WARNING: All medicines, drugs, plants, chemicals or medicial precedures below are for historical reference only.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 Euphorbia Corollata
EUPHORBIA COROLLATA
The bark of the root of Euphorbia corollata, Linné (Nat. Ord. Euphorbiaceae). Dry fields and woods of Canada and the United States. Common Names: Large Flowering Spurge, Blooming Spurge, Milk Purslane, Snake Milk. Principal Constituents.Resin, caoutchouc, and probably euphorbon. Preparation.Specific Medicine Euphorbia. Dose, 1/10 to 10 drops. Specific Indications.Persistent gastric irritation; irritative diarrhea of catarrhal discharges, with debility; long-pointed tongue, with prominent papillae; uneasy sensation in the stomach; cholera infantum, with hot, tumid abdomen and constant desire to defecate, the stools being greenish and irritating; irritation of the respiratory tract, especially the glottis, with persistent cough and tough and tenacious secretion. Action and Therapy.In full doses euphorbia is a comparatively mild emetic; in overdoses it causes drastic emeto-catharsis. It was formerly used to fulfill the purposes of an emetic and purgative in dropsical conditions. It is now used chiefly in small doses for irritation of the gastrointestinal and respiratory tracts. It often relieves diarrhea and dysentery, with full and tenesmic passages. It is especially useful in cholera infantum, with hot, tender abdomen and constant desire to go to stool, the discharges being greenish and irritating. Euphorbia is a good gastrointestinal sedative and tonic, and is most effective when the tongue is red, long and pointed, and there is persistent vomiting. In moderate doses it may be used in obstinate constipation, with evidence of gastric irritation. Euphorbia is contraindicated by active inflammation. Bowles (Eclectic Medical Journal, 1921, page 459) praises Euphorbia as an excellent sedative for persistent, irritative cough following influenza, and that due to chronic catarrhal inflammation of the larynx and pharynx. The glottis seems especially irritable and the cough is exasperatingworse from riding or walking in the cold air, or is aggravated by exertion after a full meal. There is but little secretion, and that is tough, tenacious, and glutinous, and requires persistent hawking to aid in its expectoration. One or two drops may be taken upon the tongue and slowly swallowed; or 40 drops of Specific Medicine Euphorbia may be added to 4 ounces of water, and of this a teaspoonful may be taken every 2 hours. Bowles also used it, with phytolacca and phosphate of hydrastin, to reduce enlarged tonsils following tonsillitis. The American species of Euphorbia furnish a rich field for restudy. Formerly some of them were quiet extensively used as medicines, but seem to have been crowded out by similarly-acting foreign drugs. The chief indications for Euphorbia are: profuse mucous discharges, whether from the pulmonic, gastro-intestinal, or urino-genital mucosa; or the tough, glutinous tracheo-broncho-pulmonic secretions, with irritation.1
The bark of the root of Euphorbia corollata, Linné (Nat. Ord. Euphorbiaceae). Dry fields and woods of Canada and the United States. Common Names: Large Flowering Spurge, Blooming Spurge, Milk Purslane, Snake Milk. Principal Constituents.Resin, caoutchouc, and probably euphorbon. Preparation.Specific Medicine Euphorbia. Dose, 1/10 to 10 drops. Specific Indications.Persistent gastric irritation; irritative diarrhea of catarrhal discharges, with debility; long-pointed tongue, with prominent papillae; uneasy sensation in the stomach; cholera infantum, with hot, tumid abdomen and constant desire to defecate, the stools being greenish and irritating; irritation of the respiratory tract, especially the glottis, with persistent cough and tough and tenacious secretion. Action and Therapy.In full doses euphorbia is a comparatively mild emetic; in overdoses it causes drastic emeto-catharsis. It was formerly used to fulfill the purposes of an emetic and purgative in dropsical conditions. It is now used chiefly in small doses for irritation of the gastrointestinal and respiratory tracts. It often relieves diarrhea and dysentery, with full and tenesmic passages. It is especially useful in cholera infantum, with hot, tender abdomen and constant desire to go to stool, the discharges being greenish