INTUMESCENTIJE. 605 



as Dr. Home has taught us, they are most properly given in a 

 liquid form. 



" To conclude this subject, they are the fixed alkaline salts 

 that have been especially depended upon as diuretics. It has 

 been the vegetable fixed alkali only that I have employed, and 

 have sometimes obtained its diuretic effects in a remarkable de- 

 gree ; but I have often also been disappointed of these ; and I 

 was not surprised at this, as I believe that the alkali is almost 

 always rendered neutral in the stomach ; and in that state they 

 could have no other effect than that of other neutrals, which 

 I have just now represented as commonly inconsiderable. 



" It is, however, still a matter of fact, that alkalines do, upon 

 occasion, show their diuretic power ; and upon the supposition 

 just now made of their neutral state in the stomach, their con- 

 siderable operation as diuretics is not easily accounted for. On 

 this subject, however, I shall offer two explanations. One is, 

 that the quantity of alkali thrown into the stomach may be 

 more than the acid there can neutralize ; and, therefore, that 

 some portion of it may reach the kidneys in its alkaline state, 

 and prove there a more powerful stimulus than any neutral salt 

 would be. It is upon this ground that I find a large quantity 

 of alkali to be always necessary to show diuretic effects. 



" Another explanation of the powers of alkali in producing 

 these, is the following : As the acid of the stomach may be 

 presumed to be of the nature of the fermented acid of vege- 

 tables, so an alkali joined with it must form a regenerated tartar, 

 a sal diureticus, or kali acetatum ; and if this be less purgative, 

 and more diuretic than other neutrals, while it is also conveyed 

 to the blood-vessels in larger quantity, we can understand why, 

 from these circumstances, the fixed alkali may often appear di- 

 uretic. With respect to its operation as diuretic, I have an- 

 other conjecture to offer. I have commonly found it prove di- 

 uretic when given with bitters, as was the manner of Sir John 

 Pringle ; and I have imagined that, as the bitters are absorbents 

 of acid, they might absorb so much of that present in the stom- 

 ach, as to prevent this from being so fully applied to the alkali. 



" I have now only to add on this subject, that as alkalines 

 may be often prevented, by purging, from reaching the kid- 

 neys ; so their diuretic effect may be often more certainly se- 



