Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 7.djvu/269

Rh to the local and general nature of the disease. Difference of opinion exists among physicians as to the utility of topical applications in the form of caustics applied to the affected parts, some attaching great importance to their use as tending to arrest the progress of the disease, while others hold that the irritation so produced favours the spread of the false membranes. Probably at the outset, when the local manifestations are but slight, the use of such a caustic as nitrate of silver, either in the solid form or in strong solution, may be of service ; but after any considerable surface has been invaded by the false membrane little good, it is to be feared, can be done in this way. The forcible removal of the false membrane is generally condemned, as by this means a raw bleeding surface is left, upon which the deposit is reproduced with great rapidity. The exudation, however, tends to be cast off spontaneously by a process of suppuration, and, as favouring this, and at the same time acting as a soothing remedy, the inhalation of steam is recommended. The employment, in the form of spray or of washes or gargles, of solutions of carbolic acid, Condy s fluid, perchloride of iron, chlorine water, or chlorate of potash, is valuable in the way of disinfecting the parts, and subduing the fetid exhalations which are always present. When the disease has spread into the larynx and the breathing is embarrassed, an emetic may be of use in aiding the expulsion of the false membrane. It is, however, in great measure to the constitutional treat ment that the physician s attention must be directed in diphtheria. The effect of the disease upon the patient s strength is so marked that from the very beginning there is an urgent demand for strong nourishment, which should be freely administered in the form of milk, soup, &c., as long as there exists the power of swallowing, and when this fails nutrient enemata should be resorted to. Large doses of quinine and of the tincture of the perchloride of iron are recommended, and stimulants will in almost all cases be called for from an early period. The question of tracheotomy has to be considered when the false membrane has spread into the air passages and threatens death by asphyxia ; and although the operation in such circumstances affords but a feeble chance of success, the cases of recovery by this means have been sufficiently numerous to justify its employment as a last resort. The paralysis which follows diphtheria usually yields in the course of time to tonics and good nourishment. It should be mentioned that in all cases of diphtheria means should be taken by isolation of the patient and the use of disinfectants to prevent as far as possible the spread of the disease in a household ; while the attendants ought to be scrupulously careful to avoid inoculation with the products of the disease, and should frequently use gargles of some of those substances above mentioned.  DIPLOMACY is the art of conducting the intercourse of nations with each other. The word obviously owes its origin to the source subsequently explained in the article . It is singular that a term of so much practical importance in politics and history should be so recent in its adoption that it is not to be found in Johnson's dictionary. There has, indeed, ever been a reluctance in the English nature to acknowledge the art of transacting international business as a pursuit worthy of a British statesman, or as one entitling its adepts to honourable fame. It is popularly looked on as the art of carrying into the business of nations a morality condemned in the intercourse of men with each other, and as a means of employing subtlety where force is insufficient to accomplish some statesman's object. Hence the term has been colloquially used to express a modified degree of cunning; and conduct which is wily and subtle, without being directly false or fraudulent, is styled &quot;diplomatic.&quot; The subject has been usually treated under the head of the Law of Nations, or, as it is now more properly termed, international law. But a little examination will show that diplomacy, though closely associated with international law, is a separate sphere of intellectual exertion. The diplomatist undoubtedly requires to be acquainted with international law, and to observe its general injunctions. He often finds it necessary to appeal to the rules, or supposed rules, of that code ; but it would be a confusion of terms to count him an officer engaged in the execution of international law. He has to accomplish objects which are not achievable through any law real or fictitious, but are achieved solely through the art of diplomacy. Questions in which private rights and obligations are concerned are a perpetual source of diplomatic exertion. In England, and to some extent in the other states called the great powers, the administration of justice is pursued on rules so absolute that there is no chance of their being relinquished to favour a friendly or to injure a hostile nation. Further, diplomacy, besides the larger operations connected with great treaties or alliances, keeps a vigilant eye on the ordinary details of international law, for the purpose of seeing that it is equitably administered. In this sense the diplomatist is like a law-agent, whose duty it is to see that his client receives justice at the hands of other nations under this code. Diplomacy, as a science, has arisen out of the develop ment of the European powers, and their rise on the ruins of the Roman empire. As a uniform system, following principles nearly as well established as those of many codes of law, it exists solely among the European powers, partly embracing those nations, such as Turkey and Persia, which have been brought into close association with them. The difficulty, however, of getting those Eastern states to understand and obey the laws of diplomacy, and submit to its restraints, has ever been an object of anxious comment to Wickefort and the other systematic writers on diplomacy. To submit to be bound in the moment of power by a theoretical system not enforced by the strong hand of any judge, spiritual or temporal, is not consistent with the Oriental mind ; and the great civilized powers, in dealing with the Eastern states, as in their intercourse with barbarous tribes, have relied on their own strength, exercised with cruelty or with mildness as the case might be. Alliances and leagues, declarations of war and treaties of peace, have taken place, it is true, among those states, but it would be an historical absurdity to suppose diplomatic relations connecting together China, Burmah, and Japan, as they connect the great European powers. In the same manner the ancient world had its treaties and leagues, but no systematic diplomatic relations. The pretensions of Rome during the empire, indeed, superseded every kind of international engagement, since she would permit of no relation between the empire and any other state, save that of predominance on her part and subjection on the other. Yet it is evidently from this system of centralization that the diplomatic relations of the European states arose. Freed from the temporal jurisdiction of the empire, and no longer mere dependencies, the European states were still subject in a modified shape to an influence radiating from the old centre of imperial authority. The bishop of Rome, in claiming a spiritual authority at least co-extensive with the geographical area of the temporal authority of the departed emperors of Rome, created a sanction, though an imperfect one, for the execution of justice among nations, and acted in some measure as a controlling influence over their diplomatic operations. A memorable instance of the influence of the Pope is found in the relations between John of England and. The semi-judicial authority of the court of 