WARNING: All medicines, drugs, plants, chemicals or medicial precedures below are for historical reference only. Many of these treatments are now known to be harmful and possibly fatal. Do not consume any plant, chemical, drug or otherwise without first consulting a licensed physician that practices medine in the appropriate field.
Felter's Materia Medica on Acacia
ACACIAACACI
The dried gummy exudate of Acacia Senegal, Willdenow; and of some other African species of Acacia. (Nat. Ord. Leguminosae.) Eastern Africa (Kordofan, chiefly), and Western Africa north of river Senegal. Common Names: Acacia; Gum Arabic. Principal Constituents.Arabin (C12 H22 O11Arabic acid) in combination with salts of calcium, magnesium, and potassium. Description.Tears or fragments of a nearly odorless, translucent white, yellowwhite, to pale amber-colored exudate, having a rather insipid and mucilaginous taste; soluble in water, but insoluble in alcohol. Preparations.1. Mucilago Acaciae, Mucilage of Acacia. Dose, 1 to 4 fluidrachms or more. 2. Syrupus Acaciciae, Syrup of Acacia. Dose, 1 to 4 fluidrachms or more. Action and Therapy.-Acacia is largely employed in the preparation of pills and in the emulsification of oils and resins. It is demulcent and probably slightly nutritive. In the form of a solution or mucilage it is an agreeable lenitive for irritated and inflamed membranes, and for this purpose is frequently used in medicinal preparations for coughs, colds, hoarseness, pharyngitis, gastric irritation and inflammation, diarrhea, dysentery, ardor urinae, etc. It also forms a good mucilage in which to suspend heavy and insoluble powders. When the stomach is irritable in low fevers and in pulmonary tuberculosis, a half ounce of acacia may be dissolved in 5 fluidounces of water, sweetened with sugar, and given in tablespoonful doses occasionally to relieve the sense of hunger when but little food can be taken. Mucilage of acacia is soothing to burns and scalds of the mouth and alimentary canal, and may be used as a demulcent after poisoning by irritant and corrosive poisons. Acacia may be given freely and at pleasure, in the form of owder, troches, mucilage, or syrup, as desired. 1
The dried gummy exudate of Acacia Senegal, Willdenow; and of some other African species of Acacia. (Nat. Ord. Leguminosae.) Eastern Africa (Kordofan, chiefly), and Western Africa north of river Senegal. Common Names: Acacia; Gum Arabic. Principal Constituents.Arabin (C12 H22 O11Arabic acid) in combination with salts of calcium, magnesium, and potassium. Description.Tears or fragments of a nearly odorless, translucent white, yellowwhite, to pale amber-colored exudate, having a rather insipid and mucilaginous taste; soluble in water, but insoluble in alcohol. Preparations.1. Mucilago Acaciae, Mucilage of Acacia. Dose, 1 to 4 fluidrachms or more. 2. Syrupus Acaciciae, Syrup of Acacia. Dose, 1 to 4 fluidrachms or more. Action and Therapy.-Acacia is largely employed in the preparation of pills and in the emulsification of oils and resins. It is demulcent and probably slightly nutritive. In the form of a solution or mucilage it is an agreeable lenitive for irritated and inflamed membranes, and for this purpose is frequently used in medicinal preparations for coughs, colds, hoarseness, pharyngitis, gastric irritation and inflammation, diarrhea, dysentery, ardor urinae, etc. It also forms a good mucilage in which to suspend heavy and insoluble powders. When the stomach is irritable in low fevers and in pulmonary tuberculosis, a half ounce of acacia may be dissolved in 5 fluidounces of water, sweetened with sugar, and given in tablespoonful doses occasionally to relieve the sense of hunger when but little food can be taken. Mucilage of acacia is soothing to burns and scalds of the mouth and alimentary canal, and may be used as a demulcent after poisoning by irritant and corrosive poisons. Acacia may be given freely and at pleasure, in the form of owder, troches, mucilage, or syrup, as desired. 1
CAPSICUM
