A practical treatise on materia medica and therapeutics / by Roberts Bartholow.

  • Roberts Bartholow
Date:
1884
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A practical treatise on materia medica and therapeutics / by Roberts Bartholow. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    190/786 (page 162)
    given internally as a stimulant, but it is now very rarely employed in such cases. Wild-cherry is an excellent stomachic tonic, and may well be used as a substitute for calumba in the class of cases to which the latter is considered specially applicable. It has long been held in great esteem in domestic practice, as a remedy in catarrhal states of the bronchial mucous membrane, and in phthisis. Owing to the prussic acid which its cold infusion contains—produced by the reaction between the amyg- dalin and emulsin—it exercises some influence over cough. That it has any special virtues in the treatment of phthisis is hardly to be credited. The sirup is much used as an ingredient in cough-mixtures. Authorities referred to : Porcher, Dr. Francis Peyre. Resources of the Southern Fields and Forests, Charles- ton, 1869. Huseman, Drs. August und Theodor. Die Pjlanzenstoffe. Fox, Dr. Wilson. The Diseases of the Stomach, 1872. Eucalyptus. — Leaves of Eucalyptus globulus Labillardiere (Nat. Ord. Myrtaceoe). U. S. P. Preparations.—Tinctura Eucalypti. (Not official.) Tincture of eucalyptus. Dose, 3 ss— 3 ij. Extractum Eucalypti Eluidum.—F\u\& extract of eucalyptus. Dose, Ti], x— 3 j. Eucalyptol.—Dose, m v— 3 ss. Usually prescribed m capsules, but may be given in the form of emulsion. Composition.—Eucalyptus contains a peculiar resin composed of three different resinous bodies, a volatile oil consisting of eucalyptol, turpene, and cymol, tannic acid, and a crystallizable fatty acid. Euca- lyptol is the most important of the constituents. Antagonists and Incompatibles.—Alkalies, the mineral acids, the salts of iron, mercury, lead, zinc, etc., are chemically incompatible. All agents promoting waste, or the retrograde metamorphosis of tissue, are therapeutically incompatible. Synergists.—The simple and aromatic bitters, hydrastis, cinchona, etc., camphor, turpentine, cubebs, copaiba, the essential oils and sub- stances containing them, are synergistic to or promote the therapeuti- cal actions of eucalyptus. Any of these remedies may, therefore, be prescribed in the same formula with eucalyptus. Physiological Actions.—Eucalyptus has a warm, aromatic, bitter, and camphoraceous taste, resembling somewhat the taste of cubebs. In the mouth it excites the flow of saliva, and leaves a hot, pungent, and rather disagreeable flavor. In the stomach it causes a sensation of warmth, and doubtless promotes the flow of gastric juice. The appetite and digestive power are increased under its use. Increased intestinal secretion, also, is one result of its administration, and hence