mouth. I did this occasionally myself with success. It is, according to my own experiments, more adhesive than all the gums produced in India, and is therefore well "suited for the formation of all kinds of lozenges. It is an ingredient in numerous prescriptions described in Persian, Arabic and Hindustani medical works.
Although a powerful astringent, Catechu is not half as useful in diarrhœa and dysentery when administered alone, as it is when used in combination with some other astringent and aromatic drugs, as is the case with all its preparations described in the Pharmacopœia of India. The compound-powder of Catechu is, therefore, very useful in the above-named diseases; in fact, it is one of the preparations most frequently used by me in the Triplicane Dispensary, particularly in the treatment of children. The Tincture of this drug is a very valuable adjunct to Mistura Cretæ, as mentioned in the Pharmacopœia of India and other medical works; but to ensure its best effects, it should always be mixed in each dose of the mixture just before it is administered to the patient. From some cause or other its action is not so satisfactory when it is mixed with Mistura Cretæ and kept for use for a day or two.
According to my own experience, Catechu is, in the form of injection, one of the most useful drugs in the treatment of gonorrhœa. As simple as the following formula is, it has proved successful in many cases, and sometimes even without the assistance of internal remedies : —
- R. Pulveris Catechu 3iss.
- Mucil. Acaciæ 3vi.
- Aqum puræ ad. giss. Misce fiat injectio.
A third part to be injected three times in the 24 hours. To ensure the desired effect, some care is necessary in injecting the medicine. Having filled a glass syringe with the injection, the patient should introduce its bulbous extremity into the urethra to the extent of an inch with his right hand. Then holding upright the penis with his left forefinger and thumb, so as to compress the urethra against the syringe to prevent the escape of the fluid, he should pass the liquid freely into that canal by
