Nerve – Resting Leg Capsules

The Eclectic Materia Medica, Pharmacology and Therapeutics Written by Harvey Wickes Felter, M.D. 1922 - St. John’s Wort

Botanical name: Hypericum perforatum The leaves and flowering tops of Hypericum perforatum, Linné (Nat. Ord. Hypericaceae). Europe and America. Common Name: St. John's Wort. Principal Constituents.—Volatile oil, a resin, tannin, and hypericum red, a resinous red coloring principle. Preparation.— Tinctura Hyperici, Tincture of Hypericum (herb, 8 ounces; Alcohol, 76 per cent, 16 fluidounces). Dose, 1/4 to 30 drops. Specific Indications.—Spinal injuries, shocks, and concussions; throbbing of the body without fever; spinal irritation, eliciting tenderness and burning pain upon slight pressure; spinal injuries and lacerated and punctured wounds of the extremities, with excruciating pain; hysteria. Locally as a vulnerary. Action and Therapy.—External. St. John's Wort is valued by many practitioners as a vulnerary, much as arnica is employed. Therefore it has been used extensively as a local application to bruises, contusions, sprains, lacerations, swellings, ecchymoses, and in acute mammitis. Internal. Hypericum is said to be diuretic and sedative, and as such has been used in chronic urinary disorders, particularly suppression of urine. It undoubtedly has a strong influence upon the nervous system. Used according to the indications named above, many physicians believe it useful to relieve the painful effects of spinal concussion, shocks, etc., and to prevent tetanic complications. It will take pretty strong proof to convince most practitioners of the present day of any such virtue as true antitetanic properties in this simple drug. The internal uses as given above are based chiefly upon homeopathic symptomatology, and the drug has gained little favor in the Eclectic school of practice. It has, without question, a value in nervous disorders and should be more fully studied and tested, but miraculous powers should not be hoped for from it.

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

Scutellaria. N. F. IV. Skullcap. Scullcap. Hoodwort. Madweed. Mad-dog or Sideflowering Scullcap. Blue Pimpernel. Hooded Willow-herb. Scutellaire, Fr. Helmkraut, Schildkraut, G.—"The dried plant of Scutellaria lateriflora Linné (Fam. Labiatae)." N. F. Scutellaria was official in the U. S. P. VIII, but was introduced into the N. F. IV. Several species of scutellaria have attracted attention. Scutellaria galericulata L., which grows in wet places from Newfoundland to North Carolina and west to Nebraska, has a feeble, somewhat alliaceous odor, and a bitterish taste. It has been employed in intermittents, and externally in old ulcers. S. integrifolia L. is intensely bitter, and might probably be found useful as a tonic. Scutellaria lateriflora is an indigenous, perennial herb, with a stem erect, much branched, quadrangular, smooth, and one or two feet high. The leaves are ovate, acute, dentate, subcordate upon the stem, opposite, and supported upon long petioles. The flowers are small, of a pale blue color, and disposed in long, lateral, 1-sided, leafy racemes. The plant grows in wet shaded places in the United States and Canada. The dried tops are described as "about 50 cm. in length, smooth; stem quadrangular, branched; leaves opposite, petiolate, about 5 cm. in length, ovate-lanceolate or ovate-oblong, serrate; flowers about 6 mm. in length, in axillary one-sided racemes, with a pale blue corolla and bilabiate calyx, closed in fruit, the upper lip helmet-shaped. Odor slight; taste slightly bitter. Scutellaria yields not more than 12 per cent. of ash." N. F. H. Molisch and G. Goldschmidt (Ph. Ztg; Dec. 4, 1901, 965) obtained from scutellaria and a number of other labiates an identical body, to which they gave the name scutellarin. It is present in all of the different scutellarias, being most abundant in the upper epidermis of the leaf, but found also in the roots, stems and flowers of the plant. It was further obtained from the leaves of Galeopis Tetrahit L., and of Teucrium Chamaedrys L.. In Scutellaria altissima L., the presence of cinnamic and fumaric acids were also established. Scutellarin is obtained by boiling freshly gathered leaves for fifteen minutes in ten times their weight of water, filtering the decoction and adding from 1 to 2 per cent. of hydrochloric acid, which causes an abundant precipitate of scutellarin. If precipitation is effected from the hot solution, the scutellarin separates in the form of light yellow crystals. The formula C10H8O3 has been assigned to scutellarin. Its alcoholic solution gives a red precipitate with lead acetate and an intense green color with ferric