AmNo°v r'i92iarm" }      Mode  of  Action  of  Common  Laxatives.  789 
For  epilepsy,  "a  piece  of  an  old  sailcloth  taken  from  a  ship- 
wrecked vessel,  to  be  tied  to  the  right  arm  for  seven  weeks  to- 
gether." 
For  colic,  "The  heart  of  a  lark  to  be  fastened  to  the  left  thigh." 
For  a  quartan  ague,  "A  few  hairs  taken  from  a  goat's  chin." 
"Pliny  says  that  any  plant  gathered  from  the  bank  of  a  brook 
or  river  before  sunrise,  provided  that  no  one  sees  the  person  who 
gathers  it,  is  considered  as  a  remedy  for  a  tertian  ague  when  tied  to 
the  left  arm,  the  patient  not  knowing  what  it  is." 
"A  person  may  be  immediately  cured  of  the  headache  by  the 
application  of  any  plant  which  has  grown  on  the  head  of  a  statue, 
provided  it  be  folded  in  the  shred  of  a  garment,  and  tied  to  the  part 
affected  with  a  red  string." 
Not  quite  so  fanciful,  yet  not  without  interest  is  a  remedy  for 
the  flatulence  occurring  in  "hypochrondriacall  melancholy."  It  con- 
sisted in  the  use  of  a  clyster  pipe  connected  to  a  pair  of  bellowTS, 
concerning  which,  Burton  simply  comments  that  nature  abhors  a 
vacuum. 
This  paper  concludes  with  a  note  on  the  subject  of  dietetics. 
Burton  enumerates  practically  all  foodstuffs  of  all  times  and  then 
proceeds  to  quote  authorities  condemnng  all  of  them.  With  regard 
to  beer,  he  quotes  Crato  as  objecting  to  it  as  "windy  because  of  the 
hop,"  and  translates  Henricus  Abrincensis : 
"Nothing  comes  in  so  thick; 
Nothing  goes  out  so  thin; 
It  must  needs  follow,  then, 
The  drugs  are  left  within" — 
References :  Dictionary  of  Greek  and  Roman  Antiquities,  Anthon.  Anat- 
omy of  Melancholy,  Burton. 
MODE  OF  ACTION  OF  SOME  COMMON  LAXATIVES.* 
Without  doubt  the  common  laxatives  are  the  most  widely  used 
drugs  in  the  entire  pharmacopoeia  of  the  modern  physician;  hence 
the  conclusion  is  irresistible  that  he  should  be  adequately  informed 
regarding  their  precise  mode  of  action.  If  an  added  reason  were 
necessary  it  could  readily  be  found  in  the  all  but  universal  use 
*From  the  Journ.  of  A.  M.  A.,  August,  1921. 
