Directory_and_Chronicle_1850 — Page 288

1850.

Report of the Ophthalmic Hospital.

265

be done. The wound was carefully cleansed with castile soap and warm water, remaining sloughs removed, a solution of nitrate of silver applied to the surface, the pain of which was arrested by the ap- plication of milk when it could be borne by the patient no longer; emollient poultices were applied for a time; the bowels were gently acted upon by blue pill and colocynth, rest at night procured by morphia, and a nutritious diet prescribed.

For some time I saw the patient daily or every other day, dressing the parts as above described, and perceiving decided improvement, it was proposed that she be brought to the Hospital, where she could be attended to more conveniently, and receive the constant care of my senior pupil. This was cheerfully acceded to. After remaining at the Hospital some weeks, her daughter, who had been in constant at- tendance, thought she had become so familiar with the mode of dress- ing the sore, that if furnished with the means she could do it at home as well as in the Hospital. The request was granted, and the family- mother, daughter, nephews and servants, went back to the country. As the supply of medicines, particularly the solution of nitrate of silver (which was much extolled) and simple cerate became exhausted, more were requested, and favorable reports from time to time of convalescence of the patient were made. On a recent occasion, in which a number of foreign gentlemen and ladies met several Chinese ladies at a picnic in the vicinity of the Factories, the wife of the Chinese merchant above- named was one of the party, and recognizing the "Doctor," alluded to the case of her relative whom she represented as being well and able to walk.

Baffled in accounting satisfactorily for the origin of this serious mala- dy, with the hope of obtaining more information, the following account was obtained from her son.

"In February, 1847, my mother had a sore suddenly occur upon the abdomen, hard as a nut, without redness or tumefaction. At the expiration of one year the noxious properties of the sore made a great ado, and the pains and distress were difficult to be borne. We re- quested the physician of the village to see her and examine her pulse, who applied medicinal plasters, and the skin and flesh were altogether destroyed, even to exposing the bone [of the ilium], and the dis- ease became nearly incurable. I had been aware of the skillful hand of the American Doctor, but [my mother] being a country lady, to- gether with the circumstance of her severe illness, was induced to hesitate and delay coming to the provincial city for treatment. Sub-