1068

ELEMENTS OF MATERIA MEDICA.

of the viscera, scrofula, obstinate chronic skin diseases, and f° u g l0I am not prepared to offer any opinion, as to whether the dis ^which the terms scirrhus and cancer are strictly applicable, a ge dbeen cured by hemlock. One fact is undoubted, that diseases, * u jj a n<bto have been scirrhous and cancerous, have been greatly allevia ^ reS tin some cases, apparently cured by this remedy. This fact doeson the sole testimony of Storck ( Essay on the Med. Nat. Qj . . Iie rs[Eng. Transl .], 2d ed. 1762), but on that of a multitude of P raC ' ^ 0 uS (see Bayle, Bibl. Therap. iii. 618). Bayle has collected, fr° m cur ed,writers, forty-six cases of cancerous diseases, said to have been eas6and twenty-eight ameliorated by hemlock. In scrofula, in whie j e op•Fothergill {Med. Obs. Ing. iii. 400), and many others (see 1 A jncit.), have praised it, it seems to be occasionally useful as a pal 1irritable constitutions. It allays the pain, and assists in reuu »volume of enlarged lymphatic glands, and in scrofulous ulcerat jp vC) iproves the quality of the discharge, and disposes the sores to hea •enlargements of the liver, spleen, and pancreas, have been, at tun ’ $e .parently, benefited by hemlock. In mammary tumors and p r0 J ^ picretion of milk (galactorrhcea ), a trial of it should never be onutte ^g ur .bronchocele it has been found efficacious by Dr. Gibson, Professor )_gery in the University of Pennsylvania ( United States Disp enS - j,pigIn syphilis it is useful, by alleviating nocturnal pains, and in dnnU.the tendency to spread of irritable sores (Pearson, Obs. on the ■V, rQn icVar. Art. of the Mat. Med. in Lues Venerea , p. 62, 1800). I 11

skin diseases (lepra, herpes, &c.) it is now' but rarely employed. _ qpe

2. As a cerebrospinal agent (antispasmodic and anodyne)■ t ], e

power possessed by conia of paralyzing the motor nerves, sugg eemployment of hemlock as an antispasmodic. Hitherto, however* c

of it have been made in a few' spasmodic diseases only, and th 0 ® 6 0 |

not proved favourable to its reputation. In some spasmodic aflecthe respiratory organs it has gained a temporary celebrity ° n j a ' v0 ur-hooping-cough, Dr. Butter [Treat, on the Kink-cough, 1773) spoke 'ably of it, as having the advantage over opium of not being h j,.check expectoration. But though the violent and periodic fits ot . te ding are obviously of a spasmodic nature, and, therefore, apparently a ^ j sfor the use of hemlock, experience has fully proved that the disone which will run through a certain course. At the best, th ^

hemlock can prove a palliative only. In other forms ( of spasmodic p,

as well as in spasmodic asthma, hemlock deserves farther * naJ ’^. a id)tetanus, conia or hemlock held out some hopes (fallacious, I ain g ofof doing good. Mr. Curling has kindly furnished me with the 0a case which occurred in the London Hospital. A tincture of he 0 fseeds was exhibited on the eighth day of the disease, at first mtffxx. every hour, which were increased in the course of the three jing days to fjij. every quarter of an hour, until the patient (a46) had taken, in all, two pints ! but without any decided e ^ e . ct p u t, thespasms or brain. Morphia and laudanum were afterwards used, t ],e

man died. A small quantity of conia, obtained from three ounces ^

same tincture used in this case, killed a cat in less than four mmu •a case of chorea, treated by Mr. Curling , no relief was obtained ^ cC suse of the above-mentioned tincture, given to the extent of ^ iree , aU gtedin twelve hours. The patient (a young man) ultimately died, ex