Page:Willich, A. F. M. - The Domestic Encyclopædia (Vol. 2, 1802).djvu/50

3 2 ] COL alphabet} and the last, or 15th, under the articles Antidotes and Arsenic, in our first volume. If the colic proceed from the second cause, it is attended with frequent evacuations of dscid and glossy humours, which produce only occasional relief from pain. Camphor and rhubarb ought to be taken in small doses, namely, one grain of the former, and two grains ot the latter, every three hours, or oftener ; and after the spasms have subsided, an infusion of. catechu (which see) or solutions of alum., will be found the most effectual remedies. When acrid food, or fart and corrupt beverage, has occasioned the complain'-, it will first be ne- cessary to take a gentle emetic, or if some time has elapsed, to open the bowels by the mildest laxatives, such as castor-oil, a solution of manna, with a few grains of rhu- barb, &c. Colics arising from the use of sour wines and cyder, are generally attended with excruciating pain, and paralytic symptoms. The most proper remedies in such cases are, the tepid bath; emollient fomenta- tions made of chamomile flowers, with the addition of laudanum, ap- plied to the abdomen; all such re- medies as promote perspiration, and especially the volatile tincture of guaiacum. But the safest, and perhaps most effectual means of procuring relief from pain, are antispasmodic clysters : they should be prepared of a weak decoction of ipecacuanha ; for instance, one dram boiled in three-quarters of a pint of water, till the third part be evapo- rated* adding to every clyster from 30 to 40 drops of laudanum ; and rej eating the injection every six or COL eight hours, at a temperature of about pO°. A similar treatment may be adopted in those colics, which fre- quently attack persons who have a peculiar tendency to generate an acid in their stomach and bowels : but as this acidity is generally the consequence of obstipations, or ob- structions of the abdomen, these ought to be previously removed by the use of laxative clysters (which see), assisted by gentle aperients taken by the mouth, for instance, calcined magnesia and rhubarb, in doses of one scruple of the former, and three grains of the latter, re- peated every four or six hours. Lastly, we think it our duty to caution the reader against the use' of heating, stimulating, or spirituous remedies, in every kind of colic, except that arising solely from fla- tulency, without any other pre- disposing cause : as, however, no ordinary observer will be able to ascertain whether the expulsion of wind, which generally accompanies this complaint, be its generating cause, or only a concomitant symp- tom, we seriously recommend, in such a state of uncertainty, to ab- stain from all violent remedies ; to apply no other but emollient clys- ters and fomentations ; and to drink large portions of lilac-flower or cha- momile tea, or take any other di- luent beverage, till the spasms be reiieved, and the nature of the dis- ease more clearly understood. These remedies are not fraught with dan- ger; and, if properly persisted inj have frequently been attended with the most desirable effects. — -For treating the cohc of infants, sad Bile, vol. i. p. 25/. ■ COLOPHONY, a black resin, or turpentine, boiled in water, and aU'.T-