A pharmacological appreciation of Shakespeare's Hamlet : on instillation of poisons into the ear / by David I. Macht.

  • Macht, David I.
Date:
[1918]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: A pharmacological appreciation of Shakespeare's Hamlet : on instillation of poisons into the ear / by David I. Macht. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    14/28 (page 12)
    [169] and poisons through unusual and unexpected channels, such as the eye/^ the bladder, the urethra, the ureters, pelvis of the kidneys,^^ vagina,^'^ etc. It was interesting, therefore, to inquire into and investigate experimentally the possibility^ of absorption of drugs through the ear. The results of these experiments will be published in detail in the Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. It may be here stated that the author has found that a number of poisons can be and are absorbed through the intact ear. The powerful alkaloid, aconitin, in the form of the hydro¬ chloride, was found to be absorbed through the intact ears of animals even when introduced in an aqueous solution. Fig. 1 shows the characteristic effects of aconitin poisoning in a cat. Equally rapidly and easily is absorbed through the ear the powerful volatile alkaloid nicotine. Fig. 2 illustrates the toxic action of this drug. The question of absorption of belladonna and atropin was undertaken with especial interest in connection with Shake- speare^s reference to henbane. It was found that atropin in an aqueous solution is not absorbed through the ear, but an alco¬ holic solution of the belladonna alkaloids in the form of a weak tincture gave positive experimental proof of the absorption of that drug as shown by the paralysis of the vagus terminals in the heart. It is well known that a large number of drugs are intro¬ duced by physicians into the ears for medicinal purposes. Hyoscyamus in the form of an oil or a tincture has been long employed for the relief of earache; a compound tincture of hyoscyamus under the name of Balsamum tranquillans is official in several European pharmacopeias. In the light of [170] the experimental investigations just reported, such a use of hyoscyamus as an anodyne would certainly seem to be rational. Another drug used in the treatment of ear affections with an intact drum is phenol or carbolic acid. A specialist tells me that he prescribes often in cases of middle-ear inflammation a few drops of a 5 per cent solution of carbolic acid in glycerin. I have found in experimenting on animals that such a solution of phenol in glycerin is absorbed through the ear, as evidenced