1*298

ELEMENTS OF MATEKIA MEDICA.

function, which part the phrenologists assert to be the cere ® ^

Moreover it is said to produce erection; and in support of this stthe following strange story is told:—“ Turcac ad Levenzi® 11 ® e tcontra Comitem Lud. Souclies pugnantes, opio exaltati, turpit®octo inille numero occisi mentulas rigidas tulere” (Christen, op- t ]iisp. 53). Cabanis ( Rapp. du Phys. et du Morale de l'Homme) j g jye

story, and ascribes the above-mentioned condition to the c011 ' jjjti-

movements which affect the body in articulo mortis, and not todisiac operation. The effect alluded to, if it really do take

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probably to be referred to the accumulation of blood in the etissues, arising from a disordered state of the circulation. I®!’ j a piis ascribed by some to opium-eating, and is a more probable effect- .unacquainted with any facts on which to ground any well'®

opinion as to the power of opium to diminish or increase the S P

er® 1

at®

secretion.

.flee®

(b.) Of women. —We have little positive information as to the ^ ^of opium on the reproductive organs of women. It is said that jt

v It is said that the^

menia, lochia, and secretion ot milk, are unaffected by it, bin . „ c a

causes intumescence of the nipples. Under its use the milk aC< d U eaI -ednarcotic property (seep. 1299). Furthermore, at times it hasto have an injurious effect on the foetus in utero (F. II. Rains* 5 ^

hand. Med. Gaz. vol. xiv. p. 84b Opium appears to act on the,as on most other contractile parts of the body: that is, it hi® 1the contractility and sensibility of this viscus.

From these observations it follows:— nti 0 "’**

(a.) That wet nurses and pregnant women must employ opium with great cits use by them may endanger the life of the child. . . , of

(6.) That opium may be employed to allay pain, spasm, and morbid irriOit e „Jesexual organs in either sex ; and that its use in the female is not likely 10 *’**

with retention of the uterine or mammary secretions. sa l|S '

(c.) That the influence of opium on the venereal appetite is not sufficientlyfactorily determined to permit us to make any practical application of it.

r). On the Cutaneous System. —Considered as an organ of s<?n * Jtlidcutaneous system is affected by opium in an analogous way t° 1 a*

organs of sense; that is, its sensibility is diminished. But the s at

another function—that of excretion, and which does not app ear f tl®all diminished, nay, to be increased, by the use of opium; ° ne ca s lSusual effects of this medicine being perspiration, which is in s® a fl

” v " at®

attended with a pricking or itching of the skin, and occasionallyoften proves so even when acting as a poison. “ In a fatal case, l i(e ]y

eruption. In fact, taken medicinally, opium is a powerful sudor 1

.i— —.— & i.— “ In a fatal ca& ^’ ) lc;te 1 J

I examined judicially,” says Dr. Christison, “ the sheets were c° 1soaked to a considerable distance around the body.”

From these remarks it follows:— . a poni

(a.) That opium is not likely to relieve loss of feeling or excessive pei'®P irmay, on the other hand, under some conditions of the system, prove iujuru» u ®: t j |g s® ’

(Ji t Thai nninni 1C nrlnntprl fn flip. pplipf nf unit, rtr ppppcicp epufilhlllty **

(b.) That opium is adapted to the relief of pain or excessive sensibilityand for provoking perspiration ; but the propriety of its use for these porp? ce pro*, jdetermined by reference to the condition of the system generally. Expe |iethat when the skin is very hot, and especially if it be also dry, opium is seldombut often hurtful. , Atf

j w 1 ® no

0. Topical effects. —The local effects of opium are, compare 11 ti*general ones, very slight. Applied to the eye, internal membr®®