Indigestions, and of Indigestion._
§ 305. Under this Appellation I comprehend all those Cholics, which are
either owing to any overloading Quantity of Food taken at once; or to a
Mass or Accumulation of Aliments formed by Degrees in such Stomachs, as
digest but very imperfectly; or which result from noxious Mixtures of
Aliment in the Stomach, such as that of Milk and Acids; or from Food
either not wholesome in its self, or degenerated into an unwholesome
Condition.
This kind of Cholic may be known from any of these Causes having
preceded it; by its Pains, which are accompanied with great
Restlessness, and come on by Degrees, being less fixed than in the
Cholics before treated of. These Cholics are also without any Fever,
Heat or Thirst, but accompanied with a Giddiness of the Head, and
Efforts to vomit, and rather with a pale, than a high-coloured Visage.
§ 306. These Disorders, from these last Causes, are scarcely ever
dangerous in themselves; but may be made such by injudicious Management,
and doing more than is necessary or proper: as the only Thing to be done
is to promote the Discharges by warm Drinks. There are a considerable
Variety of them, which seem equally good, such as warm Water, or even
cold Water with a Toast, with the Addition either of a little Sugar, or
a little Salt: a light Infusion of Chamomile, or of Elder-flowers,
common Tea, or Baum, it imports little which, provided the Patient drink
plentifully of them: in Consequence of which the offending Matter is
discharged, either by vomiting, or a considerable purging; and the
speedier and more in Quantity these Discharges are, the sooner the
Patient is relieved.
If the Belly is remarkably full and costive, Glysters of warm Water and
Salt should be injected.
The Expulsion of the obstructing Matter is also facilitated, by rubbing
the Belly heartily with hot Cloths.
Sometimes the Humours, or other retained Contents of the Belly, are more
pernicious from their Quality, than their Quantity; and then the Malady
may be dissipated without the former Discharges, by the irritating sharp
Humour being diluted, or even drowned, as it were, in the Abundance of
small watery Drinks. When the Pains invade first in the Stomach, they
become less sharp, and the Patient feels less Inquietude, as soon as the
Cause of the Pain has descended out of the Stomach into the Intestines,
whose Sensations are something less acute than, or somewhat different
from, those of the Stomach.
It is often found that after these plentiful Discharges, and when the
Pains are over, there remains a very disagreeable Taste in the Mouth,
resembling the Savour of rotten Eggs. This may be removed by giving some
Doses of the Powder Nº. 24, and drinking largely of good Water:
It is an essential Point in these Cases, to take no Food before a
perfect Recovery.
§ 307. Some have been absurd enough in them, to fly at once to some
heating Cordial Confection, to Venice Treacle, Aniseed Water, Geneva, or
red Wine to stop these Evacuations; but there cannot be a more fatal
Practice: since these Evacuations are the only Thing which can cure the
Complaint, and to stop them is to deprive the Person, who was in Danger
of drowning, of the Plank which might save him. Nay should this
Endeavour of stopping them unhappily succeed, the Patient is either
thrown into a putrid Fever, or some chronical tedious Malady; unless
Nature, much wiser than such a miserable Assistant, should prevail over
the Obstacles opposed to her Recovery, and restore the obstructed
Evacuations by her own Oeconomy, in the Space of a few Days.
§ 308. Sometimes an Indigestion happens, with very little Pain or
Cholic, but with violent Reachings to vomit, inexpressible Anguish,
Faintings, and cold Sweats: and not seldom also the Malady begins, only
with a very sudden and unexpected Fainting: the Patient immediately
loses all his Senses, his Face is pale and wan: he has some Hickups
rather than Reachings to vomit, which joined to the Smallness of his
Pulse, to the Easiness of his respiring, or breathing, and to the
Circumstance of his being attacked immediately, or very soon, after a
Meal, makes this Disorder distinguishable from a real Apoplexy.
Nevertheless, when it rises to this Height, with these terrible
Symptoms, it sometimes kills in a few Hours. The first thing to be done
is to throw up a sharp Glyster, in which Salt and Soap are to be
dissolved; next to get down as much Salt and Water as he can swallow;
and if that is ineffectual, the Powder Nº. 34 is to be dissolved in
three Cups of Water; one half of which is to be given directly; and, if
it does not operate in a Quarter of an Hour, the other half. Generally
speaking the Patient's Sense begins to return, as soon as he begins to
vomit.
_Of the flatulent or windy Cholic._
§ 309. Every Particular which constitutes our Food, whether solid or
liquid, contains much Air, but some of them more than others. If they do
not digest soon enough, or but badly, which occasions a sensible Escape
of such Air; if they are such as contain an extraordinary Quantity of
Air; or if the Guts being straitened or compressed any where in the
Course of their Extent, prevent that Air from being equally diffused
(which must occasion a greater Proportion of it in some Places) then the
Stomach and the Guts are distended by this Wind; and this Distention
occasions these Pains, which are called flatulent, or windy.
This Sort of Cholic rarely appears alone and simple; but is often
complicated with, or added, as it were, to the other Sorts, of which it
is a Consequence; and is more especially joined with the Cholic from
Indigestions, whose Symptoms it multiplies and heightens. It may be
known, like that, by the Causes which have preceded it, by its not being
accompanied either with Fever, Heat, or Thirst; the Belly's being large
and full, though without Hardness, being unequal in its Largeness, which
prevails more in one Part of it than in another, forming something like
Pockets of Wind, sometimes in one Part, sometimes in another; and by the
Patient's feeling some Ease merely from the rubbing of his Belly, as it
moves the Wind about; which escaping either upwards or downwards affords
him still a greater Relief.
§ 310. When it is combined with any different Species of the Cholic, it
requires no distinct Treatment from that Species; and it is removed or
dissipated by the Medicines which cure the principal Disease.
Sometimes however it does happen to exist alone, and then it depends on
the Windiness of the solid and liquid Food of the Person affected with
it, such as the _Must_ or new Wine, Beer, especially very new Beer,
certain Fruits and Garden-stuff. It may be cured by a Glyster; by
chaffing the Belly with hot Cloths; by the Use of Drink moderately
spiced; and especially by Camomile Tea, to which a little cordial
Confection, or even Venice Treacle, may be added. When the Pains are
almost entirely vanished, and there is no Fever, nor any unhealthy
Degree of Heat; and if the Patient is sensible of a Weakness at Stomach,
he may take a little aromatic, or spiced Wine, or even a small cordial
stomachic Dram. It should be observed, that these are not to be allowed
in any other Kind of Cholic.
§ 311. When any Person is frequently subject to cholic-like Pains, it is
a Proof that the digestive Faculty is impaired; the restoring of which
should be carefully attended to; without which the Health of the Patient
must suffer considerably, and he must be very likely to contract many
tedious and troublesome Disorders.
_Of Cholics from Cold._
§ 312. When any Person has been very cold, and especially in his Feet,
it is not uncommon for him to be attacked, within a few Hours after it,
with violent Cholic Pains, in which heating and spirituous Medicines are
very pernicious: but which are easily cured by rubbing the Legs well
with hot Cloths; and keeping them afterwards for a considerable Time in
warm Water; advising them at the same Time to drink freely of a light
Infusion of Chamomile or Elder-flowers.
The Cure will be effected the sooner, if the Patient is put to Bed and
sweats a little, especially in the Legs and Feet.
A Woman who had put her Legs into a pretty cool Spring, after travelling
in the Height of Summer, was very quickly after attacked with a most
violent Cholic. She took different hot Medicines; she became still
worse; she was purged, but the Distemper was still further aggravated. I
was called in on the third Day, a few Hours before her Decease.
In such Cases, if the Pain be excessive, it may be necessary to
bleed; [76] to give a Glyster of warm Water; to keep the Legs several
Hours over the Steam of hot Water, and afterwards in the Water; to drink
plentifully of an Infusion of the Flowers of the Lime-tree, with a
little Milk; and if the Distemper is not subdued by these Means,
Blisters should be applied to the Legs, which I have known to be highly
efficacious.
[76] Bleeding should not be determined on too hastily in this Sort of
Cholic, but rather be omitted, or deferred at least, till there be
an evident Tendency to an Inflammation. _E. L._
The Propriety or Impropriety of Bleeding in a Cholic from this
Cause should be determined, I think, from the State of the Person
it happens to: So that Bleeding a strong Person with a firm Fibre,
and a hard Pulse, may be very prudent and precautionary: But if it
be a weakly lax Subject with a soft and low Pulse, there may be
Room either for omitting, or for suspending it. _K._
§ 313. It appears, through the Course of this Chapter, that it is
necessary to be extremely on our Guard, against permitting the Use of
heating and spirituous Medicines in Cholics, as they may not only
aggravate, but even render them mortal. In short they should never be
given, and when it is difficult to discover the real Cause of the
Cholic, I advise Country People to confine themselves to the three
following Remedies, which cannot be hurtful in any Sort of Cholic, and
may remove as many as are not of a violent Nature. First then, let
Glysters be frequently repeated. 2, Let the Patient drink warm Water
plentifully, or Elder Tea. 3, Let the Belly be often fomented in pretty
warm Water, which is the most preferable Fomentation of any.
§ 314 I have said nothing here of the Use of any Oils in this Disease,
as they agree but in very few Species of Cholics, and not at all in
those of which I have been treating. For this Reason I advise a total
Disuse of them, since they may be of bad Consequence in many Respects.
§ 315. Chronical Diseases not coming within the Plan of this Work, I
purposely forbear treating of any Kind of those tedious Cholics, which
afflict some People for many Years: but I think it my Duty to admonish
such, that their Torments being very generally occasioned by
Obstructions in the _Viscera_, or different Bowels of the Belly, or by
some other Fault, and more particularly in those Organs, which are
intended to prepare the Bile, they should, 1, avoid with the greatest
Care, the Use of sharp, hot, violent Medicines, Vomits, strong Purges,
Elixirs, _&c._ 2, They should be thoroughly on their Guard against all
those, who promise them a very speedy Cure, by the Assistance of some
specific Remedy; and ought to look upon them as Mountebanks, into whose
Hands it is highly dangerous to trust themselves. 3, They should be
persuaded, or rather convinced, that they can entertain no reasonable
Hope of being cured, without an exact Conformity to a proper and
judicious Regimen, and a long Perseverance in a Course of mild and safe
Remedies. 4, They should continually reflect with themselves, that there
is little Difficulty in doing them great Mischief; and that their
Complaints are of that Sort, which require the greatest Knowledge and
Prudence in those Persons, to whom the Treatment and Cure of them are
confided.
__Chapter XXII.__
_Of the Iliac Passion, and of the Cholera-morbus._
__Sect.__ 316.
These violent Diseases are fatal to many Country People, while their
Neighbours are frequently so ignorant of the Cause of their Death, that
Superstition has ascribed it to Poison, or to Witchcraft.
§ 317. The first of these, the _Miserere_, or Iliac Passion, is one of
the most excruciating Distempers. If any Part of the Intestines, the
Cavity of the Guts is closed up, whatever may have occasioned it, the
Course or Descent of the Food they contain is necessarily stopped; in
which Case it frequently happens, that that continual Motion observed in
the Guts of a living Animal dissected, and which was intended to
detrude, or force their Contents downwards, is propagated in a directly
contrary Manner, from the Guts towards the Mouth.
This Disease sometimes begins after a Constipation, or Costiveness, of
some Days; at other Times without that Costiveness having been preceded
by Pains in any Part of the Belly, especially around the Navel; but
which Pains, gradually increasing after their Commencement, at length
become extremely violent, and throw the Patient into excessive Anguish.
In some of these Cases a hard Tumour may be felt, which surrounds the
Belly like a Cord. The Flatulences within become very audible, some of
them are discharged upwards; in a little Time after, Vomitings come on,
which increase till the Patient has thrown up all he had taken in, with
a still further Augmentation of the excessive Pain. With the first of
his Vomitings he only brings up the last Food he had taken, with his
Drink and some yellowish Humour: but what comes up afterwards proves
stinking; and when the Disease is greatly heightened, they have what is
called the Smell of Excrement or Dung; but which rather resembles that
of a putrid dead Body. It happens too sometimes, that if the Sick have
taken Glysters composed of Materials of a strong Smell, the same Smell
is discernible in the Matter they vomit up. I confess however I never
saw either real Excrements, or the Substance of their Glysters, brought
up, much less the Suppositories that were introduced into the Fundament:
and were it credible that Instances of this Kind had occurred, they must
be allowed very difficult to account for. Throughout this whole Term of
the Disease, the Patient has not a single Discharge by Stool; the Belly
is greatly distended; the Urine not seldom suppressed, and at other
Times thick and foetid. The Pulse, which at first was pretty hard,
becomes quick and small; the Strength entirely vanishes; a Raving comes
on; a Hiccup almost constantly supervenes, and sometimes general
Convulsions; the Extremities grow cold, the Pulse scarcely perceivable;
the Pain and the Vomiting cease, and the Patient dies very quickly
after.
§ 318. As this Disease is highly dangerous, the Moment it is strongly
apprehended, it is necessary to oppose it by proper Means and Remedies:
the smallest Error may be of fatal Consequence, and hot inflaming
Liquids have been known to kill the Patient in a few Hours. I was called
in the second Day of the Disease to a young Person, who had taken a good
deal of Venice Treacle: Nothing could afford her any Relief, and she
died early on the third Day.
This Disease should be treated precisely in the same Manner as an
inflammatory Cholic; the principal Difference being, that in the former
there are no Stools, but continual Vomitings.
1, First of all then the Patient should be plentifully bled, if the
Physician has been called in early enough, and before the Sick has lost
his Strength.
2, He should receive opening Glysters made of a Decoction of Barley
Water, with five or six Ounces of Oil in each.
3, We should endeavour to allay the violent Efforts to vomit, by giving
every two Hours a Spoonful of the Mixture Nº. 48.
4, The Sick should drink plentifully, in very small Quantities, very
often repeated, of an appeasing, diluting, refreshing Drink, which tends
at the same Time to promote both Stools and Urine. Nothing is preferable
to the Whey Nº. 49, if it can be had immediately: if not, give simple
clear Whey sweetened with Honey, and the Drinks prescribed § 298, Art.
3.
5, The Patient is to be put into a warm Bath, and kept as long as he can
bear it, repeating it as often daily too, as his Strength will permit.
6, After Bleeding, warm Bathing, repeated Glysters and Fomentations, if
each and all of these have availed nothing; the Fume or Smoak of Tobacco
may be introduced in the Manner of a Glyster, of which I shall speak
further, in the Chapter on Persons drowned.
I cured a Person of this Disease, by conveying him into a Bath,
immediately after bleeding him, and giving him a Purge on his going into
the Bath.
§ 319. If the Pain abates before the Patient has quite lost his
Strength; if the Pulse improves at the same Time; if the Vomitings are
less in Number, and in the Quantity of the Matter brought up; if that
Matter seems in a less putrid offensive State; if he feels some
Commotion and Rumbling in his Bowels; if he has some little Discharge by
Stool; and if at the same Time he feels himself a little stronger than
before, his Cure may reasonably be expected; but if he is otherwise
circumstanced he will soon depart. It frequently happens, a single Hour
before Death, that the Pain seems to vanish, and a surprising Quantity
of extremely foetid Matter is discharged by Stool: the Patient is
suddenly seized with a great Weakness and Sinking, falls into a cold
Sweat, and immediately expires.
§ 320. This is the Disease which the common People attribute to, and
term, the _Twisting of the Guts_; and in which they make the Patients
swallow Bullets, or large Quantities of Quick-silver. This twisting,
tangling, or Knoting of the Guts is an utter, an impossible Chimera; for
how can they admit of such a Circumstance, as one of their Extremities,
their Ends, is connected to the Stomach, and the other irremoveably
fastened to the Skin of the Fork or Cleft of the Buttocks? In Fact this
Disease results from a Variety of Causes, which have been discovered on
a Dissection of those who have died of it. It were to be wished indeed
this prudent Custom, so extremely conducive to enrich, and to perfect,
the Art of Physick, were to prevail more generally; and which we ought
rather to consider as a Duty to comply with, than a Difficulty to submit
to; as it is our Duty to contribute to the Perfection of a Science, on
which the Happiness of Mankind so considerably depends. I shall not
enter into a Detail of these Causes; but whatever they are, the Practice
of swallowing Bullets in the Disease is always pernicious, and the like
Use of Mercury must be often so. Each of these pretended Remedies may
aggravate the Disease, and contribute an insurmountable Obstacle to the
Cure--Of that Iliac Passion, which is sometimes a Consequence of
Ruptures, I shall treat in another Place.
_Of the Cholera-morbus._
§ 321. This Disease is a sudden, abundant, and painful Evacuation by
vomiting and by Stool.
It begins with much Flatulence, or Wind, with Swelling and slight Pains
in the Belly, accompanied with great Dejection; and followed with large
Evacuations either by Stool or by Vomit at first, but whenever either of
them has begun, the other quickly follows. The Matter evacuated is
either yellowish, green, brown, whitish, or black; the Pains in the
Belly violent; the Pulse, almost constantly feverish, is sometimes
strong at first, but soon sinks into Weakness, in Consequence of the
prodigious Discharge. Some Patients purge a hundred Times in the Compass
of a few Hours: they may even be seen to fall away; and if the Disease
exists in a violent Degree, they are scarcely to be known within three
or four Hours from the Commencement of these Discharges. After a great
Number of them they are afflicted with Spasms, or Cramps, in their Legs,
Thighs, and Arms, which torment them as much as the Pains in the Belly.
When the Disease rages too highly to be asswaged, Hiccups, Convulsions
and a Coldness of the Extremities approach; there is a scarcely
intermitting Succession of fainting, or swooning Fits, the Patient dying
either in one of them, or in Convulsions.
§ 322. This Disease, which constantly depends on a Bile raised to the
highest Acrimony, commonly prevails towards the End of July and in
August: especially if the Heats have been very violent, and there have
been little or no Summer Fruits, which greatly conduce to attempt: and
allay the putrescent Acrimony of the Bile.
§ 323. Nevertheless, however violent this Distemper may be, it is less
dangerous, and also less tormenting than the former, many Persons
recovering from it.
1, Our first Endeavour should be to dilute, or even to drown this acrid
Bile, by Draughts, by Deluges, of the most mitigating Drinks; the
irritation being so very great, that every Thing having the least
Sharpness is injurious. Wherefore the patient should continually take
in, by Drink, and by Way of Glyster, either Barley-Water, Almond-Milk,
or pure Water, with one eighth Part Milk, which has succeeded very well
in my Practice. Or he may use a very light Decoction, or Ptisan, as it
were, of Bread, which is made by gently boiling a Pound of toasted
Bread, in three or four Pots of Water for half an Hour. In _Swisserland_
we prefer Oat bread. We also successfully use pounded Rye, making a
light Ptisan of it.
A very light thin Soup made of a Pullet, a Chicken, or of one Pound of
lean Veal, in three Pots of Water, is very proper too in this Disease.
Whey is also employed to good Purpose; and in those Places, where it can
easily be had, Butter-milk is the best Drink of any. But, whichever of
these Drinks shall be thought preferable, it is a necessary Point to
drink very plentifully of it; and the Glysters should be given every two
Hours.
2, If the Patient is of a robust Constitution, and sanguine Complexion,
with a strong Pulse at the Time of the Attack, and the Pains are very
severe, a first, and in some Cases, a second Bleeding, very early in the
Invasion, asswages the Violence of the Malady, and allows more Leisure
for the Assistance of other Remedies. I have seen the Vomiting cease
almost entirely, after the first Bleeding.
The Rage of this Disease abates a little after a Duration of five or six
Hours: we must not however, during this Remission or Abatement, forbear
to throw in proper Remedies; since it returns soon after with great
Force, which Return however indicates no Alteration of the Method
already entered upon.
3, In general the warm Bath refreshes the Patient while he continues in
it; but the Pains frequently return soon after he is taken out, which,
however, is no Reason for omitting it, since it has frequently been
found to give a more durable Relief. The Patient should continue in it a
considerable Time, and, during that Time, he should take six or seven
Glasses of the Potion Nº. 32, which has been very efficacious in this
Disease. By these Means the Vomiting has been stopt; and the Patient,
upon going out of the Bath, has had several large Stools, which very
considerably diminished the Violence of the Disease.
4, If the Patient's Attendants are terrified by these great Evacuations,
and determine to check them (however prematurely) by Venice Treacle,
Mint Water, Syrup of white Poppies, called Diacodium, by Opium or
Mithridate, it either happens, that the Disease and all its Symptoms are
heightened, to which I have been a Witness; or, if the Evacuations
should actually be stopt, the Patient, in Consequence of it, is thrown
into a more dangerous Condition. I have been obliged to give a Purge, in
order to renew the Discharges, to a Man, who had been thrown into a
violent Fever, attended with a raging _Delirium_, by a Medicine composed
of Venice Treacle, Mithridate and Oil. Such Medicines ought not to be
employed, until the Smallness of the Pulse, great Weakness, violent and
almost continual Cramps, and even the Insufficience of the Patient's
Efforts to vomit, make us apprehensive of his sinking irrecoverably. In
such Circumstances indeed he should take, every Quarter or half Quarter
of an Hour, a Spoonful of the Mixture Nº. 50, still continuing the
diluting Drinks. After the first Hour, they should only be given every
Hour, and that only to the Extent of eight Doses. But I desire to insist
upon it here, that this Medicine should not be given too early in this
Distemper.
§ 324. If the Patient is likely to recover, the Pains and the
Evacuations gradually abate; the Thirst is less; the Pulse continues
very quick, but it becomes regular. There have been Instances of their
Propensity to a heavy kind of Drowsiness at this Time; for perfect
refreshing Sleep advances but slowly after this Disease. It will still
be proper to persevere in the Medicines already directed, though
somewhat less frequently. And now we may begin to allow the Patient a
few Soups from farinaceous mealy Substances; and as soon as the
Evacuations accompanying this Disease are evidently ceased, and the
Pains are vanished; though an acute Sensibility and great Weakness
continues, beside such Soups, he may be allowed some new-laid Eggs, very
lightly boiled, or even raw, for some Days. After this he must be
referred to the Regimen so frequently recommended to Persons in a State
of Recovery: when the concurring Use of the Powder Nº. 24, taken twice a
Day, will greatly assist to hasten and to establish his Health.
__Chapter XXIII.__
_Of a Diarrhoea, or Looseness._
__Sect.__ 325.
Every one knows what is meant by a Looseness or Purging, which the
Populace frequently call a Flux, and sometimes a Cholic.
There are certain very chronical, or tedious and obstinate ones, which
arise from some essential Fault in the Constitution. Of such, as foreign
to my Plan, I shall say nothing.
Those which come on suddenly, without any preceding Disorder, except
sometimes a slight Qualm or short Loathing, and a Pain in the Loins and
Knees; which are not attended with smart Pains nor a Fever (and
frequently without any Pain, or any other Complaint) are oftener of
Service than prejudicial. They carry off a Heap of Matter that may have
been long amassed and corrupted in the Body; which, if not discharged,
might have produced some Distemper; and, far from weakening the Body,
such Purgings as these render it more strong, light and active.
§ 326. Such therefore ought by no Means to be stopped, nor even speedily
checked: they generally cease of themselves, as soon as all the noxious
Matter is discharged; and as they require no Medicine, it is only
necessary to retrench considerably from the ordinary Quantity of
Nourishment; to abstain from Flesh, Eggs and Wine or other strong Drink;
to live only on some Soups, on Pulse, or on a little Fruit, whether raw
or baked, and to drink rather less than usual. A simple Ptisan with a
little Syrup of _Capillaire_, or Maiden-hair, is sufficient in these
Purgings, which require no Venice Treacle, Confection, nor any Drug
whatever.
§ 327. But should it continue more than five or six Days, and manifestly
weaken the Patient; if the Pain attending it grows a little severe; and
especially if the Irritation, the urging to Stool, proves more frequent,
it becomes seasonable to check, or to stop, it. For this Purpose the
Patient is to be put into a Regimen; and if the Looseness has been
accompanied with a great Loathing, with Risings or Wamblings at Stomach,
with a foul furred Tongue, and a bad Taste in the Mouth, he must take
the Powder Nº. 35. But if these Symptoms do not appear, give him that of
Nº. 51: and during the three following Hours, let him take, every half
Hour, a Cup of weak light Broth, without any Fat on it.
If the Purging, after being restrained by this Medicine, should return
within a few Days, it would strongly infer, there was still some tough
viscid Matter within, that required Evacuation. To effect this he should
take the Medicines Nº. 21, 25 or 27; and afterwards take fasting, for
two successive Mornings, half the Powder, Nº. 51.
On the Evening of that Day when the Patient took Nº. 35, or Nº. 51, or
any other Purge, he may take a small Dose of Venice Treacle.
§ 328. A Purging is often neglected for a long Time, without observing
the least Regimen, from which Neglect they degenerate into tedious and
as it were habitual, perpetual ones, and entirely weaken the Patient. In
such Cases, the Medicine Nº. 35 should be given first; then, every other
Day for four Times successively, he should take Nº. 51: during all which
Time he should live on nothing but Panada (See § 57) or on Rice boiled
in weak Chicken-broth. A strengthing stomachic Plaister has sometimes
been successfully applied, which may be often moistened in a Decoction
of Herbs boiled in Wine. Cold and Moisture should be carefully avoided
in these Cases, which frequently occasion immediate Relapses, even after
the Looseness had ceased for many Days.
__Chapter XXIV.__
_Of the Dysentery, or Bloody-flux._
__Sect.__ 329.
The Dysentery is a Flux or Looseness of the Belly, attended with great
Restlessness and Anguish, with severe Gripings, and frequent
Propensities to go to Stool. There is generally a little Blood in the
Stools, though this is not a constant Symptom, and is not essential to
the Existence of a Dysentery; notwithstanding it may not be much less
dangerous, for the Absence of this Symptom.
§ 330. The Dysentery is often epidemical; beginning sometimes at the End
of July, though oftner in August, and going off when the Frosts set in.
The great preceding Heats render the Blood and the Bile acrid or sharp;
and though, during the Continuance of the Heat, Perspiration is kept up
(See Introduct. P. 28) yet as soon as the Heat abates, especially in the
Mornings and Evenings, that Discharge is diminished; and by how much the
more Viscidity or Thickness the Humours have acquired, in Consequence of
the violent Heats, the Discharge of the sharp Humour by Perspiration
being now checked, it is thrown upon the Bowels which it irritates,
producing Pains in, and Evacuations from them.
This Kind of Dysentery may happen at all Times, and in all Countries;
but if other Causes, capable of producing a Putridity of the Humours, be
complicated with it; such as the crouding up a great Number of People
into very little Room, and very close Quarters, as in Hospitals, Camps,
or Prisons, this introduces a malignant Principle into the Humours,
which, co-operating with the simpler Cause of the Dysentery, renders it
the more difficult and dangerous.
§ 331. This Disease begins with a general Coldness rather than a
Shivering, which lasts some Hours; the Patient's Strength soon abates,
and he feels sharp Pains in his Belly, which sometimes continue for
several Hours, before the Flux begins. He is affected with _Vertigos_,
or Swimmings in the Head, with Reachings to vomit, and grows pale; his
Pulse at the same Time being very little, if at all, feverish, but
commonly small, and at length the Purging begins. The first Stools are
often thin, and yellowish; but in a little Time they are mixt with a
viscid ropy Matter, which is often tinged with Blood. Their Colour and
Consistence are various too, being either brown, greenish or black,
thinner or thicker, and foetid: The Pains increase before each of the
Discharges, which grow very frequent, to the Number of eight, ten,
twelve or fifteen in an Hour: then the Fundament becomes considerably
irritated, and the _Tenesmus_ (which is a great Urgency to go to Stool,
though without any Effect) is joined to the Dysentery or Flux, and often
brings on a Protrusion or falling down of the Fundament, the Patient
being now most severely afflicted. Worms are sometimes voided, and
glairy hairy Humours, resembling Pieces or Peelings of Guts, and
sometimes Clots of Blood.
If the Distemper rises to a violent Height, the Guts become inflamed,
which terminates either in Suppuration or in Mortification; the
miserable Patient discharges _Pus_, or black and foetid watery Stools:
the Hiccup supervenes; he grows delirious; his Pulse sinks; and he falls
into cold Sweats and Faintings which terminate in Death.
A kind of Phrenzy, or raging _Delirium_, sometimes comes on before the
Minute of Expiration. I have seen a very unusual Symptom accompany this
Disease in two Persons, which was an Impossibility of swallowing, for
three Days before Death.
But in general this Distemper is not so extremely violent; the
Discharges are less frequent, being from twenty-five to forty within a
Day and Night. Their Contents are less various and uncommon, and mixed
with very little Blood; the Patient retains more Strength; the Number of
Stools gradually decrease; the Blood disappears; the Consistence of the
Discharges improves; Sleep and Appetite return, and the Sick recovers.
Many of the Sick have not the least Degree of Fever, nor of Thirst,
which perhaps is less common in this Disease, than in a simple Purging
or Looseness.
Their Urine sometimes is but in a small Quantity; and many Patients have
ineffectual Endeavours to pass it, to their no small Affliction and
Restlessness.
§ 332. The most efficacious Remedy for this Disease is a Vomit. That of
Nº. 34, (when there is no present Circumstance that forbids the giving a
Vomit) if taken immediately on the first Invasion of it, often removes
it at once; and always shortens its Duration. That of Nº. 35 is not less
effectual; it has been considered for a long Time, even as a certain
Specific, which it is not, though a very useful Medicine. If the Stools
prove less frequent after the Operation of either of them, it is a good
Sign; if they are no Ways diminished, we may apprehend the Disease is
like to be tedious and obstinate.
The Patient is to be ordered to a Regimen, abstaining from all
Flesh-meat with the strictest Attention, until the perfect Cure of the
Disease. The Ptisan Nº. 3 is the best Drink for him.
The Day after the Vomit, he must take the Powder Nº. 51 divided into two
Doses: the next Day he should take no other Medicine but his Ptisan; on
the fourth the Rhubarb must be repeated; after which the Violence of the
Disease commonly abates: His Diet during the Disease is nevertheless to
be continued exactly for some Days; after which he may be allowed to
enter upon that of Persons in a State of Recovery.
§ 333. The Dysentery sometimes commences with an inflammatory Fever; a
feverish, hard, full Pulse, with a violent Pain in the Head and Loins,
and a stiff distended Belly. In such a Case the Patient must be bled
once; and daily receive three or even four of the Glysters Nº. 6,
drinking plentifully of the Drink Nº. 3.
When all Dread of an Inflammation is entirely over, the Patient is to be
treated in the Manner just related; though often there is no Necessity
for the Vomit: and if the inflammatory Symptoms have run high, his first
Purge should be that of Nº. 11, and the Use of the Rhubarb may be
postponed, till about the manifest Conclusion of the Disease.
I have cured many Dysenteries, by ordering the Sick no other Remedy, but
a Cup of warm Water every Quarter of an Hour; and it were better to rely
only on this simple Remedy, which must be of some Utility, than to
employ those, of whose Effects Country People are ignorant, and which
are often productive of very dangerous ones.
§ 334. It sometimes happens that the Dysentery is combined with a putrid
Fever, which makes it necessary, after the Vomit, to give the Purges Nº.
23 or 47, and several Doses of Nº. 24, before the Rhubarb is given. Nº.
32 is excellent in this combined Case.
There was in _Swisserland_ in the Autumn of 1755, after a very numerous
Prevalence of epidemical putrid Fevers had ceased, a Multitude of
Dysenteries, which had no small Affinity with, or Relation to, such
Fevers. I treated them first, with the Prescription Nº. 34, giving
afterwards Nº. 32; and I directed the Rhubarb only to very few, and that
towards the Conclusion of the Disease. By much the greater Number of
them were cured at the End of four or five Days. A small Proportion of
them, to whom I could not give the Vomit, or whose Cases were more
complicated, remained languid a considerable Time, though without
Fatality or Danger.
§ 335. When the Dysentery is blended with Symptoms of Malignity (See §
245) after premising the Prescription Nº. 35, those of Nº. 38 and 39 may
be called in successfully.
§ 336. When the Disease has already been of many Days standing, without
the Patient's having taken any Medicines, or only such as were injurious
to him, he must be treated as if the Distemper had but just commenced;
unless some Symptoms, foreign to the Nature of the Dysentery, had
supervened upon it.
§ 337. Relapses sometimes occur in Dysenteries, some few Days after the
Patients appeared well; much the greater Number of which are occasioned
either by some Error in Diet, by cold Air, or by being considerably
over-heated. They are to be prevented by avoiding these Causes of them;
and may be removed by putting the Patient on his Regimen, and giving him
one Dose of the Prescription Nº. 51. Should it return even without any
such discoverable Causes, and if it manifests itself to be the same
Distemper renewed, it must be treated as such.
§ 338. This Disease is sometimes combined too with an intermitting
Fever; in which Case the Dysentery must be removed first, and the
intermittent afterwards. Nevertheless if the Access, the Fits of the
Fever have been very strong, the Bark must be given as directed § 259.
§ 339. One pernicious Prejudice, which still generally prevails is, that
Fruits are noxious in a Dysentery, that they even give it, and aggravate
it; and this perhaps is an extremely ill-grounded one. In truth bad
Fruits, and such as have not ripened well, in unseasonable Years, may
really occasion Cholics, a Looseness (though oftner a Costiveness) and
Disorders of the Nerves, and of the Skin; but never can occasion an
epidemical Dysentery or Flux. Ripe Fruits, of whatever Species, and
especially Summer Fruits, are the real Preservatives from this Disease.
The greatest Mischief they can effect, must result from their thinning
and washing down the Humours, especially the thick glutinous Bile, if
they are in such a State; good ripe Fruits being the true Dissolvents of
such; by which indeed they may bring on a Purging, but such a one, as is
rather a Guard against a Dysentery.
We had a great, an extraordinary Abundance of Fruit in 1759 and 1760,
but scarcely any Dysenteries. It has been even observed to be more rare,
and less dangerous than formerly; and if the Fact is certain, it cannot
be attributed to any thing more probably, than to the very numerous
Plantations of Trees, which have rendered Fruit very plenty, cheap and
common. Whenever I have observed Dysenteries to prevail, I made it a
Rule to eat less Flesh, and Plenty of Fruit; I have never had the
slightest Attack of one; and several Physicians use the same Caution
with the same Success.
I have seen eleven Patients in a Dysentery in one House, of whom nine
were very tractable; they eat Fruit and recovered. The Grandmother and
one Child, whom she loved more than the rest, were carried off. She
managed the Child after her own Fashion, with burnt Wine, Oil, and some
Spices, but no Fruit. She conducted herself in the very same Manner, and
both died.
In a Country Seat near _Berne_, in the Year 1751, when these Fluxes made
great Havock, and People were severely warned against the Use of Fruits,
out of eleven Persons in the Family, ten eat plentifully of Prunes, and
not one of them was seized with it: The poor Coachman alone rigidly
observed that Abstinence from Fruit injoined by this Prejudice, and took
a terrible Dysentery.
This same Distemper had nearly destroyed a Swiss Regiment in Garrison in
the South of _France_; the Captains purchased the whole Crop of several
Acres of Vineyard; there they carried the sick Soldiers, and gathered
the Grapes for such as could not bear being carried into the Vineyard;
those who were well eating nothing else: after this not one more died,
nor were any more even attacked with the Dysentery.
A Clergyman was seized with a Dysentery, which was not in the least
mitigated by any Medicines he had taken. By meer Chance he saw some red
Currans; he longed for them, and eat three Pounds of them between seven
and nine o'Clock in the Morning; that very Day he became better, and was
entirely well on the next.
I could greatly enlarge the Number of such Instances; but these may
suffice to convince the most incredulous, whom I thought it might be of
some Importance to convince. Far from forbidding good Fruit, when
Dysenteries rage, the Patients should be encouraged to eat them freely;
and the Directors of the Police, instead of prohibiting them, ought to
see the Markets well provided with them. It is a Fact of which Persons,
who have carefully informed themselves, do not in the least doubt.
Experience demonstrates it, and it is founded in Reason, as good Fruit
counter-operates all the Causes of Dysenteries. [77]
[77] The Experience of all Countries and Times so strongly confirms
these important Truths, that they cannot be too often repeated, too
generally published, whenever and wherever this Disease rages. The
Succession of cold Showers to violent Heats; too moist a
Constitution of the Air; an Excess of animal Food; Uncleanliness
and Contagion, are the frequent Causes of epidemical Fluxes. _E.
L._
I have retained the preceding Note, abridged from this Gentleman,
as it contains the Suffrage of another experienced Physician,
against that Prejudice of ripe Fruits occasioning Fluxes, which is
too popular among ourselves, and probably more so in the Country
than in _London_. I have been also very credibly assured, that the
Son of a learned Physician was perfectly cured of a very obstinate
Purging, of a Year's Continuance (in Spite of all the usual
officinal Remedies) by his devouring large Quantities of ripe
Mulberries, for which he ardently longed, and drinking very freely
of their expressed Juice. The Fact occurred after his Father's
Decease, and was affirmed to me by a Gentleman intimately
acquainted with them both. _K._
§ 340. It is important and even necessary, that each Subject of this
Disease should have a Close-stool or Convenience apart to himself, as
the Matter discharged is extremely infectious: and if they make Use of
Bed-pans, they should be carried immediately out of the Chamber, the Air
of which should be continually renewed, burning Vinegar frequently in
it.
It is also very necessary to change the Patient's Linen frequently;
without all which Precautions the Distemper becomes more violent, and
attacks others who live in the same House. Hence it is greatly to be
wished the People in general were convinced of these Truths.
It was _Boerhaave's_ Opinion, that all the Water which was drank, while
Dysenteries were epidemical, should be _stummed_, as we term it, or
sulphurized. [78]
[78] Our learned Author, or his medical Editor at _Lyons_, observes
here, 'that in the Edition of this Treatise at _Paris_, there was
an essential Mistake, by making _Boerhaave_ recommend the Addition
of Brandy, _Eau de vie_, instead of stumming or sulphurizing it,'
for which this Note, and the Text too use the Verb _branter_, which
Word we do not find in any Dictionary. We are told however, it
means to impregnate the Casks in which the Water is reserved, with
the Vapour of Sulphur, and then stopping them; in the same Manner
that Vessels are in some Countries, for the keeping of Wine. He
observes the Purpose of this is to oppose Corruption by the acid
Steams of the Sulphur. _K._
§ 341. It has happened, by some unaccountable Fatality, that there is no
Disease, for which a greater Number of Remedies are advised, than for
the Dysentery. There is scarcely any Person but what boasts of his own
Prescription, in Preference to all the rest, and who does not boldly
engage to cure, and that within a few Hours, a tedious severe Disease,
of which he has formed no just Notion, with some Medicine or
Composition, of whose Operation he is totally ignorant: while the poor
Sufferer, restless and impatient, swallows every Body's Recommendation,
and gets poisoned either through Fear, downright Disgust or Weariness,
or through entire Complaisance. Of these many boasted Compositions, some
are only indifferent, but others pernicious. I shall not pretend to
detail all I know myself, but after repeatedly affirming, that the only
true Method of Cure is that I have advised here, the Purpose of which is
evacuating the offending Matter; I also affirm that all those Methods,
which have a different Scope or Drift, are pernicious; but shall
particularly observe, that the Method most generally followed, which is
that of stopping the Stools by Astringents, or by Opiates, is the worst
of all, and even so mortal a one, as to destroy a Multitude of People
annually, and which throws others into incurable Diseases. By preventing
the Discharge of these Stools, and inclosing the Wolf in the Fold, it
either follows, 1, that this [79] retained Matter irritates and inflames
the Bowels from which Inflammation excruciating Pains arise, an acute
inflammatory Cholic, and finally a Mortification and Death; or a
_Schirrhus_, which degenerates into a _Cancer_, (of which I have seen a
dreadful Instance) or else an Abscess, Suppuration and Ulcer. Or 2, this
arrested Humour is repelled elsewhere, producing a _Scirrhus_ in the
Liver, or Asthmas, Apoplexy, Epilepsy, or Falling Sickness; horrible
rheumatic Pains, or incurable Disorders of the Eyes, or of the
Teguments, the Skin and Surface.
[79] A first or second Dose of Glauber Salt has been known to succeed in
the epidemical Summer Fluxes of the hotter Climates, when repeated
Doses of Rhubarb and Opiates had failed. Such Instances seems a
collateral Confirmation of Dr. _Tissot's_ rational and successful
Use of cooling opening Fruits in them. _K._
Such are the Consequences of all the astringent Medicines, and of those
which are given to procure Sleep in this Disease, as Venice Treacle,
Mithridate and Diascordium, when given too early in Dysenteries.
I have been consulted on Account of a terrible Rheumatism, which ensued
immediately after taking a Mixture of Venice Treacle and Plantain, on
the second Day of a Dysentery.
As those who advise such Medicines, are certainly unaware of their
Consequences, I hope this Account of them will be sufficient, to prevent
their Repetition.
§ 342. Neither are Purges without their Abuse and Danger; they determine
the Course of all the Humours more violently to the tender afflicted
Parts; the Body becomes exhausted; the Digestions fail; the Bowels are
weakened, and sometimes even lightly ulcerated, whence incurable
_Diarrhoeas_ or Purgings ensue, and prove fatal after many Years
Affliction.
§ 343. If the Evacuations prove excessive, and the Distemper tedious,
the Patient is likely to fall into a Dropsy; but if this is immediately
opposed, it may be removed by a regular and drying Diet, by
Strengthners, by Friction and proper Exercise.
__Chapter XXV.__
_Of the Itch._
__Sect.__ 344.
The Itch is an infectious Disorder contracted by touching infected
Persons or Cloaths, but not imbibed from the Air: So that by carefully
avoiding the _Medium_, or Means of Contagion, the Disorder may be
certainly escaped.
Though any Part of the Body may be infested with the Itch, it commonly
shews itself on the Hands, and chiefly between the Fingers. At first one
or two little Pimples or Pustules appear, filled with a kind of clear
Water, and excite a very disagreeable Itching. If these Pustules are
broke by scratching them, the Water oozing from them infects the
neighbouring Parts. At the Beginning of this Infection it can scarcely
be distinguished, if a Person is not well apprized of its Nature; but in
the Progress of it, the little Pustules increase both in Number and
Size; and when they are opened by scratching, a loathsome kind of Scab
is formed, and the Malady extends over the whole Surface. Where they
continue long, they produce small Ulcers, and are at that Time highly
contagious.
§ 345. Bad Diet, particularly the Use of Salt Meat, bad unripe Fruit,
and Uncleanliness occasion this Disease; though it is oftnest taken by
Contagion. Some very good Physicians suppose it is never contracted
otherwise; but I must take Leave to dissent, as I have certainly seen it
exist without Contagion.
When it happens to a Person, who cannot suspect he has received it by
Contact, his Cure should commence with a total Abstinence from all Salt,
sour, fat and spicy Food. He should drink a Ptisan of wild and bitter
Succory, or that of Nº. 26, five or six Glasses of which may be daily
taken; at the End of four or five Days, he may be purged with Nº. 21, or
with an Ounce of _Sedlitz_ [or _Epsom_] Salt. His Abstinence, his
Regimen is to be continued; the Purge to be repeated after six or seven
Days; and then all the Parts affected, and those very near them, are to
be rubbed in the Morning fasting, with a fourth Part of the Ointment Nº.
52. The three following Days the same Friction is to be repeated, after
which the same Quantity of Ointment is to be procured, and used in the
same Proportion; but only every other Day. It happens but seldom that
this Method fails to remove this disagreeable Malady; sometimes however
it will return, in which Case, the Patient must be purged again, and
then recur to the Ointment, whose good Effects I have experienced, and
continually do.
If the Disease has been very lately contracted, and most certainly by
Contact, the Ointment may be fearlessly employed, as soon as it is
discovered, without taking any Purge before it. But if, on the contrary,
the Disease has been long neglected, and has rose to a high Degree, it
will be necessary to restrain the Patient a long Time to the Regimen I
have directed; he must be repeatedly purged, and then drink plentifully
of the Ptisan Nº. 26, before the Ointment is rubbed in. When the Malady
is thus circumstanced, I have always begun with the Ointment Nº. 28,
half a Quarter of which is to be used every Morning. I have also
frequently omitted the Use of that Nº. 52, having always found the
former as certain, but a little slower in its Effects.
§ 346. While these Medicines are employed, the Patient must avoid all
Cold and Wet, especially if he makes Use of Nº. 28, [80] in which there
is Quick-silver; which, if such Precautions were neglected, might bring
on a Swelling of the Throat and Gums, and even rise to a Salivation. Yet
this Ointment has one Advantage in its having no Smell, and being
susceptible of an agreeable one; while it is very difficult to disguise
the disagreeable Odour of the other.
The Linen of a Person in this Disease ought to be often changed; but his
upper Cloaths must not be changed: because these having been infected,
might, when worn again, communicate the Itch to the Wearer again, after
he had been cured.
Shirts, Breeches and Stockings may be fumigated with Sulphur, before
they are put on; and this Fumigation should be made in the open Air.
[80] I have seen a pretty singular Consequence from the Abuse of
mercurial Unction for the Itch; whether it happened from the
Strength or Quantity of the Ointment, or from taking Cold after
applying it, as this Subject, a healthy Youth of about sixteen,
probably did, by riding three or four Miles through the Rain. But
without any other previous Complaint, he awoke quite blind one
Morning, wondering, as he said, when it would be Day. His Eyes were
very clear, and free from Inflammation, but the Pupil was wholly
immoveable, as in a _Gutta serena_. I effected the Cure by some
moderate Purges repeated a few Times; by disposing him to sweat by
lying pretty much in Bed (it being towards Winter) and by promoting
his Perspiration, chiefly with Sulphur: after which the shaved
Scalp was embrocated with a warm nervous Mixture, in which Balsam
of _Peru_ was a considerable Ingredient. In something less than
three Weeks he could discern a glowing Fire, or the bright Flame of
a Candle. As his Sight increased, he discerned other Objects, which
appeared for some Days inverted to him, with their Colours
confused; but Red was most distinguishable. He discovered the Aces
sooner than other Cards; and in about six or seven Weeks recovered
his full Sight in all its natural Strength, which he now enjoys.
_K._
§ 347. If this Disorder becomes very inveterate and tedious, it exhausts
the Patient, in Consequence of its not suffering him to sleep at Nights,
as well as by his restless Irritation; and sometimes even brings on a
Fever, so that he falls away in Flesh, and his Strength abates.
In such a Case he must take, 1, a gentle Purge.
2, Make Use frequently of warm Baths.
3, He must be put on the Regimen of Persons in a State of Recovery.
4, He must take Morning and Evening, fifteen Days successively, the
Powder Nº. 53, with the Ptisan Nº. 26.
This Malady is often very obstinate, and then the Medicines must be
varied according to the Circumstances, the Detail of which I avoid here.
§ 348. After giving repeated Purges in such obstinate Cases, mineral
Waters abounding with Sulphur, such as [81] those of _Yverdun_, &c.
often effect a Cure; and simple cold Bathings in Rivers or Lakes have
sometimes succeeded in very inveterate Cases of this Disorder.
[81] Sea water, and those of _Dulwich_, _Harrigate_, _Shadwell_, &c.
will be full as effectual. _K._
Nothing conduces more to the long Continuance of this Malady, than the
Abuse of hot Waters, such as infusions of Tea, &c.
§ 349. I shall conclude this Chapter, with a repeated Injunction not to
be too free or rash in the Use of the Ointment Nº. 52, and other outward
Remedies for extinguishing the Itch. There is hardly any Complaint, but
what has been found to be the Consequence of too sudden a Removal of
this Disorder by outward Applications, before due Evacuations have been
made, and a moderate Abatement of the Sharpness of the Humours has been
effected.
