Relapses, were subject to oedematous Swellings; especially of the Feet, towards the Evening, after sitting up all the Day. These Swellings generally went away as the Sick recovered their Strength; but in some Cases they continued obstinate, and ascended towards the Thighs; and in some spread all over the Body, and terminated in an universal Anasarca.

When these Swellings were recent, and confined to the Feet and Legs, commonly the Bark joined to the lixivial Salts, or the Oxymel of Squills, or other Diuretics, and a Purgative once or twice a Week, removed them. In some, an Infusion of Horse-radish had a good Effect; in others, Sweats brought out by means of Dover’s Powder, or of the guttæ antimoniales anodynæ.

Sometimes these Swellings were very obstinate, and resisted the Force of all internal Remedies. In such Cases, Punctures made in the Feet, or lower Part of the Legs, which furnished a Drain for the Water, had a good Effect. Blisters applied to the Legs were of Service to some. When the Punctures were made, or the Blisters applied, before the Patient’s Strength was exhausted, provided that he laboured under no other Disorder but these oedematous Swellings, which proceeded from Weakness, I never observed any bad Effects from them; tho’ I used them both repeatedly in a Variety of Cases. But if the Patient was very weak; or had a Hectic Fever or Purging; or other Disorders, and the oedematous Swellings large; then oftentimes the great Discharge exhausted his Strength, and a Gangrene and Death were the Consequence.

One of the most remarkable Instances of the good Effects of Blisters, was in the Case of a Soldier at Paderborn; Thomas Hope, of the Second Regiment of Foot Guards, after a Fever of this Kind, was swelled all over, especially about the Face and Neck, and had a Difficulty of Breathing: after having tried Variety of Medicines for this Complaint, without any Effect, he had a large Blister applied to his Back, and took the Cortex in a Mixture, with the Oxymel of Squills. As soon as the Blister began to discharge, the Swellings decreased; and were afterwards entirely removed by the Help of one or two Doses of Physic, and the continued Use of the Medicines before prescribed. Three other Men in the Hospital at Osnabruck, in May 1761, having oedematous Swellings of the Feet and Legs, which yielded to no internal Remedies, had Blisters applied to their Legs, used the Cortex, with the lixivial Salts, two or three Times a Day, and a Purge every fourth Day; which removed the Swellings in a short Time.

Some of the Soldiers, who had repeated Hospital Fevers, had their Blood so much broke down, as to be subject to profuse Hæmorrhages from the Nose; and some of them passed Blood likewise by Stool; which reduced them to a very low State, sometimes attended with imminent Danger. In such Cases we found nothing to answer so well as to give freely of the Bark; to acidulate their Drinks with the spiritus vitrioli; to allow them as much Red Wine as the Strength and present Circumstances could bear; and at the same Time to support the Patient’s Strength by a mild Diet, of light Digestion; as Water or Rice Gruel, Panado, weak Broth, and the like. When there was a Tendency to a Diarrhœa, we were obliged to add some of the electuarium diascordii to the Cortex, and frequently to give an Opiate in the Evening. One Case, where this Method of Cure had a very remarkable good Effect, I had under my Care at Paderborn. A Soldier who lay in one of the lower Wards of the Jesuits Hospital, after a Malignant Fever, attended with a Flux, used to bleed at the Nose, to four, five, or six Ounces at a Time; and once or twice lost near a Pint of Blood, of a dark Colour, very thin and watery, and of so loose a Texture, that the grumous Part scarcely coagulated. This Evacuation brought him so low, that he could scarce turn himself in Bed; and his Pulse might be said rather to flutter than beat: By the continued Use of the Bark, and of Cordials, and Drinks acidulated with spiritus vitrioli, and some Spoonfulls of mulled Red Wine every two or three Hours, he was restored to Health and Strength. The only Accident which happened during the Cure, was a Threatening of a Looseness, and the Return of his Flux; which however was stopt by a Dose of the tinctura rhei; by joining some of the electuarium diascordii with the Bark, and giving an Opiate in the Evening.