858

ELEMENTS OF MATERIA MEDICA.

inflammation. In spasmodic stricture of the urethra, and of the ^ters of the bladder and rectum, and in spasmodic contraction °Juterus, tlio topical use of the extract (smeared on a bougie, applied eperineum or other parts, or employed by way of a clyster) has m ^cases appeared to give relief {Brit, and For. Med. Rev. vol. n- P" j. t j, eIn strangulated hernia it has been employed to produce relaxation oabdominal muscles (Van Looth, Kohler, and Pages, quoted by v ■'Bibl. Therap. t. ii., and Brit, and For. Med. Rev. vol. ii. p. 26*2-3)- ^

In a case of angina pectoris, unconnected with organic disease*.^,application of a belladonna plaster to the chest (before the ulcer® ^caused by tartar emetic ointment had healed) produced alarming ? 4of poisoning; but when these had subsided, all symptoms of the a o ^had totally disappeared (Davies, Led. on Diseases of the Lu n 9 sHeart, p. 496). ... . , 0 a^

Considerable relief has been gained in several cases of hooping] ^by the use of belladonna (see the observations of Schaeffer and ’’ e yof Meglin, and of llaisin, quoted by Bayle, Bibl. Ther. t. ii.) 0 ' jty

sional efficacy depends in part, probably, on its lessening the nec e ^of respiration (Laennec, Treat, on Dis. of the Chest, by Forbes, PPj^.jand 99), as well also on its power of obviating spasm of the bro» ra netubes, and of decreasing the susceptibility of the bronchial memto the influence of the exciting causes of the paroxysms. But h*) t0other vaunted specifics for this peculiar disease, it frequently J algive the least relief. ^ vV o

3. In Maladies of the Eyes .—Belladonna is applied to the eye mpurposes: the first, and the most common, is to dilate the pup" ’other is to diminish the preternatural sensibility of the retina to tnpression of light- Dilatation of the pupil is sometimes produce^ jpcertain diseases of the eye, in order to enable us to examine the ction of the refractive humours, and thereby to ascertain the nutur®extent of the malady; as in cases of incipient cataract, whichotherwise be occasionally confounded with glaucoma or amaurosis- ^the operation of cataract by solution or absorption (ker atony xis)>f l ^dilatation of the pupil by belladonna is essential (Lawrence, L eLancet, for Sept. 9. 1826). In iritis, dilatation of the pupil is imp 0 *

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in order to prevent, or in recent cases to rupture, adhesions of the u'the capsule of the crystalline lens. Some surgeons consider it an c1 J stionable remedy during the early stage of the disease. In P r ° ,jj a -iridis benefit is, under some circumstances, gained by the use of t ], cdonna; as, where there is opacity of the cornea coveringdilatation of the aperture, so as to get its circumference be) on ^opaque spot, is attended with an improvement of vision. The se ^ . gsome of the cases in which dilatation of the pupil by belladoni ^advisable. It is usually effected by applying the extract (see extra ^belladonna ;) to the parts around the eye, or to the conjunctiva-dilatation usually takes place within a few minutes, and sometimestinucs for twenty-four hours. a ^ oC -

Belladonna is sometimes employed in inflammatory and other - ^tions of the eye, to diminish the morbid sensibility of this organinfluence of light (Lisfranc, Rev. Med. t. i. 1826, p. 17; and t. ii- P’ 0 f th a4. As a resolvent or discutient .—In enlargement and induration^lymphatic glands, in scirrhus and cancer (or diseases which hai e