AN ACCOUNT OF THE SORE THROAT Attended with ULCERS; A DISEASE which hath of late Years appeared in THIS CITY, and the PARTS ADJACENT. By JOHN FOTHERGILL, _M. D._ [Illustration] _LONDON_: Printed for C. DAVIS, over-against _Gray's-Inn Gate, Holborn_. MDCCXLVIII. PREFACE. _A simple Inflammation of the Tonsils, or of other Parts about the_ Fauces, _from its frequently happening without any considerable Hazard attending it, is commonly look'd upon as a troublesome, rather than a dangerous Disease: And every one, how little soever conversant in the Practice of Physic, thinks himself qualified to conduct the Patient thro' it with Safety_. _If a Person complains of Pain in his Throat upon swallowing, with the Symptoms of a Fever, nothing is thought more expedient, or more frequently order'd, than Bleeding, Purging, and such Medicines as are daily observed to remove Inflammations in general: And in simple Inflammations this Method is warranted to be just, by Reason and Experience._ _But a Disease hath of late Years appeared in this City, in many of the neighbouring Villages, and according to the best Informamation I have been able to procure, in several other Parts of this Nation; which, tho' it may be taken for a common Sore Throat, or a simple Inflammation of the Tonsils, by those who are unacquainted with it, is of a very different Nature from the common one, and requires to be treated in as different a Method: For it has been found by Experience, that those Measures, which seldom fail of answering the Prescriber's Expectation in this Case, frequently produce the most unhappy Consequences in the other, and render a Disease almost certainly fatal, which of itself is not often so, in this Country._ _Some Instances of Mistakes in this respect have not long since fallen under my Observation; and there is still a Possibility of the like happening, as the same Disorder continues amongst us: It seems therefore necessary, that some Endeavours should be used to prevent them; and that such a Description of the Disease should be made public, as might enable Practitioners, who have not seen or known it, to distinguish it from that to which it bears some Resemblance; together with an Account of the Method of treating it, which hath in general been attended with Success._