C. Syphilis; (H.G.P.).

Remarks

Shortly after the introduction of Jaborandi, it occurred to the writer that its sudorific properties might be turned to account in the treatment of syphilis. I therefore administered jaborandi together with mercury, hoping to obtain the beneficial effects formerly attributed to the old decoetiones lignorum, represented in modern times by Zitt-mann'a decoction. Subsequently I prepared a small quantity of the iodo-hydrargyrate of pilocarpia; and my friend, Dr. Chas. Rice, prepared a couple of ounces of it. This I had triturated with nine times its weight of milk sugar, and administered doses of two to five grains of the trituration in a number of cases of secondary and tertiary syphilis in hospital and private practice. With one exception the cases improved while taking the drug, but I am not prepared to say that they improved any faster than they would have done under other treatment. In a single instance (a case of rupia), sloughing attacked the ulcers, which rapidly increased in size, and, uncontrolled by local applications and large doses of iodide of potassium, finally resulted in death from exhaustion.