Intestine – Worms Tincture

King's American Dispensatory By Harvey Wickes Felter and John Uri Lloyd 1898 - Black Walnut

Botanical Source.—This tree is indigenous, and grows to a height of from 30 to 50 feet, with a trunk about 4 feet in diameter, at some 4 or 6 feet from the ground, and which, at 8 or 10 feet from its base, divides into numerous, nearly horizontal, wide-spreading branches, with a smooth gray bark, and forming a. large tufted head, giving to the tree a peculiar appearance. The leaves are alternate, from 12 to 20 inches long, consisting of 7 or 8 pairs of leaflets, which are 2 or 3 inches in length, oblong-lanceolate, rounded at the base, acuminate, finely serrate, and downy, with the petioles and branchlets downy with clammy hairs. Male and female flowers distinct upon the same tree, the former in large aments, 4 or 5 inches long, hanging from the sides of the last year's shoots, near their extremities. The scales which compose them, oblong and deeply cleft on each side into about 3 teeth or segments. Anthers about 8 or 10 in number, oblong, and nearly sessile. The fertile flowers grow in a short spike at the end of the new shoot; are sessile, universally pubescent, and viscid; when fully grown they seem to consist of a large oblong ovary, and a forked feathery style. The top of the ovary, however, presents an obscurely 4-toothed calyx. Within this is a corolla of four narrow lanceolate petals growing to the sides of the style; the style divides into 2 large, diverging, feathery, rose-colored stigmas, nearly as long as the ovary. The fruit is sometimes single, suspended by a thin, pliable, peduncle; sometimes several are together on the sides and extremity of the same peduncle. It is of a green color, brown when ripe, oblong-oval, obtusely pointed, hairy, and extremely viscid. The nut or nucleus is dark-colored, hard, oblong, pointed, carinated on both sides, and its whole surface roughened by deep indentures and sharp prominences. The kernel is oily, pleasant-flavored, and edible (L.—W.—B.). History and Description.—This tree and the Juglans nigra or Black walnut are common to North America. The J. cinerea is found throughout the New England, Middle, and Western states, and Canada, growing in rich woods, on elevated river banks, and on cold, uneven, rocky soils, flowering in April and May, and maturing its fruit during the middle of autumn. A saccharine juice, said to furnish a good sugar, is obtained by tapping the trees early in the spring. Butternut wood is light, of a reddish hue, not apt to become worm-eaten, and is frequently used in paneling and for ornamental work. The fruit collected sometime previous to its ripening is used in the form of pickles by many persons; the bark and shells of the nut furnish a dye of a chocolate color, for woolen goods, but as a dye, the bark of the black walnut is preferable. In the recent state, butternut bark is acrid, and when rubbed upon the surface of the body, occasions redness and sometimes blisters. The medicinal parts are its leaves and the inner bark of the root, the latter of which is best when gathered from April to July. The bark of the root is official, and this, the Pharmacopoeia directs, should be gathered in the autumn. The official description of the bark is as follows: "In flat or curved pieces, about 5 Mm. (1/5 inch) thick; the outer surface dark-gray and nearly smooth, or deprived of the soft cork and deep-brown; the inner surface smooth and striate; transverse fracture short, delicately checkered, whitish, and brown; odor feeble; taste bitter and somewhat acrid"—(U. S. P.). Its original whiteness soon begins to alter upon exposure to the air, changing from a yellow to a dark-brown color. Water at 100° C. (212° F.), takes up all its active properties. Chemical Composition.—In the bark of Juglans cinerea, (Butternut tree), C. O. Thiebaud found (Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1872, p. 253), bitter extractive, much oil, crystallizable, orange-yellow juglandic acid, soluble in benzol, alcohol, and ether, but hardly soluble in water, and probably related to chrysophanic acid; a crystallizable, colorless acid, and a volatile acid, but no tannin, although ferric chloride gave a dark-colored precipitate. Mr. E. S. Dawson (1874), however, established the presence of tannin in the bark, when rapidly and immediately dried after collection. The bark stains the skin persistently brown. A quantitative and comparative analysis of the bark of the root and trunk by E. D. Truman is recorded in Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1893, p. 426. Juglandic acid was obtained by the author in orange-red crystals from the alcohol extract when this was treated with water and the solution abstracted with ether. The crystals turn deep-violet with alkalies, and decompose very readily, resinous products insoluble in water being formed. Perhaps juglandic acid is identical with nucin or juglon, obtainable from the green leaves and pericarps of the Juglans regia, Linné, or European walnut (see Related Species). JUGLANDIN is a name once given to a dried extract from the J. cinerea. It was a member of the class of preparations introduced and used about 50 years ago by the Eclectics under the name resinoidsor concentrations (see Leptandrin and Podophyllin for special remarks concerning this class). Action, Medical Uses, and Dosage.