SECT. V.—ON COMPOUND PURGATIVES.
Pills from aloes. Of the medullary part of colocynth, p. j; of the juice of wormwood, p. j; of aloes, p. j; of scammony, p. ij; make with water pills of the size of a chick-pea. The dose xj grains.
The oxymel of Julian. Of rue, oz. iij; of marjoram, oz. iij; of the hair (capillary-leaves?) of thyme, oz. iv; of dill, oz. iss; of iris, oz. j; of the root of mandrake, oz. iss; of agaric, oz. ij; of fatty dead pines, oz. xij; of the granum Cnidium, oz. iv; of lathyrides, oz. iij; of alypias, oz. iij; of polypody, oz. ij; of the cassia-leaf (malabathrum), oz. j; of costus, oz. j; of spikenard, oz. j; of rha Ponticum, oz. iss; of squills, oz. iij; of the tops of the elder-tree, oz. iij; of canopus, which is the bark of elder, oz. iij; of asarabacca, oz. j; of pennyroyal, oz. iij; of dodder of thyme, oz. ij; of hellebore, oz. ij; of sweetflag, oz. ij; of water-parsnip, oz. j; of amomum, oz. j; of St. John’s wort, oz. j; of cumin, oz. j; of anise, oz. ij; of vinegar, ten sextarii; of honey, five sextarii: macerate the herbs in the vinegar for three days; then, having boiled it until more than one half be consumed, add the honey, and having strained, add the lathyrides, the costus, the granum Cnidium, and the spikenard triturated, and, if you please, after it is fully boiled, the oxymel. The full dose is oz. j; or according to the patient’s strength. It is useful in gouty affections and epilepsies; and when we require at the same time to evacuate or dislodge thick humours.
The purgative hydragogue from cloves. Of aloes, of dodder of thyme, of cloves, of granum Cnidium, of stone-parsley, of rha Ponticum, of each, oz. ss; of euphorbium, scr. iv; of honey, q. s. The dose is one spoonful.
The purgative medicine from rhodomel, of Alexander. Of the juice of roses, two sextarii; of honey, one sextarius; of scammony, oz. iv. A full dose is five spoonfuls, a small, two, a medium dose three spoonfuls.—Otherwise: of honey, lb. j; of the juice of roses, lb. j; of pepper, dr. ij; of scammony, dr. viij; of mastich, dr. iv; and of ginger, dr. ij.—Otherwise, one which I use: of spikenard, of asarabacca, of dodder of thyme, of each, oz. ss; macerate in a hemina of water for three days; and having boiled it to a moderate degree, mix with the water of the juice of roses, half a sextarius; of honey, half a sextarius; and having boiled it until it acquire consistence, add scammony to the amount of oz. iss.
A purgative medicine from quinces. Of roasted quinces, oz. iv; of pepper, oz. ss; of scammony, dr. j; of honey, oz. v. Having triturated it, give one spoonful, according to the strength.
The stomachic purgative from citrons. Boil of the bark of a citron, and of the flesh of the same, lb. j, in a sextarius and a half of water, until a third be left; add half a sextarius of honey, and having boiled until it acquire the consistence of honey, sprinkle of the powder of long pepper, oz. j; of scammony roasted in leaven, oz. j.
The purgative called Buccellatus. Of baked scammony, oz. j; of pepper and of parsley-seed, of each, scr. j; of fennel, of anise, of each, oz. j; of honey, lb. j; having roasted it moderately, give in hippocras to the amount of one ounce.
Purgative olives. Of scammony, oz. j; of pepper, oz. j; of dodder of thyme, of toasted cumin, of stone-parsley, of rue, of the green leaves of mint, of each, dr. iv; of laserwort, dr. j; of dates, oz. v; of honey, oz. v; of vinegar, two heminæ; of pickled olives (namely of schistous), one sextar. Some add a moderate quantity of fish-sauce. The dose is v, vij, or ix.
A purgative trochisk. Of scammony, dr. iv; of euphorbium, dr. iv; of the cassia-leaf (malabathrum), dr. ij; of pepper, dr. ij; of honey, lb. j. The dose is oz. j.
A purgative and stomachic posca. Of cumin, of fennel, of each, oz. j; of pennyroyal, of parsley, of anise, of each, oz. ss; of dodder of thyme, of scammony, of each, oz. j; of salts, oz. ij. The full dose is two scruples in the oxycrate. Some add also of euphorbium, scr. iv.
A purgative wine for dropsical cases. Of squills, oz. iij; of parsley-seed, oz. vi; of pepper, dr. j; of the root of capers, dr. iv; of the granum Cnidium stripped of its bark, dr. j; of the leaf malabathrum, two balls; of wine, twelve heminæ; of honey, oz. iij. Having pounded the squills, macerate in wine, and mix the other things when triturated.
