Review of Dental Literature and Art. [Volume: 2, Issue: 6, January, 1861, pp. 334-344]

REVIEW OF DENTAL LITERATURE AND ART.

337

limited; but she had brandy and narcotics. Small doses of calomel, with
an occasional dose of Husband's magnesia, were the effective agents in
her relief. She is now rapidly regaining health and strength.
"Mrs. J. S. C., an exceedingly delicately-organized lady, in the meridian of life, whose residence is in New York City, with, for the last four
or five years, fair average health, was taken ill while on a visit to relatives
in our city during the last summer.
"From her peculiar organization she had some idiosyncrasies in regard
to standard remedies, which forbid, as she had been told in New York,
their use in her case. I found opium was out of the question, and she had
a great terror of calomel and blue pill.
"' Respecting, as I did, her prejudices, they were not employed in the
earlier part of the treatment of her sickness, though indicated at times
very strongly. Her case was diagnosed as hay asthma, or autumnal
catarrh, characterized by severe cough, great sense of exhaustion, intensely
reddened mucous membranes; and, at a later stage, intense pain in the
head. Finding it impossible to obtain relief from stimulants and external
applications, recourse was had to an emetic, followed by blue pill and
magnesia, with prompt and effectual relief; as she rapidly recuperated,
recovered strength and appetite, and went home very much improved,
with few, if any traces of her tedious illness while absent.
"J. T., aged twenty-five, cotton factor, of good general health, consulted me in the fall of 1859, for intermittent headache, for which quinine
was prescribed; which, however, failed to arrest it. The doses were
repeated in much larger quantities, until it was satisfactorily ascertained
that they would not arrest it. Local applications of every conceivable
sort, including electricity, also failed. Alteratives, with purging remedies, were also prescribed, with like results. The last prescription was
carb. ferri. precip., which likewise failed, when he ceased to consult me,
having made up his mind he could not get rid of it. Some time after, a
toothache sent him to a dentist, who extracted it; after which, for
months, his headache never returned. It did, however, return, when a
tooth was found tender and extracted; since which, up to this time, he
has had no return of the pain in his head, and enjoys very good health.
"No claim is made to any of the cases cited as being in themselves
very remarkable; on the contrary, they are common; but they fairly represent several aspects of facial neuralgia and pain in the head. From
them we may deduce as follows:" That the cause of pain in the face or about the head, in the majority
of cases, must be sought for elsewhere than the seat of the pain.
"That local applications, of themselves, do not possess much value as
remedial agents. The apparent exception in the second case must be
received with some caution, as the constitutional treatment was in progress at the time of the application of the freezing mixture, and culminated in the critical discharges from the bowels the following afternoon and
night; though due credit must be given for the prompt relief it gave at
the time.
"That the general principles applicable to the treatment of inflammation, irritation, and congestion, are pretty certain to bring relief of a permanent character, as opposed to the plan of temporary relief from.external
applications and stimulants internally.
"That when the cause is located in a caries of the teeth, or periosteal
inflammation, constitutional treatment for the most part fails; the tooth
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