A manual of diseases of the ear / by George P. Field.

  • Field, George P (George Purdey)
Date:
1893
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A manual of diseases of the ear / by George P. Field. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Leeds Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Leeds Library.

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    attributed to the occurrence of capillary hcemorrhages in the tympanum and other parts of the auditory apparatus, com- parable to those liable to take place in the brain * retina, and many more structures of the body, especially the softer ones, us a result of high arterial tension and consecpient vascular lesion. It is evident that the deafness must be combated by remedies which reduce arterial tension, of which those are most suitable whose action is both rapid and temporary. I have known, e.^., jaborandi, a few whii^s of ether, or nitrite of amyl, to prove serviceable. Several cases of relief afforded by the last named, have been recorded by Michael and other German writers. I have in a former section dwelt at some length on the excel- lent results obtained in this and similar conditions, by myself and others, through a course of pilocarpin injections. In some instances, however, more certain and severe means must be resorted to. Thus, in the case of a gentleman, Mr. T., fet. tio, whom I saw in consultation, who had a cord-like pulse, and wa,s suffering from severe tinnitus, evidently dependent on a con- dition of extreme plethora and arterial tencion—recognizing the probability of a speedy attack of cerebral htemorrhage, I advised the abstraction of 20 ounces of blood from the arm, a procedure which was attended with immediate relief to the patient, and was probably the means of saving his life.f Here I may mention that the sound of one's own voice in the head, double hearing, or autophony (from avro^, one's self, and (pcovt], voice) is a common symptom in various diseases of the ear. Sextonf thus accounts for it:— When the hearing nrotor, the drum-head, loses its tension, or when any of the ear bones become separated from each other, sound in the extei'nal audi- tory canal sometimes fails to cause effectual movements of tiie mechanism; the hearing is then variable, olie moment the voice and noises in the head are all heard confusedly together, and the next moment better hearing is experienced. Autophony and tinnitus aurium are symptoms that confuse the individual very * See Mahomed, Brit. Med. Jorirn., July, 1877. t See paper by the author, 3fed. Times a?id Gaz., June 8, 1878. I Deafness among School Children, Washington Gov-eriiiiieiit Printing Office, 1881.