__Chapter XXVI.__
_The Treatment of Diseases peculiar to Women._
__Sect.__ 350.
Besides all the preceding Diseases, to which Women are liable in common
with Men, their Sex also exposes them to others peculiar to it, and
which depend upon four principal Sources; which are their monthly
Discharges, their Pregnancy, their Labours in Child-birth, and the
Consequences of their Labours. It is not my present Design to treat
professedly on each of the Diseases arising from these Causes, which
would require a larger Volume than I have proposed; but I shall confine
myself to certain general Directions on these four Heads.
§ 351. Nature, who intended Women for the Increase, and the Nourishment
of the human Race at the Breast, has subjected them to a periodical
Efflux, or Discharge, of Blood: which Circumstance constitutes the
Source, from whence the Infant is afterwards to receive his Nutrition
and Growth.
This Discharge generally commences, with us, between the Age of sixteen
and eighteen. Young Maidens, before the Appearance of this Discharge,
are frequently, and many for a long Time, in a State of Weakness,
attended with various Complaints, which is termed the _Chlorosis_, or
Green Sickness, and Obstructions: and when their Appearance is extremely
slow and backward, it occasions very grievous, and sometimes even mortal
Diseases. Nevertheless it is too usual, though very improper, to ascribe
all the Evils, to which they are subject at this Term of Life, solely to
this Cause; while they really often result from a different Cause, of
which the Obstructions themselves are sometimes only the Effect; and
this is the natural, and, in some Degree, even necessary Feebleness of
the Sex. The Fibres of Women which are intended to be relaxed, and to
give Way, when they are unavoidably extended by the Growth of the Child,
and its inclosing Membranes (which frequently arise to a very
considerable Size) should necessarily be less stiff and rigid, less
strong, and more lax and yielding than the Fibres of Men. Hence the
Circulation of their Blood is more slow and languid than in Males; their
Blood is less compact and dense, and more watery; their Fluids are more
liable to stagnate in their different Bowels, and to form Infarctions
and Obstructions.
§ 352. The Disorders to which such a Constitution subjects them might,
in some Measure, be prevented, by assisting that Languor or Feebleness
of their natural Movements, by such an Increase of their Force, as
Exercise might contribute to: But this Assistance, which in some Manner
is more necessary for Females than Males, they are partly deprived of,
by the general Education and Habitude of the Sex; as they are usually
employed in managing Household Business, and such light sedentary Work,
as afford them less Exercise and Motion, than the more active
Occupations of Men. They stir about but little, whence their natural
Tendency to Weakness increases from Habit, and thence becomes morbid and
sickly. Their Blood circulates imperfectly; its Qualities become
impaired; the Humours tend to a pretty general Stagnation; and none of
the vital Functions are completely discharged.
From such Causes and Circumstances they begin to sink into a State of
Weakness, sometimes while they are very young, and many Years before
this periodical Discharge could be expected. This State of Languor
disposes them to be inactive; a little Exercise soon fatigues them,
whence they take none at all. It might prove a Remedy, and even effect a
Cure, at the Beginning of their Complaint; but as it is a Remedy, that
is painful and disagreeable to them, they reject it, and thus increase
their Disorders.
Their Appetite declines with the other vital Functions, and gradually
becomes still less; the usual salutary Kinds of Food never exciting it;
instead of which they indulge themselves in whimsical Cravings, and
often of the oddest and most improper Substances for Nutrition, which
entirely impair the Stomach with its digestive Functions, and
consequently Health itself.
But sometimes after the Duration of this State for a few Years, the
ordinary Time of their monthly Evacuations approaches, which however
make not the least Appearance, for two Reasons. The first is, that their
Health is too much impaired to accomplish this new Function, at a Time
when all the others are so languid: and the second is, that under such
Circumstances, the Evacuations themselves are unnecessary; since their
final Purpose is to discharge (when the Sex are not pregnant) that
superfluous Blood, which they were intended to produce, and whose
Retention would be unhealthy, when not applied to the Growth of the
Foetus, or Nourishment of the Child: and this Superfluity of Blood does
not exist in Women, who have been long in a very low and languishing
State.
§ 353. Their Disorder however continues to increase, as every one daily
must, which does not terminate. This Increase of it is attributed to the
Suppression or Non-appearance of their monthly Efflux, which is often
erroneous; since the Disorder is not always owing to that Suppression,
which is often the Effect of their Distemperature. This is so true, that
even when the Efflux happens, if their Weakness still continues, the
Patients are far from being the better for it, but the reverse. Neither
is it unusual to see young Lads, who have received from Nature, and from
their Parents, a sort of feminine Constitution, Education and Habitude,
infested with much the same Symptoms, as obstructed young Women.
Country Girls, who are generally more accustomed to such hardy Work and
Exercise as Country Men, are less subject to these Complaints, than
Women who live in Cities.
§ 354. Let People then be careful not to deceive themselves on this
important Account; since all the Complaints of young Maidens are not
owing to the Want of their Customs. Nevertheless it is certain there are
some of them, who are really afflicted from this Cause. For Instance,
when a strong young Virgin in full Health, who is nearly arrived to her
full Growth, and who manifestly abounds with Blood, does not obtain this
Discharge at the usual Time of Life, then indeed this superfluous Blood
is the Fountain of very many Disorders, and greatly more violent ones
than those, which result from the contrary Causes already mentioned.
If the lazy inactive City Girls are more subject to the Obstructions,
which either arise from the Weakness and Languor I have formerly taken
Notice of, or which accompany it; Country Girls are more subject to
Complaints from this latter Cause (too great a Retention of superfluous
Blood) than Women who live in Cities: and it is this last Cause that
excites those singular Disorders, which appear so supernatural to the
common People, that they ascribe them to Sorcery.
§ 355. And even after these periodical Discharges have appeared, it is
known that they have often been suppressed, without the least unhealthy
Consequence resulting from that Suppression. They are often suppressed,
in the Circumstances mentioned § 351, by a Continuance of the Disease,
which was first an Obstacle or Retardment to their Appearance; and in
other Cases, they have been suppressed by other Causes, such as Cold,
Moisture, violent Fear, any very strong Passion; by too chilly a Course
of Diet, with Indigestion; or too hot and irritating Diet; by Drinks
cooled with Ice, by Exercise too long continued, and by unusual
Watching. The Symptoms, occasioned by such Suppressions, are sometimes
more violent than those, which preceded the first Appearance of the
Discharge.
§ 356. The great Facility with which this Evacuation may be suppressed,
diminished, or disordered, by the Causes already assigned; the terrible
Evils which are the Consequences of such Interruptions and
Irregularities of them, seem to me very cogent Reasons to engage the Sex
to use all possible Care, in every Respect, to preserve the Regularity
of them; by avoiding, during their Approach and Continuance, every Cause
that may prevent or lessen them. Would they be thoroughly persuaded, not
solely by my Advice, but by that of their Mothers, their Relations,
their Friends, and by their own Experience, of what great Importance it
is to be very attentive to themselves, at those critical Times, I think
there is not one Woman, who from the first, to the very last Appearance
of them, would not conduct herself with the most scrupulous Regularity.
Their Demeanour, in these Circumstances, very fundamentally interests
their own Health, as well as that of their Children; and consequently
their own Happiness, as well as that of their Husbands and Families.
The younger and more delicate they are, Caution becomes the more
necessary for them. I am very sensible a strong Country Girl is too
negligent in regulating herself at those critical Seasons, and sometimes
without any ill Consequence; but at another Time she may suffer severely
for it: and I could produce a long List of many, who, by their
Imprudence on such Occasions, have thrown themselves into the most
terrible Condition.
Besides the Caution with which Females should avoid these general
Causes, just mentioned in the preceding Section, every Person ought to
remember what has most particularly disagreed with her during that Term,
and for ever constantly to reject it.
§ 357. There are many Women whose Customs visit them without the
slightest Impeachment of their Health: others are sensibly disordered on
every Return of them; and to others again they are very tormenting, by
the violent Cholics, of a longer or a shorter Duration, which precede or
accompany them. I have known some of these violent Attacks last but some
Minutes, and others which continued a few Hours. Nay some indeed have
persisted for many Days, attended with Vomiting, Fainting, with
Convulsions from excessive Pain, with Vomiting of Blood, Bleedings from
the Nose, _&c._ which, in short, have brought them to the very Jaws of
Death. So very dangerous a Situation requires the closest Attention;
though, as it results from several and frequently very opposite Causes,
it is impossible within the present Plan, to direct the Treatment that
may be proper for each Individual. Some Women have the Unhappiness to be
subject to these Symptoms every Month, from the first Appearance, to the
final Termination, of these Discharges; except proper Remedies and
Regimen, and sometimes a happy Child-birth, remove them. Others complain
but now and then, every second, third, or fourth Month; and there are
some again, who having suffered very severely during the first Months,
or Years, after their first Eruptions, suffer no more afterwards. A
fourth Number, after having had their Customs for a long Time, without
the least Complaint, find themselves afflicted with cruel Pains, at
every Return of them; if by Imprudence, or some inevitable Fatality,
they have incurred any Cause, that has suppressed, diminished, or
delayed them. This Consideration ought to suggest a proper Caution even
to such, as generally undergo these Discharges, without Pain or
Complaint: since all may be assured, that though they suffer no sensible
Disorder at that Time, they are nevertheless more delicate, more
impressible by extraneous Substances, more easily affected by the
Passions of the Mind, and have also weaker Stomachs at these particular
Periods.
§ 358. These Discharges may also be sometimes too profuse in Quantity,
in which Case the Patients become obnoxious to very grievous Maladies;
into the Discussion of which however I shall not enter here, as they are
much less frequent than those, arising from a Suppression of them.
Besides which, in such Cases, Recourse may be had to the Directions I
shall give hereafter, when I treat of that Loss of Blood, which may be
expedient, during the Course of Gravidation or Pregnancy. See § 365.
§ 359. Finally, even when they are the most regular, after their
Continuance for a pretty certain Number of Years (rarely exceeding
thirty-five) they go off of their own Accord, and necessarily, between
the Age of forty-five and fifty; sometimes even sooner, but seldom
continuing longer: and this _Crisis_ of their ceasing is generally a
very troublesome, and often a very dangerous, one for the Sex.
§ 360. The Evils mentioned § 352 may be prevented, by avoiding the
Causes producing them; and, 1, by obliging young Maidens to use
considerable Exercise; especially as soon as there is the least Reason
to suspect the Approach of this Disorder, the _Chlorosis_, or Green
Sickness.
2, By watching them carefully, that they eat nothing unwholesome or
improper; as there are scarcely any natural Substances, even among such
as are most improper for them, and the most distasteful, which have not
sometimes been the Objects of their sickly, their unaccountable
Cravings. Fat Aliments, Pastry, farinaceous or mealy, and sour and
watery Foods are pernicious to them. Herb-Teas, which are frequently
directed as a Medicine for them, are sufficient to throw them into the
Disorder, by increasing that Relaxation of their Fibres, which is a
principal Cause of it. If they must drink any such Infusions, as
medicated Drinks, let them be taken cold: but the best Drink for them is
Water, in which red hot Iron has been extinguished.
3, They must avoid hot sharp Medicines, and such as are solely intended
to force down their Terms, which are frequently attended with very
pernicious Consequences, and never do any good: and they are still the
more hurtful, as the Patient is the younger.
4, If the Malady increases, it will be necessary to give them some
Remedies; but these should not be Purges, nor consist of Diluters, and
Decoctions of Herbs, of Salts, and a Heap of other useless and noxious
Ingredients; but they should take Filings of Iron, which is the most
certain Remedy in such Cases. These Filings Should be of true simple
Iron, and not from Steel; and Care should be taken that it be not rusty,
in which State it has very little Effect.
At the Beginning of this Distemper, and to young Girls, it is sufficient
to give twenty Grains daily, enjoining due Exercise and a suitable Diet.
When it prevails in a severer Degree, and the Patient is not so young, a
Quarter of an Ounce may be safely ventured on: Certain Bitters or
Aromatics may be advantageously joined to the Filings, which are
numbered in the Appendix, 54, 55, 56, and constitute the most effectual
Remedies in this Distemper, to be taken in the Form of Powder, of vinous
Infusion, or of Electary. [82] When there is a just Indication to bring
down the Discharge, the vinous Infusion Nº. 55 must be given, and
generally succeeds: but I must again repeat it (as it should carefully
be considered) that the Stoppage or Obstruction of this Discharge is
frequently the Effect, not the Cause, of this Disease; and that there
should be no Attempt to force it down, which in such a Case, may
sometimes prove more hurtful than beneficial; since it would naturally
return of its own Accord, on the Recovery, and with the Strength, of the
Patient: as their Return should follow that of perfect Health, and
neither can precede Health, nor introduce it. There are some Cases
particularly, in which it would be highly dangerous to use hot and
active Medicines, such Cases for Instance, as are attended with some
Degree of Fever, a frequent Coughing, a Hæmorrhage, or Bleeding, with
great Leanness and considerable Thirst: all which Complaints should be
removed, before any hot Medicines are given to force this Evacuation,
which many very ignorantly imagine cures all other female Disorders; an
Error, that has prematurely occasioned the Loss of many Womens' Lives.
[82] The _French_ Word here, _Opiat_, is sometimes used by them for a
compound Medicine of the Consistence of an Electary; and cannot be
supposed, in this Place, to mean any Preparation, into which
_Opium_ enters. _K._
§ 361. While the Patient is under a Course of these Medicines, she
should not take any of those I have forbidden in the preceding Sections;
and the Efficacy of these should also be furthered with proper Exercise.
That in a Carriage is very healthy; Dancing is so too, provided it be
not extended to an Excess. In Case of a Relapse in these Disorders, the
Patient is to be treated, as if it were an original Attack.
§ 362. The other Sort of Obstructions described § 354 requires a very
different Treatment. Bleeding, which is hurtful in the former Sort, and
the Use, or rather Abuse, of which has thrown several young Women into
irrecoverable Weaknesses, has often removed this latter Species, as it
were, in a Moment. Bathing of the Feet, the Powders Nº. 20, and Whey
have frequently succeeded: but at other Times it is necessary to
accommodate the Remedies and the Method to each particular Case, and to
judge of it from its own peculiar Circumstances and Appearances.
§ 363. When these Evacuations naturally cease through Age (See § 359) if
they stop suddenly and all at once, and had formerly flowed very
largely, Bleeding must, 1, necessarily be directed, and repeated every
six, every four, or even every three Months.
2, The usual Quantity of Food should be somewhat diminished, especially
of Flesh, of Eggs and of strong Drink.
3, Exercise should be increased.
4, The Patient should frequently take, in a Morning fasting, the Powder
Nº. 24, which is very beneficial in such Cases; as it moderately
increases the natural Excretions by Stool, Urine and Perspiration; and
thence lessens that Quantity of Blood, which would otherwise
superabound.
Nevertheless, should this total Cessation of the monthly Discharge be
preceded by, or attended with, any extraordinary Loss of Blood, which is
frequently the Case, Bleeding is not so necessary; but the Regimen and
Powder just directed are very much so; to which the Purge Nº. 23 should
now and then be joined, at moderate Intervals. The Use of astringent
Medicines at this critical Time might dispose the Patient to a Cancer of
the Womb.
Many Women die about this Age, as it is but too easy a Matter to injure
them then; a Circumstance that should make them very cautious and
prudent in the Medicines they recur to. On the other Hand it also
frequently happens, that their Constitutions alter for the better, after
this critical Time of Life; their Fibres grow stronger; they find
themselves sensibly more hearty and hardy; many former slight
Infirmities disappear, and they enjoy a healthy and happy old Age. I
have known several who threw away their Spectacles at the Age of
fifty-two, or fifty-three, which they had used five or six Years before.
The Regimen I have just directed, the Powder Nº. 24, and the Potion Nº.
32, agree very well in almost all inveterate Discharges (I speak of the
female Peasantry) at whatever Time of Life.
_Of Disorders attending Gravidation, or the Term of going with Child._
§ 364. Gravidation is generally a less ailing or unhealthy State in the
Country, than in very populous Towns. Nevertheless Country Women are
subject, as well as Citizens, to Pains of the Stomach, to vomiting in a
Morning, to Head-ach and Tooth-ach; but these Complaints very commonly
yield to Bleeding, which is almost the only Remedy necessary [83] for
pregnant Women.
[83] Too great a Fulness of Blood is undoubtedly the Cause of all these
Complaints; but as there are different Methods of opposing this
Cause, the gentlest should always be preferred; nor should the
Constitution become habituated to such Remedies, as might either
impair the Strength of the Mother, or of her Fruit. Some Expedients
therefore should be thought of, that may compensate for the Want of
Bleeding, by enjoining proper Exercise in a clear Air, with a less
nourishing, and a less juicy Diet. _E. L._
This Note might have its Use sometimes, in the Cases of such
delicate and hysterical, yet pregnant Women, as are apt to suffer
from Bleeding, or any other Evacuation, though no ways immoderate.
But it should have been considered, that Dr. _Tissot_ was
professedly writing here to hearty active Country Wives, who are
very rarely thus constituted; and whom he might be unwilling to
confuse with such multiplied Distinctions and Directions, as would
very seldom be necessary, and might sometimes prevent them from
doing what was so. Besides which, this Editor might have seen, our
Author has hinted at such Cases very soon after. _K._
§ 365. Sometimes after carrying too heavy Burthens; after too much or
too violent Work; after receiving excessive Jolts, or having had a Fall,
they are subject to violent Pains of the Loins, which extend down to
their Thighs, and terminate quite at the Bottom of the Belly; and which
commonly import, that they are in Danger of an Abortion, or Miscarrying.
To prevent this Consequence, which is always dangerous, they should, 1,
immediately go to Bed; and if they have not a Mattrass, they should lie
upon a Bed stuffed with Straw, a Feather-bed being very improper in such
Cases. They should repose, or keep themselves quite still in this
Situation for several Days, not stirring, and speaking as little as
possible.
2, They should directly lose eight or nine Ounces of Blood from the Arm.
3, They should not eat Flesh, Flesh-broth, nor Eggs; but live solely on
Soups made of farinaceous or mealy Substances.
4, They should take every two Hours half a Paper of the Powder Nº. 20;
and should drink nothing but the Ptisan Nº. 2.
Some sanguine robust Women are very liable to miscarry at a certain
Time, or Stage, of their Pregnancy. This may be obviated by their
bleeding some Days before that Time approaches, and by their observing
the Regimen I have advised. But this Method would avail very little for
delicate Citizens, who miscarry from a very different Cause; and whose
Abortions are to be prevented by a very different Treatment.
_Of Delivery, or Child-birth._
§ 366. It has been observed that a greater Proportion of Women die in
the Country in, or very speedily after, their Delivery, and that from
the Scarcity of good Assistance, and the great Plenty of what is bad;
and that a greater Proportion of those in Cities die after their Labours
are effected, by a Continuance of their former bad Health.
The Necessity there is for better instructed, better qualified Midwives,
through a great Part of _Swisserland_, is but too manifest an
Unhappiness, which is attended with the most fatal Consequences, and
which merits the utmost Attention of the Government.
The Errors which are incurred, during actual Labour, are numberless, and
too often indeed are also irremediable. It would require a whole Book,
expressly for that Purpose (and in some Countries there are such) to
give all the Directions that are necessary, to prevent so many
Fatalities: and it would be as necessary to form a sufficient Number of
well-qualified Midwives to comprehend, and to observe them; which
exceeds the Plan of the Work I have proposed. I shall only mark out one
of the Causes, and the most injurious one on this Occasion: This is the
Custom of giving hot irritating Things, whenever the Labour is very
painful, or is slow; such as Castor, or its Tincture, Saffron, Sage,
Rue, Savin, Oil of Amber, Wine, Venice Treacle, Wine burnt with Spices,
Coffee, Brandy, Aniseed-Water, Walnut-Water, Fennel-Water, and other
Drams or strong Liquors. All these Things are so many Poisons in this
Respect, which, very far from promoting the Woman's Delivery, render it
more difficult by inflaming the Womb (which cannot then so well contract
itself) and the Parts, through which the Birth is to pass, in
Consequence of which they swell, become more straitened, and cannot
yield or be dilated. Sometimes these stimulating hot Medicines also
bring on Hæmorrhages, which prove mortal in a few Hours.
§ 367. A considerable Number, both of Mothers and Infants, might be
preserved by the directly opposite Method. As soon as a Woman who was in
very good Health, just before the Approach of her Labour, being robust
and well made, finds her Travail come on, and that it is painful and
difficult; far from encouraging those premature Efforts, which are
always destructive; and from furthering them by the pernicious Medicines
I have just enumerated, the Patient should be bled in the Arm, which
will prevent the Swelling and Inflammation; asswage the Pains; relax the
Parts, and dispose every thing to a favourable Issue.
During actual Labour no other Nourishment should be allowed, except a
little Panada every three Hours, and as much Toast and Water, as the
Woman chuses.
Every fourth Hour a Glyster should be given, consisting of a Decoction
of Mallows and a little Oil. In the Intervals between these Glysters she
should be set over a kind of Stove, or in a pierced easy Chair,
containing a Vessel in which there is some hot Water: the Passage should
be gently rubbed with a little Butter; and Stapes wrung out of a
Fomentation of simple hot Water, which is the most efficacious of any,
should be applied over the Belly.
The Midwives, by taking this Method, are not only certain of doing no
Mischief, but they also allow Nature an Opportunity of doing Good: as a
great many Labours, which seem difficult at time, terminate happily; and
this safe and unprecipitate Manner of proceeding at least affords Time
to call in further Assistance. Besides, the Consequences of such
Deliveries are healthy and happy; when by pursuing the heating
oppressing Practice, even though the Delivery be effected, both Mother
and Infant have been so cruelly, though undesignedly, tormented, that
both of them frequently perish.
§ 368. I acknowledge these Means are insufficient, when the Child is
unhappily situated in the Womb; or when there is an embarrassing
Conformation in the Mother: though at least they prevent the Case from
proving worse, and leave Time for calling in Men-Midwives, or other
female ones, who may be better qualified.
I beg leave again to remind the Midwives, that they should be very
cautious of urging their Women to make any forced Efforts to forward the
Birth, which are extremely injurious to them, and which may render a
Delivery very dangerous and embarrassing, that might otherwise have been
happily effected: and I insist the more freely on the Danger attending
these unreasonable Efforts, and on the very great Importance of
Patience, as the other very pernicious Practice is become next to
universal amongst us.
The Weakness, in which the labouring Woman appears, makes the
By-standers fearful that she will not have Strength enough to be
delivered; which they think abundantly justifies them in giving her
Cordials; but this Way of Reasoning is very weak and chimerical. Their
Strength, on such Occasions, is not so very speedily dissipated: the
small light Pains sink them, but in Proportion as the Pains become
stronger, their Strength arises; being never deficient, when there is no
extraordinary and uncommon Symptom; and we may reasonably be assured,
that in a healthy, well formed Woman, meer Weakness never prevents a
Delivery.
_Of the Consequences of Labour, or Childbirth._
§ 369. The most usual Consequences of Childbirth in the Country are, 1,
An excessive Hæmorrhage. 2, An Inflammation of the Womb. 3, A sudden
Suppression of the _Lochia_, or usual Discharges after Delivery. And, 4,
the Fever and other Accidents, resulting from the Milk.
Excessive Bleedings or Floodings, should be treated according to the
Manner directed § 365: and if they are very excessive, Folds of Linen,
which have been wrung out of a Mixture of equal Parts of Water and
Vinegar, should be applied to the Belly, the Loins, and the Thighs:
these should be changed for fresh moist ones, as they dry; and should be
omitted, as soon as the Bleeding abates.
§ 370. The Inflammation of the Womb is discoverable by Pains in all the
lower Parts of the Belly; by a Tension or Tightness of the whole; by a
sensible Increase of Pain upon touching it; a kind of red Stain or Spot,
that mounts to the Middle of the Belly, as high as the Navel; which
Spot, as the Disease increases, turns black, and then is always a mortal
Symptom; by a very extraordinary Degree of Weakness; an astonishing
Change of Countenance; a light _Delirium_ or Raving; a continual Fever
with a weak and hard Pulse; sometimes incessant Vomitings; a frequent
Hiccup; a moderate Discharge of a reddish, stinking, sharp Water;
frequent Urgings to go to Stool; a burning kind of Heat of Urine; and
sometimes an entire Suppression of it.
§ 371. This most dangerous and frequently mortal Disease should be
treated like inflammatory ones. After Bleeding, frequent Glysters of
warm Water must by no Means be omitted; some should also be injected
into the Womb, and applied continually over the Belly. The Patient may
also drink continually, either of simple Barley-Water, with a Quarter of
an Ounce of Nitre in every Pot of it, or of Almond Milk Nº. 4.
§ 372. The total Suppression of the _Lochia_, the Discharges after
Labour, which proves a Cause of the most violent Disorders, should be
treated exactly in the same Manner: but if unhappily hot Medicines have
been given, in order to force them down, the Case will very generally
prove a most hopeless one.
§ 373. If the Milk-fever run very high, the Barley Ptisan directed §
371, and Glysters, with a very light Diet, consisting only of Panada, or
made of some other farinaceous Substances, and very thin, very generally
remove it.
§ 374. Delicate infirm Women, who have not all the requisite and
necessary Attendance they want; and such as from Indigence are obliged
to work too soon, are exposed to many Accidents, which frequently arise
from a Want of due Perspiration, and an insufficient Discharge of the
_Lochia_; and hence, the Separation of the Milk in their Breasts being
disturbed, there are milky Congestions, or Knots as it were, which are
always very painful and troublesome, and especially when they are formed
more inwardly. They often happen on the Thighs, in which Case the Ptisan
Nº. 58 is to be drank, and the Pultices Nº. 59 must be applied. These
two Remedies gradually dissipate and remove the Tumour, if that may be
effected without Suppuration. But if that proves impossible, and _Pus_,
or Matter, is actually formed, a Surgeon must open the Abscess, and
treat it like any other.
§ 375. Should the Milk coagulate, or curdle as it were, in the Breast,
it is of the utmost Importance immediately to attenuate or dissolve that
Thickness, which would otherwise degenerate into a Hardness and prove a
_Scirrhus_; and from a _Scirrhus_ in Process of Time a Cancer, that most
tormenting and cruel Distemper.
This horrible Evil however may be prevented by an Application to these
small Tumours, as soon as ever they appear, For this Purpose nothing is
more effectual than the Prescriptions Nº. 57 and 60; but under such
menacing Circumstances, it is always prudent to take the best Advice, as
early as possible.
From the Moment these hard Tumours become excessively and obstinately
so, and yet without any Pain, we should abstain from every Application,
all are injurious; and greasy, sharp, resinous and spirituous ones
speedily change the _Scirrhus_ into a Cancer. Whenever it becomes
manifestly such, all Applications are also equally pernicious, except
that of Nº. 60. Cancers have long been thought and found incurable; but
within a few Years past some have been cured by the Remedy Nº. 57; which
nevertheless is not infallible, though it should always be tried. [84]
[84] The Use of Hemlock, which has been tried at _Lyons_, by all who
have had cancerous Patients, having been given in very large Doses,
has been attended with no Effect there, that merited the serious
Attention of Practitioners. Many were careful to obtain the Extract
from _Vienna_, and even to procure it from Dr. _Storck_ himself.
But now it appears to have had so little Success, as to become
entirely neglected. _E. L._
Having exactly translated in this Place, and in the Table of
Remedies, our learned Author's considerable Recommendation of the
Extract of Hemlock in Cancers, we think it but fair, on the other
Hand, to publish this Note of his Editor's against it; that the
real Efficacy or Inefficacy of this Medicine may at length be
ascertained, on the most extensive Evidence and Experience. As far
as my own Opportunities and Reflections, and the Experience of many
others, have instructed me on this Subject, it appears clear to
myself, that though the Consequences of it have not been constantly
unsuccessful with us, yet its Successes have come very short of its
Failures. Nevertheless, as in all such Cancers, every other
internal Medicine almost universally fails, we think with Dr.
_Tissot_ it should always be tried (from the meer Possibility of
its succeeding in some particular Habit and Circumstances) at least
till longer Experience shall finally determine against it. _K._
§ 376. The Nipples of Women, who give Milk, are often fretted or
excoriated, which proves very severely painful to them. One of the best
Applications is the most simple Ointment, being a Mixture of Oil and Wax
melted together; or the Ointment Nº. 66. Should the Complaint prove very
obstinate, the Nurse ought to be purged, which generally removes it.
__Chapter XXVII.__
_Medical Directions concerning Children._
__Sect.__ 377.
The Diseases of Children, and every Thing relating to their Health, are
Objects which generally seem to have been too much neglected by
Physicians; and have been too long confided to the Conduct of the most
improper Persons for such a Charge. At the same Time it must be admitted
their Health is of no little Importance; their Preservation is as
necessary as the Continuance of the human Race; and the Application of
the Practice of Physick to their Disorders is susceptible of nearer
Approaches to Perfection, than is generally conceived. It seems to have
even some Advantage over that Practice which regards grown Persons; and
it consists in this, that the Diseases of Children are more simple, and
less frequently complicated than those of Adults.
It may be said indeed, they cannot make themselves so well understood,
and meer Infants certainly not at all. This is true in Fact to a certain
Degree, but not rigidly true; for though they do not speak our Language,
they have one which we should contrive to understand. Nay every
Distemper may be said, in some Sense, to have a Language of its own,
which an attentive Physician will learn. He should therefore use his
utmost Care to understand that of Infants, and avail himself of it, to
increase the Means of rendering them healthy and vigorous, and to cure
them of the different Distempers to which they are liable. I do not
propose actually to compleat this Task myself, in all that Extent it may
justly demand; but I shall set forth the principal Causes of their
Distempers, and the general Method of treating them. By this Means I
shall at least preserve them from some of the Mischiefs which are too
frequently done them; and the lessening such Evils as Ignorance, or
erroneous Practice, occasions, is one of the most important Purposes of
the present Work.
§ 378. Nearly all the Children who die before they are one Year, and
even two Years, old, die _with_ Convulsions: People say they died _of_
them, which is partly true, as it is in Effect, the Convulsions that
have destroyed them. But then these very Convulsions are the
Consequences, the Effects, of other Diseases, which require the utmost
Attention of those, who are entrusted with the Care and Health of the
little Innocents: as an effectual Opposition to these Diseases, these
morbid Causes, is the only Means of removing the Convulsions. The four
principal known Causes are, the _Meconium_; the Excrements contained in
the Body of the Infant, at the Birth; _Acidities_, or sharp and sour
Humours; the Cutting of the Teeth, and Worms. I shall treat briefly of
each.
_Of the Meconium._
§379. The Stomach and Guts of the Infant, at its Entrance into the
World, are filled with a black Sort of Matter, of a middling
Consistence, and very viscid or glutinous, which is called the
_Meconium_. It is necessary this Matter should be discharged before the
Infant sucks, since it would otherwise corrupt the Milk, and, becoming
extremely sharp itself, there would result from their Mixture a double
Source of Evils, to the Destruction of the Infant.
The Evacuation of this Excrement is procured, 1, By giving them no Milk
at all for the first twenty-four Hours of their Lives. 2, By making them
drink during that Time some Water, to which a little Sugar or Honey must
be added, which will dilute this _Meconium_, and promote the Discharge
of it by Stool, and sometimes by vomiting.
To be the more certain of expelling all this Matter, they should take
one Ounce of Compound Syrup [85] of Succory, which should be diluted
with a little Water, drinking up this Quantity within the Space of four
or five Hours. This Practice is a very beneficial one, and it is to be
wished it were to become general. This Syrup is greatly preferable to
all others, given in such Cases, and especially to Oil of Almonds.
[85] This Method (says the Editor and Annotator of _Lyons_) is useful,
whenever the Mother does not suckle her Child. Art is then obliged
to prove a Kind of Substitute to Nature, though always a very
imperfect one. But when a Mother, attentive to her own true
Interest, as well as her Infant's, and, listening to the Voice of
Nature and her Duty, suckles it herself, these Remedies [he adds]
seem hurtful, or at least, useless. The Mother should give her
Child the Breast as soon as she can. The first Milk, the
_Colostrum_, or _Strippings_, as it is called in Quadrupeds, which
is very serous or watery, will be serviceable as a Purgative; it
will forward the Expulsion of the _Meconium_, prove gradually
nourishing, and is better than Biscuits, or Panada, which (he
thinks) are dangerous in the first Days after the Birth. _E. L._
This Syrup of Succory being scarcely ever prepared with us, though
sufficiently proper for the Use assigned it here, I have retained
the preceding Note, as the Author of it directs these _Strippings_,
for the same Purpose, with an Air of certain Experience; and as
this Effect of them seems no Ways repugnant to the physical Wisdom
and Oeconomy of Nature, on such important Points. Should it in fact
be their very general Operation, it cannot be unknown to any Male
or Female Practitioner in Midwifery, and may save poor People a
little Expence, which was one Object of our humane Author's Plan.
The Oil Of _Ricinus_, corruptly called _Castor_ Oil (being
expressed from the Berries of the _Palma Christi_) is particularly
recommended by some late medical Writers from _Jamaica_, _&c._ for
this Purpose of expelling the _Meconium_, to the Quantity of a
small Spoonful. These Gentlemen also consider it as the most
proper, and almost specific Opener, in the dry Belly-ach of that
torrid Climate, which tormenting Disease has the closest Affinity
to the _Miserere_, or Iliac Passion, of any I have seen. The
Annotator's Objection to our Author's very _thin light_ Panada,
seems to be of little Weight. _K._
Should the great Weakness of the Child seem to call for some
Nourishment, there would be no Inconvenience in allowing a little
Biscuit well boiled in Water, which is pretty commonly done, or a little
very thin light Panada.
_Of Acidities, or sharp Humours._
§ 380. Notwithstanding the Bodies of Children have been properly emptied
speedily after their Birth, yet the Milk very often turns sour in their
Stomachs, producing Vomitings, violent Cholics, Convulsions, a
Looseness, and even terminating in Death. There are but two Purposes to
be pursued in such Cases, which are to carry off the sour or sharp
Humours, and to prevent the Generation of more. The first of these
Intentions is best effected by the Syrup of Succory [86] just mentioned.
[86] Or, for Want of it, the solutive Syrup of Roses. _K._
The Generation of further Acidities is prevented, by giving three Doses
daily, if the Symptoms are violent, and but two, or even one only, if
they are very moderate, of the Powder Nº. 61, drinking after it Bawm
Tea, or a Tea of Lime-tree Leaves.
§ 381. It has been a Custom to load Children with Oil of Almonds, [87]
as soon as ever they are infested with Gripes: but it is a pernicious
Custom, and attended with very dangerous Consequences. It it very true
that this Oil sometimes immediately allays the Gripes, by involving, or
sheathing up, as it were, the acid Humours, and somewhat blunting the
Sensibility of the Nerves. But it proves only a palliative Remedy, or
asswaging for a Time, which, far from removing, increases the Cause,
since it becomes sharp and rancid itself; whence the Disorder speedily
returns, and the more Oil the Infant takes, it is griped the more. I
have cured some Children of such Disorders, without any other Remedy,
except abstaining from Oil, which weakens their Stomachs, whence their
Milk is less perfectly, and more slowly digested, and becomes more
easily soured. Besides this Weakness of the Stomach, which thus
commences at that very early Age, has sometimes an unhealthy Influence
on the Constitution of the Child, throughout the Remainder of his Life.
[87] The _Magnesia_ is an excellent Substitute in Children, for these
Oils Dr. _Tissot_ so justly condemns here. _K._
A free and open Belly is beneficial to Children; now it is certain that
the Oil very often binds them, in Consequence of its diminishing the
Force and Action of the Bowels. There is scarcely any Person, who cannot
observe this Inconvenience attending it; notwithstanding they all
continue to advise and to give it, to obtain a very different Purpose:
But such is the Power of Prejudice in this Case, and in so many others;
People are so strongly pre-possessed with a Notion, that such a Medicine
must produce such an Effect; that its never having produced it avails
nothing with them, their Prejudice still prevails; they ascribe its Want
of Efficacy to the Smallness of the Doses; these are doubled then, and
notwithstanding its bad Effects are augmented, their obstinate Blindness
continues.
This Abuse of the Oil also disposes their Child to knotty hard Tumours,
and at length often proves the first Cause of some Diseases of the Skin,
whose Cure is extremely difficult.
Hence it is evident, this Oil should be used on such Occasions but very
seldom; and that it is always very injudicious to give it in Cholics,
which arise from sharp and sour Humours in the Stomach, or in the
Bowels.
§ 382. Infants are commonly most subject to such Cholics during their
earliest Months; after which they abate, in Proportion as their Stomachs
grow stronger. They may be relieved in the Fit by Glysters of a
Decoction of Chamomile Flowers, in which a Bit of Soap of the Size of a
Hazel Nut is dissolved. A Piece of Flanel wrung out of a Decoction of
Chamomile Flowers, with the Addition of some Venice Treacle, and applied
hot over the Stomach and on the Belly, is also very beneficial, and
relieving.
Children cannot always take Glysters, the Continuance of which
Circumstance might be dangerous to them; and every one is acquainted
with the common Method of substituting Suppositories to them, whether
they are formed of the smooth and supple Stalks of Vines, _&c._ of Soap,
or of Honey boiled up to a proper Consistence.
But one of the most certain Means to prevent these Cholics, which are
owing to Children's not digesting their Milk, is to move and exercise
them as much as possible; having a due Regard however to their tender
Time of Life.
§ 383. Before I proceed to the third Cause of the Diseases of Children,
which is, the Cutting of their Teeth, I must take Notice of the first
Cares their Birth immediately requires, that is the Washing of them the
first Time, meerly to cleanse, and afterwards, to strengthen them.
_Of washing Children._
§ 384. The whole Body of an Infant just born is covered with a gross
Humour, which is occasioned by the Fluids, in which it was suspended in
the Womb. There is a Necessity to cleanse it directly from this, for
which nothing is so proper as a Mixture of one third Wine, and two
thirds Water; Wine alone would be dangerous. This Washing may be
repeated some Days successively; but it is a bad Custom to continue to
wash them thus warm, the Danger of which is augmented by adding some
Butter to the Wine and Water, which is done too often. If this gross
Humour, that covers the Child, seems more thick and glutinous than
ordinary, a Decoction of Chamomile Flowers, with a little Bit of Soap,
may be used to remove it. The Regularity of Perspiration is the great
Foundation of Health; to procure this Regularity the Teguments, the
Skin, must be strengthened; but warm Washing tends to weaken it. When it
is of a proper Strength it always performs its Functions; nor is
Perspiration disordered sensibly by the Alteration of the Weather. For
this Reason nothing should be omitted, that may fix it in this State;
and to attain so important an Advantage, Children should be washed, some
few Days after their Birth, with cold Water, in the State it is brought
from the Spring.
For this Purpose a Spunge is employed, with which they begin, by washing
first the Face, the Ears, the back Part of the Head (carefully avoiding
the [88] _Fontanelle_, or Mould of the Head) the Neck, the Loins, the
Trunck of the Body, the Thighs, Legs and Arms, and in short every Spot.
This Method which has obtained for so many Ages, and which is practised
at present by many People, who prove very healthy, will appear shocking
to several Mothers; they would be afraid of killing their Children by
it; and would particularly fail of Courage enough to endure the Cries,
which Children often make, the first Time they are washed. Yet if their
Mothers truly love them, they cannot give a more substantial Mark of
their Tenderness to them, than by subduing their Fears and their
Repugnance, on this important Head.
[88] That Part of the Head where a Pulsation may be very plainly felt,
where the Bones are less hard, and not as yet firmly joined with
those about them.
Weakly Infants [89] are those who have the greatest Need of being
washed: such as are remarkably strong may be excused from it; and it
seems scarcely credible (before a Person has frequently seen the
Consequences of it) how greatly this Method conduces to give, and to
hasten on, their Strength. I have had the Pleasure to observe, since I
first endeavoured to introduce the Custom among us, that several of the
most affectionate and most sensible Mothers, have used it with the
greatest Success. The Midwives, who have been Witnesses of it; the
Nurses and the Servants of the Children, whom they have washed, publish
it abroad; and should the Custom become as general, as every thing seems
to promise it will, I am fully persuaded, that by preserving the Lives
of a great Number of Children, it will certainly contribute to check the
Progress of Depopulation.
[89] There is however a certain Degree of Weakness, which may very
reasonably deter us from this Washing; as when the Infant
manifestly wants Heat, and needs some Cordial and frequent
Frictions, to prevent its expiring from downright Feebleness; in
which Circumstances Washing must be hurtful to it. _Tissot._
They should be washed very regularly every Day, in every Season, and
every Sort of Weather; and in the fine warm Season they should be
plunged into a large Pail of Water, into the Basins around Fountains, in
a Brook, a River, or a Lake.
After a few Days crying, they grow so well accustomed to this Exercise,
that it becomes one of their Pleasures; so that they laugh all the Time
of their going through it.
The first Benefit of this Practice is, as I have already said, the
keeping up their Perspiration, and rendering them less obnoxious to the
Impressions of the Air and Weather: and it is also in Consequence of
this first Benefit, that they are preserved from a great Number of
Maladies, especially from knotty Tumours, often called Kernels; from
Obstructions; from Diseases of the Skin, and from Convulsions, its
general Consequence being to insure them firm, and even robust Health.
§ 385. But Care should be taken not to prevent, or, as it were to undo,
the Benefit this Washing procures them, by the bad Custom of keeping
them too hot. There is not a more pernicious one than this, nor one that
destroys more Children. They should be accustomed to light Cloathing by
Day, and light Covering by Night, to go with their Heads very thinly
covered, and not at all in the Day-time, after their attaining the Age
of two Years. They should avoid sleeping in Chambers that are too hot,
and should live in the open Air, both in Summer and Winter, as much as
possible. Children who have been kept too hot in such Respects, are very
often liable to Colds; they are weakly, pale, languishing, bloated and
melancholy. They are subject to hard knotty Swellings, a Consumption,
all Sorts of languid Disorders, and either die in their Infancy, or only
grow up into a miserable valetudinary Life; while those who are washed
or plunged into cold Water, and habitually exposed to the open Air, are
just in the opposite Circumstances.
§ 386. I must further add here, that Infancy is not the only Stage of
Life, in which cold Bathing is advantagious. I have advised it with
remarkable Success to Persons of every Age, even to that of seventy: and
there are two Kinds of Diseases, more frequent indeed in Cities than in
the Country, in which cold Baths succeed very greatly; that is, in
Debility, or Weakness of the Nerves; and when Perspiration is
disordered, when Persons are fearful of every Breath of Air, liable to
Defluxions or Colds, feeble and languishing, the cold Bath
re-establishes Perspiration; restores Strength to the Nerves; and by
that Means dispels all the Disorders, which arise from these two Causes,
in the animal Oeconomy. They should be used before Dinner. But in the
same Proportion that cold Bathing is beneficial, the habitual Use, or
rather Abuse, of warm Bathing is pernicious; they dispose the Persons
addicted to them to the Apoplexy; to the Dropsy; to Vapours, and to the
hypochondriacal Disease: and Cities, in which they are too frequently
used, become, in some Measure, desolate from such Distempers.
_Of the Cutting of the Teeth._
§ 387. Cutting of the Teeth is often very tormenting to Children, some
dying under the severe Symptoms attending it. If it proves very painful,
we should during that Period, 1, Keep their Bellies open by Glysters
consisting only of a simple Decoction of Mallows: but Glysters are not
necessary, if the Child, as it sometimes happens then, has a Purging.
2, Their ordinary Quantity of Food should be lessened for two Reasons;
first, because the Stomach is then weaker than usual; and next, because
a small Fever sometimes accompanies the Cutting.
3, Their usual Quantity of Drink should be increased a little; the best
for them certainly is an Infusion of the Leaves or Flowers, of the Lime
or Linden-tree, to which a little Milk may be added.
4, Their Gums should frequently be rubbed with a Mixture of equal Parts
of Honey, and Mucilage of Quince-seeds; and a Root of March-Mallows, or
of Liquorice, may be given them to chew.
It frequently happens, that during Dentition, or the Time of their
toothing, Children prove subject to Knots or Kernels.
_Of Worms._
§ 388. The _Meconium_, the Acidity of the Milk, and Cutting of the Teeth
are the three great Causes of the Diseases of Children. There is also a
fourth, Worms, which is likewise very often pernicious to them; but
which, nevertheless, is not, at least not near so much, a general Cause
of their Disorders, as it is generally supposed, when a Child exceeding
two Years of Age proves sick. There are a great Variety of Symptoms,
which dispose People to think a Child has Worms; though there is but one
that demonstrates it, which is discharging them upwards or downwards.
There is great Difference among Children too in this Respect, some
remaining healthy, though having several Worms, and others being really
sick with a few.
They prove hurtful, 1, by obstructing the Guts, and compressing the
neighbouring Bowels by their Size. 2, By sucking up the Chyle intended
to nourish the Patient, and thus depriving him of his very Substance as
well as Subsistence: and, 3, by irritating the Guts and even [90]
gnawing them.
[90] I have seen a Child about three Years old, whose Navel, after
swelling and inflaming, suppurated, and through a small Orifice
(which must have communicated with the Cavity of the Gut or the
Belly) discharged one of these Worms we call _teretes_, about three
Inches long. He had voided several by Stool, after taking some
vermifuge Medicines. The Fact I perfectly remember; and to the best
of my Recollection, the Ulcer healed some Time after, and the
Orifice closed: but the Child died the following Year of a putrid
Fever, which might be caused, or was aggravated, by Worms. _K._
§ 389. The Symptoms which make it probable they are infested with Worms,
are slight, frequent and irregular Cholics; a great Quantity of Spittle
running off while they are fasting; a disagreeable Smell of their
Breath, of a particular Kind, especially in the Morning; a frequent
Itchiness of their Noses which makes them scratch or rub them often; a
very irregular Appetite, being sometimes voracious, and at other Times
having none at all: Pains at Stomach and Vomitings: sometimes a costive
Belly; but more frequently loose Stools of indigested Matter; the Belly
rather larger than ordinary, the rest of the Body meagre; a Thirst which
no Drink allays; often great Weakness, and some Degree of Melancholy.
The Countenance has generally an odd unhealthy Look, and varies every
Quarter of an Hour; the Eyes often look dull, and are surrounded with a
Kind of livid Circle: the White of the Eye is sometimes visible while
they sleep, their Sleep being often attended with terrifying Dreams or
_Deliriums_, and with continual Startings, and Grindings of their Teeth.
Some Children find it impossible to be at Rest for a single Moment.
Their Urine is often whitish, I have seen it from some as white as Milk.
They are afflicted with Palpitations, Swoonings, Convulsions, long and
profound Drowsiness; cold Sweats which come on suddenly; Fevers which
have the Appearances of Malignity; Obscurities and even Loss of Sight
and of Speech, which continue for a considerable Time; Palsies either of
their Hands, their Arms, or their Legs, and Numbnesses. Their Gums are
in a bad State, and as though they had been gnawed or corroded: they
have often the Hickup, a small and irregular Pulse, Ravings, and, what
is one of the least doubtful Symptoms, frequently a small dry Cough; and
not seldom a Mucosity or Sliminess in their Stools: sometimes very long
and violent Cholics, which terminate in an Abscess on the Outside of the
Belly, from whence Worms issue. (See Note [90] p. 388.)
§ 390. There are a great Multitude of Medicines against Worms. The [91]
_Grenette_ or Worm-seed, which is one of the commonest, is a very good
one. The Prescription Nº. 62, is also a very successful one; and the
Powder Nº. 14 is one of the best. Flower of Brimstone, the Juice of
_Nasturtium_, or Cresses, Acids and Honey Water have often been very
serviceable; but the first three I have mentioned, succeeded by a Purge,
are the best. Nº. 63 is a purging Medicine, that the most averse and
difficult Children may easily take. But when, notwithstanding these
Medicines, the Worms are not expelled, it is necessary to take Advice of
some Person qualified to prescribe more efficacious ones. This is of
considerable Importance, because, notwithstanding a great Proportion of
Children may probably have Worms, and yet many of them continue in good
Health, there are, nevertheless, some who are really killed by Worms,
after having been cruelly tormented by them for several Years.
