li
Ik'--
I-:; I
li
u

n


?!


if:
■i t-
I-J.

u

r- r •.-..•.-<

••^1
^'r:^'-^.. 
3fd s f. 1D"St. 74 Four tit St.
 HfWYOfiK BPOOKLYN ED
NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE
       Bethesda, Maryland

            Gift of
 The National Center for Homeopathy
y\iaesimund

    Panes
   Library
19
.O^
M.

c^
\
%
M&
'OmoeOX
**'
6iftof 
 
 
       LIBRARY
       OF THE
NATIONAL CENTER FOR
    HOMOEOPATHY
EUPEEMIA J. MYERS, M. D,
 302 West 12th St. N. Y. 
 
A
HOMEOPATHIC TREATISE
ON THE
DISEASES  OF CHILDREN.
             BT

       ALPH. TESTE,

DOCTOR rN MEDICINE ; MEMBER OF SEVERAL LEARNED
           SOCIETIES, ETC.
TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH
      BT

EMMA  H. COTF
      FOURTH EDITION.


REVISED BY J. H. PULTE, M.D.
   AUTHOR Or " HOMOBOPATHIC DOMESTIC PHYSICIAK,"
      " WOMAN'S MEDKJAL GUIDE," ETC.
    BOERICKE  & TAFEL:
 NEW YORK,          PHILADELPHIA,
146 Gband Stbekt.          lOH Arch Street 
   Entered, according to Act of Congress, In the year  1854, Dy

                 EMMA   H.  COTE,

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the District of Ohio.
       Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1857, by

            MOORh, vVILSTACH, KEYS A CO.,

In the Clerk's Office of the  District Court of the United  States for  th<>
                      Southern District of Ohio.
6lM
> 
PREFACE  BY  THE  TRANSLATOR.
   The motives which originally prompted the compo-
sition of the present work, as stated by its Author, are
also those which incited its translation.   It was  then
the only work in Homoeopathy, upon the  Diseases of
Children, and it is now first rendered available to a
large portion  of the world, by being presented in the
language of this country.
   The  incentives,  indeed,  to  its   translation,  had
become even  higher than those  which were, at first,
professionally deemed warrantable for its  publication.
Its value had been proved.  It  had  survived the as-
saults of opposition, and become  crowned with  the
clustering laurels of triumphant merit.  The intrusive
novelty of the greater part of its numerous therapeutic
indications, and the unlicensed  independence of its
attitude, aroused  the usual  armed   resistance to its
admission within the guarded portals of science,  not-
withstanding the many humiliations  incurred by  pre-
scriptive orthodoxy, in the history  of Homoeopathic
discovery.
   The  inveterate objection  was, that the  author's
btartling innovations upon established opinions, were
predicated  solely upon his individual experience, un-
sanctioned  by that of older and higher authorities; as
if this were not almost necessarily the case with every
original contribution  to  knowledge;  and as  though 
2          Prkfack hv the Translator.

such primary  precognitions could be determined,  in
general  practice, before they were made known !
  It was in vain that he  had diligently explored the
voluminous  records  of juvenile disease, accumulated
both in  the  capital and in the provinces of France ;
in vain that he had  pursued his  investigations, lor a
period of five  years, in a  professional position so en-
viably favorable to multitudinous and reliable results.
None of these considerations  could be admitted  in
extenuation of his  heretical transgressions.
  But it is  one of the highest functions of time  to
vindicate the patience  of  truth.  This author is now
esteemed by many of the most eminent Homoeopathic
therapeutists and  practitioners of this continent and
Europe,  as a  brilliant exemplar  of enlightened  and
untrammeled advancement in their science.
  It was at the urgent solicitation of several of these
candid and competent physicians, who had fully veri-
fied many of the author's new remedies, over an ample
field of  observation, that the  translator commenced
the  task she  has  here performed.   Such  personal
incitements, however, would scarcely have sufficed  to
induce an undertaking so unusual and  adventurous,
in one of her unprofessional sex,  but for those urgent
impulses of humanity  toward  the infantine misery
and  mortality of our race,  in  which, that sex may
claim  at least,  an  equal  participation with  the
other.
  The grand cycle of  alternate  production  and de-
struction which perpetually controls the whole sphere
of terrestrial being,  as the  only  obvious  economy  of
nature, seems to concentrate its intensest action upon
the  infancy of the  human family.  And it is among
the  loftiest mysteries of Divine government, and more 
            Preface  ry tiif Translator.          3

 suggestive, perhaps, than  any other,  of some  com-
 pensatory  progress of in in 1 in a future state, that so
 vast a numerical majority  of  the  human race should
 so continually  perish in the mental  and organic im-
 maturity of their existence, and in the acutest agonies
 of disease.  But it  is, apparently, at the same  time,
 one  of the  most  providential  mitigations  of  that
 destiny, that an  improved system of medicine has at
 length been discovered, which, to say the  least, no
 longer artificially multiplies the number of these gen-
 tle victims, nor aggravates  their sufferings.
   It has ever been one of the most flagrant reproaches
 of the Allopathic system, that its violent and repulsive
 remedies  should be so  barbarously inapposite to the
 peculiar sensibilities of childhood.   Drugs,  so revolt-
 ing in smell, taste,  and quantity, and  so inevitably
 productive of  derangement  and  prostration, in the
 strongest constitutions, as to severely test the resolu-
 tion  even of adults, have  to  be forced,  by manual
 cruelty, upon  the convulsive  repugnance of helpless
 infants,  with  the certainty of introducing  new dis-
 tresses, purely  medicinal.
   It  is, therefore, with a  maternal  sister's  liveliest
 sympathies, that  this approved  Homoeopathic Treatise
 on the Acute  and Chronic Diseases of Children, is
 presented  to the  anguished mothers  of America and
 England.   To those heart-wrung watchers of infant suf-
 fering, whose yearning hopes and wailing fears  have
 hitherto  obtained but slight  relief  -from  medicinal
 resources, the  new information  furnished in  this vol-
 ume,  may restore many a cherished bud, rescued  from
 blight and  death  to expand in bloom and beauty amid
the sunshine of domestic joy 
4          Pri.kack dy the Translator.
   To professional and literary readers, this Translation
is submitted with the deference and diffidence becom
ing its feminine source.
   For the too  obvious  literality  and versional  inele
gance of  the more  technical portions,  she  can only
plead  her  paramount  concern  for  perspicuity  and
accuracy,  at whatever sacrifice of the graces of  style;
and,  from  all  readers of  critical discernment,  she
courts that  liberal  consideration  which she cannot
believe will be  ungenerously withheld. 
CONTENTS,
                                                      PAGE
Introduction,...................................  ......... 11
What Homoeopathy is,...................................... 11
SlMILIA SlMILIBUS  ClJRANTUR,................................ 15
Dynamisation of Medicines,................................28
Of the Nature of Disease,...................................45
                      PART   I.

Hygiene of Children,......................................53
Importance of Education,...................................  53
First Care of the New-born,.................................  56
Nurses—tlieir Duties and Regimen,....... .................  61
Nursing Bottles,.........................;..................  69
Of the Cries of  Children,...................................  73
Weaning....................................................  79
Second Period of Childhood.................................  85
Onanism,..................................................100
Regimen during Homoeopathic  Treatment,...................110
                     PART   II.
Diseases of Children.......................................115
Diseases of the Skjn,......................................H6
Acltk Exanthemata,.......................................116
Ervihenia..................................................llG
                                               (5) 
6
Contents.
                                                         page
Ciacks,....................................................US
Burns,.....................................................11«
Frost Bites,................................................120
Stings....................................................1 -2]
Erysipelas,..................................................122
Zona—Shingles,............................................125
Pemphigus.................................................126
Urticaria,  or Nettle-Rash,...................................12t
Furuncles, or Boils,........................................126
Measles,...................................................127
Roseola,...................................................134
Scarlatina,.................................................135
Purpura,..................................................143
Miliaria....................................................144
Sudamina,.................................................145
Variola—Small-Pox,........................................146
Varioloid,.................................................164
Varicella—Chicken-Pox.....................................Ki5
Vaccina and Vaccinella—Oow-Pox, and Spurious Cow-Pox,.....166
Chronic Exanthemata,......................................168
Itch,......................................................17j
Eczema—Humid  Tetter,...................................185
Herpes—Tetter,...........................................187
Crusta Lactea—Milk  Crusts,...............................19]
Crusta Serpiginosa,........................................194
Impetigo...................................................195
Impetigo  Rodens,.......................................197
Tinea  Favosa—Scald  Head,..........................        197
Tinea  Granulata................................... ........201
Tinea  Annularis,...........................................202
Pityriasis,.................................................205
Strophulus,................................................205
Prurigo,...............;..................................206
Psoriasis,.................................................207
Scrofula,...................................................207 
                         Contents.                       7
                                                         PAGE
Syphilis of the New-Born.................................221
Diseases of the Digestive Organs,..........................228
Stomatitis—Inflammation  of the Mouth—Muguet..............229
Aphthae—Thrush,..........................................232
Gangrene of  the Mouth,....................................236
Dentition..................................................240
Gastritis...................................................243
Enteritis..................................................249
Oripings in Infants at the Breast,...........................258
Colic......................................................259
Constipation,...........................................  . .260
Lientery,..................................................261
Dysentery,................................  ................265
Typhoid Fever,............................................268
Icterus—Jaundice,.........................................276
Peritonitis,.................................................277
Intestinal Worms...........................................278
Ascaris Lumbricoides,......................................279
Ascaris Vermicularis,.......................................285
Tabes  Mesenterica—Atrophy of Children,....................290
Diseases of the Respiratory Organs,........................295
Coryza,..........................  .........................295
Epistaxis—Bleeding from the Nose,.........................298
Angina....................................................298
Croup.....................................................301
Asthma of Millar,.........................................312
Bronchitis,.................................................316
Pneumonia.................................................317
Pleurisy,..................................................319
Hooping-Cough,............................................320
Phthisis  Pulmonalis—Pulmonary Consumption,...............324
Diseases of the Circulatory Apparatus,. ..  ................326
Diseases of the Cerebro-Spinal Apparatus,..................328
Cerebral  Fever.............................................329
Spinal  Meningitis,.........................................333 
8                         Contents.
                                                             l-AOE.
Myelitis—Inflammation of the Spinal  Marrow,............334
Hydrocephalus, (Chronic)...................................334
Convulsions,..............................................  336
Chorea—St Vitus's Dance,..................................338
Balbuties—Stammering,.....................................338
Diseases of the Organs of Sense,...........................340
Ophthalmia,...............................................340
Otitis......................................................340
Diseases of the Locomotive  Apparatus,......................341
Rachitis,...................................................341
                             NOTE.
  As the term ounce and ounces of  water has been used in  different formula
in this  book, it may be necessary, for the benefit of persons unused to thjj
mode of measuring fluids, to state that, a fluid ounce is equal, in quantity, to
two  tablespoonfuls. 
PREFACE  TO THE  SECOND EDITION..
  The first appearance of  Dr.  Teste's work on the
Diseases of Children, created  quite a lively attention
among the practitioners of Homoeopathy.  Many of
his therapeutical  propositions were entirely new, and
seemingly  unwarranted  by a close reference to the
pathogenesis of the proposed remedies;  the  distrust
and  suspicion, therefore, with which  at first the pro-
fession  regarded  them, were just and  excusable.  But
these were soon  dispelled by frequent  and successful
trials on the sick, and some of  them have proved to
be exceedingly -efficacious.
   Though we may not agree with Dr. Teste in all his
propositions, as we certainly  do not in  many  of his
pathological views, yet we cheerfully  admit  that by
his  singular  method in  arriving  at therapeutical
conclusions, he has opened  a new and  easier way of
selecting the  proper and  specific remedy.  In  the
Pneumonia of children, for instance, which is mostly
complicated with hepatic congestion, he  precedes the
application of pulsatilla and  spongia, which he considers
specific, by that  of chelidonium, which has a specific
relation to  hepatic disorders.   This method seems to
shorten the attack very considerably, as I  had  frequent
occasion to observe.   The  application of chelidonium
would generally  be followed by the peculiar greenish
discharges characteristic of liver-affection.
                                        (ix.) 
x          Preface to  Skcom< Edition

  In  croup, on  the contrary,  his  ipecac  and bryonia
is  only  efficacious  in its catarrhal form, not in  the
inflammatory, where I still was obliged to exhibit the
formerly known remedies.  In a like manner does his
ip<cac and petroleum relieve only the catarrhal dysen-
teiy, not the Jbilious inflammatory or typhous. In many
other cases he is deficient in pathological distinctions;
his generalizations are too sweeping, and  may induce
the heedless to condemn them on the first unsuccessful
trial.   Yet these faults are outweighed by much that
is  good.
  At thi* day,'I should think, no Homceopathist would
like to dispense with  the  aid  he may derive  in his
practice from consulting Dr. Teste's suggestions.
  It is  hoped, however, that the present work will
receive, as it  certainly deserves, a thorough revision
and greater completeness,  particularly in its  pathol-
ogy, which should be  accomplished  by the distin-
guished author himself.
  As this is not yet done, the  American publisher con-
tented himself to  issue the second edition with  such
revisions  and notes  by the undersigned,  as  slight
alterations of the  plates  would permit,  without
increasing the cost of the book.
                             J.  H. Pulte, M.  D.
  Cincinnati, May, 1857. 
INTRODUCTION
                  SECTiON  I.

           WHAT  HOMOEOPATHY  I?

   Samuel  Hahnemann, to whom we are indebted for
the fundamental laws of Homoeopathy,  is,  notwith-
standing the  insults, that folly  and ignorance still
offer to his memory, one of the finest geniuses  the
world has produced
   Among all  the benefactors of  humanity,  no one,
perhaps, has a larger claim upon its gratitude.  We
may safely  predict that his reputation will  increase
with time, and that generations yet unborn will bless
his name.
   Sixty years have passed since Homoeopathy made
its appearance in  the world.  In consequence of  the
obstacles which, in the  beginning, it encountered
from the folly of some, and the envy of others, its
progress was  at  first slow; it shared, in this respect,
the fate of all great discoveries.  At present,  how-
ever, it has ceased to be a novelty; no medical school
counts more adherents.  It is practiced in  all  civilized 
12            What Homoeopathy  Is.
countries;  it has  its  representatives  in Turkey, in
India, in the two Americas, its  dispensaries and  its
hospitals in most of  the  capitals of  Europe.  The
books which treat of it  would already  fill libraries.
These works, many of which testify  to the great men-
tal superiority of their authors, possess this remarka-
ble feature in contrast with the medical books of the
Old School, that  they  are all devoted  to the develop-
ment of the same principle.  It is in  fact the unity
and  invariability of this principle which  constitutes
the strength of Homoeopathy, and which  so  forcibly
distinguishes it  from  those deceptive Utopias which,
under the  usurped  name  of medical science,  have
reigned  in the schools from Empedocles to  Broussais ;
that is to say, for more than twenty centuries.
   The history of medicine, during this long period, is
a compendium of all the dreams, all  the extravagan-
ces, and all the absurdities  which  it is possible  for
the human  mind  to elaborate, when it strays without
an axiom in the domains of abstraction.
   To judge it by its history, we must believe that, the
medical  art, which  ceased  to be anything  when it
endeavored to  become a science, claimed always  to
ally itself to metaphysics.  If by  this ambitious  alli-
ance, it  escaped  the inconvenience  of remaining
within reach of  the vulgar,  it incurred the still greater
one of losing itself in the clouds.
   This  strange substitution of sophistry for the pure
and  simple observation of nature, has its root in an 
              What Homoeopathy Is.           13
almost  invincible  tendency  of the  human  mind.
" Man,'1 says Broussais, "is tormented by a desire to
know the first cause of what he sees, and  when  the
impossibility of discovering it is demonstrated to him
he takes refuge  in a supposition."*
  We need not  then be too much  astonished if, from
the most remote ages,  physicians  supposed the first
causes of diseases; and if, this first step made, proceed-
ing from hypothesis to hypothesis, they have supposed
even to the virtues of the remedies they prescribed.
  The  exposition of  the system  of Galen,  whose
sterile branches reach even to the present generation,
is a summary of all the systems  which have  succeeded
each other, from the infancy of rationalism down  to
the  too  famous  so-called  Physiological  School.
Abstractions of the closet, chimerical hypothesis, fan-
tastical intervention  of three spirits and four humors,
whose harmony produces  health, and  disagreement
disease; mysterious  connection  of these spirits  and
these humors with the four elements of Aristotle; in
short, empiric expedients taken at hazard, to equalize,
correct and purify at need, these  imaginary principles:
such was humorism in its cradle, and such the humor -
alism which was the favorite practice of our ancestors,
and of which the grossest errors are perpetuated in the
medical practice of the present day.
  Thank Heaven, Homoeopathy has nothing in com-
* Examen des Doctrines Medicales, tome 1, page 9. 
14
What  Hom<eopathy Is.
mon with these fatal  extravagances  which  have so
long made medicine a subject of laughter to the philo-
sopher and  of deception  and dread  to  mankind in
general.
  Homoeopathy is not  a creation, but a discovery.
  It is not a system,  but a method.
  It has no other theory than the logic  of facts ; no
other principle than  a certain law of nature,  as  evi-
dent as an axiom in geometry^-as  certain as gravi-
tation and the rotation  of the earth.
  If the honor of being the first to signalize this law,
whose incidental manifestation had struck from time
to time some of his  predecessors, may be contested
with Hahnemann, his glory, his great glory consists
in having proved that it was  not  an  exceptional phe-
nomenon, as  was believed before him, but a general
and constant physiological fact.
  We shall  consecrate the second paragraph of  this
introduction  to  the  examination  of this  axiom of
modern medicine. 
SlMILIA SlMlLlBUS COKANTUE.         15
                   SECTION  II.

      SlMILIA   SIMILIBUS  CURANTUR.

   As we  have before observed, the  system of Galen
served  as a  model  to all  succeeding writers.   In
studying  them, in fact,  we  may remark, that  the
object aimed at by all of them was to reduce to a cer-
tain number  of entities, or,  if you will,  to  connect
with a limited number  of morbid  agents, material  01
dynamic, the  diseases,  so numerous and so dissimilar,
to which man is exposed;  then, to oppose to  each of
these entities, or  to  each of these morbid  agents,  a
group more or less heterogeneous of therapeutic means.
Thence two orders of artificial, arbitrary, forced, un-
natural classifications: classification of diseases — clas-
sification  of remedies.
   Let us first observe, that between these conventional
diseases and the remedies to  be opposed  to them, no
one thought of seeking to establish any relation.   The
idea of specific remedies was incompatible with the
spirit of the  system; so that no  suggestion  of this
idea appears  until toward the  close of  the  middle
a^es; that is to say, until the epoch when empiricism
succeeded  in  stifling in its brutal  grasp an art false
from the  beginning,  and which, notwithstanding its
old scientific  pretensions, was still  more  worthless
      2 
 16         SlMII.IA  SlMILIBl'S  (VltAXTtK.
 and more dangerous than  empiricism itself.  But le<
 us consider things in their origin.
   The first elements of therapeutics  were a deduction
 from the precepts of hygiene.  As this  considered health
 an equilibrium resulting from the reciprocal neutrali-
 zation of certain opposite  forces in the economy,  the
 first pathologists believed themselves wisely imitating
 nature in provoking artificially, against the abnormal
 and  excessive tendency of a  function  at  a  certain
 time, a tendency equally excessive, of the same func-
 tion, in an opposite direction.   Thence, naturally,  the
 dogmatic inclination for  all  the contrasts,  whether
 physiological, or purely physical, which it was  possi-
 ble to obtain.   The corrective  of cold was  heat; of
 humidity, dryness; of satiety, abstinence, etc.  More
 abstract considerations did not fail to give rise to new
 oppositions.   The  error  of the  hygienic  precepts,
 generalized by  the successors of Hippocrates, was
 especially in assimilating the living economy  to inert
 matter,  and in eliminating theoretically the power of
 reaction against the external world, which character-
 izes  animal existence, and whose character is such
that  the same  physical causes have almost alwavs
upon organic  and  inorganic  being, very dissimilar
 results.   But if, as we begin obscurely to foresee, the
harmlessness of these precepts was already very ques-
tionable, conceive what medical  practice must become
 when, to imaginary morbid principles, they ventured
to oppose as contraries remedies absolutely unknown ! 
           SlMILIA SlMILIBUS  CuRANTUR.         17
  However, this fatal doctrine of contraries, invented
by Galen, seduced away even the finest minds, which
then exhausted  themselves in vain endeavors to  en-
lighten the chaos of medical art.
  Points  of departure the most  opposite  did  not
hinder its advocates from meeting, almost by fatality,
upon this  field  of fiction, there to labor in  the idle
search  of  those abstractions which,  under different
names, form the basis of the vitalism of Stahl, as well
as of the materialistic systems of Brown, of Kasori,
and of  Broussais.
   The theory of contraries is then the  common tie of
all the medical doctrines  anterior to Homoeopathy.
Let the falseness of this theory be demonstrated  and
all  the systems of which it  is  the  key-stone  will
 crumble at once.
   This  is what we shall  endeavor  to do,  and  this
 labor of analysis will cost ns no great effort.
   To cure a disease by means capable of producing
 in the  patient attacked with it, a pathological  condi-
 tion contrary to that which it presents : such is the fun-
 damental law of the theories of the Galenists, in other
 words, the ideal  end of all the schools of medicine
 from Grecian antiquity down to the present day.  But
 the theory  of contraries necessarily supposes between
 two things certain relations of form or substance, im-
 plying, so to speak, a sort of negative similitude, with-
 out which, all comparison becoming impossible, there
 is nothing  for the  mind to seize upon.  In metaphy- 
18         SlMILIA SlMII.IBt S ClKAN U R.
sics. for example, affirmation and negation are contrary
things, when relating either to two abstractions of the
same category, or to two perceptions  exercised by the
same sense.
  Thus, to the eyes, light is the contrary of darkness,
as sound, to the ears, is the contrary of silence.   We
understand in the same manner, by analogy, but with-
out prejudging, lest we err with regard to the nature of
the phenomena, that cold  is the  contrary  of heat;
dryness, the contrary of  humidity; hunger, the contrary
of satiety.   In being but purely relative to our senses.
these  dichotomies  are  not on that account  the  less
legitimate, since, after all. the abstractions which they
place  in contrast have always for each couple identity
of substance.   But is health then the contrary of dis-
ease '.  No! fa-if,  in an  abstract and  general sense,
which represents nothing obvious to the s uses, it be
so considered, it is by no means the contrary of any
definable disease.  The contrary of a disease is another
disease, at the same  time analogous and identically
dissimilar to the first.  What a problem,  just Heaven!
Who  had ever wittingly the temerity to state it,  and
above all, the pretension to solve it!
  I admit in all strictness and concede, for the moment.
to the system-makers, the truth of their hypothesis; that
bleeding is the contrary of hyperemia; leeching the
contrary of a local  inflammation ; a purgative the con-
trary of the inertia of the intestines ;  but the contrary
of variola, of psoriasis, of  cancer, of  tubercles, of 
           SlMILIA SlMILIBUS CuRANTUR.         19
herpes, of syphilis, of hysteria, of chorea, of epilepsy,
etc., etc.  Who  has seen it ?   Who knows it ?   Who
can conceive it ?   Who has a mind acute, and inven-
tive enough to represent it ?
  The doctrine of contraries is then without founda-
tion.  It is but  a  monstrous  vagary, of which routine
has propagated the dogmas—of which humanity has
borne  the terrible effects—and of which  physicians
themselves have not  seldom  deplored  the  emptiness.
u Medicine does not advance," says Yan Helmont, "it
turns upon its axis."   And the celebrated Boerhaave,
still more pointedly asked himself, in a  moment of
doubt and discouragement, if it would not have been
better for humanity if there had never been  a  physi-
cian in the world.*
   Nevertheless, empiricism, that is to say, chance, had
 from the most  remote  antiquity sown the germs of a
 doctrine  opposed  to that of contraries, which only
 waited the appearance of a man of genius to be fecun-
 dated.
   It is twenty-two centuries  since Democritus wrote
 to  Hippocrates: "Hellebore, which restores reason to
 the insane, produces derangement in the  healthy."
 Hippocrates himself had said : " Vomiting is cured by
vomiting."
   These   two  propositions,   put  forth  by  the  two
greatest physicians  of antiquity,  contained  the most
* Boerh. Instit. Medic, page 401. 
20         SlMILIA SlMIIIlUS Cl KANTUR.
complete contradiction to all  received ideas which it
is possible to imagine.
  Later, the popular observation of facts analogous
to  the  singular curative virtues of hellebore and of
emetics, propagated  certain  practices  of which  the
experience of centuries only confirms the efficacy.
  Everybody knows, for example, that the best means
of alleviating the  pain caused by a superficial  burn,
is to hold near the fire the  burned part;  while this
pain, momentarily suspended  by immersion  in cold
water,  is reproduced with increased  intensity as soon
as the  immersion is discontinued.
  Everybody knows also, that frictions with snow are,
so to speak, specific for freezing,  in  cases where  the
contrary influence of heat would have no other result
than to produce gangrene.
  But  by the side of  these striking facts, empiricism,
which, without suspecting it, undermines all systems,
hatched other facts still more conclusive.  They saw
purgatives arrest diarrhea, that rationalism, at the end
of its resources, had abandoned. They saw opium, on
the contrary, that they had cried up against diarrhea,
triumph over constipation,  which the use  of purga-
tives had greatly augmented.
  These apparent singularities were so often repeated,
that it  was at length admitted that the greater part of
purgative substances,  at least, contained contradictory
properties, and  produced,  successively, two  orders of
phenomena; first, the  primary effect, augmentation of 
SlMILIA SlMILIBLS CuRANTOR.
21
the peristaltic action, and of the intestinal secretions ;
the  other, secondary effect, dryness and inertia of
the intestines ; so that we need not be surprised to find,
in ancient treatises upon medical substances, the same
substance, rhubarb for example, figuring  at the same
time in the class of purgatives and in the class of tonics.
   This succession of contrary effects, generally estab-
lished in regard  to purgatives, is by no means a mode
of action peculiar to this  species of remedies.  With
closer attention, and above all, with fewer prejudices,
physicians would have had no difficulty in understand-
ing that all medicines, without exception, are subject to
 the same law; and this first observation would infalli-
 bly have led them to verify  that other capital point,
 that the primary  effect  of medicines,  upon which
 turns the whole system  of therapeutics, hardly ever
 constitutes more than a crisis of short duration, and
 generally insignificant results ;  while  the secondary
 effect, of which  little notice was  taken, persists for a
 long  time, and  in reality represents the virtues and
 final  action of the remedies.
    Thus it is easy to comprehend, that the generalization
 of such observations upon the double action of thera-
 peutic agents, would have had  the immediate  result
 of completely overturning the reigning theories.   But
 matters were not yet ripe for such a revolution.
    However, this was very  nearly accomplished in  the
 sixteenth century,  under the auspices of a  wonder-
 worker. 
22         SlMILIA SlMILIBUS  OuKANTUR.
  Paracelsus, a sort of visionary and pseudo-savant—■
inventor of the famous doctrine of sympathies, and of
the sympathetic ointment, and especially a great seeker
after the real—Paracelsus  discovered, one day, in one
of the ingredients of a combination which, according
to him, ought to  produce the philosopher's  stone, a
marvelous remedy for one of the most  dreadful dis-
eases known.   The remedy had this peculiarity, that
it cured without  provoking  either  purgation, sweat,
diuresis, or any other species of trouble, apparent  in
the functions of the organism.  This remedy was mer-
cury, and the disease it cured, was syphilis.
   The discovery of this fortunate employment of mer-
cury, the  insensible,  silent,  and as it  were,  secret
manner, in which this  precious medicine acted ;  in
short, and above  all,  the speciality of the cases  in
which it proved itself salutary, opened evidently new
views of therapeutics.
   The great problem of specifics, so long laid down
by empiricism, had  finally, for  one disease at least,
received a solution.  The doctrine  of specifics, in  a
word, ceased to be a dream, to become an unquestion-
able reality.   The whole  future of medicine was con-
tained in  this; but unfortunately no one  thought of
seeking the laws of specifics.   It was  still necessary,
as  in the past, to trust to chance, and  grope alono- in
the search for specifics ; and, as chance is a bad guide,
a blind, a dumb guide—the more dumb  the more you
interrogate it—it happened that several centuries passed 
             SlMILIA  SlMILIBUS  Cl'BANTUR.          23

 before a.iother medicinal  substance was  discovered to
 lake rank by the side of mercury.
   At  last,  however, quinine  appeared, to double  the
 number of  specifics.
   It was asserted that quinine * cured intermittent fe-
 ver, in the same manner that mercury cured syphilis ;
 that is  to say,  without causing any of  those violent
 perturbations that  all  other medicines produced, and
 from  the  nature of  which  were inferred  the dominant
 quality and generic denomination  of each.
   Quinine   provoking  neither  vomiting,  purgation,
 urine, sweat, nor sleep, was not then an emetic, or pur-
 gative, a diuretic, sudorific, or narcotic ;  for the grand
 reason that it was bitter, and under the  not less  spe-
 cious pretext that it tanned the gastric fluid, as the bark

   * The Allopathic physicians include iron, also, in the number of
 their specifics.  Let it be so—they have then three.  What wealth 1
 And what a proof of the  fecundity of clinical experience !  Three
 specifics in two thousand years!  And yet, it is well to observe
 that specificity, in the absolute sense, as understood by Allopathy,  is
 really but a gross and lying fiction.   There really  exist specific re-
 medies against such or such a  group of definite  symptoms,  (we
 employ no others) ;  but  from the moment  that these symptoms are
 ab-sent, or no longer exist, the specificity ceases, and the remedy no
 longer cures, although the disease still exists and has not changed
 its name.  This is equivalent to saying, that it is almost always ne-
cessary to have recourse to the employment, successively,  of several
specifics to cure one disease.  This is the reason that Allopathists,
who  for the most part do not suspect these  facts, see so often, what
 never fails to astonish them, mercury fail in  syphilis ; quinine, iu
intermittent fever, and iron, in chlorosis.
        3 
24         SlMILIA SlMILIBl'S  ClIKANTlK.
of the oak did leather, they made it a tonic.  But this
silly denomination, while deceiving practitioners upon
the real effects of quinine, was  very far from explain-
ing to them how it cured  fever.  In spite  of the per-
sistence and the sophisms of the classifiers, Peruvian
bark remained simply  and purely a,febrifuge, as mer-
cury was an anti syphilitic.  That is to say, that they
admitted only as primordial facts, that quinine cured
fever, and mercury, syphilis. But why did quinine cure
fever?  why did mercury  cure  syphilis?   The science
of the most skillful was silent  upon this point.
   But this terrible why?—a  stumbling-block  to the
doctrine  of  contraries—was  destined  to  become the
very  corner-stone  of an opposite doctrine; that is  to
say, the supreme law of true medicine.
   We borrow from the excellent works of M. Auguste
Rapou, the interesting history of this great discovery:
   " Tired of the errors of the practice, the vagueness
and insufficiency of the  precepts of the schools, this
celebrated reformer,  (Hahnemann,) had  abandoned
the exercise of the art, in  order to devote himself en-
tirely to the labors of the closet.   One day, occupied
in translating the materia medica  of Cullen,  at the
chapter on quinine, he was struck with the numerous
and contradictory therapeutic properties attributed,
without criticism, to this remedy, and the various hy-
potheses, more  or less singular, to  explain  its anti-
febrile action.   Then, in  one of those sudden inspira-
 tions of which the history of great discoveries offers some 
           SlMILIA SlMILIBUS CoRANTUR.         25
examples, "Let us cut the  knot," he exclaimed, "I
will try quinine upon myself, and observe its effects.'1
He took a strong decoction of this bark, and was at-
tacked with an intermittent fever, accompanied by its
premonitory symptoms, and by its three stages of cold,
heat, and sweat.  To argue from  cause to effect, of the
febrific properties of quinine from its anti-febrile fa-
culty, to generalize this mode of  action,  and apply it
to all specifics, such were, fo» so  ardent a genius, the
results of this remarkable experiment.   He reflected
upon these facts after the  manner of Newton, and the
conception of the  law  of  similars was  accomplished.
   "The generalization of the facts  was, however, an
exaggerated application of the analogy.  This law of
similitude was as  yet but a  preconceived idea, which
could  have little other value than as a possibly true
hypothesis ;  it was now to be proved by showing that it
is manifested not only in the effects of quinine, but
that it belongs to the  mode of  action  of the various
other medical substances.   The certainty of this could
only be established by a  long series of experiments.
Hahnemann  devoted himself entirely to this object.
Endowed with perfect health, he was willing for several
years to put himself into  a state of permanent disease.
He tried, successively, the  action of the specifics already
known, and established for each this  remarkable pro-
perty of producing upon  him a   totality of  symptoms
analogous to  the groups of symptoms against which,
according  to  the writers,  they showed  themselves 
26         SlMILIA  SlMILIBLS  (YRANTUR.
efficacious. In all that had been written upon the action
of simple drugs, and upon the effects of acute  and
chronic poisons, he saw the full confirmation of the re-
sults of his own  experiments.  At last, in order to make
the counter-proof of his experiments, he administered
to the sick substances which  had produced  upon the
healthy a state  similar to that under which they were
suffering.  Clinical success stamped upon this thera-
peutic law a last and irtefragable  sanction." *
  Behold then, at last, Galenism and its works irrevo-
cably judged by the double means of experience and
experiment, and behold the whole therapeutic arsenal
of the Old School reduced  to  its real value;  that is to
say, to nothing.
  No! of the absurd conjectures of ancient medicine,
of  the false doctrines of the middle  ages, of Bru-
nonianism, of Basorism,  of Broussaisism, there will
remain, hereafter, but  the  sad remembrance of their
extravagances,  and  of the  evils they have produced.
The expectant medicine,  the negation of all medicine,
had  already asserted that the  curative force of nature
was the  only reason of all the pretended success on
which the active methods vaunted themselves.
  The vast erudition of Hahnemann is. beside, em-
ployed to demonstrate to us that all the  remarkable
cures reported  in the books, that nature  alone would
oot have been able to effect, had always been the for-
  * Aug. Rapou : Histoire de la Doctrine Medicale Homceopathique,
tome 1, page 390. 
            SlMILIA SlMILIBUS  ClRANTt K          27
 tuitous effect of homoeopathic remedies administered
 empirically.
   Thus the lavj of similars, sustained by the history
 of innumerable facts  and verified since its discovery
 by millions of cases, is  definitely substituted, in the
 minds of men of good  sense and good faith, for the
 too  famous adage: contraria  contrarvis curantur.
  The whole code of modern therapeutics is reduced to
 this  precept:  To administer for the cure of the sick,
 the  medicine  which produces upon the healthy  a
 totality of symptoms the most similar to the totality
 of the symptoms presented by the sick.
  But the practical application of this  preoept implied
 a profound  knowledge of all the effects produced  in
 the healthy  by each medicinal substance;  and it was
 to the gigantic task, a labor most urgently necessary,
of re-constructing  the  Materia  Medica  upon  an
entirely new basis, that  the immortal Hahnemann,
assisted by his disciples, devoted thirty years of his
life. 
f8         Dynamisation of  Medicines.
                SECTION  III.

      DYNAMISATION OF  MEDICINES.

  That,  in which especially consists  the  immense
superiority of the Homoeopathic, over the Old School,
is the advantage which  belongs to the former, of pro-
ceeding always from experiment  to experience, while
the latter is guided only by experience ; that fallacious
thing of which Hippocrates speaks, and which he dis-
trusted with so much reason.
  If we have had the good fortune to make ourselves
understood, in the preceding paragraph, this proposi-
tion hardly requires farther explanation.
  In fact,  it is  well known that while the Allopathist
borrows only  from doubtful tradition the drugs  so
often whimsical or disgusting, that he administers to
the patient, we make  use only of simple substances,
whose  properties  have  been  discovered,  by experi-
ments, many times repeated, upon the healthy.  It re-
sults from  this, that even in cases where we employ a
medicine for the first time, we know  in advance, with
great  certainty, all the effects we may expect from it.
  In Allopathy, on the contrary, unless  we  give a
forced and paradoxical extension to this maxim of Iam-
blique: "  Medicine is  the daughter of dreams," I 
            Dynamisation of  Medicines.         29
 maintain  that it is impossible to explain otherwise
 than by accident or imagination, the introduction into
 therapeutics of any  new medicine.  But let us suspend
 these critical reflections, which every day's experience
 verifies, and which  the  good sense of the public, it is
 to be hoped, will soon render superfluous.
    When Hahnemann undertook  the  heroic part  of
 trying upon himself  the toxical substances, of which
 it  was so important  to him to establish the  patho-
 genesis, a double consideration induced him, from the
 first, to reduce very much, in  his  trials, the doses  in
 which these substances  were ordinarily administered.
 He felt on the  one part,  in fact, that without this  pre-
 caution, his health,  however good it  might be,  would
 not long resist  these daily toxications;  and on the
 other hand, a sort of intuition, the test of genius, told
 him  that the proper specific action of these remedies
 if such they had, should be  different  from those vio-
 lent derangements produced by large doses.
   Observation  demonstrated his foresight.   He  was
 soon convinced that  not only had physicians been de-
 ceived in  what, till  then,  they  had considered the
 proper action of medicines, but that the organic com-
 motions, excited by the enormous doses in which they
 had been prescribed,  so modified the manifestation
 of their peculiar action, that it had never been observed.
 In  the preface  to his Materia  Medica, Hahnemann
expresses  himself on  this subject in the following
terms: 
30         Dynamisation ok Medic inks.
  "As to the duration of action  assigned  to each
medicinal substance — which I have sought to deter-
mine by multiplied experiment — I  ought to remark,
that it can never take place when the medicine is  ad-
ministered in large doses, and in  a case of disease, to
which it is not appropriate.   In either case, the dura-
tion of action is  much abridged, because the medi-
cine is, to a certain extent, thrown off with the evacua-
tions, which are their result,  (bleeding at the nose and
other hemorrhages, coryza,  flow of urine, diarrhea,
vomitings, or sweat,)  so that its  virtues are promptly
dissipated.  The living body rapidly expels this mat-
ter, as it does  the miasm of contagious diseases, when
it weakens, and, in part, expels it by means of vomit-
ing, diarrhea, hemorrhage, coryza, convulsions, sali-
vation,  sweat, and other  movements and evacuations.
Thence it happens that, in ordinary practice, neither
the  peculiar symptoms nor the duration of action can
be known of antimony, of jalap,  etc., because the ex-
cessive  doses, in which only these substances  are ad-
ministered,  pushes the  organism   to  disembarrass
itself promptly of  them.   It is only when they do not
produce this  effect, that is  to say,  when they do not
provoke evacuations, that we may observe  their char-
acteristic effects, so often important, and of long du-
ration, but which are  rarely noticed, and still more
rarely  recorded.
  The vomiting  produced by two or three grains of
antimony, or twenty grains of ipecacuanha; the purg- 
            Dynamisation of  Medicines.         31
 ing by thirty grains of jalap ;  the sweats provoked by
 a handful of elder-blows  in  infusion, are less the pro-
 per effect  of these  substances than an  effort  of the
 organism to extinguish as soon as possible their parti-
 cular action.
   "We have here the reason that homoeopathic doses
 produce so great an effect; they are not sufficiently
 large to excite the organism  to rid itself of them by the,
 as it were, revolutionary movements of which we have
 just spoken."
   It was, then, in progressively attenuating the doses
 of the substances that he tried upon himself, for the
 purpose, according to his views, of rendering the re-
 sult of  his  experiments  more  and  more perfect,  that
 Hahnemann was conducted, without perhaps thinking
 of it, to discover wdiat he  afterward called  the Dy-
 namisation of Medicines. As this discovery, the most
 extraordinary,  if  not the  most important,  that he
 made, or  that  was  ever  made, is  still, at this  day,
 erroneously regarded as the principal fact of homoeop-
 athy ^—so also, are its wonderful phenomena  continu-
 ally made the target for the  dull  shafts of  the  Old
 School.   Happily, raillery  and sarcasm are as pow-
 erless as sophisms, against  the immovable  evidence
 of fact.  And if,  for  a certain  time, Hahnemann,  like
 Galileo, had only to repay him for all his painful labors,
 the sad satisfaction of being alone in the right against
all the  world,  the  admiration of numerous  disciples 
32          Dynamisation  of Medicines.
was  soon to him a presage of the universal assent.
destined him by the judgment of posterity.
  Dynamisation consists  in  a series of operations,
whose double object is to reduce, almost infinitely, the
doses of medicinal substances, and to augment the the-
rapeutic action, inherent in their molecules,  in direct
proportion  to the division  of these molecules them-
selves.
  All the world knows the rules for these operations.
The principle is the same for all medicines.
  To extend by means of trituration,  or solution,  one
part of  a medicinal  substance, into one hundred parts
of sugar of milk, or of alcohol;* to incorporate in the
same manner a hundredth  part of this  first  mixture,
into one hundred times  its weight of one of the  two
inert  substances, we have just designated ; to proceed
exactly  in the same manner with  a third, a fourth, a
tenth mixture — such  is the mechanism of  the  start-
lingly decreasing  progression to which the remedies
used  by homoeopathy are  submitted.   Each of  the
mixtures prepared according to these rules, has, as
well as  the number of its order,  the name of dilution.

  • The sugar of milk having absolutely no property, is perfectly
adapted to this use.  It is the same with alcohol, which, in the
very small quantities given, either in solution or in  globules, is with-
out appreciable effect.  The sugar of milk serves for the dy Damna-
tion of insoluble substances, especially the metals.  After the fourth
dilution, it is in all cases replaced by alcohol. 
           Dynamisation  ok Medicines.          33
  The thirtieth  dilution  contains  a  decillionth, in
weight, of the substance incorporated in the first.
  But, the most imperceptible atom of which the micro-
scope reveals the existence, the impalpable, invisible,
and almost imponderable mote which floats in  a ray of
the sun, is a world in volume, in comparison with a de-
cillionth  of a grain  of any matter whatever.   Yet,
nevertheless, it is such doses of mercury, of  lime, of
sulphur,  or of arsenic, that often suffice to arrest the
progress  of a mortal malady, and effect the miracle of
cure, in the most desperate cases.
  Reason, however, even the coolest, in its deductions,
and  the freest from  prejudices, revolts at first sight
from such  an assertion ;  but let facts appear,  and rea-
son bends.   Forced  to receive, in  spite of itself, the
evidence of the senses, it  draws upon  the storehouse
of memory, and  finishes  by recognizing, for  the pur-
pose, as  it were, of absolving its faith, that  the uni-
verse abounds in facts analogous to  this action, prodi-
gious as  it is, of  homoeopathic doses.
   Analogies, however, must be regarded as exception-
able proof of the reality of phenomena, which, in fact,
need no other proof of their existence, than that they
do exist; but it  serves at least the purpose of remov-
ing  prejudice, and engaging in practical trial, those
sincere men, who, while  doubting,  yet  seek  to  be
enlightened.   Permit  us, then, to notice a few of
these analogies.
   The deleterious  effect of certain odors, whose prin- 
34          Dynamisation  oy Medicines.
ciple escapes the most delicate tests of cluniistry, is a
notorious fact, denied by nobody, and at which no one
is astonished ;  because its frequency has rendered  it
familiar.  Who,  nevertheless, will  tell us the weig/it
of the effluvia which exhales from a few  flowers of
heliotrope or from a bouquet of hyacinth ?
  Does not the miasm of swamps, that  terrible  and
subtle cause of intermittent fever, so completely es-
cape our senses  that no  one would  even suspect its
existence without the incontestable proof of its origin,
and of its effects ? *
  Who has seen, who has touched,  who  has seized in
its flight, that terrible principle of cholera, brought us
by the winds of the  east, from the  shores of the Gan-
ges, its cradle—and of whose material  reality there
are,  however, so few incredulous?
  To what homoeopathic fraction shall we compare the
quantity of variolous or pestilential emanations,  with
which a letter may be impregnated, and which, never-
theless has more than once sufficed to carry to enormous
distances,the disease of which it contained the germ ?
  Recall the experiments  of  Spallanzani, and those of
Fontana.  The one  impregnated  animals artificially,
by means  of a few  drops of sperm, mixed in great
quantities of various vehicles; the other caused the

  * The celebrated Professor Folki, at Rome, has recently proved ? by
experiments, that the atmosphere of the Pontine marslies contains
nothing injurious to the health—nothing that is not found in the at-
mosphere of the most salubrious localities. 
           Dynamisation of  Medicines.         35
instantaneous  death of a lamb by inoculating it with
a millionth of a grain of the venom of the viper.
  How many atoms of syphilitic virus does it require
to transmit the syphilis?
   How many  of the hydrophobic virus to' inoculate
with hydrophobia ?  The tooth of the dog, which com-
municates it to man, only reaches the skin after having
passed through several  folds  of his clothing; less
than a millionth part of a  drop of the  saliva of the
animal is  perhaps  deposited   in  the wound.  Again
we must remember, that far from being the virus itself,
this saliva is only its vehicle, which positively reduces
to a homoeopathic infinitesimal the quality  of infect-
ing liquid actually absorbed.   Nevertheless, infection
takes  place;  the  evil incubates; it  silently develops
 itself,  the crisis arrives and death ensues 1
   But why dwell  longer on  particular instances, which
 it wonld be easy to multiply almost to infinity ? They
 are all comprised  in a  general  fact upon which we
 entreat our readers to concentrate their attention ; a
 fact  of  immense  value  in physiology as well as in
 physics, and  which may be thus presented :
    The dynamic properties* inherent in  material
 substances, are in inverse proportion to the cohesion
 of these substances.
    Whence it results:
    1.  That bodies,  the most essentially endowed with
* Gravitation excepted. 
36          Dynamisation ok Medicines.
the  power  of  modifying the condition  of  animated
beings, are  those which have no cohesion whatever,
and which constantly tend to evaporation.
   2.  That  in  artificially destroying  the cohesion  of
solids, we are  almost certain to develop in these, the
properties that, until then,  remained latent.
  Now, the homoeopathic dynamisation is precisely the
verification  of  that  principle, which  I present in  its
turn as appropriately forming' a basis for the rules of
dynamisation.
   If this  last,  in  fact, only aids the spontaneous rare-
faction, or what comes to the same thing, the medici-
nal power naturally  residing in mercury, in antimony,
in arsenic, in camphor, in all the aromatic plants, in
a  word,  in  all volatile  substances, it literally creates
the medicinal force of gold,  of silver,  of platina,  of
silicia, of coral, of lycopodium, etc., since this  modi-
fying power would  not exist without it.*   Is  it  not
then rational to conclude, that if dynamisation, simply
useful in  certain  substances,  (for we admit its  utility
in all cases), is absolutely indispensable in others, it
  » Certain  writers, and especially M Auguste Rapou, have emitted
an opinion  upon  the nature of dynamisation, which I, for a  long
time  entertained.   According to  these physicians, the  inert matter
mixed with the medicine  or triturated with it, contracts its proper-
tics to such a degree as to become itself medicinal. In this manner,
they explained  the transmission from dilution to dilution, of the pro-
perties of the mother substance.  The hypothesis is without  foun-
dation, and I do not  hesitate to pronounce it false.  The secret of
dynamisation is exclusively in the division of matter. 
Dynamisation  of Medicines.          37
should generally be  carried farther,  in  case of these
latter, than in the former?*
  It is to be remarked, that the expansive  power na-
tural to certain medicines, and  developed in others by
dynamisation, seems to exert itself in the living econ-
omy as well as in all other mediums.   Thence results,
without doubt, the general effect so promptly produced
by  homoeopathic  preparations,  in contrast with  the
action, almost always purely local, of  allopathic reme-
dies ; thence, beside the appropriateness  of  the higher
dilutions to the treatment of  those affections in which
the constitution  is  involved, and  in which  nervous
symptoms predominate, while organic alterations seem
rather to call for the employment  of the lower dilu-
tions.
  This naturally  conducts us, if not to draw up abso-
lute precepts, at least to express our personal opinion
relative to homoeopathic doses.
  And let us commence by avowing,  that on this sub-
ject, the most  complete anarchy, the most  deplorable
confusion reigns among practitioners.  The choice of
such or such a dilution ;  of drops, or of globules ; of
potions, or of powders, appears to be, with each, but
an  affair  of habit,  contracted without  reason,  and
  * It is to be remarked, that practitioners are rather disposed to
follow an inverse rule, that is to say, they willingly employ high
dilutions of substances, which are naturally energetic, and the low
dilutions of substaices naturally inert, which is unreasonable 
38          Dynamisation  of Medicines.
continued, because commenced.   Some (the majority
of German  Homoeopathists)  adhere  obstinately  to
mother tinctures, and large doses, under the frivolous
pretext, that dynamisation having not yet  been dis-
covered, it was under the influence of these  doses that
the greater  part of the  pathogenesis,  reported in  the
materia medica pura  was  produced.   Others, with
Dr. Gross at their head, pushing to a fanatical length
the ideas of the master, only employ the extreme dilu-
tions called  korsakorienne. that  is to  say, the five or
six thousandths !   The first, in yielding  to their allo-
pathic reminiscences, or perhaps, by being  influenced
unduly by their deference to the  prejudices of the Old
School, voluntarily forego the fruits of a magnificent
discovery ;  while the others unnecessarily alarm public
opinion, by the almost fantastic improbability of their
pretensions !*
   It is  between  these  two  extremes  that I would
endeavor to establish what is suggested at  once  by
reason  and experience.
   But  let us begin  by declaring  that we take, as a
starting point,  this  practical truth,  to which, as  we
have before stated, we  give  full adhesion,  viz: That
  * If I charge upon the korsakovienne  dilutions, the  reproach of
furnishing arms to the adversaries of Homoeopathy, and sharpening
against  it the  shafts of  satire,  I refrain,  nevertheless,  from pro-
nouncing them absurd.  I know  too well, that  the infinitely small,
is like  the infinitely great, inaccessible  to human  understanding,
and that in principle, the six millionth dilution is no more absurd
than the tenth. 
Dynamisation of  Medicines.         39
if dynamisation is not absolutely indispensable to cer-
tain  medicines, it is useful  to all, and adds, in  all
cases, to their efficacy.
  We  know in fact, that  certain medicines, given in
certain  diseases,  being dynamized, have often  pro-
duced results demanded of them  in vain, before their
dynamisation.  I have myself, seen a few globules of
secale   corn,  of  the twelfth dilution, arrest almost
instantaneously,  a  passive  hemorrhage  of  several
months' duration, and against which the same medi-
cine had constantly failed when administered in its
crude  9tate,  in doses of twelve grains.  I have also
seen stannum,  prescribed  at the thirtieth  dilution,
procure the expulsion of enormous quantities of asca-
rides,  in the  case of an  infant who had  taken  allo-
pathic  vermifuges for  three  months  without effect.
Such cases are  constantly occurring to homoeopathic
practitioners.
  We  mav remark,  beside, that facts contradictory to
those here alleged are  yet to be produced; that is to
say, that  never,  in any  known medicine,  has  the
power of large doses come afterward to invalidate the
superiority of properly chosen dilutions.
  With so much  the more difficulty do we comprehend
those who  cry up the exclusive use of the first, since
they thus deprive themselves of therapeutic resources,
which, we  declare  it  boldly,  are  so  important that
without them, we should experience in our daily prac-
tice an invincible embarrassment.
        4 
40         Dynamisation of  Medicines.
  With what, indeed, should we replace carbo. vege
tabilis, silicea, lycopodium, etc., etc., which  have no
medicinal properties without dynamisation \
  Will  we give, on  the  other hand, by grains or by
tens of grains, the pure venom of the rattlesnake and
of the trigonocephalus lachesis ?
  The predilection for massive doses certainly arises
from incomplete notions of medicine, or false ideas of
diseases.
  " What would you prescribe," said an Allopathist
to me one day,  "to an unfortunate man who had just
swallowed  a couple of  hundred grains of vitriol ?"
" Three hundred grains of magnesia," replied I, with-
out hesitation.   " Why not some of the decillionths ?"
said my interrogator,  jeeringly.  " Because, before
combating  the  disease, it is  necessary to destroy the
cause, when this cause still exists; because, in prescrib-
ing three hundred grains of magnesia, I do not prac-
tice medicine, but chemistry; because, in such a case,
it is neither to the age, sex, constitution, or tempera-
ment, or even to  the sufferings of the  patient,  but
only to the quantity of poison  swallowed that I pro-
portion the remedy, or rather the antidote.  In this I
only conform  to the old precept, tolle cans am, etc.;  a
precept which, by the way, is only absolutely true for
your School;  for, notwithstanding the removal of the
cause, the disease will have its course ; then medicines
will succeed to the use of  antidotes, and the infinitesi- 
Dynamisation of Medicines.         41
mals, worthless  as  they may seem  to you, will then
show their power."
  Let our readers judge,  by  this  example,  of the
general value of the objections made to  dynamisation
by the partisans of the precepts and of the  doses  of
the Allopathists.  We shall not return to this subject,
and  it  only remains to us, at present, to speak  of the
choice of dilutions.
  This is a  difficult, arduous,  delicate, and complex
question; it  is even impossible to solve it, except with
reference to  other  considerations.  It is easy to com-
prehend, in fact, that its solution  must depend, as we
have already intimated:   1.  Upon  the  species  of
medicine; 2. Upon the nature of the disease;  3. Upon
the age and constitution of the patient.
   Hence,  there  are  three points to  discuss.  First,
concerning the species  of  medicine  as deciding the
choice of the dilution,  I have already somewhat fully
explained  myself.  Thus,  it is wrell understood, that,
as  dynamisation develops  the medicinal action,  we
should  prescribe,  all other  things being equal, the
dilutions higher in proportion  to  the natural inertness
of the substance.
  It  may be objected, that if the greater division of
matter in the high  dilutions of inert substances estab-
lishes between these and the lower dilutions of active
substances,  a  certain  equilibrium  of power;  this
equilibrium  is broken  by  the abundance,  relatively
more considerable in the last, of the medicinal matter. 
42         Dynamisation of Medicines.
But, however specious this objection, it  vanishes, or
very nearly so, under the test of experience.  Experi-
ence, in  fact, impartial  and  infallible judge, proves
superabundantly that the activity of the homo'opathic
dose is proportioned incomparably less to the quantity
of medicinal  matter that it  contains, than to the de-
gree of its division.   Were it otherwise, dynamisation
would be a chimera.
  The little importance that we seem to attach to the
greater or less quantity of crude matter in our medi-
cines may, I feel, appear strange.   Nevertheless, do
we not know, to call analogies once more  to our aid,
that neither the symptoms, nor the intensity of a con-
tagious disease, are proportioned to the abundance  of
the principle  which gave it birth ?  Do we not know
that the pustules of  the vaccine are developed  so
much the more surely, as the hand of the  operator has
been light, and the virus sparingly applied ?  Of two
unfortunate  beings  attacked by  hydrophobia,  who
have each the same anguish, and the same death, one
has  hardly felt the  bite  which caused the infection,
while the other has been torn by the furious animal
and inundated with his deadly saliva.
  I do  not  hesitate,  then, to pronounce  that, if not
entirely unimportant, it is, at least, of very secondary
importance, how many drops or globules should  enter
into a dose. *
  * I prefer potions to the dry  preparations.   The diffusion  of the
first has always  seemed to me more sure and rapid. 
Dynamisation of  Medicines.         43
  The globules are very small  pills  of sugar  of milk,
saturated  with the  medicinal  tincture of the various
dilutions.   A single  drop is sufficient  to  saturate
several hundreds.   The manner of this saturation ap-
pears to me to constitute, in itself,  a veritable means ol
dynamisation.   Thus,  the  three  hundred  globules,
which represent, in quantity, but  the value of a drop,
contain altogether a medicinal power greatly superior
to that of a drop.
  Hahnemann preferred globules to tinctures and used
them exclusively.   In  his horror of large doses, the
decillionths, even,  in the liquid form, seemed to  him
enormous doses!   *   *  *   So true it  is that great
men have their little prejudices !
  The principal  advantage in the globules  is  their
portableness.  It is, indeed, a  precious advantage for
the physician, and especially for the  country physi-
cian,  to be able to have always about him a  complete
pharmacy.
  The nature of the disease, the age and constitution
of the patient, as we have said, complete our group of
reasons for determining the choice of the dilution.
  Although  this proposition  evidently  implies  two
distinct points,  we shall,  for  the sake of abridging
it, treat  it  without observing  this distinction.   It
may,  beside, be summed up in a single principle,  a
principle based  upon  observation, and of which  the
following is the statement:
  The power of homoeopathic  medicines is  in direct 
 44         Dynamisation of  Medicines.
 proportion to the vital  activity of the  subject, while
 the duration of tlieir action is in inverse proportion to
 the same.
   Whence we immediately draw the practical conclu-
 sions :
   The younger and more  vigorous  the  patient, the
 more acute, rapid and inflammatory  the disease, and
 manifesting itself, as it were, by an increase  of vital-
 ity,  the more important it is to reduce the doses,
 while, at  the same  time, we lessen  the intervals of
 their repetition.
   For old people, on the  contrary,  as well as  for
 emaciated or lymphatic  subjects, of a low and feeble
 vitality,  who  are  refractory or almost  insensible to
 medicinal  excitation,  the lower dilutions are most
 appropriate.
   In conclusion, to increase to a greater or less extent
 the intervals between  the doses, in the treatment of
 chronic diseases,  is a rigorous deduction from  the
 principle we have just announced, and of which some
general notions upon the  nature of disease, developed
 in the following chapter,  will perhaps better enable ue
to understand the bearing. 
Of the Nature of Disease.          45
                   SECTION  IV.

            of the nature  of disease.