The ripe fruit, dried, of Capsicum frutescens, Linné (Nat. Ord. Solanaceae). Tropical America; also cultivated in most tropical countries. Dose, 1 to 2 grains. Common Names: Cayenne Pepper, Guinea Pepper, Red Pepper, African Chillies, Bird Pepper. Principal Constituents.Fixed oil, resin, fats, and the rubefacient and acrid principle capsaicin (C9H14NO2) and a volatile oil, capsicin. Preparations.1. Specific Medicine Capsicum. Dose, 1/10 to 2 drops, very largely diluted. 2. Tinctura Capsici, Tincture of Capsicum. Dose, 1/10 to 10 minims. 3. Emplastrum Capsici. Capsicum Plaster (Composed of Oleoresin of Capsicum and Rubber Plaster). Rubefacient. Specific Indications.Marked depression and debility, with feeble pulse and repressed secretions; pale membranes with scanty, viscous secretion; tongue dry, harsh, and mouth and salivary secretions suppressed or scanty; atonic dyspepsia of drunkards; alcoholic delirium of the depressive type; congestive chill; colic, with abdominal distention; debility with faulty gastro-intestinal functioning in the aged. Action.Locally capsicum is decidedly irritant, causing dermal heat and redness. It does not vesicate, however, unless long and closely applied to the mucosa. The oleoresin is much more active and causes sharp burning pain and may destroy the epidermis. Capsicum is a pure, energetic and permanent stimulant. In large doses it produces vomiting, purging, pains in the stomach and bowels, gastro-enteritis, giddiness, strangury, and a species of intoxication and enfeeblement of nerve power. Smaller doses give warmth to the stomach and excite a hyperaemic state of the gastric mucosa, with increased secretion and accelerated movement of the musculature of the stomach and bowels. It slightly increases the urine, and is mostly eliminated by the kidneys. Therapy.External. Tincture of Capsicum is an important topical stimulant, rubefacient and counter-irritant. By its revulsive action it often relieves local pain. Painted upon chilblains it quickly gives relief. The pure tincture alone, or mixed with glycerin or mucilage of acacia, may be used. Applied to an aching tooth it either relieves or aggravates, according to the sensitiveness of the nerve or the degree of inflammation present. We have used it with great satisfaction for pain coursing along the spermatic cord in the lower quadrant of the abdomen. It must not, however, be allowed to come in contact with the tender skin of the scrotum. The tincture has been painted upon the scalp to excite the growth of hair in alopecia. With or without glycerin or mucilage of acacia it may be used to clear up ecchymoses. Dry capsicum in the shoes was one of Scudder's favorite means of warming cold feet. Diluted tincture of capsicum, or capsicum with vinegar, and sometimes with salt, is a common and useful stimulating gargle for sluggish forms of sore throat, and sometimes apparently aborts tonsillitis. Capsicum may be used for many of the revulsant effects required of mustard. It does not blister nor cause strangury when so applied. Either the tincture painted upon the part or the capsicum plaster may give relief to so-called chronic rheumatic pains, and be applied in lumbago, pleurodynia and intercostal neuralgia. A stupe of hot water and capsicum applied to the nape of the neck sometimes relieves the headache of debility. Internal. Capsicum is a pure stimulant to the heart and circulation, giving increased force and slightly augmented frequency to the pulse. One thoroughly acquainted with the action of capsicum can scarcely comprehend why physicians seek for habit-forming stimulants which do infinite harm when so simple and efficacious and pure a stimulant as capsicum may be had. Used within proper dosage it can scarcely do harm, and generally results in incalculable good. Not merely for temporary purposes is capsicum efficient, but its effects are more or less permanent. Naturally it should be selected for atonic conditions and avoided where irritation or active inflammation is present. Nevertheless, in low grades of inflammation and fever, with sluggish blood current, it is a most efficient and necessary stimulant when given in small doses. The infusion of capsicum is a simple domestic remedy for acute colds, sore throat and hoarseness. Small doses of the tincture are of the utmost value in debility with deficient gastric action. When the membranes are pale, relaxed or flabby, and secretion is impaired or scanty and viscous, capsicum will do more than any other agent to rectify the condition and prepare