—Butternut in small doses is a mild stimulant to the intestinal tract, proving laxative and in larger doses is a gentle and agreeable cathartic, causing no griping, nor subsequent weakness of the intestines. It resembles rhubarb in its effect, but without inducing constipation after its action. It is very valuable in cases of habitual constipation, colorectitis, and several other intestinal diseases. It is generally used in the form of an extract, in doses of 1 to 30 grains. An excellent combination for chronic constipation is the following: Rx Ext. butternut, ʒj; ext. nux vomica, grs. v. Mix. Ft. Pil. No. 40. Sig. Two pills, 3 times a day (Locke). The same pill is very efficient in deficient gastric secretion, in atonic dyspepsia, and in indigestion accompanied with gastric irritation, sour eructations, and flatulent distension of the stomach. Administer 1 pill a day. Juglans is useful in tenesmic, burning, fetid diarrhoea and dysentery, and should be remembered in intestinal dyspepsia with irritation. The specific juglans may be given in from 1 to 10-drop doses. The same doses of the same preparation act as an efficient alterative in chronic skin affections and scrofula, being particularly indicated in those skin affections exhibiting vesicles or pustules. Webster believes it effectual in all skin diseases except those presenting parasitic, scrofulous, or syphilitic manifestations. Juglans is an efficient cathartic to use when a free action of the bowels is demanded in rheumatism and chronic respiratory affections. A strong decoction of it is much employed in some sections of the country, as a domestic remedy in rheumatism affecting the muscles of the back, and in intermittent and remittent fevers, as well as in other diseases attended with congestion of the abdominal viscera; it is also reputed efficient in murrain of cattle, and yellow water in horses. It was used with great advantage in the treatment of dysentery and diarrhoea occurring among our soldiers in the Civil War. Dose of the extract, from 1 to 30 grains, usually from 1 to 5 grains; specific juglans, 1 to 20 drops, the smaller doses being preferred for its specific action. Specific Indications and Uses.—Chronic constipation; gastro-intestinal irritability, with sour eructations, flatulence, and either diarrhoea or constipation dependent thereon; diarrhoea and dysentery with tenesmus and burning and fetid discharges; torpid liver; chronic skin affections of a pustular or vesicular character, discharging freely; eczematous affections. Related Species.—Juglans nigra, or Black walnut grows from 60 to 90 feet high, with a diameter of from 3 to 6 feet, with a brown bark. Leaflets numerous, 7 to 10 or 11 pairs, ovate-lanceolate, serrate, subcordate at base, taper-pointed at the apex, smooth above, the lower surface and the petioles minutely downy. Fruit globose, with scabrous punctures; nut corrugated, kernel sweet, more pleasant tasted and less oily than the butternut, but greatly inferior to the European walnut, Juglans regia (W.—G.). Juglans nigra is rarely found in the northern states, but is more common to the middle and western. It flowers and ripens its fruit at the same time with the butternut. The duramen of its wood is compact and heavy, of a deep-violet color, surrounded with a white alburnum. It is extensively used in building and for cabinet work (G.—W.). The leaves of Juglans nigra were analyzed by Lillie J. Martin (Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1886, p. 468), and contained tannin as the dominant principle; volatile oil, a volatile acid, resin, wax, gum, and a crystallizable substance, probably a glucosid. The ash constituted 8.5 per cent, and the absence of aluminum in the ash was established. The juice of the rind of black walnut is said to cure herpes, eczema, porrigo, etc., and a decoction has been used to remove worms. The bark is very astringent and acrimonious, and is employed in dyeing. Juglans regia, Linné; English, or European walnut.—The leaves and green pericarp of the fruit of this species have an astringent, bitter taste and a characteristic odor. They are known in European pharmacy respectively as the Folia juglandis and Cortex fructus juglandis. The kernels of the ripe fruit, as well as those of the black walnut, butternut, pecan-nut (Carya olivaeformis, Nuttall), and the hickory nuts (species of Carya) yield a fixed oil known as nut oil. It is one of the drying oils, and is bland, of a greenish or light-yellow color, and becomes of the consistence of lard at near -18° C. (0° F.). It has a specific gravity of 0.928, and, according to Mulder (1865), contains linoleic, myristic, and lauric acids. A volatile oil was obtained from the leaves (0.029 per cent), by distillation with water. It has the flavor of tea, and solidifies at 15° C. (59° F.) (Schimmel's Report, 1890). Juglon (C10H6O3, Oxy-alpha-naphtho-quinone, Bernthsen and Lemper, 1885; Nucin, of Vogel and Reischauer, 1856 and 1858; Regianin, of Phipson, 1896), occurs in the green pericarps of the European walnut, and is obtainable by extraction with carbon disulphide, ether, etc. According to Bernthsen and Lemper, it is an oxidation product of hydrojuglon, which exists in the husks, and can be abstracted therefrom with ether. The ethereal solution shaken with diluted chromic acid, converts it by oxidation into yellow, crystallizable juglon, soluble in chloroform and concentrated sulphuric acid with blood-red color, hardly soluble in cold alcohol and ether. Crystals of juglon are sublimable, and are decomposed by hot water, a brown coloring matter resulting. Juglon stains the skin brown. Diluted alkalies dissolve juglon with an evanescent purple color. The pericarp of the immature fruit contains large quantities of tannic acid (nucitannic acid, of Phipson), but the ripe husk is entirely free from this principle (C. Hartwich, Archiv der Pharm., 1887, p. 333). A crystallizable alkaloid, juglandin, was isolated from the leaves in 1876, by Tanret; it turns black upon exposure to the air. Nucit (C6H12O6+2H2O), a non-fermentable sugar occurring in the leaves, was found by Tanret and Villiers (1878) to be identical with inosit. Sestini obtained from the root of juglans considerable quantities of glycyrrhizin in the form of potassium and calcium salts. The European walnut has been found by Prof. Negrier, of Angers, to be very efficient in scrofula. To children laboring under this disease he administered a strong infusion of the leaves in teacupful doses, or the aqueous extract in doses of 6 grains, or a proportionate dose of a syrup prepared with 8 grains of the extract to 10 drachms of syrup, repeating the dose from 2 to 5 times a day. All the ulcers and sore eyes were washed with a strong decoction of the leaves, and the ulcers covered with linen compresses steeped in this decoction, or poultices made with flour and the decoction. No injury followed its long-continued administration. The above American species would probably answer as good a purpose.

