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.

    43/320 (page 31)
    2. It causes slight increase of the peristaltic movements •of the bowels. more especially in the form of bath, the elimination of lead and mercury from the system. Sulphur has lately been re- commended as the best means of preventing mercurial sali- vation. 2. It acts, therefore, as a gentle laxative, slightly soften- ing the fjeces, and from the mildness of its action it is specially useful in piles and all irritable conditions about the rectum. Its purgative action is increased by its being dis- solved and formed into a sul- phide by the alkali of the bile. 3. Burnt in a room with closed doors and windows, it is the best way to remove the germs of infection from the air by fumigation. Sulphur is given off from the system principally by the bowels, but also by the milk, the sweat, and by the skin in the form of sulphuretted hydrogen, and by the urine as a sulphate. 3. Sulphur has well-marked antiseptic properties in con- sequence of its destructive power over the lower forms of vegetable life. Disadvantages and Contra-indications to its Use. Strong applications of sulphur frequently irritate the skin, and bring on troublesome eczema. The disadvantage of sulj^hur as an aj^erient is the offensive odour which the sulphuretted hydrogen communicates to the faeces. Dose and Mode of Administration. The confection is the best purgative form, in tea or table spoonful doses, and for external use the ointment is generally prescribed.