  Every disease is a partial or general disorder of the
functions whose ensemble constitutes life, and whose
regular exercise constitutes health.
  There exist, according to the terms even of this de-
finition, two kinds of diseases: local and general, or,
what comes to nearly  the same thing, organic—those
with material lesion of one or more organs—and essen-
tial or diffused diseases.
  Clinical observation proves that the former, of how-
ever little intensity they may be  possessed, tend  con-
stantly  to generalize themselves, or, to  speak  other-
wise, to derange the vital  acts  of  the  whole  body,
while  the  latter  almost always end in some  local
lesion.
  The difference  between the  two  is  not the  less
marked: The former are primarily organic ; the lat-
ter primarily essential.
  The one  has its origin in  the  presence of a  subtle
agent, either acquired or spontaneous, but not cogniza
ble to the senses; the  other, on  the contrary, results
from the mechanical or chemical  action of an appreci-
able  agent. 
46          Of the Nature  of Disease
  A man is attacked  with  typhus ; he at first suffers
only a vague depivsMon, torpor, or sleeplessness—an
indefinite discomfort, an irregular fever:  the  disease
is yet general; but pains  in the bowels soon make
their appearance, with ulceration  of the small intes
tines, and the disease is thus  localized.
  Another man crushes his finger under a stone ; he
suffers, at first, only from his finger—the disease  is
local;  but we have  soon  traumatic fever, tetanus,
perhaps death—and the disease is generalized.
  One may  easily conceive how often this  generaliza-
tion of local affections,  and this at least apparent local-
ization of essential affections, must have put physicians
upon the wrong scent.   Here, where there were  two
distinct facts, the  spirit of the system only wished to
see one.   For vitalists  and humorists, apart  from sur-
gical  cases, there  were only  essential  diseases;  for
materialists  and  solidists,  there  were  only organic
lesions.   The  first did  not  sufficiently  prove  their
hypothesis;  their adversaries  denied the evidence.
  If, in fact, the organs being the agents of our  func-
tions, it is impossible that an organic lesion could  exist
without bringing on a functional disorder, it is a fact of
daily  experience  that  serious functional disorders dn
manifest themselves without apparent organic lesion.
  When, in consequence of a  prick in his foot, a man
dies of tetanus, a post mortem  examination of the body
reveals no other lesion than the prick.   Nevertheless,
tetanus, the immediate cause of his death,  although it 
           Ok the  Nature of  Disease.         47
be only a secondary phenomenon, constitutes in itself
a definite affection, and one which is perfectly separa-
ble from its cause.  Tetanus is,  then, we will not say
an essential affection, but at least an affection exclu-
sively dynamic.
   Now, let us suppose that this terrible nervous affec-
tion manifests itself spontaneously ;  that is to say,
under the influence of a secret cause—in other terms,
a cause too subtle to come under the cognizance of the
senses—does not tetanus then offer us a  type of essen-
tial disease ?   Here lies the whole question.
   Let us hasten,  moreover, to remark, that the absence
of physical lesions is far from being the pathognomonic
and dominant character of essential diseases.   If, in
their first  period, they only manifest  themselves by
simple  functional aberrations, frightful ravages in the
different organs of the body, often mark the passage
of the greater part of them; as,  for example, syphilis,
typhus, etc.
   But,  what  particularly  distinguishes this sort of
affections, is, with the obscurity of their origin, the
almost invariable regularity of their form.  They  each
have their own course—their constant symptoms—their
crises,  and  their duration.  They  are susceptible of
beino- classed into genera and species, like  animals or
plants.    They are, in  fact,  veritable  existences ;
abstract beings,  if  you will,  but  whose  germs  are
nevertheless  realities.
   This, I am aware, leads us  into  a  sort of medical
        5 
48          Of  the Nature of  Disease
ontology, but not absolutely that attacked by the sar-
casms of Broussais.   What to us, beside, is the opin-
ion of this head of a  school I  If we  have been, and
if to a- certain extent we  are still, his admirer, we are
not his disciple.
  All  superstitions,  said  D'Alembert, have their
nucleus of  truth.  Now,  if medical ontology  may  be
considered a superstiton, it  has,  beyond a doubt, its
true side.
  Assuredly, it is absurd to consider a disease as a
real being, like a parasite implanted in the economy,
to live there  its  own life  at our expense.   But for the
effect, substitute the cause; for the disease, its principle,
and you will have, in  place of a chimerical conception,
an  hypothesis, specious, rational, plausible, and bear-
ing, even, shall I dare to say it, the criterion of cer-
tainty.
  Is  it  not  incontestable, in fact, that each  of these
diseases, that we call essential, is the special result of
a poisonous principle ?  Grant that this principle is not
a visible and palpable matter, observation and experi-
ence do not the  less  clearly demonstrate that its exist-
ence is positive.   The virus of syphilis, of  variola, of
the plague, etc., are all for us simply poisons, having,
like arsenic,  corrosive sublimate, prussic acid, the ven-
om of the viper, or of the rattlesnake, etc., etc., their
respective pathogenesis.  We are then in the right,  not
only in  admitting these  viri, but in  classing them
exactly as  we do known poisons. 
            Of  the Nature of Disease.          49
   If we are now asked what advantage can arise from
this particular manner of regarding disease,  nothing
can be more easy than to make it understood.
   It substitutes general views for partial observations,
and thus conducts the practitioner to the employment
of general means and of dynamic remedies.*
   The number of essential  diseases, or if you will, of
essential principles, whose  effects are determined, is
already considerable.  It is  beside very probable, that
we do not know  them all, as every  day reveals a new
one.  The  incomparable merit of the  homoeopathic
materia  medica  is, that it  furnishes  a priori, the
means of combating them.   It is thus, that from the
first appearance  of the cholera, the pathogenesis long
since known, of arsenic, of  copper, of white hellebore,
of  camphor,  and  of charcoal,  represented  for the
Homoeopathist the specifics  corresponding to the differ-
ent forms  of this  frightful  epidemic,  to which Allo-
pathy, groping, opposed but powerless, and very  often
contradictory  means.
   The deleterious  action of virus,  or  of the miasms,
(the words,  save  a light shade, are for us synonymous)
is, like all the other toxical substances, diffused through-
out the universe, more or less active, and more or less

  * To treat with local means and as so  many distinct affections, the
various symptoms of an essential fever, is as puerile, as absurd as it
would be to combat the dangerous effects  of a bite of the viper, by
only closing the wound made by the teeth of the reptile with adhe
sive plaster. 
50         Of the Nature  of Disease.
formidable.  The first are congenital, or develop them-
selves spontaneously in the economy; the last come
from the surrounding  atmosphere.   There are those
which exhaust themselves in us. and are extinguished
after the  explosion which  gave notice of their pres-
ence.   Others,  on  the contrary, resist  tinfe—may
remain latent for years—and often only manifest them-
selves on  the occasion  of  some accidental affection,
and  transmit themselves  from generation  to gene-
ration.
  The founder of Hom<eopathy occupied himself with
only the last of these, and has only pointed out three;
syphilis, sycosis, and  psora.   Psora  was the  especial
subject of his researches and meditations during the
latter half of  his life.   He saw in it  the true cause of
all chronic diseases.
  This conception of psora, notwithstanding the error
and confusion probably mixed  up with it, was never-
theless a stroke of genius.  It traced a line of demar-
cation, that  we believe natural, although not  recog-
nizable, between acute  and chronic  diseases.   These
are not  simply, as was  generally  thought  before
Hahnemann, the prolongation of the first.
  Acute diseases have, for the most part, their dura-
tion fixed  by  nature;  and when, notwithstanding, the
removal of the cause which excited them, they pass
the limits of this duration,   and seem  to continue
indefinitely, it may  be safely  affirmed, that they have
changed  their character,  and have awakened  some 
           Of the Nature of Disease.         5!
morbid principle until then  dormant, and foreign, in
the  beginning,  to  their manifestations.  But is this
morbid principle  always  the  same ?  Is  it always
psora ?  Nothing proves  this :  and  it is in this, at
least, so we think, that Hahnemann deceived himself.
   There exist, perhaps,  as many primitively chronic
diseases as primitively acute diseases.  It is, perhaps,
as hazardous to consider psora as the unique cause of
all chronic, non-venereal affections, as it wrould be to
attribute the small-pox,  the measles, scarlatina, mili-
aria, etc., to one and  the same miasm.   We are then
very  much  inclined  to  believe  that this  thousand-
headed monster, named  by  Hahnemann,  psora,  is
essentially multiple.
   How in fact admit, that the gout, aneurism, cancer,
tubercles,  etc., etc.,  are   only  one  disease?  This
appears so much  the  less probable, that we never see
these different diatheses  transform themselves from
one  to  the other, either  during the life of the indi-
viduals who  present them  or  the  generations  to
which they are transmitted.  The son or the grandson
of a gouty parent, has gout, and not cancer.  -The son
or grandson of a cancerous parent, has cancer, and not
gout, etc., etc.
   But if this  remarkable  phenomenon of hereditary
transmission ruins the hypothesis of psora in its unity,
it assuredly confirms the general  idea.
  I will say then, in summing up, that with the excep-
tion : 1st, of natural deformities, which may be reme- 
52         Of the Nature of Disease.
died by mechanical means ; 2d, traumatic or chemical
lesions, which belong to the practice of surgery or chem-
istry ; 3d, and last, simple affections, resulting from the
physical  impression of an  irritating agent  upon  an
isolated organ, I admit  but essential diseases, which
can only  be efficiently combated by specific remedies.
It would  remain for me now to speak of the classifica-
tion  of diseases.   But  such a classification,  to  be
logical, would suppose notions much more complete
than those  we at present possess upon the analogous
action of the  morbid principles.  Perhaps experience
may some day furnish us  their true  elements ; but
such a systematization, which will be the triumph of
Homoeopathy, will require still  much time. 
PART   I,
HYGIENE  OF  CHILDREN.
                   CHAPTER I.

       importance of  education.

  The impressions  of childhood remain during life.
They exist in us without our knowledge.  Our partic-
ular tendencies, our sentiments, our opinions even, on
many subjects, are  oftener than we think, their con-
sequences.   We  owe to them, without suspecting it,
many of our virtues or of our vices, the greater part
of our prejudices, our health or our diseases.
   It is with men as with vegetables :  a cutting, which
planted in  good earth and  properly cultivated, would
have  become a great tree, luxuriant and productive,
will produce, left to itself, or unskillfully  managed,
but a stunted plant, without vigor and without fruit.
   It may then be affirmed, that  the destiny of men
depends, in a great measure, upon the  care given to
the first years of their existence.   We know not how
better to express the importance we  attach to edu-
cation.
                                          (53) 
54
Importance of  Indication.
  This  should  commence  for us on  the day of our
birth, and hardly finish before the epoch of maturity.
It comprises the direction  of the mind, and of the
body:  the  mind and the body are so dependent upon
each other, that hygiene  and morals  are almost in-
separable things.
  We shall, nevertheless, separate them in this little
work, where it  is not our intention to encroach upon
the  sphere of the moralist, but to  occupy ourselves
solely with the physical care to  be given to children.
But let it not be forgotten, that the health of the body
often  makes that of the mind ; the character of the
individual,  and, if we dare  not  add  his intellectual
aptitudes, at least  the degree of  mental application of
which  he is capable, depend, in  great  part, upon  the
strength of his constitution, and upon the more or  less
normal manner in  which his organs perforin  their func-
tions.
  Long protracted disease, generally, finishes  by falsi-
fying the  ideas as  well  as  the sentiments.  Jean
Jacques  Rousseau, undoubtedly,  owed his   misan-
thropy, and the aberrations of his magnificent intellect,
to the tormenting disease from which he suffered.
  The sum of all hygienic laws,  applicable  to  chil-
dren, consists  in the satisfaction of all  their natural
wants, while we avoid the  creation of factitious ones.
  But the practice of this double precept, so simple in
appearance, exacts  on the  part of the mother  almost
as much sagacity as solicitude.  She must  know how 
            Importance  of Education.          55
to divine the cause of all the discomforts, of all  the
sufferings,  of  even all the  wants of her children,
which they yet know how to express  only by their
cries.  She  must,  beside,  be on her guard,  that in
endeavoring to  console them by useless or dangerous
diversions, her tenderness does not lead  her  beyond
proper bounds.
  Time has fortunately dissipated  many  prejudices
touching the first treatment of children.   Thus, in the
majority of cities, at least, the use of long clothes and
of cradles  has  been abandoned.  Unfortunately, in
place of the  abuses which have ceased,   luxury has
substituted others.   The worst of all, is the careless-
ness of mothers  who blindly abandon  their children
to mercenary  care.   There are cases, we  are aware,
where the  mother  herself cannot, and  ought not, to
nurse.  We are  so  far  from  absolutely  proscribing
hired nurses, that we shall soon give them our espe-
cial attention.   But the intervention of  a nurse, what-
ever confidence she may inspire, should never exclude
the immediate and continued superintendence of  the
mother. 
56        First  Care of  the New-born.
                  CHAPTER  II.

      first  care  of  the new-born.

  When the labor has been long and fatiguing, when,
above all, the umbilical cord is found wound round the
neck, and has  been compressed for some moments be-
tween the head and the walls of the pelvis, the child
always comes  into the world  in a state of asphyxia.
But, although it neither cries nor breathes—although it
makes no movement, and the pulsations of the heart are
imperceptible, the asphyxia is not always complete.  It
is necessary then, after having cut the umbilical cord,
to allow a few drops of blood  to flow before applying
the ligature.   We should then take the child upon the
knees,  remove from the mouth, with  the finger,  the
mucus which may impede the penetration of the  air,
sprinkle  it repeatedly with cold water, and  rub it
briskly after each sprinkling,  either with the hand 01
with warm linen.   Finally, if it does not soon recover,
it should be carried to"the air, and we should blow
strongly  into its  mouth,  and re-commence  and  con-
tinue the same treatment until it breathes, or until its
death is rendered  certain.
  We  have seen  children remain in this state for
several minutes, without giving any sign of life, then
begin slowly to recover, and be quite well  two hours 
          First Care of  the New-born.        57
after.  If the accident is  not immediately mortal, they
generally recover.
  It is the  same with the  paralysis of one-half the
face, from compression of the facial nerve by one of
the branches of the forceps.   This paralysis gives to
the infant, when it cries  or when it attempts  to nurse,
a strange expression,  at which the mother and nurse
are sure  to take alarm.
  A few days, or, at the most, a few weeks,  will  suf-
fice for its recovery, without the use of  any medicine.
It is well, however, in such a case, to administer  in
the course  of the day, a few teaspoonfuls of a solu-
tion of one  or twro globules  of  arnica, of a medium
dilution,  in a tumbler of  water; a few small  doses of
nux vom  ica, prepared in  the same manner, will infalli-
bly dissipate, the next day, or the day after, any traces
of the accident which may still remain.
  Some  children come  into  the world  with  the skin,
particularly the  scalp,  covered  with  a  sebaceous
coating,  so  viscous  and tenacious that water  alone
will not  suffice to remove it.   It is very easily got rid
of by smearing it slightly with fresh butter, followed
by a warm ablution.  We  prefer  this method to the
use of soap and water, which is sometimes irritating,
and of which, beside, the medicinal  action  is incon-
testable.
  It is hardly necessary to  add  that  the ablutions
should be given in a warm apartment, protected from
currents  of  air, and  quickly  enough to prevent  the 
58        First Care of the  New-mown.
water from  becoming  cold  on the body of the child.
A bandage  of linen,  three fingers  wide,  applied to
the abdomen, will protect  the  remaining  portion of
the umbilical cord.  The real object  of this  bandage,
which should not be too tight, is to prevent hernia at
the umbilicus.  It is unnecessary in  four or five days
after birth.
  About  this time, the  skin of the  child commonly
changes color.   From a re 1, purple, or rosy hue, it
becomes  yellow,  at  the  same time  the epidermis
cracks and  scales off.   It  is a  natural  phenomenon
that mothers and  inexperienced  nurses have some-
times taken for a disease ; but is nothing with which
it is necessary to meddle.
   The senses  of newly-born  infants  are naturally
verv delicate,  ('are should be  taken to avoid expos-
ing their eyes to  too strong a light, and  their cars to
a too loud noise;  at the same time,  it is better not to
carrv these  precautions too far.   It is well, for exam-
ple, that the child should accustom itself—and it does
it easily—to sleep, in spite of the noise of conversation.
   In  some  places, especially in the wine countries,
the matrons make it a duty to administer to the lying-
in woman the rotie au sucre*  and regard it equally
indispensable that the infant, before taking  anything

  *This is agreat cup of sweetened wine, with  toasted bread soaked
in it. In the Cftte d'Or, in the Haute S;ione, the Jura, etc., not a
woman  is delivered without being comforted  with this  heroic cor-
dial. 
           First  Care  of the New-born.        50
els?,  should  swallow  a  teaspoonful  of pure  wine.
Without considering this  practice as very dangerous,
(although it might be so in certain  cases) we consider
it, at least, quite  useless.
   We  proscribe more explicitly the syrups of manna
or of rhubarb, administered previously to all nourish-
ment, with a view of expelling the meconium.
   "The  health-of man," says Hartlaub,  "is in inces-
sant strife with ignorance, and this struggle commences
with the first moments of his life.       *     *    *
Should not the least reflection suffice to convince us .of
the injurious  effects  of such  active medicinal  sub-
stances upon a delicate being, whose organs are not
yet accustomed to external influences ? "*
   Although we do not look upon manna and rhubarb
as very active medicinal  substances, we subscribe to
the opinion of Hartlaub.
   This vulgar custom of purging the new-born, is one
of those old humoral traditions, which resist so much
the more easily  the effects  of time, that  they have
their specious side, and seem  founded in  something
like reason.
   The  milk of a woman who has just been delivered,
differs  from the milk of a woman delivered six months
since, in this, that it is less rich in cream and caseine.
We may suppose  it then, like the pure serum (whey),
endowed with laxative properties.  Now as nature, in
her combinations, always  shows herself possessed of
infinite wisdom,  and admirable foresight, is  it not 
60         First Care of the  New-bown.
rational to suppose that the chemical composition of
the milk of a woman in child-bed, is exactly appropri-
ate to the wants of the being to which  she has just
given birth I  Hence, the intention of physicians was
to supply artificially this  provision of nature in favor
of the poor children, who,  deprived  of the maternal
breast, were destine/1  to receive from  the first,  the
breast of a woman confined several months  before.
  But upon this point,  as  upon  others,  physicians
deceived themselves.   In fact, the majority of infants
pass  spontaneously  the  meconium,  which at  birth
is contained in the intestines.  Laxatives are then use-
less, and beside, if the milk  to be given  them is unfor-
tunately too  nutritive  for their  young  stomachs,  we
doubt very much if the syrup of manna and rhubarb
are  the  ingredients  best  adapted  to   facilitate  its
digestion. 
Duties and Regimen of  Nurses.       61
                  CHAPTER III.

        NURSES--THEIR  DUTIES AND REGIMEN.

  There are circumstances, we have said, under which
mothers should  not  nurse  their children, and which
even impose upon them the obligation of abstaining
from it.  Such are abscesses of the breast, cracks in the
nipples, or  any  defect in  the conformation  of these
organs ; the absence or bad quality of the milk ; an
herpetic or  syphilitic affection ; any nervous  disease,
such as hysteria or  epilepsy,  of which the maternal
milk would  favor the transmission to the child; and
lastly, pulmonary phthisis,  a feeble constitution, or in-
deed, one of those excessively impressible natures, who
make of everything a subject of irritation or chagrin.
  In these various cases it  is better to resort to artifi-
cial suckling, or to another  nurse.
  Artificial  suckling is  troublesome.   It   requires
extreme care, and fatigues the mother almost as much
as natural  nursing.   But it has the advantage of
avoiding the interposition  of  a  stranger between the
mother and child.
  We recommend it, in consequence,  to those  mothers
who, not being obliged to labor for a living, are happily
at liberty to consecrate all their time to their homes, 
 62      Duties  and Rkoimkx of  Ni rses.
 and whom a bad  conformation of the breasts, an acci-
 dental disease of these organs, or  the  want of milk,
 deprive of the precious privilege of nursing.
   The choice of a nurse,  when this becomes indispens-
 able,  is a  delicate  and  serious  affair.   I  shall quote
 word  for word the reflections of a Swedish physician,
 Rosen de Rosenstein, upon  this subject, in his Trait e
 des Maladies des Enfants, one of the best works pro-
 duced by the Old School
   " A nurse,'1 said  Rosen, " should be of a tranquil,
 gentle,  moderate, gay and  virtuous  character.  She
 should  be from  twenty  to thirty years of  age, should
 have  been confined  a little  sooner than the  mother,
 and be accustomed  to handle children.  She  should
be in  perfect health,  so that there should be no fear of
 her communicating disease to her charge.   Especially,
 she should be exempt from the slightest taint of scurvy,
and her gums  should be carefully examined,  to  be
assured that they  are  sound  and  firm; care  also,
should be  taken  that  she  is  free  from any  hidden
virus,  cutaneous  eruption, induration of the glands,
and every  other  affection which  betrays a depraved
state of the fluids."
  To  this we would add, that careful inquiry should
be made concerning  the family of the nurse,  to ascer-
tain if any of its  members have suffered from  any  of
those  terrible hereditary diseases,  such as scrofula and
epilepsy, against the infection of which it is impossible
to be  too carefully guarded.  It would  not be impossi- 
          Duties and Regimen of Nurses.        63
 hie, in fact, that the nurse  herself should be infected,
 although  she had never presented the slightest symp-
 tom of it, and transmit with her milk the germ to her
 nursling.
   Rosen  continues: " It  is an advantage  that  the
 nurse  be  rather fat than lean,  and that her  con-
 stitution  should  resemble that of the mother.  She
 should be able to suckle from  both  breasts, and the
 nipples should be well  proportioned; they should  be
 sufficiently irritable  to become firm when the end  of
 the finger is passed  over them,  otherwise the flow of
 the milk would be obstructed.
   " The milk, to be good, should possess the following
 qualities:
   " 1st. The color should be of  a bluish white;  2d, it
 should have no  odor;  3d, its  taste  should be  very
 sweet, and not salt  or  bitter — nor  like that  of the
 first milk  of a mother, when it  begins to change, and
 become real milk.    It is  best, when it has the taste
 of ordinary milk, diluted with a little water,  and
 sweetened with a small  quantity of sugar; 4th, the
 milk  should  have but  little body,  and should fall
 readily  from  the nail upon which a drop  has been
 expressed, if the nail is ever so little inclined ;  and, if
 the hand  is suddenly shaken, there should remain no
 whitish trace  upon the  nail; 5th, the  milk  should
 make no impression  on the eye,  when a drop is let fall
 into it; 6th, if, in allowing it to curdle, it gives much
curd, it is good  for nothing; 7th,  if, ;n allowing it to
     6 
64       Duties  and Regimen  »>e Nurses.
stand for several hours,  it gives  much cream, it is  not
a good sign, which is also ascertained by weighing it,
for the lighter it is, the more cream it yields ; *th, the
older the  milk is, the  thicker  it is — and the more
objectionable.  If, then, one  has to  choose between
two  nurses, one aged thirty years,  with milk but a
month older  than the mother's, and the other be  but
twenty, with  milk six or seven  months old, the first,
though  the oldest, should be  preferred, other things
being equal."
  Rosen enlarges afterward upon the regimen proper
for nurses,  upon the kind of life  they should lead, and
upon all the precautions they should take with respect
to their nurslings.
  "It is not sufficient," says he,  "to have a nurse who
possesses the qualities above-mentioned: the health of
the  child  still  demands  that she should observe  a
proper regimen.   First,  she should, if possible, have a
spacious chamber, free from the passage of draughts of
air; she should keep moderately warm and observe great
cleanliness.  The nurse ought not to expose herself im-
prudently to the cold, at least, her breasts should always
be well  covered.   If they are  cold, she should warm
them before presenting them to the child; otherwise, it
will be likely to get a cough, or a cold in the head.   I
should, however,  be very far  from advising a nurse
always to remain  in  her chamber;  on the contrary,
she should  be at liberty  to go as  she pleases into other
apartments, and  to occupy herself  with household 
          Duties  and Regimen  of Nurses.       65
affairs.   I have  remarked,  that from shutting up a
good nurse in her chamber, her milk became changed;
but would recover its good  qualities  in  a fortnight
after, if she was allowed to go and come in the house,
and occupy herself with some light labor.
  "She should eat  sufficiently, and at regular hours.
Wine, brandy, beer and coffee  are  not proper for her.
She may  be  allowed, although rarely, tea with milk.
It is unnecessary to be equally scrupulous with regard
to the choice of food.  The best kinds are those to
which she is accustomed, and which are most  agreea-
ble  to her.   She should,  however, refrain from acids
and every species of onion.
  " She  may be permitted, from time to time, to par-
take of salt food,* but the child would soon be tor-
mented with colic if she should eat peas, turnips, and
cabbage.    *     *    *     *     *     *     *   *
  " A nurse who  suckles well,  is rarely  taken with
her courses, and, if this does happen, she often  suffers
pain.  I  have often distinctly observed that  infants
who nurse  at this time are made sick by it.  The
safest way is for the nurse to have her breast drawn
by another woman, and give only  to the child, during
this time, clarified whey.       *            *     *

  * The nurse by this means is excited to drink, and  her milk
becomes in consequence more fluid.   This she should do from time
to time, especially, if the child is observed  while sleeping to have a
rattling breathing several times  in succession, without having taken
too much milk. 
66       Duties  and Regimen of  Ni wses.
  " Exercise is indispensable for a nurse, as much on
account of  her health, as  for the production of good
milk, that  is, milk  not  too thick,  and  which  does
not sour too easily.   Thus she  should come and go,
and  even work sufficiently every day to  cause slight
perspiration.   But she  should take this  exercise an
hour before eating, and not immediately after.
  " If the  child  is  not  quiet  enough to allow the
nurse to sleep well, she becomes feverish, and the milk
stops,  becomes yellow  and  unwholesome, and she
should then have an assistant, in order that  she may
sleep seven or eight hours a day.
  " A nurse should know how to control her temper:
for if the child takes the breast soon after she has had
a fit of anger, it  immediately suffers in consequence,
and  has convulsive  movements,  or other dangerous
affections, which may cost it its life.   Albinus relates
the following example:  A woman gave her breast to
her child after a violent fit of anger ; it was  immedi-
ately  attacked with hemorrhage of the eyes,  ears,
nose,  mouth, anus, etc.,  and died.
  " It is not less  injurious to give the child the breast
immediately after the nurse has had a  fright; she
should, in such a case, have her breast drawn by another
woman, and take some suitable medicine before a^ain
nursing the child.*'
  Aconite  is,  in  such a case, the  medicine to which
she should  have immediate recourse.   Five or six glo-
bules of the twelfth dilution, are to be dissolved in a 
         Duties and  Regimen of Nurses.       67
glass of water, of which  she  should take a few tea-
spoonfuls every two hours, or at greater or less inter-
vals, according as she  has been more or less  seriously
affected by her fright.   But in all cases, it is import-
ant that the  child should  not take  the  breast under
twenty-four hours from the time the  nurse  took the
last teaspoonful of medicine.
  "If the  nurse," pursues Rosen,  "suffers from any
anxiety  of mind  or grief, the child will not fail to ret
rogade and lose its health.  The cause of this state of
mind, should  be ascertained, and if there is no remedy
for it, the nurse must be changed.
  "If the nurse gets sick, the child should be taken
away until  she has  recovered.  During this  time, it
should take  the milk  of another person, or  the food
of which I  have before spoken.
  " There is  no danger in changing the nurse, for any
of the causes mentioned, if the one taken  in her place
has the requisite  qualities, and her milk be a little
younger than that of the first, six weeks at the most;
otherwise the child  may easily have a bad d:arrhea.
  " The nurse should  present the breast  to the child
whenever it is hungry  or thirsty, but not every time it
cries ; otherwise, the stomach of the child will become
surcharged  with aliment  it  cannot  digest, and the
milk, always tending to its usual alterations, becomes
acid,  acrimonious,  and causes vomiting and  colic.
Mothers and nurses regard these vomitings as very
advantageous to the  child ; without doubt, they are as 
68        Duties and  Regimen of Nurses.
useful as those which happen to adults, who eat ami
drink so often during the day, that they are some-
times forced to vomit:  but a nurse will  do well  to
accustom  the child to  take  the bri'ast only at regular
hours, and when it really needs it.  She will know by
the following signs,  if it is in need Of it:   1st, if a
certain  time has elapsed since he took it last;  2d,  if
it fixes its eyes upon the nurse, following her with the
eyes as she comes and goes; 3d, if joy is expressed  in
the eyes of the child at sight of the breast; 4th, if  in
presenting the end of a very clean finger to the mouth,
it takes  hold of it and commences  to draw.
  " The nurse ought not to give the breast to the child
immediately after her meals, otherwise the  milk sours
quickly  and causes colic; nor in  the  morning  before
taking something,  because the milk has then necessa-
rily a little acrimony.
  "To prevent the child from becoming deformed, he
should nurse alternately from both breasts, and for the
same reason, it is improper always to carry the child
on the same arm.
  " In conclusion,  a nurse who is subject to fall  asleep
in her chair, should not be  permitted  to  seat herself
near the fire with the child ; but too many accidents
have resulted from this cause."
  These wise counsels, given by Rosen, are addressed
to mothers  as well  as to nurses.  We earnestly recom-
mend them to both. 
Duties and Regimen of Nurses.       69
                 CHAPTER  IV.

              nursing bottles

  These were formerly simple bottles with a neck, to
which the nurses attached a little roll of fine linen or a
bit of sponge, and of which they made use to feed their
nurslings.  But  since artificial suckling, brought into
notice by the hygienists, has become as it wyere a  cus-
tom, industry has taken  in hand the simple invention
of our mothers;  nursing bottles have become the ob-
jects of a special branch of commerce, and several per-
sons have attached their names to successive improve-
ments  they profess to have made; so that we have now
the bottles of Darbo, Breton, Obin, Charriere, etc.; all
by the way constructed  upon the same principle, and
which  can be embraced  in one common description.
   The  primitive nursing bottle,  of which we  have
spoken, notwithstanding the apologists it still finds,
has a very serious fault: the vacuum, more or less com-
plete,  necessarily produced upon  the  surface by the
progressive diminution of the liquid, hinders its flow:
suction then becomes difficult, and even impossible,
if not  interrupted  from time to time.  Now, experi-
ence and  reason both demonstrate that there is no-
thing  more prejudicial  to the health of a child,  espe-
cially to a feeble one, than repeated ineffectual efforts 
70               Nursing  Hoitees.
at suction.   For  the  rest, we agree  with the  old
ladies, that they were  not  expensive, and  easily kept
in repair; but these advantages do not, in our opin-
ion, justify their use.
   Nursing bottles are now made with  twTo openings,
the one  intended for  the  passage  of  the  liquid, the
other, for the entrance of the  external air; so that a
vacuum is no longer possible, and  consequently there
is no difficulty in the  suction:  and we now rarely see
a  child become  impatient while  drinking, or desist
from his efforts, to cry.   The various ways of arranging
this  extra opening,  without  causing  the liquid to
escape when the vessel  is filled, constitutes, in  part,
the difference  which distinguishes  the  bottles  of the
different manufacturers.   But  their ingenuity has not
stopped here :  for in place of the bit of sponge or linen,
they  have substituted an emery  stopper,  perforated
through  its center, and covered  with an artificial
nipple; this is sometimes  but a simple adjustment of
elastic cork,  of caoutchouc  or of flexible ivory—is
oftener  made of a prepared cow's teat, whose  flexi-
bility is preserved by immersion in cold water.  This
last would be  undoubtedly the most suitable,  were it
not for  the difficulty of  keeping it clean,  its  liability
to become obstructed  and to deteriorate; for  these
reasons, we  prefer the  flexible ivory  nipples of  aI.
Charriere, notwithstanding their great fragility, which
makes them sometimes expensive.  All the efforts of
these manufacturers, however, have not been  able to 
Nursing Bottles.
71
remove the prejudices still existing, against the use of
nursing bottles.  These  are evidently attributable to
the  great care  required by artificial suckling, care
that mercenary nurses too often neglect; and espe-
cially to the general ignorance  respecting the compo-
sition of the food, to be given to the nursling.
  What liquid is the best adapted  to replace to the
new-born  child, the mother's milk, of which he is de-
prived ?   This is the great question, up to the present
time badly understood, badly stated, and consequently
badly settled.
  Chemistry and physiology, both demonstrate:  1st,
that the new-born  child, whose digestive powers are
gradually developed, needs  from  day to day, an ali-
ment more and more  substantial; 2d, that with  wo-
men in good health, the milk passes through precisely
the series  of transformations which progressively adapt
it to the increasing demands of the child, from the day
of the labor, up to the period of weaning.
  This granted, it follows that no animal  milk, that is
to say, no substance of  a fixed nature, is a  suitable
substitute for  the maternal milk.  The efforts  of art
should consequently be directed to the  discovery of a
variable formula, by means of which to imitate, in all
its  phases, the work of nature.
  We give here the recipe which we  have  already
published in  another  work,  and  the  excellence of
which, we have tested in numerous cases.
      '7 
72
Nursing Bottles.
  Take of beef and veal, each, three ounces, boil them
six hours  in  a quart of water, add a little salt—skim
when cold,—mix this broth with equal parts of cow's
milk and water, and warm it a little for use.*  Suppose
we increase every day the quantity of meat in the broth,
and of broth in the mixture, so that the milk shall finally
disappear, and I  venture to  affirm, that we shall have
solved one of the  most important questions  in  the
hygiene of children.
  Let  mothers remember  these precepts;  let them
have the courage to put them in practice, should  cir-
cumstances prevent their following the course of na-
ture, and they will not be slow to acknowledge, with
us,  that nursing bottles, in a majority  of cases,  are
preferable,  for  their children,  to the  breast of  a
stranger.

            * Viande de bo&uf, viande de veau ;
              De chaque, 60 grammes ;
              Un litre d'eau. 
Of  the Cries of Children.         73
                   CHAPTER V.

            of the cries of  children.

  WnEN a child cries, we may be sure that it expe-
riences some want, discomfort, or actual  pain.  The
first thing to be done then, is  to discover the cause of
his  cries.
  This cause, in the child just born, is found in the
impression which the air, a medium  colder than that
to which he  is accustomed, suddenly produces on his
body, in the introduction of this air into  his lungs-
sounds, light, the contact of the hands, of linen,  etc.
He  gives evident signs of the  excitement  these cause
him, by the  rapid movement of his  limbs, sometimes
by sneezing, and always by cries.
  From the  tone and degree of intensity of these last,
we  draw inferences which  are rarely incorrect.   "A
child," says  M. Billard, "may be considered vigorous.
and likely to live, if his cry is  sustained, sonorous and
easy, such a cry always indicates free and full respira-
tion ; ordinarily, a sign of health and vigor in the newly-
born.  We are rarely  in error, in relying on this ob-
servation ; we see children, having a certain degree of
plumpness, and  robust limbs,  hardly able to breathe,
and  crying  with   great  difficulty, who  perish from 
74          Of the  Cries of Children.
asphyxia   i apoplexy, while others, more feeble, if wo
judge b  .heir  external appearance, but  with a vigor-
ous and free cry, undergo, without danger, the sudden
changres that the  commencement of extra-uterine  life
imposes upon them."
  The cause of the  cries  of children, after this  first
commotion has subsided into a refreshing sleep, is not
always so easy  to indicate.
  "There are children," says M. Billard, "who  cry
without its being possible to assign a cause for it; and
whom, notwithstanding their  continual agitation and
wakefulness, we do  not see pine away.   These chil-
dren are distinguished among  all those brought to the
Foundling Hospital,  by the pertinacity of their cries;
and  the nurses, who dread to take charge of them,
vulgarly designate them by the  epithet,  well  enough
merited, of erf ants mechants.   This continual excita-
tion  proceeds, no  doubt, from  a  greater  sensibility in
them, than in other children."
  Fortunately for the nurses, and especially for moth-
ers, les enfants  mechants are the  exceptions, and nearly
always, with a  little  care,  they can succeed, except in
cases of real disease, in appeasing the cries  of their
children.
  The want of nourishment,  the discomfort caused
either by a fold in their linen, or in their bed ; an un-
comfortable position, or one too long maintained; cold;
the  irritation produced by  the  presence of urine, or
fecal matter upon the external parts; the want of sleep, 
Of the Cries  of Children.          75
and lastly, the pain caused by the process of dentition,
and other maladies, are  the usual causes of the cries
of children.
  Whether  the cries are caused by hunger, is easily
determined,  by considering the length of time that
has  elapsed, since the child has taken food.  "We
must not always conclude," says M. Billard, "because
a child is quieted by offering it the breast, that hun-
ger is the cause of its cries; for there are children  of
such insatiable voracity, that  they never  refuse the
breast  when it is offered them."
  It should  be observed, that this greediness,  far from
being an advantage to the child, has often no other re-
sult than  to fatigue the stomach, and cause sometimes
a disease  of this organ.   It  is desirable, then, to ac-
custom the child to take the breast, from the beginning,
only at  regular intervals, taking care to nurse  it fre-
quently, in proportion as the child  is young.
  We  should ascertain  if the cries  of a child  arise
from some  derangement  of  its dress, or bed; we
sometimes,   too,  succeed   in  soothing  them, by
changing its position, if it has  lain long  in one
posture.
  Care should be taken to preserve a proper tempera-
ture in the chamber, and above all, not to allow it to
remain long wet by urine., or  soiled  with  excrement.
Neglect of this last precaution is liable to cause cracks
in the groin and breech which are probably very pain-
ful; it is customarv to powder these  parts with lyco- 
76         Of the  Cries of Children.
podium, but we absolutely protest against this custom,
for  the reason  that lycopodium  possesses medicinal
properties,  slightly  marked,  it is  true, but  capable,
nevertheless,  of exercising a bad  influence upon  the
general  health  of the  child.  If necessary,  we may
replace the lycopodium, by the  use of a  powder of
worm-eaten wood, a substance absolutely inert.
  The want of sleep, as we have said, becomes some-
times a cause of these cries.
  When  wakefulness is  not  produced by  a  morbid
state, one succeeds often in  putting them to sleep,
by singing a low and monotonous air;  this method
is used the world over.
  As to the administration of opiates, as a means of
procuring sleep, and especially the syrup of poppies,
of which  such monstrous abuse has been, and  is still
made in certain countries, we cannot denounce it in
terms too energetic.
  During the first  three months, children that are
properly cared for, cry but little.  But  at  the  fourth
month, the period at which  dentition generally com-
mences, it  is different;  it is then  only  that  other
means may be necessary to calm them than  the breast,
or the nursing bottle.   One may facilitate the coming
of the teeth, by passing the finger frequently over the
gums, and by giving them a piece of dry root of marsh
mallow to bite upon; but if this hastens and facilitates
the  protrusion of  the  teeth,  the  pain which accom-
panies it  is not lessened.  There is indeed no way of 
            Of the Cries of Children.         77
avoiding this, and it is best, quietly to let nature take
her own course.
  During the period of dentition, children are relaxed
and their stools become green   They drool, are rest
less, and cry constantly.   Their  cries have at this time
an acuteness which denotes real pain.  They have some
times cough, or slight ophthalmia, and  almost always
redness, heat, and a little swelling of the cheeks. If
they are  constipated, it is well to give them a  little
whey.   As to medicines,  properly  speaking,  it is
better not to have recourse to them, except upon the
occurrence of symptoms sufficiently marked to consti-
tute a  real disease, as for example,  violent diarrhea,
tympanitis,  convulsions,  etc.  Chamomilla, in these
cases,  is the  medicine to which we  should give tlr,
preference.   It may be administered of the twelfth di-
lution, or of the  twenty-fourth,  if there  is  a predom
inance of nervous symptoms.  Two or three teaspoo:
fuls, in the course of the day, of a tumbler of water,
in which has been dissolved one or  two globules of
this medicine, will almost always suffice to restore the
normal state.  Aconite  and Belladonna would  only
be  appropriate in  the cases, fortunately rare, where
dentition has brought on either an  intense  fever, or
signs of cerebral  congestion, or violent convulsions.*
   Dulcamara administered of a medium dilution, in
  » Belladonna, in this last case, should be administered on tLc
first appearance of the symptoms. 
78         Of the Cries of Children.
 the  manner we have just indicated  for chamomilla
 apjiears  to me preferable to this last, especially  in
 lymphatic children,  when  we  have to combat an
 ophthalmia occasioned by dentition.
   1 never consider it necessary to give  to  the nurse
 l\e medicine demanded by the symptoms of the child;
 ;br if she herself has no need of it, it is not unlikely
 that she would experience from it, and very uselessly.
 ?>ome unpleasant consequences.   It is  one of the groat
 advantages of homoeopathic medicines that they may
 be administered to even the youngest and most deli-
 cate  children, without exciting repugnance.
  When  the  cries of a  child  are  caused by a disease
 independent of dentition, it  is for the physician to
 ascertain its nature and  apply the remedy.-
  Physicians have sought to deduce from the rhythm,
 o:ne and duration  of the cries, the character of the
a.sease which excites  them.   But with the exception
of the affections of the air passages, croup, for example,
or oedema of the glottis, which causes a peculiar cry,
it seems  to me impossible to attach to them a symp-
tomatic signification.
  Excessive crying, independently of the cause which
produces  it. has a danger of its own.  We sometimes
see the efforts  which they cause, produce hernia, and
even (much more rarely, it is true) cerebral conges-
tions.  Beside, as we have said,  they express suffer-
ing which should be avoided by every  possible means 
Weaning.
79
                 CHAPTER  VI.

                   WEANIN G .

  The period of weaning  is a difficult one, both for
the child  and the nurse, when one  commits the im-
prudence  of  entering upon it at an improper time,
or without having properly prepared  for  the tran-
sition.
  The termination of the first dentition seems to be
the time assigned by nature for this change; but we
are rarely to be governed  exactly by this indication.
It appears to me  safer  and even more logical to be
guided by the health of the nurse and the constitution
of the child.
  When the nurse has  but little milk, or  milk  of a
mediocre  quality,  it is  better to hasten the time, in
order that the child may have nourishment  of a more
abundant  and  substantial  quality.  In  this case re-
course should be had to artificial suckling,  according
to the precepts  laid down in the chapter on Nursing-
bottles.  In this  manner we shall be  able  gradually
to substitute solid  food in place of milk.
  For a weakly and ailing  child, it is more  necessary
to retain the breast of the nurse  to a late period than
for a robust and  healthy one; provided always,  that 
80
Weaning.
its  feeble 6tate  is  not caused by her  bad health 01
defective milk.
  In any case, it is not when  the child is sick that a
change should be made in its  food, unless the change
is made as a means of cure.
  If, for example, it is foreseen during the first two or
three   months that  some  unavoidable  circumstance
will soon render it necessary  to wean the child, it is
infinitely better  to proceed to it at once, than by post-
poning it a month or two, have it occur at the period,
s'.vrays more or less painful, of teething.
  We  have  recently had  occasion  to verify the  im-
portance  of this precaution.
  A lady had nursed her child but two months when
her father was  attacked with a disease  which was
expected  to be  fatal.   The catastrophe was believed
to be inevitable.  It could not be delayed more than
five or six weeks.  The lady  was devotedly attached
to her father, and could not  reconcile herself to the
idea of his  death.  It was to be feared, in  conse-
quence, that the sad event that she dreaded, without
being yet willing to believe, would produce a violent
perturbation  from which her  child could  not  fail to
suffer.  We advised her to wean it.   She complied
the more willingly  as  the  child  evidently began al-
ready  to  suffer  from  her  inquietude.   Everything
occurred  as we  had  anticipated.  The  father died,
and  the  grief of the  daughter was  so violent  as to
produce  an illness of several  weeks' duration.  But 
                     Weaning.                   8]
the  child  experienced  no  inconvenience  from  it,
when it would perhaps  have died  had it continued
to take  the breast.
   In  some  countries mothers make  it  an  almost
sacred rule to nurse their children nine months.  This
comes, no doubt, from the idea that nature intends that
the child shall receive its mother's milk, for exactly
the same  length  of time that it  lived in her womb.
It is, however, one of those superstitious fancies that
are totally without foundation.
   When from  the  eighth  to the tenth  month  a  child
begins to digest without  difficulty other food than the
milk  of its  nurse, it is well to  habituate it  to the
change, and  to give it  the breast  less frequently in
proportion  as it  eats more.  It  should not take the
breast until a certain time after having eaten, other-
wise, it will be likely to suffer from indigestion.  The
nurse should  especially  avoid giving the breast  if,
after having eaten, it  appears to be thirsty; water
slightly swTeetened is then the only suitable drink.
   We  say  slightly sweetened, because  the  use  of
sugar is so often abused.  This substance, which, when
used moderately,  aids digestion, irritates the stomach,
diminishes  the appetite, and  produces  acidity and
spoils the teeth when taken in excess.
   In tact, sugar mixed with bread crumbs and  placed .
in contact with a mucous membrane, the  tongue, for
example, is  almost instantaneously  transformed  into
an  acid called by  chemists pectic  acid.   It follows 
82
Weaning.
then that it is in exciting the stomach in the manner
of condiments, and especially of acids, that sugar aids
digestion.   But we  can easily imagine  the effects
upon the economy of this  artificial  stimulus, when
from  being repeated every day, its  use  becomes  a
habit, and  the stomach can no longer do without it.
The digestive power is lost, the breath becomes sour,
and the teeth, constantly  bathed in  an  acidulated.
saliva, undergo a slow decomposition, which destroys
the  enamel,  turns  them dark,  renders them brittle,
aud finally produces caries.
  I am  aware that  individual instances may be cited
of persons who have all their lives consumed large
quantities of  sugar, and who  have  nevertheless  at-
tained to an advanced age with very fine teeth.  But,
these are constitutions so privileged and robust in all
respects, as to resist the most extravagant and disor-
ganizing  regimen.   A  particular  idiosyncrasy,  or
perhaps a natural predominance of the alkaline prin-
ciple in the saliva, and the gastric juice, may suffice
to explain these exceptions.
  It is  a  matter  of common  observation, that  the
secretion of milk, like  that  of all the other glandular
fluids, becomes abundant in proportion as it  is fre-
quently  solicited; the contrary proposition being but a
rigorous corollary from this, it follows that, in propor-
tion as the breasts are less frequently drawn, the milk
will diminish, and thus by lengthening gradually the
intervals of nursing, the nurse will  avoid  both  for 
                     Weaning.                   83
herself and for the child, many of the inconveniences
of weaning.
  Rosen advises,  that when it  is finally determined
to withdraw the breast, the nipple should be rubbed
with some bitter substance, like  the  extract of worm-
wood,  whose   disagreeable taste would not fail  to
deprive the child of  all desire for it.
  Much has been said, and  much written upon the
nature of the food which should  replace the mother's
milk.  Physicians agree  upon  this  point, that the
lightest  and  most digestible  substances should  have
the preference, and  by one of those inconsistencies so
common, they  agree again in  prescribing the  most
indigestible things  in the world, to wit: cow's  milk,
pap and panada.   Happily,  the error they commit,
consists  less in prescribing these substances to child-
ren, whose gastric  activity  readily  accommodates
itself to  them, than in calling  them, as a general rule,
easy of digestion.  The  majority  of adult  stomachs
find milk  and pap of difficult digestion; children  di-
gest them much better, but they, especially at a certain
age, would do quite  as well with a diet of meat broth.
A bit of roast  beef is the habitual plaything of  Eng-
lish children ;  they suck it and bite  it with their gums,
and it has thus the  double advantage of nourishing
the body, and  facilitating  the protrusion of the teeth.
  An  excellent food, much preferable  to pap, and
which children may take from the  hour of their  birth
\o that of tlieir weaning, and  afterward, is a sort  of 
*4                   Weaning.
broth much used  in Cermany, and  in the north of
Europe, prepared with milk, warm water  and grated
biscuit.   But  the  biscuit of which  we speak, does
not  in  the least resemble the  fancy  article  sold in
France, under  the  same name.  It  is a kind of very
light and  firm cake, nearly resembling,  with the excep-
tion  of the flavors,  which are left out,  what is sold in
Paris, under the name of biscottes.  This biscuit may
be replaced by wheat bread, cut in slices, and dried
in an oven ; the dried bread is  then grated and boiling
water poured upon  it, a little sugar is then added, and
lastly,  some milk.  The younger the child the  thinner
should be the mixture.
  It would be well  to  vary  the food of infants, by
alternating this preparation with  a porridge made of
semolina,  sago,  etc.; but,  as a general  rule, they
should not be kept  upon  an exclusively milk diet after
their first year, and if there is any predisposition to
scrofula, it may be necessary, at this period, to deprive
them of it entirely.
  Lastly,  there is above all, an essentially restorative
and  tonic agent, imperatively  called for by children
of whatever constitution, to wit:  the open air.   " It
is  especially in the earlier years of life," says Jean
Jacques Rousseau,  "that the air acts upon the consti-
tution  of  children ; it penetrates  their soft  and deli-
cate  skins, by  every pore, affecting powerfully  their
growing bodies, and  leaving upon them impressions.
which are never effaced." 
Second Period  of Childhood.         85
                  CHAPTER VII.

      SECOND  PERIOD  OF  CHILDHOOD.

