Practical remarks on the treatment of spermatorrhoea and some forms of impotence / by John L. Milton.

  • Milton, J. L. (John Laws), 1820-1898.
Date:
1854
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Practical remarks on the treatment of spermatorrhoea and some forms of impotence / by John L. Milton. 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.

    14/16 (page 14)
    questioning; these were, I should say, simply cases of vesicular gleet.* But if I were asked whether any given case was likely to become incurable, I should at once reply that there seems an inevitable tendency in spermatorrhoea to get worse if neglected; that I know of no instance of a spontaneous cure when once day pollutions have set in, and few of well-marked remis- sion ; that there seems a very limited power in the generative organs of throwing off diseased action, as if from their representing a system quite unconnected with those of the animal and organic life, marked by a highly remittent function, the steady influx of nervous energy necessary to effect a cure was wanting. When a patient, therefore, from day to day puts off the trouble and irksomeness of systematic treatment, it is he who is responsible, not his medical adviser. Then, indeed, we may see “ a degraded nature and a ruined constitution embittering the best days of his existence, and sometimes leading to insanity or suicide.”f Yet it is scarcely to be wondered at that incorrect ideas prevail respecting this dis- ease, when no one has as yet taken the pains to collect and arrange the many valuable but scattered monographs of Curling, Phillips, Acton, Thomson, and others. Most of the great English works on surgery are silent, or contain little that is calculated to give a comprehensive view of the evil and its proper remedies; I shall now, in conclusion, oflfer a few cases to illustrate the most salient points in the treatment I have ventured to bring for- ward. I have simply used a series of initial letters in compliance with what appeared to be a general wish on the part of the patients. a. Case 1.— 'Night Discharges from Mas- turbation.—A , a good-looking lad, aged seventeen, applied Jan. 20, 1851, with sper- matorrhoea, arising from masturbation, which he was continually performing in his sleep. To use an ointment of deuto-iodide of mer- cury, sufficiently strong to occasion vesica- tion, and have a mild aperient. A few days subsequently tonics were begun with, and he was soon well. Case 2.—Night Discharges from Gonor- rhoea.—Mr. B applied Feb. 12, 1850, with severe seminal emissions, apparently arising from gonorrhoea, under which he had been labouring. A surgeon to whom he had previously applied, wished to apply the caustic, to wliich he objected. He com- • I really can scarcely help tbinking, that if M. Lallcmand had read M. Louis Odior’s account of the death and post-mortem examination of Saussure, he would have attributed tiic death of his illustrious countryninii to spermatorrhoea I t Curling. plained of constipation, but otherwise en- joyed good health, and though pale, he was strongly formed. A grain of quinine with ten minims of dilute sulphuric acid, and a drachm of sulphate of magnesia twice a day; a small blister to the perinamra. 14th.—He has not been able to apply the blister. To do so now, and continue the mixture. March 7th.—Improving. To continue the mLxture, and dress the blistered surface with zinc ointment. April 11th.—He has had no emissions lately. To apply another -blister, and con- tinue the mixture. He had no more emis- sions, as I subsequently learned from him. b. Case 3.—Prostatic Gleet.—C ap- plied March 5, 1850, for the treatment of a discharge of thick mucus, like the unboiled white of an egg, after going to stool. It arose from a gonorrhoea, he thought, which had yielded to a tedious treatment extending over twelve months ; among other remedies he had used salines and injections. On crossing his legs, pain was felt in the vici- nity of the prostate. Copaiba and turpen- tine were tried in vain; mercury with chalk and rhubarb were then given, and a blister was applied to the perinaeum, wliich rose freely. The nitric acid and decoction of pareira brava were subsequently admini- stered, but as the discharge was not quite gone by the 20th of the ensuing month, he was ordered a second blister, which com- pletely cured him. c. Case 4.—Night Discharges with Pro- static Gleet.—Mr. D applied March, 1849, with these affections. He had been addicted to great venereal excesses, and sometime previously, while in a bad state of health, had contracted syphilis, for which he had taken so much mercury that his health had suffered severely. There was a constant discharge after stool, and some- times, after passing urine, of tenacious, glairy mucus, and he suffered greatly from night pollutions. In the left groin w-as a hard mass, apparently swollen glands and cellular tissue. To this a large blister was applied, and for three weeks not a single discharge was noticed; they subsequently reappeared to a slight extent, but were re- moved in a few weeks by quinine and exer- cise. Case 5.—Night Discharges, Recurrent Gleet, and Prostatic Gleet.—M. E ap- plied to me, July 18, 1853, with the follow- ing symptoms:—he suffered from periodi- cal attacks of great excitement, indigestion, and constipation; a free purulent discharge from the urethra and glans then set in, fol- lowed by several emissions, after wliich all