℞. Sacchari Saturn. Vitriol, alb. Alum. rup. ana drachm. i. Aq. chalyb. fabr. ℔ i ß. per dies decem igne arenæ digerantur. Add. Spir. vin. camphorat. cochl. iii.
Before I go on to the next Section, I think myself bound to mention, that very sensible views, applicable to the disease of which I am treating, may be found in a book lately published, intitled, Precis de Medecine pratique, a work of M. Lieutaud, physician to the young royal family of France, who, after having got to himself a distinguished name among the Anatomists and Physiologists, has moreover secured to himself one of the first ranks among the practitioners, by his excellent treatise on intermittent and remittent fevers.
The chapters of his last work relative to the tabes dorsalis, are those which have for their title calor morbosus, morbific heat, at disease, be it here parenthetically remarked, very frequent, of which no one had before treated, and which has been often subjected to improper methods of cure, as I have elsewhere lamented, and of which M. Lieutaud has been the first to unfold the symptoms, the nature, and curative indication. Vires exhaustæ, and anæmia, or deficiency of blood, a very interesting chapter, which is intirely and originally that author’s.
M. Lewis, whose work I could not procure for myself before the impression of the first edition of mine, is one who has the most of any enlarged upon the method of cure. I had the pleasure of finding that we agreed perfectly in our ideas, and that we employed the same remedies, especially the bark, and the cold bath; a conformity which appears to me a proof in favor of the practice we have, in this case, both followed. I shall only quote here the two aphorisms that comprehend the substance of his doctrine: I shall avail myself of some passages in the explanation which he gives to them, to confirm, in the following Section, my own practice.
“The cure of this disease (says that able physician) depends as much on knowing what to avoid as what to do. Without a nice regularity of the non-naturals, therefore, medicine will have little or no effect. Thus the salubrity of the air is or great importance; the diet should be analeptic and cooling; sleep little, and in due season; moderate exercise must be used, especially riding on horseback. The secretions of the body are to be regulated if out of order, and the patient should be entertained with chearful company and mirthful diversions. All the remedies that are necessary, are derived from the two classes of balsamics and astringents[99].”
He recommends strongly, in the place of tea, which, he observes, is always prejudicial to the nerves, the infusion of mint, or balm, in every dish of which is to be put a tea-spoonful of the balsamic mixture of cream and yolks of eggs beat together, with two or three drops of oil of cinnamon, which he says give a very agreeable flavor, and is highly grateful to the stomach[100]. This indeed I have had occasion to remark myself, of its being both balsamic and strengthening; but I shall place here a remark that may have its use: It is, that M. Lewis specifies among the corroboratives, medicines from lead, Tinct. faturnia[101]; and I think it my duty to give this caution, without offence to his authority and to that of other respectable physicians, that the internal use of all preparations of lead is a real poison, according to the almost unanimous confession of all the faculty. I have seen the most tragical effects from it; and the shameless rashness of quacks, furnishes but too many occasions of observing such. But if the use of it is to be preserved, like that of some other poisons, let the administration of it at least be reserved for those who are able to discern its dangers and its virtues, and not indicated without due precaution in works designed for the public.
I shall conclude this Section with the method employed by M. Storck in the cure of these disorders: it is a very simple and a very efficacious one. And by comparing all these methods, it will be seen, that they are all founded on the same principles, all tend to the same end, and all employ means nearly similar, a conformity which forms a recommendation of the method, and inspires confidence.
“I begin (says M. Storck) by trying to restore the patient with nourishing broths. Rice, oatmeal, barley boiled with broth, or milk, or milk itself, are all very serviceable; but it must be observed, to let him eat but little at a time, and often. Should the stomach be so weakened, which is sometimes the case when the disorder is far advanced, that it cannot bear even these light aliments without great anguish, the patient should be put to the female breast of milk, a recourse which has retrieved many out of the most desperate condition. To restore strength and activity to the relaxed fibres, I would recommend the use of wine heated with a hot iron, bark, and cinnamon. As soon as the patient has strength enough to walk, it will be of infinite service to him, his going into the purest air of the country, or mountains[102].”