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EMETICS (from Gr. inerucos, causing v...

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Originally appearing in Volume V09, Page 336 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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EMETICS (from Gr. inerucos, causing vomit) , the See also:term given to substances which are administered for the purpose of producing vomiting. It is customary to See also:divide emetics into two classes, those which produce their effect by acting on the vomiting centre in the medulla, and those which See also:act directly on the See also:stomach itself. There is considerable confusion in the nomenclature of these two divisions, but all are agreed in calling the former class central emetics, and the latter gastric. The gastric emetics in See also:common use are See also:alum, ammonium carbonate, See also:zinc sulphate, See also:sodium chloride (common See also:salt), See also:mustard and warm See also:water. See also:Copper sulphate has been purposely omitted from this See also:list, since unless it produces vomiting very shortly after See also:administration, being itself a violent gastro-intestinal irritant, some other emetic must promptly be administered. The central emetics are apomorphine, See also:tartar emetic, See also:ipecacuanha, See also:senega and See also:squill. Of these tartar emetic and ipecacuanha come under both heads: when taken by the mouth they act as gastric emetics before absorption into the See also:blood, and later produce a further and more vigorous effect by stimulation of the medullary centre. It must be remembered, however, that, valuable though these drugs are, their See also:action is accompanied by so much depression, they should never be administered except under medical See also:advice. Emetics have two See also:main uses: that of emptying the stomach, especially in cases of poisoning, and that of expelling the contentsof the See also:air passages, more especially in See also:children before they have learnt or have the strength to expectorate. Where a physician is in attendance, the first of these uses is nearly always replaced by lavage of the stomach, whereby any subsequent depression is avoided. Emetics still have their See also:place, however, in the treatment of See also:bronchitis, See also:laryngitis and See also:diphtheria in children, as they aid in the See also:expulsion of the morbid products. Occasionally also they are administered when a See also:foreign See also:body has got into the larynx.

Their use is contra-indicated in the See also:

case of anyone suffering from aneurism, See also:hernia or arterio-sclerosis, or where there is any tendency to See also:haemorrhage.

End of Article: EMETICS (from Gr. inerucos, causing vomit)

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