Page:Biographical Memoir of John C Otto MD.djvu/14

 deemed imprudent, the compound decoction of sarsaparilla, with the application of blisters to the affected part, was either substituted for, or used in connection with, mercury. In mild cases, mercury was not advised, and the blisters and sarsaparilla mainly relied on. In regard to the use of blisters to the parts affected, Dr. Otto remarks: "So beneficial do these prove, that it often happens, as I pass through the wards of the Hospital, if blisters have not been directed, some rheumatic patient requests to have one applied."

The efficacy of the mercurial practice, as applied to a large number of cases treated at the Hospital, some of them of a very severe and protracted character, is thus strongly set forth by Dr. Otto:—"The result of my experience is, that every form of chronic rheumatism, in almost every instance, is removed during the ptyalism, if it is carried to a considerable extent; that the exceptions are very few, indeed, where there is not permanent relief obtained; and that, in a vast majority of cases, a complete cure is effected, if the salivation has been continued actively three or four weeks. Nor have I ever had reason to regret, in a single instance, its having been employed." And again:—"Persons who have been crippled a year or two, and been entirely disabled from work, have been often restored by this remedy to their former usefulness."

I have been thus particular in stating the contents of this paper, from a belief that it has not received that consideration from the profession which its merits demand, and which the high authority of its author would seem to warrant; and from the fact, that the practice therein recommended, appears to have been, to a great extent, peculiar to Dr. Otto.

Another publication, well worthy of notice, is a communication read before this body in 1828, entitled "Case of Epilepsy successfully treated."