462 
PHARMACEUTICAL MEETING. 
Oct. 5th .—I took % gr. of the resin after breakfast. A good deal of flatu¬ 
lence was caused in the evening, but no purgation. 
Oct. 1th .—Took \ gr. before breakfast. No decided effect. 
Oct. 8th .—Took \ gr. before breakfast. No catharsis followed.* 
Oct. 29th .—Took 1 gr. before breakfast. No palpable effect till 5 p.m., when 
I felt some wandering pains in the abdomen ; at 9 p.m., a small solid evacuation 
was provoked, and at 12 p.m. a copious loose stool followed. The next morning 
two more thin dejections resulted, attended with some griping pains and an un¬ 
comfortable feeling of chilliness. 
Nov. 8th .—Took a gr. at bedtime. Flatulence in the morning, and an in¬ 
creased action of the bowels in 9 - 5 hours. 
Nov. 9 th —Took \ gr. at bedtime. Purgation in 8*5 hours. 
Oct. 29 th .—Administered 1 gr. of the resin to a young gentleman in health 
before going to bed. Next morning a free motion ensued. During the day he 
was annoyed with flatulence, nausea, loss of appetite, chilliness, and griping 
pains, and the bowels were opened twice loosely. The succeeding morning and 
the day after the cathartic action was still manifested, and, in all, six motions 
were obtained. 
From this would appear the irritant properties of the drug, which externally 
are more evident, and manifest themselves in rubefaction, vesication, and even 
rapid pustulation. Temporary contact of podophyllum with the nose or eyelids 
will cause inflammation and suppuration. The time intervening between the 
successive operations of the drug is set forth in the accompanying table :— 
Dose. 
A. 
Effects. 
Time. 
Dose. 
B. 
Effects. 
Time. 
?gr- 
No purgation. 
( Free motion in . . 
9 hrs. 
i gr- 
Ditto. 
Ditto. 
13 „ 
igr- 
Flatulence and slight 
1 gr. 
< 
Slight motion in . 
18 „ 
purgation in . . 
9’5 hrs. 
Loose motion in 
33 „ 
h gr- 
Purgation in . . . 
8-5 „ 
Ditto. 
48 „ 
("Griping pains in . . 
9 „ 
- And lastly in . . 
50 „ 
| Slight motion in . . 
13 „ 
1 gr. 
<j Copious motion in . 
16 „ 
j Ditto. 
24 „ 
^And again in . . . 
25 „ 
If we now compare these results with the details furnished in the Report of 
the Committee on the Hypodermic Method of Injection (Med. Chir. Trans, 
vol. 50), we see how closely analogous they are, excepting that the Irish podo- 
phyllin seems to be borne in larger doses. Yet Stille gives the average dose of 
podophyllin as two grains; but I may remark that he treats of the resin as pre¬ 
cipitated by water alone, and accordingly containing no berberina. 
Now, as the so-called podophyllin may, according to the mode of its prepara¬ 
tion, contain a small quantity of the native salt of berberina, a larger propor¬ 
tion of the muriate of berberina, or no alkaloid at all, it is probable that its 
action on the animal economy is correspondingly modified. 
A peculiar characteristic of the subcutaneous injection of this drug was, that 
free diuresis was caused in about twenty-four hours after purgation. 
Judging, then, from these two sets of experiments, we may, with Dr. Bige¬ 
low, consider podophyllum as a certain extremely active and hydragogue cathar¬ 
tic, in some respects resembling jalap in its operation, but much slower and 
more permanent in its effects. When ingested by the mouth, in ordinary doses 
* I was suffering from dissection-boils at the time. 
