A theoretical and practical treatise on the diseases of the skin / by P. Rayer.
- Pierre François Olive Rayer
- Date:
- 1845
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: A theoretical and practical treatise on the diseases of the skin / by P. Rayer. 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.)
48/582
![therapeutical efl tcnbed. combine the aconite with the deuto- syphilis. ume pratensis* in e skin in dosesofone or two grains daily. M. i i in curing obstinate eruptions (dartres) by the a day during some months, of one grain and a half f anemone mixed with eighl times its weight of sugar. I ted ] ished with a decoction of hyoscyamus and ipplying the anemone nemorosa, Linn., Other observations have been published ■ our of the anemone pulsaHUa. ion of the root of the bur-dock (Arctium Lappa, L.)2 in the proportion of one or two ounces to the pint of water, has been ■i' in inflammation of the skin that had gone j into the squamous or rurfuraceous state. The use of this decoction requires to be continued for several months, as it only acts with e\- ms to have been a frequent practice formerly to appl\ the leaves of bur-dock bruised to the head in chronic affections of the hairy scalp. Hemlock Conium inaculatum, Linn.:)3 has been recommended not only in various less formidable shapes of skin disease, but also in the treatment of scrofulous [and even of cancerous] sores; Joannes in the Kith century, was the first who employed this plant in herpetic affections, (dans les dartres,) and this is one of the forms of skin disease, in which Stoerck has recently found it most beneficial. Hufeland prescribes it both internally and externally in affections of the hairy scalp; .Murray only ventured on its outward use.—Syphilitic itions have been subdued by the officinal hemlock. 200. In a number of diseases the principal indication is often to ome modification of the general constitution; this indication, indeed, at times absorbs all the others. We have consequently been recommended to treat those complaints to which people of a scrofu- lous, lax, and lymphatic habit are subject, by the juices of the cochlearia officinalis or scurvy grass, of the cochlearia armorica or radish, of the water-cress (sysimbrium nasturtium), by watery infusions and beer of the hop (humulus lupulus), of the buck-bean (menyanthes trifoliata), of the stone crop (sedum acre) house-leek, (sempervivum tectorum), &c. On the same principle decoctions of Peruvian bark, of the Virginian snake-root, &c, were employed to stoeeten the blood, and remedy the cachectic state of constitution ob- servable along with the appearance of impetigo scabida in elderly peo- ple, and of rupia and ecthyma luridum, at all ages. 201. J. Bauhinus employed the colchicum externally to destroy pe- diculi of tin' head and pubes. Dr. Elliotson'1 cured a man sixty years of age of prurigo, in three weeks by the use of half a drachm of v'inum colchici three nines a day. I have obtained some success myself from the use of the tincture of colchicum, in several cases of lichen com- plicated with 1, out or rheumatism. 202. A greal number of eases collected by Carrere, Razou, Ber- trand-3 Crichton, and other physicians, leave no doubt as to the value of the Dulcamara or bitter-sweet (Solatium Dulcamara, L.)5 in the treatment of eczema, and squamous inflammations of the skin. If Messieurs I >esbois and Alibert tailed in deriving the same good effects from this medicine, their want of success must be attributed to their having used it in too small doses, or to their having made but short trial of its efficacy; for if the dulcamara produces no good in some . it is certain that in others its beneficial influence is speedily ' Murray. Apparat medicam.. t. iii., p. 93.—Bonnet. Ancien journ. de med., t. B3S, HS3.—Chomel. Planles usuelles, t. ii., p. 376. '.aux. Observat. clinic. Paris, 1789. * Pare (Amb.). CLuvrcs, lib. xvi., c. 2.—De Preval. Journ. de med., t. xxxviii.. p. 139.— F telle de Gardanne, p. 113.—Landeatte. Journ. de medec, t. xxvi., P- 335- i urn. de med., torn, lxxxiii., p. 342.—Despine. Journ. gen. de medec t. xtxviii.. ■tie, v. ix.. p. 31.—Arch. sjJne'r. de med., t. xvi., p. 270. s Li' de dulcamar.'i, in-lo. Upsal, 1771 (Amcenit. acad. v. viii., No. e (J.-B.