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Show 199 TOBACCO, TOBACCO. best effects, And these goodeffects have been confirmed bythe observations of other practitioners. Tobacco is sometimes used externally in unguents, e de. stroying cutaneous insects, cleansing old ulcers, Se. Beaten intoa mash with vinegar or brandy, it has sometimes proved serviceable for removing hard tumours of the hypochondres; an account is given in the Edinburgh [Essays of two cases of this . . kind cured byit. Injections by the anus of the smoke or Gecdeton have been used with advantage in cases of obstinate constipation hee ing ileus, of incarcerated hernia, of ascarides, o spasmodic asthe ma, and of persons apparently dead from drowning or other sud. den causes. It has been used internally in the form of syrup, conserve, andinfusion, in cases of worms, epilepsy, amenorrhea, asthma, &c.; but it is certainly too active to be thus ventured on. Aninfusion of its ashes, recommended in dropsy, is not probably different from other vegetable lixivia. Dr. Cullen remarks, respecting tobacco: An infusion of from half a drachm to a drachmof the dried leaves, or of these as they are commonly prepared for chewing, for an hour or two, in four ounces of boiling water, affords an emetic which has been employed by some practitioners, but more commonly - 7 vulgar only. As it has no peculiar qualities as an emetic, an its operation is commonlyattended with severe sickness, it ” not been, nor is it likely ever to come into common practice with physicians. It is more commonly employed as a purgative in clysters ; and, as generally very effectual, it is employed in all cases of obstinate costiveness; and its powers have been celebrated by manyauthors. I have knownit to bein frequent use with some practitioners ; andit is indeed a veryeffectual medicine, but at- tended with this inconvenience, that when the dose happens to be in anyexcess, it occasions severe sickness at the stomach; and I have known it frequently occasion vomiting. ; It is well known, that in cases of obstinate costiveness, 1 ileus and incarcerated hernia, the smoke of burning tobacco has been thrown into the anus with great advantage. The smoke ol : «eset acta operates here bythe same qualities that are in the infusion: . ~ ‘ther ! into it above mentioned ; but as the smoke reaches. muchfarther : : Bo ak : + canehe dels the intestines than injections can commonly do, it is thereby 193 applied to a larger surface, and maytherefore be a more powers ful medicine than the infusions. In seyeral instances, however, I have been disappointedof its effects, and have been obliged to have recourse to other means. The infusion of tobacco, whenit is carried into the bloode vessels, has sometimes shown its stimulant powers exerted in the kidneys; and very lately we have had it recommended to us as a powerful diuretic of great service in dropsy. Upon the faith of these recommendations we have now employed this remedy in various cases of dropsy, but with very little success. From the small doses that are proper to begin with, we have hardly observed anydiuretic effects ; and though fromlarger doses they have in some measure appeared, we have seldom found them considerable : and when, to obtain these in a greater degree, we have gone on increasing the doses, we have been constantly re. strained by the severe sickness at stomach, and even vomiting, which they occasioned : so that we have not yet learned the administration of this remedy so as to render it a certain or convenient remedyin any cases of dropsy. The same circumstances have occurred to several other practitioners of this city and neighbourhood ; andoflate the trials of it have been very generally omitted, owing perhaps to our practitioners being directed at the same time to the use of the digitalis, with which they have had some more success, From some experiments we are certain that tobacco contains a quantity of volatile parts that maybe dissipated by long boiling in water; and that by such a practice its emetic, purgative, and narcotic qualities may be greatly diminished ; and we are of opi. nion that the preparation in extraet, as prescribe d in the Wir. tenberg Dispensatory, is upon a good foundati on, and may be employed in pectoral cases with more advantag e and safety than the simple infusion or decoction made by a short boiling only. When we wererestrained in employing the infusion of tobacco as a diuretic, as mentioned, we expected to succeed better with the decoction ; and I have found that by long boiling this might be given in much larger doses than the infusion; but we still foundit retaining so muchof the emetic quality, that we could not employ it as a diuretic without being interrupt ed inits use by the same emetic quality that had interrupted the use of the infusion. Besides the internal uses of tobacco mentione d, I must now remark, that it has likewise been commende d for its virtues as ° |