Observations upon the treatment of yellow fever / by Joseph Jones.

  • Joseph Jones
Date:
1873
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Observations upon the treatment of yellow fever / by Joseph Jones. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    of the excretion of urine was due simply to capillary conges- tion or defective enervation, it might be met by appropriate remedies; but the results of my chemical and microscopical examinations have placed in a clear light the reason of the impotcncy of all measures heretofore proposed for the relief of this fatal symptom. The tincture of ergot has been said to have restored the excretion of the urine, but this powerful agent has failed in my hands. The careful physician endeavors to promote the regular action of the kidneys, as indicated in section i, from the very inception of the disease. As long as the kidneys excrete urine freely we may entertain hopes of recovery, even though black vomit and jaundice may have supervened. As a general rule, suppression of the urinary excretion is speedily followed by restlessness, delirium, and coma, and in some cases convulsions. It is folly to expect any good results from sedatives and the various preparations of opium in such cases. Counter-irritants to the surface and the pro- longed use of the hot and warm baths alone promise any good. ii. Yellow fever is a self-limited disease, occurring, as a general rule, but once in a life-time. Ihe constitution of the blood and even the textures ot the body are altered. The most important organs, as the heart, kidneys, and liver, as well as the most important nutritive fluids, are profoundly impressed. These changes of the blood, heart, kidneys, and liver, and perhaps also of the nervous system, may be com- pared to the profound changes induced in the blood and organs, and especially in the integument, by the small-pox poison. I have shown by careful analyses that when the kidneys cease acting in yellow fever urea and carbonate of ammonia and bile accumulate in the blood, brain, liver, and heart. Many of the nervous symptoms characteristic of yellow fever are referable to the retention of the bile and the constituents of the urine in the blood.
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