474 
PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION AND THERAPEUTICAL USES OF 
An analysis of the urine in several cases showed that the effect of belladonna was to 
cause an increase of the urea, sulphates, and phosphates, and a diminution in the excretion 
of uric acid and chlorine ; the urine also is increased in quantity and specific gravity. The 
increase of the urinary constituents was assumed to be the result of the excitement of the 
nervous centres, and, when given in medicinal doses, almost entirely of the sympathetic 
nervous system, and so, as there is an increase in the flow of blood through the kidneys, 
there is a proportional increase in the functional activity of the organ. The excessive 
oxidation required in the process is due to the increased circulation through the lungs, 
which seem to eliminate a larger amount of carbonic acid from the blood, as it is passing 
rapidly through them. 
With regard to the therapeutical uses of belladonna, Dr. Harley showed that it must 
he looked upon—1. As a diuretic; 2. As a means for increasing the oxidizing process 
within the body ; 3. Asa direct stimulant to the sympathetic nervous system. 
As a diuretic it is a most hopeful remedy in cases of suppression of urine, accompanied 
or not by urainic symptoms. 
In a case of chronic renal disease, it was found that the urine, which before the injec¬ 
tion of ^gth a g ra i n of sulphate of atropia contained 1 grain of albumen in 1000 grains, 
only contained £ a grain in an equal quantity of urine two hours after the experiment; 
four days afterwards no trace of albumen was found in the urine. 
In promoting the oxidizing processes in the system, it is applicable in the uric acid 
and lactic acids diatheses. 
On injecting -jLth or T \jth of a grain of the sulphate of atropia in the neighbourhood 
of painful joints in rheumatic fever, there resulted immediate amelioration in the pain, 
and the duration of the disease seemed to be shortened. 
As a cardiac stimulant it is most valuable ; there is no medicine in the whole materia 
medica which can directly and immediately increase the force and rapidity of the heart’s 
action to one-fourth the degree that belladonna is capable of doing. 
In the collapse of cholera, in syncope from asthenia, and in cases where there is great 
loss of blood, this drug seems capable of arousing the heart’s action. 
When administered as a cardiac stimulant, atropia should be given in doses sufficient 
to arouse the heart’s action without producing more than slight and transient dryness of 
the mouth ; for this purpose, when used subcutaneously, the ^-th of a grain will gene¬ 
rally suffice. 
Lecture III. 
In the third and last lecture attention was directed to the action and uses of hyoscya- 
mus, and the influence of opium when given in combination with the above-named 
drugs. 
The preparation of hyoscyamus used in the experiments was the sulphate of hyoscya- 
mia, prepared by the author from the fresh seeds of the biennial plant. It is of a light 
brown colour, imperfectly crystalline, and very deliquescent. 
One of the earliest indications on administering a small dose of this alkaloid is a rapid 
decrease in the frequency of the pulse, and this depression is not accompanied by any 
alteration in volume or power. Schroff states that g^rd of a grain of hyoscyamia 
reduces the pulse from 79 to 18, but in the lecturer’s experience the pulse had never 
fallen below 42 beats in a minute. 
The following are shortly the effects of injecting subcutaneously small quantities -of 
the sulphate of the alkaloid:—At first slight increase in the frequency and power of the 
pulse; then a considerable diminution, accompanied by giddiness, sleepiness, and dilata¬ 
tion of the pupil; in some cases slight twitching, dryness of the mouth and air- 
passages, and delirium. 
When hyoscyamus or its active principle is absorbed by the alimentary mucous mem¬ 
brane, precisely similar effects follow, and the action is usually manifest within an 
hour. 
A “ Succus Hyoscyami ” was prepared from some very fine biennial wild plants 
analogous to the “ Succus Conii.” Three ounces of this produced symptoms of equal 
intensity to those mentioned above. Two ounces of the “ succus,” in a youth aged 
seventeen, caused an acceleration of the pulse of 40 beats, with dryness of the mouth 
and sleepiness. 
