Chapter XIV.Of the Measles.Sect.221.The Measles, to which the human Species are as generally liable, as to the Small-Pocks, is a Distemper considerably related to it; though, generally speaking, it is less fatal; notwithstanding which, it is not a little destructive in some Countries. InSwisserlandwe lose much fewer, immediately in the Disease, than from the Consequences of it.It happens now and then that the Small-Pocks and the Measles rage at the same Time, and in the same Place; though I have more frequently observed, that each of them was epidemical in different Years. Sometimes it also happens that both these Diseases are combined at once in the same Person; and that one supervenes before the other has finished its Course, which makes the Case very perilous.§ 222. In some Constitutions the Measles gives Notice of its Approach many Days beforeits evident Invasion, by a small, frequent and dry Cough, without any other sensible Complaint: though more frequently by a general Uneasiness; by Successions of Shivering and of Heat; by a severe Head-ach in grown Persons; a Heaviness in Children; a considerable Complaint of the Throat; and, by what particularly characterizes this Distemper, an Inflammation and a considerable Heat in the Eyes, attended with a Swelling of the Eye-lids, with a Defluxion of sharp Tears, and so acute a Sensation, or Feeling of the Eyes, that they cannot bear the Light; by very frequent Sneezings, and a Dripping from the Nose of the same Humour with that, which trickles from the Eyes.The Heat and the Fever increases with Rapidity; the Patient is afflicted with a Cough, a Stuffing, with Anguish, and continual Reachings to vomit; with violent Pains in the Loins; and sometimes with a Looseness, under which Circumstance he is less persecuted with Vomiting. At other times, and in other Subjects, Sweating chiefly prevails, though in less Abundance than in the Small-Pocks. The Tongue is foul and white; the Thirst is often very high; and the Symptoms are generally more violent than in the mild Small-Pocks.At length, on the fourth or fifth Day, and sometimes about the End of the third, a sudden Eruption appears and in a very great Quantity, especially about the Face; which in a few Hours is covered with Spots, each of which resembles aFlea-bite; many of them soon joining form redStreaksor Suffusions larger or smaller, which inflame the Skin, and produce a very perceivable Swelling of the Face; whence the very Eyes are sometimes closed. Each small Spot or Suffusion is raised a little above the Surface, especially in the Face, where they are manifest both to the Sight and the Touch. In the other Parts of the Body, this Elevation or Rising is scarcely perceivable by any Circumstance, but the Roughness of the Skin.The Eruption, having first appeared in the Face, is afterwards extended to the Breast, the Back, the Arms, the Thighs and Legs. It generally spreads very plentifully over the Breast and the Back, and sometimes red Suffusions are found upon the Breast, before any Eruption has appeared in the Face.The Patient is often relieved, as in the Small-Pocks, by plentiful Discharges of Blood from the Nose, which carry off the Complaints of the Head, of the Eyes, and of the Throat.Whenever this Distemper appears in its mildest Character, almost every Symptom abates after Eruption, as it happens in the Small-Pocks; though, in general, the Change for the better is not as thoroughly perceivable, as it is in the Small-Pocks. It is certain the Reachings and Vomitings cease almost entirely; but the Fever, the Cough, the Head-ach continue; and I have sometimes observed that a bilious Vomiting, a Day or two after the Eruption, proved a moreconsiderable Relief to the Patient than the Eruption had. On the third or fourth Day of the Eruption, the Redness diminishes; the Spots, or very small Pustules, dry up and fall off in very little branny Scales; the Cuticle, or superficial Skin also shrivels off; and is replaced by one succeeding beneath it. On the ninth Day, when the Progress of the Malady has been speedy, and on the eleventh, when it has been very slow, no Trace of the Redness is to be found; and the Surface immediately resumes its usual Appearance.