198 ANALYTIC PHYSIOLOGY. 
3 
side of the patella, and the whole joint must be 
enveloped in a poultice, and maintained perse- 
veringly in a state of rest. When the eschar 
eomes away, the poultice may be discontinued, 
and the sore dressed with cerate or dry lint; and 
allowed to heal without delay. When the sore 
is quite skinned over, a fresh eschar may be made 
on the other side of the patella, and treated in 
every respect like the first. It is not amiss to 
keep a measure of the joint, to see the progress 
of the cure. For constitutional treatment, I 
generally employ alterative doses of calomel 
and James’s powder; but Iam not certain that 
much good is derived from these medicines. 
Small doses of rhubarb are sometimes beneficial. 
When sinuses exist, they must not be laid open, 
if the cure be attempted on the principle of 
absorption. The patient should not be allowed 
to walk about for some weeks after the swelling 
is gone, and cold must be carefully avoided. By 
this treatment, the patient suffers comparatively 
little, and the cure is almost certain, if the con- 
stitution be otherwise good, and the disease 
recent, The actual cautery, blisters, and potass 
eschars, frequently defeat the purpose of the 
practitioner, from the violence of their operation, 
As white-swelling occurs most commonly in 
scrofulous constitutions, it is consequently often 
combined with diseases of the other organs, 

es 
; 

