CASES III. AND IV.
In the month of March, 1792, I attended two children of three years of age, the one the daughter of William King, the other the daughter of William Blake: each of whom had most of the symptoms of the inflammatory stage of the internal dropsy of the brain. I prescribed the loss of four ounces of blood, and a smart purge in both cases, and in the course of a few days had the pleasure of observing all the symptoms of the disease perfectly subdued in each of them.
CASE V.
In the months of July and August, 1792, I attended a female slave of Mrs. Oneal, of St. Croix, who had an obstinate head-ach, coma, vomiting, and a tense, full, and slow pulse. I believed it to be the phrenicula, or internal dropsy of the brain, in its inflammatory stage. I bled her five times in the course of two months, and each time with obvious relief of all the symptoms of the disease. Finding that her head-ach, and a disposition to vomit, continued after the tension of her pulse was nearly reduced, I gave her as much calomel as excited a gentle salivation, which in a few weeks completed her cure.
CASE VI.
The daughter of Robert Moffat, aged eight years, in consequence of the suppression of a habitual discharge from sores on her head, in the month of April, 1793, was affected by violent head-ach, puking, great pains and weakness in her limbs, and a full, tense, and slow pulse. I believed these symptoms to be produced by an inflammation of the brain. I ordered her to lose six or seven ounces of blood, and gave her two purges of jalap and calomel, which operated very plentifully. I afterwards applied a blister to her neck. In one week from the time of my first visit to her she appeared to be in perfect health.
CASE VII.
A young woman of eighteen years of age, a hired servant in the family of Mrs. Elizabeth Smith, had been subject to a head-ach every spring for several years. The unusually warm days which occurred in the beginning of April, 1793, produced a return of this periodical pain. On the eighth of the month, it was so severe as to confine her to her bed. I was called to visit her on the ninth. I found her comatose, and, when awake, delirious. Her pupils were unusually dilated, and insensible to the light. She was constantly sick at her stomach, and vomited frequently. Her bowels were obstinately costive, and her pulse was full, tense, and so slow as seldom to exceed, for several days, from 56 to 60 strokes in a minute. I ordered her to lose ten ounces of blood every day, for three days successively, and gave her, on each of those days, strong doses of jalap and aloes. The last blood which was drawn from her was sizy. The purges procured from three to ten discharges every day from her bowels. On the 12th, she appeared to be much better. Her pulse was less tense, and beat 80 strokes in a minute. On the 14th, she had a fainting fit. On the 15th, she sat up, and called for food. The pupils of her eyes now recovered their sensibility to light, as well as their natural size. Her head-ach left her, and, on the 17th, she appeared to be in good health. Her pulse, however, continued to beat between 50 and 60 strokes in a minute, and retained a small portion of irregular action for several days after she recovered.