Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1830-1846, 1837-06-22
BY REQUEsT.l
rFrom the Thomsonian Recorder.

Essnv on Bilious Fercr and the Use ct
Calomei, by n. Hmm, M. ID.
This is the ARA Of cdlom'i. The present
medical practice might we'll dispense WIN
every other drug BESIDES it. own the cal
omri practice is both cheap and easy TO the
physician; for the whole extent of both theory
and practice is, give caiomti; If that Will not
helm. give more c0iOmti; and II that again
proves abortlve, double, treble the doses oi
coiom,L. If the patient 7, covers. "cdiomd ha'
urcd him;" it he dies, "nohlng on earth
could have saved him." The reader will
conclude that medical schools and academies,
with the hpad-aching studies OF anatomy,
Physiology, Botany, Pharmacology, aud
Chemistry, have been laid pr"strate by TINS
riant, caiomel. Half days, nay, in genus,
half an hours study, will initiate any lady or
gentleman into all the mysteries of the Es-
culapian art, and the "a,rra prorts, might
swell the account of modern Galenus to
sIOO at the expense of l2t cents. Tins is
certainly for the doctor "cons,nnmation de-
vou,Iv To- be wished But there - neavy
draw back on our Joy, which the fable OF the
bows and the frogs ingenlously portrays:
.wh hat is Joy to you is death TO us" said the
rxpiring frogs. expect to show to my I'M
partial reader that the present calomei Prac-
lice in t;vcrs, is II calamity in its ravages CO.
extensive with the empire of civilization, and
that war, with all it's ghastly concomltants,
mus, hail calnme as its master.
The proper effects Of Mercury on the hu'
man frame, are, ISt, tfrtr, as have before
defined it, I'd, 1t is the cause Of peculiar
action on the lylnPhatic vessels. 80, II che-
'mcaly dccomposcs the fluids, and pattc.
ularly the lynn .ha. This is, in my opinion,
the ,rue cause of the fetid breath in saliva
lion. 4,h. In constitutions prone to that cf-
feet. or under circumstances 'avurlng It, or
when too long used, it produces moriyy1ng
ulcers of specific kind, which have hitherto
proved absolutely incurable. IL accidental
effects are. lst. Salvation, which may also
/ be produced by other drugs, and sometimes
I appear spontaneously, and which rs not at all
I necessary to effect cure. I'd. In state o'
great visceral irrltabilny. or when gwen u
large do,e', it proves sickenIhg ana pow
; erl,Ii purgn,ivc, with Singular sympathe,''
affection ot the liver, which viscus Is thereby
thrown into morbid convulsve action, Great
inc bile, exorbi,ant in quantity and poison
ous in quality; when in IL healthy state th'
; bilious secretion is mild, moderate IN quantity
and saIuiary.
=. Now it appears 10 be law in administration
l. that two distinct fever causes cannot opera,
= a, the same time on the system. Thus to
u instance, if the infection of the measles lodg
y es in the body when a patient is lnoculate
; for the small pox, the latter vii! lay inactlv
y ill the first has run through its course. In
e law apprehcnd, has first introduced merciir
u into the fever practice, and i, is fact Tia
il tho proper mcrcuriul action can be produt'
o ed, the lever produced by miasma wi
i speedily cease. But my reader will pleas
o to observe, lst, that in all fever cases II
= extremely precarious and doubtful 10 produt
c this proper mercurial action, and there al
e many cases in which it cannot be- induced
o all. Besides that, when induced il is unma
3 npeable. I'd, Ifthe bowels are very irrltao
y and weak or in peculiar habits, It will opera
;, as a purge and throw the liver in.o bile-crc
70 ,ino commissions. like a blister plaster on q
e very liver. 1t viii attract more or less OF U
Us fcbrilc Impetus upon that vital viscus, pr
'e dacing a dangerous inequality, which Is c'
er led "bilious tever" Sd. After a vast qua
IL ,i,y of mercury has been introduced into VI