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other profe-writing, this abufet of scontraction, feems to par take only of the affected ftyle of a mincing milliner, or a coxcomb valet. We were, therefore, furprifed to fee fuch barbarifm introduced in, otherwife, fo genteel a play as this School for Wives, but not for language. For here we meet with multitudes of fuch ill-looking abbreviations as is'n't, "wou'dn't, couldn't, fhou'dn't, didn't, hav'n't, hadn't, won't, darn't, with many more, equally uncouth, barbarous, and vulgar; and which, too, are put into the mouths of people who are fuppofed to have enjoyed the advantages of education. By this means the jargon comes recommended to the audience, as the very bon ton of polite converfation. But we hope Mr. A. will profit of this not unfriendly admonition; and that, in the next edition of his play, he will honeftly reftore the vowels belonging to every word, which he has thus licentiously plundered of their rightful property.

ART. IX. A New Inquiry into the Causes, Symptoms, and Cure, of putrid and inflammatory Fevers; with an Appendix on the Hectic Fever, and on the ulcerated and malignant Sore Throat. By William Fordyce, M. D. 8vo. 3s. fewed. Cadell. 1773

WE

E are at a loss to determine on what account our Author has called this a New Inquiry; as we find, after an attentive perusal of the work, that it contains more of the parade of science, than any new matter of information, either with refpect to the nature or the cure of fevers. . .£*

The Appendix treats of the hectic fever, and the ulcerated and malignant fore-throat.-In the first of thefe, Dr. Fordyce very judiciously recommends repeated fmall bleedings, a ftria antiphlogiftic diet, and change of air.

In the management of the malignant fore-throat, our Author condemns the ufe of aromatic cordials, blifters, and anodyne aftringents.

The following is Dr. Fordyce's method of cure in this disease. It is agreed on all hands, that the body must be very plethoric indeed, and in adults only, to require bleeding: I never faw it neceffary even once. I believe the repetition of it to be in general deadly.

Neither do hæmorrhages from the nose relieve the patient : they have indeed been reckoned dangerous here, as in other putrid distempers; and yet I have feen them happen very often, without proving a mortal fymptom. In the blood, if drawn away, the craffamentum is rather of a lax gelatinous texture, than denfe or compact, fine and rich, florid as lamb's blood, and quite foft.-See Doctors Fothergill and Huxham.co

Emptying the ftomach by a gentle vomit will fcarce ever fail to be of use; and there certainly appears to be a part of

the putrid humours, that can only be discharged from the body by the ftomach...

J11 ?

Where there is a looseness, I generally correct the humours with my antiseptic wine-whey, No. II. by lemonade, tamarind tea, or imperiale. I never faw the looseness treated in this manner do hurt, though the purging is commonly dreaded as the greatest fearecrow in the malignant fore-throat, and therefore checked by every power of art. It did not hurt laft fummer in two young gentlemen, of noble families, though it went on after the fearlet and crimson eruption was complete: and where it has been stopped by opiates and aftringents, it has ftill proved fatal.

We have feen cafes in which blisters did not mend the matter, Heredia feldom found any benefit from them; and we have remarked above, that if made of cantharides, they are totally against the genius and character of the putrid fever. To look for any utility from the discharge they occasion, in a difease where there fcarcely exifts any purulency, and where there too much stimulus every where, appears rather to be worthy of a doating nurse, than of a man of fenfe and kill.

Dr. Fothergill has given us the hiftory of two cafes where warm aromatic, cordials and anodyne aftringents were adminifered affiduously, with fuitable nourishment, and veficatories applied fucceffively to the neck, the back, and arms, but without effect.L

There is not in this disease a more favourable symptom than a difpofition to fweat, with a foft and moift fkin: nothing feems to fhorten it fo much, to take off the delirium fooner, or to promote so happily a good sediment in the water. Our firft and our feventh Formula + have the best effects in this way. How II.

- be SERUM ANTISEPTICUM VINOSUM.

R. Laet, vaccin. biß."

Aqua para 168.

Simul ebolliants dein admifce vini Rhenant veteris, vel vini albi cujufvis Hispanici, 3ij. fucc. limonior. 3i. ut fiat ferum.

B. Lact. vaccin. biß.

Aquæ puræ tbp.

Simul ebulliant; dein admifce fucc. aurantiorum Sevill; limonior.

ā 3iß. ut fiat ferum.

VII.

HAUSTUS DIAPHORETICUS SEDATIVUS.

B. Spirit. Minderer.

Aquæ puræ à 3vi.

Liquor. anodyn. miner. Hoffman. gutt. xv.

Syrup, e mecon. 3i.

M. fiat hauftus bis in die fumendus, aut 8vâ quâque horâ.

feldom

feldom does Peruvian bark perform any of thefe good offices for the patient!

I never gave volatiles, except. Mindererus's fpirit, falt of amber, or the anodyne liquor of F. Hoffman, which are all antifeptic; because I know that volatiles only difpofe the juices to be more putrid, or quicken the putrid procefs where it has already taken place too furely.

Where cordials are wanted, or indicated, we can be at no Jofs while currant jelly, orange and lemon, or wines dilated into what is called bithop or negus, or yet pure wine or old cyder, can be had. I am not acquainted with any better cordial draught than our feventh or eighth Formula *. did, nor ever do expect to fee the strength fupported, or the dif eafe alleviated, by any poffible preparation of animal fubftances. After fweating has begun, I believe wine will never hurt, if given with moderation, either diluted as above, or mixed with panada, fago, rice, and other gruels. Contraft with this kind of practice theirs who give draughts, compofed of God knows what, fo often as every two or three hours day and night, for days and nights fucceffively, as if nature neither required other drinks, or foods, or repofe.