  The physical and moral  education  of children,
must  be regulated, in each case,  by a multitude of
different  circumstances,  such  as  constitution,  sex,
climate,  character,  intellectual aptitudes,  etc., etc.
There are, however, certain hygienic rules applicable
to all; and  a summary exposition of these  rules will
form the subject of the present chapter.
  Notwithstanding  the sophisms of Rousseau,  who
professed to  commence the reformation of humanity
by imposing upon it a sort of Pythagorean diet, man
is essentially omniverous;  that is  to  say, he  is in-
tended at once to eat grains, fruits, roots, herbs and
the flesh of animals.  This is shown by the confor-
mation of his dental system and digestive apparatus ;
and we see  him in all parts of the universe, instinct-
ively conforming to this natural tendency of his orga-
nization.
  It is  true, his  tastes, or rather, his wants, vary  a
little in  the different latitudes in which  he is forced
to live.   Men in cold countries, consume larger quan-
tities, and live more especially upon animal food, than
the inhabitants of warmer latitudes.  The physiological
reason of this difference is easily understood, but its 
86         Second Period of Childhood.
explanation does not belong to our subject.  The only
point upon which we are called upon to express our-
selves, is this:  Is it proper that children should live
in the same manner as adults ?
  It is understood that we speak here of children of a
certain  age, and  not of those who are  still  at  the
breast.   But if, in the opinion of all  the  world,  it
would be absurd to confine the latter to the kind  of
food proper for adults,  it would be but little more rea-
sonable to submit them to  it  from  the  day that they
are weaned.
  In nature everything operates by gradual transitions.
The teeth of children,  have not the solidity of those
of men; they require, then, food which is easily masti-
cated.  And again,  their stomachs, accustomed only
to milk and liquids, would not long bear up under the
necessity of digesting only solid substances and strong
meats.  Thus the  instincts of children, lead them to
prefer tender  and juicy  food, cream, blanc-mange—
gelatinous meats have almost always their preference;
and  it is only gradually, that we see them accustom
themselves to eat like their parents.
  Children digest rapidly ; growth  in them facilitates
assimilation;  the least abstinence depresses them, and
if prolonged,  would very  soon be prejudicial;  they
should  then  eat often.  But  however  frequent their
repasts, it  is  important that  they should be taken at
regular hours; otherwise  they will  eat the greater
part of  the time, without appetite, without need, and 
           Second Period of Childhood.         87
sometimes, for want of something else to do, or for the
sake of amusement.  Now nothing is more pernicious
to their health, than this bad habit that they contract
so easily, of constantly disturbing, by a useless repast,
the still unfinished digestion- of the last one taken.
   Children who live in this manner, are almost always
pale, delicate, suffering, and without  ardor  for study,
or even for play.
   A vegetable diet, and  especially the habitual use
of pastry and farinaceous food, are thought, like milk,
to favor in children the lymphatic  temperament, and
consequently scrofula.  We believe this opinion well-
founded;  but, I think at the same  time, that the per-
manent action  of  a cold  and  humid atmosphere has
far more  to do, than a vicious alimentation, with the
grievous results attributed to this  cause.   The brisk
air of mountains,  on  the  contrary, produces  an op-
posite  effect.  Thence comes that softness, flabbiness
and decoloration of the flesh  among the inhabitants
of  the gorges  and  low places, while  a sanguine
temperament,  activity,  vigor   and   courage,  are  in
all  parts of the earth distinguishing traits of moun-
taineers.
  Unfortunately,  man  has  not the   privilege of
choosing where  he will be born, and rarely the choice
of the country where he will pass his  life.
  But  if  the  influence of climate, when it is of an
injurious nature, is an irremediable evil, it behooves
us,  when  forced to struggle against it, to diminish as
        8 
S*         Second Period of Childhood.
far as possible its effects, by means of a tonic alimen
tation.  The English, in this respect, have  perfectly
comprehended  their  situation,  and  reason  among
them has  corroborated  instinct.  This  is why they
turn their fields into pastures, and give  their children
more roast-beef than bread.
  A child  in  good health should  have an  appetite.
The absence  of  appetite, among  children, is  then
always an  indication  either of a disease, more or less
latent, of the lack of exercise, or of some vicious  habit
which we should endeavor to discover.   It would in
any case be rendering them no service to  oblige them
to eat without  being  hungry; for whatever  they eat
in this manner, so far from  being beneficial  to them,
would in all probability but augment the disorder of
their health.
  Some children manifest an invincible  repugnance
for  particular articles of food.  To constrain them in
this respect, appears  to me  unwise.   It  is  better to
leave the  matter  to time; it will change  their tastes,
if  these  ought  to  be  changed.   But, we  have
unquestionably instincts  which   indicate  what   is
proper for us, and the  natural repugnance which we
experience for  certain articles  of food, is proof that
these are  not  adapted to  our stomachs.  Then, of
what use is it to torment children  for  trifles ?   They
have always enough  of inevitable trouble, without
our procuring it for them now, under the vain pretext
of sparing it to them in the future. 
          Second Period of Childhood.        89
  Nevertheless,  when  children  manifest a  morbid
appetite  for  acids  and green  fruits, we may mis-
trust the state of their health; for even although these
substances should not seem to incommode them, the
very facility with w7hich their stomachs support them,
proves that there is something abnormal in their con-
dition.  We  should not  forget, beside, that  children
are as fond,  and even more so than men, of excited
sensation, and that their desires are consequently far
from being always an expression of real wants.
  Independently of a  regular and.well  chosen diet,
many circumstances are still necessary to the health
of children, and to the free development of their phy-
sical powers.  Habits  of cleanliness, for example, are
of rigorous necessity.
  They are  to  be bathed, as we have  said, at the
moment of their birth, and there is no reason why
this bath should not  be daily repeated.   This is one
of those good habits which, once formed, cost nothing,
and may be continued through  life to  our infinite
advantage.
  Be it weU  understood, however,  that these ablutions
should always be made with cold water.
  Cold water is  a tonic which renders the skin firm
and fortifies  it  against inclemencies of the  weather.
Children  should  then  be  accustomed to  it from  the
first week of  their birth.  In no country, in no season,
can cold baths, or cold  ablutions  cause danger or any
serious inconvenience,  and  it is  only important that 
 90        Second Period of Childhood.
 the  baths  should be taken quickly, in  proportion  as
 the  temperature  of  the  water is  low.   Reduced  to
 simple and rapid  immersions, they can  have no other
 effect, even in the midst of winter, than  to excite  in
 the surface a salutary reaction, provided that the skin
 be properly dried, and that the bath be followed by a
 little exercise.
   After what precedes, it is  useless to add  that  we
 approve, in summer, of river and  sea bathing.  The
 bath is beside, in this case, an opportunity for taking
 exercise.   The  custom of  teaching girls as well  as
 boys, to  swim, has gained  ground within  a few years
 past in our large cities, and it is to be wished that this
 custom might  spread rapidly in  the provinces, and
 especially in certain  parts of the country, where the
 most intolerable want of cleanliness is still  common.
   Children should be combed every day.  This recom-
 mendation, which among  well-bred people  will aj>pear
 superfluous, and even puerile, will on the  other hand
 seem  extravagant to more than  one peasant.  We
 could  cite  many  villages of Bretagne  or Franche-
comte, where the children  are literally  devoured  by
 vermin, under the fine  pretext that  they  are a  sign
<f health.
  It would be difficult to indicate  the origin of this
revolting maxim; but,  it is  pretty certainly a  false
one.
  In fact, the spontaneous production, in  the hair  of
children, of  these  repulsive  parasites, is  reaUy  a 
           Second  Period of Childhood.        91
symptom of disease, or  at least of a bad condition of
the body, which ought to be corrected.
  In  some countries, mercurial  ointment is resorted
to for the purpose of destroying them.   This, in truth,
is an  expeditious mode; but it is  not less dangerous
than  prompt.  Its  most common result  is to  repel
upon  the organs of the  senses, or upon  the brain, the
morbid  action which was existing in the scalp, and
hence, to  produce  deafness, amaurosis, ophthalmia,
and often even fatal meningitis.
  The children  among whom  these  parasites are
spontaneously engendered, are pale and emaciated, or
bloated.  They are subject to chilliness, on  the least
exposure to cold; lymph is  abundant, the blood is
poor and circulates badly.  They have generally blue
eyes,  and  light  hair, with  an earthy or  diaphanous
skin,  and  in  a word, all the signs of the lymphatic
temperament.
  These parasites most  commonly make their appear-
ance between the seventh and twelfth years, in those
who are subject to  them at all.
  A species of tinea capitis, most frequently the tinea
favosa, very often accompanies them, and  as a conse-
quence of this last, engorgements  of the parotid, and
submaxillary glands, and of the cervical ganglions, are
not unfrequently superadded.
  Children in this state, require the  immediate care
of their mothers;  a good regimen is  the  first condi- 
92         Second Period  of Ciiillhood
tion of a return  to health  ; that of boarding schools
is generally fatal to them.
  The  spontaneous generation  of  vermin, constitut-
ing, as we have  said, a really morbid state, it is evi-
dent that combing frequently, will not alone suffice to
remove them ; but it  is at least  incontestable, that to
neglect it, augments to an almost intolerable  degree,
the discomfort they occasion.*
  I shall  say but little of the dress  suitable for child-
ren—the subject is worn out—exhausted;  there  are
nevertheless, abuses which still exist.
  All  the world  knows, for example, how  pernicious
to young girls,  is the use   of corsets.   If they  are
badly made,  they deform the figure; if they are well
made,  they exercise upon the lungs and the abdominal
viscera, a compression fatal to  the development of
these organs.
  I do not hesitate to pronounce them among the most
frequent causes of phthisis pulmonalis, aneurism, gas
tralgia and spasms of  the stomach;  and especially, in
consequence  of the obstacle they offer to the circula-
tion, and free return of the venous  blood  to  the
heart,  it appears to me evident, that they have  the
effect of keeping up  a sort  of passive congestion of
  * Sulphur and Dulcamara, which are the specifics for tinea favosa,
are at the  same time, those of the verminous diathesis which ac-
companies it. 
           Second Period of Childhojd.         93
 the  organs of  the  abdomen,  and thus causing  the
 greater part of the affections of the womb with which
 women are so often affected.
   " The use of corsets," says  Hartlaub, " is very in-
 jurious to young  girls, and  ought to be entirely pro-
 hibited, unless indeed, they are made so large as not
 to cause the slightest press" "^   It is an error to sup-
 pose that  corsets  are necessary to sustain  the mam-
 mae,  and  maintain the upper  part of the body  in  a
 vertical position.   Instead of  this, they actually hin-
 der the breasts from taking a regular  conformation,
 and render them  soft and flabby.  They impede the
 action of  the  muscles, especially  those  of  the back
 weaken them and render  them incapable* of sustaining
 the  body  erect;  from  whence results, as may be
 remarked  in the majority of women, the impossibility.
 without external support,  of holding the upper  part
 of the body in  a  proper position  ; and  to  nature  is
 attributed a fault,  produced by the means employed to
 correct her pretended imperfections.  An incontesta-
 ble proof  of this truth is, that  boys, who do not wear
 corsets, generally  stand  and walk with  more grace
 and   firmness  than  girls.  The want of exercise,
 however,  is not  without  its influence  in  producing
 that relaxation of the muscles, which causes the bodies
 of many women to yield  when  their corsets have been
removed.   Finally, the whalebone placed in the back
of the corsets  to  sustain  the  eyelets,  twisting  and
 sending little by little, alternately in different direc 
94         Second  Period of  Childhood.
tions, produces an unequal  pi\»ure, which joined to
other causes, may contribute to produce a more or less
considerable curvature of the spine."
  It  is  beside, easily  understood, that corsets are
the more injurious to young girls, in proportion as
they  are delicate and  undeveloped.  We think, de-
cidedly,  that if they must absolutely wear them, they
ought not at least to commence their use before the
age of twelve or thirteen  years.  And then,  we  has-
ten to add, they must be worn loose and without a busk.
  In general, all kinds of pressure produced by dress,
is injurious to the health of children of either  sex.
  It is  then essential that  their clothes should  be
large enough to allow the most entire freedom of move-
ment.   They should be light without being cold, but it
is  especially important, that they  should not be to'
warm.   To  cover children  unnecessarily,  with  tlu
idea of avoiding cold, is just the way to  provoke the
evil it  is intended to  prevent; for they become more
sensitive to changes  of the atmosphere, the less they
are habituated to  bear them.
  Beside, to surround  children T*ith  excessive pre-
cautions,  evinces misconception   of  their   destiny,
and a  lack  of proper foresight with respect to  them.
•'A mother fails in her mission,"  says Jean   Jacques
Rousseau, ""when she makes an idol of her   child,—
when  she nurses his feebleness to prevent him from
feeling it, and, hoping to screen him from the  laws of
nature,  protects him from aU rude effects and  impres- 
           Second Period of Childhood.        95
sions,  without thinking how, for the sake of saving
him a few temporary inconveniences, she accumulates
future  evils upon his head, and how barbarous a pre-
caution it is  to prolong the feebleness of the child, to
that period, when he must endure the fatigues of the
man.  Thetis, in order to render her son invulnera-
ble, plunged  him, says the fable, in the waters of the
Styx.   This  allegory  is  clear and  beautiful.   The
cruel mothers of wdiom I speak, do otherwise: by
piunging  their children into effeminacy, they prepare
Buffering for them, and open the door to evils of every
kind, of which, afterward, the}" do not fail to become
the prey."
  The author of Emile, one or two pages farther on,
adds:
  "Experience proves, that more of those  children
die, who are  delicately reared, than  of those who are
more exposed, and, provided one  does not go beyond
their strength, we risk less by accustoming  them  to
the hardships they are, in  all probability, destined to
support at a later period.   It  is  well  to  harden their
bodies to the changes of the seasons, the climates  and
the elements—to hunger,  thirst and  fatigue—to  dip
them in the waters of the Styx.   Before the habits of
the body  are formed,  we  can give those we wish,
without danger; but when  once fixed, change becomes
perilous."
  We  perfectly agree  with Rousseau in these opin-
ions.
        9 
 96        Second Period  of Childhood.
   After the quotations we have made, it  is hardly
 necessary for us to say  how much  importance  we
 attach to  corporeal exercise, in the education of chil-
 dren.   The open air and exercise are almost as  indis-
 pensable to them as the food they eat.
   Deprived of this double stimulant, all their functions
 are deranged—they only half exist.  Their  faces be-
 come thin;  they no longer eat, or  have capricious ap-
 petites ; their fibers become relaxed, and tlieir muscles
 atrophied.  They become irritable, weak and coward-
 ly, and the least effort overcomes  them.   If, at the
 same time that they are condemned to this deplorable
 inaction, a constant effort is made to excite their young
 minds, it may be that, for a time, these  will  gain, at
 the expense of their bodies ;  but not very long ; these
little prodigies, as they are called, will  not live, or if
they live,  they will probably be but men of  moderate
abilities.
   The sterile precocity of these unfortunate  children,
resembles those insipid fruits, whose maturity is forced
by warming the roots of the tree which bears them.
  Let us remark beside, that the intellectual education
generally  given to children, has, independently of the
 radical vice of being premature, the not less injurious
 one  of perverting the judgment,  and spoiling  the
 character.   Instead of addressing  the  reason,  little
 beside  the memory  is cultivated ; instead  of being
 contented  to  inculcate in them  a love of goodness,
 for its  own  sake,  they are  only excited by the van 
Second Period of Childhood.         97
ity  of surpassing children  of their  own  age.  Hence
that fever of self-love with which we are inoculated in
our cradles, by the vanity of our parents ; a fatal and
tenacious fever, that no remedy can cure, w7hose  par-
oxysms  every day renews, and which constitutes the
misery of mankind.   But this does not belong to our
subject.
  It does not require a  great effort of intelligence to
comprehend the happy effects of gymnastic exercises,
upon the development of the human  body.   It is a
truth of such common observation,  and so incontesta-
ble, that it would be  superfluous  to demonstrate it
here.  Those occupations which  exercise a part of the
body only, give to this  part, as every one  knows, an
extraordinary  preponderance  of strength.   Every-
body has  remarked,  for instance, the prominence of
the shoulders of bakers, who exercise daily the deltoid
muscles.  A  muscle  of the fore-arm,  called the pro-
nator radii teres, acquires almost  always in black-
smiths,  such a volume, that their profession has been
frequently recognized  by this sign alone.  Now what
partial  exercise can  effect for one  muscle,  general
exercise can do for the whole body.
  Among the ancients,  Gymnastics were the  founda-
tion of  education.  The Spartans  attributed  to  this
cause, and with reason,  their vigor, both of soul  and
body.   Perhaps it would not be an  exaggeration to
say, that it was to this also, that the Greeks owed, for
a long time, their independence. 
 98         Second  Period of  Childhood.
  The tendency of modern  civilization has been, to
assign to  Gymnastics but a  secondary place in the
plan of education.
  Formerly,  the physical prevailed  over  the  moral
man ; it is so much the contrary, in our days, that one
is tempted to believe, from the manner in which many
parents raise their children, that in the human duality
they consider  the  body  as  the accessory part.  In
modern times, we do for our animals, precisely what
the Greeks did for their children.  The cattle-breeders
of Perche, of Normandy, and of Yorkshire, seem alone
to have  profited by  the example of the Spartans;
but does  it not seem  a strange mockery, in view of
the prodigies  effected by training upon  cattle  and
horses, that no  effort  is  yet  made,  by  anthropolo-
gists, in  favor  of the physical amelioration of the
human race!
  Nevertheless,  let us  be just.  England has her
boxers, as the Peloponnesus had its wrestlers.   This
savage passion of the English for pugilism, has it not
its good side, and  may not the human training, me-
thodically practiced in London, for a detestable pur-
pose, be destined, in changing its object, to introduce
certain rules of hygiene into our habits, whose bene-
fits it  will be almost impossible  properly to apure-
ciate %
  A professor of the Faculty  of  Medicine of  Paris,
M. Hyppolite Royer-Collard,  published a few years
since, a memoir on this subject, full of interest. 
          Second Period of Childhood.        99
  The English boxers, before their appearance in  the
ring to fight,  as formerly the  gladiators of  Rome,
or the beasts of the circus, are subjected for several
months,  to  a regimen of which  the  effect  is to re-
move every trace of adipose matter, and replace  the
fat with muscular fiber.  They are, in a word, trained
exactly like race-horses.
  Experience  proves, and  this is  the  important part
of the matter,  that this regimen  produces no  inconve-
nience, but  triples the strength, and consolidates the
health.   Here is then, for the hygienic  physician, a
grave subject  for meditation, and M.  Royer-Collard,
has treated it  with all the gravity  it deserves.
  It is not impossible that, when a few years' experi-
ence shall have extended  our notions, yet too vague on
this  interesting subject, we may be tempted  to treat
of i4. somewhat more at length than at present. 
100
Onanism.
                 CHAPTER  VIII.

                    ONANISM.

  Onanism is the saddest abuse man can make of his
body.   It is,  par  excellence, the shameful vice, the
vice of feeble  souls ; a  sort  of negative passion, in
which all other passions are extinguished.  Shame to
the man who abandons  himself to  it!  Woe to the
poor child who is,  through neglect, permitted  to con-
tract it!
  " It is toward the  twelfth or thirteenth year," says
Hartlaub, " that the sensual  instinct  is awakened."
This assertion would undoubtedly be true, if man was
always born and developed in the normal  conditions
of his  original  nature.   But it  rarely  so  happens.
Civilization depraves his  mind and his  senses, and but
too often gives him  an unfortunate  precocity, which
some are  foolish enough to admire,  because they see
its advantages, without discovering its dangers.
  There is a  multitude of children, of both sexes, who
are liable to contract this  habit at the age of five, four,
or even  three years.
  This incomprehensible  and fatal sensuality does not,
assuredly, proceed in children from a depraved moral
state ; but is the symptom of an unhealthy surexcita- 
                     Onanism.                  101
tion, whose sad  effects  often survive their cause, and
seldom  fail to become habitual, if not promptly re-
medied.
  Let us observe, nevertheless, that independently of
all accidental or pathological cause, there are children
prematurely impelled to sexual excesses, by a congen-
ital vice in their nervous system.
  Gall's system, verified  upon this subject  by innu-
merable facts,  may  serve  here as  a guide.*  The
children of whom we speak, have the occiput  promi-
nent,  and  the  cerebellum  manifests,  by two large
protuberances situated immediately above the nape of
the neck, its  relative preponderance in the encephalic
mass.   It  is unnecessary to say that these children
require  a special surveiUance.
   Tolumes have been published upon the physical
and moral results of onanism.  The truth  is,  that it
alone makes greater ravages in the economy than all
the other passions together.  It is  the scourge of in-
fancy.   Like the foul worm, which  devours and cor-
rupts  the   fruit  before  its maturity, it exhausts the
sources  of life,  frustrates all  its manifestations, and
secretly consumes, without giving them time  to act,
all the springs of the human organism.
  We shall rapidly indicate the signs of this deplora-
ble monomania ; after which, we shall point out the
means of combating it.
  * According to Gall, the cerebellum is the seat of the sensual in-
stincts. 
102
Onanism.
   The first sentiment  that  this species of sensuality
awakens in children, is a sort  of bashfulness, incom-
patible with  the innocence natural  to  their   age.
Bashfulness, in fact, springs from a more or less defi-
nite notion of sexual indulgence.   It  is the fig-leaf
with which Eve,  after her fall,  covered  her nakedness.
The bashfulness of a child of ten years is always sus-
picious.
   But this sign alone should not be  considered  suffi-
cient  to  determine  the judgment of the  observer,
unless corroborated  by observations  of a different
kind.
   Children who arc so unfortunate as to acquire  this
habit,  carry in their  external appearance, as well as
in their character, certain characteristic features.
   They are commonly pale  and  thin ;  their drooping
eyes are surrounded by a bluish circle; there is an
uncertainty in their look, which seems  to fear the ob-
servation  of  those  around  them ;  they are  feeble,
cacochymic,  chilly,  apathetic.    Everything fatigues
them ; or rather,  they are always fatigued.  The least
movement makes them perspire, and  puts them out
of breath; they dread play as much as study.
   They,  nevertheless, eat  a great deal; and  one is
astonished to see  so much nourishment  profit them so
little.  Sometimes, on the  contrary, they lose all  ap-
petite, or have only capricious tastes.
   Their character is unequal, irritable,  sullen.   They
are abstracted, taciturn ; disposed  to weep; indiffer- 
                     Onanism.                  103
ent and susceptible.  The necessity of concealing a
vice,  of which  they have the  consciousness much
sooner than one  would believe, and of which they fear
to be  suspected,  renders them timid to excess, dissim-
ulating, and false.
   Their  intellectual faculties  suffer from the debility
of their  bodies.  They are abstracted, and incapable
of continued attention  to  anything whatever.  They
are accused of being indolent, and they are so, in fact;
but their indolence is  caused by exhaustion.   The
memory  soon  suffers, and to  learn anything by heart
is beyond  their strength.  If an attempt is made to
compel them, their useless efforts only end in complete
discouragement.  If they are punished, they resent it,
and finish  by  hating their masters, their parents, and
all human  kind.
   Thus  years pass  away, years of misery and tears,
leaving  after  them  but bitter regrets and remorse.
Then  comes adolescence;  the child becomes  a man.
Reason in  him strives to master instinct; but whether
it succeeds or not, it is too late:  the evil is done ; a
debilitated   body, blunted  senses,  an  uncultivated
mind, a  blighted  soul—such are  the fatal conse-
quences of a childhood polluted with onanism.
   The unfortunate children  infected  with this  pest,
seek  solitude, particularly  avoiding the  society of
children  of their own  age, whose  presence disturbs,
embarrasses, and humiliates them, if they believe them
pure.   They only approach those  in whom they have 
104
Onanism.
discovered  the same  shameful sensuality  which  de-
vours themselves ;  but to these they readily attach
themselves.   Such is, in fact, the nature of the human
soul, that it  feels  itself incomplete in isolation, and
even in its turpitude seeks sympathy.
  The choice of associates for children, is, then, one
of the principal points to which maternal  solicitude
should  be  directed.  Yice  has its  affinities  and  its
masters, and this  is  one of those which is communi-
cated, and the gangrene with which it inoculates, soon
extends to the heart.
  This  vice is often  the unknown cause of a throng
of chronic affections.
  Like  all  other disturbances of the nervous  appara-
tus, it enfeebles the senses, confuses the  mental facul-
ties, and even, in some cases, produces  softening  of
the brain.   St. Virus's dance, epilepsy,  idiocy,  in-
sanity,  and spleen, are the immediate and much more
frequent effects than is generally believed.
  As for the secondary phenomena to which it may
give rise, they comprehend all the diseases commonly
referred, by  homoeopathic physicians, exclusively to
psora, of which it  must always  be a  powerful auxil-
iary.   For example, it undoubtedly  accelerates  the
development  of pulmonary  phthisis,  if it is not in
many cases the first and generating cause  of tuber-
cles.
   But if onanism should occupy an important place
in the  etiology of morbid  affections, it is  not very 
                     Onanism.                  105
seldom, that it, in its turn, is the result of a pre-exist-
ent disease.   It  is,  in  fact,  well  known, that the
presence of worms in the  intestinal  tube, and  espe-
cially of ascarides  in the rectum,  often  occasions in
little  girls  a vaginal discharge, accompanied  by a
slight itching, which  may reveal to them the secret of
sensations  that they  would  not otherwise have sus-
pected.
  These discharges, which are sometimes produced by
onanism itself, are also often caused  by pathological
states very different from the verminous affections.
  We shall necessarily allude again to this subject in
treating, in the second part of this little  work, of the
chronic diseases of children, and we shall then  point
out the cases in  which  onanism, as  a secondary and
purely  symptomatic  phenomenon, commonly yields
with the disease which caused it, to the medicines in-
dicated.
  We  shall, then, at present, only occupy ourselves
with  idiopathic onanism, if  we may  so speak, and
with the hygienic  and moral  means to be employed
for its cure.
  There is no particular diet  for otherwise  healthy
children, addicted  to this vice.  The regimen which
they should follow,  is that which is suitable for all
children of their  age. But it is  important that th'is
regimen should be rigorously imposed.
  Spices, venison, salted or smoked meat, all  highly-
flavored dishes, are especially injurious to them. 
106                  Onanism.
  Pepper is a poison we should be glad to see forever
disappear from our  culinary preparations.   It is suffi-
cient to read the pathogenesis of pepper to  become
convinced of the dangers to which this condiment ex-
poses one, and of the daily abuse which is made of it.
Children should be completely ignorant of its flavor.
  We  extend the same proscription to all  spiritous
drinks, and especially to pure wine, which is sometimes
given to little boys, and even to little girls, under  the
insane pretext of fortifying the stomach.   Pure«wine,
like all other alcoholic  drinks, momentarily increases
the action of the vital  forces,  in  accelerating the  cir-
culation;  but  this  factitious  excitation  is  always    "
ephemeral, and the depression  which  follows suffi-
ciently proves, that what a  superficial  observation
takes for an  increase of strength, is really but a use-
less vitiation  of the principle of life.
  There  is   another  substance   in  general,  almost
universal, use, of which fashion has made an aliment,
in spite of reason, and whose effect is, unhappily, not
less  pernicious to children than that of pepper  and
alcohol: we  allude to coffee.
  Hahnemann, in   1803,  published an  interesting
memoir upon the effects of coffee.   It is, as one may
say,  a formal indictment of this pleasant  beverage.
But while dissenting from what we consider the exag-
gerations  of Hahnemann—exaggerations which   he
himself admitted  thirty years later—we  venture to
affirm, upon  the testimony of our own experience, that 
Onanism.
107
the daily use of cofiee is the cause of a throng of dis-
eases.   Leucorrhcea  in women ;  impotence in men—
that infirmity so frequent and so premature in  our
day—nine times in ten has no other cause.
  Coffee is  one of the special excitants of the genital
organs, and the disturbance it produces is so much
the more dangerous, as the imagination partakes of it.
Coffee  is, therefore, a real  poison  for those already
inclined to onanism.
  There are, nevertheless, many families, especially
in the provinces,  where coffee is habitually given to
children with their breakfast!
  Among the products of the soil of which the artifi-
cial taste of modern society  has  made eatables, there
are many substances equally objectionable with those
we  have  just proscribed : such as horse-radish, black
radish, celery, garlic, juniper, parsley, water-cresses,
angelica, and, generally, all  aromatic plants.
   We do not pretend here  to decide whether these
vegetables really are, or are not, alimentary substances
which an adult may use with impunity ;  but  what we
do insist upon is, that they are positively unwhole-
some for children, and especially pernicious for those
to whom this chapter more particularly refers.
   " These  children," says  Hartlaub, " should sleep
upon hair mattresses, and not upon feather-beds ; they
should be lightly covered, and they should  not be per-
mitted to eat too  late, as digestion, when taking place
during sleep, exerts  an  influence upon  the  sexual 
1 ()S                  Onanism.
organs,  winch  occasions voluptuous dreams."   They
should also be lightly dressed, and should take enough
exercise during the day, to insure  them  a  tranquil
sleep, undisturbed by the phantoms of the imagina-
tion.
  Some physicians  have promised  themselves  great
results from mechanical  contrivances, for the  remedy
of this evil, such  as night-gowns,  with  long sleeves
tied  over  the  hands, and fixed upon  the breast by
means of a handkerchief across the shoulders.   These
coercive expedients  inspire  us with but  little confi-
dence.  They  may, however, be useful  for very young
children, for those who are so confirmed as to pollute
themselves during sleep, and,  in  short, for  those  in
whom this practice has already produced imbecility.
  The others have the consciousness, if not of the in-
injury they are  doing   themselves, at least of the
reprehensible nature of the act, since they are ashamed
of it.
  Let parents, then, not hesitate to  put an end to the
matter at  once,  by entering openly upon an expla-
nation with them.  It is, undoubtedly, a delicate sub-
ject,  and  difficult to treat judiciously ; but  explana-
tions  are indispensable.
  It is necessary to proceed with tact, and, above all,
with  calmness.   Threats and  severity would be un-
seasonable; they would  only, in a majority of cases,
alienate confidence forever, and substitute hypocrisy
 Let one be content,  then, to represent to the  child, in 
Onanism.                  109
a forcible manner, but without anger or bitterness, the
real evils sure to result from this shameful  practice,
and to trust to the salutary impression wdiich this can
hardly fail to make upon his mind, if the admonition
is made in a suitable  manner, and at a proper time.
  It is understood, however, that vigilance should not
stop here, blindly trusting to a promise of future good
conduct, a promise which the strength of habit  may
so soon cause to be forgotten.
  Masters, servants even, if they are worthy and ca-
pable of playing such  a part, should be taken  into
confidence.  A complete system of surveillance should
surround the  child,  night and day, enveloping  him
like a net-work, even  in his most secret acts.
  Solitude and idleness being for him beset with  dan-
ger, he should never  be allowed to be either  alone or
idle ;  lie should be removed from the influence of bad
example, of bad books, but especially of bad society.
  The best  possible means would be to create an occu-
pation for him which would be sufficiently attractive
to excite a  real passion ; for  a  new passion is the
surest  means of extinguishing an old one.
  To counterbalance  one faculty by another—to extin-
guish the bad by calling forth the good—such is the
general plan of all good systems of education. 
110
Regimen Piring
                CHAPTER   IX.

     regimen  during homoeopathic treatment.

   Allopathic  physicians, and those who  echo their
sentiments, arc accustomed to  say  that Homoeopathy
is but a sort of me'decine expectante / that is to say, a
do-nothing system, and only cures diseases  by means
of the regimen imposed.
   This  common-place,  which does not deserve  a
serious refutation, proves but one thing—the absolute
ignorance of those, who repeat it, touching the prin-
ciples of the Hahnemannian doctrine, and the marvel-
ous efficacy of the infinitesimals.
   We  are a little curious to learn, in fact, by what
singular privilege it is, that the diet prescribed  by
homoeopathic  physicians,  instead  of the same diet
prescribed by their adversaries, should have the incon-
ceivable virtue of curing croup, meningitis, scarlatina,
and many other acute diseases which, under the expe-
ditious lancet  of  the physiological  school, prove so
frequently, and so promptly fatal.   Are the detractors
of Homoeopathy then sincere, in thus interpreting  its
success?   If so, it  must  be admitted,  that medical
rationalism, is still more absurd in  its polemics than
in its theories. 
            Homoeopathic Treatment.          Ill
  It is true, (and so far from denying, we proclaim it)
that Homoeopathy has, better  than any other school,
appreciated, and  given reasons for the importance of
diet.   She  could not then,  without inconsistency,
refuse  the aid of an  auxiliary whose  power she so
well understood.
  But nothing could be more unjust, than to attribute
her cures to any regimen whatever.  Patients affected
with chronic diseases, which nature alone never cures,
are seen every day to recover  under the influence of
the infinitesimals, without having confined themselves
at all, to any particular diet.
  I admit, however, that these cases ought to be con-
sidered  as exceptional, and nothing is more easy to
understand.
  In fact, in order that a remedy should act with cer-
tainty in the  sphere of its  specificity, it is clear that
its operation should not be disturbed by the intercur-
rent action of other medicinal agents;  and this  is so
much  the more evident, from  the  fact, that it  is not
impossible that among these, might be found precisely
the antidote to the medicine  administered, and  upon
which  the physician founded  his hopes of  success;
and what can  be expected from a medicine constantly
neutralized %
  But supposing even that this  neutralization does not
take place, is it probable that several medicinal agents
would act simultaneously  in  the  economy  with as
much certainty, as if each one  operated alone ?   Un-
        10 
112
Regime* Di king
doubtedlv  not,  and, from  the instant that  it  was
proved  by observation  and  experiments,  that   tea,
cofiee, acids, and  dentifrices, such as  feau-de-Botot.
and in a word, all  odoriferous substances, are medic.
nal, we  are logical in absolutely proscribing them.
  Let us add, nevertheless, that if for a long time the
patient  has  been  habituated,  and  without  sensible
inconvenience, to the use of some one of these sub-
stances, the physician may, in particular cases, be less
rigid.   Hahnemann, for example, willingly  tolerated
in his patients the use of the pipe, and I, for myself,
believe that the use of an infusion of  black  tea, when
the patient is accustomed to it, is not  injurious in the
treatment of chronic disease.  But this toleration can
never, in any case, be extended to coffee, perfumes, or
dentifrices.
  The character  of the disease, the  temperament of
the patient, and especially the nature of the  medicine
prescribed, should determine the physician with regard
to the severity of  the regimen  to be observed.   An
excess of rigor, when one does not fear to discourage the
patient, is preferable, in  general, to the opposite course.
  Tranquillity of mind, is a condition  not less  im-
portant to the normal action of remedies, than absti
nence from prohibited food.
  It  is  difficult  to  realize  how  great an  influence
mental  emotions  exert upon the course of  diseases ;
they may derange  the action of the medicines  com-
pletely. 
             Homoeopathic  Treatment.          113
  A hundred  times, in experimenting upon myself
with substances whose pathogenesis I was studying, I
have  remarked  the entire, instantaneous and final
disappearance of the most marked symptoms  in conse-
quence  of some surprise, a disagreeable  accident, or
any lively emotion.
  The ardent and  sensitive  minds of children, expose
them still more than  adults  to  shocks from sudden
and violent  external impressions, and  they should  be
as much as possible protected from them, as well as
from all useless irritation.
  As to the quantity of  food that they may be per-
mitted  to take  in the course of a disease, we may
easily conceive that it depends entirely upon circum-
stances.  All that can be said in this respect is, that
with  the exception  of cases  of very acute inflam-
mation, Homoeopathy is opposed to dieting; that is to
say, to  that absolute abstinence  which has  so often,
with the aid of venesection, conducted the victims of
Broussaisism to the grave.
   A few^  practical indications concerning the drinks
to be allowed when the patient suffers from  thirst, as
is the case in  all fevers, will finish  this chapter.
  Everybody has  remarked  that, upon  this  point.
Allopathy is  not  over scrupulous.  Citric and  even
sulphuric lemonades, infusions of linden, chamomile,
wild  poppy, hops, etc., decoctions  of  dog-grass, bur-
dock, and sarsaparilla, solutions of carbonate, or  of
tartrate of soda, etc., etc., are, for the physician of the 
114 Regimen During Homoeopathic Treatment.
Old  School, so many  soothing  drinks,  that  he pre-
scribes at hazard, without expecting from  them any
effect, and without  attaching the least importance to
whether the patient takes one in preference to another.
  With us Homoeopathists, it is different; the greater
part of infusions and diet-drinks, far from seeming
insignificant, have, in our  eyes, the serious objection
of being  medicines.   They  are consequently  indis-
criminately stricken out from our therapeutics.
  The only drinks we tolerate, are those which quench
the thirst,  without  being displeasing to  the  taste,
such as slightly sweetened water, toast  water, and a
decoction of dates, of jujube, or of raisins.
  Everybody  knowys  how to  prepare  toast  water;
throw a few tumblers of boiling water upon a slice of
toasted  bread, add a little sugar,  and cool for use;
such is the recipe for making it.
  As for  the decoctions of dried  fruits, it is super-
fluous to say how they are prepared.  It is important
that they be not too strong.  Those of Malaga raisins
generally please children.
  Drinks  should be taken of the temperature of the
apartment, in  chronic  diseases; and tepid,  but not
warm, in the majority of acute affections.   It is desir
able that they should satisfy thirst without producing
other sensations. 
PART  II.
DISEASES  OF  CHILDREN.
  Children are exposed  to the greater part of the
diseases which attack  adults.   There  are, however, a
certain number which are peculiar to them, or which
assume  in  them  a gravity that they have not  at a
more  advanced age.  These last will naturally  form
the special object of our attention.   As  to the order
which I propose to follow7 in  their description, I con-
fess it is almost arbitrary.  I have said,  in my Intro-
duction, that a philosophical classification  of diseases is
not yet possible.  I shall, therefore,  content myself
with grouping those of which I shall give the history,
according to the sensible analogies of  their prominent
symptoms.   This mode of proceeding, vicious without
doubt, in this-, that it brings together, upon the  faith
of physical notions,  sometimes illusory, affections
probably very  dissimilar in their essence,  is without
inconvenience, from the moment we admit it as purely
conventional.
                                       (115) 
116
acute exanthemata.
        DISEASES  OF  THE  SKIN.

  The generic name, exanthemata, is given to all dis-
eases  of the  skin.  A very small number of these
exanthemata  result from an  irritating action, exer-
cised  upon the  cutaneous envelope: the greater part
are only the apparent symptoms of miasmatic affec-
tions diffused in the economy.
  The means employed by the Old School to  combat
these  exanthemata  are generally pitiable and some-
times  monstrous.   I shall not stop to describe them;
but, I do not hesitate to attribute to them a great part
of the incurable diseases and infirmities, which we so
often meet with in old people, and  even  in individuals
still in the flower of their age.

            ACUTE EXANTHEMATA.
                  erythema.
  This name is  given to the partial and  circumscribed
redness  of  the  skin, caused either  by the constanl
attrition of two contiguous surfaces, or  the contact of
acrid or irritating  matter, such as urine, perspiration,
and even fsecal matter, when  in nursing children
these are not promptly removed; it is also caused by
exposure to the  sun.
  In the former instances, the erythema has received
more especially the name of intertrigo.  It is observed
most frequently in the arm-pits, between the  thighs,
on the neck, at the anus and in the groins.  It  is often 
                    Erythema.                 117
accompanied by an  albuminous secretion  01 a  disa-
greeable odor ;  but sometimes also, the affected places
are dry, and are then attended by the production of
scales or scabs.
  Frequent lotions  of  tepid water, almost  always
suffice  to   prevent and to cure  this species of  ery-
thema ; if  this, however,  is ineffectual,  we  should
have recourse to medicine, and  that which deserves
the preference, is chamomilla.
  The  efficacy of chamomilla, in this case, is proved
by the frequent result of the  abuse which is made of
it.  Nothing is  more  common  than to  see in little
children, an intertrigo come on after they or their nurses
have taken an  infusion of the flowers of this  plant.
The  natural remedy then is, the antidote  of chamo-
milla, that  is  to say,  ignatia and Pulsatilla, taken
alternately  in small doses at short intervals.
  Mercurius sol., thirtieth dilution, a  few globules
in a glass of water, taken by teaspoonfuls, every six
hours, would suit  in a  case where  the   intertrigo is
very painful, and the parts affected are raw.
  The  erythema  caused by  insolation, is commonly
manifested  on  the face, neck and  hands;  that  is to
say, on  the parts most  commonly exposed to the sun.
The  redness  in which  it consists, turns readily to a
copper brown or purple4, and is  accompanied by an
intense  burning.  Abandoned  to  itself, this  affec-
tion  lasts  two or three days, and terminates  by de-
squamation of  the epidermis.   It is not dangerous; 
 118           Act te Exanthemata.
 it is, however, of sufficient importance  to be treated,
 especially when  seated  upon the face or scalp.  We
 have seen it, in  this last ease, occasion delirium, and
 all the symptoms of meningitis,  and this disagreeable
 complication  sometimes  develops  itself before any
 remarkable  redness of the skin has been observed—a
 circumstance to  which we would call the attention of
 physicians.
  Rhus  toxicodendron, of a  medium dilution, in
 repeated doses, is the specific for erythema produced
 by insolation.
                    CRACKS.
  Cracks in young children have the same cause, and
 call for the same treatment as intertrigo.  Mercurius
 sol., when they are very painful,  and j>ulsatilla, when
 we may attribute the febrile state, which accompanies
 them, to the use of lycopodium,  with wdiich they may
 have been powdered.

                     BURNS.
  As this disease, or rather the affection produced by
 it, is not more common to childhood than to any other
 age, we shall not give the  subject the  extension  it
 would  admit of in a treatise  upon  surgery.   That
 which especially  characterizes  the species of disorga-
 nization caused by burns, however slight, is the intense
pain,  which accompanies it, and the  slowness with
which this disorganization is repaired ;  but it must be
 observed also, that the  various modes  of treatment 
Burns.
119
adopted by Allopathy for these accidents, contribute
not a little to their gravity and to the persistence of
their effects.
  I have already pointed out, in my  Introduction, the
objection to immersion in cold water. I return to this
point, for it is of the first importance, and comprises
in itself the whole spirit of the Old School.  Whether
the burn has  caused only erythematous redness of the
skin,  or  has produced phlyctsena,  or destroyed the
whole  thickness of the cutaneous membrane, I  pro-
nounce, in all these divers cases, cold applications an
error.
  As to  astringent or acidulated  lotions, compresses
or pledgets saturated with lead or opiate ointments,
etc., I  have  seen  them  employed  a thousand times
without any decided advantage.
  The only local application of which I  recommend
the use, is a layer of cotton  moistened with sweet oil
of almonds, renewed twice a day.
  In a case, however, where the falling off of the blister
has exposed a large surface of the true skin, it is better
to apply the  oiled  cotton mediately, that is to  say,
over a compress of fine linen,perforated and saturated
with cold cream prepared without the essence of roses.
   The homoeopathic treatment of burns is very simple
and comprehends,  complications excepted,  but two
medicines;  rhus  toxicodendron and  tinctura  sul-
phuris.
   Rhus should  be administered from the beginning,
      11 
120            Acute Exanthemata.
every three hours, from  the sixth to the twelfth dilu
tion; from six  to  eight globules,  or a drop  to  four
ounces of vehicle.   This medicine will suffice in cases
of erythema and of phlyctama.
  Its employment should be followed by that  of tiac-
tum sulpharis  when, the first pains being relieved
and the disorganization being more profound, it is im-
portant  to hasten  the  cicatrization.   Tinetura  sul-
phuris is commonly administered, of the thirtieth di-
lution.  The doses, repeated at first two or thi-ee times
a day, should be given less frequently, as the affection
approaches its termination.

                 FROST-BITES.
  The effects upon organized tissues, of rapid addition
to, or abstraction of caloric from, a  part, is attended,
under these two opposite  circumstances, by identical
results;  thus there exists  between burns and frost-bites,
in their different degrees, the most  striking analogy.
  If, in ordinary cases, the symptoms of both are not
absolutely the same, it is only because the cold, which
causes the latter, does  not act as instantaneously as
the artificial heat,  which  produces  the former; they
are in reality the same disease, under a form more or
less acute, and the same  treatment applies to both.
  It has been recommended to employ rhus externally
for frost-bites; in other words, to foment, with the tinc-
ture  of this plant, the congealed parts.   We are little
in favor,  generally, of external applications, and  we 
STINGS.
121
are the more disposed to believe ourselves in the right
in discarding them in  this case, as, most frequently,
frost-bites depend much less upon the violence of the
cold to which the individual has  been exposed,  than
upon a  general  disposition  of  the economy to suffer
from its effects; a tendency which should be combated
by general means.
  Beside, rhus taken internally, almost always proves
so promptly, and sometimes so marvelously efficacious,
that we  do  not  see wh   one should  seek  any other
mode of administration.
  We prescribe It at from the twelfth to the fifteenth
dilution, once or twice a day,  taking  care to discon-
tinue its use, as  soon as  the  itching of the  chilblains
disappears, and their redness begins to abate.
  Sulphur is recommended for frost-bites  that have
ulcerated, and passed as it were, into a chronic state.
  Chilblains are very  often the sign  of a debilitated
state of the health; of an impoverished blood;  in  a
word, of a languishing vitality.  It  is for the physi-
cian to  ascertain the cause  and the  nature  of  this
cachexia, and apply the proper remedy.

                    STINGS.
  The sting of a gnat, or even  of a bee, is certainly
not a very serious  evil ;  but it is nevertheless some-
times very inconvenient, and the homoeopathic means
of treating them,  recommended up  to  this time, are
very  insufficient, not to say absolutely inefficacious. 
122            Acute  Exanthemata.
We are glad then to be able to point out, for the stings
of all  kinds  of insects,  a medicine  whose curative
effect  is produced  in  a few minutes, often in a  few
seconds: it is ledum palustre,  taken internally,—a
teaspoonful of a glass of water, in which are dissolved
seven or eight globules of the fifteenth dilution.   In
case of a sting of the wasp or bee,  the dose  should be
a little stronger, and repeated several times.*

                   E RYSIP E LA S .
   Erysipelas  is one of the cutaneous affections, with
which children are the most frequently attacked.
   In very  young children, it often succeeds  erythema,
and then only appears  to be  an aggravation of that
disease; most commonly, however, it assumes at the
commencement its  own  character, without  passing
through the  erythematous  form, and acquires  in a
very few days, a  high degree of intensity.  In  this
case it is  preceded  by fever, with somnolence  and
constipation,  or bilious  diarrhea.
   It is to be remarked, that the disturbance in the di-
gestive organs which accompanies  erysipelas  in  chil-
dren, manifests itself rather in the  intestines  than in
the stomach.   It is the contrary  with adults.
  * This  remarkable specificity of  ledum, induces me to believe,
that it might succeed against the bite of venomous reptiles.  One of
my friends, a planter of Martinique, has offered to  try it  upon ani
mals that he would cause to be bitten by the viper.  I shall be happy
to be able to report the s-uccess of these experiments in another edi
tion of  this work. 
Erysipelas.
123
  The fever  of incubation, lasts from  two to  three
days, and habitually disappears on the  appearance of
the eruption ;  it  nevertheless,  in very  serious cases,
persists after the appearance of the cutaneous affection,
and sometimes assumes an ataxic character.
  That portion of the skin affected by erysipelas is
red,  tense,  slightly  swollen, shining,  hot  and  very
painful; it becomes white, under the pressure of the
finger, but resumes its red color, the moment that the
pressure ceases.
  Unlike what takes place in adults,  erysipelas in
children manifests itself less frequently on the face
than on the trunk and limbs.   In the newly born we
frequently see it commence at  the umbilicus, and
spread little by little  over  the whole abdomen.   One
of its peculiarities, is a remarkable  tendency to  move
from place to place; it sometimes,  as it were, jumps
from one  part to another, disappearing, from its  for-
mer situation, at  the instant it  appears  in a new one.
Its ordinary duration, when left to  itself, is from six
to ten days.
  Erysipelas is said  to be simple  when it occupies
only the superficial layer of the skin ; vesicular, when
it is accompanied by the elevation of the  cuticle in
watery  blisters;  phlegmonous, when  it  affects the
whole thickness of the skin, and determines the forma-
tion of abscesses  in the subcutaneous cellular tissue.
  Erysipelas is always, in children,  a serious disease;
that of the face  especially, readily extends  to the 
124:            Acute  Exanthemata.
brain, if not promptly and  properly  treated.   It  is
more  serious in very young  children  than in  those
more advanced.  Its different modes  of termination
are desquamation, induration, suppuration  and gan-
grene.
  Treatment.—A great number of medicines  have
been employed, and extolled for  the treatment of ery-
sipelas,  such as aconite, bryon., acid, phos., bellad.,
calcar., sulphur, pulsat., etc.  In order to  avoid con-
fusion  in the minds of our  readers, we shall  content
ourselves with  pointing out the medicinal substances,
which, according  to  the circumstances, deserve most
confidence.  These substances are in the order  of tlieir
importance,  rhus toxic,  bellad., bryon., pulsat.,
sulph., and arsenic.
  Rhus is  the remedy par excellence for  erysipelas.
It is proper in almost all cases.
  Belladonna  is  called for by a complication of high
fever with delirium or extreme agitation.
  Bryonia corresponds to  erysipelas of the  articu-
lations, with considerable aggravation of the symptoms
upon the least movement
  Pulsatilla should be given in  erratic  erysipelas;
that is to say,  when it manifests a great tendency to
move from place to place.
  Sulphur  should be  rarely used at  the commence-
ment.   It  is appropriate only in infants of a feeble
constitution, or in cases where the disease  terminates
by snppuration. 
Zona — Shingles.             125
  Arsenic, indicated especially by hectic fever, or by
a fever of bad  character, is particularly adapted  to
erysipelatous inflammation of the scrotum, peculiar to
chimney-sweepers, and which has a great tendency to
degenerate into gangrene.
  Erysipelas does  not  require  absolute abstinence
from food, except during its febrile period; it is better,
however, that the patient should  eat but little until
after the disappearance of the eruption.   Toast water
is, as in all acute diseases, the  drink which should be
preferred, if the patient is thirsty.  It may be taken
at the ordinary temperature.
  As to cataplasms  so called, emollient fomentations,
or local applications of any kind, we attach no import-
ance  to them.   A layer of cotton, saturated with  oil
of  sweet  almonds,  such as we  have recommended
for burns, is  the only one which appears to us admis-
sible.
                 ZONA-- SHINGLES.
   Zona or  Zoster,  very much resembles erysipelas.
It is  an exanthem forming, ordinarily, a semicircular
band, of a hand's width, around  the body or  a limb.
The eruption is very burning, itching and lancinating.
It  is composed of  little pustules upon  an inflamed
surface and is accompanied with fever.
   Zona is a disease which is very rare in early infancy.
Its treatment  does not differ essentially from that of
erysipelas.  (Mercury is  its specific. Ed. 2d edit.) 
126            Acute Exanthemata.

                    pemphigus.
  Pemphigus, is  characterized by  the  development,
upon various parts of the body, of erythematous spots,
upon the surface of which soon appear blisters, which
burst  and  discharge a  viscous, yellow fluid, which
hardens and forms  on the surface of the skin,  a not
very prominent crust, often granulated, and  yellowish
like honey, or inclining to a fawn color.
  This eruption is  sometimes accompanied by fever,
and is sometimes without it.   It is most frequently of
short  duration ; but occasionally, also, it shows  itself
extremely persistent.  I have seen it manifest  itself
almost  instantaneously in  consequence  of  fright.  1
have twice  had occasion to  observe it  in  a chronic
form.   Rhus, is its specific.

             URTICARIA, OR  NETTLE-RASH.
  This exanthem, the most ephemeral of all, manifests
itself  under  the form of lenticular  vesicles,  precisely
similar  to those which result from the  sting of the
nettle, and is accompanied by a similar sensation.
  This eruption, sometimes persistent in  adults, never
lasts more than a  few hours in  children.  It disap-
pears  instantly after a single dose of croton tiglium.

               FURUNCLES,  OR BODL8.
  A boil  consists  in a small, red and circumscribed
elevation of the skin, accompanied  by smarting, itch
ing, and  afterward by  burning; a  swelling  is  de- 
                     Measles.                  127
veloped  around it;  the  redness  changes to a brown
color, and upon looking closely, a yellow point is per-
ceived in the middle, which when it approaches its
termination, breaks and  discharges a lump of  thick
pus, called the core.   The pain, until then intense,
and often even accompanied by fever, soon ceases.
  When the boil is large, and the sloughs numerous and
confluent, the disease receives the name of carbuncle.
  Boils and carbuncles are almost always coincident
with a more or less marked derangement of the diges-
tive organs.
  Treatment.—Cina, from the ninth  to the fifteenth
dilution, two drops in  four ounces of vehicle, admin-
istered three or four times a day, until resolution takes
place.
  Dulcamara  and sulphur are sometimes necessary,
in cases  where the periodical  reproduction  of  boils
gives reason to suppose the existence of a particular
diathesis ; but cina, even in this last case, will almost
always  suffice.  It may,  however, be necessary to
have recourse to rhus, in cases where the boils are
complicated with erysipelas.  Lastly, ledum palustre
is preferable to any other medicine, when the disease
appears upon the feet or upon the  fingers.

                   MEASLES .
  Among  affections of  an incontestably miasmatic
nature, measles figures as one of a   type the  most
known and best characterized. 
12S
Acute Exanthemata.
   It seldom  attacks the  same individual  twice, and
appears  epidemically, more especially in the  spring
and autumn.  Although neither adults nor old people
are exempt from it, it is, with reason, considered  as
one of the diseases peculiar to children.
   According to Rosen,  the virus  of measles, which
impregnates the body and the clothes of the individ-
uals whom it attacks, does not  pervade the  atmos-
phere ;  so that during the course  of an epidemic, one
can be sure, by absolute separation, of  protecting child-
ren from infection.   Unfortunately, this opinion ap-
pears to us ill-founded.
   Measles is commonly  a mild disease, but  it some-
times, however, assumes  such malignity as to prove
fatal in  a majority of cases.   This is why the ancients
called it morbilU j that is to say,  little plague ; but it
may be affirmed without  exaggeration, that the disco-
very of Homoeopathy has reduced to one-tenth, the
danger from the most serious epidemics of measles.
   This  disease  presents  three distinct periods: the
catarrhal, the eruptive, and  the period of resolution.
We shall  point out  the  symptoms which characterize
each of  these.
   Catarrhal period.  This generally lasts three days,
but occasionally longer.   It commences by prolonged
chills, which are soon  followed  by febrile reaction.
From the second  day the fever becomes  continuous.
There is redness, heat and  painful sensibility  of the
eyes,  with dread of light,  and   partially closed  and 
                      Measles.                 129
 swollen lids, lachrymation, frequent sneezing, coryza,
 headache, and  dry,  short  cough,  with pain in  the
 throat, chest and loins;  vomiting, sometimes in  the
 day, sometimes  in  the night; white,  moist  tongue,
 thirst, disgust for food, colic, relaxation of the bowels,
 anxiety, chagrin, and sometimes  continual  drowsi
 ness;  such are the symptoms which precede the cuta-
 neous  eruption,  but  which  do not disappear as  in
 variola, when the eruption takes place.
   Eruptive period.   There appear,  first  upon the
 face, a great number of small, bright  red spots, of an
 oblong, square, semilunar, but  not very distinct form,
 slightly prominent, and having toward  the middle a
 small, hard point, upon which one may discover, by
 the  aid of a magnifying  glass, a  vesicle filled  with
 serum.
   The number  and   size of these spots gradually
 increase.   They  soon  appear upon the throat, chest,
 arms, shoulders,  epigastrium, loins, and lastly upon
 the legs, where they are perfectly smooth ; that is to
 say, without vesicles.
  On  the  sixth  day  of the disease,  two days after
 the appearance of the first spots, they begin  to dis-
 appear  in  the  order  in  which they came, leaving
 behind them a little  roughness  of the skin.   On  the
eighth  or ninth day they are  entirely gone.   The epi-
dermis scales off,  and the entire body is  covered with
a scurfy powder.
  But  it is important  to remark, that things do not 
130
Acute Exanthemata.
always pass exactly as  we have  here related; for if
the cutaneous eruption is a characteristic phenomenon
of the disease,  it  is not  an essential  condition  of
its  existence,  as  we  often  see, during epidemics  of
measles,  general affections, evidently produced by  the
miasm, without any affection of the skin.
  Period  of resolution.  The  greater part of  the
time, a  sort  of crisis, consisting  either of diarrhea,
sweat, or a bleeding from  the nose, follows  immedi-
ately after the disappearance  of the  exanthem, and
dissipates, in a few days, what still remains of the bron-
chial inflammation, and  of the  febrile  symptoms.
Sometimes, however,  this  crisis does not take place,
or occurs irregularly, and great danger may then be
apprehended.
  1st. If the diarrhea continues too long, some weeks
for  example, we may fear, not only dropsy, but  the
formation of tubercles in the mesentery, hectic fever
and consumption.
  2d. If the fever and cough continue, and if the res-
piration  becomes frequent, difficult  and  burning, at
the same time that one or both of the cheeks becomes
injected  with blood, pneumonia  is  impending, if it
has not already taken  place.
  3d. And lastly;  if there remains a slow fever, recur-
ring daily, with hurried respiration, emaciation, and ex-
pectoration of pus, there is certainly disease of the lungs.
  "In measles,"  says  M.  Rapou,  "the  cutaneous
eruption  is valueless as elucidating the prognosis ; the 
                     Measles.                 131
worst symptoms appear only after its total disappear-
ance.   Such  are otorrhcea, chronic inflammation  of
the eyelids, etc. ; but that which is undoubtedly most
to be  dreaded, is  the  development  of  pulmonary
tubercles.   This deplorable influence of measles, is so
marked, that it may serve as a criterion by which to
judge of the  state of the chest."
  Treatment.—The principal medicines called for in
the treatment of measles, are aconitum,  Pulsatilla,
bryonia, belladonna, phosphorus, nux, ignatia, cin-
ndbaris, mercurius, causticum,, and sulphur.
  Aconitum.  " The  efficacy of  this  plant, in mea-
sles, says Hahnemann, is almost  miraculous."  Aco-
nitum. then should be prescribed from  the commence-
ment of the disease, at a medium dilution, (the  twelfth
for example)  two or three times a  day, during tl e first
two days  at  least  of the first period, and it  will be
well to return to it during the progress of the disease,
as an intercurrent remedy, whenever the febrile symp-
toms become severe.   In vigorous children, of a san-
guine  temperament,  aconitum is,  during the entire
course  of the disease, the medicine upon which  we
should principally depend.
   Pulsatilla.   According to M.  Auguste Rapou, the
fundamental  remedy for  measles is pulsatilla.
   " This substance," says  he, " constitutes its princi-
pal therapeutics.  It prevents the consequences of the
virus, destroys every germ of it,  and  preserves those
who are exposed from its attacks."  I confess that this 
132            Acute Exanthemata.
assertion appears to me very unreserved.  It is incon-
testable, however, that pulsatilla is clearly indicated
after a few doses of aconite shall have abated the vio-
lence of the inflammatory symptoms.
  The predominance of vomitings calls particularly
tor  its use, and its administration, in a majority  of
cases, should succeed to that of aconitum.   The two
medicines, during the  second  period, may be  taken
alternately at six or eight  hours' interval, if nothing
appears  to contra-indicate  this medication.   A con-
tinual  and ardent  thirst would  be  a reason for ex-
cluding  pulsatilla.
  Bryonia, several times repeated, at a few hours' in-
terval, is the best means of recalling the eruption to
the skin, when  it is accidentally suspended or repelled.
  Belladonna is indicated after  aconite, either by a
strong constriction of the throat  and  chest, or by ex-
treme agitation, and lastly, and  above all, by delirium.
  When  these  symptoms  succeed the abrupt disap-
pearance of  the eruption,  belladonna  and  bryonia
should  be administered alternately.   But, excepting
under the circumstances  indicated, belladonna is, in
the treatment  of measles, but an accessory  remedy,
whose use should not be prolonged more than one or
two days.
  Phosphorus is rarely called for if  the disease  has
been  properly  treated  from the  beginning.   It cor-
responds to pneumonia,  always very serious, which
sometimes manifests itself after the eruption. 
                      Measles.                  133
   Nux and ignatia are indicated by the persistence of
 a hoarse cough, with constriction of the chest, without
 great frequency of the pulse.  Ignatia suits especially
 little girls, and  children of a mild  and tranquil char-
 acter.
   Cinnabaris corresponds, toward  the end  of the
 disease, to cedema  of the glottis, with indolent  tume-
 faction of the palate, uvula, and tonsils.
  Mercurius serves to moderate the excessive sweats,
 and to  combat the  relaxation  of the  bowels, if it
 should continue more than a few days after the disap-
 pearance of the eruption.
   Causticum is a precious medicine when there re-
 mains  a dry cough, with constipation, but no fever;
 or when there is swelling of the epigastrium, or symp-
 toms of gastralgia.
  Sulphur, very rarely indicated in the  treatment of
 measles, is sometimes, however, indispensable in com-
 bating its  consequences, such as otorrhoea, (which  the
 opportune administration of pulsatilla will almost al-
 ways prevent,) inflammation of the  eyelids, etc.
  The treatment of measles does not  call for the ex-
 cessive hygienic precautions with which  it is but  too
common  to harass  the little  patients.   Nothing  is
 more dangerous, for example, than  to load them with
blankets, with the idea of keeping them warm.  Cur-
rents of air, especially cold air, are certainly fatal; but
there are no surer means of exposing them to a chill
than to make an oven of their chamber. 
 134           Acute Exanthemata.
   From sixty-two to sixty-four degrees of Fahrenheit is
 the temperature adapted to their state.
   Complete abstinence for one or two days, and a very
 light diet during  the  whole course of the disease,  is
 the proper regimen.  If measles is methodically treat
 ed,  children may, after  ten or twelve days  at the
 utmost, return  with impunity to their habitual  mode
 of life, and  expose themselves to the external air,
 whatever be the  temperature.  Such are the  results
 attained  by  Homoeopathy.