§ 223. Notwithstanding all which the Patient is not safe, except, during the Course of the Distemper, or immediately after it, he has had some considerable Evacuation; such as the Vomiting I have just mentioned; or a bilious Looseness; or considerable Discharges by Urine; or very plentiful Sweating. For when any of these Evacuations supervene, the Fever vanishes; the Patient resumes his Strength, and perfectly recovers. It happens sometimes too, and even without any of these perceivable Discharges, that insensible Perspiration expels the Relics of the poisonous Cause of this Disease, and the Patient recovers his Health. Yet it occurs too often, that this Venom not having been entirely expelled (or its internal Effects not having been thoroughly effaced) it is repelled upon the Lungs, where it produces a slight Inflammation. In Consequence of this the Oppression, the Cough, the Anguish, and Fever return, and the Patient's Situationbecomes very dangerous. This Outrage is frequently less vehement, but it proves tedious and chronical, leaving a very obstinate Cough behind it, with many Resemblances of the Whooping-Cough. In 1758 there was an epidemic State of the Measles here extremely numerous, which affected great Numbers: Almost all who had it, and who were not very carefully and judiciously attended, were seized in Consequence of it with that Cough, which proved very violent and obstinate.§ 224. However, notwithstanding this be the frequent Progress and Consequence of this Disease, when left entirely to itself, or erroneously treated, and more particularly when treated with a hot Regimen; yet when proper Care was taken to moderate the Fever at the Beginning, to dilute, and to keep up the Evacuations, such unhappy Consequences have been very rare.§ 225. The proper Method of conducting this Distemper is much the same with that of the Small-Pocks.1, If the Fever be high, the Pulse hard, the Load and Oppression heavy, and all the Symptoms violent, the Patient must be bled once or twice.2, His Legs must be bathed, and he must take some Glysters: the Vehemence of the Symptoms must regulate the Number of each.3, The PtisansNº. 3or4must be taken, or a Tea of Elder and Lime-tree Flowers, to which a fifth Part Milk may be added.4, The Vapour, the Steam of warm Water should also be employed, as very conducive to asswage the Cough; the Soreness of the Throat, and the Oppression the Patient labours under.5, As soon as the Efflorescence, the Redness becomes pale, the Patient is to be purged with the DraughtNº. 23.6, He is still to be kept strictly to his Regimen, for two Days after this Purge; after which he is to be put upon the Diet of those who are in a State of Recovery.7, If during the Eruption such Symptoms supervene as occur [at the same Term] in the Small-Pocks, they are to be treated in the Manner already directed there.§ 226. Whenever this Method has not been observed, and the Accidents described§ 223supervene, the Distemper must be treated like an Inflammation in its first State, and all must be done as directed§ 225. If the Disease is not vehement,60Bleeding may be omitted. If it is ofsome standing in gross Children, loaded with Humours, inactive, and pale, we must add to the Medicines already prescribed the PotionNº. 8, and Blisters to the Legs.§ 227. It often happens from the Distance of proper Advice, that the Relics, the Dregs as it were, of the Disease have been too little regarded, especially the Cough; in which Circumstance it forms a real Suppuration in the Lungs, attended with a slow Fever. I have seen many Children in Country Villages destroyed by this Neglect. Their Case is then of the same Nature with that described§ 68and82, and terminates in the same Manner in a Looseness, (attended with very little Pain) and sometimes a very fœtid one, which carries off the Patient. In such Cases we must recur to the Remedies prescribed§ 74, Article 3, 4, 5; to the PowderNº. 14; and to Milk and Exercise. But it is so very difficult to make Children take the Powder, that it may be sometimes necessary to trust to the Milk without it, which I have often seen in such Situations accomplish a very difficult Cure. I must advise the Reader at the same Time, that it has not so compleat an Effect, as when it is taken solelyunjoined by any other Aliment; and that it is of the last Importance not to join it with any, which has the least Acidity or Sharpness. Persons in easy Circumstances may successfully take, at the same Time,Pfeffer,61Seltzer,Peterstal, or some other light Waters, which are but moderately loaded with mineral Ingredients. These are also successfully employed in all the Cases, in which the Cure I have mentioned is necessary.