Page:Willich, A. F. M. - The Domestic Encyclopædia (Vol. 1, 1802).djvu/93

69&#93; ANO sons of the sensitive faculty/' However liberally others may ex- plain the effects of opium on the organs of the mind, we cannot avoid obsening, that its operation ofl tihesensorium commune is always attended with violence, and that ko powerful a medicine ought not to be intrusted to the hands of those who are but little acquainted with its nature. Nay, we are of opinion, (hat even medical men cannot be too careful in its exhibition 5 but far from wishing to deprecate the use of this invaluable drug, which cannot, in the present state of me- dical science, be excluded from the li^t of medicinal substances, we shall here venture to suggest a few ideas respecting die propriety, and greater safety, of its external use. In very painful wounds, excru- ciating rhuematism, contractions, and paralytic affections arising from frequent spasms and strictures, the external use of opium is both safe and beneficial, especially if com- bined with antispasmodic and emol- lient remedies, such as camphor, lint-seed oil, marsh-mallows, 8 c. These atone are frequently suffi- cient to relieve distressing pain, without the assistance of anod nes properly so called ; as the latter generally determine the circulation of blood towards the head, and oc- casion giddiness, stupor, and a re- laxation of the nerves. Widi the above additions, however, opium be advantageously employed in the form of baths, fomentations, ointments, cataplasms, and parti- cularly in clysters. — (See die arti- cle Abdomen, p. 5. laudanum.J When die pain is in the interior organs, and its seat cannot be pre- cisely ascertained, or when it arises from causes which neither the pa- tient nor physician can discover, ANO [69 we would prefer the following anodyne liniment, a timely appli- cation of which has frequently pro- cured immediate relief: take one ounce of the dried leaves of the common henbane, or four ounces of the green plant, and half a pint of sweet olive oil, digest them near a lire for a few days, dien express the leaves through a coarse piece of linen, filter the decoction, and preserve it in a vessel closely stopped. This preparation, if ap- plied warm, or rubbed into painful parts, has, according to our own experience, proved of singular eifi- cacy. II. Those remedies which are calculated to change, suppress, or evacuate the material cause of pain, and are dierefore die most rational, though, unfortunately, not always within. the reach of the medical practitioner. Thus, if die intesti- nal canal be obstructed, or die stomach clogged with acrid matter that cannot fail to produce violent colics, and other disorders, the prin- cipal aim will be to evacuate it by purgatives, or emetics, and diereby not only cure the complaint, but, at the same time, save the patient's life, which, by means of opiates, given either by the mouth or clys- ter, without such previous eva- cuations, would be exposed to im- minent danger. Hence we are in- duced to express our opinion de- cidedly in favour of those who, from a conviction of die great im- portance of the trust reposed in them, seriously hesitate to employ anodynes, so long as there is a pos- sibility of dispensing v ith such pre- carious remedies. But, in cases where the morbid matter cannot be expelled, a skilful practitioner will endeavour, at least, to deprive it of its activity, or to neutralize it, F 3 while