in the Cure of Scarlet Fever. 1 29 



preparation is duly persevered in, I am of opinion those pain- 

 ful and distressing aft'eclions will rarely occur. It is also 

 possessed of this desirable property, that it may be easily 

 taken by children, who generally are the most numerous 

 patients in this disease, and to whom all medicines are ad- 

 ministered with difficulty ; I have frequently heard them cry 

 for that stuff which meuded their throat, as they expressed 

 it : indeed in that respect its eti'ects are truly admirable, far 

 surpassing the disagreeable practice of gargling and syrin- 

 giuir, which in numerous instances, even if possible to do it, 

 is productive of mischief. How far superior then must be 

 a remedv which, by passing over the infected and fre- 

 quently ulcerated part immediately, not only gives instan- 

 taneous relicr", but entirely removes that fetid smell origi- 

 nating in severe cases from these parts ! Patients often wish 

 to be frequently sipping a little of the oxygenant liquid : 

 which is not improper ; but it must always be done out of 

 a wine glass, as admeasurement with a spoon is dangerous, 

 the oxvffcn rapidly oxidating the metal of which it is com- 

 posed, and by tbat means conveying into the stomach a 

 poisonous fluid, from which death might ensue. 



T)ie nuiriatic acid has long been used as a medicine, and sir 

 William Fordyce strongly recommended it in the ulcerated 

 sore throat and putrid fever ; but the oxygenated muriatic 

 acid has, I believe, been rarely employed. Dr. Crawford * 

 once took twenty drops of it, diluted with water; but soon 

 afterwards found an obtuse pain, with a sensation of con- 

 striction in the stomach and bowels : this mieasiness, not- 

 withstanding the use of emetics and purgatives, lasted for 

 several days, and ^^ as at last removed by drinking water im- 

 pregnated with-sulphureous hepatic air : this effect he attri- 

 butes to the manganese, which had been used in the distilla- 

 tion of the acid, containing a portion of lead. I should rather 

 suppose it proceeded from the dose of twenty drops being 

 taken. Oxyo-enated muriatic acid readily gives to living ani- 

 mal bodies its superoxvgen, and the remains is common 

 nnu-iatic acid ; a do^e of which similar to the above would 

 undoubtedly, in delicate constitutions, produce similar ef- 

 fects. In no case whatever have I found it necessary to 

 exceed the quantity before nuntioned, but it has sometimes 

 been done by n)y patients through an anxious desire to get 

 well : the same uneasiness has, however, been produced 

 which Dr. Crawford ex()erienced, though the preparation 



• Philosoph'cal Transactions, vol. Ix.xx. 



VoL.XVIII. No. 70. I was 