[91] This Word occurs in none of the common Dictionaries; but suspecting
it for the _Semen Santonici_ of the Shops, I find the learned Dr.
_Bikker_ has rendered it so, in his very well received Translation
of this valuable Work into _Low Dutch_. _K._
A Disposition to breed Worms always shews the Digestions are weak and
imperfect; for which Reason Children liable to Worms should not be
nourished with Food difficult to digest. We should be particularly
careful not to stuff them with Oils, which, admitting such Oils should
immediately kill some of their Worms, do yet increase that Cause, which
disposes them to generate others. A long continued Use of Filings of
Iron is the Remedy, that most effectually destroys this Disposition to
generate Worms.
_Of Convulsions._
§ 391. I have already said, § 378, that the Convulsions of Children are
almost constantly the Effect of some other Disease, and especially of
some of the four I have mentioned. Some other, though less frequent
Causes, sometimes occasion them, and these may be reduced to the
following.
The first of them is the corrupted Humours, that often abound in their
Stomachs and Intestines; and which, by their Irritation, produce
irregular Motions throughout the whole System of the Nerves, or at least
through some Parts of them; whence those Convulsions arise, which are
merely involuntary Motions of the Muscles. These putrid Humours are the
Consequence of too great a Load of Aliments, of unsound ones, or of
such, as the Stomachs of Children are incapable of digesting. These
Humours are also sometimes the Effect of a Mixture and Confusion of
different Aliments, and of a bad Distribution of their Nourishment.
It may be known that the Convulsions of a Child are owing to this Cause,
by the Circumstances that have preceded them, by a disgusted loathing
Stomach; by a certain Heaviness and Load at it; by a foul Tongue; a
great Belly; by its bad Complexion, and its disturbed unrefreshing
Sleep.
The Child's proper Diet, that is, a certain Diminution of the Quantity
of its Food; some Glysters of warm Water, and one Purge of Nº. 63, very
generally remove such Convulsions.
§ 392. The second Cause is the bad Quality of their Milk. Whether it be
that the Nurse has fallen into a violent Passion, some considerable
Disgust, great Fright or frequent Fear: whether she has eat unwholesome
Food, drank too much Wine, spirituous Liquors, or any strong Drink:
whether she is seized with a Descent of her monthly Discharges, and that
has greatly disordered her Health; or finally whether she prove really
sick: In all these Cases the Milk is vitiated, and exposes the Infant to
violent Symptoms, which sometimes speedily destroy it.
The Remedies for Convulsions, from this Cause, consist, 1, In letting
the Child abstain from this corrupted Milk, until the Nurse shall have
recovered her State of Health and Tranquillity, the speedy Attainment of
which may be forwarded by a few Glysters; by gentle pacific Medicines;
by an entire Absence of whatever caused or conduced to her bad Health;
and by drawing off all the Milk that had been so vitiated.
2, In giving the Child itself some Glysters: in making it drink
plentifully of a light Infusion of the Lime-tree Flowers, in giving it
no other Nourishment for a Day or two, except Panada and other light
Spoon-meat, without Milk.
3, In purging the Child (supposing what has been just directed to have
been unavailable) with an Ounce, or an Ounce and a Half, of compound
Syrup of Succory, or as much Manna. These lenient gentle Purges carry
off the Remainder of the corrupted Milk, and remove the Disorders
occasioned by it.
§ 393. A third Cause which also produces Convulsions, is the feverish
Distempers which attack Children, especially the Small-pocks and the
Measles; but in general such Convulsions require no other Treatment, but
that proper for the Disease, which has introduced them.
§ 394. It is evident from what has been said in the Course of this
Chapter, and it deserves to be attended to, that Convulsions are
commonly a Symptom attending some other Disease, rather than an original
Disease themselves: that they depend on many different Causes; that from
this Consideration there can be no general Remedy for removing or
checking them; and that the only Means and Medicines which are suitable
in each Case, are those, which are proper to oppose the particular Cause
producing them, and which I have already pointed out in treating of each
Cause.
The greater Part of the pretended Specifics, which are indiscriminately
and ignorantly employed in all Sorts of Convulsions, are often useless,
and still oftner prejudicial. Of this last Sort and Character are,
1, All sharp and hot Medicines, spirituous Liquors, Oil of Amber,--other
hot Oils and Essences, volatile Salts, and such other Medicines, as, by
the Violence of their Action on the irritable Organs of Children, are
likelier to produce Convulsions, than to allay them.
2, Astringent Medicines, which are highly pernicious, whenever the
Convulsions are caused by any sharp Humour, that ought to be discharged
from the Body by Stool; or when such Convulsions are the Consequences of
an [92] Effort of Nature, in Order to effect a _Crisis_: And as they
almost ever depend on one or the other of these Causes, it follows that
Astringents can very rarely, if ever, be beneficial. Besides that there
is always some Danger in giving them to Children without a mature, a
thorough Consideration of their particular Case and Situation, as they
often dispose them to Obstructions.
[92] This very important Consideration, on which I have treated pretty
largely, in the _Analysis_, seems not to be attended to in
Practice, as frequently as it ought. _K._
3, The over early, and too considerable Use of Opiates, either not
properly indicated, or continued too long, such as Venice Treacle,
Mithridate, Syrup of Poppies (and it is very easy to run upon some of
these Sholes) are also attended with the most embarrassing Events, in
Regard to Convulsions; and it may be affirmed they are improper, for
nine Tenths of those they are advised to. It is true they often produce
an apparent Ease and Tranquillity for some Minutes, and sometimes for
some Hours too; but the Disorder returns even with greater Violence for
this Suspension, by Reason they have augmented all the Causes producing
it; they impair the Stomach; they bind up the Belly; they lessen the
usual Quantity of Urine; and besides, by their abating the Sensibility
of the Nerves, which ought to be considered as one of the chief
Centinels appointed by Nature, for the Discovery of any approaching
Danger, they dispose the Patient insensibly to such Infarctions and
Obstructions, as tend speedily to produce some violent and mortal Event,
or which generate a Disposition to languid and tedious Diseases: and I
do again repeat it, that notwithstanding there are some Cases, in which
they are absolutely necessary, they ought in general to be employed with
great Precaution and and Prudence. To mention the principal Indications
for them in convulsive Cases, they are proper,
1, When the Convulsions still continue, after the original Cause of them
is removed.
2, When they are so extremely violent, as to threaten a great and very
speedy Danger of Life; and when they prove an Obstacle to the taking
Remedies calculated to extinguish their Cause; and,
3, When the Cause producing them is of such a Nature, as is apt to yield
to the Force of Anodynes; as when, for Instance, they have been the
immediate Consequence of a Fright.
§ 395. There is a very great Difference in different Children, in
Respect to their being more or less liable to Convulsions. There are
some, in whom very strong and irritating Causes cannot excite them; not
even excruciating Gripes and Cholics; the most painful Cutting of their
Teeth; violent Fevers; the Small Pocks; Measles; and though they are, as
it were, continually corroded by Worms, they have not the slightest
Tendency to be convulsed. On the other Hand, some are so very obnoxious
to Convulsions, or so easily _convulsible_, if that Expression may be
allowed, that they are very often seized with them from such very slight
Causes, that the most attentive Consideration cannot investigate them.
This Sort of Constitution, which is extremely dangerous, and exposes the
unhappy Subject of it, either to a very speedy Death, or to a very low
and languid State of Life, requires some peculiar Considerations; the
Detail of which would be the more foreign to the Design of this
Treatise, as they are pretty common in Cities, but much less so in
Country Places. In general cold Bathing and the Powder Nº. 14 are
serviceable in such Circumstances.
_General Directions, with Respect to Children._
§ 396. I shall conclude this Chapter by such farther Advice, as may
contribute to give Children a more vigorous Constitution and
Temperament, and to preserve them from many Disorders.
First then, we should be careful not to cram them too much, and to
regulate both the Quantity and the set Time of their Meals, which is a
very practicable Thing, even in the very earliest Days of their Life;
when the Woman who nurses them, will be careful to do it regularly.
Perhaps indeed this is the very Age, when such a Regulation may be the
most easily attempted and effected; because it is that Stage, when the
constant Uniformity of their Way of living should incline us to suppose,
that what they have Occasion for is most constantly very much the same.
A Child who has already attained to a few Years, and who is surrendered
up more to his own Exercise and Vivacity, feels other Calls; his Way of
Life is become a little more various and irregular, whence his Appetite
must prove so too. Hence it would be inconvenient to subject him over
exactly to one certain Rule, in the Quantity of his Nourishment, or the
Distance of his Meals. The Dissipation or passing off of his Nutrition
being unequal, the Occasions he has for repairing it cannot be precisely
dated and regular. But with Respect to very little Children in Arms, or
on the Lap, a Uniformity in the first of these Respects, the Quantity of
their Food, very consistently conduces to a useful Regularity with
Respect to the second, the Times of feeding them. Sickness is probably
the only Circumstance, that can warrant any Alteration in the Order and
Intervals of their Meals; and then this Change should consist in a
Diminution of their usual Quantity, notwithstanding a general and fatal
Conduct seems to establish the very Reverse; and this pernicious Fashion
authorizes the Nurses to cram these poor little Creatures the more, in
Proportion as they have real Need of less feeding. They conclude of
Course, that all their Cries are the Effects of Hunger, and the Moment
an Infant begins, then they immediately stop his Mouth with his Food;
without once suspecting, that these Wailings may be occasioned by the
Uneasiness an over-loaded Stomach may have introduced; or by Pains whose
Cause is neither removed nor mitigated, by making the Children eat;
though the meer Action of eating may render them insensible to slight
Pains, for a very few Minutes; in the first Place, by calling off their
Attention; and secondly, by hushing them to sleep, a common Effect of
feeding in Children, being in fact, a very general and constant one, and
depending on the same Causes, which dispose so many grown Persons to
sleep after Meals.
A Detail of the many Evils Children are exposed to, by thus forcing too
much Food upon them, at the very Time when their Complaints are owing to
Causes, very different from Hunger, might appear incredible. They are
however so numerous and certain, that I seriously wish sensible Mothers
would open their Eyes to the Consideration of this Abuse, and agree to
put an End to it.
Those who overload them with Victuals, in Hopes of strengthening them,
are extremely deceived; there being no one Prejudice equally fatal to
such a Number of them. Whatever unnecessary Aliment a Child receives,
weakens, instead of strengthening him. The Stomach, when over-distended,
suffers in its Force and Functions, and becomes less able to digest
thoroughly. The Excess of the Food last received impairs the Concoction
of the Quantity, that was really necessary: which, being badly digested,
is so far from yielding any Nourishment to the Infant, that it weakens
it, and proves a Source of Diseases, and concurs to produce
Obstructions, Rickets, the Evil, slow Fevers, a Consumption and Death.
Another unhappy Custom prevails, with Regard to the Diet of Children,
when they begin to receive any other Food besides their Nurse's Milk,
and that is, to give them such as exceeds the digestive Power of their
Stomachs; and to indulge them in a Mixture of such Things in their
Meals, as are hurtful in themselves, and more particularly so, with
Regard to their feeble and delicate Organs.
To justify this pernicious Indulgence, they affirm it is necessary to
accustom their Stomachs to every Kind of Food; but this Notion is highly
absurd, since their Stomachs should first be strengthened, in Order to
make them capable of digesting every Food; and crouding indigestible, or
very difficultly digestible Materials into it, is not the Way to
strengthen it. To make a Foal sufficiently strong for future Labour, he
is exempted from any, till he is four Years old; which enables him to
submit to considerable Work, without being the worse for it. But if, to
inure him to Fatigue, he should be accustomed, immediately from his
Birth, to submit to Burthens above his Strength, he could never prove
any Thing but an utter Jade, incapable of real Service. The Application
of this to the Stomach of a Child is very obvious.
I shall add another very important Remark, and it is this, that the too
early Work to which the Children of Peasants are forced, becomes of real
Prejudice to the Publick. Hence Families themselves are less numerous,
and the more Children that are removed from their Parents, while they
are very young, those who are left are the more obliged to Work, and
very often even at hard Labour, at an Age when they should exercise
themselves in the usual Diversions and Sports of Children. Hence they
wear out in a Manner, before they attain the ordinary Term of Manhood;
they never arrive at their utmost Strength, nor reach their full
Stature; and it is too common to see a Countenance with the Look of
twenty Years, joined to a Stature of twelve or thirteen. In fact, they
often sink under the Weight of such hard involuntary Labour, and fall
into a mortal Degree of Wasting and Exhaustion.
§ 397. Secondly, which indeed is but a Repetition of the Advice I have
already given, and upon which I cannot insist too much, they must be
frequently washed or bathed in cold Water.
§ 398. Thirdly, they should be moved about and exercised as much as they
can bear, after they are some Weeks old: the earlier Days of their
tender Life seeming consecrated, by Nature herself, to a nearly total
Repose, and to sleeping, which seems not to determine, until they have
Need of Nourishment: so that, during this very tender Term of Life, too
much Agitation or Exercise might be attended with mortal Consequences.
But as soon as their Organs have attained a little more Solidity and
Firmness, the more they are danced about (provided it is not done about
their usual Time of Repose, which ought still to be very considerable)
they are so much the better for it; and by increasing it gradually, they
may be accustomed to a very quick Movement, and at length very safely to
such, as may be called hard and hearty Exercise. That Sort of Motion
they receive in Go-Carts, or other Vehicles, particularly contrived for
their Use, is more beneficial to them, than what they have from their
Nurses Arms, because they are in a better Attitude in the former; and it
heats them less in Summer, which is a Circumstance of no small
Importance to them; considerable Heat and Sweat disposing them to be
ricketty.
§ 399. Fourthly, they should be accustomed to breathe in the free open
Air as much as possible.
If Children have unhappily been less attended to than they ought, whence
they are evidently feeble, thin, languid, obstructed, and liable to
Scirrhosities (which constitute what is termed a ricketty or consumptive
State) these four Directions duly observed retrieve them from that
unhappy State; provided the Execution of them has not been too long
delayed.
§ 400. Fifthly, If they have any natural Discharge of a Humour by the
Skin, which is very common with them, or any Eruption, such as Tetters,
white Scurf, a Rashe, or the like, Care must be taken not to check or
repel them, by any greasy or restringent Applications. Not a Year passes
without Numbers of Children having been destroyed by Imprudence in this
Respect; while others have been reduced to a deplorable and weakly
Habit.
I have been a Witness to the most unhappy Consequences of external
Medicines applied for the Rashe and white Scurf; which, however
frightful they may appear, are never dangerous; provided nothing at all
is applied to them, without the Advice and Consideration of a truly
skilful Person.
When such external Disorders prove very obstinate, it is reasonable to
suspect some Fault or Disagreement in the Milk the Child sucks; in which
Case it should immediately be discontinued, corrected, or changed. But I
cannot enter here into a particular Detail of all the Treatment
necessary in such Cases.
__Chapter XXVIII.__
_Directions with Respect to drowned Persons._ [93]
[93] The Misfortune of a young Man drowned in bathing himself, at the
Beginning of the Season, occasioned the Publication of this Chapter
by itself in _June_, 1761. A few Days after, the like Misfortune
happened to a labouring Man; but he was happily taken out of the
water sooner than the first (who had remained about half an Hour
under it) and he was recovered by observing Part of the Advice this
Chapter contains; of which Chapter several Bystanders had
Copies.--This Note seems to be from the Author himself.
__Sect.__ 401.
Whenever a Person who has been drowned, has remained a Quarter of an
Hour under Water, there can be no considerable Hopes of his Recovery:
the Space of two or three Minutes in such a Situation being often
sufficient to kill a Man irrecoverably. Nevertheless, as several
Circumstances may happen to have continued Life, in such an unfortunate
Situation, beyond the ordinary Term, we should always endeavour to
afford them the most effectual Relief, and not give them up as
irrecoverable too soon: since it has often been known, that until the
Expiration of two, and sometimes even of three Hours, such Bodies have
exhibited some apparent Tokens of Life.
Water has sometimes been found in the Stomach of drowned Persons; at
other times none at all. Besides, the greatest Quantity which has ever
been found in it has not exceeded that, which may be drank without any
Inconvenience; whence we may conclude, the meer Quantity was not mortal;
neither is it very easy to conceive how drowned Persons can swallow
Water. What really kills them is meer Suffocation, or the Interception
of Air, of the Action of breathing; and the Water which descends into
the Lungs, and which is determined there, by the Efforts they
necessarily, though involuntarily make, to draw Breath, after they are
under Water: for there absolutely does not any Water descend, either
into the Stomach or the Lungs of Bodies plunged into Water, after they
are dead; a Circumstance, which serves to establish a legal Sentence and
Judgment in some criminal Cases, and Trials: This Water intimately
blending itself with the Air in the Lungs, forms a viscid inactive Kind
of Froth, which entirely destroys the Functions of the Lungs; whence the
miserable Sufferer is not only suffocated, but the Return of the Blood
from the Head being also intercepted, the Blood Vessels of the Brain are
overcharged, and an Apoplexy is combined with the Suffocation. This
second Cause, that is, the Descent of the Water into the Lungs, is far
from being general, it having been evident from the Dissection of
several drowned Bodies, that it really never had existed in them.
§ 402. The Intention that should be pursued, is that of unloading the
Lungs and the Brain, and of reviving the extinguished Circulation. For
which Purpose we should, 1, immediately strip the Sufferer of all his
wet Cloaths; rub him strongly with dry coarse Linnen; put him, as soon
as possible, into a well heated Bed, and continue to rub him well a very
considerable Time together.
2, A strong and healthy Person should force his own warm Breath into the
Patient's Lungs; and the Smoke of Tobacco, if some was at Hand, by Means
of some Pipe, Chanel, Funnel or the like, that may be introduced into
the Mouth. This Air or Fume, being forcibly blown in, by stopping the
Sufferer's Nostrils close at the same Time, penetrates into the Lungs,
and there rarifies by its Heat that Air, which blended with the Water,
composed the viscid Spume or Froth. Hence that Air becomes disengaged
from the Water, recovers its Spring, dilates the Lungs; and, if there
still remains within any Principle of Life, the Circulation is renewed
again that Instant.
3, If a moderately expert Surgeon is at Hand, he must open the jugular
Vein, or any large Vein in the Neck, and let out ten or twelve Ounces of
Blood. Such a Bleeding is serviceable on many Accounts. First, merely as
Bleeding, it renews the Circulation, which is the constant Effect of
Bleeding in such Swoonings, as arise from an intercepted or suffocated
Circulation. Secondly, it is that particular Bleeding, which most
suddenly removes, in such Cases, the Infarction or Obstruction of the
Head and Lungs; and, thirdly, it is sometimes the only Vessel, whence
Blood will issue under such Circumstances. The Veins of the Feet then
afford none; and those of the Arms seldom; but the Jugulars almost
constantly furnish it.
Fourthly, the Fume of Tobacco should be thrown up, as speedily and
plentifully as possible, into the Intestines by the Fundament. There are
very commodious Contrivances devised for this Purpose; but as they are
not common, it may be effected by many speedy Means. One, by which a
Woman's Life was preserved, consisted only in introducing the small Tube
of a Tobacco Pipe well lighted up: the Head or Bowl of it was wrapped up
in a Paper, in which several Holes were pricked, and through these the
Breath was strongly forced. At the fifth Blast a considerable Rumbling
was heard in the Woman's Belly; she threw up a little Water, and a
Moment afterwards came to her Senses. Two Pipes may be thus lighted and
applied, with their Bowls covered over; the Extremity of one is to be
introduced into the Fundament; and the other may be blown through into
the Lungs.
Any other Vapour may also be conveyed up, by introducing a _Canula_, or
any other Pipe, with a Bladder firmly fixed to it. This Bladder is
fastened at its other End to a large Tin Funnel, under which Tobacco is
to be lighted. This Contrivance has succeeded with me upon other
Occasions, in which Necessity compelled me to invent and apply it.
Fifthly, the strongest Volatiles should be applied to the Patient's
Nostrils. The Powder of some strong dry Herb should be blown up his
Nose, such as Sage, Rosemary, Rue, Mint, and especially Marjoram, or
very well dried Tobacco; or even the Fume, the Smoke of these Herbs. But
all these Means are most properly employed after Bleeding, when they are
most efficacious and certain.
Sixthly, as long as the Patient shews no Signs of Life, he will be
unable to swallow, and it is then useless, and even dangerous, to pour
much Liquid of any kind into his Mouth, which could do nothing but keep
up, or increase Suffocation. It is sufficient, in such Circumstances, to
instil a few Drops of some irritating Liquor, which might also be
cordial and reviving. But as soon as ever he discovers any Motion, he
should take, within the Space of one Hour, five or six common Spoonfuls
of Oxymel of Squills diluted with warm Water: or if that Medicine was
not to be had very speedily, a strong Infusion of the blessed Thistle,
or _Carduus benedictus_, of Sage, or of Chamomile Flowers sweetened with
Honey, might do instead of it: and supposing nothing else to be had,
some warm Water, with the Addition of a little common Salt, should be
given. Some Persons are bold enough to recommend Vomits in such Cases;
but they are not without their Inconvenience; and it is not as a Vomit
that I recommend the Oxymel of Squills in them.
Seventhly, Notwithstanding the Sick discover some Tokens of Life, we
should not cease to continue our Assistance; since they sometimes
irrecoverably expire, after these first Appearances of recovering.
And lastly, though they should be manifestly re-animated, there
sometimes remains an Oppression, a Coughing and Feverishness, which
effectually constitute a Disease: and then it becomes necessary
sometimes to bleed them in the Arms; to give them Barley Water
plentifully, or Elder-flower Tea.
§ 403. Having thus pointed out such Means as are necessary, and truly
effectual, in such unfortunate Accidents, I shall very briefly mention
some others, which it is the general Custom to use and apply in the
first Hurry.
1, These unhappy People are sometimes wrapped up in a Sheep's, or a
Calf's, or a Dog's Skin, immediately flead from the Animal: these
Applications have sometimes indeed revived the Heat of the Drowned; but
their Operations are more slow, and less efficacious, than the Heat of a
well-warmed Bed; with the additional Vapour of burnt Sugar, and long
continued Frictions with hot Flanels.
2, The Method of rolling them in an empty Hogshead is dangerous, and
mispends a deal of important Time.
3, That also of hanging them up by the Feet is attended with Danger, and
ought to be wholly discontinued. The Froth or Foam, which is one of the
Causes of their Death, is too thick and tough to discharge itself, in
Consequence of its own Weight. Nevertheless, this is the only Effect
that can be expected, from this Custom of suspending them by the Feet;
which must also be hurtful, by its tending to increase the Overfulness
of the Head and of the Lungs.
§ 404. It is some Years since a Girl of eighteen Years old was recovered
[though it is unknown whether she remained under Water only a little
Time or some Hours] who was motionless, frozen as it were, insensible,
with her Eyes closed, her Mouth wide open, a livid Colour, a swoln
Visage, a Tumour or bloating of the whole Body, which was overladen as
it were, or Water-soaked. This miserable Object was extended on a Kind
of Bed, of hot or very warm Ashes, quickly heated in great Kettles; and
by laying her quite naked on these Ashes; by covering her with others
equally hot; by putting a Bonnet round her Head, with a Stocking round
her Neck stuffed with the same, and heaping Coverings over all this, at
the End of half an Hour her Pulse returned, she recovered her Speech,
and cried out, _I freeze, I freeze_: A little Cherry-Brandy was given
her, and then she remained buried, as it were, eight Hours under the
Ashes; being taken out of them afterwards without any other Complaint,
except that of great Lassitude or Weariness, which went entirely off the
third Day. This Method was undoubtedly so effectual, that it well
deserves Imitation; but it should not make us inattentive to the others.
Heated Gravel or Sand mixed with Salt, or hot Salt alone, would have
been equally efficacious, and they have been found so.
At the very Time of writing this, two young Ducks, who were drowned,
have been revived by a dry Bath of hot Ashes. The Heat of a Dung-heap
may also be beneficial; and I have just been informed, by a very
creditable and sensible Spectator of it, that it effectually contributed
to restore Life to a Man, who had certainly remained six Hours under
Water.
§ 405. I shall conclude these Directions with an Article printed in a
little Work at _Paris_, about twenty Years since, by Order of the King,
to which there is not the least Doubt, but that any other Sovereign will
readily accede.
"Notwithstanding the common People are very generally disposed
to be compassionate, and may wish to give all Assistance to
drowned Persons, it frequently happens they do not, only because
they dare not; imagining they expose themselves by it to
Prosecutions. It is therefore necessary, that they should know,
and it cannot be too often repeated, in order to eradicate such
a pernicious Prejudice, that the Magistrates have never
interposed to prevent People from trying every possible Means to
recover such unfortunate Persons, as shall be drowned and taken
out of the Water. It is only in those Cases, when the Persons
are known to be absolutely and irrecoverably dead, that Justice
renders it necessary to seize their Bodies."
__Chapter XXIX.__
_Of Substances stopt between the Mouth and the Stomach._
__Sect.__ 406.
The Food we take in descends from the Mouth through a very strait
Passage or Chanel, called the _Oesophagus_, the Gullet, which, going
parallel with the Spine or Backbone, joins to, or terminates at, the
Stomach.
It happens sometimes that different Bodies are stopt in this Chanel,
without being able either to descend or to return up again; whether this
Difficulty arises from their being too large; or whether it be owing to
their having such Angles or Points, as by penetrating into, and adhering
to the Sides of this membranous Canal, absolutely prevent the usual
Action and Motion of it.
§ 407. Very dangerous Symptoms arise from this Stoppage, which are
frequently attended with a most acute Pain in the Part; and at other
Times, with a very incommodious, rather than painful, Sensation;
sometimes a very ineffectual Commotion at, or rising of, the Stomach,
attended with great Anguish; and if the Stoppage be so circumstanced,
that the _Glottis_ is closed, or the Wind-pipe compressed, a dreadful
Suffocation is the Consequence: the Patient cannot breathe, the Lungs
are quite distended; and the Blood being unable to return from the Head,
the Countenance becomes red, then livid; the Neck swells; the Oppression
increases, and the poor Sufferer speedily dies.
When the Patient's Breathing is not stopt, nor greatly oppressed; if the
Passage is not entirely blocked up, and he can swallow something, he
lives very easily for a few Days, and then his Case becomes a particular
Disorder of the _Oesophagus_, or Gullet. But if the Passage is
absolutely closed, and the Obstruction cannot be removed for many Days,
a terrible Death is the Consequence.
§ 408. The Danger of such Cases does not depend so much on the Nature of
the obstructing Substance, as on its Size, with Regard to that of the
Passage of the Part where it stops, and of the Manner in which it forms
the Obstruction; and frequently the very Food may occasion Death; while
Substances less adapted to be swallowed are not attended with any
violent Consequences, though swallowed.
A Child of six Days old swallowed a Comfit or Sugar Plumb, which stuck
in the Passage, and instantly killed it.
A grown Person perceived that a Bit of Mutton had stopt in the Passage;
not to alarm any Body he arose from Table; a Moment afterwards, on
looking where he might be gone, he was found dead. Another was choaked
by a Bit of Cake; a third by a Piece of the Skin of a Ham; and a fourth
by an Egg, which he swallowed whole in a Bravo.
A Child was killed by a Chesnut swallowed whole. Another died suddenly,
choaked (which is always the Circumstance, when they die instantly after
such Accidents) by a Pear which he had tossed up, and catched in his
Mouth. A Woman was choaked with another Pear. A Piece of a Sinew
continued eight Days in the Passage, so that it prevented the Patient
from getting down any Thing else; at the Expiration of that Time it fell
into the Stomach, being loosened by its Putridity: The Patient
notwithstanding died soon after, being killed by the Inflammation,
Gangrene and Weakness it had occasioned. Unhappily there occur but too
many Instances of this Sort, of which it is unnecessary to cite more.
§ 409. Whenever any Substance is thus detained in the Gullet, there are
two Ways of removing it; that is either by extracting it, or pushing it
down. The safest and most certain Way is always to extract or draw it
out, but this is not always the easiest: and as the Efforts made for
this Purpose greatly fatigue the Patient, and are sometimes attended
with grievous Consequences; and yet if the Occasion is extremely urging,
it may be eligible to thrust it down, if that is easier; and if there is
no Danger from the obstructing Bodies Reception into the Stomach.
The Substances which may be pushed down without Danger, are all common
nourishing ones, as Bread, Meat, Cakes, Fruits, Pulse, Morsels of Tripe,
and even Skin of Bacon. It is only very large Morsels of particular
Aliments, that prove very difficult to digest; yet even such are rarely
attended with any Fatality.
§ 410. The Substances we should endeavour to extract or draw out, though
it be more painful and less easy than to push them down, are all those,
whose Consequences might be highly dangerous, or even mortal, if
swallowed. Such are all totally indigestible Bodies, as Cork,
Linen-Rags, large Fruit Stones, Bones, Wood, Glass, Stones, Metals; and
more especially if any further Danger may be superadded to that of its
Indigestibility, from the Shape, whether rough, sharp, pointed, or
angular, of the Substance swallowed. Wherefore we should chiefly
endeavour to extract Pins, Needles, Fish-bones, other pointed Fragments
of Bones, Bits of Glass, Scissars, Rings, or Buckles.
Nevertheless it has happened, that every one of these Substances have at
one Time or another been swallowed, and the most usual Consequences of
them are violent Pains of the Stomach, and in the Guts; Inflammations,
Suppurations, Abscesses, a slow Fever, Gangrene, the _Miserere_ or Iliac
Passion; external Abscesses, through which the Bodies swallowed down
have been discharged; and frequently, after a long Train of Maladies, a
dreadful Death.
§ 411. When such Substances have not passed in too deep, we should
endeavour to extract them with our Fingers, which often succeeds. If
they are lower, we should make use of Nippers or a small _Forceps_; of
which Surgeons are provided with different Sorts. Those which some
Smoakers carry about them might be very convenient for such Purposes;
and in Case of Necessity they might be made very readily out of two Bits
of Wood. But this Attempt to extract rarely succeeds, if the Substance
has descended far into the _Oesophagus_, and if the Substance be of a
flexible Nature, which exactly applies itself to, and fills up the
Cavity or Chanel of it.
§ 412. If the Fingers and the Nippers fail, or cannot be duly applied,
Crotchets, a Kind of Hooks, must be employed.
These may be made at once with a pretty strong iron Wire, crooked at the
End. It must be introduced in the flat Way, and for the better
conducting of it, there should be another Curve or Hook at the End it is
held by, to serve as a Kind of Handle to it, which has this further Use,
that it may be secured by a String tied to it; a Circumstance not to be
omitted in any Instrument employed on such Occasions, to avoid such ill
Accidents as have sometimes ensued, from these Instruments slipping out
of the Operators Hold. After the Crotchet has passed beyond and below
the Substance, that obstructs the Passage, it is drawn up again, and
hooks up with it and extracts that Impediment to swallowing.
This Crotchet is also very convenient, whenever a Substance somewhat
flexible, as a Pin or a Fishbone stick, as it were, across the Gullet:
the Crotchet in such Cases seizing them about their middle Part, crooks
and thus disengages them. If they are very brittle Substances, it serves
to break them; and if any Fragments still stick within, some other Means
must be used to extract them.
§ 413. When the obstructing Bodies are small, and only stop up Part of
the Passage; and which may either easily elude the Hook, or straiten it
by their Resistance, a Kind of Rings may be used, and made either solid
or flexible.
The solid ones are made of iron Wire, or of a String of very fine brass
Wire. For this Purpose the Wire is bent into a Circle about the middle
Part of its Length, the Sides of which Circle do not touch each other,
but leave a Ring, or hollow Cavity, of about an Inch Diameter. Then the
long unbent Sides of the Wire are brought near each other; the circular
Part or Ring is introduced into the Gullet, in order to be conducted
about the obstructing Body, and so to extract it. Very flexible Rings
may be made of Wool, Thread, Silk, or small Packthread, which may be
waxed, for their greater Strength and Consistence. Then they are to be
tied fast to a Handle of Iron-Wire, of Whale-bone, or of any flexible
Wood; after which the Ring is to be introduced to surround the
obstructing Substance, and to draw it out.
Several of these Rings passed through one another are often made use of,
the more certainly to lay hold of the obstructing Body, which may be
involved by one, if another should miss it. This Sort of Rings has one
Advantage, which is, that when the Substance to be extracted is once
laid hold of, it may then, by turning the Handle, be retained so
strongly in the Ring thus twisted, as to be moved every Way; which must
be a considerable Advantage in many such Cases.
§ 414. A fourth Material employed on these unhappy Occasions is the
Sponge. Its Property of swelling considerably, on being wet, is the
Foundation of its Usefulness here.
If any Substance is stopt in the Gullet, but without filling up the
whole Passage, a Bit of Sponge is introduced, into that Part that is
unstopt, and beyond the Substance. The Sponge soon dilates, and grows
larger in this moist Situation, and indeed the Enlargement of it may be
forwarded, by making the Patient swallow a few Drops of Water; and then
drawing back the Sponge by the Handle it is fastened to, as it is now
too large to return through the small Cavity, by which it was conveyed
in, it draws out the obstructing Body with it, and thus unplugs, as it
were, and opens the Gullet.
As dry Sponge may shrink or be contracted, this Circumstance has proved
the Means of squeezing a pretty large Piece of it into a very small
Space. It becomes greatly compressed by winding a String or Tape very
closely about it, which Tape may be easily unwound and withdrawn, after
the Sponge has been introduced. It may also be inclosed in a Piece of
Whalebone, split into four Sticks at one End, and which, being endued
with a considerable Spring, contracts upon the Sponge. The Whalebone is
so smoothed and accommodated, as not to wound; and the Sponge is also to
be safely tied to a strong Thread; that after having disengaged the
Whalebone from it, the Surgeon may also draw out the Sponge at Pleasure.
Sponge is also applied on these Occasions in another Manner. When there
is no Room to convey it into the Gullet, because the obstructing
Substance ingrosses its whole Cavity; and supposing it not hooked into
the Part, but solely detained by the Straitness of the Passage, a pretty
large Bit of Sponge is to be introduced towards the Gullet, and close to
the obstructing Subtance: Thus applied, the Sponge swells, and thence
dilates that Part of the Passage that is above this Substance. The
Sponge is then withdrawn a little, and but a very little, and this
Substance being less pressed upon above than below, it sometimes
happens, that the greater Staitness and Contraction of the lower Part of
the Passage, than of its upper Part, causes that Substance to ascend;
and as soon as this first Loosening or Disengagement of it has happened,
the total Disengagement of it easily follows.
§ 415. Finally, when all these Methods prove unavailable, there remains
one more, which is to make the Patient vomit; but this can scarcely be
of any Service, but when such obstructing Bodies are simply engaged in,
and not hooked or stuck into the Sides of the _Oesophagus_; since under
this latter Circumstance vomiting might occasion further Mischief.
If the Patient can swallow, a Vomiting may be excited with the
Prescription Nº. 8, or with Nº. 34, or 35. By this Operation a Bone was
thrown out, which had stopt in the Passage four and twenty Hours.
When the Patient cannot swallow, an Attempt should be made to excite him
to vomit by introducing into, and twirling about the feathery End of a
Quill in, the Bottom of the Throat, which the Feather however will not
effect, if the obstructing Body strongly compresses the whole
Circumference of the Gullet; and then no other Resource is left, but
giving a Glyster of Tobacco. A certain Person swallowed a large Morsel
of Calf's Lights, which stopt in the Middle of the Gullet, and exactly
filled up the Passage. A Surgeon unsuccessfully attempted various
Methods to extract it; but another seeing how unavailable all of them
were; and the Patient's Visage becoming black and swelled; his Eyes
ready to start, as it were, out of his Head; and falling into frequent
Swoonings, attended with Convulsions too, he caused a Glyster of an
Ounce of Tobacco boiled to be thrown up; the Consequence of which was a
violent Vomiting, which threw up the Substance that was so very near
killing him.
§ 416. A sixth Method, which I believe has never hitherto been
attempted, but which may prove very useful in many Cases, when the
Substances in the Passage are not too hard, and are very large, would be
to fix a Worm (used for withdrawing the Charge of Guns that have been
loaded) fast to a flexible Handle, with a waxed Thread fastened to the
Handle, in Order to withdraw it, if the Handle slipt from the Worm; and
by this Contrivance it might be very practicable, if the obstructing
Substance was not too deep in the Passage of the Gullet, to extract
it--It has been known that a Thorn fastened in the Throat, has been
thrown out by laughing.
§ 417. In the Circumstances mentioned § 409, when it is more easy and
convenient to push the obstructing Body downwards, it has been usual to
make Use of Leeks, which may generally be had any where (but which
indeed are very subject to break) or of a Wax-candle oiled, and but a
very little heated, so as to make it flexible; or of a Piece of
Whale-bone; or of Iron-Wire; one Extremity of which may be thickened and
blunted in a Minute with a little melted Lead. Small Sticks of some
flexible Wood may be as convenient for the same Use, such as the
Birch-tree, the Hazel, the Ash, the Willow, a flexible Plummet, or a
leaden Ring. All these Substances should be very smooth, that they may
not give the least Irritation; for which Reason they are sometimes
covered over with a thin Bit of Sheep's Gut. Sometimes a Sponge is
fastened to one End of them, which, completely filling up the whole
Passage, pushes down whatever Obstacle it meets with.
In such Cases too, the Patient may be prompted to attempt swallowing
down large Morsels of some unhurtful Substance, such as a Crust of
Bread, a small Turnep, a Lettuce Stalk, or a Bullet, in Hopes of their
carrying down the obstructing Cause with them. It must be acknowledged,
however, that these afford but a feeble Assistance; and if they are
swallowed without being well secured to a Thread, it may be apprehended
they may even increase the Obstruction, by their own Stoppage.
It has sometimes very happily, though rarely, occurred, that those
Substances attempted to be detruded or thrust downwards, have stuck in
the Wax-Candle, or the Leek, and sprung up and out with them: but this
can never happen except in the Case of pointed Substances.
§ 418. Should it be impossible to extract the Bodies mentioned § 410,
and all such as it must be dangerous to admit into the Stomach, we must
then prefer the least of two Evils, and rather run the Hazard of pushing
them down, than suffer the Patient to perish dreadfully in a few
Moments. And we ought to scruple this Resolution the less, as a great
many Instances have demonstrated, that notwithstanding several bad
Consequences, and even a tormenting Death, have often followed the
swallowing of such hurtful or indigestible Substances; yet at other
times they have been attended with little or no Disorder.
§ 419. One of these four Events is always the Case, after swallowing
such Things. They either, 1, go off by Stool; or, 2, they are not
discharged and kill the Patient. Or else, 3, they are discharged by
Urine; or, 4, are visibly extruded to the Skin. I shall give some
Instances of each of these Events.
§ 420. When they are voided by Stool, they are either voided soon after
they have been swallowed, and that without having occasional scarce any
troublesome Symptom; or the voiding of them has not happened till a long
Time after swallowing, and is preceded with very considerable Pain. It
has been seen that a Bone of the Leg of a Fowl, a Peach-stone, the Cover
of a small Box of Venice Treacle, Pins, Needles, and Coins of different
Sorts, have been voided within a few Days after they had slipt down into
the Stomach; and that with little or no Complaint. A small Flute, or
Pipe also, four Inches long, which occasioned acute Pains for three
Days, has been voided happily afterwards, besides, Knives, Razors, and
one Shoe-buckle. I have seen but a few Days since a Child between two
and three Years old, who swallowed a Nail above an Inch long, the Head
of which was more than three Tenths of an Inch broad: it stopt a few
Moments about the Neck, but descended while its Friends were looking for
me; and was voided with a Stool that Night, without any bad Consequence.
And still more lately I have known the entire Bone of a Chicken's Wing
thus swallowed, which only occasioned a slight Pain in the Stomach for
three or four Days.
Sometimes such Substances are retained within for a long Time, not being
voided till after several Months, and even Years, without the least ill
Effect: and some of them have never either appeared, nor been complained
of.
§ 421. But the Event is not always so happy; and sometimes though they
are discharged through the natural Passages, the Discharges have been
preceded by very acute Pains in the Stomach, and in the Bowels. A Girl
swallowed down some Pins, which afflicted her with violent Pains for the
Space of six Years; at the Expiration of which Term she voided them and
recovered. Three Needles being swallowed brought on Cholics, Swoonings
and Convulsions for a Year after: and then being voided by Stool, the
Patient recovered. Another Person who swallowed two, was much happier in
suffering but six Hours from them; when they were voided by Stool, and
he did well.
It sometimes happens that such indigestible Substances, after having
past all the Meanders, the whole Course of the Intestines, have been
stopt in the Fundament, and brought on very troublesome Symptoms; but
such however, as an expert Surgeon may very generally remove. If it is
practicable to cut them, as it is when they happen to be thin Bones, the
Jaw-bones of Fish, or Pins, they are then very easily extracted.
§ 422. The second Event is, when these fatal Substances are never
voided, but cause very embarrassing Symptoms which finally kill the
Patient; and of these Cases there have been but too many Examples.
A young Girl having swallowed some Pins, which she held in her Mouth,
some of them were voided by Stool; but others of them pricked and
pierced into her Guts, and even into the Muscles of her Belly, with the
severest Pain; and killed her at the End of three Weeks.
A Man swallowed a Needle, which pierced through his Stomach, and into
his Liver, [94] and ended in a mortal Consumption.
[94] I saw a very similar Instance and Event in a Lady's little
favourite Bitch, whole Body she desired to be opened, from
suspecting her to have been poisoned. But it appeared that a small
Needle with fine Thread, which she had swallowed, had passed out of
the Stomach into the _Duodenum_ (one of the Guts) through which the
Point had pierced and pricked and corroded the concave Part of the
Liver, which was all rough and putrid. The whole Carcase was
greatly bloated and extremely offensive, very soon after the poor
Animal's Death, which happened two or three Months after the
Accident, and was preceded by a great Wheezing, Restlessness and
Loss of Appetite. The Needle was rusty, but the Thread entire, and
very little altered. _K._
A Plummet which slipt down, while the Throat of a Patient was searching,
killed him at the End of two Years.
It is very common for different Coins, and of different Metals, to be
swallowed without any fatal or troublesome Effects. Even a hundred
Luidores [95] have been swallowed, and all voided. Nevertheless these
fortunate Escapes ought not to make People too secure and incautious on
such Occasions, since such melancholy Consequences have happened, as may
very justly alarm them. One single Piece of Money that was swallowed,
entirely obstructed the Communication between the Stomach and the
Intestines, and killed the Patient. Whole Nuts have often been
inadvertently swallowed; but there have been some Instances of Persons
in whom a Heap [96] of them has been formed, which proved the Cause of
Death, after producing much Pain and Inquietude.
[95] I knew a Man of the Name of _Poole_, who being taken in the same
Ship with me, 1717 or 18, by Pirates, had swallowed four Ginueas,
and a gold Ring, all which he voided some Days after without any
Injury or Complaint, and saved them. I forget the exact Number of
Days he retained them, but the Pirates staid with us from Saturday
Night to Thursday Noon. _K._
[96] Many fatal Examples of this Kind may be seen in the _Philosophical
Transactions_; and they should caution People against swallowing
Cherry-stones, and still more against those of Prunes, or such as
are pointed, though not very acutely. _K._
§ 423. The third Issue or Event is, when these Substances, thus
swallowed down, have been discharged by Urine: but these Cases are very
rare.
A Pin of a middling Size has been discharged by Urine, three Days after
it slipt down; and a little Bone has been expelled the same Way, besides
Cherry-stones, Plumb-stones, and even one Peach-stone.
§ 424. Finally, the fourth Consequence or Event is, when the
indigestible Substances thus swallowed, have pierced through the Stomach
or Intestines, and even to the Skin itself; and occasioning an Abscess,
have made an Outlet for themselves, or have been taken out of the
Abscess. A long Time is often required to effect this extraordinary
Trajection and Appearance of them; sometimes the Pains they occasion are
continual; in other Cases the Patient complains for a Time, after which
the Pain ceases, and then returns again. The Imposthume, or Gathering,
is formed in the Stomach, or in some other Part of the Belly: and
sometimes these very Substances, after having pierced through the Guts,
make very singular Routs, and are discharged very remotely from the
Belly. One Needle that had been swallowed found its Way out, at the End
of four Years, through the Leg; another at the Shoulder.
§ 425. All these Examples, and many others of cruel Deaths, from
swallowing noxious Substances, demonstrate the great Necessity of an
habitual Caution in this Respect; and give in their Testimony against
the horrid, I had almost said, the criminal Imprudence, of People's
amusing themselves with such Tricks as may lead to such terrible
Accidents; or even holding any such Substance in their Mouths, as by
slipping down through Imprudence or Accident, may prove the Occasion of
their Death. Is it possible that any one, without shuddering, can hold
Pins or Needles in their Mouths, after reflecting on the dreadful
Accidents, and cruel Deaths, that have thus been caused by them.
§ 426. It has been shewn already, that Substances obstructing the
Passage of the Gullet sometimes suffocate the Patient; that at other
Times they can neither be extracted nor thrust down; but that they stop
in the Passage, without killing the Patient, at least not immediately
and at once. This is the Case when they are so circumstanced, as not to
compress the _Trachæa_, the Wind-pipe, and not totally to prevent the
swallowing of Food; which last Circumstance can scarcely happen, except
the Obstruction has been formed by angular or pointed Bodies. The
Stoppage of such Bodies is sometimes attended, and that without much
Violence, with a small Suppuration, which loosens them; and then they
are either returned upwards through the Mouth, or descend into the
Stomach. But at other Times an extraordinary Inflammation is produced,
which kills the Patient. Or if the Contents of the Abscess attending the
Inflammation tend outwardly, a Tumour is formed on the external Part of
the Neck, which is to be opened, and through whose Orifice the
obstructing Body is discharged. In other Instances again they take a
different Course, attended with little or no Pain, and are at length
discharged by a Gathering behind the Neck, on the Breast, the Shoulder,
or various other Parts.
§ 427. Some Persons, astonished at the extraordinary Course and
Progression of such Substances, which, from their Size, and especially
from their Shape, seem to them incapable of being introduced into, and
in some Sort, circulating through the human Body, without destroying it,
are very desirous of having the Rout and Progression of such intruding
Substances explained to them. To gratify such Inquirers, I may be
indulged in a short Digression, which perhaps is the less foreign to my
Plan; as in dissipating what seems marvelous, and has been thought
supernatural in such Cases, I may demolish that superstitious Prejudice,
which has often ascribed Effects of this Sort to Witchcraft; but which
admit of an easy Explanation. This very Reason is the Motive that has
determined me to give a further Extent to this Chapter.
Wherever an Incision is made through the Skin, a certain Membrane
appears, which consists of two Coats or _Laminæ_, separated from each
other by small Cells or Cavities, which all communicate together; and
which are furnished, more or less, with Fat. There is not any Fat
throughout the human Body, which is not inclosed in, or enveloped with,
this Coat, which is called the adipose, fatty, or cellular Membrane.
This Membrane is not only found under the Skin, but further plying and
insinuating itself in various Manners, it is extended throughout the
whole Body. It distinguishes and separates all the Muscles; it
constitutes a Part of the Stomach, of the Guts, of the Bladder, and of
all the _Viscera_ or Bowels. It is this which forms what is called the
Cawl, and which also furnishes a Sheath or Envelopement to the Veins,
Arteries, and Nerves. In some Parts it is very thick, and is abundantly
replenished with Fat; in others it is very thin and unprovided with any;
but wherever it extends, it is wholly insensible, or void of all
Sensation, all Feeling.
