ABSTRACT
Tartar emetic was the name given to a popular medication made with powdered antimony, a poisonous metallic substance that is one of the chemical elements found in the periodic table. Used both to reduce fever and to cause vomiting, tartar emetic was administered to patients with a variety of diseases. Given in small doses every two to three hours, it was considered an important treatment for pneumonia. Tartar emetic was combined with sulphate of magnesia to purge patients with dysentery and also used in combination with cinchona bark (the source of quinine) and powdered opium to treat intermittent fevers.
