Medicines, their uses and mode of administration : including a complete conspectus of the three British pharmacopoeias, an account of all the new remedies, and an appendix of formulae / by J. Moore Neligan.
- John Neligan
- Date:
- 1849
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Medicines, their uses and mode of administration : including a complete conspectus of the three British pharmacopoeias, an account of all the new remedies, and an appendix of formulae / by J. Moore Neligan. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)
173/504
![CHAPTER IX. EMETICS. (Vomits.) Emetics are substances which are used for the purpose of producing vomiting. The number of medicines employed with this intention is but few, and they act either specifically, that is, they excite vomiting when injected into the veins, as well as when introduced into the sto- mach, or their operation is topical, producing vomiting only when ta- ken into the stomach. Tartar emetic is an example of a. specific, mus- tard of a topical emetic. It would be out of place here to enter into any consideration of the phenomena and pathology of vomiting ; it must suffice to say, that independent of the mere evacuation of the contents of the stomach, emetics in general influence sympathetically the entire system. In prescribing emetics, attention must be paid to the differ- ences which exist in their mode of operation ; some medicines of this class, as sulphate of zinc and sulphate of copper produce their effects very rapidly, exciting vomiting almost immediately after they are swallowed, without occasioning much nausea or depression. Tartar emetic operates more slowly, and produces great nausea, accompanied with a feeling of feebleness and exhaustion. While the vegetable emetics as ipecacuanha and squill require a much longer time for their operation. In selecting a particular remedy of this class, therefore, we should be always guided by the nature of the indication which is to be fulfilled. Emetics should be employed with great caution, where there are symptoms of determination of blood to the cerebral organs, in conse- quence of the obstruction of the circulation which is occasioned during the act of vomiting ; for the same reason also they ought not to be administer- ed ip diseases of the larger arteries as in aneurism. From the violent action of the abdominal muscles which is caused, the act of vomiting is attended with great risk in the advanced stages of pregnancy, in her- nia, and in prolapsus uteri. [On the subject of Emetics, see Essays on Infant Therapeutics by John B. Beck, M. D.] Ammonia carbonas. Sesquicarbonate of ammonia (described in the division Antacids), given in doses of gr. xxx. or upwards, acts as a stimulating emetic, without producing much nausea or depression. It is consequently employed in cases of great debility when the use of an emetic is indicated; as in chronic bronchitis occurring in broken down constitutions, and in the suffocative catarrh of typhus. But in consequence of the uncertainty of its operation, mustard is generally preferred in these cases. Antimonii et potass,e tartras. Tartar emetic (described in the division Diaphoretics), administered in doses of two or three grains dissolved in water, operates as a powerful emetic, producing at the s me time general depression, and much nausea. The act of vomit-](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21143602_0173.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
