Medical Inquiries and Observations, Vol. 4: The Second Edition, Revised and Enlarged by the AuthorRush, Benjamin
History
Medical Inquiries and Observations, Vol. 4: The Second Edition, Revised and Enlarged by the Author
Rush, Benjamin
Medicine; Yellow fever -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia
In those cases where the system was prostrated below the point of
re-action, I began the cure by sweating. Blankets, with hot bricks wetted
with vinegar, and the hot bath, as mentioned formerly, when practicable,
were used for this purpose. The latter produced, in a boy of 14 years of
age, who came into the city hospital without a pulse, and with a cold
skin, in a few hours, a general warmth and an active pulse. The
determination of the disease to the pores was evinced in one of my
patients, by her sweating under the use of the above-mentioned remedies,
for the first time in her life. A moisture upon her skin had never before
been induced, she informed me, even by the warmest day in summer.
The advantages of a salivation were as great as in former years. From the
efficacy of bleeding, purges, emetics, and sweating, I had the pleasure
of seeing many recoveries before the mercury had time to affect the
mouth. In no one case did I rest the cure exclusively upon any one of
these remedies. The more numerous the outlets were to convey off
superfluous fluids and excitement from the body, the more safe and
certain were the recoveries. A vein, the gall-bladder, the bowels, the
pores, and the salivary glands were all opened, in succession, in part,
or together, according to circumstances, so as to give the disease every
possible chance of passing out of the body without injuring or destroying
any of its vital parts.
Blisters were applied with advantage. The vomiting and sickness which
attend this fever were relieved, in many instances, by a blister to the
stomach.
In those cases in which the fever was protracted to the chronic state,
bark, wine, laudanum, and æther produced the most salutary effects. I
think I saw life recalled, in several cases in which it appeared to be
departing, by frequent and liberal doses of the last of those medicines.
The bark was given, with safety and advantage, after the seventh day,
when the fever assumed the form of an intermittent.
The following symptoms were generally favourable, viz. a bleeding from
the mouth and gums, and a disposition to weep, when spoken to in any
stage of the fever.
A hoarseness and sore throat indicated a fatal issue of the disease, as
it did in 1798. Dr. Physick remarked, that all those persons who sighed
after waking suddenly, before they were able to speak, died.
The recurrence of a redness of the eyes, after it had disappeared, or of
but one eye, was generally followed by death. I saw but one recovery with
a red face.
I saw several persons, a few hours before death, in whom the countenance,
tongue, voice, and pulse were perfectly natural. They complained of no
pain, and discovered no distress nor solicitude of mind. Their danger was
only to be known by the circumstances which had preceded this apparently
healthy and tranquil state of the system. They had all passed through
extreme suffering, and some of them had puked black matter.
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