diaphoretic

ruzuzu Is there a word which means "that's so cute I might feel the urge to hork?" (Because that word would come in handy right about now.) Oct 21, 2012

sionnach In our family, we were so poor we couldn't afford one o' them eternal antimony tablets. Instead, we had to make do with a bezoar first recovered from an autopsy performed on my great-grandmother's calico cat Claude Balls. Weighing in at 20 ounces, its prophylactic and therapeutic powers were considerable.

Oh how we children would squabble over that benighted bezoar if more than one of us fell ill at the same time! Over the years, my older brother John Boy was grudgingly awarded precedence, as his peculiarly accelerated metabolic and digestive processes could generally be relied upon to give a total transit time of no more than 10 hours.

Feb 10, 2008

chained_bear "'Pray, Dr Maturin,' he said on the quarterdeck, 'what is the effect of antimony?'

"'It is a diaphoretic, an expectorant and a moderate cholegogue; but we use it chiefly as an emetic. You have heard of the everlasting antimony pill, sure?'

"'Not I.'

"'It is one of the most economical forms of physic known to man, since a single pill of the metal will serve a numerous household, being ingested, rejected, and so recovered. I have known one handed down for generations... the name is said to signify a monk's bane.'

"'So I have always understood,' said Jack. 'But what I really meant was its effect on guns, was a little mixed with the powder.'

'Alas, I am wholly ignorant of these things. But if we may go by analogy, it should cause the piece to vomit forth the ball with more than common force.'"
--Patrick O'Brian, The Ionian Mission, 58 Feb 10, 2008