196 MATERIA MEDICA AND THERAPEUTICS 



7. APPLICATIONS OF THE VARIOUS PREPARATIONS OF OPIUM. 



This subject will be best discussed from the point of view 

 of the conditions calling for opium. 



1. Severe pain, such as colic or neuralgia, is to be treated 

 with the Hypodermic Injection of Morphia. Failing this, either 

 of the Solutions of Morphia must be given by the mouth, or a 

 fluid preparation of opium, such as the Tincture, or Liquid 

 Extract (about f more active than the tincture). The Enema is 

 a valuable anodyne in cases of abdominal pain. The Pilula 

 Saponis Composita also acts rapidly, being more readily soluble 

 in the stomach than solid opium. 



2. Superficial pain may be met by local applications such 

 as the Plaster, Liniment, or fomentations made with laudanum 

 or other fluid preparation ; but, as we saw, the value of the drug 

 itself in all these applications is very doubtful. 



3. A,s a hypnotic, the best forms are the Tincture, the Liquid 

 Extract, the Solution of Morphia, and the Soap and Opium 

 Pill ; the particular preparation and the dose being regulated 

 by the degree of sleeplessness and of the pain which may 

 accompany it. Dover's Powder is an excellent hypnotic in the 

 restlessness at the commencement of feverish attacks. 



4. As a sedative to the stomach, various preparations may be 

 tried, such as the Solutions of Morphia in effervescing mixtures, 

 morphia endermically or hypodermically over the epigastrium ; 

 sometimes solid opium or the Extract in the form of a small 

 pill. Dover's Powder is of great value in painful ulceration 

 and acute dyspepsia, combined with bismuth or soda. 



5. As a sedative and astringent to the bowels, Laudanum, 

 either by the mouth or as the Enema, may be given in urgent 

 cases attended by much pain. When there is less urgency, we 

 may prescribe one of the powders Compound Opium Powder, 

 Chalk and Opium, Kino and Opium, or Dover's Powder. 

 Acetate of morphia with acetate of lead and acetic acid, or the 

 Lead and Opium Pill may be demanded in severe diarrhoea, 

 especially if haemorrhage threaten. Solid opium, alone or 

 combined with calomel, is the best form of astringent when the 

 bowel must be paralysed, as in hernia, peritonitis, and 

 intestinal obstruction. 



6 As a sedative to the rectum, bladder, pelvic organs, and 

 urethra, we possess the various Suppositories of opium and 

 morphia, and the Enema. 



7. Couyh may be relieved by several special preparations, 

 namely : Tinctura Camphora Composita, Tinctura Opii Ammo- 

 niata, the three Trochisci, and the Pilula Ipecacuanhae cum 

 Scilla. 



