A Treatise on the Eclectic Southern Practice of Medicine Page: 138 of 724
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CONGESTIVE FEVER.
and in a large majority of even the most malignant
cases, of inducing complete and permanent reaction.
So well am I assured of its invaluable efficacy as a
powerful excitant to the nervous system, that I now
feel no more hesitation in its adoption than I do in the
use of aconite or the lancet, if necessary, in inflammatory
affections, for the principle upon which it operates is
just as obvious to my mind.
Who would hesitate to dash cold water on a patient
who was overwhelmed by the effects of opium ? Surely
no practical medical man would if he knew its efficacy.
Why? Because it is known to be capable of arousing
and sustaining the oppressed nervous system by the
stimulant impression which it makes upon it. Why
then should there be a doubt about its applicability to
a disease which we believe to be dependent upon a
poison which oppresses and paralyses the whole nervous
system? The analogy as regards the condition in the
two cases is perfectly just, and the principle upon which
the remedy acts is identical. That this is the fact, its
almost universal effects abundantly testify.
The modes of. application which I have adopted are
the following :-Have a broad plank placed upon two
chairs, at a convenient distance apart, and place two
vessels of hot water on each side, corresponding with
the feet and hands; then strip the patient and lay him
on his back on the plank, with his extremities in the
hot water, and having at hand twenty or thirty gallons
of cold water, or what would be better, water made
colder by ice or salt, pour the water from a pitcher, in
a full and rapid stream over the chest and abdomen.
The advantage of this mode is, that the cold is directly
applied over the most common seat of congestion, whilst138
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Massie, J. Cam. A Treatise on the Eclectic Southern Practice of Medicine, book, 1854; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth143817/m1/138/: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting University of Texas Health Science Center Libraries.