                    ROSEOLA.
   Roseola is a  name given to a very superficial affec-
 tion of the skin ;  it is never as extended as erythema,
 has  some points of resemblance with measles,  and  is
 very often complicated with other eruptions, such as
 variola,  vaccinia, etc.   It is frequently  observed in
children.
   It is especially during the summer that this slight
disease shows itself.  Its duration  is extremely varia-
ble.   It  consists, most frequently, of little spots of a
delicate rose color, irregular, and  not  prominent, and
 which are seen to come and go every instant  in the
day.
   Roseola, which is rarely  accompanied  with sore
throat, and more seldom still with  gastric affections,
would often  pass unperceiyed, were it not for the cries
and wakefulness it occasions.   It  shows itself princi-
pally during first dentition. 
Scarlatina.
135
  Treatment.—A few  doses  of coffea—mercurius,
if there  is angina; 'belladonna, if, as  an exception,
there should appear cerebral symptoms.

                  scarlatina.
  Scarlatina  is a  contagious and epidemic disease,
rarely occurring sporadically,  attacking persons  but
once  in their life, variable in its character, and most
frequent in children of from five to twelve years.
  This disease does not,  like measles, seem dependent
upon prevailing temperature.  We see it  in all seasons,
in the depth of winter, as  well as in the heat of summer.
As  an epidemic, it is always propagated slowly, does
not attack  all individuals, and is, beside, rarely seen  „
at the present day. *
  Scarlatina has, like measles, with which it has been
sometimes  confounded in  the beginning of the epi-
demic, three marked periods, of  which we here give
the description:
  First  Period.—There is, from the  beginning,  a
Boreness  in the throat, followed by depression, and an
extreme  sensibility of the whole body, disgust, bilious
vomiting, chills and cephalalgia.  During  the whole

  *  This remark,- as must be well understood, is  not at all appli-
cable to the United States, in which it forms one of the most frequent,
as well as most dreaded, scourges of childhood ; neither is it always
true, although generally so, that it occurs but once in the lifetime ol
an individual, well authenticated cases having been observed of its
occurrence a second and even a third time.—Tr.
         12 
136
Acute Exanthemata.
of the  first  day,  the  drowsiness  is  sometimes insur-
mountable.   It  is  frequently accompanied with  de-
lirium, much more rarely with convulsions, during the
two  following days.  The angina, which  rapidly ac-
quires a great intensity, is, with an excessive acoiera-
tiou  of the pulse,  the dominant symptom of the period
immediately  preceding  that  of the eruption.  This
period,  much more limited, as we see, than the cor-
responding period in measles, does not manifest itself
by the watering of  the eyes, nor by fluent coryza,  nor
by the  frequent  cough which characterizes the latter
disease.  There is  dyspnoea, and  great  frequency of
respiration in the majority of subjects, especially on
waking in the morning, but this is principally in con-
sequence of the fever and the swelling of the tonsils.
These symptoms only precede two or three days, at the
utmost, the appearance of the eruption.
  During this first period, and  sometimes during  the
whole course of the disease, the bowels are constipated,
aud  the thirst bears no relation to the violence of the
fever.
  A bad sign, and one  indicating that the  disease
will  be very serious, is the smallness, as well as  the
extreme frequency,  of the pulse.
  Seen>,d Period.—The eruption commences in  ac-
cordance with the particular character  of the reigning
epidemic—sometimes  on  the  face,  sometimes  upon
the  hands and fore-arms.   It  consists  in  little  red
spots, smooth, that  is to say, without the vesicles pre- 
                    Scarlatina.                137
sented by those in measles.  These  spots deepen  in
color,  and  enlarge  rapidly, so  as to become  con-
founded.  They soon cover almost the entire body;
but as they  disappear, as  in measles, in the order  in
which they came, it happens that the parts of the skin
where they  first  appeared, begin to pale,  when the
other parts are but commencing to redden.
  The angina and the fever persist during the whole
time of the eruption.   On the fourth or fifth day, it is
often accompanied by fatiguing hiccup.  The voice of
the patient becomes hoarse and nasal, he no longer re-
plies  to  questions addressed to him, or replies  with
great difficulty.
  An abundant glairy expectoration, a bleeding of the
nose,  or a  slight diarrhea, phenomena  which fre-
quently supervene toward the sixth day of the disease,
appear to give great relief.
  Inflammatory affections of the internal organs fre-
quently  manifest  themselves  at  this  epoch  of the
disease, especially when the exanthem has  disappeared
abruptly, which require the prompt  attention of the
physician.
  A fact  worthy of  remark, is the absence  of all
moisture upon the surface of the scarlatinous spots.
The  patients  absolutely  perspire  only through the
portions  of  the skin  which still  remain  white.  M.
Auguste Rapou attributes to this circumstance the
disposition to the subcutaneous serous effusions, which
forms one of  the  characteristic phenomena of scar- 
138
Acute Exanthemata.
 latina.   This  opinion of  Rapou  is  at  least  very
 specious.
   Third  Period.—The fever  and  angina disappear
 with the desquamation.  This commences  from the
 sixth to the ninth day;  but it does not take place as in
 measles: the epidermis, instead of falling off in scurfy
 scales, detaches itself in large plates ;  this continues
 for several days, and is often several times  repeated.
 It is  at  this period that the  critical phenomena  of
 which we have spoken, commonly occur, sweat,  epis-
 taxis, etc.
   The slightest chill is then to be dreaded.  Dangerous
 lesions  of  the  eye,  of the ear,  of  the  ganglionic
 system, and especially dropsy, might  be  the conse-
 quence.
   "There is not," says  Hartmann, "a more  insidious
 disease than scarlatina.   In some epidemics, it  is  so
 mild that there is not a single victim, while in others,
 notwithstanding its apparent mildness, and in spite of
 the most  desirable manifestations of the exanthem, it
often compromises life, and frequently proves fatal by
 metastasis  to the brain.  It is complicated with all
 kinds of fever, and acquires thus  the  danger which
belongs to them.
   Treatment.—When scarlatina  is free from all com-
plication, which unfortunately rarely happens, a few
simple hygienic precautions will almost alwavs suffice
to bring it to a happy termination.  Allopathy has no
right to boast of curing  scarlatina, since in reality the 
                    Scarlatina.                139
curative force in nature, is the sole cause of the suc-
cess to which it lays claim.  The treatment of the Old
School is as absolutely useless in modifying the severity
of this disease, as in other miasmatic affections.  Allop-
athy  has  never abridged  one hour the  duration  of
these  affections.
  This is  far from being the case with  Homoeopathy.
Its triumph is in the treatment of the essential diseases.
  The salutary  modification that it  exercises  over
their  symptoms  is  so  evident, that only the  grossest
bad faith  would  affect to deny them.
  It is true  that, in unusual and complicated cases,
the imperfection  of our materia  medica, still in  its
infancy, does not always leave us free from uncertainty
upon  the  choice of the best  medicine to  prescribe.
But what does that prove,  if not that  science has
not yet made  to us  her last revelation,  and  that
medicine  is, of all the arts, the most  difficult  to
practice ?
  Homoeopathy  would proceed, we may  affirm,  with
a mathematical precision, if the correlation  of the
remedy and  of the symptoms was as definite and clear
in all  diseases as it is in simple scarlatina.
  Belladonna is literally the  specific for this  erup-
tive fever.  It is appropriate  to it in all  its periods;
it adapts  itself to  all its. symptoms and  corresponds
even  to the greater part  of its consecutive effects,
such as indurations  of the face or of the  extremities,
painful swelling of the parotides, discharge  from the 
140            Acute Exanthemata.
ears, etc.   Some  authors assert, that belladonna,
administered  in high dilutions  and  very small doses
every  two  or three days,  is  a  certain  preventive
against the scarlatinous infection.
   Belladonna, then,  should be prescribed  from the
beginning  of the  disease.   The  doses should  be
stronger, more frequently repeated, and ot lower dilu-
tions, in proportion to the  intensity of the precursory
inflammatory  symptoms.  The amendment  of  the
symptoms will soon become a reason for lengthening
the intervals between the doses, and for the use of the
higher dilutions.   In fact, one might  often treat scar-
latina, from the beginning to the end, with belladonna
alone, and obtain from this medicine, the same success
that some homoeopathic  physicians have met with in
the exclusive  use of aconite in epidemics of measles.
  Unfortunately the frequent complications  presented
by scarlatina, forbid us to count always upon a treat-
ment so simple.
  It is beside, like all serious  fevers, subject to irreg-
ularities, which require each a special treatment, and
exact on the part of the physician, a precise and ever
present  idea  of all the  pathogeny recorded in  the
materia medica.
  To avoid the confusion and vagueness of doubtful
indications, we shall content ourselves with  pointing
out those medicines which answer best  to the  anom-
alies, or the secondary symptoms, the most  generally
observed in the epidemics of scarlatina. 
                    Scarlatina.                Ill
  These medicines  are:  Aconitum,  baryta  carbo-
nica, opium, ipecacuanha, cinnabaris, ispongia tosta,
hepar sulph., acidum nitri, dulcamara, lycopodium,
calcarea and sulphur.
  Aconitum should be prescribed at a  low dilution,
and in  frequent doses before belladonna, when one
is not yet very certain of  the nature of the  disease ,
if  the  fever is very intense; if  the  pulse  is  more
remarkable for fullness than frequency, and if in short
the miliary fever of which we are about to speak, is
complicated with scarlatina. In this last case, aconite
and belladonna  should be administered alternately
during the whole course of the disease, always taking
care however, to leave belladonna some hours longer
than aconite to exercise its influence.
  Baryta carbonica, from  the twelfth  to  the  eight-
eenth dilution,  is preferable to belladonna in the case
of  lymphatico-nervous  children,  disposed to  chills,
when there  exists a considerable tumefaction  of the
tonsils,  at the same time that these glands are rather
rose-colored than of a vivid red, with frequent expecto-
ration of mucus,  pressing  and lancinating  pain in
swallowing.  Baryta succeeds, especially when there
is joined to  the  preceding  symptoms  incomplete
stools, at first hard, afterward soft, small in quantity,
without form, and light-colored without  being abso-
lutely white.
  If a burning heat supervenes, with  stupor, somno-
lence, agitation, vomitings, diarrhea or  constipation 
142            Acute Exanthemata.
and  convulsions,  opium  will be found of the  greatest
utility.
   If there is increase of fever toward evening, wake-
fulness, nausea, total absence of appetite, great dispo-
sition to weep, ipecacuanha is indicated.
   If there are oedema  and swelling of all the tissues
of the neck, visible  externally, with a tainted  breath
and  tendency to bloating, cinnabar is  is a  precious
medicine, and much preferable in such a case, to all
other mercurial preparations.
   Spongia and  hepar sulph. are  called for, each in
their sphere of action, in symptoms of croup occurring
incidentally.
   If the angina is accompanied by nervous fever; if
there are  numerous little  fetid  ulcerations  in  the
mouth and throat, with general depression, great dry-
ness  of the mouth, and continual thirst, acidum nitri
is  indicated.
   Dulcamara  corresponds  to the rheumatic pains,
which sometimes  succeed the eruption.  Lancinating,
beating or pinching pains in the chest,  the region of
the liver and  lower  abdomen, with dry cough,  hard,
rumbling stools,  and congestion of blood toward  the
head, call for the  use of lycopodium.                       <
   Calcarea and  sulphur are the principal remedies
for dropsy, engorgements, ulcerations and the greater
part  of the secondary symptoms of scarlatina ; but
it  is very important not to repeat the doses too fre-
quently. 
Purpura.
143
                      PURPURA.
   Purpura, or miliaria purpuralis, is an eruptive
 fever,  which very  much resembles  scarlatina,  but
 which, nevertheless, differs from  it enough to be con-
 sidered as a special affection.
   This distinction  is even  so much  the more  im-
 portant,  as  the two cases  demand a very different
 treatment.
   Instead of proceeding, as  in the eruptions of scarla-
 tina and measles, the spots of purpura develop them-
 selves irregularly, now here, now there, and sometimes
 simultaneously over distant parts  of the body.  In-
 stead of being smooth, temporarily rendered white by
 pressure, and especially, dry like those of scarlatina,
 they are  interspersed with little papulae, of a dark
 color, remain red  under the  pressure of the  finger,
 and are almost always moist.  The patient only per-
 spires through  these spots, and, in  consequence, does
 not perspire much, excepting when the body is covered
 with them.
   Purpura has not  a regular and determinate course,
 like other exanthematous fevers.  It often persists for
 several weeks, and  no particular sign indicates an  ap-
 proaching termination.   It  may  suddenly disappear,
 and thus place  the life of the patient in great danger;
 its malignity has no relation to the abundance of the
eruption.
  This disease may  attack the same person several
        13 
14+            Acute Exanthemata.
times,  and even  return  again  in the  course  of the
same  epidemic.   The  angina which  precedes  the
appearance of  the eruption,  returns when  the lattei
has disappeared.
  Aconite is the  specific for purpura.

                    M ilia ri a.
  Miliaria is characterized by an eruption of whitish,
pearly vesicles, of the size of a millet seed, which de-
velop  themselves  in  great numbers, and exists as an
epidemic; it is accompanied by fever, gastro-iiitestinal
inflammation, extreme  agitation, sometimes delirium
and spasms, fetid  and abundant sweat, and lastly, by
great irritation of the skin.
  The premonitory symptoms of this disease, are those
of typhoid fever; its course is very irregular, and one
cannot specify, in a precise manner, the epoch of the
eruption, which commonly, however, manifests itself
between the third and the sixth day.
   Abandoned to itself, or treated by allopathic meth-
ods, miliaria is  always  a  serious  disease.    Many
patients  sink  and die  after a  prolonged attack of
delirium.
   Arsenicum, administered from the beginning, every
three hours, at a high dilution, is the principal remedy
against this disease.   It should be given of the twelfth
dilution, if the diarrhea is abundant;  at the thirtieth,
if the nervous symptoms  predominate  over  the in-
testinal. 
                    SUDAMINA.                 145
  Belladonna should be administered, as an intercur-
rent  remedy,  if  there  is  delirium  with congestion
to the  head, puffing  of  the  face, and  red ' and
brilliant eyes.
  Bryonia  and  chamomilla are the best medicines
against  a sort of sporadic  miliaria, which sometimes
attacks women in child-bed, and infants at the breast.
  Ardent thirst, anorexia, throbbing pain in the tem-
ples, dry tongue, yellow  at  the  base, epigastrium
painful to the touch, constipation ;  such are the symp-
toms  which  indicate  the  employment  of  bryonia.
Chamomilla would be preferable, especially in little
children,  if, in  addition  to  the eruption,  there are
green, watery stools, like beaten eggs, which corrode
the anus.
  In cases where the  use  of chamomilla is not fol-
lowed by prompt improvement, it will be necessary to
have recourse to sulphur,  thirtieth dilution;  some-
times, also, to arsenic.

                    SUDAMINA.
  It is thus we name little pearl-like vesicles, whether
transparent or opaque, that are observed in  new-born
children, especially in  those of a weakly constitution,
and during the warm season.
  This eruption,  which,-the greater part of the time,
is caused  only by too warm clothing, is  rarely accom-
panied  by dangerous symptoms ; a few warm  baths,
and  at most, a  small dose  of  aconite, dulcamara, 
146            Acute Exanthemata.
bryonia, rhus,  or chamomilla, according to circum-
stances, suffice to dissipate it.

            VARIOLA --SMALL-POX.
  It is difficult  to conceive the terror which must have
been  felt, before  the discovery of vaccination, by the
the epidemics of small-pox.   Perhaps no disease has
made greater ravages upon the human race.   At each
of its invasions, the number of  its  victims was enor-
mous, and the hideous scars left behind it, when  it
spared the life even of the patient, inspired, especially
in women, almost as much horror as death.
  The small-pox, like all the great epidemics, comes
to us from the  East.  We are unable to trace  its his-
tory farther back than the seventh century.  Wo know,
without, however, being  able exactly to fix the dates,
that it passed from Arabia into Egypt, in (522 or n'40,
and from Africa to Spain in  714.  Rhazes, an Arabian
physician, describes it in his  Treatise of the  Plague,
toward  the end of the ninth century.   A short time
after this epoch, it ravaged  the  south of France.  In
12S0, it was generally known in England, from whence
it passed to  Denmark,  and, a little  later,  into the
other countries of the North.
  We find,  in fact, that the most ancient  date  of
variola in Sweden, does not go farther back than 157S.
Benedictus Olai, physician to Eric  XIY, and  to Jean
III, mentions it under the name of measles;  but the
description that he gives of it, proves beyond a doubt, 
               Variola — Small-Pox.            147
 that he is speaking of variola, and, what is more, even
 of its different species.
   At length, in exchange for  the syphilis, of which,
 according to popular opinion,  the sailors  of  Christo-
 pher  Columbus brought us the  germ,  Europe  be-
 queathed the small-pox to America, where it has since
 shown itself in almost all latitudes.
   Small-pox, like  all the other eruptive fevers, seldom
 attacks the  same individual more than once.  It is
 not  precisely a disease peculiar to childhood, for it
 attacks equally individuals of all ages.  It is, however,
 more frequent in the second period of childhood, than
 in infants at the breast, or in  adults.   The  diversity
 of age,  beside, produces no  other differences  in it
 than those which belong to the nature and seat of its
 complications, for the character of the eruption remains
 always the same.
  The history ot  this disease contains  nosological
 details of the highest interest;  and the labors to which
 pathologists  have devoted themselves  in  tracing its
 origin, and  in  endeavoring  to appreciate  the  real
 nature of its varieties, would of themselves make the
 subject  of a long  monograph.  But I shall  content
 myself, in the cursory glance I am  able to give it here,
 in stating the facts most generally admitted.   Let us
observe,  beside, that  since the first  descriptions of
small-pox left us by the Arabian physicians, the essen-
tial phenomena of  this disease have  not changed. 
14S            Acute  Exanthemata.
It shows itself, in our day. the same as in the time of
Rhazes.
  In the eighteenth century, the persuasion that an
attack of small-pox was for all men without exception—
a fatal   necessity—suggested to  physicians  the  mon-
strous idea of inoculating this disease.   Their object,
they said, was to protect communities from  its imme-
diate dangers  and  consequences,  by producing  the
disease  in individuals at a favorable time, and in pre-
paring the patient for it by a regimen and appropriate
remedies.  This folly, which characterized  the  med-
ical  spirit of that  epoch, (and of almost all  epochs)
was rapidly propagated from the schools of the  north
to the schools of France, and  gained, one knows  not
how, the assent of the most intelligent men.  Rosen
of  Rosenstein,  whom  I have  already  often  cited,
because his name  gives  authority, expresses  him-
self in  the  following manner on the  subject  of inoc-
ulation :
   u The sure means of avoiding the danger of small-
pox, is to inoculate children  when they are young,
and beside,  to perform this  operation as it  is done in
England.   It is  in fact, disagreeable,  at  each epi-
demic,  to take, as  long  as  it  lasts, Ethiop's mineral,
preventive  pills,  or tar-water;  and it is risking too
much to expose one's-self to be surprised by so fatal
a  disease, without  being  prepared  for it.   The older
one grows the more dangerous it becomes. 
Variola —Small-Pox.
149
  " One is always liable to be attacked with it in tra-
veling, or in places where there is no physician within
call, or where it is even difficult to procure medicines
and the attendance required.  One may take it during
the  heat of summer, after being already exhausted by
another disease, or by labor, or long watchings,  and
when other diseases  are prevailing, as purpura, pleu-
ritis, inflammations of the  lungs, or typhoid fevers;
or perhaps  even when fire  has  been  carried into the
body by incendiary drinks, or overloaded with a super-
abundance of food.
  " Women,  especially, should not  fail to be  inocu-
lated.  They see every day how much their  beauty
suffers from natural small-pox.  Beside, they are lia-
ble  to be attacked during pregnancy, or in child-bed,
so that they and their offspring are in danger of their
lives.  The numerous examples of persons who have
lost their sight, hearing, the use of speech or a limb,
in consequence  of this  disease, should  induce all to
avail themselves  with  avidity and  gratitude of the
means of avoiding these dangers, and  even a prema-
ture death."
  Thus, then, in order  to avert these dangers  and a
premature death from a  child who is in perfect health,
the  physician  takes  possession of  him, keeps  him
apart for two or three weeks, nourishes  him with light
meat and  vegetables, to cool his blood, gorges  him
with  purgative pills, generally made of calomel  and
camphor, and lastly,  inoculates him with  small-pox, 
150
Acute Exanthemata.
 which the  unfortunate  child  would  perhaps  never
 otherwise have had.
   This barbarous practice, excusable only in a people
 in its infancy, was nevertheless in vogue for several
 years in  all the capitals of Europe.
   At last, however, it began to be suspected that the
 advantages of inoculation were not  so great as to be
 absolutely incontestable.   A few  physicians, at  the
 head of whom we should cite Van Swieten, bethought
 themselves  of submitting to the  test of rigorous sta-
 tistics, the results of  cases of natural small-pox, and
 those  of inoculated  small-pox, terminating  fatally.
 They found that, notwithstanding the  advantages of
 the choice of season, the  favorable age of the patient,
 diet  and calomel, that the number of the victims of
 inoculated  small-pox was very nearly  in  the  same
 proportion as that of the disease, spontaneously con-
 tracted.   The good sense of the  public did the rest,
 and the inoculation of small-pox fell  into disuse.
  However, to be just toward these physicians, we  are
 compelled to acknowledge that this disastrous sophism
 maintained  its  place  in  science,  and would  perhaps
 have done so to  the  present day, but for an admir-
 able  discovery which overturned it  from   its very
foundation.
  An  English  physician  had  the  good  fortune to
imagine that, in order to preserve men from the small-
pox,  it was not necessary to give  it  to  them—which
 was plunging them into  a river to protect them from 
              Variola—Small-Pox.           151
the rain—but only to inoculate them with an analogous
affection,  incomparably  more mild.   This ingenious
conception was, as we see, an anticipated  glimpse of
the  great law of  Homoeopathy.  Experience  soon
verified the  theory  of Jenner,  and inoculation  with
vaccine succeeded, at  last, in supplanting  inoculation
of the small-pox.
   Since this  discovery, small-pox has lost more  than
three-quarters of its inauspicious prestige.  With the
exception of  the  inhabitants of  those  countries where
prejudice   and ignorance still oppose a free access to
vaccine,  nobody is  disturbed  at  its  approach.  It
sometimes traverses  our  cities almost  without leaving
a trace.   Nevertheless, we  sometimes  see it  appear
with a  certain  degree of violence, and attack  even
vaccinated subjects;  but, in these cases, especially
if   they  are  children, it  rarely assumes a  serious
character.
   I confess, it is not absolutely the same with respect
to  adults.  T have several times seen,  especially a few
years ago, in the practice of Professor  Rostan, men of
from  twenty-five to  thirty,  very seriously attacked
with  small-pox,  although  they  had  been vaccinated
in  their infancy.  Can it be that  at the end  of a
certain number of years the principle of the vaccine is
exhausted  in the economy, and  is divested, little  by
little, with the renewal of our organs, of its preserv-
ative virtues ?  This opinion, which is that generally
entertained by German physicians, merits, it must be 
152            Acute  Exanthemata.
confessed, experimental proof.  I have, myself, vac-
cinated  in  1846, a dozen  persons already vaccinated
eight or ten  years  before, in  none of whom did the
eruption make its appearance.  It is, in consequence,
extremely probable  that in these dozen persons, the
aptitude to receive the variolous infection was  com-
pletely destroyed, or at least  had not yet been repro-
duced.   I  saw,  the   following  year, however, the
vaccine take  again very well  in  a young girl of
seventeen,  who bore upon both arms the scars of a
vaccination made, as  I was told, in 1832.  The im-
portant question of re-vaccination remains,  then,  up
to this time, in the most complete uncertainty.
   The characteristics of variola are extremely marked.
   After  the symptoms of  a  gastro-pulmonary and
intestinal irritation, which lasts  two or three  days,
the pustules begin to appear, at first pointed, but soon
becoming  umbilicated, sometimes  few  and distinct,
and at others numerous and confluent.  At the  same
time that these pustules acquire the  umbilicated form,
and their center the puriform aspect, the skin reddens
and  tumefies in a remarkable manner.   At the end
of eight or ten days the pustules begin to dry, and are
covered with yellow or blackish crusts,  after the fall
of which we find  upon the skin circular spots of a
brownish-red color, then scars more or  less  regular:
there sometimes supervenes an abundant salivation.
In general, the duration of these  pustules is from
ten to twelve days. 
              Variola — Small-Pox.           153
  u Variola,''  says  Ilartmann,  " cannot  be  mis-
taken ;  at  most,  it  can  only  be  confounded  with
varicella, from which only this disadvantage  could
result, that as, in general, persons have the small-pox
but once in their lives, one might believe themselves
thenceforth  safe  from  it while in  fact  they would
not be so."
  This disease presents, in  its  course, four periods
more  or less distinct.
  The first, or febrile period,  commences by a simple
irritative fever, and terminates when the first spots
appear  upon  the skin.  The fever, at  first  slight,
increases from day to day in the form of  a remittent
continued; there  is  headache, ill-humor, lassitude,
disposition to sleep, a marked congestion of the blood
toward the brain  and face, epistaxis, sometimes deli-
rium,  nausea  and  bilious vomiting, a peculiar and
disagreeable odor of the  breath, and  of the urine,
epileptiform  convulsions  in  little  children,  colic,
drawing pains in  the  limbs, stretching, pain in the
loins, etc.
  uThe precursory signs of small-pox," says Rosen,
u are  not as decisive as some  have thought; thus one
can almost never  affirm, with  certainty, that a subject
is on  the point of having it.   The  following circum-
stances, however, will  commonly enable  us  to  fore-
tell it:
  "1st. If the disease  exists in the vicinity  of the
patient: 
154
Acute Exanthemata.
  "2d. If the patient  has never had  it; if he  has
been  in  an apartment where some one has  had it;
if  he  has been  near a person who has  been  with
one of these patients, or has touched their  clothes or
linen:
  u 3d. If we  observe the symptoms which  ordinarily
precede eruptive fevers; as, a certain languor; enerva
tion without manifest cause; a chill, followed by heat;
pain in the loins, an oppression of the chest, sighs.
  u4th.  If the face is bloated, the eyes heavy, with a
slight  flow of tears, especially  from the left  eye, the
tears not so hot as in measles; if the patient feels pain
in the  pit of the stomach upon slight pressure of the
finger; if there is desire  to sleep at  unseasonable
hours; if he  is  agitated  during  sleep  and vomits
often :  if. I say, we observe these different symptoms,
vvc may presume, with confidence, that the patient will
have  small-pox.   The  fever continues, but not with
the  same force, up to the moment of the eruption.
At  this period, some patients, especially little  child-
ren, are  attacked  with  epileptic  convulsions; and if
dentition contributes nothing to it, it is  commonly the
sign of  a favorable form  of the  disease.  This, the
first  period of variola, lasts as long as seventy-two
hours, and even four days."
  I do not know how  far epileptic convulsions, in
children,  may be  considered,  as  Rosen asserts, of
good  augury.  The truth  is,  that  Kirkpatrick  and
Van  Swieten  have seen  some  patients,  after  this 
              Variola — Small-Pox.           155
symptom, remain  speechless, or with  paralysis of a
limb, for several weeks.
  We know, at least,  that these symptoms, frequent
enough in children attacked with typhoid fever, have
hardly ever bad consequences, and disappear of them-
selves  after  a certain time,  which, beside, may be
abridged by appropriate remedies.
  The  second  period is  that of the eruption.   It  is
immediately  preceded  by a febrile  exacerbation, but
which abates from the moment that the first pustules
appear.  These appear first  upon the face, more par-
ticularly on  the upper lip,  and on each side  of the
nose, in  the form  of little nodes, which cause under
the finger, says Hartmann,  the same  impression as
grains  of millet.   These papulae enlarge rapidly,  al-
most while we look at them, and assume the appear-
ance we have described.   From the face, they  spread
over the neck, chest, arms, loins, and  inferior ex-
tremities.  They rarely appear on  the  abdomen, still
more rarely on the soles  of the feet.  The eruption is
completed  in three  or four  days,  at  the most; the
febrile  excitement, although less  than at an  earlier
period,  continues,  nevertheless, during the whole time
of its appearance, but does not persist longer, except-
ing  in anomalous  cases.   Sometimes, even,- when the
variola  is  mild,  the  eruption  takes   place without
fever, the patient  then only complains of itching and
burning of the skin. 
156
Acute Exanthemata.
  When variola  appears during dentition,  there  is
always  a more or less violent fever, which does not
cease with the appearance of the pustules, and which
is liable to assume a variety of forms.  There are fre-
quently congestions to the head or chest ; in the first
case, there is delirium, accompanied  with great thirst,
wakefulness, and  constipation,  the  hands  may  be
cool, or  of  a  normal temperature,  but  the rest  of
the body is burning: in the  second case, there is a
short and  fatiguing cough,  with great thirst,  pulse
strong and frequent, and extreme agitation ;  pneumo-
nia is to be feared.
  It is at  this period,  small-pox  has  the greatest
tendency to  become malignant;  that is to say, to be-
come complicated with ataxic symptoms, or to disap-
pear suddenly, and fix itself upon the internal viscera;
a circumstance which is always very serious, and calls
for the most prompt attention.
  The third period, or period  of suppuration, com-
mences from the sixth to  the eighth day ; that is, from
the time when  the eruption appears on  the face, and
continues to the time when the first  pustules begin  to
dry.  The commencement and the termination of this
period is  no more marked than those of the others.
because, as  the eruption is not effected all at  once,
but spreads, little by little, from region  to  region,  it
results, that the first pustules are almost dry,  when
those  on the legs but just begin to  show themselves. 
Variola — Small-Pox.
157
  When these pustules have  attained  their perfect
development, the transparent lymph which fills them,
becomes, soon, opaque  and yellowish; and  this,  if
the disease progresses regularly, is  a veritable  stage
accomplished.  The base of each pustule is red and
painful.  The swelling of the face is then so consider-
able, that the patient can  hardly open  the  eyes, and
appears blind.  The  febrile affection commonly in-
creases a little at this period, constituting the suppu-
rative fever;  it manifests itself, however, only  when
the pustules  are  numerous.  The more violent  it is,
the more thick and turbid is the urine; and if this,
ordinarily of  a  brick-red color,  becomes bloody, it
must be regarded as a serious symptom.  It  only ac-
companies an eruption of bad character; that is to say,
one in which the pustules are flaccid before their time,
not umbilicated and filled with blood instead of serum.
It is during  this third  period that the  peculiar odor
of variola is strongest; and persons not remaining con-
stantly with the patient, find it almost insupportable.
  The period  of desiccation  and  of  desquamation
terminates  the disease;  with it,  all the symptoms of
the preceding period, progressively diminish.
  The humor contained in the  pustules,  gradually
dries  into  a brown crust, which afterward  falls  off,
leaving behind a cicatrice, whose depth  and extent
depend  upon the suppuration, more  or  less consider
able, of which the skin has been the seat;  and this
latter, for a long time, remains marked with large red 
158
Acute Exanthemata.
spots, and very sensitive to the impression of the  at-
mospheric air.
  l" When  the desiccation is  once achieved  on the
face,"  says  Hartmann, " there is no  more  danger.
But the beginning of  this operation marks one of the
most serious periods of the disease ; for it  is then that
the greatest number of deaths  occur, by putrid disso-
lution,  gangrene  of  the  pustules,  hemorrhages, in-
flammations of the lungs,  of the  brain, of the abdo-
men, etc."
  The sequelae of small-pox  are frequent  and varied.
Independently of the  cicatrices, which time only to a
certain degree effaces, this terrible disease leaves often
after it chronic ophthalmia,  deafness, large and  very
painful furuncles, which are  liable to be reproduced,
and sometimes, in short, pulmonary tubercles, whose
softening immediately succeeds, in many subjects, the
disappearance of the cutaneous  eruption.  Each  of
these  secondary affections  calls for the  special treat-
ment  appropriate to  it.   The  treatment  of  variola
proper, must alone occupy us here:
  Treatment.—I am happy  in  being able to point
out to  practitioners,  against the  different phases  of
variola, indications  which are absolutely new, and
whose efficacy will, I venture  to  say, astonish those
who put them in  practice.
  " In following the  course  of natural variola," says
Hartmann,  u I perceived, what has not escaped other
homoeopathic  physicians, that this disease, especially 
              Variola—Small-Pox.           159
at the beginning of the second period, bears  a  strong
analogy to the itch, and that it would not  be without
reason, if we should call it acute itch.   This remark
started with me,  the  question, whether it  was not
possible  that  a dose of sulphur, administered after
the  febrile  symptoms  had been  diminished, during
the first  period, would  preserve the subject from the
complete eruption  of the variola, and  whether it might
not also be employed as  a preventive for other members
of a family, who had not had the small-pox,  and who
had never been vaccinated, and who would  not now
have time to have  recourse to it.  Circumstances have
not yet permitted me to put this  idea  into practice;
but  I  propose to  embrace the first opportunity of
doing so.
  I am sorry to be forced to predict for our estimable
colleague, that when the occasion shall  present  itself,
of putting  this idea to  the  proof,  he will  be but
very moderately satisfied with the  result.
  But I confess that I ask myself  in vain,  what rela-
tion M. Hartmann and  those of our brethren, who he
says, coincide in this opinion, have been able to find
between the itch and variola.  Of  these affections, the
one is essentially acute and febrile,  the other is essen-
tially chronic and  non-febrile.  The one is  pustulous,
the other vesiculous.  Variola manifests itself first on
the face ;  the itch,  on the hands and bends of the arms.
The contagion of the first invades the entire economy
before breaking out in an eruption ; the second showa
       14 
160
Acute Exanthemata.
 itself  primitively on  those parts  of the  cutaneous
 envelop, which have  been exposed  to  the infecting
 contact.   Lastly, the itch  is, above all,  characterized
 by  the  presence of an  acarus, which  although it
 escaped, one knows not  how, the  microscopic re-
 searches of doctors Alibert and Biett,  is  very easily
 to  be discovered with the naked eye.   Variola and
 the itch have then, between them, no other points of
 r.esemblance, than that both arc contagious ; but this,
 as we know, is also common to a host of other dis-
 eases.
   Admitting, however, for the moment, the hypothesis
 that variola is really an acute itch, as Hartmann says,
 is this a reason why  sulphur should act as its prophy-
 lactic, or be  capable of arresting its  progress 'i   Sul-
 phur is by no  means  the  specific  for true itch ; we
 see at  least, that if it cures it, it cures it very slowly.
 The medicines I shall point out for  it, demonstrate an
 incomparably greater efficacy than those of any sul-
 phurous  preparations whatever; so that, if  sulphur
 has its place  in the  treatment of small-pox, I venture
 to affirm, that it is not the first period of this disease,
 which calls for its use.
   But there is  another  remedy of which  M. Hart-
 mann  incidentally speaks,   and  praises  for the  con-
 vulsions of children during  the eruptive period, which,
if he will consent to make  trial of, upon the indica-
tions we give, will realize  the hopes he has founded
 upon sulphur ; it is  Zincum. 
Variola — Small-Pox.
161
  Yes,  when during  an epidemic of variola, a pa-
tient, whatever be  his age, presents evident  pre-
monitory symptoms of this affection, zincum admin-
istered three  or four times a  day, not of the  third  or
fourth dilution, but of the thirtieth, will in all proba-
bility, arrest  the  development of the  eruption.  The
disease  will be throttled, to speak after the manner of
certain  Allopathists, but it will be effectually accom-
plished, and  above all, without danger to the patient.
Let  us  remark, however, that although  the patient
shall take the medicine 1 indicate, for a couple of days
only, he ought to observe,  for  a week  at least, the
same hygienic precautions  as  if  the eruption had
taken its course; he should above all, avoid exposure
to cold  air.
   But though zincum be the real preservative from the
variolous eruption, when it is administered  before its
development, it ceases  to be efficacious from the mo-
ment when the first pustules have made their appear-
ance.   It, in a word, is not the specific for variola.
   This specific,  nevertheless exists,  or  at  least,  we
have the'right to consider as such, those means which
we are  about to indicate.  But let  us,  beforehand, cite
a few important lines from M. Rapou :
   " In  the beginning, (it is of  variola he speaks), it
is proper to  administer a few doses  of aconite; but
as soon as the papulae  are developed, we should have
recourse to mercurius, at one of the lower  potencies,
and adhere to it as the remedy constituting principally 
 162            Acute Exanthemata.
 the therapeutics  of variola.   Mercurius is but  little
 recommended in this case; but  the  results  obtained
 in the practice of my father, convinced him that this
 substance was the specific, above all others, for simple
 variola.  Under  the  influence of  this  remedy,  the
 eruption is regularly effected ; no serious complication
 intervenes ;  its evolution  is greatly accelerated, and
 the suppuration is not abundant.  In a word, if the
 disease  is taken  in  the  beginning, it always  shows
 itself  mild, and loses  the dangerous  character which
 has made it dreaded up to this time."''
   Thus, of the divers medicines tried, without doubt,
 by M. Rapou. the father, mercurius  is beyond com-
 parison, the one which has succeeded best.
   Hartmann  also speaks of mercurius,  but in much
 less explicit terms. He only  recommends it  for the
 third period, and  as a means of combating salivation:
 M. Rapou is much nearer the truth.
   Mercurius, in fact, or at least one  of  its combina-
 tions,  was ordained by destiny to play an  important
 part in the treatment of variola.
   Mercurius corrosivus, (but not the metallic mer-
 cury recommended by Rapou) is, with the aid of can*.
 ticum, a  heroic remedy for  small-pox.   Let  us  pre-
 scribe, for example, either on  the  appearance  of the
 first pustules, or in  the  course  of  the second, or

  * Vaccinin, 200d potency, ib, according to our experience, the true
specific against Smallpox in all its stages. Ed. 2d e lit. 
              Variola — Small-Pox.           163
even the third  period, if  one is not called until  that
time:
   1st.  Caustic. 30th, eight glob., in four ounces of
vehicle, two teaspoonfuls to  be  taken  in the course of
the morning at an interval of three or four hours.
   2d. Merc, corrosiv., 30th, eight glob., in the same
quantity of  vehicle, two teaspoonfuls at  the same
intervals, in the afternoon :
   And we shall see, in an immense majority of cases,
that under the influence of this medication, the exan-
them,  and  all its  concomitant  symptoms, will be
extinguished as if by magic.
   When the disease pursues  an  irregular course;
when the eruption exhibits a  tendency to  disappear
from  the surface;  when the  pustules,  instead  of
being transparent, or yellow, are green, purple or black;
when the  blood with which they are filled  announces
a  decomposition  of this  fluid,  and  threatens  the
approach of putrid symptoms,  it is not to arsenicum
we should have recourse, but to sulphur.
   In this case, causticum should be continued in the
morning, and  sulphur  at a high  potency, 30th, for
example, should replace mercurius  corrosivus, in the
afternoon ; but we should return to the latter as soon as
the symptoms have resumed their normal course.
   These three  medicines: caustic,  mere  cor.  and
sulphur will almost always suffice for the treatment
of variola.  The  two  first will abridge  more than
half the whole  duration  of the disease, and prevent 
164
Acute Exanthemata.
the secondary  symptoms, which it would be the mis-
sion, principally, of sulphur to repair.
   Belladonna, which has  been much  extolled for
small-pox, is  not,  nevertheless, appropriate  to it, ex-
cept as an accessory, and only  in cases where cerebral
symptoms manifest themselves.
  When, on the contrary, there is no tendency to deli-
rium, belladonna  has the disadvantage of exciting,
and  that  without  any benefit,  a painful degree of
agitation.
  Lastly, under very rare circumstances, it is possible
we may be  obliged  to  have  recourse  to  lachesis,
arsenicum, and to murialicum acidum.  The well
known symptoms of these medicines sufficiently indi-
cate the circumstances which would call for their use.

                  varioloid.
  Varioloid is a mild and modified variola; it passes
through the same periods,  but  leaves no scars.
  M. Moreau de  Gones (in a memoir read  at the
Academy  of Sciences, in October 1827,) asserts that
the varioloid  is distinct in  its symptoms,  its effects
and its origin, from common variola; that one  is not
preserved   from  its  contagion  either by  that  of
ordinary small-pox,  or  by  the power  of  vaccinia;
the vaccine-virus,  however, modifies  its pernicious
influence.
  I have seen varioloid declare itself in children re-
cently vaccinated;  but it is probable that, without the 
             Varicella — Chicken-Pox.         165
influence of the vaccine, it would have been the small-
pox.
   " It is in  fact proved,"  says M. Billard, " that the
kinds'of variola which occur in  spite of vaccine, do
not differ, in their anatomical character, from  those
which attack patients not vaccinated;  that they fre-
quently even offer the same complications, and that
in general  they have neither appeared  more mild or
more  fatal."  This last observation, I venture to say,
has no foundation excepting in relation to individuals
who had been vaccinated many years before.
   Be  that as it  may, varioloid does not differ essen-
tially  from variola, and the same treatment is adapted
to both.
             VARICELLA--CHICKEN-POX.
   Varicella differs somewhat from variola, in its pa-
thological character.  The  fever which precedes the
eruption of this  exanthem  is never prolonged beyond
thirty-six or forty-eight hours.  In combination writh it
there  are more or  less marked symptoms of gastroin-
testinal irritation.  The pustules, instead of being regu-
larly umbilicated, like those of small-pox, are sometimes
conoid, sometimes globular, sometimes, in fine, umbili-
cated, but present the same type in the different periods.
   I have reason to believe that vaccina does not act
as a preventive from varicella; and that, in turn, vari-
cella  offers no protection from the small-pox;  it is for
this last reason, especially, that it is important not to
confound them together. 
166           Acute Exanthemata.
  Varicella is  one of those diseases that are  left, the
greater part of the time, to the efforts of nature alone.
Nevertheless, if it appears during dentition, it might
give rise to cerebral, or  nervous symptoms, which
would require,  according to circumstances, the use of
belladonna or coffea.
  When varicella is a simple, non-complicated  dis-
ease, a dose of pulsatilla,  administered in the begin
ning, greatly abridges its duration.  It is also recom-
mended as a prophylactic.

 VACCINA AND  VACCINELLA — COW-POX, AND SPURIOUS
                     COW-POX.
  The name Vaccina is given to the eruptive disease,
which  results from the insertion, under the epidermis,
of the vaccine virus.
  Vaccinella,  or  false vaccina, is a minor disease,
nearly resembling it, and  consecutive, also, to inocu-
lation, but which does not possess, as does the first,
the virtue of preserving from variola.
  We  see, then, how important it is  not to confound
vaccina with vaccinella; and the more readily to dis-
tinguish them, let  us recall here the characteristics
of the  two affections.
   Characteristics of vaccina.—Eight  days after inocu-
lation reddish pimples appear, which soon become filled
with a, fluid, first transparent, then turbid; the centers
of these pustules become depressed, their base inflamed
and swollen,  and lastly,  the humor they contain is 
             Vaccina and Vaccinella.         167
transformed  into a  brownish  crust, which  detaches
itself at the end of two or three days, and leaves after
it a cicatrice.
   Characteristics of the vaccinella.—After the inser-
tion of the vaccine  in  subjects already vaccinated, or
who have  had  the  small-pox, or  indeed, when  the
virus inoculated is  not in a proper state, we see also
developed pustules, but which appear from the third
to the fourth  day, whose centers are not depressed,
and whose  flattened  and unequal edges  are  not
swollen.  The humor contained in these pustules is
of a limpid yellow color.   An insupportable itching,
accompanies  them toward the seventh or  eighth day.
Crusts are also formed, but they fall without leaving
scars.
   We may vaccinate at all ages.   However, the con-
gestion of the  integuments, during the first days of
life, seems to contra-indicate vaccination at this period.
" I have several times seen," says M. Billard, " at the
hospital  of the Enfants-trouves, where they vaccinate
children  very young, a very intense erysipelas devel-
oped upon the vaccinated limb."
   Hartmann  has made, on the subject of vaccine, an
observation which deserves to be  cited : " The vac-
cine," says he, " does not preserve subjects  to whom
the contagious  principle  of variola has been already
communicated, and who  are susceptible to the action
of this principle.  But as one cannot know the period
of this infection, because,  during its incubation, the
         15 
168          Chronic  Exanthemata.
person feels well, so we cannot fix upon any time, up
to which only, it will be useful to vaccinate.  In tho
instance where a member of a family is attacked  with
small -pox, and the family contains several individuals
who  have never been  vaccinated, the vaccination  of
these would be of no use :  experience has taught nic
this.  But this is not  saying that vaccination would
be useless for  the whole  community: far  from  it;
recourse should be had to it at once, in order that
many may be protected from the contagion.   This is
rarely propagated with such  rapidity as to  make it
impossible to preserve those who  do not  come  in
contact with the persons affected."
           CHRONIC  EXANTHEMATA.
  Chronic eruptions  are  external manifestations  of
probably very different essential diseases, which, when
they do  not reveal  themselves under  the eruptive
form, are only the more to be dreaded.
  Sooner or later, in fact, they break forth  internally,
and then cause ravages, so much the  more difficult to
arrest because it is nearly impossible to penetrate their
nature, and to ascertain the remedies appropriate to
them.
  This is what often happens in cold and damp coun-
tries, where the skin performs its functions imperfect-
ly, and where cutaneous diseases are rare, but where. 
Chronic  Exanthemata.
IM
by  way  of compensation, we  meet, at every  step,
tuberculous affections of the lungs, of the mesentery,
of all  the internal organs, and a  host of other analo-
gous  lesions, having each, without doubt, its  special
character, but  of which  no  one  suspects  the  prin-
ciple.
  Now, it  is extremely  probable, that  all  these im-
penetrable,  and so often fatal, hidden  diseases, cor-
respond to  those  which,  in warmer climates, manifest
themselves under the exanthematous form.
  The determination of these morbid entities, internal
or external, according  to the latitude, and  especially
the determination  of  the signs,  by which we may
recognize them, when they do not show themselves on
the skin, or when one has had the imprudence to repel
them,  would, assuredly, be an immense acquisition,
for  medicine and  humanity.
  But,  unfortunately,  up to  the present  time, the
closest, the most assiduous, and the most persevering
observation, has afforded us, with respect to them, but
very vague  notions, from which  practice has hardly
been able to derive any advantage.
  However  it  may be, it  results  from what pre-
cedes :
  1st.  That we can scarcely attach too much import-
ance to the treatment of  chronic exanthemata ; since,
in abandoning them to  themselves, or in treating them
improperly,  we infallibly expose  the  patient to the
most dangerous metastases. 
17i>           Chronic  Exanthemata.
  2d. That  it  is absurd, monstrous, to  treat these
diseases with local  applications, which,  in  despoiling
them of their only  apparent  symptom,  leaves to the
practitioner, not even the resource of following  their
progress.  So, it is with the most profound  disgust,
that I go over, (as I still occasionally  do,) the  allo-
pathic therapeutics of the diseases of the skin.
  In  consequence of the opinion I have formed, not
precisely upon psora, in the absolute sense in which
Hahnemann understood it, but upon  the multiple and
polymorphous  nature  of chronic miasms, I am not
indisposed  to regard, as  a  happy circumstance, the
appearance of cutaneous affections in children.
  I do not suppose, according to the vulgar  opinion,
that, in having this eruption, they thus  pay nature a
tribute, by  which  they are  thenceforward,  forever
affranchised from her;  but,  what appears  evident to
me, is, that when they have been once cured, by sure
means, of a tinea, of a  herpes, or impetigo, they will
be forever delivered from malignant principles, which
might have  remained latent for a series of years, and
finally have shown themselves in an incurable form.
  During the five  years that 1 was resident  phy-
sician at  the  baths  of Bagnoles, in  Normandy,  I
treated a  very considerable  number of  chronic  erup-
tions.
  Independently  of the  bathers, submitted to my
daily observation, I had, in the country, an extensive
practice,  which gave me an opportunity to test,  aside 
                      The Itch.                 171
 from the action of the waters, the  curative properties
 of the remedies I employed.
   Thanks to the co-operation of  some friends, who
 were good enough to aid  me  in my pathogenetic
 researches, touching several  new medicines, or medi-
 cines yet but little known, I have succeeded  in  dis-
 covering, for chronic exanthemata, a treatment,  far
 superior to that in general use.
   To make known, without reserve, the results of my
 experience,' is, for me, a duty full of charms.
   It is my intention to publish, some day, in extenso,
 the homoeopathic treatment of cutaneous affections ;
 but it is evident, that  I must here confine myself to a
 limited  view, and especially speak of the  eruptions
'peculiar to children.