It may be compared to a quilted Coverlet, the Cotton, or other Stuffing
of which, is unequally distributed; greatly abounding in some Places,
with none at all in others, so that in these the Stuff above and below
touch each other. Within this Membrane, or Coverlet, as it were, such
extraneous or foreign Substances are moved about; and as there is a
general Communication throughout the whole Extent of the Membrane, it is
no ways surprizing, that they are moved from one Part to another very
distant, in a long Course and Duration of Movement. Officers and
Soldiers very often experience, that Bullets which do not pass through
the Parts where they have entered, are transferred to very different and
remote ones.
The general Communication throughout this Membrane is daily demonstrated
by Facts, which the Law prohibits; this is the Butchers inflating, or
blowing up, the cellular Membrane throughout the whole Carcase of a
Calf, by a small Incision in the Skin, into which they introduce a Pipe
or the Nozzle of a small Bellows; and then, blowing forcibly, the Air
evidently puffs up the whole Body of the Calf into this artificial
Tumour or Swelling.
Some very criminal Impostors have availed themselves of this wicked
Contrivance, thus to bloat up Children into a Kind of Monsters, which
they afterwards expose to View for Money.
In this cellular Membrane the extravasated Waters of hydropic Patients
are commonly diffused; and here they give Way to that Motion, to which
their own Weight disposes them. But here I may be asked--As this
Membrane is crossed and intersected in different Parts of it, by Nerves,
Veins, Arteries, _&c._ the wounding of which unavoidably occasions
grievous Symptoms, how comes it, that such do not ensue upon the
Intrusion of such noxious Substances? To this I answer, 1, that such
Symptoms do sometimes really ensue; and 2, that nevertheless they must
happen but seldom, by Reason that all the aforesaid Parts, which
traverse and intersect this Membrane, being harder than the Fat it
contains; such foreign Substances must almost necessarily, whenever they
rencounter those Parts, be turned aside towards the Fat which surrounds
them, whose Resistance is very considerably less; and this the more
certainly so, as these Nerves, _&c._ are always of a cylindrical
Form.----But to return from this necessary Digression.
§ 428. To all these Methods and Expedients I have already recommended on
the important Subject of this Chapter, I shall further add some general
Directions.
1. It is often useful, and even necessary, to take a considerable
Quantity of Blood from the Arm; but especially if the Patient's
Respiration, or Breathing, is extremely oppressed; or when we cannot
speedily succeed in our Efforts to remove the obstructing Substance; as
the Bleeding is adapted to prevent the Inflammation, which the frequent
Irritations from such Substances occasion; and as by its disposing the
whole Body into a State of Relaxation, it might possibly procure an
immediate Discharge of the offending Substance.
2. Whenever it is manifest that all Endeavours, either to extract, or to
push down the Substance stopt in the Passage, are ineffectual, they
should be discontinued; because the Inflammation occasioned by
persisting in them, would be as dangerous as the Obstruction itself; as
there have been Instances of People's dying in Consequence of the
Inflammation; notwithstanding the Body, which caused the Obstruction,
had been entirely removed.
3. While the Means already advised are making Use of, the Patient should
often swallow, or if he cannot, he should frequently receive by
Injection through a crooked Tube or Pipe, that may reach lower down than
the _Glottis_, some very emollient Liquor, as warm Water, either alone
or mixed with Milk, or a Decoction of Barley, of Mallows, or of Bran. A
two-fold Advantage may arise from this; the first is, that these
softening Liquors smooth and sooth the irritated Parts; and secondly, an
Injection, strongly thrown in, has often been more successful in
loosening the obstructing Body, than all Attempts with Instruments.
4. When after all we are obliged to leave this in the Part, the Patient
must be treated as if he had an inflammatory Disease; he must be bled,
ordered to a Regimen, and have his whole Neck surrounded with emollient
Pultices. The like Treatment must also be used, though the obstructing
Substance be removed; if there is Room to suppose any Inflammation left
in the Passage.
5. A proper Degree of Agitation has sometimes loosened the inhering
Body, more effectually than Instruments. It has been experienced that a
Blow with the Fist on the Spine, the Middle of the Back, has often
disengaged such obstructed and obstructing Bodies; and I have known two
Instances of Patients who had Pins stopt in the Passage; and who getting
on Horseback to ride out in Search of Relief at a neighbouring Village,
found each of them the Pin disengaged after an Hour's riding: One spat
it out, and the other swallowed it, without any ill Consequence.
6. When there is an immediate Apprehension of the Patient's being
suffocated; when bleeding him has been of no Service; when all Hope of
freeing the Passage in time is vanished, and Death seems at Hand, if
Respiration be not restored; the Operation of _Bronchotomy_, or opening
of the Wind-pipe, must be directly performed; an Operation neither
difficult to a tolerably knowing and expert Surgeon, nor very painful to
the Patient.
7. When the Substance that was stopt passes into the Stomach, the
Patient must immediately be put into a very mild and smooth Regimen. He
should avoid all sharp, irritating, inflaming Food; Wine, spirituous
Liquors, all strong Drink, and Coffee; taking but little Nourishment at
once, and no Solids, without their having been thoroughly well chewed.
The best Diet would be that of farinaceous mealy Soups, made of various
leguminous Grains, and of Milk and Water, which is much better than the
usual Custom of swallowing different Oils.
§ 429. The Author of Nature has provided, that in eating, nothing should
pass by the _Glottis_ into the Wind-pipe. This Misfortune nevertheless
does sometimes happen; at which very Instant there ensues an incessant
and violent Cough, an acute Pain, with Suffocation; all the Blood being
forced up into the Head, the Patient is in extreme Anguish, being
agitated with violent and involuntary Motions, and sometimes dying on
the Spot. A _Hungarian_ Grenadier, by Trade a Shoemaker, was eating and
working at the same time. He tumbled at once from his Seat, without
uttering a single Word. His Comrades called out for Assistance; some
Surgeons speedily arrived, but after all their Endeavours he discovered
no Token of Life. On opening the Body, they found a Lump, or large
Morsel, of Beef, weighing two Ounces, forced into the Windpipe, which it
plugged up so exactly, that not the least Air could pass through it into
the Lungs.
§ 430. In a Case so circumstanced, the Patient should be struck often on
the Middle of the Back; some Efforts to vomit should be excited; he
should be prompted to sneeze with Powder of Lilly of the Valley, Sage,
or any cephalic Snuffs, which should be blown strongly up his Nose.
A Pea, pitched into the Mouth in playing, entered into the Wind-pipe,
and sprung out again by vomiting the Patient with Oil. A little Bone was
brought up by making another sneeze, with powdered Lilly of the Valley.
In short, if all these Means of assisting, or saving the Patient are
evidently ineffectual, _Bronchotomy_ must be speedily performed (See Nº.
6, of the preceding Section.) By this Operation, some Bones, a Bean, and
a Fish-bone have been extracted, and the Patient has been delivered from
approaching Death.
§ 431. Nothing should be left untried, when the Preservation of human
Life is the Object. In those Cases, when an obstructing Body can neither
be disengaged from the Throat, the Passage to the Stomach, nor be
suffered to remain there without speedily killing the Patient, it has
been proposed to make an Incision into this Passage, the _Oesophagus_,
through which such a Body is to be extracted; and to employ the like
Means, when a Substance which had slipt even into the Stomach itself,
was of a Nature to excite such Symptoms, as must speedily destroy the
Patient.
When the _Oesophagus_ is so fully and strongly closed, that the Patient
can receive no Food by the Mouth, he is to be nourished by Glysters of
Soup, Gelly, and the like.
__Chapter XXX.__
_Of external Disorders, and such as require chirurgical
Application. Of Burns, Wounds, Contusions or Bruises: Of
Sprains, Ulcers, frostbitten Limbs, Chilblains, Ruptures, Boils.
Of Fellons, Thorns or Splinters in the Fingers or Flesh; of
Warts, and of Corns._
__Sect.__ 432.
Labouring Countrymen are exposed in the Course of their daily Work, to
many outward Accidents, such as Cuts, Contusions, _&c_. which, however
considerable in themselves, very generally end happily; and that chiefly
in Consequence of the pure and simple Nature of their Blood, which is
generally much less acrimonious, or sharp, in the Country, than in great
Towns or Cities. Nevertheless, the very improper Treatment of such
Accidents, in the Country, frequently renders them, however light in
themselves, very troublesome; and indeed, I have seen so many Instances
of this, that I have thought it necessary to mark out here the proper
Treatment of such Accidents, as may not necessarily require the Hand or
Attendance of a Surgeon. I shall also add something very briefly,
concerning some external Disorders, which at the same Time result from
an inward Cause.
_Of Burns._
§ 433. When a Burn is very trifling and superficial, and occasions no
Vesication or Blister, it is sufficient to clap a Compress of several
Folds of soft Linen upon it, dipt in cold Water, and to renew it every
Quarter of an Hour, till the Pain is entirely removed. But when the Burn
has blistered, a Compress of very fine Linen, spread over with the
Pomatum, Nº. 64, should be applied over it, and changed twice a Day.
If the true Skin is burnt, and even the Muscles, the Flesh under it, be
injured, the same Pomatum may be applied; but instead of a Compress, it
should be spread upon a Pledget of soft Lint, to be applied very exactly
over it, and over the Pledget again, a Slip of the simple Plaister Nº.
65, which every Body may easily prepare; or, if they should prefer it,
the Plaister Nº. 66.
But, independently of these external Applications, which are the most
effectual ones, when they are directly to be had; whenever the Burn has
been very violent, is highly inflamed, and we are apprehensive of the
Progress and the Consequences of the Inflammation, the same Means and
Remedies must be recurred to, which are used in violent Inflammations:
the Patient should be bled, and, if it is necessary, it should be
repeated more than once, and he should be put into a Regimen; drink
nothing but the Ptisans Nº. 2 and 4, and receive daily two simple
Glysters.
If the Ingredients for the Ointment, called _Nutritum_, are not at Hand
to make the Pomatum Nº. 64; one Part of Wax should be melted in eight
such Parts of Oil, to two Ounces of which Mixture the Yolk of an Egg
should be added. A still more simple and sooner prepared Application, is
that of one Egg, both the Yolk and the White, beat up with two common
Spoonfuls of the sweetest Oil, without any Rankness. When the Pain of
the Burn, and all its other Symptoms have very nearly disappeared, it is
sufficient to apply the Sparadrap, or Oil-cloth Nº. 66.
_Of Wounds._
§ 434. If a Wound has penetrated into any of the Cavities, and has
wounded any Part contained in the Breast, or in the Belly: Or if,
without having entered into one of the Cavities, it has opened some
great Blood-vessel; or if it has wounded a considerable Nerve, which
occasions Symptoms much more violent, than would otherwise have
happened; if it has penetrated even to and injured the Bone: in short,
if any great and severe Symptom supervenes, there is an absolute
Necessity for calling in a Surgeon. But whenever the Wound is not
attended with any of these Circumstances; when it affects only the Skin,
the fat Membrane beneath it, the fleshy Parts and the small Vessels, it
may be easily and simply dressed without such Assistance; since, in
general, all that is truly necessary in such Cases is, to defend the
Wound from the Impressions of the Air; and yet not so, as to give any
material Obstruction to the Discharge of the Matter, that is to issue
from the Wound.
§ 435. If the Blood does not particularly flow out of any considerable
Vessel, but trickles almost equally from every Spot of the Wound, it may
very safely be permitted to bleed, while some Lint is speedily
preparing. As soon as the Lint is ready, so much of it may be introduced
into the Wound as will nearly fill it, without being forced in; which is
highly improper, and would be attended with the same Inconveniences as
Tents and Dossils. It should be covered over with a Compress dipt in
sweet Oil, or with the Cerecloth Nº. 65; though I prefer the Compress
for the earliest Dressings: and the whole Dressing should be kept on,
with a Bandage of two Fingers Breadth, and of a Length proportioned to
the Size of the Part it is to surround: This should be rolled on tight
enough to secure the Dressings, and yet so moderately, as to bring on no
Inflammation.
This Bandage with these Dressings are to remain on twenty-four or
forty-eight Hours; Wounds being healed the sooner, for being less
frequently drest. At the second Dressing all the Lint must be removed,
which can be done with Ease, and with reasonable Speed, to the Wounded;
and if any of it should stick close, in Consequence of the clogged and
dried Blood, it should be left behind, adding a little fresh Lint to it;
this Dressing in other Respects exactly resembling the first.
When, from the Continuance of this simple Dressing, the Wound is become
very superficial, it is sufficient to apply the Cerecloth, or Plaister,
without any Lint.
Such as have conceived an extraordinary Opinion of any medical Oils,
impregnated with the Virtues of particular Plants, may, if that will
increase their Satisfaction, make use of the common Oil of Yarrow, of
Trefoil, of Lilies, of Chamomile, of Balsamines, or of red Roses; only
being very careful, that such Oils are not become stale and rank.
§ 436. When the Wound is considerable, it must be expected to inflame
before Suppuration (which, in such a Case, advances more slowly) can
ensue; which Inflammation will necessarily be attended with Pain, with a
Fever, and sometimes with a Raving, or Wandering, too. In such a
Situation, a Pultice of Bread and Milk, with the Addition of a little
Oil, that it may not stick too close, must be applied instead of the
Compress or the Plaister: which Pultice is to be changed, but without
uncovering the Wound, thrice and even four times every Day.
§ 437. Should some pretty considerable Blood-vessel be opened by the
Wound, there must be applied over it, a Piece of Agaric of the Oak, Nº.
67, with which no Country place ought to be unprovided. It is to be kept
on, by applying a good deal of Lint over it; covering the whole with a
thick Compress, and then with a Bandage a little tighter than usual. If
this should not be sufficient to prevent the Bleeding from the large
Vessel, and the Wound be in the Leg or Arm, a strong Ligature must be
made above the Wound with a _Turniquet_, which is made in a Moment with
a Skain of Thread, or of Hemp, that is passed round the Arm circularly,
into the Middle of which is inserted a Piece of Wood or Stick of an Inch
Thickness, and four or five Inches long; so that by turning round this
Piece of Wood, any Tightness or Compression may be effected at Pleasure;
exactly as a Country-man secures a Hogshead, or a Piece of Timber on his
Cart, with a Chain and Ring. But Care must be taken, 1, to dispose the
Skain in such a Manner, that it must always be two Inches wider than the
Part it surrounds: and, 2, not to strain it so tight as to bring on an
Inflammation, which might terminate in a Gangrene.
§ 438. All the boasted Virtues of a Multitude of Ointments are downright
Nonsense or Quackery. Art, strictly considered, does not in the least
contribute to the healing of Wounds; the utmost we can do amounting only
to our removing those Accidents, which are so many Obstacles to their
Re-union. On this Account, if there is any extraneous Body in the Wound,
such as Iron, Lead, Wood, Glass, Bits of Cloth or Linen, they must be
extracted, if that can be very easily done; but if not, Application must
be made to a good Surgeon, who considers what Measures are to be taken,
and then dresses the Wound, as I have already advised.
Very far from being useful, there are many Ointments that are pernicious
on these Occasions; and the only Cases in which they should be used, are
those in which the Wounds are distinguished with some particular
Appearances, which ought to be removed by particular Applications: But a
simple recent Wound, in a healthy Man, requires no other Treatment but
what I have already directed, besides that of the general Regimen.
Spirituous Applications are commonly hurtful, and can be suitable and
proper but in a few Cases, which Physicians and Surgeons only can
distinguish.
When Wounds occur in the Head, instead of the Compress dipt in Oil, or
of the Cerecloth, the Wound should be covered with a Betony Plaister;
or, when none is to be had in time, with a Compress squeezed out of hot
Wine.
§ 439. As the following Symptoms, of which we should be most
apprehensive, are such as attend on Inflammations, the Means we ought to
have Recourse to are those which are most likely to prevent them; such
as Bleeding, the usual Regimen, moderate Coolers and Glysters.
Should the Wound be very inconsiderable in its Degree, and in its
Situation, it may be sufficient to avoid taking any Thing heating; and
above all Things to retrench the Use of any strong Drink, and of
Flesh-meat.
But when it is considerable, and an Inflammation must be expected, there
is a Necessity for Bleeding; the Patient should be kept in the most
quiet and easy Situation; he should be ordered immediately to a Regimen;
and sometimes the Bleeding also must be repeated. Now all these Means
are the more indispensably necessary, when the Wound has penetrated to
some internal Part; in which Situation, no Remedy is more certain than
that of an extremely light Diet. Such wounded Persons as have been
supposed incapable of living many Hours, after Wounds in the Breast, in
the Belly, or in the Kidnies, have been completely recovered, by living
for the Course of several Weeks, on nothing but a Barley, or other
farinaceous mealy, Ptisans, without Salt, without Soup, without any
Medicine; and especially without the Use of any Ointments.
§ 440. In the same Proportion that Bleeding, moderately and judiciously
employed, is serviceable, in that very same an Excess of it becomes
pernicious. Great Wounds are generally attended with a considerable Loss
of Blood, which has already exhausted the wounded Person; and the Fever
is often a Consequence of this copious Loss of Blood. Now if under such
a Circumstance, Bleeding should be ordered and performed, the Patient's
Strength is totally sunk; the Humours stagnate and corrupt; a Gangrene
supervenes, and he dies miserably, at the End of two or three Days, of a
_Series_ of repeated Bleedings, but not of the Wound. Notwithstanding
the Certainty of this, the Surgeon frequently boasts of his ten, twelve,
or even his fifteen Bleedings; assuring his Hearers of the insuperable
Mortality of the Wound, since the letting out such a Quantity of Blood
could not recover the Patient; when it really was that excessive
artificial Profusion of it, that downright dispatched him.------The
Pleasures of Love are very mortal ones to the Wounded.
§ 441. The Balsams and vulnerary Plants, which have often been so highly
celebrated for the Cure of Wounds, are very noxious, when taken
inwardly; because the Introduction of them gives or heightens the Fever,
which ought to have been abated.
_Of Contusions, or Bruises._
§ 442. A Contusion, which is commonly called a Bruise, is the Effect of
the forcible Impression or Stroke of a Substance not sharp or cutting,
on the Body of a Man, or any Animal; whether such an Impression be
violently made on the Man, as when he is struck by a Stick, or by a
Stone thrown at him; or whether the Man be involuntarily forced against
a Post, a Stone, or any hard Substance by a Fall; or whether, in short,
he is squeezed and oppressed betwixt two hard Bodies, as when his Finger
is squeezed betwixt the Door and the Door-Post, or the whole Body jammed
in betwixt any Carriage and the Wall. These Bruises, however, are still
more frequent in the Country than Wounds, and commonly more dangerous
too; and indeed the more so, as we cannot judge so exactly, and so soon,
of the whole Injury that has been incurred; and because all that is
immediately visible of it is often but a small Part of the real Damage
attending it: since it frequently happens that no Hurt appears for a few
successive Days; nor does it become manifest, until it is too late to
admit of an effectual Cure.
§ 443. It is but a few Weeks since a Cooper came to ask my Advice. His
Manner of breathing, his Aspect, the Quickness, Smallness, and
Irregularity of his Pulse, made me apprehensive at once, that some
Matter was formed within his Breast. Nevertheless he still kept up, and
went about, working also at some Part of his Trade. He had fallen in
removing some Casks or Hogsheads; and the whole Weight of his Body had
been violently impressed upon the right Side of his Breast.
Notwithstanding this, he was sensible of no Hurt at first; but some Days
afterwards he began to feel a dull heavy Pain in that Part, which
continued and brought on a Difficulty of Breathing, Weakness, broken
Sleep and Loss of Appetite. I ordered him immediately to Stillness and
Repose, and I advised him to drink a Ptisan of Barley sweetened with
Honey, in a plentiful Quantity. He regularly obeyed only the latter Part
of my Directions: yet on meeting him a few Days after, he told me he was
better. The very same Week, however, I was informed he had been found
dead in his Bed. The Imposthume had undoubtedly broke, and suffocated
him.
§ 444. A young Man, run away with by his Horse, was forced with Violence
against a Stable-Door, without being sensible of any Damage at the Time.
But at the Expiration of twelve Days, he found himself attacked by some
such Complaints, as generally occur at the Beginning of a Fever. This
Fever was mistaken for a putrid one, and he was very improperly treated,
for the Fever it really was, above a Month. In short, it was agreed at a
Consultation, that Matter was collected in the Breast. In Consequence of
this, he was more properly attended, and at length happily cured by the
Operation for an _Empyema_, after languishing a whole Year. I have
published these two Instances, to demonstrate the great Danger of
neglecting violent Strokes or Bruises; since the first of these Patients
might have escaped Death; and the second a tedious and afflicting
Disorder, if they had taken, immediately after each Accident, the
necessary Precautions against its Consequences.
§ 445. Whenever any Part is bruised, one of two Things always ensues,
and commonly both happen together; especially if the Contusion is pretty
considerable: Either the small Blood-vessels of the contused Part are
broken, and the Blood they contained is spread about in the adjoining
Parts; or else, without such an Effusion of it, these Vessels have lost
their Tone, their active Force, and no longer contributing to the
Circulation, their Contents stagnate. In each of these Cases, if Nature,
either without or with the Assistance of Art, does not remove the
Impediment, an Inflammation comes on, attended with an imperfect,
unkindly Suppuration, with Putrefaction and a Gangrene; without
mentioning the Symptoms that arise from the Contusion of some particular
Substance, as a Nerve, a large Vessel, a Bone, _&c._ Hence we may also
conceive the Danger of a Contusion, happening to any inward Part, from
which the Blood is either internally effused, or the Circulation wholly
obstructed in some vital Organ. This is the Cause of the sudden Death of
Persons after a violent Fall; or of those who have received the violent
Force of heavy descending Bodies on their Heads; or of some violent
Strokes, without any evident external Hurt or Mark.
There have been many Instances of sudden Deaths after one Blow on the
Pit of the Stomach, which has occasioned a Rupture of the Spleen.
It is in Consequence of Falls occasioning a general slight Contusion, as
well internal as external, that they are sometimes attended with such
grievous Consequences, especially in old Men, where Nature, already
enfeebled, is less able to redress such Disorders. And thus in Fact has
it been, that many such, who had before enjoyed a firm State of Health,
have immediately lost it after a Fall (which seemed at first to have
affected them little or not at all) and languished soon after to the
Moment of their Death, which such Accidents very generally accelerate.
§ 446. Different external and internal Remedies are applicable in
Contusions. When the Accident has occurred in a slight Degree, and there
has been no great nor general Shock, which might produce an internal
Soreness or Contusion, external Applications may be sufficient. They
should consist of such Things as are adapted, first, to attenuate and
resolve the effused and stagnant Blood, which shews itself so
apparently; and which, from its manifest Blackness very soon after the
Contusion, becomes successively brown, yellow, and greyish, in
Proportions as the Magnitude of the Suffusion or Sealing decreases, till
at last it disappears entirely, and the Skin recovers its Colour,
without the Blood's having been discharged through the external Surface,
as it has been insensibly and gradually dissolved, and been taken in
again by the Vessels: And secondly, the Medicines should be such as are
qualified to restore the Tone, and to recover the Strength of the
affected Vessels.
The best Application is Vinegar, diluted, if very sharp, with twice as
much warm Water; in which Mixture Folds of Linnen are to be dipt, within
which the contused Parts are to be involved; and these Folds are to be
remoistened and re-applied every two Hours on the first Day.
Parsley, Chervil, and Houseleek Leaves, lightly pounded, have also been
successfully employed; and these Applications are preferable to Vinegar,
when a Wound is joined to the Bruise. The Pultices, Nº. 68, may also be
used with Advantage.
§ 447. It has been a common Practice immediately to apply spirituous
Liquors, such as Brandy, Arquebussade and [97] Alibour Water, and the
like; but a long Abuse ought not to be established by Prescription.
These Liquids which coagulate the Blood, instead of resolving it, are
truly pernicious; notwithstanding they are sometimes employed without
any visible Disadvantage on very slight Occasions. Frequently by
determining the settled Blood towards the Insterstices of the Muscles,
the fleshy Parts; or sometimes even by preventing the Effusion, or
visible Settling of the Blood, and fixing it, as it were, within the
bruised Vessels, they seem to be well; though this only arises from
their concentring and concealing the Evil, which, at the End of a few
Months, breaks forth again in a very troublesome Shape. Of this I have
seen some miserable Examples, whence it has been abundantly evinced,
that Applications of this Sort should never be admitted; and that
Vinegar should be used instead of them. At the utmost it should only be
allowed, (after there is Reason to suppose all the stagnant Blood
resolved and resorbed into the Circulation) to add a third Part of
Arquebusade Water to the Vinegar; with an Intention to restore some
Strength to the relaxed and weakened Parts.
[97] This, Dr. _Tissot_ informs me, is a Solution of white Vitriol and
some other Drugs in Spirit of Wine, and is never used in regular
Practice now. It has its Name from the Author of the Solution. _K._
§ 448. It is still a more pernicious Practice to apply, in Bruises,
Plaisters composed of greasy Substances, Rosins, Gums, Earths, _&c._ The
most boasted of these is always hurtful, and there have been many
Instances of very slight Contusions being aggravated into Gangrenes by
such Plaisters ignorantly applied; which Bruises would have been
entirely subdued by the Oeconomy of Nature, if left to herself, in the
Space of four Days.
Those Sacs or Suffusions of coagulated Blood, which are visible under
the Skin, should never be opened, except for some urgent Reason; since
however large they may be, they insensibly disappear and dissipate;
instead of which Termination, by opening them, they sometimes terminate
in a dangerous Ulceration.
§ 449. The internal Treatment of Contusions is exactly the same with
that of Wounds; only that in these Cases the best Drink is the
Prescription, Nº. 1, to each Pot of which a Drachm of Nitre must be
added.
When any Person has got a violent Fall; has lost his Senses, or is
become very stupid; when the Blood starts out of his Nostrils, or his
Ears; when he is greatly oppressed, or his Belly feels very tight and
tense, which import an Effusion of Blood either into the Head, the
Breast or the Belly, he must, first of all, be bled upon the Spot, and
all the Means must be recurred to, which have been mentioned § 439,
giving the wretched Patient the least possible Disturbance or Motion;
and by all means avoiding to jog or shake him, with a Design to bring
him to his Senses; which would be directly and effectually killing him,
by causing a further Effusion of Blood. Instead of this the whole Body
should be fomented, with some one of the Decoctions already mentioned:
and when the Violence has been chiefly impressed on the Head, Wine and
Water should be prefered to Vinegar.
Falls attended with Wounds, and even a Fracture of the Skull, and with
the most alarming Symptoms, have been cured by these internal Remedies,
and without any other external Assistance, except the Use of the
aromatic Fomentation, Nº. 68.
A Man from _Pully-petit_ came to consult me some Months ago, concerning
his Father, who had a high Fall out of a Tree. He had been twenty-four
Hours without Feeling or Sense, and without any other Motion than
frequent Efforts to vomit; and Blood had issued both from his Nose and
Ears. He had no visible outward Hurt neither on his Head, nor any other
Part; and, very fortunately for him, they had not as yet exerted the
least Effort to relieve him. I immediately directed a plentiful Bleeding
in the Arm; and a large Quantity of Whey sweetened with Honey to be
drank, and to be also injected by Way of Glyster. This Advice was very
punctually observed; and fifteen Days after the Father came to
_Lausanne_, which is four Leagues from _Pully-petit_, and told me he was
very well. It is proper, in all considerable Bruises, to open the
Patient's Belly with a mild cooling Purge, such as Nº. 11, 23, 32, 49.
The Prescription Nº. 24, and the honyed Whey are excellent Remedies,
from the same Reason.
§ 450. In these Circumstances, Wine, distiled Spirits, and whatever has
been supposed to revive and to rouse, is mortal. For this Reason People
should not be too impatient, because the Patients remain some Time
without Sense or Feeling. The giving of Turpentine is more likely to do
Mischief than Good; and if it has been sometimes serviceable, it must
have been in Consequence of its purging the Patient, who probably then
needed to be purged. The Fat of a Whale, (_Sperma cæti_) Dragons Blood,
Crabs-Eyes, and Ointments of whatsoever Sort are at least useless and
dangerous Medicine, if the Case be very hazardous; either by the
Mischief they do, or the Good they prevent from being done. The proper
Indication is to dilute the Blood, to render it more fluid and disposed
to circulate; and the Medicines just mentioned produce a very contrary
Effect.
§ 451. When an aged Person gets a Fall, which is the more dangerous in
Proportion to his Age and Grossness; notwithstanding he should not seem
in the least incommoded by it, if he is sanguine and still somewhat
vigorous, he should part with three or four Ounces of Blood. He should
take immediately a few successive Cups of a lightly aromatic Drink,
which should be given him hot; such, for Instance, as an Infusion of Tea
sweetened with Honey, and he should be advised to move gently about. He
must retrench a little from the usual Quantity of his Food, and accustom
himself to very gentle, but very frequent, Exercise.
§ 452. Sprains or Wrenches, which very often happen, produce a Kind of
Contusion, in the Parts adjoining to the sprained Joint. This Contusion
is caused by the violent Friction of the Bone against the neighbouring
Parts; and as soon as the Bones are immediately returned into their
proper Situation, the Disorder should be treated as a Contusion. Indeed
if the Bones should not of themselves return into their proper natural
Position, Recourse must be had to the Hand of a Surgeon.
The best Remedy in this Case is absolute Rest and Repose, after applying
a Compress moistened in Vinegar and Water, which is to be renewed and
continued, till the Marks of the Contusion entirely disappear; and there
remains not the smallest Apprehension of an Inflammation. Then indeed,
and not before, a little Brandy or Arquebusade Water may be added to the
Vinegar; and the Part (which is almost constantly the Foot) should be
strengthened and secured for a considerable Time with a Bandage; as it
might otherwise be liable to fresh Sprains, which would daily more and
more enfeeble it: and if this Evil is overlooked too much in its
Infancy, the Part never recovers its full Strength; and a small Swelling
often remains to the End of the Patient's Life.
If the Sprain is very slight and moderate, a Plunging of the Part into
cold Water is excellent; but if this is not done at once immediately
after the Sprain, or if the Contusion is violent, it is even hurtful.
The Custom of rolling the naked Foot upon some round Body is
insufficient, when the Bones are not perfectly replaced; and hurtful,
when the Sprain is accompanied with a Contusion.
It happens continually almost that Country People, who encounter such
Accidents, apply themselves either to ignorant or knavish Imposters, who
find, or are determined to find, a Disorder or Dislocation of the Bones,
where there is none; and who, by their violent Manner of handling the
Parts, or by the Plaisters they surround them with, bring on a dangerous
Inflammation, and change the Patient's Dread of a small Disorder, into a
very grievous Malady.
These are the very Persons who have created, or indeed rather imagined,
some impossible Diseases, such as the Opening, the Splitting of the
Stomach, and of the Kidnies. But these big Words terrify the poor
Country People, and dispose them to be more easily and effectually
duped.
_Of Ulcers._
§ 453. Whenever Ulcers arise from a general Fault of the Blood, it is
impossible to cure them, without destroying the Cause and Fuel of them.
It is in Fact imprudent to attempt to heal them up by outward Remedies;
and a real Misfortune to the Patient, if his Assistant effectually heals
and closes them.
But, for the greater Part, Ulcers in the Country are the Consequence of
some Wound, Bruise, or Tumour improperly treated; and especially of such
as have been dressed with too sharp, or too spirituous Applications.
Rancid Oils are also one of the Causes, which change the most simple
Wounds into obstinate Ulcers, for which Reason they should be avoided;
and Apothecaries should be careful, when they compound greasy Ointments,
to make but little at a Time, and the oftner, as a very considerable
Quantity of any of them becomes rank before it is all sold;
notwithstanding sweet fresh Oil may have been employed in preparing
them.
§ 454. What serves to distinguish Ulcers from Wounds, is the Dryness and
Hardness of the Sides or Borders of Ulcers, and the Quality of the
Humour discharged from them; which, instead of being ripe consistent
Matter, is a Liquid more thin, less white, sometimes yielding a
disagreable Scent, and so very sharp, that if it touch the adjoining
Skin, it produces Redness, Inflammation, or Pustules there; sometimes a
serpiginous, or Ring-worm like Eruption, and even a further Ulceration.
§ 455. Such Ulcers as are of a long Duration, which spread wide, and
discharge much, prey upon the Patient, and throw him into a slow Fever,
which melts and consumes him. Besides, when an Ulcer is of a long
Standing, it is dangerous to dry it up; and indeed this never should be
done, but by substituting in the Place of one Discharge that is become
almost natural, some other Evacuation, such as Purging from Time to
Time.
We may daily see sudden Deaths, or very tormenting Diseases, ensue the
sudden drying up such Humours and Drains as have been of a long
Continuance: and whenever any Quack (and as many as promise the speedy
Cure of such, deserve that Title) assures the Patient of his curing an
inveterate Ulcer in a few Days, he demonstrates himself to be a very
dangerous and ignorant Intermeddler, who must kill the Patient, if he
keeps his Word. Some of these impudent Impostors make use of the most
corrosive Applications, and even arsenical ones; notwithstanding the
most violent Death is generally the Consequence of them.
§ 456. The utmost that Art can effect, with Regard to Ulcers, which do
not arise from any Fault in the Humours, is to change them into Wounds.
To this End, the Hardness and Dryness of the Edges of the Ulcer, and
indeed of the whole Ulcer, must be diminished, and its Inflammation
removed. But sometimes the Hardness is so obstinate, that this cannot be
mollified any other Way, than by scarifying the Edges with a Lancet. But
when it may be effected by other Means, let a Pledget spread with the
Ointment, Nº. 69, be applied all over the Ulcer; and this Pledget be
covered again with a Compress of several Folds, moistened in the Liquid,
Nº. 70, which should be renewed three times daily; though it is
sufficient to apply a fresh Pledget only twice.
As I have already affirmed that Ulcers were often the Consequence of
sharp and spirituous Dressings, it is evident such should be abstained
from, without which Abstinence they will prove incurable.
To forward the Cure, salted Food, Spices, and strong Drink should be
avoided; the Quantity of Flesh-meat should be lessened; and the Body be
kept open by a Regimen of Pulse, of Vegetables, and by the habitual Use
of Whey sweetened with Honey.
If the Ulcers are in the Legs, a very common Situation of them, it is of
great Importance, as well as in Wounds of the same Parts, that the
Patient should walk about but little; and yet never stand up without
walking. This indeed is one of these Cases, in which those, who have
some Credit and Influence in the Estimation of the People, should omit
nothing to make them thoroughly comprehend the Necessity of confining
themselves, some Days, to undisturbed Tranquillity and Rest; and they
should also convince them, that this Term of Rest is so far from being
lost Time, that it is likely to prove their most profitable Time of
Life. Negligence, in this material Point, changes the slightest Wounds
into Ulcers, and the most trifling Ulcers into obstinate and incurable
ones: insomuch that there is scarcely any Man, who may not observe some
Family in his Neighbourhood, reduced to the Hospital, [98] from their
having been too inattentive to the due Care of some Complaint of this
Sort.
[98] This seems just the same as _coming on the Parish_, or being
received into an Alms house here; in Consequence of such an
incurable Disability happening to the poor working Father of a
Family. _K._
I conclude this Article on Ulcers with repeating, that those which are
owing to some internal Cause; or even such as happen from an external
one, in Persons of a bad Habit of Body, frequently require a more
particular Treatment.
_Of Frozen Limbs._
§ 457. It is but too common, in very rigorous Winters, for some Persons
to be pierced with so violent a Degree of Cold, that their Hands or
Feet, or sometimes both together are frozen at once, just like a Piece
of Flesh-meat exposed to the Air.
If a Person thus pierced with the Cold, dispose himself to walk about,
which seems so natural and obvious a Means to get warm; and especially,
if he attempts to [99] warm the Parts that have been frozen, his Case
proves irrecoverable. Intolerable Pains are the Consequence, which Pains
are speedily attended with an incurable Gangrene; and there is no Means
left to save the Patient's Life, but by cutting off the gangrened Limbs.
[99] The Reason of the Fatality of Heat, in these Cases, and of the
Success of an opposite Application, (See § 459) seems strictly and
even beautifully analogous to what _Hippocrates_ has observed of
the Danger, and even Fatality, of all great and sudden Changes in
the human Body, whether from the Weather or otherwise. Whence this
truly great Founder of Physick, when he observes elsewhere, that
Diseases are to be cured by something contrary to their Causes,
very consistently advises, not a direct and violent Contrariety,
but a gradual and regulated one, a _Sub-contrariety_. _K._
There was a very late and terrible Example of this, in the Case of an
Inhabitant at _Cossonay_, who had both his Hands frozen. Some greasy
Ointments were applied hot to them, the Consequence of which was, the
Necessity of cutting off six of his Fingers.
§ 458. In short, there is but one certain Remedy in such Cases, and this
is to convey the Person affected into some Place where it does not
freeze, but where, however, it is but very moderately hot, and there
continually to apply, to the frozen Parts, Snow, if it be at hand; and
if not, to keep washing them incessantly, but very gently (since all
Friction would at this Juncture prove dangerous) in Ice-water, as the
Ice thaws in the Chamber. By this Application the Patients will be
sensible of their Feeling's returning very gradually to the Part, and
that they begin to recover their Motion. In this State they may Safely
be moved into a Place a little warmer, and drink some Cups of the Potion
Nº. 13, or of another of the like Quality.
§ 459. Every Person may be a competent judge of the manifest Danger of
attempting to relieve such Parts by heating them, and of the Use of
Ice-water, by a common, a daily Experience. Frozen Pears, Apples, and
Radishes, being put into Water just about to freeze, recover their
former State, and prove quickly eatable. But if they are put into warm
Water, or into a hot Place, Rottenness, which is one Sort of Gangrene,
is the immediate Effect. The following Case will make this right Method
of treating them still more intelligible, and demonstrate its Efficacy.
A Man was travelling to the Distance of six Leagues in very cold
Weather; the Road being covered with Snow and Ice. His Shoes, not being
very good, failed him on his March, so that he walked the three last
Leagues bare-footed; and felt, immediately after the first Half League,
sharp Pains in his Legs and Feet, which increased as he proceeded. He
arrived at his Journey's End in a Manner nearly deprived of his lower
Extremities. They set him before a great Fire, heated a Bed well, and
put him into it. His Pains immediately became intolerable: he was
incessantly in the most violent Agitations, and cried out in the most
piercing and affecting Manner. A Physician, being sent for in the Night,
found his Toes of a blackish Colour, and beginning to lose their
Feeling. His Legs and the upper Part of his Feet, which were excessively
swelled, of a purplish Red, and varied with Spots of a violet Colour,
were still sensible of the most excruciating Pains. The Physician
ordered in a Pail of Water from the adjoining River, adding more to it,
and some Ice withal. In this he obliged the Patient to plunge his Legs;
they were kept in near an Hour, and within that Time, the Pains became
less violent. After another Hour he ordered a second cold Bath, from
which the Patient perceiving still further Relief, prolonged it to the
Extent of two Hours. During that Time, some Water was taken out of the
Pail, and some Ice and Snow were put into it. Now his Toes, which had
been black, grew red; the violet Spots in his Legs disappeared; the
Swelling abated; the Pains became moderate, and intermitted. The Bath
was nevertheless repeated six times; after which there remained no other
Complaint, but that of a great Tenderness or extraordinary Sensibility
in the Soles of his Feet, which hindered him from walking. The Parts
were afterwards bathed with some aromatic Fomentations; and he drank a
Ptisan of Sarsaparilla [one of Elder Flowers would have answered the
same Purpose, and have been less expensive.] On the eighth Day from his
Seizure he was perfectly recovered, and returned home on Foot on the
fifteenth.
§ 460. When cold Weather is extremely severe, and a Person is exposed to
it for a long Time at once, it proves mortal, in Consequence of its
congealing the Blood, and because it forces too great a Proportion of
Blood up to the Brain; so that the Patient dies of a Kind of Apoplexy,
which is preceded by a Sleepiness. In this Circumstance the Traveller,
who finds himself drowsy, should redouble his Efforts to extricate
himself from the eminent Danger he is exposed to. This Sleep, which he
might consider as some Alleviation of his Sufferings, if indulged, would
prove his last.
§ 461. The Remedies in such Cases are the same with those directed in
frozen Limbs. The Patient must be conducted to an Apartment rather cold
than hot, and be rubbed with Snow or with Ice-water. There have been
many well attested Instances of this Method; and as such Cases are still
more frequent in more northern Climates, a Bath of the very coldest
Water has been found the surest Remedy.
Since it is known that many People have been revived, who had remained
in the Snow, or had been exposed to the freezing Air during five, or
even six successive Days, and who had discovered no one Mark of Life for
several Hours, the utmost Endeavours should be used for the Recovery of
Persons in the like Circumstances and Situation.
_Of Kibes, or Chilblains._
§ 462. These troublesome and smarting Complaints attack the Hands, Feet,
Heels, Ears, Nose and Lips, those of Children especially, and mostly in
Winter; when these Extremities are exposed to the sudden Changes from
hot to cold, and from cold to hot Weather. They begin with an Inflation
or kind of Swelling, which, at first, occasions but little Heat, Pain or
Itching. Sometimes they do not exceed this first State, and go off
spontaneously without any Application: But at other Times (which may be
termed the second Degree of the Disorder, whether it happens from their
being neglected, or improperly treated) their Heat, Redness, Itching and
Pain increase considerably; so that the Patient is often deprived of the
free Use of his Fingers by the Pain, Swelling and Numbness: in which
Case the Malady is still aggravated, if effectual Means are not used.
Whenever the Inflammation mounts to a still higher Degree, small
Vesications or Blisters are formed, which are not long without bursting;
when they leave a slight Excoriation, or Rawness, as it were, which
speedily ulcerates, and frequently proves a very deep and obstinate
Ulcer, discharging a sharp and ill-conditioned Matter.
The last and most virulent Degree of Chilblains, which is not infrequent
in the very coldest Countries, though very rare in the temperate ones,
is, when the Inflammation degenerates into a Gangrene.
§ 463. These Tumours are owing to a Fulness and Obstruction of the
Vessels of the Skin, which occurs from this Circumstance, that the
Veins, which are more superficial than the Arteries, being
proportionably more affected and straitened by the Cold, do not carry
off all the Blood communicated to them by the Arteries; and perhaps also
the Particles or Atoms of Cold, which are admitted through the Pores of
the Skin, may act upon our Fluids, as it does upon Water, and occasion a
Congelation of them, or a considerable Approach towards it.
If these Complaints are chiefly felt, which in Fact is the Case, rather
on the extreme Parts than on others, it arises from two Causes, the
principal one being, that the Circulation's being weaker at the
Extremities than elsewhere, the Effect of those Causes, that may impair
it, must be more considerably felt there. The second Reason is, because
these Parts are more exposed to the Impressions from without than the
others.
They occur most frequently to Children, from their Weakness and the
greater Tenderness and Sensibility of their Organs, which necessarily
increases the Effect of external Impressions. It is the frequent and
strong Alteration from Heat to Cold, that seems to contribute the most
powerfully to the Production of Chilblains; and this Effect of it is
most considerable, when the Heat of the Air is at the same Time blended
with Moisture; whence the extreme and superficial Parts pass suddenly as
it were, out of a hot, into a cold, Bath. A Man sixty Years of Age, who
never before was troubled with Kibes, having worn, for some Hours on a
Journey, a Pair of furred Gloves, in which his Hands sweated, felt them
very tender, and found them swelled up with Blood: as the common Effect
of the warm Bath is to soften and relax, and to draw Blood abundantly to
the bathed Parts, whence it renders them more sensible.
This Man, I say, thus circumstanced, was at that Age first attacked with
Chilblains, which proved extremely troublesome; and he was every
succeeding Winter as certainly infested with them, within Half an Hour
after he left off his Gloves, and was exposed to a very cold Air.
It is for this Reason, that several Persons are never infested with
Chilblains, but when they use themselves to Muffs, which are scarcely
known in hot Countries; nor are they very common among the more northern
ones, in which the extraordinary Changes from Cold to Heat are very rare
and unusual.
Some People are subject to this troublesome Complaint in the Fall; while
others have it only in the Spring. The Child of a labouring Peasant, who
has a hard Skin, and one inured to all the Impressions of the Seasons
and of the Elements, is, and indeed necessarily must be, less liable to
Kibes, than the Child of a rich Citizen, whose Skin is often cherished,
at the Expence of his Constitution. But even among Children of the same
Rank in Life and Circumstances, who seem pretty much of the same
Complexion, and live much in the same Manner; whence they might of
Course be supposed equally liable to the same Impressions, and to the
like Effects of them, there is, nevertheless, a very great Difference
with Respect to their constitutional Propensity to contract Chilblains.
Some are very cruelly tormented with them, from the setting in of
Autumn, to the very End of the Spring: others have either none at all,
or have them but very slightly, and for a very short Time. This
Difference undoubtedly arises from the different Quality of their
Humours, and the Texture of their whole Surface, but particularly from
that of the Skin of their Hands; though we readily confess it is by no
Means easy to determine, with Certainty and Precision, in what this
Difference essentially consists.
Children of a sanguine Complexion and delicate Skin are pretty generally
subject to this Disorder, which is often regarded much too slightly,
though it is really severe enough to engage our Attention more; since,
even abstracted from the sharp Pains which smart these unhappy Children
for several Months; it sometimes gives them a Fever, hinders them from
sleeping, and yet confines them to their Bed, which is very prejudicial
to their Constitutions. It also breaks in upon the Order of their
different Duties and Employments; it interrupts their innocent salutary
Pleasures; and sometimes, when they are obliged to earn their daily
Bread by doing some Work or other, it sinks them down to Misery. I knew
a young Man, who from being rendered incapable by Chilblains, of serving
out his Apprenticeship to a Watch-maker, is become a lazy Beggar.
Chilblains which attack the Nose, often leave a Mark that alters the
Physiognomy, the Aspect of the Patient, for the Remainder of his Life:
and the Hands of such as have suffered from very obstinate ones, are
commonly ever sensible of their Consequences.
§ 464. With Respect, therefore, to these afflicting Tumours and
Ulcerations, we should, in the first Place, do our utmost to prevent
them; and next exert our best Endeavours to cure such as we could not
prevent.
§ 465. Since they manifestly depend on the Sensibility of the Skin, the
Nature of the Humours, and the Changes of the Weather from Heat to Cold,
in Order to prevent them, in the first Place, the Skin must be rendered
firmer or less tender. 2, That vicious Quality of the Temperament, which
contributes to their Existence, must be corrected; and, 3, the Persons
so liable must guard themselves as well as possible, against these
Changes of the Weather.
Now the Skin of the Hands, as well as that of the whole Body, may be
strengthened by that Habit of washing or bathing in cold Water, which I
have described at large, § 384; and in Fact I have never seen Children,
who had been early accustomed and inured to this Habit, as much
afflicted with Chilblains as others. But still a more particular Regard
should be had to fortify the Skin of the Hands, which are more obnoxious
to this Disorder than the Feet, by making Children dip them in cold
Water, and keep them for some Moments together in it every Morning, and
every Evening too before Supper, from the very Beginning of the Fall. It
will give the Children no Sort of Pain, during that Season, to contract
this Habit; and when it is once contracted, it will give them no Trouble
to continue it throughout the Winter, even when the Water is ready to
freeze every where. They may also be habituated to plunge their Feet
into cold Water twice or thrice a Week: and this Method, which might be
less adapted for grown Persons, who had not been accustomed to it, must
be without Objection with Respect to such Children, as have been
accustomed to it; to whom all its Consequences must be useful and
salutary.
