The interior journal. [volume] (Stanford, Ky.) 1872-1881, 1879-05-09
HIDROPHOBTa.

IL occurs IT, me that the RericW'
readers will he interested in an articl,
on the above subject. Most person.
know Of this terrible disease BY testi
mony; few know Of II by observa
ton, aud fever still by experience.
belong to the last named class and cat
speak from knowledge; for the clos,
contact Of personal experience gives Us
knowledge Of the most certain sort.
And, in nothing Is Il more true that
"all is lip.wisdom which lacks expert.
ence," than in this very disease Of
which | am to speak. II is 50 unlike
every other physical disease, that there
is nothing to which il can be compar.
ed by way Of illustration. Butto the
facts:
As stated in the Rcrie,s Of Feb. %,
! was on the eth Of that month, n
victim OF hyirophobia." | was strick.
en- down on the evening Of Feb. 6.
During The day previous o. The attack
suffered from irritablcnoss, inham.
nation Of the eyes, sharp pains in the
upper portion Of the stomach and
forebodings Of evil. But | was busy
writing, and did not suspect the cause
Of such symptoms. About 6 o'clock
in the evening, and while | was sit
ting at supper, on the opposite side Of
the table, glass Of water was poured
out. which saw and heard. Imme-
diaiely there was an unnerving. terri
bic sensation, which arose from the
region Of the stomach. and which can
not he better described than 10 say, Il
fcf a. 4 death ,ra' IN every feature Of
Of Il. | got up from the table at once,
suspccting the disease. Aiter Il min
ute or two / walked out dOors, and
upon recovering somewhat. deter
mined to test the matter by pumping
bucket Of water. But | had only
looked into bucket containing water
when the former, active, terrible
symptoms returned in an intensified
degree. | turned from the water UNI
nerved. trembling aud filed with anx.
ious. throbbipg sensations that are
simply Undesirable. I walked to
the door and thought. ut is hydro
phobia.'
Amer a few minutes | sent for DIR.
Edward Singley, a retired Thompson
ian physician, who some weeks before
that date had Published a theory of
the right treatment II that particular
disease When h. came he adopted
the following c'ur-e, rs recently pub
lished over his own signature:
"Emetics Of lobelia. strong iniu.
sion. two in twenty.four hours for two
days; one day after that. In the
intervals between them, Thompson's
third preparation Of iobelia, one tea
spoonful every two hours; or. as an
accessible substitute for it, one tea.
spoonful Of this strong infusion with
ths same quantity Of tincture Of capsi
cum OF cayenne pepper, may be given.
After the second emetic the bowels
were thoroughly evacuated with castor
oil, to which was added few grains
Of leptandrin TO increase its efficiency;
hot bricks at the feet, and above the
knees-a strong tea OF scuttellaria, or
skull-cap, as a valuable nerve tonic;
the linen and sheets changed twice in
twenty.four hours the first two days,
and once a day after that--the patient
well rubbed and the room well VENT.
lated"
To the above, DIR. Singley added in
his published statement that Gin most
cases the spasms will prevent drink
ing. in which the syringe will be re-
quired, very effective way of giving
m emetic of lobelia, but one | would
omit as soon as the patient is able to
drink, aud give in the usual manner,
with plenty Of hot fluids during the
operation"
DIR. Singley was assisted somewhat
by DIR. John Mulberry, of the Eclectic
School, who approved the above treat.
ment, but much preferred the steam
bath to the hot brick method Of per
spiration. And | may safely say that
in this, DIR. singley agreed with him.
Both physicians had their plan Of
treatment well matured before being
called.
have been thus explicit in stating
both the symptoms Of the disease and
its treatment for two reasons, first.
that the old notion that hydrophobia
is al incurable disease may be aban-
donei, and second, that the method Of
treatment, which | know from expe-
rienee to be efficient, may be known
TO many.
Drs. Gum, Paine and Cooke IN
their medical works recommend near
or about the same treatment as the
above. All speak OF lobelia as the
chiei remedy, aud certainly It has been
chief OF physical means in curing me,
la conclusion, write few reilec