§ 228. Sometimes there remains, after the Course of the Measles, a strong dry Cough, with great Heat in the Breast, and throughout the whole Body, with Thirst, an excessive Dryness of the Tongue, and of the whole Surface of the Body. I have cured Persons thus indisposed after this Distemper, by making them breathe in the Vapour of warm Water; by the repeated Use of warm Baths; and by allowing them to take nothing for several Days but Water and Milk.Before I take leave of this Subject, I assure the Reader again, that the contagious Cause of the Measles is of an extremely sharp and acrid Nature. It appears to have some Resemblance to the bilious Humour, which produces theErisipelas, or St. Anthony's Fire; and thence it demands our particular Attention and Vigilance; without which very troublesome and dangerous Consequences may be apprehended. I have seen, not very long since, a young Girl, who was in a verylanguid State after the Measles, which she had Undergone three Years before: It was at length attended with an Ulceration in her Neck, which was cured, and her Health finally restored bySarsaparillawith Milk and Water.§ 229. The Measles have been communicated by62Inoculation in some Countries, where it is of a very malignant Disposition; and that Method might also be very advantageous in this. But what we have already observed, with Respect to the Inoculation of the Small-Pocks,viz.That it cannot be extended to the general Benefit of the People, without the Foundation of Hospitals for that very Purpose, is equally applicable to the Inoculation of the Measles.
Chapter XIV.Of the Measles.Sect.221.The Measles, to which the human Species are as generally liable, as to the Small-Pocks, is a Distemper considerably related to it; though, generally speaking, it is less fatal; notwithstanding which, it is not a little destructive in some Countries. InSwisserlandwe lose much fewer, immediately in the Disease, than from the Consequences of it.It happens now and then that the Small-Pocks and the Measles rage at the same Time, and in the same Place; though I have more frequently observed, that each of them was epidemical in different Years. Sometimes it also happens that both these Diseases are combined at once in the same Person; and that one supervenes before the other has finished its Course, which makes the Case very perilous.§ 222. In some Constitutions the Measles gives Notice of its Approach many Days beforeits evident Invasion, by a small, frequent and dry Cough, without any other sensible Complaint: though more frequently by a general Uneasiness; by Successions of Shivering and of Heat; by a severe Head-ach in grown Persons; a Heaviness in Children; a considerable Complaint of the Throat; and, by what particularly characterizes this Distemper, an Inflammation and a considerable Heat in the Eyes, attended with a Swelling of the Eye-lids, with a Defluxion of sharp Tears, and so acute a Sensation, or Feeling of the Eyes, that they cannot bear the Light; by very frequent Sneezings, and a Dripping from the Nose of the same Humour with that, which trickles from the Eyes.The Heat and the Fever increases with Rapidity; the Patient is afflicted with a Cough, a Stuffing, with Anguish, and continual Reachings to vomit; with violent Pains in the Loins; and sometimes with a Looseness, under which Circumstance he is less persecuted with Vomiting. At other times, and in other Subjects, Sweating chiefly prevails, though in less Abundance than in the Small-Pocks. The Tongue is foul and white; the Thirst is often very high; and the Symptoms are generally more violent than in the mild Small-Pocks.At length, on the fourth or fifth Day, and sometimes about the End of the third, a sudden Eruption appears and in a very great Quantity, especially about the Face; which in a few Hours is covered with Spots, each of which resembles aFlea-bite; many of them soon joining form redStreaksor Suffusions larger or smaller, which inflame the Skin, and produce a very perceivable Swelling of the Face; whence the very Eyes are sometimes closed. Each small Spot or Suffusion is raised a little above the Surface, especially in the Face, where they are manifest both to the Sight and the Touch. In the other Parts of the Body, this Elevation or Rising is scarcely perceivable by any Circumstance, but the Roughness of the Skin.The Eruption, having first appeared in the Face, is afterwards extended to the Breast, the Back, the Arms, the Thighs and Legs. It generally spreads very plentifully over the Breast and the Back, and sometimes red Suffusions are found upon the Breast, before