the way for the action of other medicines. Even where the tongue is dry and elongated and parched from lack of secretion, and the glands of the mouth are inactive, no agent is superior nor safer than capsicum. It has, therefore, wide usefulness in disease-acute, subacute, or chronic. For chronic gastric catarrh it may be used occasionally, but should not be long continued lest it increase the malady sought to be improved. It is invaluable in some cases of atonic dyspepsia, with deficient secretion. It is often promptly effective in gastric flatulence, and is an agent of great value to prevent the accumulation of gases in both stomach and intestines. A mixture of capsicum, vinegar, and salt will sometimes prove a good antiemetic if given in small doses diluted with cold water. Capsicum should be largely used in low forms of fever-the more depressed the type the more it is needed. It is then of great advantage to maintain the equilibrium of the secretions and the circulation. Capsicum stimulates the appetite, aids digestion, facilitates peristalsis, and is, therefore, both stimulant and tonic to the gastro-intestinal tract. It thus maintains the integrity of those functions-an important desideratum during fevers and in convalescence therefrom. In grave cases of typhoid fever, with almost complete suppression of natural secretions, we would be at a loss without capsicum. It sometimes checks a congestive chill, and1
The ripe fruit, dried, of Capsicum frutescens, Linné (Nat. Ord. Solanaceae). Tropical America; also cultivated in most tropical countries. Dose, 1 to 2 grains. Common Names: Cayenne Pepper, Guinea Pepper, Red Pepper, African Chillies, Bird Pepper. Principal Constituents.Fixed oil, resin, fats, and the rubefacient and acrid principle capsaicin (C9H14NO2) and a volatile oil, capsicin. Preparations.1. Specific Medicine Capsicum. Dose, 1/10 to 2 drops, very largely diluted. 2. Tinctura Capsici, Tincture of Capsicum. Dose, 1/10 to 10 minims. 3. Emplastrum Capsici. Capsicum Plaster (Composed of Oleoresin of Capsicum and Rubber Plaster). Rubefacient. Specific Indications.Marked depression and debility, with feeble pulse and repressed secretions; pale membranes with scanty, viscous secretion; tongue dry, harsh, and mouth and salivary secretions suppressed or scanty; atonic dyspepsia of drunkards; alcoholic delirium of the depressive type; congestive chill; colic, with abdominal distention; debility with faulty gastro-intestinal functioning in the aged. Action.Locally capsicum is decidedly irritant, causing dermal heat and redness. It does not vesicate, however, unless long and closely applied to the mucosa. The oleoresin is much more active and causes sharp burning pain and may destroy the epidermis. Capsicum is a pure, energetic and permanent stimulant. In large doses it produces vomiting, purging, pains in the stomach and bowels, gastro-enteritis, giddiness, strangury, and a species of intoxication and enfeeblement of nerve power. Smaller doses give warmth to the stomach and excite a hyperaemic state of the gastric mucosa, with increased secretion and accelerated movement of the musculature of the stomach and bowels. It slightly increases the urine, and is mostly eliminated by the kidneys. Therapy.External. Tincture of Capsicum is an important topical stimulant, rubefacient and counter-irritant. By its revulsive action it often relieves local pain. Painted upon chilblains it quickly gives relief. The pure tincture alone, or mixed with glycerin or mucilage of acacia, may be used. Applied to an aching tooth it either relieves or aggravates, according to the sensitiveness of the nerve or the degree of inflammation present. We have used it with great satisfaction for pain coursing along the spermatic cord in the lower quadrant of the abdomen. It must not, however, be allowed to come in contact with the tender skin of the scrotum. The tincture has been painted upon the scalp to excite the growth of hair in alopecia. With or without glycerin or mucilage of acacia it may be used to clear up ecchymoses. Dry capsicum in the shoes was one of Scudder's favorite means of warming cold feet. Diluted tincture of capsicum, or capsicum with vinegar, and sometimes with salt, is a common and useful stimulating gargle for sluggish