RESULTS IN TREATMENT OF PARESIS BY INUNCTIONS OF MERCURY AND DRAINAGE OF THE CEREBROSPINAL FLUID

Abstract

Fourteen paretics, who had been showing symptoms from nine months to several years received daily inunctions of mercurial ointment 50 per cent. Every tenth day a lumbar puncture was made and from 20 C. C. to 40 c. c. of fluid withdrawn, the amount depending on the pressure and the rapidity of the flow. A Wassermann reaction was done, using the blood serum; a globulin test, cell count, Lange's colloidal gold test, Wassermann reaction and a chemical test to determine the presence of mercury were done, using the fluid. In seven, or 50 per cent of the cases the blood Wassermann became negative and remained so for varying periods of time; one case had a negative blood at the time of admission and it remained so throughout the period of observation. In 6, or 43 per cent of the cases, the spinal fluid became negative and remained so for varying periods of time. In no instance did the blood or spinal fluid become negative and remain so. All cases had negative globulin tests at one or more examinations, but, with ...