The most valuable remedy

Bookworm · Post by **Bookworm** » Sun Apr 03, 2005 5:31 pm

I was just looking at my 1902 encyclopedia and noticed this entry for opium:
". . . Opium is undoubtably the most valuable remedy of the whole materia medica. 'For other medicines,' says Doctor Pereira, 'we have one or more substitutes; but for opium, none - at least in the large majority of cases in which its peculiar and beneficial influence is required.' We not only exhibit it to mitigate pain, to allay spasm, to promote sleep, to relieve nervous restlessness, to produce perspiration, and to check profuse discharges from the bronchial tubes and intestinal canal; but we also find it capable of relieving some diseases in which none of the above indications can be always distinctly perceived."

Further down, I read, "In a case of poisoning by opium, the first and most essential point is the evacuation of the contents of the stomach. The stomach-pump, if it can be procured, should be employed, and strong coffee should then be pumped into the stomach after the removal of its contents. . . The patient must, if possible, be prevented from falling asleep, and for this purpose, he should be kept constantly walking betwen two strong men, while a third person in the rear should, at short intervals, flick him sharply with a rough wet towel, or (if procurable) a good birch rod. Cold water should also occasionally dashed over the head and chest. In a few apparently hopeless cases, death has been averted by artificial respiration, and by the application of electro-magnetism."

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MrSelf · Post by **MrSelf** » Mon Apr 04, 2005 10:38 am

What?!?

That's crazy, but, uh.... wanna hit this?

It's good for.. uh... something.....

*smacks bookworm with a wet towel*

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Red Squirrel · Post by **Red Squirrel** » Mon Apr 04, 2005 4:47 pm

I like medication comercials that end with the word "death". Really makes you want to buy it... if you're suicidle. (such as a few here.

)

May cause mild cold, headache, migraine, intestinial diseases, vomiting, mild heart attack, stroke, birth defects, and in rare cases, death.

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Bookworm · Post by **Bookworm** » Tue Apr 05, 2005 12:12 am

I also looked up "negro" in the 1902 encyclopedia, but I'd better not post the definition. It's even crazier than the definition of opium.

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fragged one · Post by **fragged one** » Tue Apr 05, 2005 9:56 am

i knew it! the cure-all is a rod covered in copper wire with a 9v battery.

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Red Squirrel · Post by **Red Squirrel** » Tue Apr 05, 2005 5:33 pm

Haha they would probably charge like 500 bucks for an electromagnet too, just because "this one cures everything!".

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Bookworm · Post by **Bookworm** » Sun Apr 10, 2005 9:03 pm

I also have a medical book dated 1908. That can be quite an interesting read.

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