COMMON MEADOW SAFFRON.
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°f some bitter plant or plants, Alyon ( Elern. de Chimie) asserted that it"as prepared with Gratiola; Mr. Moore ( Two Letters on the Composition°f the Eau Medicinale, 2d ed. 1811) that it was a vinous infusion of"hite hellebore with laudanum; Mr. Want {Med. and Phys. Journ. vol.Xx xii. 1814) that it was a vinous infusion of Colchicum. Although most"'riters have adopted Mr. Want’s opinion, we should bear in mind thatd )e proofs hitherto offered of its correctness, viz. analogy of effect, cannotj )e admitted to be conclusive, as is well shewn by the fact, that they have& en a dvanced in favour of the identity of other medicines with the&au Medicinale.
. The power of Colchicum to alleviate a paroxysm of gout is admitted7 all; but considerable difference of opinion exists as to the extent oft) 1s power, and the propriety of employing it. Sir Everard Home {Phil.Mans. 1816) from observation of its effects on his own person, regardedu as a specific in gout, and from experiments on animals concluded thatlt » beneficial effects in this malady are produced through the circulation.
t*r. Paris {Pharmacologia , vol. ii. p. 175, ed. 6th) observes—“As aspecific in gout its efficacy has been fully ascertained : it allays pain, andshort the paroxysm. It has also a decided action upon the arterialSystem, which it would appear to control through the medium of the^tves.” But if by the term specific is meant a medicine infallibly, anda ll patients, producing given salutary effects, and acting by some un-hewn power on the disease, without being directed by indications (vider - Parr’s Lond. Med. Diet. art. Specifica), undoubtedly Colchicum is no'Trifle for gout. '
^ -That Colchicum alleviates a paroxysm of gout I have before mentioned;'d that alleviation is palliative, not curative. It has no tendency toj, rev ent a speedy recurrence of the attack; nay, according to Sir Charles‘ Cu damore {Treat, on Gout and Rheumatism, 3d ed. p. 197), it renderse disposition to the disease much stronger in the system. Further-Tf’ by repetition its power over gouty paroxysms becomes diminished.Hie modus medendi of Colchicum in gout is an interesting though notsatisfactory part of our inquiry. I have already stated that some: & ar d this remedy as a specific, that is, as operating by some unknownhience. Others, however, and with more propriety, refer its tliera-jj ut 'cal uses to its known physiological effects. “ Colchicum,” says Dr.
a tl°w {Cyclop, of Med. art. Gout, vol. ii. p. 372), “ purges, abates pain,^ d lowers the pulse. These effects are accounted for by assigning tocathartic and sedative operation, and it is this combination perhaps^ "hich its peculiar virtues are to be ascribed.” The fact that a com-be r tion °1 a drastic and a narcotic (as elaterium and opium, mentioned1? Sutton in his Tracts on Gout , p. 201 ; and white hellebore anddanum, recommended by Mr. Moore, op. cit.) has been found to give,b r Severa l cases of gout, marked and speedy relief, seems to me to confirmW’ Parlow’s opinion. The idea entertained by Chelius, and adoptedc ol k-‘ H mne Weatlierliead {Treat, on Headachs, p. 88, 1835), thatUfj C , um relieves gout by augmenting the quantity of uric acid in theit lle > is not supported by fact, as I have already mentioned. Whethercts by preventing the formation of uric acid in the system I am notjPai'ed to say.
a cute gout occurring in plethoric habits, blood-letting should pre-e die use of Colchicum. This medicine should then be exhibited in.