AND rHARMACOrOEIA. 485 



zinc. The medicine is said to possess a, considerable tonic 

 power. 



Should any one be inclined to try the flowers of zinc, he may 

 safely begin, I think, with the dose of two drachms or half an 

 ounce, and gradually increase it until some effect is observed. 

 The diseases to which it is adapted are those arising from 

 debility. 



FOMENTATIONS. — i^M?2^?2to. This term is applied to 

 various kinds of decoctions, or medicated liquids, which are 

 employed externally to bathe or foment any inflamed or painful 

 part, or to improve the condition of wounds when they are very 

 irritable, and discharge unhealthy offensive matter, or when 

 approaching to a state of gangrene or mortification. Foment- 

 ations are therefore divided into the following kinds, viz. emol- 

 lient and anodyne. 



EMOLLIENT FOMENTATION. 



Boil marsh-mallows in water for some time, then strain off 

 the liquor, and bathe the aftected parts with it while warm. 



ANODYNE FOMENTATION. 



No. 1. AVhite poppy heads, broken, two dozen. 

 Hemlock, two handfuls. 

 Boil for two hours gently in six quarts of water. 



No. 2. Wormwood, dried, and camomile flowers, 



of each 4 ozs. 



Rue 3 ozs. 



Bay leaves 2 ozs. 



Boil them for one hour in a gallon of water. 



Eemar-L — The efficacy of a fomentation depends on its being 

 properly applied ; I have therefore to observe, that the liquid 

 should be only as hot as the part can bear without pain. Large 

 flannel cloths ai'e to be dipped into the fomentation, then lightly 

 wrung out and spread over the aftected part ; by the time one 

 cloth gets a little cool, another should be got ready and applied 

 in the same manner. This operation ought to be continued for 

 half an hour at least, and repeated three or four times a day. 

 The emollient fomentation is adapted to inflamed swellings, 

 from whatever cause they may arise; and when it cannot be 

 procured, warm water alone will be found an useful substitute. 

 The anodyne fomentation. No. 1., is of great service in wounds 

 or swellings which are accompanied with great pain and irrita- 

 bility : it tends to correct putridity and gangrene, in larger 

 wounds of the lacerated kind, where the matter is thin, ill-co- 

 loured, and offensive ; but in such cases, the assistance of inter- 

 nal remedies cannot be dispensed with. 



I I 3 



