Art. IV.—Experimental Inquiry into the correctness of M. Poiseuille's explanation of the purgative action of certain substances

Geo. Wymberley Jones
1848 American Journal of the Medical Sciences  
Art. 1\ . Erpcritncn/al Inquiry into the correctness of M. Poiseuille'i explanation of the purgative action of certain svhstances. I!}' Geo WvMBERtEY Jones, M. D., of On. (Extracted from an inaugural dis¬ sertation for the degree of M. D., in die University of Pennsylvania.) M. Poiseuili.f. declares, that when animal tissues are interposed between the serum of the blood and solutions of sulphate of soda and chloride of sodium, cndosmosc takes place from the scrum to the saline solution. The
more » ... rence drawn from this is, that the action of purgative salts upon the stomach and bowels of a living being, is a physical one; that, in short, the catharsis produced by these medicines, is nothing more than an endosmose of the serum of the blood, through the coats of the containing vessels to the saline solution within the intestine. Ilul the most remarkable of Poiscuille's assertions is, that he has disco¬ vered that the hvdrochlorate of morphia exercises a peculiar influence over the direction of the current. He says that when it was added to the saline solution, the endosmose from the serum to the solution was considerably diminished, and its direction finally reversed.
doi:10.1097/00000441-184816320-00004 fatcat:wiohenwf7fa25c6x6jz2vywvem