Medical Dictionary
Main Entry:
Do·ver's powder Pronunciation:
'dO-v&rz- Function:
noun : a powder of ipecac and opium that is now compounded in the U.S. with lactoseand in England with potassium sulfate and that is used as an anodyne and diaphoretic
Doáver /'dO-v&r/,
Thomas (1660–1742), British physician. A pupil of theeminent physician Thomas Sydenham, Dover made the unique choice of combining a medical career with that of a buccaneer. Constantly at odds with the medical establishment, he published in 1732 a volumeof his nostrums, almost all of them worthless or worse, the exception being his sole legacy—Dover's powder.
