New Remedy for Consumption
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Ergot of rye, or spurred rye, has received the approval of the Academy of Medicine at Turin, as one of the most active remedies for consumption. Dr. Parola, the author, describes its action as infallible, if not in curing the disease, at least in staying the pulmonary inflammation which constantly accompanies the formation of the tubercle. He administers thirty-one grains of the powder per day, and suspends it every four or five days for forty-eight hours. When the stomach is too weak, the resinous extract may be administered in pills instead of the powder, to the amount of one and a quarter grains, or else a portion in a solution of gum. Quinine, foxglove, and even opium, may sometimes be administered together with it. By this treatment Dr. Parola has cured sixteen cases out of thirty-one of alleged confirmed consumption in an advanced stage.
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