At the same Time Care must be taken not to defeat or lessen the Effect
of the cold bathing, by suffering the Bather or Washer, to grow too warm
between two Baths or Dippings; which is also avoiding the too speedy
Successions of Heat and Cold. For this Purpose, 1, the Children must be
taught never to warm their Hands before the Fire at such Times, and
still less before the Stoves, which very probably are one of the
principal Causes of Chilblains, that are less usual in Countries which
use no such Stoves, and among those Individuals who make the least Use
of them, where they are. Above all, the Use of _Cavettes_ (that is, of
Seats or little Stairs, as it were, contrived between the Stove and the
Wall) is prejudicial to Children, and even to grown People, upon several
Accounts. 2, They should never accustom themselves to wear Muffs. 3, It
would be also proper they should never use Gloves, unless some
particular Circumstances require it; and I recommend this Abstinence
from Gloves, especially to young Boys: but if any should be allowed
them, let the Gloves be thin and smooth.
§ 466. When Chilblains seem to be nourished by some Fault in the
Temperament or Humours, the Consideration of a Physician becomes
necessary, to direct a proper Method of removing or altering it. I have
seen Children from the Age of three, to that of twelve or thirteen
Years, in whom their Chilblains, raw and flead, as it were, for eight
Months of the Year, seemed to be a particular Kind of Issue, by which
Nature freed herself of an inconvenient Superfluity of Humours, when the
Perspiration was diminished by the Abatement of the violent Heats. In
such Cases I have been obliged to carry them through a pretty long
Course of Regimen and Remedies; which, however, being necessarily
various from a Variety of Circumstances, cannot be detailed here. The
milder Preparations of Antimony are often necessary in such Cases; and
some Purges conduce in particular ones to allay and to abridge the
Disorder.
§ 467. The first Degree of this Complaint goes off, as I have already
said, without the Aid of Medicine; or should it prove somewhat more
obstinate, it may easily be dissipated by some of the following
Remedies. But when they rise to the second Degree, they must be treated
like other Complaints from Congelation, or Frost-biting (of which they
are the first Degree) with cold Water, Ice-water and Snow.
No other Method or Medicine is nearly as efficacious as very cold Water,
so as to be ready to freeze, in which the Hands are to be dipt and
retained for some Minutes together, and several Times daily. In short it
is the only Remedy which ought to be applied, when the Hands are the
Parts affected; when the Patient has the Courage to bear this Degree of
Cold; and when he is under no Circumstance which may render it
prejudicial. It is the only Application I have used for myself, after
having been attacked with Chilblains for some Years past, from having
accustomed myself to too warm a Muff.
There ensues a slight Degree of Pain for some Moments after plunging the
Hand into Water, but it diminishes gradually. On taking the Hand out,
the Fingers are numbed with the Cold, but they presently grow warm
again; and within a Quarter of an Hour, it is entirely over.
The Hands, on being taken out of the Water, are to be well dried, and
put into Skin Gloves; after bathing three or four Times, their Swelling
subsides, so that the Skin wrinkles: but by continuing the cold Bathing,
it grows tight and smooth again; the Cure is compleated after using it
three or four Days; and, in general, the Disorder never returns again
the same Winter.
The most troublesome raging Itching is certainly assuaged by plunging
the Hands into cold Water.
The Effect of Snow is, perhaps, still more speedy: the Hands are to be
gently and often rubbed with it for a considerable Time; they grow hot,
and are of a very high Red for some Moments, but entire Ease very
quickly succeeds.
Nevertheless, a very small Number of Persons, who must have extremely
delicate and sensible Skins, do not experience the Efficacy of this
Application. It seems too active for them; it affects the Skin much like
a common blistering Plaister; and by bringing on a large flow of Humours
there, it increases, instead of lessening the Complaint.
§ 468. When this last Reason indeed, or some other Circumstance exists;
such as the Child's Want of Courage, or its Affliction; the monthly
Discharges in a Woman; a violent Cough; habitual Colics; and some other
Maladies, which have been observed to be renewed or aggravated by the
Influence of Cold at the Extremities, do really forbid this very cold
Application, some others must be substituted.
One of the best is to wear Day and Night, without ever putting it off, a
Glove made of some smooth Skin, such as that of a Dog; which seldom
fails to extinguish the Disorder in some Days time.
When the Feet are affected with Chilblains, Socks of the same Skin
should be worn; and the Patient keep close to his Bed for some Days.
§ 469. When the Disorder is violent, the Use of cold Water prohibited,
and the Gloves just recommended have but a slow Effect, the diseased
Parts should be gently fomented or moistened several times a Day, with
some Decoction, rather more than warm; which at the same time should be
dissolving and emollient. Such is that celebrated Decoction of the
Scrapings, the Peel of Radishes, whose Efficacy is still further
increased, by adding one sixth Part of Vinegar to the Decoction.
Another Decoction, of whose great Efficacy I have been a Witness, but
which dies the Hands yellow for a few Days, is the Prescription Nº. 71.
Many others may be made, of nearly the same Virtues, with all the
vulnerary Herbs, and even with the _Faltranc_.
Urine, which some boast of in these Cases, from their having used it
with Success; and the Mixture of Urine and Lime-water have the like
Virtues with the former Decoctions. [100]
[100] Chilblains may also be advantageously washed with Water and Flower
of Mustard, which will concur, in a certain and easy Manner, both
to cleanse and to cure them. _E. L._
As soon as the Hands affected are taken out of these Decoctions, they
must be defended from the Air by Gloves.
§ 470. Vapours or Steams are often more efficacious than Decoctions;
whence instead of dipping the Hands into these already mentioned, we may
expose them to their Vapours, with still more Success. That of hot
Vinegar is one of the most powerful Remedies; those of [101] _Asphalt_,
or of Turpentine have frequently succeeded too. It may be needless to
add that the affected Parts must be defended from the Air, as well after
the Steams as the Decoctions; since it is from this Cause of keeping off
the Air, that the Cerecloths are of Service; and hence also the
Application of Suet has sometimes answered.
[101] This is or should be, the same with the _Bitumen Judaicum_,
formerly kept in the Shops; but which is never directed, except in
that strange Medley the _Venice_ Treacle, according to the old
Prescription. The best is found in _Egypt_, and on the _Red Sea_:
but a different Sort, from _Germany_, _France_, and _Swisserland_,
is now generally substituted here. _K._
When the Distemper is subdued by the Use of Bathings or Steams, which
make the Skin supple and soft, then it should be strengthened by washing
the Parts with a little camphorated Brandy, diluted with an equal
Quantity of Water.
§ 471. When the Nose is affected with a Chilblain, the Steam of Vinegar,
and an artificial Nose, or Covering for it, made of Dog-skin, are the
most effectual Applications. The same Treatment is equally proper for
the Ears and the Chin, when infested with them. Frequently washing these
Parts in cold Water is a good Preservative from their being attacked.
§ 472. Whenever the Inflammation rises very high, and brings on some
Degree of a Fever, the Patient's usual Quantity of strong Drink and of
Flesh-meat must be lessened; his Body should be kept open by a few
Glysters; he should take every Evening a Dose of Nitre as prescribed,
Nº. 20; and if the Fever proved strong, he should lose some Blood too.
As many as are troubled with obstinate Chilblains, should always be
denied the Use of strong Liquor and Flesh.
§ 473. When this Distemper prevails in its third Degree, and the Parts
are ulcerated; besides keeping the Patients strictly to the Regimen of
Persons in a Way of Recovery, and giving them a Purge of Manna, the
swelled Parts should be exposed to the Steams of Vinegar; the
Ulcerations should be covered with a Diapalma Plaister; and the whole
Part should be enveloped in a smooth soft Skin, or in thin Cerecloths.
§ 474. The fourth Degree of this Disease, in which the Parts become
gangrenous, must be prevented by the Method and Medicines which remove
an Inflammation; but if unhappily a Gangrene has already appeared, the
Assistance of a Surgeon proves indispensably necessary.
_Of Ruptures._
§ 475. _Hernias_ or Ruptures, which Country-People term _being bursten_,
are a Disorder which sometimes occurs at the very Birth; though more
frequently they are the Effects of violent crying, of a strong forcing
Cough, or of repeated Efforts to vomit, in the first Months of Infancy.
They may happen afterwards indiscriminately at every Age, either as
Consequences of particular Maladies, or Accidents, or from Peoples'
violent Exertions of their Strength. They happen much oftner to Men than
Women; and the most common Sort, indeed the only one of which I propose
to treat, and that but briefly, is that which consists in the Descent of
a Part of the Guts, or of the Cawl, into the Bag or Cod-piece.
It is not difficult to distinguish this Rupture. When it occurs in
little Children, it is almost ever cured by making them constantly wear
a Bandage which should be made only of Fustian, with a little Pillow or
Pincushion, stuffed with Linen Rags, Hair or Bran. There should be at
least two of these Bandages, to change them alternately; nor should it
ever be applied, but when the Child is laid down on its Back, and after
being well assured that the Gut or Cawl, which had fallen down, has been
safely returned into the Cavity of the Belly; since without this
Precaution it might occasion the worst Consequences.
The good Effect of the Bandage may be still further promoted, by
applying upon the Skin, and within the Plait or Fold of the Groin (under
which Place the Rings, or Passage out of the Belly into the Bag lie)
some pretty astringent or strengthening Plaister, such as that commonly
used for Fractures, or that I have already mentioned, § 144. Here we may
observe by the Way, that ruptured Children should never be set on a
Horse, nor be carried by any Person on Horseback, before the Rupture is
perfectly cured.
§ 476. In a more advanced Age, a Bandage only of Fustian is not
sufficient; one must be procured with a Plate of Steel, even so as to
constrain and incommode the Wearer a little at first: nevertheless it
soon becomes habitual, and is then no longer inconvenient to them.
§ 477. Ruptures sometimes attain a monstrous Size; and a great Part of
the Guts fall down in to the _Scrotum_ or Bag, without any Symptom of an
actual Disease. This Circumstance, nevertheless, is accompanied with
very great Inconvenience, which disables Persons affected with it to
work; and whenever the Malady is so considerable, and of a long Standing
too, there are commonly some Obstacles that prevent a compleat Return of
the Guts into the Belly. In this State indeed, the Application of the
Bandage or Truss is impracticable, and the miserable Patients are
condemned to carry their grievous Burthen for the Remainder of their
Lives; which may however, be palliated a little by the Use of a
Suspensory and Bag, adapted to the Size of the Rupture. This Dread of
its increasing Magnitude is a strong Motive for checking the Progress of
it, when it first appears. But there is another still stronger, which
is, that Ruptures expose the Patient to a Symptom frequently mortal.
This occurs when that Part of the Intestines fallen into the _Scrotum_
inflames; when still increasing in its Bulk, and being extremely
compressed, acute Pains come on: for now from the Increase of the
Rupture's Extent, the Passage which gave Way to its Descent, cannot
admit of its Return or Ascent; the Blood-vessels themselves being
oppressed, the Inflammation increases every Moment; the Communication
between the Stomach and the Fundament is often entirely cut off; so that
nothing passes through, but incessant Vomitings come on [this being the
Kind of _Miserere_, or Iliac Passion I have mentioned, § 320] which are
succeeded by the Hickup, Raving, Swooning, cold Sweats, and Death.
§ 478. This Symptom supervenes in Ruptures, when the Excrements become
hard in that Part of the Guts fallen into the _Scrotum_; when the
Patient is overheated with Wine, Drams, an inflammatory Diet, _&c._ or
when he has received a Stroke on the ailing Part, or had a Fall.
§ 479. The best Means and Remedies are, 1, as soon as ever this Symptom
or Accident is manifest, to bleed the Patient very plentifully, as he
lies down in his Bed and upon his Back, with his Head a little raised,
and his Legs somewhat bent, so that his Knees may be erect. This is the
Attitude or Posture they should always preserve as much as possible.
When the Malady is not too far advanced, the first Bleeding often makes
a compleat Cure; and the Guts return up as soon as it is over. At other
Times this Bleeding is less successful, and leaves a Necessity for its
Repetition.
2, A Glyster must be thrown up consisting of a strong Decoction of the
large white Beet Leaves, with a small Spoonful or Pinch of common Salt,
and a Bit of fresh Butter of the Size of an Egg.
3, Folds of Linen dipt in Ice-water must be applied all over the Tumour,
and constantly renewed every Quarter of an Hour. This Remedy, when
immediately applied, has produced the most happy Effects; but if the
Symptom has endured violently more than ten or twelve Hours, it is often
too late to apply it; and then it is better to make Use of Flanels dipt
in a warm Decoction of Mallow and Elder Flowers, shifting them
frequently. It has been known however, that Ice-water, or Ice itself has
succeeded as late as the third Day. [102]
[102] Pieces of Ice applied between two Pieces of Linen, directly upon
the Rupture, as soon as possible after its first Appearance, is one
of those extraordinary Remedies, which we should never hesitate to
make immediate Use of. We may be certain by this Application, if
the Rupture is simple, and not complicated from some aggravating
Cause, to remove speedily, and with very little Pain, a Disorder,
that might be attended with the most dreadful Consequences. But the
Continuance of this Application must be proportioned to the
Strength of the Person ruptured, which may be sufficiently
estimated by the Pulse. _E. L._
4, When these Endeavours are insufficient, Glysters of Tobacco Smoke
must be tried, which has often redressed and returned Ruptures, when
every Thing else had failed.
5, And lastly, if all these Attempts are fruitless, the Operation must
be resolved on, without losing a Moment's Time; as this local Disease
proves sometimes mortal in the Space of two Days; but for this Operation
an excellent Surgeon is indispensably necessary. The happy Consequence
with which I have ordered it, in a most desperate Case since the first
Edition of this Work, on the sixth Day after a Labour, has convinced me,
still more than any former Observation I had made, that the Trial of it
ought never to be omitted, when other Attempts have been unavailing. It
cannot even hasten the Patient's Death, which must be inevitable without
it, but it rather renders that more gentle, where it might fail to
prevent it. When it is performed as Mr. _Levade_ effected it, in the
Case I have just referred to, the Pain attending it is very tolerable
and soon over.
I shall not attempt to describe the Operation, as I could not explain
myself sufficiently to instruct an ignorant Surgeon in it; and an
excellent and experienced one must be sufficiently apprized of all I
could say concerning it.
A certain Woman in this Place, but now dead, had the great and impudent
Temerity to attempt this Operation, and killed her Patients after the
most excruciating Torments, and an Extirpation, or cutting away of the
Testicle; which Quacks and ignorant Surgeons always do, but which a good
Surgeon never does in this Operation. This is often the Custom too (in
Country Places) of those Caitiffs, who perform this Operation without
the least Necessity; and mercilessly emasculate a Multitude of Infants;
whom Nature, if left to her own Conduct, or assisted only by a simple
Bandage, would have perfectly cured; instead of which, they absolutely
kill a great many, and deprive those of their Virility, who survive
their Robbery and Violence. It were religiously to be wished such
Caitiffs were to be duly, that is, severely punished; and it cannot be
too much inculcated into the People, that this Operation (termed the
_Bubonocele_) in the Manner it is performed by the best Surgeons, is not
necessary; except in the Symptoms and Circumstances I have mentioned,
and that the cutting off the Testicle never is so.
_Of Phlegmons or Boils._
§ 480. Every Person knows what Boils are at Sight, which are
considerably painful when large, highly inflamed, or so situated as to
incommode the Motions, or different Positions of the Body. Whenever
their Inflammation is very considerable; when there are a great many of
them at once, and they prevent the Patients from sleeping, it becomes
necessary to enter them into a cooling Regimen; to throw up some opening
Glysters; and to make them drink plentifully of the Ptisan, Nº. 2.
Sometimes it is also necessary to bleed the Patient.
Should the Inflammation be very high indeed, a Pultice of Bread and
Milk, or of Sorrel a little boiled and bruised, must be applied to it.
But if the Inflammation is only moderate, a Mucilage Plaister, or one of
the simple Diachylon, may be sufficient. Diachylon with the Gums is more
active and efficacious; but it so greatly augments the Pain of some
Persons afflicted with Boils, that they cannot bear it.
Boils, which often return, signify some Fault in the Temperament, and
frequently one so considerable, that might dispose a Physician to be so
far apprehensive of its Consequences, as to enquire into the Cause, and
to attempt the Extinction of it. But the Detail of this is no Part nor
Purpose of the present Work.
§ 481. The Phlegmon, or Boil, commonly terminates in Suppuration, but a
Suppuration of a singular Kind. It breaks open at first on its Top, or
the most pointed Part, when some Drops of a _Pus_ like that of an
Abscess comes out, after which the Germ, or what is called the Core of
it may be discerned. This is a purulent Matter or Substance, but so
thick and tenacious, that it appears like a solid Body; which may be
drawn out entirely in the Shape of a small Cylinder, like the Pith of
Elder, to the Length of some Lines of an Inch; sometimes to the Length
of a full Inch, and even more. The Emission of this Core is commonly
followed by the Discharge of a certain Quantity, according to the Size
of the Tumour, of liquid Matter, spread throughout the Bottom of it. As
soon as ever this Discharge is made, the Pain goes entirely off; and the
Swelling disappears at the End of a few Days, by continuing to apply the
simple Diachylon, or the Ointment Nº. 66.
_Of Fellons or Whitlows._
§ 482. The Danger of these small Tumours is much greater than is
generally supposed. It is an Inflammation at the Extremity or End of a
Finger, which is often the Effect of a small Quantity of Humour
extravasated, or stagnant, in that Part; whether this has happened in
Consequence of a Bruise, a Sting, or a Bite. At other times it is
evident that it has resulted from no external Cause, but is the Effect
of some inward one.
It is distinguished into many Kinds, according to the Place in which the
Inflammation begins; but the essential Nature of the Malady is always
the same, and requires the same Sort of Remedies. Hence such as are
neither Physicians nor Surgeons, may spare themselves the Trouble of
enquiring into the Divisions of this Distemper; which, though they vary
the Danger of it, and diversify the Manner of the Surgeons Operation,
yet have no Relation to the general Treatment of it; the Power and
Activity of which must be regulated by the Violence of the Symptoms.
§ 483. This Disorder begins with a slow heavy Pain, attended by a slight
Pulsation, without Swelling, without Redness, and without Heat; but in a
little Time the Pain, Heat, and Pulsation or Throbbing becomes
intolerable. The Part grows very large and red; the adjoining Fingers
and the whole Hand swelling up. In some Cases a Kind of red and inflated
Fuse or Streak may be observed, which, beginning at the affected Part,
is continued almost to the Elbow; neither is it unusual for the Patients
to complain of a very sharp Pain under the Shoulder; and sometimes the
whole Arm is excessively inflamed and swelled. The Sick have not a Wink
of Sleep, the Fever and other Symptoms quickly increasing. If the
Distemper rises to a violent Degree indeed, a _Delirium_ and Convulsions
supervene.
This Inflammation of the Finger determines, either in Suppuration, or in
a Gangrene. When the last of these occurs, the Patient is in very great
Danger, if he is not very speedily relieved; and it has proved necessary
more than once to cut off the Arm, for the Preservation of his Life.
When Suppuration is effected, if the Matter lies very deep and sharp, or
if the Assistance of a Surgeon has arrived too late, the Bone of the
last _Phalanx_, or Row of Bones of the Finger, is generally carious and
lost. But how gentle soever the Complaint has been, the Nail is very
generally separated and falls off.
§ 484. The internal Treatment in Whitlows, is the same with that in
other inflammatory Distempers. The Patient must enter upon a Regimen
more or less strict, in Proportion to the Degree of the Fever; and if
this runs very high, and the Inflammation be very considerable, there
may be a Necessity for several Bleedings.
The external Treatment consists in allaying the Inflammation; in
softening the Skin; and in procuring a Discharge of the Matter, as soon
as it is formed. For this Purpose,
1, The Finger affected is to be plunged, as soon as the Disorder is
manifest, in Water a little more than warm: the Steam of boiling Water
may also by admitted into it; and by doing these Things almost
constantly for the first Day, a total Dissipation of the Malady has
often been obtained. But unhappily it has been generally supposed, that
such slight Attacks could have but very slight Consequences, whence they
have been neglected until the Disorder has greatly advanced; in which
State Suppuration becomes absolutely necessary.
2, This Suppuration therefore may be forwarded, by continually involving
the Finger, as it were, in a Decoction of Mallow Flowers boiled in Milk,
or with a Cataplasm of Bread and Milk. This may be rendered still more
active and ripening, by adding a few white Lilly Roots, or a little
Honey. But this last must not be applied before the Inflammation is
somewhat abated, and Suppuration begins; before which Term, all sharp
Applications are very dangerous. At this Time, Yeast or Leaven may be
advantagiously used, which powerfully promotes Suppuration. The Sorrel
Pultice, mentioned § 480, is also a very efficacious one.
§ 485. A speedy Discharge of the ripe Matter is of considerable
Importance, but this particularly requires the Attention of the Surgeon;
as it is not proper to wait till the Tumour breaks and discharges of
itself; and this the rather, as from the Skin's proving sometimes
extremely hard, the Matter might be inwardly effused between the
Muscles, and upon their Membranes, before it could penetrate through the
Skin. For this Reason, as soon as Matter is suspected to be formed, a
Surgeon should be called in, to determine exactly on the Time, when an
Opening should be made; which had better be performed a little too soon
than too late; and a little too deep, than not deep enough.
When the Orifice has been made, and the Discharge is effected, it is to
be dressed up with the Plaister Nº. 66, spread upon Linen, or with the
Cerecloth; and these Dressings are to be repeated daily.
§ 486. When the Whitlow is caused by a Humour extravasated very near the
Nail, an expert Surgeon speedily checks its Progress, and cures it
effectually by an Incision which lets out the Humour. Yet,
notwithstanding this Operation is in no wise difficult, all Surgeons are
not qualified to perform it, and but too many have no Idea at all of it.
§ 487. Fungous, or, as it is commonly called, proud Flesh sometimes
appears during the incarning or healing of the Incision. Such may be
kept down with sprinkling a little _Minium_ (red Lead) or burnt Alum
over it.
§ 488. If a _Caries_, a Rottenness of the Bone, should be a Consequence,
there is a Necessity for a Surgeon's Attendance, as much as if there was
a Gangrene; for which Reason, I shall add nothing with Respect to either
of these Symptoms; only observing, there are three very essential
Remedies against the last; _viz._ the Bark, Nº. 14, a Drachm of which
must be taken every two Hours; Scarifications throughout the whole
gangrened Part; and Fomentations with a Decoction of the Bark, and the
Addition of Spirit of Sulphur. This Medicine is certainly no cheap one;
but a Decoction of other bitter Plants, with the Addition of Spirit of
Salt, may sometimes do instead of it. And here I take leave to insist
again upon it, that in most Cases of gangrened Limbs, it is judicious
not to proceed to an Amputation of the mortified Part, till the Gangrene
stops, which may be known by a very perceivable Circle, (and easily
distinguished by the most ignorant Persons) that marks the Bounds of the
Gangrene, and separates the living from the mortified Parts.
_Of Thorns, Splinters, or other pointed Substances piercing into the
Skin, or Flesh._
§ 489. It is very common for the Hands, Feet or Legs, to be pierced by
the forcible Intrusion of small pointed Substances, such as Thorns or
Prickles, whether of Roses, Thistles or Chestnuts, or little Splinters
of Wood, Bone, _&c._
If such Substances are immediately and entirely extracted, the Accident
is generally attended with no bad Consequences; though more certainly to
obviate any such, Compresses of Linen dipt in warm Water may be applied
to the Part, or it may be kept a little while in a warm Bath. But if any
such pointed penetrating Body cannot be directly extracted, or if a Part
of it be left within, it causes an Inflammation, which, in its Progress,
soon produces the same Symptoms as a Whitlow: or if it happens in the
Leg, it inflames and forms a considerable Abscess there.
§ 490. To prevent such Consequences, if the penetrating Substance is
still near the Surface, and an expert Surgeon is at Hand, he must
immediately make a small Incision, and thence extract it. But if the
Inflammation were already formed, this would be useless, and even
dangerous.
When the Incision, therefore, is improper; there should be applied to
the affected Part, (after conveying the Steam of some hot Water into it)
either some very emollient Pultices of the Crumb of Bread, Milk and Oil,
or some very emollient unctuous Matter alone, the Fat of a [103] Hare
being generally employed in such Cases, and being indeed very effectual
to relax and supple the Skin; and, by thus diminishing its Resistance,
to afford the offensive penetrating Body an Opportunity of springing
forth. Nothing however, but the grossest Prejudice, could make any one
imagine, that this Fat attracted the Splinter, Thorn, or any other
intruded Substance by any sympathetic Virtue; no other Sympathy in
Nature being clearly demonstrated, except that very common one between
wrong Heads, and absurd extravagant Opinions.
[103] These Creatures perhaps are fatter in _Swisserland_, than we often
see them here. _K._
It is absolutely necessary that the injured Part should be kept in the
easiest Posture, and as immoveable as possible.
If Suppuration has not been prevented by an immediate Extraction of the
offending Substance, the Abscess should be opened as soon as ever Matter
is formed. I have known very troublesome Events from its being too long
delayed.
§ 491. Sometimes the Thorn, after having very painfully penetrated
through the Teguments, the Skin, enters directly into the Fat; upon
which the Pain ceases, and the Patient begins to conclude no sharp
prickling Substance had ever been introduced into the Part; and of
Course supposes none can remain there. Nevertheless some Days after, or,
in other Instances, some Weeks, fresh Pains are excited, to which an
Inflammation and Abscess succeed, which are to be treated as usual, with
Emollients, and seasonably opened.
A Patient has been reduced to lose his Hand, in Consequence of a sharp
Thorn's piercing into his Finger; from its having been neglected at
first, and improperly treated afterwards.
_Of Warts._
§ 492. Warts are sometimes the Effects of a particular Fault in the
Blood, which feeds and extrudes a surprizing Quantity of them. This
happens to some Children, from four to ten Years old, and especially to
those who feed most plentifully on Milk or Milk-meats. They may be
removed by a moderate Change of their Diet, and the Pills prescribed Nº.
18.
But they are more frequently an accidental Disorder of the Skin, arising
from some external Cause.
In this last Case, if they are very troublesome in Consequence of their
great Size, their Situation or their long Standing, they may be
destroyed, 1, by tying them closely with a Silk Thread, or with a strong
flaxen one waxed. 2, By cutting them off with a sharp Scissars or a
Bistory, and applying a Plaister of Diachylon, with the Gums, over the
cut Wart, which brings on a small Suppuration that may destroy or
dissolve the Root of the Wart: and, 3, By drying, or, as it were,
withering them up by some moderately corroding Application, such as that
of the milky Juice of [104] Purslain, of Fig-leaves, of _Chelidonium_
(Swallow-wort) or of Spurge. But besides these corroding vegetable Milks
being procurable only in Summer, People who have very delicate thin
Skins should not make Use of them, as they may occasion a considerable
and painful Swelling. Strong Vinegar, charged with as much common Salt
as it will dissolve, is a very proper Application to them. A Plaister
may also be composed from Sal Ammoniac and some Galbanum, which being
kneaded up well together and applied, seldom fails of destroying them.
[104] Our Garden Purslain, though a very juicy Herb, cannot strictly be
termed milky. In the hotter Climates where it is wild, and grows
very rankly, they sometimes boil the Leaves and Stalks (besides
eating them as a cooling Salad) and find the whole an insipid
mucilaginous Pot-herb. But Dr. _Tissot_ observes to me, that its
Juice will inflame the Skin; and that some Writers on Diet, who
disapprove it internally, affirm they have known it productive of
bad Effects. Yet none such have ever happened to myself, nor to
many others, who have frequently eaten of it. Its Seeds have
sometimes been directed in cooling Emulsions. The Wart Spurge is a
very milky and common Herb, which flowers in Summer here. _K._
The most powerful Corrosives should never be used, without the Direction
of a Surgeon; and even then it is full as prudent not to meddle with
them, any more than with actual Cauteries. I have lately seen some very
tedious and troublesome Disorders and Ulcerations of the Kidnies, ensue
the Application of a corrosive Water, by the Advice of a Quack. Cutting
them away is a more certain, a less painful, and a less dangerous Way of
removing them.
Wens, if of a pretty considerable Size, and Duration, are incurable by
any other Remedy, except Amputation.
_Of Corns._
§ 493. The very general or only Causes of Corns, are Shoes either too
hard and stiff, or too small.
The whole Cure consists in softening the Corns by repeated Washings and
Soakings of the Feet in pretty hot Water; then in cutting them, when
softened, with a Penknife or Scissars, without wounding the sound Parts
(which are the more sensible, in Proportion as they are more extended
than usual) and next in applying a Leaf of House-leek, of Ground-ivy, or
of Purslain dipt in Vinegar, upon the Part. Instead of these Leaves, if
any Person will give himself the little Trouble of dressing them every
Day, he may apply a Plaister of simple Diachylon, or of Gum Ammoniacum
softened in Vinegar.
The Increase or Return of Corns can only be prevented, by avoiding the
Causes that produce them.
__Chapter XXXI.__
_Of some Cases which require immediate Assistance; such as
Swoonings; Hæmorrhages, or involuntary Loss of Blood; Convulsion
Fitts, and Suffocations; the sudden Effects of great Fear; of
Disorders caused by noxious Vapours; of Poisons, and of acute
Pains._
_Of Swoonings._
__Sect.__ 494.
There are many Degrees of Swooning, or fainting away: the slightest is
that in which the Patient constantly perceives and understands, yet
without the Power of speaking. This is called a Fainting, which happens
very often to vapourish Persons, and without any remarkable Alteration
of the Pulse.
If the Patient entirely loses Sensation, or Feeling, and Understanding,
with a very considerable Sinking of the Pulse, this is called a
_Syncopè_, and is the second Degree of Swooning.
But if this _Syncopè_ is so violent, that the Pulse seems totally
extinguished; without any discernible Breathing; with a manifest
Coldness of the whole Body; and a wanly livid Countenance, it
constitutes a third and last Degree, which is the true Image of Death,
that in Effect sometimes attends it, and it is called an _Asphixy_,
which may signify a total Resolution.
Swoonings result from many different Causes, of which I shall only
enumerate the principal; and these are, 1, Too large a Quantity of
Blood. 2, A Defect or insufficient Proportion of it, and a general
Weakness. 3, A Load at and violent Disorders of the Stomach. 4, Nervous
Maladies. 5, The Passions; and, 6, some Kinds of Diseases.
_Of Swoonings occasioned by Excess of Blood._
§ 495. An excessive Quantity of Blood is frequently a Cause of Swooning;
and it may be inferred that it is owing to this Cause, when it attacks
sanguine, hearty and robust Persons; and more especially when it attacks
them, after being combined with any additional or supervening Cause,
that suddenly increased the Motion of the Blood; such as heating Meats
or Drinks, Wine, spirituous Liquors: smaller Drinks, if taken very hot
and plentifully, such as Coffee, Indian Tea, Bawm Tea and the like; a
long Exposure to the hot Sun, or being detained in a very hot Place;
much and violent Exercise; an over intense and assiduous Study or
Application, or some excessive Passion.
In such Cases, first of all the Patient should be made to smell to, or
even to snuff up, some Vinegar; and his Forehead, his Temples and his
Wrists should be bathed with it; adding an equal Quantity of warm Water,
if at Hand. Bathing them with distilled or spirituous Liquids would be
prejudicial in this Kind of Swooning.
2, The Patient should be made, if possible, to swallow two or three
Spoonfuls of Vinegar, with four or five Times as much Water.
3, The Patient's Garters should be tied very tightly above his Knees; as
by this Means a greater Quantity of Blood is retained in the Legs,
whence the Heart may be less overladen with it.
4, If the Fainting proves obstinate, that is, if it continues longer
than a Quarter of an Hour, or degenerates into a _Syncopè_, an Abolition
of Feeling and Understanding, he must be bled in the Arm, which quickly
revives him.
5, After the Bleeding, the Injection of a Glyster will be highly proper;
and then the Patient should be kept still and calm, only letting him
drink, every half Hour, some Cups of Elder Flower Tea, with the Addition
of a little Sugar and Vinegar.
When Swoonings which result from this Cause occur frequently in the same
Person, he should, in Order to escape them, pursue the Directions I
shall hereafter mention, § 544, when treating of Persons who superabound
with Blood.
The very same Cause, or Causes, which occasion these Swoonings, also
frequently produce violent Palpitations, under the same Circumstances;
the Palpitation often preceding or following the _Deliquium_, or
Swooning.
_Of Swoonings occasioned by Weakness._
§ 496. If too great a Quantity of Blood, which may be considered as some
Excess of Health, is sometimes the Cause of Swooning, this last is
oftener the Effect of a very contrary Cause, that is, of a Want of
Blood, or an Exhaustion of too much.
This Sort of Swooning happens after great Hæmorrhages, or Discharges of
Blood; after sudden or excessive Evacuations, such as one of some Hours
Continuance in a _Cholera Morbus_ (§ 321) or such as are more slow, but
of longer Duration, as for Instance, after an inveterate _Diarrhoea_, or
Purging; excessive Sweats; a Flood of Urine; such Excesses as tend to
exhaust Nature; obstinate Wakefulness; a long Inappetency, which, by
depriving the Body of its necessary Sustenance, is attended with the
same Consequence as profuse Evacuations.
These different Causes of Swooning should be opposed by the Means and
Remedies adapted to each of them. A Detail of all these would be
improper here; but the Assistances that are necessary at the Time of
Swooning, are nearly the same for all Cases of this Class; excepting for
that attending a great Loss of Blood, of which I shall treat hereafter:
first of all, the Patients should be laid down on a Bed, and being
covered, should have their Legs and Thighs, their Arms, and their whole
Bodies rubbed pretty strongly with hot Flanels; and no Ligature should
remain on any Part of them.
2, They should have very spirituous Things to smell or snuff up, such as
the Carmelite Water, Hungary Water, the [105] _English_ Salt, Spirit of
Sal Ammoniac, strong smelling Herbs, such as Rue, Sage, Rosemary, Mint,
Wormwood, and the like.
[105] Dr. _Tissot_ informs me, that in _Swisserland_, they call a
volatile Salt of Vipers, or the volatile Salt of raw Silk, _Sel.
d'Angleterre_, of which one _Goddard_ made a Secret, and which he
brought into Vogue the latter End of the last Century. But he
justly observes at the same Time, that on the present Occasion
every other volatile Alkali will equally answer the Purpose; and
indeed the Smell of some of them, as the Spirit of Sal Ammoniac
with Quicklime, _Eau de Luce_, _&c._ seem more penetrating. _K._
3, These should be conveyed into their Mouths; and they should be
forced, if possible, to swallow some Drops of Carmelite Water, or of
Brandy, or of some other potable Liquor, mixed with a little Water;
while some hot Wine mixed with Sugar and Cinnamon, which makes one of
the best Cordials, is getting ready.
4, A Compress of Flanel, or of some other woollen Stuff, dipt in hot
Wine, in which some aromatic Herb has been steeped, must be applied to
the Pit of the Stomach.
5, If the Swooning seems likely to continue, the Patient must be put
into a well heated Bed, which has before been perfumed with burning
Sugar and Cinnamon; the Frictions of the whole Body with hot Flanels
being still continued.
6, As soon as the Patient can swallow, he should take some Soup or
Broth, with the Yolk of an Egg; or a little Bread or Biscuit; soaked in
the hot spiced Wine.
7, Lastly, during the whole Time that all other Precautions are taken to
oppose the Cause of the Swooning, Care must be had for some Days to
prevent any _Deliquium_ or Fainting, by giving them often, and but
little at a time, some light yet strengthening Nourishment, such as
Panada made with Soup instead of Water, new laid Eggs very lightly
poached, light roast Meats with sweet Sauce, Chocolate, Soups of the
most nourishing Meats, Jellies, Milk, _&c._
§ 497. Those Swoonings, which are the Effect of Bleeding, or of the
violent Operation of some Purge, are to be ranged in this Class.
Such as happen after artificial Bleeding, are generally very moderate,
commonly terminating as soon as the Patient is laid upon the Bed: and
Persons subject to this Kind, should be bled lying down, in Order to
prevent it. But should the Fainting continue longer than usual, some
Vinegar smelt to, and a little swallowed with some Water, is a very good
Remedy.
The Treatment of such Faintings or Swoonings, as are the Consequences of
too violent Vomits or Purges, may be seen hereafter § 552.
_Of Faintings occasioned by a Load, or Uneasiness, at Stomach._
§ 498. It has been already observed, § 308, that Indigestions were
sometimes attended with Swoonings, and indeed such vehement ones, as
required speedy and very active Succour too, such as that of a Vomit.
The Indigestion is sometimes less the Effect of the Quantity, than of
the Quality, or the Corruption of the Food, contained in the Stomach.
Thus we see there are some Persons, who are disordered by eating Eggs,
Fish, Craw Fish, or any fat Meat; being thrown by them into
inexpressible Anguish attended with Swooning too. It may be supposed to
depend on this Cause, when these very Aliments have been lately eaten;
and when it evidently neither depends on the other Causes I have
mentioned; nor on such as I shall soon proceed to enumerate.
We should in Cases of this Sort, excite and revive the Patients as in
the former, by making them receive some very strong Smell, of whatever
Kind is at hand; but the most essential Point is to make them swallow
down a large Quantity of light warm Fluid; which may serve to drown, as
it were, the indigested Matter; which may soften its Acrimony; and
either effect the Discharge of it by vomiting, or force it down into the
Chanel of the Intestines.
A light Infusion of Chamomile Flowers, of Tea, of Sage, of Elder
Flowers, or of _Carduus Benedictus_, operate with much the same
Efficacy; though the Chamomile and Carduus promote the Operation of
vomiting rather more powerfully; which warm Water alone will sometimes
sufficiently do.
The Swooning ceases, or at least, considerably abates in these Cases, as
soon as ever the Vomiting commences. It frequently happens too, that,
during the Swooning, Nature herself brings on certain _Nausea_, a
Wambling and sickish Commotion of the Stomach, that revives or rouses
the Patient for a Moment; but yet not being sufficient to excite an
actual Vomiting, lets him soon sink down again into this temporary
Dissolution, which often continues a pretty considerable Time; leaving
behind it a Sickness at Stomach, Vertigos, and a Depression and Anxiety,
which do not occur in the former Species of this Malady.
Whenever these Swoonings from this Cause are entirely terminated, the
Patient must be kept for some Days to a very light Diet, and take, at
the same Time, every Morning fasting, a Dose of the Powder, Nº. 38,
which relieves and exonerates the Stomach of whatever noxious Contents
might remain in it; and then restores its natural Strength and
Functions.
§ 499. There is another Kind of Swooning, which also results from a
Cause in the Stomach; but which is, nevertheless, very different from
this we have just been treating of; and which requires a very different
Kind of Assistance. It arises from an extraordinary Sensibility of this
important Organ, and from a general Weakness of the Patient.
Those subject to this Malady are valetudinary weakly Persons, who are
disordered from many slight Causes, and whose Stomachs are at once very
feeble and extremely sensible. They have almost continually a little
Uneasiness after a Meal, though they should indulge but a little more
than usual; or if they eat of any Food not quite so easy of Digestion,
they have some Qualm or Commotion after it: Nay, should the Weather only
be unfavourable, and sometimes without any perceivable assignable Cause,
their Uneasiness terminates in a Swoon.
Patients swooning, from these Causes, have a greater Necessity for great
Tranquillity and Repose, than for any other Remedy; and it might be
sufficient to lay them down on the Bed: But as the Bystanders in such
Cases find it difficult to remain inactive Spectators of Persons in a
Swoon, some spirituous Liquid may be held to their Nose, while their
Temples and Wrists are rubbed with it; and at the same Time a little
Wine should be given them. Frictions are also useful in these Cases.
This Species of Swooning is oftener attended with a little Feverishness
than the others.
_Of those Swoonings, which arise from nervous Disorders._
§ 500. This Species of Swooning is almost wholely unknown to those
Persons, for whom this Treatise is chiefly intended. Yet as there are
some Citizens who pass a Part of their Lives in the Country; and some
Country People who are unhappily afflicted with the Ailments of the
Inhabitants of large Towns and Cities, it seemed necessary to treat
briefly of them.
By Disorders of the Nerves, I understand in this Place, only that Fault
or Defect in them, which is the Cause of their exciting in the Body,
either irregular Motions, that is, Motions without any external Cause,
at least any perceivable one; and without our Will's consenting to the
Production of them: or such Motions, as are greatly more considerable
than they should be, if they had been proportioned to the Force of the
Impression from without. This is very exactly that State, or Affection
termed the _Vapours_; and by the common People, the _Mother_: And as
there is no Organ unprovided with Nerves; and none, or hardly any
Function, in which the Nerves have not their Influence; it may be easily
comprehended, that the Vapours being a State or Condition, which arises
from the Nerves exerting irregular involuntary Motions, without any
evident Cause, and all the Functions of the Body depending partly on the
Nerves; there is no one Symptom of other Diseases which the Vapours may
not produce or imitate; and that these Symptoms, for the same Reason,
must vary infinitely, according to those Branches of the Nerves which
are disordered. It may also hence be conceived, why the Vapours of one
Person have frequently no Resemblance to those of another: and why the
Vapours of the very same Person, in one Day, are so very different from
those in the next. It is also very conceivable that the Vapours are a
certain, a real Malady; and that Oddity of the Symptoms, which cannot be
accounted for, by People unacquainted with the animal Oeconomy, has been
the Cause of their being considered rather as the Effect of a depraved
Imagination, than as a real Disease. It is very conceiveable, I say,
that this surprizing Oddity of the Symptoms is a necessary Effect of the
Cause of the Vapours; and that no Person can any more prevent his being
invaded by the Vapours, than he can prevent the Attack of a Fever, or of
the Tooth-ach.
§ 501. A few plain Instances will furnish out a more compleat Notion of
the Mechanism, or Nature, of Vapours. An Emetic, a vomiting Medicine,
excites the Act, or rather the Passion, the Convulsion of Vomiting,
chiefly by the Irritation it gives to the Nerves of the Stomach; which
Irritation produces a Spasm, a Contraction of this Organ. Now if in
Consequence of this morbid or defective Texture of the Nerves, which
constitutes the Vapours, those of the Stomach are excited to act with
the same Violence, as in Consequence of taking a Vomit, the Patient will
be agitated and worked by violent Efforts to vomit, as much as if he had
really taken one.
If an involuntary unusual Motion in the Nerves, that are distributed
through the Lungs, should constrain and straiten the very little
Vesicles, or Bladders, as it were, which admit the fresh Air at every
Respiration, the Patient will feel a Degree of Suffocation; just as if
that Straitening or Contraction of the Vesicles were occasioned by some
noxious Steam or Vapour.
Should the Nerves which are distributed throughout the whole Skin, by a
Succession of these irregular morbid Motions, contract themselves, as
they may from external Cold, or by some stimulating Application,
Perspiration by the Pores will be prevented or checked; whence the
Humours, which should be evacuated through the Pores of the Skin, will
be thrown upon the Kidnies, and the Patient will make a great Quantity
of thin clear Urine, a Symptom very common to vapourish People; or it
may be diverted to the Glands of the Intestines, the Guts, and terminate
in a watery _Diarrhoea_, or Looseness, which frequently proves a very
obstinate one.
§ 502. Neither are Swoonings the least usual Symptoms attending the
Vapours: and we may be certain they spring from this Source, when they
happen to a Person subject to the Vapours; and none of the other Causes
producing them are evident, or have lately preceded them.
Such Swoonings, however, are indeed very rarely dangerous, and scarcely
require any medical Assistance. The Patient should be laid upon a Bed;
the fresh Air should be very freely admitted to him; and he should be
made to smell rather to some disagreeable and fetid, than to any
fragrant, Substance. It is in such Faintings as these that the Smell of
burnt Leather, of Feathers, or of Paper, have often proved of great
Service.
§ 503. Patients also frequently faint away, in Consequence of fasting
too long; or from having eat a little too much; from being confined in
too hot a Chamber; from having seen too much Company; from smelling too
over-powering a Scent; from being too costive; from being too forcibly
affected with some Discourse or Sentiments; and, in a Word, from a great
Variety of Causes, which might not make the least Impression on Persons
in perfect Health; but which violently operate upon those vapourish
People, because, as I have said, the Fault of their Nerves consists in
their being too vividly, too acutely affected; the Force of their
Sensation being nowise proportioned to the external Cause of it.
As soon as that particular Cause is distinguished from all the rest,
which has occasioned the present Swooning; it is manifest that this
Swooning is to be remedied by removing that particular Cause of it.
_Of Swoonings occasioned by the Passions._
§ 504. There have been some Instances of Persons dying within a Moment,
through excessive Joy. But such Instances are so very rare and sudden,
that Assistance has seldom been sought for on this Occasion. The Case is
otherwise with Respect to those produced from Rage, Vexation, and Dread
or Horror. I shall treat in a separate Article of those resulting from
great Fear; and shall briefly consider here such as ensue from Rage, and
vehement Grief or Disappointment.
§ 505. Excessive Rage and violent Affliction are sometimes fatal in the
Twinkling of an Eye; though they oftener terminate in fainting only.
Excessive Grief or Chagrine is especially accompanied with this
Consequence; and it is very common to see Persons thus affected, sink
into successive Faintings for several Hours. It is plainly obvious that
very little Assistance can be given in such Cases: it is proper,
however, they should smell to strong Vinegar; and frequently take a few
Cups of some hot and temperately cordial Drink, such as Bawm Tea, or
Lemonade with a little Orange or Lemon-peel.
The calming asswaging Cordial, that has seemed the most efficacious to
me, is one small Coffee Spoonful of a Mixture of three Parts of the
Mineral Anodyne Liquor of _Hoffman_, [106] and one Part of the
spirituous Tincture of Amber, which should be swallowed in a Spoonful of
Water; taking after it a few Cups of such Drinks as I shall presently
direct.
[106] Our sweet Spirit of Vitriol is a similar, and as effectual a
Medicine. _K._
It is not to be supposed that Swoonings or Faintings, from excessive
Passions, can be cured by Nourishment. The physical State or Condition,
into which vehement Grief throws the Body, is that, of all others, in
which Nourishment would be most injurious to it: and as long as the
Vehemence of the Affliction endures, the Sufferer should take nothing
but some Spoonfuls of Soup or Broth, or a few Morsels of some light Meat
roasted.
§ 506. When Wrath or Rage has risen to so high a Pitch, that the human
Machine, the Body, entirely exhausted, as it were, by that violent
Effort, sinks down at once into excessive Relaxation, a Fainting
sometimes succeeds, and even the most perilous Degree of it, a
_Syncopè_.
It is sufficient, or rather the most that can be done here, to let the
Patient be perfectly still a while in this State; only making him smell
to some Vinegar. But when he is come to himself, he should drink
plentifully of hot Lemonade, and take one or more of the Glysters Nº. 5.
Sometimes there remain in these Cases Sicknesses at Stomach, Reachings
to vomit, a Bitterness in the Mouth, and some vertiginous Symptoms which
seem to require a Vomit. But such a Medicine must be very carefully
avoided, since it may be attended with the most fatal Consequence; and
Lemonade with Glysters generally and gradually remove these Swoonings.
If the _Nausea_ and Sickness at Stomach continue, the utmost Medicine we
should allow besides, would be that of Nº. 23, or a few Doses of Nº. 24.
_Of symptomatical Swoonings, or such, as happen in the Progress of other
Diseases._
§ 507. Swoonings, which supervene in the Course of other Diseases, never
afford a favourable Prognostic; as they denote Weakness, and Weakness is
an Obstacle to Recovery.
In the Beginning of putrid Diseases, they also denote an Oppression at
Stomach, or a Mass of corrupt Humours; and they cease as soon as an
Evacuation supervenes, whether by Vomit or Stool.
