| Or take of— | |||
| Infusion of bark | 6 | oz. | |
| Diluted nitric acid | 40 | drops. | |
| Mix. | |||
| Where the ulcers have an indolent, or present a sloughy appearance, either of the following will prove useful stimuli:— |
| Take of the— | |||
| Oxymel of Verdigris | 1 | oz. | |
| The ulcer to be smeared with this preparation, with a hair pencil, twice or thrice a day. | |||
| Or, take of the muriated tincture of iron a small quantity, to be used in like manner. | |||
| Honey of roses, acidulated with muriatic acid, is a very agreeable astringent. | |||
| In severer cases, such as the phagedenic ulceration, the subjoined prescription will be found worthy of a trial:— | |||
| Take of the— | |||
| Oxymuriate of mercury | 1 | grain. | |
| Mucilage of quince seed | 6 | oz. | |
| To be mixed to form a gargle, to be used frequently. | |||
Ulceration of the larynx is an occasional consequence of syphilis; but fortunately a rare one, as it is generally fatal.
All the symptoms enumerated in this section have been known to succeed gonorrhœa, and demand similar treatment. The advocates for the analogy between gonorrhœa and syphilis herein find a ready explanation for such an occurrence, which those adverse to the above opinion have no other means of controverting than by submitting that its rarity is no very substantial proof. Similar results also transpire from the imprudent, or too free use of mercury. The following case is a prototype of the many:— The patient was a person about thirty years of age, and was thus affected: there was considerable inflammation in the entire back part of the throat; the tonsils were excavated to some depth by ill-looking ulcers, the uvula shared also in partial destruction; the tongue was swollen, the tip and front part of it fissured, and on the left side an irritable ulcer was apparent; the nose discharged a disagreeable fluid, and occasionally gave off crusts of hardened secretion. The body of this person, including the head, was thickly sprinkled with venereal blotches of the usual copper color. His health was much impaired, and he stated the disease to have been of nearly twelve months’ duration from the first to the last.
The treatment consisted of the exhibition of mercury in the form of the proto-ioduret, and the sarsaparilla. The ulcers were touched with nitric acid, and submitted to mercurial fumigation. At the end of two months he was convalescent. In cases of ulceration of the throat and nose, I have used the nitrate of silver, both in substance and solution, with good effect.
ADVICE TO INVALIDS.
Having now fully considered every form of syphilitic disease compatible with the design of this work, a few hints relative to the after-management of the patient when relieved from his complaint, to guard against a relapse, and to secure an entire restoration to sound health, may not detract from its utility. There are many patients who, on the disappearance of the more prominent symptoms of their complaint, lose no opportunity of rejoicing in their supposed recovery, and innocently commit sundry inapparent irregularities, that throw them back to their former state of suffering, which a little prudence and attention might have prevented. The more severe the disease has been, the slower, generally, is the recovery, and also less permanent in its result. The mere subsidence of pain, the healing of a wound, the disappearance of a cuticular eruption, or the suppression of a morbid secretion, are not in themselves sufficient indications of substantial recovery. The various physical and mental functions which, during illness, are always more or less involved, have yet to regain their tone. The digestive powers of the stomach are easily deranged, and require watchful management to secure the vantage gained. Equal care is essential, lest the intellectual organs be too prematurely called into active employment. Convalescence is often protracted to an almost indefinite period, frequently from the most trifling errors in diet. The stomach of a person reduced to a low state of debility through a severe inflammatory disorder, remains for a long time exceedingly sensitive, and fails not to evince displeasure when oppressed with indigestible, or too great a quantity of food. No cause predisposes the patient to a relapse, or retards his recovery, so much as inattention to diet. It is a popular error to suppose that the weakness consequent upon severe illness is only to be removed by rich and substantial food and wines, and other stimulating drinks. Such indiscretion often rekindles the disease, or predisposes the system to the supervention of some other complaint. The change from the sick-room to the parlor diet should be gradual and progressive. The milk and farinaceous meal may be varied by degrees to the milder forms and preparations of animal food. Solids should be given at first in small quantities; the diet should be rigidly adhered to, and in the change from low to full diet, the intermediate one should not be skipped over.