Page:Willich, A. F. M. - The Domestic Encyclopædia (Vol. 1, 1802).djvu/302

272] B I T suggest the following plan of treat- ment, which, by experience, has been found to be the most effec- tual. After the bitten part has been cut aw3y, and the wound washed with a pickle made of vinegar and fait, it should be dressed twice a day with yellow basilicon, to which may be added a little red preci- pitate of mercury, or a small por- tion of the powder of cantharides. Next, it will be advisable to have immediate recourse to diuretic and sudorific remedies ; and for this purpose we recommend the fol- lowing medicines : Eight prepared millepedes: half an ounce of Venice treacle; two drams of volatile salt of hartshorn ; one dram of cam- phor, and eight ounces of what is called water of acetated ammonia. Mix these ingredients, and let the patient take a small tea-spoonful every hour the first day, till it be attended with profuse perspiration, and a copious discharge of urine : the second day, two tea-spoonfuls may be given every two hours ; and, in this proportion, the doses may be gradually increased, till he is enabled to take a table-spoon- ful, several times a day. But if, by such progressive doses, the urinary passages should be too much stimulated, or even blood be evacuated, it will be necessary to suspend the use of this medi- cine., for a few days, till the vio- lence of the symptoms has abated ; and then to add, to each draught, a little gum-arabic dissolved in water; or to drink I intseed-tea, dur- ing the course. We have stated this prescription, on the authority of Dr. Sells, late physician to the King of Prussia, and one of the' most eminent medical philosophers on Uie Continent. Bit In those cases, however, where the absorption of the poison cannot be prevented, and the dread of water has already seized the pa- tient, it will be useless to trouble him with liquid medicines ; but large doses of musk and opium then become necessary ; and every kind of irritation ought to be care- fully avoided. Although the cold bath, and mercurial frictions, have been very generally used, and sometimes been attended with ap- parently good effects, yet little or no reliance can be placed on them, when the disease has made any progress in the system. We are firmly persuaded that, where the bite of a mad dog has been ne- glected for several days, or weeks, neither the skill of the most expe- rienced practitioner, nor the most celebrated Nostrums, can afford the desired relief. BITTER, is a term applied to substances of a peculiar taste, and generally opposed to sweet; the principal of which are, the Gen- tian and Bistort-roots, Hops, Lesser Centaur)', Carduus, &c. Ivloit bitters impart their virtues, both to water}' and spirituous fluids. By distillation, their taste is in a great measure destroyed; but, on evaporating the watery solution to a thick consistence, the bitter prin- ciple remains unaltered, and is fre- quently improved. See Extracts. Dr. Darwin ingeniously ob- serves, that the bitter, narcotic, and acrid juices of plants, are secreted by their glands, for defending ve- getables against the depredation of insects, and larger animals. An acrid juice exists in the husks of walnuts, and in the pellicle, or skin, of the kernel; but not in the lobes, or nu- tritious part. Bitters appear to have been excluded from the seed, lest they