Plague : how to recognise, prevent and treat plague / by James Cantlie.

  • Cantlie, James, Sir, 1851-1926.
Date:
1900
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Plague : how to recognise, prevent and treat plague / by James Cantlie. 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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    the nervous influence, more especially of the heart, is the essence of the toxic effect of the plague bacillus, strychnine ought to be a drug of importance in the treatment. This ex- pectation was borne out in practice, and ]4r. Lowson in his report, and all who have reported on the treatment of plague, regard strychnine as a most reliable agent in the form of stimulation required in plague. Liquor strychnin^e in 5 to 10- minim doses, given eyery four hours, is the most convenient form; but when vomiting is present, a hypodermic solution of gr. of the sulphate of strychnine in 10 minims of distilled water is advisable. Other drugs may be mentioned, but, though useful as a change and a stand-bye on occasions, they do not justify more than a passing notice. Among the more important are quinine when chronic malaria complicates the disease; aconite in the early stages when high fever and a full pulse are present. Chloride of ammonium as an alterative is occasionally useful. The inhalation of oxygen (Lowson) is not to be neglected, and the gas ought to be always at hand and ready for imme- diate use. The result of experience gained by local radical or tentative treatment of the glands does not lead one to expect much benefit therefrom. That abscesses should be opened when they point or when fluctuation is perceptible is, of course, natural; but that local remedial steps should be early taken for the purpose of affecting the course of the disease by acting on the gland is, from what we know of the pathology of the disease, scarcely rational. Injection of a swollen gland when it is accessible, as in the groin, with such substances as carbolic acid, perchloride of mercury, or a solution of the perchloride of mercury and iodide of potassium, has, perhaps, a theoretical basis of justification, but practically little good can be claimed. The latter-mentioned solution may have a higher claim, as in several cases in which it has been administered temperature falls and the patient seems easier. It may be, however, that the naere pricking of the tense capsule of the gland, even by needle punctures, may serve to relieve tension and thereby pain. This leads one to the belief that subcutaneous incision of the gland may be attended with beneficial results, and it is a method of surgical procedure not without precedent. Early free incision of the gland is not