Manual of diseases of the skin / from the French of Cazenave ; with notes and additions by Thomas H. Burgess.
- Pierre Louis Alphée Cazenave
- Date:
- 1854
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Manual of diseases of the skin / from the French of Cazenave ; with notes and additions by Thomas H. Burgess. Source: Wellcome Collection.
49/446 page 39
![The constitutional means employed in the treatment of diseases of the skin are extremely various. They comprise blood-letting, purgatives, alkalies, acids, antimonials, préparations of sulphur, sudorifics, and, finally, the tincture of cantharides and préparations of arsenic or mercury, which evidently act in a direct inanner on the skin. General blood-letting is required, not only in various acute diseases of the skin, but many others, wliere at fîrst sight excitants migkt appear to be requisite. Even in chronic skin affections, it is very useful in young and robust patients. [Not in England.—B.] Purgatives are frequently employed in the treatment of cutaneous diseases. When the alimentary canal is in a healthy State, they are very bénéficiai in effectmg a slow and long-continued dérivation, hence ire should generally employ them in small doses, and suspend their use from time to time. The remedies in common use are calomel, the soluble sulphates of magnesia and potass, jalap, aloes, gamboge, cream of tartar, &c.* Alkalies and acids, when properly diluted, are very useful in allaying itching ; they also act direetly on the skin. Hydrochlorie acid is the one most commonly employed in France. Antimonials were much in vogue amongst the earlier practitioners, who placed far greater reliance on them than they deserve. Préparations of sulphur are by many regarded as spécifie in diseases of the skin. They are, in truth, highly efficacious, but we must confess that they sometimes fail, and oecasionally aggravate the disease. But their use, whether locally or intemally, requires more expérience and tact than is generally supposed, and it is a great mistake to employ them indiscriminately, as too many practi- tioners do. Sulphureous waters are either natural or artifieial ; they may be used in baths, douches, or in vapour. Sometimes they are employed alone, at other times diluted with gélatine or any other emollient substance. + Sudorifics comprise antimonial remedies, of which we hâve spoken already; the remainder, such as sarsaparilla, guaiacum, &c., are now [* In the treatment of eutaneou9 diseases in this country, I hâve never found purgatives of any use, further than that of evacuating the bowels oecasionally during the progress of the cure.—B.] [t The vapour of the flowers of sulphur or of cinnabar will often be found very U9eful as a local application in some of the veaicular and squamous diseases; especially in chronic eczema andlepra vulgaris. See Eczema.]](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b28049573_0049.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