forms of sore throat, and sometimes apparently aborts tonsillitis. Capsicum may be used for many of the revulsant effects required of mustard. It does not blister nor cause strangury when so applied. Either the tincture painted upon the part or the capsicum plaster may give relief to so-called chronic rheumatic pains, and be applied in lumbago, pleurodynia and intercostal neuralgia. A stupe of hot water and capsicum applied to the nape of the neck sometimes relieves the headache of debility. Internal. Capsicum is a pure stimulant to the heart and circulation, giving increased force and slightly augmented frequency to the pulse. One thoroughly acquainted with the action of capsicum can scarcely comprehend why physicians seek for habit-forming stimulants which do infinite harm when so simple and efficacious and pure a stimulant as capsicum may be had. Used within proper dosage it can scarcely do harm, and generally results in incalculable good. Not merely for temporary purposes is capsicum efficient, but its effects are more or less permanent. Naturally it should be selected for atonic conditions and avoided where irritation or active inflammation is present. Nevertheless, in low grades of inflammation and fever, with sluggish blood current, it is a most efficient and necessary stimulant when given in small doses. The infusion of capsicum is a simple domestic remedy for acute colds, sore throat and hoarseness. Small doses of the tincture are of the utmost value in debility with deficient gastric action. When the membranes are pale, relaxed or flabby, and secretion is impaired or scanty and viscous, capsicum will do more than any other agent to rectify the condition and prepare the way for the action of other medicines. Even where the tongue is dry and elongated and parched from lack of secretion, and the glands of the mouth are inactive, no agent is superior nor safer than capsicum. It has, therefore, wide usefulness in disease-acute, subacute, or chronic. For chronic gastric catarrh it may be used occasionally, but should not be long continued lest it increase the malady sought to be improved. It is invaluable in some cases of atonic dyspepsia, with deficient secretion. It is often promptly effective in gastric flatulence, and is an agent of great value to prevent the accumulation of gases in both stomach and intestines. A mixture of capsicum, vinegar, and salt will sometimes prove a good antiemetic if given in small doses diluted with cold water. Capsicum should be largely used in low forms of fever-the more depressed the type the more it is needed. It is then of great advantage to maintain the equilibrium of the secretions and the circulation. Capsicum stimulates the appetite, aids digestion, facilitates peristalsis, and is, therefore, both stimulant and tonic to the gastro-intestinal tract. It thus maintains the integrity of those functions-an important desideratum during fevers and in convalescence therefrom. In grave cases of typhoid fever, with almost complete suppression of natural secretions, we would be at a loss without capsicum. It sometimes checks a congestive chill, and1
CHENOPODIUM
The fruit and oil of Chenopodium ambrosioides anthelminticum, Linné (Nat. Ord. Chenopodiaceae). Waste places throughout the United States. Common Names: American Wormseed, Wormseed. Principal Constituent.A volatile oil, Oleum Chenopodii. Preparation.Oleum Chenopodii, Oil of American Wormseed. A colorless or pale yellowish oil with the disagreeable odor and taste of wormseed. Dose, 5 to 10 drops. Specific Indications.Lumbricoid worms; hook-worm. Action and Therapy.A safe and certain vermifuge for the removal of the lumbricoid or round worm (Ascaris lumbricoides). After proper preparation, by fasting and purging, the powdered seeds (10 to 30 grains) or the oil (10 drops) may be mixed with syrup or emulsion of acacia and syrup, administered on an empty stomach, and followed by a saline Purge or castor oil one or two hours afterward. The oil may be given in capsule to older children and adults. It is not contraindicated by irritation of the bowels. Oil of chenopodium has recently been found to be completely effective in the removal of the hook-worm (Ankylostoma Uncinaria, or Uncinaria Americana).1
