On hydrophobia and its 'treatment,' especially by the hot-air bath, commonly termed the Bouisson remedy / by Victor Horsley.

  • Victor Horsley
Date:
1888
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On hydrophobia and its 'treatment,' especially by the hot-air bath, commonly termed the Bouisson remedy / by Victor Horsley. 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.

    12/14 page 10
    and urine, and the intestinal peristalsis was notably increased. The hypothetical excretion of the poison might thus be supposed to have been in full activity, but the only effect upon the animal was sedative —that is, that of further exhaustion. B. Prophylactic Treatment by the Hot-air Bath.—With a view of giving the treatment a trial before the disease had shown itself, I em- ployed it prophylactically in two cases, as shown in Table HI. In each instance the bath was employed as already described, but in each case, also, as shown in the table, the symptoms commenced on the sixth day, that is, two days prematurely, and one animal actually died at the end of the eighth day, instead of, as usual, at the end of the eleventh. The others died at th e end of the ninth day. This indicated so unmistakably the general injurious effect on the treatment, that it was unnecessary to pursue the investigation. I will now give two instances in which the bath has been described to have produced an effect upon the hydrophobic human patient. The only genuine case I am aware of in which distinct “ benefit ” can be attributed to the bath alone is that reported by Mr. Southam, of Man- chester. In Case v. (? Case vi.) British Medical Journal, i88r, p. 815, it is expressly stated that after exposure to the hot air the spasms became much less marked, the patient was much comforted, became drowsy, and ultimately slept for half an hour. This result can but be considered as a very gratifying one, if regarded in its true light, namely, as a palliative not curative effect. As Mr. Southam states, it did not “prevent a fatal issue.” On the other hand, instances are recorded in which the hot-air bath caused distress. Thus in a case published by Dr. Southey (.Medical Press and Circular, 1887, p. 72) the bath was administered on the evening of the first day of the spasm ; “ he now had a vapour bath, during which he complained greatly of the heat, and he perspired freely.” The next day “he absolutely refused the vapour bath.” This patient, being a genuine case, of course died.
    digitised image 1
    digitised image 2
    digitised image 3