chloride, changing on heating to a red color if the reagent is not present in great excess; alcoholic potassium or sodium hydroxides, as also alkali acetates, produce reddish-yellow precipitates, which change to green on exposure to the air. Solution of barium hydroxide has the same effect. The green color is produced immediately if an oxidizing agent, such as chlorine or bromine water, is added. Scullcap is as destitute of medicinal properties as a plant may well be (every so often Remington's anti-botanical elitism gets SOOO tiresome....MM), not even being aromatic. When taken internally, it produces no very obvious effects, and probably is of no remedial value, although at one time it was esteemed as a remedy in hydrophobia. It has also been used in neuralgia and convulsive affections, chorea, delirium tremens, and nervous exhaustion from fatigue or over-excitement. (A. J. P., xxiii, 370; N. J. M. R., v; M. S. Rep., 1870.) Dose, thirty to ninety grains (2.0-5.8 Gm.)

A Manual Materia Medica Pharmacology. Comprising All Organic And Iinorganic Drugs Which Are Or Have Been Official In The United States Pharmacopia by David M. K. Culbreth, Pn.G., M.D. 1917 - Hyssop

Ilysso'pus officinalis, Hyssop.—S. Europe. Plant .3 M. (Io) high, stem square, leaves 2.5 Cm. (10 long, punctate on both sides, flowers purplish-blue, stamens 4, exserted; contains volatile oil .5 p. c, bitter principle, resin, fat. Used in Biblical times as a cathartic, now as a carminative, stimulant, sudorific; for dyspepsia, amenorrhoea, rheumatism, bruises, bronchitis, sore throat, chronic catarrhs. Dose,

The 1841 Thompsonian Materia Medica by Samuel Thompson - Lobelia

LoBELIA INFLATA. Herba Semina. The herb and seed.— Calyz five cleft. Corolla irregular, five parted, cleft on the up per side nearly to the base. Anthers united into a tube. Stig ma two lobed. Capsule inferior or semi-superior, two or three celled, two valved at the apex. The lobelia inflata is a biennial, indiginous plant, usually from 12 to 18 inches in height, with a fibrous root, and a very hairy, solitary, erect, and angular stem, much branched about two thirds of the way, rising considerably above the summit of the highest branches. The leaves are scattered, sessile, acute, serrate, oval, and hairy. The flowers are disposed in numerous leafy terminal racemes, and supported on short foot stalks. The segments of the calyx are linear and pointed. The flower, which is of a delicate bluish color, has a border labiate, the upper lip being divided into two, and the lower into three acute segments. The pod is an oval, inflated capsule, crowned with the persistent calyx, and containing in two cells numerous very small brown seeds. The lobelia inflata is a very common plant, growing in pas tures, on the road side, and in neglected grain fields, through out the country. Its flowers appear towards the end of July, and continue to expand in succession until the occurrence of frost. When wounded or broken, the plant exudes a milky juice, possessing active emetic properties. All parts of the plant are possessed of medicinal activity; but the seed, leaves, and inflated capsules, are all that are used as medicine by Dr. Thomson. The plant should be collected in August or September, when the capsules have become a little yellow. Then the seed is ripe. The stalk should be separated between the leavs and the roots, and the herb carefully laid upon a sheet, thinly spread out to dry, in order to preserve the seed, leaves, and capsules. When thoroughly dried, take a straight stick and whip the herb, and the leaves and capsules are easily separated from the stalks, and the seeds are ejected from the capsules, all of which settle, leaving the naked stalks uppermost, which may be re moved, and you have the herb and seed together. Now gather the four corners of the sheet, and the substance settles into the centre. Shake the sheet latterally several times, and you may then remove the leaves and capsules, and have the pure seed at 582 THE THOMSONIAN the bottom; or the seed may be sifted through a fine sieve, to separate it from the herb. The seed should be bottled close, and the herb may be kept in boxes, all of which should be dry. The dried leaves of lobelia have a slight irritating odor, and when chewed, though at first without much taste, soon produce a burning, acrid impression upon the posterior parts of the tongue, and palate, very closely resembling that occasioned by tobacco, and attended in like manner with a flow of saliva, and a nauseous effect upon the stomach. The powder is of a green ish color. The plant yields its active properties readily to wa ter and alcohol; and water distilled from it