Produced by Bryan Ness and the Online Distributed
Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
AN EPITOME OF THE Homoeopathic Healing Art,
CONTAINING THE NEW DISCOVERIES AND IMPROVEMENTS TO THE PRESENT TIME;
DESIGNED
FOR THE USE OF FAMILIES, FOR TRAVELERS ON THEIR JOURNEY,
AND AS A POCKET COMPANION FOR THE PHYSICIAN.
BY B. L. HILL, M. D.,
Professor of General, Special, and Surgical Anatomy Late Professor of
Surgery, Obstetrics, and Diseases Females and Children, in the W. H.
College, Author of the "Homoeopathic Practice of Surgery," &c., &c.
CLEVELAND, OHIO: JOHN HALL, 72 SUPERIOR STREET.
CHICAGO, ILL. HALSEY & KING, 162 CLARK STREET.
1859.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1859,
By B. L. HILL, M. D.,
In the Clerk's office of the District Court in and for the Northern
District of Ohio.
PINKERTON & NEVINS' Print, Cleveland, O.
* * * * *
TABLE OF REMEDIES.
In this table I have affixed to the remedies figures designating the
dilutions or the attenuations, at which, under ordinary circumstances, I
would advise their use. The strongest, or mother tinctures, marked with
an apha (0), the dilutions or triturations to be of the decimal degrees
of attenuation, are marked 1, 2, 3, &c., to designate that they are to
be used at 1-10th, 1-100th, 1-1000th, &c., the strength of the pure
drugs.
The list for a full FAMILY CASE contains all the remedies recommended in
this book for diseases that may be safely trusted to unprofessional
hands.
The TRAVELER'S CASE needs only such medicines as are prescribed for the
diseases which he would be most liable to contract on his journey;
though I have put in the principal ones used in domestic practice, so
that the Case will do for family use.
The CHOLERA CASE is only supplied with such remedies as are particularly
applicable to that disease; useful, however, for many other complaints.
TRAVELER'S CASE.
1 Aconite p 3|15 Hydrastus Can. p 1
2 Apis Mellifica p 3|16 Ipecac p 3
3 Arsenicum p 3|17 Mercurius sol. p 3
4 Arnica tr 0|18 Mercurius cor. tt 2
5 Arum triphyllum tt 2|19 Macrotin tt 1
6 Belladonna p 3|20 Nux Vom. p 3
7 Baptisia p 1|21 Phosphorus p 3
8 Bryonia p 3|22 Phos. acid p 3
9 Colocynth p 3|23 Podophyllin p 2
10 China Sul. tt 1|24 Rhus toxicod. p 3
11 Chamomilla p 3|25 Secale p 3
12 Copaiva p 2|26 Tartar emetic p 3
13 Cuprum p 3|27|Veratrum p 3
14 Eupatorium Aro. p 1|
CHOLERA CASE.
1 Aconite p 3|8 Laurocerasus p 4
2 Arsenicum p 3|9 Opium p 3
3 Belladonna p 3|10 Merc. cor. p 3
4 Camphor tr 0|11 Phosphorus p 3
5 Carbo Veg. p 5|12 Phos. acid p 3
6 Cuprum p 3|13 Secale p 3
7 Ipecac p 3|14 Veratrum p 3
FULL FAMILY CASE.
Tr. is used for tincture, Tt. trituration, P. pellets.
REMEDIES. |CONTRACTIONS.
|
1 Aconitum. |Aconite Tr 0 1 p 3
2 Althæa. |
3 Apis mellifica. |Apis mel. 0 p 2 3
4 Arsenicum. |Arsenicum 0 p 3
5 Arnica. |Arnica, 0 p 3
6 Arum triphyllum. |Arum triphyllum, 0 tt 2
7 Belladonna. |Bell. tr 1 p 4
8 Baptisia tinctoria. |Baptisia, tr 0 2
9 Bryonia. |Bryonia, tr p 3
10 Carbo. Vegetabilis. |Carbo. Veg. tr p 4
11 Cantharides. |Cantharides, tr 0 p 3
12 Colocynthis. |Colocynth, tr or p 3
13 China Sulphuricum. |China Sul. tt 1
14 Chamomilla. |Chamomilla tr or p 3
15 Copaiva. |Copaiva tr 1 p 2
16 Cauloph. Thalictroides.|Caulophyllum tr 1
17 Cuprum. |Cuprum, p 3
18 Cuprum Aceticum. |
19 Cornus Sericea. |Cornus sericea, tr 0 p 2
20 Conium maculatum. |Conium mac. tr 0 p 3
21 Coffea. |Coffea p 4
22 Eryngium Aquaticum. |Eryngium Aquaticum 2
23 Eupatorium aromaticum |Eupatorium aro. tr 0 p 2
24 Hepar Sulphur. |
25 Hydrastus Canadensis. |Hydrastin tr 0 p 2
26 Hamamelis Virginica. |Hamamelis Vir. tr 0 p 3
27 Ipecacuanha. |Ipecac tr 0 p 2 3
28 Laurocerasus. |Laurocerasus p 3
29 Mercurius solubilis. |Merc. tr 3
30 Mercurius corrosivus. |Mercurius cor. tt 2 p 3
31 Macrotys Racemosa. |Macrotin, tr 2
32 Nux Vomica. |Nux p 3
33 Opium. |Opium p 3
34 Phosphorus. |Phosphorus, tr 2 p 3
35 Phosphoric acid. |Phos. acid, tr 2 p 3
36 Podophyllum peltatum. |Podophyllin, tt 1 p 3
37 Pulsatilla. |Pulsatilla 3
38 Rhus Toxicodendron. |Rhus Tox. p 3
39 Secale cornutum. |Secale, tr 1 p 3
40 Santonine. |Santonine, tr 1
41 Spongia. |Spongia, p 4
42 Tartar Emetic. |Tartar emetic tr 2 p 3
43 Thuya. |
44 Veratrum alba. |Veratrum. p 3
AN EPITOME
OF THE
HOMOEOPATHIC HEALING ART.
