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JI! E D 1
ARSUTHNOT f~ys, crCi\m of tartar iD water.gruel,
"ken for fever. 1 doys, will . bote ,he pains .nd fwell ings
confidcrobly, by its aeidi,y eo"efting ,he .Ikalinc fallS of
, he I>lood.
R (DLEY ufcd mercur;LS du)cis in rheumatic cafes, as a
. purge, Wilh gooo fucce fs, gi\ i~g a (crtiple in conCen'e of
vioJets over night, and three ptnrs of eprom waters, eva–
porated away 10 one h;. lí, in 1he mom ing.
Dr J AM ES has. wrotea treatire to prov~ the efficacy of
mercurial prepar~tions . as \l. e1l in the rheumariÍm as in
1he gout, which ís (upported with very good amhorities.
And H ux HA rol fays, that Ihe obHina!e rheum,nic paios,
which rt maioed arter lhe epidcmical 'fever uf 17 ; 7J would
yield to mercurial cath:::rtics ; but he preferrcd to every
rife what he caJls the efrence of antimony. which is no
thing elfe but emetic \Vine rr..de with glafs of anlimony,
with lhe additioo of a liule fpi cy Clomacbic. T his, gi.
ven to 20 or 30 drops. operates by gende fweau, and
purgesin a larger dore very Olildly.
H OF' F'f.t AS 1tkewife recommends mercurials and aoti·
moniOl ls in panicular cafes; lhat is, when a violent aod
obUina,e pain aJlliéls ,he lower pan. of ,he bocly, abou,
the olfa ifchii and lhe os coccigis, and lhe patitnt is of a
robun connilution, lhen the more powerful chemical me·
dicioes may be made ure 0(, fu ch as mercurius dulcis ,
the rolar preci'pitale rightly prepared. or lhe medicinal re·
gulus of . o,imony. ' o whieh a decoft ion of ,he fudori fi e
woods may be .dded . F, om fueh medicines as Ihefe
gre., rdief may be expeéled.
eH Ey toO' E fap the hot aod inflammt\tory rh eumatirms
have all ,he fYOlp,oms o( the gou" and like i, ehange from
place to place. and byover violent evacuations may be tranr.
rnit1ed upon ,he noble organs. And by ,he way i, may no' be
amifs to obrerve. that exceflive bleeding, and other violent
evacuatiom, confiantly briDg on a he8icor dropry on the pa–
tieot in this cafe; dIreares of a much more dang( rous na·
ture in themfelves, ;md f.n more ddncult lO be cured, than
the origin. 1 onc. And therefore in this direafe, only
prcmifing fo much bleeding as will prevent a fe"cr and
mortiGcalion, and fomewhat abate the pain (v.hich gentle
dofes of calomel and gum guaiacum \VIII do more effec·
, ually, ,hough no' more fpeedily, ,han blceding i,felf) ,he
ref! is 'o be done by larr,e dofes o( ,he bark .nd JE,hiops
mineral mixeá; anda relapfe preven,ed by gentle dofesof
gum guaiacum, with antimony diaphoretic, and cioDabar
ofantimony.
PR I NG L E ol:.rerves, lhat r~ eumatifms are generally
mild, th ough they rometimes appeared wjth all lhe vio·
I, nee ,aken no,iee o( by Sydenham. F or whi~h rcafon
the firfi ron \Vere generally cured in t\VO or three days
by t\\ice or lhrice bleeding, and' promoting a diaphorefis
by the cooler medicines, particulariy by vioegar whey.
ROl ifit was ¡ntended wilh an inH~mmatory rwelling of lhe
joinlS, [weitting \\as ¡mproper, and ¡he cure w"s only te
be ot- totined by rcpeated and almofidailybJeedings. B ut
th~n it is te be carefully remarked . lh,u lhore were af·
fliéted with it who were bdl able 10 bear thefeevacufl.tions;
and in this direare he thinks freqoent blet:dings \\caken
the body lefs than in any other.
