The tonic treatment of syphilis / by E.L. Keyes.

  • Keyes, E. L. (Edward Lawrence), 1843-1924.
Date:
1877
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The tonic treatment of syphilis / by E.L. Keyes. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    been empirical; its action has been styled alterative; its power of improving the quality of the blood, by in- creasing the number of its red blood-cells, has not been recognized; but its value as a tonic is proved by the fact that it has long been used, and still is used, with advantage in cases of chronic debilitating disease. All the older members of the profession in the country whom I have consulted, by word of mouth or by letter, have confessed to a general belief in the value of minute doses of mercury as an alterative in chronic disease. They state that they have received the faith from their preceptors, and have practised upon it without investigating the why or the wherefore of the action of the drug. Two (at least) prominent authorities in lung-dis- ease, in New York, have used minute doses of mercury, long continued, with advantage in chronic pulmonary disease. The late Valentine Mott was loud in its praises as an alterative for strumous children. Again, I may cite the remedy so long in use among the profession in New York (a minute dose of bichlo- ride of mercury in tincture of iron) as a remedy in Bright's disease—and with some advantage in many cases. This action was also believed to be alterative. To me the word alterative was always objectionable, because I could not understand it. I believed mercury to be beneficial in minute doses, but it was only while counting with the hematimetre the red cells in the blood of individuals, healthy and syphilitic, who were taking minute doses of mercury, that I appreciated its