Working bulletin for the scientific investigation of Cascara sagrada (Rhamnus purshianus) / issued in pursuance of a system of collective investigation of new drugs established and conducted by the Scientific Department of Parke, Davis & Co. ; analytical chemistry under charge of A.B. Lyons, pharmacology under charge of F.E. Stewart, botany H.H. Rusby.

  • Parke-Davis
Date:
1885
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Working bulletin for the scientific investigation of Cascara sagrada (Rhamnus purshianus) / issued in pursuance of a system of collective investigation of new drugs established and conducted by the Scientific Department of Parke, Davis & Co. ; analytical chemistry under charge of A.B. Lyons, pharmacology under charge of F.E. Stewart, botany H.H. Rusby. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    2t I have invariably found it is well borne, and that it has no tendency, even after months of continuous use, to destroy appetite or derange digestion. A laxative that will do this is certainly well worth having and using even if it cannot cure the constipation. The attacks recently made upon the remedy are too absurd to warrant notice, for, as has been well said, it will move the bowels just as readily under its local name cascara, as it will if you call it rhamnus purshianus. But lest these attacks should have some influence in preventing the profession from employing it, I think those who have used it should make public their experience with it, so that a really valuable remedy may not fall into disrepute. As to the modes of using it, either alone or in combination with other substances, I have nothing to say at present, my only object now being to fulfill what I conceive to be a simple duty in calling attention to the value of the remedy. Report 20.*—A remedy given to the medical profession by Dr. Bundy, of Califor- nia, for constipation, coming under my notice and being highly extolled by various physi- cians throughout the country, I was induced to give it a trial. It is a common saying among many in the profession, the longer we practice the more skeptical we are in regard to the modus operandi of medicine. This loss of confidence is produced from various causes. Est. We must consider that medicines are nothing but relative agents; that the action of medicine upon the organism gives us merely a chain of facts, when given, merely to remove certain morbid conditions, or exalt or diminish certain physiological functions; that the greater the number of satisfactory results observed, the less progress will theoretic skepti- cism make; that this loss of confidence in medicine often arises from certain medicines giv- ing unpleasant secondary symptoms, although the primary action of the medicine excites admiration and increases confidence, but not sufiBcient to prompt the incredulous to further perseverance; hence, a medicine is often cast aside and falls into disuse. In a practice of 17 years, I have had many forms of stomach and bowel indigestion, and have tried many remedies for the same, with varied results, but never had such satisfac- tory results as I have had in the use of cascara sagrada. It has peculiar effects upon the alimentary tract that should give it prominent distinction among the many old and reliable remedies of the pharmacopoeia. In our search for instruction on any department of medicine we should not be in haste in accepting conclusions for fear we might establish &post hoc for a propter hoc. Especially is this caution necessary in the modus operandi of medicine. But, as Emerson says, the knowledge of having done the thing before increases courage. A Miss T., of this city, 18 years of age, consulted me concerning what she considered a too frequent menstrual flow. I found that she had in conjunction with this, .chronic pelvic peritonitis, which, I think, is a common occurrence in this country. Loath to move the bowels for fear of disturbing the peritoneum, as she was exceedingly constipated—stomach diges- tion apparently not disturbed—but a colonic indigestion very evident, I prescribed thirty- drop doses of cascara sagrada, fluid extract, to be taken thrice daily, as a test, ordered quiet, and to remain in a recumbent position. Saw the patient four days afterwards, when her mother, an intelligent lady, told me that the pain had gone mostly, and her bowels had moved, and without giving any disturbance to the neighboring viscera. This I would scarcely have expected from any laxative or cathartic in the pharmacopoeia. The desideratum often desired in medicine is to avoid unpleasant secondary effects, although we are very anxious for pri- mary results. There were none developed in this case nor in any of the several cases I have since used the medicine in. I painted the hypogastric region daily with the tincture of iodine, continued the cascara sagrada until her bowels moved daily and easily. This case was an unique or unusual one to experiment on with what was, to me, a new remedy; but from my knowledge of cascara sagrada, at this present stage I unhesitatingly say it can be used under any circumstances where there is general lethargy of the bowels. I now frequently prescribe It in colonic dyspepsia, with good results. Patients do not object to taking it; it is fol- lowed by no secondary symptoms. I can most safely say it is a most valuable remedy in constipation. As to its modus operandi on the alimentary canal I shall not now stop to in- quire, but content myself with the knowledge of the fact that Parke, Davis & Co. have intro- duced a boon to the medical profession for constipation. One thing I might say in regard to Its action, that I believe it stimulates the entire mucous tract to action, and moves the bowels by virtue of the force it gives to secretion. Report 2\ \—Case i. I was first induced to try the new remedy as a last resort in a case of habitual constipation. November, 1878. Miss K., aet. 24, of regular habit, called complaining of abdominal I^w''??''w- P, 'l?,*^^.^'']?' ^^-^ New Preparations, June, 1879, P- 140. t J. W. Van Winkle, M. D., Rochester, N. Y., in New Preparations, December, 1879. P. »99.