[Page 1]

This case appears to have been singularly obstinate &
& tho instances of such before requiring very long courses of
mercury yet such cases are very rare & am persuaded
Mr O - has had as much Merc. as sufficient to eradicate any
Venereal taint & I suspect some [fallacy?] in his prest sym¬
ptoms. I have known the long use of Merc. leave a ten¬
derness in the mouth & throat, so that they became easily in¬
flamed & gave false alarms; & I wd suspect the pain in
the thyroid gland Cartilage to be of this kind rather than
venereal. As for the sores on the prepuce I suspect the
language to be too strong in calling them chancres &
hope they are excoreations wh readily arise from a little
neglect in keeping the parts clean. With this view, I
cannot advise the repetition of Merc. but the use of
the Decoction of Mezereon with a Diet entirely of Milk
& farinacea. In the mean time wash the glans &
prepuce twice a day or oftener with a solution of
Sacch: Saturn: I hope these will relieve Mr O - but
at this distance & without knowing the circumstances
of the case more exactly I cannot be positive in their
advice but shall be ready to alter it upon further
information & particularly if the throat is not only
inflamed; but has an ulcer also breaking out upon it
& especially if that ulcer affect the Velum, think
it adviseable to the return to the use of Mercury; but
I beg there may be no hesitation in writing to me as often
as either Mr O - or Mr Taylor think proper. I
expect ↑while↑ he is not using Mercury that no griping
nor looseness will take place & on the contrary if Cos¬
tiveness come on let him try in the first place
by a Dose of flowers of Sulphur