"The prognosis in this case could not be favorable. Here was an affection of the spinal cord, the nature of which could not be precisely ascertained from existing circumstances, but which, at any rate, already extended beyond functional disorder, and placed in very near prospect some alteration of the nervous substance, either in the way of wasting or softening. Moreover, since its first manifestation after recovering from diphtheria, it had spread over a period of nine months, and the symptoms had increased both in extent and intensity. It had advanced from the lower extremities to the peripheral terminations of the brachial plexus, and had also already seized that portion of the spinal cord from which that plexus originates. From the "curative powers of nature" there was so much less to be expected, inasmuch as the progressive extension of the disease shut out any prospect of the occurrence of such aid. Here art alone could avail, for the so-called "nature cures" must be set down amongst other rarities. Repeated favorable experience determined the choice of Cocculus, which had already proved useful to me in several similar cases. I prescribed a simple but nourishing diet, and gave the patient three drops, morning and evening, of the 2d decimal dilution of the tincture, on the 20th October. After taking this medicine for fourteen days, she noticed a decided diminution of the drawing pains in the lower limbs, and increased power on rising from her seat and standing. Then the monthly period came on, which brought the progressive improvement to a standstill. After this, the same medicines were taken again, and by the next month the amelioration had proceeded so far, that she again began to attempt walking in the room, and kept gaining strength in the lower extremities. At the same time her sleep became quiet, and with the commencement of a better appetite she became visibly stouter. Cocculus, 2d dil., performed a coma com plete cure in the Disease of the Spine from Diphtheria. "In the third month, the sensation of numbness and furriness in the fingers, soles of the feet and toes gradually disap peared; she could also resume manual employments, and began to play the piano again. Thus, within half a year, all the abovenamed morbid symptoms in the sensorial and motorial spheres of the upper and lower extremities were removed. At the commencement of spring she was so free from all these troubles that she could sit, stand, walk as long as she liked, without feeling any weakness in her limbs, and she had become stout in person and robust." SUMMARY. 1. It is the general, we may say almost universal, opinion of medical authorities, that diphtheria is a miasmatic disease of the blood. 2. There is strong evidence that scarlatina, membranous croup, and diphtheria, are only varieties of the same or a similar miasma in the blood. 3. There is little doubt that cold damp air fosters the development of the disease. 4. Persons of a so-called scrofulous constitution are particularly liable to it, and are most fatally affected by it. 5. All slighter cases are cured by various remedies having some affinity to the disease. 6. Kali bichromicum, Kali chloricum, Ac. muriatic. and nitric., Belladonna, Cantharides, Lachesis, Crotalus and Arg. nitric., generally in the lower preparations, are the remedies which have been used with most success in the most malignant cases by the great body of Homoeopathic physicians. Some physicians speak favorably of their success in this disease with the Iodide of Mercury; others condemn it. The use of Bromine in diphtheria or diphtheritic croup has met with but little or no success. 7. During the last five years, I have made almost exclusive use of Chloride of Lime in slight as well as malignant cases of diphtheria, and with constant, sometimes almost wonderful success. This remedy is not merely similar to diphtheria in its production of a membrane, but also, and chiefly, in its innate resemblance to the disease, in its objective as well as subjective symptoms. On this account, it is superior to Bryonia, Cantharides, Ammon. causticum, and Bromine, which all produce similar false membranes. 8. The fact of lime-water being the best solvent of the diphtheritic membrane, as seen on page 73, cannot be without some weight in estimating the virtue of this agent in diphtheria. WILLIAM RADDE, 550 PEARL STREET, NEW YORK, Constantly keeps on hand a good assortment of Homoeopathic Medicines, in complete sets or by single vials, in Tinctures, Triturations, and Dilutions; also, Pocket-Cases of Medicines, Physicians' and Family Medicine-Chests, to Hering's, Small's, Guernsey's, Hempel & Beakley's, Lutze's, and Marcy & Hunt's Practice. Medicine Chests of different sizes, from 12 to 1100 Remedies, high and low dilutions, Jenichen's, Lehrmann's and other high Potencies, by single vials or in cases. Homœopathic Vials and Corks of the best quality and of all sizes. Homoeopathic Chocolate and Cocoa; Refined Sugar of Milk, Pure Globules, Homœopathic Alcohol, Arnica Tincture, Arnica Plaster, Arnica Salve, Urtica urens Tincture and Salve, and all the different kinds of Cerates, etc., etc. Also, Books, Pamphlets, and Standard Works on the System, in the English, French, Spanish, and German Languages. |