History of medical practice in Illinois - Bushnell Historical Society

Otolaryngology 289Dr. Samuel J. Jones early went on record in the belief that diseases ofthe ear seemed devoid of interest and that treatment was unsatisfactory toa marked degree.(Trans. 111. State Med. Soc, 1870.) His interest in the specialtycontinued, however, and in IS; 1 hedea ribed a timing fork test as follows:"A vibrating fork is placed on the forehead, and the tragus is pressedin; if this diminishes the loudness the tube is closed; if tragus pressure increasesthe loudness the tube is open. If air enters the tube and tragus pressuredoes not increase the hearing the prognosis is less favorable." (Trans.111. State Med. Soc, 1871.) He recommended the method of Hinton, of London,who irrigated the middle ear after paracentesis, the patient's mouth beingheld open so that the stream passed through the nose. Evidence of painnot otherwise definitely accounted for should lead to examination of theear. Dr. Jones referred to "asperquillus" glaucus as a cause of otitis externa,and recommended sulfate of zinc and carbolic acid solution as treatment.In his hands strychnia had no effectin stimulating the nerves of specialsense. He used chloracetic acid as local cautery, and advised inspection ofthe membrana tympani and the use of the auscultation tube.In 1871, in a review of progress in otology (pages 44-48 of the Trans,of 111. State Med. Soc.) Jones made a number of interesting comments:"The usefulness of the ordinary tuning fork of musicians is becoming moreextended as an aid in diagnosis. Next to inflating the Eustachian tubes, it isperhaps the most convenient mode of determining whether or not the tubesbe closed. . . . The method of ridding the middle ear of its accumulation,by incising the membrana tympani, and thus syringing it,was practicedseveral years ago, but the stream was allowed to pass into the throat,making the process so disagreeable to the patient as to have aided in bringingthe operation into disuse." He added that a newer way was to "forcethe stream in through the nostril and out the external meatus. . . . Whensuch an authority as Troeltsch is led, by his belief that there are more earcases than eye cases, and to assert, as his conviction, that not more than onein every three persons between the ages of 20 and 40 years possesses strictlynormal hearing in both ears, we must feel convinced, that if the number bebut one half as great as represented by him, their frequency entitles themto more study than is accorded them by the profession. As to their importance,we readily recognize the great disadvantage diat persons labor underwhose faculty of hearing has become greatly impaired, and to what extentthey are disqualified for many of the vocations of life. The earnestness withwhich these sufferers plead for relief shows how deeply they feel their loss."In the same year (1871) Dr. Prince presented a report of the Committeeon Surgery in which he described a technic for repair of harelip and otherplastic procedures. (Trans. 111. State Med. Soc, 1871.) Also, Dr. Edmund An-