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very efficacious in thefe other difeafes, it fuggefted to Default the use of the fame remedy in the rabies canina. Four men were on the fame day bit by a mad wolf:-they were all plunged into the fea, notwithstanding it was the depth of winter: two of them died with the ufual dreadful fymptoms; the other two, who were much terrified, and in whom the approach of the fame fymptoms was evident, were treated by Default in the following manner: he rubbed the cicatrices of the wounds, and even the whole arm with mercurial ointment: this he repeated three days fucceffively: the cicatrices then, which before were hard and elevated, became foft and even: - the ointment after this was only used every other day, and they were both perfectly cured: it must be obferved that Default gave thefe patients alfo a dofe of Palmarius's powder every day, which confifts of a number of warm antifpafmodic fmples. --This method with the mercurial ointment has been fince practiced with great fuccefs; but there is no neceffity for ufing it in fo large a quantity as to produce a falivation; if the mouth be flightly affected it is fufficient. We apprehend Dr. Tiffot's method of treating this difeafe, might be rendered more fimple, more practicable, and Jefs expenfive; which are points chiefly to be aimed at, in a work calculated for country people.

Chap. XV. Of the Ardent or burning Fever.

The figns which make it evident are, a hardness and fulnefs of the pulfe in a higher degree than happens in any other malady; an exceffive heat; great thirft, with an extraordinary drynefs of the eyes, nofirils, lips, tongue, and throat; a violent head-ach, and fometimes a raving at the height of the paroxyfm, or increafe of the fever, which rifes confiderably every evening. The refpiration is alfo fomewhat oppreffed, but efpecially at the retuin of this paroxyfm, with a cough now and then, though without any pain in the breaft, and without any expectoration, or coughing up. The body is coftive; the urine very high coloured, hot, and in fmall quantity. The fick are alfo liable to ftart fometimes, but efpecially when they feem to fleep; for they have little found refreshing fleep, but rather a kind of drowfinefs, that makes them very little attentive to, or fenfible of, whatever happens about them, or even of their own condition. They have fometimes a little fweat or moisture, though commonly a very dry fkin; they are manifeftly weak, and have either little or no fmell or tafte.

Here the general directions with regard to the management and diet in acute difeafes, as laid down in Chap. III. are to be attended to; and when the attack is extremely violent, nourishment may be wholly omitted. Bleeding fhould be immediately performed and repeated even to a third time the fame day, fo that the hardness of the pulfe be fenfibly abated: the first discharge fhould

fhould be copious, the fecond, if requifite, fhould be made four hours after, and the third as the tymptoms may render it necoflary. Thefe rules concerning bleeding are agreeable to our Author's judicious practice in all inflammatory cafes. The principal remedy, fays Dr. Tiflot, when treating of an inflammation of the breaft, is bleeding. As foon as ever the cold fit is over, twelve, fourteen, or even fixteen, ounces of blood fhould be taken away this fingle plentiful bleeding gives more ease than if twenty four ounces had been drawn, at three different times.Cooling glyfters; bathing the legs twice a day in warm water; fomenting the breaft and belly; almond-milk, ptifan, and other foft, diluting liquors, are recommended: and if the fever ftill runs high, a large dofe of spirit of fulphur is to be given every three hours in fyrup of violets.-Hæmorrhages from the nofe frequently occur in this fever, and greatly to the relief and fecurity of the patient.

The figns of amendment are briefly thefe: a fofter pulse; less head-ach; a greater quantity of urine, and not fo high coloured; the tongue rather moift; frequently between the ninth and fourteenth day, after a flurry of a few hours, large evacuations by ftool; the urine drops a palely reddish sediment, and what floats above it is clear and of a natural colour; fweats in a greater or lefs degree; the mouth and noftrils grow moift; the dry cruft which covers the tongue foftens and peels off; the thirst is diminished; the faculties become clearer; the drowsiness abates, and a comfortable fleep fucceeds.