retains its acrid taste. The lobelia contains a volatile oil, upon which its odor depends, and an acrid alkaline principle, to which its effects upon the system are probably ascribable. The seed contains at least twice as much of this principle in proportion as the whole plant. Lobelia is an emetic, and, in small doses, a diaphoretic and expectorant. The leaves or capsules, chewed for a short time, occasion giddiness, headache, tremors, and ultimately nausea and vomiting. When swallowed in full dose, the medicine ge nerally produces vomiting, attended with copious perspiration, and a general relaxation. Its effects in doses too large, or too often repeated, are great anxiety and extreme prostration of strength, and the appearance of the patient is very alarming to those who are unacquainted with its operation; but to the prac titioner those symptoms are almost an every day occurrence, consequently it gives him no uneasiness for the safety of the patient. In two or three hours the patient is through with the operation, and possesses as much vigor, if not more, than im mediately previous to the commencement of the course. If this medicine does not operate as an emetic aſter being taken in rea sonable quantities, in from three to five hours, it will pass off the same as any other harmless substance, and leave the person with a full flow of vigor and spirits, the same as if it had not been taken. Very unlike the tartarized antimony or ipecac, is the ope ration of the lobelia inflata. Those articles, when taken to cause vomiting, and failing to produce the desired effect, leave the patient with a distressing nausea, that is not got rid of ma ny times for several days. Fatal effects are frequently the re sult of taking tartarized antimony in too large quantities; but safe and salutary are the effects of the lobelia, in almost every form that it can be used, even by the most inexperienced hand, if he but follows the directions for its use. The first knowledge I ever had of it, was obtained by acci dent more than fifty years ago, and I never had any informa tion whatever concerning it, except what I have gained by my MATERIA MEDICA. 583 own experience. A great deal has been said of late about this plant, both in its favor and against its utility as a medicine; but all that the faculty have said or published concerning it, only shows their ignorance on the subject; for there is very little truth in what they have stated concerning its medicinal properties, except where they admit it to be a certain cure for the asthma, one of the most distressing complaints that human nature is subject to. It is a truth which cannot be disputed, that all they have known about this article, and the experi ments that have been made to ascertain its value, originated in my making use of it in my practice. In the course of my practice, a number of the doctors disco vered that the medicine I made use of produced effects which astonished them, and which they could not account for. This led them to conclude, that because it was so powerful in re moving disease, it must be poison. This, I think, can be very satisfactorily accounted for. They have no knowledge of any thing in their system which is capable of producing a powerful effect upon the sick except what is poisonous, and therefore na turally form their opinions agreeable to this erroneous theory. There is a power to preserve life, and a power to produce death, which of course are directly opposed to each other; and whatever tends to promote life cannot produce death, let its power be ever so great. In this consists all the difference be tween my system of practice and that of the learned doctors. In consequence of their thus forming an erroneous opinion of this herb, which they had no knowledge of they undertook to represent it as a deadly poison; and in order to destroy my practice they raised a hue-and-cry about my killing my patients by administering it to them. Some of the faculty even made oath that it was poison, and when taken into the stomach, if it did not cause immediate vomiting it was certain death. It is unnecessary for me now to point out the falsity of this, for the fact is pretty well known, that there is no death in it; but on the contrary, that there is no vegetable that the earth produces, more harmless in its effects on the human system, and no one more powerful in removing disease and promoting health. There is no mention made of this herb by any author that I have been able to find, previous to my discovering it, excepting Linnaeus, who has given a correct description of it, under the name of lobelia inflata; but there is nothing said of its medical properties; it is therefore