The fruit and oil of Chenopodium ambrosioides anthelminticum, Linné (Nat. Ord. Chenopodiaceae). Waste places throughout the United States. Common Names: American Wormseed, Wormseed. Principal Constituent.A volatile oil, Oleum Chenopodii. Preparation.Oleum Chenopodii, Oil of American Wormseed. A colorless or pale yellowish oil with the disagreeable odor and taste of wormseed. Dose, 5 to 10 drops. Specific Indications.Lumbricoid worms; hook-worm. Action and Therapy.A safe and certain vermifuge for the removal of the lumbricoid or round worm (Ascaris lumbricoides). After proper preparation, by fasting and purging, the powdered seeds (10 to 30 grains) or the oil (10 drops) may be mixed with syrup or emulsion of acacia and syrup, administered on an empty stomach, and followed by a saline Purge or castor oil one or two hours afterward. The oil may be given in capsule to older children and adults. It is not contraindicated by irritation of the bowels. Oil of chenopodium has recently been found to be completely effective in the removal of the hook-worm (Ankylostoma Uncinaria, or Uncinaria Americana).1
COPAIBACOOF2
An oleoresin derived from species of Copaiba growing in South America. Dose, 5 to 30 drops. Description.A viscid, pale-yellow or brownish-yellow liquid, without or with a faint fluorescence (green), and having a bitter, acrid, and persistent taste, and a distinctive aroma. Soluble in chloroform, ether, dehydrated alcohol, and volatile or fixed oils; partly soluble in alcohol; insoluble in water. Specific Indications.Vesical pressure and tenesmus, frequent urging to urinate, the urine passing in drops; itching, burning or smarting in the urethra after urinating; urethral mucoid discharges; laryngeal irritation; cough, with thick tenacious sputum, accompanied by loud rales. Action.Copaiba is a stimulating antiseptic when applied to the skin and mucosa. Small doses taken internally act as a stimulant and antiseptic diuretic. It restrains excessive mucous discharges. When swallowed it causes gastric warmth, unpleasant eructations, and sometimes nausea and vomiting. Continued use impairs the digestive processes. It is readily absorbed, imparting its odor and bitterness to the secretions. While apparently eliminated by all the emunctories, it is chiefly passed in the urine in company with glycouronic acid. Large doses occasion gastroenteritis and haematuria. A transient measleslike eruption on the skin, with unpleasant formication and itching, or an erythematous, urticarial or bullous outbreak may occur from its use. It is not determined whether this is due to elimination-irritation, or to gastric disturbances produced by the drug. Therapy.External. Copaiba is sometimes applied to frost-bites and chilblains, sore nipples, old ulcers, and anal fissures, and to fistulous tracts to soften hardened edges and surfaces; also in sluggish chronic skin affections when a stimulating antiseptic action is desired. Internal. Copaiba is a remedy for excessive mucous discharges after the subsidence of acute inflammation. For this purpose it is rarely used in chronic bronchitis, especially when coincident with a catarrhal condition of the bladder. It is of much value in intractable gonorrhea in the male to reawaken a dormant infection and recreate the active symptoms, after which the smaller doses are used to restrain the discharge and antisepticize the membranes. It should never be used in the acute inflammatory stage of gonorrhea, with pronounced urethral irritation and profuse secretion. This stage should be treated with Rx. Specific Medicine Aconite, 10 drops; Specific Medicines Gelsemium and Cannabis, one fluidrachm each; Simple Syrup, enough to make 4 fluidounces. Mix. Sig.: One teaspoonful every 3 hours. Having used the required local application, and rendered the urine bland by the use of small doses of sodium bicarbonate well diluted, employ the following after the acute phase has subsided: Rx Copaiba, 1 fluidrachm; Alcohol, 1 fluidounce. Mix. Dose, 5 to 10 drops in sugar and water 4 times a day. If chronic or unduly prolonged use the following: Rx. Copaiba and Spirit of Nitrous Ether, 1/2 fluidounce each; Liquor Potassae and Essence of Cinnamon, 1 fluidrachm each; Mucilage of Acacia and Simple Syrup, 1 fluidounce each. Mix. Sig.: One teaspoonful after each meal. Copaiba only helps gonorrhea when brought in direct contact with the parts affected, as it does when passed in the urine. For this reason it is more effectual in the male than the female in whom at least a part of the infection is vaginal. It is also less valuable by injection than when used internally. The foregoing treatment is Lockes method, and is adapted to otherwise unconquerable cases. Most cases of gonorrhea are now readily cured by more modern means.1
