A handbook of therapeutics / by Sydney Ringer.

  • Sydney Ringer
Date:
1882
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A handbook of therapeutics / by Sydney Ringer. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    20/754 page 4
    nux vomica and nitric acid. If the motions are too light then give a third or half a grain of grey powder, night and morning or three times a day; if the motions are too dark then give a small dose, say a thirtieth to twentieth of a grain of podophyllin resin, night and morning. Five drops each of tincture of nux vomica and dilute nitric acid thrice daily, will much promote the action of the mercury and the podophyllin. Sometimes the fur is dirty or brown, and the patient complains of a disagreeable bitter taste, especially in the morning, and this symptom is an additional indication for the foregoing treatment. Sometimes, however, in spite of this treatment, the disagreeable bitter taste persists in the morning, or even during the greater part of the day. Rinsing the mouth with a solution of permanganate of potash will generally tempor- arily remove the annoyance. As the tongue cleans the fur recedes from the tip and edges and gradually becomes thinner, especially at its margin. With a little practice we can generally detect when the cleaning process is going on. After an acute illness like typhoid fever, the tongue sometimes parts with its fur in flakes, leaving clear smooth patches, especially at its back. This tongue denotes a slow convalescence. In typhoid fever this tongue may a second time become dry, with a return of the abdominal symptoms. In a case like this turpentine is indi- cated in io- to 20-minim doses every two or three hours. A dry tongue occurs most frequently in fever. The dryness first invades the tip and extends up the centre, spreading the meanwhile laterally, till the whole tongue becomes dry. It grows moist in the inverse order of its invasion. A dry tongue generally indicates nervous depression, often shown by delirium, usually of a low mut- tering kind. This nervous prostration is often dependent on want of sleep. Narcotics therefore, like chloral, bromide of potassium, or opium, by inducing sleep, soothe and strengthen the nervous sys- tem, and indirectly moisten the tongue. Opium is often more use- ful than bromide of potassium, or chloral, for it appears to have a greater effect on the tongue than either of the other drugs, pro- bably inducing a moist condition by its direct action on the tongue and stomach as well as through its sleep-producing effect on the nervous system. Being frequently a sign of nervous depression, the dry tongue becomes also an indication for giving alcoholic stimulants. If, however, the nervous depression is due to wakefulness it is better, if possible, to secure refreshing sleep by a soporific, which, by
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