Pulmonary consumption : bronchitis, asthma, chronic cough, and various other diseases of the chest, successfully treated by medicated inhalations

Front matter

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DISEASES OP THE CHEST

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Preface

TO THE PKESENT EDITION.

Since the publication of this work in the year 1844, five large, and four abridged, editions have been disposed of. The seal of public approval having thus been set upon the book, I have endeavoured (so far as my little leisure time has permitted) to increase the value and importance of its contents, by concentration, substitution, and correction. What I mean by substitution is, the throwing out several chapters upon subordinate subjects, and replacing them by other matter, more immediately bearing upon my theme, i. e. the rationality, philosophy, and practical result of Medicated Inhalations.

It is not my intention to enter upon any hypothetical speculations — my only object being that of rendering the work of a purely practical character. The observations I shall offer are not the creatures of imagination, or the theories of the closet ; they are promulgated under the sole patronage of Nature and Truth.

vi PREFACE TO THE PRESENT EDITION.

I am gratified in being enabled to state that an enlarged experience, derived from a more extensive practice in affections of the chest than usually falls to the lot of an individual, has tended to confirm the opinion which I expressed in the first edition of this treatise, viz. — that no plan which has ever been proposed for the treatment of pulmonary, bronchial, laryngeal, or tracheal diseases, is so natural in its action, so complete in its application, and so successful in its results, as the inhalation of medicated vapours, when conjoined with general remedies.

I say " conjoined with general remedies," for, although the direct application of medicines to the diseased organ by Inhalation is the only means by which affections of the chest can possibly be effectually reached and acted on, it must ever be borne in mind that I do not exclude such other measures as the progress or other circumstances of the case suggest or admit ; conscious, to quote the language of Horace, —

• Altcrius sic

There are many sympathetic affections, as functional derangement of the bowels, liver, suppression of accustomed secretions, &c, which not only add greatly to the p>atient's distress, but, if overlooked, would retard, or altogether frustrate, a recovery. These complications, it is hardly necessary to say, require the administration of routine remedies.

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The great Samuel Johnson has remarked that " Truth is feeble when it stands alone ; " and as it may be inquired (and very naturally so) whether other physicians have tested and verified the efficacy of the treatment by Inhalation, I have on the present occasion extracted many observations and cases from the writings of several eminent authorities which incontrovertibly prove its success in arresting disease, in restoring to health patients who had for years been steadily declining, and in rescuing from a premature grave those who had been, by the common consent of medical men, of friends, and of themselves, pronounced irretrievably its victims.

In any merit that may be given me, I am proud and honoured in associating with myself such talented and respected members of the profession ; and it is always most pleasing and satisfactory to me to quote the experience and testimony of others in regard to Inhalation ; not only as a flattering support to my views and opinions, but as affording an additional basis for a correct judgment on the part of my medical brethren.

It is with no little pleasure I can inform those readers who take an interest in the treatment by Inhalation, that it is now extensively and successfully practised in France, Germany, Russia, and America. In the latter country this work has been reprinted and edited by Dr. Green, and with the happiest results — so much so, that since the introduction of this mode of practice there has been a

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steady decrease in the mortality from pulmonary diseases.*

I have endeavoured to render the work interesting to the general as well as the professional reader ; but without, I hope, descending from the dignity of a philosojahical discussion. It may be objected that in my writings I have occasionally wandered from the direct line of my profession, and addressed myself to the non-medical reader. Should it be so, I do not think that there is reason for me to be ashamed, but rather to be afraid, to tread in the steps of a Hufeland or a Beddoes. f Indeed the spirit of inquiry is so much abroad in these times, that people will know, even in professional matters, the " why and wherefore," and what to accept and what to reject ; and it is my desire, to adopt the expressive language of the late learned and honoured Dr. Armstrong, " not to attack individuals, but openly to oppose systematic and established errors ; ay, and, if possible in the accumulated strength of this

* In reference to this important fact, the Editor of the New York Medical and Surgical Journal writes thus : — " On the remarkable decrease in the number of deaths from consumption in New York since the introduction of inhalation, it is scarcely necessary to add anything to the annual reports of the City Inspector for the past three years. By reference to these it will be seen that there were, in 1854, 3032 deaths from this disease. In 1855 these were reduced to 2624, while during the past year there has been a still further diminution, the number being 2421, showing a salvation of human life exceeding 600 souls in a single year, from what would have been the mortality had the ratio continued the same as before the introduction of this treatment ; and this, too, without taking into consideration the increase of population."

t Vide Hufeland, ' L'Art de prolonger lc Vie,' and Beddoes, ' Hygiena.'

