A complete handbook of treatment : arranged as an alphabetical index of diseases to facilitate reference, and containing nearly one thousand formulae / by William Aitken.

  • Aitken, William, 1825-1892.
Date:
1882
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A complete handbook of treatment : arranged as an alphabetical index of diseases to facilitate reference, and containing nearly one thousand formulae / by William Aitken. 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.

    298/456 (page 292)
    in the lungs saturated with the antiseptic material. This is the principle of Dr. Coghill's respirator-inhaler, which should be used especially after fits of expectoration, so as to act immediately on the surface which has furnished the matter expectorated. It cannot be used too often; and should quite supersede cough-mixtures. It is, of course, only of use in the second and third stages of phthisis and the suppurative stage of bronchitis; and especially in the retained fetid expectoration of bronchiectasis. Dr. Cog- hill's standard formula (to be modified at discretion) for an antiseptic solution consists of one drachm of glycerine, one drachm and a half of creasote, two drachms of carbolic acid, and one ounce of a saturated solution of thymol: of which ten to fifteen minims are to be inhaled twice or thrice a day by the respirator-inhaler. A few drops of chloroform, or of ether, may be added as a sedative to each dose. In the first stage of phthisis and other conditions where there is cough and no expectoration, and in which the cough is inju- rious by shaking and shattering the tender and infiltrated lung tissue, the following is an excellent formula:—namely, Croton-chloral hydrate and codeia, a agr. xij.; Aqua Lauro- cerasi, glycerine, and Syrup of tolu, a a ad. 3 ij. A dessert- spoonful, or two teaspoonfuls, may be taken every two hours when cough is troublesome. To foster and cherish an appetite for food is another great aim of treatment. One of the best tonics, if pyrexia does not exist, is the syrup of iron, quinia, and strychnia. Let it be given in very small doses at first; followed up by the use of cod-liver oil, of the most agreeable, clearest, sweetest, and most scentless kind. The brown oil ought never to be pre- scribed, except, perhaps, to an Esquimaux. The oil should be given in teaspoonful doses at first. Dr. B. W. Foster, of Bir- mingham, drew the attention of the Profession to the advan- tages of ether in promoting the digestion and absorption of fatty food, and especially of cod-liver oil. A stomach once in- tolerant of all fat will good-naturedly accept full doses of cod- liver oil after the use of ether. Sometimes it has been given separately, before or after the oil; but it is best given com- bined with the oil—a mixture now generally known as etherized cod-liver oil. To every two drachms of the oil ten, fifteen, or twenty minims of ether are to be added, according to the wants of the case. The y£therpurus of the British Pharmacopoeia must be used, so that the oil may not be rendered muddy, as it will be if the ether