Domestic Encyclopædia (1802)/Supplement/Chicken-pox

CHICKEN-POX, or Swine-Pock, Varicella, is a disorder in itself of so little consequence, that we should not have mentioned it, if this affection were not frequently confounded with the Small Pox.

The chicken-pox generally appears without any previous illness; though, in some cases, chillness, cough, loss of appetite, and a slight fever, precede it, for two or three days. On the first appearance of the eruption, the pustules are of a reddish hue; and, on the succeeding day, small vesicles are formed at the top of the former, containing a colourless, or sometimes yellowish, watery fluid. On the third day, the pocks arrive at maturity; after which they gradually die away, leaving a slight scab, which, however, does not extend to the true skin, and produces no mark. This cutaneous affection is seldom attended with serious indisposition, so that medicines are but conditionally required, and often unnecessary.—A few drops of antimonial wine may, nevertheless, be advantageously given, in order to excite a more speedy and uniform perspiration, and consequently to promote recovery.