Omaha daily bee., 1899-12-13

right; 1t is In such circumstances that the
anceps remedium is jusuhable.
what would medical critics. what would
posterity have said il this coed doctor, when
such a patient was in his hands in immi-
nent danger from an affection which was
manifestly due to inflammation had folded
his arms and said: There is no possibility
Of giving relief, but you may let him inhale
the yapor from some herb tear
Although blood-lettiug is the great
remedy, there are other modes of treatment
which may be employed in aid Of 1t, or with
out it, Colonel and antimony, usually with
the addition Of opium, are thought By nany
physicians to be proper articles for the re-
lief of this laryngitis Colonel Lear says
that calomel and aptimony were given 70
General Washington but he does not cay
in what dcses, nor whether more than once
There is not any reason to believe that they
were given in large doses, though l think
pr. Craik and his coadjutors have been re-
preached ou this score
Fashions in Medicine Change.
"ln 1899 the use Of mercurials in nnam-
matory diseases was very rare, | believe,
i'm Great Britain, though it was very COM
mon in this country. At the present day
tho reverse is true. At least in New Eng
land the practice is now relied on much
less than in old England Fashions change,
it must be acknowledged, In medicine as in
other things. Probably the result at the end
OF another fifty years will be that mercurials
will not be administered in either country
as freely as they have been heretofore, but
that they will not be abandoned altos
gether."
Having learned from Drs. Dick and Crak
the approved medical practice in 1709 and
from DR. Jackson the medical practice OF
1860, it has been matter of interest to
know what would be the treatment in 1899
CT the patient whose case presented the
symptoms shown by General Washington
upon his deathbed. Alexandria has now
thirteen successors to DR.. Dick and DR..
Claik. An interview with several Of them
who rank as leaders of their profession has
given an opportunity to present what would
be the probable treatment of General Wash
ington if Alexandria physicians at the close
of the last century had possessed the same
knowledge and the same skill which are
now the requirements of their successors.
An Alexandria physician of repute has
drawn up the following imaginary report
on Washington's condition, assuming that
his Illness occurred this month instead OF
hundred years ago
This Could Have saved Kim.
"To the Press: Presuming that some
account CT the late illness of Gen
eral Washington, from which he
has happily recovered, would be generally
Interesting. we make for publication the
following statement: Some time in the
night of Friday, the 18th inst, having been
exposed to a rain on the preceding day Gen
eral Washington was attacked with an in
hammatcry affection of the upper part of the
windpipe. The disease commenced with
rigors, accompanied by some pain in the
upper and fore part of the throat, sense
of structure in the same part, cough, and
difficult rather than painful degluttion.
which was soon succeeded by fever and Il
quick and labOrious respiration 1t was
fortunate indeed, that a suggestion of tho
old practice Of blood-letting or velesection
should be resorted to was rejected, ana very
early medical aid was procured. Upon the
arrival of the physicians a case of acute
aedimatas laryngit!s seemed developed, with
some probability of hidden diphthera. The
owollen condition of the upper portion Of the
larynx and epglottis required attention at
once and curved bistoury was used to
scarify the swelling within the throat. This
cutting did not prove entirely etfectual, and
gold tube was inserted, so as to afford more
easy breathing to the patent, ana py Inc
advice of one Of the physicians antitoXin was
adm Mustered by continuous hyp 7dermic
injection. Calomel in small doses was
also given every two hours. 1t was pro-
posed that, if there be need. an opening
should be made in the throat so as to allow
breathing below the swelling; but such
heroic treatment became unnecessary. The
strong physical condition of the illustri0us
patient secured a Wis conservative naturae,
which proved a potent auxiliary to the Wis
medicatrix, and in a few hrurs the general
had so improved that all danger to his life
had passed, and we can assure our fellow
citizens that he has the same promise OF
a prolonged life to be guide and eXemplar
of his countrymen."