An account of the plague which raged at Moscow, in 1771 — John Shaqi
An account of the plague which raged at Moscow, in 1771Mertens, Charles de
History
An account of the plague which raged at Moscow, in 1771
Mertens, Charles de
Plague -- Russia (Federation) -- Moscow -- Early works to 1800
In the first, or nervous state, the indication is to promote
perspiration by warm acidulated drinks, such as infusions of tea and
other herbs mixed with lemon juice or vinegar, camphorated emulsions,
camphor julep with vinegar and musk, &c. If ever bleeding is proper, it
is at this period, and in plethoric subjects.
In the second, or putrid state, vomits, the Peruvian-bark, and mineral
acids are the most promising remedies. The violence and rapidity with
which the disease runs its course, require that these medicines should
be administered in powerful doses. In the month of September, a woman,
aged twenty-four, was seized with head-ache, fever, and vomiting;
shortly after, a bubo came out on the right groin, and another under the
arm-pit on the same side, of the size of a hazel nut; the next day small
petechiæ appeared over the whole body; she was weak and drowsy; the
tongue was white and moist; the urine pale; and she complained of
head-ache and oppression about the præcordia. After I had made her vomit
by giving her twenty grains of ipecacuanha, I ordered her a very strong
decoction of Peruvian bark, to a quart of which were added a drachm and
a half of the extract of the same bark, a drachm of the acid elixir of
vitriol of the London Pharmacopoeia, and an ounce of syrup of
marshmallow; she took three ounces of this mixture every other hour, and
besides this, she also took four times in the day, half a drachm of
Peruvian bark in powder. For her common drink, she had a decoction of
barley, acidulated with spirit of vitriol. The buboes increased
gradually, insomuch that in the space of a few days they were as large
as walnuts; they continued in this state, without any signs of
suppuration. The patient began to mend regularly, and at the end of a
week, she was almost entirely recovered; she was then removed, in spite
of all my remonstrances to the contrary, to the hospital, from which she
was dismissed a short time afterwards, and came to see me, in perfect
health.
By this mode of treatment I am persuaded that those who have the plague
in its moderate and slow form, may be rescued from death. This is
further confirmed by the cases of three children, one of whom was only a
year old, and the two others still younger; each of them had a
pestilential bubo in the groin, accompanied with fever and great
debility. After they had taken the decoction of Peruvian bark, mixed
with the extract, they got better; the buboes ripened and yielded a good
pus. Two of these children got quite well; the third was carried off
during his convalescence, by convulsions occasioned by the teeth.
Although this happened in the month of December, when the disorder,
being more mild, allowed many to recover; nevertheless these facts serve
to establish the efficacy of the remedy, since the symptoms of the
plague are always worse in children than adults, and its good effects
were seen in all the three patients at the same time.
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