■ window I could sustain myself in the
air. My hair was so sensitive that I
appeared able to count each separately
without looking at it Saliva kept con-
tinually forming in the mouth. Any
movement of the air inflicted great pain
on me, and I was obliged to avoid the
sight cf brilliant objects ; I had a con-
tinual desire to run and bite, not hu-
man beings, but animals, and all that
was near me. I drank with difficulty,
and the sight of water distressed me
more than the pain in the throat. I
believe that, by shutting the eyes, any
one suffering under hydrophobia can
always drink. The fits came on every
five minutes, and I then felt the pain start
from the index finger and run up the
nerves to the shoulder. In this state,
thinking that my course was preservative
and not curative, I took a vapour bath,
not with the intention of cure, but of
suffocating myself. When the bath was
at a heat of 52 Centigrade (93 3-5 Fahren-
heit,) all the symptoms disappeared, as
if by magic, and I have never felt any
thing more of them. I have attended
more than 80 persons bitten by mad
animals, and I have not lost a single
case.” When a person has been bitten
by a mad dog he must for seven succes-
sive days take a vapour bath a la
Russe, as it is called, of 57 to 63 degs.
This is the preventive remedy. When
the disease is declared, it only requires
one vapour bath, rapidly increased to
57 Centigrade, then slowly to 63 ; the
patient must confine himself to his
chamber until the cure is complete.
Dr. Buisson mentions other curious
facts. An American had been bitten
by a rattlesnake, about eight leagues
from home ; wishing to die in the
bosom of his family, he ran the greater
part of the way home, and going to bed
perspired profusely, and the wound
healed as any simple cut. The bite of
the tarantula is cured by the exercise of
dancing, the free perspiration dissipa-
ting the virus. If a young child be
vaccinated and then be made to take a
vapour bath, the vaccine does not take.
When first bitten, or when the symp-
toms are manifest, give a dessert-spoon-
ful of the anti-spasmodic tincture, and
a mild injection. Then proceed to the
vapour bath, as hot as the patient can
bear it. After the bath, give an emetic.
The wound should be cupped, and
caustic potash applied afterwards. Ap-
ply a yeast poultice, and keep up the
discharge. Add a little powdered char-
coal to the poultice. Repeat the vapour
bath and the injection every ten or
twelve hours- The diet should be light
and unstimulating ; the drink sudorific,
or promoting perspiration. Drink oft
a decoction of skullcap, and at night
take sulphur and cream of tartar.
HYPOCHONDRIA, or Melan-
choly.— A disordered state of mind
caused by the debility of the nervous
system. It is manifested by lowness of
spirits, inactivity, shunning and dread-
ing effort, foreboding of evil, fears with-
out cause ; — ; physically by flatulency,
eructations, costiveness, pale urine, pal-
pitations, spasmodic pains in various
parts of the body, &c.
Consult me
1902Page 264
Presented as published in 1902. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
■ [illustration: Continued from previous page. Text continues:] window I could sustain myself in the air. My hair was so sensitive that I appeared able to count each separately without looking at it Saliva kept continually forming in the mouth. Any movement of the air inflicted great pain on me, and I was obliged to avoid the sight cf brilliant objects ; I had a continual desire to run and bite, not human beings, but animals, and all that was near me. I drank with difficulty, and the sight of water distressed me more than the pain in the throat. I believe that, by shutting the eyes, any one suffering under hydrophobia can always drink. The fits came on every five minutes, and I then felt the pain start from the index finger and run up the nerves to the shoulder. In this state, thinking that my course was preservative and not curative, I took a vapour bath, not with the intention of cure, but of suffocating myself. When the bath was at a heat of 52 Centigrade (93 3-5 Fahrenheit,) all the symptoms disappeared, as if by magic, and I have never felt any thing more of them. I have attended more than 80 persons bitten by mad animals, and I have not lost a single case.” When a person has been bitten by a mad dog he must for seven successive days take a vapour bath a la Russe, as it is called, of 57 to 63 degs. This is the preventive remedy. When the disease is declared, it only requires one vapour bath, rapidly increased to 57 Centigrade, then slowly to 63 ; the patient must confine himself to his chamber until the cure is complete. Dr. Buisson mentions other curious facts. An American had been bitten by a rattlesnake, about eight leagues from home ; wishing to die in the bosom of his family, he ran the greater part of the way home, and going to bed perspired profusely, and the wound healed as any simple cut. The bite of the tarantula is cured by the exercise of dancing, the free perspiration dissipating the virus. If a young child be vaccinated and then be made to take a vapour bath, the vaccine does not take.
When first bitten, or when the symptoms are manifest, give a dessert-spoonful of the anti-spasmodic tincture, and a mild injection. Then proceed to the vapour bath, as hot as the patient can bear it. After the bath, give an emetic.
The wound should be cupped, and caustic potash applied afterwards. Apply a yeast poultice, and keep up the discharge. Add a little powdered charcoal to the poultice. Repeat the vapour bath and the injection every ten or twelve hours- The diet should be light and unstimulating ; the drink sudorific, or promoting perspiration. Drink oft a decoction of skullcap, and at night take sulphur and cream of tartar.
HYPOCHONDRIA, or Melancholy.— A disordered state of mind caused by the debility of the nervous system. It is manifested by lowness of spirits, inactivity, shunning and dreading effort, foreboding of evil, fears without cause ; — ; physically by flatulency, eructations, costiveness, pale urine, palpitations, spasmodic pains in various parts of the body, &c.