When they occur at the Beginning of malignant Fevers, they declare the
high Degree of their Malignancy, and the great Diminution of the
Patient's natural Strength.
In each of these Cases Vinegar, used externally and internally, is the
best Remedy during the Exacerbation or Height of the Paroxysm; and
Plenty of Lemon Juice and Water after it.
§ 508. Swoonings which supervene in Diseases, accompanied with great
Evacuations, are cured like those which are owing to Weakness; and
Endeavours should be used to restrain or moderate the Evacuations.
§ 509. Those who have any inward Abscess or Imposthume are apt to swoon
frequently. They may sometimes be revived a little by Vinegar, but they
prove too frequently mortal.
§ 510. Many Persons have a slighter or a deeper Swooning, at the End of
a violent Fit of an intermitting Fever, or at that of each Exacerbation
of a continual Fever; this constantly shews the Fever has run very high,
the Swooning having been the Consequence of that great Relaxation, which
has succeeded to a very high Tension. A Spoonful or two of light white
Wine, with an equal Quantity of Water, affords all the Succour proper in
such a Case.
§ 511. Persons subject to frequent Swoonings, should neglect nothing
that may enable them to remove them when known; since the Consequences
of them are always detrimental, except in some Fevers, in which they
seem to mark the _Crisis_.
Every swooning Fit leaves the Patient in Dejection and Weakness; the
Secretions from the Blood are suspended; the Humours disposed to
Stagnation; Grumosities, or Coagulations, and Obstructions are formed;
and if the Motion of the Blood is totally intercepted, or considerably
checked, _Polypus's_, and these often incurable, are formed in the
Heart, or in the larger Vessels; the Consequences of which are dreadful,
and sometimes give Rise to internal Aneurisms, which always prove
mortal, after long Anxiety and Oppression.
Swoonings which attack old People, without any manifest Cause, always
afford an unfavourable Prognostic.
_Of Hæmorrhages, or an involuntary Loss of Blood._
§ 512. Hæmorrhages of the Nose, supervening in inflammatory Fevers,
commonly prove a favourable _Crisis_; which Bleeding we should carefully
avoid stopping; except it becomes excessive, and seems to threaten the
Patient's Life.
As they scarcely ever happen in very healthy Subjects, but from a
superfluous Abundance of Blood, it is very improper to check them too
soon; lest some internal Stuffings and Obstructions should prove the
Consequence.
A Swooning sometimes ensues after the Loss of only a moderate Quantity
of Blood. This Swooning stops the Hæmorrhage, and goes off without any
further Assistance, except the smelling to Vinegar. But in other Cases
there is a Succession of fainting Fits, without the Blood's stopping;
while at the same time slight convulsive Motions and Twitchings ensue,
attended with a Raving, when it becomes really necessary to stop the
Bleeding: and indeed, without waiting till these violent Symptoms
appear, the following Signs will sufficiently direct us, when it is
right to stop the Flux of Blood, or to permit its Continuance--As long
as the Pulse is still pretty full; while the Heat of the Body is equally
extended to the very Extremities; and the Countenance and Lips preserve
their natural Redness, no ill Consequence is to be apprehended from the
Hæmorrhage, though it has been very copious, and even somewhat profuse.
But whenever the Pulse begins to faulter and tremble; when the
Countenance and the Lips grow pale, and the Patient complains of a
Sickness at Stomach, it is absolutely necessary to stop the Discharge of
Blood. And considering that the Operation of Remedies does not
immediately follow the Exhibition or Application of them, it is safer to
begin a little too early with them, than to delay them, though ever so
little too long.
§ 513. First of all then, tight Bandages, or Ligatures, should be
applied round both Arms, on the Part they are applied over in order to
Bleeding; and round the lower Part of both Thighs, on the gartering
Place; and all these are to be drawn very tight, with an Intention to
detain and accumulate the Blood in the Extremities.
2, In Order to increase this Effect, the Legs are to be plunged in warm
Water up to the Knees; for by relaxing the Blood-vessels of the Legs and
Feet, they are dilated at the same time, and thence receive, and, in
Consequence of the Ligatures above the Knees, retain the more Blood. If
the Water were cold, it would repel the Blood to the Head; if hot, it
would increase the Motion of it; and, by giving a greater Quickness to
the Pulse, would even contribute to increase the Hæmorrhage.
As soon however, as the Hæmorrhage is stopt, these Ligatures [on the
Thighs] may be relaxed a little, or one of them be entirely removed;
allowing the others to continue on an Hour or two longer without
touching them: but great Precaution should be taken not to slacken them
entirely, nor all at once.
3, Seven or eight Grains of Nitre, and a Spoonful of Vinegar, in half a
Glass of cool Water, should be given the Patient every half Hour.
4, One Drachm of white Vitriol must be dissolved in two common Spoonfuls
of Spring Water; and a Tent of Lint, or Bits of soft fine Linen dipt in
this Solution, are to be introduced into the Nostrils, horizontally at
first, but afterwards to be intruded upwards, and as high as may be, by
the Assistance of a flexible Bit of Wood or Whale-bone. But should this
Application be ineffectual, the Mineral Anodyne Liquor of _Hoffman_ is
certain to succeed: and in the Country, where it often happens that
neither of these Applications are to be had speedily, Brandy, and even
Spirit of Wine, mixt with a third Part Vinegar, have answered entirely
well, of which I have been a Witness.
The Prescription Nº. 67, which I have already referred to, on the
Article of Wounds, may also be serviceable on this Occasion. It must be
reduced to Powder, and conveyed up the Nostrils as high as may be, on
the Point or Extremity of a Tent of Lint, which may easily be covered
with it. Or a Quill, well charged with the Powder, may be introduced
high into the Nostrils, and its Countents be strongly blown up from its
other Extremity: though after all the former Method is preferable.
5, When the Flux of Blood is totally stopt, the Patient is to be kept as
still and quiet as possible; taking great Care not to extract the Tent
which remains in the Nose; nor to remove the Clots of coagulated Blood
which fill up the Passage. The loosening and removing of these should be
effected very gradually and cautiously; and frequently the Tent does not
spring out spontaneously, till after many Days.
§ 514. I have not, hitherto, said any thing of artificial Bleeding in
these Cases, as I think it at best unserviceable; since, though it may
sometimes have stopt the morbid Loss of Blood, it has at other times
increased it. Neither have I mentioned Anodynes here, whose constant
Effect is to determine a larger Quantity of Blood to the Head.
Applications of cold Water to the Nape of the Neck ought to be wholly
disused, having sometimes been attended with the most embarrassing
Consequences.
In all Hæmorrhages, all Fluxes of Blood, great Tranquillity, Ligatures,
and the Use of the Drinks Nº. 2 or 4, are very useful.
§ 515. People who are very liable to frequent Hæmorrhages, ought to
manage themselves conformably to the Directions contained in the next
Chapter, § 544. They should take very little Supper; avoid all sharp and
spirituous Liquors; Apartments that are over hot, and cover their Heads
but very lightly.
When a Patient has for a long time been subject to Hæmorrhages, if they
cease, he should retrench from his usual Quantity of Food; accustom
himself to artificial Bleedings at proper Intervals; and take some
gentle opening Purges, especially that of Nº. 24, and frequently a
little Nitre in an Evening.
_Of Convulsion Fits._
§ 516. Convulsions are, in general, more terrifying than dangerous; they
result from many and various Causes; and on the Removal or Extirpation
of these, their Cure depends.
In the very Fit itself very little is to be done or attempted.
As nothing does shorten the Duration, nor even lessen the Violence, of
an epileptic Fit, so nothing at all should be attempted in it; and the
rather, because Means and Medicines often aggravate the Disease. We
should confine our Endeavours solely to the Security of the Patient, by
preventing him from giving himself any violent Strokes; by getting
something, if possible, between his Teeth, such as a small Roller of
Linen to prevent his Tongue from being hurt, or very dangerously
squeezed and bruised, in a strong Convulsion.
The only Case which requires immediate Assistance in the Fit, is, when
it is so extremely violent, the Neck so swelled, and the Face so very
red, that there is Room to be apprehensive of an Apoplexy, which we
should endeavour to obviate, by drawing eight or ten Ounces of Blood
from the Arm.
As this terrible Disease is common in the Country, it is doing a real
Service to the unfortunate Victims of it, to inform them how very
dangerous it is to give themselves blindly up to take all the Medicines,
which are cried up to them in such Cases. If there be any one Disease,
which requires a more attentive, delicate, and exquisite Kind of
Treatment, it is this very Disease. Some Species of it are wholly
incurable: and such as may be susceptible of a Cure, require the utmost
Care and Consideration of the most enlightned and most experienced
Physicians: while those who pretend to cure all epileptic Patients, with
one invariable Medicine, are either Ignorants, or Impostors, and
sometimes both in one.
§ 517. Simple Convulsion Fits, which are not epileptic, are frequently
of a long Continuance, persevering, with very few and short Intervals,
for Days and even for Weeks.
The true genuine Cause should be investigated as strictly as possible,
though nothing should be attempted in the Fit. The Nerves are, during
that Term, in so high a Degree of Tension and Sensibility, that the very
Medicines, supposed to be strongly indicated, often redouble the Storm
they were intended to appease.
Thin watery Liquors, moderately imbued with Aromatics, are the least
hurtful, the most innocent Things that can be given; such as Bawm,
Lime-tree, and Elder Flower Tea. A Ptisan of Liquorice Root only has
sometimes answered better than any other.
_Of suffocating, or strangling Fits._
§ 518. These Fits (by whatever other Name they may be called) whenever
they very suddenly attack a Person, whose Breathing was easy and natural
just before, depend almost constantly on a Spasm or Contraction of the
Nerves, in the Vesicles of the Lungs; or upon an Infarction, a Stuffing
of the same Parts, produced by viscid clammy Humours.
That Suffocation which arises from a Spasm is not dangerous, it goes off
of itself, or it may be treated like Swoonings owing to the same Cause.
See § 502.
§ 519. That Suffocation, which is the Effect of a sanguineous Fulness
and Obstruction, may be distinguished by its attacking strong, vigorous,
sanguine Persons, who are great Eaters, using much juicy nutritious
Food, and strong Wine and Liquors, and who frequently eat and inflame
themselves; and when the Fit has come on after any inflaming Cause; when
the Pulse is full and strong, and the Countenance red.
Such are cured, 1, by a very plentiful Discharge of Blood from the Arm,
which is to be repeated, if necessary.
2, By the Use of Glysters.
3, By drinking plentifully of the Ptisan Nº. 1; to each Pot of which, a
Drachm of Nitre is to be added; and,
4, By the Vapour of hot Vinegar, continually received by Respiration or
Breathing. See § 55.
§ 520. There is Reason to think that one of these Fits is owing to a
Quantity of tough viscid Humours in the Lungs, when it attacks Persons,
whose Temperament, and whose Manner of living are opposite to those I
have just described; such as valetudinary, weakly, phlegmatic,
pituitous, inactive, and squeamish Persons, who feed badly, or on fat,
viscid, and insipid Diet, and who drink much hot Water, either alone, or
in Tea-like Infusions. And these Signs of Suffocation, resulting from
such Causes, are still more probable, if the Fit came on in rainy
Weather, and during a southerly Wind; and when the Pulse is soft and
small, the Visage pale and hollow.
The most efficacious Treatment we can advise, is, 1, To give every half
Hour half a Cup of the Potion, Nº. 8, if it can be readily had. 2, To
make the Patient drink very plentifully of the Drink Nº. 12; and, 3, to
apply two strong Blisters to the fleshy Parts of his Legs.
If he was strong and hearty before the Fit, and the Pulse still
continues vigorous, and feels somewhat full withall, the Loss of seven
or eight Ounces of Blood is sometimes indispensably necessary. A Glyster
has also frequently been attended with extraordinary good Effects.
Those afflicted with this oppressing Malady are commonly relieved, as
soon as they expectorate, and sometimes even by vomiting a little.
The Medicine Nº. 25, a Dose of which may be taken every two Hours, with
a Cup of the Ptisan Nº. 12, often succeeds very well.
But if neither this Medicine, nor the Prescription of Nº. 8 are at Hand,
which may be the Case in Country Places; an Onion of a moderate Size
should be pounded in an Iron or Marble Mortar; upon this, a Glass of
Vinegar is to be poured, and then strongly squeezed out again through a
Piece of Linen. An equal Quantity of Honey is then to be added to it. A
Spoonful of this Mixture, whose remarkable Efficacy I have been a
Witness of, is to be given every half Hour.
_Of the violent Effects of Fear._
§ 521. Here I shall insert some Directions to prevent the ill
Consequences of great Fear or Terror, which are very prejudicial at
every Term of Life, but chiefly during Infancy.
The general Effects of Terror, are a great Straitening or Contraction of
all the small Vessels, and a Repulsion of the Blood into the large and
internal ones. Hence follows the Suppression of Perspiration, the
general Seizure or Oppression, the Trembling, the Palpitations and
Anguish, from the Heart and the Lungs being overcharged with Blood; and
sometimes attended with Swoonings, irremediable Disorders of the Heart,
and Death itself. A heavy Drowsiness, Raving, and a Kind of furious or
raging _Delirium_ happen in other Cases, which I have frequently
observed in Children, when the Blood-vessels of the Neck were swelled
and stuffed up; and Convulsions, and even the Epilepsy have come on, all
which have proved the horrible Consequence of a most senseless and
wicked Foolery or Sporting. One half of those Epilepsies which do not
depend on such Causes, as might exist before the Child's Birth, are
owing to this detestable Custom; and it cannot be too much inculcated
into Children, never to frighten one another; a Point which Persons
intrusted with their Education, ought to have the strictest Regard to.
When the Humours that should have passed off by Perspiration, are
repelled to the Intestines, a tedious and very obstinate Looseness is
the frequent Consequence.
§ 522. Our Endeavours should be directed, to re-establish the disordered
Circulation; to restore the obstructed Perspiration; and to allay the
Agitation of the Nerves.
The popular Custom in these Cases has been to give the terrified Patient
some cold Water directly; but when the Fright has been considerable,
this is a very pernicious custom, and I have seen some terrible
Consequences from it.
They should, on the contrary, be conveyed into some very quiet
Situation, leaving there but very few Persons, and such only as they are
thoroughly familiar with. They should take a few Cups of pretty warm
Drink, particularly of an Infusion of Lime-tree Flowers and Bawm. Their
Legs should be put into warm Water, and remain there an Hour, if they
will patiently permit it, rubbing them gently now and then, and giving
them every half-quarter of an Hour, a small Cup of the said Drink. When
their Composure and Tranquillity are returned a little, and their Skin
seems to have recovered its wonted and general Warmth, Care should be
taken to dispose them to sleep, and to perspire plentifully. For this
Purpose they may be allowed a few Spoonfuls of Wine, on putting them
into Bed, with one Cup of the former Infusion; or, which is more certain
and effectual, a few Drops of _Sydenham's_ Liquid Laudanum, Nº. 44; but
should that not be near at Hand, a small Dose of _Venice_ Treacle.
§ 523. It sometimes happens that Children do not seem at first extremely
terrified; but the Fright is renewed while they sleep, and with no small
Violence. The Directions I have just given must then be observed, for
some successive Evenings, before they are put to Bed.
Their Fright frequently returns about the latter End of the Night, and
agitates them violently every Day. The same Treatment should be
continued in such Cases; and we should endeavour to dispose them to be
a-sleep at the usual Hour of its Return.
By this very Method, I have dissipated the dismal Consequences of Fear
of Women in Child-bed, which is so commonly, and often speedily, mortal.
If a Suffocation from this Cause is violent, there is sometimes a
Necessity for opening a Vein in the Arm.
These Patients should gradually be inured to an almost continual, but
gentle, Kind of Exercise.
All violent Medicines render those Diseases, which are the Consequences
of great Fear, incurable. A pretty common one is that of an Obstruction
of the Liver, which has been productive of a Jaundice. [107]
[107] I have seen this actually verified by great and disagreeable
Surprize, attended indeed with much Concern, in a Person of
exquisite Sensations. _K._
_Of Accidents or Symptoms produced by the Vapours of Coal, and of Wine._
§ 524. Not a single Year passes over here, without the Destruction of
many People by the Vapour of Charcoal, or of small Coal, and by the
Steam or Vapour of Wine.
The Symptoms by Coal occur, when [108] small Coal, and especially
when [109] Charcoal is burnt in a Chamber close shut, which is direct
Poison to a Person shut up in it. The sulphureous Oil, which is set at
Liberty and diffused by the Action of Fire, expands itself through the
Chamber; while those who are in it perceive a Disorder and Confusion in
their Heads; contract Vertigos, Sickness at Stomach, a Weakness, and
very unusual Kind of Numbness; become raving, convulsed and trembling;
and if they fail of Presence of Mind, or of Strength, to get out of the
Chamber, they die within a short Time.
[108] _La Braise._
[109] _Charbon._ Dr. _Tissot_ informs me, their Difference consists in
this, that the Charcoal is prepared from Wood burnt in a close or
stifled Fire; and that the small Coal is made of Wood (and of
smaller Wood) burnt in an open Fire, and extinguished before it is
reduced to the State of a Cinder. He says the latter is smaller,
softer, less durable in the Fire, and the Vapour of it less
dangerous than that of Charcoal.
I have seen a Woman who had vertiginous Commotions in her Head for two
Days, and almost continual Vomitings, from her having been confined less
than six Minutes in a Chamber (and that notwithstanding, both one Window
and one Door were open) in which there was a Chafing-dish with some
burning Coals. Had the Room been quite close, she must have perished by
it.
This Vapour is narcotic or stupefying, and proves mortal in Consequence
of its producing a sleepy or apoplectic Disorder, though blended, at the
same time, with something convulsive; which sufficiently appears from
the Closure of the Mouth, and the strict Contraction or Locking of the
Jaws.
The Condition of the Brain, in the dissected Bodies of Persons thus
destroyed, proves that they die of an Apoplexy: notwithstanding it is
very probable that Suffocation is also partly the Cause of their Deaths;
as the Lungs have been found stuffed up with Blood and livid.
It has also been observed in some other such Bodies, that Patients
killed by the Vapour of burning Coals, have commonly their whole Body
swelled out to one third more than their Magnitude, when living. The
Face, Neck, and Arms are swelled out, as if they had been blown up; and
the whole human Machine appears in such a State, as the dead Body of a
Person would, who had been violently strangled; and who had made all
possible Resistance for a long time, before he was overpowered.
§ 525. Such as are sensible of the great Danger they are in, and retreat
seasonably from it, are generally relieved as soon as they get into the
open Air; or if they have any remaining Uneasiness, a little Water and
Vinegar, or Lemonade, drank hot, affords them speedy Relief. But when
they are so far poisoned, as to have lost their Feeling and
Understanding, if there be any Means of reviving them, such Means
consist,
1, In exposing them to a very pure, fresh and open Air.
2, In making them smell to some very penetrating Odour, which is
somewhat stimulating and reviving, such as the volatile Spirit of Sal
Ammoniac, the [110] _English_ Salt; and afterwards to surround them, as
it were, with the Steam of Vinegar.
[110] See Note [105] Page 495.
3, In taking some Blood from their Arm.
4, In putting their Legs into warm or hot Water, and chafing them well.
5, In making them swallow, if practicable, much Lemonade, or Water and
Vinegar, with the Addition of Nitre: and,
6, In throwing up some sharp Glysters.
As it is manifest there is something spasmodic in these Cases, it were
proper to be provided with some antispasmodic Remedies, such as the
Mineral Anodyne Liquid of _Hoffman_. Even Opium has sometimes been
successfully given here, but it should be allowed to Physicians only to
direct it in such Cases.
A Vomit would be hurtful; and the Reachings to vomit arise only from the
Oppression on the Brain.
It is a common but erroneous Opinion, that if the Coal be suffered to
burn for a Minute or so in the open Air, or in a Chimney, it is
sufficient to prevent any Danger from the Vapour of it.
Hence it amounts even to a criminal Degree of Imprudence, to sleep in a
Chamber while Charcoal or small Coal is burning in it; and the Number of
such imprudent Persons, as have never awaked after it, is so
considerable, and so generally known too, that the Continuance of this
unhappy Custom is astonishing.
§ 526. The Bakers, who make Use of much small Coal, often keep great
Quantities of it in their Cellars, which frequently abound so much with
the Vapour of it, that it seizes them violently the Moment they enter
into the Cellar. They sink down at once deprived of all Sensation, and
die if they are not drawn out of it soon enough to be assisted,
according to the Directions I have just given.
One certain Means of preventing such fatal Accidents is, upon going into
the Cellar to throw some flaming Paper or Straw into it, and if these
continue to flame out and consume, there is no Reason for dreading the
Vapour: but if they should be extinguished, no Person should venture in.
But after opening the Vent-hole, a Bundle of flaming Straw must be set
at the Door, which serves to attract the external Air strongly. Soon
after the Experiment of the flaming Paper must be repeated, and if it
goes out, more Straw is to be set on Fire before the Cellar Door.
§ 527. Small Coal, burnt in an open Fire, is not near so dangerous as
_Charcoal_, properly so called, the Danger of which arises from this,
that in extinguishing it by the usual Methods, all those sulphureous
Particles of it, in which its Danger consists, are concentred.
Nevertheless, small Coal is not entirely deprived of all its noxious
Quality, without some of which it could not strictly be Coal.
The common Method of throwing some Salt on live Coals, before they are
conveyed into a Chamber; or of casting a Piece of Iron among them to
imbibe some Part of their deadly narcotic Sulphur, is not without its
Utility; though by no means sufficient to prevent all Danger from them.
§ 528. When the most dangerous Symptoms from this Cause disappear, and
there remains only some Degree of Weakness, of Numbness, and a little
Inappetency, or Loathing at Stomach, nothing is better than Lemonade
with one fourth Part Wine, half a Cup of which should frequently be
taken, with a small Crust of Bread.
§ 529. The Vapour which exhales from Wine, and in general from all
fermenting Liquors, such as Beer, Cyder, _&c._ contains something
poisonous, which kills in the like Manner with the Vapour of Coal; and
there is always some Danger in going into a Cellar, where there is much
Wine in the State of Fermentation; if it has been shut up close for
several Hours. There have been many Examples of Persons struck dead on
entering one, and of others who have escaped out of it with Difficulty.
When such unhappy Accidents occur, Men should not be successively
exposed, one after another, to perish, by endeavouring to fetch out the
first who sunk down upon his Entrance; but the Air should immediately be
purified by the Method already directed, or by discharging some Guns
into the Cellar; after which People may venture in with Precaution. And
when the Persons unfortunately affected are brought out, they are to be
treated like those, who were affected with the Coal-Vapour.
I saw a Man, about eight Years since, who was not sensible of the
Application of Spirit of Sal Ammoniac, till about an Hour after he was
struck down, and who was entirely freed at last by a plentiful Bleeding;
though he had been so insensible, that it was several Hours before he
discovered a very great Wound he had, which extended from the Middle of
his Arm to his Armpit, and which was made by a Hook intended to be used,
in Case of a House catching Fire, to assist Persons in escaping from the
Flames.
§ 530. When subterraneous Caves that have been very long shut are
opened; or when deep Wells are cleaned, that have not been emptied for
several Years, the Vapours arising from them produce the same Symptoms I
have mentioned, and require the same Assistance. They are to be cleansed
and purified by burning Sulphur and Salt Petre in them, or Gunpowder, as
compounded of both.
§ 531. The offensive Stink of Lamps and of Candles, especially when
their Flames are extinguished, operate like other Vapours, though with
less Violence, and less suddenly. Nevertheless there have been Instances
of People killed by the Fumes of Lamps fed with Nut Oil, which had been
extinguished in a close Room. These last Smells or Fumes prove noxious
also, in Consequence of their Greasiness, which being conveyed, together
with the Air, into the Lungs, prevent their Respiration: And hence we
may observe, that Persons of weak delicate Breasts find themselves
quickly oppressed in Chambers or Apartments, illuminated with many
Candles.
The proper Remedies have been already directed, § 525. The Steam of
Vinegar is very serviceable in such Cases.
_Of Poisons._
§ 532. There are a great Number of Poisons, whose Manner of acting is
not alike; and whose ill Effects are to be opposed by different
Remedies: But Arsenic, or Ratsbane, and some particular Plants are the
Poisons which are the most frequently productive of Mischief, in Country
Places.
§ 533. It is in Consequence of its excessive Acrimony, or violent Heat
and Sharpness, which corrodes or gnaws, that Arsenic destroys by an
excessive Inflammation, with a burning Fire as it were, most torturing
Pains in the Mouth, Throat, Stomach, Guts; with rending and often bloody
Vomitings, and Stools, Convulsions, Faintings, _&c._
The best Remedy of all is pouring down whole Torrents of Milk, or, where
there is not Milk, of warm Water. Nothing but a prodigious Quantity of
such weak Liquids can avail such a miserable Patient. If the Cause of
the Disorder is immediately known, after having very speedily taken down
a large Quantity of warm Water, Vomiting may be excited with Oil, or
with melted Butter, and by tickling the Inside of the Throat with a
Feather. But when the Poison has already inflamed the Stomach and the
Guts, we must not expect to discharge it by vomiting. Whatever is
healing or emollient, Decoctions of mealy Pulse, of Barley, of Oatmeal,
of Marsh-mallows, and Butter and Oil are the most suitable.
As soon as ever the tormenting Pains are felt in the Belly, and the
Intestines seem attacked, Glysters of Milk must be very frequently
thrown up.
If at the very Beginning of the Attack, the Patient has a strong Pulse,
a very large Bleeding may be considerably serviceable by its delaying
the Progress, and diminishing the Degree of Inflammation.
And even though it should happen that a Patient overcomes the first
Violence of this dreadful Accident, it is too common for him to continue
in a languid State for a long Time, and sometimes for all the Remainder
of his Life. The most certain Method of preventing this Misery, is to
live for some Months solely upon Milk, and some very new laid Eggs, just
received from the Hen, and dissolved or blended in the Milk, without
boiling them.
§ 534. The Plants which chiefly produce these unhappy Accidents are some
Kinds of Hemlock, whether it be the Leaf or the Root, the Berries of the
_Bella Donna_, or deadly Nightshade, which Children eat by mistake for
Cherries; some Kind of Mushrooms, the Seed of the _Datura_, or the
stinking Thorn-Apple.
All the Poisons of this Class prove mortal rather from a narcotic, or
stupefying, than from an acrid, or very sharp Quality. Vertigos,
Faintings, Reachings to vomit, and actual Vomitings are the first
Symptoms produced by them.
The Patient should immediately swallow down a large Quantity of Water,
moderately seasoned with Salt or with Sugar; and then a Vomiting should
be excited as soon as possible by the Prescription Nº. 34 or 35: or, if
neither of these is very readily procurable, with Radish-seed pounded,
to the Quantity of a Coffee Spoonful, swallowed in warm Water, soon
after forcing a Feather or a Finger into the Patient's Throat, to
expedite the Vomiting.
After the Operation of the Vomit, he must continue to take a large
Quantity of Water, sweetened with Honey or Sugar, together with a
considerable Quantity of Vinegar, which is the true Specific, or
Antidote, as it were, against those Poisons: the Intestines must also be
emptied by a few Glysters.
Thirty-seven Soldiers having unhappily eaten, instead of Carrots, of the
Roots of the _Oenanthè_; or Water-hemlock, became all extremely sick;
when the Emetic, Nº. 34, with the Assistance of Glysters, and very
plentiful drinking of warm Water, saved all but one of them, who died
before he could be assisted.
§ 535. If a Person has taken too much Opium; or any Medicine into which
it enters, as _Venice_ Treacle, Mithridate, Diascordium, _&c._ whether
by Imprudence, Mistake, Ignorance, or through any bad Design, he must be
bled upon the Spot, and treated as if he had a sanguine Apoplexy, (See §
147) by Reason that Opium in Effect produces such a one. He should snuff
up and inhale the Vapour of Vinegar plentifully, adding it also
liberally to the Water he is to drink.
_Of acute Pains._
§ 536. It is not my Intention to treat here of those Pains, that
accompany any evident known Disease, and which should be conducted as
relating to such Diseases; nor of such Pains as infirm valetudinary
Persons are habitually subject to; since Experience has informed such of
the most effectual Relief for them: But when a Person sound and hale,
finds himself suddenly attacked with some excessive Pain, in whatever
Part it occurs, without knowing either the Nature, or the Cause of it,
they may, till proper Advice can be procured,
1, Part with some Blood, which, by abating the Fulness and Tension,
almost constantly asswages the Pains, at least for some Time: and it may
even be repeated, if, without weakening the Patient much, it has
lessened the Violence of the Pain.
2, The Patient should drink abundantly of some very mild temperate
Drink, such as the Ptisan Nº. 2, the Almond Emulsion Nº. 4, or warm
Water with a fourth or fifth Part Milk.
3, Several emollient Glysters should be given.
4, The whole Part that is affected, and the adjoining Parts should be
covered with Cataplasms, or soothed with the emollient Fomentation, Nº.
9.
5, The warm Bath may also be advantagiously used.
6, If notwithstanding all these Assistances, the Pain should still
continue violent, and the Pulse is neither full nor hard, the grown
Patient may take an Ounce of Syrup of Diacodium, or sixteen Drops of
liquid Laudanum; and when neither of these are to be had, [111] an
_English_ Pint of boiling Water must be poured upon three or four
Poppy-heads with their Seeds, but without the Leaves, and this Decoction
is to be drank like Tea.
[111] _Une Quartette._
§ 537. Persons very subject to frequent Pains, and especially to violent
Head-achs, should abstain from all strong Drink; such Abstinence being
often the only Means of curing them: And People are very often mistaken
in supposing Wine necessary for as many as seem to have a weak Stomach.
__Chapter XXXII.__
_Of Medicines taken by Way of Precaution, or Prevention._
__Sect.__ 538.
I Have pointed out, in some Parts of this Work, the Means of preventing
the bad Effects of several Causes of Diseases; and of prohibiting the
Return of some habitual Disorders. In the present Chapter I shall adjoin
some Observations, on the Use of the principal Remedies, which are
employed as general Preservatives; pretty regularly too at certain
stated Times, and almost always from meer Custom only, without knowing,
and often with very little Consideration, whether they are right or
wrong.
Nevertheless, the Use, the Habit of taking Medicines, is certainly no
indifferent Matter: it is ridiculous, dangerous, and even criminal to
omit them, when they are necessary, but not less so to take them when
they are not wanted. A good Medicine taken seasonably, when there is
some Disorder, some _Disarrangement_ in the Body, which would in a short
time occasion a Distemper, has often prevented it. But yet the very same
Medicine, if given to a Person in perfect Health, if it does not
directly make him sick, leaves him at the best in a greater Propensity
to the Impressions of Diseases: and there are but too many Examples of
People, who having very unhappily contracted a Habit, a Disposition to
take Physick, have really injured their Health, and impaired their
Constitution, however naturally strong, by an Abuse of those Materials
which Providence has given for the Recovery and Re-establishment of it;
an Abuse which, though it should not injure the Health of the Person,
would occasion those Remedies, when he should be really sick, to be less
efficacious and serviceable to him, from their having been familiar to
his Constitution; and thus he becomes deprived of the Assistance he
would have received from them, if taken only in those Times and
Circumstances, in which they were necessary for him.
_Of Bleeding._
§ 539. Bleeding is necessary only in these four Cases. 1, When there is
too great a Quantity of Blood in the Body. 2, When there is any
Inflammation, or an inflammatory Disease. 3, When some Cause supervenes,
or is about to supervene, in the Constitution, which would speedily
produce an Inflammation, or some other dangerous Symptom, if the Vessels
were not relaxed by Bleeding. It is upon this Principle that Patients
are bled after Wounds, and after Bruises; that Bleeding is directed for
a pregnant Woman, if she has a violent Cough; and that Bleeding is
performed, by Way of Precaution, in several other Cases. 4, We also
advise Bleeding sometimes to asswage an excessive Pain, though such Pain
is not owing to Excess of Blood, nor arises from an inflamed Blood; but
in Order to appease and moderate the Pain by Bleeding; and thereby to
obtain Time for destroying the Cause of it by other Remedies. But as
these two last Reasons are in Effect involved or implied in the two
first; it may be very generally concluded, that an Excess of Blood, and
an inflamed State of it, are the only two necessary Motives for
Bleeding.
§ 540. An Inflammation of the Blood is known by the Symptoms
accompanying those Diseases, which that Cause produces. Of these I have
already spoken, and I have at the same time regulated the Practice of
Bleeding in such Cases. Here I shall point out those Symptoms and
Circumstances, which manifest an Excess of Blood.
The first, then, is the general Course and Manner of the Patient's
living, while in Health. If he is a great Eater, and indulges in juicy
nutritious Food, and especially on much Flesh-meat; if he drinks rich
and nourishing Wine, or other strong Drink, and at the same time enjoys
a good Digestion; if he takes but little Exercise, sleeps much, and has
not been subject to any very considerable Evacuation, he may well be
supposed to abound in Blood. It is very obvious that all these Causes
rarely occur in Country People; if we except only the Abatement of their
Exercise, during some Weeks in Winter, which indeed may contribute to
their generating more Blood than they commonly do.
The labouring Country-man, for much the greater part of his Time, lives
only on Bread, Water and Vegetables; Materials but very moderately
nourishing, as one Pound of Bread probably does not make, in the same
Body, more Blood than one Ounce of Flesh; though a general Prejudice
seems to have established a contrary Opinion. 2, The total Stopping or
long Interruption of some involuntary Bleeding or Hæmorrhage, to which
he had been accustomed. 3, A full and strong Pulse, and Veins visibly
filled with Blood, in a Body that is not lean and thin, and when he is
not heated. 4, A florid lively Ruddiness. 5, A considerable and unusual
Numbness; Sleep more profound, of more Duration, and yet less tranquil
and calm, than at other times; a greater Propensity than ordinary to be
fatigued after moderate Exercise or Work; and a little Oppression and
Heaviness from walking. 6, Palpitations, accompanied sometimes with very
great Dejection, and even with a slight fainting Fit; especially on
being in any hot Place, or after moving about considerably. 7, Vertigos,
or Swimmings of the Head, especially on bowing down and raising it up at
once, and after sleeping. 8, Frequent Pains of the Head, to which the
Person was not formerly subject; and which seem not to arise from any
Defect in the Digestions. 9, An evident Sensation of Heat, pretty
generally diffused over the whole Body. 10, A smarting Sort of Itching
all over, from a very little more Heat than usual. And lastly, frequent
Hæmorrhages, and these attended with manifest Relief, and more Vivacity.
People should, notwithstanding, be cautious of supposing an unhealthy
Excess of Blood, from any one of these Symptoms only. Many of them must
concur; and they should endeavour to be certain that even such a
Concurrence of them does not result from a very different Cause, and
wholly opposite in Effect to that of an Excess of Blood.
But when it is certain, from the whole Appearance, that such an Excess
doth really exist, then a single, or even a second Bleeding is attended
with very good Effects. Nor is it material, in such Cases, from what
Part the Blood is taken.
§ 541. On the other Hand, when these Circumstances do not exist,
Bleeding is in no wise necessary: nor should it ever be practised in
these following Conditions and Circumstances; except for some particular
and very strong Reasons; of the due Force of which none but Physicians
can judge.
First, when the Person is in a very advanced Age, or in very early
Infancy. 2, When he is either naturally of a weakly Constitution, or it
has been rendered such by Sickness, or by some other Accident. 3, When
the Pulse is small, soft, feeble, and intermits, and the Skin is
manifestly pale. 4, When the Limbs, the Extremities of the Body, are
often cold, puffed up and soft. 5, When their Appetite has been very
small for a long time; their Food but little nourishing, and their
Perspiration too plentiful, from great Exercise. 6, When the Stomach has
long been disordered, and the Digestion bad, whence very little Blood
could be generated. 7, When the Patient has been considerably emptied,
whether by Hæmorrhages, a Looseness, profuse Urine or Sweat: or when the
_Crisis_ of some Distemper has been effected by any one of these
Evacuations. 8, When the Patient has long been afflicted with some
depressing Disease; and troubled with many such Obstructions as prevent
the Formation of Blood. 9, Whenever a Person is exhausted, from whatever
Cause. 10, When the Blood is in a thin, pale, and dissolved State.
§ 542, In all these Cases, and in some others less frequent, a single
Bleeding often precipitates the Patient into an absolutely incurable
State, an irreparable Train of Evils. Many dismal Examples of it are but
too obvious.
Whatever, therefore, be the Situation of the Patient, and however
naturally robust, that Bleeding, which is unnecessary, is noxious.
Repeated, re-iterated Bleedings, weaken and enervate, hasten old Age,
diminish the Force of the Circulation, thence fatten and puff up the
Body; and next by weakening, and lastly by destroying, the Digestions,
they lead to a fatal Dropsy. They disorder the Perspiration by the Skin,
and leave the Patient liable to Colds and Defluxions: They weaken the
nervous System, and render them subject to Vapours, to the hypochondriac
Disorders, and to all nervous Maladies.
The ill Consequence of a single, though erroneous Bleeding is not
immediately discernible: on the contrary, when it was not performed in
such a Quantity, as to weaken the Patient perceivably, it appears to
have been rather beneficial. Yet I still here insist upon it, that it is
not the less true that, when unnecessary, it is prejudicial; and that
People should never bleed, as sometimes has been done, for meer Whim,
or, as it were, for Diversion. It avails nothing to affirm, that within
a few Days after it, they have got more Blood than they had before it,
that is, that they weigh more than at first, whence they infer the Loss
of Blood very speedily repaired. The Fact of their augmented Weight is
admitted; but this very Fact testifies against the real Benefit of that
Bleeding; hence it is a Proof, that the natural Evacuations of the Body
are less compleatly made; and that Humours, which ought to be expelled,
are retained in it. There remains the same Quantity of Blood, and
perhaps a little more; but it is not a Blood so well made, so perfectly
elaborated; and this is so very true, that if the thing were otherwise;
if some Days after the Bleeding they had a greater Quantity of the same
Kind of Blood, it would amount to a Demonstration, that more re-iterated
Bleedings must necessarily have brought on an inflammatory Disease, in a
Man of a robust Habit of Body.
§ 543. The Quantity of Blood, which a grown Man may Part with, by Way of
Precaution, is about ten Ounces.
§ 544. Persons so constituted as to breed much Blood, should carefully
avoid all those Causes which tend to augment it, (See § 540, Nº. 1) and
when they are sensible of the Quantity augmented, they should confine
themselves to a light frugal Diet, on Pulse, Fruits, Bread and Water;
they should often bathe their Feet in warm Water, taking Night and
Morning the Powder Nº. 20; drink of the Ptisan Nº. 1; sleep but very
moderately, and take much Exercise. By using these Precautions they may
either prevent any Occasion for Bleeding, or should they really be
obliged to admit of it, they would increase and prolong its good
Effects. These are also the very Means, which may remove all the Danger
that might ensue from a Person's omitting to bleed, at the usual Season
or Interval, when the Habit, the Fashion of Bleeding had been
inveterately established in him.
§ 545. We learn with Horror and Astonishment, that some have been bled
eighteen, twenty and even twenty-four times in two Days; and some
others, some [112] hundred times, in the Course of some Months. Such
Instances irrefragably demonstrate the continual Ignorance of their
Physician or Surgeon; and should the Patient escape, we ought to admire
the inexhaustible Resources of Nature, that survived so many murderous
Incisions.
[112] How shocking is this! and yet how true in some Countries! I have
been most certainly assured, that Bleeding has been inflicted and
repeated in the last sinking and totally relaxing Stage of a
Sea-Scurvy, whose fatal Termination it doubtless accelerated. This
did not happen in our own Fleet; yet we are not as yet Wholly
exempt on Shore, from some Abuse of Bleeding, which a few raw
unthinking Operators are apt to consider as a meer Matter of
Course. I have in some other Place stigmatized the Madness of
Bleeding in Convulsions, from manifest Exhaustion and Emptiness,
with the Abhorrence it deserves. _K._
§ 546. The People entertain a common Notion, which is, that the first
Time of bleeding certainly saves the Life of the Patient; but to
convince them of the Falsity of this silly Notion, they need only open
their Eyes, and see the very contrary Fact to this occur but too
unhappily every Day; many People dying soon after their first Bleeding.
Were their Opinion right, it would be impossible that any Person should
die of the first Disease that seized him, which yet daily happens. Now
the Extirpation of this absurd Opinion is really become important, as
the Continuance of it is attended with some unhappy Consequences: their
Faith in, their great Dependance on, the extraordinary Virtue of this
first Bleeding makes them willing to omit it, that is, to treasure it up
against a Distemper, from which they shall be in the greatest Danger;
and thus it is deferred as long as the Patient is not extremely bad, in
Hopes that if they can do without it then, they shall keep it for
another and more pressing Occasion. Their present Disease in the mean
time rises to a violent Height; and then they bleed, but when it is too
late, and I have seen Instances of many Patients, who were permitted to
die, that the first Bleeding might be reserved for a more important
Occasion. The only Difference between the first Bleeding, and any
subsequent one is, that the first commonly gives the Patient an Emotion,
that is rather hurtful than salutary.
_Of Purges._
§ 547. The Stomach and Bowels are emptied either by Vomiting, or by
Stools, the latter Discharge being much more natural than the first,
which is not effected without a violent Motion, and one indeed to which
Nature is repugnant. Nevertheless, there are some Cases, which really
require this artificial Vomiting; but these excepted (some of which I
have already pointed out) we should rather prefer those Remedies, which
empty the Belly by Stool.
§ 548. The Signs, which indicate a Necessity for Purging, are, 1, a
disagreeable Tast or Savour of the Mouth in a Morning, and especially a
bitter Tast; a foul, furred Tongue and Teeth, disagreable Eructations or
Belchings, Windiness and Distension.
2, A Want of Appetite which increases very gradually, without any Fever,
which degenerates into a Disgust or total Aversion to Food; and
sometimes communicates a bad Tast to the very little such Persons do
eat.
3, Reachings to vomit in a Morning fasting, and sometimes throughout the
Day; supposing such not to depend on a Woman's Pregnancy, or some other
Disorder, in which Purges would be either useless or hurtful.
4, A vomiting up of bitter, or corrupted, Humours.
5, A manifest Sensation of a Weight, or Heaviness in the Stomach, the
Loins, or the Knees.
6, A Want of Strength sometimes attended with Restlessness, ill Humour,
or Peevishness, and Melancholy.
7, Pains of the Stomach, frequent Pains of the Head, or Vertigos;
sometimes a Drowsiness, which increases after Meals.
8, Some Species of Cholics; irregular Stools which are sometimes very
great in Quantity, and too liquid for many Days together; after which an
obstinate Costiveness ensues.
9, A Pulse less regular, and less strong, than what is natural to the
Patient, and which sometimes intermits.
§ 549. When these Symptoms, or some of them, ascertain the Necessity of
purging a Person, not then attacked by any manifest Disease (for I am
not speaking here of Purges in such Cases) a proper purging Medicine may
be given him. The bad Tast in his Mouth; the continual Belchings; the
frequent Reachings to vomit; the actual Vomitings and Melancholy
discover, that the Cause of his Disorder resides in the Stomach, and
shew that a Vomit will be of Service to him. But when such Signs or
Symptoms are not evident, the Patient should take such purging or
opening Remedies, as are particularly indicated by the Pains, whether of
the Loins; from the Cholic; or by a Sensation of Weight or Heaviness in
the Knees.
§ 550. But we should abstain from either vomiting or purging, 1,
Whenever the Complaints of the Patients are founded in their Weakness,
and their being already exhausted, 2, When there is a general Dryness of
the Habit, a very considerable Degree of Heat, some Inflammation, or a
strong Fever. 3, Whenever Nature is exerting herself in some other
salutary Evacuation; whence purging must never be attempted in critical
Sweats, during the monthly Discharges, nor during a Fit of the Gout. 4,
Nor in such inveterate Obstructions as Purges cannot remove, and really
do augment. 5, Neither when the nervous System is considerably weakened.
§ 551. There are other Cases again, in which it may be proper to purge,
but not to give a Vomit. These Cases are, 1, When the Patient abounds
too much with Blood, (See § 540) since the Efforts which attend
vomiting, greatly augment the Force of the Circulation; whence the
Blood-vessels of the Head and of the Breast, being extremely distended
with Blood, might burst, which must prove fatal on the Spot, and has
repeatedly proved so. 2, For the same Reason they should not be given to
Persons, who are subject to frequent Bleeding from the Nose, or to
coughing up or vomiting of Blood; to Women who are subject to excessive
or unseasonable Discharges of Blood, _&c._ from the _Vagina_, the Neck
of the Womb; nor to those who are with Child. 3, Vomits are improper for
ruptured Persons.
§ 552. When any Person has taken too acrid, too sharp, a Vomit, or a
Purge, which operates with excessive Violence; whether this consists in
the most vehement Efforts and Agitations, the Pains, Convulsions, or
Swoonings, which are their frequent Consequences; or whether that
prodigious Evacuation and Emptiness their Operation causes, (which is
commonly termed a _Super-purgation_) and which may hurry the Patient
off; Instances of which are but too common among the lower Class of the
People, who much too frequently confide themselves to the Conduct of
ignorant Men-slayers: In all such unhappy Accidents, I say, we should
treat these unfortunate Persons, as if they had been actually poisoned,
by violent corroding Poisons, (See § 533) that is, we should fill them,
as it were, with Draughts of warm Water, Milk, Oil, Barley-water, Almond
Milk, emollient Glysters with Milk, and the Yolks of Eggs; and also
bleed them plentifully, if their Pains are excessive, and their Pulses
strong and feverish.
The Super-purgation, the excessive Discharge, is to be stopt, after
having plied the Patient plentifully with diluting Drinks, by giving the
calming Anodyne Medicines directed in the Removal of acute Pains, § 536,
Nº. 6.
Flanels dipt in hot Water, in which some _Venice_ Treacle is dissolved,
are very serviceable: and should the Evacuations by Stool be excessive,
and the Patient has not a high Fever, and a parching Kind of Heat, a
Morsel of the same Treacle, as large as a Nutmeg, may be dissolved in
his Glyster.
But should the Vomiting solely be excessive, without any Purging, the
Number of the emollient Glysters with Oil and the Yolk of an Egg must be
increased; and the Patient should be placed in a warm Bath.
§ 553. Purges frequently repeated, without just and necessary
Indications, are attended with much the same ill Effects as frequent
Bleedings. They destroy the Digestions; the Stomach no longer, or very
languidly, exerts its Functions; the Intestines prove inactive; the
Patient becomes liable to very severe Cholics; the Plight of the Body,
deprived of its salutary Nutrition, falls off; Perspiration is
disordered; Defluxions ensue; nervous Maladies come on, with a general
Languor; and the Patient proves old, long before the Number of his Years
have made him so.
Much irreparable Mischief has been done to the Health of Children, by
Purges injudiciously given and repeated. They prevent them from
attaining their utmost natural Strength, and frequently contract their
due Growth. They ruin their Teeth; dispose young Girls to future
Obstructions; and when they have been already affected by them, they
render them still more obstinate.
It is a Prejudice too generally received, that Persons who have little
or no Appetite need purging; since this is often very false, and most of
those Causes, which lessen or destroy the Appetite, cannot be removed by
purging; though many of them may be increased by it.
Persons whose Stomachs contain much glairy viscid Matter suppose, they
may be cured by Purges, which seem indeed at first to relieve them: but
this proves a very slight and deceitful Relief. These Humours are owing
to that Weakness and Laxity of the Stomach, which Purges augment; since
notwithstanding they carry off Part of these viscid Humours generated in
it, at the Expiration of a few Days there is a greater Accumulation of
them than before; and thus, by a Re-iteration of purging Medicines, the
Malady soon becomes incurable, and Health irrecoverably lost. The real
Cure of such Cases is effected by directly opposite Medicines. Those
referred to, or mentioned, § 272, are highly conducive to it.
