Manual of materia medica & therapeutics : being an abridgment of the late Dr. Pereira's Elements of materia medica arranged in conformity with the British pharmacopœia, and adapted to the use of medical practitioners, chemists and druggists, medical and pharmaceutical students, etc. / by Frederic John Farre ; assisted by Robert Bentley and by Robert Warington.

  • Pereira, Jonathan, 1804-1853.
Date:
1865
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Manual of materia medica & therapeutics : being an abridgment of the late Dr. Pereira's Elements of materia medica arranged in conformity with the British pharmacopœia, and adapted to the use of medical practitioners, chemists and druggists, medical and pharmaceutical students, etc. / by Frederic John Farre ; assisted by Robert Bentley and by Robert Warington. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    mentations; repeatedly changing the flannels, and taking care that the surface of the skin was exposed to the air as little as possible. Internally.—Tepid or warm water is takm into the stomach to promote vomiting; to dilute the contents of the stomach, in cases of poisoning by acrid substances; to excite diaphoresis, in rheumatism, catarrh, gout, &c.; and to allay troublesome cough, especially when dependent on irritation at the top of the larynx. *Warm water is injected into the rectum to excite alvine evacuations; to promote the hemor- rhoidal flux ; to diminish irritation in the large intestine, or in some neigh- bouring organs, as the uterus, bladder, prostate gland, &c,; and to bring on the menstrual secretion. Thrown into the vagina, it is used to allay uterine irritation and pain, and to promote the lochial discharge. Injected into the bladder, it is sometimes employed to relieve vesical irritation, to distend the bladder previously to the operation of lithotrity, or when exploring for cal- culi. d. Aqueous Vapour. 1. The Vapour Bath.—The general effects of the vapour bath are those of a powerful stimulant and sudorific. It softens and relaxes the cutaneous tissue, expands the superficial vessels,accelerates the circulation of blood, augments the fre- quency of the pulse and respiration, and produces copious perspiration. These ef- fects are succeeded by a feeling of languor and a tendency to sleep. If the whole body be immersed in vapour, which is con- stantly inhaled, the temperature should be a little less than if the trunk and limbs alone are subjected to its influence ; be- cause the inhalation of vapour stops the cooling process of evaporation from the lungs. The following is a comparative view of the heating powers of water and of vapour, distinguishing the latter according as it is or is not breathed :— Vapotjk Water Not breathed Breathed Tepid bath.. Warm bath. Hot bath.... 85°— 92° 92— 98 98 —106 96°— 106° 106 — 120 120 — 160 90°— 100° 100 — 110 110 — 130 The vapour bath is very useful when our object is to relax the skin, and to produce profuse sweating ; as in chronic rheumatism and gout, in slight colds from checked perspiration, and in chronic skin diseases accompanied with a dry state of the cutaneous surface. In old paralytic cases, without signs of vascular excitement of the brain; in some uterine affections, as chlorosis, amenorrhoea^ and irritation of the womb; in dropsy of aged and debilitated subjects ; in old liver complaints; and in some scrofulous affections, it is occasionally employed with advantage. Topical or local vapour baths are em- ployed in the treatment of local dis- eases ; as affections of the joints. Dr. Macartney recommends the topical use of vapour, as a soothing and anodyne application, in painful wounds, contu- sions, and fractures, 2. Inhalation of Warm Vapour.— The inhalation of warm aqueous vapour proves highly serviceable, as an emollient remedy, in irritation or inflammation of the tonsils, or of the membrane lining the larynx, trachea, or bronchial tubes, as in the sore throat of scarlatina and in croup. It may be employed by Mudge's inhaler, or by inspiring the vapour arising from warm water. Aqua Destillata, Distilled Water. Preparation.—Take of water, free from taste and odour, ten gallons. Distil from a copper still, connected with a block-tin worm; reject the first half gallon, and preserve the next eight gallons. The first distilled portion is to be re- jected, as it may contain carbonic acid, ammonia, and other volatile impurities. The latter portions are not to be dis- tilled, to guard against empyreuma from the charring of organic matters. The still in which the operation is conducted ought not to be employed for any other purpose, otherwise the water is apt to acquire a faint odour, and taste of the last matters subjected to distillation. Tests.—A fluid ounce of it evaporated in a clean glass capsule leaves no visible residue. It is not affected by sulphur- etted hydrogen, oxalate of ammonia, nitrate of silver, chloride of barium, or solution of lime. If turbidness, milkiness, or precipitate, be occasioned by any of these, we may infer the existence of some impurity in the water. But water which has been repeatedly distilled gives traces of acid and alkali when examined by the agency of voltaic electricity, which, therefore, is the most delicate test of the purity of water. Distilled water also usually