any Eruption has appeared in the Face.The Patient is often relieved, as in the Small-Pocks, by plentiful Discharges of Blood from the Nose, which carry off the Complaints of the Head, of the Eyes, and of the Throat.Whenever this Distemper appears in its mildest Character, almost every Symptom abates after Eruption, as it happens in the Small-Pocks; though, in general, the Change for the better is not as thoroughly perceivable, as it is in the Small-Pocks. It is certain the Reachings and Vomitings cease almost entirely; but the Fever, the Cough, the Head-ach continue; and I have sometimes observed that a bilious Vomiting, a Day or two after the Eruption, proved a moreconsiderable Relief to the Patient than the Eruption had. On the third or fourth Day of the Eruption, the Redness diminishes; the Spots, or very small Pustules, dry up and fall off in very little branny Scales; the Cuticle, or superficial Skin also shrivels off; and is replaced by one succeeding beneath it. On the ninth Day, when the Progress of the Malady has been speedy, and on the eleventh, when it has been very slow, no Trace of the Redness is to be found; and the Surface immediately resumes its usual Appearance.§ 223. Notwithstanding all which the Patient is not safe, except, during the Course of the Distemper, or immediately after it, he has had some considerable Evacuation; such as the Vomiting I have just mentioned; or a bilious Looseness; or considerable Discharges by Urine; or very plentiful Sweating. For when any of these Evacuations supervene, the Fever vanishes; the Patient resumes his Strength, and perfectly recovers. It happens sometimes too, and even without any of these perceivable Discharges, that insensible Perspiration expels the Relics of the poisonous Cause of this Disease, and the Patient recovers his Health. Yet it occurs too often, that this Venom not having been entirely expelled (or its internal Effects not having been thoroughly effaced) it is repelled upon the Lungs, where it produces a slight Inflammation. In Consequence of this the Oppression, the Cough, the Anguish, and Fever return, and the Patient's Situationbecomes very dangerous. This Outrage is frequently less vehement, but it proves tedious and chronical, leaving a very obstinate Cough behind it, with many Resemblances of the Whooping-Cough. In 1758 there was an epidemic State of the Measles here extremely numerous, which affected great Numbers: Almost all who had it, and who were not very carefully and judiciously attended, were seized in Consequence of it with that Cough, which proved very violent and obstinate.§ 224. However, notwithstanding this be the frequent Progress and Consequence of this Disease, when left entirely to itself, or erroneously treated, and more particularly when treated with a hot Regimen; yet when proper Care was taken to moderate the Fever at the Beginning, to dilute, and to keep up the Evacuations, such unhappy Consequences have been very rare.§ 225. The proper Method of conducting this Distemper is much the same with that of the Small-Pocks.1, If the Fever be high, the Pulse hard, the Load and Oppression heavy, and all the Symptoms violent, the Patient must be bled once or twice.2, His Legs must be bathed, and he must take some Glysters: the Vehemence of the Symptoms must regulate the Number of each.3, The PtisansNº. 3or4must be taken, or a Tea of Elder and Lime-tree Flowers, to which a fifth Part Milk may be added.4, The Vapour, the Steam of warm Water should also be employed, as very conducive to asswage the Cough; the Soreness of the Throat, and the Oppression the Patient labours under.5, As soon as the Efflorescence, the Redness becomes pale, the Patient is to be purged with the DraughtNº. 23.6, He is still to be kept strictly to his Regimen, for two Days after this Purge; after which he is to be put upon the Diet of those who are in a State of Recovery.7, If during the Eruption such Symptoms supervene as occur [at the same Term] in the Small-Pocks, they are to be treated in the Manner already directed there.§ 226. Whenever this Method has not been observed, and the Accidents described§ 223supervene, the Distemper must be treated like an Inflammation in its first State, and all must be done as directed§ 225. If the Disease is not vehement,60Bleeding may be omitted. If it is ofsome standing in gross Children, loaded with Humours, inactive, and pale, we must add to the Medicines already prescribed the PotionNº. 8, and Blisters to the Legs.