Chapter XXV.Of the Itch.Sect.344.The Itch is an infectious Disorder contracted by touching infected Persons or Cloaths, but not imbibed from the Air: So that by carefully avoiding theMedium, or Means of Contagion, the Disorder may be certainly escaped.Though any Part of the Body may be infested with the Itch, it commonly shews itself on the Hands, and chiefly between the Fingers. At first one or two little Pimples or Pustules appear, filled with a kind of clear Water, and excite a very disagreeable Itching. If these Pustules are broke by scratching them, the Water oozing from them infects the neighbouring Parts. At the Beginning of this Infection it can scarcely be distinguished, if a Person is not well apprized of its Nature; but in the Progress of it, the little Pustules increase both in Number and Size; and when they are opened by scratching, a loathsome kind of Scab is formed, and the Malady extends over the whole Surface. Where they continue long, they produce small Ulcers, and are at that Time highly contagious.§ 345. Bad Diet, particularly the Use of Salt Meat, bad unripe Fruit, and Uncleanliness occasion this Disease; though it is oftnest taken by Contagion. Some very good Physicians suppose it is never contracted otherwise; but I must take Leave to dissent, as I have certainly seen it exist without Contagion.When it happens to a Person, who cannot suspect he has received it by Contact, his Cure should commence with a total Abstinence from all Salt, sour, fat and spicy Food. He should drink a Ptisan of wild and bitter Succory, or that ofNº. 26, five or six Glasses of which may be daily taken; at the End of four or five Days, he may be purged withNº. 21, or with an Ounce ofSedlitz[orEpsom] Salt. His Abstinence, his Regimen is to be continued; the Purge to be repeated after six or seven Days; and then all the Parts affected, and those very near them, are to be rubbed in the Morning fasting, with a fourth Part of the OintmentNº. 52. The three following Days the same Friction is to be repeated, after which the same Quantity of Ointment is to be procured, and used in the same Proportion; but only every other Day. It happens but seldom that this Method fails to remove this disagreeable Malady; sometimes however it will return, in which Case, the Patient must be purged again, and then recur to the Ointment, whose good Effects I have experienced, and continually do.If the Disease has been very lately contracted, and most certainly by Contact, the Ointment may be fearlessly employed, as soon as it is discovered, without taking any Purge before it. But if, on the contrary, the Disease has been long neglected, and has rose to a high Degree, it will be necessary to restrain the Patient a long Time to the Regimen I have directed; he must be repeatedly purged, and then drink plentifully of the PtisanNº. 26, before the Ointment is rubbed in. When the Malady is thus circumstanced, I have always begun with the OintmentNº. 28, half a Quarter of which is to be used every Morning. I have also frequently omitted the Use of thatNº. 52, having always found the former as certain, but a little slower in its Effects.§ 346. While these Medicines are employed,the Patient must avoid all Cold and Wet, especially if he makes Use ofNº. 28,80in which there is Quick-silver; which, if such Precautions were neglected, might bring on a Swelling of the Throat and Gums, and even rise to a Salivation. Yet this Ointment has one Advantage in its having no Smell, and being susceptible of an agreeable one; while it is very difficult to disguise the disagreeable Odour of the other.The Linen of a Person in this Disease ought to be often changed; but his upper Cloaths must not be changed: because these having been infected, might, when worn again, communicate the Itch to the Wearer again, after he had been cured.Shirts, Breeches and Stockings may be fumigated with Sulphur, before they are put on; and this Fumigation should be made in the open Air.§ 347. If this Disorder becomes very inveterate and tedious, it exhausts the Patient, in Consequence of its not suffering him to sleep at Nights, as well as by his restless Irritation; and sometimes even brings on a Fever, so that he falls away in Flesh, and his Strength abates.In such a Case he must take, 1, a gentle Purge.2, Make Use frequently of warm Baths.3, He must be put on the Regimen of Persons in a State of Recovery.4, He must take Morning and Evening, fifteen Days successively, the PowderNº. 53, with the PtisanNº. 26.This Malady is often very obstinate, and then the Medicines must be varied according to the Circumstances, the Detail of which I avoid here.§ 348. After giving repeated Purges in such obstinate Cases, mineral Waters abounding with Sulphur, such as81those ofYverdun, &c. often effect a Cure; and simple cold Bathings in Rivers or Lakes have sometimes succeeded in very inveterate Cases of this Disorder.Nothing conduces more to the long Continuance of this Malady, than the Abuse of hot Waters,such as infusions of Tea, &c.§ 349. I shall conclude this Chapter, with a repeated Injunction not to be too free or rash in the Use of the OintmentNº. 52, and other outward Remedies for extinguishing the Itch. There is hardly any Complaint, but what has been foundto be the Consequence of too sudden a Removal of this Disorder by outward Applications, before due Evacuations have been made, and a moderate Abatement of the Sharpness of the Humours has been effected.
