352 ON DROPSY CURED BY 



August 22d, he complained much of the pain in his sto- 

 mach, and of a difficulty of breathing when he attempted to 

 walk upon deck. On a supposition that he might have vis- 

 ceral obstructions, I gave him two grains of mere, chile, com- 

 bined with half a grain of extract, theb. at bed-time, two suc- 

 cessive nights, by which he was a little relieved, and returned 

 to the use of the bitters. 



August 29th, a heavy gale of contrary winds came on, the 

 vessel shipped much water, and our patient being badly 

 lodged, got wet in the night : this occasioned a fever, with 

 headach, thirst, &c. which, however, went off by the use of 

 antimonial wine and laudanum ; and he again took the bitters 

 as before. 



Sept. 1st. Although this man's appetite was for the most 

 part good, .yet, instead of mending, he daily felt himself 

 weaker, the tightness about the praecordia and difficulty of 

 breathing increased, and he appeared bloated in the face. I 

 now observed his legs swelled about the ancles, which retained 

 the impression of my finger for a considerable time. The 

 scrotum was clear and full of water, but no fluctuation could 

 be felt in the abdomen. 



I was at a loss whether to ascribe this beginning of dropsy 

 to diseased viscera, or to a general debility of the system. 

 The former opinion prevailed : five grains of calomel, and 

 three grains of extr. theb. were made into pills, which being- 

 divided into three doses, one dose was taken every night, 



Sept. 5th. The swelling in the legs and scrotum rather in- 

 creased, and there was now an evident fluctuation of water in 

 the abdomen. On searching the medicine box, I at first 

 found nothing that suited my purpose, either as a diuretic or 

 tonic. 



During my residence in Jamaica, I had often heard of the 

 success of a nostrum in dropsy, used by a surgeon in Montego 

 Bay. A friend procured me some of the powder, and on ex- 



