I

860

elements of materia me Die a.

tration may do much towards counteracting the opposite condineither is it unphysiological to conclude, that if a remedy he c j.ble of counteracting, or preventing, one very remarkable effeccertain morbid state of the brain, it may also counteract other symp beconnected with the same condition.” This line of argument, it 11111 g t0admitted, is ingenious and plausible, and is supported by referenc jseveral apparently successful cases treated on the principles heredown. But I would observe, if the above reasoning were valid? op Q fshould be serviceable in cerebral diseases attended with dilataffirec*pupil, since it causes contraction of this aperture. Now this is mopposition to our every-day experience of the uses of this imp° rnarcotic. ba s

7. In other diseases. — Cruveilhier ( Lancet , 1828-9, vol. i. p-found belladonna-smoking relieve some cases of phthisis. The ^leaves were infused in a strong solution of opium, and then ^like tobacco : the patients began by smoking two pipes a day? an ^ cBquantity was gradually increased to six pipes. Perhaps this P ra , g .would be beneficial in spasmodic asthma and old catarrhs. Inphobia, notwithstanding the asserted prophylactic powers of this 1cine (see the authorities quoted by Bayle, Bibl. Ther. t. ii.; andAusf. Arzneim. Bd. ii.), there is no valid ground for believing 111efficacy. I tried it in one case without success. In epilepsy, man 1 #? fteria, chorea, and some other maladies of the centro-spinal system? ® ^sional benefit has resulted by the use of belladonna. In ileus 1 ^been most successfully used in the form of clyster, as a substitu ^tobacco, which is objectionable on account of the horrible sicknessgreat depression {Brit, and For. Med. Rev. vol. iv. p. 223). ra j 0)

Jlata-

Administration.— The dose of the powder for an adult is one g

which should be gradually increased until dryness of the throat, - ^tion of pupil, or some head symptoms are produced. For childr e11 jdose at the commencement should be one-eighth of a grain. For in ,yas well as external use the extract or tincture is, however? com® 1 jemployed. For external use an infusion of the leaves is sometimes

as a fomentation, or is made into a poultice with bread or linseed m c1. Extractum Belladonna, L. E.; Succus spissatusD.—(Fresh Belladonna leaves, lb. i. Bruise them, sprinkled with awater, in a stone mortar; then press out the juice, and evaporate n?strained, to a proper consistence, L. —The Edinburgh College directs ,expressed juice to be filtered, and then to be evaporated, in the vap ^bath, to the consistence of firm extract, stirring constantly towards ^close.—The Dublin College prepares it as the Succus spissatus AcontAi ^1 cwt. of fresh belladonna yields from 4 to 6 lbs. of extract J.

Man. of Pharm. 3d ed. p. 401). Dose gr. i. to gr. v. cautiously inci'O 11 .,As the strength of the extract is extremely variable, some writers re c ,mend only one-quarter or one-half of a grain to be given at the cmencement of its use, and to be repeated three times a day; an ,dose to be increased until the well-known effects of the remedy a reduced. Mr. Bailey observes, that he at first began with one gram? ‘repeated it every four hours until relief followed; but further exp erl ® e ,induced him to commence with three times that quantity, and, if atition were necessary, to give it in diminished doses afterwards.

leather the extract is frequently used as a plaster to re

upon