An oleoresin derived from species of Copaiba growing in South America. Dose, 5 to 30 drops. Description.A viscid, pale-yellow or brownish-yellow liquid, without or with a faint fluorescence (green), and having a bitter, acrid, and persistent taste, and a distinctive aroma. Soluble in chloroform, ether, dehydrated alcohol, and volatile or fixed oils; partly soluble in alcohol; insoluble in water. Specific Indications.Vesical pressure and tenesmus, frequent urging to urinate, the urine passing in drops; itching, burning or smarting in the urethra after urinating; urethral mucoid discharges; laryngeal irritation; cough, with thick tenacious sputum, accompanied by loud rales. Action.Copaiba is a stimulating antiseptic when applied to the skin and mucosa. Small doses taken internally act as a stimulant and antiseptic diuretic. It restrains excessive mucous discharges. When swallowed it causes gastric warmth, unpleasant eructations, and sometimes nausea and vomiting. Continued use impairs the digestive processes. It is readily absorbed, imparting its odor and bitterness to the secretions. While apparently eliminated by all the emunctories, it is chiefly passed in the urine in company with glycouronic acid. Large doses occasion gastroenteritis and haematuria. A transient measleslike eruption on the skin, with unpleasant formication and itching, or an erythematous, urticarial or bullous outbreak may occur from its use. It is not determined whether this is due to elimination-irritation, or to gastric disturbances produced by the drug. Therapy.External. Copaiba is sometimes applied to frost-bites and chilblains, sore nipples, old ulcers, and anal fissures, and to fistulous tracts to soften hardened edges and surfaces; also in sluggish chronic skin affections when a stimulating antiseptic action is desired. Internal. Copaiba is a remedy for excessive mucous discharges after the subsidence of acute inflammation. For this purpose it is rarely used in chronic bronchitis, especially when coincident with a catarrhal condition of the bladder. It is of much value in intractable gonorrhea in the male to reawaken a dormant infection and recreate the active symptoms, after which the smaller doses are used to restrain the discharge and antisepticize the membranes. It should never be used in the acute inflammatory stage of gonorrhea, with pronounced urethral irritation and profuse secretion. This stage should be treated with Rx. Specific Medicine Aconite, 10 drops; Specific Medicines Gelsemium and Cannabis, one fluidrachm each; Simple Syrup, enough to make 4 fluidounces. Mix. Sig.: One teaspoonful every 3 hours. Having used the required local application, and rendered the urine bland by the use of small doses of sodium bicarbonate well diluted, employ the following after the acute phase has subsided: Rx Copaiba, 1 fluidrachm; Alcohol, 1 fluidounce. Mix. Dose, 5 to 10 drops in sugar and water 4 times a day. If chronic or unduly prolonged use the following: Rx. Copaiba and Spirit of Nitrous Ether, 1/2 fluidounce each; Liquor Potassae and Essence of Cinnamon, 1 fluidrachm each; Mucilage of Acacia and Simple Syrup, 1 fluidounce each. Mix. Sig.: One teaspoonful after each meal. Copaiba only helps gonorrhea when brought in direct contact with the parts affected, as it does when passed in the urine. For this reason it is more effectual in the male than the female in whom at least a part of the infection is vaginal. It is also less valuable by injection than when used internally. The foregoing treatment is Lockes method, and is adapted to otherwise unconquerable cases. Most cases of gonorrhea are now readily cured by more modern means.1
References
1) Felter, Harvey Wickes, 1922, The Eclectic Materia Medica, Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Cincinnati, Ohio.