2io DISEASES Class II. i. 3. 11. 



this deleterious material ; while other parts of it are carried into 

 the ilomach, and are probably decompofed by the power of dt- 

 geftion ; as feems to happen to the venom of the viper, when 

 taken into the ftomach. Our perception of bad taftes in our 

 mouths, at the fame time that we perceive g^fagreeable odours 

 to our noftrils, when we inhale very bad air, occafions us to fpit 

 out our faliva ; and thus in fome inftances, to preferve ourfelves 

 from infection. This has been fuppofed to originate from the 

 fympathy between the organs of tafte and fmell ; but any 

 one who goes into a fick-room clofe fhut up, or into a crowded 

 aflembly-room, or tea-room, which is not fufficiemly ventilated, 

 may eafily mix the bad air with the faliva on his tongue fo as to 

 tafte it ; as I have myfelf frequently attended to. 



Hence it appears that thefe heavy infectious matters are more 

 liable to mix with the faliva, and inflame the tonfils, and that 

 either before or at the commencement of the fever ; and this is 

 what generally happens in the fcarlet fever, always I fuppofe in 

 the malignant kind, and very frequently in the mild kind. But 

 as this infection may be taken by other means, as by the fkin, 

 it alfo happens in the molt mild kind, that there is no inflamma- 

 tion of the tonfils at all ; in the fame manner as there is gener- 

 ally no inflammation of the tonfils in the inoculated fmall-pox. 



In the mild fcarlatina on the fourth day of the fever the face 

 fwells a little, at the fame time a florid rednefs appears on vari- 

 ous parts of the fkin in large blotches, at length coalefcing, and 

 after three days changing into branny fcales. 



M. M. Cool air. Fruit. Lemonade. Milk and water. 



Scarlatina maligna. The malignant fcarlet fever begins with 

 inflamed tonfils ; which are fucceeded by dark drab-coloured 

 floughs from three to five lines in diameter, flat, or beneath the 

 furrounding furface ; and which conceal beneath them fpreading 

 gangrenous ulcers. The fwellings of the tonfils are fenfible to 

 the eye and touch externally, and have an elaitic rather than an 

 cedematous feel, like parts in the vicinity of gangrenes. The 

 pulfe is very quick and weak, with delirium, and the patifcnt 

 generally dies in a few days \ or if he recovers, it is by flow de- 

 grees, and attended with anafarca. 



M. M. A vomit once. Wine. Beer. Cyder. Opium. 

 Bark, in fmall repeated dofes. Small fucceffive blifters, if the 

 extremities are cooler than natural. Cool air on the hot parts 

 of the fkin, the cool extremities being at the fame time covered. 

 Iced lemonade. Broth. Cuftards. Milk. Jellies. Bread 

 pudding. Chicken. Touch the ulcers with a dry fponge to 

 abforb the contagious matter, and then with a fponge filled with 

 v ^cgar, with or without fugar of lead diilblvcd in it, about fix 



grains 



