Take of ipecacuanha, in powder, one ounce; mountain wine, a pint. Infuse for three or four days; then filter the tincture.

This is a safe vomit, and answers extremely well for such persons as cannot swallow the powder, or whose stomachs are too irritable to bear it.

The dose is from one ounce to an ounce and a half.

Chalybeate or Steel Wine.

Take filings of iron, two ounces; cinnamon and mace, of each two drachms; Rhenish wine, two pints. Infuse for three or four weeks, frequently shaking the bottle; then pass the wine through a filter.

In obstructions of the menses, this preparation of iron may be taken, in the dose of half a wine-glass twice or thrice a-day.

The medicine would probably be as good if made with Lisbon wine, sharpened with half an ounce of the cream of tartar, or a small quantity of the vitriolic acid.

Stomach Wine.

Take of Peruvian bark, grossly powdered, an ounce; cardamom seeds, and orange peel, bruised, of each two drachms. Infuse in a bottle of white port or Lisbon wine for five or six days; then drain off the wine.

This wine is not only of service in debility of the stomach and intestines, but may also be taken as a preventive, by persons liable to the intermittent fever, or who reside in places where this disease prevails. It will be of use likewise to those who recover slowly after fevers of any kind, as it assists digestion, and helps to restore the tone and vigour of the system.

A glass of it may be taken two or three times a-day.

Although terms of art have been sedulously avoided in the composition of this treatise, it is impossible entirely to banish technical phrases when writing on medicine, a science that has been less generally attended to by mankind, and continues therefore to be more infected with the jargon of the schools, than perhaps any other. Several persons having expressed their opinion that a Glossary would make this work more generally intelligible, the following concise explanation of the few terms of art that occur, has been added in compliance with their sentiments, and to fulfil the original intention of this treatise, by rendering it intelligible and useful to all ranks and classes of mankind.

Abdomen. The belly.

Absorbents. Vessels that convey the nourishment from the intestines, and the secreted fluids from the various cavities into the mass of blood.

Acrimony. Corrosive sharpness.

Acute. A disease, the symptoms of which are violent, and tend to a speedy termination, is called acute.

Adult. Of mature age.

Adust. Dry, warm.

Antispasmodic. Whatever tends to prevent or remove spasm.

Aphthæ. Small whitish ulcers appearing in the mouth.

Astriction. A tightening or lessening.

Atrabilarian. An epithet commonly applied to people of a certain temperament, marked by a dark complexion, black hair, spare habit, &c. which the ancients supposed to arise from the atra bilis, or the black bile.

Bile, or Gall. A fluid which is secreted by the liver into the gall-bladder, and from thence passes into the intestines, in order to promote digestion.

Cacochymie. An unhealthy state of the body.

Caries. A rottenness of a bone.

Chyle. A milky fluid separated from the aliment in the intestines, and conveyed by the absorbents into the blood to supply the waste of the animal body.

Chronic. A disease whose progress is slow, in opposition to acute.

Circulation. The motion of the blood, which is driven by the heart through the arteries, and returns by the veins.

Comatose. Sleepy.

Conglobate Gland. A simple gland.

Conglomerate. A compound gland.

Contagion. Infectious matter.

Cutis. The skin.

Cutaneous. Of or belonging to the skin.

Crisis. A certain period in the progress of a disease, from whence a decided alteration either for the better or the worse takes place.

Critical. Decisive or important.

Critical Days. The fourth, fifth, seventh, ninth, eleventh, thirteenth, fourteenth, seventeenth, and twenty-first, are by some authors denominated critical days, because febrile complaints have been observed to take a decisive change at these periods.

Debility. Weakness.

Delirium. A temporary disorder of the mental faculties.

Diaphragm. A membrane separating the cavity of the chest from that of the belly.

Diuretic. A medicine that promotes the secretion of urine.

Drastic. Is applied to such purgative medicines as are violent or harsh in their operation.

Empyema. A collection of purulent matter in the cavity of the breast.

Endemic. A disease peculiar to a certain district of country.

Epidemic. A disease generally infectious.

Exacerbation. The increase of any disease.

Fœces. Excrements.

Fœtid. Emitting an offensive smell.

Fœtus. The child before birth, or when born before the proper period, is thus termed.

Flatulent. Producing wind.

Fungus. Proud flesh.

Gangrene. Mortification.

Gymnastic. Exercise taken with a view to preserve or restore health.—The ancient physicians reckoned this an important branch of medicine.

Hectic fever. A slow consuming fever, generally attending a bad habit of body, or some incurable and deep rooted disease.

Hæmorrhoids. The piles.

Hæmorrhage. Discharge of blood.

Hypochondriacism. Low spirits.

Hypochondriac viscera. The liver, spleen, &c. so termed from their situation in the hypochondriac or upper and lateral parts of the belly.

Ichor. Thin bad matter.

Imposthume. A collection of purulent matter.

Inflammation. A surcharge of blood, and an increased action of the vessels, in any particular part of the body.

Ligature. Bandage.

Lixivium. Ley.

Miliary Eruption. Eruption of small pustules resembling the seeds of millet.

Morbific. Causing disease, or diseased.

Mucus. The matter discharged from the nose, lungs, &c.

Mysentery. A double membrane which connects the intestines to the back bone.

Nervous. Irritable.

Nausea. An inclination to vomit.

Nodes. Enlargements of the bones produced by the venereal disease.

Pectoral. Medicines adapted to cure diseases of the breast.

Pelvis. The bones situated at the lower part of the trunk; thus named from their resembling in some measure a bason.

Peritonæum. A membrane lining the cavity of the belly and covering the intestines.

Pericardium. Membrane containing the heart.

Perspiration. The matter discharged from the pores of the skin in form of vapour or sweat.

Phlogiston. Is here used to signify somewhat rendering the air unfit for the purposes of respiration.

Phlegmatic. Watery, relaxed.

Plethoric. Replete with blood.

Polypus. A diseased excrescence, or a substance formed of coagulable lymph, frequently found in the large blood vessels.

Pus. Matter contained in a boil.

Regimen. Regulation of diet.

Rectum. The straight gut, in which the fœces are contained.

Respiration. The act of breathing.

Saliva. The fluid secreted by the glands of the mouth.

Sanies. A thin bad matter, discharged from an ill conditioned sore.

Scirrhous. A state of diseased hardness.

Slough. A part separated and thrown off by suppuration.

Spasm. A diseased contraction.

Spine. The back bone.

Styptic. A medicine for stopping the discharge of blood.

Syncope. A fainting fit attended with a complete abolition of sensation and thought.

Tabes. A species of consumption.

Temperament. A peculiar habit of body, of which there are generally reckoned four, viz. the sanguine, the bilious, the melancholic, and the phlegmatic.

Vertigo. Giddiness.

Ulcer. An ill conditioned sore.

Ureters. Two long and small canals which convey the urine from the kidneys to the bladder.

Urethra. The canal which conveys the urine from the bladder.