[14] Some Men passed only one Worm; others, two or three; some, six or seven; and one Man, of the Guards, in January 1763, after passing three by Stools in the Course of a Fever of this Kind, discharged fourteen more upon taking a Dose of Rhubarb and Calomel after the Fever was over.
[15] Observations on the Diseases of the Army, part iii. chap. iv. Note to p. 213. third Edition.
[16] See Hoffman’s Works, vol. III. chap. x. River. Observ. commun. Obs. 13. of Observations found in a Library. Bonetus’s Sepulchret. anatom. tom. II. Gualther van Doeveren’s Inaugural Dissertation de Vermibus intestinalibus, published at Leyden, 1753; and Lancisi’s Works; for Cases where the internal Coats of the Stomach, and Intestines, have been eroded, and all the Coats perforated by Worms of the round Kind.
[17] Riverius tells us, that, according to Hippocrates’s Doctrine, Deafness is a very dangerous Symptom in the Beginning of acute Disorders, though it be a good Omen, and portends Health, when it does not appear till the Height of Fevers, especially those of a malignant Kind; and adds, that he himself has a thousand Times observed, that those labouring under this Fever have recovered, when this Symptom of Deafness came on at the Height (in statu) though the other Symptoms threatened much Danger. Prax. Medic. lib. XVII. sect. iii. cap. i. p. 451.
This Symptom of Deafness occurs in other Fevers as well as in this, and often proves a good Symptom in them likewise, as I have frequently observed. Two remarkable Examples of which I had under my Care in St. George’s Hospital, in the Year 1759. On the 17th of January 1759, James Donaldson, a young Man of nineteen Years of Age, was admitted into the Hospital for a Fever, attended with a Stupor and a Delirium, a parched dry Tongue, and other Symptoms of a Fever of the inflammatory Kind, for which he had been blooded, and used other Evacuations. On the 19th, after the Application of a Blister, he was seized with almost an entire Deafness; after which, all his other Symptoms became milder, and he mended daily, and was entirely free from the Fever by the 30th. On the 10th of April 1759, a Youth, John Young, fifteen Years of Age, was admitted into the same Hospital for a Fever, which had already continued fourteen Days. His Speech was affected, and he had entirely lost the Use of his Limbs, was delirious, and had other bad Symptoms. On the 12th, his Hearing became exceedingly dull, and he recovered daily afterwards, and was discharged, cured, the 2d of May, having recovered the Use of his Legs as well as got free of the Fever.
[18] But although these parotid Swellings were in general so favourable with us, we are not to imagine that this will always be the Case: for Riverius, though he speaks of these Swellings proving for the most part critical; yet he tells us, that, in the Year 1623, this Fever was epidemic at Montpelier, and that almost one half of the Sick died; and particularly, that most of those who had Swellings of the parotid Glands appearing about the 9th or 11th Day, were carried off within two Days of their Appearance. Having attended several who died from the Swellings not coming to Suppuration, he began to consider in his own Mind, what might be the Cause of their Death, and concluded, that it was owing to there being a greater Quantity of morbid Matter in the Blood than the Part was able to contain, and that Evacuations by blooding and purging were the only Remedies which were likely to give Relief; and therefore, in the first Case of this Kind, in which he was afterwards consulted, he ordered three Ounces of Blood to be taken away, notwithstanding the Patient was so low that the Surgeon was afraid he would have died in the Operation: The Pulse rose on bleeding, and he ordered four Ounces more to be taken in three or four Hours afterwards: The Pulse rose still more, and he ordered a Dose of Sena and Rhubarb to be taken next Day, and the Patient recovered. And he adds, that all those who were treated in this manner got well. Prax. Med. Lib. XVII. sect. iii. cap. 1.
[19] Ibid.
[20] Pringle’s Observations on the Diseases of the Army, Part III. chap. vii.
[21] This Symptom of Buboes is taken Notice of by Authors, but does not seem to be so frequent as many of them would make us believe. Neither Dr. Huxham nor Dr. Pringle mention their having seen such Buboes; and Dr. Lind says, that he never saw them till the Beginning of the Year 1763.
[22] Hippocrates takes Notice of Swellings of the Testicles in Fevers. He tells us, that a Man from Alcibiades had his left Testicle swell before the Crisis of a Fever. See his Second Book on Epidemics, sect. ii. And he mentions this Symptom as a Crisis in the ardent Fever. See his Book on Crises, sect. xi.—And Dr. Antonio Lizzari, in a Treatise which he published on the Acute Diseases which were frequent at Venice, and all over Italy, in the Years 1761, 62, tells us, that Abscesses of the Scrotum and Testicles frequently followed the Measles.