On the pathology, symptoms, and treatment of ulcer of the stomach : with an appendix of cases / by William Brinton.

  • Brinton, William, 1823-1867.
Date:
1857
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the pathology, symptoms, and treatment of ulcer of the stomach : with an appendix of cases / by William Brinton. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.

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    and so much does the lesion itself increase the depression and cachexia which these habits produce, that it is quite possible the constitutional advantages of a moderate amount of stimulus may sometimes exceed (in other words, more than neutralize) the bad effects of that local irritation which the raw surface of the stomach is sure to suffer from its application. Of course, if any form of alcohol were admissible, it would be a pure dilute fluid (such as weak cold brandy and water) in very small and frequent doses. Raw spirits, brandied or strong wines (such as Marsala and sherry respectively), are inadmissible, from their irritant effects. And such compound or artificial drinks as ordinary port, beer, and champagne, are still more ob- jectionable, their sugary or fermenting constituents generally aggravating the injurious effect of their alco- hol to a remarkable extent. The effect of the true or natural wines in small quantities I am hardly qualified to speak of, though, from oue or two instances, I am entitled to believe them much less hurtful. Opium.—This antagonism between the local and constitutional effects of alcoholic drinks in the gastric ulcer may well suggest the inquiry, whether there are no stimulants which may afford us the advantages of alcohol without its disadvantages ? The importance of this question will excuse my pointing out, that what I have already had occasion to say respecting the merits of opium will, to some extent, apply to the class of sedatives in general. But the peculiar stimulant effects of opium make it by far the most valuable of them all. Respecting the operation of this drug in gastric ulcer,