Introduction.
This work contains in a _condensed form_ a very large portion of all
that is practically useful in the treatment of the diseases ordinarily
occurring in this country. The symptoms are given with sufficient
minuteness and detail to enable any one of ordinary capacities of
observation to distinguish the complaint; and the treatment is so
_plainly_ laid down, that no one need make a mistake. If strictly
followed, it will, in a very large proportion of cases, effect cures,
even when administered by those unacquainted with the medical sciences
generally. It has been written from necessity, to meet the demands of
community for a more definite work in a concise form, that should
contain remedies of the most reliable character, with such directions
for their use as can be followed by the _traveler on his journey_, or by
families at home, when no physician is at hand. It might seem to some
preposterous to speak of a _demand_ for another _domestic_
Homoeopathic Practice, when half a score or more of such works are now
extant, some having come out within a very short time. The demand
arises, not from the want of Books, but from the defects of those that
exist. There is in most of them, too little point and definiteness in
the prescriptions, and a kind of vague doubting recommendation
noticeable to all, which carries the impression at once to every reader,
of a want of _confidence_ by the author in his own directions.
Again, in some of the works there is too much confusion, the symptoms
not being laid down with sufficient clearness to indicate the best
remedy. Some of the works are unnecessarily large and cumbersome, while
the real amount of valuable practical matter is comparatively meager,
obliging the reader to pay for paper and binding without the contained
value of his money. I do not claim entire perfection for this work, yet
I do claim it to be several steps in advance of the books now extant.
* * * * *
This work is my own, being the result of my practical experience and
observation. I have introduced several remedies that, though they are
familiar to me, and have been used in my practice for many years, are,
nevertheless, comparatively strange and new to most of the profession.
Of some we have no extensive provings yet published, still the provings
have been made, both upon the healthy and the sick. Their use, as
directed in this work, is in strict accordance with their
Homoeopathic relation to the symptoms for which they are prescribed.
Some may object to my practice of giving several remedies in alternation
or rotation and in quick succession. To such I would say, When you try
this mode of practice and on comparing it with the opposite one of
giving only one remedy, and that at long intervals between the doses,
find my mode to be less successful than yours, _then_ it will be time
for you to make your objections. _You_ may rely upon the vague
hypotheses of the books, and give your high dilutions singly, at long
intervals, and let your patients die for want of _real_ treatment, while
I will use lower dilutions and give two or more remedies in quick
succession and cure mine. I only speak what is in accordance with
universal observation, where the two modes are compared on equal
footing, when I affirm that, while the former _may_ effect some cures,
_most_ of the recoveries under it, are spontaneous and unaided, the
latter _does_ cure; the disease being arrested by the medicine, and the
proportion of unfavorable terminations is much less under the latter
than the former course. I know many learned and successful practitioners
who have substituted low dilutions and the giving of several remedies in
quick succession for the old mode of high attenuations and long
intervals of single remedies, all of whom still adhere to the low, while
I have yet to hear of the man who has gone _back_ to high single
remedies and long intervals. My reason then, for the course here laid
down, is, that it will _cure_ with more promptness and certainty. If
others are so prejudiced as not to _try it_, they will still remain in
ignorance of the _best practice_, and their patients will be the
sufferers.
In reference to the fear that is expressed that if one medicine is given
too soon after another, it will antidote the former, I have simply to
say, I have no confidence in the hypothetic antidotal powers of the
medicines one over another, as laid down in the books. It has not been
verified by experience, and has no foundation in truth. It is true that
one medicine will remove morbid symptoms that might be produced by an
overdose of another; but both being given in the ordinary medicinal
doses, neither of them to such an extent as to produce sensible
symptoms, if given alone, would not, if given in quick succession,
prevent each other from acting to remove their own peculiar symptoms
that exist in the system at the time. So if we have the symptoms that
are found in two or more different remedies present in the same attack,
as is often the ease, we may give these several remedies one after
another, with confidence in their curative effects for the symptoms they
represent.
This has been my practice, and it has been _eminently successful_, and
therefore I commend it to others, treating with pity the infirmity of
those who ignorantly condemn it, as "They know not what they do."
ADMINISTRATION OF REMEDIES.
The remedies are either in the form of tinctures saturated, more or less
dilute, in Pellets or Powders. The _Pellets_ may be taken dry upon the
tongue, allowed to dissolve and swallowed. The dose for an adult is from
4 to 7; for an infant, from birth to one year old, 1 to 3; from one to
three years, 2 to 4; from three to ten years, 3 to 5 pellets; after ten,
same as an adult. 15 or 20 pellets may be dissolved in a gill of water,
and a tea-spoonful dose given at a time, being particular to stir it
until all are perfectly dissolved, stirring it each dose.
