On the application of sulphurous acid gas to the prevention, limitation, and cure of contagious diseases : with cases illustrative of the advantages to be derived from its employment / by James Dewar.

  • Dewar, James, Sir, 1842-1923.
Date:
1867
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the application of sulphurous acid gas to the prevention, limitation, and cure of contagious diseases : with cases illustrative of the advantages to be derived from its employment / by James Dewar. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

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    occasion of my first visit, holding a child upon her knee, whose condition was the most repulsive I ever saw. Its head was enormously swollen, with tumefaction of all the glands in the neighbourhood ; the scalp was covered with crusts (eczematous), which were surrounded or rather con- nected by erythema of a very unhealthy colour; the ears, which had been discharging for some time, were occupied by diphtheritic sloughs, and the odours emitted were appalling even to the parents. This child enjoyed greatly the application of spray to the fauces and ears, but died towards the end of the week. When I paid my third visit, I found that both nurses, mother and daughter, had been taken ill; but from the advanced stage at which in the latter the disease had arrived, as indicated by the condition of the tonsils, there is every reason to believe that her illness had been overlooked. This girl died on the fifth day, without having derived anything more than temporary relief from the remedies. The mother, on the other hand, had the benefit of having the agent employed at the very outset, and she made a speedy recovery. The same thing occurred in the case of her sister, who came to assist in nursing; for having instructed them in the use of the spray-producer, I left one with them, and it was thenceforward had recourse to without delay, and as often as occasion required. The history of the remaining little girl is melancholy, but it is instructive. She was seized at the same time as her aunt, and occupied with her the adjoining room. She was subjected to the same treatment, and all went well. She was apparently convalescent, when unfortunately her mother had sanctioned her being brought to her own bed,