The Dispensatory of the United States of America, 1918, Edited by Joseph P. Remington, Horatio C. Wood and others. - Cascara sagrada

Properties.—Cascara sagrada occurs in commerce in the form of small broken pieces, often more or less flattened out into a somewhat compressed mass, and also as separated quills of varying length and size. The bark is "Usually in flattened or transversely curved pieces, occasionally in quills; bark from 1 to 5 mm. in thickness; outer surface dark brown or brownish-red, longitudinally ridged, often nearly covered with grayish or whitish lichens, bearing small blackish apothecia, sometimes with numerous lenticels, and occasionally with mosses; inner surface light yellow, light brown, or reddish-brown, longitudinally striate, turning red when moistened with solutions of the alkalies; fracture short, with projections of bast-fibers in the inner bark; in cross section inner bark shows diagonal or curved medullary rays, forming converging groups, the outer bark showing yellowish groups of stone cells which are especially apparent on moistening the freshly cut surface with phloroglucinol T.S. and hydrochloric acid; odor distinct; taste disagreeable, bitter, and slightly acrid. Under the microscope, a transverse section of Cascara Sagrada shows an outer yellowish-brown or reddish-brown corky layer consisting of 10 to 15 or more rows of cells; stone cells in outer bark in tangentially elongated groups of 20 to 50 cells, the walls being very thick and finely lamellated; medullary rays 1 to 4 cells wide, 15 to 25 cells deep, the contents being colored red upon the addition of solutions of the alkalies to the sections; bast-fibers in tangentially elongated groups in the inner bark, the walls being thick and strongly lignified; crystal fibers around the bast-fibers with individual crystals from 0.008 to 0.015 mm. in length; parenchyma with spheroidal starch grains about 0.003 to 0.008 mm. in diameter, or with calcium oxalate either in rosette aggregates or prisms from 0.01 to 0.02 mm. in diameter. Add 0.1 Gm. of powdered Cascara Sagrada to 10 mils of hot water, shake the mixture occasionally until cold, filter it and add sufficient water to make 10 mils; on the addition of 10 mils of ammonia water to this liquid, it is colored an orange-yellow. Macerate 0.1 Gm. of powdered Cascara Sagrada with 10 drops of alcohol, boil the mixture with 10 mils of water, when cold filter it and shake the filtrate with 10 mils of ether; a yellow ethereal solution separates. Shake 3 mils of this ethereal solution with 3 mils of ammonia water; the separated ammoniacal solution still possesses, on diluting with 20 mils of water, a distinct, yellowish-red color. The powder is light brown to olive brown, showing characteristic elongated groups of bast-fibers associated with crystal fibers, the crystals in the latter being in the form of monoclinic prisms from 0.008 to 0.015 mm. in length; stone cells in large groups, the cells having thick and finely porous walls; fragments of parenchyma and medullary ray cells colored red upon the addition of solutions of the alkalies; starch grains either free or in parenchyma cells, the individual grains being somewhat spheroidal, from 0.003 to 0.008 mm. in diameter; calcium oxalate in monoclinic prisms or rosette aggregates from 0.01 to 0.02 mm. in diameter; occasional fragments of reddish-brown cork." U. S. "In quilled, channelled, or nearly flat pieces from one to two millimetres thick, but varying in length and width. Cork nearly smooth, dark purplish-brown, marked with transversely elongated lenticels, but usually more or less covered with patches of silvery-grey lichen. Inner surface reddish-brown, with faint transverse corrugations and longitudinal striations. Fracture short, but near the inner surface somewhat fibrous. In transverse section, scattered groups of sclerenchymatous cells in both cortex and bast; the parenchymatous cells contain a yellow substance which is colored violet by solution of sodium hydroxide. Odor characteristic but not powerful; taste nauseous, bitter and persistent." Br. For articles illustrating the pharmacognosy of Cascara bark see Kraemer, A. J. P., 1912, p. 385; Miller, J. A. Ph. A., 1912, p. 1207; and Farwell, J. A. Ph. A., 1914, p. 649. According to the analysis of A. B. Prescott (N. P., Feb., 1879), it contains a very bitter brown resin (which is colored a vivid purple-red by potassium hydroxide); a red resin; a light yellow resin; tannic, malic, and oxalic acids; a neutral crystallizable substance; and a volatile oil. H. F. Meier and J. Le Roy Webber have pointed out in addition the presence of a ferment, glucose, and ammonia. According to these investigators, to the action of the ferment are attributed the unpleasant results attending the administration of "fresh bark"; "seasoned bark"—i.e., such as has been kept a year or two—owes its valuable properties as a laxative, free from griping, to the fact that the ferment has exhausted itself; the laxative properties, they state, reside in the resins, and