On the use of common salt in the treatment of intermittent fever / by Joseph C. Hutchison.

  • Hutchison, Joseph C. (Joseph Chrisman), 1822-1887.
Date:
1854
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the use of common salt in the treatment of intermittent fever / by Joseph C. Hutchison. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    therefore, (which, however, is too limited for a general con- clusion,) it indicates the superiority of the chloride of sodium over the usual remedies in the permanency of the cures effected by it. And here we should not lose sight of the favorable influence that may have been exerted by the quinia before the salt wras prescribed. The difficulty of effecting positive cures of intermittent fever by any remedy or course of treatment, however rigidly pursued, is very great, and sometimes impossible, even though prophylactics be continually used, as long as the individual remains exposed to the cause which developed it. The writer can here speak emphatically, because he has, on two different occasions, been compelled to “fly his country” in order to get rid-of this harassing pest. In a number of cases, and among others now distinctly remembered are No. 6 and 7 detailed above, the paroxysms would recur every two or three weeks, notwithstanding quinia with Yallet’s mass and other remedies to relieve the disordered viscera, including counter-irritation over them, were diligently plied. Duration of the Disease, and general Health of the Patients.— In a large proportion of the patients the disease had existed a very long time. Of most of them it is noted, that they had been its victims from six to twelve months. By this it is not to be understood that the disorder then commenced de novo, but that it had recurred more regularly and with shorter inter- vals during that period than previously; for many of them had been its victims for a much longer time, and indeed a few could scarcely remember any period of their lives when they were not from time to time subject to the disease. In four cases (11, 13, 16, 17), the patients had never had the disorder before; and in most of them (all but the very recent ones), there was of course more or less impairment of the general health, with visceral obstructions. Modus Opcrandi.—We have seen that chloride of sodium does cure intermittent fever, and now the interesting question arises, What is its modus opcrandi ? Upon this subject there is a variety of sentiment. It is the opinion of M. Scclle Mont-