History of medical practice in Illinois - Bushnell Historical Society

Otolaryngology 295tions in scarlet fever, and the lighting up of an overlooked chronic inflammationwith fatal results or with deaf-mutism in very young children.Where no instruments were available, he used a home made speculum ofwhite paper and a mirror with a little of the quicksilver scraped from thecenter.Dr. Gill's interest in croup continued and in1880 he reported on "TheIdentity or Non-identity of Membranous Croup and Diphtheria."(Trans.111. State Med. Soc, 1880, pp. 176-208.) He felt that no distinction could bemade by microscopic or chemical examination of the membrane or by clinicalmanifestation, giving the world-wide knowledge of the disease to thatperiod. As for "Tracheotomy in Croup and Diphtheria," Dr. E. W. Leeand Dr. Christian Fenger, surgeon and pathologist respectively, of the CookCounty Hospital, reported between 30 and 40 cases with eight recoveries.(Trans. 111. State Med. Soc, 1880, pp. 85-98.) They used a soft rubber innertube but warned that the operation was somewhat risky. They mentioneda circular tracheal flap technic and sutures to hold the incision open as asubstitute for the tube.Dr. Hotz, in his report on Ophthalmology and Otology reviewed newbooks on the early diagnosis of phlebitis of the lateral sinus, malarial otitis,and mentioned the audiphone as a boon to the deaf, only to condemn it.(Trans. 111. State Med. Soc, 1881, p. 168.) Dr. E. L. Holmes was of the sameopinion.Dr. E. Fletcher Ingals of Chicago in 1881 published a paper on "LaryngealTumors" with 12 illustrations, and 17 case reports of benign andmalignant lesions. (Trans. 111. State Med. Soc, 1881, pp. 190-215.) For cancerof the larynx he quoted Dr. P. Kock, "The skill of the surgeon is, in somecases, shown by the patient not dying under his knife." His records showed20 extirpations, 2 only surviving or remaining free from recurrence. Thefollowing year he reported three cases of obstruction of the larynx andtrachea, from one of which he removed a foreign body by tracheotomy.(Trans. 111. State Med. Soc, 1882, p. 91.) He advocated prompt tracheotomyin croup.Dr. Jones continued to be a frequent contributor to the literature ofophthalmology and otology. In 1883 he called attention to the need forearly diagnosis and treatment of ear disease, to mumps and boiler-makers'deafness, quinine as a cause of hearing loss, but denied malaria as anetiologic factor in otitis. He mentioned the possibility of erosion of the internalcarotid in suppurative mastoiditis, and advised opening and drainageof the mastoid in suppurative disease. Nonsuppurative progressivedeafness was mentioned as well as deafness due to noisy occupations and"city life." He was one of the pioneers in this country to urge that deafmutes be taught articulate speech and that sign language be abandoned.