_Powders_ may be taken in the same manner, upon the tongue, a dose when
dry, being about the same bulk as of the pellets as nearly as
practicable. If put into water, to a gill of water add of the powder
about what would lie on a three cent piece. If the liquid medicine is
used, add 1 drop to a gill of water, and use tea-spoonful doses as above
directed. The length of time between the doses should be, in Dysentery
and Diarrhoea, regulated by the frequency of the discharges, giving a
dose as often as the evacuations occur. In acute and violent diseases,
the doses should be repeated oftener than in milder cases--about once an
hour as a general rule is often enough, though in some cases they should
be given in half an hour or oftener. In mild cases, once in two or three
hours is often enough, and in chronic cases, once or twice a day.
Bathing.
The surface of the body should be kept clean, as far as possible, and to
this end, in summer, should be well bathed at least once a day. In
winter, though useful, it is not so indispensable; still no one should
neglect the bath more than a week, and all ought to bathe at least twice
a week, if not oftener, even in winter.
The bath should be of a temperature that is agreeable, and the room
warm, especially for a feeble person. It should be so applied as not to
give a general chill, as such shocks are always hurtful.
The _teeth_ should be kept clean and free from tartar. They should be
cleaned every morning and after each meal. The feet, legs and arms
should be warmly clothed, especially the _arms_, as an exposure of them
to cold is liable to induce affections of the lungs, and to aggravate
any existing disease of those organs.
By exposure of the feet and legs to cold, diseases and derangements of
the female organs, even in young girls, are induced; and one prolific
cause of female weakness is to be found in improper dressing of the feet
and legs, while the _lung affections_ of females, now so fearfully
prevalent, are traceable in a great degree to the fashion that has
prevailed for a few years, of exposing the arms to cold.
Diet.
The diet of the sick should he nutricious, but at all times simple, free
from greasy substances, and from all stimulating condiments whatsoever,
as well as from vinegar, or food in which vinegar is used.
In short, let the food be nutritious, easily digested, small or moderate
in quantity, and free from all "seasoning," except salt or sugar; and if
salt is used at all, let the quantity be very small, much less than
would be used in health.
Diarrhoea.
This disease consists in a looseness of the bowels, generally
accompanied with pain in the abdomen, more or less severe. It sometimes
occurs without pain, but is _then_ attended with a sense of weakness,
and a general feeling of uneasiness. It prevails mostly in the warm
seasons, but may occur at any time. It is not usually considered a very
dangerous affection, except during the prevalence of _Cholera_, or in
children during hot weather.
TREATMENT.
_Veratrum_ and _Phos. acid_, given alternately, at intervals, as
frequently as the discharges from the bowels occur, will generally be
sufficient. If there is nausea or vomiting, or cramping pains in the
bowels, give _Ipecac_ in alternation with one or both the former. If
thirst and a burning of the stomach or bowels exist, use _Arsenicum._
This last medicine may be given in alternation with either of the
others, but is most frequently indicated in connection with _Veratrum._
The intervals between the doses should be regulated by the frequency of
the evacuations in all cases, lengthening them as the evacuations become
less frequent, until they cease. In _children_, where the discharges are
greenish or slimy, and contain undigested food, give _Chamomilla_ and
_Ipecac_ alternately, as above directed. If the discharges are dark, or
yellow, with distress in the stomach, give _Podophyllin._ The dose is
from 3 to 6 pellets. In all cases of diarrhoea, adults should abstain
from all kinds of food until cured, if possible, and eat but little at
first, when food is taken. Children should be fed carefully, and but a
small quantity at a time, being particular both for adults and children
to use as little _liquid_ as possible; drink water in _small_
quantities, not very cold. Avoid exercise, and lie on the back quietly,
when that is practicable. In a large majority of cases, _Veratrum_, if
given in the early stages of the disease, will arrest it at once, and in
many chronic diarrhoeas of weeks or months standing, it is the surest
remedy. In chronic diarrhoea of females, _Podophyllin_ should be used
in alternation with _Veratrum_.
Dysentery.
This disease is caused by inflammation of the mucous membrane of the
colon and rectum, (the large intestine) generally confined to the lower
part of the bowel. It is always painful. There is griping and straining
in the lower part of the abdomen, and generally great bearing down when
at stool, with a peculiar distress after the evacuation, called tormina.
The discharges often commence like a common diarrhoea, with copious
liquid evacuations, but there is more or less griping pain, low down,
from the beginning. The evacuations sooner or later become lessened,
slimy or bloody, or both, the pain increasing accompanied with more or
less fever, often quite severe. Sometimes the patient is costive, and
has been so for several days, the dysentery coming on without being
preceded by looseness. At others, especially in summer, when fevers are
prevailing, the dysentery begins with a severe chill, followed by fever
and the dysenteric symptoms above described.
TREATMENT.
If it begins with looseness without blood, give _Arsenicum_ and
_Veratrum_ alternately, once an hour, or oftener if the evacuations are
more frequent. If the discharges are bloody, use _Mercurius cor._ in
place of the _Arsenicum_. If there is any sickness of the stomach, or
the discharges are dark or yellow, use _Podophyllin_ with _Mercurius
cor._ If there are colic pains in the bowels, use _Colocynthis_
alternately with the others, giving it between them. If the patient was
costive previous to the attack, and the dysentery came on without much
looseness, _Nux Vomica_ should be given alternately with _Mercurius
cor._ If the disease comes on with a chill, or a chill occurs at any
time during the attack, followed by fever, _Aconite_, _Baptisia_ and
_Podophyllin_ should be used in rotation half an hour apart until a free
perspiration is produced, and the pain diminishes; or if bloody stools
appear, use _Mercurius cor_, with the _Aconite_ and _Baptisia_. A large
proportion of the dysenteries of hot weather in miasmatic regions, will
be arrested in a few hours by these three or four remedies, especially
if the patient keeps still, and generally even if he keeps about his
business. In very bad cases, much benefit will be derived from
injections of Gum Arabic water, or mucillage of Slippery Elm thrown into
the bowel in quantities of a pint or more at a time, as warm as can
possibly be endured. I have often relieved patients immediately with
injections of a strong solution of Borax in Rice water, as hot as
bearable. _Never apply cold water_ to _any_ inflamed surface, much less
a _mucous_ surface. All food should be withheld as far as practicable
and not starve, until the symptoms abate.