§ 227. It often happens from the Distance of proper Advice, that the Relics, the Dregs as it were, of the Disease have been too little regarded, especially the Cough; in which Circumstance it forms a real Suppuration in the Lungs, attended with a slow Fever. I have seen many Children in Country Villages destroyed by this Neglect. Their Case is then of the same Nature with that described§ 68and82, and terminates in the same Manner in a Looseness, (attended with very little Pain) and sometimes a very fœtid one, which carries off the Patient. In such Cases we must recur to the Remedies prescribed§ 74, Article 3, 4, 5; to the PowderNº. 14; and to Milk and Exercise. But it is so very difficult to make Children take the Powder, that it may be sometimes necessary to trust to the Milk without it, which I have often seen in such Situations accomplish a very difficult Cure. I must advise the Reader at the same Time, that it has not so compleat an Effect, as when it is taken solelyunjoined by any other Aliment; and that it is of the last Importance not to join it with any, which has the least Acidity or Sharpness. Persons in easy Circumstances may successfully take, at the same Time,Pfeffer,61Seltzer,Peterstal, or some other light Waters, which are but moderately loaded with mineral Ingredients. These are also successfully employed in all the Cases, in which the Cure I have mentioned is necessary.§ 228. Sometimes there remains, after the Course of the Measles, a strong dry Cough, with great Heat in the Breast, and throughout the whole Body, with Thirst, an excessive Dryness of the Tongue, and of the whole Surface of the Body. I have cured Persons thus indisposed after this Distemper, by making them breathe in the Vapour of warm Water; by the repeated Use of warm Baths; and by allowing them to take nothing for several Days but Water and Milk.Before I take leave of this Subject, I assure the Reader again, that the contagious Cause of the Measles is of an extremely sharp and acrid Nature. It appears to have some Resemblance to the bilious Humour, which produces theErisipelas, or St. Anthony's Fire; and thence it demands our particular Attention and Vigilance; without which very troublesome and dangerous Consequences may be apprehended. I have seen, not very long since, a young Girl, who was in a verylanguid State after the Measles, which she had Undergone three Years before: It was at length attended with an Ulceration in her Neck, which was cured, and her Health finally restored bySarsaparillawith Milk and Water.§ 229. The Measles have been communicated by62Inoculation in some Countries, where it is of a very malignant Disposition; and that Method might also be very advantageous in this. But what we have already observed, with Respect to the Inoculation of the Small-Pocks,viz.That it cannot be extended to the general Benefit of the People, without the Foundation of Hospitals for that very Purpose, is equally applicable to the Inoculation of the Measles.
Of the Measles.
Sect.221.
Sect.221.
The Measles, to which the human Species are as generally liable, as to the Small-Pocks, is a Distemper considerably related to it; though, generally speaking, it is less fatal; notwithstanding which, it is not a little destructive in some Countries. InSwisserlandwe lose much fewer, immediately in the Disease, than from the Consequences of it.
It happens now and then that the Small-Pocks and the Measles rage at the same Time, and in the same Place; though I have more frequently observed, that each of them was epidemical in different Years. Sometimes it also happens that both these Diseases are combined at once in the same Person; and that one supervenes before the other has finished its Course, which makes the Case very perilous.
§ 222. In some Constitutions the Measles gives Notice of its Approach many Days beforeits evident Invasion, by a small, frequent and dry Cough, without any other sensible Complaint: though more frequently by a general Uneasiness; by Successions of Shivering and of Heat; by a severe Head-ach in grown Persons; a Heaviness in Children; a considerable Complaint of the Throat; and, by what particularly characterizes this Distemper, an Inflammation and a considerable Heat in the Eyes, attended with a Swelling of the Eye-lids, with a Defluxion of sharp Tears, and so acute a Sensation, or Feeling of the Eyes, that they cannot bear the Light; by very frequent Sneezings, and a Dripping from the Nose of the same Humour with that, which trickles from the Eyes.
