246 poppy. 



toms have been subdued, it will often prove useful by suspend- 

 ing painful intestinal contractions. Sydenham and others 

 recommended it, particularly in combination with emollients in 

 dysentery, for allaying tenesmus, and for stopping the too 

 frequent contractions of the bowels, but in no case does he re- 

 commend its exhibition when inflammatory indications are pre- 

 sent. In cholera it is a frequent remedy, and in the form of 

 laudanum not unfrequently administered to arrest nausea and 

 vomiting. 



As a diaphoretic it has been highly commended in some 

 exanthematous diseases, especially small pox, its utility in 

 which is attested by Sydenham, Morton, Wedel, Boerhaave, 

 Freind, Huxham, Van Swieten, and many other celebrated 

 members of the profession. For the harassing cough and 

 symptomatic diarrhoea accompanying measles, it is likewise an 

 approved remedy, but, as a matter of course, its use must be 

 regulated entirely by the symptoms which manifest themselves. 



Of its efficacy in ameliorating nervous affections and of allay- 

 ing pain, whether general or local, — of its pacifying powers in 

 hysteria, hypochondriasis, melancholy and mania, — or of its 

 anodyne influence over spasmodic, convulsive, and epileptic 

 diseases, — it is unnecessary to speak : in each and several of these 

 disorders it has been essayed and approved by those on whose 

 judgment and veracity we may rely. 



Lastly, from the powerful influence which opium possesses 

 over the pain attendant on organic diseases, its use is rendered 

 indispensable in pulmonary phthisis, cancer, inveterate syphilis, 

 scrofulous caries, and the like, — affections, the progress of which 

 no human art can prevent, and for which no other remedy 

 yields equal palliative relief to the suffering patient. 



The ordinary dose of opium is from a quarter of a grain to 

 two grains, but it is to be borne in mind that habit modifies its 

 action. It is also remarkable, that the same who can bear a 

 large dose while labouring under intense pain, will be violently 

 affected, and even be deprived of life, with the same quantity 

 when taken in health. Morphia should be commenced with 

 doses of I grain, and gradually increased to A grain or more. 



The seeds of the White Poppy, as already observed, are of a 

 demulcent nature, and do not possess in the slightest degree 

 any of the narcotic properties of opium. They are occasionally 



