On the physiological and therapeutical effects of colchicum autumnale / by Robert Lewins.

  • Lewins, Robert, approximately 1790-approximately 1847.
Date:
[1841]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the physiological and therapeutical effects of colchicum autumnale / by Robert Lewins. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    of the tincture of the seeds given every three hours would produce a fatal effect.* The late Dr Duncan, in his Dispensatory, has stated that half an ounce of the tincture of the seeds is the proper dose,+ and in Dr Spillan’s work lately published, entitled a collec¬ tion of Medical Formulae, a draught, containing amongst other in¬ gredients, half an ounce of the tincture of the seeds, is ordered to be given every sixth hour. Dr Elliotson prescribed half a drachm of the wine of the seeds of colchicum, to be taken three times a day for a period of three weeks, J and, in another case, he gave the same dose every eighth hour for several days together,§ Dr Armstrong recommends one, and even two drachms of the wine of the colchi¬ cum to be taken in the course of twenty-four hours, and conti¬ nued for some time.|] Dr Barlow of Bath, certainly very high authority on this or any other medical subject, gives the following hazardous directions with regard to its employment. “ It may be given either in full doses, so as to purge actively, or in divided doses, frequently repeated. One drachm, one drachm and a half, or two drachms of the tincture of the seeds should be administered at night, and repeated, if necessary, next morning. This quantity will generally purge briskly, but if it fail, another dose the follow¬ ing night will be pretty sure to succeed, at least, as far as my ex¬ perience goes, I have seldom found it necessary to exceed these doses/’«H Other distinguished members of our profession have given equally dangerous directions as to the mode of administering colchicum. I may here also remark, that death resulted from a dose of two drachms of the wine of the seeds, given to a patient in a pub¬ lic hospital a few years ago. A fatal case is also recorded by Mr Haden in his translation of M. Magendie’s Formulaire, where two drachms and a half of a tincture, made by infusing four ounces of the root in eight ounces of proof-spirit for three days, had been ad¬ ministered ; and I may also allude to a case which fell under my own observation only a short time ago. On Sabbath, November 22, 1840, I had an opportunity of seeing W. D. aged 23, who had consulted a distinguished practitioner of Edinburgh, in consequence of pains in his extremities, and cough, from whom he received a prescription, of which the following is a copy : R- Vm. Sem. Colchici Vin. Antimon.a §i.; Tinct. Hyoscyami, gss. M. IS. A tea-spoonful to be taken three times a day, which is equivalent to one drachm of the Vinum Colchici daily. This quan¬ tity had been persisted in for a week regularly, with the most prejudicial effects. The patient laboured under violent diarrhoea since the second day after taking the medicine, and had he perse¬ vered in its use for twenty-four hours longer, it is probable he would have perished. His pulse was 170 in the minute ; his strength most alarmingly reduced; he could only speak in a whisper ; he * See Lancet, Vol. xv. p. 698. 4 See last edition of Edinburgh New Dispensatory, p. 958. -7 See Lancet, Vol. xii. p. 540. § See Lancet, Vol. ix. p. 895. f| See Lancet, Vol. vii. viti. p. 97. _ 5[ Cyclopaedia of Pract. Medicine. Article Gout.