On the therapeutics of aloin / by William Craig.

  • Craig, William.
Date:
[1877]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the therapeutics of aloin / by William Craig. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    4/8 (page 914)
    Mr Finlay Dun, in his excellent work on Veterinary Medicines, states as the result of his experiments, that two drachms of aloin acted on “ horses several hours earlier, without impairment of appetite or spirits, and with the certainty and effect which usually follow six drachms of Barbadoes aloes.” He also mentions that Mr Dollar of London, as the result of his experiments, “ con¬ cludes that, comparing aloin with the crude drug, little less than half the quantity acts in horses with more certainty and equal effect.” Dr Harley of London states, in the last edition of Royle’s Materia Medica, that “the action of aloin is at least twice as strong as that of the best aloes.” He further states that, as the result of several experiments, he has come to the following con¬ clusions :— “ 1. The cathartic action was uniform, rather more speedy than that of crude aloes, and unattended by griping. “2. The average dose for a strong adult male is about 1J grain, which usually causes two or three copious evacuations. 2J grains were always followed by powerful catharsis, producing five or six evacuations.” Even Dr Tilden of London, a chemist who has devoted much attention to the constituents of aloes, is rapidly advancing in his views regarding the activity of aloin. So late as 1870, we find Dr Tilden maintaining that “ the purgative property of aloes is not due to aloin, and that the active constituents of aloes is still un¬ known.” In 1876, however, we find him stating that “Barbaloin in doses under two grains frequently produces some slight laxative action. Two grains cause a decided effect, never, however, amount¬ ing to complete purgation.” He further admits that aloin causes less griping than aloes. Dr Tilden, in conjunction with Mr Dobson, F.R.C.S., performed some experiments with aloin in the Bristol Hospital, and their observations have been recorded in the Medical Times and Gazette, 12th August 1876, and in the Pharmaceutical Journal for 19th August 1876. They experimented in fifty cases, mostly adult males, and they state that they never gave Barba¬ loin in more than two-grain doses. They have clearly demon¬ strated that aloin is possessed of aperient properties, and that it causes less griping than the crude drug. After quoting from my paper on aloin in the Edinburgh Medical Journal for June 1875, they state that, “ so far as their observations go, they do not fully agree with the experience of Dr Craig.” Possibly this may, to some extent, be accounted for by the fact that they had not tried it in a sufficient number of cases; or, at all events, in cases suitable for the administration of aloes. It appears to me that some of their own conclusions are altogether untenable, and are inconsistent with othe* parts of their paper. Be it borne in mind that in no case did they give more than two grains of Barbaloin, and contrast this with the fact, that they state in another portion of the paper that “ it did not appear to them that the crystalline