                    THE ITCH.
   This exanthem, almost always apyretic, consists in
 an eruption  of  vesicles, very slightly  elevated  above
 the  level  of the skin, sometimes of  scarcely  any
 marked color; transparent at the top, and accompanied
 with  an itching, which forces the patient to scratch
 continually,  and generally developing  itself  in  the
 folds of  the joints.
   The itch commonly first shows itself between the fin-
 gers, upon the wrists, and at the epigastrium. Thence
 it extends, little by  little,  until it covers the  whole
 body, with the  exception of the face, where it nevei
 appears. 
 1'-'          Chronic Exanthemata.
   When it is communicated  from the nurse, which
 often happens, it is  on the breech and thighs of the
 child that it first appears, because these parts come in
 contact with  the arms of the nurse.
   The itch has  this peculiarity, that it is never spon-
 taneously cured.  As the vesicles ripen and disappear,
 new ones appear.
   The change from cold to heat,  especially the heat
 of the bed, increases the itching and renders it almost
 insupportable.
   When the patient, in scratching himself, has torn
 open the vesicles, as almost always happens, at least
 in children of a certain age, there issues a  mixture
 of blood and serum, which in drying, forms rather
 thick crusts of a dark red,  and which give the patient*
 the appearance of having been scourged.
   When the  disease is recent, and  its  nature has not
 been changed by an external  treatment, it is easy to
 perceive, especially  between the fingers, little regular
 red lines, of which each  beginning in the vesicles, is
 prolonged under  the epidermis, and terminates in a
 little brown point.   If, on  introducing the point of a
 needle under  the  epidermis, we extract this point, we
discover the acarus or sarcopte of man.
  This animalcule is about one two-hundredths of an
inch in  diameter.   Its body  is rounded and  com-
 pressed on the sides ; seen  through the  microscope,
its  form reminds one of  that of the  tortoise.   It is
 white,  striated,  bristling  upon the back with rigid 
The Itch.
173
papilla?.   Its feet  are eight in number, four anterior
and  four posterior.  The former, placed on each side
of the head, and, as it were,  webbed, are furnished
with  cup-shaped  caruncles.    The  four   posterior,
fixed  to the abdomen, are shorter and more separated
than  the  anterior, cylindrical  and  unprovided with
the cups. The front feet and the head can, by bending,
be hidden under the body.
  The itch  is essentially contagious.  Some authors,
among whom I will cite  Morgagni, attribute its devel-
opment exclusively to the presence of the  acarus, and
regard, in consequence, this insect as the only vehicle
of contagion.  I am ignorant as to how far this opin-
ion is tenable.
  According to Hahnemann, the psoric or itch miasm,
is the most contagious of all the chronic miasms.
  " It is communicated," says he, " with such facility,
that in passing from one patient to another, to feel the
pulse, a physician often inoculates  several  persons
without knowing  it.  Linen washed  with  the clothes
which had been worn b}7 one  who has the disease—
gloves, new, but wrhich  an itch-patient had  already
tried on ; a towel used for the purpose of wiping—have
sufficed to communicate the principle of infection.  It
often  happens that a new-born child contracts it in
passing the external genital parts of its mother, who is
affected with it, or that it receives this baleful present
from  the  midwife,  who had  caught it in attending
another woman in labor, or contracts it, either at the 
 174           Chronic  Exanthemata.
 breast of the nurse, or in  the  arms and through the
 caresses of those who have charge of  it, without enu-
 merating the thousands of other  occasions to be met
 with in life, of touching objects invisibly sullied with
 this miasm."'"
   Notwithstanding the authority of  Hahnemann,  it
 is impossible to admit that the itch is communicated
 with the facility he  asserts.   But, it  is well known,
 that in his theory of psora, the itch plays the important
 part, or  rather  the  only  part.  The  itch-eruption,
 according  to  him,  was the primitive  form of psora.
 Now as he referred to psora, all the chronic diseases
 not syphilitic, he was forced to admit that the majority
 of men had had the itch ; an hypothesis which  could
 only be sustained  by supposing, in  this exanthem,  a
 prodigious tendency to communicate itself.
  Thus Hahnemann,  under the influence of his fixed
 idea, saw the itch everywhere.
  "In  1817  and  1M8,"  says Hartmann,  "I  was
present  almost daily, at Hahnemann's consultations,
and  I very often  heard him ask his patients if they
had ever had the itch. At last he would say to them,
in a  very positive  manner: < You have at some time
had the itch.'  I was very much  surprised at the affirm-
ative reply of a majority of the patients.   Since  that
time, I never fail to  put this question to  those who
  * Doctrine et Traitment Homoeopath iques des Maladies Chron
iques, torn, i, page 56, et suit. 
The Itch.
175
come  to me for advice, and  before  Hahnemann  had
published his Traite des Maladies Chroniqucs, I had
very often found in sulphur and in hepar sulph. the
appropriate remedy."
  1 do not know whether the patients, so affirmatively
interrogated by Hahnemann, perfectly comprehended
his  question, when they replied that they had actually
had the itch.   I do not know either if the itch is more
common  in Germany than among us ; but what I can
affirm is, that in France, especially among the rich, or
even among those  in easy circumstances only, out of
every ten  interrogated, nine positively declare  that
they have never had the itch  ; which however does not
prevent them from complaining of chronic affections.
  I have seen, on the other hand, a great number of
individuals, who have had  the  itch, and who have
never been treated, except by external means, enjoying
excellent health.   Hahnemann  could   have found
many, and  striking proofs of this assertion, among our
sailors.
  But if, instead of asking patients this explicit ques-
tion :  Have you had the itch %  we content  ourselves
with  simply asking, if they  have had  any disease of
the skin, almost all reply in the  affirmative.  Must
we consider  all cutaneous  diseases  but transforma-
tions  of  the itch?   I am  quite convinced that this is
not the case.
  However it be, Hahnemann did not fail to attribute
to the repercussion  of  itch  pustules,  however little 
176           Chronic Exanthemata.
apparent they might have been, and even when there
was no proof that they had ever existed, the immense
majority of the diseases submitted to his observation.
  The state of vague suffering that physicians are in
the habit of naming cacochymy, was equally, for him,
but the result of repelled itch, or a latent psora, of
which he thus traces the principal symptoms:
  " Frequent excretion of worms ; insupportable itch-
ing in  the rectum, especially in  children  ; in many
cases, swelling of the abdomen; sometimes,  insatiable
hunger, and sometimes, no appetite at all; paleness,
and flaccidity of the muscles ;  frequent ophthalmia;
styes;  swelling of the  glands of the neck ;  sweat on
the head ;  bleeding  of the  nose  in young girls  and
young boys, more rare  in adults ; hands  generally
cold, or moistened with perspiration, or burning heat
in the palms ;  feet bathed  in a fetid sweat;  frequent
numbness of  the limbs;   frequent  cramps  in  the
muscles of the arms and  hands ; subsultus  of certain
muscular  parts;  frequent  catarrhs ;   dry  or  fluent
coryza ; obstruction of the nostrils ; painful dryness
in the nose ;  ulceration  of  the nostrils, frequent an-
gina ; frequent hoarseness of the voice; short, hacking
cough;  frequent attacks  of asthma; liability to be
chilled; great tendency to sprains in  the  back; fre-
quent headache and toothache,  of one side ; frequent
flashes  of heat; falling of the hair; scales upon the
scalp ; tendency to erysipelas ; disorder of the menses ;
convulsive movements of the limbs, at the moment of 
The Itch.
177
falling asleep, lassitude after sleep ; perspiration during
the day ;  tongue  white, or,  at  least, very pale,  and
cracked ;  a  great  deal of mucus in the throat; fetid-
ness of the mouth, acid taste ; nausea in the morning,
feeling of emptiness in the stomach; repugnance lor
warm food,  dryness  in the mouth;  frequent pains in
the bowels, hard or  loose stools, hemorrhoides dry, or
bleeding;  urine,dark colored; veins swollen with dila-
tation in the legs, (varices); chilblains, even in  sum-
mer ; pains in the corns,  without external pressure of
the shoe ; extreme liability to dislocation of the joints,
cracking  in the joints  during  movement; drawing
pains in  the nape  of the neck, the back, the limbs,
and especially in the  teeth ; renewal,  during   rest,
of  the  pains   dissipated  by  movement; renewal,
or  aggravation, of a  greater part  of the  symptoms,
during  the night, wdien the barometer  is  very  low,
during  north and  northeast winds, in wdnter, and
toward  the  spring ;  too vivid and agitating dreams ;
unhealthy  skin, frequent furuncles,  whitlows ;  skin
dry in the limbs,  often, even, in the cheeks ; desqua-
mation  of  the  skin,  in  different  places, sometimes
accompanied with burning  and itching; appearance
of  isolated  vesicles, which  fill  with pus,  and  oc-
casion  a  voluptuous  itching,  followed   by burning
heat." *
  * Doctrine et Traitemcnt  Homceopathique  des Maladies Chroniques,
tome i, page 66, et suiv. 
 178          Chronic Exanthemata.
   I have no doubt whatever, that  these minor disor-
 ders, a.s well as the more serious affections, of which
 they are commonly but the precursory signs, are the
 consequences of congenital, or contracted  miasmatic
 infections.    But,  that  these  morbid  phenomena
 have all  one common origin — that  they  may  be
 all  referred  to  the same principle,  and  that  that
 principle  is  the  itch — is   what,  I  repeat,  very
 far  from  being   proved,   is extremely  improba-
 ble.
  The itch  is the disease "of the poorer  classes; or,
 rather,  of uncleanly  people.   Thus,  a  sort  of dis-
 grace is connected  with it.   I   do   not  mean  to
 say, that persons  of  an elevated  condition,  and
 who  take  great  care  of  themselves,  are  alto-
 gether  exempt   from  its  attacks:  but  they  are,
 it   will   be   admitted,  much   less  likely  to  con-
 tract it.
  May the itch be spontaneously developed ?   It is a
 question not easily answered.  The causes of infec-
 tion, in  fact, are so diverse, and so numerous,  that it
 is  nearly impossible to  be certain  of having avoided
 them all.  As for myself, it is  my inmost conviction,
 that even, without necessarily admitting the interven-
 tion of  a congenital  virus,  the itch  exanthem  mav
 result spontaneously, from a miserable alimentation,
 joined to the sad necessity of wearing always the same
linen, and other garments. 
                     The Itch.                 179
  What  is there  astonishing  in  the  idea,  that the
acarus, like so  many other animalculse,  should be
developed from the decay of dirty wool ?
  This is so much the more probable, because greasy
wool, or even  the woven wool, but more particularly
greasy wool, seems endowed with the property of en-
gendering this insect: a circumstance which explains
the frequency of the itch  among workmen—tailors,
drapers, scourers, spinners, etc.
  What is incontestable, is, that if the  itch was only
transmitted by contact with those affected with it, no
persons in the  world  would  be  more  exposed than
physicians,  who pass their whole  lives in  touching
patients of all  conditions.   Now, is this  exanthem
more frequent among our brethren than  in  any other
class  of   society ?   I venture to  affirm  that  it  is
not.
  I admit, then, as origins of the itch exanthem:
  1st. Certain  hygienic conditions,  to  which misery
too often condemns the unfortunate ;
  2d. The itch infection, proceeding from  immediate
contact with one affected with it;
  3d. Its transmission through  objects, principally
linen, sheets, or  infected garments ;
  1th. The  spontaneous formation of the  acarus  in
woolen stuff, and some other substances,  such, it  is
said, as copal varnish, pitch, and hemp;
  5th. And lastly, The  vicinity,  and abcve all, the
contact of domestic animals, having this disease. 
ISO           Chronic  Exanthemata.
  Whatever be the origin of the itch, its pathological
characteristics offer little difference.
  They take constantly  one of the two forms, known
under the names, papulous itch and purulent itch ;
forms beside, scarcely sufficiently distinct to constitute
true  types,  and  to  which  the  same  homoeopathic
treatment is applicable.
  The papulous  itch, (common dry itch), is  charac-
terized  by elevations, which  produce  an  intolerable
itching at every  change of temperature.   It  shows
itself more particularly in the dorsal region, on the
arms, thighs and  abdomen.
  The purulent itch, whose pustules are more devel-
oped than in the preceding form, is also more violent.
It shows itself more especially on the fingers, and the
metacarpo-phalangial  articulations.   I  have  never
met with it in children.
  The prognosis of the itch, depends upon its origin,
and  especially upon  the  degree of its development.
The spontaneous itch, and that which has  been com-
municated by animals, are the slowest in being cured.
 , Upon the whole, the  itch is not a serious  disease ;
it can only become so by being indefinitely abandoned
to itself, or worse  still  by being repelled.   But is  it
not absolutely the same with the greater  part  of the
diseases of the skin ?
  Treatment.—''When the  physician, says Hahne-
mann, "has recognized the  symptoms of  the itch, it
suffices, avoiding all external application, toadministei 
                     The Itch.                  181
 one or two globules of sugar the size of a poppy seed,
 saturated with  tincture of sulphur,  dynamised, to
 completely cure a  child, in two, three, or four weeks,
 of the entire  psoric disease;  that  is  to say,  of the
 eruption, and of the internal psora.  In some cases, a
 dose of carbo-vegetabilis, properly dynamised, may be
 necessary; in others, a similar doze of sepia." *
   The  respect I feel for the  genius of Hahnemann,
 retains, on the point of my pen, the  reflections with
 which  this passage inspires  me;  but, let one of his
 pupils speak:
   " Hahnemann devotes but a few lines to the treat-
 ment of the itch.   From this, we should be tempted
 to believe, that  nothing was more easy than the cure
 of this  infection.   In fact, it is very natural that the
 disease, regarded  by Hahnemann  as the  primitive
 form of all chronic diseases, excepting those  derived
 from syphilis and  from sycosis,  should  be dissipated
 in the surest  and  most  prompt manner, in order to
 save Homoeopathy from the  charge of insufficiency,
 which, without that, one would have a right to make.
 But, it  is not altogether so ; at least, the homceopath-
ists  will do well,  not  to foUow  too  rigorously  the
precepts of Hahnemann, in order not to discourage the
 patient, by the excessively slow progress  of the cure.
It  is precisely in the itch, as the primitive  form of
  * Doctrine et Traitement Homoaopathique des  Maladies Chron
lques, tome i, page 139. 
182
Chronic Exanthemata.
chronic diseases, that it should be indifferent to  the
physician, whether it is of recent  or ancient  origin ;
he should know how  to cure it, and the cure should
not be  prolonged  to infinitude,  though it requires
much more time in this case than the other." *
  Thus,  M.  Hartmann  confesses,  that, under  the
influence  of  the treatment  recommended by Hahne-
mann, the cure of the itch is prolonged  almost inde-
finitely.   My own opinion, on this subject,  is still
more decided.
  Nevertheless,  while counseling  practitioners to dis-
trust a little the precepts of  the master, M. Hartmann
still considers sulphur as the specific for the itch:
  " The  use  of it," says  he,  "should be continued,
until  the  eruption that it  induces, as well  as  that
which preceded  it,  gives place to  the characteristic
sensation of sulphur."
  M. Hartmann uses the tincture of sulphur, and its
dilutions, in recent itch, and sulphur in itch  of long
standing, when the first is  insufficient;  " that is to
say," says he, "if, at the  end of fifteen days, it  has
not produced at  least, an appearance of improve-
ment."
  In children under five years, he generally prescribes
tinct. sulph., in doses  of two or three globules, re-
peated every other  day,  and  whole drops,  once or

  * Hartmann :  Therapeutique Horn, des  Maladies Chr., tome ii
page 21. 
                     The Itch.                 j§3
 twice a day, if there is no change in the  state of the
 patient.
   In short, M. Hartmann confesses, that he frequently
 unites,  with  the  internal treatment, " frictions, with
 an  ointment,  composed of a half scruple of flour of
 sulphur, and one ounce of hog's lard ;" an accessory,
 not very orthodox,  to use his own expression, but
 which   proves  the  insufficiency,  admitted  by  the
 author,  of dynamised  sulphur, administered  inter-
 nally.
   Thus, I believe I have already declared, although I
 am  not in any case, and  less,  perhaps, in the treat-
 ment of cutaneous  diseases than  in any other, the
 partisan  of external  remedies,  nevertheless, I do not
 believe these remedies are always as dangerous as has
 been supposed.
   When, for example, the itch, recently communicated
 by the  accidental  adhesion of an acarus to  the  skin
 of a healthy  man, is,  as  yet, whatever Hahnemann
 may say, but a  local affection,  what can  be  the
 danger, in stopping the disease, by killing the insect
 which propagates  it, by the use  of lotions,  or  sulphur
 frictions ?
   I know, that the greater part of the time, the acarus
 is  the product,  and not  the cause, of the itch eruption,
the  same as lice are the product of favus; but, in
short, when we have reason to believe that the contrary
is  the  case, must  we then necessarily admit, out of
respect to the theory ofpsora—a  chimerical theory, (in
       16 
 184          Chronic Exanthemata.
 my opinion)—that, from  the  appearance of the first
 vesicle, the disease has become generalized, and abso-
 lutely requires  an internal treatment?  Frankly, I do
 not think so.
   I declare, however, that I employ no other ; but, at
 the same time,  feel  very much inclined  to absolve
 those homoeopathists, who, after the example  of M.
 Hartmann,  have recourse to sulphur  ointment,  in
 consideration of results so equivocal, and always  so
 3low, from sulphur taken internally.
 '  Sulphur, I say  it boldly, is a medicine, of which an
 abuse  is made ;  and  this abuse  is founded upon a
 strong prejudice.
   The theory of psora has made of sulphur the anti-
 psoric, par  excelhnce;  and the various properties  of
 this  medicine, extremely precious, beside, and  essen-
 tially polychrest, have  naturally contributed to prolong
 this  illusion.   But, it is  time  that  we  admit, that,
 though sulphur, in numerous cases, is one of our most
powerful agents, this  is no reason why it should be
always prescribed, (as it is  every day,) in preference
to all other medicines, when the symptoms  presented
by the patient,  are not, clearly,  in the known sphere
of the symptoms  it produces.
  The  medicines that I prescribe, against the itch,
whatever  its origin,  form, or duration,  are lobelia
inflata and croton TiGLiiM, administered alternately,
and continued seven or  eight days after the complete
disappearance of the exanthem. 
             Eczema — Humid Tetter.          185
  The tincture of sulphur, I only use in case of con-
secutive ulcers, with or without  loss of substance of
the skin ;  and then its use should be preceded by that
of the two medicines, that I signalize as specifics  for
the itch.
  Lobelia, at the sixth dilution, should  be given, in
water, of  which  the patient will  take three teaspoon-
fuls the first da}'.
   Croton-tiglium, of the twelfth  dilution, should be
administered, the next day, in the same manner.
  The third day, we  should  return to  lobelia;  the
fourth, to croton, etc.
  From  the third to the fourth day, at  the farthest,
the itching  will  have  almost entirely  disappeared.
The total duration of the eruption, in  ordinary cases,
will not be prolonged beyond a week.

              ECZEMA--HUMID TETTER.
   Eczema, which nearly resembles the itch, and with
which it  has  sometimes been confounded, differs
from it,  nevertheless,  in  certain well  marked pecu-
liarities.
   1st. It is not contagious.
   2d. As  it is not  complicated, by the production of
the acarus, we do not see. in the  intervals between the
vesicles, the little red lines traced by them.
   The vesicles of  eczema are  more  resistent  than
those of the itch.  The limped serosity they contain,
is  very often  re-absorbed.  They present themselves, 
 186          Chronic Exanthemata.
 closely grouped  together, upon a circumscribed part,
 most  generally on the front part of the wrists and  the
 fore-arms,  the  inner and upper  part of the  thighs,
 and on  the heel.   If the eruption ever  shows  itself
 between  the fingers, it is only  as  a  single vesicle or
 two, and, most frequently, we  see it appear,  in this
 isolated  way,  on  the  palms of the  hands, where it
 excites an incessant itching.
  It is not uncommon to see the eczema suddenly dis-
 appear from one part of the body, to  show itself upon
 another.   Sometimes it even  entirely disappears for a
 time,  so  that the patients believe themselves quite rid
 of it, and then returns, worse than ever, in consequence
 of some change of diet, or a few days of heat.  I have
seen eczemas which had lasted, in this way, for ten or
fifteen years, and even longer.
  I am, then, inclined  to believe, that this exanthem,
always spontaneous,  is rooted in the economy, at least.
as profoundly as the itch.
  It is not uncommon to see  its disappearance accom-
panied by  symptoms of metastasis,  such, especially,
as rheumatic pains, neuralgia, hoarseness,  and drv
cough.
  Eczema  is more frequently met with in adolescents
 and adults, than in children.    I have, however, seen
 it in children at the breast, who. probably, were bora
 with it.
  The tingling itching caused  by this disease, in the
 evening,  and  during  the  night,  is  insupportable. 
                II erpes — Tetter .             Abl
Children and adults, attacked with it, lose their sleep,
in  consequence of  it, for months  together.   The
former  cry  incessantly,  and weary  extremely  their
nurses.
  The Allopathists treat eczema with sulphurous and
alkaline baths.
  The last, when  they are  highly charged with car-
bonate  of soda, cauterize, in a  manner, the  vesicles,
and allay, momentarily, the itching, which the sulphur
baths  but  increase ;  but, neither one  nor the other
cures eczema.
   Homoeopathy, up to the present time, had not found
the specific.for this exanthem :  I have been fortunate
enough to discover it.
   Rhus and ledum palustre, administered alternately,
in  the same day, the one {ledum) in the morning, the
other  in the evening, constitute  a sure .means, heroic
in  all  cases, and followed by immediate success.
   I prescribe these two  medicines at  the fifteenth
 dilution, and in  intervals  longer than  stated  above.
 Ed. 2d edit.
    It is well to continue the use of  these remedies for
 several days after the  disappearance of the eruption,
 which, in fact, almost instantaneously  disappears.

                herpes — tetter.
    Willan,  Bateman and M. Rayer have designated
 under this name of herpes, an  affection  different from
 that which bears the same name in the works of Lorry
 and Alibert. 
1SS.
Chronic Exanthemata.
   In conforming to the definition given by these three
uosologists. I mean here by herpes a  disease charac-
terized by globular vesicles, filled with a colorless or a
lemon-colored liquid of the size of a millet  seed, ap-
pearing  in  grouj>s  more  or less  numerous  upon
different parts of the body, accompanied by tingling,
and separated by intervals where  the  skin is often in
an erythematous state, which  only spreads in the in-
terstices of the vesicles forming each group.
   The groups of vesicles are irregular, or disposed in
circles.   Thence, the distinctive characteristics of the
different species of herpes, of which varieties  have also
been established from the regions they occupy.
   Herpes, with the exception, perhaps, of the variety
known under the name of heipes  circinnatus,   is
not more common to childhood  than  to other  ages
of life.
   The herpes phlyctcenodes, is characterized by vesi
cles disseminated, colorless, yellow or brownish, upon
small erythematous spots, whose appearance, which
commonly precedes that of the eruption for one or two
days, is  almost always  accompanied with a  little
fever.
   The liquid contained  in   these  vesicles, at  first
limped, becomes  after  a  few days  yellov.sh  and
turbid.   It  thickens little  by little, an^ forms  yel-
lowish or brown crusts, which at the end of a week or
a little more, fall off, leaving a red, and very irritable
surface, which assumes but slowly its normal aspect. 
                Herpes — Tetter.             1^9
  This form of herpes is never serious; the upper lip,
and  the  corners of the mouth are its most habitual
seat.  The disease,  generally, disappears spontane-
ously, although  it is sometimes sufficiently obstinate
to require treatment.
  Ferrum chlor. and rhus tox. are the two medicines
whose alternate  use has  given  me the  most satis-
factory results.
   Ferrum chlor., twelfth or fifteenth dilution,—a few
globules, in about four ounces of  water,—will at first
be administered, two days in succession, a teaspoonful
morning and evening.
   Rhus tox., same dilution, and prepared  in the same
manner, will be given the two following days, three
teaspoonfuls in the twenty-four hours.
   This course may be several times repeated, in the
same order, in those cases which I affirm  will be very
rare, where the  four first days of treatment  shall not
have very sensibly modified the eruption.
   Eerpes circinnatus, or  ringworm, which is very
 common, even in infants  at the breast, bears  much
 more than the preceding variety, the stamp of a prim-
 itively chronic affection
   The   specific nature  of the eruption, is also more
 clearly implied:  it seems derived  from the singularity
 of its form.
   Herpes circinnatus, although we sometimes see it
 spontaneously disappear  at the end of a few weeks,
 has also a tendency, in  general, to last  a long time, 
V.M
Chronic Exanthemata.
and  above  all  to  be  reproduced.  Like  eczema, it
sometimes disappears during the winter to return with
the heat of summer.
   This  tetter manifests itself in circular spots on tlie
circumference of which  is  developed a row of vesicles.
   These opening at the end of  four or  five days, dis-
charge a lemon-colored  liquid, which in drying  form
little brownish scales around which  soon arise a new
crop of vesicles, similar  to  the first, and which run
through the same periods.
   This  process  is  continually  renewed, the  herpes
increases in extent,  and presents at its center a kind
of islet, where the  skin, wrinkled, cracked, and  of a
violet red, at length scales off.
   The groups are more  or less numerous; I  have seen
a  child  of five years whose whole body was  covered
with it.   Sometimes, on the contrary, there will be but
one  group, and  in  certain  cases even  it is so little
apparent that the disease might  pass unperceived.
   Baryta  carbon., of a medium dilution,  the doses
repeated several times a day, is the specific  for this
tetter.   I  need  only observe that  it is necessary to
omit one day in three the  use of this medicine.
   Herpes praputialis only  differs from the  preceding
in the region it occupies.  It is important not to con-
found it in the new-born with a syphilitic affection.
   Having never had occasion to make a special study
of this  affection, I  borrow  from M.  Hartmann, the
treatment he proposes for it. 
                  Crusta Lactea.               19j
   "Cleanliness," says he,  "is here of the first im-
 portance.  If the herpes is on the external  surface of
 the prepuce, it should be protected from friction by an
 envelope of linen spread with  an ointment of marsh
 mallow; if it is on the internal surface, repeated injec-
 tions should be made of warm milk or a decoction of
 marsh mallow, and the parts be carefully washed after
 each evacuation of urine.
   Mercurius prcecipitatus rubr., 2d  or 3d tritura-
 tion, morning and evening, is  a capital remedy in an
 advanced stage of herpes of the internal surface of the
 prepuce; if after three days, this  remedy has not dis-
 sipated the disease, and it produces a violent itching,
 it should be succeeded by acidum nitri.
   Acidum phosphoricum, will  be preferable  when
 the eruption is principally concentrated  around  the
 fraenum.
   Hepar   sulph.,  silicea  and  sepia,  are  indicated
 when the eruption occupies  the external surface, and,
 in this case especially, petroleum, if it is accompanied
 by a continual diarrhea.*

           CRUSTA LACTEA--MILK CRUSTS.
   This exanthem, to which the vulgar have given the
 name milk crusts, and in certain countries  milk itch,
 is described by authors under the denominations  of
achores, porrigo and tinea mucosa.
   * Hartmann, Ouv. Cit., tome ii, page 66.
17 
1!*2
Chronic  Exanthemata.
  It is  characterized by  little pustules disposed in
irregular groups, developing themselves upon the face
and the scalp, and furnishing abundantly a viscid fluid.
These pustules, at first white and very slightly ele-
vated, are surrounded by a red, inflammatory areola.
The yellow or greenish humor  discharged from them,
is transformed, in drying, into thin and yellow scabs,
which by their successive accumulation spread some-
times to such a degree as to form a veritable mask.
  Tinea  mucosa is very frequent  in  children at the
breast; it commonly appears at the age of three, five
and  eight  months.  It  is neither  dangerous nor con-
tagious,  and  it  is  very seldom,  among the  great
number of children affected  by it,  that one dies.
  The vulgar, perhaps,  with reason, regard this  affec-
tion as a salutary depuration.
  "I have seen," says M. Billard,  "agreat number of
children  at the breast attacked with tinea mucosa, at
the hospital of Enfants tronves; very few among them
died, and the greater number of  them, after the dis-
appearance of this  inflammation, acquired a  fresh-
ness and  embonpoint  which  confirmed the popular
belief*
  Crusta lactea, generally shows  itself first upon the
forehead and cheeks, whence it spreads over the rest of
the face, to the ears, scalp, sometimes to the neck and
shoulders, seldom  beyond.   I have seen it exist siniul-
. * Billard, Ouv. Cit., 151. 
                  Crusta  Lactea.               193
taneously with various  other exanthemata, and espe-
cially with herpes phlyctenodes.
  The pruritus it  occasions, is relatively inconsider-
able,  at least, when it does not occupy the scalp, and
becomes complicated with the existence of lice, which
rarely happens in very young children.   The  greater
number of children affected with this disease, neither
lose sleep, appetite, or  even their  gayety,  in  conse-
quence ; but  their condition does not fail,  greatly to
annoy their  mothers and nurses,  on account  of the
disagreeable appearance they present, and the  rancid
and fetid odor they exhale.
  Treatment.—Hartlaub extols,  against  tinea  mu-
cosa,  aconitum, followed by a single dose of viola tr.,
of the  third  dilution.   '" This treatment," says  he,
" soon ameliorates the condition of the child ; and the
disease,  commonly, entirely disappears at the end  of
a fortnight.   If  the  progress of the  cure is arrested,
a second dose of viola  should be administered ;  and,
in  case this does not procure as complete  a resto-
ration of health as was expected, it will be infallibly
obtained by means of a dose of sulphur, of the 30th
attenuation." *
   Hartmann recommends viola tricolor, wThen  there
is an insupportable burning itching,  especially during
the night, with  the  characteristic  odor of  the urine.
 "Before I  was  acquainted,"  says  he, "with  the
 superiority  of  tlrs  medicine, I  obtained, although
• Hartlaub : Le M decin Homceopathe des Enfants, page 59, 
194           Chronic Exanthemata.
much more slowly, the cure of the disease, with othei
medicines, principally with staphyaagria, rhus, and
sulphur.^
  As for myself, experience  has proved to me, that
the several  medicines  mentioned by MM. Hartlaub
and  Hartmann, may be, in almost all cases, replaced
with advantage, by a single substance, which I have
reason to consider the specific for tinea mucosa.   I
speak of sepia, which I prescribe at the 30th dilution,
and in doses repeated three times a day.*

            CRUSTA  SERPIGINOSA.
  This eruption, ranged by Wichmann in the class of
herpetico-syphilitic exanthemata, by the side of psori-
asis, and  considered by Hartmann, with Autenreith,
as being  of a  scabious nature, presents the  greatest
resemblance to the one I have just described.  But it
is more  painful,  more obstinate,  more essentially
chronic.  The itching accompanying it, is  extremely
troublesome.
  The vesicles which form these crusts, almost always
6how themselves  in front of the ear, in the neighbor-
hood of the parotid.   They  are surrounded  with  an
areola, of a clear  red  color, and cause, from the first,
great itching, especially during the night.
  These vesicles are smaller than  those of crusta lac-
tea.   They are constantly  renewed  under  the  scabs.
Lastly, (distinctive characteristic,) crusta serpiginosa
      * Has been found practically correct.  Ed. 2d edit. 
                     Impetigo.                 195
is constantly developed in cacochymic, thin, debilitated
children,  the  reverse of crusta lactea, which most
commonly attacks  the robust.   We have seen it last
for years :  it is never cured spontaneously.
  Treatment.—Although crusta serpiginosa is  con-
sidered as  one  form of the itch exanthem, sulphur is
absolutely  without effect in this disease.
  Sepia  sue, at repeated doses, sensibly ameliorates
the state  of the  patient, but does not always cure
the disease.
  The fundamental remedy, the one we would espe-
cially point out  to the  attention of physicians,  the
only one,  perhaps,  upon which we  can  depend, is
silicea.
                    impetigo.

  " Impetigo," says M.  Billard, " is a disease, much
more frequent  in  adults  than  in children.   Authors,
nevertheless, range among the predisposing causes of
this disease, the first and second dentition.   I have
never  seen it in children at the breast, who are, on
the contrary, very subject to different species  of tinea,
and principally to  tinea  mucosa, between which and
impetigo  sparsa, it is very difficult to trace a distinct
line of demarcation." *
  The truth is, that impetigo sparsa, which  does not
differ  essentially from impetigo figurata,  is exactly
* Billard :  Traitc des Maladies des En fonts Nouveavx-n/s. p. 145. 
196           Chronic  Exanthemata.
the same disease  as tinea mucosa, modified only,
either by the age of the patient, or by the part of the
body affected.
  If, in effect, tinea mucosa is almost  always,  in
children at the breast, limited to  the face and scalp,
it is not so with older children and with adults.  It is
not uncommon to  see it  appear  upon the shoulders,
upon the arms, and even upon the  lower extremities
of the two latter.   It shows itself  then in the  form  of
spots,  circumscribed  and of different dimensions;
those of the upper  limbs are usually small and round  ;
those  of the lower,  on  the contrary, large, oval, and
irregular.  These spots, which are of a  dark-red, have
appearing  upon  them  numerous  yellow  pustules,
which, at the end  of a few days,  open, and discharge
an acrimonious sanies, which corrodes the surrounding
parts,  causes an  intense  and painful itching, and
forms  afterward,  yellowish   or  dirty-green  crusts.
These crusts  fall off within three or four weeks, and
leave a rough surface, which is disposed to crack, and
become excoriated, in such a way as that the  disease
may be prolonged  for several months.
  Treatment.—Although tinea mucosa and impetigo
are fundamentally, as I  have just  said, identical affec-
tions, the  different conditions  under which  the  two
forms  of.this  disease  are  produced,  call for some
difference in their treatment. Dulcamara and clematis
are the medicines  which have  succeeded best  with us
in the treatment of  impetigo.  The use of these two 
Tinea Favosa.
197
medicines should be simultaneous.   They should both
be prescribed at a medium dilution, and the doses  be
frequently repeated.   Dulcamara  should  be admin-
istered twice,  in  the forenoon, and clematis once, in
the evening.
   Silicea will be  necessary in the case of lancinating,
very intense  itching pains, and in abundant  suppu-
ration.
               impetigo  rodens.
   This affection is  unknown  to childhood.   I  only
mention it here, in order to have occasion to point out
to practitioners three medicines,  whose successive use,
continued for several weeks, (eight days for each), has
procured me the most  happy results, in the treatment
of this exanthem.  The three medicines  are, in the
order in which I  have used them, (in doses repeated
several  times a  day),  copaivcB  balsamum, cuprum,
and digitalis.

        TINEA FAVOSA--SCALDHEAD.
   Tinea favosa is characterized  by an eruption  upon
the scalp, and sometimes, but very rarely, upon  other
parts  of  the  body, of  numerous small red pimples,
which hardly  rise  above the level  of the skin, to
which promptly  succeed little  yellow pustules,  of
which the summits become almost immediately cov-
ered with very adherent, irregularly circular  crusts,
at first yellow, then brownish  or gray,  and  always 
198           Chronic Exanthemata.
depressed in the center, in the form of a cup.  These
pustules are sometimes  isolated, sometimes agglomer-
ated.  The  crusts, when taken  off",  exhale  a  pene-
trating and disagreeable odor.
  This disease is much more frequent in children  of
seven  or eight years  of age, than  in  infants at  the
breast.
  Like tinea mucosa,  it may exist with all appearances
of general  good health ; but I have found  that  the
greater number  of those affected with it were pale,
feeble, languishing, and suffering from a sort of caco-
chymia, that in many among them might, perhaps,  be
attributed  to  defective or even insufficient  nourish-
ment.
  As to the temperament or constitution, which pre-
disposes children to tinea favosa,  I confess that I have
no fixed opinion upon the subject.
  "We have  but seldom seen,"  say  the authors of a
voluminous  work upon the  diseases  of  children,*
"tinea  developed in  consequence  of, or during the
convalescence from, a serious disease."
  We  remember, however, several  cases in  which a
febrile disease had  temporarily checked the  progress
of favus, or even  caused it  to  disappear;   but no
sooner was the internal inflammation  cured, than that
of the  scalp  returned  with  the   same  intensity  as
  *MM. Rilliet et Barthez:  Traite Clinique et Pratique des Mala
dies des Enfants, vol. 3, Paris, 1848, page 125. 
Tinea  Favosa.
199
before.   It has been generally asserted, that scrofulous
subjects were  especially liable to favus.  We cannot
confirm this remark.  The greater part of the children,
who occupied  the  scrofulous  wards, were not affected
with tinea; and the greater part of those who occupied
the tinea wards, were not  scrofulous."
  Tinea  favosa, is at least as contagious  as the itch.
Not only is it transmitted by immediate contact, but
by the dress, linen, combs and brushes used upon the
heads of  affected children.
  M. Rayer has reported  an  observation of Gallot, of
a child  inoculated with  tinea, by means of a  cata-
plasm, which  had been used upon another child, and
to which still adhered the crusts of  the favus.
  When  this disease continues for a long  time, (as it
always does when  badly treated, or when left to itself)
it at  length affects the bulbs of the hair,  so  as  to
produce  its fall.   The  portions  of  the  skin  thus
denuded, remain  white and smooth.   As with  all
other obstinate ulcerations of the scalp, tinea  favosa
gives rise  to more or less considerable engorgement
of the ganglions of the neck, and  sometimes even  to
abscesses, it is not uncommon  to see it  complicated
with ophthalmia, coryza and irritation of the digestive
organs.
  The  untimely  disappearance of  this  exanthem,
when produced either by injudicious treatment,  or
occurring spontaneously, is always a serious symptom, 
200
Chronic Exanthemata.
though  its consequences are not in all persons imme-
diately manifested.
   Treatment.—It is not absolutely with tinea as with
the itch.  The  first  may be cured, or at least disap-
pear  spontaneously.   This even often  happens with
children upon  a  change of regimen, as in returning
home, for example, from boarding-school.
   Notwithstanding, it is far from being always so.   It
has been supposed, that tinea acquired  by  contagion,
was, in  general, more tenacious than that  which was
spontaneous.
   The  treatment of this affection is the triumph  of
Homoeopathy.
   When one is so fortunate as to  have  to  treat chil-
dren, who  have  not  been gorged  with  allopathic
remedies, the rapidity with which infinitesimals cure
favus, is at times  marvelous.
   There are, however, cases where  the disease resists
and demands the  successive use of several  medicines.
   Sulphur,  dulcamara,  viola  tricolor,  oleander,
hepar sulph., form the  basis of the therapeutics ap-
propriate to the different shades  of this  exanthem.
   Among  these  first medicines, the first  two  have
especially succeeded  with me, and  in cases precisely
similar.   They  are both adapted to the humid form
of the disease in children of blond and fresh complex-
ions.  I prescribe  sulphur, in very small doses, and  at
the thirtieth dilution ; dulcamara, in a  little stronger 
                  Tinea  Favosa.              201
doses, and at a  medium dilution.  It has seemed to
me several times, that  sulphur, even  so attenuated,
irritated  the chest, an effect never produced  by dul-
camara.
   Viola tricolor may be  alternated with sulphur or
dulcamara when the itching is very violent.
   Oleander is,  according to M.  Hartmann,  a medi-
cine upon whose efficacy we may rely ; " if the erup-
tion, which has a great resemblance to the vesicles of
the itch, is characterized by an intense itching, and by
an insupportable nocturnal burning after scratching
the  head ; and  if at the  same time, the mesenteric
glands  appear to be affected,  which is  seen in the
swelling, hardness and tension of the abdomen, as well
as in the stools, which are sometimes hard, more fre-
quently loose  and undigested,  like a sort of lientery."
   Hepar sulphur corresponds to  cases where the
exanthem, instead  of  being   limited to the scalp,
extends  to the nape of the neck or the face; and to
cases also,  where ophthalmia supervenes,  with or
without  ulceration of the cornea, etc.

              TINEA  GRANULATA.
   Tinea granulata  consists in  little pustules, super-
ficial  and irregularly disseminated  over the scalp.
These pustules, at first  humid  and irregular,  give
place to gray or brownish crusts, which are never de-
pressed  in the center, and whose fragments are often
found  scattered through  the hair.   When the crusta 
202           Chronic  Exanthemata.
agglomerate and dry, they harden and adhere; strongly
to the hair.
  Authors say that tinea granulata is not contagious.
  This   exanthem,  which  never  attacks  children
before their  fourth year, seems to show itself in  pre-
ference, in  brunettes,  and in subjects of a  dry  con-
stitution.
  I believe that this form of tinea does not differ essen-
tially from  favus, and that  the same  treatment  is
appropriate to both.

              TINEA  ANNULARIS.
  Tinea annularis, first described by Alibert, under
the name of favus squarrosus, and since, under that
of favus scutiformis, is only, as well as tinea granu-
lata, a variety of tinea  favosa.
  " It presents in the beginning." says Doct. Baumes,
" elementary crusts, rounded,  yellowish,  depressed  in
their center, precisely like those of favus vulgaris.*'
  " But here, the depression in the center soon disap-
pears,  and  the  crusts, ranged circularly, are  more
crowded  and  more  prominent on  the circumference
than in the center.  They are very dry, of a yellowish
white, and form by their union in round spots, a kind
of  incrustation sometimes much  elevated above the
skin.
  "When one continued crust covers the whole head
* Tinea  favosa. 
Tinea Annularis.
203
forming  a  kind of cap, in the favus vulgaris,  we
always perceive here and there  a few cup-like depres-
sions, while in the favus annular., it is all one gray-
ish yellow crust, clearly circumscribed  by a line, or a
group of circular lines."
   This variety of tinea, fortunately rare, is one of  the
most obstinate affections with which 1 am  acquainted.
   In the month of July, 1847, I was consulted  for.
three little boys of the same family, all affected with
an eruption  of the scalp, of which I dared not pos-
itively state the precise nature,  but which probably
belonged to the variety of the tinea, of which  we
are now  speaking.
   The oldest  of  these  children  was  thirteen,  the
youngest, nine.
   The three brothers were  strikingly alike.   They
were rather tall and thin, not lymphatic, quick, alert,
gay, and apart from the railleries of other children of
their village, were, to all appearance, very little con-
cerned about the disease for which their parents had
called me ; a disease which caused them  no pain, no
uneasiness, not even, as they assured me, the slightest
itching.
   It was a  sort of cap, of a greenish yellow, resem-
bling  dried honey, gluing down  the  hair to  such  a
degree as to leave it free only at the temples and  the
occiput, presenting a regular surface, hardly wrinkled,
thinning  at  the  circumference,  and  presenting  the
greatest thickness at the top of the head. 
2<*1           Chronic Exanthemata.
  This irregular crust, which  prolonged lotions only
detached in great  scales, and which were reproduced
in a few days, appeared to be rather the product of a
uniform exudation, than  the  concretion of a humor
furnished  by pustules.  There were, beside, no traces
of pustules.   The skin  beneath was  red, slightly
inflamed, but not ulcerated.
  This  disease was certainly  neither an eczema, an
impetigo, nor a favus.
  I at first supposed that  it might be the disease that
Alibert  has described, under the  name  of tinea ami
antacea ;  but I have since recognized my error.
  Some one, more  skillful than myself, may  give it its
true name, or  a  new  name, if they  think  proper.
What I  have to do. is to point out to practitioners the
medicines that effected the cure.
  Dulcamara,  sulphur,  staphysagria,  and  baryta
carb., administered by turns, for several weeks, had
produced  absolutely no effect, when, guided by con-
siderations which  it would  take  too long to explain
here, I prescribed successively,  spigelia,  tabacum,
and, lastly, ferrum magneticum.
  Spigelia and tabacum  were each administered for
one week, the first at the twelfth, and  the  second at
the sixth dilution,  in doses repeated four times a day.
From the third week I gave ferrum magnet., at the
sixth dilution, for fifteen days, morning  and evening.
  The same treatment succeeded  with my three little
patients.  In less  than six weeks, every sign of crust 
             Pityriasis — Strophulus.          205
had disappeared from the head, and the hair began to
grow  abundantly.  I have  not seen  these  children
since ; but 1  heard from them the following summer.
Their tinea, (was it tinea ?) had not re-appeared.
  Perhaps the  same treatment, which  succeeded with
them, would  be  applicable, or would deserve to be
tried, in other analogous and intractable affections of
the scalp.
                   pityriasis.
  The desquamation of the epidermis  is thus named.
It is the herpes furfuraceus of Alibert, and the scaly
tetter of the vulgar.
  No  one, assuredly, would call  a  physician for so
trifling a  disease ;  and  yet light  as  it is, the disease
might embarrass more than one  conscientious physi-
cian ; for,  when seated on the scalp, where its presence
is excessively  annoying to  young females  who are
affected with it, it obstinately resists the greater  part
of the known remedies.
   Reiterated  experiences have,  however, convinced
me, that cantharis is the specific for pityriasis.
   A  few  globules, of the thirtieth dilution of this
medicine, in a glass of water,  of which a teaspoonful
should be administered, morning  and evening, for
three or four days.
                   STRO p hulus.
   We so call an  eruption of little  pimples, that are
hard to the touch, compact, red or whitish, developing 
206           Chronic  Exanthemata.
themselves, first on the face, then on the limbs, never
terminating in pustules,  crusts, or ulcerations,  but
sometimes leaving behind them a slight efflorescence,
which  is  commonly accompanied  by great  itching.
These pimples may be rare or numerous, disseminated
over the whole body, or accumulated together upon a
part, and are sometimes  intermixed with erythematous
spots.
  Strophulus, a disease very common among children,
shows itself, principally, on the face of children at the
breast.
  This  exanthem  almost  constantly coincides with a
more or less marked irritation of the digestive organs,
an irritation on which the affection of the  skin seems
exclusively to depend ; so that a judicious treatment
of the former,  is certain to be followed  by the  disap-
pearance of the latter.
  The medicines from which we have to choose, are,
consequently,  according to  the  nature  of the case,
ipecacuanha, pulsatilla, rheum, antimonium crudum,
and, more especially, causticum and chamomilla.

                    pru rig o.
  Prurigo is  an  exanthem, characterized by hardly
visible papulae, accompanied by a severe itching.
  Authors distinguish two species :  the prurigo of old
people, and the prurigo of children—a badly founded
distinction, since  it  rests only  upon the age  of the
patient, and not at all upon the anatomical character 
               Psoriasis — Scrofula.            207
of the disease.   M. Billard thinks that prurigo, in
young children, may arise from  want and  uncleanli-
ness.
  It is, indeed, rare that  this disease manifests itself
in children who have good care and suitable nourish-
ment.   It is, like the greater part of the affections of
the skin, simple,  or  complicated, spread  over the
whole body, or limited to a single part.
  Treatment.— Calcarea, mercurius, hepar sulphur,
etc., have been  recommended for prurigo ;  the reme-
dies from which I have obtained the best results, are
causticum and  mercurius solubilis.  {Conium,  Ed. 2d
edit.)
                   psoriasis.
  Psoriasis, is  not a disease  peculiar to children; I
shall, therefore, abstain from giving a description of it
here.  It has, nevertheless, been  seen in children at
the breast.   I would suggest to  practitioners, should
such a case present itself to them, the use of mercurius
solubilis, a medicine whose remarkable efficacy I have
proved but upon adults only.

                   scrofula.
  Some  readers will  perhaps be  astonished  to see
scrofula  figuring  among  cutaneous  diseases,  from
having for a long time been accustomed  to consider it
a disease essentially general and  constitutional.  The
impression is so strong, that when it  shows itself on
the skin, it  is only accidentally,  that  in these  latter
       18 
208           Chronic Exanthemata.
times  nosologists  have purposely  blended  it  with
tubercnlation of the lungs, of the mesentery, and  of
all the internal viscera.
  But. in recalling what I have said in  my introduc-
tion  of diseases  in general, and  more  particularly
chronic diseases,  one cannot but concede that all the
exanthemata are  in exactly the same case as scrofula.
  All, in  fact, as well as this last  are but the efflo-
rescence  of morbid  principles deeply rooted  in the
economy,  and hence, capable  of exercising  their
ravages  elsewhere, as well  as upon the  cutaneous
envelope.   1 am equally well convinced that they have
often  a large  share in the development of  internal
diseases, that, for want of  more  precise information,
nosologists attribute without distinction to scrofula.
  There are even among them, those, who are not  far
from  referring in mass to  the principle of which  we
speak, all affections of a protracted nature,  whether
internal, or external, of which no.inflammatory symp-
tom marks the existence, and which they, nevertheless,
name (antiphrastically, no doubt) chronic phlegmasia.
  Thus,  for  many physicians, impetigo, herpes,  all
the forms of tinea, etc., are, as well as rachitis, dropsy
and tubercles, only particular forms of scrofula.
  This bold generalization of incongruous phenomena,
a sort of abstract, and  conjectural synthesis of which
psora is after all  but the broadest expression, has had
little  other result, up  to the present time, than to  fill
with doubt and confusion the minds of practitioners. 
                     Scrofula.                  209
  What  matters it to us, in  fact, that the different
manifestations  of the  same disease are called by the
same name, if inexorable experience every day proves
to us that each  of these manifestations requires a  par
ticular, and quite as special a treatment, as if it really
constituted  a distinct  affection ?   What matters  it to
us that  the gout, breaking out  in the great toe, in
the knee or anywhere else, does  not cease to be the
gout, if wre are  ignorant  of the treatment  it calls for,
according to the region it occupies %
  Similar  considerations had  in the beginning, so
forcibly  struck -the founder  of Homoeopathy,  that in
publishing his doctrine, he commenced by suppressing
all morbid individualities  admitted  before him.   He
eventually saw that he had gone too far, and retraced
his steps; but psora led  him astray.
   I  have, however,  expressed   the  thought (and  1
 cannot retract it), that it would be fortunate for medi-
 cine and for humanity if all the  pathogenetic miasms
 were sufficiently knowm to be classed  according to a
 complete ensemble of their respective symptoms.
   I do  not doubt, in fact, that  such a classification,
 from the instant that it  should present in all its parts
 the criterion of certainty, would cause great progress
 in therapeutics.  But we are yet a great  way off from
 this.
   Let us not forget, beside, that  the specificity of our
 remedies corresponds, perhaps, still  less  to the  actual
 properties of morbid agents, than to the idiosyncratic 
210           Chronic  Exanthemata.
nature of the  disorders they produce.   Let  us not
forget, above all, that the modifying power of each of
our medicines  has  its sphere of activity,  and  its seat
of election;  such  a one acts upon the skin, and pro-
duces no effect upon the bones, nor upon  the nervous
centers.
  Thus then, scrofula, in  the limited sense it suits us
to regard it, is an affection essentially chronic, affect-
ing especially the lymphatic ganglions, and more par-
ticularly  those of the neck, the armpits and the groins.
The  external and  general habit of the subjects  who
are attacked with it, is characterized by the following
signs:
  Scrofulous subjects have  large  heads, especially
behind; the  temples  depressed; the neck thick and
short; the face puffed, the nose and  upper  lip fre-
quently swollen.  Tlieir skin  is white, fine and rosy,
transparent, or muddy.  They have commonly light
hair and blue eyes,  with dilated pupils.
  A kind of embonpoint of a bad quality, seems  at
first sight, to indicate  in them a rich nutrition; but
upon closer observation, we soon recognize a defective
structure.  Beside the flesh being soft, flabby, and  as
it were spongy, the hips are too large in proportion to
the chest, and the abdomen  too prominent.
   Lymph is superabundant  in all parts of the body.
All the mucous membranes secrete beyond measure,
and  if these subjects chance to wound themselves, the
wound suppurates,  and is long in healing. 
                     Scrofula. *                211
   They are subject to epistaxis, and catarrhal affec-
 tions of the nasal fossae, of  the bronchia?, or of the
 digestive organs, upon the slightest cold.
   It is not necessary to  say  that  these general signs
 are not absolutely constant in scrofulous subjects.
   I have seen those of this class, who had well-formed
 bodies and dark, or even absolutely black  hair,  and
 who in a word, presented only the  local symptoms of
 the disease.
   These consist in the presence, more or less appreci-
 able to the touch and  sight, of glandular indurations
 in front  of the ears, under the jaws, on the neck, in
 the  armpits, more  rarely in  the  groins,  and other
 parts of the body, largely provided with  lymphatic
 glands.
   These tumors, which are almost always developed
 very slowly, are  at first  isolated, movable under the
 finger, soft, and with but  little sensibility.
   The skin which covers them is  of a normal  color.
 They are, in the same region,  solitary or multiple.  It
is  not  uncommon to find them, in the neck, for exam-
ple, united in great numbers, and  forming a sort of
subcutaneous necklace.
   If the disease makes progress, these tumors enlarge,
 little  by little ;  sometimes  several uniting in  one,
harden, cease to be movable,  and  become painful.
Lastly, the skin reddens,  corrodes and ulcerates, often
in several places at once. 
212
Chronic Exanthemata.
  Scrofulous ulcers  have no end, when left to them-
selves.  If, at length, one closes, another  soon  suc-
ceeds to it.
  The discharge from them is rather a thin and turbid
serum, than true pus.
  These abscesses always leave behind them cicatrices,
more or  less apparent, but always greatly to  be
dreaded, because, always bearing with them the seal
of their origin, they often become, subsequently, even
for  the  most  radically cured patients,  a  subject  of
reprobation, in important circumstances.
  The majority of families, in  fact, have a  great re-
pugnance to an  alliance with a  scrofulous  person  ;
and, I confess, to be sincere, that  this repugnance is
not ill-founded, for, of all hereditary diseases, scrofula
is, perhaps,  the one parents the most infallibly trans-
mit to their offspring.
  It is  rare, however, that  children  bear, from their
birth, the flagrant signs of this sad inheritance.
  They seldom present the first symptoms of it before
the second or third year.   But, it is especially between
the period of the second dentition and  puberty, that
scrofula most  frequently  shows itself.  We may, then,
consider it an affection peculiar  to second childhood.
Both sexes are equally exposed to it.  When it is not
very intense, when, especially, it has not impressed its
stamp upon all the systems of the organism, the epoch
of puberty sometimes cures it.  I believe, beside, that 
                      Scrofula.                 213
this disappearance of  scrofula, under the influence of
sexual evolution, occurs more frequently in girls than
in boys.
  There are  scrofulous children, who  appear of a
remarkable intellectual  precocity.  But, perhaps this
observation,  made by the  majority of writers, arises
from  the surprise  experienced  by the contrast of an
even  ordinary mind, with an infirm  body,  which
would seem to belong to a more tender age than that
the little patients have really attained.
  I believe,  on the  contrary,  with  Hufeland,* that
scrofula, at an advanced period, impairs the intellec-
tual faculties.  I  would cite, as  a proof of this, the
Cretins of the Valais, who are certainly only scrofu-
lous subjects.
  It is true   that  in  these  last, the  disease is  no
longer limited to engorgement, or ulceration  of a few
ganglions: it has  taken possession of  the whole econ-
omy, and reached  even the brain.
  It is, in fact,  the characteristic of scrofula, when
art does not  arrest its  progress, when, above all, a
humid  atmosphere and bad nourishment favors its
development,  to  spread its ravages,  not only to  all
parts of the body where lymph  circulates, but to carry
disorganization into organs  the  most dense, and which
would seem the least liable  to its attacks.
  It is thus  that, like the  syphilis,  it attacks the
osseous system,  and  produces,  at length, softening,
        * Traite de la Maladie Scrofuleuse : Paris, 1831. 
 211           Chronic  Exanthemata.
distortion, and  caries.   Rachitis,  of which we  shall
have, in the sequel, but a  few more words to say, is
very often one of its consequences.   But, setting aside
for the  present, these secondary  symptoms, which
require each a  special treatment, we  shall only here
occupy ourselves with  the  primitive form of this ter-
rible  disease; that is  to say, with hypertrophy, and
ulceration of the subcutaneous ganglions.
   Etiology.—Those of  our  brethren  who  perfectly
agree with the ideas of Hahnemann, relative to psora,
seem  to  me inconsistent, in  seeking,  in surrounding
conditions, the  first cause of scrofula.   As for myself,
I confess that  I cannot look upon this disease as a
mere transformation, however far removed, of the itch.
I believe, on the contrary, that if scrofula is, as I have
already said, very often  hereditary, it  may  also, (al-
though,  perhaps,  more  rarely,) result  immediately,
either from accidental circumstances suddenly affecting
the health of the individual, or from  hygienic influ-
ences,  which gradually undermine the constitution.
  We  see,  for  example, scrofula   succeed  eruptive
fevers, especially variola and scarlatina, in  subjects
who, until then, had shown no symptom of it.
  As to humid  cold, wantof cleanliness, the exclusive
use of unfennented fecula for nourishment, or melted
snow  for  drink ; poverty, in short, with all  its  con-
comitants, it is  impossible  not  to see,  in all these
circumstances,  so often  united and  accumulated,  a
sufficient  cause  for the development of this  disease, 
Scrofula.                  215
without the necessity of explaining it by the interven-
tion of a congenital miasm.
  What, in fact, after all, is scrofula, if not an exag-
geration   of the lymphatic  temperament?  but  the
lymphatic temperament, which consists solely in the
relative preponderance of the white vessels, is not a
disease, although one may easily conceive that it may
become such, under  the  permanent action of a  dis-
solving medium.
  Lastly, authors mention, in addition, as causes of
scrofula:  the misfortune  of  being born  of parents,
infirm, aged, or exhausted by excess ;  the deprivation
of the maternal milk, of pure air, of light and exer-
cise ;  the over-excitement, in  children, of the intellec-
tual faculties ; the presence of worms in the intestines,
(which  is, perhaps, to take the effect for the  cause),
etc., etc.  It is certain, that if these causes do not en-
gender  scrofula, they must, at least, greatly facilitate
its development.
  But there is  one  last  point upon which, I am far
from having a fixed opinion,  and which merits, in my
opinion, a serious analysis, for in a dogmatic view at
least, it is of the first importance:
  Is it true, or  not, that  syphilitic non-scrofulous  pa-
tients, may sometimes transmit to their children scro-
fula without a mixture of syphilis ?   In other words:
is the  syphilitic miasm, in passing from  one  genera-
tion to  another, transformed  to such a degree  as to
        19 
216           Chronic  Exanthemata.
serve as the germ  of  a disease essentially  different
from the venereal disease.  This, I repeat, is an im-
portant question, and I would bespeak for it the atten-
tion  of philosophic  physicians.
  Treatment.—Scrofula, whether viewed in  the man-
ner I have just  indicated as a pure  and simple  exag-
geration of the lymphatic temperament, or considered
as a  morbid entity,  having as well as the itch and the
syphilis, its  peculiar individuality, scrofula is not the
less in the two cases grafted, so to speak, upon a par-
ticular  state  of  the organism,  which, if it  does  not
constitute the disease  itself, is at least the condition
sine qua non of its existence.
  It  follows  then, that the treatment of scrofula im-
plies, from the first, two orders of means to be em-
ployed, since there  exists in some  sort,  a double end
to attain: to modify the temperament and extinguish
the disease.
  Now, if the medicines succeed in curing the dis-
ease, the change of the  temperament can be but an
affair of time and regimen.
  The  radical  cure of  scrofula, can then  only be
slowly obtained.
  The kind  of life to be adopted by these patients, is
extremely simple.  Frequent exercise in  the open air ;
the habitual  use  of broiled meats ; abstinence, on the
contrary, from preparations of milk, from pastry, from
badly-cooked  bread — particularly  the  soft  part  of 
Scrofula.
217
bread—from green fruits, watery food, highly-flavored
condiments, and above all,  pure wine  and  strong
liquors ;  such  is the basis of their  regimen.
  But we are  not to imagine that  these little patients
must  eat more  than  if they wTere  in  good  health.
This is a sad  prejudice, and the bad  consequences of
which 1 have  often had occasion  to  combat.   Expe-
rience has proved to me, that abstinence, is less inju-
rious  to  scrofulous  subjects  than  a too  abundant
nourishment.
  The regimen  I  have just pointed  out, and which
should be rigorously followed  through all the periods
of the disease, constitutes, almost alone, the treatment
of the scrofulous diathesis ; that is to say, of scrofula
before its local manifestation.
  Medicines, however,  have  been administered with
success  in  this  first period of the disease, and those
whose efficacy is especially extolled by some  practi-
tioners,  are:  cina, arsenicum,  sulphur,  calcarea,
aurum, dulcamara, bovista and silicea.
  Sepia, is particularly called for by the swelling of
the nose  and upper lip.
  Lastly, M. Hartmann  praises very highly, a medi-
cine which has  not found  place in the homoeopathic
materia medica, but which allopathic physicians have
used for  several  years past; it is Cod liver oil.
  "I  have given it," says  he, "with great advantage,
for the  scrofulous disposition, when, as yet, there
existed no  decided  affection of any  particular organ^ 
218
Chronic Exanthemata
and  where  the only  appreciable  symptoms  werv
paleness, an air of suffering, flaccidity of the muscles,
disposition to emaciation, aversion to  all nourishment
animal or vegetable, with  the exception of bread  and
butter.  I prescribed it in the dose of a medium-sized
spoonful,  morning  and evening, and, after a  certain
time, I almost always  succeeded in obtaining  a cure.
I obtained  the same result in  disease of the  bones,
but much oftener in the other forms of the malady."
  But the  physician is not generally called  to  pre-
scribe for a scrofulous child, until after the disease has
declared itself, and  the medicines to which he should
then have recourse, are, in the proper order of their
use: Rhus  toxicodendron,  mercurius  solubilis  and
tincture of sulphur.
  The second volume of the Ilonoropathic Therapeu-
tics  of Acute  and  Chronic Diseases, had not  yet
appeared in France, and I was consequently ignorant
of the great importance attached by M. Hartmann, to
rhus  toxicodendron,  in  the treatment  of scrofula,
which certain i ferences, drawn from the pathogenesis
of this medicine, had  already led me to prescribe for
this disease ; and the success  I obtained  justified, in
my eyes, the eulogy of our colleague.
  "Rhus toxicodendron,'''1  says  he.  "is superior
to all  other medicines,  when  a gland of the neck,
of the  nape  or of  the  lower  jaw,  is inflamed,
swollen and hard as a stone, while other neighboring
glands are less appreciable to the touch.   Often after 
                     Scrofula.                 219
 only a few days' use, all  inflammatory redness disap-
 pears, the gland becomes softer, and at the  end of  a
 few weeks, entirely disappears.  While this  is taking
 place, the adjacent glands become  more palpable;
 but these  disappear with  the  other.   Some  time
 since,  I  succeeded, with  a single dose  of  rhus,  in
 procuring within the space of six weeks, the  complete
 resolution  of a'gland, hard as a stone and large  as  a
 nut, in  a child  about five years old.   Three  days
 after the use of this remedy, the amelioration began
 to manifest itself,  and continued until  the  complete
 disappearance  of  the  gland.    This  cure   proved,
 like  many   others,  the   value  of  the  precept of
 Hahnemann;  never to  give  a new remedy  before
 an   amelioration  was  sensibly  arrested.   On the
 other hand, the excessively long duration of rhus in
 this case,  confirms  the  opinion  I  have  elsewhere
 expressed upon the duration  of action of medicines
 in general."*
  I use rhus  at the second dilution  and in  solution,
 to be  taken   by  teaspoonfuls  three or  four  times
 aday.f
  It is by the administration of this medicine, that
we   should  invariably  commence the  treatment of
developed scrofula.
  » Therapentique Homceopathique des Maladies Aigues, etc., torn
ii, page 82.
  t In adults, rhus is advantageously replaced by colchicum. 
22•'»           Chronic  Exanthemata.
  As soon as there  supervenes a marked cessation in
progress of the amelioration, that it almost invariably
produces. I suspend its use, and prescribe in its place,
mercurius  solubilis,  thirtieth  dilution,  in  doses
repeated  several times a  day, sometimes for several
weeks.
  Lastly, sulphur, or still  better, tincture of sulphur
if there is ulceration, completes the treatment.
  Some years ago, I was  in  the habit of prescribing
sulphur at the outset, and obtained some advantage
by the use of it;  but, in the great majority of cases,
it happened that at about the eighth or tenth day of
an extraordinary amelioration, this apparent  progress
toward a cure, was suddenly arrested, and I in vain,
insisted then  upon  the same medicine, from which  I
endeavored to obtain new  effects, by  varying the dilu-
tions  and the doses: the patients remained  thence-
forth refractory to its action,  and left me discouraged.
The  idea of previously  using rhus  and  mercurius
solubilis, was fortunate for me; but  it was only after
several unavailing attempts  that I bethought myself
of doing so.
  Dulcamara, belladonna, baryta carbonica, aurum
foliatum,  lycopodium,   conium  maculatum,  and
spongia  marina  tosta have been  extolled  against
various secondary symptoms  of scrofula.  The patho-
genetic study of these substances, can alone guide the
physician in his choice of them, according to the cir-
cumstances of the case. 
Syphilis of New Born Children.      221
          SYPHILIS OF NEW-BORN CHILDREN.
  Boerhaave was  among the  first who  admitted the
hereditary transmission  of syphilis, as well as  its
communication by the  maternal milk.   Gardane and
Doctor Bertin, who shared upon this point, the opin-
ion of  their  celebrated  predecessor, think   beside,
that the infection may take place during labor, when
the child, whose skin is tender and delicate, comes in
contact  with the parts of the mother  affected  with
gonorrhea or venereal ulcers.
  Bell has observed cases of children born with syph-
ilis, although there was no external appearance of it
in the father or mother.  The  same author thinks, as
well as Boerhaave, that  the mother's milk is often a
means  of its transmission, which may happen,  he
says,  " without the disease manifesting itself by any
previous  local symptoms, but the  infection of the
entire system."   This is also the opinion  of Dr.
Cullerier.
   M. Kichond, who has  written  three volumes  upon
the  non-existence  of the venereal  virus,  (in how
many volumes was it not proved that  the  blood did
not circulate!),  M. Richond  is,  nevertheless, a par-
tisan  of the hereditary transmission of syphilis.   " It
is easily conceived," says this author, " that a father
or  a  mother, who  present well characterized venereal
symptoms at  the moment of  the fecundation  of the
germ, may transmit the  disease  to the foetus ; many 
222           Chronic  Exanthemata.
affections,  in  fact,  beside  those attributed  to th .«
viru*, are transmitted in the same manner.  Thus, M.
Broussais says,  "that  he  possesses  a host of facts,
which  authorize him in believing, that mothers suf-
fering  from chronic gastritis, communicate  this affec-
tion to their foetus; that it is the same  with catarrhs,
herpes, leucorrhoea, non-venereal ophthalmias," etc.
  This question,  however,  is  now settled, and the
examples of congenital  syphilis are so numerous, and
so incontestable, that it would be absurd to deny its
transmission.
  I know nothing  more sad, more humiliating, more
heart-rending for parents, than to give birth to a child
infected with syphilis.
  Unfortunately, the new-born child does not always
bear  marked  signs of  this infection ;  I  say unfortu-
nately, for the disease,  escaping then  the  necessary
treatment,  will  infallibly reveal itself subsequently,
but, perhaps under a form less easy to recognize, and
consequently less  easy  to cure.   It  is  affirmed, that
syphilis  acquired  hereditarily, may develop itself at
all periods  of life ;  that it waits  for its  manifestation,
the circumstances  which, by  a  reaction  impressed
upon the organism, are  capable of reproducing it in  a
palpable  manner.   Some physicians,   among   them,
Bell,  have  asserted  that the disease  might remain
latent until puberty, and even until the  epoch of  Mar-
riage, or of a confinement, which they regard as a > nd
of crisis likely to cause  its appearance. 
         Syphilis  of New-Born Children.      223
  These opinions relative to  the venereal infection,
are exactly those we profess with  regard to all  the
miasmatic affections, that is  to say, to an  immense
majority of diseases.
  However this be, it is indubitable, that the  earlier
we  recognize in a child the existence of a hereditary
miasm, and  especially that of syphilis,  the greater
will be our chance of avoiding its terrible effects.
  Among the signs by which we recognize congenital
syphilis, there  are  some  wdiich are  conclusive;  but
there  are others, which may leave  us long in  uncer-
tainty.   "As a general rule,"  says MM. Rattier and
Cullerier, " we should be circumspect in pronouncing
upon  the existence of syphilis in  the new-born.   In
times  past, it  sufficed  that a  child was small, thin,
with a withered skin, and presenting the  appearance
of old age, to induce the declaration of the presence
of hereditary syphilis :  especially if there were a  few
red spots on the breech, or near the  sexual parts.
Purulent ophthalmia, to which children  are subject,
was still another reason for the anathema.   At present,
when we make our  observations with  a little more
care,  we know  that  frequently  children having this
unpromising  appearance, have been  sick  during
intrauterine  life,  and that  this  aspect   no more
characterizes  syphilis, than   a beautiful  carnation
and  unusual embonpoint  excludes  the  idea of it,
when there exist other characteristic symptoms of the
disease." 
2J-1
Chronic Exanthemata.
  Now, these characteristic symptoms, at the time of
birth, are almost  entirely reduced to the signs fur-
nished by an examination of the skin.   This is  then
of a beautiful  uniform red, or of a dirty straw color.
The epidermis is easily detached, as in the commence-
ment of putrefaction, or  is elevated  by serosity, and
forms  pustules, more or less  numerous and  volu-
minous, but almost alwavs surrounded by a violet or
copper-colored areola.
  Exceptional cases aside, children affected with cou-
gonital  syphilis, are feeble, thin,  of a wretched, and,
in some manner, old appearance.   Their muscles are
thin and flabby ; their cry is tremulous.   The greater
part have the nostrils obstructed, and the commissures
of the lips eroded.
  But, if the disease does not declare itself until after
birth, it, according to M. Hartmann, commonly does so
about the second month, and almost always manifests
itself under the form  of red  or copper-colored spots,
succeeded by little  pustules, confluent or discrete, whose
humor is soon converted into  scales, so thick, that the
eruption might be  taken  for leprosy or psoriasis.
  The pustules show themselves upon the face, trunk,
and breech; where, in  infants badly nourished, and
badly cared for, they  rapidly  degenerate  into  ulcer-
ations.
   " When the  affection shows itself  still later," says
Wallace, " we perceive condylomata upon the genital
parts, cracks in the corners of the mouth, an artificial 
         Syphilis of New-Born Children.     225
suppuration upon the mucous membrane of the lips
and the mouth, ulcerations in the pharynx, and almost
always  an alteration in the voice.   The frequency of
the condylomata, of the  cracks  in  the corners  of the
lips, and of the ulcerations in the pharynx, and upon
the buccal membrane, is in  direct proportion  to the
age of the child."
  The prognosis of congenital syphilis, always serious,
is beside dependent upon the nature of the symptoms,
and above all upon the strength of the child.
  Treatment.—The necessity for mothers  or nurses
to take  themselves the  medicines demanded  for the
health of the child, is, I re pert, once for all, an  allo-
pathic prejudice, from which  it is time we were deliv-
ered.  It is  impossible for me to admit, in fact, that a
nurse in good health can take, with impunity, for whole
months, an active substance of m hich she has no need.
  The medicine I shall point out, as the specific for
syphilis in  nursing children, whether  congenital or
contracted  from the  mother's milk, is not a mercurial
preparation—it is  kreosote.
  I can easily conceive that practitioners, ignorant upon
what  grounds this recommendation rests, will receive
it with reserve.   I believe I have already said that I
should some day explain by what association of ideas,
experiments, and clinical observations, I have arrived
at the therapeutic  innovations recorded in this work.
  We assuredly do  not  find in the pathogenesis of
kreosotum, as published by M. Wahle, and reproduced 
 226           Chronic Exanthemata.
 by M. Jahr, in his manual—a pathogenesis, undoubt-
 edly conscientiously recorded—indications  sufficiently
 marked to justify the use I propose to make, and have
 myself  made, with the greatest success, of this  medi-
 cine.    I jut  what does  this  prove,  except  that the
 pathogenesis of kreosotum is still incomplete, as well
 as  that of many other  precious medicines,  such as
 coral i a rubra, chelidonium ma jus, lobelia  inflata,
 cojxiiveu balxamum., and  several  other  medicines, des-
 tined, when  they shall be  better known,  to  play in
 practice most important parts.
   Kreosoti m  is certainly  a capital  remedy in  the
 treatment of syphilis of the new-born, when this dis-
 ease manifests  itself under the  exanthematous  form.
 It suffices, alone, and without the intervention of mer-
 cury,  for a radical cure.
   Kreosotum  is then  administered, of  the  twelfth
dilution, and in mild doses, once a day,  for several
 weeks.*
   I have  reason  to  believe,  but without, however,
 Deing certain of the  fact, that it will also effect the
cure:  1st.  Of syphilis in  the scrofulous form;  2d. Of
condylomata:  3d. Of mercurial  stomatitis.
   Acidum  muriatic-urn  is, however so efficacious in
this last case,  that  one would  do wrong  to  try any
other  medicine.
  « Kreosotum also cures pustulous syphilitic eruptions  in adults,
 mit with the aid of mercurius corrosivus.  The two medicine-, are
 administered alternately, one, one day ; the other, the next. 
          Syphilis  of New-Born Children.     227
  It is to be  remarked  that in  cases of congenital
syphilis, and of eruptions resembling syphilis, homoe-
opathic physicians, when they have been preceded in
the treatment  of these  little patients  by the  practi-
tioners of the old school, have often much more to do
to repair  the mischief caused by them, than to make
themselves  masters  of  the  primitive  disease.. The
effects  of mercury in large doses are, in fact, little less
to be feared than  syphilis  itself.  One should  then
never fail to inform himself carefully, and if necessary
to insist upon  the  question, whether the child has al-
ready been treated—if it has taken mercury, and if the
disease was aggravated under  the influence of this
medicine.  There is no doubt, in  this last case, of the
presence of a mercurial disease.
  It is my conviction that kreosotum will one day, in
these  cases, be  fully  appreciated.  I do not hesitate,
for my own part, to prescribe it in cases of angina, of
mercurial salivation, and of congestion of blood to
the face.   We, furthermore, would be at  liberty to
give the  preference,  in  the same  circumstances, to
aurum foliatum, third dilution, as recommended by
M. Hartmann.
  " When," adds the  same author, "there exists  a
disease of the periosteum, especially of  the superficial
bones,  or  already,  even  caries  of  the bones  of the
nose, gold is less specific than asafcetida."
  To  sum up;  1st.  Mercurius  corrosivus, in  mild
and repeated doses, corresponds,  in preference  to all 
22S     Diseases  oe the Digestive Oi:<;ans.
other  forms  of mercury, to clearly defined syphilitic
symptoms different from the  exanthemata to which
hre<>so(um is exclusively adapted.
  2d. Acidum muriaticum, aurum, usafii t>da ;  then
in the second rank, belladonna, dulcamara, Pulsa-
tilla,  nitri acidum, china  and  silicea  are  the prin-
eipal medicines called for by mercurial symptoms.