I f lhe paio and fwelling of the joints remaio after tl,is
trcatment, three or four ' eeches muí! ce applied to ;:he
VOL. IlI. N°. 74 , 2
e N E.
p.:lrt where lhe inflammation 2nd tumour are the greatell.
.nd ,he blood is ' o ooze ,ill i, flops of i,felf. This may
be repeated freely without danger. But unlefs thefe is
bo,h an ,ion and fwelling. leeches wi ll do no
ferviee. The befi iotero,-I medicines, in a true aeute
rheumatifm, are neutral falts, Wi lh very fmal! dofes of
camphor. T he die, muf! be of ,he lowcfl' kind. A H
outward applications are to be orniu ed as long as arly
fever or inflammalion remaÍes.
The chronic rheumatifm is either the remains of a
rheumatic fever, or a contÍnuation of pains that proceederl
a' fi rf! from le¡rer bu, neglefted eolds. The blood in
,his e.'lfe is fizy. !t is .n obrbnate d,feafe, bu, bleeding
is the moll efficacious remedy. Eight Cunees of blood is
to be taken away once in eight or teo days, .lS long as ic
is fizy, or lhe complaints remaio.
BJeeding has beeo repcated, in many cafes, thret or four
times, to no manner of perpore; nor would lhe paios abate
without deobllruents, di.1phoretics, purges, and anodynes.
Som elimes they have yieldcd tO lhe eold ·bath alone.
D r Clerk of Edinhurgh declares ,he A RT H R ' T ' s· V ..-
GA, or flying gOUt , erroneouOy called lhe SCORBU T IC
RH EUf'o1.}TIS M, may be often difiinguifhed by lhe uri ne
of the patieot; for cenain tilaments fioat in it not fa
tranrparent as the urine ¡tfelf, bUI when caken OtH [hey
appeor . s pellucid as eryf!.l. T hey \ViII rope to a grea,
lcn~th , and wben d ried turn to a white calx . T his he
takes to be the morbific malter of the gout, grave!, gou–
tifu fciatiea, and a1l true anhritic pains, dillinét from
Ihe rneum~tifm . SOlp i., the bdl diífolvent of jt yet
known, half an ounee of which tO an ounee may be ta·
ken io a day for a month togelher, if Decdfary, in lhe
J"cialie and other arthritie pains.
Of Ih< GOUT.
T HE gou' is • very painful dife. fe. whofe fea, i. in
the joiots and ligaments of the bones of lhe feet ; che prin.
cipal times ofits invaGon are lhe fpring and lhe autumo.
In treatingof {his direare, we {hall firtl give ao account
of lhe regular gout, aod afterwards of the irregular.
The regu lar gOUl ufually fcizes lhe patient in tbe lat–
ter end of J or the beginning of Fébruary all of. a
fudden, and without any previous notice, unlefs lhe pa–
lieot has been troubled with crudities or the (lomaeh and
ind'gefli on fo r fome week, 'before; ,he body likewife may
have feerned te have been pu~t!d up with wind, Wi1 h a
kind o( he.vinef" whieh daily iocre.fes, ,ill a' leng'h ,he
lit comes on; a few days before which, there is a torpor,
and as it were a derct:nt cf wind clown the murcies of the
,high , \Vi,h a kiod of fpafOlodie ,ffeftion of ,hern. Like–
wife, tbe day before lhe 6t) lhe appetite is more voracious,
but nOl naUlral.
T hough lhe pat ien, feems 10 go to bed in good health,
yet aboul two in the morning he is aWdkened by a pai n
which mon comrnooly affeéts the great toe, fometimcs lhe
heel, lhe ancle. or the ealf of lhe legs. which paio re·
feml,Jes that of diílocated bODes; Iht:re is likewire a fen–
[ation as if water almon cold \Vas poured on lhe membrancs
of lhe pan afieétcd . Soon after, a Chi veri ng and (h¡¡king
rupen , \Vith a feverifh diforder. Tbe pain which . t
6rH is tolerable, !lecomes mo.e "lolcDt iD plopon íon as
1 i t ,he