[ 26® 1 
XIII. An appendix to a paper on the effects of the colchicum 
autumnale on gout. By Sir Everard Home, Bart. V.P.R.S. 
Read April 25, 1816. 
When I laid before the Society my Paper upon this sub- 
ject, I was anxious to establish what appeared to me to be 
two important facts ; one, that the infusion of the colchicum 
can be received into the circulation without producing any 
permanent mischief; the other, that it is through the medium 
of the circulation, its beneficial effects upon gout are produced* 
and, therefore, the sudden relief which is experienced can be 
readily explained. Having attended to the effects of the eau 
medicinale, and of this medicine for several years in cases of 
gout, both in my own case, and in those of my friends, I 
found, invariably, that they diminished the frequency of the 
pulse, 10 or 20 beats in a minute, and this effect generally 
took place about twelve hours after the medicine was ex- 
hibited : I therefore considered this to be the criterion of 
the constitution being under the influence of the medicine; 
and when I found that the pulse was affected in the same 
way by the medicine received into the circulation, and in a 
much shorter time, I became satisfied that in both cases this 
arose from an effect upon the circulation, and not upon the 
stomach, and therefore did not farther prosecute the enquiry ; 
since exhibiting larger doses could only confirm what is 
already known, namely, that the medicine is capable, when 
injudiciously used, of producing very violent effects. 
