1362

ELEMENTS OF MATERIA MEDICA.

the air willand a banda

of

be sufficient; or, if this fail, we may apply a dossil 0 ,j v

_ „ _age. In other instances this will not succeed- 1 1 ) al ) ( l

employ compression, thus: roll a piece of lint into a line c !j , V e j a y aintroduce it into the bites by means of a needle or probe ; over tcompress and bandage. Sponge may be substituted for the lint- ‘ j, lC eother modes have been proposed ; some, I think, exceedingly cllie 1 -’. a tif" 1I do not believe them ever necessary. I allude, now, to the app 1 a iidof a red-hot needle ; and to passing a needle through the onnwrapping thread round, just as a farrier stops the discharge 0from the vein of a horse. Some employ absorbing powders, as

One’pint

of

arabic; or styptic washes, as a saturated solution of alum,effectual means is to apply a stick of lunar caustic scraped to athe nitrate of silver. Sir C. Bell, in one case, stitched up the M a , rAccidents from Leeches in the Mucous Cavities. — \ p r oincients were very apprehensive of the ill consequences likely to m 1 " e( iswallowing leeches. That their fears were not groundless is ^ ir[ . e v-from the following circumstance, related by the celebrated Baron j. irV ptWhen the French army entered upon the deserts which separatefrom Syria , the soldiers, pressed by thirst, threw themselves 011 u 1faces, and drank greedily of the muddy water, and which, unkn ;ithem, contained leeches (Sangvimga cegyptiaca), having the 10 ' . )iin) rliorse-hair, and the length of a few lines only. Many of them w* ^ [Vdiately stings, or prickling pains, in the posterior fauces, ,:° iinS ;';ti | ' 1 , 1

rhage continued for two hours.

Ill effects have resulted from swallowing leeches. A lady ace 1

•idea

ta 1

frequent cough, glairy spots, lightly tinged with blood, and a disp a „ilto vomit, with a difficulty of swallowing, laborious respirati^’^jtsharp pains in the chest, loss of appetite and rest, attended " r iodi-uneasiness and agitation. On pressing down the tongue of Vfijct'Wvidual first attacked, a leech was discovered, which was with < pit’removed by the forceps. Little or no hemorrhage followed, ‘patient recovered. Those which had attached themselves to the P j ^iUfauces were removed by the use of gargles composed of vinegar • o-ytwater. The Chief of Brigade, Latour-Mauberg, commander ot , a j ft >, ; lregiment of chasseurs, swallowed two in the deserts of St. M Jirday’s journey from the Pyramids, which so much weakened him,convalescence was long and difficult. (T

Dcrlieims {op. supra cit. p. 140) relates a case where a y° u ^ aV( > o ,ll jwho had leeches applied to his anus, was so unfortunate as t° ‘ . ; iU lenter his rectum unnoticed. The animal made several punctuwas not expelled until some hours after, when salt water injee 11used. The wounds caused by the bites, however, did not heal l0 * u j c" ,rmonths, during which time the patient suffered considerably,stantly passed blood with the faeces. ^ (0 . ^

Whenever practicable, salt-water injections should be resortet j ,)i)the following case, related by Derheims (p. 140) this practice,be adopted. Two small leeches were applied to the gums of tl |f -|during the period of dentition, and bv the inattention of the n*fixed themselves at the back part of the mouth, and beconu'W^^ Wwith blood, caused great difficulty of respiration. The 1 ^ ^strongly closing the jaws, prevented the removal of the aiu' u ‘only ceased their hold when they were filled with blood, -t

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