View source for Tartar Emetic

[[File:1876-the-essentials-of-materia-medica-and-therapeutics-poems.jpg|thumb|250px|right|Mansucript poems on the title page of ''The Essentials of Materia Medica and Therapeutics''.]]

''Tartar Emetic'' is a poem written by [[Arthur Conan Doyle]] during his studies at the Edinburgh University of Medicine (1876) on the titlepage ''The Essentials of Materia Medica and Therapeutics'' (by Alfred Baring Garrod, 1869 edition, Edinburgh).

[[Arthur Conan Doyle]] wrote several poems on specific medical products ([[Opium]], Tartar Emetic, [[Quinine]], [[Ether]], [[Slow Arsenic Poisoning|Arsenic]], [[Corrosive Sublimate as a Poison|Corrosive Sublimate]], [[Actions of Liquor Potassoe|Liquor Potassoe]], [[Mercury]]...). Probably as a mnemonic technique.


== Tartar Emetic ==

<poem>
From one sixth to one sixteenth of a grain,
Is a <u>diaphoretic</u> well known to fame,
And the tidings have far & wide been diffused,
That as an <u>expectorant</u> also its used,
While its <u>cholagogue</u> action, I'll venture to say,
Would be matched by few in a long summer day,
3 grains as a mighty <u>emetic</u> is known,
With a purg<u><s>sed</s>ative</u>action all its own,
'Tis a <u>sedative</u> too to vessels and heart,
And an <u>irritant</u> fits applied to a part.
</poem>






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* [[Sir Arthur Conan Doyle:Complete Works|Back to Complete Works]]
* [[Sir Arthur Conan Doyle|Back to Conan Doyle]]