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age, to grasp, and rend, and wrench away the forms and the fooleries, the mysteries and the mummeries, by which the practice of physic has been encumbered and obscured, and to present it in the plain and palpable simplicity of common sense." — (Lectures, on the Theory and Practice of Physic.)

The great obstacle which every medical discovery has to contend against is the difficulty — amounting almost to an impossibility — of making the public acquainted with its real nature and tendency. For this reason, as well as from a real feeling of gratitude, I cannot omit to again offer my sincere thanks to the Press for their very cordial efforts in desseminating a knowledge of Inhalation, and their general testimony as to the soundness of my views. Such powerful influences can scarcely fail to permanently and effectually establish it in public favour. If the truth, or half the truth, were universally known, there would not be, I sincerely believe, a patient afflicted with disease of the respiratory organs, throughout the whole United Kingdom, who would not feel that in Inhalation, and in it alone, he had a rational and well-founded hope of recovery.

A. B. MADDOCK, M.D.

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PREFACE

TO THE FIRST EDITION.

The Author of the following pages has devoted, for many years, his particular attention to complaints of the lungs and heart, and the practicability of producing healthy changes on diseased structures of those organs, by the inhalation of vapours containing the active or curative principles of medicinal substances. During the period referred to, the Author noted down in his Case Book the results of this mode of treatment ; and, in the course of his readings from time to time, added, from various sources, the opinions and experience of other practitioners, who had adopted a somewhat similar treatment. These scattered facts and observations he has now revised and collected in the present Treatise, with the hope of directing more general attention to this efficient remedial agent, which has been so unaccountably overlooked by a great majority of his professional brethren.

As it is probable that the work, from the interest and importance of the diseases on which it treats,

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will be perused by many non-medical persons — for anything calculated to throw a ray of light on thentreatment, or the hope of arresting their hitherto unchecked career, must be interesting to the public as well as the profession — it has been the wish of the Writer to explain, in as clear and familiar a style as possible, intelligible alike to all classes of readers, the principles upon which the practice of Inhalation is founded, as well as the various remedies employed, and the best mode of using them.

It is the Author's opinion, that a work intended for the advancement of any science should be so far professional as to be readable by the professions and so far popular as to be interesting to the man of general intelligence ; and he fully concurs with the late Dr. Currie, " that it were better for medicine, like other branches of natural knowledge, to be brought from its hiding-place, and exhibited in the simplicity of science and the nakedness of truth." When a medical treatise, like the present, is free from technicalities in its terminology, a benefit is conferred on society, by enabling a patient to become a critic in his own complaint ; and thus, many persons are not only prevented from falling victims to error in the treatment, or placing themselves in improper hands, but are instructed how to take care of their health, and are rendered more observant of their own altered sensations, as indications of approaching disease ; and also capable of giving accurate information, whether they con-

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suit personally or by letter, as to the seat and signs of disordered functions, and those leading facts which regulate professional opinion — which they could not satisfactorily communicate, without the previous knowledge that such writings impart. More especially has the Author been induced to make the public acquainted with the rationale of Inhalation, from the fact that a great majority of his professional brethren have refused, or neglected, to ascertain the truth of the assertions and experience of those practitioners who have adopted this important remedial agent, — and have remained content with denying, when it has been a duty they have owed to themselves and their patients to have examined.

It is not, however, to be expected that the generality of mankind, in the event of inactivity or supineness on the part of their medical advisers, should look on with indifference, and refrain from using their own individual exertions towards promoting the more common employment of a remedial agent, by which, in some cases, if not universally, a chance may exist of staying the mighty havoc which complaints of the chest make in our domestic circles; and snatching from the tomb some at least of its annual victims.

But while divesting the Treatise, as far as practicable, of professional technicalities, it must be distinctly understood, that it is very far from the intention of the Author to recommend self or

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domestic treatment. No friend to his species would advise the uninitiated to treat those diseases which have hitherto baffled the skill of the physician. When the varied resources of the medical art have been found unavailing, the best devices of persons ignorant of the principles and practice of medicine are only likely to hasten a fatal termination.

