Note 212 — PHARMACOLOGIA. ON THE OPERATIONS OF MEDICINAL BODIES, AND ON THE CLASSIFICATIONS FOUNDED ON THEM. (continued 2)

The word Antidote is derived from αντὶ, against, and διδωμὶ, I give; as being a medicine given against poison, either by way of cure or preservative. The word is also sometimes used in a more general sense, for any compounded medicine; thus Peter Damian speaks of a person who in his whole life never took an antidote. It is likewise used by some authors in a less proper sense, for any remedy against any disease, chiefly if it be inveterate, and arise from some ulcer or abscess; and lastly, the term has been used to signify a perpetual form of medicines, otherwise called Opiates, or more properly Confections.