Colic.
The symptoms of this are cramping pains in the abdomen, without fever or
looseness of the bowels. The colic sometimes occurs after the cessation
of a diarrhoea that had been induced by severe cathartics. The pains
are cutting and straining, drawing the bowels into knots, relieved
temporarily by pressure.
TREATMENT.
For a male, _Nux Vom._, and for a female, _Pulsatilla_ will generally
afford immediate relief. In children, especially, where diarrhoea
exists, _Chamomilla_ should be used. If it is the result of severe
cathartics, or if there is a soreness or a bruised feeling, _Colocynth_
is the remedy. Hot injections into the rectum, and large quantities of
warm water taken into the stomach, will often _cure colic_.
Bilious Colic.
This disease, in addition to the symptoms of cutting, cramping pains in
the bowels, as in common colic, has great distress in the stomach, with
nausea and vomiting, the bowels being costive, the feet and hands cold,
sometimes cold sweats occur. There is also considerable fever, and
frequently headache is present. The substance vomited is at first dark
bilious matter, but if the case continues a long time, stercoraceous
(fecal) matter will be thrown up.
TREATMENT.
_Colocynth_ is the most important remedy, and should be given early and
constantly. _Podophyllin_ is next in importance, and it should be given
in alternation with the former, the dose to be repeated as often as
every half hour at first, and as the patient becomes easy, at longer
intervals. In this, as in the former case, great benefit will be derived
from large injections of quite warm water, and let it be taken into the
stomach freely, as hot as can be safely swallowed. I have given a gallon
of hot water in the course of two hours, to a patient suffering under
this disease, the first half pint being rejected, but the balance
remaining, perfect relief having been experienced. If fever continues
after the colic and nausea cease, _Baptisia_ and _Aconite_ should be
given alternately every hour until the fever subsides. If the patient
is, and has been, for some time, costive, _Nux Vomica_ should be given
once in six or eight hours until the bowels move. Injections may also be
used.
Cholera Morbus.
This disease generally comes on at night, in hot weather, and is, in
many cases, induced by over eating while the patient is suffering from
diarrhoea and a deranged state of the liver. It is essentially of a
bilious character. It sets in with great pain in the bowels, sickness at
the stomach, and vomiting of large quantities of dark greenish bitter
tasting substance. At first, the vomiting will seem to afford relief,
but sooner or later the stomach and bowels cramp, and the cramping may
extend to other parts of the body, the feet, hands, calves of the legs,
and the arms, cold sweats come on, and death terminates his sufferings.
TREATMENT.
_Ipecac_ and _Colocynthis_ are to be given in alternation, and repeated
as often as every 30 minutes, for the first three or four doses, then as
the patient gets easier, at longer intervals. A dose every hour will
suffice as soon as the symptoms begin to abate. The application of hot
cloths or even mustard, over the abdomen, frequently palliates the
sufferings, and does not interfere with the action of the medicines.
Fever of a low typhoid type some times sets in after an attack of
cholera morbus, and terminates fatally. This ought never to occur under
Homoeopathic treatment. For such fever give _Baptisia_, a dose every
hour until the fever subsides, which will occur generally in six or
eight hours; if not, and the patient complains of headache, or is
delirious, or dizzy, or feels a fullness in the head, give _Macrotin_ in
alternation with the _Baptisia_. Keep the patient very quiet and free
from noise, as far as possible. _Sleep_ is a great restorer in any case,
but particularly so in this.
FEVERS.
Intermittent Fever, Ague or Chill Fever.
This comes on with pains in the head and back, aching in the joints,
yawning, followed by coldness of the hands and feet, blueness of the
nails and skin of the hands, general chilliness, sometimes "shaking."
This lasts from a few minutes in some cases, to several hours in others.
The chill is followed by a fever, which is generally severe and long
continued, in proportion to the length and severity of the chill. The
fever is followed by free perspiration, when it subsides and leaves the
patient in a comfortable condition. This state is called the
_Intermission_. This continues from a few hours to twenty-four, or
longer, when another chill comes on followed by fever and sweats as
before. During the chill and fever, the patient often suffers great
pain, and is sometimes delirious. Young children frequently have
convulsions when the chill sets in. _These_ convulsions of children,
though alarming, are not often dangerous.
TREATMENT.
As soon as the first symptoms of the chills appear, such as the
headache, pain in the back and bones, coldness of the hands, nose and
ears, give _Aconite_ and _Baptisia_ alternately, giving the first three
doses every ten minutes, the next three doses every fifteen minutes, and
then once in half an hour until the patient begins to sweat freely, when
the medicines should be discontinued. If there is nausea or vomiting
present, let the patient have lukewarm water freely in large draughts,
until he vomits it up several times. As soon as the sweating commences,
give _Arsenicum_ and _Macrotin_ alternately every hour during the
intermission, except during sleeping time. On return of the chill,
should it appear a second time, use the _Aconite_ and _Baptisia_ as
before, and follow them with _Arsenicum_ and _Nux Vom._ every two hours.
