for gonorrhoea. The IODIDE is not employed as an escharotic, nor has it ever been a favorite remedy for internal use. It is chiefly employed in solution as an application to enlarged tonsils, and as an ointment (1 part to 8 of lard) for the reduction of glandular enlargements. The SULPHATE is used locally as an astringent to mucous surfaces generally, internally as an emetic in narcotic poisoning and croup, and in small doses as a tonic and antispasmodic in convulsive diseases, as chorea, hysteria, epilepsy, angina pectoris, asthma, etc. In diarrhoeas and dysentery it is a good astringent, and is frequently combined with Opium and Ipecac. The ACETATE is used for the same purposes as the Sulphate, but is usually preferred for collyria. The OXIDE may be used as a dusting powder in intertrigo, and as an ointment in eczema and excoriated surfaces generally. In combination with Bismuth and Pepsin it is an excellent remedy for the summer diarrhoea of children, and with Aromatic Powder and Morphine it is very efficient in gastralgia. It is a good remedy in 3-grain doses for the night-sweats of phthisis, and has been successfully employed in epilepsy and neuralgia, in whoopingcough, hysteria, nervous headache and in bronchorrhoea to check the profuse secretion. It is much employed as an ingredient of cosmetics. The CARBONATE is by some preferred to the oxide for local use in skin diseases. Calamine Ointment, which is a mixture of the impure carbonate (calamine) with the oxide and an unguent basis, was until recently a favorite application as a soothing protective to abrasions and inflammations of the integument. The VALERIANATE has been used in chorea, epilepsy, neuralgia and various anomalous nervous affections, such as the nervous headache of hysterical women, nervous coughs and aphonia due to uterine and ovarian irritation.

[The Bromide and Phosphide are used entirely with reference to their respective non-metallic bases, under which titles their therapeutics are described.]

ZINGIBER, Ginger,-is the rhizome of Zingiber officinale, a plant of the nat. ord. Zingiberaceæ, having dingy-yellow flowers on a leafless flower-stalk, and long, lanceolate leaves on a separate stem. The plant is a native of Hindostan, but is cultivated in Jamaica, Sierra Leone, etc. The rhizome is about inch broad, flattish, on one side lobed or clavately branched, of a pale-buff color, striate, agreeably aromatic and of a warm, pungent taste. It breaks with a mealy, fibrous fracture showing

numerous small resin-cells and fibro-vascular bundles. It contains an aromatic volatile oil and a resin.

Preparations.

EXTRACTUM ZINGIBERIS FLUIDUM,-Dose, mx-3ss.
TINCTURA ZINGIBERIS,-20 per cent. Dose, mxx-zij.

SYRUPUS ZINGIBERIS,-has of the fluid extract 2 per cent. in sugar and water. Dose, 3ss-ij.

TROCHISCI ZINGIBERIS,—each troche contains of the tincture 2 grains, with Tragacanth, Sugar and Syrup of Ginger.

OLEORESINA ZINGIBERIS,-contains all the virtues of the root, and is extracted by ether. Dose, m1⁄2-j, well diluted.

GINGER is also a constituent of Pulvis Aromaticus, Pulvis Rhei Compositus and Vinum Aloës.

Physiological Action and Therapeutics.

Ginger is sialogogue when chewed, sternutatory when inhaled, and externally a rubefacient. Internally it is a grateful stimulant and carminative, produces a sensation of warmth at the epigastrium and promotes the expulsion of flatus. It is employed as a carminative in colic, as a masticatory to increase the secretion of saliva and in relaxed conditions of the throat, also internally in atonic dyspepsia, to relieve flatulence, and as an adjunct to purgative agents to correct their griping properties. The syrup is in common use as a flavoring and adjuvant in prescriptions.

CLASSIFICATION OF MEDICINES.

IN the present state of knowledge respecting the actions and uses of medicinal agents, no really scientific classification of these substances is possible. Some writers have adopted a system based on the natural relations of the various articles to each other, while many classify them according to their effects on the human system, and others make no attempt at arrangement but treat of them in alphabetical order. The latter method has been followed in this work, from a conviction that every medicine should first be studied as an individual, both with respect to its physiological actions and its therapeutical applications. When the student has thus made himself familiar with the characteristic features of each article of the Materia Medica, he may begin, by comparing one with another, to seek acquaintance with their more delicate lights and shades. Some system of classification then becomes imperative as an aid to the memory, and as the titles of the groups to which the various agents belong in any physiological classification are also used to express their actions and uses, the following synopsis is inserted as an appropriate addendum to the section on Materia Medica and Therapeutics.

STIMULANTS AND SEDATIVES.

These are general terms employed in various classifications with very little discrimination.

Stimulant (stimulus, a goad),-is a term which is used. in various senses as applied to medicinal agents. Alcoholic preparations, which are true narcotics, are commonly termed "stimulants," and the same expression is employed to designate any agent which excites the organic action of a part of the economy.

