Lectures on the theory and practice of physic (Volume 1).

  • William Stokes
Date:
1845
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Lectures on the theory and practice of physic (Volume 1). 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.)

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    stimulants ef all kinds ought to he withheld ; first, because they gene- rally fail even to alleviate the pain ; and secondly, because they in- crease subsequent distress, light up fever, and endanger phlogosis both of stomach and uterus. More is gained, in such cases, by repeated draughts of hot water, or by emptying the stomach by draughts of warm water, or of salt and water, and by pediluvia and an opium pill. Sometimes, there is a blending of gastralgia and gastritis, in which case we must endeavour to reduce the disease to its simplest or ner- vous element by removal of the phlogosis. A few leeches to the ' epigastrium, a laxative by the mouth, or a purgative enema,— sim- ple mucilaginous drink and an opiate will greatly contribute to this end, which will be further expedited by the warm bath. ]n these mixed cases some remedies are applicable to meet both indications, viz., to abate neuropathia and capillary excitement. Hydrocyanic acid, colchicum, and minute doses of emetic tartar, are of this class; and they have the additional advantage of producing an impression beyond the period of the paroxysm, and protracting that of its return. Of hydrocyanic acid I know little from personal experience, but the good opinion of its efficacy in gastrodynia, originally expressed by Dr. Elliottson, has been confirmed by too many persons since to allow me to doubt it. Dr. A. T. Thomson has recommended it as an adjunct to tonics, in those forms of dyspeptic irritability of sto- mach which are accompanied with heat and soreness of the tongue. But, the great difficulty of preserving this acid of a suitable and equal strength, the danger from differences in recognised formulas, and the uncertainty of therapeutical effect under the most careful administra- tion, are drawbacks which we cannot overlook when it is the subject of our deliberations. Hydrocyanic acid, prepared according to the processes directed in the last United Slates Pharmacopoeia (1842), contains two per cent, of pure anhydrous acid. Willi the good effects of colchicum, in the shape of vinous tincture of the seeds, in doses of twenty or thirty drops every two hours, or of half a drachm twice or thrice a day, mixed with some aromatic water, I am more familiar. The same may be said of emetic tartar, and particularly when combined with minute quantities of opium ; an addition, this last, which enhances, in the circumstances now before us, the virtues of the colchicum. In enteralgia, I know of no remedy equal to the colchicum, when united to magnesia, or alternating with one of the alkalies. In gastralgia, if there be heartburn or cardialgia, these last mentioned remedies may be advantageously conjoined with the wine of colchicum seeds. Strychnia, as advised in pyrosis, will, sometimes,, be found to be decidedly remedial in this disease. In cases in which the disease has been of long duration, and the patient exhausted by its violence, I have found the oil of turpentine, in drachm doses every hour or two, mixed with simple mucilage, give earlier and more complete relief than any one article with which I am acquainted. If constipation be present, a larger dose, or from two drachms to half an ounce, joined to half an ounce of castor oil, may be given with the double view of relieving the gastric pain and emptying the bowels. A long interval of ease will sometimes follow this single dose.