the tonic effects are due to the crystalline principle. (A. J. P., 1888, 91). Schwabe (A. Pharm., ccxxvi, 569) found emodin, or trioxymethylanthraquinone, which he believes is the active principle. Dohme and Engelhardt (Proc. A. Ph. A., 1897, 193) have shown the analogy of cascara sagrada with Rhamnus Frangula by obtaining a glucoside to which they give the name of purshianin. This decomposes, yielding emodin. and a dextrorotatory non-fermentable sugar, while the frangulin of buckthorn yields emodin and rhamnose as the sugar. Purshianin forms brown-red needles, melting at 237° C. (458.6° F.). Dohme and Engelhardt failed to obtain in a pure form (Proc. A. Ph. A., 1898, 340) the bitter principle of cascara sagrada. Le Prince (C. R. A. S., 1892, 286) claimed to have obtained the active principle of cascara bark in a crystalline form, which he named cascarine; his results are doubted by Jowett who believes that cascarine and purshianin are impure forms of emodin. Jowett (Proc. A. Ph. A., 1904, 288) in an exhaustive paper concludes that the active principle of cascara is contained in that portion of an alcoholic extract which is soluble in water and precipitable by lead subacetate and in that portion of the regenerated lead subacetate precipitate which is soluble in ethyl acetate. Pietsch states that a glucoside from the bark of cascara sagrada which has been named peristaltin has the composition C14H18O8. (Th. M., 1910, No. 1, p. 35.) Uses.—Cascara sagrada belongs to the group of vegetable cathartics whose activity depends upon the presence of one or more oxides of methylanthraquinone. This group includes aloes, cascara, rhubarb, and senna. In cascara the active principle appears to be emodin, which is trioxymethylanthraquinone, and which appears also to be the purgative principle of aloes. The action of this principle is chiefly to excite peristalsis in the colon, although after large doses there is probably also some effect upon the upper bowel. As the action is chiefly upon the lower intestine it is not to be recommended as a laxative where it is desired to clean out the bowel, but in the treatment of chronic constipation it acts very favorably. It often appears to restore tone to the relaxed bowel and in this way produce a permanent beneficial effect. The bark itself is rarely used, either the extract or fluidextract being eligible preparations. The addition of belladonna to overcome any tendency to gripe is an advantage. Ordinarily a single dose is given at bedtime but in some cases better results are obtained by exhibiting smaller doses after meals.

The Family Herbal, 1812, was written by John Hill. - Garlic

Botanical name: Allium sativum Allium. A plant kept in our gardens for its uses in medicine, and in the kitchen. It grows two fret and a half high. The leaves are broad, long, and of a strong green. The stalk is round, smooth, and firm, upright, and of a pale whitish or bluish colour. The flowers are white and small, but they grow in a large tuft at the top of the stalk. The root is white, or a little reddish; it is composed of a great number of bulbs, or, as we call them, cloves, joined together, and covered with a common skin, and with fibres at the bottom. The whole plant has an extremely strong smell, and an acrid and pungent taste. The root is to be boiled in water, and the decoction made into syrup with honey; this is excellent in asthmas, hoarseness, and coughs, and in all difficulties of breathing.

The Eclectic Materia Medica, Pharmacology and Therapeutics Written by Harvey Wickes Felter, M.D. 1922 - Marshmallow

Botanical name: Althaea officinalis The decorticated dried root of Althaea officinalis, Linné (Nat. Ord. Malvaceae), a plant of salt marshes, river banks, and moist, sandy soils. Europe, Asia, Australia, and Eastern United States. Common Name: Marshmallow. Principal Constituents.—Mucilage, starch, pectin, and asparagin, an odorless and colorless crystallizable body identical with althein and agedolite, found also in many other plants. Preparations.—1. Infusum Althaeae. Infusion of Althaea. Dose, Freely. 2. Decoctum Althaeae. Decoction of Althaea. Dose, Freely. 3. Syrupus Althaaeae. Syrup of Althaea. Dose, 1 fluidounce to 4 fluidounces. Therapy.—External. A soothing application to inflamed surfaces; and may be used as an injection for dysentery, acute vaginitis, and the acute stage of gonorrhea. A favorite gargle for irritated throat. Applied upon a compress, it is reputed to be comforting to painful piles. Internal. An excellent lenitive and demulcent diuretic employed to soothe irritated and inflamed mucous surfaces, in hoarseness, cough due to faucial irritation, gastro-intestinal irritation and inflammation, and as a soothing drink in vesical and renal irritation and inflammation, acute cystitis, strangury and gravel. If the mucilage chiefly is desired, an infusion should be prepared with cold water; if starch, with some mucilage is needed, a decoction. It may be given freely. A syrup of marshmallow is a good vehicle for pectoral medication.

