Chough

“ A few hours before death the muscular power is no longer capable of maintaining him in that posture, and he sinks backward. The dyspnœa is attended with cough, sometimes through the whole of the disease, sometimes only at intervals. The cough varies in frequency. It is always strong, and commonly attended with copious expectoration of thick mucus, which, as the disease advances, becomes brown coloured, and often tinged with blood; a short time before death it frequently consists entirely of black blood. ”

“ The cough is generally dry, but if any thing is spit up, it is a purulent matter, sometimes resembling small portions of a membrane. There are also a frequent pulse, restlessness, and an uneasy sense of heat. The inside of the mouth is sometimes without inflammation, but frequently a redness, and even a swelling exist. ”

“ A cough is an effort of nature to bring up any secretion from the lining membrane of the lungs, or from the bronchial tubes, hence it ought not to be interfered with. I have known the administration of syrup of white poppies, or of paregoric, to stop the cough, and thereby to prevent the expulsion of the phlegm, and thus to produce either inflammation of the lungs or bronchitis. ”

“ The most remarkable feature of a brand-new discovery is very frequently its hoary-headedness. For this reason, when we come to think about this matter of the mechanical relief of cough, we are struck with its antiquity. From time antedating the memory of man, humanity has pressed its second finger in its pharynx (that space which spreads out from the back part of the mouth and throat up into the nose) or the larynx (a continuation of the pharynx) , for the purpose of loosening a dry cough or to facilitate expectoration. ”

“ In most cases, the disease continues to pursue its course toward its termination without any remission,—every symptom gradually increasing in intensity. The respiration becomes more painful; the head is more extended; the eyes are brilliant; every expiration is accompanied with a grunt, and by a kind of puckering of the angles of the lips; the cough becomes smaller, more suppressed, and more painful; the tongue protrudes from the mouth, and a frothy mucus is abundantly discharged; the breath becomes offensive; a purulent fluid of a bloody color escapes from the nostrils ”

“ Cuphea does not act with equal promptness in all forms of cholera infantum. Two classes of cases stand out prominently; and first, those arising from acidity of milk or food; vomiting of undigested food or curdled milk, with frequent green, watery, acid stools, varying in number from five to thirty per day; child fretful and feverish; can retain nothing on the stomach; food seems to pass right through the child. ”

“ This Cough is known by the peculiar hoop which is descriptive of the disease. Children are most commonly the subjects of this complaint, and especially those who are teething; but it sometimes attacks those advanced in life. It comes on with a slight difficulty of breathing, thirst, rapid pulse, hoarseness, Cough, and all the symptoms of common Cold. This disorder, if not nipped in the bud, gradually increases; and about the second or third week, assumes its peculiar characteristic symptoms. The expiratory motions, peculiar to coughing, are made with more rapidity and violence than usual ”

“ Another very evident proof that all the mucous fluids are designed to be thrown out, is, that when they have continued for some time in any quantity upon their respective surfaces, they create there a painful sensation of which nature relieves us by various means. Thus the cough, which is the constant result of an accumulation of mucus in the bronchia, serves to expel it; thus vomiting in gastric derangements answers the same purpose as it respects the mucous juices accumulated in the stomach, whose presence produces a weight and even pain, though the membranes be not affected. ”

“ Coughs need an abundance of fluid much more than medicine, and warm fluids are better than cold; the will must be exercised so as to secure the taking of these regularly. At least a quart of warm liquid, milk if one is not already overweight, should be taken between meals during the existence of a cough. Hot milk taken at night will very often secure much better rest with ever so much less coughing than would otherwise be the case. ”

“ Comes on in consequence of a sudden cold. Children suffering from Hooping Cough are more subject to it. The cough is of a peculiar whistling kind, like the crowing of a young chicken, with rattling in the throat and difficult breathing, fever is present, and often very violent. It is properly an inflammation of the Larynx, but the inflammation may also exist in the Pharynx, the tonsils may be involved, and it may extend to the trachia, [Pg 56] (wind pipe) . A false membrane forms in the larynx if the disease is not arrested, and so obstructs the breathing as to cause death from suffocation. ”

“ The chronic or paroxysmal cough may often be traced to the presence of tumor, ulcer, local inflammation, or parasite, but in some instances no local trouble is recognizable, the general health remains good, and yet the throat is abnormally sensitive and a cough or fit of coughing may be roused by passing into the cold air from a warm stable, by cold water in drinking, by inhaling irritant gas, by the passage of rough or fibrous food, or by handling the larnyx. ”

“ Later, if the fluids are retained, cream of wheat, farina, junket, soft custards, and soft-cooked eggs may be added. Care must be taken in giving toast, unless it is softened with milk or broth, for the crumbs may bring on a paroxysm of coughing and vomiting. The best results in feeding with whooping cough are obtained by giving the food in small quantities and oftener. A few ounces given every two hours are less apt to be vomited than a larger quantity. ”

“ When cough, hoarseness, catarrh, and loss of voice are noticed in a young child, it should be narrowly watched and protected against all circumstances likely to aggravate inflammation; it should be kept in the house, and a warm, moist air should be kept in the room (about 65°) , its diet should be milk or farinaceous food; the functions of the bowels and skin should be attended to; some aconite should be given; if there is a slight, ringing cough, place the patient in a warm bath for ten minutes, then confine it to bed; keep the air of the room moist by the evaporation of boiling water ”

“ Every adult person clears his throat in the morning. One who has been sitting for a long time must cough when he goes out-of-doors. Bodily movement is the best "solvent" for a cough. When one's life is sedentary, mucus collects first of all in the apices of the lungs, and it is more difficultly broken up there by bodily movement, because the apices are the uppermost parts of the lung, and the impetus of the cough must drive the expectorated mucus around the corners of the lung. The apices are a veritable receptacle for mucus, which, if not removed, dries up, grows hard, and causes ulceration. ”

