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CARBOLIC  GLYCERIN  AND  PLASTER. 
THE  TRUMPET-PLANT  IX  DIARRHOEA. 
By  J.  Dabney  Palmer. 
A  yellow-flowered  specimen  of  this  plant — ^known  as  the  Fly- 
catcher, Huntsman^ s -cup,  ^t?.— was  brought  to  my  notice  last 
year  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  its  therapeutic  effects.  I 
prepared  a  tincture  of  the  root  according  to  the  following  for- 
mula, of  which  I  found  one  teaspoonful  a  sufficient  dose : 
B.  Trumpet  root,  .  .  .   four  ounces. 
Diluted  alcohol,         .  .  .   two  pints. 
Macerate  fourteen  days,  express  and  filter. 
The  experiments  from  that  time  to  the  present  have  been  con- 
fined, to  cases  of  diarrhoea,  and  with  such  gratifying  results  as  to 
justify  me  in  recommending  it  to  the  profession.  Some  of  the 
cases  were  of  long  standing  and  very  obstinate ;  others  were 
recent  and  yielded  immediately.  In  none,  however,  were  more 
than  four  ounces  of  the  tincture  necessary  to  efiect  a  cure.  A 
few  doses  were  generally  sufficient.  My  method  of  giving  it  is 
one  teaspoonful  after  each  evacuation.* 
Monticello,  Florida. 
CARBOLIC  GLYCERIN  AND  PLASTER. 
Louisville,  Feb.  23d,  1869. 
William  Procter,  Jr.,  Philadelphia. 
My  DEAR  Sir, — I  take  the  liberty  of  dropping  you  an  addi- 
tional line  apropos  of  glycerin  as  an  excipient. 
During  our  sojourn  in  Europe  in  1867,  you  may  remember 
Dr.  Lister,  of  Glasgow,  was  experimenting  with  carbolic  acid, 
with  a  view  to  its  use  as  a  surgical  dressing.  He  found  that  one 
of  the  most  convenient  and  efficient  modes  of  applying  this  agent 
was  to  incorporate  it  with  glaziers'  putty.  This  was  a  good  idea, 
for  the  putty  is  plastic,  handy,  cheap,  not  uncleanly,  and  adapts 
itself  well  to  any  irregular  surface.  This  close  contact  is  advan- 
tageous in  two  ways — it  brings  the  medicament  in  intimate  con- 
*  We  do  not  know  what  plant  the  author  means,  as  several  are  so 
called.  Bignonia  radicum  is  called  trumpet  flower,  and  Eupatorium 
purpureum  sometimes  called  trumpet  weed.  If  the  author  will  advise  us, 
we  will  state  in  our  next. — Ed.  Am.  J.  Ph. 
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