CORROSIVES — DETERGENTS, 223 



arable, decoction of linseed or marshmal- 

 lows, or any thing that is oily and mucila- 

 ginous. They are employed chiefly in ir* 

 ritatioii of the bowels, kidneys, and bladder; 

 also in coughs and irritation of the lungs. 



DEOBSTRUENTS. Medicines that are 

 supposed to be capable of vemoymg obsiriiCr 

 tions. Obstinate coughs and asthmas have 

 been attributed to this cause ; and the most 

 ponderous medicines were recommended for 

 their removal, at a time when many diseases 

 and functions of animals were explained 

 upon mechanical principles. Thus we find 

 cinnabar of antimony, ^Sthiop's mineral, 

 ^cc, prescribed on tba-se occasions. The 

 theory has been found erroneous, and of 

 course the practice built upon it must be 

 imperfect. It is necessary, however, to ob- 

 serve, that ceitain medicines, termed Deob- 

 strucnt, such as calomel, have been some- 

 times found useful in those diseases of the 

 liver which are said to arise from obstruc- 

 tion, 



DETERGENTS. A name given to ap- 

 plications which have the prrjperty of cleans- 

 ing foul ulcers, and bringing them to a 

 healthy state, so that they may be cured by 



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