ASTRINGENTS. 201 



CATHARTIC DRENCH, 



Barbadoes aloes, six drams to one 



ounce. 

 Calomel, one dram to three drams. 

 Myrrh, in powder, two drams. 

 Ginger, ditto, one dram and a half. 

 Syrup enough to form the bail, for one 

 dosp. 



Remark — In staggers the bowels are gene- 

 rally rather torpid, and, in some cases, are 

 not affected by the stri ngtst purgatives. 

 The above dose, therefore, will, in general, 

 operate only as a miid laxative : for a large 

 draft horse, one ounce or ten drams of aloes 

 M'ill not be toomuch. 



ASTRINGENTS. Medicines that suppress 

 unnatural or increased ev;icuations, such 

 as diarrhoea^ diabetes, and profuse sweating. 

 It is comaionly supposed that ast} ingents 

 act mechanically, by constrmgiiig or con- 

 densing the solids. This opinion, however, 

 does not appear to be well founded, since 

 opiuniy which is, in many .cases, the most 

 powerful remedy in morbid evactiations, 

 does not possess those principles wliich are 

 said to constitute astringency, which are th^ 

 gallic acid, and tannin. 



K 5 



