As far as my experience goes, benzoic acid {112} appears to be most useful in jaundice arising from enervation or from active congestion, as in the case related at page 27; but in cases of the latter kind it seems to be of little service until the acute symptoms have disappeared. I am still rather doubtful regarding the mode in which it acts, although one point seems clear, namely, that it hastens the re-absorption from the tissues, and elimination from the body, of the bile-pigment. It thus appears to play the part of a whitewash; for, as one of my lady patients once graphically said, the medicine had bleached her. On one occasion I tried benzoic acid in a case of jaundice following upon an attack of ague; but it proved of no service. Indeed, quinine, combined with mercurials, seemed in that case to be the only remedy. There is another drug which proves of service in jaundice from suppression, namely, podophyllin, or May-apple. This remedy, which was first introduced from America, is supposed to possess both the alterative and purgative properties of mercury. As an alterative, it is given in doses varying from 1/8 to ¼ of a grain, three times a-day; as a purgative, from ¼ to 1 grain, as a single dose. I have given this remedy a tolerably fair trial, and although it seems to be very useful as a purgative in hepatic disease, and to increase the flow of bile, I have found it open to two objections: {113} firstly, its action is slow, and not always certain; and, secondly, in delicate females it gives rise to a good deal of griping. This latter objection can, however, to a certain extent, be counteracted, by combining the remedy with hyoscyamus. On the whole, I prefer mercurials to podophyllin, and only administer the latter in slight cases of jaundice, or in those where mercurials are counter-indicated. For example, in cases of feeble liver, where there is an insufficient secretion of bile from want of nervous power, podophyllin is decidedly of service, for in such cases mercury is of course counter-indicated. Moreover, podophyllin can be advantageously combined with vegetable tonics, and, when given along with gentian or quinine, forms an admirable hepatic stimulant in some of the cases usually denominated "torpid liver."