CROUPOUS PNEUMONIA. 193 



Di* camphor, musk, and strong wine, we often are aole, for about twenty- 

 four or thirt} T -six hours, to support the action of the heart, arrest the 

 progress of the oedema, and facilitate expectoration. For this purpose 

 Benzoic acid (gr. v, every two or three hours) is particularly recom- 

 mended. The treatment of all cases of pneumonia by alcohol, as pro- 

 posed by Todd, is not approved. 



Compensation for waste of the body by fever is of far greater im 

 portance than the use of stimulants. Do not carry the antiphlogistic 

 diet too far, especially in depraved constitutions and enfeebled per- 

 sons, but, as soon as distinct indications of asthenia begin to appear, 

 in addition to the wine, give concentrated broths, milk, etc. 



The bold administration of the preparations of quinine and iron are 

 peculiarly appropriate in these cases. Rademacher's tincture of iron is 

 especially applicable ( f ss to v j water. S. f ss two hours). There is 

 no form of pneumonia which, in the sense of Rademacher, " eine Eisen- 

 affection des gesammt organismus darstellt," but an impoverishment of 

 the blood often sets in during the disease, the obviation of which is 

 quite as well promoted by the use of ferruginous preparations as is the 

 chronic deterioration of the blood in chlorosis. A physiological explana- 

 tion of the undoubted usefulness of the preparations of iron in chronic 

 and acute impoverishment of the blood has not as yet been found. Wo 

 only know that, not only is the iron of the blood increased in amount, 

 but the protein substances, particularly the globulin of the blood, whose 

 quantity always undergoes diminution, increases again under the use of 

 iron. We shall easily convince ourselves that the action of the ferru- 

 ginous preparations in acute impoverishment of the blood is quite as 

 great as in chronic anaemia, if we use them with sufficient boldness in 

 cases of exhausting pneumonic and pleuritic exudation ; and, without 

 assenting to the principles of Rademacher* we cannot deny the success 

 which his school has attained by the use of iron in acute febrile diseases. 

 Unfortunately, if diarrhoea exist, they are not well borne. 



The employment of stimulants, generous diet, and the preparations 

 of quinine and iron, may be indicated from the very outset of the attack, 

 when an adynamic state develops early, as in the case of old persons, or 

 of cachectic subjects ; and it must be regarded as a serious blunder if a 

 physician, who, by his stethoscope, has recognized pneumonia in a sup 

 posed " gastric " or nervous influenza, should proceed to treat the malady 

 upon "antiphlogistic" principles. Local blood-letting, by means ot 

 leeches or cups, must be resorted to in all cases where the pain is not 

 mitigated by the employment of cold, or when the patient cannot bear, 

 or will not submit to the latter. It almost always mitigates the pain, 

 und as pain is not only a troublesome symptom, but is one of the causes 

 of the disturbance of respiration, its removal may have a beneficial effect 

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