322  Epsom  Salt  versus  Strawberries.  {Am)liy%f^rm' 
rectum  as  a  liquid,  whose  presence  would  hinder  the  contents  of  that 
receptacle  from  becoming  hard.  I  have  never  found  time  to  study  this 
conception  in  its  original  simplicity,  though  I  think  it  not  unlikely  that 
certain  familiar  remedies  may  be  found  to  fall  within  the  scope  of  it. 
For  example,  the  use  of  the  fleshy  pulp  of  several  fruits  which  are 
known  to  act  as  laxatives  may  perhaps  be  justly  regarded  as  an  approx- 
imation to  the  above-mentioned  idea.  It  is  not  improbable  that  the 
pulp-like  flesh  of  prunes  and  tamarinds  contains  an  inert  indigestible 
colloid  substance,  or  that  the  advantages  derived  from  the  use  of  these 
fruits  may  depend  upon  the  presence  and  properties  of  this  substance. 
Perhaps  even  the  sweet  pulp  of  the  cassia  pods  of  India  may  be  another 
example  of  the  same  general  order. 
However  this  may  be,  I  have  latterly  had  occasion  to  notice  that  the 
action  of  one,  at  least,  of  the  mineral  waters  now  in  very  common 
use  is  so  closely  analogus  to  that  of  my  proposed  medicament  that  the 
conception  seems  worthy  of  being  kept  in  view,  and  of  being  subjected 
to  the  test  of  experiment  whenever  opportunity  may  offer. 
Indeed,  it  may  be  said  in  general  that  the  osmotic  theory  of  the  action 
of  some  laxative  medicines  is  so  well  illustrated  by  the  practical  use  of 
certain  saline  waters,  that  the  fact  is  worthy  of  more  careful  attention 
and  consideration  than  appears  to  have  been  given  to  it  hitherto.  The 
Friedrichshall  bitter-water,  for  example,  taken  in  doses  of  a  small  wine- 
glassful  three  or  four  times  per  day,  or  five  or  six  times  if  need  be,  is 
an  effective  bar  to  the  constipations  of  early  summer  and  to  those  pro- 
duced by  strawberries  ;  not  that  the  saline  water,  when  taken  in  the 
small  doses  just  described,  acts  as  a  cathartic,  properly  so  called,  but 
that  it  carries  enough  water  to  the  rectum  to  keep  its  contents  soft. 
Analysis1  of  the  Friedrichshall  water  has  shown  that  it  contains  a 
variety  of  salts,  some  of  which  may  perhaps  be  useful  medicaments  in 
one  case  and  some  in  another  ;  but  for  the  purpose  now  under  consid- 
eration the  magnesium  salts,  which  are  prominent  constituents  of  this 
water,  would  seem  to  be  amply  sufficient.  I  have,  in  fact,  prepared  a 
solution  of  far  less  disagreeable  taste  than  Friedrichshall  water  and 
equally  effective  with  it  against  the  kinds  of  constipation  here  in  ques- 
1(1  Jahresbericht  der  Chemie,"  1847-48,  p.  1002}  from  "Annalen  der  Chemie 
und  Pharmacie,"  lxiii,  127. 
