536 
Pharmacologic  Superstitions. 
/Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
Xovember,  1917. 
which  we  have,  and  therefore  liable  to  cause  constipation.  It  is 
strongly  irritant  to  mucous  membranes,  and  in  delicate  stomachs  will 
often  provoke  nausea.  The  widespread  employment  of  various  pro- 
prietary forms  of  iron  is  due  largely  to  the  dread  of  disturbing  the 
patient's  digestive  tract  with  the  inorganic  salts,  a  fear  which  is  the 
outgrowth  of  unpleasant  experiences  with  the  tincture  of  ferric 
chloride.  I  have  heard  a  physician  who  passes  among  his  fellows  as 
being  exceptionally  educated  speak  of  this  solution  as  the  "  strongest" 
form  of  iron.  What  he  meant  I  have  been  wondering  ever  since. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  10  minims  of  the  tincture  of  ferric  chlorid  con- 
tains less  iron  than  a  single  Blaud's  pill.  As  an  external  remedy 
for  checking  hemorrhage  it  is  very  valuable:  as  an  internal  drug 
it  should  never  be  employed. 
Opium  as  a  Local  Remedy. 
There  is  many  a  man  who,  while  denying  any  accusation  of  being 
superstitious,  nevertheless  hesitates  to  make  the  thirteenth  person 
at  a  table,  or  who  has  some  pet  habit  which  he  regards  as  an  omen 
of  good  luck.  In  a  very  similar  way  there  are  many  physicians  who 
profess  to  realize  that  opium  has  no  local  action  but  nevertheless  per- 
sist in  employing  it  as  a  topical  remedy.  And  there  may  still  be 
some  superstitious  enough  really  to  believe  that  a  drug  so  potent  as 
a  cerebral  depressant  must  of  necessity  have  powerful  local  effects. 
Among  the  most  common  evidences  of  this  belief  may  be  mentioned 
that  ancient,  if  not  honorable  embrocation  known  as  lead  water  and 
laudanum,  the  addition  of  opium  to  nutrient  enemas  to  quiet  the 
rectum,  but  above  all  the  use  of  the  opium  suppository  in  various 
pelvic  inflammations.  The  first  of  these  has  perhaps  a  slight  theoret- 
ical justification,  but  the  other  two  are  as  senseless  as  the  incanta- 
tions with  which  the  ancients  preceded  their  nauseating  concoctions. 
Crude  opium  frequently  has  a  marked  local  irritant  effect.  The 
United  States  Dispensatory  says,  "When  long  chewed  it  excites 
much  irritation  in  the  lips  and  tongue  and  may  even  blister  the 
mouths  of  those  unaccustomed  to  its  use."  Dr.  Hill  in  his  history 
of  materia  medica,  published  in  1751,  remarked  of  opium  that 
"  if  kept  long  on  the  skin  it  takes  off  the  hair  and  it  always  occasions 
an  itching  in  it;  sometimes  it  exulcerates  and  raises  little  blisters 
if  applied  to  a  tender  part,"  and  he  recommended  its  use  as  a  counter- 
irritant.    I  have  myself  seen  two  cases  in  which  blistering  followed 