        DISEASES  OF THE DIGESTIVK  OKiiANS.

  The mucous  membranes which  line the intestinal
tube, as well as  that of the respiratory organs, seem
to fill, in our diseases, as well  as in the normal order
of the great functions of the economy, a role correla-
tive to that of the skin.
  They both take an active and constant share in  all
the general perturbations  which  take  place in us.
The  immense  majority  of pathological  symptoms,
which  show themselves in  the mouth, stomach,  or
other parts  of the digestive tube, are only then like
the greater  part  of the exanthemata, the local  efflo-
rescence of diffused affections, whose veritable seat  is
the entire organism.
  The intestinal exanthemata, if I may so speak, are
perhaps as  numerous as the cutaneous  exanthemata;
but, for a very simple reason,  are much less known.
   Among the affections probably so  diverse, and  so
multiplied,  whose  dominant  symptoms show them-
selves in  the digestive organs, but a small  number 
Stomatitis.
229
are peculiar  to childhood, and of these only I shall
speak.

stomatitis — inflammation of the mouth--MUGUET.
  This disease, confounded by many pathologists with
aphthae,  is characterized  by  the  concretion  of  the
mucus upon the surface of the inflamed mucous mem-
brane, whether these membranes have an epithelium
or not.
  This concretion may be  observed in the mouth, the
oesophagus, stomach, the small and  large intestines.
The  symptom is  always serious in proportion to  the
extent of surface it occupies.
  This species of stomatitis may manifest itself under
three  different aspects;  1st. Under  the form  of very
small white points, scattered over the tongue, or  the
sides of the mouth; 2d. Under that of shreds,  more or
less large;  3d. Under the form of a membrane, which
entirely covers the  tongue, or  extends  over the other
parts  of the buccal cavity.
  The dotted, caseous or membraniform  excretion of
which we speak, is commonly preceded by an erythe-
matous inflammation of the surface of the tongue, or
the sides of the mouth.   " I have given the closest
attention," says M. Billard, "to the examination of
the seat  of this  excretion, and I have  never found
it  below the  epithelium, upon  the surface of which
it  is  always  seated.   It  is  external  to the mem 
230     Diseases  of the  Digestive Organs.
brane, and coats  it over  like the  mucus, of which
fhe mugu  t is. really, but  a morbid  concretion."
  When the disease makes progress  the white  points
unite,  and enlarge, and  thus  form  little patches,
either  on  the surface of  the  tongue,  or  on the  in-
ternal  surface of  the lips  and  cheeks.  These patches
thicken more and more, and  finish  by exfoliating or
detaching  themselves, and leaving  in  their place an
inflamed surface, which is soon covered with a new
concretion, until at last the disease disappearing,  the
production of which it was  the cause is  no  longer
renewed.
  If, lastly, the muguet acquires a high degree of in-
tensity, the patches of which  I have spoken, unite in
one and form a pellicle more or less large, and more
or less  thick, which spreads over the whole tongue,
the sides of the mouth and velum palati.  Under these
circumstances, as under the preceding, the muguet is
called confluent or malignant.
  This  disease has hardly any general symptoms in
verv young children, especially if the seat of the local
inflammation is not extended.   There is rarely  in this
case  much  fever.  However, the  skin is commonly
warm and dry.
  It is. especially, during early infancy that muguet
is developed.   Infants at the  breast are  much more
subject to it  than children at a more advanced  age.
It  is  above  all  severe  among  children  assembled 
Stomatitis.
231
together 'n great numbers, who are born feeble  and
miserable, or lack an appropriate  alimentation.
  M.  Baron  affirms that muguet  is  not  contagious,
and M.  Billard says, "that he has seen children not
affected  with muguet, drink from the same spoon with
children who had it, without contracting the disease."
  Treatment.—When muguet arises  from a vicious
alimentation, the first thing to be done, is to submit the
child  to a suitable regimen.   If  there is reason for
attributing the  disease to the scarcity or bad quality
of the milk, the nurse  should be changed.  If, on the
contrary, the child is fed with the sucking  bottle, it
will be still  more  easy to make  the necessary modifi-
cations  in its food by conforming to the precepts  laid
down in the first part of  this work.  (Page 72.)
  I do  not  knowr of anything in  our  homoeopathic
literature,  which  has direct  reference to   muguet;
authors  in   general, confound  this   affection  with
aphthas, which  does not  demand  precisely the same
treatment.
  Cinnabaris, at  a high dilution, and in mild  and
repeated doses, is perhaps, of all the mercurial prepa-
rations, that  which best corresponds to muguet of the
mouth and oesophagus.  Mercurius solubilis may be
administered in the same manner,  and later, china, if
there  is reason to believe that the disease has invaded
the stomach and intestines.
      20 
 232    Diseases of  the Digestive Organs.

               apiith e--thrush.
   Aphthae differs  essentially from  muguet  in this
 respect, that in the latter,  the buccal mucous  mem-
 brane remains always intact, while in the former, veri
 table ulceration is present.
  Pathologists  are  still  far from  being of the same
 opinion with regard to the  anatomical seat, and real
 nature of aphthae.  Whether  or not, as some  modern
 authors assert, it consists in congestion, and subsequent
 ulcerations of mucous  follicles, is a question of minor
 importance to the practitioner.
  What is certain  is, that aphthae may  be produced
upon different points  of the gastro-intestinal  mucous
 membrane, and occupy, in  certain cases, almost the'
entire extent of this membrane, from the  mouth to the
rectum inclusively.
  It most commonly shows itself only on the  mucous
membrane  of the mouth, in the form of little larda-
ceous ulcers, with borders sometimes cut perpendicu-
larly, and  secreting a  whitish  cheesy humor, more or
less adherent to the surface.
  When the  aphthae are  isolated, they  commonly
occupy the internal  surface of  the  under lip, the frae-
num of the tongue,  the internal surface of the  cheeks,
and the summit of the gums, when the teeth have not
yet  pierced them.
  When the aphthae are numerous  and closely approx
1 mated, their edges unite — the  matter which they 
Aphthae — Thrush.
233
secrete, extends  from one to another,  and  forms  a
layer more or less broad and thick.  It is then that
the  aphthae  might  be  confounded  with  muguet.
However, M. Billard affirms, that even  in this case,
one may still distinguish  the two diseases, by taking
into account the mode of development of the  inflamed
follicles and  the solution of continuity,  which does
not exist  in muguet.   Beside, says he, the excretion
which accompanies  aphthae  is always consecutive to
the  ulceration, and is almost always observed  on the
internal  part of the lips and cheeks, while the white
points  of  muguet  appear   first  upon  the  lateral
parts, and toward the point of the tongue.
   Notwithstanding  these differential  signs,  I am
•forced to admit, that in certain stages of these diseases,
aphthae is very apt to be confounded, with muguet.
   The aphthae, even when they are in small numbers,
almost  always cause severe  pain.   They suffice con-
sequently,  to hinder  children from nursing, and to
bring on, if they persist, serious  derangements of the
health.   But they only constitute a really serious dis-
ease when they have a  tendency to become numerous,
and  especially  to penetrate  into  the  trachea, the
oesophagus, the stomach, etc.
   When they occupy the pharynx, they render degluti-
tion extremely difficult.  They are then almost always
accompanied  with turns of  vomiting, and an almost
continual hiccough.   These  symptoms  are especially
observed when the disease has its seat in the  stomach. 
234    Diseases  of the Digestive Organs.
  As to  aphthae  of the intestines,  when  there  are
none in the buccal mucous membrane, it is extremely
difficult to diagnose  their presence, for the relaxation
of the bowels  they occasion, may easily be attributed
to any  other cause.
  Fortunately,  the  disease  usually commences  in
the  mouth, if it is not always limited  to this  part;
it may be  considered extremely serious when it follows
a contrary course, that is to say, when instead of being
propagated from the  mouth to  the other  parts of the
digestive  tube,  it mounts from the digestive tube to
the  mouth.
  Aphthae is  not,  like  muguet,  a disease belonging
exclusively to  the first  period of childhood ;  adults
even are exposed to it.   We observe  it  more particu-"
larly in very feeble,  pale,  lymphatic children  some
months  of age.
  " I have observed in the hospital of the  Enfants-
trouves,"  says   M. Billard, "that  while  muguet pre-
vailed very generally in children newly born, aphthae,
on the contrary, showed itself more frequently among
those who  had  attained  the  period   of  the  first
dentition.1'
  As in muguet, the febrile phenomena accompanying
aphthae, have   rarely any intensity.   We mav  even
affirm,  that in the majority of cases the pulse presents
no sewsilile alteration
  Gangrene is the most fatal termination of aphthae,
but is  happily  also the  most rare.  Gangrene of the 
               Aphth.e — Thresh.             235
mouth,  of  which  we  shall  soon  treat,  is  almost
alwaj7s developed  under especial  conditions, having,
with the disease  of which we at  present  speak, but
remote and fortuitous relations.
  Treatment.—Borax  is  generally  considered  by
homceopathists as  the specific for aphthae.  It is  in
fact, a good medicine, and one whose  curative  action
is   sometimes  very  prompt, especially when  it  is
administered at the beginning of the disease.
  Borax suits best, according to M. Hartmann, when
the child is very cross, cries  and weeps much, starts
in his sleep, and seizes objects around  him  ; when the
complexion  is  pale and  earthy,  the  skin  soft and
flabby ; wdien he refuses the  breast, and the mucous
membrane of the palate and tongue, upon which  are
perceived  red  vesicles  and  aphthae, appears  as  if
shriveled.
  The same author extols acid, sulph., in large doses,
(a few drops to an  ounce or an ounce and a half of
water),  or  at  high  dilutions;  mercurius solubilis,
if  the disease occupies  the throat  especially, and
lastly sulphur.
  For myself, if I decided to prescribe  for the aphthae,
an acid in large doses, I should  certainly not give the
preference, to acid, sulph., but rather  to hydrochloric
acid, which I  have heretofore used in  similar cases
with the greatest success.
  A few drops of this acid, mixed with a teaspoonful
of honey, form a mixture  with  which  (taking  care 
236     Diseases of the Dioestive Organs.
that the child does  not swallow it), the  aphthae may
be  lightly washed,  by means of a little pencil made
of lint; this  relieves  the  smarting  almost  instanta-
neously
   Lastly,  the  same acid, but dynamised, is  the only
medicine I use internally, in all cases, that is to say,
wherever  the  seat and whatever the intensity of the
disease.
  It is not necessary to  have recourse to very high
dilutions  of   this  medicine.   I generally prescribe
it  in water, from the  third  to the sixth dilution ;  a
few globules  in a tumbler of water, a teaspoonful to
be given every three or four hours.

              GANGRENE OF THE MOUTH.
  Of all parts of the body, the mouth is certainly the
one  most  subject  to be invaded by gangrene.  An
affection peculiar to childhood, and almost necessarily
fatal, gangrene of the mouth is justly the terror of all
those who have occasion to see it.
  According to Doctor Baron, it is never primitive,
and only manifests itself in children already enfeebled
by previous disease.
   Measles is,  perhaps, of all  diseases the one to which
it most frequently succeeds.  It appears, nevertheless,
but much  more rarely, as a sequel to scarlatina, vari-
ola, pneumonia and hooping-cough.  Lastly,  it is be
yond a doubt that this serious affection may be imme-
diately produced  by an untimely or excessive use of 
Gangrene  of the Mouth.         237
mercury.   Doctor Bretonneau reports several cases of
this kind in his  Traite de la Diphtherite.
  We  borrow  from  MM.  Billiet  and  Barthez, the
picture, as true  as  it is striking, which these authors
have drawn of gangrene of  the  mouth, in  the second
volume of their  Traite des Maladies des Enfants.
  "Gangrene of the mouth  begins, during the course
of convalescence from another acute or chronic dis-
ease, by ulceration, aphthae, or more rarely by oedema
of the  part where  the  gangrene is about to be de-
veloped. At this time the face is pale, the breath fetid,
the fever not very  intense,  unless there also  exists a
febrile disease, and then the pulse may  be considerably
accelerated ; the child becomes more  sad, ordinarily
complains  little, or none at all of the mouth; some-
times,  though rarely,  he suffers severe pain.
  " The ulceration, slight at first, and with a grayish
base, situated upon the middle of the internal surface
of the  mouth, or in  the fold  between the gums and
the cheek, or the gums and the lips, is soon covered with
a grayish putrilaginous  excretion of a fetid and  pecu-
liar odor.  At  the same time  an infiltration of the
diseased cheek, or lip, takes place;  the oedema is soft,
rather  regularly circumscribed ; it  soon becomes in-
creased ; and, there  is  formed  deep in its  center  a
hard,  regular, round  nucleus.   Then  the cheek be-
comes  tense,  shining and  pale, or marked with  a
violet-colored marbling, more decided upon the prom-
inent parts of the tumor ; in the interior of the mouth 
23S     Diseases  of the Dioestive  Organs.
the eschar has taken a brown  color; it has spread
considerably, has reached the gums; it is  sometimes
surrounded by a violet-colored circle.
  " The child is seated  in his bed, and occupies him-
self with the objects around him  ; sometimes, without
strength, he lies  in  a state  of indifference;  his  face
puffed, and without expression on one side,  is sad and
depressed  on the other;  a bloody, or already  blackish
saliva  flows  from his  half open lips ; he asks, how-
ever, for food, and takes with avidity what is offered
him, and swallows together, his  food and the putrid
matter detached from the gangrenous parts.  His skin
is  cool, and  his pulse  but  little  developed, and of
moderate  frequency, unless there exists some serious
febrile complication ; his mind is  clear,  but  some-
times, during  the night, he has a more or less intense
delirium.
  " From the  third to  the  sixth day of the disease,
the scene changes ; an eschar is formed upon the most
purple and prominent part of the tumor, either  upon
the cheek, or upon the  under lip ; small, black, and
dry, this eschar extends itself from day to day, and
sometimes  attains considerable  dimensions, invading
almost  the whole side of the  face, or even descending
upon the neck ; at the same time, that of the mucous
membrane is  increased in the  interior.   The  aspect
of the enild  is as  sad  as it is  hideous  to the sight •
sometimes, in a sitting posture,  and  availing  himself
of all  his  strength, he  tears from the interior of his 
            Gangrene of the  Mouth.          23(J
mouth the gangrenous fragments ; sometimes,  lying
dejected  and depressed, he allows to flow  out and
cover him., a blackish and fetid sanies.
  " This  appearance,  however,  may become  ^till
more repulsive, when the slough is partially detached,
and  the  mass is seen  hanging from  the cheeks,  or
even worse, when, falling off, it leaves a  perforation
through which  the bare and loosened teeth, and the
blackened maxillary bones are visible.  The odor  is
then of the  most  offensive  character ; the child still
retains some strength, and  asks  for food, or, in the
last  state of prostration, he refuses all nourishment;
there is  always great  thirst, and the patient  drinks
with  avidity ; he  does not vomit, but there is great
relaxation of the  bowels ;  he becomes  rapidly more
and  more emaciated ;  his skin is dry, but  not very
warm;  his pulse, very  small,  becomes  insensible,
and  death arrives  without other phenomena."
  It most commonly takes place before the deteriora-
tion  is so  profound, and  before  the perforation  is
effected, in from eight to fifteen  days.
  Gangrene of  the  mouth, very  rare in  adults, and
perhaps  still  more   rare  in infants  at   the  breast,
usually attacks children between the  ages of tw^o and
ten.
  It  is not contagious, and never prevails  epidemi-
cally.  It is one  of  those diseases which physicians
have less frequent occasion to observe in their private
practice than in hospitals.
        21 
240     Diseases of the Digestive Organs.
  In  the  rare, and, we may even say, exceptional,
ca-es. where a cure is effected, it is always in the first
period,  before the  manifestation  of  the  cutaneous
eschar,  and by the separation of the mortified portion
of the  mucous  membrane.  There then remains an
ulceration, with  a grayish  bottom, whose tumefied
borders subside little by little, and whose cicatrization
is accomplished  at the same time that the general
symptoms amend and disappear.
   Treatment.—Homoeopathy as yet knows no speci-
fic for gangrene of  the mouth, which seems, however,
to enter into the sphere of  action of several medicines
known;  at  the head  of  which,   Hartmann  places
secale cornutum.
   I have seen the disease arrested  in the beginning by
ipecacuanha,  at a low dilution,  and  in  doses  fre-
quently repeated,  (a  teaspoonful  every hour, of  a
solution of three drops  of tincture, third dilution, in
four ounces of water).
   In a  more advanced period of the disease, 1 should
not  hesitate  to prescribe,  alternately,  acid, muriati-
cum  and kreosotum, at low dilutions, and at short
intervals, and  even, if necessary, slight cauterizations,
with muriatic acid, diluted with a little  honey.

                   DENTITION.
   In one of the chapters upon the hygiene of children,
 (see  p. 77.)  I have already mentioned  the medicinal
 agents called  for by the  majority of  the sympathetic 
Dentition.
241
affections  occurring during the period of dentition
There remain  for me, but a few words to say on this
subject.
  "The greater part," says M. Guersant, "of the dis-
eases of children, are attributed to the process of den-
tition.   The  difficulty in observing  the  diseases of
early infancy,  and the little  positive knowledge we
possess upon this part of pathology, have contributed
to propagate this  opinion;  and this prejudice, result-
ing from  our ignorance, has  eventually become pop-
ular, like  all other prejudices in medicine."
  The  notion  has  this  mischievous  effect, that it
often imposes upon physicians with regard to the real
existence  of diseases  independent of dentition; dis-
eases which they allow to take root  under the false
persuasion, that they are but  normal manifestations
of a purely physiological phenomenon.
  The  first  teeth (the  incisors)  commonly  appear
toward  the  end  of the  fourth  month,  sometimes  a
little sooner, but sometimes also a little later.
  The importance and sort of vain-glory that mothers,
and  especially nurses, indulge in on account of the
precocity  of children  in this respect, seems to me ill-
founded.  1 have in fact, remarked, that the teeth had
far more  permanence when the period of their erup-
tion was somewhat delayed.
  However this be, it is certain that the evolution of the
teeth, which is sometimes accomplished without caus-
ing any serious trouble, becomes also in certain cases, 
242     Diseases of the  Digestive Organs.
a real disease, and a sufficiently serious one to require
all the attention of  the physician.
  This  takes  place,  especially in  nervous, irritable
and debilitated subjects, when  several teeth are about
coming through at the  same time.  It is  then, com-
mon enough to see  high fever,  with almost continual
wakefulness, extreme agitation during the rare inter-
vals of  sleep,  spasmodic movements of the eyes, con-
vulsiins of the  limbs, cough, hiccoughs, and even
letnargy,  if things  take  a  bad turn;  for this last
symptom  is of very  bad  omen; the gums  are  red,
swollen, hot and very  painful  ; the inflammation  of
which  they are tne seat, extends itself to the tonsils,
cheeks and the whole face.  In short, if this state is
prolonged  beyond a certain time, even the germs  of
the teeth  undergo  a notable  alteration;  they soften
and corrode to such an  extent,  that the destruction of
the teeth  is,  as  it  were, consummated before their
appearance;  at least such seems  clearly the result
of several anatomo-pathological observations,  made
by  Dr.  Billard,  in  the  hospital  of  the  Enfants-
trouves.
  As to the diarrhea, which is  almost always added
to the other symptoms of dentition,, and which Rosen
seems  to  regard  as the  result of the acrid  saliva,
which  the child  almost  necessarily  swallows,  it
is evidently  like the  cough,  amygdalitis,  etc.,  but
a sympathetic  phenomenon  of the  buccal  irrita-
tion. 
Gastritis.
243
  To sum up, it is not then impossible tnat dentition
may constitute in itself, as  1  have just  said, a real
disease.
  Now this disease  has its specific, and  I am happy
in being  able to sustain  myself by numerous  facts, in
pointing  out  to  practitioners,  the medicine which
answers explicitly to all the symptoms  it is susceptible
of presenting.
  Kreosotum, which will certainly one  day  be con-
sidered as one of the most precious and reliable medi-
cines of our materia medica, is the substance to which
I now allude.
  I prescribe it at the twenty-fourth dilution, in mild
and repeated doses.
  Kreosote, which  I  recently  saw completely arrest,
in the  course of a few weeks, a painful caries of the
incisor teeth, in the case  of a lady forty years of age, is,
in children of all ages, as well as in adults, the chief
remedy for odontalgia, when it  is caused by caries
of the  teeth,  especially when the pain  is accompanied
by turgescence of the gums and facial congestion.

                   GASTRITIS.
  Time  has executed justice  upon the sophisms  of
Broussais.   It is hardly twenty years since gastritis, a
multiform monster invented by the physiological school,
controlled  the whole of pathology.   It was  the pro-
totype  of inflammation—the  primitive phenomenon of 
244     Diseases of the Digestive Organs.
all other diseases, which were, it was asserted, but its
more or less certain consequences.
  The public even, which  commonly troubles itself
but little about the names  of  the diseases which deci-
mate it, talked about gastritis, as it  has since done
about  cholera.  From  the eloquence of  a man  of
genius, this bugbear assumed the appearance of real-
ity, and made people  believe  in  the  existence of a
fact that every day's observation belied !
  It is now universally  admitted, that if the stomach,
like  the other  parts of the  digestive tube, takes a
sympathetic part in all  the somewhat  acute affections
of the organism, primitive gastritis is a rare disease.
Thus it occupies a very  small  space  in modern noso-
graphies.   It  is to be  remarked, however, that it is
rather more frequent in  children than in adults.  It is
from the third to the twelfth year that  it is most  fre-
quently observed.
  Inflammation  of the  stomach,  or,  to  speak with
more precision, erythema of the mucous membrane of
the  stomach,  (for gastritis is  nothing else),  is recog-
nized by the following signs :
  Frontal  cephalalgia;  fever,  with  fullness  of  the
pulse ; acrid  heat of the skin, especially in the fore-
head  and in the hollow of the hands, to which succeed
abundant sweats;  sensibility of the epigastric region-
burning regurgitation ;  bilious vomiting, with  loss of
appetite;  thirst, more  or  less intense; disgust  foi 
Gastritis.                 245
warm or  alcoholic drinks;  great  desire for acid and
cold drinks ;  mouth  bitter ; tongue  moist, white or
yellowish, at the  base, with bright red dots at the
point and on the borders.
   The patients are generally constipated ;  but often,
also, as the vulgar say, the disease  takes  its course
downward, and two  or three  evacuations,  at  short
intervals, announce the  termination of the  disease, or
a change  in its character.
   The common causes of gastritis are :
   1st. Overloading the  stomach with  food,  taken
either in too great quantities  at a time, or  at too fre-
quent intervals ; 2d.  The introduction into  this organ
of crude  substances, such  as grease and  acids; 3d.
A sudden fright,  vexation  or  anger; 4th. A chill;
5th, and lastly, The introduction into the stomach of
inert foreign  bodies, refractory to the gastric action,
and, for a stronger reason, all  irritating or  actually
poisonous substances.
   I  find, in reference to this last cause, in the work
of MM. Rilliet and Barthez, an avowal, which  does
more honor to the frankness of these writers, than to
the therapeutics of the  school to which they belong:
" One of the principal causes," say they, "of gas-
tritis  and of  softening of the stomach, has been, in
the children who have  come under  our observation,
the use of an energetic medicinal action,  upon the
gastro-intestinal  mucous membrane."   I  add  with
pleasure my testimony to that of the two physicians 1 
246    Diseases of  the Digestive  Organs.
have  just cited : the  majority of the cases of gastritis
[ have had occasion to treat, were the direct work  of
Allopathy.
  Gastritis, like  other diseases, has  its  degrees  of
intensity, and its  symptomatic shades.   The pre-
cursory symptoms of the eruptive fevers, or of typhoid
fever in its  commencement, are the only pathological
conditions  with which it would be  possible to con-
found it; and yet, with the history  of the disease that
we  have under our eyes, and the recital of  the facts
anterior to  its manifestation, it is  very rare that all
error in diagnosis is not avoided.
  Treatment.—Gastritis  is  generally a  disease  of
short  duration, and  one which  the curative force  of
nature alone, almost  always suffices  to cure.   How-
ever, it might  be dangerous to abandon  it to itself.
and  I am  convinced that  in  treating  it  properly
serious affections have often been prevented,  of which
it was only the precursory sign, or rather  the first
symptom.
  Gastritis, whatever its cause,  is one  of those affec-
tions which the most imperiously exact a few days  of
diet.
  Patients so much  the more willingly resign  them-
selves to this,  as they feel a  repugnance to food.   To
wean  a  child  at the breast   will  often suffice  to
effect  an  instantaneous cure.   A little  gruel may
for  a  day  replace the  milk of  which  he  is  de-
prived. 
Gastritis.
247
   As  to  children  more  advanced, they may be put
 upon the use of sweetened water, of  the temperature
 of the apartment.
   If the stomach is still  surcharged  with food, or  if
 some  poisonous  substance has been swallowed, the
 patient should be made to vomit,  either by means  of
 tepid  water, or tickling  the  fauces;  after which we
 may prescribe, according  to the circumstances, aconi-
 tum, pulsatilla, nux,  arsenicum, chamomilla, bry-
 onia, phosphorus, or causticum :
   Aconitum, if the dominant symptom is a high, full,
 and  frequent  pulse, with  heaviness  of  the head,
 pain in the forehead,  and considerable heat  in the
 face; especially if the  indisposition has succeeded a
 fright;
   Pulsatilla, if greasy food, such as  goose or pork,
 has provoked the indigestion,  or if the patient is tor-
 mented with frequent sour, and watery regurgitations;
 if he vomits without effort; if he experiences vertigo,
 or in short, and above all  if these symptoms occur  in
 the evening and night;
   Nux vom., if the child is  of a nervous, dry, and
 irritable temperament;  if the pain at  the epigastrium,
 and  the agitation are  very intense;  if there is con-
 stipation and  but little sweat; if in short  the dis-
 ease has been  caused by  coffee, wine, or any  other
 alcoholic drink, or again by a fit of passion ;
  Arsenicum, if the gastritis  is in consequence of a
chill, or of an indigestion of fruits, raw roots or herbs; 
 24S    Diseases  of the Digestive  Organs.
    Chamomilla,  if there are bilious  vomitings, and
 especially if the patient is a little girl, or an infant at
 the breast;
   Bryonia, if the indigestion has been produced  by
 cabbage; if the epigastrium  is very sensitive to the
 touch, and  if the  slightest  movement  increases the
 pain, and if there is constipation;
   Phosphorus, is indicated when there  is a pressing
 and cutting burning in the stomach—a sensation as if
 a  warm  gas was  escaping from  the mouth;  ardent
 thirst; burning in  the precordial region; anguish; con-
 vulsions of  the face ; violent chills, or when the limbs
 are cold,  the eyes clear and  tearful, the  lips  pale,
 the pulse accelerated, small and  feeble, the strength
 prostrated ;
   Causticum, whose use in the treatment of affections
 of the stomach, seems to me susceptible of being much
 extended, is  the  specific for suffocative gastritis / a
 form  very rare in children.   The symptoms  which
 call for its use, are:  spasmodic distention of the epi-
gastrium, with burning  and  inodorous eructations;
bilious coloration  of the face; absence of sweat; and
even of heat  in the forehead and hands; constipation ;
lastly, tickling in  the  throat, which  provokes  a dry
cough.
  The different medicines I have just mentioned, are
administered stronger, and in  doses  more frequently
repeated, in  proportion to the  intensity of the  symp-
toms.   The  nature of  these last, as well  as the  kind 
Enteritis.
249
of medicine to which  we have  recourse  decides, as
usual, the choice of the dilutio s.
  In general,  aeon., pulsat., and  chamom.,  are  pre-
scribed  from the sixth to the eighteenth; phosph.,
arsen., and  caust.,  from  the eighteenth to the thir-
tieth. With the exception of the cases to which caus-
ticum and phosphorus correspond, it is seldom  that
gastritis requires a treatment of long duration.

                   enteritis.
  Enteritis is the inflammation of the intestines.   It
manifests itself as a sympathetic  affection of almost
all the organic and functional lesions of the economy;
but  as a  primitive disease, it is  rare.  In  children,
however,  it is more common than gastritis, to which
beside it often succeeds.
  Authors  have described a multitude  of  varieties
of enteritis.  Some  have founded those they have
admitted  upon  the  different  degrees of intensity,
which this disease  may present without changing its
nature ; others,  more logical, no doubt, have deduced
theirs from notions furnished by pathological anatomy.
It is thus that these last have admitted:
  1st. Erythematous  enteritis, or inflammation of
the mucous membrane;
  2d. Phlegmonous enteritis, or  inflammation of the
muscular tissue  of the intestine ;
  3d. Follicular  enteritis,  or  inflammation of  the
follicles ; 
 250    Diseases  of the Digestive Organs.
   4th  and  last, Serous enteritis, or perienteritis; in
 other terms, inflammation  of the peritoneal envelop
 of the intestine.
   Of these  four varieties of enteritis  that I willingly
 adopt, with the exception of the last, which appears
 to me  problematical, if we consider  it otherwise  than
 as representing the highest  degree of intensity of the
 others, I shall  only speak here of the first—mucous
 enteritis.   The second, in  fact, is  evidently only  a
 more  violent  degree of the first,  as phlegmonous
 erysipelas  is  only the  aggravation of simple  ery-
 sipelas.
  As to folliculous enteritis,  which  constitutes, as
everybody knows, the characteristic  lesion of typhoid
 fever, I shall speak of it later, under the head of this
 fatter disease.
  Mucous  enteritis,  an affection  often  disregarded,
 may be observed  from the earliest period of life.  It
 commonly begins without appreciable fever, by a  sim-
ple relaxation  of the  bowels;  but   the  stools  soon
become more frequent, and undergo  a change.  They
are preceded by moaning and anxiety, cries, and even
convulsions.  The moaning  and crying are renewed
during the evacuations.   The  evacuations soon lose
their normal color and  odor.  They are of a reddish
brown,  or  green   tint,  sometimes  aqueous or  slimv
sometimes bloody, purulent, and containing pieces of
 membrane,  and sometimes, finally,  of a  dark color,
 and mixed with indigested food. 
Enteritis.
251
  Excoriation and  oedema  of  the  anus,  often, even
Calling of the rectum, add  to  the  discomfort  of the
child.  It experiences alternations  of tenesmus and
constipation ; the skin is burning, the pulse frequent.
The  tongue, white  and moist  in the beginning, be-
comes dry, and sometimes  passes from  a dark-red to
a blackish brown; the patient drinks incessantly ; the
abdomen is distended ; his strength diminishes ; the
features change, shrivel up, and take the appearance
of old age.   Soon he  has  no  longer strength  to cry,
but  continues  a plaintive  moan ;  lastly, the  stools
stop, the meteorism increases, feeble convulsive move-
ments manifest  themselves, and the patient dies, if
art has not succeeded in arresting in time the progress
of the disease.
  This  form of enteritis, always very serious  in  in-
fants at the breast, is  more to be dreaded in propor-
tion  as the children are young.
  Generally more benign in children of from five to
ten years, mucous  enteritis  rarely  assumes  in them
the alarming character  I  have just  described.  In
cases at  this   age,  it  has  two  ways  of  begin-
ning:
  In some instances, a child is taken with a  not very
abundant diarrhea, which  does not seriously affect
him.  He continues to play and amuse himself; hie
appetite continues, or  only insensibly  diminishes.
This state lasts eight or ten days, sometimes longer; 
252     Diseases of the Digestive Organs.
then supervene  acute  symptoms; f v.-r, pain  in  the
bowels, thirst,  anorexia, augmentation of  the diar-
rhea.
  At other  times, the  commencement is abrupt, and
characterized by cephalalgia, vomiting of food or bile,
epigastric or umbilical pains, thirst, and loss  of  ap-
petite.
  We  have then, during an interval of from four to
ten days, the following symptoms : The face has some
color, the features are drawn;  there is  heat, and often
moisture in the skin ; the pulse is frequent, a hundred
or a hundred and twenty pulsations  to the minute:
the  abdomen is  sensitive to  pressure, either in  the
umbilical  region,  or in  the sides and iliac  fossae,
rarely  in  the epigastrium ; it is  large, sometimes a
little tense, warm, and sonorous; very  rarely one may
perceive gurgling ; the stools are sometimes very abun-
dant, ver}7 numerous, very  liquid, and  seem then to
come from the small intestine, or they are more rare,
less liquid, and vary from two to  six  in  the twenty-
four hours;  they  are  mucous  and  bilious,  rarely
green,  more  frequently various shades of yellow or
brown.
  The vomitings that  take place in  the beginning,
discontinue  after one  or two days, and  are,  at  the
most, replaced by nausea.  The t  ngue is moist, very
rarely  dry, red at the  point and upon the sides, cov-
ered at the base with  a white  or yellowish coating, 
Enteritis.
253
more or less thick; the mouth is sometimes offensive,
the breath sometimes fetid.
  The child does not sleep, or sleeps badly ; its sleep
is agitated ; he does not, however, complain of head-
ache.   The delirium, always flying and of short dura-
tion, is an exceptional  and very rare phenomenon.
It  may,  nevertheless, manifest itself without  being
any proof that the disease is degenerating into typhoid
fever.
  There  are  sanguine-nervous children so liable  to
delirium, that they present this  symptom  in almost
all  their diseases.
  This state continues for a few days, when the fever
abates, the skin returns to its normal temperature, the
pulse falls, according to the age, to seventy or eighty
pulsations a minute; the face becomes pale, and even
emaciated;  the child is  a  little  enfeebled,  but  the
appetite  returns; the  looseness of  the  bowels still
continues, but gradually diminishes; the bowels re-
cover their elasticity, and lose their sensibility.   All
the symptoms, in short, gradually disappear,  and  the
child returns to  its  natural state, after an  illness  of
from twelve to twenty days, retaining no other trace
of it than a little feebleness and emaciation.
   Such  is the  normal  course of primitive  mucous
enteritis, during  the second period of childhood.  It
is  easily understood, that the  constitution of the pa-
tients, the  more or  less  judicious  attention  they
receive, and perhaps, above all, the influence, always 
254     Diseases of the Digestivk  Oroans.
so marked in all  our  diseases of the  hygrometrical
and barometrical state  of the atmosphere,  may vary
almost  infinitely the intensity of the symptoms and
the duration of this affection.
  Finally, the  intimate cause  of the  disease, that
which the most  frequently escapes us, necessarily im-
presses  upon  it a particular stamp,  so that between
ephemeral enteritis, the accidental consequence  of an
indigestion, and typhoid enteritis, there exist  innu
merable* shades.
  Should enteritis be  classed  among essential dis
eases ?   This question, to be  explicitly answered,
requires more  precise  notions  than  we  yet possess
upon the  disease in question.   It is clear, on the one
hand, that a sudden chilling of the skin, or the pas-
sage into  the intestines  of a badly elaborated chyme;
that is  to say, of  substances which have resisted the
dissolvent action  of the  stomach, may cause  imme-
diately, and without the intervention of any miasm,
erythema of the intestinal mucous  membrane.   But,
on the other hand, it appears to me not less evident,
that certain  forms of  enteritis, that, for  example, of
children  at  the breast, which develops itself, and
passes through its different stages, to a fatal termina-
tion, in spite of the most judicious hygiene, and the
most  rational treatment, depends upon a cause  more
active and profound than a temporary suppression of
the perspiration, or the transient contact of indigested
food.  What  physician has not seen several children 
                      Enteritis.                 255
  ->f the same family die successively,  at the same age,
  of this disease ?  Was it the mother's milk which was
  fatal to them ?  This is not impossible : nature has its
  caprices.  However, I have seen in families where the
  children had succumbed in this manner, two cases in
  which  the milk of a good nurse was vainly  substituted
  for that  of the  mother, for this precaution did not
  prevent a new catastrophe.  The children, then, bore
  in their blood the germ of the disease of which they
  were to die.   Such facts  are  not, unhappily,-as  rare
  as might be supposed.
    Treatment.—The following medicines  have  been
 recommended  against  enteritis  in  children  at  the
 breast:  aconitum,  chamomilla,  pulsatilla,   bella-
 donna, hyoscyamus, etc.
    " Numerous observations," says Hartmann,  "have
 taught me that aconite should  always  be given  at first
 in  the diseases of children, from the moment that there
 exists in  them the least trace  of vascular  irritation."
 This  is perfectly just.   li I have, in  fact,  observed,"
 adds  the  same author,  " that  aconite, given  at  the
 commencement of the majority of the  diseases of chil-
 dren, not only calms  the  violence of the  symptoms
 but often entirely dissipates  the  disease."  To this
 again, I have no  serious objection  to make, if it is not
 that the physician is far from being always called at
 the commencement of the  disease, that he is often in
fact, only consulted at a period when  aconite  ceases
to be indicated.
        22 
256     Diseases of the  Digestive Organs.
  "Chamomilla,''1  continues  Hartmann,  "merits  a
place after  aconitum,  if  the  stools  are  watery,  or
slimy,  whitish or green, and are passed with violent
pains,  especially  if they are more  frequent at night,
and  if the light  sleep  of the patient is often  inter-
rupted by sudden starts;
  " Pulsatilla is equally indicated when  heat  alter-
nates with sudden chills; when there is wakefulness,
or simply a little  sleep in the morning, with continual
moans, diarrheic, mucous, acrid, and  frequent stools,
with vomitings ;
  " Xux  and bryonia, in  cases  where the  patient
is constipated ; the latter, especially, when the  abdo-
men is very sensitive to the slightest pressure;
   "Belladonna  and hyoscyamus,  when,  instead of
actively marked inflammation, the  disease  presents a
sub-inflammatory state: these medicines,  also  merit
consideration, if to these inflammatory symptoms are
added,  spasmodic  symptoms,  which are   especially
distinguished by their periodicity.
  "  Coffea is an indispensable remedy,   when  the
nervous  system  greatly predominates over the vascu-
lar system."  After this quotation, which embodies
nearly  the  whole  of  the  therapeutics, followed  by
homoeopathic physicians in the  treatment  of enteritis
in infants at the  breast, I will in turn, give the result
of my own personal experience.
   Now, it is with the profound conviction, left me by
the painful recollection of the many reverses I have met 
                     Enteritis.                 257
with, that  I venture to affirm, that in serious enteritis
in children at the breast, aconite, chamomilla, pulsa-
tilla, bryonia, nux vomica, belladonna, 7iyoscyamus
and coffea, are medicines absolutely powerless, hardly
modifying  the course of the disease, never arresting; its
progress, and much less preventing its fatal termination.
   There exists in my knowledge, against serious ente-
ritis of  infants, but one really efficacious remedy upon
which we may depend.   I have the consciousness of
rendering to art,  and to humanity a  real service in
pointing it  out: this medicine is lycopodium.
   Thus  then,  when the enteritis of which  I have
given the description, does  not immediately yield to
chamomilla, which seems indicated by the dominant
symptoms,  we should hasten to suspend this and pre-
scribe lycopodium.
   An important remark is, that this  medicine will
only  be followed by good  results, when  given in
extremely feeble doses.   We should prescribe two or
three globules of the thirtieth dilution, in four ounces
of rain  water,  of which one teaspoonful is to  be given
to the child in the morning.
   It is useless to add to  this treatment, either injec-
tions or poultices ; but what is naturally indispensable
to its success,  is a proper regimen ; great care then
should be taken in this respect.   We may judge from
this  specificity of lycopodium, how dangerous  and
deplorable  is the abuse  made  of  this  substance in
using it as  a powder for children. 
 25S    Diseases of the  Dioestive Organs.
   Lycopodium  does  not correspond to enteritis in
 children, of from five to ten years.  It is against  this
 form that we may, according to the symptoms, use the
 medicines indicated by Hartmann ; medicines to which
 arsenicum should be added, which is the specific for
 enteritis, with  mucous diarrhea, caused  by a chill.

        GRIPINGS IN INFANTS AT THE BREAST.
   " A child,"  says Rosen, " has  gripings when it is
 agitated, unquiet, cries  much, agitates its  feet, smiles
 in his sleep, or seizing the  breast when it is presented
 to  him, immediately lets  it go   again.   The  stools
 are then green  or  soon  become  so.   His swaddling
 clothes  are tinged with a  greenish color,  when they
 are dry.  The  child has a sour smell, as well as  his
 occasional eructations.   If this state  continues  for a
 certain time, dysentery is  to be feared."
   These pains  almost always depend upon an impru-
 dence in regimen committed by the nurse (see p.  61,
 chapter on Nurses, etc.);  but they also often proceed
from leaving the child in the linen wet with his urine.
 Whatever be their cause, we  should  hasten to relieve
them  by administering a  few teaspoonfuls of a glass
of  water,  in  which  has  been   dissolved  three or
four globules  of  chamomilla  of the twelfth dilu-
tion.
   ■* It is remarkable," says Rosen  again, "that a child
who has these pains  and will not  suck, takes  the
 breast willingly and sucks without  difficulty to satiety, 
Colic
259
 when some one holds him in an upright position before
 his nurse."
   This is  perfectly true.   It is, perhaps, because the
 vertical position  of the child keeps the acid humors
 contained  in  the stomach, away from  the cardiac
 orifice,  and  makes  them  fall into  its lower part.
 But it  is  understood, that especially  in  the cases
 where  the pains  have been  caused  by the nurse's
 milk, it is important that the child should  not receive
 the breast immediately.

                      colic.
   Colic, like  diarrhea, forms a part of the symptoms
 of enteritis, and like  it, yields to the treatment which
 cures the latter.  But colic, in second childhood, may
 exist without enteritis, and even without  diarrhea.
 It often, for example, shows itself in  consequence of a
 chill in the feet.  The child tries, but in vain, to go to
 stool.  At the most, he succeeds in  the expulsion of
 gas, and incomplete stools, which give him no relief.
   The principal  seat of the pain  is a fixed point
 above  the umbilicus.  The pulse is  normal, some-
 times a  little  frequent;  but the face is pale and
 pinched.
   Cina, is the specific for this sort of colic.   It should
be given from the ninth to the twelfth dilution;  a few
globules in a glass of water ; four teaspoonfuls-in the
space of an hour. 
260     Diseases of the Digestive Ougans.

                constipation.
  This again is a symptom rather than a disease.  A
bad diet, either in the nurse, or child, is  generally its
cause.  Thus it is frequent in children raised with the
sucking bottle, without  conforming to the precepts I
have laid down (see p. 72).
  It is not impossible that it may also be an effect of
lycopodium, when the nurse is so imprudent as to use
this substance as a powder for cracks.
  When this  is not the case, lyapodium, thirtieth di-
lution, in feeble  doses once a day, or  every other day
for  a week, is one  of the  best  modes of combating:
obstinate constipation, even those forms which  do not
yield  to  a change  of regimen.  Tepid  baths, when
nothing contra-indicates their  use,  conduce  to the
same end.  As to  the injections of milk and  honey,
recommended by Hartmann, they are real purgatives,
to which I would have  recourse, in cases only of the
most pressing necessity, and when homoeopathic means
had positively failed.
  Constipation may be within certain limits a natural
state.   Children of nervous temperaments are subject
to it, but they should be always watched, for it is a
serious symptom in  the greater part of  the diseases
of children.   When accompanied by fever, there is
danger of cerebral symptoms.  Bryonia  is one  of the
surest  means  of combating  the  accidental  consti- 
LlENTERY.
261
pation in children, of all ages, which coincides with
sourness of the stomach and heat in the forehead.

