An Account of the Foxglove and some of its Medical Uses, William Withering [reading eggs books txt] 📗

1780.

July 18th. Infusum amarum, steel, Seltzer water.

September 22d. Neutral saline draughts, with tinct. canthar.

26th. Pills of soap, garlic and millepedes.

30th. The same pills, with infusum amarum.

October 11th. Pills of aloes, assafetida, and sal martis, in the day-time, and mercury rubbed down, at night.

December 21st. The accumulation of water now required a repetition of the Digitalis. It was directed in infusion, a dram and half to eight ounces, and an ounce and half given every fourth hour, until its effects began to appear. The water was soon carried off.

30th. Sal diuretic. twice a day. To eat preserved garlic frequently.

1781.

February 1st. Pills of calomel, squill and gum ammoniac.

3d. Infusion of Digitalis repeated, and after the water was carried off, Dover's powder was tried as a sudorific.

March 18th. Infus. Digital. repeated.

26th. Pills of sal martis and aromatic species, with infusum amarum.

May 5th. Being feverish; James's powder and saline draughts.

10th. Laudanum every night, and an opening tincture to obviate costiveness.

24th. Infus. Digitalis, one ounce only every fourth hour, which soon procured a perfect evacuation of the water.

August 11th. Infus. Digitalis.

October 19th. An emetic, and fol. Cicut. pulv. ten grains every six hours.

November 8th. A mercurial bolus at bed-time.

16th. Infus. Digitalis.

December 23d. An emetic—Pills of seneka and gum ammoniac—Vitriolic acid in every thing she drinks.

25th. Squill united to small doses of opium.

1782.

January 2d. A troublesome cough—Syrup of garlic and oxymel of squills. A blister to the back.

4th. Tincture of cantharides and paregoric elixir.

28th. Infus. Digitalis, half an ounce every morning, and one ounce every night, was now sufficient to empty her.

March 26th. Infus. Digitalis; and when emptied, vitriol of copper twice a day.

April 1st. A cordial mixture for occasional use.

Two months afterwards a purging came on, which every now and then returned, inducing great weakness—her appetite failed, and she died in July.

None of the accumulations of water were at all equal to that which existed when I first saw her, for finding so easy a mode of relief, she became impatient under a small degree of pressure, and often insisted upon taking her medicine sooner than I thought it necessary. After the 26th of March the degree of effusion was inconsiderable, and at the time of her death very trifling, being probably carried off by the diarrhœa.

July 12th. Mr. H——, of A——, Æt. 60. In the last stage of a life hurried to a termination by free living, dropsical symptoms became the most distressing. He wished to take the Digitalis. It was given, but afforded no relief.

July 13th. Mr. S——, Æt. 49. Asthma, or rather hydrothorax, anasarca, and symptoms of a diseased liver. He was directed to take two grains of Pulv. fol. Digital. every two hours, until it produced some effect. It soon removed the dropsical and asthmatic affections, and steel, with Seltzer water, restored him to health.

August 6th. Mr. L——, Æt. 35. Ascites and anasarca. Pulv. Digital. grains three, repeated every fourth hour, until he had taken two scruples, removed every appearance of dropsy in a few days. He was then directed to take solution of merc. sublimat. and soon recovered his health and strength.

August 16th. Mr. G——, of W——, Æt. 86. Asthma of many years duration, and lately an incipient anasarca, with a paucity of urine. He had never lived intemperately, was of a chearful disposition, and very sensible: for some years back had lost all relish for animal food, and his only support had been an ounce or two of bread and cheese, or a small slice of seed-cake, with three or four pints of mild ale, in the twenty-four hours. After trying chrystals of tartar, fixed alkaly, squills, &c. I directed three grains of Pulv. fol. Digital. made into pills, with G. ammoniac, to be given every six hours; this presently occasioned copious discharges of urine, removed his swellings, and restored him to his usual standard of health.

August 17th. T—— B——, Esq. of K——, Æt. 46. Jaundice, dropsy, and great hardness in the region of the liver. Infusion of Digitalis carried off all the effusion, and afterwards a course of deobstruent and tonic medicines removed his other complaints.