and irritating. Euphorbia is a good gastrointestinal sedative and tonic, and is most effective when the tongue is red, long and pointed, and there is persistent vomiting. In moderate doses it may be used in obstinate constipation, with evidence of gastric irritation. Euphorbia is contraindicated by active inflammation. Bowles (Eclectic Medical Journal, 1921, page 459) praises Euphorbia as an excellent sedative for persistent, irritative cough following influenza, and that due to chronic catarrhal inflammation of the larynx and pharynx. The glottis seems especially irritable and the cough is exasperatingworse from riding or walking in the cold air, or is aggravated by exertion after a full meal. There is but little secretion, and that is tough, tenacious, and glutinous, and requires persistent hawking to aid in its expectoration. One or two drops may be taken upon the tongue and slowly swallowed; or 40 drops of Specific Medicine Euphorbia may be added to 4 ounces of water, and of this a teaspoonful may be taken every 2 hours. Bowles also used it, with phytolacca and phosphate of hydrastin, to reduce enlarged tonsils following tonsillitis. The American species of Euphorbia furnish a rich field for restudy. Formerly some of them were quiet extensively used as medicines, but seem to have been crowded out by similarly-acting foreign drugs. The chief indications for Euphorbia are: profuse mucous discharges, whether from the pulmonic, gastro-intestinal, or urino-genital mucosa; or the tough, glutinous tracheo-broncho-pulmonic secretions, with irritation.1
EUPHORBIA IPECACUANHA
The bark of the root of Euphorbia Ipecacuanha, Linné (Nat. Ord. Euphorbiaceae) A perennial found in dry sandy soils on the Atlantic seaboard from Long Island south and west to the Middle States. Common Names: American Ipecac, American Ipecacuanha, Wild Ipecac, Ipecac Spurge. Principal Constituents.An active resin and euphorbon. Preparations.1. Fluidextractum Euphorbiae lpecacuanhae Fluidextract of Euphorbia Ipecacuanha. Dose, 1 to 10 drops. 2. Tinctura Euphorbiae Ipecacuanhae, Tincture of Euphorbia Ipecacuanha (8 ounces to Alcohol, 76 percent 16 fluidounces). Dose, 1 to 10 drops. ( Usual form of Administration.Tincture of Euphorbia Ipecacuanha, 20 drops, Water to make 4 fluidouncesounces. Mix. Sig.: One teaspoonful every 2 or 3 hours.) Action and Therapy.This is an old American medicine that was formerly employed as a substitute for ipecac. It is less active than Euphorbia corollata, but like it produces emeto-catharsis. In small doses it quiets irritation of the mucous membranes, proving useful in both gastrointestinal and bronchial disorders. The indications and uses are practically the same as those given for Euphorbia corollata, which see. Besides, it has been advised in irritative dyspepsia, and jaundice with obstinate hepatic torpor. For the latter purposes the larger doses are to be employed.1
The bark of the root of Euphorbia Ipecacuanha, Linné (Nat. Ord. Euphorbiaceae) A perennial found in dry sandy soils on the Atlantic seaboard from Long Island south and west to the Middle States. Common Names: American Ipecac, American Ipecacuanha, Wild Ipecac, Ipecac Spurge. Principal Constituents.An active resin and euphorbon. Preparations.1. Fluidextractum Euphorbiae lpecacuanhae Fluidextract of Euphorbia Ipecacuanha. Dose, 1 to 10 drops. 2. Tinctura Euphorbiae Ipecacuanhae, Tincture of Euphorbia Ipecacuanha (8 ounces to Alcohol, 76 percent 16 fluidounces). Dose, 1 to 10 drops. ( Usual form of Administration.Tincture of Euphorbia Ipecacuanha, 20 drops, Water to make 4 fluidouncesounces. Mix. Sig.: One teaspoonful every 2 or 3 hours.) Action and Therapy.This is an old American medicine that was formerly employed as a substitute for ipecac. It is less active than Euphorbia corollata, but like it produces emeto-catharsis. In small doses it quiets irritation of the mucous membranes, proving useful in both gastrointestinal and bronchial disorders. The indications and uses are practically the same as those given for Euphorbia corollata, which see. Besides, it has been advised in irritative dyspepsia, and jaundice with obstinate hepatic torpor. For the latter purposes the larger doses are to be employed.1
References
1) Felter, Harvey Wickes, 1922, The Eclectic Materia Medica, Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Cincinnati, Ohio.