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?]

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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$jRalegh. —Sjr, croci. q.f. ;//. f bolus. R Sal. C. C. 9fs.—Succ. Ihijon. ^iii.—^-i^ijr. alexit. fimpt. gifs,— pcracid effcwefccntia ana fp. lavend. c.Jjr.croci,a/ta'^\(s. w. TTrefc, or the like, \ order cverv ■5th, 6th, or 8th hour, and a tem];e- Tate cordial julep; fpiri'us •volatilis tiromat. or f(vtiausy m^y be TK)W and then giren out of thin wine, or cy- ^er-whcy, or, which is in many cafes better, out of thin inuih.rd-whey 5 which, without any more pjompous apparatus, ';snot a contemptible me>- tiicine, efpecially for the poor. Thefe gently ftimulate the tojpid veffels, and i-aife theif ofcilktory powers; ■they attenuate the humours and dilute them, and by tiiefe me>ins promote ■cafy relieving fwe ;ts, which foon cairy off the er-ethifm, as the ancients Tcalled The faline draught, pre- pared as above, is much more apt to j-afs bj the pores of the Ikin than when made with fait of wormwood, which rather moves through the uri- nary paflages. Whea I alfert, from rei.eaied experience, the ufe of the abpvc-dcfcribed draught in afthmatic cafe?, any one may eafily judge of its efilcac}'' in thefe. But to return, this diiScuIty of fefeathing, anxiety, and oppreffion, many times precede a miliary erup- tion, which often appears tlie feventh, ninth, or eleventh day of this fevcrj and fometimes later: indeed, great anxiety and oppreffion on the pracor- dia always precede puftular eruptions of any kind, in all forts of fevers. Every one muft know how ill-timcd •and ijnproper bleeding would be on fuch on occafion, when tlie grcateft care Ihould be taken not to retard na- ture's operation in this particular-, which is many times completely cri- tical: on tbe'contrary, it fhould be proinoted by foft eafy cordials, pro- per diluents, and the like ; and to thefe rumcomeon,Iufemufl:half a fcruple inftead ot lliepulv. contrayenr. c.with great fucccfc» fometimes a little theriaca Andromai chi, or elixir aiihmaticum, lhoula tiie added ; which not only tend to caha the univcrfal unealinefs commonly complained of, but alfo very effedtu* ally promote a diaphorefis, or breath- ing kindly fweats, with which the miliary eruptions ■ freely and eafily advance. But however advantageous thefe commonly are, profufe fweats are feldom or never fo, even though at- tended with a very large eruption; for I have known two or three crO|>s of miliary punliles fucceed one ano- ther, and large fweats, long con- tinued, with no manner of relief to the patients; tiay, of very great de- triment, as they reduced them to aii extreme degree of wtaknefs. la truth, thefe large fyveats are much more commonly fymptomatical than critical, and the cbnfequent eruption is very often the mere fymptom of a fymprom ; for the miliary glands of the Ikin appear very turgid, ana mi- mic a ra(h upon profufe fweating,» even in the moll healthy. In fuch profufe colliquativefweats, I have very frequently given a little generous red-wine (diluted fomewhat, if neccflary) with the greateft ad- vantage ; it prefently moderating the fweat, fupporting the patient, und keeping up alfo the miliaty papulae, if they happen likewife to attend.-— Celfus advifes •vrnurn aujii^mm merai cuium in ninrbo curdlaco*- which I take to have been a fpecies of nervous fever with colliquative fweats. To- wards the decl-ne of the fever, where the fweats are abundant and weaken- ing, I moreover give fmall dofes of the tir.fturpof the bark, with faffron and fnake-root, hereafter defcribed, intcrpofing now aad then a dofe of .rhubarb to carry off the putrid coUut A'ics, in the firft palTages; which withal makes the remillions, or ior termifiions, which frecjuently happea in the decline of nervous fevers, more diflant and manifeft, and gives » fairer opportunity for preparations of$