Cleveland 2791 Medical and Surgical Reporter. A monthly journal devoted to the interests of Homeopathy EDITED BY HUDSON D. BISHOP, M. D. Volume XIII. JANUARY TO DECEMBER. CLEVELAND. The Cleveland Homeopathic Medical College, PUBLISHER. 1905. UNIV. OF MICH JAN 24 1905 Cleveland Medical and Surgical Reporter. Contributions are solicited upon any subject connected with the practice of medicine or the allied sciences, and the only restrictions placed upon them are that they shall be free from personalities and given to the REPORTER exclusively. The Editor of the REPORTER is not responsible for any opinion expressed by contributors. Vol. XIII. JANUARY, 1905. Original Articles. CATHARTICS. By Gaius J. Jones, M. D., Professor of the Theory and Practice of Medicine, No. 1. A Cathartic is described by Webster as "a medicine that promotes alvine discharges and thus cleanses the stomach and bowels; a purge; a purgative." Dorland defines a cathartic as "purgative; a medicine that quickens and increases evacuation from the bowels and produces purgation." A Purgative he defines as "a cathartic causing evacuation from the bowels. 2nd. A cathartic medicine." Purgatives are divided chiefly according to the severity of their action into several classes-drastic, simple, saline, hydragogue, cholagogue and laxative. Among the drastic purgatives are Colocynth, Croton oil, Jalap, Scammony and Gamboge. The simple purgatives are Aloes, Castor oil, Rhubarb and Senna. Under the head saline are Magnesium sulphate, Sodium sulphate, Potassium citrate, Potassium tartrate, and Sodium phosphate. The hydragogues include Potassium bitartrate, Elaterium and Gamboge. The cholagogues comprise Calomel, Blue pill, Iridin, Podophyllum, etc. The use of cathartic medicine has been so common for many years that the question must necessarily come to the mind of any physician, is the influence of such medicines always for good, or do they not frequently produce serious results? First, I wish to call your attention to the injurious effect produced by medicines of this character when some portion of the alimentary canal is already in a state of inflammation. We don't know exactly how these drugs act, that is, we do not understand the exact method by which the characteristic effects upon the alimentary canal are produced, but we do know the course which its action takes after a reasonable period has transpired from the time. the drug was taken. Each drug of this kind has certain characteristics which have been thoroughly demonstrated in scores and hundreds of cases which 147369 |