Colonial North America: Countway Library of Medicine

96

Materia Medica

Astringents

The last is a verry valuable preparation and is made in the following manner, heat a saturated solution of Alum with the white of eggs untill they acquire the consistance of curd, this may be applied to the naked eye or inclosed in a bag of gauze or fine scinning, in Opthalmia Membranum, Dr Cullen used to say he thought it a speific. There is a disease not commonly met with in children, but also formed in more advanced life, and which is not noticed particularly by any author, In which I have employ'd alum whey with the greatest success. I mean that troublesome affection of the prepuce resembling verry much in its nature and appearance a dropsical swelling. You will often be called on to relieve the anxiety and solicetude of parents arising from their ignorance of the disease, and I can advise no remidy more successfull than the one Just mentioned. There are many other preparations of allum in use, and it has been used in various and numerous diseases, I have mentioned the most important.

Saccharum Saturni. I proceed to speak of Lead in doing so, I shall first mention the preparations made use of, Secondly the modus operandi, thirdly its use in diseases, by the Acetic acid we obtain two forms, the white lead and the Saccharum

112

Materia Medica

Astringents

The Sach. Sat. may generally if not always exhibitted with perfect safety, yet it may be well in cases in which we have not already used the medicine to watch its effects with nice attention, there are I believe some persons that are liable to be injured by verry small doses of lead. I believe it is a fact whether taken internally or applied to the surface in form of vapores it does not in general produce its bad effects untill some days after it has been used. The largest dose that I ever gave as I have already said was grs viij [8 grains] combined with grs i [1 grain] of Opium, much larger doses have been given by others the late Dr Jones gave ℈i [1 scruple] to a lady with Uterine hemorrhage and thereby saved his patients life. I have heard of grs XXXVi [36 grains] being given in twenty four hours, if after using it three or four days it does not become usefull I desist for as many and then resume its use. I cannot think there is any such thing as specifics but I think the Sach. Sat. comes nearer a specific in hemorrhage than anything else.

146

Materia Medica

Tonics

but it is not. It is the produce of a tree in the East Indies, where it is used as a specific for the bite of a snake. The seed of the plant is the nux vomica of the shops, it is of an Orange colour and intensely bitter and disagreeable to the taste. It contains a gum and a resin. It is fatal to dogs Conrad Gisnac gave a dog ℈fs [½ scruple] he fell a sleep and died convulsed in a few hours, but it was not a true sleep accompanied with stupor and insensibility. It has been used in intermittant fevers in doses of grs v [5 grains], it is internally and externally as an anthelmintic, the spiritous tincture has been found usefull in Lumbrica cotton dipped in it and appli'd to the umbilicus has expelled them.

Fumaria Officinalis. Fumitory is not a native of this country, but will grow in our gardens, it is a bitter without odour, the inspissated Juice when efforesced leaves a substance which diflagrates like nitre on the coals. Hoffman esteemed it the sweetener of the blood, by this he ment a purifier, he held the humeral Pathology, we may observe that some of those medicines called sweeteners are verry active. Dr Hutchinson says he cured a case of leprae, accompanied with glandular swellings by the use of this medicine. Stanbury found it usefull in herpes,

158

Materia Medica

Tonics

this is found principally in the mountainous parts of Germany, Professor Bergius says it is Emetic, Diuretic, Diaphoretic, Errhine, and Emmenagogue, it is used in Germany to dissolve coagulated blood. Dr Cullen of Vienna used the flowers in Spasmodic paralytic diseases from ℥i to ℥ij [1 to 2 ounces] a day he speaks of its efficacy in intermittant fevers. Dr Haen says he does not know of a medicine more entitled to the name of a specific than this, he says it is preferable to all others in Dysentaries and malignant fevers, he used it likewise in Phthisis, Collequative sweats &c, ℥fs [½ ounce] every two hours. Dr Monroe gave it with good effect in several cases of intermittant fevers it has been used in Scorbutic diseases. Authors inform us when it cures paralysis it excites much uneasiness; if we believe all that is said of this medicine we should rank it with the most valuable. It has been used but little in Britain, and never that I know of in America, however it is a medicine deserving attention.

Eupatorium Perfoliatum. I have not spoken of this before in any of my lectures. It grows in wet situations, in New England it is called thorough stern, in Virginia Cross Wort and in what the Indians call Ague Weed, the leaves are evidently bitter

183

Diaphoretics

the Eupatorium. The class in order is those which determine to the skin without producing sweat, "and first of."

Guaicum officinales. Or Lignum Vita, of which there are three kinds. It is the Gum Guicum which we use and this is a Gum Resin, a Warm Stimulant, Diaphoretic, Diuretic and Purgative, the wood is often used in decoction and maybe given in the quantities of lbij [2 pounds] to lbviij [8 pounds] pr Diem [per day]. This medicine was formerly trusted to principally in the cure of Syphilis before Mercury became to be known as a specific. It is now pretty generally agreed to on all