Treat. In giving a few of the many remedies that have been recommended for this terrible disease, we may preface the list, by urgently counselling the sufferer to lose no time in sending for a medical man, in case of being attacked by this appalling malady.
1. (American Remedy.) Equal parts of maple sugar and powdered fresh-burnt charcoal, made into a stiff paste with lard, and divided into pieces the size of a filbert.—Dose. One, occasionally, swallowed whole.
2. (Austrian Specific.) The proportions of the ingredients in the following formulæ are founded on Mr Herapath’s analysis of this celebrated preparation, and are given in the nearest available whole numbers:—
a. Sulphuric acid (sp. gr. 1·845), 20 gr.; nitric acid (sp. gr. 1·500), 12 gr,; sugar and gum, of each 15 gr.; distilled or pure soft water, q. s. to make the whole weigh exactly 1 oz.
b. Sulphuric acid, 3 dr.; nitric acid, 2 dr.; simple syrup, 6 dr.; water, q. s. to make the whole weigh exactly 10 oz. A single drop of essential oil of lemon may be added.
Doses, &c. One table-spoonful is ordered to be taken in water, on the first appearance of premonitory symptoms, followed by the free use of very cold water. In half an hour a second dose is to be taken. This (as asserted) is generally sufficient to arrest the progress of the disease. A table-spoonful is then to be added to a pint of cold water, and drunk ad libitum. In more obstinate cases it is said that
4 or 5 doses are generally required to effect a cure. When collapse sets in, double doses are ordered to be given, and to be repeated after every attack of vomiting until the sickness and cramp abate. After the vomiting abates the doses are still to be repeated until 5 or 6 doses are retained by the stomach. Should quiet sleep or drowsiness come on, it is not to be interfered with. The free use of cold water or soured water is to be allowed until perspiration sets in and the warmth of the body returns. According to the report, the use of warm liquors, wines, spirits, &c., must be carefully avoided as so much poison.
Obs. A bottle of the above remedy was handed to the late Mr Wm. Herapath by the superintendent of the Birmingham police, who had received it from the head of the Austrian police, as being in general use in Austria, under the sanction of the medical department of the government, and being found to act almost as a specific in cholera. In 1831-2 it was first tried on some criminals with perfect success, and soon afterwards with similar results on thousands of the general public. In 1849 the Austrian government ordered its use in the public establishments of the empire, since which not a single case of failure had occurred in which it had been fairly tried.
3. (Mr Buxton’s Remedy.) From dilute sulphuric acid (spirit of vitriol), 25 drops; water, 1 fl. oz. For a draught; as the last.
4. (College of Physicians and Board of Health; for Premonitory Diarrhœa.) Chalk mixture, 1 oz.; aromatic confection, 10 to 15 gr.; tincture of opium, 5 to 15 drops; to be repeated every 3 or 4 hours, or oftener, if required, until the looseness is arrested.