Free Phosphorus in Medicine
- Author:
Asiiburton Thompson, Esq.
Lewis, Gower Street.
The work under our immediate consideration is written with the intention of showing the value of free phosphorus as a drug in various diseases, but more especially nervous disorders. The treatise is a most comprehensive one, and we congratulate the author on his success.
The various pharmaceutical preparations of the drug are first carefully described, also the best mode of administering free phos- phorus, and its internal administration. One of the chief things we must bear in mind respecting it is, that it must not be given when the stomach is empty, and the best way of administering it is in cod-liver oil. The dose of free phosphorus varies according to the disease in which it is being administered, from one-hundredth of a grain to one- twelfth. “Very good hygienic rules are given to be observed whilst the patient is taking phosphorus.
The diet must be carefully regulated, and chiefly confined to meat, with mucilaginous drinks containing a little Hungarian or Burgundy wine. Acid articles of diet, salads, cabbages, onions, horse-radish, and peas, must be avoided: these are rules laid down by Lobel, at which the author takes exception, and informs us no particular rules are necessary during its administration with regard to the food. We are told it is contra-indicated in plethoric cases. The general effects of free phosphorus are those of a stimulant possessed of special powers on the nervous system; evanescent in its effects, but not followed by any marked stage of depression.
The various diseases are now mentioned where phosphorus has been given, with the results obtained, and cases illustrative of the subject. The drug seems to have a wonderful effect in neuralgia, in doses of one-twelfth of a grain of free phosphorus dissolved in cod-liver oil every four hours. The best means of administering the drug in combination is as phosphide of zinc.
The work is very interesting and most comprehensive, and is a most valuable addition to medicine, being evidently the result of much careful research; and we heartily recommend it to all interested in the treatment of nervous disorders.
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