Cases of cholera collected at Paris : in the month of April, 1832, in the wards of MM. Andral and Louis, at the Hospital La Pitié / by James Jackson, Jr.

  • Jackson, James, Jr., 1810-1834.
Date:
1832
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Cases of cholera collected at Paris : in the month of April, 1832, in the wards of MM. Andral and Louis, at the Hospital La Pitié / by James Jackson, Jr. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University.

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    POSTSCRIPT. After the last sheet of this work was in the hands of the printer, I received from my son a letter respecting the use of saline injec- tions in cholera. Full of anxiety respecting the prevalence of this disease in his own country, and quickened by a rumor which had just reached him that it had already appeared in Canada, he took especial pains to learn what evidence there was for or against this new remedy. On his arrival at Edinburgh, he found the disease increasing there, though not very greatly. The saline injections were much in use. The result of his inquiries respecting the effects of them has appeared to me sufficiently interesting to warrant this postscript. His letter was not written with a view to publication, but the following observations are derived from it, and are given as nearly as may be in his own words. James Jackson. August 27, 1832. The saline injections are employed only in the bad cases; in the state of collapse, or when the patient is cold, livid and pulseless. The immediate effect is to produce excitement, i. e. increase in the force and fulness of the pulse, warmth, a better complexion, and more comfortable feelings. These effects, however, are not pro- duced in all cases. These grateful effects are sometimes of very short duration, and the injection is employed a second and a third time. Death some- times occurs in the collapse following the first excitement. A ma- jority of those, who are injected, ultimately die. Frequently, indeed most frequently, when the artificial excite- ment is not followed by collapse, the reaction is too great, and marks of cerebral affection ensue. Then the case proves fatal, unless it can be relieved by blood-letting, general or local, aided by mer- curials. Thus, if the injections are beneficial, it is principally in bringing