A clinical manual of the diseases of the ear / by Laurence Turnbull.

  • Turnbull, Laurence, 1821-1900.
Date:
1872
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A clinical manual of the diseases of the ear / by Laurence Turnbull. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.

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    INTRODUCTION. A recent writer in one of our popular magazines* makes the following statement: That the knowledge of the ear, its diseases, and their remedies, seem scarcely to have kept pace with the progress made in the other departments of medical science. The skeptical state of certain portions of the medical professionf has had its fruits in a like condition of the mind of the people at large, actually preventing them, in many instances, from receiving aid from those who have devoted both time and talents to the study of an obscure and intricate portion of the human system. A recent in- stance has occurred in the writer's practice showing its per- nicious influences. A son of a wealthy gentleman of this city, aged seventeen, had scarlet fever at the age of twelve years, with severe inflammation of the throat, ear, soft palate, and tonsils, producing deafness, with purulent dis- charge, first from the right ear, and subsequently from both, and, finally, from the nose. He never received any sys- tematic treatment, and even when he became offensive not only to himself, but to his whole family, was directed to let the disease alone! Such was the advice of two old and distin- guished physicians, also of a celebrated surgeon. And why? No reasons were given, except that it might go to his brain. Fortunately for this youth, a brother studied medi- cine, and as soon as he began to practice, his first desire was to acquire a knowledge of diseases of the ear, to improve his brother's condition so as to fit him to enter into society. With this view he solicited the writer's aid and counsel. Active and regular treatment of the nose, tonsils, and mucous mem- brane of his throat was instituted, keeping the ear clean, * Our Monthly. f Boylston Prize Essay, 1870.