Diffusible Stimulants are those which have a prompt but transient effect, such as Alcohol, Ammonia, Camphor, etc. Spinal Stimulants exalt the functions of the cord, as Strychnine, Picrotoxin, Ergot, Atropine, Phosphorus.

Cardiac Stimulants increase the action of the heart, as Alcohol, Atropine and Morphine in small doses, Strychnine, etc., also Squill, Convallaria, Cimicifuga and Digitalis, which slow but strengthen the cardiac action. Vaso-motor Stimulants, as Alcohol, Chloroform, Ether, Ammonia, Strychnine, Digitalis and Squill, acting on the vaso-motor centre; and the Nitrites, Belladonna, Electricity, Volatile Oils, etc., acting as local dilators of the vascular system. Cerebral Stimulants as Alcohol, Opium, Belladonna, Caffeine, Cocaine, Theine, Cannabis, Chloroform, Ether, Tobacco, etc. Renal Stimulants, as the diuretic group. Stomachic Stimulants, as the Aromatics, Volatile Oils, Vegetable Bitters, Mineral Acids, Nux Vomica, Mustard, Capsicum, etc. Hepatic Stimulants, as Nitro-muriatic and Nitric Acids, and the cholagogue purgatives Podophyllum, Jalap, Leptandra, Euonymin, Iridin, etc. Intestinal Stimulants, as Mercurials, Elaterium, Colocynth, Jalap, Scammony, Podophyllum, etc., which affect the glandular apparatus,-and Belladonna, Physostigma, Nux Vomica, Rhubarb, Senna, Aloes, Frangula, Cascara, etc., which chiefly affect the muscular fibres and the intestinal nerves. Cutaneous Stimulants, as the diaphoretic group, and the rubefacients Mustard, Capsicum, Turpentine, Ammonia, etc. All stimulation reacts into depression, and most of the agents which stimulate the nerve centres at first soon depress and finally paralyze them.

Sedatives (sedo, to allay),—are agents which exert a soothing influence on the system by lessening functional activity, depressing motility and diminishing pain.

General Sedatives include the narcotics and anesthetics. Local Sedatives include Aconite, Opium, Ice, etc. Pulmonary Sedatives, as Hydrocyanic Acid, Veratrine, and the nauseants and emetics. Spinal Sedatives, as Physostigma, Gelsemium, Potassium Bromide. Stomachic Sedatives include Arsenic, Bismuth, Nitrate of Silver, Bicarbonate of Sodium. Vascular Sedatives, as Digitalis, Tobacco, Aconite, Veratrum, and the emetics. Nervous Sedatives, among which are Potassium Bromide, Tobacco, Lobelia, and the group of spinal depressants.

AGENTS ACTING CHIEFLY ON THE NERVOUS SYSTEM.

Motor-Excitants are agents which increase the functional activity of the spinal cord and the motor apparatus, producing disturbances of motility, heightened reflex excitability, and tetanic convulsions when given in large doses, their ultimate effect being motor paralysis from over-stimulation.

The most important members of this class are Nux Vomica and Ignatia, with their alkaloids Strychnine and Brucine, also Thebaine, the tetanizing alkaloid of Opium. It also includes Morphine and Atropine, which, though at first sedative, when given in large doses produce convulsions. The respiratory centre in the medulla is stimulated by Strychnine, Atropine, Ammonia, and small doses of Alcohol, Ether and Chloroform. The motor convolutions in the brain are stimulated by Alcohol in moderate doses, as also for a brief period by Ether and Chloroform.

AGENTS ACTING ON THE NERVOUS SYSTEM.

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The end-organs of the motor nerves are stimulated by the local use of Electricity, Strychnine and friction; and are irritated by the internal administration of Aconitine, Nicotine, Camphor, Pilocarpine and Pyridine. Other members of this class are embraced in the following list.

Motor-Depressants lower the functional activity of the spinal cord and motor apparatus, and in large doses paralyze them. Some act indirectly by reducing the spinal circulation, as Digitalis, Aconite and large doses of Quinine; others by a directly paralyzant action on the centres: The principal members of this class may be enumerated as follows, viz.—

The motor centres in the medulla are powerfully depressed by Opium, Morphine, Aconite, Conium, Chloral, Physostigma, and large doses of Alcohol, Ether and Chloroform. The three last named are also paralyzers of the motor convolutions in the brain, arresting all voluntary movements when administered in sufficient quantity. The anterior cornua of the cord are greatly depressed by Physostigma and other agents, and the motor nerves by Conium, Methyl-Strychnine, etc., both actions resulting in paralysis of the limbs. Curare, even in small doses, paralyzes the end-organs of the motor nerves, and Belladonna, the compound Ammonias, Methyl compounds, etc., exercise a similar but less powerful influence. Galvanism is also an effective local depressant of motor activity.

Local Stimulants increase common sensibility to the extent of producing pain, chiefly by direct action upon the end-organs * In large doses.

In small doses.