Remarks on the efficacy of matico, as a styptic and astringent : with additional cases, mode of exhibition, &c. / by Thos. Jeffreys.

  • Jeffreys, Thomas, 1774?-1852.
Date:
1845
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Remarks on the efficacy of matico, as a styptic and astringent : with additional cases, mode of exhibition, &c. / by Thos. Jeffreys. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    Dr. Somma of Antwerp, from whom I obtained it, had used it in several cases of haemorrhage and gonorrhoea, with advantage. According to Trow, it is a species of Pepper. The subject also had attracted the attention of some dis- tinguished medical men in Paris the previous year, and a communication was made of its styptic power to a medical Society of Paris, as follows :— Society de Medicine de Paris. Seance des 21 Aout, 1835. “ Piper Matica,—M. Merat soummet a la Societe des echantillions (Pun vegital de l’Inde, designe par Veron sous le nom de Piper Matica, addresses par M. Somme <PAnvers. Les feuilles de cette plant ont ete employes comme astringent, dans la blenorrhagie, a la dose de 3 ii dans litar d’eau; ou s’en est egalement servi comme moyen hemostatique.” From Mr. Bainbrigge, Surgeon to the Northern Hospital, Liverpool, to Dr. Jeffreys. u My Dear Sir.—I cannot refrain from sending you the following facts, showing the very efficient and convenient results which have arisen from ? the use of your remedy, ‘Matico.’ “ A gentleman applied to me for the cure of a small urinary fistula, which passed along the raphe of the penis, and which had existed for ten years. Several attempts had been made to heal it by injections, &c. with- out any benefit; I therefore proposed, as the only effective means, to lay it open, and unite it by bringing the wound in close contact. The former I readily performed, but the latter was not so easily accomplished, in con- sequence of the continued haemorrhage. Caustic I applied freely without success, and I then thought of the Matico. I inserted the leaf between the lips, pressing them together for about a minute, when to my surprise on removing it, I found the bleeding had stopped and the wound perfectly dry. I was then enabled to bring the edges of the wound into nice apposition with adhesive plaster, and so perfectly that not a drop of urine escaped, and it healed without any trouble. A similar convenient effect was produced on an incised wound of the thumb, which bled so profusely, from the division of several arteries, that no plaster would adhere. In this case the wound was perfectly dry after applying the leaf, and from thus allowing the edges to be brought into close contact, it healed in a few hours.