On the pathology and treatment of gonorrhœa / by J.L. Milton.

  • Milton, J. L. (John Laws), 1820-1898.
Date:
1884
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the pathology and treatment of gonorrhœa / by J.L. Milton. 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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    on, they squeeze the penis to force out any pus. They should be strictly warned not to do this. I have many times had reason to believe that this habit had been instrumental in keeping alive the discharge, because so soon as they had desisted this had somewhat diminished. The jDroper plan for ascertaining whether the secretion of pus is lessening or not is to make water into a glass vessel—an old tumbler for instance, and examine the amount of shreds in the urine. Diet in Gleet.—Patients continually ask what kind of diet is best suited to the case, and especially in reference to the form now under notice. I believe the answer to be, simply, that a plain, light but good diet will meet all requirements ; that in every form of disorder known, or supposed, to be influenced by the food, it is safer to avoid over-free use of ascescent arti- cles, and those which are hard to digest, such as pickles, pork, and shell- fish ; and that the best kind of drink is some light red wine. The late Mr. Skey was very fond of recommending beer in this stage of the com- plaint. I can only say that, while I never saw malt-liquor in any shape do the least good, I have met with many cases where it certainly seemed to do harm ; and it is rather a puzzle to me why, if it possesses any cura- tive property, it does not cure some of the many persons who take it daily while suffering from gleet. I apprehend, however, that most of those who inquire thoroughly into the question will fail to find any virtue in beer ; neither indeed will they in red wine so far as visible curative action is con- cerned ; but the latter possesses the great advantage that it never does harm, while Aveak, anaemic people frequently grow strong and make blood on it. With respect to the kind to be recommended, a question the pa- tient is almost sure to put, I may answer that I have tried the vintages of France, Spain, Sicily, Greece, and Hungary, without being able to detect any particular superiority in one over the other ; and after years of obser- vation have only been able to conclude, that any sound unbrandied wine of the claret or burgundy class will serve the purpose. Complications of Gleet.—I have now to draw upon others for rules of treatment respecting one or two complications, which may as well be looked into here, inasmuch as they apply equally whatever form of gleet they may appear with.- These are—1. A granular condition of the urethra with or without ulceration, of which I have no sort of knowledge, having never seen reason to believe that I had such a state of matters before me. 2. Abnormal sensitiveness of the urethra, described by Dr. Otis, and seem- ingly a more persistent form of the symptom already spoken of as irritable urethra, and for the cure of which he passes a stream of carbonic acid through the channel by means of a flexible catheter. 3. The sinuses men- tioned by the same author, which he treats by incision. For instance, in the case already described, where the two openings were outlets of this na- ture, he slit them up so as to lay the two into one, cauterized the ulcer (!) in the floor of the fossa navicularis, and in twenty days the wound was