If the circumftances of the cafe require it, Peruvian bark is hurried down with the fame hafte and follicitude; and bark must be given in our times, whether indicated or not. Where this belt and only true febrifuge drug is neceffary, (and it has often the happy power of triumphing over malignity in this disease, as well as in other putrid fevers, given as in our twelfth Formula †) let it in God's name be given in fufficient quantity to put them in a state of fafety, but not perfevered in for days and nights together, without any refpite to the poor perfecuted patient, when either the difficulty no longer exifts, or the state of the skin, or the increafed drynefs, blackness, and hardness of the tongue, fo ftrongly and fully point out the impropriety of perfifting longer in its ufe; or as if it were, even in such a fituation, our laft and fole refource, though in fact we have fo many other aids from fruits, wines, and strong antifeptics both

aut Rhenani veteris, 3ij.

Sextâ quâque horâ fumendus, aut pro re natâ.

-XII.

+ FEBRIFUGUM ANTISEPTICUM.

R. Decoct. (fortior.) cortic. Peruvian. Zij..
Spiritus falis marin. gutt. v.

M. fiat hauftus pro re natá fumendus & repetendus.

vegetable

vegetable and mineral. These laft remarks are equally applicable to the putrid fever at large, and to the malignant forethroat under confideration.'

ART. X. A Treatise on the Kinkcough. With an Appendix, contain ing an Account of Hemlock, and its Preparations. By William Butter, M. D. Fellow of the Royal College of Phyficians, Edin burgh. 8vo. 3s. fewed. Cadell. 1773.

HE following are Dr. Butter's principal conclufions with

of Kinkcough. That it is an epidemic contagious disease of the fpafmodic kind; that the primary affection, is a morbid irritas bility of the mucous glands; that it is not feated either in the lungs, the top of the gullet, or ftomach, but in the inteftinal canal; and that an infectious miafma is the occafional caufe.

There is one very obvious objection to what our Author advances concerning the feat of the difeafe. If the chincough be a difeafe of the mucous glands, whence is it that the glands of the inteftinal canal thould be first affected? Infectious miafmata floating in the air, and repeatedly infpired with the breath, fhould primarily affect the glands of the trachea and lungs, rather than thofe of the intestines.

But the most valuable part of this publication is the method of cure, provided further experience confirms the Author's obfervations.

Hemlock, according to this Writer, is fpecific in this dif eafe; and the following Corollaries are the refult of Dr. Butter's experience of the effects of this powerful medicine:

COROLLARIES.

I. As hemlock bath not difagreed with any one of the foregoing patients, we may conclude that it will very feldom be contraindicated in the kinkcough, through what is called idio fyncrafy, or pecularity of temperament.

II. This medicine cures the kinkcough even in the laft month of pregnancy, and in the first months of infancy; and is abfolutely fafe both for mother and child.

III. Hemlock is fo far from occafioning fpafms in children, that it is a certain cure for a fpafmodic dieafe, which hath hitherto refifted all other medicines. Befides, it certainly prevented fpafins, and probably fatal convulfions, in the child, cate fifth; notwithstanding a conftitutional tendency, a rapid dentition, and an obftinate kinkcough, al! confpired to bring them on.

IV. It is a good medicine in dentition.

V. It cures the fymptoms attending the round worns, and even expels these vermin.

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• VI. It

• VI. It takes off fever in fome inftances. • VII. It flops immoderate excretions.

VIII. It fometimes promotes fweat.

IX. It frequently keeps the body open, and fometimes even purges.

X. It often does not fenfibly affect any fecretion or excretion.

XI. It immediately procures better nights in the kinkcough. XII. It immediately abates the vomiting, and generally carries it off in a few days.

XIII. The phlegm is daily diminished during the use of this medicine; for lefs and lefs is thrown up while the vomiting continues.

XIV. The kink daily abates in force and frequency, and is generally removed, together with all its concomitant fymptoms, except a flight cough, in the space of a week: and this is often the cafe, even in fome inftances of complication with other diseases; as dentition, or worms.

XV. Thus hemlock is a fpecifick in the kinkcough according to the most proper interpretation of that word; for it acts on all the symptoms at once, or rather on the proximate cause: and fo by diminishing the irritation, all the fymptoms must of courfe diminish in the fame proportion, till at length they are entirely removed, that is, till the difeafe is cured.

• XVI. Hemlock is not only a fuccefsful and expeditious cure for the kinkcough, but it is a medicine that can always be administered; for we cannot fuppofe an inftance where the most froward child will refufe it, as it can be disguised in fo many fhapes, on account of the fmallness of the quantity requifite, as well as the mildness of its fenfible qualities.

. XVII. Finally, hemlock cures the kinkcough fafely, certainly, expeditiously, and pleafantly: which are all the requifites of the most defirable and complete cure.' བ༞ ་ ར ་ ཧཱུྃ་ སའི

Dr. Butter's general manner of exhibiting the hemlock, was as follows: Take of fpring water, two ounces and a half; fyrup of pale rofes, half an ounce; hemlock-pill, one grain: mix them. This mixture was taken at feveral dofes, fo as to be finished in the 24 hours: and the quantity of hemlock was gradually increafed from one grain to ten or twelve grains, according to the age of the patient, or the effects of the medicine. But for these and other particulars, we must refer our Readers to the treatise itself.

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ART.