This course of treatment will cure a majority of cases, but some require
_Cinchonia_. That Cinchonia is a specific for intermittent fevers in
many of their forms, no one will deny. It is the Homoeopathic remedy
for many cases, and should be prescribed. The injurious effects that are
often attributed to Quinine, are, I have no doubt, attributable not to
that remedy, but to the _drugs_ that are used prior to giving the
_Chinium Sul_. I have used it in more than two thousand cases, and have
never been able to see any evil consequences follow its _proper_ use. It
should be given _from the beginning of the chill to the end_ of the
paroxysm, and continued during the whole time of the intermission: _i.
e._ until the time arrives for the next chill, _time_ being important in
the use of this remedy. Use the first decimal trituration, and give
grain doses (equal to 1-10th of a grain of the drug) every half hour
till the time the next chill would occur, if it pursued its regular
course, allowing the patient six or seven hours time in each
twenty-four, for sleep.[1] Though from two to four grains of the pure
_Chinium Sulphuricum_ is all the patient would get, very few cases that
do not yield to a course of the former treatment here recommended, will
have the third paroxysm after this _China_ treatment is commenced and
pursued as here directed. For children the dose may be one-half or
one-fourth that of the adults. If a trituration of the medicine cannot
be got conveniently, four grains of the _Quinine_ may be put into a four
ounce vial of water, shaken well every time, and a teaspoonful taken at
a dose. Abstinence from food as far as practicable, and quiet is of much
importance in this disease, but the patient may use water freely.
[1] NOTE.--The Eclectic Physicians use equal parts of Quinine and
Prussiate of Iron, with marked success in agues, giving from one to
three grains of the mixture at a dose, every two hours, or oftener, for
ten or twelve hours, and some times more, during the intermission. An
intelligent Homoeopathic Physician informs me that he has used with
_uniform_ success, a _trituration_ of this mixture of Quinine and
Prussiate of Iron, in proportion of ten grains of the Sugar of Milk to
one of the Mixture, giving the trituration in doses of about one grain
every hour through the chill, fever and intermission. Very few cases had
a second chill after taking the prescription. I have used this
trituration successfully in a few cases.
In some cases, the chill is irregular and indistinct, the patient is
thirsty during the chill, and the cold stage is long in proportion to
the length of the fever, the surface pale and more or less bloated.
_Arsenicum_ is the remedy, and should be given from the commencement of
the chill, and every hour until the fever subsides, then every three
hours during the intermission. In chronic cases, where the patient has
been drugged with mercurials and cathartics, together with larger doses
of Quinine, and is still suffering under the disease, _Pulsatilla_ and
_Macrotin_ in alternation, will, in nearly every case, effect a cure.
Bilious Fever.
This fever may be either intermittent, remitting, or continued, and
typhoid. It is distinguished from common intermittent, by the great
derangement of the stomach, as nausea and vomiting of bilious matter,
yellow coated tongue, bitter taste in the mouth, foul breath, loss of
appetite, high colored urine, and frequently distress and fullness in
the right side, (though this last is not in every case present,) the
skin and white of the eyes soon become yellowish, the chills are often
imperfect, the fever being disproportionably long.
TREATMENT.
_Podophyllin_ and _Merc._ should be given in ease of intermittents of
this character, during the paroxysm, and in rotation with the other
remedies for intermittents, giving a dose every three hours during the
intermission. It is well also to continue these remedies night and
morning, alternately, for a week or so, after the cessation of the
chills and fever, or until all bilious appearances cease.
* * * * *
A REMITTING FEVER is one that goes nearly off, but not so entirely as an
intermittent, returning again by a paroxysm of chill more or less
distinct, sometimes hardly perceptible, and an increase of the fever
following, from day to day, until arrested.
* * * * *
CONTINUED FEVERS are generally of a Bilious character, except in winter,
when they are more or less connected with irritation of the lungs, or
with Rheumatic affections, when they are termed Catarrhal or Rheumatic
Fevers. If the bilious symptoms prevail, give _Aconite_ and _Baptisia_
during the chills and high febrile stage, at intervals of an hour, and
during the declining stage of the fever, give _Podophyllin_ and
_Mercurius_ until a perfect intermission is produced, when the same
treatment should be adopted as in intermittents. But should it take the
form of
Catarrhal Fever,
the head being "stuffed up," pain in the head, the lungs oppressed,
cough and sneezing, the eyes and nose suffused with increased secretion
of tears and mucus, pain in the back or loins, almost constant chilly
sensations, use in rotation _Baptisia_, _Copaiva_ and _Phosphorus_,
giving a dose every hour until the fever begins to abate and
perspiration comes on, then leave off the _Baptisia_, and give in its
stead _Macrotin_, lengthening the interval between the remedies to two
hours or longer.
