INFANCY. 



they begin as white vesicles, with a wa- 

 tery discharges, and great itching of the 

 affected parts. 



In this complaint, very little needs to 

 be done. Where the case, however, is 

 severe, an occasional drain by a blister 

 between the shoulders, or behind the 

 ears, will answer the good purpose of 

 transferring, and consequently abating, 

 the irritation and itching. The same ef- 

 fect will attend washing the parts with 

 warm beer and butter, where the dis- 

 charge is very hot and acrid; and the 

 tar-ointment has been employed with 

 equal benefit in the same view. 



The duration of the complaint is gene- 

 rally judged of from the state of the 

 urine : and where this discharge is turbid 

 or fetid, the disorder is seldom of long 

 continuance. It generally ceases when 

 the child has cut a few teeth : should it, 

 however, be obstinate, of which there are 

 a few examples, the Harrowgate, or any 

 other sulphureous water, natural, or arti- 

 ficial, will have a good effect. 



This eruption has sometimes been im- 

 properly, mistaken for the venereal dis- 

 ease ; but its spontaneous disappearance 

 is a proof that it has no sort of connection 

 with siphilis of any kind. 



The tooth-rash affords several varieties, 

 all of which belong to the strophulus 

 tribe, and rank under the strophulus con- 

 fertus. 



The first we shall enumerate is not al. 

 together peculiar to this period. It much 

 resembles the itch, and is most frequent 

 in its appearance about the face and neck, 

 though not exclusively confined to these 

 parts. It has often, from its appearance, 

 been mistaken for the real itch ; but it 

 differs so far, that it is of a most salutary 

 tendency, and even sometimes critical in 

 its nature, as preventing, at this juncture, 

 serious effects to the child. 



No particular treatment is necessary, 

 except merely avoiding cold, and keep- 

 ing the bowels soluble. 



The next tooth-rash, at this period, is 

 one that greatly resembles flea-bites, hav- 

 ing a depressed point in the middle of the 

 elevated spot. This disorder, in some 

 instances, recurs, uniformly, just before 

 the appearance of a tooth, and when cut 

 disappears. Here, in respect to treat- 

 ment, the same observation applies as in 

 the former case. 



A third species appears in the form of 

 measles, and is often mistaken for them. 

 Some degree of sickness generally pre- 

 cedes its appearance, but there is, at the 

 same time, little or no fever. It usually 



continues very florid for a few days, and 

 when disappearing, does not dry off like 

 the measles. 



The treatment here is very simple. 

 The testaceous powders may be employ- 

 ed, with the addition of a little nitre and 

 compound powder of contreyerva; and 

 as the disease declines, a little rhubarb, 

 or other laxative, may be given for a day 

 or two. 



A fourth species of tooth-rash is one, 

 which, though appearing like the former, 

 soon spreads into large spots, at first of 

 a bright red, and afterwards of a darker 

 hue, similar to the purple spots that ap- 

 pear in typhus fevers, though this be en- 

 tirely of a different nature. Some fever 

 generally attends the eruption, followed 

 frequently by small round tumours on the 

 legs, which, softening in a few days, seem 

 as if inclined to suppurate, though this 

 never takes place. 



Like the former, the treatment is sim- 

 ple : and an attention to the state of the 

 bowels is the only direction to be given. 

 Should the tumours not easily subside, a 

 decoction or injections of the bark may be 

 found useful. 



The next species of tooth-rash some- 

 what resembles the rash of scarlet fever, 

 and is very rare. It is always preceded by 

 sickness, fever, and a disordered state of 

 the bowels; but these symptoms 'disap- 

 pear as soon as the eruption is com- 

 plete, which shows evidently its critical 

 nature of preventing a train of worse ma- 

 ladies. 



Such indeed is the variety in the tooth- 

 rashes of children, that it would be almost 

 endless to enumerate them; a variety, 

 arising from differences of constitution, 

 and other circumstances, with which we 

 are unacquainted. But whenever an erup- 

 tion appears at this period, the safest plan 

 is, to consider it as connected with the 

 effort of toothing. If our judgment be 

 correct, the complaint will decay as soon 

 as the tooth is protruded; and if it be not, 

 its nature will be easily ascertained. By 

 attending to the state of the bowels, as 

 already pointed out, all danger of such 

 eruptions will be avoided; and the more 

 they are treated on the ground of being 

 an effort of the constitution to relieve it- 

 self, by an increased action towards the 

 surface, the more will the safety of the 

 child be consulted. It is of consequence, 

 therefore, in order to silence the cla- 

 mours of nurses on this head, to point 

 out, that no danger follows their ap- 

 piarance ; that, on the contrary, the 

 child is benefited by them ; and that na- 