The Heat and the Fever increases with Rapidity; the Patient is afflicted with a Cough, a Stuffing, with Anguish, and continual Reachings to vomit; with violent Pains in the Loins; and sometimes with a Looseness, under which Circumstance he is less persecuted with Vomiting. At other times, and in other Subjects, Sweating chiefly prevails, though in less Abundance than in the Small-Pocks. The Tongue is foul and white; the Thirst is often very high; and the Symptoms are generally more violent than in the mild Small-Pocks.
At length, on the fourth or fifth Day, and sometimes about the End of the third, a sudden Eruption appears and in a very great Quantity, especially about the Face; which in a few Hours is covered with Spots, each of which resembles aFlea-bite; many of them soon joining form redStreaksor Suffusions larger or smaller, which inflame the Skin, and produce a very perceivable Swelling of the Face; whence the very Eyes are sometimes closed. Each small Spot or Suffusion is raised a little above the Surface, especially in the Face, where they are manifest both to the Sight and the Touch. In the other Parts of the Body, this Elevation or Rising is scarcely perceivable by any Circumstance, but the Roughness of the Skin.
The Eruption, having first appeared in the Face, is afterwards extended to the Breast, the Back, the Arms, the Thighs and Legs. It generally spreads very plentifully over the Breast and the Back, and sometimes red Suffusions are found upon the Breast, before any Eruption has appeared in the Face.
The Patient is often relieved, as in the Small-Pocks, by plentiful Discharges of Blood from the Nose, which carry off the Complaints of the Head, of the Eyes, and of the Throat.
Whenever this Distemper appears in its mildest Character, almost every Symptom abates after Eruption, as it happens in the Small-Pocks; though, in general, the Change for the better is not as thoroughly perceivable, as it is in the Small-Pocks. It is certain the Reachings and Vomitings cease almost entirely; but the Fever, the Cough, the Head-ach continue; and I have sometimes observed that a bilious Vomiting, a Day or two after the Eruption, proved a moreconsiderable Relief to the Patient than the Eruption had. On the third or fourth Day of the Eruption, the Redness diminishes; the Spots, or very small Pustules, dry up and fall off in very little branny Scales; the Cuticle, or superficial Skin also shrivels off; and is replaced by one succeeding beneath it. On the ninth Day, when the Progress of the Malady has been speedy, and on the eleventh, when it has been very slow, no Trace of the Redness is to be found; and the Surface immediately resumes its usual Appearance.
§ 223. Notwithstanding all which the Patient is not safe, except, during the Course of the Distemper, or immediately after it, he has had some considerable Evacuation; such as the Vomiting I have just mentioned; or a bilious Looseness; or considerable Discharges by Urine; or very plentiful Sweating. For when any of these Evacuations supervene, the Fever vanishes; the Patient resumes his Strength, and perfectly recovers. It happens sometimes too, and even without any of these perceivable Discharges, that insensible Perspiration expels the Relics of the poisonous Cause of this Disease, and the Patient recovers his Health. Yet it occurs too often, that this Venom not having been entirely expelled (or its internal Effects not having been thoroughly effaced) it is repelled upon the Lungs, where it produces a slight Inflammation. In Consequence of this the Oppression, the Cough, the Anguish, and Fever return, and the Patient's Situationbecomes very dangerous. This Outrage is frequently less vehement, but it proves tedious and chronical, leaving a very obstinate Cough behind it, with many Resemblances of the Whooping-Cough. In 1758 there was an epidemic State of the Measles here extremely numerous, which affected great Numbers: Almost all who had it, and who were not very carefully and judiciously attended, were seized in Consequence of it with that Cough, which proved very violent and obstinate.
§ 224. However, notwithstanding this be the frequent Progress and Consequence of this Disease, when left entirely to itself, or erroneously treated, and more particularly when treated with a hot Regimen; yet when proper Care was taken to moderate the Fever at the Beginning, to dilute, and to keep up the Evacuations, such unhappy Consequences have been very rare.