reasonable to conclude that they were not known till I discovered the fact, and proved the plant to be useful. When the faculty first discovered that I used this herb in my practice, they declared it to be a deadly poison; and while per secuting me by every means in their power, and representing 584 The THOMSONIAN to the world that I killed my patients with it, they were very ready to call it my medicine, and allow it to be my discovery; but since their ignorance of it has been exposed, and they find it is going to become an article of great value, an attempt seems to be making to rob me of all the credit of causing its value to be known, and the profits which belong to me for the discove ry—in which some who have been instructed by me are ready to join, for the purpose of promoting their own interest at my expense. What is quoted in the Dispensatory, from the Rev. Dr. M. Cutler, concerning this herb, is in general correct, particularly as it regards its being a specific for the asthma, though he la bored under many mistaken notions about its effects when tak en into the stomach. He says, “if the quantity be a little in creased, it operates as an emetic and then as a cathartic, its ef fects being much the same as those of the common emetics and cathartics.” In this he is mistaken, for it is entirely different from any other emetic known ; and as to its operating as a ca thartic, I never knew it to have such an effect in all my prac tice. And I certainly ought to know something about it, after having made use of it for more than forty years, and adminis tering it in every form and manner in which it can be given, and for every disease that has come within my knowledge. It appears that all the knowledge he and other doctors have got of this herb's being useful in curing disease, particularly in the asthma, was obtained from me; ſor when I was prosecuted I was obliged to expose my discoveries, to show the falsity of the indictment. Dr. Cutler was brought forward as a witness at my trial, to prove the virtues of this plant by his testimony—that he cured himself of the asthma with it. He says, the first information he had of its being good for that complaint, was from Dr. Dru ry, of Marblehead. In the fall of the year 1807, I introduced the emetic herb, tinctured in spirit, for the asthma and other complaints of the lungs, and cured several of the consumption. In 1808, I cured a woman in Newington of the asthma, who had not lain in her bed for six months. I gathered some of the plants, about the size of a dollar, bruised them, and tinctured them in spirits, gave her the tincture, and she lay in bed the first night. I showed her what it was, and how to prepare and use it, and by taking this and other things according to my di rection, she enjoyed a comfortable state of health for twelve years, and has not been obliged to sit up one night since. The • same fall I used it in Beverly and Salem; and there can be no doubt but all the information concerning the value of this arti cle was obtained from my practice. - MATERIA MEDICA. 585 After Dr. Cutler had given his testimony of the virtues of this herb, and the doctors have become convinced of its value, they come forward and say it is good medicine in skilful hands. Who, I would ask, is more skilful than he who discovered it, and taught them how to prepare and use it in curing one of the most distressing complaints known 2 If it is a good medicine, it is mine, and I am entitled to the credit of bringing it into use, and have paid dear for it; if it is poison, the doctors do not need it, as they have enough of that now. Dr. Thacher un dertakes to make it appear that the fatal effects he tells about its producing, were owing to the quantity given; and says I admi nistered a tea spoonful of the powder; and when he comes to give directions for using it, says that from ten to twenty grains may be given with safety. It appears strange that different terms should produce such different effects in the operation of medicine. If a tea spoonful is given by an empiric, its effects are fatal; but if the same quantity is administered by a learned doctor, and called grains, it is a useful medicine ! It is said by Dr. Thacher, that it was employed by the abo rigines and by those who deal in Indian remedies; and others who attempt to rob me of the credit of the discovery affect to believe the same thing; but this is founded altogether upon conjecture, for they cannot produce a single instance of its hav ing been employed as a medicine ti!! I made use of it. The fact is, it is a new article, wholly unknown to the medical ſa culty till I introduced it into use; and the best evidence of this is that