For the _chronic cough_ that sometimes follows catarrhal fever,
_Copaiva_, _Macrotin_ and _Phosphorus_ should be used morning, noon and
night, in the order here named. Should the fever be a
Rheumatic Fever,
(_Rheumatism_,) the patient complaining of soreness of the muscles, of
the chest, back and limbs, with or without lameness of the joints,
_Aconite_, _Macrotin_ and _Nux Vom._ are the remedies for a male
patient, and the two former, with _Pulsatilla_, for a female, (or for a
_male_, of light hair, delicate skin, feminine voice and mild temper,)
to be used in rotation one hour apart. These remedies are to be taken in
a severe acute case, every half hour until the symptoms begin to abate;
then every hour or two hours as the case progresses. _Baths_ properly
administered, are of great importance in all forms of fever. The surface
of the patient should be washed and thoroughly _rubbed_ in water quite
warm, into which a sufficiency of the ley of wood ashes has been put to
make it feel quite slippery. This should be done twice daily in all
fevers. But in
Rheumatism,
In addition to the medicines directed under the head of _Rheumatic
Fever_, the most decided benefit can be derived from _Alcoholic Vapor
Baths_, which, while they do not in the least interfere with the action
of the medicines, tend greatly to mitigate the pains, and produce an
equal state of the circulation by stimulating the surface; abridging in
many cases, the disease one-half the time it would run under the long
interval treatment alone. This is to be applied by filling a tea cup
with alcohol, placed in a saucer of water to insure against danger from
an overflow while burning. Place both under a solid wood bottom chair,
elevated about the thickness of a brick under each post, strip the
patient naked, and after giving him the alkaline bath, and rubbing his
surface dry, place him upon the chair, enveloping him completely, except
his head, with a woollen sheet or blanket, (as there is no danger of
the wool taking fire,) letting the blanket enclose also the chair and
come down to the floor. Then set fire to the alcohol, and if the heat is
too great, raise the edge of the blanket and let it become reduced.
Continue this until he sweats freely, or becomes too much fatigued to
sit longer. Let the patient often drink freely of cold water, during the
process. Remove him from the chair to his bed and cover him warmly. It
is well to place the feet in hot water during this process. This is a
delightful operation for a rheumatic patient, and no one will object to
a repetition of it. Whatever Physicians may think or say of this
operation, I _know_ it is a most potent agent for the _cure_ of
_inflammatory_ rheumatism, and is a valuable agent in the chronic form
of this disease.
Typhoid Fever.
This is a dangerous, and with the ordinary allopathic treatment, a very
fatal disease. It generally comes on insidiously, the patient feeling a
dull head ache, more or less pain in his joints, back and shoulders,
with loss of appetite, restless and disturbed sleep, slight chilly
sensations, with a little fever, dry skin, and a general languid
feeling. These symptoms continue from four or five days in some cases,
to two or three weeks in others, gradually getting worse until the
patient is prostrated, or if he takes no drugs, and keeps still,
avoiding food as far as practicable, he may escape prostration, and
after lingering for eight or ten days, and sometimes longer, just on the
point of prostration, he begins slowly to get better, and recovers about
as slowly and imperceptibly as he grew sick. This is in accordance with
observation of cases under my own eye, and I have no doubt those cases
of spontaneous recovery, had they taken a single dose of active
cathartic medicine or any of the active drugs, they would have been
immediately laid upon a bed of sickness from which a recovery would have
been extremely doubtful. I believe that two-thirds of the deaths from
typhoid fever are the direct results of medication, and that those who
recover, do so in spite of the cathartics and the active drugs when such
are used. Some cases, however, will not thus spontaneously recover, and
require proper treatment; and it is safest to treat all cases, at as
early a day as possible. Some cases come on more rapidly and run into
the prostrating or critical stage, in a very few days. Delirium is a
symptom that comes on early in these cases. When the disease is fully
established, and even sometimes in the early stage, diarrhoea sets in
and runs the patient down rapidly.
TREATMENT.
In the early stage, that which might be called premonitory, while the
patient is yet able to be about his business, but is complaining of the
symptoms above named, he should, as far as possible, abstain from
exercise and food, and take of _Baptisia_ and _Phosphorus_ alternately,
a dose once in three hours. These will almost invariably produce
amendment in a few days, and as soon as he improves _any_, leave off the
medicines. Should there be diarrhoea present, use _Phos. acid_ instead
of Phosphorus. If the patient is delirious or has fullness and redness
of the face, the eyes red, and headache, give _Belladonna_ in rotation
with the other two. For the foul breath that comes on, use _Mercurius
cor._, especially if the diarrhoea assumes a reddish tinge, like beef
brine. Should the fever at any time rise high, the pulse being full and
hard, give _Aconite_, but it rarely happens that Aconite is useful in
the later stage. If the patient complains of pains in the back, and
fullness of the head, give _Macrotin_. This is particularly useful for
persons who have rheumatic pains in the limbs or back, during the fever.
If the evacuations from the bowels are dark, or yellow and consistent,
or there is bilious vomiting, _Podophyllin_ is the remedy. From some
cause or other, to me wholly unaccountable, the writers generally have
laid down _Rhus_ and _Bryonia_ as _the_ remedies in typhoid fever. I
must confess I have no confidence in them for this fever as it prevails,
and has for several years past, in this country. They have proved a
failure, and I discard them altogether, as I am confident, from thorough
trial, we have much more reliable remedies as a substitute for Rhus in
the _Podophyllin_, and for Bryonia in the _Macrotin_. In the early
stage, or at any time to arrest febrile and inflammatory symptoms, the
_Baptisia_ is much more potent than Aconite, its symptoms corresponding
peculiarly with typhoid fever. If the discharges become slimy or bloody,
give _Leptandrin_ and _Nit. acid_. It is important to bathe in this
disease.
Scarlet Fever.--Scarlatina.
This fever assumes two principal forms: Simple or mild, and Malignant.