Chapter XXV.Of the Itch.Sect.344.The Itch is an infectious Disorder contracted by touching infected Persons or Cloaths, but not imbibed from the Air: So that by carefully avoiding theMedium, or Means of Contagion, the Disorder may be certainly escaped.Though any Part of the Body may be infested with the Itch, it commonly shews itself on the Hands, and chiefly between the Fingers. At first one or two little Pimples or Pustules appear, filled with a kind of clear Water, and excite a very disagreeable Itching. If these Pustules are broke by scratching them, the Water oozing from them infects the neighbouring Parts. At the Beginning of this Infection it can scarcely be distinguished, if a Person is not well apprized of its Nature; but in the Progress of it, the little Pustules increase both in Number and Size; and when they are opened by scratching, a loathsome kind of Scab is formed, and the Malady extends over the whole Surface. Where they continue long, they produce small Ulcers, and are at that Time highly contagious.§ 345. Bad Diet, particularly the Use of Salt Meat, bad unripe Fruit, and Uncleanliness occasion this Disease; though it is oftnest taken by Contagion. Some very good Physicians suppose it is never contracted otherwise; but I must take Leave to dissent, as I have certainly seen it exist without Contagion.When it happens to a Person, who cannot suspect he has received it by Contact, his Cure should commence with a total Abstinence from all Salt, sour, fat and spicy Food. He should drink a Ptisan of wild and bitter Succory, or that ofNº. 26, five or six Glasses of which may be daily taken; at the End of four or five Days, he may be purged withNº. 21, or with an Ounce ofSedlitz[orEpsom] Salt. His Abstinence, his Regimen is to be continued; the Purge to be repeated after six or seven Days; and then all the Parts affected, and those very near them, are to be rubbed in the Morning fasting, with a fourth Part of the OintmentNº. 52. The three following Days the same Friction is to be repeated, after which the same Quantity of Ointment is to be procured, and used in the same Proportion; but only every other Day. It happens but seldom that this Method fails to remove this disagreeable Malady; sometimes however it will return, in which Case, the Patient must be purged again, and then recur to the Ointment, whose good Effects I have experienced, and continually do.If the Disease has been very lately contracted, and most certainly by Contact, the Ointment may be fearlessly employed, as soon as it is discovered, without taking any Purge before it. But if, on the contrary, the Disease has been long neglected, and has rose to a high Degree, it will be necessary to restrain the Patient a long Time to the Regimen I have directed; he must be repeatedly purged, and then drink plentifully of the PtisanNº. 26, before the Ointment is rubbed in. When the Malady is thus circumstanced, I have always begun with the OintmentNº. 28, half a Quarter of which is to be used every Morning. I have also frequently omitted the Use of thatNº. 52, having always found the former as certain, but a little slower in its Effects.§ 346. While these Medicines are employed,the Patient must avoid all Cold and Wet, especially if he makes Use ofNº. 28,80in which there is Quick-silver; which, if such Precautions were neglected, might bring on a Swelling of the Throat and Gums, and even rise to a Salivation. Yet this Ointment has one Advantage in its having no Smell, and being susceptible of an agreeable one; while it is very difficult to disguise the disagreeable Odour of the other.The Linen of a Person in this Disease ought to be often changed; but his upper Cloaths must not be changed: because these having been infected, might, when worn again, communicate the Itch to the Wearer again, after he had been cured.Shirts, Breeches and Stockings may be fumigated with Sulphur, before they are put on; and this Fumigation should be made in the open Air.§ 347. If this Disorder becomes very inveterate and tedious, it exhausts the Patient, in Consequence of its not suffering him to sleep at Nights, as well as by his restless Irritation; and sometimes even brings on a Fever, so that he falls away in Flesh, and his Strength abates.In such a Case he must take, 1, a gentle Purge.2, Make Use frequently of warm Baths.3, He must be put on the Regimen of Persons in a State of Recovery.4, He must take Morning and Evening, fifteen Days successively, the PowderNº. 53, with the PtisanNº. 26.This Malady is often very obstinate, and then the Medicines must be varied according to the Circumstances, the Detail of which I avoid here.§ 348. After giving repeated Purges in such obstinate Cases, mineral Waters abounding with Sulphur, such as81those ofYverdun, &c. often effect a Cure; and simple cold Bathings in Rivers or Lakes have sometimes succeeded in very inveterate Cases of this Disorder.Nothing conduces more to the long Continuance of this Malady, than the Abuse of hot Waters,such as infusions of Tea, &c.§ 349. I shall conclude this Chapter, with a repeated Injunction not to be too free or rash in the Use of the OintmentNº. 52, and other outward Remedies for extinguishing the Itch. There is hardly any Complaint, but what has been foundto be the Consequence of too sudden a Removal of this Disorder by outward Applications, before due Evacuations have been made, and a moderate Abatement of the Sharpness of the Humours has been effected.
Of the Itch.
