A healthy young woman 20 years of age, after having taken two of the
preparatory powders, had a slight fever, accompanied with sickness at
stomach, which were followed by an erysipelatous rash; on this account
inoculation was postponed four days, when the rash was totally gone.
On the 7th day from the inoculation she began to have the eruptive
symptoms, which were accompanied with more fever and pain in the head
and back than is usual, also very great sickness and vomiting; these
were succeeded by an universal rash, of the same kind as had happened
before; in this situation she was ordered to keep her room, and the
following medicine was directed:
Take compound powder of crabs claws, one scruple; emetic tartar,
one grain.
This operated moderately by vomit, discharging some bile, and also
twice by stool. The stomach was much relieved, but the rash remained,
and put on so much the appearance of a confluent eruption, that I could
scarce be satisfied it was not so, though I had seen in the same
person but a few days before a smaller degree of the same rash. What
made the case more doubtful was, that the fever still remained pretty
high; and her head and back were not much relieved by this eruption. In
this situation I did not think it adviseable to expose the patient to
the open air, but directed only a saline mixture, with compound powder
of crabs claws, and that she should keep her room, but not her bed.
On the 10th a few distinct pustules were to be distinguished, the rash
began to look fainter, and the whole terminated in a very favourable
distinct eruption, without any particular accident: the skin peeled off
universally, as is not uncommon after a rash.