The augmenting danger of this fever, fays Dr. Tiffot, may be difcerned, from the continued hardness of the pulfe, though with an abatement of its ftrength; if the brain becomes more confufed; the breathing more difficult; if the eyes, nofe, lips and tongue become ftill more dry, and the voice more altered. If to these fymptoms there be also added a swelling of the belly; a diminution of the quantity of urine; a conftant raving; great anxiety, and a certain wildnefs of the eyes, the cafe is in a manner desperate; and the patient cannot furvive many hours. The hands and fingers are at this period inceffantly in motion, as if feeling for fomething upon the bed-cloaths, which is commonly termed their hunting for flies.'

Thus our Author concludes his obfervations on the ardent or burning fever. We cannot however quit this fubject, without expreffing our concern, for the fomètimes fatal omiffion of BLEEDING in this fever. The practitioner, poffibly misled by the languor, drowfinefs and inattention of the patient to what paffes about him, fuppofes it a fever of another fpecies, omits bleeding, nor is fenfible of his mistake till it is too late; the brain is attacked, the violent fymptoms hurry on, and every remedy is ineffectual.-The difeafe is easily distinguished by an at

tentive

tentive phyfician; but, wherever there is a doubt, bleeding to the quantity of three or four ounces, clears up the point:- -we thus afcertain the state of the blood, the nature of the fever, and the practice to be pursued.

CHAP. XXIV. Of the Dysentery, or Bloody-flux.

The Dyfentery is a flux or loofenefs of the belly, attended with great reftleffnefs and anguish, with fevere gripings and frequent propenfities to go to ftool. There is generally a little blood in the ftools, tho' this is not a conftant fymptom, and is not effential to the existence of a Dyfentery; notwithstanding it may not be much lefs dangerous, from the absence of this symptom.'

After a more particular defcription of the approach and progrefs of this difeafe, Dr. Tiffot obferves, that many of the fick have not the leaft degree of fever or thirst, which is perhaps lefs common in this difeafe, than in a fimple loofenefs.

The most efficacious remedy for this disease is a vomit. Six grains of tartar emetic, (when there is no prefent circumstance that forbids the giving a vomit) if taken immediately on the first invafion of it, often removes it at once; and always shortens its duration. An emetic of thirty-five grains of ipecacuanha is not lefs effectual; it has been confidered for a long time, even as a certain fpecific, which it is not, though a very ufeful medicine.'-Ipecacuanha has long been confidered as a powerful remedy in this disease; but its specific virtues in the true Dysentery, have been more clearly pointed out by the accurate and ingenious Dr. Akenfide. In his commentary on this disease, he directs it to be given in the fmall dofe of one grain every fix hours, and affirms, from his own experience, that thus adminiftred it is fingularly efficacious.

We fhall pass over our Author's other practical directions, and only mention what he fays concerning the good effects of ripe fruits in this difeafe: a practice more particularly indicated where the Dyfentery proceeds from a putrid ferment lurking in the bowels. There is a pernicious prejudice, and which still generally prevails, that fruits are noxious in a Dyfentery, that they even give it, and aggravate it. Now ripe fruits, of whatever fpecies, and especially fummer fruits, are the real prefervatives from this difeafe.-We had a great, an extraordinary abundance of fruit in 1759 and 1760, but fcarcely any Dyfenteries. I have feen eleven patients in one houfe in the Dyfentery, of whom nine were very tractable; they eat fruit and recovered. The grandmother and one child, whom she loved more than the reft, were carried off. She managed the child after her own fashion, with burnt wine, oil, and fome fpices, but no fruit. She conducted herfelf in the very fame manner,

and

and both died.-This fame diftemper had nearly destroyed a Swifs regiment in garrifon in the South of France; the captains purchased the whole crop of feveral acres of vineyard; there they carried the fick foldiers, and gathered the grapes for fuch as could not bear being carried into the vineyard; those who were well eating nothing elfe: after this not one died, nor were any more even attacked with the Dyfentery.'-An unbounded and promifcuous ufe of fruit in every fpecies of Dyfentery may not always be proper; but in those Dyfenteries which occur in the camp or navy-wherever nature points out this practice by the ardent longings of the patient;-or where there is a broken diffolved ftate of the blood, and a putrid acrimony infefts the bowels;-an indulgence in eating found ripe fruit, will generally be attended with happy effects.

CHAP. XXVIII. Directions with respect to Drowned Perfons.

