Staunton spectator, and general advertiser. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 183?-1849, 1849-06-06
FROM TIE HARRISON REPUBLICAN,.
CHOLERA AsPHYxIA, NO. q

ed, "that without the knowledge of disease, al
attempts at cure are worse than vain." In SpppOr
of the latter observation he made the follow 70
| tations, and from the high distinction the Or:
occupy in the medical world, their testimony wiz
assuredy be entitled to the fullest confidence.
| Dr. M'Intosh, of Edinburg, says: "No better ov-
dence of the ignorance of the profession generally,
be offered as TO the nature and seat of any dis
| case, than the number and variety of remedies con-
| fdently recommended for its cure, and this was
never better exemplifed than in Cholera" He
gives detailed list Of seventy and upwards of sub
Stances the most Incompatible with each other that
| can be imagined. lie further says: elm the Drum
mond street (Edinburg) Hospital, we fairly tried
all the remedies recommended, but observe no adj
vantages from majority Of them"
Dr. Elliotson, of London, says: eve are NOT in
the least more informed than when the first
CURED, and, no doubt, many poor creatures died un
comfortable, who would have died TRANQUILITY had
nothing been done for them. am sorry to say that
OF the cases had to treat, nearly all died"
Dr. Watson, Of London, in his Lectures npon tho
principles and practice Of physic, says: ''Ifiho
act truth could be asceriaincd, question whether
we Should ascertain that the aggregate mortality in
this country was any way disturbed by our craft
Excepting always those cases in which premonitOry
dlarrh1a was checked, just many though not tho
same individuals, would probably have recovered
had no medication whatever Been practiced"
M. Andral gives the following description OF
Cholera: Anatomical character insufficient caus-
es mysterious, nature Hypothetical, symptoms char
acteristc, diagnosis easy, treatment doubtful"
III SO abor!ive have been all past efforts to unfold
the mysteries of this mortal malady and if so una
vallng have been all the means hitherto employed
to stay, or to check its alarming Tavages; and ifthe
inefciency of those Gas is doubtless the fac}
has resulted from their of adaptation to the end
to be accomplished; and if the non employment Of
such remedies would prove efficacious is the re-
OF pf n yl,,,u doft ,o
mating cause, the seat Of its primary actiun and its
modus operandi upon the economy, then these con-
tlnue TO he questions of the first importance and most
profound Interest. 1t is right and proper under these
circumstances, as means of elicting truth upon
these important questions, that there should BIO a
free and unreserved expression of opinions and inter
change of views and therefore present the follow
ing, to receive from tho profession that consideration
and estimation, which, from their accordance with,
and the legitimacy of their deduction from the phe-
nomena of the disease and tho disclosures of post
mortem research, they may be thought to deserve.
vi all the morbid appearances which have been
observed upon autopsic examination, morbid con-
dition of the blood has alone been found be con-
stantly present. See Mole. AS to this there is a
perfect concurrence of the testimony of all investi
gators it is represented as being uniformly in a
state resembling thick molasses, deprived of its
rum and alkaline salts, and dark color. This thick
condition of the blood has been universally and no
doubt correctly attributed to the loss of It's aqueous
or Serious portion, which is poured off in such pro-
fuse abundance from the alimenary canal, constitu
ting what has been termed rice water discharges,
and which is one of the most prominent chafacteris-
tics of the disease. The question, whether this
condition of the blood is primary or secondary, or
rather, whether the loss Of its is, as has been
supposed, merely the result of relaxed state of the
eXhalents, and thus The of this state OF tho
blood or, whether ii is tselfa consequence Of pre-
vious separation of the serum from the more solid
constituents of the blood is of the greatest mo-
ment and It's proper investigation and decision nay
shed much light upon the nature and seat of this
| mysterious disease.
| The latter is, | think, clearly the most rational
conclusionand for the following First. Ii is
difficult TO conceive Of any possible condition Of the
system, in which, the short period for which Cho-
era usually continues, entire drainage Of the
rum OF the blood could be effected, were not that
! fluid previously in state peculiarly favorable to
such result. Second.-lf ar has been supposed
this serous discharge is the consequence of infam-
nation of the alimentary mucous membrane, why
does not similar state of things occur in Dysente-
ry and Typhoid Fever, and in all other highly in
| fiammatoTy and congested conditions of that mem
brane2 1hird.-The simultaneous suppression Of
the several secetons strongly favors the conclusion
| that the pabulum, from which those sec!elons are
obtained, has experienced some important modifica-
ton in its constitution and character, and is thereby
united for being acted on by the several organs by
| which those secTetions eliminated. IL the sup
preston was confined TO a single of these organs
then it might with some show of reason, be ascrib-
ed to some defect, either structural or functional in
that organ but the action of all sectory organs be-
| ing in the same state, the only rational presump-
ton is, that the difficulty exists in the blood. That
the suspension Of the functions of those organs is not
from any structural charge, or want of functional
| power, is moreover shewn by the promp,itudo and
| energy with which their action is resumed immedi-
7 ii .i--.l T.
Such modification of the blood as that supposed.
affords the most easy and satisfactory explanation Of
some, if not all, of the most prominent and charac-
| ieriStc phenomena of the disease.
And first.-The serum with tho salts of the blGod
in solution being in state Of separation from the
more solid elements of that fluid the latter arc NO
longer susceptible on account Of the density Of the
mass, being driven by the force ofthe hearts action
beyond the larger vessels, (and post morton exam
iuaon shews such TO be the fact; the larger vessels
beinp found, uniformly, filled with the semi solid
mass VI again sec Note the serum is precipated
upon the immense network Of minute vessels capil
lares spread over the alimentary canal and no lon
ger encountered by union with the denser ele-
ments OF the blood, readily exudes through their
delicate coats Hence the copiou9 Serious etIusion
which takes place from its surface.
| Second-The loss Of animal heat, which const-
tutes another prominent and certainly of the
most extraordinary feature Of this disease, would be
easily and satisfactorily explained by the assumed
state of blood. Animal heat. according to the very
plausible and satisfactory, as well as extensively
doped, theory of respiration, presented by Prof Lei
| beg in his work upon animal and organic chemistry,
is developed by process identical with that ofcorn-
bustion. Oxygen, the great supporter of eombus.
ton, is absorbed into the blood by the rcd globucs,
in their passage through the lungs, those globulcs
containing organic compound Of iron which metal
possesses the strongest affinity for oxygen. This
/ IS, SC