Purgative salts. Of common salts toasted, dr. vj; of parsley-seed, of ginger, of dried bread, of each, scr. vj; of anise, of pepper, of each, oz. ss; of scammony, of dodder of thyme, of each, oz. j. The dose is one spoonful.
The podagric purgative from hermodactylus. Of hermodactylus, oz. iij; of anise, of Ethiopian cumin, of bishop’s weed, of the clusters of thyme, of white pepper, of ginger, of each, scr. iij; of dodder of thyme, oz. ss; the dose is scr. iv; some give scr. vj. It is administered in the morning with hippocras, honeyed water, or strong wine heated.
The same purgative otherwise. Of hermodactylus, oz. j; of Ethiopian cumin, of anise, of agaric, of ginger, of each, scr. vj; of mastich, scr. ij; of spikenard, scr. ij; of musk, one siliqua; of cnicus, scr. ij. The dose is scr. iv with hydromel. We reject scammony, because it is bad for the stomach. But if more evacuation be required, mix with the dose three siliquæ of scammony; give after the bath.
Pills from the lapis Armenicus, given principally in arthritic cases. Of aloes, oz. iv; of scammony, oz. vj; of agaric, oz. j; of dodder of thyme, oz. j; of lapis armenicus, scr. xij; of cassia, oz. j; of spikenard, oz. j; of baked squills, oz. ij; of saffron, scr. xij; add to rhodomel. The dose is scr. ij.
The purgative from coronopodium, applicable in the same cases as that from hermodactylus, a stomachic. Of ginger, scr. ij; of pepper, scr. j; of agaric, scr. j; of the internal part of cnicus, scr. iv; of the root of buckthorn plantain (coronopodium), scr. vj; the dose is scr. iij, but to those persons whose belly is difficult to move, twenty-three siliquæ, which make altogether seven oboli, or nearly eight. After evacuation, having bathed, let them take eggs and bread for food.
That from Cyrenaic juice, for quartans. Of Cyrenaic juice, of pepper, of ginger, of the leaves of rue, of each, dr. j. The dose is the size of a filbert.
A purgative pap, useful in cases of œdema and aggravated elephantiasis, and when one wishes to dislodge a thick and viscid humour. Having cut up two colocynths, evacuate the seed, and allowing the medullary part to remain, fill them with sweet oil, and covering them up with their proper covers allow them to remain a night and a day. On the following day, having evacuated the oil, boil the colocynths in water until they are reduced to a soft consistence; then throw them away, and the oil being mixed with water, add to it three oboli of black hellebore, and of scammony, dr. j; but boiling along with them a pap of similago, or dried bread pounded, and then give of it to the patient, who has been formerly restricted to a simple diet, to the size of eight, ten, or at most fourteen filberts; and let him drink hot water.
Commentary. It may be proper in this place to apprize the reader of the reason why he will not find the remainder of the work so copiously illustrated by notes as the preceding parts of it. The combination of simple medicines in pharmaceutical preparations is so arbitrary, and so little regulated by any fixed principle, that it is seldom we can find any two authors exactly agreeing as to the ingredients which enter into any one preparation. Now to follow all the ancient writers on pharmacy through all their complex formulæ, and point out every little difference which prevails among them, would be a very wearisome task, and one which would scarcely recompense us or our readers for the time and attention which such an undertaking would necessarily demand; and neither is it much required, since, as will be seen, our author’s system of pharmacy is sufficiently copious and accurate for all practical purposes. We shall therefore be content with giving a general explanation of each class of these medicinal preparations, and only offer some occasional remarks on a few of the more important articles.
Under this head we shall give some account of the Halatia Cathartica, or Purgative Salts of the ancients. The ἅλες κοινὰι πεφρυγμέναι are the same as the sal commune frictum of Apicius. Humelbergius thus explains it: “fricti, id est cremati et torrefacti.” The following is Apicius’s receipt for the “Sales conditi ad multa:” Of common salt roasted, lb. j; of sal ammoniac roasted, lb. ij; of white pepper, oz. iij; of ginger, oz. ij; of bishop’s weed, oz. iss; of thyme, oz. iss; of parsley-seed, oz. iss. The purgative salts of Aëtius contain sal ammoniac mixed up with many purgative and cordial medicines, such as scammony, laserwort, parsley-seed, ginger, pennyroyal, spikenard, and pepper. (iii, 109.) These are the ingredients of a sal purgatorius recommended by Actuarius. (Meth. Med. v, 10.) Myrepsus gives prescriptions for various purgative and stomachic salts. They all consist of sal ammoniac, or common salt mixed with scammony and aromatics in different proportions. (Sect. ii.) See also Haly Abbas. (Pract. x, 10.)