IN FEVER AND INFLAMMATION. 



39 1 



while it is of the utmost importance for the proper 

 management of the case that we should learn as 

 soon as possible whether it is likely to become severe, 

 it is clear that only the well-informed practitioner, 

 who has watched the patient from day to day, will be 

 able to form a correct judgment concerning so impor- 

 tant a matter. In slight cases of fever it is not 

 necessary to prescribe any form of alcohol, but as has 

 been already intimated, in severe cases it is sometimes 

 desirable to give a considerable quantity of stimulant, 

 and there is good reason for the conclusion that in 

 some instances life has been saved by the adminis- 

 tration of very large quantities of brandy or whiskey. 

 It has been found that persons suffering from fever 

 will bear alcohol without any narcotic intoxicating 

 effect whatever being induced. It has been demon- 

 strated that a large amount (upwards of twenty ounces 

 of French brandy in twenty-four hours) does not 

 cause delirium in fever patients, does not produce 

 inflammation of the brain, nor increase bronchitis or 

 pneumonia if present. Neither does the alcohol 

 augment dyspnoea even when very urgent. On the 

 other hand it is a fact that patients suffering from 

 fever complicated with severe and extensive inflam- 

 mation of internal organs, lungs, pleura, pericardium, 

 have progressed favourably towards convalescence 

 while taking brandy at the rate of more than twenty 

 ounces in the twenty-four hours. 



Nevertheless there still continues much difference 



2 D 2 



