Encyclopaedia Britannica, or, a Dictionary of arts, sciences, and miscellaneous literature : enlarged and improved. Illustrated with nearly six hundred engravings > Volume 13, MAT-MIC

474
Poifons.
M E D I C I N E
prove of the mo ft fatal confequence ; and it appears
J from Dr Mead’s experiments, that the taking the
poifon of a viper into the mouth undiluted, is attended
with no worfe confeqtiences than that of railing a flight
inflammation. A quick exciflon of the part might alfo
be of very great fervice.
The only way of atifwering the fecond indication is,
by deftroying the poifoned part by a red-hot iron, or
the application of alkaline falts, which have the power
of immediately altering the texture of all animal fub-
ftances to which they are applied, provided they are not
covered by the fldn 3 and as long as the poifon is not
totally abforbed into the fyftem, thefe muft certainly be
of ufe.
To anfwer the third indication, Dr Mead recommends
a vomit of ipecacuanha, encouraged in the working with
oil and warm water. The good effefts of this, he fays,
are owing to the fhake which it gives to the nerves,
whereby the irregular fpafms into which their whole
fyftem might be drawn are prevented. After this the
patient muft go to bed, and a fweat muft be procured
by cordial medicines 3 by which the remaining effedls
of the poifon will be carried off.
It has been confidently afferted by many, that the
American Indians are poffeffed of fome fpecific remedy
by which they can eafily cure the bite of a rattlefnake.
But Mr Catefby, who muft have had many opportuni¬
ties of knowing this, pofitively denies that they have
any fuch medicine. They make applications indeed,
and fometimes the patient recovers 3 but thefe recove¬
ries he afcribes to the ftrength of nature overcoming
the poilon, more than to the remedies made ufe of.
He fays, they are very acute in their prognoftics whe¬
ther a perfon that is bit will die or not 3 and when
they happen to receive a bite in certain parts of the
body, when the teeth of the animal enter a large vein,
for inftance, they quietly refign themfelves to their
fate, without attempting any thing for their own re¬
lief. Indeed, fo violent and quick is the operation of
this poifon, that unlefs the antidote be inftantly ap¬
plied, the perfon will die before he can get to a houfe.
It would feem therefore eligible for thofe who are in
danger of fuch bites, to carry along with them fome
ftrong alkaline ley, or dry alkaline fait, or both,
which could be inftantly clapt on the wound, and by
its diffolving power w'ould deftroy both the poifon
and the infefted parts. Strong cordials alfo, fuch as
ardent fpirits, volatile alkali, &c. might poflibly ex¬
cite the languid powers of nature, and enable her to
expel the enemy, which would otherwife prove too
powerful. This feems to be fomewhat confirmed from
the account we have in the Philofophical Tranfaftions
of a gentleman bit by a rattlefnake, who was more
relieved by a poultice of vinegar and vine-allies put to
his wound than any thing elfe. The vine allies being
of an alkaline nature, muft have faturated the vinegar,
fo that no part of the cure could be attributed to
it: on the other hand, the allies themfelves could not
have been faturated by the fmall quantity of acid ne~
ceffary to form them into a poultice 3 of confequence
they muft have operated by their alkaline quality.—
Soap ley, therefore, or very ftrong fait of tartar, may
reafonably be thought to be the beft external applica¬
tion, not only for the bites of vipers, but of every
Appendix.
venomous creature 3 and in fact we find dry fait uni-Difeafesof
verfally recommended both in the bites of ferpents and Children,
of mad dogs. Dr Mead recommends the fat of vipers '■"‘“v—-J
immediately rubbed into the wound 3 but owns that it
is not fafe to trull to this remedy alone.
Some years ago the volatile alkali was ftrongly re¬
commended by M. Sage of the French academy, as a
powerful remedy againft the bito of the viper : and,
by a letter from a gentleman in Bengal to Dr Wright,
it would appear that this article, under the form of the
eau de luce, which is very little if any thing different
from the fpiritus ammonia; fuccinatus of the London
Pharmacopoeia, has been employed with very great
fuccefs againll this affeflion in the Fall Indies : but
from the trials made with it by the abbe Fontana, pub-
lilhed in his Treatife on the Poifon of the Viper, it
would appear that it by no means anfwered his expecta¬
tion ; and the efficacy of this, as well as of the fnake
pills mentioned under the article HYDROPHOBIA, ftill
requires to be confirmed by further experience.
MELiENE.
This is a diftemper not very common, but it has
been obferved by the ancient phyficians, and is de-
fcribed by Hippocrates under the name of morbus
niger. It Ihows itfelf by a vomiting and purging of
black tar-l'ke matter, which Hippocrates, Boerhaave,
and Van Swieten, fuppofed to be occafioned by atra
bilis. But Dr Home, in his Clinical Experiments, en¬
deavours to Ihew that it is owing to an effufion of blood
from the meferaic veffels, which, by its ftagnation and
corruption, affumes that ftrange appearance. The
difeafe, he fays, frequently follows haemorrhage 3 and
thofe of a fcorbutic habit are moft fubjeCl to it. It
is an acute difeafe, and terminates foon 3 yet it is not
attended with any great degree of fever. In one of
Dr Home’s patients the crifis happened on the eighth
day by diarrhoea 3 in another, on the 14th, by fweat and
urine 3 and a third had no evident critical evacuation.
As to the cure, Dr Home obferves, that bleeding is
always neceffary where the pulfe can bear it 3 nor are
w'e to be deterred from it by a little weaknefs of the
pulfe, more than in the enteritis. Emetics are hurtful,
but purgatives are ufeful. But the moft powerful
medicine for checking this haemorrhage is the fulphuric
acid : and, that this might be given in greater quantity,
he mixed it with mucilage of gum arabic 3 by which
means he was enabled to give double the quantity he
could otherwife have done. The cold bath was tried
in one inftance, but he could not determine whether it
was of any fervice or not. The cure wras completed by
exercife and cinchona.
Of the DISEASES o/CHILDREN.
Dr Buchan obferves, that from the annual regifters
of the dead, it appears that about one half of the
children born in Great Britain die under twelve years
of age 3 and this very great mortality he attributes
in a great meafure to wrong management. The par¬
ticulars of this wrong management enumerated by
him are,
1. Mothers not fuckling their own children. This,
he owns, it is fometimes impoffible for them to do 3
but
409
41*
3