The Republican., 1889-02-02
POPULAR REMEDIES.
Their Properties and Wherein
They are Dangerous.
Some Excellent Advice - Mistaken Ideas
About Arnica-Arsenic and Its Man
fold Preparations and Uses
Limits of Its Value.

THE man who doctors himself has a
fool for patient" is especially true in
any case where a man trifies with drugs
other than those of the simplest char
acter, and what pass under the head of
domestic remedies" The only sure
way of impressing this fact upon peo-
pleis to give them some insight into
the nature of medicines which they are
likely to attempt to use, explain their
properties and wherein lies their dam
ger.
The tincture of arnlca is something
almost every one is familiar with, for
it is time-honored application for
sprains and bruises. As with an infin-
ite number of other popular drugs,
arnica is much overrated. and has not
anywhere near the medicinal virtues
which are attributed to it. Years ago
physicians occasionally gave it inter-
nally in certain classes of diseases; prob
ably the Germans used it the most. At
the present time, however, in this
country at least, it is scarcely ever so
administered by any of the profession.
Nor have they much faith in it even as
an external application. The form so
used, the tincture of arnica, is u very
gentle irritation, but as for the extra
ordinary healing power which people
believeit possesses, it has none of them.
Hot water is far better application in
any case, and that fact can not be dis
puted. One of the many delusions
relative to medicines, handed down
with countless others, still exists con-
corning the tincture of arnica. 1t is
that the person who applies it to
his skin must take a certain
quantity internally to prevent the
striking i'm of what was put ON the
outside. If a sane person who believes
in this notion has even fair amount of
intelligence, he can reason out for him
self the utter absurdity of it. But here
is the trouble-the majority of the peo-
pie who exhibit marked intelligence in
business and their usual interests show
us little as one possibly can on all mat
ters relating to health, disease and
medicines They seldom stop and
think for themselves, but are quite
content to take every thing told them
for granted, believing every body and
every thing. All that will be changed.
but the ripe period will be a long time
coming. Arnica is poison, and cases
where it has acted SO are occasionally
reported. Generally, where such an
accident happens. the drug is taken by
mistake for some other. AS for its
poisoning a person where he uses it as
an external application, that is not at
all likely. Still, from what has been
said in the foregoing; it is safe to con-
clude that arnica in any form is prac-
tically useless for any purpose for
which the non-professional could apply
it.
In arsenic we have an ancient and
well-kuowE poison, which is said to
have been the only poisonous COM
pound of the famous aqua Toffana-
Considering the fact that arsenic is
used in many arts, and manufactured
everywhere, it is easily obtained; and,
as a natural consequence, it has openly
or secretly been :he death Of a number
ofpeople beyond computation. What
is called rats-bane is the white oxide
OF arsenic. Paris green, the enemy OF
potato bags, is an arsenical prcpara-
tion with copper. There are many
other ~'exterminators" on the market
OF which the principal ingredient is
arsenic. The form of this agent which
has been in times past generally pre-
scribed by physicians is Fowler's solu-
tiOE Arsenic has, undeniably, medici-
nal value, and it is curative in certain
conditions OF the system. The recog-
nized limits of it's usefulness are much
narrower than they were even score
of years ago. for in many of the
diseases in which it was formerly con-
sidered the one remedy, other agents
have been proved to be much more ef-
fective. And, beside that, physicians
now know more of the action of arsenic
under all conditions of the system, and
such advance in knowledge has drawn
from its Importance as medicine and
added much to its dignity as a poison.
They have learned that in certain dis