Page:Cyclopaedia, Chambers - Supplement, Volume 2.djvu/583

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SUFFOCATIVE catarrh, in medicine, the name of a difeafe, which confifts in a copious eruption of a ferous and mu- cous humor into the veficles of the lungs; which takes its origin from a fudden congeifion of humors about the breaft, and a flaccid and weak (late of the bread and lungs. This difeafe is not to be confounded with the fpaftic afthma; nor with a moift cough, treated injudicioufly with expecto- rants and opiates ; nor with that fudden oppreflion of the breaft, which is brought on by the ftriking back of rheu- matic humors, or cutaneous exanthemata; or the flopping the difcharges of old ulcers : all thefe, though they have fomething of the general appearance of the fuffocative ca- tarrh, and are. therefore miftaken for it by the lcis jut'icious, yet differ greatly and cflentially from it in feveral points ; of which hereafter.

Another diftemper, with which it is alfo confounded, and from which it no lefs differs, is that afthmatic anxiety which attends young and plethoric perfons, who are unhappily la- bouring under a latent fcinhus, or vomica of the lungs. The fuffocative catarrh differs as widely from this, as from any of the others ; but as the caufe of this is feldom gucfTed at firft, it is liable to mifconftruclions. Others have con- founded this difeafe with a convulsive afthma. Thefe di- ftempers are in a great mcafure to be diftinguifhed by the habit of body of the perfons afflicted with them ; plethoric perfons, who abound in rich blood, being very feldom fub- ject to this difeafe, though frequently to the convulfive afth- ma. They are alfo diftinguiflied from the abundant afflux of matter in the fuffocative catarrh, and by there being none in a convulfive afthma. In the catarrh of this kind there is a relaxation of the tone of the mufcles of the breaft ; but, on the contrary, in this kind of afthma they are con- tinually contracted into convulfions; and hence there is, in this cafe, rather an actual prefTure and cohibition of refpira- tion, than an impotence of it, which is truly the cafe in a fuffocative catarrh. In this cafe alfo there is a remarkable lofs of the ftrength, whereas, in the convulfive afthma, there are violent efforts, and ftrong palpitations of the heart. Some have alfo bufied thcmfelves in determining the dif- ferences between a ferous apoplexy, and a fuffocative catarrh ; but this is not neceflary, fince they very often concur, and make but one difeafe : but when the ferous apoplexy comes alone, it is known by having been prefaged by diforders of the head, rednefs and lippitude of the eyes, a dull and heavy cephalaea, and a foaming, or voiding of frothy matter by the mouth. Junker's Confp. Med. p. 507.

Signs of a fuffocative catarrh. This difeafe always feizes the patient at once, without any previous notice ; his breath be- comes extremely difficult, and the fullnefs of the breaft is eaftly diftinguiflied by a found of rattling of a frothy matter at the time of drawing in the breath. There is an immedi- ate debility and lofs of ftrength and fpirits, as the patient calls it, but there is in reality a fpafmodic tenfton ; there follows this a reftlefsnefs, fo that the patient cannot fuffer his limbs to lie a minute in the fame pofture or place ; and there is always a defpondency in the mind, and the patient thinks he is certainly going to die. There is ufually either no cough at all, or, at utmoft, only a very flight and in- fufficient one, and the very ftrength to cough is wanting. The breaft, and even the ribs, are fenfibly affected by this difeafe, and the eyes always look red and tumid.

Perfons fubjeSf to it. Scarce any one is ever feized with this difeafe, except fuch as are, according to the common accep- tation of the word, troubled with habitual catarrhs, or have for many years been fubject to defluxions from the head upon the fauces and lungs; and the perfons moft of all fub- ject to it, are old men of a phlegmatic and plethoric ha- bit, and are of that kind of temperament which fubjects people, at other times, to palfies and apoplexies. Lean perfons are fcarce ever afflicted with thisdiforder, unlefs they have long laboured under a violent cough, or have ulcerous diforders of the lungs. Young people are alfo very little fubject to this difeafe, excepting only fuch as are very cor- pulent and phlegmatic, and already habituated to large de- fluxions of this kind. Infants alfo, which are very fat, and have had a fudden fuppreffion of their natural fweats, fome- times fall into this difeafe, but with them it is not fo vio- lent.

Caufes of it. The occafional caufes of this difeafe are ken in what has been already obferved, but its true origin is to be fought for in the head, not in the breaft or lungs ; yet, though it is eafy to fee what may occafion a congeftion of fuch ferous humors in the upper parts, it is difficult to fay how the lungs become rendered fit to receive it all at once in this dangerous manner. It is accidentally brought on in children, as well by the repulfion of their cutaneous erupti- ons, as by the flopping their fweats 3 and in grown people, from the omiffion of habitual bleedings, from coldnefs and dampnefs in the air, from frequent drunkennefs, and from an injudicious treatment of cutaneous humors, and particu- larly from drying up runnings of the eyes. Junker's Confp. Med. p. 509.

PrognojUcs in it. It is a very terrible difeafe, and very fpeedily proves fatal, for the patient, if not relieved, ufually dies in Suppl. Vol. II.