August 23d. Mr. C——, Æt. 58. (The person mentioned at Case XXIII.) He had continued free from dropsy until within the last six weeks; his appetite was now totally gone, his strength extremely reduced, and the yellow of his jaundice changed to a blackish hue. The Digitalis was now tried in vain, and he died shortly afterwards.

August 24th. Mrs. W——, Æt. 39. Anasarcous legs and symptoms of hydrothorax, consequent to a tertian ague. Three grains of Pulv. Digitalis, given every fourth hour, occasioned a very copious flow of urine, and she got well without any other medicine.

August 28th. Mr. J—— H——, Æt. 27. In consequence of very free living, had an ascites and swelled legs. I ordered him to take two grains of Fol. Digital. pulv. every two hours, until it produced some effect; a few doses caused a plentiful secretion of urine, but no sickness, or purging: in six days the swellings disappeared, and he has since remained in good health.

September 27th. Mr. S——, Æt. 45. Had been long in an ill state of health, from what had been supposed an irregular gout, was greatly emaciated, had a sallow complexion, no appetite, costive bowels, quick and feeble pulse. The cause of his complaints was involved in obscurity; but I suspected the poison of lead, and was strengthened in this suspicion, upon finding his wife had likewise ill health, and, at times, severe attacks of colic; but the answers to my enquiries seemed to prove my suspicions fruitless, and, amongst other things, I was told the pump was of wood. He had lately suffered extremely from difficult breathing, which I thought owing to anasarcous lungs; there was also a slight degree of pale swelling in his legs. Pulv. fol. Digital. made into pills, with gum ammoniac and aromatic species, soon relieved his breathing. Attempts were then made to assist him in other respects, but with little good effect, and some months afterwards he died, with every appearance of a worn out constitution.

About two years after this gentleman's death, I was talking to a pump-maker, who, in the course of conversation, mentioned the corrosion of leaden pumps, by some of the water in this town, and instanced that at the house of Mr. S——, which he had replaced with a wooden one about three years before. The lead, he said, was eaten away, so as to be very thin in some places, and full of holes in others;—this accidental information explained the mystery.

The deleterious effects of lead seem to be considerably modified by the constitution of the patient; for in some families only one or two individuals shall suffer from it, whilst the rest receive it with impunity. In the spring of the year 1776, I was desired to visit Mrs. H——, of S—— Park, who had repeatedly been attacked with painful colics, and had suffered much from insuperable costiveness; I suspected lead to be the cause of her complaints, but was unable to trace by what means it was taken. She was relieved by the usual methods; but, a few months afterwards, I was desired to see her again: her sufferings were the same as before, and notwithstanding every precaution to guard against costiveness, she was never in perfect health, and seldom escaped severe attacks twice or thrice in a year; she had also frequent pains in her joints. I could not find any traces of similar complaints either in Mr. H——, the children, or the servants. Mrs. H—— was a water drinker, and seldom tasted any fermented liquor. The pump was of wood, as I had been informed upon my first visit. Her health continued nearly in the same state for two or three years more, but she always found herself better if she left her own house for any length of time. At length it occurred to me, that though the pump was a wooden one, the piston might work in lead. I therefore ordered the pump rods to be drawn up, and upon examination with a magnifying glass, found the leather of the piston covered with an infinite number of very minute shining particles of lead. Perhaps in this instance the metal was so minutely divided by abrasion, as to be mechanically suspended in the water. The lady was directed to drink the water of a spring, and never to swallow that from the pump. The event confirmed my suspicions, for she gradually recovered a good state of health, lost the obstinate costiveness, and has never to this day had any attack of the colic.

September 28th. Mrs. J——, Æt. 70. Ascites and very thick anasarcous legs and thighs, total loss of strength and appetite. Infusion of Digitalis was given, but, as had been prognosticated, with no good effect.

September 30th. Mr. A——, Æt. 57. A strong man; hydrothorax and swelled legs; in other respects not unhealthful. He was directed to take two grains of the Pulv. fol. Digit. made into a pill with gum ammoniac. Forty grains thus taken at intervals, effected a cure by increasing the quantity of urine, and he has had no relapse.

November 2d. Mr. P—— of T——, Æt. 42. A very strong man, drank a great quantity of strong ale, and was much exposed to alterations of heat and cold. About the end of summer found himself short winded, and lost his appetite. The dyspnœa gradually increased, he got a most distressing