                   LIE N T E RY.
  We  thus name  a sort of diarrhea  whose existence
is most commonly dependent upon another disease,
aphthae for example, in infants; but  which may also
constitute an independent affection, of which the fol-
lowing are the symptoms:
  Excretion of solid or liquid aliments, a short time
after  their reception into the stomach, without their
having undergone any  alteration, either in their con-
sistence, color, or even odor ;
  The patient experiences, immediately after the re-
past, a sensation of coldness in  the epigastric region,
which swells, is  distended  a  little  with flatulence,
and  soon  subsides.  Hiccoughs, soon  succeeded by
loud borborygmus, and  a few gripings  announce that
the food has cleared the  pylorus and  is passing through
the windings  of  the small intestine.  Soon, in fact,
the pain moves about, here and there  in the abdomen,
and at the same time the patient experiences a sensa-
tion of emptiness  in the  stomach, and  almost  imme-
diately a desire to  go to stool;
  The evacuation is effected without pain, or  at the
most,  with  slight colic;  but it is  followed  by great
prostration, some moments of vertigo,  and an excessive
desire for  food, which  soon produces  syncope,  if it
is  not immediately  satisfied ; the  tongue is clean, a 
 262    Diseases of the  Digestive Organs.
 little whiter than in the normal  state.  The thirst is
 great.
   Lientery  may  last  several  days, weeks,  months,
 years  even.  I saw in Oct. 1849, a poor tailor,  who
 had been afflicted with  it since 1832, when  he  had
 had the cholera.
   When the disease has passed into a chronic state,
 the general  health is profoundly affected ; the patients
 have a yellow, harsh,  and  wrinkled skin.   In the
 majority, the emaciation is extreme; the  strength  is
 so much exhausted, that  they can hardly sustain them-
 selves ; they have three, four, or  even  five and six
 stools in the twenty-four hours, which exhausts them
 so much the more, as a  part of these stools occurs in
 the  night.   They have  beside, no sleep;  the mind
 becomes very much affected ; they are sad, taciturn,
 irritable, hypochondriac.  I know of nothing, in fact,
 more discouraging  than their  condition; yet there
 are, nevertheless, some  who  seem to pay but little
 attention to  it.
  Lientery  certainly depends upon a particular idio-
 syncrasy : I have many times observed it in children
addicted to onanism.   Was the irritation of the intes-
tine, in these cases, the cause or the effect ?
  Authors cite, as causes of this disease, the habitual
use  of  indigestible  and unsubstantial food; such as
raw, fermentable vegetables, acid wines, the abuse of
purgatives,  humidity  of habitations, or  of certain
climates.  They add, in  short, what is very true, that 
Lientery.
263
lientery may succeed  to mucous enteritis ; to typhoid
fever, and especially to cholera.   It is observed  at
all ages.
  Treatment.—The first condition for the cure of this
disease  is, a substantial regimen,  and especially the
abstinence from roots, milk food, and above  all,  from
dried vegetables, uuless prepared in a  meat soup ;  still,
meat itself, especially roast meat, is always preferable
for them.   It results from this, that lientery  is almost
incurable  among the poor.   I saw it once, about five
or six years since, yield rapidly and  without the aid
of any medicine, to a fortifying alimentation, and the
moderate  use of old Bourdeaux wine, in a patient, who
had  been kept for a year on low diet, and for two
months on ass's milk, which was a little less absurd,
but which was  still a  contradiction.
  Arsenicum,,  china and oleander  are almost the
only medicines which ought to enter into the treat-
ment of lientery.
  Arsenicum  is the remedy par  excellence; but it
only shows itself truly efficacious  when  administered
in rather low dilutions, at the twelfth, for example, or
even at the sixth.   At the higher attenuations, arsen-
icum act§ more upon the nervous  system, than upon
the intestinal  mucous membrane.   Thus, in the last
cholera epidemic,  the homoeopathists who made the
mistake of prescribing it at the thirtieth dilution, had
occasion   to  remark, that it  was badly borne by the
       23 
264     Diseases of the  Digestive Organs.
stomach, and  that it  produced  but imperfectly  the
hoped-for results.
  Arsenicum  in the treatment of lientery, should be
prescribed in drops, with water, (two or three drops to
four  ounces of water), of  which the patient will take
two or three teaspoonfuls a day.   It should be con-
tinued until the stools  are reduced to a normal con
sistency.
  If there  still remains thirst, acrimony  and styptic
taste in the throat, with  indifference  to  food, china
will  procure the  immediate  disappearance of these
symptoms.
  The amelioration  produced by arsenic,  is instanta-
neous and nearly constant; but it is not always dura-
ble :  relapses are frequent, especially when the disease
has already existed for years.
  There will then be occasion  to have recourse to ole-
ander, of which Hartmann recommends  the admin-
istration  from  the beginning;  and which he seems to
prefer to arsenic
  May not this  predilection  arise from the provings
made by Hartmann upon oleander?   "This  medi-
cine," says  he, " is the sovereign remedy for lientery."
I am  assuredly  far from  denying this  specificity of
oleander, which  seems  beside, justified by what  we
know of its pathogenesis;  but I confess that I have
not yet verified it for myself. 
Dysentery.
265
                  DYSENTERY.
  Dysentery is an inflammation of the rectum, with
increased secretion  of mucus, and  an exudation  of
blood.  It is  either  sporadic, or epidemic, primitive,
or secondary:  in this last case,  it  almost  always
succeeds enteritis.
  Primitive  dysentery  commonly shows itself in the
latter part of summer, while the days are still very
warm, and the evenings and  nights begin to be cool.
This alternation of heat and cold, seems to be the true
cause, or at least the most frequent cause, of dysentery,
for this  disease prevails principally in countries where
this  perpetual contrast of warm days  and cool nights
characterizes  the  climate.   Thus, dysentery is epi-
demic in Algeria.
  Children are more subject  to  this disease  than
adults.   It always presents a certain  gravity, but  is
hardly  ever  fatal, except  under  the  influence of a
vicioua  treatment.
  When dysentery  succeeds  to enteritis, the mucous
or bilious  stools of the  latter, become sanguineous,
and tenesmus takes  the place  of diarrhea.
  Primitive  dysentery begins  with  a  violent  chill,
followed by strong  febrile  reaction,  with a  dry and
burning skin, thirst, dry tongue, extreme desire for
cold   drinks,  urine  scanty,  burning,  reddish, and
depositing a sediment.
  Bilious vomitings soon supervene, which are often 
266     Diseases of the  Digestive Organs
renewed during the course of the disease ; then appear
the local  symptoms:  tumefaction  of the  abdomen,
whose-  sensibility is so great, that the patient cannot
support the weight of  his coverings; violent griping
pains; continual and  never satisfied desire to stool.
The  child, who  would  remain almost indefinitely on
his close stool, if left there, only evacuates, each time,
a little bloody mucus,  or a few drops of pure  blood ;
he experiences an extremely painful sensation of burn-
ino- in the anus; sometimes,  in  short, the efforts he
makes to go to stool, produce prolapsus of the rectum,
an occurrence, beside,  which  is  frequent  enough in
children at the breast, and which we also set' produced,
although much less frequently, during the course of  a
Bimple mucous diarrhea.
   The duration  of dysentery is very variable.   When
the termination  is to  be  favorable (which most com-
monly is the case), it  almost  always happens  that  a
few days  of mucous  diarrhea succeed  the tenesmus,
which itself rapidly diminishes.   When on  the  con-
trary death supervenes, its approach is announced by
the sudden cessation  of the severe pains  felt  by the
patient, by the sinking of the  features, coldness of the
extremities, smallness  and intermittence of the pulse,
the involuntary  emission and  extreme fetidness of the
evacuations.
   Treatment.—Two  medicines  control  the thera-
peutics of  dysentery, whatever be the age  of the
patient, or  the  cause and  intensity of the disease; 
Dysentery.
267
these two medicines are ipecacuanha and petroleum.
One or two doses of aconite, at the utmost, might
precede their use in case of intense fever.  It is almost
always more advantageous to prescribe them from the
first, together;  that is  to say, one {ipecacuanha) in
the morning, the other in the evening.
  I commonly  use ipecac, at from  the  sixth to the
twelfth  dilution,  and petrol., at  from the twelfth to
the twenty-fourth.  I prescribe of each seven or eight
globules in  four  ounces of water, to be administered
by dessert or teaspoonfuls, according to the age of the
child.   The  same medication is  renewed every day,
until the disease is completely cured.
  It is to be remarked that among the numerous med-
icines extolled  for dysentery, no practitioner, that I
know, has mentioned petroleum.   Those to which,
until  now, the  preference has been  given, are:  mer-
curius  corrosivus, colocynthis,  nux  vomica, carbo
vegetabilis,  sulphur,  hepar  sulphur, belladonna, ar-
senicum, veratrum, capsicum, china, and lastly aloes,
which few persons, I believe, have used with success.
  I shall only say a few words of the two first.
  Merc, corros., is indicated by the following symp-
toms: almost continual pains,day and night; frequent,
but  scanty,  bilious,  fetid, green or  brown  stools;
insatiable thirst;  white tongue,  with  a  tendency to
become dry on the edges; anxiety; heat; wakefulness;
feeble and frequent pulse.
  Colocynthis  may be  prescribed, if the  stools  are 
26S     Diseases of hie  Digestive Organs.
yellow, aqueous, mucous and mixed with  pun1 blood;
if the colic,  which accompanies  them,  disappears
immediately after, but  returns as soon  as the patient
takes any food or drink whatever; if, finally, the heat
is moderate and  the pulse almost natural.
  However, in conforming to our indication touching
ipecac, and petrol., we  shall hardly ever have occasion
to have recourse to any other medicinal agent.
  The regimen required by dysentery is almost com-
plete abstinence  from  food (excepting  in  children at
the breast), tor a  day or two, after which  the patient
may  be put upon the use of thin soup—then soup of a
better quality, and lastly light meats, such as poultry
and lamb chops.

              TYPHOID  FEVER.
  Typhoid fever, which in many  respects, may be
considered as the correlative  of variola,  is a serious
disease, essentially constitutional, and whose anatom-
ical  characteristics  consist; 1st, in turgescence, then
in ulceration  of  the follicles  of the small intestine,
especially the glands of Peyer;  2d, in the  sympathetic
engorgement  of the mesenteric glands,  and sometimes
of the spleen.
  Typhoid fever, whose contagion is, it seems to me,
only  transmitted by the  atmospheric air, prevails
almost always epidemically.
  Children are much more exposed to  it  than adults.
It is  especially frequent between the ages  of nine and 
                  Typhoid Fever.              269
fourteen, less frequent from five to eight; rare in the
first years of life.  It oftener attacks boys than girls.
  The general  symptoms of this disease are nearly
constant;  but,  like  all  other miasmatic  affections,
they present themselves  to the eyes of the observer
under a multitude of different aspects, which evidently
only results from its greater or less intensity.
  It follows from this that it is impossible to point out,
in absolute terms, its duration, which may limit itself
to a few days, or be  extended  to a month.  But it is
to  be remarked, that mild typhoid  fevers have the
same relation to the serious forms of the disease, that
varioloid  has  to  variola;  the same symptoms  are
present in  each  case,  but  in the former are attenuated
in severity, and limited to a shorter time.
  Relapses, during convalescence from typhoid fever,
and even  the  reproduction of this  disease at short
intervals, in the same subject, are  not without exam-
ples.   These instances, however,  are very rare,  as
rare, perhaps, as the  relapses of variola.
  To facilitate the description of typhoid fever, I shall,
after the example of  MM. Rilliet  and Barthez, admit
three different forms  of this disease; but this distinc-
tion, be it well understood, is purely arbitrary, and im-
plies no essential difference, either in the nature, or as
we  shall soon see, even in  the treatment of this disease.
  Mild Typhoid Fever, is sometimes announced by a
few days of depression, of general lassitude, of want
of appetite, and ill-humor; sometimes it begins ab- 
270     Diseases of the  Digestive Organs.
ruptly with moderate fever, slight headache, anorexia,
thirst,  slight diarrhea, abdominal  pains, and  very
rarely with constipation and  vomitings.   The tongue
is  moist, covered with  a not very thick whitish  coat-
ing; the abdomen is soft.. The child is prostrated, his
strength is gone; there is a darkish circle round  his
eyes; the nostrils are dry  ; his nights are good, some-
times, however, troubled with transient delirium ;  his
face  presents, when he awakes, a sort  of dull and
unusually stupid  expression, and  the  forehead  is
bathed in perspiration.
   This, state continues from four to six days without
observable change; but from  the sixth  to the eighth
day the headache ceases,  and a few red spots appear
upon the abdomen, and  the internal  parts of  the
thighs ; then, but not  constantly, sudamina upon the
sides of the neck, or upon  the abdomen.   The tongue
is  now  a  little  less moist, the gums a little swollen,
and covered with small white patches; the abdomen is
prominent and sonorous;  gurgling  is felt  in the right
iliac fossa.   If there is a cough, it increases, and we
hear a distinct  sibilant rale on the posterior part  of
the chest.  These symptoms remain stationary for sev-
eral days, then  successively disappear.   The tongue
again  becomes moist;  the abdomen recovers its  pli-
ancy;  the diarrhea ceases;  the  fever diminishes ; the
agitation  disappears, and the patient enters upon his
convalescence,  after  an  illness of  from  fifteen to
eighteen days, sometimes even much less. 
Typhoid Fever.               271
  Serious Typhoid Fever.—It commences sometimes
after several days of  indisposition ;  sometimes unex-
pectedly  by  an  intense fever,  severe cephalalgia,
constipation  and  bilious vomiting.   Diarrhea soon
succeeds to  constipation,  especially  in  very young
children.  The tongue is thickly coated, often dry, and
red at the point.  The abdomen  is painful, especially
at the umbilicus, or in the [right] iliac fossa; sleepiness
during the day, agitation and  delirium at night;  the
sudamina are proportionally more numerous than the
red spots ; the cough  is very severe ; the  sibilant and
sub-crepitant rale are very extensive, sometimes there
supervenes one or several attacks of  epistaxis.
  After a longer or  shorter duration  of  these divers
symptoms, they either  diminish  little by little,  or
become complicated with an  organic  lesion, such  as
otitis, pneumonia, pleurisy, perforation of the intes-
tine, etc., which carries off the young patient.
   Very serious Typhoid Fever.—This  form some-
times begins like the preceding,  and the symptoms it
presents, are but the progressive exaggeration of those
I have just described.  But at other times, it reveals
from  the  first, by  the  violence  of  its invasion,  the
gravity of its  nature.   Thus, from the beginning, the
fever  is very violent; the skin burning;  the cepha-
lalgia intense ; the prostration extreme.  Constipation
is then a constant phenomenon,  as well as abundant
vomitings.   "The  face," say MM.  Rilliet and Bar-
thez, " expresses extreme dejection ; after a few days, 
272    Diseases of the Digestive Organs.
there  supervenes  the  most   intense  delirium,  an
extreme agitation soon  followed by profound depres-
sion ; new exacerbations of delirium  and  agitation ;
the head  is then bent backward, the eyes are some-
times shut, sometimes  half open, sometimes turned,
convulsed, upward ;  the pupils  sometimes  dilated,
sometimes contracted;   the  lips  are  agitated  with
movements and tremblings ; the face red and pale by
turns; the countenance  changes  expression  every
instant; there is sometimes a very wild expression, at
other times the child appears  sleepy;  the eyes are
shut; a few moments after he arouses from this  leth-
argy, to utter the most piercing, prolonged,  and plain-
tive cries; he changes  even1 instant  the position in
which he lies ; sometimes on the  back, sometimes on
the  side; his cries  increase :  abundant evacuations
fill  the bed of the young patient;  the urine is passed
involuntarily.   Complete prostration,  and  insensi-
bility finally prevail ; the trunk has the  rigidity of a
bar  of iron;  intelligence is abolished,  the face is
covered with  a cold  sweat, and death  supervenes at
the end of from seven to nine days.  But the disease
may be prolonged  to a much later period;  there then
persists a very active delirium,  alternated with drow-
siness—the pupils are dilated;  we sometimes observe
subsultus  tendinum or  carpologia;  the  tongue is
covered with  a thick fuliginous  coating;  the teeth are
incrusted ; the lips red,  excoriated  and blackish  ; the
nostrils dry;  the features drawn ;  the pulse small and 
Typhoid  Fever.              273
wiry ; the stools are always  involuntary ;  the abdo-
men much distended,  or on the contrary, retracted.
Eschars are produced on the sacrum, and death occurs
from the fifteenth to the thirtieth day." *
  I venture  to affirm,  that it is infinitely rare, I will
say, almost unknown,  that under the influence of a
well-directed  homoeopathic  treatment,  typhoid  fever
pursues such  a course.
  To sum up, the dominant symptoms of this disease,
are vomitings in  the  beginning,  (although they are
sometimes  wanting);  diarrhea,  which  is constant;
pains and tension in the abdomen; general stupor and
delirium.
  Of all diseases, that with which typhoid fever may
be  most easily confounded,  is meningitis.  In fact,
fever, vomitings and  cephalalgia, are the symptoms
which belong to the beginning of  both diseases; but
the abdominal symptoms present remarkable differ-
ences.   Thus, in meningitis,  the abdomen, instead of
being distended, flatulent and prominent, is  almost
always retracted, hollowed even in the form of a boat.
On the  other hand, it very rarely happens, in typhoid
fever, that we see manifested  in  the beginning, the
extreme agitation  and the  delirium which mark the
commencement of meningitis.  Lastly, the cough and
the sibilant rale, which we observe almost  constantly
  * Rilliet et Barthez : Traite Clinique et Pratique des Maladies des
Enfants, tome ii, page 377. 
274     Diseases of the Digestive Organs.
in typhoid fever, is hardly ever seen  in  the cerebra.
-. flection.
  Treatment.—The treatment  that  I  myself  havf
adopted, and which  I  most earnestly recommend to
other  practitioners,  because  it  has constantly suc-
ceeded with  me, rests upon  three medicines  only:
ipecacuanha, belladonna, acidum muriaticum.
  Ipecacuanha  is administered from the beginning,
even when there are no vomitings.   1 give it at from
the sixth  to the twelfth  dilution, three times in the
day, and  renew  this prescription  on the  next day if
no cerebral symptoms are yet manifested.   But gen-
erally the use of  ipecacuanha  should  not be  con-
tinued beyond the third day.
  Afterward,  administered concurrently, belladonna
and acidum muriaticum, the  first at from  the sixth
to the twelfth dilution,  twice  in  the  morning; the
second,  at a  low dilution—the third for example—once
only,  in the evening.
  Belladonna corresponds to  the affection  of the
nervous system / acid, muriaticum  to the  intestinal
ulcerations, for which it is the specific.
  The use of these two  medicines, should be contin-
ued until  a decided amendment occurs, I will almost
say, until  the resolution of the disease.   However, if
after  the  first few days, the agitation, delirium  and
stupor completely disappear; if there is  no constipa-
tion, cough, or angina; if the face, instead of being
injected, resumes its normal color, we may at first 
                  Typhoid Fever.               275
 reduce belladonna to a single dose per day, then  dis-
 continue its use.   Acid. mur.  may then be admin-
 istered  alone,  morning and evening, for  one or two
 days.
   But as  the violence of the cerebral symptoms is in
 direct proportion to the intensity  of the intestinal
 r-.ffection,  the alternation of bellad. and  acid. mur.
 will hardly ever need to be interrupted.
   When,  toward  the termination of the disease, the
 diarrhea no longer exists, or has almost disappeared—
 if the patient still has dryness of the tongue and lips,
 with a brownish tint upon the latter—we may prescribe
 china for one or two days.
   One need not be anxious about the partial paralysis
 which may still persist during convalescence.   Deaf-
 ness, for example, loss  of speech, or paralysis of a
 limb, are, in  these  cases,  unimportant phenomena;
 and beside, a few doses of nux vomica will effect their
 prompt disappearance.   The suspension of taste and
 smell, (phenomena wdiich it is very difficult, not to say
 impossible, to verity in children,) calls more especially
 for the use of causticum.
   Lastly, cases  may present themselves when it would
 be proper  to administer bryonia, rhus toxicodendron,
 phosphorus, and sulphur.
   It is for the sagacity of the physician to decide, ac-
cording to the totality of the symptoms, when  the  use
of one or other of these medicines is demanded. 
 27»>    Diseases of the Digestive Okoans.

             ictekd s —-j a u n i) i c e .
   I>v the name  of icterus,  or jaundice, is desig-
 nated the yellow coloration  of the skin and of the
 tunica albuginea,  with  or without  disturbance of
 the circulatory apparatus.  New-born infants are sub-
 ject to it; but  it is then of no importance, and com-
 monly disappears of itself, at the end of seven  or eight
 days, by copious evacuations.
   When icterus is  accompanied with fever,  it lasts
 longer, and  there is danger of its degenerating into a
 chronic  affection of the liver, with  emaciation of  the
 body, dropsy, or tuberculation of the mesenteric glands.
   Treatment. — Aconitum,  chamomilla, bryonia,
and nux vomica are the principal medicines called for
in the treatment of  icterus.
   We prescribe:
   1st. Aconitum, during  the febrile period.  This
medicine will often suffice to cure the disease;
   2d. Chamomilla, if  the icterus is without fever; if
it  is in consequence of a fit of anger;  if it is  accom-
panied with  bilious  diarrhea ;
   3d. Bryonia  from  the first,  but most commonly
after  aconitum, if we  observe  gastric  symptoms,
thirst, heat in the forehead and palms of the hands ;
   4th. Lastly, nux  vom., under circumstances nearly
analogous to those which call  for  bryonia;  but
especially if there  is  constipation,  with  hot and dry
skin . 
Peritonitis.
277
  Dr.  Hering recommends,  in  addition, against  ic-
terus, mercurius  vivus, sulphur, lachesis, and  ipeca-
cuanha ; perhaps the last of these may be preferable
to bryonia, in the cases where this has been proposed
by me.   Having  had no experience with it, I am un-
able to affirm anything in regard to it.

                 peritonitis.
  Peritonitis is a general or partial inflammation  of
the  peritoneum.  It  is a disease rarely occurring in
children, especially as a primitive affection.   Its char-
acteristics are: intense pungent pain in the abdomen ;
pulse small  and frequent;  great  paleness of the face.
The vomitings, which almost always accompany peri-
tonitis in adults, are very rarely observed in the peri-
tonitis of children.
  The pain  in the  abdomen, at first circumscribed,
soon  spreads over  all  the  surrounding region ; the
abdomen is then distended,  tympanitic, and the least
movement,  the  slightest change  of position,  causes
the patient to cry out with pain.
  Peritonitis, frequently mortal in a few days, some-
times, also, passes into a chronic state.  An effusion
of serum then takes place in the abdomen, of which it
is easy to perceive the fluctation.   Chronic peritonitis
is not essentially incurable, but it requires time, and
great care.
  Treatment.—Aconitum,  in repeated doses, during
the  acute period; spongia tosta, lachesis,  causticum, 
278     Diseases of the Digestive Organs.
calcarea carbonica,  and, lastly, china,  in  chronic
peritonitis.

              INTESTINAL  WORMS.
  Intestinal worms are, like the other  parasites of the
economy, the products of certain morbid states, exist-
ing previously to their formation.  Hence  it follows,
that the existence of entozoa should be considered as a
symptom, not as a disease.  This consideration is im-
portant, in a therapeutic point of view.   It  is easily
understood, that it cannot be a matter of indifference
whether we direct the treatment against the  disease
itself, or against the product it engenders.  I  believe
I have  already made  the importance  of this distinc-
tion felt, apropos of tinea and  lice, and again, farther
on, of the itch and the acarus.
  The digestive tube, in children, is susceptible of en-
gendering the different species of intestinal  worms de-
scribed by writers on the subject; but the proportional
frequency of these  parasites  is very different.   Thus,
we observe the ascaris lumbricoides,  and the ascaris
vermicularis, more frequently  in childhood  than  at
any other period of life ; the trichocephalus exists, in-
differently, in children and adults ; lastly, the bothrio-
cephalus, and  the ttenia, are extremely rare in chil-
dren.
  As the symptoms which correspond to the presence
of trichocephalus  are very vague, very obscure, and
very little  known, we shall abstain from  describin« 
Intestinal Worms.             279
them,  and  speak only of ascaris lumbricoides and
ascaris vermicularis.
   Ascaris Lumbricoides.—The ascaris lumbricoides,
[long round-worm,] has a length of from six to six-
teen inches, and a diameter of from  one-fifth to one-
third of an inch.   It  is cylindrical, almost equally
tapered at the two extremities ; a little more, however,
toward the head,  which  is  distinguished from  the
rest of the body by a circular depression.   Above
this depression are seen three little elevations, or ra-
ther three valves, which are capable of opening and
closing; when they open, wre discover between them,
a tube, which  is, in fact, the mouth of the animal.
   These worms are of a more or less  dark  rose color;
according to the nature of the food with which they are
gorged.   Their alimentary canal, recognized by its
brown color, is terminated  by a transverse  slit situ-
ated a  little forward of  the posterior  extremity of the
body.
   The  two  sexes are separate;  the male is distin-
guished from  the  female by its  curved tail, upon
which  are visible its organs of generation  The geni-
tal organs of the female are whitish ducts, easily to be
perceived  by the transparency of the envelope; and
the contrast of their color with that  of the intestinal
canal.
   The  small intestine is the favorite locality of ascari-
des lumbricoides; but they traverse  all parts of  the
       24 
280     Diseases  of the Digestive Organs.
alimentary canal.   They are found in the large intes-
tine, from which  they are often expelled  by stool.
They  sometimes  rise  into  the  stomach,  oesophagus,
and even  the pharynx, and it is not very uncommon
to see children  eject them by vomiting.   Finally,
authors cite examples of their presence in the trachea,
bronchi®,  nostrils, frontal sinuses, and even  under the
skin of the abdominal parietes, where they form ab-
scesses,  upon the opening  of which they are thrown
out externally.
  The number  of ascarides in  the  intestines is  infi-
nitely variable.  We sometimes see them accumulated
by hundreds and forming balls of the size of the fist.
MM.  Rilliet  and Barthez  report on this subject an
observation  inserted by Daquin, in the thirty-fourth
volume  of the  Journal de Me'de'cine,  Chirurgie et
Pharmacie, which deserves to be quoted.  " We first
opened the stomach," says the author, " and found
there a single round-worm, almost as long as the fore-
arm, extending through  the  cardia and  along the
oesophagus.  From thence coming toward the pylorus
and  following the duodenum, we found  it crammed
(if one  may  be permitted the expression) with the
same worms, great and  small, to such  a degree as to
have  become hard  and  resistent, and  distended to
a much greater volume  than  it naturally  possesses.
The worms  were mixed with a greenish substance,
which I recognized as  herbage, and which, judging 
                Intestinal Worms.             281
from the fetid odor it exhaled, must have been a long
time in the intestine.
  " We continued our search through the rest of the
canal, and the jejunum, the ileum, and the caecum
were so filled that I  could compare it to nothing but
force-meat;  it seemed as  if they had been stuffed in.
We found some  in  the colon, mixed with the fecal
matter, but in less quantity."
  In the  post-mortem examination of  children,  who
have died of verminous affections, we almost always
discover traces of  erythematous enteritis, that is  to
say, a  vascular  injection of the  intestinal  mucous
membrane, which in  certain  cases, rare it is true, had
lost  sensibly its natural consistence.  As to perfora-
tion of the intestines, coincident  with the existence of
lumbrici,  MM.  Scouteten,  Cruveilhier,  and  Jules
Cloquet, do not hesitate to attribute them to  a morbid
state, independent of the  action of these  worms;  an
opinion which coincides with that of all homoeopathic
physicians.
   It is  especially between the ages of three and ten
that  children  are subject to verminous affections.
According to authors, little girls are more subject to
them than  little boys; I  am not aware how far this
opinion  is well-founded ;  but what I believe  to be cer-
tain is, that these worms  are more common in blond
children, of a delicate and rosy complexion ; to those,
in  a word, who present  the signs of  the lymphatic
temperament. 
282     Diseases of the  Digestive Organs.
  We will not stop here to seek for the cause  of ver-
minous  affections.  They are, like the majority of other
diseases, the result of a specific and hereditary miasm.
It  is nevertheless certain that a miserable alimenta-
tion; an exclusive milk  diet; sweet or  feculent dishes,
herbs and  fruits  favor their development.   It  is not
impossible, lastly, that  certain atmospheric  states, as
yet little  understood, or perhaps  even a real  miasm
pervading the air is sometimes the first cause of ver-
minous  enteritis.
  On this subject  MM. Rilliet and Barthez say that
" intestinal  worms have  been observed  complicated
with certain diseases which prevail epidemically; and
it  has  been thence concluded that there exists an epi-
demic verminous  disease.   While we deny the justice
of this conclusion, we ought, nevertheless, to acknow-
ledge that the conditions under the influence of which
certain  diseases  prevail  epidemically, and perhaps
even the nature  of these  affections, evidently  contri-
bute to  the multiplication of worms."'*
  The  symptoms  to which  the presence  of asca-
rides  in  the  intestines,  or  the  disease  which pro-
duces them, may give rise,  are  so various and  so
numerous, that it  is difficult to present summarily
a  general view   of  them.   I  may   add,  that  in
consequence  of  the great number  and  diversity  of
these symptoms,  it is  less easy  than may be sup-
* Ouv. cite, torn, iii, page 628. 
Intestinal Worms.
283
posed  to point  out  the  certain  and pathognomonic
signs of verminous enteritis.  Perhaps the only irre-
fragable  sign is the presence  in  the stools, or  in
matter vomited, of  one  or  more lumbrici;  but  as
this  circumstance is very far  from  always  present-
ing  itself,  except  in cases where  there  exist  enor-
mous masses  of worms   in  the small intestine, we
here give  the groups of symptoms which  render the
existence of this disease the most probable:
  Sudden  and frequent  changes in the color  of the
face, which is sometimes red, sometimes pale, some-
times lead-colored; bluish semicircles circumscribing
the lower eyelid ;  increase or diminution of the  bril
liancy of the eyes;  uncertainty or momentary fixed-
ness of the look, dilatation of the pupils; itching  of
the  nostrils, bleeding of the nose,  cephalalgia after
meals ; flow of saliva in  the  mouth, especially during
the night;  tongue a little dry, with red dots upon the
point and  edges ;  insipid, acid,  or  fetid  odor of the
breath; thirst on waking; capricious appetites, great
hunger, or dislike to food;  uneasiness increased  by
abstinence; enlargement  of the abdomen, from time
to time a pinching pain, or twisting sensation in the
abdomen ;  frequent  borborygmus,  sudden vomitings
without apparent  cause;  slight diarrhea;  from time
to time very abundant and fetid  stools ; itching in the
anus;  short  dry cough,  or  even violent  attacks  of
cough like that of a severe cold, with  or without
glairy expectoration; sorrowful, unequal and fantastic 
284    Diseases of the Digestive Organs.
humor; attacks of fainting, which may return a great
number of times in the same day ;  disinclination tor
labor; agitated sleep, talking in the  sleep,  nightmare,
somnambulism;  aggravation of  the  symptoms  in
the morning, especially  when fasting ; propensity  to
onanism;  leucorrhoea;  lastly, convulsions, delirium,
epileptiform attacks, etc., etc.
  It is not  necessary  that  children attacked  with
verminous  affections  should present  all  the  symp-
toms I have described, but in taking care to proceed
with prudent reserve,  as to the exclusion of other dis-
eases, represented  by  some  of these  symptoms,  it  in
rare that we do not succeed in clearly estabi'.shing thy
diagnosis of verminous enteritis.
  Treatment.—A multitude of medicinoi have  beet
recommended against  ascarides lumbricoides,  in th<
number of which I shall cite from Hering,  '-pec, cari
veg., pulsat., china, nux vom., aeon., yt.crcur.  viv.
sulph., bellad., lach., and above all cina, which reallj
possesses the properties of a vermifuge, I ut which  in
not, as is  generally supposed, the remedy par excel
lence, for verminous affections.
  My whole therapeutics in this respect turns  almost
exclusively upon two  medicines, of which  one is  very
little  known, and  the  other but little used,  so far
as I am aware, in similar cases,  except by  our worthy
and learned  friend Doctor Petroz.   The  two med-
icines  of  which I speak are  viola  odorata  and
stannum. 
Intestinal Worms.
285
   Viola odorata, of which cina (the pathogenesis of
these two medicines offers many points of analogy) is
only for me the  succedaneum, suits  in all cases with-
out exception, in which we are certain of the existence
of the lumbrici.   I  give it at the sixth dilution, doses
repeated several times a day.
   Stannum, is a capital  medicine  if the verminous
enteritis  is complicated with  nervous symptoms, such
as melancholy, violent cough, sudden faintings, tetanic
rigidity,  partial  or  general  convulsions,  epile] tic  at-
tacks, etc.  I only use stannum at  the thirtieth dilu-
tion, and always with a certain reserve.   I think,  for
example, that the doses of this medicine should not be
repeated more than once a day.
   Neither viola odorata  or stannum,  will  alwrays
produce the expulsion of worms, but they will not the
less  dissipate all the  symptoms which  mark  their
presence.  It is hardly necessary to add that  a suit-
able regimen, above all, the complete abstinence from
all preparations of milk, green fruits, confectionary
and  pastry, is an indispensable auxiliary to the rem-
edies I have pointed out.
   Ascaris Vermicularis.—The name  ascaris  vermi-
cularis is given  to a little worm, observed exclusively
in the  inferior part of the rectum,  ordinarily  known
as pin-worm. Bresmer, in his Traite des  Vers Bites-
tinaux, gives the followmfo description of it:
   " The  male is a line or a line and a half in length,
its body  slender  very elastic and  of  a white  color. 
286     Diseases of the Dioestive  Organs.
The  anterior  part  is  obtuse  and  surrounded by a
transparent  membrane, through which we  perceive,
forming a species of bladder, a straight tube, which is
the oesophagus, and which becomes club-shaped  at
the place where it  is lost  in  the  globular  stomach.
The intestinal  tube extends through  the whole length
of the body,  which becomes gradually larger, and
assumes a spiral form toward the tail.
  "The female is larger than the male, and attains a
length of four  or five lines.  The conformation of the
anterior  part  resembles, in its internal and external
construction, that of the male, up the place where the
oesophagus  terminates.   From  this  point the  ali-
mentary  canal is  surrounded on  all  sides  by  the
oviducts."
  This species  of worm, which is generated with  an
astonishing rapidity, is  the despair of the  allopathic
physician, who, never attacking, by the  agents   di-
rected against them, the true cause  of the reproduc-
tion, leaves them to exercise their ravages for years.
  The itching, caused by the  ascarides, is especially
felt in the warmth  of the bed.  It is  insupportable,
and sometimes causes very violent nervous symptoms.
As  these  symptoms occur  every night almost at the
same  hour,  they are sometimes  taken for fevers, or
intermittent  nervous affections.  But,  on  examining
with care the  anus  of the patient,  we easily discover,
in the folds  of the mucous membrane, the worms of
which we speak.  They are seen moving with vivacity 
Intestinal Worms.             2S7
entering the  rectum,  reappearing, and  then  again
disappearing.
  It is these worms, above all, which cause in young
girls a vaginal discharge, and provoke masturbation
in children of both sexes.
  The therapeutic agents extolled by homoeopathists,
against the affection which generates the ascarides,
are  of more than doubtful  efficacy.  We may judge
of it by this passage from Hering:
  "When the itching  in the anus is caused by asca-
rides, and nux vom. does not suffice, if the children
are very restless at night,  if they are fearful,  give,
morning  and  evening, aconite,  and  if that  does
not  suffice,  ignat. in the  morning ;  mar.  ver.*
sometimes  succeeds, but still more frequently urt.
urens; but, if from time to  time  children are tor-
mented by  this  affection, especially  at  the  full and
new moon, give sulph. at every full moon, and  silic.
at each new moon ;  if one dose has not been sufficient
give  it the  next time in dilution,  by  teaspoonfuls,
seven mornings in succession.  If at the following full
moon there  is no amelioration, give in the same man-
ner calcar. carbon., which may be repeated for  seven
days in succession:  The children should  not be per-
mitted to eat pork or pastry.  If all this is without effect,
givefer. acet., every other day; if a diarrhea comes on
stop the medicine, if the diarrhea persists, give china.
23
* Teucr. mar. ver. 
288     Diseases of the Digestive Organs.
  " There is no objection beside  to giving a little in-
jection  of  oil,  and  if that even  does  not yet  suffice,
injections of cold water every evening:  there is nothing
in this  to  interfere with  the  action of the remedies.
This treatment  having no effect, wTe may try, especially
in children who have inherited this affection, injections
of water slightly salted ;  if they do not suffice, and oc-
casion diarrhea, we may give acidulated injections.
In case of a new failure, we  have seen  frictions, re-
peated morning and evening, with the half of a lemon,
give relief."*
  Let us be frank, and confess,  that an allopathist
who should read  this fragment, would have a right to
say to us, that  our treatment was still more miserable
than  their own.   Happily, this  apparent impotence
of Homoeopathy in no way compromises the excellence
of its principle;  it only  proves, that the inductions
furnished by the pathogenetic study of remedies, need
to be completed by clinical experience, which can only
be done with time ; but, let each  one bring his  stone,
and  the edifice will be completed.   As  for myself,
here is mine:
  Three medicines are  required to cure  the affection
which generates the ascarides ; they are, lycopodium,
veratrum album, and ipecacuanha.
  The first should be administered for two days only,
at the  thirtieth dilution,  three  dessert-spoonfuls, or
* Hering : Mcdecine Honueopathique Domestique, pagr 251. 
Intestinal Worms.
289
three teaspoonfuls, (according to the age ot the pa-
tient,) of a  potion in  which has been dissolved seven
or eight globules to four ounces of vehicle.
   Veratr. alb. may be prescribed in  the same  man-
ner, (at  from the fifteenth to the eighteenth  dilution,)
during the four following days.
  Lastly, ipecac, should succeed  to  veratr., at the
ninth dilution, for three or four days, at the most, and
all will  be finished.
  In the majority of cases, the itching will have been
removed by lycopodium, but we should,  notwithstand-
ing, make use of the two auxiliaries of which  I  have
spoken.   Nineteen  times  in twenty, at least,  this
treatment will succeed.  If one should be so unfortu-
nate as  to fail in this treatment, we  have still, as a
resource, the interminable series of means collated by
Hering; but, for myself, I confess, if I had in  per-
spective the necessity  of  running such a round, to
arrive at last to injections of salt water and  frictions
with the half of a lemon, I should prefer to abandon
myself at once to the frictions of mercurial ointment,
practiced by Professor Cruvelhier in such  cases, or
even to  the injections of olive  oil and mercurial  oint-
ment,  recommended  by M.  Jules Cloquet,  in hie
Clinical Lessons 
290     Diseases of the  Digestive Organs.

    tabes mesenterica -- atrophy of  children.
   The name tabes  mesenterica, or phthisis mesentcr-
ica, is applied to the scrofulous  engorgement, or, still
better, to the tuberculation of the mesenteric glands.
Tabes mesenterica is  only  then, properly  speaking,
one of the  internal forms of scrofula, whose  general
symptoms, as we have described them, (p. 207,) char-
acterize, in  fact, the external  appearance of children
affected with phthisis mesenterica.
   Tabes mesenterica, which  is very rare in children
under three, and over twelve years of age, is most
common between the ages of five and ten.  Statistics
seem  to prove that it affects  boys more than girls.
Like  all other forms of scrofula, it is frequent in cold
and   damp  countries,  and almost unknown in dry
and warm climates.
   It  is a very serious disease ; so much  the more
serious, that it  is  often  not  recognized until it  is
already far  advanced.   I am,  at the same time, far
from considering it incurable, even when it has already
produced extreme emaciation.   My opinion, on this
subject, is based upon unquestionable facts.
   I admit, however, with all  other practitioners, that
it  is  very unfortunate  that we cannot  diagnose this
disease from the beginning,  for it  would  be then
almost always easy  to arrest its progress.   But  it re-
veals  itself by such obscure symptoms, and progresses
so slowly, that it may for months, and even for years, 
Tabes  Mesenterica.
291
escape the most  attentive observation.   Its general
symptoms, in fact, are common to the majority of
chronic diseases, and its local signs only become really
characteristic at a period when the disease has already
made great progress.  Nevertheless, here is a  sum-
mary of  the  symptoms which  properly belong to it,
but which, however, are not always equally evident:
  Stools  more frequent than  in healthy children ;
sometimes  liquid,  often  colorless,  whitish, slimy,
looking like  clay mixed with  water;  acid odor, not
only of these  evacuations, but  also of the breath and
perspiration  of  the  patient; insatiable hunger, but
with  repugnance for nourishing food,  such  as  meat
and soup; great appetite, on  the contrary,  for sour
and farinaceous  food ; urine turbid, whitish, as it were
mucilaginous; tumefaction of the abdomen, which  is
soft enough  at  first,  but which gradually  hardens,
presenting, when examined,  isolated tumors, or tumors
in groups, varying in size, from that  of a  pigeon's
egg to that  of  the  fist of  an  adult;  the  abdomen
finally acquires an enormous volume, in proportion  to
the  rest  of the  body ; gradual increase of feebleness
and emaciation ; lancinating pains, from time to time.
in the abdomen ; the child  is gloomy,  silent, apathe
tic, and  weeps upon the  slightest  occasion.   Last]y,
when the disease approaches a fatal  termination, hec-
tic  fever supervenes, exacerbated during  the  night,
and accompanied  by ardent thirst,  wakefulness, and 
292     Diseases  of the Digestive Organs.
anxietv.  The fever remits during the day, although
the pulse always  preserves a certain frequency :  but,
in  the evening, the  face of the patient  is very much
flushed. A colliquative diarrhea exhausts the strength.
and the disease terminates in  marasmus and death.
  Treatment.— Chamomilla,  sulphur, hepar sulphur,
cina,  china,  nux vomica,  bryonia, belladonna, ar-
senicum, pulsatilla, rhus, mercurius,  magnesia car-
bonica, phosphorus or  phosphori acidum,  baryta
carbonica, conium maculatum, sepia, petroleum, and
iodium, have all been recommended in  the treatment
of  tabes  mesenterica.   Certainly,  many of  these
medicines,  and  perhaps  all,  correspond  to  some
of  its symptoms, but neither of  them  is its speci-
fic.   Tabes  mesenterica is,  however, one  of  those
diseases, whose  principle is  sufficiently well known
to  be  attacked in  its  essence  even ; that is to say,
in  such a  manner  that  the  virtues of the  remedies
opposed to it, should arrest its development, whatever
the diversity  of the  accidental symptoms it produces ;
at least, it  was with this conviction  that I commenced
the search  for  a  therapeutic  combination, which
might be considered as its specific, in  all cases; and
I am happy in being now able to affirm, that I almost
feel the certainty, based upon numerous facts, of hav-
ing attained  my object.
   Whatever  be the age of the patient  or the intensity
of the disease, I  combat it with three medicines: 
Tabes Mesenterica.                293
sarsaparilla,  aloe*  and  in  the  last  place,  colchi-
cum.
   I administer sarsapar.  at the  eighteenth,  aloe, at
the sixth, colchicum, from  the twelfth to the fifteenth
dilution ;  each two or three drops to  eight  ounces  of
water.
  * I  have experimented with sarsaparilla and aloe upon myself and
upon  six other persons, for several  months.  Sarsaparilla is a pre
cious  medicine.  As  for aloe, whose pathogenesis  is  very poor, I
do not believe that, with the exception of tabes mesenterica, in which
it  plays  a chief part, there exist many diseases in which its em-
ployment would be useful.
  These  two medicines both  exercise a very singular  modification
upon the coloration of the hair.  When  a child with red hair takes
sarsaparilla for three months (three teaspoonfuls  a day of a solution
of four ounces of distilled water, with three drops of the tincture at
the eighteenth), his  hair absolutely changes color.  From red, that
it was, it becomes a light flaxen.  It  is to be remarked that sarsapar-
illa in such a case causes no appreciable organic trouble ; the health
of the child is  in no way affected.   Aloe, in  stronger doses (twelve
or thirteen drops of the sixth  solution, to a pinWf common water,
four teaspoonfuls  a day), produces and  cures falling of the hair  in
adults.  Upon one  of the persons who  lent  himself to my experi-
mentation, this phenomenon was so marked, that a lock of white
hair that this person had on the top of his  head, in  consequence of
a blow received on this part twenty years before, completely recov-  -
ered its  black hue, like the rest of his hair.   But, in compensation,
the temples were garnished with white hair, which, however, disap-
peared the following month.   Upon  the whole, hair which had re-
mained  white for a  long time,  became black, but there remained
some white hairs here and there, where there were none before.   I
give these facts for what they are worth ; they seemed to me strange
enough to merit publication. 
 294    Diseases of  the Digestive Organs.
   These three medicines are administered alternately
 for one week or a little more, commencing with sarsa-
 parilla and finishing with colchicum.   It  is  indis-
 pensable  that  the  doses, proportioned beside  to  the
 age of the  patient, should be  renewed three or four
 times a day.
   Such is the basis of the therapeutics by means  of
 which I have obtained for several years past the most
 surprising results.
   Perhaps this  medication would not always prevent
 the subsequent transformations of scrofulous disease;
 but  I  can at least affirm that there exists nothing su-
 perior for the treatment of tabes mesenterica.
   Phthisis peritonealis, of which some authors have
 made a separate disease, and different from tabes me-
 senterica, does  not  require a different treatment.   It
 is, however, well understood,  that the treatment  of
 such contingencies as may arise is left to  the sagacity
of practitioners.  As  to  the regimen, it  is evidently
the same  as that  called for  in  the  scrofukus dia-
thesis. 
Coryza.
295
      DISEASES  OF THE  RESPIRATORY  ORGANS.

  Although children do  not  suffer as seriously from
the affections of the respiratory organs as from those of
the  abdomen, they, as well as adults, are  frequently
subject  to  their attacks.   Some of these, however,
such as phthisis pulmonalis,  are  far from being as
frequent in early  infancy  as  in adolescence, or at a
more advanced period of  life; but others, on the con-
trary, such as croup and hooping-cough, belong to an
early age.    We  shall, therefore, dwell  more  upon
the  latter than upon  the former,  to which we shall
devote but  a few passing lines.

                    CORYZA.
  Coryza is, in  adult age, so  slight  an affection, that
a physician is seldom called  upon to prescribe for it.
But  it is not  absolutely  the same wdth early infancy.
Independently of the  coryza which makes a part of
the  premonitory symptoms of  measles, scarlatina, and
hooping-cough, there exists an idiopathic form of this
disease  sufficiently grave to  cause death,  and  conse-
quently to  be  worthy the attention of the practitioner.
  I speak  here  of purulent and pseudo-membranous
coryza, which, without being a very common affection,
nevertheless  sometimes manifests itself, principally in
the new-born, or  in  very young  children.  It com-
mences, like simple coryza, by sneezing and stoppage 
296   Diseases  of the Respiratory Organs.
of the nose,  soon followed  by a discharge from  the
nostrils  of mucosities, at  first ropy and  clear, then
yellow-greenish, and  at last  puriform.   The  child,
who was  in  the habit  of  sleeping with  the mouth
closed, can no longer sleep without holding it open;
his respiration  is  noisy and accompanied  by a whist-
ling in the nasal fossae.   The  mucosities,  by thicken-
ing and drying,  aggravate  the symptoms.   Then  the
agitation, the cries, and the physiognomy of the child
express the excessive discomfort he  feels.   When  the
breast is  presented to him, his anxiety and suffocation
are redoubled ; he abandons the nipple, immediately
after  taking it, because breathing but by the mouth,
he can no longer suck, and continually tormented by
hunger without  being able to  satisfy it, he soon sinks
exhausted with  fatigue, suffering, and inanition, and
perishes  even before  having arrived  at an advanced
stage of  marasmus.  The progress of this affection is
sometimes very  rapid: a child may die of  coryza  in
three or four days;  the disease is always more serious
in very young children.
   The formation of false membranes, which  does  not
cause different  symptoms  from those I  have  just
described, has hardly  ever been discovered  before  the
post-mortem examination.
   Treatment.—The child, first of  all, should  not be
in the least exposed to  the cold  air, or permitted  to
remain wet with his urine.   In the second, place  the
mother should  cease  to nurse the child because  the 
Coryza.
297
action  of sucking  is very painful, increases the diffi-
culty of respiration, and may augment the gravity of the
general symptoms  which accompany the inflammation
of the  nasal  fossae.  " Beside," says  M. Billard, ua
child in this  case,  sucks so badly that the quantity of
milk it takes  is always insufficient for its nourishment;
so that it is in danger of dying of hunger and exhaus-
tion."   One  should try  then to make them drink by
pouring, with precaution into the mouth, teaspoonfuls
of cow's milk mixed with water and meat broth.  If,
at length, deglutition becomes too difficult, one may be
obliged to  have recourse to nutritive  injections, that
is to say, injections composed  of meat broth  (without
milk).   The popular custom of greasing the nose with
some fat substance, such as tallow, is positively ad-
vantageous.  We  should then have recourse  to it, for
according to  the precept of Hippocrates,  nothing is to
be despised; but  it is  especially upon the action of
medicines that we must  depend.   Those called for by
coryza are, according to the circumstances:  aconitum,
belladonna,  dulcamara, and ipecacuanha;  aconite
during the period of obstruction, especially  if there
is heat in the skin;  bellad., if there is turgescence of
the face, fever and great agitation; dulcamara during
the fluent  period; ipecac, if the obstruction resists
aconite and  continues  after the disappearance of the
fever.  All these medicines should be given at repeat-
ed doses; dulcamara is  the one which we have often-
est occasion to use. 
298   Diseases  of the Respiratory Organs.

       epistaxis — bleeding from  the nose.
   Nasal  hemorrhage is extremely common  in  chill
hood, but  is  never serious;  when, however,  it as-
sumes  a sort of  periodicity, it  deserves  attention.
The  medicines to which we should have recourse are
arnica and phosphorus.  The first is given  in potion
or in globules, two or three days in succession, from
the sixth to the  twelfth dilution; phosphorus should
only be  prescribed  in  the  case  where  arnica  has
failed.   In  very  abundant  and  prolonged  epistaxis,
the two medicines should be administered alternately
in the same day.
                    ANGINA.
   We comprehend  under the generic name of angina,
the diseases  that authors, and especially the physi-
cians of the Paris  school, designate  by. the words
amygdalitis, pharyngitis,  laryngitis and even tra-
cheitis—denominations which  seem  to specify essen-
tially distinct affections, but which are really applied
to one  and  the same disease, occupying neighboring
regions, and deserving sometimes even simultaneously
all the names given to it, on account of its seat.   I
call angina, in a word, the erythematous inflamma-
tion of the tonsils, pharynx, larynx and of the superior
part  of the trachea.
   As with  coryza, angina  is sometimes primitive,
sometimes,  and more frequently, secondary.   It most
commonly succeeds  to coryza,  precedes bronchitis, or 
Angina.
299
jxists concurrently with  these two diseases,  In cer-
tain cases, however, it manifests itself alone, and even
limits itself to one or  another of the different  parts it
is susceptible  of invading.   Angina presents, in this
last  case, certain  symptomatic shades naturally  de-
pendent upon the organ more especially affected ;
shades almost always readily appreciable.   Thus  the
enlargement  and  redness of  the tonsils  announce
amygdalitis ; the redness of the pharynx, difficulty
of deglutition, and the  engorgement of the submaxil-
lary  glands,  characterize  pharyngitis;  hoarseness,
laryngitis, etc.
   Angina, unless it assumes the serious form of which
we shall  hereafter speak  under the name of Mem-
branous Angina,  or Croup, is  rarely  accompanied
with  much danger;  I will even  say that  it may be
considered as a slight affection,  if it is  purely  local
and not the precursory sign, or the consecutive symp-
tom of an essential  disease, such as measles, scarla-
tina, etc.
   The  most  common cause of this  affection is  cold
and dampness, and more particularly taking cold in
the feet.  It rarely shows itself primitively in children
at the breast, and hardly begins  to be common before
the  age of five  years.   A congenital predisposition,
 the  lymphatic, or sanguine-lymphatic temperament,
 render it very frequent in some children, who are
 beside  so  much the more disposed to  contract  it as
 they have been before more or less frequently affected 
300    Diseases  of the Respiratory Organs.
by it.  In. this last case, the pharynx  remains some
what  red ;  this  permanent redness is accompanied
with increased mucous secretion ;  the amygdala- have
more volume  than  in their normal state: it is chronic
angina.
  Treatment.— Aconitum, belladonna, dulcamara,
Pulsatilla, ipecacuanha, baryta carbonica, causticum,
copaiv. balsam.,  hepar sulphur, and lycopodium, are
the medicines called for in the  treatment of angina.
  Aconite, administered  at a  medium dilution (from
six to twelve), in doses frequently  repeated, very often
arrests angina at its commencement, when  it is accom-
panied by a febrile action, when  the  weather is dry
and cold, and the subject rather sanguine and nervous
than lymphatic.
  Belladonna suits under circumstances nearly simi-
lar, if there is great agitation and  vivid redness and
constriction of the  throat.   Its use will almost always
be more efficacious if preceded  by one or two doses of
aconite.
  Dulcamara frequently cures slight  angina, caused
by moist cold, extending without particular  swelling
of the tonsils to  the  bronchia, and  threatening to de-
generate into bronchitis.
  When angina, more intense and not less  extended, is
characterized by a vivid redness of  the affected parts,
with obstruction of the nose, cephalalgia,  burning
fever without much thirst, voice hoarse or nasal, when
above all, there is  sympathetic irritation of the stom- 
Croup.
301
ach, which is manifested by regurgitation or vomiting
of aqueous or bilious matters, pulsatilla is indicated.
  If the swelling of the mucous membrane  is such
that the difficulty of breathing is very considerable;
if suffocation is threatened,  with excretion of caseous,
white, thick, and fetid  matter in  the throat; if, in
short, there is imminent danger of gangrene, and even
a commencement of  it, we must have recourse to ipe-
cacuanha.               •
  I have indicated,  in the  chapter on Scarlatina (see
page 141), the circumstances which call for the use of
baryta carbonica.
   Copaiv. balsam.,  causticum, hepar sulphur, and
lycopodium are to be tried in the treatment of chronic
angina.
   Copaiv. balsam,, frequently succeeds, if the disease
consists only in a slightly increased mucous secretion,
with or without  hoarseness.  I have  seen causticum
and hepar sulphur, administered by turns, bring back
the  tonsils  to their natural volume, although in this
case I prefer to these medicines baryta carbon.  Ly-
copo. corresponds to the  hoarseness of nervous, habit-
ually constipated persons.

