TELA ARANE^. 



"I have also given it in advanced stage of phthisis, where it procured 

 a respite, of which I could scarcely have entertained expectation. I mention 

 a case in detail, that you may obtain a better idea of the nature of the effect. 

 A young man, of a consumptive farnily, was attacked with what was con- 

 sidered to be a cold, about last Easter. The complaint went on to increase, 

 and when I saw him, which was in the month of August, phthisis was com- 

 pletely confirmed; the pulse was small and frequent, rarely, if ever, under 

 one hundred strokes in a minute, sometimes far above that number; the 

 flesh wasted fast; the strength was greatly impaired; the expectoration was 

 m great quantity, and decidedly purulent; the cough was extremely trouble- 

 some; the voice hoarse, and withal, there were occasional pains, or stitches, 

 in the sides and breast. The hectic was perfectly established, and no 

 person could, in conscience, entertain any reasonable hopes of recovery. 

 Emetics and blisters repeated at intervals, with other means commonly 

 known and usually employed in similar cases, procured occasional respites, 

 but they made no decided impression on the course 'and character of the dis- 

 ease. About the beginning of October, the distresses were urgent; the 

 cough was almost incessant, so that the young man had scarcely any rest 

 during the night; the pulse was so frequent, and at the same time so small, 

 that it was scarcely possible to number it; the legs swelled as high as the 

 knees, and the strength declined rapidly. His friends were anxious in the 

 extreme for relief, and the apothecary who attended him, and who had ex- 

 hausted all the means from which relief is usually obtained, wrote to me, 

 soliciting strongly that I would think of something that might mitigate his 

 sufferings, for to give a favorable turn to the course of the disease was not 

 expected. The tranquilizing effects of cobweb occurred to me on this oc- 

 casion, and I suggested to the. apothecary, who was a man of discretion, 

 to prepare some pills of five grains each, and to give one of them at bed- 

 time, or at any other time vthen cough or pain were distressing. He did 

 so, and in about ten days I received'a letter from him, stating that his pa- 

 tient was so much improved, that his friends were in great expectation of 

 his doing well, and requested that I would visit him (the distance was near 

 thirty miles), to satisfy them on that head, I went to see him, in com- 

 pliance with the request of the parents, and found, on inquiry, that he had 

 rested tranquilly the first night after he took the cobweb, and tolerably well 

 the ni6st of the succeeding; that the irritation and distressing cough had 

 abated; that the expectoration had not diminished materially in quantity 

 but that It came up easily, that the strength had improved, and that the 

 swelling of the legs had nearly disappeared. The mitigation x>i the symp- 

 toms was obvious, but the disease still existed. 



"A gentleman of my acquaintance had for several months been ex- 

 tremely indisposed; the complaint complicated, but the nature of it not 

 clearly understood. The joints, particularly the knees, were swelled and 

 extremely painful; the flesh was much wasted; there were frequent chills 

 and occasional feverishness, especially towards evening; the pulse was 

 small, irritated, and frequent; the appetite was, notwithstanding, better than 

 might have been expected; the tongue was clean; the eye clear- the thirst 

 considerable; there was evident hectic, but it was difficult to say on what 

 It depended. There were suspicious, indeed, marks of a venereal taint and 

 he was kept under the influence of mercury for six "weeks or two months 

 during which time the pains in the joints increased; the flesh wasted fast' 

 and he was reduced to a state of great weakness; distressed, at the same 

 time, by restlessness and want of sleep. Fidgetting, irksomeness, and de- 

 sire of change of posture were extremely annoying. In bed he had no rest 

 It not being in his power, during the greater part of the night, to keep his 

 limbs in one posture for ten minutes at a time; nor was he sensible that he 

 had slept two hours at once for the last three months." 



In this case, which had resisted all other remedies, Dr. Jackson 

 prescribed cobweb, and reports as follows: 



28 



