k 



i 



DRUGS ACTING ON THE SEXUAL ORGANS . 57 



INDIRECT APHRODISIACS- 



Iron ^ 



Strychnine ! ^ , , .,.. 



Arsenic In debility 



(Full diet) J 



(2) Anaphrodisiacs are drugs lessen ing sexual desire. 

 They are : 



Opium Nauseants 



Bromides (Bleeding) 



Purgatives (Spare diet) 



Uses. — Drugs directly exciting sexual appetite are of no 

 therapeutic value, and the local irritants, as cantharides, 

 are, moreover, likely to work harm by producing inflamma- 

 tion of the urinary tract. Loss of sexuaT desire and power 

 should usually be treated by improving the general nutrition 

 with tonics and good feeding and by regulating the use of 

 the sexual organs, unless the trouble is due to organic 

 disease. Drugs diminishing sexual appetite may be useful 

 in quieting the centres and rendering them less sensitive to 

 sources of local irritation. It is, however, more sensible to 

 remove the cause of irritation, as smegma preputii, acid 

 urine, urinary calculi, intestinal parasites, scybala, fissure of 

 the rectum, haemorrhoids, etc. Anaphrodisiacs may be 

 employed to subdue excessive sexual excitement and ner- 

 vousness (hysteria) sometimes accompanying, " heat " in 

 the female. 



(B) Influencing the female sexual organs, 



(1) Emmenagogues are drugs which favor the occurrence 

 of " heat " (ovulation) in the female when it is irregular or 

 abnormally absent. We are at present ignorant of their 

 exact mode of action. Some act directly, perhaps, by stim- 

 ulating the centres or uterus. 



DIRECT EMMENAGOGUES. 



Savin ^ 



Rue Y Irritants 



Cantharides ) 



Ergot 



