Take of jalap, in powder, a scruple; cream of tartar, two scruples. Let them be rubbed together, and formed into a bolus, with simple syrup.
Where a mild purge is wanted, this will answer the purpose very well. If a stronger dose is necessary, the jalap may be increased to half a drachm or upwards.
CATAPLASMS AND SINAPISMS.
Cataplasms possess few or no virtues superior to a poultice, which may be so made, as, in most cases, to supply their place. They are chiefly intended either to act as discutients, or to promote suppuration; and as they may be of service in some cases, we shall give a specimen of each kind.
Discutient Cataplasm.
Take of barley-meal, six ounces; fresh hemlock leaves, bruised; two ounces; vinegar, a sufficient quantity. Boil the meal and hemlock in the vinegar for a little, and then add two drachms of the sugar of lead.
Ripening Cataplasm.
Take of white lily root, four ounces; fat figs and raw onions, bruised, of each one ounce; yellow basilicum ointment, two ounces; gum galbanum, half an ounce; linseed meal, as much as necessary. Boil the roots along with the figs in a sufficient quantity of water; then bruise and add to them the other ingredients, so as to form the whole into a soft cataplasm. The galbanum must be previously dissolved with the yolk of an egg.
Where it is necessary to promote suppuration, this cataplasm may be used by those who chuse to be at the trouble and expence of making it. For my part, I have never found any application more proper for this purpose than a poultice of bread and milk, with a sufficient quantity of either boiled or raw onion in it, and softened with oil or fresh butter.