J 



8 SECERNENTIA. Art. III. 2. 4. ^ 



v here the dilcharge is too thin and faline, as they increafe the 

 frequency of coughing. 



2. Balfam of Copaiva is thought to promote urine more than 

 the other native balfams ; and common refin is faid to a£l as a 

 powerful diuretic in horfes. Thefe are alfo much recommend- 

 ed in gleets, and in lluor albus, perhaps more than they deferve ; 

 they give a violet fmeli to the urine, and hence probably increafe 

 the fecretion of it. 



Calcined egg-fhells are faid to promote urine, perhaps from 

 the phofphoric acid they contain. 



3. Cold air and cold water will increafe the quantity of urine 

 by decreafmg the abforption from the bladder ; and neutral and 

 alkalious fairs and cantharides by ftimulating the neck of the 

 bladder to difcharge the urine as foon as fecreted ; and alcohol, 

 as gin and rum, at the beginning of intoxication, if the body be 

 kept cool, occafion much urine by inverting the urinary lymphat- 

 ics, and thence pouring a fluid into the bladder, which never pai£. 

 ed the kidneys. But it is probable, that thofe medicines, which 

 give a fcent to the urine, as the balfams and refins, but particu- 

 larly afparagus and garlic, are the only drugs, which truly increafe 

 the fecretion of the kidneys. Alcohol however, ufed as above 

 mentioned, ami perhaps great dofes of tincture of cantharides, 

 may be confidcred as draitic diuretics, as they pour a fluid into 

 the bladder by the retrograde action of the lymphatics, which 

 are in great abundance fpread about the neck of it. See Se£t. 

 XXIX. 3. 



V. Mild cathartics. The ancients believed that fome purg- 

 es evacuated the bile, and hence were termed Cholagogues ; 

 others the lymph, and were termed Hydragogues -, and that in 

 flioit each cathartic felected a peculiar humour, which it dif- 

 charged. The moderns have too haitily rejected this fyftem j 

 the fuhjeel well deferves further obfervation. 



Calomel given in the dofe from ten to twenty grains, fo as to 

 induce purging without the afhlbmce of other drugs, appears to 

 me to particularly increafe the fecretion of bile, and to evacuate 

 it ; aloe feems to increafe the fecretion of the inteftinal mucus ; 

 and it is probable that the pancreas and fpleen may be peculiarly 

 ftimulated into action by fome other of this tribe of medicines ; 

 whilft others of them may Gmply ftimulate the inteftinal canal 

 to evacuate its contents, as the bile of animals. It mud be re- 

 marked, that all thefe cathartic medicines are fuppofed to be ex- 

 hibited in their ufual dofes, otherwife they become draftic purg- 

 and are treated of in the Oafs of Invertentia. 



VI. The mucus of the bladder is feen in the urine, when 

 ides have been ufcd 3 , either internally or externally, in 



luch 



