Volume 1

The elements of materia medica : comprehending the natural history, preparation, properties, composition, effects and uses of medicines / by Jonathan Pereira, F.R.S. & L.S.

  • Pereira, Jonathan, 1804-1853.
Date:
1839-1840
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The elements of materia medica : comprehending the natural history, preparation, properties, composition, effects and uses of medicines / by Jonathan Pereira, F.R.S. & L.S. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by King’s College London. The original may be consulted at King’s College London.

    56/592
    ELEMENTS OF MATERIA MEDICA. Edwards, he observes, have shown that the nervous system of animals is composed essentially of agglomerated globular corpuscles. of !-l!«Tme’ by the aid of a simple microscope, the pulpy matter ol which the oesophageal ganglia, of the great or vineyard snail (Helix. Fig1. 18. in — Fig. 19. Fig. 21. Globular cells of the oesophageal ganglia of Helix pomatia and Limax rufus. Fig. 20. A spiral ves- sel,as found in the stems of Solarium tu- berosum, and Cucurbita Pe- po, with the adhering glo- bules. shlg Magnified view of the arm of a Hydra, pomatia,) or of the red (Limax rvfus,) is made up, it is seen to be composed of agglome (fresh-water polype) rated globular cells, on the sides shewing the nervous 0f which are numerous globular corpuscles. ovoi(J ccrpusdes (fig. fy.) In form and chemical properties, says Dutrochet, these corpuscles agree with those found in plants. Moreover, in the lower tribes of animals (the Acrita) we observe no nervous, filaments ; the * nervous system consisting merely of the diffused or scattered corpuscles (as in the Hydra or fresh-water polype, fig. 20, and in Vorticella Conval- laria, fig. 21 ; thus presenting another analogy between the nervous corpuscles of animals and the globular bodies of plants. On these grounds, then, Dutrochet assumes that the little globules sticking, to the cells and vessels of plants, and which are nothing but particles of amylaceous, ligneous, or resinous matter, are to be regarded as the scattered elements of a diffused nervous system. 7. Parts affected by the remote action of Medicines. The remote effects of medicines consist of alterations in the functions of one or more organs more or less distant from the parts to which these agents were applied. Although an alteration of function presupposes an organic change, yet the latter is not always obvious. A medicine may affect a distant organ directly or indirectly. The stupor caused by opium is presumed to arise from the direct influence exercised by this chug over the cerebrum, since it cannot be otherwise