§ 225. The proper Method of conducting this Distemper is much the same with that of the Small-Pocks.
1, If the Fever be high, the Pulse hard, the Load and Oppression heavy, and all the Symptoms violent, the Patient must be bled once or twice.
2, His Legs must be bathed, and he must take some Glysters: the Vehemence of the Symptoms must regulate the Number of each.
3, The PtisansNº. 3or4must be taken, or a Tea of Elder and Lime-tree Flowers, to which a fifth Part Milk may be added.
4, The Vapour, the Steam of warm Water should also be employed, as very conducive to asswage the Cough; the Soreness of the Throat, and the Oppression the Patient labours under.
5, As soon as the Efflorescence, the Redness becomes pale, the Patient is to be purged with the DraughtNº. 23.
6, He is still to be kept strictly to his Regimen, for two Days after this Purge; after which he is to be put upon the Diet of those who are in a State of Recovery.
7, If during the Eruption such Symptoms supervene as occur [at the same Term] in the Small-Pocks, they are to be treated in the Manner already directed there.
§ 226. Whenever this Method has not been observed, and the Accidents described§ 223supervene, the Distemper must be treated like an Inflammation in its first State, and all must be done as directed§ 225. If the Disease is not vehement,60Bleeding may be omitted. If it is ofsome standing in gross Children, loaded with Humours, inactive, and pale, we must add to the Medicines already prescribed the PotionNº. 8, and Blisters to the Legs.
§ 227. It often happens from the Distance of proper Advice, that the Relics, the Dregs as it were, of the Disease have been too little regarded, especially the Cough; in which Circumstance it forms a real Suppuration in the Lungs, attended with a slow Fever. I have seen many Children in Country Villages destroyed by this Neglect. Their Case is then of the same Nature with that described§ 68and82, and terminates in the same Manner in a Looseness, (attended with very little Pain) and sometimes a very fœtid one, which carries off the Patient. In such Cases we must recur to the Remedies prescribed§ 74, Article 3, 4, 5; to the PowderNº. 14; and to Milk and Exercise. But it is so very difficult to make Children take the Powder, that it may be sometimes necessary to trust to the Milk without it, which I have often seen in such Situations accomplish a very difficult Cure. I must advise the Reader at the same Time, that it has not so compleat an Effect, as when it is taken solelyunjoined by any other Aliment; and that it is of the last Importance not to join it with any, which has the least Acidity or Sharpness. Persons in easy Circumstances may successfully take, at the same Time,Pfeffer,61Seltzer,Peterstal, or some other light Waters, which are but moderately loaded with mineral Ingredients. These are also successfully employed in all the Cases, in which the Cure I have mentioned is necessary.
§ 228. Sometimes there remains, after the Course of the Measles, a strong dry Cough, with great Heat in the Breast, and throughout the whole Body, with Thirst, an excessive Dryness of the Tongue, and of the whole Surface of the Body. I have cured Persons thus indisposed after this Distemper, by making them breathe in the Vapour of warm Water; by the repeated Use of warm Baths; and by allowing them to take nothing for several Days but Water and Milk.
Before I take leave of this Subject, I assure the Reader again, that the contagious Cause of the Measles is of an extremely sharp and acrid Nature. It appears to have some Resemblance to the bilious Humour, which produces theErisipelas, or St. Anthony's Fire; and thence it demands our particular Attention and Vigilance; without which very troublesome and dangerous Consequences may be apprehended. I have seen, not very long since, a young Girl, who was in a verylanguid State after the Measles, which she had Undergone three Years before: It was at length attended with an Ulceration in her Neck, which was cured, and her Health finally restored bySarsaparillawith Milk and Water.
§ 229. The Measles have been communicated by62Inoculation in some Countries, where it is of a very malignant Disposition; and that Method might also be very advantageous in this. But what we have already observed, with Respect to the Inoculation of the Small-Pocks,viz.That it cannot be extended to the general Benefit of the People, without the Foundation of Hospitals for that very Purpose, is equally applicable to the Inoculation of the Measles.