The most valuable remedy
Posted: 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."
Archived topic from Anythingforums, old topic ID:1929, old post ID:28002
". . . 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."
Archived topic from Anythingforums, old topic ID:1929, old post ID:28002