Pocket therapeutics and dose book : with classification and explanation of the actions of medicine / by Morse Stewart.

  • Stewart, Morse, Jr., 1818-1906.
Date:
1885
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Pocket therapeutics and dose book : with classification and explanation of the actions of medicine / by Morse Stewart. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Woodruff Health Sciences Center Library at Emory University, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Woodruff Health Sciences Center Library, Emory University.

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    physiological effect of the drug is largely determined by the dose. Accuracy in dose is of prime importance, and no medicine should be given until the physician is satisfied as to the dose, both max- imum and minimum. No guessing at doses, even of comparatively harmless medicines, should be allowed, else the habit of thinking lightly of this subject, and dependence on a mere guess may result in a serious case of poisoning. A knowledge of both maximum and minimum doses is essential, since it often determines a special action, and in the dose do we alone find a poison differing from a medicine. For instance, take Ipicac, which in gr. ya to yz is an anti-emetic and stomachic, and in 14 to V-A STS- it is an expectorant and dia- phoretic, and in still larger doses is an emetic. This affords a striking illustration of the desirability of correct posological informa- tion, since the dose that is to be employed should be in accordance with the desired specific action. Doses are divided into three kinds: Max- imum is one capable of producing a full, strong, physiological action; a medium dose produces an action just short of a full one, and a minimum dose will produce the slight- est evidence, often requiring a considerable period of time to manifest even this.