There is a form of cutaneous disfigurement, entitled syphilitic exanthema, in which the skin is discolored by coppery-red blushes that disappear under pressure of the finger. There are also deep and painful fissures and excrescences, called vegetations, from their resemblance to raspberries, strawberries, cauliflowers, and leeks, observed in syphilis, and most commonly they are to be found about the lips, nose, eyebrows, chin, genitals, &c.
It may not be unimportant to know that syphilitic eruptions are contagious by inoculation, and that secondary symptoms may be transmitted from one individual to another.
When I was a pupil of the London hospital, a woman and her child presented themselves for treatment. The mother was completely covered with copper-colored scaly eruptions, obviously and unequivocally syphilitic. The child also had venereal sore throat, and ulceration of the mouth. The account which the mother gave of herself was, that the eruption appeared a few weeks after her confinement; and, upon further inquiry, it was discovered that the husband had had a chancre of the penis: that was cured, but secondary symptoms showed themselves upon him. It was during the presence of the latter that he had intercourse with his wife, at about the sixth month of her pregnancy. The surgeon of the week gave it as his opinion, that the disease was conveyed by the male semen being absorbed by the mother, which was sufficient to occasion the disease. The mother, husband, and child, all submitted to mercurial treatment and fumigations, and in a few weeks entirely recovered.
Treatment of Secondary Symptoms.—Now in the treatment of these cases, all of which are more than skin deep, it is evident that, unless the cause which produces them be expelled, all local repellants only exhaust the physical energies of the patient; for the cure by such means but provokes a speedier reproduction of the disease, and hence the necessity of constitutional as well as topical remedies. I have fully explained my views regarding the employment of mercury; and every day’s experience convinces me that, where the constitution is imbued with the venereal virus, there is no alternative but to employ the most active alteratives, to effect a decisive and speedy change in the state of the patient’s health. Various habits require various preparations; the blue pill, the oxymuriate, calomel, and the external application of the unguentum hydrargyri fortius, are highly useful. I have, however, of late, been in the habit of employing the proto-ioduret of mercury, with unqualified success; nor do I limit its administration to internal exhibition; it may be used externally. The advantage of this preparation over others is, that it rarely, if ever, produces ptyalism.
In old and inveterate cases, combined with the use of the warm and vapor bath, both of which may be impregnated with it, it has wrought wonders; and in cases that had proved rebellious to every other means, although sedulously employed, it had effected a speedy and decisive cure. In the cure of an elderly person, covered almost from head to foot with syphilitic ulceration, the internal and external application of the proto-ioduret occasioned, at the end of a few weeks, the entire disappearance of the sores, leaving only a slight livid trace. In ulceration of the throat, nose, and in fissures of the genitals, indolent buboes, &c., the success is no less remarkable than effectual.
The following is the formula, which may of course be altered according to circumstances:—
| Take of the— | |||
| Proto-ioduret of mercury | 20 | grains. | |
| Gum guaiacum, in powder | 1 | drachm. | |
| Confection of roses, as much as is sufficient. | |||
| Mix to form 36 pills—one to be taken twice or thrice a day. | |||
| For external use, take of the— | |||
| Proto-ioduret of mercury | 1 | drachm. | |
| Lard | 2 | oz. | |
| Mix. | |||
| A portion to be rubbed over, or to dress the affected parts twice a day. If the ulceration be seated in the throat, honey of roses may be substituted for the lard. | |||
| The decoction, or any other preparation of sarsaparilla, may be taken also in conjunction with the treatment just suggested. | |||
| An ounce of the sarsaparilla root infused in one pint of lime-water (cold) for twenty-four hours, and a wineglassful taken three times a day, is a very eligible mode of taking it. Or— | |||
| The compound extract of sarsaparilla, dissolved in lime or soft water, one ounce to the pint, and taken in similar doses to the last, is a very good mode of exhibition. | |||
| Bathing is indispensable. | |||