The Author hopes that any inaccuracies of style, or other defects, will be considered by the reader with indulgence ; for, in the midst of those active and important duties which daily devolve upon him, he has but little leisure left for literary occupation, but it appeared to him better to attempt to do good — even though it be done in an imperfect manner — than not to do it at all.

In conclusion, the Author claims no merit beyond that of promoting and extending this invaluable means for the direct local application of remedies ; and if his humble labours tend to prolong the life, or alleviate the sufferings, of one of his fellow-creatures, he will think them amply repaid.

A. B. M.

January, 1844.

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PREFACE

BY THE EDITOE OF THE AMERICAN EDITION.

(ABRIDGED.)

With pleasure we introduce an American Edition of Dr. Maddock's celebrated work on the efficacy of Medicated Inhalations in Diseases of the Chest. We do it, we say, with pleasure, because whatever knowledge can be promulgated that will bear directly against these complaints, and especially against that most dreadful and fatal of them all — Pulmonary Consumption — should be freely and unhesitatingly tendered. In England the work has elicited universal praise, several large editions having been sold almost as soon as they were issued from the press ; and it is presumed that the undeniable truths which the volume contains, if republished in this country, will not only meet the approval of all candid and inquiring minds, but also become eminently useful.

Dr. Maddock has had very extended experience, and the successful cases here reported by him — some fifty in number — must present to any unprejudiced mind the most satisfactory evidence of the

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decided superiority of Inhalation over the ordinary mode of treatment.

Routine practice — aptly called hy Dr. Elliotson the "old jog-trot system" — it must he admitted, is utterly useless in a curative, and, generally speaking, in a palliative point of view, in diseases of the respiratory organs, as evidenced by the Report of the Committee to whom was referred the consideration of Tuberculous Complaints, before the American Medical Association which assembled in May, 1853, in New York. Dr. D. P. Condie, of Pennsylvania, reported that the committee " had considered the subject very attentively, and the more they did so, the more they doubted the generally-received opinions regarding Tuberculosis, both as to its causes and treatment." In the face of these facts can any liberal-minded practitioner hesitate to give Inhalation an impartial trial ?

It is not unknown to us that some physicians, having little or no practical knowledge of Inhalation, find a brief mode of avoiding inquiry or explanation, by condemning it in toto ; but we are gratified in being enabled to report that numerous practitioners in this city, and throughout the Union, have extensively employed this great remedial agent, and have pronounced it to be a most efficient auxiliary — nay, a sine qua non — in the treatment of all affections of the thorax.*

* The Editor of the New York Medical and Surgical Journal (Jan. 1, 1856), says " The profession, almost as a body, now recognises the necessity xvi PREFACE TO THE AMERICAN EDITION.

Among other celebrated physicians, Dr. Jenner Coxe, of this city, has published an interesting work on Inhalation, in which he gives many instances of its curative influence, not only in the cases of others, but in that of himself. " In reference to my own case," Dr. C. says, " which was the first in which I employed Inhalation, it may not be amiss to state that, for years, I had given an ample trial to all the remedies which were suggested by many of the most experienced American and French physicians, without being able to effect more than an alleviation of the most distressing symptoms attendant upon a chronic disease of the mucous membrane of the larynx and trachea." After narrating numerous examples of recovery, Dr. Coxe concludes thus : — " I hope that I have now convincingly proved that medical Inhalation is not only peculiarly applicable, but that it has displayed for a radical change in the old treatment of diseases of the lungs, and we are convinced that the change must be an adoption of the direct application of medicines to the seat of disease, through the instrumentality of medicated inhalations. As an evidence that we do not over-estimate either the extent or the influence of these recent adhesions to our views and practice, we would mention among those who, to our knowledge, have of late prescribed inhalation — Dr. Sayre ; Dr. Alex. B. Mott ; Professor Horace Green, of the New York Medical College ; Dr. Cammann, and Professor Alonzo Clark, of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of this city ; Professor Dixi Crosby, of the Vermont Medical College ; and Dr. Bowditch, of Boston.

" These gentlemen all occupy a very high position in our profession, and cannot be supposed to act from other than a strong conviction of the value and excellency of the practice. However injudicious may be many of their early experiments, and frequent their failure from the want of that guiding knowledge whicli practical instruction or long experience alone can give, we cannot but regard this as the dawning of great and important changes in the practice of medicine."