INTUMESGENTI^E. 599 



" A certain writer has alleged, that the diuretic effects of the 

 squill are not to be expected unless it shows some operation on the 

 stomach. This may perhaps be well founded ; but I understand 

 it no otherways, than that some operation on the stomach is a 

 test, and a necessary test, of the squills being in an active state; 

 in the same manner as we are only certain of the activity of 

 mercurial preparations when they have shown some effect in the 

 mouth. 



" I have often observed, that when the squill operates strong- 

 ly in the stomach and intestines, that the diuretic effects were 

 less ready to happen ; and therefore, as the squill contains an 

 acrimony that is in part very volatile, and which is most ready 

 to act on the stomach, that therefore the fresh squill, by acting 

 more upon the stomach, is less certainly carried to the kidneys 

 when their volatile part is in some measure dissipated. 



" It is on this account that the dried squill is more frequently 

 employed than the fresh. We must not however miss to observe 

 here, that the drying of the squill is a business that requires 

 much attention, as it may readily be overdone, and thereby ren- 

 der the squill entirely useless. And it is to be observed also, 

 that the squill may not only be rendered inert by the first dry- 

 ing being too much, but that the dry powder, if kept long in a 

 dry air, may also in time lose much of its power. 



*' This overdrying of the squill, in one way or other, happens 

 more frequently than our apothecaries are aware of ; and has 

 led me to allow, that some operation on the stomach, some nau- 

 sea excited by the squill, is a necessary test of the activity of the 

 portion of it employed. 



" When the squill is in good condition, to avoid its opera- 

 tion on the stomach and intestines, I have said it is proper to 

 give it in small doses, to be repeated after long intervals only ; 

 but it is proper to observe here, that when the disease requires 

 a repetition, the doses of the squill, as they are repeated, may 

 be gradually increased, and the intervals of their exhibition 

 made shorter ; and when they come to be tolerably large, it is 

 then that an opiate may be conveniently employed in directing 

 the operation of the squill more certainly to the kidneys. 



" In the cases of dropsy, that is, when there is an effusion of 

 water into the cavities, and therefore that less water goes to the 



