Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-sh8wx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-19T05:36:14.775Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Vapours, gargles, darts and bougies: Victorian ENT treatments

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2012

J Montgomery  and
A Robertson
J Montgomery*
Affiliation:
Department of ENT, Royal Alexandra Hospital, Paisley, Scotland, UK
A Robertson
Affiliation:
Department of ENT, Royal Alexandra Hospital, Paisley, Scotland, UK
*
Address for correspondence: Miss J Montgomery, Department of ENT, Royal Alexandra Hospital, Corsebar Road, Paisley PA2 9PN, Scotland, UK E-mail: jenny_montgomery@hotmail.co.uk
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background:

Sir Morell Mackenzie (1837–1892), the pre-eminent early laryngologist in the UK, is nowadays perhaps better remembered for his role in the management of the Crown Prince of Germany in 1887, than for his major contribution to the development of laryngology as a specialty. In this article we focus upon his text The Pharmacopoeia of the Hospital for Diseases of the Throat (fourth edition), and attempt a comparison of Victorian ENT treatments with today's management of ENT diseases.

Treatments:

Some of these Victorian treatments bear a resemblance to modern day practices. Others have not withstood the test of time, in particular: silver nitrate sticks for syphilitic ulcers of the larynx (not epistaxis); nebulised sulphuric acid, which was used as a stimulant; nasal bougies, including scotch pine and lead acetate; chloroform vapour for the treatment of hay fever; ‘London paste’, a non-surgical treatment for the reduction of the tonsils, (which was perhaps the Victorian equivalent of coblation); and zinc chloride darts, which were plunged into intractable goitres.

Conclusion:

Some of these remedies bear no resemblance to today's evidence-based practices, while other treatments (such as silver nitrate) are still in common use. In Victorian times, however, Mackenzie's books were widely read throughout Europe and were the standard references for a specialty in its infancy. The Pharmacopoeia was published in 1872, and major advances in medicine have been made since then. We have no way of knowing which treatments in today's British National Formulary will still be in use in 140 years.

Keywords

History Of MedicineOtolaryngologyHistory, 19th CenturySilver NitrateUnited Kingdom
Type
Main Articles
Information
The Journal of Laryngology & Otology , Volume 126 , Issue 11 , November 2012 , pp. 1159 - 1163
Copyright
Copyright © JLO (1984) Limited 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

Presented at the joint meeting of the British Society for the History of ENT and The Royal Society of Medicine, Otology Section, 24 September 2010, London, UK

References

1 Mackenzie, M. The Pharmacopoeia of the Hospital for Diseases of the Throat, 4th edn. London: J Bale and Sons, 1870 Google Scholar
2 Weir, N. Sir Morell Mackenzie (1837–1892). In: Mathew, HCG, Harrison, B, eds. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004;35:612–13Google Scholar
3 Wolfenden, RN. Sir Morell Mackenzie MD. J Laryngol Rhinol Otol 1892;6:95–108 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
4 Mackenzie, M. The Pharmacopoeia of the Hospital for Diseases of the Throat, 4th edn. London: J Bale and Sons, 1870;67–74 Google Scholar
5 The treatment of hay fever. BMJ 1903;1:743Google Scholar
6 Mackenzie, M. The Pharmacopoeia of the Hospital for Diseases of the Throat, 4th edn. London: J Bale and Sons, 1870;82Google Scholar
7 Lockard, L. The treatment of hay fever. Boston Medical and Surgical Journal 1903;148:59–62 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
8 MacNaughton-Jones, H. Well marked case of an anaemic exophthalmic goiter treated by seton through the goiter and digitalis. BMJ 1874;2:775Google Scholar
9 Payne, EM. Six cases of goitre. BMJ 1903;1:660–2CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
10 Mackenzie, M. Section B surgery: the treatment of certain forms of bronchocele by injections of iodide. BMJ 1873;1:255Google Scholar
11 Mackenzie, M. The Pharmacopoeia of the Hospital for Diseases of the Throat, 4th edn. London: J Bale and Sons, 1870;30Google Scholar
12 Obituary: John Higginbottom (FRS FRCS Eng). BMJ 1876;1:553Google Scholar
13 Higginbottom, J. An Essay on the Use of Silver Nitrate in the Cure of Inflammation, Wounds and Ulcers. London: Seeley and Burnside, 1829 Google Scholar
14 Block, SS. Historical review. In: Block, SS, ed. Disinfection, Sterilization and Preservation, 5th edn. London: Lippincott, Williams and Wilkins, 2001;3–18 Google Scholar
15 Moore, I. Enlarged and diseased tonsils of cryptic type destroyed by applications of escharotic paste. J Laryngol Rhinol Otol 1919;34:20–2Google Scholar
16 Moore, I. The treatment of enlarged or diseased tonsils where surgical treatments are contraindicated. Proc R Soc Med 1919;12:243–8Google ScholarPubMed
17 Brown, P, Ryan, R, Yung, M, Browne, J, Copley, L, Cromwell, D et al. The National Prospective Tonsillectomy Audit: Final Report of an Audit Carried out in England and Northern Ireland Between 2003 and 2004. London: Royal College of Surgeons of England, 2005 Google Scholar
18 Marriot, J. Pharmaceutical Compounding and Dispensing. London: Pharmaceutical Press, 2006;18Google Scholar
19 Fokkens, W, Lund, V, Mullol, J. European position paper on rhinosinusitis and nasal polyps. Rhinol Suppl 2007;20:1–136 Google ScholarPubMed
20 Haweis, HR. Sir Morell Mackenzie; Physician and Operator: a Memoir Compiled and Edited from Private Papers and Personal Reminisces. London: WH Allen, 1893;250Google Scholar
21 Thomson St, C, Negus, VE. Diseases of the Nose and Throat, 5th edn. London: Cassell, 1949;33–5, 448Google Scholar