Note 247 — ON THE THEORY AND ART OF PRESCRIBING.

Sir Gilbert Blane has advanced an ingenious hypothesis to explain the cause of the fœtid breath of persons under the influence of mercury; which might perhaps also shew why certain remedies are rendered more efficient by combination with mercury. One of the active effects of mercury, says Sir Gilbert, is to alter the natural sensibility of the Lacteals, so that when under its influence, they absorb indiscriminately that which is excrementitious and nutritive; hence the smell of the breath, since the fœtid particles are carried into the circulation, and thrown off in the halitus of the lungs, or by the salivary glands, in consequence of the mouth of the lacteals losing that selecting tact, whereby in their sound state they reject whatever is offered to them, except the chyle. Now if mercury acts as the “Soporata Offa” to the lacteals, it is evident that its combination with active matter may, on some occasions, facilitate the absorption of the latter.