Sect.344.
Sect.344.
The Itch is an infectious Disorder contracted by touching infected Persons or Cloaths, but not imbibed from the Air: So that by carefully avoiding theMedium, or Means of Contagion, the Disorder may be certainly escaped.
Though any Part of the Body may be infested with the Itch, it commonly shews itself on the Hands, and chiefly between the Fingers. At first one or two little Pimples or Pustules appear, filled with a kind of clear Water, and excite a very disagreeable Itching. If these Pustules are broke by scratching them, the Water oozing from them infects the neighbouring Parts. At the Beginning of this Infection it can scarcely be distinguished, if a Person is not well apprized of its Nature; but in the Progress of it, the little Pustules increase both in Number and Size; and when they are opened by scratching, a loathsome kind of Scab is formed, and the Malady extends over the whole Surface. Where they continue long, they produce small Ulcers, and are at that Time highly contagious.
§ 345. Bad Diet, particularly the Use of Salt Meat, bad unripe Fruit, and Uncleanliness occasion this Disease; though it is oftnest taken by Contagion. Some very good Physicians suppose it is never contracted otherwise; but I must take Leave to dissent, as I have certainly seen it exist without Contagion.
When it happens to a Person, who cannot suspect he has received it by Contact, his Cure should commence with a total Abstinence from all Salt, sour, fat and spicy Food. He should drink a Ptisan of wild and bitter Succory, or that ofNº. 26, five or six Glasses of which may be daily taken; at the End of four or five Days, he may be purged withNº. 21, or with an Ounce ofSedlitz[orEpsom] Salt. His Abstinence, his Regimen is to be continued; the Purge to be repeated after six or seven Days; and then all the Parts affected, and those very near them, are to be rubbed in the Morning fasting, with a fourth Part of the OintmentNº. 52. The three following Days the same Friction is to be repeated, after which the same Quantity of Ointment is to be procured, and used in the same Proportion; but only every other Day. It happens but seldom that this Method fails to remove this disagreeable Malady; sometimes however it will return, in which Case, the Patient must be purged again, and then recur to the Ointment, whose good Effects I have experienced, and continually do.
If the Disease has been very lately contracted, and most certainly by Contact, the Ointment may be fearlessly employed, as soon as it is discovered, without taking any Purge before it. But if, on the contrary, the Disease has been long neglected, and has rose to a high Degree, it will be necessary to restrain the Patient a long Time to the Regimen I have directed; he must be repeatedly purged, and then drink plentifully of the PtisanNº. 26, before the Ointment is rubbed in. When the Malady is thus circumstanced, I have always begun with the OintmentNº. 28, half a Quarter of which is to be used every Morning. I have also frequently omitted the Use of thatNº. 52, having always found the former as certain, but a little slower in its Effects.
§ 346. While these Medicines are employed,the Patient must avoid all Cold and Wet, especially if he makes Use ofNº. 28,80in which there is Quick-silver; which, if such Precautions were neglected, might bring on a Swelling of the Throat and Gums, and even rise to a Salivation. Yet this Ointment has one Advantage in its having no Smell, and being susceptible of an agreeable one; while it is very difficult to disguise the disagreeable Odour of the other.
The Linen of a Person in this Disease ought to be often changed; but his upper Cloaths must not be changed: because these having been infected, might, when worn again, communicate the Itch to the Wearer again, after he had been cured.
Shirts, Breeches and Stockings may be fumigated with Sulphur, before they are put on; and this Fumigation should be made in the open Air.
§ 347. If this Disorder becomes very inveterate and tedious, it exhausts the Patient, in Consequence of its not suffering him to sleep at Nights, as well as by his restless Irritation; and sometimes even brings on a Fever, so that he falls away in Flesh, and his Strength abates.
In such a Case he must take, 1, a gentle Purge.
2, Make Use frequently of warm Baths.
3, He must be put on the Regimen of Persons in a State of Recovery.
4, He must take Morning and Evening, fifteen Days successively, the PowderNº. 53, with the PtisanNº. 26.
This Malady is often very obstinate, and then the Medicines must be varied according to the Circumstances, the Detail of which I avoid here.
§ 348. After giving repeated Purges in such obstinate Cases, mineral Waters abounding with Sulphur, such as81those ofYverdun, &c. often effect a Cure; and simple cold Bathings in Rivers or Lakes have sometimes succeeded in very inveterate Cases of this Disorder.
Nothing conduces more to the long Continuance of this Malady, than the Abuse of hot Waters,such as infusions of Tea, &c.
§ 349. I shall conclude this Chapter, with a repeated Injunction not to be too free or rash in the Use of the OintmentNº. 52, and other outward Remedies for extinguishing the Itch. There is hardly any Complaint, but what has been foundto be the Consequence of too sudden a Removal of this Disorder by outward Applications, before due Evacuations have been made, and a moderate Abatement of the Sharpness of the Humours has been effected.