240 INORGANIC AGENTS 



"When sulphur ointment is rubbed into the skin it causes 

 considerable irritation and an artificial eczema. Sulphur 

 is converted into sulphuretted hydrogen and sulphurous 

 acid by living tissue, and this transformation may occur 

 to some extent when sulphur is rubbed into the skin 

 with fat. 



Action Internal. — Digestive Organs, — Sulphur is not 

 acted upon by the stomach, but is somewhat dissolved by 

 the alkaline intestinal juices, and converted in part into 

 sulphides and sulphuretted hydrogen. The sulphides, 

 together with sulphuretted hydrogen, are absorbed into the 

 blood. Minute traces of sulphuretted hydrogen are eli- 

 minated by the lungs and skin, while oxidation of sulphur 

 also occurs in the body, as there is an increased secretion 

 of urinary sulphuric acid and sulphates. The sulphides 

 and sulphuretted hydrogen act as laxatives, and in all 

 probability sulphur itself exerts a mild, mechanical irritation 

 upon the bowels. Peristaltic motion and intestinal secre- 

 tions are both slightly increased. The faecal discharges are 

 soft and pasty, and offensive flatus containing sulphuretted 

 hydrogen escapes from the intestines after the administra- 

 tion of sulphur. 



Constitutional Action. — Sulphur acts remotely during its 

 elimination in stimulating the functions of the skin and 

 respiratory mucous membranes, — so-called alterative action. 

 Sulphur causes disorganization of the blood, and depresses 

 and paralyzes nervous and muscular tissue after the 

 continuous administration of colossal doses. Ordinary 

 therapeutic quantities of sulphur have no effect of this 

 kind. 



Uses External. — Sulphur is mainly of service externally 

 as a local stimulant and parasiticide in skin diseases. The 

 female acarus, which produces mange (acariasis), bores under 

 the epidermis and lays her eggs in the burrows, while the 

 male insect remains upon the surface. It is essential, there- 

 fore, to remove the epidermis in order to expose the ova 

 and female to the action of sulphur.- The hair should be 



