Diptheria [sic] : its nature, history, causes, prevention, and treatment on hygienic principles : with a resumé of the various theories and practices of the medical profession / by R.T. Trall.

  • Trall, R. T. (Russell Thacher), 1812-1877.
Date:
[1862]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Diptheria [sic] : its nature, history, causes, prevention, and treatment on hygienic principles : with a resumé of the various theories and practices of the medical profession / by R.T. Trall. 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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    the throat is manifest. His appetite fails. Perhaps nausea and vomiting are the first symptoms. Adults complain of chilliness and aches in their limbs. If a child, he loses his inclination to play, and is inclined to be drowsy. There may be restlessness at night, gritting of the teeth, and feverishness. Not unfre- quently none of these precursory signs appear, and if any of them occur, they are not thought of at the time, but are recalled to mind by the patient, or the parents of the child, after the more patent symptoms set in. On the second or third day, if not before, there is ob- served some difficulty in deglutition, and externally may be felt slight enlargement of one or both sub- maxillary glands, which are tender on pressure. Per- haps the first thing noticed by the parents of the child is the swelling of the areolar tissue of the throat. At this period, examination of the fauces generally reveals swelling of one or both of the tonsils and soft palate, accompanied with unusual redness of the mucous membrane. Small patches of membranous lymph, of a dirty-whitish color, are also visible. I have detected this deposit when it was no larger in extent than a split pea, but usually it is as large as a three-cent piece. I have been first called to attend a patient when the whole fauces and soft palate were covered with this exudation. Parts of the pharynx not cov- ered with this false membrane are usually edematous and fiery red, resembling erysipelas. From this period the symptoms rapidly increase in severity, if not arrested. At the expiration of a week the prognosis, whether favorable or otherwise, can be determined. Death usually occurs between the end of the first and second week. The swelling of the throat in severe cases is very