In the _Simple form_, there is great heat of the surface, extremely
quick and frequent pulse, headache, and some sense of pain and soreness
in the throat. After a day or two, there appears upon the surface,
bright scarlet patches, in some cases extending over the whole limbs,
the skin smooth and shining, and somewhat bloated or swollen; upon
pressure with the finger, a white spot is seen, which soon disappears on
removal of the pressure. As the disease subsides, the cuticle comes off
(_desquamates_) in patches. In the simple form of this disease, the
throat, though often more or less sore, does not ulcerate. In some
cases, notwithstanding the fever is high, the pulse frequent, and the
throat sore, there may be no external redness, but the mouth and tongue
will have a scarlet hue, indicating the existence of disease more
dangerous than when it appears externally. _In the malignant form_, the
same symptoms are present, the patient suffers more pain in the head;
the back and throat, root of the tongue, tonsils and soft palate become
ulcerated, turn black, and sometimes gangrenous, proving fatal in a few
days, or slough out in large portions, the ulcers destroying the parts
extensively. The breath becomes foul and fetid, and the effluvia from
the ulcerated surface, is very sickening to the patient and all around
him. This disease rarely attacks adults, but occasionally, and for the
last six or eight months, in one region where I am acquainted, where
Scarlatina of a malignant type has prevailed among children, adults have
been affected with an epidemic soreness of the mouth and throat,
strongly resembling the worst form of the _angina_ in malignant
Scarlatina, together with a low typhoid form of fever.
TREATMENT.
In simple scarlatina, all that is necessary is to keep the child quiet,
in a room of uniform temperature, as far as practicable; let it drink
cold water only, and give _Aconite_, _Belladonna_ and _Pulsatilla_ in
rotation, a dose every hour until the fever subsides. If any soreness of
the throat remains, give a few doses of _Mercurius_. If the fever
subsides, and the soreness remain, _Hydrastin_ or _Eupatorium arom._
will soon complete the cure. In the _malignant_ form, with ulcerated,
dark colored, or red and purulent throat, and typhoid form of fever,
give _Aconite_ and _Belladonna_ in alternation, every hour, and, at the
same time, gargle the throat freely with _Hydrastin_. Some of the
tincture may be put in water, about in the proportion of ten drops to a
teaspoonful, or a warm infusion of the crude medicine may be used. This
can be applied with a camel's hair pencil, or a swab, to the parts
affected, once in two hours, and will soon bring about such a state as
will result in speedy recovery. After the active fever has subsided, the
_Aconite_ and _Bell._ may be discontinued, and _Eupatorium arom._ used
instead, once in three hours until convalescence is complete.
I would remark that, with these remedies applied as here recommended, my
brother, Dr. G. S. HILL, of Erie County, Ohio, has, during the last four
months, treated a large number of those malignant sore-throats, (the
"Black tongue Erysipelas,") and been universally successful, relieving
them in a few hours, when the symptoms were of the most alarming
character, and the disease in some cases, so far advanced that the
patients were considered by their friends and attendants, "at the point
of death."
The _Hydrastin_ is a most potent remedy in putrid ulcerations of the
mucous surfaces, and much the same may be said of _Eupatorium
aromaticum_.
Yellow Fever.
[As I have never practiced farther South than Cincinnati, and have seen
but few cases of this disease, my experience with it has not been
sufficient to be relied upon as authority. Therefore, I shall give a
brief description of the disease, with the proper and _successful
treatment_, furnished me by A. H. BURRETT, M. D., of New Orleans, who is
not only a Physician of more than ordinary learning and skill in his
profession generally, but is one who has spent his time in New Orleans
among the sick of Yellow Fever, through three of the most fatal
epidemics that ever scourged any city. He is a man for the times, a man
of resources, who draws useful lessons from experience and observation.
Hence he has been able to select such remedies as have enabled him to
cope most successfully with the pestilence, saving nearly all his
patients, while, under other treatment, a majority have died. I
therefore, attach great value to his treatment, and recommend its
adoption with the most implicit confidence.]
* * * * *
When this Fever prevails as an epidemic, as it usually does, in the
southern part of the United States, it is a disease of the most
malignant character. The proportion of _fatal_ cases under the
Allopathic course of treatment, has been equal to, and, in some places,
as in New Orleans, and some Towns in Virginia, has exceeded that of
_Asiatic_ Cholera. It is almost entirely confined to Southern regions,
and only prevails in hot weather, after the continuance of extreme heat
for some weeks.
It usually begins with premonitory symptoms somewhat like those of
ordinary fever, but with this difference: the patient, instead of losing
his appetite, has often a morbidly increased desire for food. He
complains of severe pains in the back, and more or less headache. Both
the head and backache are of a peculiar character: the pains resembling
rheumatic pains, the head feeling full and too large, the eyes early
turn red, almost bloodshot and watery, a chill comes on, which may be
distinct and quite severe, lasting for an hour or more, or, it may be
slight, and hardly perceptible. The chill is followed by high fever, the
pain in the head and back increasing, the eyes becoming more red and
suffused, the forehead and face extremely red and hot, and the heat of
the whole surface very great, the carotids beat violently, the pulse
very frequent, and usually, at first, full and strong, though sometimes
it is feeble from the beginning. However the pulse may be in the
beginning, it very soon becomes small, but continues to be frequent. The
tongue is at first covered with a white paste-like coating, which
afterwards gives place to redness of the edges and tip, with a dark or
yellow streak in the center. The stomach is very irritable, rejecting
every kind of food, and all drinks, except, perhaps, a few drops of ice
water. There is a peculiar distressed feeling in the stomach, often a
burning sensation, so that, if suffered to do so, he would take large
quantities of ice or water. One remarkable feature of the cases noticed
in the epidemic, as it existed in New Orleans the past season, was, that
the patients had a great desire for food, notwithstanding the nausea and
distress at the stomach.