they are now ignorant of its powers, and all the know ledge they have of it has been obtained from my practice. It would be folly for me to deny, that it may have been used by the natives of this country; but one thing I am certain of that I never had any knowledge of their using it, nor ever received any information concerning it from them, or any one else. This plant is common in all parts of the country. Wherever the land is fertile enough to yield support for its inhabitanis, it may be found. It is confined to no soil which is fit for cultiva tion, from the highest mountains to the lowest valleys. In hot and wet seasons it is most plenty on dry and warm lands; in hot and dry seasons, on clayey and heavy lands. When the season is cold, either wet or dry, it rarely makes its appearance; and if the summer and fall are very dry the seed does not comé up, and of course there will be very little to be found the next SeaSOI). I have been in search of this herb from Boston to Canada, and was not able to collect more than two pounds, and in some seasons I have not been able to collect any. I mention this to show the uncertainty of its growth, and to put the people on their guard to be careful and lay up a good stock of it when Jo 586 THE THOMSONIAN plenty. In the year 1807, if I had offered a reward of a thou sand dollars for a pound of this herb 1 could not have obtained it. I have seen the time when I would have given two dollars for an ounce of the powder, but there was none to be had; and this fact taught me to lay up all I could obtain when it was p lentv. In ºum. when this herb is plenty, it may be ſound growing in highways and pastures, by the side of old turnpikes, and in stubble land, particularly where it has been laid down to grass the year before. When grass is scarce it is eaten by cattle, and is hard to be found when full grown. It is a wild plant, and a native of this country; but there is no doubt of its being com mon to other countries. It may be transplanted and cultivated in gardens, and will be much larger and more vigorous than when growing wild. If some stalks are left, it will sow itself, and probably may be produced from the seed; but how long the seeds remain in the ground before they come up, I do not know, having made no experiments to ascertain the fact. It is certain that it is produced from the seed, and there is no good reason to suppose that it may not be cultivated in gardens from the seed, as well as other vegetables. I think it most probable, however, from the nature of the plant, that it will not eome up till the seeds have laid at least one winter in the ground. This plant is different in one very important particular from all others that I have a knowledge of, and that is, that the same quantity will produce the same effect in all stages of its growth, from its first appearance till it comes to maturity. But the best time for gathering it, as has before been mentioned, is when the leaves and pods begin to turn yellow, for then the seed is ripe, and you have all that can be had of the plant. It should then be cut and kept clean, and spread in a large chamber or loft te dry, where it is open to the air in the day time, and to be shut from the damp air during the night. When perfectly dry, shake out the seed, and siſt through a common meal sieve, and pre serve it by itself; then beat off the leaves and pods from the stalks, and preserve them clean. This herb may be prepared for use in three different ways, viz., 1st. The powdered leaves and pods. 2d. A tincture, made from the green herb with spirit. 3d. The seeds reduced to a fine powder, and compounded with Nos. 2 and 6. Medical uses.—1. After the leaves and pods are separated from the stalks, grind them or pound them in a mortar to a fine powder, sift it through a fine sieve and preserve it from the air. This is the most common preparation, and may be given in many different ways, either by itself or compounded with other articles. For a common dose, take a tea spoonful of this pow der, with the same quantity of sugar, in half a teacupful of MATERIA MEDICA, 587 warm water, or a tea of No. 3 may be used instead of the wa ter; this dose may be taken all at one time, or at three times, at intervals of ten minutes. For a young child, strain off the li quor, and give a part as circumstances may require. 