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ELEMENTS OF MATERIA MEDICA.

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1. Pulvis Secalis cornuti. Pulvis Ergot a. —This powder is only,*to be prepared when required for use. The dose of it, for a woman idlabour, is twenty grains; to be repeated at intervals of half an hour forthree times: for other occasions (as leucorrlicea, hemorrhages, &c.) fiveto ten or fifteen grains, three times a day: its use should not be con-tinued for any great length of time. It may be taken mixed with pow-dered sugar. It has had the various names of pulvis parturiens (morecorrectly parturifaciens), pulvis ad partum, pulvis partum accelerant}obstetrical powder , fyc.

2. Infusum Secalis cornuti. Infusum Ergotce. —Ergot, bruised-3 j. boiling water, f.3iv. macerate until cold, in a slightly covered vessehand strain. The dose, for a woman in labour, is one-third or one halfthis, to be repeated, at intervals of half an hour, until the whole betaken. Sugar, aromatics (as nutmeg or cinnamon), or a little wine orbrandy, may be added to flavour it.

3. Decoctum Secalis cornuti. Decoctum Ergotce. —Ergot, bruised?3j,; water, f.jyj. Boil for ten minutes in a lightly covered vessel, andstrain. The dose is one-third of the strained liquor, to be repeatedintervals of half an hour, until the whole be taken.

4. Tinctura Secalis cornuti. Tinctura Ergotce. —Ergot, bruised?Sss.; rectified spirit, 3yj.; digest for four days, and strain. The dose i* 1lingering labours is a teaspoonful. This is the formula of Dr. Robed(Dierbach , Neueste Entd. in d. Mat. Med. i. 147, 1838). A tinctureis recommended by Cams (Lehrb. d. Gyndcologie, i. 280, 1827). / VtApothecaries’ Hall, London , tincture of ergot is prepared by digestingergot, Sij. in proof spirit, Oj. Another formula has been published[Lancet, 1827-8, vol. ii. p. 435):—Ergot, bmised, sj.; boiling, water, SjJ*Infuse for twenty-four hours, and add rectified spirit, jiss. Digest l° rten days. Hall a drachm of this tincture is said to be equivalent foten grains of the pow’der. One or two spoonfuls of a tincture of erg 0(prepared by digesting §ss. of ergot in giv. of rectified spirit) mixed w'idjw r ater, has been recommended as an injection into the uterus in dififo 11labour. It is to be introduced between the head of the child andneck of the uterus (Berlin. Jahrbuch. Bd. xxxviii. 234, 1837).

Antidote. The proper treatment to be adopted in a case of poisonfo'jby an overdose of ergot has not been accurately determined. The fi**'object would be, of course, to evacuate the poison from the aliment* 1 ^canal by the use of emetics or purgatives. As chlorine decomp°*f.ergotin, Phoebus recommends the employment of chlorine water (p. 1°^'In the absence of this, nitrohydrochloric acid (properly diluted) might bexhibited. The subsequent treatment should be conducted on gencVprinciples.

Other Cerealia.

Rice [Oryzasatim, fig. 101) is the ordinary sustenance of many oriental « ^1Being less laxative than the other cereal grains, it is frequently prescribed by ;

men as a light, digestible, uninjurious article of food in diarrhoea andand in consequence it is, with the public, a reputed drying and astringe" yjy r ic eVarious ill effects, such as disordered vision, &c. have been ascribed to the us ® ^ishi(Bontius, Account of the Diseases , Nat. Hist. fyc. of the East Ind. transl. into pbo 1 * 1p. 129, 1769; and Bricheteau, in Tortuelle’s EUm. d'Hygiene , 4me. ed.)i ‘ )U