The American cyclopedia of practical medicine and surgery: a digest of medical literature (Volume 2).

  • Hays, Isaac, 1796-1879.
Date:
1834-1836
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The American cyclopedia of practical medicine and surgery: a digest of medical literature (Volume 2). Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

    46/602
    Salts of Tin. The only salt of this me- tal likely to prove poisonous is the muri- ate ; and for this, Orfila has discovered that milk is a complete antidote. This animal liquid combines with the salt, and becomes converted into thick curds. It is to be administered in large quantities, mixed with water. Salts of Mercury. The only prepara- tion of mercury important as a poison is the deutochloride, or corrosive sublimate. To Orfila belongs the merit of having discovered that albumen or the white of eggs is a proper antidote to this energetic poison. It acts by converting the corro- sive sublimate into calomel, with which the albumen then combines. Accordingly, the first measure to be taken by a practi- tioner called to a case of poisoning by cor- rosive sublimate, is to give several glasses of the whites of eggs, mixed with water. If eggs are not to be procured immediate- ly, the interval, until they are obtained, should be occupied with the administra- tion of flaxseed tea, rice water, sugar and water, gelatinous broths, or even simple warm water. These diluents distend the stomach, and by favouring vomiting, pro- mote the expulsion of the poison. Hydrosulphuric acid (sulphuretted hy- drogen), sugar, Peruvian bark, mercury, charcoal, and broth, have all been proposed as antidotes to corrosive sublimate; but Orfila has proved that none of these sub- stances deserve that title. The gluten of flour, proposed in 1822 by M. Taddei as an antidote for this poison, is admitted by Orfila to be useful, but nevertheless in- ferior to albumen. Opium and its Preparations. The an- tidotes which have been proposed for opi- um are 1. coffee; 2. camphor; 3. chlo- rine water; 4. vinegar and vegetable acids; 5. water and mucilaginous drinks; 6. decoction of galls. Coffee and camphor have no effect as antidotes, though useful in combating the effects of this poison. Chlorine water is itself an acrid poison, when given of sufficient strength to de- compose the opium in the stomach. Vine- gar and vegetable acids are not antidotes, since they have no power of decomposing the poison and destroying its dangerous qualities; and their effects are diametri- cally opposite, according as they are given before or after the expulsion of the poison by vomiting. If before, they are hurtful by promoting the solubility, and therefore absorption, of the opium; if after, they prove useful by diminishing the symptoms caused by the poison. These remarks ap- ply equally to water and mucilaginous drinks. The decoction of galls may be viewed in the light of an imperfect antidote to the preparations of opium; since it has the power of producing a precipitate with them which is much less active than the opium itself. Accordingly, Orfila recommends, in cases of poisoning by opium, the ad- ministration of this decoction in repeated doses. A detailed account of the other measures necessary to be pursued in cases of poisoning by opium, would be out of place under che head of Antidotes, and will be given under the article Opium, to which the reader is referred. There still remain a number of poisons for which antidotes are not known. The alkaline sulphurets, sulphuretted hydro- gen, acetic acid, charcoal, and lime-water have been recommended as antidotes for arsenic; but Orfila declares that they are all without any efficacy, except the last, which may be useful, in case the poi- son has been taken in a state of solution, by forming with it the insoluble arsenite of lime. But, as Orfila truly remarks, inasmuch as arsenic is almost always taken in the solid state, lime-water can rarely be of any use. Hydrocyanic acid, like arsenic, has no antidote. Franklin Bache. ANTIEPHIALTICS. (From «*>, against, and t^iaMrji, nightmare.) Reme- dies for nightmare (q. v.). I. H. ANTIHELIX. (From am, before, and ta.e|, the helix.) An eminence of the car- tilage of the ear, in front of the helix, ex- tending from the concha of the auricle to the groove of the helix, where it termi- nates insensibly in a bifurcation. I. H. ANTIHYPNOTICS. (From avtc, against, and vjtvo^ sleep.) Remedies against sleep or drowsiness. Natural sleep ought rather to be favoured than repelled; but on some occasions, persons wish to keep awake, and this is usually accom- plished by the use of stimulants, as coffee, tobacco, &c. Morbid sleep, somnolence, coma, (q. v.), arises from various causes, and the measures resorted to for its cure must of course have reference to its cause. There is no class of remedies entitled to the epithet antihypnotic. I H ANTILITHICS. (From a*n, against, and n6o;, a stone.) These are medicines which have a tendency to prevent the de- position of calculous matter in the kidneys or bladder, or to dissolve it when deposit- ed. It was formerly believed that stone in the bladder might be destroyed by the