MATERIA MEDICA. 



tient, stimulant, or attractive, according 

 to the respective modes by which they 

 tire conceived to produce one common 

 effect. Medicines of the inflammatory 

 tribe, are, in like manner, divided into 

 vesicatorics or blisters, if by their appli- 

 cation they raise watery bladders on the 

 skin ; catlueretics, escharotics or corro- 

 sives, if they eat into and destroy the sub- 

 stance of the solid parts themselves ; and 

 rubefacti-ve or rubefacient, if possessed 

 of less power than the vesicatories, they 

 merely produce a redness on the part to 

 which they are applied, by increasing 1 the 

 action of a part, and stimulating the red 

 particles of the blood into vessels which 

 tlo not naturally possess them. The al- 

 terant tribe is divided into absorbents, 

 antiseptics, coagulants, resolvents, cale- 

 fiants, and refrigerants, according to the 

 peculiar mode by which the different in- 

 dividuals of this tribe are supposed to 

 operate. The evacuants are generally 

 subdivided from the nature of the hu- 

 mour they are supposed to discharge: 

 emetics, if they evacuate the contents of 

 the stomach by vomiting ; cathartics, if 

 they induce purging ; laxatives, if they 

 produce a moderate discharge of feces 

 without pain or sickness; eccoprotics, if 

 the discharge be greater, but still con- 

 fined to the common nature of the feces 

 themselves. Thus again they are named 

 diaphoretics, if they promote the expul- 

 sion of humours through the pores of the 

 skin >, ith a small increase of action ; su- 

 doriiies, if the increase of action be great- 

 er, and the discharge more copious. Such 

 as excite urine are called diuretics ; 

 such as produce evacuation from the 

 glands of the palate, mouth, and salivary 

 ducts, salivating medicines; those that 

 promote the discharge of mucus from 

 the throat, apophlegmatics ; those that 

 evacuate by the nose, ptarmics ; errhines, 

 sternutatories ; and those which promote 

 the menstrual discharge, emenagogues. 

 To this order, also, some writers reduce 

 those medicines which expel any preter- 

 natural bodies, as worms, stones, and fla- 

 tus or confined air : of these the first are 

 called anthelmintics ; the second, and es- 

 pecially when directed to the bladder, 

 lithontriptics; and the third, carminatives. 

 Such is the general outline of those who 

 have adopted this kind of system. But 

 it must be obvious that, though the gene- 

 ral outline be the same, it may submit to 

 a great variety of modifications ; and 

 hence, again, the writers who have made 

 choice of this system, and founded their 

 classifications upon the effects produced 

 by the articles of which they have treated 



upon the human body, have arranged it 

 in various ways, according to their re- 

 spective ideas of superior utility or con- 

 venience. Hence the classes of Cullen 

 amount to twenty-three ; those of Darwin 

 to not more than seven ; while others 

 have given us twelve, fourteeen or fifteen, 

 according to their own fancy. 



The twenty-three classes of Dr. Cullen 

 are as follow": 



Astringents 



Tonics 



Emollients 



Corrosives 



Stimulants 



Narcotics 



Refrigerants 



Antispasmodics 



Diluents 



Attenuants 



Inspissants 



Demulcents 



Antacids 



Antalkalines 



Antiseptics 



Errhines 



Silagogues 



Expectorants 



Emetics 



Cathartics 



Diuretics 



Diaphoretics 



Menagogues. 



The seven classes of Dr. Darwin arc the 

 ensuing : 



Nutrients Invertents 



Incitants Ilevertents 



Secernents Torpents. 

 Absorbents 



It will appear, even upon a superficial 

 examination of the former of these clas- 

 sifications, that the first division is unne- 

 cessarily diffuse; thatsomeof the divisions 

 might be introduced under one common 

 head, as, for example, those of emollients 

 and demulcents ; diluents and attenuants ; 

 and that for one or two of them there is 

 little foundation in nature. We particu- 

 larly allude in this last instance to the an- 

 talkalines, which are obviously only intro- 

 duced as a sort of graceful contrast to the 

 antacids ; and concerning which the wri- 

 ter himself observes, "had it not been to 

 give some appearance of system, and from 

 my complaisance to Dr. Boerhaave, who 

 treats de inwbis ex alkali spontanco, I should 

 not have admitted of this chapter ; for I 

 am well persuaded that no alkaline salt, 

 in its separate state, ever exists in the 

 blood vessels of the living human body." 

 This is not the only instance, however, 

 in which we find men of judgment and 

 deserved reputation consenting to propa- 

 gate errors from the mere love of system, 

 or from attachment to names of exten- 

 sive celebrity. Happy would it be for 

 us, that all who thus act should avow their 

 error, like the author before us, and 

 thus put the remedy by the side of the 

 evil ! 



The classification of Dr. Darwin, how- 



