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ELEMENTS OF MATERIA MEDICA.

einer Arzneimittell, Leipsic, 1824) and his friends, found, in their experi-ments on themselves, that small doses of iodine increased the secretion ofnasal mucus, of saliva, and of urine, and they inferred that the similareffect was produced on the gastric, pancreatic, and biliary secre-tions. “ Iodine,” says Lugol, ( Essays , p. 19) “ is a powerful diuretic.All the patients using it have informed me that they pass urine copi-ously.” Coindet, however, expressly says that it does not increase thequantity of urine. In some cases in which I carefully watched itseffects, I did not find any diuretic effect. Iodine frequently acts as anemmenagogue. Coindet, Sablairoles [Jour, general de Med. tom. 97),Brera (quoted by Bayle in his Bibliotheque de Therapeutique, tom. 1,p. 129), Magendie ( Formulaire ), and many others, agree on this point; butDr. Manson ( Medical Researches on the Effects of Iodine, London , 1825)does not believe that it possesses any emmenagogue powers, further thanas a stimulant and tonic to the whole body. In one patient it occasionedso much sickness and disorder of stomach that the menstrual dischargewas suppressed altogether. On several occasions iodine has causedsalivation and soreness of mouth. In the cases noticed by Lugol thepatients were males. In the Medical Gazette, vol. xvii. for 1839, twoinstances are mentioned, one by Mr. Winslow (p. 401), the other byDr. Ely (p. 480). Other cases are referred to in Dr. Cogswell’s work.This effect, however, I believe to be rare. De Cairo (quoted by Bayle,op. cit. p. 50) denies that iodine causes salivation, but says it augmentsexpectoration. Lastly, diaphoresis is sometimes promoted by iodine.

Two most remarkable effects which have been produced by iodine are,absorption of the mammce and wasting of the testicles. Of the first ofthese (absorption of the mammae) three cases are reported in Hufeland'sJournal (quoted by Bayle, op. cit. p. 162), one of which may be herementioned. A healthy girl, twenty years of age, took the tincture ofiodine during a period of six months, for a bronchocele, of which shebecame cured; but the breasts were observed to diminish in size, andnotwithstanding she ceased to take the remedy, the wasting continued,so that at the end of two years not a vestige of the mammae remained.Sometimes the breasts waste, though the bronchocele is undiminished :Reichenau (Christison, p. 180) relates the case of a female, aged twenty-six,whose breasts began to sink after she had employed iodine for fourmonths, and within four weeks they almost wholly disappeared; yet hergoitre remained unaffected. With regard to the other effect (wasting ofthe testicle) I suspect it to be very rare. I have seen iodine administeredin some hundreds of cases, and never met with one in which atrophyeither of the breast or testicle occurred- Magendie also says he neversaw these effects, though they are said to be frequent in Switzerland .

A disordered condition of the cerebro-spinal system has in severalinstances been caused by iodine. Thus slight headache and giddinessare not unfrequently brought on. Lugol tells us that, by the use ofioduretted baths, headache, drowsiness, intoxication, and even stupor,are produced. Analogous symptoms were observed in some of Dr.Manson’s cases ; and in one there were convulsive movements.

A specific effect on the skin is sometimes produced by iodine, besidesthe diaphoresis before alluded to. Thus Dr. C. Vogel (Rust, Magazin,Bd. 14, p. 156) gives an account of a lady, twenty-eight years of age, ofa yellow complexion, who from the internal employment of the tincture