                     c ROU P.
   All the mucous membranes are susceptible of be-
coming the seat of  a peculiar inflammation, during
which there takes place an exudation of plastic matter,
organizing itself in  pellicles, or in  false  membranes. 
302   Diseases of the  Respiratory  Organs.
more or less dense, more or less thick, and more  or
less adherent to the  inflamed mucous  membrane, and
under which this last presents, on a  post-mortem ex-
amination of the  body,  a red, smooth surface, rarely
granulous,  and almost  always  destitute of ulcera-
tions.
  Muguet, whose history we  have given (see page
229), is the most familiar type of these kinds of in-
flammation, to which the mucous membrane  of the
intestine is not less exposed than that of the mouth,
as is proved  by the fragments of membrane, abund-
antly mixed with the substance of the stools, in certain
forms of enteritis.
  But  if the formation of the false membranes is only
an accessory and comparatively unimportant phenom-
enon  in  the  buccal  and intestinal  phlegmasia,  it is
quite otherwise when these  morbid products develop
themselves in the  respiratory organs, and especially on
the surface of the laryngeal mucous membrane; that is
to say, the narrowest part of the windpipe.  Dyspnoea,
aphonia, a convulsive cough, and  even death,  if the
disease is not arrested in time, are, in  this case, conse-
quences  easily enough  comprehended.   Such  is the
nature of the croup, and such the very simple mechan-
ism of the formidable symptoms which characterize it.
   It  is  to be observed that  the false  membranous
exudation is much more frequent in the digestive tube
than in the respiratory  organs, during early infancy ;
that is to say, nursing children are much  more sub- 
                       Croup. *                 303
 ject to attacks of muguet than  to croup, which  is
 hardly to be feared before from two to eight years.
   Croup, which seems sometimes to prevail under an
 epidemic form, is most common during the spring and
 autumn,  and  appears concurrently with  other  epi-
 demics,  such  as  measles and hooping-cough, with
 which it  is sometimes complicated.  In this case it is
 seldom so violent or so rapid in its progress, as when
 it constitutes a primitive affection.
   In this last case it is of the first importance that the
 physician should recognize it in time.
   It unfortunately too often happens that its charac-
 teristic symptoms  only appear  at the period of its
 greatest  intensity;  there  are, however, almost always
 premonitory symptoms which, according to the point
 the disease  first attacks, are more or less obscure, or
 more or less manifest.
   Croup, or the plastic exudation which is its domin-
 ant  circumstance, sometimes  begins in  the  throat,
 sometimes in the  larynx, sometimes in  the trachea,
 or even in the bronchia.
   In the  first case, beside the  probability of the dis-
 ease being limited  to  the pharynx, and running
 through all its periods without extending  below the
 epiglottis, there is the great advantage  of its being
 visible almost from the moment of its commencement.
 In examining  the  pharynx, traces of the false mem-
brane are soon perceptible, first on the  tonsils, then
 upon the  neighboring parts.  These false membranes
         26 
304    Diseases of the  Respiratory Oroans.
commence by yellowish-white, sometimes,  but  more
rarely, grayish  spots, which  extend and assume a
lichenoid or lardaceous aspect.
  There is sometimes fever at this period, but not in
all  subjects ;  the strength  and appetite of the patient
is not sensibly diminished;  he complains  of a pain
in the throat, but it is not severe; the thirst is mode-
rate.  Deglutition, however, soon becomes painful and
difficult; saliva  flows abundantly from  the lips; the
ganglions of jthe neck increase in size,  and the neck
becomes at last considerably swollen.  This state lasts
from two  to six  days, when  the  symptoms begin to
amend by the fall or disappearance of the false mem-
branes, or is suddenly aggravated by its invasion of
the larynx.  The disease, in this last case,  presents
alarming symptoms,  which I shall soon describe.
  When the false membranous angina  begins in the
larynx, the examination of the throat offers nothing
abnormal.  The  child is first taken with hoarseness,
he  loses  his  gayety and  becomes  morose   and
depressed.   The face has more color than usual  and
seems a little bloated; there is heat in  the skin, but
without  thirst or great  frequency of the pulse;  the
patient complains  of pain  in  the  larynx  or indicates
it by his  gestures.   He often  puts  his  hand to  his
neck, which appears a little prominent and sensitive
to the touch, especially below the os hyoides; there
are, from time to time, little attacks of a hoarse cough,
of which each concussion  is preceded by a peculiar 
                      Croup.                  305
whistling.   Authors  mention the  expulsion  by the
cough, of fragments of the membrane; but this  sign
is  not always present, and  never occurs except at an
advanced stage of the disease.
  When the inflammation  begins  in  the trachea the
symptoms are very nearly the same as those I have
just described, with the exception of the alteration of
the voice, which does not yet exist.
  Lastly, if it is developed  primitively in  the bron-
chia,  there is from the  beginning an  intense fever, a
considerable acceleration of  the  pulse and  respira-
tion,  and a purple color  of  the face.   The  sub-crepi-
tant rale is heard upon both  sides  behind, upon  aus-
cultation ; then, after  a  variable  time, comes hoarse-
ness,  aphonia, and the croupy cough.
  The obstruction  of the larynx constituting, in all
cases, the principal fact of the disease, it is  understood
that its progress must be so much the more rapid as
this organ is primarily affected.
  The character beside, of the prevailing diseases, de-
cides  the greater or less  promptitude  with which the
pathognomonic  symptoms  of croup  are manifested.
These sometimes only declare themselves after five or
six days of premonitory symptoms; sometimes  the}7
make their appearance  upon the second or even the
first day of the disease.
   It is commonly during the day, and not the night*
that the first attacks of  suffocation occur.   They are
terrible  to  witness.   The fever  is very violent, the
* We know the reverse to be true.  Ed. 2d edit. 
306     Diseases of the  Respiratory  Organs.
voice is extinguished, the cry, properly  speaking, is
no longer heard, or only returns for an instant, or if it
continues it  is entirely changed.   Its sound is  only
perceptible during the inspiration:  it is shrill and
abrupt,  like the crowing of a young cock; sometimes
even it is stifled and muffled.   " The dyspnoea," says
Jurine,  u is fearful, the respiration  is stertorous and
the suffocation,  with  all  its  fearful agony of anxiety
and suffering, threatens every moment the life of the
child.
  u During these moments he in vain throws his head
backward, in  order to lengthen  the trachea and  thus
open a larger passage for the air; his neck swells, his
pulse is  feeble and intermitting, his eyes sunken  in
their orbits and his body covered with a cold  perspira-
tion."   We will add, to  complete this  picture, that
the child, at the  instant of   the  attack,  suddenly
assumes a sitting posture; his face, purple and swol-
len, expresses extreme anxiety; the  eyeballs,  rolling
to the right and left, are sometimes turned upward in
convulsions.   Lastly, if the attack is prolonged, the
respiration becomes slower; the little patient exhausts
all his  strength in making a few feeble inspirations,
the extremities  become cold, the pulse  smaller and
smaller, and  asphyxia impends.
  Death, occasioned  by  croup, is  exactly similar to
that by strangulation.  Thus we commonly find upon
the bodies of children, who have died of  this disease,
traces of cerebral  congestion or even of acute hydro- 
Croup.
307
cephalus;—dangerous complications which are mani-
fested in the patient by a sort of sleepiness or coma
in the intervals of the attacks.
  Croup,  however violent  it be, almost always pre-
sents  longer  or shorter  and more or less  complete
remissions.  At the same time the hoarseness and the
aphonia persist during these remissions, and the diffi-
culty of respiration continues considerable.
  It is not even very rare  to see the patient, during
this suspension of the most alarming symptoms, sud-
denly grow pale and swoon, the pulse then diminishes,
the extremities become cold, and  death ensues. Some-
times all  this passes very rapidly.  "A child," says
Rosen, "was running to and fro in the apartment; his
mother took him upon her knees—he died in her arms."
  When,  after great effort and a violent fit of cough-
ing, the child succeeds in expectorating a quantity of
false  membranes, there  generally succeeds a  very
marked, but unfortunately often an illusory remission.
uThe febrile  action," say  MM.  Rilliet  and Barthez,
" is then diminished; the respiration is more easy, the
face is  more  natural, the  venous congestion has in
part disappeared; the child returns to his play, every-
thing seems  to indicate a  happy termination.  But
most  commonly the symptoms soon re-appear in the
order we  have assigned them;  the voice, which had
become momentarily clear, is again completely ex-
tinguished; the cough  is very hoarse;  the  laryngo-
tracheal whistling  approximates a veritable stertor; 
 308    Diseases  of the Respiratory Organs.
 the attacks of suffocation become more frequent, more
 intense, and arrive, at last,  at  tlieir greatest  height
 Asphyxia is threatened, the pulse is extremely  small,
 often imperceptible; the eyes are convulsively turned
 upward or  oscillate in their orbits; sight disappears
 and the  body is  covered with  a cold perspiration.
 These  attacks,  however, are again suspended,  and
 return  with less  intensity;  the child exerts  all his
 strength to  breathe, makes a few difficult inspirations
 and dies."
   When  croup  terminates favorably, it  sometimes
 happens, although  seldom, that  the cure is suddenly
 effected by  the expectoration of  a tube of false  mem-
 brane.  In the majority of cases, the greater intervals
 between the attacks, joined to the amelioration of the
 general  symptoms, give notice of the  termination of
 the disease.  Relapses are to  be  feared as long as
 cough remains, and the breathing and voice have not
 resumed their  natural tone.  The  voice  sometimes
 remains changed for a long  time.   There are exam-
ples of  aphonia, in consequence  of croup, which has
 continued for months.
  Treatment.—" This dreadful disease," says Ilering,
 '• may, in  the majority of cases, be easily and promptly
cured by homoeopathic remedies.  We hardly  lose a
fifth of  the  number of those who die  under the  old
treatment."
  I consider this assertion of Hering as very true and
fully justified  by  facts ; and nevertheless,  I do not 
Croup.
309
hesitate to say, that the homoeopathic medication for
croup, is by no means definitely fixed :  almost  every
practitioner has his own exclusive mode  of treatment.
Fortunately, all these modes are comprised within a
certain  number of analogous means, so that in  using
one instead of another, there is no danger of a capital
error.   It is, nevertheless, beyond a doubt, that if
homoeopathic physicians chose always the best of the
various modes in use, the results, already so satisfac-
tory, would become still more brilliant.
  A German homceopathist,  Dr. Attomyr,  in a trea-
tise upon croup, of which M. Aug. Rapou has given
us an analysis, considers bromine as the specific, par
excellence, of this disease.  Attomyr founds his  opin-
ion upon this, that bromine is the only  medicine
which produces the false membrane in the larynx and
trachea of the healthy ; hepar  sulph., spongia  tost.,
and iodium, only produce, according to the German
physician, the symptomatic phenomena which charac-
terize the croup angina.
  According  to  Elwest,  (another  German homceo-
pathist,) the efficacy of the following treatment against
croup,  is more and more confirmed: Aeon., 1st,  alter-
nated with iod. or  spongia, 1st, dissolved  in a few
ounces of water,  and administered,  at  the  outset, a
teaspoonful every  ten minutes.
  Gross asserts, that in twenty-five years' practice, he
had not lost  a single case of croup, which was taken
in time, (what did he mean by taken in time ?)   He 
310   Diseases  of the Respiratory Organs
begins with  hepar sulphur, from the first to the third
trituration, which he follows with aeon.. 3d ; he then
administers, alternately, hepar and spongia tosta.
  " When the cough is  hollow and whistling," says
Ilering,  '• hepar  sulphur is always  the best remedy ■
afterward  we administer samb. nig., hyosc, cina ;
sometimes, also, nux vom.,  veratr.  alb.,  chin., dro-
icra."
  Hering  recommends these medicines  only  during
the first period of the disease.   When the attacks of
suffocation come on, he prescribes tart, emetic, in
large doses, followed by spongia ; then an arm-bath
of very  warm water ; then aeon., then spongia, then
hepar sulphur,  then, arsenic,  bellad., carb.  veget.,
aconit.,  etc. ; in despair,  a few leeches  to the  tra-
chea.   I ask his pardon; but this treatment is miser-
able.  (We say so too: Ed. 2d  edit.)
  Hartmann uses, during the first  period, the  medi-
cines  prescribed  by Hering; after which, he adminis-
ters, at  the  moment of  the  attack,  aeon., spongia,
hepar sulph., iod.,phos., mercur., rhus, etc.
  As  for me, I shall give my treatment of croup in a
few words :  it is very simple,  very sere, and com-
prises but a  limited number of medicines.
  First, having  never used bromine, I can say  no-
thing  of it.
  Aconite is only indicated in  croup in the rare cases
of violent fever  in the beginning ;  from the moment
that the febrile  symptoms diminish a little, or when 
Croup.
311
after one or two doses, it seems to produce no effect,
it should be  discontinued, and  that finally, under
penalty of losing precious time, when often the min-
utes are to be counted.   Aconite  is not a specific for
false-membranous angina.
   The good  effects of  spongia  marina  tosta, are
incontestable;  but  they  have  been  exaggerated.
Spongia corresponds  to  the  first  period :  I  do not
use it.
   Cinnabaris covers the greater part  of the s}Tmptoms
of false-membranous pharyngitis; but  its action  is
slow.   I used it a  few years since; but have since
 enounced it.
   Hepar sulph. corresponds to the commencement of
croup in the bronchia or trachea ;  it  is powerless at
the moment of the exacerbations, and  beside, exerts
no modifying  influence upon the plastic  secretion,
which constitutes the real danger of croup.
   Ipecac, and bryonia, (but  given concurrently, for
both would be inert alone,) are in all cases, whatever
be the form of the attack or  intensity of the disease,
the great modifiers of croupal angina.
   These medicines need not be prescribed at very low
dilutions: from six to twelve will suffice.
   The two solutions prepared, they should be admin-
istered alternate^, a  teaspoonful  every two  hours,
during the  period of invasion;  every ten  minutes
during the exacerbations, and   at intervals gradually
increased, when these are passed.
         27 
312    Diseases of the  Respiratory Ouoans.
  It  may be  necessary, in place of these solutions, to
substitute globules, which  may be easily introduced
into the mouth  of the child when deglutition has  be-
come impossible.
  It  would take me too long to explain here, by what
course of experience I have come to adopt, exclusively,
this combination of bryonia and ipecacuanha,  in  the
treatment of croup ; but practitioners who will venture
to use it upon my testimony, will acknowledge that'it
is good.   If, however, they  would avoid reverses, they
should be careful  not to confound croup  with  the
disease of which I am about to speak.

             A S T II MA  OF  M ILEA R.
  This disease, first clearly described by Millar, and
to which he gave  his name, differs essentially from
croup; with  which, nevertheless,  it  presents  such
symptomatic  relations, as to cause  them to  be some-
times confounded.
  The asthma  of  Millar, the spasmodic ox  stridulus
laryngitis of some authors, is only, properly  speaking,
the suffocating  asthma of adults, aggravated in chil-
dren by the narrowness of the trachea, and  especially
of the larynx.   In a word, the asthma of Millar, in-
stead of  being, like croup, a  special inflammation, is
only a nervous  affection.
  It  is, beside, easily understood, that the general
symptoms of this nervous disease, are very  similar to
those of croup, since, in both cases, the  symptoms 
Asthma of Millar.
313
have the same cause—suffocation.   But  that  which
constitutes  the  symptomatic  difference in the  two
affections, is the almost complete  absence, in  asth-
ma, of the  premonitory symptoms  of croup,  and so
entire a  suspension  of all  the symptoms during the
intervals of the attacks, that  the little patient often
enjoys,  during these  periods,  the  most peaceful
sleep.
   Ci The distinction between these two morbid states,"
says M.  Rapou, " is very easily established when one
discards all  ideas of systems, and is satisfied with ob-
serving.  Thus, croup is  more common  in healthy
and well-nourished children ;  asthma, in  feeble, deli-
cate, nervous and excitable subjects ; in those disposed
to scrofula,  or who have badly-formed chests.   Croup
gradually increases in intensity ; it is generally epi-
demic and   accompanied  with fever.   Asthma  is
sudden  in  its  attacks, is always sporadic, and unac-
companied by fever.  In croup, there is a dry cough,
a characteristic tone of voice, not presented by spas-
modic dyspnoea ;  and this  latter is also  without -the
sensibility of the larynx.   Croup offers all the general
characteristics of inflammatory affections, and the
asthma of Millar  but the phenomena of  nervous ex-
citability.
   The following are the differential signs  of the croup
and  asthma of children, arranged in tabular form,  as
presented by Millar himself: 
314   Diseases  of  the  Respiratory  Organs.
          ASTHMA.
  1st. Its  attacks are sudden,
and the first attack occurs gen-
erally in the night.

  2d.  It is alwavs sporadic.
  3d.  The cough, when  it ex-
ists,  is  dry, and without  any
expectoration.


  4th. There  is  no pain ;  this
is replaced  by a  constriction  of
the whole thoracic cavity.
  5th. The voice is hoarse and
hollow.
  6th. There is no fever.
  7th. The  attacks  alternate
with   intermissions,   during
which the child has the appear-
ance of perfect health.
  8th. The disease is of a con-
vulsive nature, and requires an
antispasmodic treatment.

   To tell the  truth, I am
line of demarcation  betw
            CROUP.
   1st. It  comes on slowly  and
 gradually: the first attack com-
 monly occurs during the day.

   2d. It generally  prevails  epi-
 demically, and  is  schi :a  -\o-
 radic.
   3d. Layers of puriform in:iilor,
 or  cylindrical  concretions, are
 expelled by  the cough and vom-
 iting.
   4th. There is  pain  in the air
 passage, and we discover,  by the
 touch, a slight tumefaction, on  a
 level with the painful spot.  The
 tumefaction  is not perceptible to
 the sight.

   5th. The voice has  a very pe-
 culiar whistling  tone.
   b'th. There is fever.

   7th. The  symptoms continue,
 without interruption,  so  that
 there are no  perceptible inter-
 missions.

   8th. The  disease is of  an in-
 flammatory  nature, and calls for
 an antiphlogistic treatment.

bliged  to  declare, that the
 n the  symptoms  of croup 
                Asthma of Millar.            315
and  asthma, is not so well defined as M. Rapou  and
Millar seem  to consider it;  and I would  not venture
to assert, with our estimable colleague of Lyons, that
" the distinction between these two morbid states is
very easily established."  Croup, as wre have seen, is
often without premonitory symptoms, almost apyretic,
and  presents marked remissions.   As  to  the other
contrasting symptoms, several of them are sometimes
wanting—almost all are inconstant.  It would then re-
quire great experience, tact,  and  circumspection—I
may almost say, good luck—to avoid, in badly-defined
cases, mistaking one  for the  other of these two dis-
eases.   As a  general rule, however, a good observer
will  succeed in doing  so.
  The  asthma of Millar  is,  like  croup, a very  se-
rious disease, but  one over  which we  are  certain
to triumph, by means of the  treatment I shall point
out.
  Coralia rubra and opium,  administered in exactly
the same manner as bryonia and ipecac in croup, are
heroic agents against  this disease.
  I prescribe  coralia  at the thirtieth, and opium at
the third dilution.   The  last is given alone,  every
six hours, for  a day or two after the resolution of the
last attack. 
316   Diseases of  the Respiratory Oroans.

                  bronchitis.
  The majority of children  are  very subject  to  irri-
tation of the bronchia;  but this  irritation  is  com-
monly but a  sympathetic  symptom of another  af-
fction.  Thus, we see  dentition, or the presence of
worms in the alimentary canal,  occasion cough.  This
cough, in the first  case (dentition), yields to kreosotum;
in  the second, to viola  odor., or to  stannum.
   As to primitive bronchitis, almost always caused
by a chill, it  presents the same  general symptoms as
erythematous angina,  and  requires the same treat-
ment.
   This  disease only becomes really serious when it
attains a high degree of intensity.   There  is then an
intense fever, a burning skin, great thirst  and no  ap-
petite.  The  cough recurs frequently, in short fits;
sometimes, but  not always, followed by a slight whist-
ling; after a few  days  there is a yellowish expectora-
tion, difficult to verify, in very young  children.  We
perceive by auscultation  a  mixture of the sonorous
and  mucous, and  sometimes a  subcrepitant ronchus.
There is considerable oppression, frequent pulse, pale
or purple face after the cough:  pneumonia is  then to
be feared.  But even without this  complication, bron-
chitis, in this degree of  intensity, is dangerous,  and
may become mortal.
   Treatment.—The medicines  upon which we may
most safely rely in  the treatment  of acute bronchitis 
Pneumonia.                317
are dulcamara and pulsatilla, preceded, if necessary,
by  aconitum,  and  followed  by  ipecac and  hepar
sulph.   Silicea is recommended in chronic bronchitis.

                  pneumonia.
  Pneumonia, or inflammation of the parenchyma of
the lungs, is seldom a primitive affection in childhood ;
but it  often supervenes  as  a complication, either in
typhoid fever,  eruptive fever,  or  finally  in hooping-
cough, of which we  shall soon  speak.   Its general
symptoms are the same  as  those of very acute bron-
chitis ; it  is  not  always  easy to distinguish  between
these two diseases.  The continual crying and moaning
of children often render the signs furnished by auscul-
tation very obscure ; beside, the rusty-colored expecto-
ration, which, in adults, constitutes one of the distinc-
tive features of pneumonia, almost never takes place in
children.   We know that very young children never
expectorate by the mouth, and it  is consequently im-
possible to  draw any inductions from the nature or
consistency of their pulmonary secretions.
   When,  however, one  can  succeed  in obtaining
a  few moments of calm and  silence in these  little
patients, auscultation, and  above all,  percussion, are
the  best, or, perhaps, rather the only  means of esta-
blishing the  different  diagnosis  of bronchitis  and
pneumonia.  In the  latter,  the crepitant ronchus  is
distinctly mixed  with the sibilant and  mucous, the
respiratory murmur ceases to be perceptible in divers 
3IS   Diseases  of the Respiratory Organs.
points  in  the thorax,  especially behind, where it  is
sometimes replaced by the bronchial respiration.  By
percussion we discover the hepatized portions of the
lungs by the dullness of the sound.
  In an immense  majority of cases, pneumonia suc-
ceeds to bronchitis, and  the existence of the two dis-
eases are simultaneous.
   Both, fortunately, require  very  nearly  the same
treatment.   However, if the engorgement of the pul-
monary parenchyma is clearly defined, we run great
risk of an  unfortunate  termination,  if  we  do not
hasten to employ the special therapeutics called for in
pneumonia.
   Dr.  Tessier, who has just  published the result  of
a clinical experience of great interest, upon the treat-
ment of this disease,* combats it  principally with
aconite,  bryonia,  phosphorus,  sulphur,  belladonna,
arsenic and iodium.
   Certainly these various substances correspond to the
different symptoms of pneumonia; but neither of them
contains them in  their totality.   I would then ear-
 nestly recommend  M.  Tessier  to  substitute for   his
 therapeutics, which is  also  that of the  majority of
 homoeopath ists, the medicines  I am  about to make
 known, and wThose prompt efficacy will surprise him
 if  he consents to make trial of them.

   • Recherches Cliniques sur le Traitement de la Pneumonia et du
 Cholera, suivant la Methode de Hahnemann; par le Doct. J. P.  Tes-
 sier, Modecin de 1 H6pital Sainte-Marguerite, in Svo., Paris, 1850. 
Pleurisy.
319
  The first of these medicines is chelidonium majus;
it alone replaces aconite, belladonna and phosphor.
  Chelidon. maj. should be administered  from  the
first, whatever be the intensity of the symptoms, but
only for  a few hours, and  in  doses  repeated  at very
short intervals.   Seven or eight  globules of chelido-
nium, of the sixth dilution, may be dissolved in four
ounces of vehicle, of which the  patient may take a
teaspoonful  every quarter of an hour, but for one hour
or an hour and a half only.   This done, we shall, in
an  immense majority of  cases,  observe  a marked,
sometimes an astonishing, remission of all the local
as well as the general symptoms.  This remission once
obtained, we should  discontinue chelidonium,  and
administer alternately, every two hours,pulsatilla and
spongia  marina tosta—-pulsatilla, from the sixth to
the  twelfth ; spongia, from the twenty-fourth to the
thirtieth.  These two medicines,  whose use  should be
continued until  the  resolution of the disease, should
be given at lengthening intervals, as the amelioration
is more apparent; and this, I venture to predict, will
not be long delayed, excepting in cases of unusual
complications. (This  treatment has  been  found very
efficacious.   Ed. 2d edit.)
                  pleurisy.
  Primitive inflammation of the  pleura is  so rare in
the  first  years of life, that it cannot  be considered as
a disease of childhood.   I shall not,  therefore, stop to
describe  its  symptoms, which are beside the same in
children  as in adults.  Spong.  marin. tost, and lache 
 3JO   Diseases of the Respiratory Organs.
 sis, both  at  the thirtieth dilution, are the medicines
 which control the  therapeutics of pleurisy.  I should
 not know how to recommend too earnestly the em-
 ployment of these two substances.   They should be
 administered  simultaneously;  spongia  once  in the
 morning;  lachesis  once in the middle of the day and
 once in the evening.  We may remark, by the way,
 that this treatment, which is also that  of peritonitis,
 seems adapted to inflammation of all the serous mem-
 branes, with or without effusion.

               HOOPIN G-C O U G H .
  Hooping-cough  is a disease incontestably essential,
contagious, epidemic, commonly apyretic, and is char-
acterized by a convulsive cough, recurring in parox-
ysms at irregular intervals.  This  cough consists in a
series of abrupt and  very short expirations, followed
by  a long whistling and  sonorous inspiration;  it is
accompanied by a considerable congestion of the face,
and terminates  by  the expectoration of a ropy muco-
sity.  Very frequently, especially  after eating, these
fits  of coughing produce nausea and  even vomiting;
but these are epiphenomena, which are by no means
characteristic,  and  which may occur  in all violent
irritations of the bronchia, and whenever there exists
much dyspnoea, whatever be its cause.
  Hooping-cough is an affection peculiar to childhood,
and especially frequent from the second to the sixth
year.   Statistics seem to prove that girls are  more 
                  Hooping-Cough.              321
 subject to it than  boys.   Like all other epidemics, it
 passes from one country to another—braves all cli-
 mates,  and shows itself in all seasons of the year.
 However, it is especially in  the spring and  autumn,
 that  is to  say, in the  most humid  months in the
 year, that the epidemics of hooping-cough habitually
 appear.
   This  disease, however unimportant it  may be in
 itself, when not complicated, is nevertheless one of
 those which  most clearly  show the  inadequacy, or
 rather the complete  impotence of the allopathic  rou-
 tine: which never abridged one week the duration of
 this disease.
   Hooping-cough sometimes commences by a catar-
 rhal  state (coryza, watering of the eyes, bronchitis,
 etc.), which continues, according to the idiosyncrasy
 of the patient and the kind of epidemic  prevailing
 from twenty-four  hours to  six days and more, some
 times by  spasmodic  fits  of coughing at  the outset.
 Symptoms of simple bronchitis mark the decline of
 the disease.   Hence the three periods  of  the disease,
 pointed  out by authors.  But of these three periods
 the second only is characteristic, as  the first may be
 wanting, and the two others are often confounded.
  The old  school physicians are as far  from being
agreed upon the  duration of each of these  periods,
as upon the total duration of the disease,  or upon
the treatment  best adapted  to it.   What is  certain
is, that  hooping-cough, left  to  itself, or treated by 
 322   Diseases  of the Respiratory Okoans.
 Allopathy, which comes to about the same thing (with
 the exception of symptoms caused by antiphlogistics),
 lasts always from three to four months aud often longer.
   If the coughing-fits in this disease vary but little in
 form, it is  not the same with regard to their number
 in a given time. Laughing, eating, drinking, or walk-
 ing—every species of movement—odors, mental emo-
 tions, reproduce them the  more  readily in proportion
 as the disease is near its  height.    " We have seen
 them  broken  or cut  in two," say  MM. Rilliet  and
 Barthez, " in such a  manner, that a complete fit  was
 formed by the two  half-fits, separated by a very short
 interval,  during which  the respiration was natural.
 This form must  be rare, as 1  have only met with it
once."
   Lastly, in very young  subjects, the coughing-fits
often  provoke convulsions, in  consequence of which,
or during which, infants sometimes die with cerebral
congestion ; but these accidents are fortunately rare.
  Spasms of the glottis,  pneumonia, and lastly, tuber-
culation of the  lungs, are, with the convulsions of
which I have just spoken, the most frequent complica-
tions of hooping-cough.
  As  to bronchitis, we may consider it, as it were, in-
 herent in the disease ; it marks  its  beginning and its
 termination.   It is  not always easy to  distinguish
bronchitis from hooping-cough ; however, the spasmo-
dic form of the cough, the whistling sound which ac-
companies  the inspirations, the ropy  expectoration, 
                 Hooping-Cough.              323
the ordinary absence of  fever, lastly, the  freedom
and the preservation of the normal rhythm of the res-
piration in the intervals of the cough, sufficiently char-
acterize the latter to prevent the attentive observer
from falling into error.
  Treatment. — Ipecac,  dulcam., bellad., cuprum,
drosera, ambra, arnica, etc., have been recommended
for  hooping-cough.    Now,  with the  exception, per-
haps, of belladonna and drosera, whose pathogenesis
one may  consult at  need,  none of  these medicines
have a direct influence upon this disease.  But there
are in our materia medica two  substances which con-
trol the therapeutics of hooping-cough.   I  speak of
coralia rubra  and  of chelidonium  majus.   I have
already mentioned  chelidonium maj. as the specific
for pneumonia, at the height of its acute period.  Ex-
perience has convinced me  that it will find  its  place,
though in  the  second rank,  in  the  treatment of
hooping-cough.
  From the moment that the  coughing-fits have as-
sumed the convulsive form, and even before that time,
that is to  say, during the catarrhal period; as soon, in
 a word, as one is sure of  having to deal with a hoop-
ing-cough instead of simple bronchitis, we should im-
mediately prescribe coralia rubra of the thirtieth dilu-
tion, for three or four days  in  succession, four doses
in  the  twenty-four hours.    "It is like water thrown
upon fire,^ said one of my patients to me, one day,
after  I had given him  this medicine for  attacks  of a 
 324   Diseases of the Respiratory Organs.
 convulsive cough which  had passed into  a chronic
 state.
   As  soon  as the amelioration  produced by coralia
 ceases, that  is  to say, at  the  end of  four or' five
 days "at the  most,  it should  be  discontinued, and
 chelidonium  majus administered, of the sixth dilu-
 tion, three doses in twenty-four hours, and continued,
 unless  there  is  a renewal  of   the violent spasmo-
 dic coughing-fits, or convulsions  in little  children,
 or  spasms of the  glottis (all of which  circumstances
 would  call for a return to coralia), until the evident
 transformation of hooping-cough into  simple  bron-
 chitis.
   At this period  of the disease,  neither  coralia nor
 chelid. should be employed, but pulsatilla.
   Lastly, if  we add  to these three medicines, causti-
 cum, in the  decline of the disease, when there  re-
mains  only  a dry cough ; then  lachesis, if with the
bronchial  cough  there is  extreme depression,  which
sometimes happens, we shall have  completed,  apart
from absolutely unforeseen accidents, the therapeutics
of hooping-cough.

   PHTHISIS PULMONALIS—PULMONARY CONSUMPTION.
   Phthisis pulmonalis, so common and so much  to
be dreaded during adolescence and in adult age, can-
not be  classed among  the diseases of children.  We
 see, it is true,  especially after  measles, variola, ty
phoid fever, etc., children die of  marasmus, following 
Phthisis Pulmonalis.
325
abscesses formed in the lungs ; but these abscesses do
not proceed, like those of consumptives,  from the soft-
ening of tubercles.   Their seat is the base or the mid-
dle lobe of the pulmonary parenchyma,  and hardly
ever the superior lobe,  the  most frequent location of
tubercles.  They are, in a word, the immediate con-
sequences, and without  necessary preliminary tubercu-
lation of an active or congestive inflammation of the
respiratory organs.   Chelidonium, phosphorus,  and
carbo vegetabilis, are   the  appropriate  remedies  for
these symptoms.
  But if children rarely die of phthisis pulmonalis, it
is not  the  less certain that  it is from childhood that
this terrible disease silently prepares itself.  Unfortu-
nately the process of pulmonary tuberculation is affect-
ed in so slow,  so hidden, so completely latent a man-
ner, that it is hardly ever possible to  affirm its  ex-
istence  until it has burst out in very often  incurable
symptoms.   The  following  are  the most   common
signs of this morbid condition:
  Narrowness  of the chest, paleness of the face, with
slight  coloration of the cheeks,  general emaciation,
frequency of the pulse  and of the respiratory motion,
dry cough, oppression,  great disposition to bronchitis,
perspiration  upon  the  least  exercise and at night;
obscurity of the respiratory murmur and more or less
marked dullness on percussion of one of the two sides
of the thorax,  especially at the summit  of the lungs ;
vaginal discharge in little girls,  habitual  constipation 
326  Diseases of the Circulatory Apparatus.
or frequent return of slight  diarrhea,  irritable and
capricious humor.
  A good regimen, gymnastics in the open air, daily
cold bathing;  and  if there  are times  of a marked
exaggeration of this state: chelidon.,  carbo. veget.,
lycoj>od., etc., administered with  great  reserve and
according to the totality  of the dominant  symptoms,
are  the principal hygienic and  therapeutic means to
combat an  unfortunate diathesis, which,  when heredi-
tary is but too  often rebellious to the  most skillful
treatment.
     DISEASES OF  THE CIRCULATORY APPARATUS.

  As fever in an immense majority of cases can only
be considered a secondary, and symptomatic pheno-
menon of an  affection, more or less appreciable,  but
primitively independent of the vascular system, there
are properly speaking  no other diseases  of the circu-
latory apparatus than arteritis,phlebitis, endocarditis
and vicious conformations of the heart, or of  the prin-
cipal vessels.  Arteritis, phlebitis  and  endocarditis,
are almost unknown in childhood.  Vices of conform-
ation, such as non-obliteration of the foramen ovale
in children  newly-born, or aneurism, either  of  the
heart, aorta,  or  of the large branches of this artery,
are diseases  against which art is often  only too evi
dently powerless. 
             Circulatory Apparatus.         327
  With regard to aneurisms, I give here what I find
in the notes prepared by myself, and for my particular
use,  some  years  since: "Castoreum, rhus  and sam.-
bucus, are the best remedies  for  the treatment of
aneurisms.  But these diseases being always essenti-
ally chronic, require great caution in the use of medi-
cines.   Castor, should be  prescribed, in  the com-
mencement, of the ninth or  tenth dilution,  a  few
globules in a glass of water, a teaspoonful morning
and evening.  Then after an interval of two or three
days, rhus toxic, may be administered in  the same
manner, and lastly sambuc,   which will  allay  the
sometimes  very acute pain,  occasioned by  aneurism.
The regimen required in these diseases is very severe;
absolute abstinence  from wine  and  all  fermented
drinks  is indispensable.
  As  for the  inflammatory fever,  the constant  pre-
cursor  of all the  phlegmasias, everybody knows  that
aconite, our antiphlogistic par  excellence, is the  sov-
ereign remedy.
       28 
328 Diseases of the Ceeeiieo Spinal Apparatus.
   DISEASES  OF THE  CEREBRO-SPINAL APPARATUS.

  It is well known that the relative predominance of
the encephalic mass in children singularly predisposes
them to cerebral affections.   However, these affections
are much more rarely primitive than is generally be-
lieved.  Encephalitis, that  is to say. inflammation
and  softening of  the  brain, properly speaking, is un-
doubtedly less frequent in childhood than at any other
time of life.  As  to meningitis, it is the greater  part
of the time a secondary symptom;  in other words, the
sympathetic complication of a disease, whose principal
seat  is not in the membranes.  Nevertheless, in  cer-
tain  cases, they are first affected, and of all the primi-
tive  affections  of the cerebro-spinal  apparatus, we
mav consider  it as the one with which  children are
most frequently attacked.  It is beside  almost impos-
sible to distinguish it from encephalitis, and it is  very
frequently  only by a post-mortem examination,  that
we  discover whether  death  has  been caused by an
inflammation of the  cerebral  pulp, or  by an  inflam-
mation of its envelopes.  I shall then  describe, under
the generic name of cerebral  fever, which does not
prejudge as to the anatomical seat of the disease, the
totality of the symptoms  common  to encephalitis and
meningitis;  a so much the more legitimate mode of
proceeding as the two  affections,  the  greater part of 
Cerebral Fever.
329
the time simultaneous and confounded, do not require
an essentially different treatment.

                 CEREBRAL FEVER.
   Cerebral fever commences with  considerable dis-
turbance of the circulation, violent headache, frequent
bilious  vomitings, thirst, absolute loss   of  appetite,
generally constipation.  From the first day a profound
alteration  takes place in  the expression of the  face
and in the intelligence, alternations of drowsiness and
uncontrollable  agitation, coma  and  very acute  deli-
rium.   The  disease  generally progresses with great
rapidity.   The violence  of the  symptoms  increases
with  the  progress of the disease.  There may,  how-
ever,  occur remissions of the febrile action ; but the
pulse remains irregular.  The respiration  is  sometimes
accelerated, and sometimes retarded.  The face is dis-
torted, extremely pale, or with a purple  color in the
cheeks.  The abdomen is retracted, constipation  is
permanent;  there is carpologia, subsultus  tendinum,
rigidity of the trunk, of the  jaws  or of the limbs;
strabismus, dilatation of the pupils;  lastly, sensibility
becomes obtuse, the pulse  increases in  frequency,
becomes imperceptible, and coma, or a last paroxysm
of convulsions terminates the  scene, after a total dura-
tion of thirty-six hours at the  least, or  nine  clays  at
the most.
   The absence of intense cephalalgia, vomitings, con-
stipation  and the retraction  of  the  abdomen, distin- 
330  Diseases of the Cerebro-Spinal Apparatus.
guishes secondary meningitis from  idiopathic menin-
gitis.  The former, when  it supervenes in the course
of a febrile disease, presents no remission of symptoms
and  continues until the death of  the patient, if art
does not succeed in preventing the catastrophe.
   The  causes of cerebral fever  are not always  ap-
parent ; it has been known  to prevail epidemically.
It is said  that onanism predisposes to it, which is at
least probable.  Many times, in short, as I have al-
ready said, apropos of erythema (see page 116), it has
been brought on by insolation.
   But the most  frequent cause of cerebral fever is,
without doubt, the presence of tubercles in the brain,
or in  the  membranes.   The disease, in  this last case,
is incurable.
   Tuberculous meningitis, (the acute  hydrocephalus
of authors,) is  slightly distinguished in  its symptoms
from simple meningitis.
   It commonly begins at a time of  apparently perfect
health,  by cephalalgia,  vomiting, constipation, and a
slight acceleration of the pulse, much more  rarely by
agitation  and  delirium.   The turns of  vomiting are
not very numerous, and  rarely  last  beyond  two or
three days.  In  rare cases, however, they may con-
tinue for  several  weeks.   The constipation persists,
the pulse becomes slower and irregular.   The  child is
sad,  depressed,  and  occasionally grinds his teeth;
his look,  which   shuns  the light, is uncertain,  and
as though  astonished, sometimes  fixed,   and   this 
Cerebral Fever.
331
          appearance  of  the face contrasts  in a remarkable
          manner with the clearness of intelligence, wdiich al-
          most always remains intact.
            Delirium finally comes on, but it is rather tranquil
          than agitated ; drowsiness and coma predominate, and
          become permanent as  death approaches.   The pulse
          is then small and quick ; the skin warm, often covered
          with perspiration;  the  respiration  is  irregular; the
          eyes sunken, the sight extinguished, the cornea dull;
          the nose pointed, and the abdomen so depressed that
          we  can feel  the beating of  the  aorta through its
          parietes;  the  urine and  stools pass  involuntarily:
          the  patient  generally dies in  an  attack of convul-
r          sions.
            This species of meningitis is very insidious.  In its
          beginning, especially, it is liable to be mistaken for a
          slight affection ; it is very different, in this respect,
          from cerebral fever, so clearly inflammatory, and the
          violence of whose  first  symptoms reveals the serious
          nature  of the disease.   The  progress of tuberculous
          meningitis  is  also  less  rapid than that of simple
          meningitis.  The first never lasts less than seven
          days, and  is  sometimes  prolonged to fifteen, twenty,
          and  even forty days.
            The existence in the patient of the tuberculous dia-
          thesis, the persistence of constipation, the severity of
          the cephalalgia, the slowness of the pulse shortly  after
          the commencement, lastly, the retraction of the abdo-
          men—such are the signs which distinguish tuberculous 
332   Diseases of the Cerebro-Spinal Apparatus.
meningitis from typhoid fever, with which it has been
sometimes confounded.
   Treatment.—Cerebral fever calls  for prompt and
energetic means.   Two medicines control  its  thera-
peutics: they are belladonna and bryonia.   We may
even  assert, that  these two medicines are the only
ones upon which we can depend.
   Belladonna  is  administered from the beginning,
at from the twelfth to the fifteenth dilution, in solution,
of which the patient  should take a teaspoonful every
two  or three hours, according to the violence  of  the
delirium.   From  the  second  day,  bryonia  may be
given with it, at from the 6th to the 12th.  Two doses
of belladonna, given in the morning,  two doses of
bryonia in  the evening, and  a  single  dose of bella-
donna in the night.
   This treatment will almost always succeed in simple
meningitis.'
  * We woald earnestly recommend to practitioners, in the menin-
gitis of children, of from six to eighteen months, the treatment
adopted by Dr.  J. H. Pulte.  As  soon as the first symptoms of
oppression, drowsiness, and sleep with half-opened eyes, announces
an impending effusion, he prescribes bryonia and helleborus nig., in
alternation.  Of the third dilution of each  of these remedies, he dis-
solves ten or twelve globules in half a teacupfulof water, and gives
a teaspoonful alternately from the  solutions every two hours. As
the symptoms improve, which they are generally observed to do,
within the first twenty-four or thirty-six hours, the frequency of the
doses is diminished, and the solutions are  made weaker, by the ad
dition of a larger quantity of water to each preparation.]—Ed. 
                 Spinal Meningitis.            333
    As to cold ablutions upon the head, sinapisms upon
 the legs, etc., etc., we make no use of them.   We do
 not presciibe  them, not because  they  belong to tha
 allopathic methods, but because they are, at the least,
 useless, if not  dangerous.

              spinal meningitis.
   Primitive inflammation of the membranes of the
 spinal  cord, is certainly a very uncommon disease, in
 the first as well as in the second period of childhood.
 Convulsions, and especially  tetanic rigidity of the
 trunk, are almost the only symptoms which character-
 ize  it; and, as these symptoms  may  exist  without
 organic lesions, it follows that the diagnosis of spinal
 meningitis is always very obscure.
   The  most that we can say is,  that the febrile action
 which accompanies it, and the persistence of the ner-
 vous attacks which it produces  are of such a nature
 as to distinguish meningitis from an essential or sym-
 pathetic nervous affection.
   Treatment.—Belladonna,  from  the  12th  to the
1*5th, in water, a  teaspoonful every hour during the
first day.
  Belladonna and thuja, taken  alternately, from the
second  day, lengthening  the intervals between  the
doses as the symptoms improve. 
334   Diseases of the Cerebro-Spinal Apparatus.


myelitis — inflammation  of  the spinal
                   MARROW.
  Myelitis is, perhaps, still more rare  in  childhood
than spinal  meningitis : its symptoms are, paralysis
of the abdominal extremities ;  and convulsions, when
as almost always happens, it is complicated with
meningitis.
  The treatment of this disease is the same as of the
preceding.
       hydrocephalus,   (chronic.)
   By  hydrocephalus  is understood  an  accumula-
tion  of water on  the  brain,  with  a more  or less
considerable separation  of the  bones of the cranium.
This  disease  is sometimes  congenital — is  some-
times developed  several months, and even  several
years after birth. The  children attacked with it, sel-
dom present any other  morbid  symptom  than  the
abnormal, and. in certain cases, enormous volume of
their  heads.  The disproportion  of this  part to  the
face  and the rest of the body, gives to the young  pa-
tients a strange  aspect.  Some of these children  are
remarkable for mental precocity ; but, after a certain
time, their sensitive and intellectual faculties simulta-
neously decline.  This alteration of the cerebral func-
tions, is first observed in the  senses of hearing and
sight.  The patient may become completely blind and 
Hydrocephalus.
335
deaf, before any other  symptoms give notice of the
progress of the disease.  Soon, however, paralysis of
motion, and of sensibility in various parts of the body,
are added to these  symptoms.   At  last, the patient
takes to his bed; a febrile action sets in ; somnolence,
coma,  convulsions, or attacks of tetanus,  and death
succeed.  The duration of this  disease  is extremely
variable.
   Hydrocephalus  is  not an  incurable  disease; the
curative force of nature alone  has been sufficient
to restore to  health  children affected with this ma-
lady, some of whom afterward became distinguished
men.*
   Treatment. — It requires time and perseverance.
Staphysagria, ferrum chlor., and camphor a, are the
medicines upon which we must depend.
   The first two medicines may be administered simul-
taneously for two weeks, .two doses of staphysag.,
from the twelfth to the fifteenth dilution, in the morn-
ing, and a single dose of fer. chlor., from the 6th  to
the 9th, in the evening.
   Camphora, at a medium dilution, should  succeed
these two medicines,  and  be continued, at three doses
a day, for several weeks.
   In case the disease should take an acute form, the
treatment for meningitis should be adopted.

     * George Cuvier had hydrocephalus in his childhood.
        29 
336  Diseases of the Cerebro-Spinal Apparatus.
  Arnica may be given intercurrently, in the treat-
ment of hydrocephalus; but the  three  medicines I
have indicated are infinitely preferable.

                 CONVULSIONS
  Convulsions and  worms  formerly constituted the
pathology of children ; but we now know, that convul-
sions, far from always being a  separate affection, are
only, in an immense majority of cases, a symptom, or
a complication, of another disease;  so that an  effica-
cious  treatment  of the  latter is the  only way of re-
moving the former.  Thus, we see convulsions result:
1st. From difficult dentition; 2d. From lumbrici in the
small intestine, or ascarides in the rectum ; 3d.  From
severe hooping-cough.   We have seen them, in short,
show themselves in eruptive and in  typhoid fevers, as
a first symptom in meningitis, and terminating the ma-
jority of mortal maladies.   Convulsions do not in any
case call for a special treatment; the only one adapted
to them is that of the disease which  produces them.
  There exist, however, essential  convulsions : epi-
lepsy is of this nature, when it is not occasioned by
an organic lesion. It is  very important to distinguish
essential from symptomatic convulsions, but it is not
always easily done.  The age and  general health  of
the subject, are  the first circumstances  to be taken
into account.  1st. Symptomatic convulsions, except-
ing the cases of very marked cerebral affections, are 
                   Convulsions.               337
rare after seven  years;  2d.  The disease upon which
they depend, is more or less  evident.  Consequently,
when a child over seven years, and, to all appearance,
in perfect health, is attacked with convulsions, with-
out appreciable cause, we have every reason to believe
that it  is a first  attack  of epilepsy.   But  if, on the
contrary, we learn that for several  weeks, or even for
several  months, the child has been losing color, flesh,
and strength; that  it  has  had a capricious appetite,
irregularities in digestion,  and occasional vomitings ;
if we know at the same time that it is born of phthi-
sical parents, the prognosis is serious, for nothing is
more probable than  the  existence of a tuberculous
meningitis.
   Sympathetic convulsions are alwTays  a highly un-
favorable complication; they may cause  death by
asphyxia.  As for epilepsy, everybody knows what a
legitimate terror it  inspires; but it is far from being
always  incurable,  especially  when  it  is  not here-
ditary.
   Treatment.—I have pointed out the cases in which
convulsions should be combated by kreosotum, (see
page 213,) by coralia rubra, (see page 323,) by stan-
num, (see page 285).
   When convulsions in nursing children appear to be
idiopathic, the only medicine to oppose to them is
helleborus niger, from the ninth  to the twelfth dilu-
tion, at small and repeated  doses.   (Prefer 2d dilut
Ed. 2d edit.) 
338   Diseases of the Cerebro-Spinal Apparatus.
  When,  lastly, we  have to combat  a declared  epi
lepsy, that is to say, idiopathic convulsions, and in  a
chronic state, our principal  agents are  belladonna,
opium, and  secale  cor nut um.   Opium  and  bella-
donna should be given  first, for an entire month,—
opium twice in the morning, belladonna twice in the
evening;  the second month, opium and secale cornu-
tum; the  last,  replacing belladonna.   The result of
this treatment will astonish those who employ it.

       CHOREA--ST.  VITUS'S DANCE.
  Chorea, or St. Vitus's  dance, is  rather a disease of
youth than of infancy ;  I  shall not describe it here, but
I recommend to practitioners the  use of cofl'ea and
colchic,  in  the treatment  of this disease, whether
acute or chronic; to be  followed  by cocculus.   In  a
chronic chorea,  for example, coffea  should  be taken in
the morning, and  colchic. in the evening, for one or
two weeks ;  after which, coccul. should be adminis-
tered, morning  and evening.

         B ALB UTIES--ST AM M  E RI N G.
  This infirmity, almost  always congenital, and often
hereditary, proceeds  from a fault  of innervation, for
the cure of which. Allopathy  has found nothing better
than various surgical operations, whose stupid barbar-
ity and continual failures  have scarcely yet disabused
the credulous.  The proof that it is a functional aber- 
Balbuties.
339
ration  of the  brain  which produces stammering, is,
that all moral emotions, that is to say, actions purely
cerebral, instantly increase the infirmity of which we
speak.   For myself,  I venture to affirm that stammer-
ers can be cured, provided the treatment is applied in
infancy, or at least before the age of puberty.   The
use of  a single medicine, stram.onium, constitutes the
whole  treatment.  It should be  administered at the
ninth  dynamisation,  eight  or ten  globules  to  four
ounces of water, a preparation that  may be renewed
as often as necessary, and of which the patient should
take three teaspoonfuls a day for six  or seven weeks
at least. 
340     Diseases of the  Oroans of Sense.
        DISEASES OF  THE  ORGANS  OF  SENSE

   As these diseases offer nothing which is peculiar to
 childhood, I shall say very little concerning them.
   Ophthalmia and otitis are frequent complications of
 variola and measles,  their treatment is then  that of
 these diseases.
   Simple ophthalmia of the  new-born (redness of the
 conjunctiva, photophobia,  then agglutination of the
 lids), quickly  give way  to  a few doses of cethusa.
 Camphora or coffea  are the  specifics for  ophthalmia,
 caused by a contusion of the  globe of the  eye.  These
 two  medicines are, in this case, preferable to arnica,
 which is generally used.
   Kreosotum, in doses  repeated at  short  intervals,
 should be given to the new-born, attacked  with syphil-
 itic ophthalmia.
   Otitis is an inflammation of the auditory canal.  It
 is  sometimes very painful.  Belladonna is the princi-
 pal medicine for the acute  period.  Lycopodium is a
precious  remedy against chronic otitis, with purulent
discharge; sepia would, however,  be  preferable, if
there was a relaxation of the  bowels. 
Diseases of the Locomotive Apparatus.  341
      DISEASES OF THE LOCOMOTIVE  APPARATUS.

  As it is not my intention to treat of vices of con-
formation and external lesions, which require surgical
operations,  I shall here  speak only  of hernia and
rachitis.
  Hernia is  most commonly  caused  by  the  efforts
made by  children in  crying.   A simple band gen-
erally suffices for the  cure of umbilical hernia, but
inguinal hernia, in little boys, requires  internal reme-
dies.  Nux. vom., and if this medicine fails, coccul.,
are the substances to be prescribed.   The same treat-
ment is adapted to the falling of the rectum.
  Rachitis, an affection very common in childhood, is
undoubtedly a form  of scrofula, and presents all the
general  characteristics we have assigned to that dis-
ease.  (See pages 207 and following.)
  The predominant symptom in rachitis, is the soften-
ing, and  consequent  deformity of  the bone.   The
spongy bones, such as the vertebrae  and the articular
extremities of the long bones, are more particularly
the seat of this morbid action.  Hence, the impossi-
bility of walking, and the curvatures of the spine of
rachitic children.
  When   the  disease has  made great progress, the
bones may ulcerate, and if this caries takes place in 
342   Diseases of the  Locomotive  Apparatus.
the vertebra of the cervical or dorsal regions, the pus
that  is formed makes for itself a passage along  the
vertebral column, and  forms an  abscess in the soft
parts of the  pelvis,  an abscess which  finally opens
and does not close again.  {Cold abscess  of  authors.)
  The causes of rachitis are those of scrofula in gen-
eral:  the  most  common of  all is hereditary trans-
mission.
  Rosen devotes a long chapter of his Traite  des Mal-
adies des Enfants, to prove that rachitis is of syphil-
itic nature.   For my part, I  have already expressed
my doubts upon this transformation of the  venereal
disease.  I have also  pointed out, in the chapter on
Scrofula, the regimen to  which scrofulous  children
should be rigorously subjected, whatever be the special
form of the affection.
  Mercur. solub., colchic and sulphur, are the funda-
mental remedies for  the treatment of rachitis.   The
doses should  be frequently repeated (several times  a
day), each in the order in  which I  have mentioned
them, for a  longer or shorter time, according to  the
circumstances of the  case.   Their  efficacy  is  noto-
rious, and with  their aid I do  not regard rachitis as
incurable.
the  end. 
IND
EX.
Acute Exanthemata, 116
Angina, 298
Aphthae, 232
Ascaris lumbricoides, 285
Asthma Milleri, 312
Atrophy of Children, 290


Balbuties,  338
Bleeding of the Nose, 298
Boils, 126
Bronchitis, 316
Burns, 118

Cerebral Fever, 329
Chicken-Pox, 165
Childhood, second period of, 85
Children, Diseases of, 115
Chorea, 338
Chronic Exanthemata,  168
Constipation, 230
Convulsions, 336 "
Coryza, 295
Cow Pox,  166
Cow Pox,  spurious, 166
Cracks, 118
Cries of Children, 73
Croup, 301
Crusta lactea, 191
Crusta Serpiginosa, 149
Dentition, 240
Diseases  of  the  cerebro-spinal
      apparatus, 328
    of children, 115
    of the circulatory apparatus,
      326
    of the digestive  apparatus,
      228
    of the locomotive apparatus,
      341
    Nature of the, 45
    of the organs of sense, 340
    of the  respiratory  organs,
      295
Dynamization of medicines, 28
Dysentery, 265
Eczema, 185
Education, importance of, 53
Enteritis, 249
.Erysipelas, 122
Erythema, 116
Exanthemata, acute, 116
Fever, typhoid, 208
First care of new born, 5
Frost-bites, 120
Furuncles,  126 
I N 1) K X.
Gangrene of the mouth, 2.1(5
Gastritis, 243
Gripings in infants at the breast,
      258

Herpes, 187
Homoeopathy, "What it is, 11
Humid Tetter, 187
Hydrocephalus, 334
Hygiene of children, 53

Icterus,  276
Importance of education,  3
Impetico, 195
Impetico rodens, 197
Inflammation of the mouth, 229
Inflammation of the spinal mar-
      row, 334
Inflammation of the Lungs, 317
Introduction, 11
Intestinal worms, 278
Itch, 174

Jaundice, 276

Measles,  127
Miliaria, 144
Milk-crust, 191
Mouth, inflammation of, 229
Mouth, gangrene of, 236
Muguet, 229
Myelitis, 334

Nettlerash, 126
New born, first care of, 56
Nose, bleeding of, 298
Nurses,  their  duties  and r
      men, 61
Nursing bottles, 69
I Onanism, 100
| Ophthalmia, 340
 Otitis, 340

 Pemphigus, 126
 Peritonitis, 277
 Phthisis pulmonalis, 324
 Pityriosis, 205
 Pleurisy, 319
 Pneumonia, 317
 Prurigo, 206
 Pulmonary consumption, 324
 Purpura, 143
 Psoriasis, 20T

 Rachitis, 341
 Regimen during  homoeopathic
       treatment, 110
 Roseola, 134

 Scald head, 197
 Scarlatina,  135
 Scrofula, 207
 Second period of childhood, 85
 Shingles, 125
 Similia similibus curantur, 15
 Small-pox,  146
 Spinal meningitis, 333
 Spinal marrow, inflammation of,
       334
 Stings,  121
 Stammering, 338
 Stomatitis, 229
 St. Yitus's dance, 338
 Sudamina, 145
 Syphilis of the  new born, 221

 Tabes mesenterica, 290
 Tetter, 187 
INDEX.
Tetter, humid, 185
Tinea annularis, 202
Tinea favosa, 197
Tinea granulata, 201
Thrush, 232
Typhoid Fever, 268

Urticaria, 126


Vaccina^ 166
Vaccinella, 166
Varicella, 165
Variola, 146
Varioloid, 164
Weaning, 79
Worms, intestinal, 278


Zona, 125 
 
 
   I











cA








€