Encyclopaedia Britannica, or, a Dictionary of arts, sciences, and miscellaneous literature : enlarged and improved. Illustrated with nearly six hundred engravings > Volume 13, MAT-MIC

426 M E D I
^"ines'" ^3e reaGinSj the confirmed lues is much more
> ^ dreaded in a perfon already inclined to an a ft h in a,
phthifis, dropiy, gout, or any other chronic diftem-
per, than in one of a found and healthy conftitution.
dor as the original difeafe is increafed by the accef-
fiorr of the venereal poiion, fo the lues is aggravated
by being joined to an old diforder. The more nume¬
rous the iymptoms, and the more they a fleet the bones,
the more difficult the cure. Of all combinations the
union of fiphyiis with ferophula is perhaps the moft
difficult to overcome : but if the acrimony ihould feize
on the nobler internal parts, fuch as the brain, the lungs
or the liver, then the dileafe becomes incurable, and the
patient will either go off luddenly in an apoplectic fit,
or fink under a confumption.
Lure. Vjewing this difeafe as depending on a pe¬
culiar contagious matter introduced into the fyftem,
and multiplied there, it is poflible to conceive that a
cure may be obtained on one of three principles ; ei¬
ther by the evacuation of the matter from the fyftem,
by the deftruftion of its adtivity, or by counterafting
its influence in the fyftem. It is not impoflible that
articles exift in nature capable of removing this com¬
plaint on each of thefe grounds : but we may ven¬
ture at leaft to affert, that few fuch are yet difeover-
«d. Notwithftanding numbers of pretended infalli¬
ble remedies for fiphyiis, mercury is perhaps the only
article on which dependence is placed among European
practitioners •, and with regard to its mode of opera¬
tion, ail the three different, opinions pointed out have
been adopted and fupported by different theorifts.—
But although many ingenious arguments have been
employed in fupport of each, we are, upon the whole,
inclined to think it more probable that mercury operates
by deftroying the aftivity of the venereal virus, than
that it has effedl either by evacuating it, or by ex¬
citing a ftate of, aftion by which its influence is coun-
teradted. Some pradlitioners have affirmed, that the
difeafe may be totally extirpated without the ufe of
mercury ; but, excepting in flight cafes, it appears from
the moft accurate obfervations, that this grand fpeci-
fic is indifpenfable j whether it be introduced through
the pores of the fkin, in the form of ointments, plaf-
ters, wafhes, &e. j or given by „the mouth, difguifed
in the different fliapes of pills, troches, powders, or fe’
lutions.
Formerly it was held as a rule, that a falivation
ought to be railed, and a great difeharge excited. But
this is now found to be unneceflary : for as mercury
probably acls by fome fpecifie power in fubduing and
correfting the venereal virus, all that is required is ta
throw in a fufficient quantity of the medicine for this
purpofe 5 and if it can be diverted from the falivary
glands fo much the better, fince the inconveniences
attending a fpitting are fuch as we fhauld always wifh
to avoid.
Mercury, when combined with any faline fubftance,
has. its activity prodigionfly increafed ; hence the great
variety of chemical preparations which have been con¬
trived to unite it ivith different acids..
Corrofive fublimate, or the murias hydrargyri corro-
fivus,. is one of the moft aftive of all the mercurial pre¬
parations, infomuch as to become a poifon even in very
fmall doles. It therefore cannot fafely be given in fub¬
ftance } but mull be diffolved in order to render it ca-
CINE. _ Practice.
pable of. a more minute divifion. We may fee, by Siphylis.
looking into Wifeman, that this is an old "medicine,v-w
though feldom given by regular praditioners.. How k
came to be introduced into fo remote a part of the world
as Siberia, is not eaftly found out *, but Dr Clerc, au¬
thor of the Mijlsire Natut eile de l'Homme Malade, affures
us, that the fublimate fblution has been in ufe there time
out of mind.
It appears to have been totally forgotten in other
places, until of late years, when Baron Van Swieten
brought it into vogue; fo that at one period, if we may
credit Dr Locker, they uled no other mercurial prepa¬
ration at Vienna. The number of patients cured by
this remedy alone in the hofpital of St Mark, which is
under the care of this gentleman, from 1734 to 1761
inelufive, being 4880.
The method of preparing the folution is, to diffolve
as much fublimate in any kind of ardent fpirit (at Vien¬
na they ufe only corn brandy) as will give half a grain
to an ounce of folution. The dofe to a grown per¬
fon is one fpoonful mixed with a pint of any light pti-
fan or barley water, and this is to be taken morning
and evening : the patients Ihould keep principally in a
■warm chamber, and lie in bed to fweat after taking the
medicine 5 their diet fliould be light j and they uughi
to drink plentifully throughout the day, of whey, pti-
fan, or barley water. If the folution does not keep
the belly open, a mild purge muft be given from time
to time; for Locker obferves, that thofe whom it
purges two or three times a-day-, get well fooner than
thofe whom it does not purge : Ire alfo fays, that it
very feldom affecls the mouth, but that it promotes
the urinary and cutaneous difeharges. This courfe is
not only to b© continued till all the fymptoms dif-
appear, but for fome weeks longer. The ftiorteft time
in which Locker ufed to let the patients out was fije
weeks; and they were continued on a courfe of decoc¬
tion of the woods for fome weeks after they left off the
folution.
This method has been introduced both in Britain
and Ireland, though by no means to the exclufion of!
others ; but it appears, that the folution does not turn
out fo infallible a remedy, either in thefe kingdoms, or
in France, as they fay it has done in Germany. It was
feldom if ever found to perform a radical cure, and the
frequent ufe of it proved in many cafes highly prejudi¬
cial. It has therefore been fucceeded in praHiee, even
at Vienna, by mercury exhibited in other forms ; andj
among thefer by a remedy firft recommended by Dr -
Plenck, and fmee improved by Dr Saunders j con-
fifting of mercury united with mucilage of gum arabic,
which is faid to render its exhibition perfedlly mild
and fafe. For particulars, we refer to Dr Saunders’s
treatife.
But a late French writer, foppofed tube Dr Petit,,
in a fmall book, entitled, A parallel of the different
methods of treating the venereal difeafe, infifts, that there
is neither certainty nor fafety in any other method than,
the repeated fridlions with mercurial ointment.
If, therefore, it is determined to have recourfe to
the mercurial fri&ions, the patient may with advan¬
tage be prepared by going into the warm bath feme
days fucceffively ; having been previoufly blooded if o£
a plethoric habit, and taking a dofe or two of fome
proper cathartic*
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