THROAT AFFECTIONS. We intend here only to allude to those arising from exposure or cold. The list is, therefore, a short one. Croup, one of the most important, has been already briefly noticed.
Quinsy, or INFLAMMATORY SORE THROAT, commonly commences with stiffness and pain on one side of the throat, and swelling of the tonsils, attended by febrile symptoms, which increase as tumefaction advances, and sometimes become extreme. There is great restlessness and anxiety, considerable difficulty in swallowing even liquids, the respiration is painful and laborious, and the speech obstructed. When the inflammation is not resolved, these symptoms rapidly increase in severity, the patient suffers the greatest misery, the tumour suppurates rapidly, the abscess bursts, and with the rupture comes almost immediate relief. It occasionally happens that the other side of the throat then becomes affected, and goes through the same stages; but in general this is not the case, and the patient rapidly recovers, a few detergent gargles and a light nutritious diet being all that is required. Sometimes, at the very commencement of the attack, the inflammation may be resolved by the patient sucking a lozenge or powder, every hour or two, containing 1⁄4 or 1⁄2 grain of tartarised antimony carefully triturated with about
20 gr. of lump sugar, so as to keep up a constant state of nausea or vomiting for hours.
Malignant sore throat is marked by the inflammation of the tonsils being more superficial; but no sooner does it occur than it passes into small ulcers of varied colours and appearance, extending to the pharynx, and spreading over the whole fauces into the nostrils, and even around the glottis and down the œsophagus. These ulcers rapidly slough, and the febrile symptoms of a typhoid character, which are present throughout, become more or less severe. In this way the disease often hastens to a fatal termination, and, being highly contagious, often extends itself to all, or nearly all, the members of a family. The treatment must be similar to that adopted for typhus fever. Stimulating gargles, containing capsicum, the mineral acids, or port wine, are useful local remedies. See Diphtheria.
THRUSH. Syn. Aphtha, L. A disease of infancy, which, in its common form, is marked by small white ulcers upon the tongue, palate, and gums. In some cases it extends through the whole course of the alimentary canal, and, assuming a malignant form, proves fatal. The treatment consists of a gentle emetic of ipecacuanha wine, followed by an occasional dose of rhubarb and magnesia, to keep the bowels clear, and to arrest diarrhœa. The ulcerations may be touched with a little honey or borax; and if they assume a dark colour, or there be much debility, astringents and tonics should be had recourse to. In all cases the diet should be light, but supporting, as imperfect nutrition is a common cause of the disease.
In Animals. Topical applications of alum or borax, glycerine, Condy’s fluid; laxatives. The food should be cooling and digestible.
THYMOL. Syn. Thymic acid, C10H14O. This substance is the oxygenated constituent of the essential oils of thyme (Thymus vulgaris), horse mint (Monarda punctata), and (Ptychotis ajowan) a common umbelliferous plant growing in India. Thymol is isomeric with cymilic alcohol, and homologous with phenyl.
Thymol may be procured from either of the above sources by treatment with caustic potash or soda, as described below, or by submitting the essential oils to a low temperature for some days. When prepared by the first process thymol occurs as an oily fluid; and when by the second, as a crystalline solid.
The following are the details of the preparation of the liquid variety of thymol as given by the Paris Pharmaceutical Society in their formulæ for new remedies published in 1877:—
“Treat essential oil of thyme with an equal volume of an aqueous solution of potash or soda, and shake several times to facilitate combination. The thymol dissolves, forming a soluble compound, whilst the thymene, a carbide of hydrogen, that accompanies it in the