ELEMENTS OF MATERIA MEDICA.
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perienced this effect from one drachm of the oil. Dr. Duncansometimes seen it produce “ a hind of trance, lasting twenty-four hour 8 ’without, however, any subsequent bad effect.” The same writer a(W s ’the “ largest dose I have known given has been three ounces, and «'it ^out injury.” A scarlet emption is mentioned by Wibmer as being P r °duced in one case by an ounce of the oil.
Uses. —The following are the principal uses of oil of turpentine :
1. As an anthelmintic. — It is the most effectual remedy for tape-wof"we possess. It both causes the death of, and expels the parasite &° jthe body. To adults it should be given in doses of an ounce at least-have frequently administered an ounce and a half, and sometimesounces. In no instance have I ever seen any ill effects arise from 1use. Yet occasionally, as in Dr. Copland’s case, it fails to purge, q _becoming absorbed, operates most severely on the system, causing ®order of the cerebral functions. It is said to be more apt to act thuspersons of a full and plethoric habit. To prevent these ill consequen^an oleaginous purgative should be either conjoined with it, or given .an interval of four or five hours after it. An excellent and safe met uof employing it is to combine it with a castor-oil emulsion. Chabeempyreumatic oil (described at p. 235) used by Bremser (Traite sUT^Vers Intest. p. 488) against tape-worm, consists principally of 01turpentine. A very effectual remedy for the small thread-worm {AsC avermicularis ) is the turpentine enema.
2. In Blennorrhcea. —Oil of turpentine sometimes checks or stops pfuse chronic discharges from the mucous membranes. It appeals^effect this by a topical influence over the capillary and secerning vesS u ](lin its passage through them out of the system. In many cases it " 0 Q fappear to confine its operation to the production of an increasetonicity in the vessels which pour out mucus; but in other install ^especially in blennorrhoea of the urinary apparatus, it seems to setnew kind of irritation in the affected membrane, which supersedes ^previously existing disease. Hence its use is not admissible in acurecent affections of these tissues. In gonorrhoea and gleet I havequently employed it as a substitute for balsam of copaiva with sUCC j lU sIn leucorrhoea it has occasionally proved serviceable. In catarr ^vesicae or cystirrhcea it now and then acts beneficially, but it requtf ebe used in small doses and with great caution. In chronic pulme J1 jcatarrh, either mucous or pituitous, it is said to have been empko^pwith advantage. In chronic diarrhoea and dysentery it has p r0 'jf tt}( Jvantageous: in these cases it has a direct local action on
part, besides exerting its influence over this m common withmucous membranes after its absorption. e s,
3. In Hemorrhages . —In sanguineous exhalations, called hoemorrh a ^ jjJ ,from the mucous surfaces, oil of turpentine may, under some cltCstances, act efficaciously. On the same principle that it checks exceb c aiisecretion of mucus in catarrhal conditions of these tissues, so n e ^readily conceive it may stop the exhalation of blood. But it i s ^ 0 {admissible in cases of a passive or atonic character, in theplethora and a phlogistic diathesis (Adair, Med. Facts and uvol. iv. p. 25 ; Copland, Land. Med. and Phys. Journ. vol. xlvi- p; pyIn purpura hemorrhagica it has been recommended as a purgatt'
Dr. Whitlock Nichol (Ed. Med. and Sura. Journ. vol. xviii- p-