N. O. LEGDMINOSffi. 
505 
mouth. I did this occasionally myself with success. It is, 
according to my own experiments, more adhesive than all the 
gums produced in India, and is therefore well suited for the 
formation of all kinds of lozenges. It is an ingredient in 
numerous prescriptions described in Persian, Arabic and 
Hindustani medical works. 
Although a powerful astringent, Catechu is not half as 
useful in diarrhoea and dysentery when administered alone, 
as it is when used in combination with some other astringent 
and aromatic drugs, as is the case with all its preparations 
described in the Pharmacopoeia of India. The compound- 
powder of Catechu is, therefore, very useful in the above- 
named diseases ; in fact, it is one of the preparations most 
frequently used by me in the Triplicane Dispensary, parti- 
cularly in the treatment of children. The Tincture of this 
drug is a very valuable adjunct to Mistura Cretae, as men- 
tioned in the Pharmacopoeia of India and other medical works ; 
but to ensure its best effects, it should always be mixed in each 
dose of the mixture just before it is administered to the patient. 
From some cause or other its action is not so satisfactory when it 
is mixed with Mistura Cretse and kept for use for a day or two. 
According to my own experience, Catechu is, in the form of 
injection, one of the most useful drugs in the treatment of 
gonorrhoea. As simple as the following formula is, it has 
proved successful in many cases, and sometimes even without 
the assistance of internal remedies: — 
R. Pulveris Catechu 3iss. 
Mucil. Acaciae 3vi. 
Aqum purae ad. §iss. Misce fiat injectio. 
A third part to be injected three times in the 24 hours. To 
ensure the desired effect, some care is necessary in injecting 
the medicine. Having filled a glass syringe with the injection, 
the patient should introduce its bulbous extremity into the 
urethra to the extent of an inch with his right hand. Then holding 
upright the penis with his left forefinger and thumb, so as to 
compress the urethra against the syringe to prevent the escape 
of the fluid, he should pass the liquid freely into that canal by 
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