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Medicine (Large dark-looking ulcers)

Large, dark-looking ulcers in the mouth are a common effect of the abuse of mercury. They may be known by the horrid smell of the breath, by the teeth being loosened from the gums, and by a coppery taste in the mouth. Treatment.

Omit all mercurial preparations, wash the mouth frequently with sage tea or brandy and water, and keep the bowels open with sulphur.

Ulcers and Pimples on the Tongue.

Small pimples are occasionally found on the tongue, which at last form ulcers. Sometimes they are occasioned by the rough and projecting edge of a broken or decayed tooth: when this is the cause, the part must be rounded by a file or the tooth extracted, when the sore will heal without further trouble. Whitish-looking specks, which seem inclined to spread, are also met with on the inside of the cheeks and lips. They are easily removed by touching their surfaces with burnt alum.

Cancer of the Tongue.

Cancer of the tongue commences like that of the lip, being a crack or fissure in a small, hard, deep-seated tumor on the side of the tongue.

Treatment. No time should be lost in useless attempts to cure it by medicines. The only safety for the patient is in the knife, and that at an early period.

Enlargement of the Uvula.

The uvula is that little tongue-like appendage that hangs down from the middle of the fleshy curtain which divides the mouth from the throat.

It is very subject to inflammation, the consequence of which is that it becomes so long that its point touches, and sometimes even lies along the tongue, which creates considerable uneasiness, and is now and then the cause of a constant cough, which finally ends in consumption. It is commonly called the falling of the palate.

Treatment. Strong gargles of vinegar and water, or a decoction of black-oak bark, or a watery solution of alum, will frequently cure the complaint. It happens very frequently, however, that in consequence of repeated attacks it becomes permanently lengthened, and then the only resource is to cut off the end of it. If you are near a physician apply to him; if not, the operation is so simple that any man of common dexterity can perform it, particularly as little or no blood follows the incision. All that is requisite is to seat the patient, seize the part with a hook, or a slender pair of pincers, draw it a little forward, and snap off its point with a pair of scissors.

Swelling of the Tonsils.

The tonsils are two glands situated in the throat, one on each side, which are very apt to swell from inflammation by colds. They sometimes become so large as to threaten suffocation.

Treatment. In the commencement this is the same as directed for inflammatory sore throat, which see. If it does not succeed, apply to a surgeon to take them away. Inflammatory Sore Throat.

Symptoms. Chills and flushes of heat succeed ing each other; fever; the inside of the mouth, the throat and tonsils much inflamed; swallowing is painful; hoarseness; heat and darting pains in the throat.

Causes. Cold; sitting in damp clothes; wet feet; excessive exertions of voice.

Distinguish it from diphtheria by the fever being inflammatory, the absence of ash-colored patches near the tonsils, etc.

Treatment. An emetic taken at a very early stage of this disorder will frequently prevent it from forming. The next step is to leech the patient freely and give him a large dose of Epsom salts. A mustard poultice or blister to the throat is an invaluable application, and should never be neglected. The room should be kept cool and quiet, and the diet consist of barley or rice-water. The throat may be gargled several times in the day with alum and water; inhaling the steam of hot water from the spout of a tea pot is of use.

Putrid Sore Throat or Diptheria.

Symptoms. Difficulty of swallowing; respiration hurried; breath hot; skin dry and burning; a quick, weak and irregular pulse; scarlet patches break out about the lips, and the inside of the mouth and throat is of a fiery red color. About the second or third day, upon examining the throat, a number of specks or patches between an ash and a dark brown color are observed on the palate, uvula, tonsils, etc.; a brown fur covers the tongue; the lips are covered with little vesicles or bladders, which burst and give out a thin, acrid matter that produces ulceration wherever it touches. In bad cases the inside of the mouth and throat become black, and are covered with foul spreading ulcers, and all the symptoms that characterize low fever ensue.

Distinguish it from scarlet fever by the fever being a typhus and not inflammatory, and by the peculiar sore throat, and from measles by the absence of cough, sneezing, watering of the eyes, etc.

Treatment. Bleeding in this disease is absolutely forbidden. The same may be said of active or strong purgatives. The bowels, however, should be kept open by mild laxatives or clysters.

Emetics are used in the beginning with advantage, but the great and evident indication is to prevent and counteract the disposition to putrescency, and to support the strength. For this purpose the cold infusion of bark, or bark in substance, with ten or twelve drops of muriatic acid and eight or nine drops of laudanum, should be taken frequently, and in large doses. Chlorate of potassa is a valuable article; it may be taken in solution, twenty grains for an adult every two hours, in a teaspoonful of water. To cleanse the throat, gargle frequently with vinegar or muriatic acid and water or glycerin. The diet should consist of milk, arrow-root, jelly, panada, tapioca and gruel, and the drink of wine whey, wine and water, etc., increasing the quantity of the wine according to the weakness and age of the patient.

The greatest cleanliness is to be observed in the chamber. As this disease is thought by some to be contagious, all unnecessary communication with the sick room should be prevented.

Strictures in the Throat.

Symptoms. The first mark of an obstruction or stricture in the throat is a slight difficulty in swallowing solids, which continues increasing for months, or until the passage becomes so contracted that the smallest particle of food cannot pass, but having remained an instant in the strictured part is violently rejected. If the obstacle is not removed the patient starves.