152 NAT. ORDER. — LILIACE.E. 



tion of from three to six grains of Podophyllum peltatum given every 

 night, is frequently followed by a great flow of urine at the same time 

 that the salivaiy glands are effected. 



I have myself uniformly obtained more advantage in this disease 

 by these two articles in union with nitre, than from any other diuretic 

 I have ever employed. Such a combination is particularly efficacious 

 when it produces inflammation of the gums and the glands about the 

 throat. The reason why the union of the above-mentioned articles are 

 more apt to afford relief in hydrothorax than in any other varieties of 

 dropsy, may be owing to a three-fold operation ; it promotes absorp- 

 tion, excites the urinary discharge, and, by detennining the circulation 

 particularly to the glands of the mouth and throat, it causes a deriva- 

 tion from the exhalants of the pleura, and thereby lessens the dropsical 

 exhalation. The exhalants of the cavity of the thorax would be more 

 likely to be influenced by such an afflux to the glands of the mouth 

 and throat, than those situated more remotely, and hence, perhaps, 

 arises the more speedy relief which is commonly procured in hydro- 

 thorax by such a combination of remedies, than in ascites and anasarca. 

 The expectorant operation of Squill, is also a circumstance which 

 would seem to render it more suitable in dropsies of the chest than the 

 other diuretics. 



Dr. Ferias obsei"ves, that " in some habits the combination of tinc- 

 ture of Squills, with sirup of buckthorn, proves very powerfully diure- 

 tic." Its expectorant qualities are very obvious in asthmatic patients, 

 and chronic affections of the chest, connected with a secretion of thick 

 tough mucus, which is with great difficulty expectorated without the 

 aid of an expectorant. As an emetic, it was once in general use, but 

 is now much less frequently employed than formerly, and indeed where 

 we simply wish to evacuate the contents of the stomach, it is too violent 

 in its operation to be a desirable one ; but in some affections of the 

 chest and throat, especially in croup, it is certainly a desirable emetic, 

 as it renders the expectoration of the mucus more easy. It is never 

 administered as a purgative, and we only know that it possesses this 