King's American Dispensatory By Harvey Wickes Felter and John Uri Lloyd 1898 - Oregon Grape

Botanical Source.—Berberis aquifolium is a shrub having stems about 6 feet high, erect, and of rapid growth. The leaves are alternate and consist of 3 or 4 pairs of leaflets, and an odd one. They are evergreen, coriaceous, bright and shining upon the upper surface, and very ornamental; hence, the shrub is frequent in cultivation, often under the improper name "holly." The leaflets are smooth, ovate, from 2 to 3 inches long, and one-half as wide. They are acute, sessile, pinnately veined, and the margin is indented with from 15 to 30 repand spiny teeth. The lower pair of leaflets is from 1 to 2 inches distant from the base of the common petiole. The flowers are numerous, small, yellowish-green, and appear in early spring, borne in fascicled, terminal racemes. The calyx has 9 distinct sepals, colored like the petals and disposed in 2 rows, the outer of which consists. of 3 sepals (bracts?). The petals are 6, distinct, orbicular, and in rows of 3 each. The stamens are also 6, and opposite the petals; they have irritable filaments, and extrorse anthers, opening, each by 2 little valves, hinged at the top. The fruit, which is known as "Oregon grape," is a cluster of purple berries, each containing an agreeably acid pulp, and from 3 to 9 seeds. History.—This is a tall shrub, native of the western section of the United States. It grows from Colorado to the Pacific Ocean, and is especially abundant in Oregon and the northern part of California. Berberis aquifolium belongs to the section Mahonia of the genus Berberis, which section is considered by some botanists a distinct genus, The following synopsis of the difference between the two sub-genera is taken from "Berberidaceae " (a pamphlet by C. G. and J. U. Lloyd, 1878): "The Berberis proper has simple leaves clustering in the axis of a simple or 3-parted spine. The petals have two glands on the inside of each, at the base. The filaments have no teeth. Berries 2 to 3-seeded. "Mahonia has oddly, pinnately, compound leaves, with no spine at the base, but with spiny-toothed leaflets. The petals are glandless. The stamens have a tooth on each side of the filament, near the top. Berries 3 to 9-seeded." The section "Mahonia" is represented in the western United States by six species, viz.: Berberis pinnata, Lag., a tall shrub with the general appearance of B. aquifolium, distinguished from it by the leaflets, which are glaucous underneath, and the lower pair approximate to the base of the petiole; Berberis repens, Lind., a small creeping plant, with leaves often ternate, and leaflets nearly orbicular, and which has been much confounded, and frequently described as Berberis aquifolium. Berberis nervosa, Pursh, a small erect shrub, with leaves often longer than the stem—it appears to be more generally distributed than the other species. The chief characteristics of this species are, the leaflets are three-veined from an oblique base, the common petiole is jointed "like a bamboo stem," and the flowers are in slender racemes. The two other species, B. Fendleri and B. Fremonti, are of rare occurrence. Berberis aquifolium and the other species long in use in domestic practice throughout the West, were brought into general notice a few years since by Parke, Davis & Co., of Detroit, who gave the remedy great conspicuity. Dr. Bundy, of Colusa, Cal., wrote many papers on its therapy; these were published in their journal, "New Preparations." From an examination of the drug, as thrown upon the market, we find the species are confounded, several of them being generally sold as B. aquifolium. The B. nervosa is more commonly met within these sophistications, but we have likewise noticed B. repens in considerable amount. The confusion is, perhaps, unimportant from a therapeutical point, as all the Mahonias are bitter, and seem to contain berberine in nearly the same proportion (see Related Species). Description.—The root of Berberis aquifolium is from ½ to 1 inch in diameter, often increasing to 2 and 3 inches at the base of the stem. It is woody, yellow throughout, very hard. The bark is deep-yellow beneath and brown upon the surface. It is without odor and very bitter. The roots of the other species of Mahonia are smaller; the B. pinnata more nearly approaching the B. aquifolium in size; the B. repens is the smallest of any of the known species. Chemical Composition.—Berberis aquifolium contains berberine, a yellow alkaloid (see Hydrastis), berbamine, and oxyacanthine, both white alkaloids, and phytosterin, gum, and sugar. The flowers contain, in addition to the above alkaloids, volatile oil, and the berries contain malic acid. The presence of berberine renders both root and bark bitter. The white alkaloid, oxyacanthine (C19H21NO3, Rüdel), which forms soluble salts with most acids, is itself practically insoluble in water, soluble in hot alcohol and hot ether, and slightly so in cold alcohol and cold ether. It dissolves freely in fats and volatile oils, and in chloroform and benzol. It is alkaline, bitter, and in the presence of sunlight changes color, becoming yellowish. Iodic acid is reduced by it with the liberation of free iodine. With nitric acid a yellow color is produced, which, when heated, changes to purple. Cold sulphuric acid turns it brownish-red; on heating it changes to a vivid red, and finally a