We fhould have made no farther extracts from this work, had we not apprehended that the contents of this chapter cannot be too univerfally known.

Whenever a perfon, fays Dr. Tiffot, has remained a quarter of an hour under water, there can be no confiderable hopes of his recovery: nevertheless, as several circumstances may happen to have continued life, in fuch an unfortunate situation, beyond the ordinary term, we fhould always endeavour to afford them the most effectual relief, and not to give them up as irrecoverable too foon: fince it has often been known, that until the expiration of two, and fometimes even three hours, fuch bodies have exhibited fome apparent tokens of life.The water, our Author obferves, which is fometimes indeed forced into the stomach of a drowned perfon, is not the cause of death: the real caufe is fuffocation, or an interception in the action of breathing the water which defcends into the lungs, during the painful ftruggles of the unhappy fufferer to draw breath, not only tops the action of the lungs themselves, but intercepts alfo the return of the blood from the head, and hence an apoplexy is complicated with the fuffocation. This fecond cause, however, the descent of water into the lungs, is far from being general, as is fufficiently evident from diffections: the ftoppage of refpiration only, without the additional cause of water forced into the lungs, will neceffarily produce fuffocation and apoplexy.

In these unhappy cafes, the only intentions to be pursued, are, to unload the lungs and brain, and to restore the extinguished circulation. To obtain these ends it is neceffary, immediately to ftrip the fufferer, to put him into a warm bed, and to rub him well with dry coarfe linnen:-a ftrong and healthy person should breathe forcibly into the patient's lungs, and the fmoke of tobacco should in like manner be introduced :—the ju

3

gular

gular vein, or any large vein in the neck, must be opened, and ten or twelve ounces of blood taken away; this is particula ly indicated, in order to renew the circulation, and to diminish the diftention of the brain and lungs :-the fume of tobacco should be thrown up, as fpeedily and plentifully as poffible, into the inteftines, by the fundament :-the ftrongeft volatiles fhould be applied to the noftrils; and the powder of fome ftrong dry herb, fage, rofemary, mint, rue, and especially marjoram or welldried tobacco, fhould be blown up the note:-as long as there are no figns of life, it is dangerous to pour much liquid of any kind into the mouth; but as foon as it can be done with fafety, five or fix common fpoonfuls of oxymel of fquills diluted with warm water should be taken within the fpace of one hour; if this is not at hand, a strong infufion of the bleffed thiftle, fage, chamomile flowers, fweetened with honey; or even warm water, with the addition of a little common falt, fhould be given : -not to defert the patient too foon, after the first appearances of recovery ;-and to be attentive whether any other difeafe fupervenes. Dr. Tiffot difapproves of wrapping a drowned perfon in the warm, just-flea'd skin of an animal; the rolling him in an empty hogfhead; or the hanging him up by the feet.

A girl of eighteen years old was motionlefs, frozen as it were, infenfible, her eyes clofed, her mouth wide open, a livid colour, a fwoln vifage, with a tumour of the whole body, which was over-laden or water-foaked: this miferable object was extended on a kind of bed, of hot or very warm athes, quickly heated in great kettles; and by laying her quite naked on these afhes; by covering her with others equally hot; by putting a bonnet round her head, with a stocking round her neck, ftuffed with the fame, and heaping coverings over all this, at the end of half an hour her pulfe returned, fhe recovered her fpeech, and cried out, I freeze, I freeze; a little cherry-brandy was given her, and then the remained buried, as it were, eight hours under the afhes; being taken out of them afterwards without any other complaint, except that of great laffitude, which went entirely off the third day.This method deferves imitation, but fhould not make us inattentive to other Our Author fays, heated gravel or fand, mixed with falt, or hot falt alone, have been found equally efficacious. CHAP. XXXIII. Of Mountebanks, Quacks, and Conjurers. This chapter contains fo many excellent obfervations, so thorough a knowlege of mankind, and fo great a degree of benevolence, that we hall give our Readers a short abftract of it.—

means.

One dreadful fcourge, fays Dr. Tiflot, ftill remains to be treated of; and which, as long as it continues, will defeat our utmost precautions to preferve the health and lives of the com

mon

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