Cases of Itch

9 A woman of 43 years, long afflicted with dry itch, rubbed her joints with an ointment of Sulphur and Mercury, and thus drove it off; this was followed by pains under the right ribs, lassitude in all the limbs, heat and feverish irritation. After using sudorific remedies for six days, large vesicles of itch broke out all over the body.

60 Two youths, brothers, drove off the itch by one and the same remedy, but they lost all appetite, a dry cough and a lingering fever set in, they became emaciated and fell into a slumbrous stupor, so that they would have died if the eruption had not luckily reappeared on the skin.

61 With a three-year-old child when tinea capitis had disappeared of itself, there arose a violent fever on the chest, cough and weariness, and it only recovered when the eruption re-appeared on the head.

62 A journeyman purse-maker, who had to make some embroidery, drove off his frequent itch with Lead ointment. Scarcely was the itch drying off in consequence, when he was seized with chills, heat, dyspnoea and a rattling cough, of which he suffocated on the fourth day.

Wig, Advers. med. II.., pp. 157-160.63 Morgagni, as ab., X., art. 9;64XXI., art. 31;65 XXXVIII., art. 22;66 LV., art. 3. 67

63 A vigorous, healthy man of 30 years was taken with the itch and drove the eruption from the skin, but was then seized with a catarrhal fever with an uncontrollable perspiration; he was slowly recovering from it when he was seized without any further cause by another fever. The attacks began with anxiety and headache, and increased with heat, a quick pulse and morning sweats. There was added an unusual sinking of thestrength, and delirious speech, anxious tossing about, a sobbing respiration with suffocation - a disease which despite all medicines ended with death.

64 With a boy the itch passed away of itself; this was followed by fever. The itch now appeared more violent and the fever passed away, but the child grew thin, and when the itch again dried up there followed diarrhoea, convulsions and soon afterwards death.

65 Itch disappeared from the skin of itself, on which lingering fever, expectoration of pus and lastly death followed, and at the autopsy the left lungs were found full of pus.

66 A woman of 30 years had for a long time pain in the limbs and a strong eruption of itch, which she drove off with ointment, when she was attacked by fever with violent heat, thirst and raging headache, which was accompanied with delirious speech, uncontrollable dyspnoea, tumefaction of the body and great distension of the abdomen. She died on the sixth day of the fever. The abdomen contained much air, and especially the stomach was distended with air, filling half of the abdomen.

67 A man whose tinea capitis had passed off from intense cold, was seized after eight days with a malignant fever, with vomiting, accompanied at last with hiccough; he died in consequence on the ninth day.

In the same article Morgagni mentions the case of a man who, having scabs from itch on the arms and on other parts, drove off nearly the whole eruption by a sulphurated shirt, but was seized at once with drawing pains on the whole body combined with fever, so that he could neither rest at night nor move about in the daytime; also the tongue and the fauces were thus attacked. With much trouble the eruption was brought out again on the skin, and thus his health was restored.

Fever. Lanzonus, in Eph. Nat. Cur., Dec. III., ann. 9 and 10, obs. 16 and 113. Hoechstetter, Obs. med., Dec. VIII., Cas. 8.68 Triller. Wehle, Diss. nullam medicinam interdum esse optimam, Witemb., 1754.69 Fick, as ab., § l.70 Waldschmidt, Opera., p. 241. Gerbizius, in Eph. Nat. Cur., Dec. III., ann. 2, obs. 167. Amatus, Lusit., Cent. II., Curat. 33.71 Fr. Hoffmann, Med. rat. system, T. III., p. 175.72

Tertian Intermittent Fever. Pelargus, as ab., Jahrg., 1722, p. 103, cfr. with p. 79.73 Juncker, as ab., tab. 79;

68A malignant fever with opisthotonus from driving off the itch.

69A young merchant had driven off the itch with ointment, when he was suddenly seized with such hoarseness that he could not speak a loud word; then followed dry asthma, loathing of food, severe cough, troublesome especially at night and robbing him of sleep; violent, ill-smelling nightsweats, and, despite all medical treatment, death.

70A burgomaster, 60 years of age, was infected with the itch, and suffered unspeakably from it through the nights; he used many medicines in vain, and at last was taught by a beggar a so-called infallible remedy, composed of oleum laurinum, flowers of sulphur and lard. Having rubbed with this several times he was, indeed, freed from the eruption, but soon after he was seized with a violent chill, followed by an excessive heat all over the body, vehement thirst, a gasping asthma, sleeplessness, violent trembling all over the body and great lassitude, so that on the fourth day he expired.

71 From the same cause a fever combined with insanity, precipitating death.

72After driving off itch, most frequently acute fevers with a great sinking of the strength follow. In one such case the fever lasted seven days, when the eruption of itch re-appeared and stopped the fever.

73A boy of 15 years for a long time had tinea capitis and had received from Pelargus a strong purgative to cure it; he was seized with pain in the back, cutting pains during micturition, followed by tertian fever.

Eph. Nat. Cur. Dec. I., ann. 4. Welsch, Obs. 15. Sau-vages, Spec. 11. De Hautesierk, Obs., Tom. II., p. 300; Comment. Lipsienses XIX., p. 297.

Quartan Fever, Thom. Bartholinus, Cap. 4, hist. 35. Sen-nert, Paralip., p. 116. Fr. Hoffman, Med. rat. system III., p. 175.74

Vertigo and a Total Sinking of the Strength, Gabelchofer, Obs. Med. Cent. II., obs. 42.

Vertigo Like Epilepsy, Fr. Hoffmann, Consult. Med. I., Cas. 12.75

Epilepsy Like Vertigo, Fr. Hoffmann, as ab., p. 30.76.