brown, color. With ferric chloride, in dilute solution of potassium ferricyanide, a blue color is produced with salts of oxyacanthine. Other names have been given this alkaloid to avoid confounding it with products of a species of thorn-apple, the Crataegus Oxyacantha. Thus vinetine was applied to it by Wacker, while Berzelius christened it berbine. Berbamine (C18H19NO3) is a white alkaloid the salts of which dissolve slightly in solutions of Chili saltpetre (nitrate of sodium). These salts strike a blue color with ferric chloride in a weak solution of ferricyanide of potassium. Phytosterin (C26H44O.H2O) is a neutral body (found also in Calabar bean, Physostigma venenosum, Balfour), differing from cholesterin, which it closely resembles, by its solution in chloroform not having any affect on polarized light. Action, Medical Uses, and Dosage.—This agent has justly been extolled as an alterative and tonic, and has been recommended in syphilitic affections, salt-rheum, pityriasis, psoriasis, and other cutaneous affections, as well as in maladies supposed to be due to some mal-condition of the blood. Excretion and secretion are promoted by it; digestion and assimilation improved; the lymphatic glandular system and the ductless glands are stimulated; and the renal secretions somewhat augmented. Thus it acts as a blood-maker, and is therefore a remedy to oppose depraved conditions of the body-fluids. As a tonic, it may be employed as a synonym of hydrastis, colombo, berberis, etc., possessing in addition its own peculiar virtues, in dyspeptic conditions, chronic mucous maladies, and in certain enfeebled conditions of the system, etc. Owing to its invigorating power over the gastric functions, it is a valuable remedy for atonic dyspepsia, and more particularly if associated with hepatic torpor, for which it is also an excellent remedy. A cirrhotic liver, associated with gastro-enteritis, has been benefited by it, and for chronic constipation it is a useful agent when combined with cascara sagrada. It is said to be effectual in stomatitis. The great field for berberis aquifolium is in constitutional syphilis and its manifold complications and sequelae. The disorders named above are more amenable to this drug when associated with a syphilitic taint than otherwise. If given early enough it will prevent tertiary phases, provided the patient has not been too thoroughly mercurialized. Its use must be prolonged in appreciable doses. It is especially adapted to long-standing cases of syphilis, the older the better, according to some of its advocates, and yet it is a remedy of much value all through the course of the disease. It is the remedy for that broken-down state so frequently following in the wake of that malady. The various eruptions give way to it, the gastric complications are subdued, and the mucous membranes are toned so that excessive secretions are restrained. Ɣ The bone and periosteal, as well as the muscular, pains of syphilitics, are amenable to berberis. Its action is slow but sure, as it is also in severe muscular pains, with partial paralysis, due to spinal disease. Long standing syphilitic phagadenae and herpetic and eczematous states, yield to it better than to most agents. It should not be forgotten in syphilitic anemia. Several stubborn cases of psoriasis (Ed. E. M. J., p. 148, 1896) have been cured by it, and it is a valuable drug in erysipelatous and chronic scrofulous affections. While it has failed to cure carcinoma, as its introducer, Dr. J. H. Bundy, believed it would, it has, however, shown itself of value in the dyscrasiae due to a cancerous cachexia. Berberis aquifolium commends itself for study in certain pulmonic troubles, on account of its excellent results in controlling secretions of the mucous tract. Cases of purulent bronchorrhoea, pronounced incurable, have been cured by it, and Prof. Webster asserts that he has seen cases of phthisis recover, even where there were extensive cavities, under the use of this agent. The appetite improved, hectic subsided, expectoration became lessened, the cough milder and less frequent, and flesh and strength were augmented. The remedy should be long continued. Berberis is of some value in leucorrhoea, and particularly when a syphilitic taint exists. Owing to its remarkable power over mucous structures we would suggest its employment in gastric and intestinal catarrh. The principal uses of this drug have been developed by Dr. J. H. Bundy and Prof. Herbert T. Webster. The dose of berberis aquifolium should be relatively large. Small doses, as required of most of our important agents, do but little good. The dose of the fluid extract is from 10 to 20 drops every 3 or 4 hours; of specific berberis aquifolium 5, 10 or 15 drops, every 3 or 4 hours. Specific Indications and Uses.—Syphilitic dyscrasiae, constitutional syphilis, with periosteal or muscular pains; chronic skin affections, with blood dyscrasiae; profusely secreting, tumid mucous tissues; indigestion, with hepatic torpor; yellow skin, with marked weakness and emaciation. Related Species.