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℞. Root of Ipecacuanha two Ounces, Yel∣low Myrabolans, choice Rhubarb, of each three Drachms; Seeds of Meadow Rue two Drachms; powder all according to art.
This Powder Vomits, and works by Stool. It owes its chief vertue to the Ipeca¦cuanha, the best and most Soveraign Re¦medy now known against Dysenteries and other Belly Fluxes. It was brought into
France in 86 by one Helvetius a young Dutchman, and held a great Secret untill the King purchas'd it for his Soldiers, and afterward charitably publish'd it for the publick good. Being at Paris that Sum∣mer, I do remember the College Physi∣cians did what lay in them to hinder the use of this Remedy, would not allow tryal to be made of it at L'Hotel dieu or other Hospitals, tho' a great number died daily of a Dysentery that was very rife that Season, until the King hearing that Fluxes began to sweep away a great ma∣ny of his Swiss that were at work at Marli, sent absolute Orders it should be try'd in the City Hospitals. Then the Physicians delegated two of their number to attend Helvetius, hear what Questions he ask'd, see what he gave, and the Suc∣cess; who observing that his Powder did only vomit and purge, mix'd emetick Tartar and Rhubarb, which curing two or three slight Dysenteries, they conclu∣ded, the Secret was some such common Mixture, but further tryal soon disabus'd them, and made them own, they knew nothing comparable to his, which seldom fails if timely given, or unless the Patient is diseas'd in his Lungs, under considera∣ble decay, Hydropick, disorder'd in his
Head, has a Hiccough, vomiting pains, in the lower Belly, accompanied with Stools resembling the washing of Flesh and smel∣ling like Carrion. Gulielmus Piso in his Medicina Brasiliensis describes two sorts of Ipecacuanha, one a thick stringy white Root, call'd by the Portuguese, Ipecacuan∣ha Blancha, to distinguish it from the o∣ther, it is the milder of the two; and may be safely given to Big-bellied Women and to Children; the other is a small crooked knotty Root, of a darkish colour, of an ungrateful, bitter, hot, and acri∣monious tast. It is given in Powder to a Drachm, in Infusion to about two Drachms; the Natives use the Infusion most. The Powder that has stood in Infusion is not to be despised, for tho' it purges but weakly, it is a very good Astringent and Strengthener of the relax'd Fibres of the Stomach and Guts. Georgius Marogra∣vius in his Historia rerum naturalium Bra∣siliae, says, That this Root is not unlike Tormentil in Colour, that it has a white Pith in the middle, easily separable from the other part; says, that when it is fresh it has a very bitter biting tast; and adds, that a Drachm or two of its Powder steep∣ed all Night in a Mixture of Wine and Water, slightly boil'd in the Morning, the
Infusion filter'd and drunk, is not only an excellent Remedy in Dysenteries, ob∣stinate Obstructions, and Disaffections of the Stomach, but also a great resister of Poison. I have dwelt the longer upon this Root because it begins to be pretty much prescrib'd now with us, and will not fail of growing into greater use.