(532 PRACTICE OF PHYSIC. 



Though the most part of our fevers arising from contagion may 

 have little general inflammatory diathesis accompanying them, 

 and be on the contrary attended with much debility, there oc- 

 curs, however, from causes not easily assigned, some topical in- 

 flammation of the brain, which has frequently appeared upon 

 dissection after fevers of the most nervous or putrid kind. 

 These topical inflammations and the delirium depending upon 

 them, do not admit of opium, and all their symptoms are much 

 aggravated by it. M. M. 



" I pass on to a more general case in which the sedative 

 power of opium may be more useful, where indeed all inflam- 

 matory diathesis is very manifestly gone, or perhaps never 

 strongly subsisted, and where that spasm only which depends 

 upon debility remains. Here, I imagine, the sedative power of 

 opium may be employed more frequently than it is ; the combi- 

 nation of its stimulant power may be of use joined to the seda- 

 tive power ; if by the sedative power we can take off the spasm 

 of the extreme vessels, by the stimulant power we excite to a 

 considerable degree the heart and arteries more effectually to 

 produce sweat ; and we do this more safely by opium than by 

 any stimulant power whatever, not combined with such a seda- 

 tive."" 



These are the remarks I have to offer on the use of opium 

 in continued fevers. Many are fond of a more free use of 

 it than had been common before, and have believed that this 

 was introduced by a certain noted teacher and author, but I as- 

 sert that I myself was the first who freely and largely employed 

 opium in fevers, under certain restrictions indeed, which, neglect- 

 ed by other practitioners, have occasioned much mischief. M. M. 



Camphor has been much employed in fevers of all kinds, 

 particularly in nervous fevers attended by delirium and much 

 watchfulness ; and in such I have frequently employed it with 

 advantage. Some time ago I have often seen it employed by 

 my fellow practitioners in such cases ; and that the good effects 

 of it did not always appear, I imputed to its being used only in 

 small quantities. Since we came into the free use of wine and 

 opium, camphor has been little employed in the practice of this 

 country. The use of it, however, has been very fully estab- 



