A treatise on the venereal disease / by John Hunter ; with copious additions, by Philip Ricord ; translated and edited, with notes, by Freeman J. Bumstead.
- John Hunter
- Date:
- 1859
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: A treatise on the venereal disease / by John Hunter ; with copious additions, by Philip Ricord ; translated and edited, with notes, by Freeman J. Bumstead. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)
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![urethra has lost its red and turgid aspect, and the discharge is less profuse and less purulent, astringents may again be given in full doses, and will generally complete the cure.—G. G. B.] [Ricoed.—Allow me to give the results of my personal experience. Gonorrhoea is a disease, primarily and almost always definitively, local in its character. Complications are sometimes developed in the neighboring parts, through continuity or contiguity of tissue; but sympathetic effects at a distance are very much less frequent. The number and gravity of supervening symptoms are in propor- tion, not only to the intensity of the primary affection, but also to its duration. Gonorrhoea does not immediately attain its maximum severity; nor does it run through regular stages, nor last a limited time. In spite of Hunter's ideas to the contrary, we are too far removed from a pure Stahlism, to coincide with the vulgar belief in the neces- sity of suppuration, and the need of letting the discharge run on un- checked. The abundance of the suppuration is in proportion to the degree of the inflammation, and does not cause a diminution of the latter. The pretended danger of a rapid cure, or of driving in the discharge, is imaginary, and the contrary proposition may be proved, viz:, the more rapid the cure, the more speedy security from complica- tions. It results from this proposition, that the treatment of gonorrhoea should aim to prevent its development; to diminish the intensity of its symptoms, when we have been unable to stop it at the outset; and finally, in every case, to abridge its duration as much as possible. It is necessary, therefore, to divide treatment into abortive, palliative, and curative. The agents in the abortive treatment are direct or indirect. They may be employed alone or together. Whilst there is as yet no sign of acute inflammation, on the first, second, third, or fourth day, or even later, we may employ injections of nitrate of silver, or use this salt in a solid state, prescribing, at the same time, cubebs or copaiba internally. Nitrate of silver is an excel- lent and powerful modifier of inflamed mucous membranes, but it is not without its inconveniences; it often excites much pain, and the artificial inflammation which it causes is sometimes so severe as to occasion symptoms which, although transient, are none the less dis- agreeable. I have almost entirely renounced its use. If there already exist some degree of inflammation and pain, or these symptoms appear under the influence of injections, we should abandon their use, continuing meanwhile the internal remedies, aided by diet and other means, which we will presently indicate. As soon as the inflammatory stage is fully established, abortive treat- ment is no longer applicable, for it may injure, rather than benefit. In this case, we should employ the palliative treatment of the acute stage, which may be summed up as follows:— General repose of the patient, but above all, local repose of the affected part; the use of a suspensory bandage, when walking or in](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21131521_0113.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
