Pyrogen – A clinical
case.
By Henry Clay Allen
Presented by Sylvain Cazalet
Dr Henry
Clay Allen
(1836-1909)In August, 1888, N.
B—., a child of four years spent a weeks with his grandmother in
Detroit, in whose resident ! sewer pipes and plumbing were being
repaired. September 1, a few days after his return, he was attacked at 2
A. M. I was called at 5 A. M. and found the following :Vomiting and
purging ; stools profuse and watery. Cold extremities, cold ears
and nose ; forehead bathed in Did perspiration.Tongue heavily coated,
yellowish gray fur ; edges and tip very red.Great prostration. No
pain or cramps.
Veratrum,
1M.
in water, a teaspoonful after every attack of vomiting, which would
average about 10 minutes.Saw him again at 8 A.
M. Could not take the medicine in water.Vomiting and purging no
better, though the stool was not profuse. The coldness and prostration
were marked and the ale face was bathed in cold sweat.Great restlessness,
mental and physical. Pulse 140, feeble and wiry ; temperature
99°F.Great thirst for small
quantities, but the smallest quantity was instantly rejected by the
stomach.
Arsenicum.,
CM
three powders, one every half hour, and ten S. L. until I saw him.12.30. No improvement.
Nausea and vomiting
persistent, and the stool though not so profuse as in early morning was
now horribly offensive-a carrion like odor.Face pale and sunken,
and bathed in cold perspiration.The tongue was dark
red, and devoid of the heavy coating of the early morning.Intense thirst but
water < both vomiting and purging. No pain.
Carbo-veg
1m. every 15 minutes for four doses, then S. L., 4 P. M. ; no
improvement, patient evidently sinking, impossible to count the pulse.The symptoms being
unchanged, except for the worse especially the odor of the stool, I gave
him Baptisia 200, in solution of
alcohol and water, every half hour, but at 8 P. M. there was still no
re-action from the evidently downward course.Thinking perhaps that
sewer gas poison may have been a factor in the cause and the clean,
fiery red tongue persistent vomiting and purging and the horribly
offensive color of the stool with entire absence of pain, called my
attention to the report of a case in the Homœopathic World, by Dr.
Burnett, cured with Pyrogen. Pyrogen
CM. Two doses dry on the tongue and S. L. gave prompt and permanent
relief.April 24, 1890 :
Elsie B—., age 14, could not go to school. Had complained for a week
of feeling tired, but in every other respect was well, she said. Her
father on application of thermometer found the temperature 102, pulse
108 and was alarmed. I found her tongue abnormally red, with a very thin
white fur at base, but no symptoms. As she had a slight epistaxis in the
morning and the genus epidemicus at the time being Bryonia, I gave her a dose of the 1m, and
left S. L. There was no further nasal hæmorrhage and a conspicuous
absence of symptoms ; yet the pulse and temperature continued to
rise each day reaching 120 and 104.5, respectively, while the tongue was
dark red and very dry, but without thirst. She took S. L. for a day
waiting for symptoms on which to hang a prescription. As they declined
to appear and suspecting sewer gas a cause Pyrogen,
one dose, was given and she rapidly recovered. An examination revealed a
defective pipe in the basement.
DISCUSSION
Dr H.N.
GuernseyDr. Guernsey :
Is a fiery, or dark red tongue an indication of Pyrogen ?
Dr. H. C. Allen :
Both ;
first fiery, and then dark red and intensely dry like a scarlatina
tongue.
Dr. Campbell :
Do you always
associate such a tongue with sewer gas ?
Dr. H. C. Allen :
Not
necessarily ; but sewer gas is one of the things they are stirred
up about in Chicago. The previous case called my attention to it.
Dr. Thomson :
Was the tongue
denuded of its epithelium ?
Dr. H. C. Allen :
No it was
clean, smooth, dry ; first fiery and then dark red, glossy shiny
and easily moistened.
Dr. Wesselhoeft :
When there was
a great deal of talk about sewer gas in out city, I had an old privy
vault obliterated and filled up. I said to one of the workmen :
“Poor fellow, you must be awfully sick, working all the time in
sewer gas.” “What are you thinking about.” Said us
“I am never sick. I never know a healthier set of fellow than sewer
workers are.”
Dr. H. C. Allen :
That bears out
the investigation of science. It is the sewer gas that you cannot smell
that is dangerous. The offensive kind takes care of itself.
Source :
Medical Advance, 1891.
Copyright © Sylvain
Cazalet 2001