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twenty four hours. Sometimes it degenerates into a (eve?} and the patient feems cured by the change ; but the remedy in this cafe proves as bad as the difeafe, for the fever proves incurable, and becomes a fettled hectic, attended with ter- rible difficulty of breathing, and finally carries off the pati- ent, after making him endure, for fame time^ a life of terrible pain. Sometimes it goes off into an afthmatic laxity of the breaft, attended with a cough, and a continual dif- charge of large quantities of mucous matter by fpitting j and fometimes into an abfolutely cachectic flaccidity of the body : and in general, if not carefully treated from the be- ginning, it either entails fome of thefe diforders upon the patient, or leaves him fo poor and weak a conftitutiori, that he becomes eallly liable to all the difeafes of this kind frorri the flighteft occafions.

Grown perfons are fobnef taken off by this difeafe than young children, with whom it. fometimes continues above a week or a fortnight. In old people, the fatal event of the difeafe is fo fudden, that it is often dubious whether it were this diforder, or an apoplexy ; and in general it feems probable, that many of the perfons, faid to die of apo- plexies, die, in reality, of the violent attacks of this terrible difeafe.

Method of cure. In the time of the fit a ftlmulating clyfter muft be given, made of a decoction of marjoram, and other warm herbs, with colocynth, and a few grains of euphor- bium, in order to abate the infarction of the breaft, and give a new courfe to the matter that might add to it; and when there appears to be a plethora befides, a vein muft be immediately opened after the clyfter. After this, if the ftomach be naufeating and uneafy, let a fcruple of fait of vi- triol be given as a vomit, with a large quantity of warnt water ; and if the patient is of a very phlegmatic habit, a few grains of gamboge may be added to this, to carry the humor oft" downward ; or, if the cafe be very preffing, a draught of a decoction of afarum, or of tobacco, may be taken, the bad effects of which laft are taken off by a draught of wine with the fpices ; and all this time there may be frictions and finapifms applied to the lower extremities : and finally, to attenuate and clifcufs the mucous ftafis, gentle alexipharmics and fudorifics may be given, fuch as the ef- fence of amber, tincture of fait of tartar, and tartarifed tincture of antimony ; and all nitrous medicines are alfo of the greateft ufe, as they partly mitigate the caufes, and partly prepare the humors for evacuation ; and after all thefe, the cortex elutherise is of great ufe in difcufling and miti- gating' the pain.

As foon as the fit is over, the corroborating medicines are to be given, and all things that can reftore the parts to their due tone: of this number are the milder chalybeates, and the like; and with thefe analeptics are to be given, to re- cruit the flefti and ftrength, fuch as emulfions, and a proper" diet ; and in fuch as are ufed to wine, the richeft wines, in moderate quantities, and the higheft foods, will be of fervice; If there be perceived a fever after the other fymptoms are gone off, this muft be cured by the gentle alexipharmics, and by powders of nitre, and the abforbents ; and if a chro- nic indifpofition feems left behind, then the gums, which act as difcutients, are to be given for fome time, fuch as the ammoniacum and fagapenum, and a warm regimen is to be recommended. And finally, to prevent a return of the dif- eafe, bleeding is very proper in the fpring and autumn, and purging medicines taken in the intermediate time; the pa- tient muft alfo avoid all violent paflions of the mind, and muft never fleep in a damp air. We are not to fear bleed- ing in the time of the lit, becaufe of the patient's com- plaining of want of ftrength ; for as the danger of fuffocatioh is fudden and imminent, it muft be fuddenly removed, and when that is done, the patient's ftrength will return in good time : the fame is alfo to be alledged in favour of the vio- lent vomits. In people of a very phlegmatic habitj bleed- ing is not neceflary nor proper; but in thefe cafes a vomit is fafe and right, and ufually gives great relief, efpecially if the patient have eaten heartily fame little time before. Junker's Confp. Med. p. 513.

SUFFOLK powder, the name of a medicinal powder, good for the bite of a mad dog. It had its name from a Coun- tefs of Suffolk, who ufed to give it with great fuccefs. It is ftill kept as a fecret in fome private families, but feems to be only the ftar of the earth, or the common buckfhorn plantain dried and powdered, or this powder with fome very trifling addition. This plant has been famous for its vir- tues in this cafe a great while among us, and De Grey, in his Complete Farrier, gives the method by which he had cured dogs by it with great fuccefs. See Phil. Tranf. N°450. p-455*

SUGAR [Cycl.) — The curious in the whole art of fugar- makiilg, or the reducing vegetable juices to what we call fugar, by expreflion, decoction, clarification, graining, clay- ing, and cryftallization, will find farther accounts and direc- tions, in the feveral proceffes of this art, in Pifo'sHift. Ind. in Angejus Sala's Saccharologia, in Dr. Slare's Trcatife on Sugars, and in Sir Hans Sloane's Hiftory of Jamaica. There are alfo feveral valuable papers on thefe fubjects in the Philoib- phical Tranfactioni.

3Ppp Sugar