2. To prepare the tincture, take the green herb in any sta of its growth; if the small plants are used, take roots and f put them into a mortar and pound them fine, then add the same quantity of good spirits; when well pounded and worked toge ther, strain it through a fine cloth and squeeze and press it hard to get out all the juice; save the liquor in bottles close stop for use. Good vinegar or pepper-sauce may be used instead of the spirit. Prepared in this manner, it is an effectual counter poison, either taken, or externally applied. It is also an excel lent medicine for the asthma, and all complaints of the lungs. This is the only way in which the doctors have made use of the emetic herb, and they acknowledge it to be one of the best remedies in many complaints that has been found, though they know but little about it. For a dose, take from half to a tea spoonful. Its effects will be more certain, if about the same quantity of No. 2 is added, and in all cases where there are ner vous symptoms, add half a tea spoonful of nerve powder to the dose. 3. Reduce the seeds to a fine powder in a mortar, and take half an ounce of this powder, or about a large spoonful, with the same quantity of No. 2, made fine, and put them in a gill of No. 6, adding a tea spoonful of nerve powder, to be kept stop ped in a bottle for use; when taken, to be well shaken together. This preparation is for the most violent attacks of disease, such as lockjaw, bite of mad dog, drowned persons, fits, spasms, and in all cases of suspended animation, where the vital spark is nearly extinct. It will go through the system like electrici ty, giving heat and life to every part. In cases where spasms are so violent that the persons are stiff, and the jaws become set, by pouring some of this liquid into the mouth, between the cheek and teeth, as soon as it touches the glands at the roots of the tongue, the spasms will relax, and the jaws will become loosened so that the mouth will open; then give a dose of it, and as soon as the spasms have abated, repeat it, and after. wards give a tea of No. 3, for canker. This course I never knew ſail of giving relief. It is good in less violent cases, to bring out the measles and small pox; and if applied to pimples, warts, &c., will remove them. I have cured three dogs with this preparation, which were under the most violent symptoms of hydrophobia; several of my agents cured patients who had been bitten by mad dogs; and I have not the least doubt of its being a specific for that disease. For a dose, take a teaspoonful. 588 THE THOMSONIAN Much has been said of the power of the emetic herb, and some have expressed fears of it on that account; but I can as sure the public, that there is not the least danger in using it. I have given it to children from one day old to persons of eighty years. It is most powerful in removing disease, but inoffensive to nature. Its operation in different persons is according to their different tempers, moving with the natural current of the animal spirits. There are two cases where this medicine will not operate, viz. when the patient is dying, and where there is no death; or in other words, when there is no disease. There can be no war where there is no enemy. When there is no cold in the body there is nothing to contend against, and when there is no heat in the body, there is nothing to kindle; in either case, therefore, this medicine is silent and harmless. It is calculated to remove the cause, and no more—as food removes hunger, and drink, thirst. It clears all obstructions to the extremities, without regard to the names of disease, until it produces an equilibrium in the system, and will be felt in the fingers and toes, producing a prickling feeling like that caused by a knock on the elbow. This symptom is alarming to those unacquaint ed with its operation; but it is always favorable, being a cer tain indication of the turn of the disorder, and they generally gain from that time. In regard to the quantity to be given as a dose, it is a matter of less consequence than is generally imagined. The most im portant thing is to give enough to produce the desired effect. If too little is given, it will worry the patient, and do but little good; if more is given than is necessary, the surplus will be thrown off, and is only a waste of medicine. I have given di rections what I consider as a dose in common cases, of the dif. ferent preparations; but still it must be left to the judgment of those who use it, how much to give. The most safe way will be to give the smallest prescribed dose first, then repeat it till it produces the desired operation. In cases where the stomach is cold and very foul, its operation will be slow and uncertain, in which case give No. 2, which will assist it in doing its work. When this medicine is given to patients who are in a decline, or are laboring under diseases of long standing, the symptoms indicating a crisis will not take place till they have been carried through from three to eight courses of the medicine; and the lower they have been, the more alarming will be the symptoms. I have seen some who would lay for two hours, and sob like a child that had been punished, not able to speak or to raise their hand to their head—and the next day be about, and soon get well. In cases where they have taken considerable opium, and this MATERIA MEDICA. 