§ 554. The Custom of taking stomachic Medicines infused in Brandy,
Spirit of Wine, Cherry Water, _&c._ is always dangerous; for
notwithstanding the present immediate Relief such Infusions afford in
some Disorders of the Stomach, they really by slow Degrees impair and
ruin that Organ; and it may be observed, that as many as accustom
themselves to Drams, go off, just like excessive Drinkers, in
Consequence of their having no Digestion; whence they sink into a State
of Depression and Languor, and die dropsical.
§ 555. Either Vomits or Purges may be often beneficially omitted, even
when they have some Appearance of seeming necessary, by abating one Meal
a Day for some time; by abstaining from the most nourishing Sorts of
Food; and especially from those which are fat; by drinking freely of
cool Water, and taking extraordinary Exercise. The same Regimen also
serves to subdue, without the Use of Purges, the various Complaints
which often invade those, who omit taking purging Medicines, at those
Seasons and Intervals, in which they have made it a Custom to take them.
§ 556. The Medicines, Nº. 34 and 35, are the most certain Vomits. The
Powder, Nº. 21, is a good Purge, when the Patient is in no wise
feverish.
The Doses recommended in the Table of Remedies are those, which are
proper for a grown Man, of a vigorous Constitution. Nevertheless there
are some few, for whom they may be too weak: in such Circumstances they
may be increased by the Addition of a third or fourth Part of the Dose
prescribed. But should they not operate in that Quantity, we must be
careful not to double the Dose, much less to give a three-fold Quantity,
which has sometimes been done, and that even without its Operation, and
at the Risque of killing the Patient, which has not seldom been the
Consequence. In Case of such purging not ensuing, we should rather give
large Draughts of Whey sweetened with Honey, or of warm Water, in a Pot
of which an Ounce, or an Ounce and a half of common Salt must be
dissolved; and this Quantity is to be taken from time to time in small
Cups, moving about with it.
The Fibres of Country People who inhabit the Mountains, and live almost
solely on Milk, are so little susceptible of Sensation, that they must
take such large Doses to purge them, as would kill all the Peasantry in
the Vallies. In the Mountains of _Valais_ there are Men who take twenty,
and even twenty-four Grains of Glass of Antimony for a single Dose; a
Grain or two of which were sufficient to poison ordinary Men.
§ 557. Notwithstanding our Cautions on this important Head, whenever an
urgent Necessity commands it, Purging must be recurred to at all Times
and Seasons: but when the Season may be safely selected, it were right
to decline Purging in the Extremities of either Heat or Cold; and to
take the Purge early in the Morning, that the Medicines may find less
Obstruction or Embarrassment from the Contents of the Stomach. Every
other Consideration, with Relation to the Stars and the Moon, is
ridiculous, and void of any Foundation. The People are particularly
averse to purging in the Dog-days; and if this were only on Account of
the great Heat, it would be very pardonable: but it is from an
astrological Prejudice, which is so much the more absurd, as the real
Dog-days are at thirty-six Days Distance from those commonly reckoned
such; and it is a melancholy Reflection, that the Ignorance of the
People should be so gross, in this Respect, in our enlightened Age; and
that they should still imagine the Virtue and Efficacy of Medicines to
depend on what Sign of the Zodiac the Sun is in, or in any particular
Quarter of the Moon. Yet it is certain in this Point, they are so
inveterately attached to this Prejudice, that it is but too common to
see Country-People die, in waiting for the Sign or Quarter most
favourable to the Operation and Effect of a Medicine, which was truly
necessary five or six Days before either of them. Sometimes too that
particular Medicine is given, to which a certain Day is supposed to be
auspicious and favourable, in Preference to that which is most prevalent
against the Disease. And thus it is, than an ignorant Almanack Maker
determines on the Lives of the human Race; and contracts the Duration of
them with Impunity.
§ 558. When a Vomit or a Purge is to be taken, the Patient's Body should
be prepared for the Reception of it twenty-four Hours beforehand; by
taking very little Food, and drinking some Glasses of warm Water, or of
a light Tea of some Herbs.
He should not drink after a Vomit, until it begins to work; but then he
should drink very plentifully of warm Water, or a light Infusion of
Chamomile Flowers, which is preferable.
It is usual, after Purges, to take some thin Broth or Soup during their
Operation; but warm Water sweetened with Sugar or Honey, or an Infusion
of Succory Flowers, would sometimes be more suitable.
§ 559. As the Stomach suffers, in some Degree, as often as either a
Vomit, or a Purge, is taken, the Patient should be careful how he lives
and orders himself for some Days after taking them, as well in Regard to
the Quantity as Quality of his Food.
§ 560. I shall say nothing of other Articles taken by Way of Precaution,
such as Soups, Whey, Waters, _&c._ which are but little used among the
People; but confine myself to this general Remark, that when they take
any of these precautionary Things, they should enter on a Regimen or Way
of living, that may co-operate with them, and contribute to the same
Purpose. Whey is commonly taken to refresh and cool the Body; and while
they drink it, they deny themselves Pulse, Fruits, and Sallads. They eat
nothing then, but the best and heartiest Flesh-meats they can come at;
such Vegetables as are used in good Soups, Eggs, and good Wine;
notwithstanding this is to destroy, by high and heating Aliments, all
the attemperating cooling Effects expected from the Whey.
Some Persons propose to cool and attemperate their Blood by Soups and a
thin Diet, into which they cram Craw-fish, that heat considerably, or
_Nasturtium_, Cresses which also heat, and thus defeat their own
Purpose. Happily, in such a Case, the Error in one Respect often cures
that in the other; and these Kinds of Soup, which are in no wise
cooling, prove very serviceable, in Consequence of the Cause of the
Symptoms, which they were intended to remove, not requiring any Coolers
at all.
The general physical Practice of the Community, which unhappily is but
too much in Fashion, abounds with similar Errors. I will just cite one,
because I have seen its dismal Effects. Many People suppose Pepper
cooling, though their Smell, Taste, and common Sense concur to inform
them of the contrary. It is the very hottest of Spices.
§ 561. The most certain Preservative, and the most attainable too by
every Man, is to avoid all Excess, and especially Excess in eating and
in drinking. People generally eat more than thoroughly consists with
Health, or permits them to attain the utmost Vigour, of which their
natural Constitutions are capable. The Custom is established, and it is
difficult to eradicate it: notwithstanding we should at least resolve
not to eat, but through Hunger, and always under a Subjection to Reason;
because, except in a very few Cases, Reason constantly suggests to us
not to eat, when the Stomach has an Aversion to Food. A sober moderate
Person is capable of Labour, I may say, even of excessive Labour of some
Kinds; of which greater Eaters are absolutely incapable. Sobriety of
itself cures such Maladies as are otherwise incurable, and may recover
the most shattered and unhealthy Persons.
__Chapter XXXIII.__
_Of Mountebanks, Quacks, and Conjurers._
__Sect.__ 562.
One dreadful Scourge still remains to be treated of, which occasions a
greater Mortality, than all the Distempers I have hitherto described;
and which, as long as it continues, will defeat our utmost Precautions
to preserve the Healths and Lives of the common People. This, or rather,
these Scourges, for they are very numerous, are Quacks; of which there
are two Species: The Mountebanks or travelling Quacks, and those
pretended Physicians in Villages and Country-Places, both male and
female, known in _Swisserland_ by the Name of Conjurers, and who very
effectually unpeople it.
The first of these, the Mountebanks, without visiting the Sick, or
thinking of their Distempers, sell different Medicines, some of which
are for external Use, and these often do little or no Mischief; but
their internal ones are much oftener pernicious. I have been a Witness
of their dreadful Effects, and we are not visited by one of these
wandering Caitiffs, whose Admission into our Country is not mortally
fatal to some of its Inhabitants. They are injurious also in another
Respect, as they carry off great Sums of Money with them, and levy
annually some thousands of Livres, amongst that Order of the People, who
have the least to spare. I have seen, and with a very painful Concern,
the poor Labourer and the Artisan, who have scarcely possessed the
common Necessaries of Life, borrow wherewithal to purchase, and at a
dear Price, the Poison that was to compleat their Misery, by increasing
their Maladies; and which, where they escaped with their Lives, has left
them in such a languid and inactive State, as has reduced their whole
Family to Beggary.
§ 563. An ignorant, knavish, lying and impudent Fellow will always
seduce the gross and credulous Mass of People, incapable to judge of and
estimate any thing rightly; and adapted to be the eternal Dupes of such,
as are base enough to endeavour to dazzle their weak Understandings; by
which Method these vile Quacks will certainly defraud them, as long as
they are tolerated. But ought not the Magistrates, the Guardians, the
Protectors, the political Fathers of the People interpose, and defend
them from this Danger, by severely prohibiting the Entrance of such
pernicious Fellows into a Country, where Mens' Lives are very estimable,
and where Money is scarce; since they extinguish the first, and carry
off the last, without the least Possibility of their being in anywise
useful to it. Can such forcible Motives as these suffer our Magistrates
to delay _their_ Expulsion any longer, _whom_ there never was the least
Reason for admitting?
§ 564. It is acknowledged the Conjurers, the residing Conjurers, do not
carry out the current Money of the Country, like the itinerant Quacks;
but the Havock they make among their Fellow Subjects is without
Intermission, whence it must be very great, as every Day in the Year is
marked with many of their Victims. Without the least Knowledge or
Experience, and offensively armed with three or four Medicines, whose
Nature they are as thoroughly ignorant of, as of their unhappy Patients
Diseases; and which Medicines, being almost all violent ones, are very
certainly so many Swords in the Hands of raging Madmen. Thus armed and
qualified, I say, they aggravate the slightest Disorders, and make those
that are a little more considerable, mortal; but from which the Patients
would have recovered, if left solely to the Conduct of Nature; and, for
a still stronger Reason, if they had confided to the Guidance of her
experienced Observers and Assistants.
§ 565. The Robber who assassinates on the High-way, leaves the Traveller
the Resource of defending himself, and the Chance of being aided by the
Arrival of other Travellers: But the Poisoner, who forces himself into
the Confidence of a sick Person, is a hundred times more dangerous, and
as just an Object of Punishment.
The Bands of Highwaymen, and their Individuals, that enter into any
Country or District, are described as particularly as possible to the
Publick. It were equally to be wished, we had also a List of these
physical Impostors and Ignorants male and female; and that a most exact
Description of them, with the Number, and a brief Summary of their
murderous Exploits, were faithfully published. By this Means the
Populace might probably be inspired with such a wholesome Dread of them,
that they would no longer expose their Lives to the Mercy of such
Executioners.
§ 566. But their Blindness, with Respect to these two Sorts of
maleficent Beings, is inconceivable. That indeed in Favour of the
Mountebank is somewhat less gross, because as they are not personally
acquainted with him, they may the more easily credit him with some Part
of the Talents and the Knowledge he arrogates. I shall therefore inform
them, and it cannot be repeated too often, that whatever ostentatious
Dress and Figure some of these Impostors make, they are constantly vile
Wretches, who, incapable of earning a Livelyhood in any honest Way, have
laid the Foundation of their Subsistence on their own amazing Stock of
Impudence, and that of the weak Credulity of the People; that they have
no scientific Knowledge; that their Titles and Patents are so many
Impositions, and inauthentic; since by a shameful Abuse, such Patents
and Titles are become Articles of Commerce, which are to be obtained at
very low Prices; just like the second-hand laced Cloaks which they
purchase at the Brokers. That their Certificates of Cures are so many
Chimeras or Forgeries; and that in short, if among the prodigious
Multitudes of People who take their Medicines, some of them should
recover, which it is almost physically impossible must not sometimes be
the Case, yet it would not be the less certain, that they are a
pernicious destructive Set of Men. A Thrust of a Rapier into the Breast
has saved a Man's Life by seasonably opening an Imposthume in it, which
might otherwise have killed him: and yet internal penetrating Wounds,
with a small Sword, are not the less mortal for one such extraordinary
Consequence. Nor is it even surprizing that these Mountebanks, which is
equally applicable to Conjurers, who kill thousands of People, whom
Nature alone, or assisted by a Physician, would have saved, should now
and then cure a Patient, who had been treated before by the ablest
Physicians. Frequently Patients of that Class, who apply to these
Mountebanks and Conjurers (whether it has been, that they would not
submit to the Treatment proper for their Distempers; or whether the real
Physician tired of the intractable Creatures has discontinued his Advice
and Attendance) look out for such Doctors, as assure them of a speedy
Cure, and venture to give them such Medicines as kill many, and cure one
(who has had Constitution enough to overcome them) a little sooner than
a justly reputable Physician would have done. It is but too easy to
procure, in every Parish, such Lists of their Patients, and of their
Feats, as would clearly evince the Truth of whatever has been said here
relating to them.
§ 567. The Credit of this Market, this Fair-hunting Doctor, surrounded
by five or six hundred Peasants, staring and gaping at him, and counting
themselves happy in his condescending to cheat them of their very scarce
and necessary Cash, by selling them, for twenty times more than its real
Worth, a Medicine whose best Quality were to be only a useless one; the
Credit, I say, of this vile yet tolerated Cheat, would quickly vanish,
could each of his Auditors be persuaded, of what is strictly true, that
except a little more Tenderness and Agility of Hand, he knows full as
much as his Doctor; and that if he could assume as much Impudence, he
would immediately have as much Ability, would equally deserve the same
Reputation, and to have the same Confidence reposed in him.
§ 568. Were the Populace capable of reasoning, it were easy to disabuse
them in these Respects; but as it is, their Guardians and Conductors
should reason for them. I have already proved the Absurdity of reposing
any Confidence in Mountebanks, properly so called; and that Reliance
some have on the Conjurers is still more stupid and ridiculous.
The very meanest Trade requires some Instruction: A Man does not
commence even a Cobler, a Botcher of old Leather, without serving an
Apprenticeship to it; and yet no Time has been served, no Instruction
has been attended to, by these Pretenders to the most necessary, useful
and elegant Profession. We do not confide the mending, the cleaning of a
Watch to any, who have not spent several Years in considering how a
Watch is made; what are the Requisites and Causes of its going right;
and the Defects or Impediments that make it go wrong: and yet the
preserving and rectifying the Movements of the most complex, the most
delicate and exquisite, and the most estimable Machine upon Earth, is
entrusted to People who have not the least Notion of its Structure; of
the Causes of its Motions; nor of the Instruments proper to rectify
their Deviations.
Let a Soldier discarded from his Regiment for his roguish Tricks, or who
is a Deserter from it, a Bankrupt, a disreputable Ecclesiastic, a
drunken Barber, or a Multitude of such other worthless People, advertize
that they mount, set and fit up all Kinds of Jewels and Trinkets in
Perfection; if any of these are not known; if no Person in the Place has
ever seen any of their Work; or if they cannot produce authentic
Testimonials of their Honesty, and their Ability in their Business, not
a single Individual will trust them with two Pennyworth of false Stones
to work upon; in short they must be famished. But if instead of
professing themselves Jewellers, they post themselves up as Physicians,
the Croud purchase, at a high Rate, the Pleasure of trusting them with
the Care of their Lives, the remaining Part of which they rarely fail to
empoison.
§ 569. The most genuine and excellent Physicians, these extraordinary
Men, who, born with the happiest Talents, have began to inform their
Understandings from their earliest Youth; who have afterwards carefully
qualified themselves by cultivating every Branch of Physic; who have
sacrificed the best and most pleasurable Days of their Lives, to a
regular and assiduous Investigation of the human Body; of its various
Functions; of the Causes that may impair or embarrass them, and informed
themselves of the Qualities and Virtues of every simple and compound
Medicine; who have surmounted the Difficulty and Loathsomness of living
in Hospitals among thousands of Patients; and who have added the medical
Observations of all Ages and Places to their own; these few and
extraordinary Men, I say, still consider themselves as short of that
perfect Ability and consummate Knowledge, which they contemplate and
wish for, as necessary to guarding the precious _Depositum_ of human
Life and Health, confided to their Charge. Nevertheless we see the same
inestimable Treasures, intrusted to gross and stupid Men, born without
Talents; brought up without Education or Culture; who frequently can
scarcely read; who are as profoundly ignorant of every Subject that has
any Relation to Physic, as the Savages of _Asia_; who awake only to
drink away; who often exercise their horrid Trade merely to find
themselves in strong Liquor, and execute it chiefly when they are drunk:
who, in short, became Physicians, only from their Incapacity to arrive
at any Trade or Attainment! Certainly such a Conduct in Creatures of the
human Species must appear very astonishing, and even melancholy, to
every sensible thinking Man; and constitute the highest Degree of
Absurdity and Extravagance.
Should any Person duly qualified enter into an Examination of the
Medicines they use, and compare them with the Situation and Symptoms of
the Patients to whom they give them, he must be struck with Horror; and
heartily deplore the Fate of that unfortunate Part of the human Race,
whose Lives, so important to the Community, are committed to the Charge
of the most murderous Set of Beings.
§ 570. Some of these Caitiffs however, apprehending the Force and Danger
of that Objection, founded on their Want of Study and Education, have
endeavoured to elude it, by infusing and spreading a false, and indeed,
an impudent impious Prejudice among the People, which prevails too much
at present; and this is, that their Talents for Physic are a
supernatural Gift, and, of Course, greatly superior to all human
Knowledge. It were going out of my Province to expatiate on the
Indecency, the Sin, and the Irreligion of such Knavery, and incroaching
upon the Rights and perhaps the Duty of the Clergy; but I intreat the
Liberty of observing to this respectable Order of Men, that this
Superstition, which is attended with dreadful Consequences, seems to
call for their utmost Attention: and in general the Expulsion of
Superstition is the more to be wished, as a Mind, imbued with false
Prejudices, is less adapted to imbibe a true and valuable Doctrine.
There are some very callous hardened Villains among this murdering Band,
who, with a View to establish their Influence and Revenue as well upon
Fear as upon Hope, have horridly ventured so far as to incline the
Populace to doubt, whether they received their boasted Gift and Power
from Heaven or from Hell! And yet these are the Men who are trusted with
the Health and the Lives of many others.
§ 571. One Fact which I have already mentioned, and which it seems
impossible to account for is, that great Earnestness of the Peasant to
procure the best Assistance he can for his sick Cattle. At whatever
Distance the Farrier lives, or some Person who is supposed qualified to
be one (for unfortunately there is not one in _Swisserland_) if he has
considerable Reputation in this Way, the Country-man goes to consult
him, or purchases his Visit at any Price. However expensive the
Medicines are, which the Horse-doctor directs, if they are accounted the
best, he procures them for his poor Beast. But if himself, his Wife or
Children fall sick, he either calls in no Assistance nor Medicines; or
contents himself with such as are next at Hand, however pernicious they
may be, though nothing the cheaper on that account: for certainly the
Money, extorted by some of these physical Conjurers from their Patients,
but oftner from their Heirs, is a very shameful Injustice, and calls
loudly for Reformation.
§ 572. In an excellent Memoir or Tract, which will shortly be published,
on the Population of _Swisserland_, we shall find an important and very
affecting Remark, which strictly demonstrates the Havock made by these
immedical Magicians or Conjurers; and which is this: That in the common
Course of Years, the Proportion between the Numbers and Deaths of the
Inhabitants of any one Place, is not extremely different in City and
Country: but when the very same epidemical Disease attacks the City and
the Villages, the Difference is enormous; and the Number of Deaths of
the former compared with that of the Inhabitants of the Villages, where
the Conjurer exercises his bloody Dominion, is infinitely more than the
Deaths in the City.
I find in the second Volume of the Memoirs of the oeconomical Society of
_Berne_, for the Year 1762, another Fact equally interesting, which is
related by one of the most intelligent and sagacious Observers,
concerned in that Work. "Pleurisies and Peripneumonies (he says)
prevailed at _Cottens a la Côte_; and some Peasants died under them, who
had consulted the Conjurers and taken their heating Medicines; while of
those, who pursued a directly opposite Method, almost every one
recovered."
§ 573. But I shall employ myself no longer on this Topic, on which the
Love of my Species alone has prompted me to say thus much; though it
deserves to be considered more in Detail, and is, in Reality, of the
greatest Consequence. None methinks could make themselves easy with
Respect to it so much as Physicians, if they were conducted only by
lucrative Views; since these Conjurers diminish the Number of those poor
People, who sometimes consult the real Physicians, and with some Care
and Trouble, but without the least Profit, to those Gentlemen. But what
good Physician is mean and vile enough to purchase a few Hours of Ease
and Tranquillity at so high, so very odious a Price?
§ 574. Having thus clearly shewn the Evils attending this crying
Nusance, I wish I were able to prescribe an effectual Remedy against it,
which I acknowledge is far from being easy to do.
The first necessary Point probably was to have demonstrated the great
and public Danger, and to dispose the State to employ their Attention on
this fatal, this mortal Abuse; which, joined to the other Causes of
Depopulation, has a manifest Tendency to render _Swisserland_ a Desert.
§ 575. The second, and doubtless the most effectual Means, which I had
already mentioned is, not to admit any travelling Mountebank to enter
this Country; and to set a Mark on all the Conjurers: It may probably
also be found convenient, to inflict corporal Punishment on them; as it
has been already adjudged in different Countries by sovereign Edicts. At
the very least they should be marked with public Infamy, according to
the following Custom practised in a great City in _France_. "When any
Mountebanks appeared in _Montpellier_, the Magistrates had a Power to
mount each of them upon a meagre miserable Ass, with his Head to the
Ass's Tail. In this Condition they were led throughout the whole City,
attended with the Shouts and Hooting of the Children and the Mob,
beating them, throwing Filth and Ordure at them, reviling them, and
dragging them all about."
§ 576. A third conducive Means would be the Instructions and Admonition
of the Clergy on this Subject, to the Peasants in their several
Parishes. For this Conduct of the common People amounting, in Effect, to
Suicide, to Self-murder, it must be important to convince them of it.
But the little Efficacy of the strongest and repeated Exhortations on so
many other Articles, may cause us to entertain a very reasonable Doubt
of their Success on this. Custom seems to have determined, that there is
nothing in our Day, which excludes a Person from the Title and
Appellation of an honest or honourable Man, except it be meer and
convicted Theft; and that for this simple and obvious Reason, that we
attach ourselves more strongly to our Property, than to any Thing else.
Even Homicide is esteemed and reputed honourable in many Cases. Can we
reasonably then expect to convince the Multitude, that it is criminal to
confide the Care of their Health to these Poisoners, in Hopes of a Cure
of their Disorders? A much likelier Method of succeding on this Point
would certainly be, to convince the deluded People, that it will cost
them less to be honestly and judiciously treated, than to suffer under
the Hands of these Executioners. The Expectation of a good and cheap
Health-market will be apt to influence them more, than their Dread of a
Crime would.
§ 577. A fourth Means of removing or restraining this Nusance would be
to expunge, from the Almanacs, all the astrological Rules relating to
Physick; as they continually conduce to preserve and increase some
dangerous Prejudices and Notions in a Science, the smallest Errors in
which are sometimes fatal. I had already reflected on the Multitude of
Peasants that have been lost, from postponing, or mistiming a Bleeding,
only because the sovereign Decision of an Almanac had directed it at
some other Time. May it not also be dreaded, to mention it by the Way,
that the same Cause, the Almanacs, may prove injurious to their rural
Oeconomy and Management; and that by advising with the Moon, who has no
Influence, and is of no Consequence in Vegetation or other Country
Business, they may be wanting in a due Attention to such other
Circumstances and Regulations, as are of real Importance in them?
§ 578. A fifth concurring Remedy against this popular Evil would be the
Establishment of Hospitals, for the Reception of poor Patients, in the
different Cities and Towns of _Swisserland_.
There may be a great many easy and concurring Means of erecting and
endowing such, with very little new Expence; and immense Advantages
might result from them: besides, however considerable the Expenses might
prove, is not the Object of them of the most interesting, the most
important Nature? It is incontestably our serious Duty; and it would
soon be manifest, that the Performance of it would be attended with more
essential intrinsic Benefit to the Community, than any other Application
of Money could produce. We must either admit, that the Multitude, the
Body of the People is useless to the State, or agree, that Care should
be taken to preserve and continue them. A very respectable _English_
Man, who, after a previous and thorough Consideration of this Subject,
had applied himself very assiduously and usefully on the Means of
increasing the Riches and the Happiness of his Country-men, complains
that in _England_, the very Country in which there are the most
Hospitals, the Poor who are sick are not sufficiently assisted. What a
deplorable Deficience of the necessary Assistance for such must then be
in a Country, that is not provided with a single Hospital? That Aid from
Surgery and Physic, which abounds in Cities, is not sufficiently
diffused into Country-places: and the Peasants are liable to some simple
and moderate Diseases, which, for Want of proper Care, degenerate into a
State of Infirmity, that sinks them into premature Death.
§ 579. In fine, if it be found impossible to extinguish these Abuses
(for those arising from Quacks are not the only ones, nor is that Title
applied to as many as really deserve it) beyond all Doubt it would be
for the Benefit and Safety of the Public, upon the whole, entirely to
prohibit the Art, the Practice of Physic itself. When real and good
Physicians cannot effect as much Good, as ignorant ones and Impostors
can do Mischief, some real Advantage must accrue to the State, and to
the whole Species, from employing none of either. I affirm it, after
much Reflection, and from thorough Conviction, that Anarchy in Medicine
is the most dangerous Anarchy. For this Profession, when loosed from
every Restraint, and subjected to no Regulations, no Laws, is the more
cruel Scourge and Affliction, from the incessant Exercise of it; and
should its Anarchy, its Disorders prove irremediable, the Practice of an
Art, become so very noxious, should be prohibited under the severest
Penalties: Or, if the Constitution of any Government was inconsistent
with the Application of so violent a Remedy, they should order public
Prayers against the Mortality of it, to be offered up in all the
Churches; as the Custom has been in other great and general Calamities.
§ 580. Another Abuse, less fatal indeed than those already mentioned
(but which, however, has real ill Consequences, and at the best, carries
out a great deal of Money from us, though less at the Expense of the
common People, than of those of easy Circumstances) is that Blindness
and Facility, with which many suffer themselves to be imposed upon, by
the pompous Advertisements of some _Catholicon_, some universal Remedy,
which they purchase at a high Rate, from some foreign Pretender to a
mighty Secret or _Nostrum_. Persons of a Class or two above the Populace
do not care to run after a Mountebank, from supposing they should
depretiate themselves by mixing with the Herd. Yet if that very Quack,
instead of coming among us, were to reside in some foreign City; if,
instead of posting up his lying Puffs and Pretentions at the Corners of
the Streets, he would get them inserted in the Gazettes, and
News-papers; if, instead of selling his boasted Remedies in Person, he
should establish Shops or Offices for that Purpose in every City; and
finally, if instead of selling them twenty times above their real Value,
he would still double that Price; instead of having the common People
for his Customers, he would take in the wealthy Citizen, Persons of all
Ranks, and from almost every Country. For strange as it seems, it is
certain, that a Person of such a Condition, who is sensible in every
other Respect; and who will scruple to confide his Health to the Conduct
of such Physicians as would be the justest Subjects of his Confidence,
will venture to take, through a very unaccountable Infatuation, the most
dangerous Medicine, upon the Credit of an imposing Advertisement,
published by as worthless and ignorant a Fellow as the Mountebank whom
he despises, because the latter blows a Horn under his Window; and yet
who differs from the former in no other Respects except those I have
just pointed out.
§ 581. Scarcely a Year passes, without one or another such advertized
and vaunted Medicine's getting into high Credit; the Ravages of which
are more or less, in Proportion to its being more or less in Vogue.
Fortunately, for the human Species, but few of these _Nostrums_ have
attained an equal Reputation with _Ailbaud_'s Powders, an Inhabitant of
_Aix_ in _Provence_, and unworthy the Name of a Physician; who has
over-run _Europe_ for some Years, with a violent Purge, the Remembrance
of which will not be effaced before the Extinction of all its Victims. I
attend now, and for a long time past, several Patients, whose Disorders
I palliate without Hopes of ever curing them; and who owe their present
melancholy State of Body to nothing but the manifest Consequences of
these Powders; and I have actually seen, very lately, two Persons who
have been cruelly poisoned by this boasted Remedy of his. A French
Physician, as eminent for his Talents and his Science, as estimable from
his personal Character in other Respects, has published some of the
unhappy and tragical Consequences which the Use of them has occasioned;
and were a Collection published of the same Events from them, in every
Place where they have been introduced, the Size and the Contents of the
Volume would make a very terrible one.
§ 582. It is some Comfort however, that all the other Medicines thus
puffed and vended have not been altogether so fashionable, nor yet quite
so dangerous: but all posted and advertized Medicines should be judged
of upon this Principle (and I do not know a more infallible one in
Physics, nor in the Practice of Physic), that whoever advertises any
Medicine, as a universal Remedy for all Diseases, is an absolute
Impostor, such a Remedy being impossible and contradictory. I shall not
here offer to detail such Proofs as may be given of the Verity of this
Proposition: but I freely appeal for it to every sensible Man, who will
reflect a little on the different Causes of Diseases; on the Opposition
of these Causes; and on the Absurdity of attempting to oppose such
various Diseases, and their Causes, by one and the same Remedy.
As many as shall settle their Judgments properly on this Principle, will
never be imposed upon by the superficial Gloss of these Sophisms
contrived to prove, that all Diseases proceed from one Cause; and that
this Cause is so very tractable, as to yield to one boasted Remedy. They
will perceive at once, that such an Assertion must be founded in the
utmost Knavery or Ignorance; and they will readily discover where the
Fallacy lies. Can any one expect to cure a Dropsy, which arises from too
great a Laxity of the Fibres, and too great an Attenuation or Thinness
of the Blood, by the same Medicines that are used to cure an
inflammatory Disease, in which the Fibres are too stiff and tense, and
the Blood too thick and dense? Yet consult the News-papers and the
Posts, and you will see published in and on all of them, Virtues just as
contradictory; and certainly the Authors of such poisonous
Contradictions ought to be legally punished for them.
§ 583. I heartily wish the Publick would attend here to a very natural
and obvious Reflection. I have treated in this Book, but of a small
Number of Diseases, most of them acute ones; and I am positive that no
competent well qualified Physician has ever employed fewer Medicines, in
the Treatment of the Diseases themselves. Nevertheless I have prescribed
seventy-one, and I do not see which of them I could retrench, or
dispense with the Want of, if I were obliged to use one less. Can it be
supposed then, that any one single Medicine, compound or simple, shall
cure thirty times as many Diseases as those I have treated of?
§ 584. I shall add another very important Observation, which doubtless
may have occurred to many of my Readers; and it is this, that the
different Causes of Diseases, their different Characters; the
Differences which arise from the necessary Alterations that happen
throughout their Progress and Duration; the Complications of which they
are susceptible; the Varieties which result from the State of different
Epidemics, of Seasons, of Sexes, and of many other Circumstances; that
these Diversities, I say, oblige us very often to vary and change the
Medicines; which proves how very ticklish and dangerous it is to have
them directed by Persons, who have such an imperfect Knowledge of them,
as those who are not Physicians must be supposed to have. And the
Circumspection to be used in such Cases ought to be proportioned to the
Interest the Assistant takes in the Preservation of the Patient; and
that Love of his Neighbour with which he is animated.
§ 585. Must not the same Arguments and Reflections unavoidably suggest
the Necessity of an entire Tractability on the Part of the Patient, and
his Friends and Assistants? The History of Diseases which have their
stated Times of Beginning, of manifesting and displaying themselves; of
arriving at, and continuing in their Height, and of decreasing; do not
all these demonstrate the Necessity of continuing the same Medicines, as
long as the Character of the Distemper is the same; and the Danger of
changing them often, only because what has been given has not afforded
immediate Relief? Nothing can injure the Patient more than this
Instability and Caprice. After the Indication which his Distemper
suggests, appears to be well deduced, the Medicine must be chosen that
is likeliest to resist the Cause of it; and it must be continued as long
as no new Symptom or Circumstance supervenes, which requires an
Alteration of it; except it should be evident, that an Error had been
incurred in giving it. But to conclude that a Medicine is useless or
insignificant, because it does not remove or abate the Distemper as
speedily, as the Impatience of the Sick would naturally desire it; and
to change it for another, is as unreasonable, as it would be for a Man
to break his Watch, because the Hand takes twelve Hours, to make a
Revolution round the Dial-plate.
§ 586. Physicians have some Regard to the State of the Urine of sick
Persons, especially in inflammatory Fevers; as the Alterations occurring
in it help them to judge of the Changes that may have been made in the
Character and Consistence of the Humours in the Mass of Blood; and
thence may conduce to determine the Time, in which it will be proper to
dispose them to some Evacuation. But it is gross Ignorance to imagine,
and utter Knavery and Imposture to persuade the Sick, that the meer
Inspection of their Urine solely, sufficiently enables others to judge
of the Symptoms and Cause of the Disease, and to direct the best
Remedies for it. This Inspection of the Urine can only be of Use when it
is duly inspected; when we consider at the same time the exact State and
the very Looks of the Patient; when these are compared with the Degree
of the Symptoms of the Malady; with the other Evacuations; and when the
Physician is strictly informed of all external Circumstances, which may
be considered as foreign to the Malady; which may alter or affect the
Evacuations, such as particular Articles of Food, particular Drinks,
different Medicines, or the very Quantity of Drink. Where a Person is
not furnished with an exact Account of these Circumstances, the meer
Inspection of the Urine is of no Service, it suggests no Indication, nor
any Expedient; and meer common Sense sufficiently proves, and it may be
boldly affirmed, that whoever orders any Medicine, without any other
Knowledge of the Disease, than what an Inspection of the Urine affords,
is a rank Knave, and the Patient who takes them is a Dupe.
§ 587. And here now any Reader may very naturally ask, whence can such a
ridiculous Credulity proceed, upon a Subject so essentially interesting
to us as our own Health?
In Answer to this it should be observed, that some Sources, some Causes
of it seem appropriated merely to the People, the Multitude. The first
of these is, the mechanical Impression of Parade and Shew upon the
Senses. 2, The Prejudice they have conceived, as I said before, of the
Conjurers curing by a supernatural Gift. 3, The Notion the Country
People entertain, that their Distemper and Disorders are of a Character
and Species peculiar to themselves, and that the Physicians, attending
the Rich, know nothing concerning them. 4, The general Mistake that
their employing the Conjurer is much cheaper. 5, Perhaps a sheepish
shame-faced Timidity may be one Motive, at least with some of them. 6, A
Kind of Fear too, that Physicians will consider their Cases with less
Care and Concern, and be likely to treat them more cavalierly; a Fear
which increases that Confidence which the Peasant, and which indeed
every Man has in his Equal, being sounded in Equality itself. And 7, the
Discourse and Conversation of such illiterate Empirics being more to
their Tast, and more adapted to their Apprehension.
But it is less easy to account for this blind Confidence, which Persons
of a superior Class (whole Education being considered as much better are
regarded as better Reasoners) repose in these boasted Remedies; and even
for some Conjurer in Vogue. Nevertheless even some of their Motives may
be probably assigned.
The first is that great Principle of _Seïty_, or _Selfness_, as it may
be called, innate to Man, which attaching him to the Prolongation of his
own Existence more than to any other thing in the Universe, keeps his
Eyes, his utmost Attention, continually fixed upon this Object; and
compels him to make it the very Point, the Purpose of all his Advances
and Proceedings; notwithstanding it does not permit him to distinguish
the safest Paths to it from the dangerous ones. This is the surest and
shortest Way says some Collector at the Turnpike, he pays, passes, and
perishes from the Precipices that occur in his Route.
This very Principle is the Source of another Error, which consists in
reposing, involuntarily, a greater Degree of Confidence in those, who
flatter and fall in the most with us in our favourite Opinions. The well
apprised Physician, who foresees the Length and the Danger of a Disease;
and who is a Man of too much Integrity to affirm what he does not think,
must, from a necessary Construction of the human Frame and Mind, be
listened to less favourably, than he who flatters us by saying what we
wish. We endeavour to elongate, to absent ourselves, from the
Sentiments, the Judgment of the first; we smile, from Self-complacency,
at those of the last, which in a very little time are sure of obtaining
our Preference.
A third Cause, which results from the same Principle is, that we give
ourselves up the most readily to his Conduct, whose Method seems the
least disagreeable, and flatters our Inclinations the most. The
Physician who enjoins a strict Regimen; who insists upon some Restraints
and Self-denials; who intimates the Necessity of Time and Patience for
the Accomplishment of the Cure, and who expects a thorough Regularity
through the Course of it, disgusts a Patient who has been accustomed to
indulge his own Tast and Humour; the Quack, who never hesitates at
complying with it, charms him. The Idea of a long and somewhat distant
Cure, to be obtained at the End of an unpleasant and unrelaxing Regimen,
supposes a very perilous Disease; this Idea disposes the Patient to
Disgust and Melancholy, he cannot submit to it without Pain; and he
embraces, almost unconsciously, merely to avoid this, an opposite System
which presents him only with the Idea of such a Distemper, as will give
Way to a few Doses of Simples.
That Propensity to the New and Marvellous, which tyrannizes over so
large a Proportion of our Species, and which has advanced so many absurd
Persons and Things into Reputation, is a fourth and a very powerful
Motive. An irksome Satiety, and a Tiresomeness, as it were, from the
same Objects, is what our Nature is apt to be very apprehensive of;
though we are incessantly conducted towards it, by a Perception of some
Void, some Emptiness in ourselves, and even in Society too: But new and
extraordinary Sensations rousing us from this disagreeable State, more
effectually than any Thing else, we unthinkingly abandon ourselves to
them, without foreseeing their Consequences.
A fifth Cause arises from seven Eighths of Mankind being managed by, or
following, the other Eighth; and, generally speaking, the Eighth that is
so very forward to manage them, are the least fit and worthy to do it;
whence all must go amiss, and absurd and embarrassing Consequences ensue
from the Condition of Society. A Man of excellent Sense frequently sees
only through the Eyes of a Fool, of an intriguing Fellow, or of a Cheat;
in this he judges wrong, and his Conduct must be so too. A man of real
Merit cannot connect himself with those who are addicted to caballing;
and yet such are the Persons, who frequently conduct others.
Some other Causes might be annexed to these, but I shall mention only
one of them, which I have already hinted, and the Truth of which I am
confirmed in from several Years Experience; which is, that we generally
love those who reason more absurdly than ourselves, better than those
who convince us of our own weak Reasoning.
I hope the Reflexions every Reader will make on these Causes of our ill
Conduct on this important Head, may contribute to correct or diminish
it; and to destroy those Prejudices whose fatal Effects we may
continually observe.
[N. B. _The Multitude of_ all _the Objects of this excellent Chapter in
this Metropolis, and doubtless throughout_ England, _were strong
Inducements to have taken a little wholesome Notice of the Impostures of
a few of the most pernicious. But on a second Perusal of this Part of
the Original and its Translation, I thought it impossible (without
descending to personal, nominal Anecdotes about the Vermin) to add any
Thing material upon a Subject, which the Author has with such Energy
exhausted. He even seems, by some of his Descriptions, to have taken
Cognizance of a few of our most self-dignified itinerant Empirics; as
these Genius's find it necessary sometimes to treat themselves with a
little Transportation. In reality Dr._ _Tissot_ _has, in a very masterly
Way, thoroughly dissected and displayed the whole_ Genus, _every Species
of Quacks. And when he comes to account for that Facility, with which
Persons of very different Principles from them, and of better
Intellects, first listen to, and finally countenance such Caitiffs, he
penetrates into some of the most latent Weaknesses of the human Mind;
even such as are often Secrets to their Owners. It is difficult,
throughout this Disquisition, not to admire the Writer; but impossible
not to love the Man, the ardent Philanthropist. His Sentiment that--"A
Man of real Merit cannot connect himself with those who are addicted to
caballing,"--is exquisitely just, and so liberal, that it never entered
into the Mind of any disingenuous Man, however dignified, in any
Profession. Persons of the simplest Hearts and purest Reflections must
shrink at every Consciousness of Artifice; and secretly reproach
themselves for each Success, that has redounded to them at the Expence
of Truth._] K.
__Chapter XXXIV.__
_Containing Questions absolutely necessary to be answered
exactly by the Patient, who consults a Physician._
__Sect.__ 588.
Great Consideration and Experience are necessary to form a right
Judgment of the State of a Patient, whom the Physician has not
personally seen; even though he should receive the best Information it
is possible to give him, at a Distance from the Patient. But this
Difficulty is greatly augmented, or rather changed into an
Impossibility, when his Information is not exact and sufficient. It has
frequently happened to myself, that after having examined Peasants who
came to get Advice for others, I did not venture to prescribe, because
they were not able to give me a sufficient Information, in order to my
being certain of the Distemper. To prevent this great Inconvenience, I
subjoin a List of such Questions, as indispensably require clear and
direct Answers.
_General Questions._
What is the Patient's Age?
Is he generally a healthy Person?
What is his general Course of Life?
How long has he been sick?
In what Manner did his present Sickness begin, or appear?
Has he any Fever?
Is his Pulse hard or soft?
Has he still tolerable Strength, or is he weak?
Does he keep his Bed in the Day Time, or quit it?
Is he in the same Condition throughout the whole Day?
Is he still, or restless?
Is he hot, or cold?
Has he Pains in the Head, the Throat, the Breast, the Stomach, the
Belly, the Loins, or in the Limbs, the Extremities of the Body?
Is his Tongue dry? does he complain of Thirst? of an ill Tast in his
Mouth? of Reachings to vomit, or of an Aversion to Food?
Does he go to stool often or seldom?
What Appearance have his Stools, and what is their usual quantity?
Does he make much Urine? What Appearance has his Urine, as to Colour and
Contents? Are they generally much alike, or do they change often?
Does he sweat?
Does he expectorate, or cough up?
Does he get Sleep?
Does he draw his Breath easily?
What Regimen does he observe in his Sickness?
What Medicines has he taken?
What Effects have they produced?
Has he never had the same Distemper before?
§ 589. The Diseases of Women and Children are attended with peculiar
Circumstances; so that when Advice is asked for them, Answers must be
given, not only to the preceding Questions, which relate to sick Persons
in general; but also to the following, which regard these particularly.
_Questions with Respect to Women._
Have they arrived at their monthly Discharges, and are these regular?
Are they pregnant? Is so, how long since?
Are they in Child-bed?
Has their Delivery been happily accomplished?
Has the Mother cleansed sufficiently?
Has her Milk come in due Time and Quantity?
Does she suckle the Infant herself?
Is she subject to the Whites?
_Questions relating to Children._
What is the Child's exact Age?
How many Teeth has he cut?
Does he cut them painfully?
Is he any-wise ricketty, or subject to Knots or Kernels?
Has he had the Small Pocks?
Does the Child void Worms, upwards or downwards?
Is his Belly large, swelled, or hard?
Is his Sleep quiet, or otherwise?
§ 590. Besides these general Questions, common in all the Diseases of
the different Sexes and Ages, the Person consulting must also answer to
those, which have a close and direct Relation to the Disease, at that
very Time affecting the Sick.
For Example, in the Quinsey, the Condition of the Throat must be exactly
inquired into. In Diseases of the Breast, an Account must be given of
the Patient's Pains; of his Cough; of the Oppression, and of his
Breathing, and Expectoration. I shall not enter upon a more particular
Detail; common Sense will sufficiently extend this Plan or Specimen to
other Diseases; and though these Questions may seem numerous, it will
always be easy to write down their Answers in as little Room, as the
Questions take up here. It were even to be wished that Persons of every
Rank, who occasionally write for medical Advice and Directions, would
observe such a Plan or Succession, in the Body of their Letters. By this
Means they would frequently procure the most satisfactory Answers; and
save themselves the Trouble of writing second Letters, to give a
necessary Explanation of the first.
The Success of Remedies depends, in a very great Measure, on a very
exact Knowledge of the Disease; and that Knowledge on the precise
Information of it, which is laid before the Physician.
__FINIS.__
_TABLE_
_Of the Prescriptions and Medicines, referred to in the
foregoing Treatise: Which, with the Notes beneath them, are to
be read before the taking, or Application, of any of the said
Medicines._
As in Order to ascertain the Doses of Medicines, I have generally done
it by Pounds, Ounces, Half-Ounces, _&c. &c._ and as this Method,
especially to the common People, might prove a little too obscure and
embarrassing, I have specified here the exact Weight of Water, contained
in such Vessels or liquid Measures, as are most commonly used in the
Country.
The Pound which I mean, throughout all these Prescriptions, is that
consisting of sixteen Ounces. These Ounces contain eight Drachms, each
Drachm consisting of three Scruples, and each Scruple of twenty Grains;
the medical Scruple of _Paris_ solely containing twenty-four Grains.
The liquid Measure, the _Pot_ used at _Berne_, being that I always speak
of, may be estimated, without any material Error, to contain three
Pounds and a Quarter, which is equal to three Pints, and eight common
Spoonfuls English Measure. But the exact Weight of the Water, contained
in the Pot of _Berne_, being fifty-one Ounces and a Quarter only, it is
strictly equal but to three Pints and six common Spoonfuls _English_.
This however is a Difference of no Importance, in the usual Drinks or
Aliments of the Sick.
The small drinking Glass we talk of, filled so as not to run over,
contains three Ounces and three Quarters. But filled, as we propose it
should for the Sick, it is to be estimated only at three Ounces.
The common middle sized Cup, though rather large than little, contains
three Ounces and a Quarter. But as dealt out to the Sick, it should not
be estimated, at the utmost, above three Ounces.
The small Glass contains seven common Spoonfuls; so that a Spoonful is
supposed to contain half an Ounce.
The small Spoon, or Coffee Spoon, when of its usual Size and Cavity, may
contain thirty Drops, or a few more; but, in the Exhibition of
Medicines, it may be reckoned at thirty Drops. Five or six of these are
deemed equal in Measure, to a common Soup-Spoon.
The Bason or Porrenger, mentioned in the present Treatise, holds,
without running over, the Quantity of five Glasses, which is equivalent
to eighteen Ounces and three Quarters. It may be estimated however,
without a Fraction, at eighteen Ounces: and a sick Person should never
be allowed to take more than a third Part of this Quantity of
Nourishment, at any one Time.
The Doses in all the following Prescriptions are adjusted to the Age of
an Adult or grown Man, from the Age of eighteen to that of sixty Years.
From the Age of twelve to eighteen, two thirds of that Dose will
generally be sufficient: and from twelve down to seven Years one half,
diminishing this still lower, in Proportion to the greater Youth of the
Patient: so that not more than one eighth of the Dose prescribed should
be given to an infant of some Months old, or under one Year. But it must
also be considered, that their different Constitutions will make a
considerable Difference in adjusting their different Doses. It were to
be wished, on this Account, that every Person would carefully observe
whether a strong Dose is necessary to purge him, or if a small one is
sufficient; as Exactness is most important in adjusting the Doses of
such Medicines, as are intended to purge, or to evacuate in any other
Manner.
Nº. 1.
Take a Pugil or large Pinch between the Thumb and Fingers of Elder
Flowers; put them into an earthen-ware Mug or Porrenger, with two Ounces
of Honey, and an Ounce and a half of good Vinegar. Pour upon them three
Pints and one Quarter of boiling Water. Stir it about a little with a
Spoon to mix and dissolve the Honey; then cover up the Mug; and, when
the Liquor is cold, strain it through a Linen Cloth.
Nº. 2.
Take two Ounces of whole Barley, cleanse and wash it well in hot Water,
throwing away this Water afterwards. Then boil it in five Chopins or
_English_ Pints of Water, till the Barley bursts and opens. Towards the
End of the boiling, throw in one Drachm and a half of Nitre [Salt Petre]
strain it through a Linen Cloth, and then add to it one Ounce and a half
of Honey, and one Ounce of Vinegar. [113]
[113] This makes an agreeable Drink; and the Notion of its being windy is
idle; since it is so only to those, with whom Barley does not
agree. It may, where Barley is not procurable, be made from Oats.
