Volume 1

The standard physician : a new and practical encyclopaedia of medicine and hygiene especially prepared for the household / edited by Sir James Crichton-Browne [and others].

Date:
1908-1909
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The standard physician : a new and practical encyclopaedia of medicine and hygiene especially prepared for the household / edited by Sir James Crichton-Browne [and others]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    354/430 (page 324)
    Cinnamon Climate THE STANDARD PHYSICIAN 324 CINNAMON. The inner bark of several species of CAnnamomum, plants growing in China and in Ceylon. The bark contains tannic acid and a volatile oil which gives it its peculiar aromatic odour and taste. Its ])rincipal use in medicine is to disguise the taste of less agreeable remedies. Cinnamon has a stimulating effect on the stomach and intestine, and is sometimes used in watery diarrhceas or in relieving distention. It is occasionally of service in controlling bleeding from the womb. The form in which the drug is usually given is as the water of cinnamon, the dose being a wineglassful or less, or as oil of cinnamon in drop doses. Large doses are ])oisonous, largely because of the presence of a high percentage of a plienol (eiigenol) in the volatile oil. CIRCULATION.—See Introductory Chapters (pp. 15C-157). CIRCUMCISION. T erm applied to the operation for partial removal of the foreskin of tlie ])enis. Among the Jews this forms part of a religious ceremony. Under ordinary circumstances the operation is done when the preputial opening is too small or has become contracted by inflammatoiy processes, thus constituting an obstruction to the ready exit of the normal or pathological secretions from the urethra. In small children the condition is often congenital. Circumcision is not dangerous in children when conducted b}' a properly experienced ])erson and with a])propriate })recau- tions. The wound demands careful attention as regards cleanliness. After urination the surrounding ])arts should be washed, and the wound itself dressed with a salve or lotion, and covered with aseptic gauze. The application should never contain carbolic acid. See also Foreskin, Diseases oe. CIRRHOSIS. See Liver, Diseases of. CITRIC ACID.—A white, crystalline, acid compound, obtained princi- pally from lemon-juice, but found also in smaller amounts in other acid Iruits, as the orange and strawberry. The acid itself is seldom used in medicine, as lemon-juice seems to act better. As a preventative and curative agent in scurvy, lemon-juice is very valuable. It is sometimes given in rheumatism and in catarrhal jaundice. It is also frequently used to llavour medicinal mixtures, and to mask the taste of disagreeable drugs. Sometimes sick children can be persuaded to take water as freely as they ought to if it is given in the form of lemonade. Lemon-juice has a slightly stimulating effect on the kidney. It is of service also in the treatment of an irritable bladder, especially if such be due to an increased acidity of the urine, lor lemon-juice makes the urine more alkaline. This is a fact contrary to the opinion of many superficial thinkers who advise against the use of acids because they increase the acidity of the blood. The acid of lemon-juice is readily oxidised, and causes the blood to be more alkaline. CLAVICLE.-See I NTRODUCTORY CHAPTERS (pp. I25-I26). CLEFT PALATE.—See Harelip and Cleft Palate.