Observations on the nature and preparation of the elaterium / [Henry Clutterbuck].

  • Henry Clutterbuck
Date:
[1819]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Observations on the nature and preparation of the elaterium / [Henry Clutterbuck]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    REPOSITORY. -» i i t r . /; ,(•' . . i f \ . > fj . . ' •|l^==^^^ -■ =^-?rr=-= -— No. 67- JULY 1, 1819- Vol. XII. PART I. ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS. I. Observations on the Nature and Preparation of the Elaterium. Read at the Medical Society of London, April 24, 1819. By Dr. Clutterbuck, President. '*#%**' The subject of the following observations is, with the exception of arsenic, perhaps, and the Hydro-cyanic or Prus¬ sic acid, lately introduced into practice, the most active in the catalogue of the materia medica. It is also, according to my experience, one of the most useful, and applicable to many more purposes than is generally understood. I know of no medicine, indeed, from which 1 have derived greater benefit on various occasions, nor one in which greater confidence may be placed. Whatever can be accomplished in the cure of diseases by active purging, may be effected, certainly, by this medicine. It is not, however, my object to point out its particular uses in the treatment of diseases ; these will probably make the subject, of a future communication to the society; my present intention is to make some observations regarding its preparation and doses, — points, as it appears to me, that are by no means generally or sufficiently understood. The high price of the article in the shops, leads to great and frequent adulterations, by which the Practitioner is often disappointed in the effect expected from it; while, from the same cause, there is great uncertainty in regulating the dose; a circumstance not without danger, for when over-dosed, it is capable of producing the most violent, if not fatal, effects ; vol. xij.— no. B