The local use of the bichloride of mercury in diseases of the nose and throat / by John N. Mackenzie.

  • Mackenzie, John Noland, 1853-1925.
Date:
1883
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The local use of the bichloride of mercury in diseases of the nose and throat / by John N. Mackenzie. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    IhCt / 1-0 THE LOCAL USE OF THe/bICHLORIDE OF MERCURY IN ^^^ir^SSEASES OF THE NOSE~XnD THROAT/ V v“® aUTHOF™’ . MACKENZIE, M. D., OF BALTIMORE, Attending Physician to the Baltimore Eye, Ear and Throat Charity *Josp\ (Reprint from Maryland Medical Journal of February 15th, 1883.) Some months ago, after reading a review of Koch’s researches on the action of disinfectants and the extra- ordinary power which he found the salts of mercury to possess in the destruction of microscopic organisms (Mittheil. d. kaiserlich. Gesundheit., Bd. x., 1881), it occurred to me that I would experiment with the corro- sive chloride of the metal in inflamma- tory conditions of the nose attended with profuse muco-purulent secretion. I did soon the theoretical assumption that, in arresting the development of micrococci in the discharges healthier action would be imparted to the in- flammatory process, and the mucous membrane thereby placed under con- ditions which would favor a more rapid return to the normal state. My first case was a man who had suffered for many years from a muco- purulent nasopharyngeal catarrh (non syphilitic) for which he had under- gone almost every variety of treat- ment, but without alleviation of his condition. The discharge was very profuse, but without odor; the septum narium was perforated and the laryn- geal membrane the seat of moderate catarrhal inflammation. Sleep was rendered unquiet by a sense of im- pending suffocation induced by the accumulation of crusts in the throat, whose expulsion was accomplished with great difficulty. After removing the hardened crusts, which came away as casts of the regions which they occupied, the nose, pharynx and larynx were sprayed thoroughly with a solution of the bichloride of mercury in water (grs. ij ad Oj), and he was given some of the solution to use at home as a gargle and nasal wash. The edges of the perforation were touched with pure tincture of iodine. In five days the discharge had become scarcely appreciable and in ten had ceased completely. Apart from hygienic measures, no other treat- ment was used. The use of the mer- cury was discontinued. Six weeks later the patient called at my office to report that he had had no return of his trouble. * Case 2.—A young lady,from whom I had removed the pharyngeal tonsil and hypertrophied membrane cover- ing the lower turbinated bones for chronic nasal catarrh, still had some discharge from the left nostril which persisted in spite of orthodox treat- ment. A few days use of the bichlo- ride in spray caused the discharge to disappear. She discontinued treat- ment, but two weeks later, returning home from a ball in a state of profuse perspiration, caught a cold which led to a reappearance of the discharge. This diminished rapidly, however, under the mercury spray. Case 3.—Atrophic catarrh (simple ozoena) in a young girl. After three applications of the spray, the offensive odor from the nose and mouth was completely removed ; the nasal dis- charge was increased in amount, but free from foetor. * He has had since a return of the discharge from exposure which he checked promptly, how- ever, with the original solution.