-F.). Traite des proprie'tes, usages et effets de la douce-amere jrnscandens.dan* le iraitement deplusieurs maladies et surtoutdes maladies dartreu - — Hertrand de La^resie. Essai sur le Iraitement dec sor l'efficaciie de Pextrait de douce-amere, in-12. Paris, r. Enoploi de la douce-amere dans les maladies de la peau (Arch. gener. de mwdecine, t. xxv., p. 267). apparent. Neither must it be forgotten that whilst simple psoriasis ot the elbows and lent withstands the freest exhibition of this substance, chronic inflammations of the same kind, extending to la surfaces of the integuments, are frequently seen welding readily t< is much smaller in amount. In even case thedoseofthe remedy should be gradually increased. I have used as much as lour ounces of the root in decoction in the course of four and twenty hours, and from two scruples to two drachms of the extract in the same interval of time. Baths of decoction of dulcamara have been recommended in the same kind of affections as those in which the decoction and extract have been given internally, and especially in those syphilitic eruptions which have withstood the influence of mercury. I have never studied the action of these baths. 203. Galen, Oribazius, JEtius, Avicenna, and Mesue, among the ancients, and among the moderns, Gilbert, Pinel, Sprengel, and others, agree in considering the herb fumitory (fumaria oflic. Linn.)'3 as useful in scaly tetters, and even in elephantiasis. The expressed juice usually exhibited, during two or three months in the spring, in doses of from two to six ounces, may be subsequently increased to twelve. Menu- ret prescribed the extract of fumaria combined with hemlock and calomel. I have myself sometimes employed this plant medicinally, but always in union with other remedies of different degrees of energy, a circumstance that prevents me from giving an opinion upon its peculiar properties. 204. M. Loiseleur de Longchamp prescribed with success the leaves of the Daphne gnidium,7 the use of which had already been recommended by Russel, Wright, and Swediaur, in diseases of the skin. Cullen tells us that he had seen numerous ulcers of the skin persisting after a mercurial course, get well under the use of the decoction of this substance continued during two or three weeks. Sinclair has made some experiments on the Daphne mezereow, which Rouch exhibited combined with gum benzoin. On the other hand Wedel and Hoffman have lifted their voices against the daphne gnidium, reproaching it with having caused burning heat of the stomach, cardialgia, shooting pains of the bowels, hypercatharsis, &c. I have seen, and have myself prescribed the decoction of the bark of this plant to many patients ; and whilst I allow that several experi- enced such symptoms as those I have just mentioned, I have still ti add that in no case were they so violent as to make me regret having given the medicine a trial. 205. Tar-water* is a very ancient internal remedy in chronic dis- eases of the skin. In the Pharmacopoeias of Edinburgh, Dublin and the United States of America, formulae for different unguents and liniments as external applications, into which tar enters as an ingre- dient, may still be found. I commonly mix one part of tar and four of hog's lard to make an ointment, which I often find to prove effectual in papular inflammations, and especially in prurigo. Pitch has been exhibited internally in a dose of from half a drachm to half an ounce every day, in chronic ecthyma, and several inflammations of a squamous nature. 206. Those vegetables characterized as sudorifics* such as sassa- fras, sarsaparilla, guaiacum, &c, are powerful remedies in syphilid! and several other cutaneous affections. In our practice these sub- stances are commonly exhibited in too small doses; I have pushed them advantageously to the length of 6, 8 or 10 ounces daily in decoction during one or two months. 207. The infusion of the Acorn,10 and of the Galium aparine ; th< juice of the CEnanthe crocata, the extract of the bark and husk of the Juglans regia, the decoction of the bark of the Ulmus campestris, and especially of the Llmus pyramidalis,1* of the Rumex patien Rumex acutus, and stems of the Viola tricolor;14 infusions of the de6m°ed0eC(.Bt'om?-i. ^ * ^^ T^' ^ Y^ *+ ^9.-Menuret. Jon. 7 Manuel des plantes usuelles, part 2, p. 46. « Bateman. A pract. synops. of cutaneous diseases, in-8, 1829 n fi-> 9 Akakia. Ergo cutaneis affectibus hydratica ? Paris 1679 wi,V„i , , nalderprakL Arzn., ii. b.,p.. 188-Home. Clinical researches9~Hu,dan<L JoUr Kerron. Journ. compl. des sciences medicales, t. xltii. p 3^7 Hunezovky. Anc. journ. de medec, t. lxxvii., p. 2'JG « Banau (J. B.). Hist. nat. de la peau., in-8. Paris, 1*802 13 Aertcei. Curatus. diuturn. ii., c. 13. u Haase. Diss, de viola tricolori, p. 105.—Oberneffer fHufpian^ 1 Heilkunde, ix. b). ucrneuer (.uteland Journ. der prakt.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21149495_0048.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
