Diphtheria : its nature, history, causes, prevention, and treatment on hygienic principles; with a resumé of the various theories and practices of the medical profession / By R.T. Trall.

  • Russell Trall
Date:
1862
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Diphtheria : its nature, history, causes, prevention, and treatment on hygienic principles; with a resumé of the various theories and practices of the medical profession / By R.T. Trall. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Gerstein Science Information Centre at the University of Toronto, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Gerstein Science Information Centre, University of Toronto.

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    but do not attain the size wliich they acquire in the severer forms of the disease; Under favorable cir- cumstances, or the application of judicious treatment, its progress is here arrested. The membrane ceases to spread, and slowly becomes detached from its connec- tions ; the mucous membrane loses its red color; the glandular swellings subside ; the pulse diminishes in fre- quency, and the patient becomes decidedly convalescent. The disease, however, does not ahvays present itself in this form, but is ushered in by rigoi-s and often vomiting, under whose influence the patient be- comes so prostrated, that it soon becomes obvious that tlie system is oppressed by a powerful poison. This condition is characterized by a high [violent?] fever, a pungent skin, a rapid and feeble ]3iilse, great diffi- culty in deglutition, hurried respiration, flushed coun- tenance, and congested lips; the tongue becomes loaded with a yellow or dirty brown coat; the soft palate and pharynx assume a deep erysipelatous redness; the tonsils become greatly swollen, and the ash-colored membrane, nearly continuous and spread over one or both tonsils, extends to the uvula and the posterior walls of the pharynx. As the disease advances, these sj^mptoms increase in severity ; the breathing becomes more hurried and stertorous ; the swallowing, which at first w^as but moderately impeded, becomes so trouble- some and painful, that the child is with great difficulty induced to take either food or medicine; the saliva flows from the mouth, and often a foul and acrid dis- charge from the nostrils. Should the little patient be induced to swallow, food or drink will be violently ejected, and a paroxysm of great intensity, in which the child will gasp for breath, and with great difficulty recover itself, will ensue.