On the treatment of the night-sweating of phthisis. XIII. Agaric / by William Murrell.

  • Murrell, William, 1853-1912.
Date:
1882
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the treatment of the night-sweating of phthisis. XIII. Agaric / by William Murrell. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    agaric is contraindicated. 5. Agaric not only checks sweatmg but induces sleep and prevents exhaustion 6. Even it power less to cure phthisis it retards the progress of the case and relieves the patient of one of the most dangerous and distressing Acraric now engaged the attention of several distinguished observers, and many papers and pamphlets were published descrip- tive of its virtues. One of the most frequently quoted is a work by Tool, (1831), but I have been unable to meet with a copy.1 Andral employed it extensively in the Hopital de la Pitie, and his cases were recorded by Max Simon.2 .The dose employed was usually from six to eight grains in two pills, gradually increased to thirty-six grains divided into six pills. On one occasion Andral gave a patient first thirty, then forty-eight, and finally sixty grains. It checked the sweating, but, as may be supposed, induced violent purging. Trousseau employed agaric extensively, and a good account of its therapeutic action will be found in the various editions of his well-known work on materia medica.3 He usually gave about nine grains at bedtime, increasing the dose if necessary to fifteen grains. The effect was so decided that it might, he thought, be indicated by the axiom: Cutis laxa alvus sicca, cutis sicca alvus laxa. At the same time he remarks that this is not absolutely true, as it is not difficult to give a dose that will check the sweating without purging. In the French Pharmacopoeia4 it has long been recognised under the name of Agaric blanc officinalis, or Polypore de Meleze, and there are two officinal preparations, the powder and liquid extract. * A good general account of the use of agaric in the night- sweating of phthisis will be found in the National Dispensatory of Stille and Maisch, published in 1879. Among the more recent papers on the subject may be 1 Another work to which I have been unable to obtain access is Notice stir le gcnr. Agaric consider6 sous les rapports botanique, economique medical et toxicologiquc. By J. H. Leveille. Paris, 8vo, 1840. “ De 1 Agaric blanc pour combattre les sueurs chez les Phthisiques,” Max Simon, Bulletin Giniral de Thcrapcutiquc, 1834, t. vi. p. 334 ; also same journal, same volume, p. 381. •* Trousseau et Pidoux, Trade de Thcrapcutiquc et dc Mati&rc Medicate. * Codex Medicamentarius, Pharmacopee Francais, 1866.