Medical Inquiries and Observations, Vol. 2: The Second Edition, Revised and Enlarged by the AuthorRush, Benjamin
Science
Medical Inquiries and Observations, Vol. 2: The Second Edition, Revised and Enlarged by the Author
Rush, Benjamin
Medicine; Yellow fever -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia
4. In fevers of every kind, and in every stage of life, there is a
disposition to effusion in that part to which there is the greatest
determination. Thus, in inflammatory fever, effusions take place in the
lungs and in the joints. In the bilious fever they occur in the liver,
and in the gout in every part of the body. The matter effused is always
influenced by the structure of the part in which it takes place.
These propositions being premised, I should have proceeded to mention
the remote causes of this disease; but as this inquiry may possibly
fall into the hands of some gentlemen who may not have access to the
description of it as given by Dr. Whytt, Dr. Fothergill, and Dr. Quin, I
shall introduce a history of its symptoms taken from the last of those
authors. I prefer it to the histories by Dr. Whytt and Dr. Fothergill,
as it accords most with the ordinary phenomena of this disease in the
United States.
"In general, the patient is at first languid and inactive, often
drowsy and peevish, but at intervals cheerful and apparently free
from complaint. The appetite is weak, a nausea, and, in many cases, a
vomiting, occurs once or twice in the day, and the skin is observed to
be hot and dry towards the evenings: soon after these symptoms have
appeared, the patient is affected with a sharp head-ach, chiefly in the
fore-part, or, if not there, generally in the crown of the head: it is
sometimes, however, confined to one side of the head, and, in that case,
when the posture of the body is erect, the head often inclines to the
side affected. We frequently find, also, that the head-ach alternates
with the affection of the stomach; the vomiting being less troublesome
when the pain is most violent, and _vice versâ_; other parts of the body
are likewise subject to temporary attacks of pain, viz. the extremities,
or the bowels, but more constantly the back of the neck, and between the
scapulæ; in all such cases the head is more free from uneasiness.
"The patient dislikes the light at this period; cries much, sleeps
little, and when he does sleep, he grinds his teeth, picks his nose,
appears to be uneasy, and starts often, screaming as if he were
terrified; the bowels are in the majority of cases very much confined,
though it sometimes happens that they are in an opposite state: the
pulse in this early stage of the disorder, does not usually indicate any
material derangement.
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