CASE III.
George R——, Æt. 52. Ascites, general anasarca, and dyspnœa. His legs so greatly distended that it was with great difficulty he could draw the one after the other.
Infus. Digital. ʒiiiss. ad. aq. ℔ss. cap. ℥i. altern. horis donec nauseam excitaverit. Rep. 3tiis diebus. tempore intermedio cap. sol. guaic. ℥i. ter in die ex inf. sinap.
1st Day of taking it. Became sickish towards night.
2d Day. Made a great quantity of water during the night, and spat up a great deal of watery phlegm. The first dose he took in the morning has produced a sickness which has continued all day, but he has never vomited.
3d. Day. The change in his appearance so great as to make it difficult to conceive him to be the same person. Instead of a large corpulent man, he appeared tall, thin, and rather aged. Breathes freely, and can walk up and down stairs without inconvenience.
4th Day. Decoct. bacc. junip. and cyder for common drink.
6th Day. A second course of his medicine produced a flow of urine almost as plentiful as the former, though he drank little or nothing at the time. In a day or two after he walked to some distance.
12th Day. Pot. purgans illico.
14th Day. Pot. purg. c. jalap. ʒss. 4tis diebus.
Infus. Dig. 3tiis diebus.
17th Day. R. Gamb. gr. iii. calom. gr. ii. camph. gr. i. syr. simpl. fiat pil. o. n. sum.
Infus. Digit. 3tiis diebus.
21st Day. Made an out-patient. The super-abundant flow of urine continued for the first three days after his last course; but since, the flow of saliva has been nearly equal to that of urine.
The smalls of his legs not quite reduced, and are fuller at night. He has shrunk round the middle from four feet two inches to three feet six inches; and in the calves of his legs, from seventeen inches to thirteen and a half.[10]
Obs. The waters were here very successfully evacuated, but as you remarked to me, on communicating the case to you at the time, tonic medicines should have been given, to second the ground that had been gained, instead of weakening the patient by drastic purgatives.
A CASE from Mr. Shaw, Surgeon, at
Stourbridge.—Communicated by Doctor Stokes.
Matth. D——, Æt. 71. Tall and thin. Disease a general anasarca, with great difficulty of breathing. The lac ammoniac. somewhat relieved his breath; but the swellings increased, and his urine was not augmented. I considered it as a lost case, but having seen the good effects of the Digitalis, as ordered by Dr. Stokes in the case of Mrs. G——, I gave him one spoonful of an infusion of ʒii to half a pint, twice a day. His breath became much easier, his urine increased considerably, and the swellings gradually disappeared; since which his health has been pretty good, except that about three weeks ago, he had a slight dyspnœa, with pain in his stomach, which were soon removed by a repetition of the same medicine.
Mr. Shaw likewise informs me, that he has removed pains in the stomach and bowels, by giving a spoonful of the infusion, ʒiss. to ℥viii. morning and night.
A Letter from Mr. Vaux, Surgeon, in Birmingham.
Dear Sir,
I send you the two following cases, wherein the Digitalis had very powerful and sensible effects, in the cure of the different patients.