589 medicine is administered, it will in its operation produce the same appearances and symptoms that are produced by opium when first given, which, having laid dormant, is roused into action by the enlivening qualities of this medicine, and they will be thrown into a senseless state; the whole system will ex hibit a complete mass of confusion, tumbling in every direction; it will take two or three to hold them on the bed; they grow cold, as though they were dying, remaining in this way from two to eight hours, and then awake, like one from sleep after a good night's rest—and be entirely calm and sensible, as though nothing had troubled them. It is seldom they have more than one of these turns, as it is the last struggle of the disease, and they generally begin to recover from that time. I have been more particular in describing these effects of the medicine, as they are very alarming to those unacquainted with them, in order to show that there is no danger to be apprehend ed, as it is certain evidence of a favorable turn of the disease. The emetic herb is of great value in preventing sickness, as well as curing it. By taking a dose when first attacked by any complaint, it will throw it off, and frequently prevent long sick ness. It not only acts as an emetic, and throws off the stomach every thing that nature does not require for the support of the system, but extends its effects to every part of the body. It is searching, enlivening, quickening, and has great power in re moving all obstructions; but it soon exhausts itself, and if not followed by some other medicine, to hold the vital heat till na ture is able to support itself by digesting the food, it will not be sufficient to remove a disease that has become seated. To ef. fect this important object put me to much trouble, and after try ing many experiments to get something that would answer the purpose, I found that what is described under No. 2, was the best and only medicine within my knowledge, that would hold the heat in the stomach, and not evaporate; and by giving No. 3, to remove the canker, which is the great cause of disease, and then following with Nos. 4 and 5, to correct the bile, re store the digestion and strengthen the system, I have had little trouble in effecting a cure. Properties.—Lobelia inflata is an emetic, stimulant, expecto rant, and diaphoretic.

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

Passion Flower. N. F. IV. Passiflora. Passion Vine. "The dried herbage of Passiflora incarnata Linné (Fam. Passifloraceae), collected after some of the berries have matured." N. F. It is described in the N. F. as follows: "Stems glabrous or slightly pubescent above, striate, from 6 to 8 mm. in diameter, of variable length, woody, hollow, the cavity about one-half the diameter; bark very thin, greenish or purplish; wood very porous and bordered on the inner side by a thin layer of pith; fracture of the wood uneven, of the stem smooth, of the bark coarsely fibrous. Leaves more or less broken in drying, rather thick, glabrous or often pubescent, when entire nearly orbicular in outline, base cordate, deeply three- to five-lobed, lobes ovate, acute, finely serrate, petioles from 1 to 5 cm. in length, with two glands near the summit. Tendrils numerous and closely coiled, Flowers solitary, axillary, peduncles as long as the petioles, usually three bracted; calyx cup-shaped, four to five lobes; lobes linear, imbricated, cuspidate, corona of the fresh flowers purplish; petals four to five, yellow; ovary oblong, stalked; stamens monadelphus in a tube about the stalk of the ovary, separated above, anthers narrow, versatile. Fruit from 4 to 5 cm. in length, an ovoid, many-seeded berry; externally green or yellow, shriveled and wrinkled; seeds flat, ovate, yellowish to brown arilled. Taste and odor slight. Passion Flowers yield not more than 12 per cent. of ash." N. F. This indigenous plant has been supposed to possess narcotic properties and used in neuralgias, sleeplessness, dysmenorrhea, as well as in diarrhea and dysentery. I. Ott (Medical Bulletin, Dec., 1898) finds that it is a depressant to the motor side of the spinal cord, but increases the rate of the respiration, and that it has very little effect upon the circulation, only temporarily reducing the arterial pressure. Dose, three to ten grains (0.2-0.65 Gm.).