—"MAHONIA, the sub-genus of the genus berberis, is a fine, showy family of evergreen shrubs. The distinction between this sub-genus and the berberis proper, although very obvious, is not considered sufficient by authorities to entitle it to the rank of a distinct genus, hence the generic name is berberis, the same as the common barberry. The two species of the berberis proper, which grow in this country, are both deciduous shrubs, although there are several evergreen species found in the Old World. All the plants of the sub-genus, mahonia, are evergreen, and on this account they are often cultivated in yards and cemeteries, frequently under the improper name holly. There are four indigenous species found in the United States, all west of the Mississippi, and there are also a few other species in Mexico. Our native species are B. nervosa, B. repens, B. pinnata, and B. aquifolium. The two former are small plants, never over 2 feet high, and often only a few inches, while the other two are large shrubs from 3 to 6 feet high; hence by their height alone B. nervosa and B. repens can be distinguished from B. pinnata and B. aquifolium. "B. nervosa, Pursh, is a little erect shrub, with leaves often longer than the stem. The leaves consist of 3 to 6 pairs of leaflets and an odd one. The main leaf stalk of each leaf is very conspicuously jointed at each pair of leaflets, as remarked by Dr. Lindley, 'like a bamboo stem.' The leaflets are ovate, lanceolate, acute or acuminate; triple veined from the oblique base, and have teeth, not repand, but serrate. The flowers are in erect racemes, which are more slender than those of any other species. The plate of B. nervosa, tab. 5, vol. I, in Pursh's work, is spurious. The leaves are correct, as intended, but the flowers are of the B. aquifolium. Since the plate is made up of two species, and hence liable to confuse, Lindley proposed to remedy the matter by changing the name to B. glumacea, but the change was not received with favor by botanists, and the name B. nervosa is still applied to the plant. "B. repens, Lindley.—A small shrub, procumbent, with short, erect branches. The leaves are often ternate, but generally of 5 or 7 leaflets. Leaflets are ovate, orbicular, acute, or the terminal leaflet obtuse; pinnately veined with repand teeth. Flowers in terminal fascicled racemes. "B. repens and B. nervosa are both employed by the western miners as blood purifiers, and as an antiperiodic, the B. repens extensively. We have several letters from physicians in widely separated portions of the great West, enclosing leaves of these varieties for us to classify and examine, all saying the root is extensively used for the above purpose. It is made into infusions and decoctions. The acid berry of the Berberis repens, under the name 'mountain grape,' is made into confections and freely eaten. It acts as an antiscorbutic, and is of great benefit to persons long deprived of fruit. "The following description was kindly furnished by Dr. C. L. Aylworth, of Montana State: 'The plant I enclose for description is called the Oregon grape. The fruit is eaten. It grows in medium or rich soil, among rocks or bushes, seldom in open ground. It is more plentiful upon the foot-hills of mountains, and along the banks of mountain streams, extending far down into the valleys. It does not grow in clusters, but I have seen it nearly cover the ground. It is common about all the small streams in this section of the Yellowstone valley, and about the headwaters of the Missouri river.'

King's American Dispensatory By Harvey Wickes Felter and John Uri Lloyd 1898 - Wormwood

The flowering tops and leaves of the ArtemisiaAbsint/zium, Linné. (Absinthium vulgare, Lamarck). Nat. Cid—Composites. Common NAME.-—- Wormwood. ILLUSTRATION: Bentley and Trimen, Med. Plants, 156; Voodville, Med. Bot, 22; Villdenow, Sp. Plant. 11]., 1844. Botanical Source and Description—Wormwood is a perennial plant, send ing up in the spring, from astout rootstock, several bushy, herbaceous stems, somewhat woody at the base and from 1 to 4 feet in hei ht. These die down as winter approaches, but the strong, woody base (above t e root) remains several years, eac year giving off new shoots. There are two kinds of leaves—radical and stem leaves; the former being from 6 to 8 inches long, the latter from 1 to 3 inches. The stem leaves are nearly orbicular in outline and deeply incised, giving ABSINTHIUM. 5 rise to that form of leaf known botanically as bi- or tri-pinnatifid. The flowers are borne in a paniculate raceme, are tubular, hemispherical, pale-yellow or bufl' in color, numerous and nodding. The whole plant, except the woody portions, is covered with a. whitish, silky pubescence, giving to it a beautiful silver-gray color. To the touch it is exceedingly soft and Velvety. T'he odor is strongly aromatic, being intensified when the herb is bruised; and to the taste the plant is intensely bitter, with a persistently bitter aftertaste. Cultivation renders it milder to the taste and less disagreeable to the sense of smell. The U. S. P. thus describes this drug: “Leaves about 5 Cm.