“ The most pronounced feature of this stage of the disease is, beyond all others, the catarrhal affection of the mucous membranes. The mucous membranes of the eyes, nose, mouth, and air-passages are all more or less involved, and the patient suffers in varying degrees from photophobia, coryza, hoarseness, cough, and pain in swallowing. Sneezing is frequent and annoying, and slight epistaxis is not uncommon. The cough usually appears on the first day, simultaneously with the fever. ”

“ Chronic Cough.—It may appear strange to a person unacquainted with the animal economy, that what is taken into the stomach should affect the mucous membrane of the lungs, and that of the larynx, which is the seat of chronic cough. It is in the following manner: when the stomach is distended by hay, and especially if that hay is bad, it is gradually weakened, and rendered incapable of performing its office properly ”

“ Whooping cough is unlike the other three diseases in that it is a nervous trouble, and probably the germ or the poison formed by the germ attacks the nervous system, and particularly one great nerve connecting the lungs and stomach. This is why the spasm of coughing is frequently followed by vomiting, and the only remedy which is of [Pg 374] value in whooping cough is a nerve depressant which will diminish the activity of the nervous system without at the same time interfering with the strength or vigor of the patient. ”

“ During the first three or four weeks, keep the child or patient in an uniform degree of temperature; if possible, never below 64 degrees of Fahrenheit's scale. The diet should be light, chiefly bread, milk, and vegetables with butter. Rice or Indian puddings, with plenty of molasses, are good food for children in this disease. If the cough is very violent, and the phlegm hard in the throat, a gentle emetic of ipecacuanha, or some preparation of antimony, should be given every second or third morning, to clear the stomach from the mucus which, in this cough, is constantly secreted. ”

“ When is a mother to know that a cough is not a “tooth-cough,” but one of the symptoms of Inflammation of the Lungs?
If the child has had a shivering fit; if his skin be very hot and very dry; if his lips be parched; if there be great thirst; if his cheeks be flushed; if he be dull and heavy, wishing to be quiet in his cot or crib; if his appetite be diminished; if his tongue be furred; if his mouth be burning hot and dry; [223] if his urine be scanty and high-colored, staining the napkin or the linen; if his breathing be short, panting, hurried, and oppressed; if there be a hard, dry cough ”

“ When vomiting is severe the food should be fluid and given often. The child must be nourished. If this disease occurs in the winter the person attacked, after he is seemingly well, must be careful not to take cold. The condition of the mucous membrane of the air tube after an attack of this disease, makes it very easy for the person to contract inflammation of that part and have in consequence laryngitis, bronchitis, or pneumonia. Thc cough in very many cases will last all winter without any additional cold being added. ”

“ In Dysentery, especially in the chronic form of the disease, the bland, viscid mucilage is often most beneficial. It is a good plan to give it in soup.
3. In Hoarseness, and in dry and irritable states of the Throat, giving rise, as is often the case, to a troublesome Cough, as in Consumption, &c., the free inhalation of the vapour of the hot decoction (ante) has in many instances been found serviceable.
4. The fresh capsules bruised are stated to form an efficient emollient poultice. ”

“ A short, broken or abortive cough is one which appears to be suddenly cut short and suppressed, from the pain it causes. It is seen in the early stages of inflammations of the serous membranes of the chest or abdomen, when the quick rubbing of the dry and inflamed surfaces of these membranes on each other produces exquisite pain. ”

“ The symptoms of summer complaint proper, are frequent, watery movements; at first may be green but soon become gray, brown and frothy, sometimes having a mixture of phlegm and mucus; frequently are fetid, and, at times, contain undigested food. It may or may not be accompanied by pain. Nausea and vomiting are frequent symptoms, and if severe, [Pg 226] constitute cholera infantum. The surface of the body is cold, often in a cold perspiration, while the soles of the feet and palms of the hands are dry and hot. It is usually attended with great thirst, a quick pulse and increased temperature. ”

“ It has often been contended that the collapse of cholera cannot be the mere result of the purging and vomiting, because, in some of the most rapid and malignant cases, the amount of the stools and vomited fluid is less than in milder and more protracted ones, or even in some cases in which the patients recover. But, in the most rapid and malignant cases, there is sufficient loss of aqueous fluid by the alimentary canal to alter the blood into the thick tenacious state peculiar to this disease ”

“ This is a form of disease that has doubtless occurred to every practitioner. But in some instances, along with many of the above symptoms, there is cough, with chronic diarrhoea, followed by a febrile and marcescent state; and some structural derangement of the lungs is superadded to the abdominal mischief. From the appearances on dissection, of some such cases, one might suppose that the germs of tubercles are sometimes born with us, for in one such dissection of a child, I find it recorded, that both lungs were completely studded with tubercles. ”

“ Sometimes his Cough is dry, and then attended with the most Pain; at other times it is accompanied with a Spitting or Hawking up, blended with more or less Blood, and sometimes with pure sheer Blood. There is also some Pain, or at least a Sensation of Weight and Heaviness in the Head: and frequently a Propensity to rave. The Face is almost continually flushed and red: though sometimes there is a Degree of Paleness and an Air of Astonishment, at the Beginning of the Disease, which portend no little Danger. ”

“ Aretæus defines cholera to be a retrograde movement of the matters in the body upon the stomach and intestines, consisting of a discharge upwards and downwards of bile, which, if the disease proves fatal, becomes black; and, at the same time, the extremities are cold, with profuse sweats, pulse small and dense, constant straining to vomit, and tenesmus. He also makes mention, among the symptoms, of spasms and contractions of the muscles in the legs and arms, borborygmi, tormina, and syncope. ”