A guide to therapeutics / by Robert Farquharson.

  • Farquharson, Robert, 1836-1918.
Date:
1877
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A guide to therapeutics / by Robert Farquharson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    159/320 (page 147)
    proved principles by Prof. Rutherford have given ns very precise and reliable indications for practice. Cholagogues act either by dii'ectly stimu- lating the secretion of the bile, or by contracting the gall- bladder and irritating the duodenum, so as to sweep the bile out of the intestine as fast as it is poured in by the he- patic ducts. In addition to drugs be- longing to the actual pm-ga- tive class, we have many in- direct remedies which act with considerable efficiency. Thus we may use enemata, cold to the abdomen, mechanical kneading of the parietes, elec- tricity ; we may stimulate the muscular tissues to contrac- tion ; or we may cause a purga- tive action by I'elieving spasm. affections of the liver, to re- move what is commonly known as ' biKousness,' and to obviate portal congestion. Among the stimulating class we may mention strychnia, nux vomica, ei'got, sulphate of iron, &c., and these are very efficient, in combina- tion with mild purgatives, where constipation depends on a lax or weakened state of the intestinal walls. When spasm or ii-regular contraction prevents free ac- tion of the bowels, we must have recourse to opium, bella- donna, or acetate of lead, wliich, under these conditions, may be looked upon as true cathar- tics. In administering pm-gatives, we must consider the various parts of the intestinal canal on which they act. Thus senna, jalap, (fee, act on the small intestine, aloes on the large, podophyllin on the duodenum, &c. We must also consider the time of their administration, as we find that the slowly act- ing resinoid substances are best given at night or before dinner,