[1.97 in.] long, hoary, silky-pubescent, petiolate, roundish-triangular in outline; innatcly two- or three-cleft, with the segments lanceolate, the terminal one spatu ate; bracts three-cleft or entire ; heads numerous, about 3 Mm. [0.12 in.] long, subglobosc, with numerous small, pale ellow florets, all tubular and without pappus; odor aromatic; taste persistently itter ”— (U. S. F.). History—Wormwood is distributed throughout various parts of Europe (being plentiful in the Crimea), Siberia, and the highlands and mountainous districts of Barbary. It is found also in Newfoundland and the United States, being naturalized throu bout the mountainous elevations of the New England States. It is cultivated in gardens both in this country and on the continent. In Germany it is employed as a. substitute for hops in the making of Wermutb bmrr, and used by the French in preparing the liquor absinthé, an alcoholic cordial containing the oil of wormwood and other aromatics, as melissa, anise, marjoram and angelica, in the form either of oils or extracts. The plant should be gathered during its flowering period, which is from June to September, the best time probably being throughout July and August. The woody stalks should be rejected. The dried herb fully retains its virtues, which are im arted to both alcohol and water. Wormwood stee ed in vinegar and water as long been popular among the laity as a local app ication for injuries. Chemical Composition—Braconnot (1815) found in this plant two azotized substances, one intensely bitter, the other insipid; a. volatile oil, an intensely bitter resin, 9. green resin (probably chlorophyll), albumen, woody fibre, starch, potassium absinthate and nitrate, and absinthic acid, which, however, subsequently proved to be succinic acid. The plant also contains acetic and malic acids. The odor of wormwood is due mainly to a. dark-green (sometimes yellowish or brown) oil, of an acrid taste, and possessing in a. high de ree the odor of the plant. It is known in commerce as Oleum Absinthii, or oil 0? wormwood. This oil consists principally of absinthol (Cm H" O), which yields cymene, water, and a. resinous body when heated with chloride of zinc or phosphorus pentasulphide (Wright). A larger quantity of oil is obtained from the dried than the green plant, the amount being also diminished by circumstances of growth, yielding a. lesser quantity when the plant is cultivated or when grown in warm regions (Zeller). By 'roper means it may be obtained colorless, and should be protected from the 11g t and the atmos here, which im art to it a darker hue and render it somewhat syru y and viscitf The peculiar itterness of wormwood is due to absinthin ((3,, H20 4, Senger, 1892), a. substance isolated in an impure form by Caventou in 1828. Mein (1834) obtained it in white rismatic crystals. Absinthin.—PREPARAT10N: Precipitate a. decoction of Artemisia Absinthiwm with tannic acid in slight excess. Wash the precipitate in cold water and then digest with excess of litharge. Dry the mixture and exhaust the powder with b011ing alcohol, filter, treat with animal charcoal, filter again and evaporate. The residue assumes a crystalline form in time. If not pure it can be obtained nearly white by dissolving in alcohol, treating with animal charcoal, filtering and evap orating again. - . Action, Medical Uses, and Dosage.—Physiologically both oil of wormwood and extract of absinth act upon man as nerve depressants. Less than drachm doses produced in rabbits and dogs tremors, spasmodic muscular action of a. dome character, intoxication, and loss of sensibility. Larger doses (from 1 to 2 drachms) produced violente ileptoid seizures, in some instances resulting fatally. Small doses administere to man act as a gentle stimulant, larger doses produce head ache, while still larger doses induce cerebral disturbances and clonic hysterordal convulsions (Lancereaux). Victims of absintht'sm are subject to disturbed rest, 6 ABSINTHII'M. with disagreeable dreams, awakening in the morningwith sickness and vomiting. A chronic intoxication ensues that is more fearful in its effects than that result ing from the abuse of alcoholics. A conspicuous feature is the tendency to e i leptoid attacks. Both hysical and mental ower is seriously impaired and t 6 sexual system weakeneg to such an extent t at virile ower is lost in the male while a premature menopause is a common result in t e female. It is also said to produce a peculiar hyperzesthesia, most marked in the integument of the hypo astrium. g Absinthium possesses decided medicinal qualities, acting with considerable force upon the cerebrum and the sympathetic nervous system. It has been em andylumbricoides. plo ed with successPrevious for the toexpulsion the introduction of the intestinal of cinc arasiles~ascaris onait was largelyvermicularis employed in malarial intermittents, and was at one time a popular remedy for jaundice. In small doses it is a stimulant tonic, improves the appetite, and is useful in atonic states of the gastro-intestinal tract, as atom}: dyspepsia, especially when due to alcoholic excesses, in Ill‘latulent colic, and in obstinate diarrhoea. Large doses are apt to irritate the stomac and increase the action of the heart and arteries. It has been emplo ed with good results in amenorrhaaa and leacorrhoza when due to debility. It is principally used, however, as a warm fomentation for sprains, bruises and local iitflavnnwtimw. For this urpose it mav be steeped in water, or better in vinegar and water, and applied)as hot as can be borne. It has also been advised as an external application in chronic affections of the abdominal viscera, either in the form of tincture, infusion, or oultice. Its tonic properties are marked. ombined with a fixed alkaline salt, 1t is said to prove powerfully diuretic. The l is narcotic. Of the infusion (3i to Oj), 1 to 2 fluid ounces; of the oil, from 1 to 5 drops; the powder, 10 to 20 grains. Related Spocies.—A. tridentata, Nutt.; Sage brush. Hal). U. S., from Rocky Mountains