Sooner or later, varying from a few hours to several days, in the
ordinary course of the disease, the fever subsides. From this time the
patient may recover without any further symptoms, but this is, by no
means, the usual result. If the subsidence of the fever is accompanied
by natural pulse, a free, but not profuse or prostrating perspiration,
a genial warmth of the surface, natural appearance of the countenance,
eyes, and tongue, with little or no soreness on pressure over the
stomach, we may safely look for a speedy recovery. But if, on the
contrary, the eyes, face, and tongue, become yellow, or orange-colored,
the epigastrium is tender to pressure, the urine has a yellow tinge, the
pulse becomes unnaturally slow, with the least degree of mental stupor,
we have reason to know, full well, that the lull of the fever is only
the calm preceding a more destructive storm. The fever has subsided,
only because exhausted nature could re-act no longer. It may be in a few
hours, or not until twelve or twenty-four have elapsed, the pulse
becomes quickened, even to the frequency of 120 to 140 in a minute, but
very feeble, the extremities of the fingers and toes turn purple or
dark, the tongue becomes brown and dry, or is clean, red, and cracked,
sordes may be on the teeth, the stomach become more irritable, nausea
and vomiting are extreme, the substances vomited being, at first,
reddish, afterwards watery, containing floculæ, like soot, or coffee
grounds; the breath becomes foul, and the whole surface emits a
sickening odor. The pulse becomes very small, though the carotid and
temporal arteries beat violently. The urine fails to be secreted, and
later, blood is discharged from the mucous surfaces, involuntary
discharges from the bowels, clammy sweats; and death follows.
The disease runs its course in from three to seven days, sometimes
proves fatal in less than a day, and at others, assumes a typhoid form,
and runs for weeks. Occasionally it sets in without any of the
premonitory symptoms, the chill being first, the fever following,
succeeded immediately by the black vomit, going through all the stages
in a single day, or two days.
Again, it sometimes begins with the black vomit, the patient being
immediately prostrated. In all cases, however it may begin, the peculiar
head-ache and back-ache as described in the beginning, as well as the
extreme heat of the head and face, redness of the eyes, the gnawing
sensation at the stomach, and peculiar nausea are present. These seem to
be characteristic symptoms that mark the Yellow Fever, and those which
should guide in the search for the proper remedies.
TREATMENT.
The remedies that proved successful in arresting the disease during the
early or forming stage, before the chill or fever had set in, while the
symptoms were pain, fullness, and throbbing of the head, with more or
less dizziness, rheumatic pains in the back, and redness of the eyes,
were _Aconite_ and _Bell._, at low attenuations, once in two to four
hours, according to the violence of the symptoms. For the fullness of
the head, pressing outwards, as though it would split, with pains of a
rheumatic character, _Macrotin_ 1st, given in one grain doses, every
hour or two hours, proved specific.
These three remedies, _Aconite, Bell._ and _Macrotin_,
would, in nearly all cases, arrest the disease in the forming stage, so
that no chill or fever would occur, or, if fever did come on after this
treatment, it was mild.
When the fever sets in, and the pain in the head and back increases, the
eyes, forehead and face are extremely red, or purple and hot, the pulse
frequent and full, the tongue coated white, _Aconite_, _Belladonna_ and
_Macrotin_ are still to be relied upon, but they should be given every
half hour, in rotation, at low attenuations. If the tongue is red, in
the early stage, use _Bryonia_ in place of the _Belladonna_. In a later
stage, when sickness or distress at the stomach had become prominent,
with the quick pulse, and hot skin, _Ipecac_ and _Aconite_, both at the
1st attenuation, a dose given every half hour alternately, generally
arrested the symptoms, and brought on perspiration of a healthful
character, followed by subsidence of the fever and convalescence. Sponge
baths, with half an ounce of _Tr. Ipecac_ in two quarts of tepid water,
applied to the whole surface freely, under the bed clothes, so as not to
expose him to the air, contributed much towards bringing on perspiration
and subduing the fever, as well as allaying the nausea.
When called to patients in the stage of _Black Vomit_, whether that came
on as an early symptom, or at a later stage, _Nit. acid_, _Veratrum
virid._ and _Baptisia_, all at the first dilution, were administered
every hour, in rotation, with great success, the symptoms yielding in a
few hours. For the great oppression, as of a load, in the stomach,
without vomiting, _Nux_ was found sufficient. In the later stage, when
there seemed to be no secretion of urine, _Canabis_ and _Apis mel._,
gave relief.
The remedies most successful for the cases that assumed a typhoid
character, with dry, cracked tongue, sordes on the teeth, and low
sluggish pulse, were _Baptisia_ and _Bryonia_, given every two hours,
alternately. _Nitric acid_ given internally and injected into the
rectum, when bloody discharges appear, is generally quite successful.
Good nursing is of the utmost importance, and the patient should be
visited frequently by his Physician, as great changes may occur in a
short time. Three times a day is none too often to see the patient. As
soon as the fever comes on, the patient should be stripped of his
clothes, and dressed in such garments as he is to wear in bed through
the attack. He should be put to bed and lightly covered, but have
sufficient to protect him from any sudden changes in the atmosphere, and
the room should be well ventillated all the time. The baths should
always be applied under the bed clothes.