Sec. 18. Under this name I also include the dropsy of the pericardium.
The intermitting pulse, and pain in the arms, sufficiently distinguish
this disease from asthma, and from anasarcous lungs.
It is very universally cured by the Digitalis.
Sec. 19. I lately met with two cases which had been considered and
treated as angina pectoris. They both appeared to me to be cases of
hydrothorax. One subject was a clergyman, whose strength had been so
compleatly exhausted by the continuance of the disease, and the
attempts to relieve it, that he did not survive many days. The other
was a lady, whose time of life made me suspect effusion. I directed
her to take small doses of the pulv. Digitalis, which in eight days
removed all her complaints. This happened six months ago, and she
remains perfectly well.
HYDROTHORAX and ANASARCA.
Sec. 20. This combination is very frequent, and, I believe, may always be
cured by the Digitalis.
Sec. 21. Dropsies in the chest either with or without anasarcous limbs,
are much more curable than those of the belly. Probably because the
abdominal viscera are more frequently diseased in the latter than in
the former cases.