Page 14 - Pharmacy History 37 Nov 2009

both used as a carminative to relieve gastric and intestinal flatulence and colic. It is also used in purgative preparations to prevent griping.
14. Elixir of vitriol
The synonym for aromatic sulphuric acid BPC. Prepared from sulphuric acid 7% in alcohol to which was added tincture of ginger, and spirits of cinnamon. It was used as an astringent in treating diarrhoea and in some treatments for cholera.
15. Antimonial wine
Synonym for vin antim. Made by dissolving antimony potassium tartrate in water and adding the solution to a sherry type wine. Mainly used as an emetic, but was also used to treat various infestations of tropical internal worms.
16. Pure condensed magnesia
This term ‘magnesia ‘ could apply to various salts of magnesium such as magnesium hydroxide, magnesium carbonate or magnesium oxide. The latter two salts have two forms, light and heavy. The light form is more suitable for use in mixtures and the heavy form is used in powders. All forms are used as antacids in treating gastric hyperacidity and peptic ulcer, and are mildly laxative. Condensed magnesia would probably mean the heavy form as the powder has a much smaller volume and would be more suitable for a medicine box.
17. Tincture of rhubarb
See 12 also. Compound tincture of rhubarb is prepared by percolation from rhubarb, cardamom seed and coriander. This is a more pleasant form for administering rhubarb, and was commonly used in mixtures as an astringent bitter and mild laxative for infants.
18. Tartar emetic
See 15 also. Antimony potassium tartrate was used in very small doses as an expectorant, and slightly larger doses as an emetic. When given by intravenous injection, it was used to treat leishmaniasis and shistosomiasis. In some cases it was used to treat venereal infections.
19. James’ powder
Synonym for antimonium powder BPC. See 15 and 18 also. A powder consisting of one part antimony trioxide and two parts of calcium phosphate. It was used as an expectorant and a diaphoretic (promotes sweating).
Source: The Extra Pharmacopoeia, Martindale Volume 1 24th Edition 1958.
BPC = According to the standards of the British Pharmaceutical Codex.
fact, the reply came: ‘I entered the salient features into Google, and [the diagnosis] popped right up. ‘ The attending doctor was taken aback
by the Google diagnosis. ‘Are we physicians no longer needed? Is an observer who can accurately select the findings to be entered in a Google search all we need for a diagnosis to appear-as if by magic? ‘ In a post- Google world, where evidence based education is headed is anyone’s guess. Googling your diagnosis; Googling your treatment-where is all this leading us?
Condensed from BMJ 2005;331:1487-8. Doi:10.1136/bmj.331.7531.1487.
How Google is changing medicine
What a remarkable year it has been for those of us monitoring changes in the global information landscape. Since last Christmas, there has been a flurry of activity: the digitisation of the world’s libraries began in earnest (despite the copyright fracas); open access publishing gained much- needed support internationally (especially in science and medicine); and Google, MSN Search, and Yahoo introduced a number of customisation tools for desktops and mobiles, podcasts, blogs, and video searches.
Google’s influence and power is writ large in the search field – so large
that librarians are asking themselves some difficult questions. With all of this technology and freely available digital information, what will happen to physical libraries? Google’s mission is to provide access to the world’s information – but this is librarians’ mission too. Will they be needed in the new information age?’
For all the benefits technology provides, it does provoke anxiety. In a recent letter in the New England Journal of Medicine, a New York rheumatologist describes a scene at rounds where a professor asked the presenting fellow to explain how he arrived at his diagnosis. Matter of
14 Pharmacy History Australia
volume 5 no 37 NOVEMBER 2009