An essay on fevers : to which is now added, A dissertation on the malignant-ulcerous sore-throat / by John Huxham, M. D. fellow of the Royal College of Physicians at Edinburgh, and of the Royal Society at London.
- John Huxham
- Date:
- [1785?]
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: An essay on fevers : to which is now added, A dissertation on the malignant-ulcerous sore-throat / by John Huxham, M. D. fellow of the Royal College of Physicians at Edinburgh, and of the Royal Society at London. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by University of Bristol Library. The original may be consulted at University of Bristol Library.
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![j6 Of,intermit: high, and condenfing the blood into fuch a degree of vifcolity, as to bring on thefe inflammatory fevers on taking cold, or other accidents; whillt, on perfons of a more lax f)'ftem of nerves and fibres,, and more weak, watery humours, it only raifed the powers of the ofcillatory vcflels fo high, and warmed the blood fo much, as to carry off the ill confequences of deficient pcrfpiration, and ropy heavy juices, by repeated fits of a regular intermit- tent. Thus we often fee perfons of low fpirits, and a leucophlegmatic habit ■ of body, raifed into a feverifh difpofition by the ufe of warm invigo- rating medicines, chalybeate^, &c. And if this turn of nature be well managed, it generally ends in their perfefi: recovery. If you can change a flow nervous fever into a regular in- termittent, you foon cure your pa- tjient. - Eut farther, I have more than once known pleurifies, peripneumonies, and inflammatory rhcumatifms, reign very much in a cold, drv^ fpring, and a great number of inteimittents fucceed them in the following warmer months; the heat abating the rigidity of the fibres, andrefolving, in fome meafure, the vifcofity and denfity of the blood; whereas had the folids continued more tenfe, and the- blood more denfe and yifcid, inflammatory fevers would have been the confequence on taking cold, or the like, which now only produced an aguifli diforder. Regular venial intermittents have many times falutary eifefts, by break- ing the ientor and morbid cohefions of the blood; as a ftorm purges a thick foggy atmcff here. The invigorating pow-er of the advancing fpring, and the encreafing genial warmth and dr}-- nefs of the air, by rarefying and at- tenuating the heavy, fizy humours, and o]^>ening the pores, are the rcafons why vernal agues go fo eafily off at the approach of fummer. And pro- bably the enlivening, attenuating in- fluences of the growing fpring, aftu- ating the powers of nature to throw off the heavy, ropy colhn'Us, that in INC FEVERS. fome may be confiderkbly amafled during a cold moiH winter, may be one reafon, at lead, of the frequency of agues in the fpring feafon. It is certain all nature, at that time of the year, undergoes a kind of orgafm; even the torpid vegetables regain frefh life, and their concreted juices refume new motion. It appears from experiments, * that the blood in quotidians is more denfe and tenacious than in tertians, in ter- tians than in quartans; fo that in quotidians, catcris paribus^ it comes nearefl: an inflammatory ftate: and it is commonly noted, that if the fever, from aregular tert^ian, runs into a femi- tertian, or quotidian, or greatly anti- cipates the time of the regular parojc- yfm; a remittent, or continual fever, is forthwith the confequence; and this is too often elfefted by a very hot re- gimen, or a too hafty ufe of thfe bark. Inideed we very frequently fee that quotidians, and double tertians (which, by the bye, are oftentimes the fame thing) will not bear the bark at the beginning; till the faline draughts, proper diluting attenuants, and, in fome cafes, bleeding, purging, and vomiting, have been made ufe of. In truth, I never think it prudent, in fuch kind of intermittents, to give the bark, in any form, till after four or five paroxyfms at leaft, and after having arav»m more or lefs blood from perfons pretty much inclined to the plethoric; and this method is more efpecially to be obferved in vernal agues. I mull farther note, that as nothing is more effeftual in curing agues than well-timed vomits, and thofe too repeated (as nature fliews us, by making this one of her conftant efforts in the paroxyfm) fo previous bleeding makes them much more fafe in full fanguine habits, efpecially when given in the parox} fm,'v.-hich is fre- quently praftifed with great fuccefs. Nor is this a new praftice, for CelfuB advifes, cum primum allquis inhor- * See Dr. Langrifli's Modern Theory, &w« Chap.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21441960_0024.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
