Diseases > Domestic medicine

462 buciian
Few things contribute more to the healing of foul
sordid ulcers of any kind than keeping them
thoroughly clean. This ought never to be neglected.
The best application for this purpose seems to be
the carrot poulice. The root of the common carrot
may be grated, and moistened with as much water as
will bring it to the consistence of a poultice or
cataplasm. This must be applied to the sore, and
renewed twice a-day. It generally cleans the sore,
eases the pain, and takes away the disagreeable smell,
which are objects of no small importance in such a
dreadful disorder.
Wort, or an infusion of malt, has been recommended
not only as a proper drink, but as a powerful medi¬
cine in this disease. It must be frequently made
fresh, and the patient may take it at pleasure. Two,
three, or even four English pints of it may be drunk
for a considerable time. No benefit can be expected
from any medicine in this disease, unless it be per¬
sisted in for a long time. It is of too obstinate a
nature to be soon removed; and, when it admits of a
cure at all, it must be brought about by inducing
an almost total change of the habit, which must
always be a work of time. Setons or issues in the
neighbourhood of the cancer have sometimes good
effects. In a cancer which had set all medi¬
cines, and even surgery at defiance, I lately saw
remarkable effects from an obstinate perseverance
in a course of antiseptics. I ordered the deep ulcers
to be washed to the bottom by means of a syringe,
twice or thrice a-day, either with an infusion of the
bark, or a decoction of carrot, and that the patient
should take four or five times a-day, a glass of good
wine, with half a drachm of the best powdered bark in
it. The sores, after being washed, were likewise
sprinkled with the same powder. When the patient