A handbook of local therapeutics / edited by Harrison Allen.

Date:
1893
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A handbook of local therapeutics / edited by Harrison Allen. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    287/554 (page 275)
    HYDRARGYRUM. which tends to relieve the deeper vessels of their blood, and in that way to diminish inflammation ; 3. The specific alterative effect from the absorp- tion of mercury, on account of the dilated state of the cutaneous vessels. The continuous use of this preparation of mercury may cause slight ptyalism, consequently the surgeon should be constantly on the alert for such symptoms, especially in susceptible subjects. It should be discontinued, on the first approach to any tenderness about the gums. Mercurial plaster has long been used with success for the removal of Syphilitic Nodes and Glandular Enlargements. It appears to assist in reducing the size of the spleen in malarial poisoning. But on the whole it may be said that the belladonna and mercurial ointment {q. v.) has superseded the use of mercurial plaster in most cases. . Unguentum Hydrargyri. Blue Ointment. Mercurial Ointment. Blue ointment is made by incorporating metallic mercury with lard. This preparation of mercury is probably the one most generally used as a topical application, in order to rapidly bring the system under the direct influence of the drug. In the treatment of Syphilis, Keys prefers mer- curial ointment of the Pharmacopoeia in preference to any made with lanolin. He says, The oleates which I formerly used I have given up. They irritate the skin more frequently than ordinary mercurial ointment. According to Brodie, mercury used by inunction neither gripes nor purges, and the general impression is well borne as compared to other methods. It is used in the Kur at Aix-la-Chapelle, and to this circumstance the reputation of this locality is largely due. About half a drachm of the ointment is rubbed upon the skin by a trained attendant for periods ranging from twenty to thirty minutes at a time. The course is usually a month. It is customary to advise patients to return after the lapse of a few months to complete the cure. Excellent results are obtained in this way in many cases that have baffled ordinary methods of treatment. As Mr. Hutchinson Syphilis, p. 57) believes, everything that is done at Aix can be done equally well at the patient's home, provided that all pre- cautions are preserved. In conducting mercurial inunction the-following details will prove useful. The ointment should be rubbed into different places on succes- sive days and so avoid the tendency to cutaneous irritation. Generally it is best borne on the sides of the chest and abdomen, although the axilla, the groin on the inside of the thighs, where the skin is delicate, are favorite localities. There is no doubt that absorption is more rapid when applied to the groin and axilla, but in a short time a troublesome eczematous eruption is developed about the roots of the hair follicles.