The Meta-Encyclopedia

Throat

Throat names 2 different subjects across the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. Each is set out below.

Throat DISEASES OF THE

Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)

DISEASES OF THE. The diseases of the throat met with in the of the outer practice of medicine do not differ materially from the diseases of other parts of the body. The most frequent form of sore throat is that of a simple erythematous inflammation. The mucous membrane of the pharynx, palate, and tonsils is congested and swollen, and the sub-mucous connective tissue may be greatly relaxed. The treatment of this form of sore throat is very simple. The patient も should be confined to bed in order to secure rest and an equable temperature. A gentle but efficient laxative should be given, and if the pain is severe and the pulse accelerated, a small quantity of morphia and aconite may be added to the aperient. The diet should be light and easily digestible, and the free use of demulcent drinks may be encouraged. The inhalation of steam will be of service in the acute stage, and if the membrane be very much relaxed, astringent solutions of alum, nitrate of silver, carbolic acid, or chlorate of potash, may be topically applied in the form of a spray. In phlegmonous sore throat there is a higher grade of inflammatory action, the disease being designated amygdalitis, quinsy, or tonsilitis. Ulcerated sore throat is often described under the name of angina maligna, or tonsilitis maligna, and is usually attended with typhoid symptoms. It is occasionally attendant on diphtheria, and sometimes follows scarlatina, measles, smallpox, dysentery, and enteric fever. The pain is not so severe as in ordinary sore throat, but soon after the commencement of the affection the tonsils and the surrounding structures are seen to be studded with dark ash-colored ulcers. The disease is apt to extend to the upper part of the pharynx and to the nasal passages, but the larynx is seldom involved. In severe cases death may occur from syncope, coma, or from gradual exhaustion of the vital forces. Membranous sore throat is characterized by the exudation of a fibrinous material, which coagulates into a false membrane. This form of sore throat is often met with during the prevalence of diphtheria and is by many physicians considered a mild form of that disease.

Throat the anterior part of the neck of an animal

Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)

the anterior part of the neck of an animal, in which are the œsophagus and windpipe, or the passages for the food and breath.

What Has Changed in the Last Century

Collier's in 1921 could only describe sore throats by appearance — erythematous, phlegmonous, ulcerated, membranous — and treat them with bed rest, laxatives, morphia and aconite, and sprays of alum, nitrate of silver or carbolic acid. Medicine now names the causes instead: most sore throats are viral and need nothing, while the group A streptococcal ones are confirmed by swab or rapid test and cured with penicillin, available from the 1940s, which also heads off the rheumatic fever that once followed. The "membranous sore throat" Collier's linked to diphtheria was indeed diphtheria; routine toxoid immunisation from the 1920s and 1930s has made it a rarity in vaccinated countries, though outbreaks return where coverage lapses. Tonsillectomy, once almost automatic for recurrent quinsy, is now reserved for narrowly defined cases.

Written for this edition, 2026.