Nº. 3.
Take the same Quantity of Barley as before, and instead of Nitre, boil
in it, as soon as the Barley is put in to boil, a Quarter of an Ounce of
Cream of Tartar. Strain it, and add nothing else [114] to it.
[114] In those Cases mentioned § 241, 262, 280, instead of the Barley,
four Ounces of Grass Roots may be boiled in the same Quantity of
Water for half an Hour, with the Cream of Tartar.
Nº. 4.
Take three Ounces of the freshest sweet Almonds, and one Ounce of Gourd
or Melon Seed; bruise them in a Mortar, adding to them by a little at a
time, one Pint of Water, then strain it through Linen. Bruise what
remains again, adding gradually to it another Pint of Water, then
straining; and adding Water to the Residue, till full three Pints at
least of Water are thus used: after which it may again be poured upon
the bruised Mass, stirred well about, and then be finally strained off.
Half an Ounce of Sugar may safely be bruised with the Almonds and Seeds
at first, though some weakly imagine it too heating; and delicate
Persons may be allowed a little Orange Flower Water with it.
Nº. 5.
Take two Pugils of Mallow Leaves and Flowers, cut them small, and pour a
Pint of boiling Water upon them. After standing some time strain it,
adding one Ounce of Honey to it. For Want of Mallows, which is
preferable, a similar Glyster may be made of the Leaves of Mercury,
Pellitory of the Wall, the Marsh-Mallows, the greater Mallows, from
Lettuce, or from Spinage. A few very particular Consititutions are not
to be purged by any Glyster but warm Water alone; such should receive no
other, and the Water should not be very hot.
Nº. 6.
Boil a Pugil of Mallow Flowers, in a Pint of Barley Water for a Glyster.
Nº. 7.
Take three Pints of simple Barley Water, add to it three Ounces of the
Juice of Sow-thistle, or of Groundsel, or of the greater Houseleek, or
of Borage. [115]
[115] These Juices are to be procured from the Herbs when fresh and very
young, if possible, by beating them in a Marble Mortar, or for Want
of such [or a wooden Mortar] in an Iron one, and then squeezing out
the Juice through a Linen Bag. It must be left to settle a little
in an earthen Vessel, after which the clear Juice must be decanted
gently off, and the Sediment be left behind.
Nº. 8.
To one Ounce of Oxymel of Squills, add five Ounces of a strong Infusion
of Elder Flowers.
Nº. 9.
There are many different emollient Applications, which have very nearly
the same Virtues. The following are the most efficacious.
1, Flanels wrung out of a hot Decoction of Mallow Flowers.
2, Small Bags filled with Mallow Flowers, or with those of Mullein, of
Elder, of Camomile, of wild Corn Poppy, and boiled either in Milk or
Water.
3, Pultices of the same Flowers boiled in Milk and Water.
4, Bladders half filled with hot Milk and Water, or with some emollient
Decoction.
5, A Pultice of boiled Bread and Milk, or of Barley or Rice boiled till
thoroughly soft and tender.
6, In the Pleurisy (See § 89) the affected Part may be rubbed sometimes
with Ointment of Marsh-mallows.
Nº. 10.
To one Ounce of Spirit of Sulphur, add six Ounces of Syrup of Violets,
or for want of the latter, as much Barley Water, of a thicker
Consistence than ordinary. [116]
[116] Some Friends, says Dr. _Tissot_, whose judgment I greatly respect,
have thought the Doses of acid Spirit which I direct extremely
strong; and doubtless they are so, if compared with the Doses
generally prescribed, and to which I should have limited myself, if
I had not frequently seen their Insufficience. Experience has
taught me to increase them considerably; and, augmenting the Dose
gradually, I now venture to give larger Doses of them than have
ever been done before, and always with much Success; the same Doses
which I have advised in this Work not being so large as those I
frequently prescribe. For this Reason I intreat those Physicians,
who have thought them excessive, to try the acid Spirits in larger
Doses than those commonly ordered; and I am persuaded they will see
Reason to congratulate themselves upon the Effect. [117]
[117] Our Author's _French_ Annotator has a Note against this Acid, which
I have omitted; for though I have given his Note Page 84 [with the
Substance of the immediately preceding one] to which I have also
added some Doubts of my own, from Facts, concerning the Benefit of
Acids in inflammatory Disorders of the Breast; yet with Regard to
the ardent, the putrid, the malignant Fever, and _Erisipelas_, in
which Dr. _Tissot_ directs this, I have no Doubt of its Propriety
(supposing no insuperable Disagreement to Acids in the
Constitution) and with Respect to their Doses, I think we may
safely rely on our honest Author's Veracity. Dr. _Fuller_ assures
us, a Gentleman's Coachman was recovered from the Bleeding Small
Pocks, by large and repeated Doses of the Oil of Vitriol, in
considerable Draughts of cold Water. _K._
Nº. 11.
Take two Ounces of Manna, and half an Ounce of Sedlitz Salt, or for want
of it, as much Epsom Salt; dissolving them in four Ounces of hot Water,
and straining them.
Nº. 12.
Take of Elder Flowers one Pugil, of Hyssop Leaves half as much. Pour
three Pints of boiling Water upon them. After infusing some time,
strain, and dissolve three Ounces of Honey in the Infusion.
Nº. 13.
Is only the same Kind of Drink made by omitting the Hyssop, and adding
instead of it as much more Elder Flowers.
Nº. 14.
Let one Ounce of the best Jesuits Bark in fine Powder be divided into
sixteen equal Portions.
Nº. 15.
Take of the Flowers of St. _John's_ Wort, of Elder, and of Melilot, of
each a few Pinches; put them into the Bottom of an Ewer or Vessel
containing five or six _English_ Pints, with half an Ounce of Oil of
Turpentine, and fill it up with boiling Water.
Nº. 16.
Is only the Syrup of the Flowers of the wild red Corn Poppy.
Nº. 17.
Is only very clear sweet Whey, in every Pint of which one Ounce of Honey
is to be dissolved.
Nº. 18.
Take of Castile or hard white Soap six Drachms; of Extract of Dandelion
one Drachm and a half; of Gum Ammoniacum half a Drachm, and with Syrup
of Maidenhair make a Mass of Pills, to be formed into Pills, weighing
three Grains each.
Nº. 19.
Gargarisms may be prepared from a Decoction, or rather an Infusion, of
the Leaves of Periwinkle, or of Red Rose-Leaves, or of Mallows. Two
Ounces of Vinegar and as much Honey must be added to every Pint of it,
and the Patient should gargle with it pretty hot. The deterging,
cleansing Gargarisin referred to § 112, is a light Infusion of the Tops
of Sage, adding two Ounces of Honey to each Pint of it.
Nº. 20.
Is only one Ounce of powdered Nitre, divided into sixteen equal Doses.
Nº. 21.
Take of Jalap, of Senna, and of Cream of Tartar of each thirty Grains
finely powdered; and let them be very well mixed. [118]
[118] This, our Author observes, will work a strong Country-man very
well: by which however he does not seem to mean an Inhabitant of
the Mountains in _Valais_. See P. 547.
Nº. 22.
Take of _China_ Root, and of Sarsaparilla of each one Ounce and a half,
of Sassafras Root, and of the Shavings of Guiacum, otherwise called
_Lignum vitæ_, of each one Ounce. Let the whole be cut very fine. Then
put them into a glazed earthen Vessel; pouring upon them about five
pints of boiling Water. Let them boil gently for an Hour; then take it
from the Fire, and strain it off through Linen. This is called the
Decoction of the Woods, and is often of different Proportions of these
Ingredients, or with the Addition of a few others. More Water may, after
the first boiling, be poured on the same Ingredients, and be boiled up
into a small Decoction for common Drink.
Nº. 23.
Take one Ounce of the Pulp of Tamarinds, half a Drachm of Nitre, and
four Ounces of Water; let them boil not more than one Minute, then add
two Ounces of Manna, and when dissolved strain the Mixture off.
Nº. 24.
Is only an Ounce of Cream of Tartar, divided into eight equal Parts.
Nº. 25.
This Prescription is only the Preparation of Kermes mineral, otherwise
called the Chartreusian Powder. Dr. _Tissot_ orders but one Grain for a
Dose. It has been directed from one to three.
Nº. 26.
Take three Ounces of the common Burdock Root; boil it for half an Hour,
with half a Drachm of Nitre, in three full Pints of Water.
Nº. 27.
Take half a Pinch of the Herbs prescribed Nº. 9, Article 2, and half an
Ounce of hard white Soap shaved thin. Pour on these one Pint and a half
of boiling Water, and one Glass of Wine. Strain the Liquor and squeeze
it strongly out.
Nº. 28.
Take of the purest Quicksilver one Ounce; of Venice Turpentine half a
Drachm, of the freshest Hog's Lard two Ounces, and let the whole be very
well rubbed together into an Ointment. [119]
[119] This Ointment should be prepared at the Apothecaries; the Receipt
of it being given here, only because the Proportions of the
Quicksilver and the Lard are not always the same in different
Places.
Nº. 29.
This Prescription is nothing but the yellow Basilicon.
Nº. 30.
Take of natural and factitious, or artificial Cinnabar, twenty-four
Grains each; of Musk sixteen Grains, and let the whole be reduced into
fine Powder, and very well mixed. [120]
[120] This Medicine is known by the Name of _Cob's_ Powder; and as its
Reputation is very considerable, I did not chuse to omit it; though
I must repeat here what I have said § 195--That the Cinnabar is
probably of little or no Efficacy; and there are other Medicines
that have also much more than the Musk; which besides is extremely
dear for poor People, as the requisite Doses of it, in very
dangerous Cases, would cost ten or twelve Shillings daily. The
Prescription, Nº. 31, is more effectual than the Musk; and instead
of the useless Cinnabar, the powerful Quicksilver may be given to
the Quantity of forty-five Grains. I have said nothing hitherto in
this Work of the red blossomed Mulberry Tree, which passes for a
real Specific, among some Persons, in this dreadful Malady. An
Account of it may be seen in the first Volume of the Oeconomical
Journal of _Berne_. It is my Opinion however, that none of the
Instances related there are satisfactory and decisive; its Efficacy
still appearing to me very doubtful.
Nº. 31.
Take one Drachm of _Virginia_ Snake Root in Powder; of Camphor and of
Assa-foetida ten Grains each; of Opium one Grain, and with a sufficient
Quantity of Conserve, or Rob of Elder, make a Bolus. [121]
[121] When this is preferred to Nº. 30, of which Musk is an Ingredient,
the Grain of Opium should be omitted, except once or at most twice
in the twenty-four Hours. Two Doses of Quicksilver, of fifteen
Grains each, should be given daily in the Morning, in the Interval
between the other Bolus's.
Nº. 32.
Take three Ounces of Tamarinds. Pour on them one Pint of boiling Water,
and after letting them boil a Minute or two, strain the Liquor through a
Linen Cloth.
Nº. 33.
Take seven Grains of Turbith Mineral; and make it into a Pill or Bolus
with a little Crumb of Bread. [122]
[122] This Medicine makes the Dogs vomit and slaver abundantly. It has
effected many Cures after the _Hydrophobia_, the Dread of Water,
was manifest. It must be given three Days successively, and
afterwards twice a Week, for fifteen Days.
Nº. 34.
This is nothing but a Prescription of six Grains of Tartar [123] emetic.
[123] When People are ignorant of the Strength of the Tartar emetic
(which is often various) or of the Patient's being easy or hard to
vomit, a Dose and a half may be dissolved in a Quart of warm Water,
of which he may take a Glass every Quarter of an Hour, whence the
Operation may be forwarded, or otherwise regulated, according to
the Number of Vomits or Stools. This Method, much used in _Paris_,
seems a safe and eligible one.
Nº. 35.
Take thirty-five Grains of Ipecacuanna, which, in the very strongest
Constitutions, may be augmented to forty-five, or even to fifty Grains.
Nº. 36.
Prescribes only the common blistering Plaister; and the Note observes
that very young Infants who have delicate Skins may have Sinapisms
applied instead of Blisters; and made of a little old Leaven, kneaded up
with a few Drops of sharp Vinegar.
Nº. 37.
Take of the Tops of _Chamaedrys_ or Ground Oak, of the lesser Centaury,
of Wormwood and of Camomile, of each one Pugil. Pour on them three Pints
of boiling Water; and suffering them to infuse until it is cold, strain
the Liquor through a Linen Cloth, pressing it out strongly.
Nº. 38.
Take forty Grains of Rhubarb, and as much Cream of Tartar in Powder,
mixing them well together.
Nº. 39.
Take three Drachms of Cream of Tartar, and one Drachm of Ipecacuanna
finely powdered. Rub them well together, and divide them into six equal
Parts.
Nº. 40.
Take of the simple Mixture one Ounce, of Spirit of Vitriol half an
Ounce, and mix them. The Dose is one or two Tea Spoonfuls in a Cup of
the Patient's common Drink. The simple Mixture is composed of five
Ounces of Treacle Water camphorated, of three Ounces of Spirit of Tartar
rectified, and one Ounce of Spirit of Vitriol. If the Patient has an
insuperable Aversion to the Camphor, it must be omitted, though the
Medicine is less efficacious without it. And if his Thirst is not very
considerable, the simple Mixture may be given alone, without any further
Addition of Spirit of Vitriol.
Nº. 41.
Take half a Drachm of _Virginia_ Snake-root, ten Grains of Camphor, and
make them into a Bolus with Rob of Elder-Berries. If the Patient's
Stomach cannot bear so large a Dose of Camphor, he may take it in
smaller Doses and oftner, _viz._ three Grains, every two Hours. If there
is a violent Looseness, Diascordium must be substituted instead of the
Rob of Elder-berries.
Nº. 42.
Prescribes only the _Theriaca pauperum_, or poor Man's Treacle, in the
Dose of a Quarter of an Ounce. The following Composition of it is that
chiefly preferred by our Author. Take equal Parts of round Birthwort
Roots, of Elecampane, of Myrrh, and of Rob or Conserve of
Juniper-berries, and make them into an Electuary of a rather thin, than
very stiff Consistence, with Syrup of Orange-peel.
Nº. 43.
The first of the three Medicines referred to in this Number, is that
already directed, Nº. 37. The second is as follows.
Take equal Parts of the lesser Centaury, of Wormwood, of Myrrh, all
powdered, and of Conserve of Juniper-berries, making them up into a
pretty thick Consistence with Syrup of Wormwood. The Dose is a Quarter
of an Ounce; to be taken at the same Intervals as the Bark.
For the third Composition--Take of the Roots of Calamus Aromaticus and
Elecampane well bruised, two Ounces; of the Tops of the lesser Centaury
cut small, a Pugil; of Filings of unrusted Iron two Ounces, of old white
Wine, three Pints. Put them all into a wide necked Bottle, and set it
upon Embers, or on a Stove, or by the Chimney, that it may be always
kept hot. Let them infuse twenty-four Hours, shaking them well five or
six Times; then let the Infusion settle, and strain it. The Dose is a
common Cup every four Hours, four Times daily, and timing it one Hour
before Dinner.
Nº. 44.
Take a Quarter of an Ounce of Cream of Tartar, a Pugil of common
Camomile; boil them in twelve Ounces of Water for half an Hour, and
strain it off.
Nº. 45.
Directs only the common Sal Ammoniac, from two Scruples to one Drachm
for a Dose. The Note to it adds, that it may be made into a Bolus with
Rob of Elder; and observes, that those feverish Patients, who have a
weak delicate Stomach, do not well admit of this Salt; no more than of
several others, which affect them with great Disorder and Anxiety.
Nº. 46.
The Powder. Take one Pugil of Camomile Flowers, and as much Elder
Flowers, bruising them well; of fine Flour or Starch three Ounces; of
Ceruss and of blue Smalt each half an Ounce. Rub the whole, and mix them
well. This Powder may be applied immediately to the Part.
The Plaister. Take of the Ointment called _Nutritum_, made with the
newest sweet Oil, two Ounces; of white Wax three Quarters of an Ounce,
and one Quarter of an Ounce of blue Smalt. Melt the Wax, then add the
_Nutritum_ to it, after the Smalt finely powdered has been exactly
incorporated with it; stirring it about with an Iron Spatula or Rod,
till the whole is well mixed and cold. This is to be smoothly spread on
Linen Cloth.
A Quarter of an Ounce of Smalt may also be mixed exactly with two Ounces
of Butter or Ointment of Lead, to be used occasionally instead of the
Plaister.
Nº. 47.
Take one Ounce of Sedlitz, or for want of that, as much Epsom Salt, and
two Ounces of Tamarinds: pour upon them eight Ounces of boiling Water,
stirring them about to dissolve the Tamarinds. Strain it off; and divide
it into two equal Draughts, to be given at the Interval of Half an Hour
between the first and last.
Nº. 48.
Take of _Sydenham_'s Liquid Laudanum eighty Drops; of Bawm Water two
Ounces and a half. If the first, or the second, Dose stops or
considerably lessens the Vomiting, this [124] Medicine should not be
further repeated.
[124] The medical Editor at _Lyons_ justly notes here, that these eighty
Drops are a very strong Dose of liquid Laudanum; adding that it is
scarcely ever given at _Lyons_ in a greater Dose than thirty Drops;
and recommending a Spoonful of Syrup of Lemon-peel to be given with
it--But we must observe here in answer to this Note, that when Dr.
_Tissot_ directs this Mixture in the Iliac Passion § 318, to
appease the Vomitings, Art. 3, he orders but one spoonful of this
Mixture to be taken at once, and an Interval of two Hours to be
observed between the first and second Repetition, which reduces
each Dose to sixteen Drops, and which is not to be repeated without
Necessity.
Nº. 49.
Dissolve three Ounces of Manna and twenty Grains of Nitre in twenty
Ounces, or six Glasses, of sweet Whey.
Nº. 50.
To two Ounces of Syrup of Diacodium, or white Poppy Heads, add an equal
Weight of Elder Flower Water, or, for want of it, of Spring Water.
Nº. 51.
Directs nothing but a Drachm of Rhubarb in Powder.
Nº. 52.
Take of _Sulphur vivum_, or of Flower of Brimstone, one Ounce; of Sal
Ammoniac, one Drachm; of fresh Hogs Lard, two Ounces; and mix the whole
very well in a Mortar.
Nº. 53.
Take two Drachms of crude Antimony and as much Nitre, both finely
powdered and very well mixed; dividing the whole into eight equal
Doses. [125]
[125] This Medicine, which often occasions Cholics in some Persons of a
weakly Stomach, is attended with no such Inconvenience in strong
Country People; and has been effectual in some Disorders of the
Skin, which have baffled other Medicines--The Remainder of this
Note observes the great Efficacy of Antimony in promoting
Perspiration, and the extraordinary Benefit it is of to Horses in
different Cases.
Nº. 54.
Take of Filings of Iron, not the least rusty, and of Sugar, each one
Ounce; of Aniseeds Powdered, half an Ounce. After rubbing then very well
together, divide the Powder into twenty-four equal Portions; one of
which is to be taken three times a Day an Hour before eating. [126]
[126] The Prescriptions Nº. 54, 55, 56, are calculated against Distempers
which arise from Obstructions, and a Stoppage of the monthly
Discharges; which Nº. 55 is more particularly intended to remove;
those of 54 and 56 are most convenient, either when the Suppression
does not exist, or is not to be much regarded, if it does. This
Medicine may be rendered less unpalatable for Persons in easy
Circumstances, by adding as much Cinamon instead of Aniseeds; and
though the Quantity of Iron be small, it may be sufficient, if
given early in the Complaint; one, or at the most, two of these
Doses daily, being sufficient for a very young Maiden.
Nº. 55.
Take of Filings of sound Iron two Ounces; of Leaves of Rue, and of white
Hoar-hound one Pugil each; of black Hellebore Root, one Quarter of an
Ounce, and infuse the whole in three Pints of Wine in the Manner already
directed, Nº. 43. The Dose of this is one small Cup three times a Day,
an Hour before eating. [127]
[127] I chuse to repeat here, the more strongly to inculcate so important
a Point, that in Women who have long been ill and languid, our
Endeavours must be directed towards the restoring of the Patient's
Health and Strength, and not to forcing down the monthly
Discharges, which is a very pernicious Practice. These will return
of Course, if the Patient is of a proper Age, as she grows better.
Their Return succeeds the Return of her Health, and should not,
very often cannot, precede it.
Nº. 56.
Take two Ounces of Filings of Iron; of Rue Leaves and Aniseed powdered,
each half an Ounce. Add to them a sufficient Quantity of Honey to make
an Electuary of a good Consistence. The Dose is a Quarter of an Ounce
three times daily.
Nº. 57.
Take of the Extract of the stinking Hemlock, with the purple spotted
Stalk, one Ounce. Form it into Pills weighing two Grains each; adding as
much of the Powder of dry Hemlock Leaves, as the Pills will easily take
up. Begin the Use of this Medicine by giving one Pill Night and Morning.
Some Patients have been so familiarized to it, as to take at length Half
an Ounce daily. [128]
[128] Our learned and candid Author has a very long Note in this Place,
strongly in Favour of _Storck's_ Extract of Hemlock, in which it is
evident he credits the greater Part of the Cures affirmed by Dr.
_Storck_ to have been effected by it. He says he made some himself,
but not of the right Hemlock, which we think it very difficult to
mistake, from its peculiar rank fetid Smell, and its purple spotted
Stalk. After first taking this himself, he found it mitigated the
Pain of Cancers, but did not cure them. But then addressing himself
to Dr. _Storck_, and exactly following his Directions in making it,
he took of Dr. _Storck's_ Extract, and of his own, which exactly
resembled each other, to the Quantity of a Drachm and a half daily;
and finding his Health not in the least impaired by it, he then
gave it to several Patients, curing many scrophulous and cancerous
Cases, and mitigating others, which he supposes were incurable. So
that he seems fully persuaded Dr. _Storck's_ Extract is always
innocent [which in Fact, except in a very few Instances, none of
which were fatal, it has been] and he thinks it a Specific in many
Cases, to which nothing can be substituted as an equivalent Remedy;
that it should be taken with entire Confidence, and that it would
be absurd to neglect its Continuance.
The Translator of this Work of Dr. _Tissot's_ has thought it but
fair to give all the Force of this Note here, which must be his
own, as his Editor at _Lyons_ seems to entertain a very different
Opinion of the Efficacy of this Medicine; for which Opinion we
refer back to his Note, § 375, of this Treatise, which the Reader
may compare with this of our Author's. _K._
Nº. 58.
Take of the Roots of Grass and of Succory well washed, each one Ounce.
Boil them a Quarter of an Hour in a Pint of Water. Then dissolve in it
Half an Ounce of Sedlitz, or of _Epsom_ Salt, and two Ounces of Manna;
and strain it off to drink one Glass of it from Half Hour, to Half Hour,
till its Effects are sufficient. It is to be repeated at the Interval of
two or three Days.
Nº. 59.
Is a Cataplasm or Pultice made of Crumb of Bread, with Camomile Flowers
boiled in Milk, with the Addition of some Soap, so that each Pultice may
contain half a Quarter of an Ounce of this last Ingredient. And when the
Circumstances of female Patients have not afforded them that regular
Attendance, which the Repetition of the Pultice requires, as it should
be renewed every three Hours, I have successfully directed the Hemlock
Plaister of the Shops.
Nº. 60.
Take a sufficient Quantity of dry Hemlock Leaves. Secure them properly
between two Pieces of thin Linen Cloth, so as to make a very flexible
Sort of small Matrass, letting it boil a few Moments in Water, then
squeeze it out and apply it to the affected Part. It must thus be
moistened and heated afresh, and re-applied every two Hours.
Nº. 61.
Take of the Eyes of the Craw-fish, or of the true white Magnesia, two
Drachms; of Cinnamon powdered four Grains. Rub them very well together,
and divide the whole into eight Doses. One of these is to be given in a
Spoonful of Milk, or of Water, before the Infant sucks.
Nº. 62.
Take of an Extract of Walnuts, made in Water, two Drachms; and dissolve
it in half an Ounce of Cinnamon Water. Fifty Drops a Day of this
Solution is to be given to a Child of two Years old; and after the whole
has been taken, the Child should be purged. This Extract is to be made
of the unripe Nuts, when they are of a proper Growth and Consistence for
pickling.
Nº. 63.
Take of Rezin of Jalap two Grains. Rub it a considerable time with
twelve or fifteen Grains of Sugar, and afterwards with three or four
sweet Almonds; adding, very gradually, two common Spoonfuls of Water.
Then strain it through clear thin Linen, as the Emulsion of Almonds was
ordered to be. Lastly, add a Tea Spoonful of Syrup of Capillaire to it.
This is no disagreable Draught, and may be given to a Child of two Years
old: and if they are older, a Grain or two more of the Rezin may be
allowed. But under two Years old, it is prudent to purge Children rather
with Syrup of Succory, or with Manna.
Nº. 64.
Take of the Ointment called _Nutritum_ one Ounce; the entire Yolk of one
small Egg, or the Half of a large one, and mix them well together. This
_Nutritum_ may be readily made by rubbing very well together, and for
some time, two Drachms of Ceruss [white Lead] half an Ounce of Vinegar,
and three Ounces of common Oil.
Nº. 65.
Melt four Ounces of white Wax; add to it, if made in Winter two
Spoonfuls of Oil; if in Summer none at all, or at most, not above a
Spoonful. Dip in this Slips of Linen Cloth not worn too thin, and let
them dry: or spread it thin and evenly over them.
Nº. 66.
Take of Oil of Roses one Pound; of red Lead half a Pound; of Vinegar
four Ounces. Boil them together nearly to the Consistence of a Plaister;
then dissolve in the liquid Mass an Ounce and a Half of yellow Wax, and
two Drachms of Camphor, stirring the whole about well. Remove it then
from the Fire, and spread it on Sheets or Slips of Paper, of what Size
you think most convenient. The Ointment of _Chambauderie_, so famous in
many Families on the Continent, is made of a Quarter of a Pound of
yellow Wax, of the Plaister of three Ingredients (very nearly the same
with Nº. 66) of compound Diachylon and of common Oil, of each the same
Quantity, all melted together, and then stirred about well, after it is
removed from the Fire, till it grows cold. To make a Sparadrap, or Oil
Cloth, which is Linen, covered with, or dipt in an emplastic Substance
or Ointment, it must be melted over again with the Addition of a little
Oil, and applied to the Linen as directed at Nº. 65.
Nº. 67.
Gather in Autumn, while the fine Weather lasts, the Agaric of the Oak,
which is a Kind of _Fungus_ or Excrescence, issuing from the Wood of
that Tree.
It consists at first of four Parts, which present themselves
successively, 1, The outward Rind or Skin, which may be thrown away. 2,
That Part immediately under this Rind, which is the best of all. This is
to be beat well with a Hammer, till it becomes soft and very pliable.
This is the only Preparation it requires, and a Slice of it of a proper
Size is to be applied directly over the bursting, open Blood-vessels. It
constringes and brings them close together; stops the Bleedings; and
generally falls off at the End of two Days. 3, The third Part, adhering
to the second may serve to stop the Bleeding from the smaller Vessels;
and the fourth and last Part may be reduced to Powder, as conducing to
the same Purpose. [129]
[129] Our Author attests his seeing the happiest Consequences from this
Application, which M. _Brossard_, a very eminent _French_ Surgeon,
first published; and declared his Preference of that Agaric which
sprung from those Parts of the Tree, from whence large Boughs had
been lopped.
Nº. 68.
Take four Ounces of Crumbs of Bread, a Pugil of Elder Flowers, and the
same Quantity of those of Camomile, and of St. _John's_ Wort. Boil them
into a Pultice in equal Quantities of Vinegar and Water.
If Fomentations should be thought preferable, take the same Herbs, or
some Pugils of the Ingredients for _Faltrank_: throw them into a Pint
and a Half of boiling Water: and let them infuse some Minutes. Then a
Pint of Vinegar is to be added, and Flanels or other woollen Cloths dipt
in the Fomentation, and wrung out, are to be applied to the Part
affected.
For the aromatic Fomentations recommended § 449, take Leaves of Betony
and of Rue, Flowers of Rosemary or Lavender, and red Roses, of each a
Pugil and a Half. Boil them for a Quarter of an Hour in a Pot with a
Cover, with three Pints of old white Wine. Then strain off, squeezing
the Liquor strongly from the Herbs, and apply it as already directed.
Nº. 69.
Directs only the Plaister of Diapalma. [130]
[130] To spread this upon Lint as directed, § 456, it must be melted down
again with a little Oil.
Nº. 70.
Directs only a Mixture of two Parts Water, and one Part of Vinegar of
Litharge.
Nº. 71.
Take of the Leaves of Sow-bread, and of Camomile Tops, of each one
Pugil. Put them into an earthen Vessel with half an Ounce of Soap, and
as much Sal Ammoniac, and pour upon them three Pints of boiling Water.
_N. B._ I conceive all the Notes to this Table, in which I have not
mentioned the Editor at _Lyons_, nor subscribed with my initial Letter
_K_, to come from the Author, having omitted nothing of them, but the
Prices.
ERRATA.
Page 4, Line 6, for _os_ read _of_. p. 16, l. 16, for _be_ read _me_. p.
29, l. 12, after _it_ add . p. 49, l. 12, dele _and_ at the End of it.
p. 51, in the running Title, for _Causss_ read _Causes_. ib. l. 2, dele
_and_. ib. l. 7, dele _and_. p. 57, last line, for _hurtsul_ read
_hurtful_. p. 67, l. 17, after _Water_, add, _may be placed within the
Room_. p. 74, line last but two, after _never_, dele , p. 96, l. 11, for
_Aiiment_ read _Ailment_. p. 106, l. 23, for the second _is_ read _has_.
p. 126, l. 21, for _breath_ read _breathe_. p. 137, l. 13, for
_Efflorescene_ read _Efflorescence_, p. 145, l. 1, for _Water_ read
_Tea_. p. 148, l. 19, for _beomes_ read _becomes_. p. 163, l. 30. in the
Note, for _occured_ read _occurred_; p. 171, l. 20, dele _and_. p. 189,
l. 28, dele _of_. p. 199, l. 6, for _Paulmier_ read _Palmarius_, being
the _Latinized_ Name of that _Physician_; as we say for _Fernel
Fernelius, Holler Hollerius, &c._ _N. B._ His Powder for the Bite of a
mad Dog consisted of equal Parts of Rue, Vervain, Plantain, Polypody,
common Wormwood, Mugwort, Bastard Baum, Betony, St. _John's_ Wort, and
lesser Centaury Tops, to which _Default_ adds Coraline.----p. 237, l. 2,
for _Streakes_ read _Streaks_. p. 256, first line of the Note * _dele_
the first _often_. p. 261, l. 15, for _happens_ read _happen_. p. 270,
l. 12, dele _t_ in _Switsserland_. p. 282, l. 23, for _enters_ read
_enter_. p. 283, l. 23, for _Stomach_ read _Stomachs_. p. 284, l. 12,
for _it_ read _them_. p. 287, Note * l. 25, for _here_ read _there_. p.
303, l. 14, for _doubtsul_ read _doubtful_. p. 311, l. 18, for _abate_
read _abates_. p. 337, l. 7, for _glary_ read _glairy_. N. B. In the
first Page that is folio'd 445 read 345. p. 346, l. 19, for _two_ read
_too_. p. 351, l. 25, after Waters add, _such as Infusions of Tea, &c._
p. 375, l. 7, for _two_ read _too_. p. 392, last line, for _Leaves_ read
_Flowers_. p. 393, l. 26, after _them_, insert _and_. p. 397, l. 1 and
2, for Temparrament read _Temperament_. p. 422, l. 6, between _several_
and _Consequences_ insert _bad_. p. 454, l. 5, for _Diflocation_ read
_Dislocation_. p. 459, l. 17, in _Ice-thaws_ dele - p. 466, l. 16, to
_Constitution_ add _s_. p. 486, l. 29, after _or_ add _if_. p. 487, l.
12, for _Parts_ read _Part_. p. 511, l. 12, for _not_ read _nor_. p.
533, l. 12, for _arrives_ read _arises_. p. 542, l. 22, for _Patient_
read _Patients_. p. 562, l. 14, for _fays_ read _says_. p. 573, l. 10,
after _Cause_, dele _Comma_.
_Table_ _of the several Chapters, and their principal Contents._
Introduction ---- Page 1
The first Cause of Depopulation, Emigrations ---- _ib._
The second Cause, Luxury ---- 6
Third Cause, Decay of Agriculture ---- 10
Fourth Cause, the pernicious Treatment of Diseases ---- 12
Means for rendering this Treatise useful ---- 15
Explanation of certain physical Terms, and Phrases ---- 26
_Chapter I._
_The most common Causes of popular Sickness_ ---- 31
First Cause, excessive Labour ---- _ib._
Second Cause, the Effect of cold Air, when a Person is hot ---- 33
Third Cause, taking cold Drink, when in a Heat ---- _ib._ _&_ 34
Fourth Cause, the Inconstancy and sudden Change of the Weather ---- 35
Fifth Cause, the Situation of Dunghills, and Marshes, near inhabited
Houses, and the bad confined Air in the Houses ---- 37
Sixth Cause, Drunkenness ---- 38
Seventh Cause, the Food of Country People ---- 39
Eighth Cause, the Situation, or Exposure of Houses ---- 42
Concerning the Drink of Country People ---- 43
_Chap. II._
_Of Causes which increase the Diseases of the People, with general
Considerations_ ---- 47
First Cause, the great Care employed to force the Sick to sweat, and the
Methods taken for that Purpose ---- _ib._ _&_ 48
The Danger of hot Chambers ---- 49
The Danger of hot Drinks and heating Medicines ---- 50
Second Cause, the Quantity and Quality of the Food given sick Persons
---- 53
Third Cause, the giving Vomits and Purges at the Beginning of the
Disease ---- 57
_Chap. III._
_Concerning what should be done in the Beginning of Diseases, and the
Diet in acute Diseases_ ---- 61
Signs which indicate approaching Diseases; with Means to prevent them
---- 62
The common Regimen, or Regulations, for the Sick ---- 64
The Benefits of ripe sound Fruits ---- 68
Cautions and Means to be used, on Recovery ---- 73, 74
_Chap. IV._
_Of the Inflammation of the Breast_ ---- 77
The Signs of this Disease ---- _ib._ _&_ 78
The Advantage of Bleeding ---- 81
Signs of Recovery ---- 85
Of _Crises_, and the Symptoms that precede them ---- 86
The Danger of Vomits, of Purges, and of Anodynes ---- 88
Of the Suppression of Expectoration, and the Means to restore it.
---- 89
Of the Formation of _Vomicas_, or Imposthumes in the Lungs, and the
Treatment of them ---- 90
Of the Danger of Remedies, termed Balsamics ---- 103
The Inefficacy of the Antihectic of _Poterius_ ---- 104
Of an _Empyema_ ---- 105
Of a Gangrene of the Lungs ---- 106
Of a _Scirrhus_ of the Lungs ---- _ib._
_Chap. V._
_Of the Pleurisy_ ---- 108
The Danger of heating Remedies ---- 112 to 115
Of frequent, or habitual, Pleurisies ---- 116
Of Goats Blood; the Soot of a stale Egg, and of the Wormwood of the
Alps, in Pleurisies ---- 117, 118
_Chap. VI._
_Of Diseases of the Throat_ ---- 119
Of their proper Treatment ---- 124
Of the Formation of an Abscess there ---- 127
Of swelled Ears, from the Obstruction of the parotid and maxillary
Glands ---- 131
Of the epidemic and putrid Diseases of the Throat, which prevailed in
1761 at _Lausanne_ ---- 132
_Chap. VII._
_Of Colds_ ---- 139
Different Prejudices concerning Colds ---- _ib._ _&_ 140
The Danger of drinking much hot Water, and of strong spirituous Liquors,
_&c._ ---- 146
Means for strengthening and curing Persons very subject to Colds
---- 148
_Chap. VIII._
_Of Diseases of the Teeth_ ---- 150
_Chap. IX._
_Of the Apoplexy_ ---- 158
Of sanguine Apoplexy ---- _ib._ _&_ 159
Of a serous, or watery, Apoplexy ---- 162
Means to prevent relapsing into them ---- 164 _& seq._
_Chap. X._
_Of morbid Strokes of the Sun_ ---- 167
_Chap. XI._
_Of the Rheumatism_ ---- 177
Of the acute Rheumatism, attended with a Fever ---- _ib._
Of the flow, or chronical, without a Fever ---- 186
The Danger of spirituous and greasy Remedies ---- 191, 192
_Chap. XII._
_Of the Bite of a mad Dog_ ---- 194
_Chap. XIII._
_Of the Small Pocks._ ---- 207
Of the preceding Symptoms of this Disease ---- 209
--The Danger of sweating Medicines ---- 217
--The Treatment of the benign distinct Small Pocks ---- 220
--The Use of Bleeding ---- 222
--The Fever of Suppuration ---- 223
--The Necessity of opening the ripe Pustules ---- 226
--The Danger of Anodynes ---- 228
Of the striking in of the Eruptions ---- 229
Preparations for receiving it favorably ---- 230
_Chap. XIV._
_Of the Measles_ ---- 235
Of their Treatment and the Means to prevent any of their bad
Consequences, to ---- 243
_Chap. XV._
_Of the hot, or burning, Fever_ ---- 244
_Chap. XVI._
_Of putrid Fevers_ ---- 248
_Chap. XVII._
_Of malignant Fevers_ ---- 257
The Danger of applying living Animals in them ---- 267
_Chap. XVIII._
_Of intermitting Fevers_ ---- 269
--Spring and Autumn Intermittents ---- 272
Method of Cure by the Bark ---- 275
Method of treating the Patient in the Fit ---- 277
Of other Febrifuges, besides the Bark ---- 278
The Treatment of long and obstinate Intermittents ---- 279
Of some very dangerous Intermittents ---- 284
Of some periodical Disorders, which may be termed, Fevers disguised
---- 285
Of Preservatives from unwholesome Air ---- 286
_Chap. XIX._
_Of an_ Erisipelas, _or St._ Anthony's _Fire._ ---- 288
Of a frequent or habitual _Erisipelas_ ---- 295
Of the Stings or Bites of Animals ---- 296
_Chap. XX._
_Of Inflammations of the Breast, and of Bastard and bilious Pleurisies_
---- 298
--Of the false Inflammation of the Breast ---- 300
--The false Pleurisy ---- 303
_Chap. XXI._
_Of Cholics_ ---- 306
Of the inflammatory Cholic ---- 307
--the bilious Cholic ---- 312
--the Cholic from Indigestion, and of Indigestions ---- 314
--the flatulent, or windy, Cholic ---- 317
--the Cholic, from taking Cold ---- 319
_Chap. XXII._
_Of the_ Miserere, _or Iliac Passion, and of the_ Cholera Morbus
---- 322
The _Miserere_ ---- _ib._ _&_ 323
The _Cholera Morbus_ ---- 327
_Chap. XXIII._
_Of a_ Diarrhoea, _or Looseness_ ---- 332
_Chap. XXIV._
_Of a Dysentery, or Bloody-Flux_ ---- 335
The Symptoms of the Disease ---- 336
The Remedies against it ---- 338
Of the beneficial Use of ripe Fruits ---- 341
Of the Danger of taking a great Number of popular Remedies in it
---- 345
_Chap. XXV._
_Of the Itch_ ---- 347
_Chap. XXVI._
_Directions peculiar to the Sex_ ---- 352
Of the monthly Customs ---- 353
Of Gravidation, or going with Child ---- 365
Of Labours or Deliveries, ---- 367
Of their Consequences ---- 371
Of a Cancer ---- 373
_Chap. XXVII._
_Directions with Regard to Children_ ---- 375
Of the first Cause of their Disorders, the _Meconium_ ---- 377
--the second, the souring of their Milk ---- 379
--the Danger of giving them Oil ---- _ib._
--Disorders from their Want of Perspiration, the Means of keeping it up,
and of washing them in cold Water ---- 381 _&_ 382
--the third Cause, the cutting of their Teeth ---- 386
--the fourth Cause, Worms ---- 387
Of Convulsions ---- 391
Methods necessary to make them strong and hardy, with general Directions
about them ---- 396 _& seq._
_Chap. XXVIII._
_Of Assistances for drowned Persons_ ---- 403
_Chap. XXIX._
_Of Substances stopt between the Mouth and the Stomach_ ---- 411
_Chap. XXX._
_Of Disorders requiring the Assistance of a Surgeon_ ---- 435
Of Burns ---- 436
Of Wounds ---- 437
Of Bruises, and of Falls ---- 444
Of Ulcers ---- 454
Of frozen Limbs, or Joints ---- 458
Of Chilblains ---- 462
Of Ruptures ---- 474
Of Phlegmons, or Boils ---- 480
Of Fellons, or Whitlows ---- 481
Of Thorns, Splinters, _&c._ in the Skin or Flesh ---- 486
Of Warts ---- 488
Of Corns ---- 490
_Chap. XXXI._
_Of some Cases which require immediate Assistance_ ---- 491
Of Swoonings, from Excess of Blood ---- 492
Of Swoonings, from great Weakness ---- 494
Of Swoonings, occasioned by a Load on the Stomach ---- 497
Of Swoonings, resulting from Disorders of the Nerves 500
Of Swoonings, occasioned by the Passions ---- 504
Of the Swoonings, which occur in Diseases ---- 506
Of Hæmorrhages, or Fluxes of Blood ---- 508
Of Convulsion Fits ---- 512
Of suffocating, or strangling Fits ---- 514
Of the violent Effects of great Fear ---- 516
Of Accidents produced by the Vapours of Charcoal, and of Wine ---- 519
Of Poisons ---- 526
Of acute and violent Pains ---- 529
_Chap. XXXII._
_Of giving Remedies by Way of Precaution_ ---- 531
Of Bleeding ---- 532
Of Purges ---- 540
Remedies to be used after excessive Purging ---- 544
Reflections on some other Remedies ---- 546, _&c._
_Chap. XXXIII._
_Of Quacks, Mountebanks, and Conjurers_ ---- 551
_Chap. XXXIV._
_Questions necessary to be answered by any Person, who goes to consult a
Physician_ ---- 579
The Table of Remedies ---- 584
Transcription note
Old and variant spellings, like _surprising_ / _surprizing_, Buttermilk
/ _Butter-milk_, _Blood-vessels_ / _Blood-Vessels_, _Faltranc_ /
_Faltrank_, _wholesome_ / _wholsome_, _fetid_ / _foetid_, _public_ /
_publick_, _Physic_ / _Physick_, etc. have been preserved in the present
transcription.
In some cases of doubt, the present edition has been compared with scans
of the 1766 edition printed by Donaldson, which differs slightly in
setting, for instance having all names not capitalized, and corrects
many typographic mistakes.
Corrections listed in the Errata at the end of the book have been
carried into this transcription (excepting those which are not relevant
for the transcription, like those in running titles).
Typographic errors, occurring at the following pages and lines in the
original, have been corrected (negative numbers indicate lines from the
bottom of the page):
- *p. 23, note *, l. -6* their Druggs --> their Drugs
- *p. 29, l. 12* thorough Attentention --> thorough Attention
- *p. 39, l. 2* btutal Souls --> brutal Souls
- *p. 48, l. 12-13* thick, and and that --> thick, and that
- *p. 55, l. -5* increases our Horrour --> increases our Horror
- *p. 61, l. 3-4* deserves a Patients Confidence --> deserves a
Patient's Confidence
- *p. 62, l. 16* Drink and Glisters --> Drink and Glysters
- *p. 87, l. -8* the loosening Glyster No. 5 --> the loosening Glyster
Nº. 5
- *p. 106, l. 1* Inflammamations --> Inflammations
- *p. 148, l. 21-22* Perspiraration --> Perspiration
- *p. 182, l. 19* Applications N. 9 --> Applications Nº. 9
- *p. 189, l. 1* the Powder No. 29 --> the Powder Nº. 29
- *p. 223, note *, l. 4* without the least peceiveable --> without the
least perceiveable
- *p. 226, l. 17-18* Relax-tion --> Relaxation
- *p. 244, l. 4-5* Dis-seases --> Diseases
- *p. 261, l. 15* Hæmmorrhages --> Hæmorrhages
- *p. 283, l. 14-15* Pre-Precription --> Prescription
- *p. 344, note +, l. -2* _missing closing quote conjecturally
inserted after_ instead of stumming or sulphurizing it,'
- *p. 353, l. 1* stance constitutes --> Circumstance constitutes
- *p. 355, l. 18* not pregant --> not pregnant
- *p. 383, l. 6* the back Bart of the Head --> the back Part of the
Head
- *p. 485, l. 13* checks it Progress --> checks its Progress
- *p. 495, l. 19* strong swelling Herbs --> strong smelling Herbs
- *p. 506, l. 15* Weakness is an Obstable --> Weakness is an Obstacle
- *p. 506, l. 19* an Evacution supervenes --> an Evacuation supervenes
- *p. 525, l. -2,-1* Never-vertheless --> Nevertheless
- *p. 560, l. -7* Villians --> Villains
- *p. 573, l. 6* some Evacution --> some Evacuation
- *p. 608. l. -7* Temparrament --> Temperrament
- *p. 611, col. 2, l. 4* _Of a_ Diarrhæa --> _Of a_ Diarrhoea
So has been corrected the punctuation:
- *p. xxii, last line, note* published at _Lyons_. [missing period]
- *p. xxix, l. 10* _Infusion_ Nº. 1; [missing dot]
- *p. xxix, l. 13-14* Numbers 1. 2, and 4 --> Numbers 1, 2, and 4
- *p. 63, l. 15* of the Ptisans Nº. 1 [missing dot]
- *p. 84, l. -7, note* the Mixture, Nº. 10 [missing dot]
- *p. 88, l. 21* the purging Potion Nº. 11 [missing dot]
- *p. 89, l. 12* and drink plentifully of the Ptisan Nº. 2 [missing
dot]
- *p. 89, l. -7* should drink plentifully of the Ptisan Nº. 12
[missing dot]
- *p. 117, l. 12-13* or some of those Diet-Drinks Nº. 1, 2, 4; [dots
instead of commas]
- *p. 118, note *, l. 3* it in his late _Materia Medica._ K. [missing
period]
- *p. 173, l. -8* in Hunting in 1658. [additional comma]
- *p. 198, l. 16* 3. The Bites --> 3, The Bites
- *p. 203, note, l. 5* in many other Places. [missing period]
- *p. 231, note, l- 1* and the Note there. [comma instead of period]
- *p. 233, l. 10* sound and hearty Children). [missing period]
- *p. 265, l. -6* 12, As soon as the Distemper [period instead of
comma]
- *p. 320, last line of the note* or for suspending it. _K._ [missing
dot]
- *p. 371, l. 7* 2, An Inflammation [period instead of comma]
- *p. 531, l. -6* or wrong. [missing period]
- *p. 538, l. -9* Powder Nº. 20 [missing dot]
- *p. 601, first line of the note* The Prescriptions Nº. 54, 55, 56
[missing dot after Nº and periods instead of commas]
The footnotes, marked in the text mostly by asterisks, symbols and
alphabetic letters on a page by page basis, have been renumbered
progressively throughout the book. The footnote * on page 256 does not
appear to be referenced at any specific point on the printed page, and
has been treated as footnote to the last word of the paragraph.
Italics markup of abbreviations like _&c._, _K._, which was not always
consistent in the original, has been retained as printed.
The Greek letters _{alpha}_, _{beta}_, _{gamma}_ enumerating the
prescriptions of § 214 have been replaced by the Latin letters _a_, _b_,
_c_ for better character set portability.
*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Avis au peuple sur sa santé. English - Advice to the people in general, with regard to their health" ***
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