ACACIA^ACACI
   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 O11—Arabic 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

GLYCYRRHIZA
   The dried rhizome and roots of Glycyrrhiza glabra typica, Regel et Herder (Spanish Licorice), or of Glycyrrhiza glabra glandulifera, Regel et Herder (Russian Licorice), (Nat. Ord. Leguminosae). Southern Europe and western Asia; cultivated. Dose, 5 to 60 grains. Common Names: Licorice, Licorice Root, (1) Spanish Licorice Root, (2) Russian Licorice Root. Principal Constituents.—The sweet glucoside glycyrrhizin (C24H36O9), asparagin, glycyramarin and an acid resin. Preparations.—1. Specific Medicine Glycyrrhiza. Dose, 5 to 60 drops. 2. Fluidextractum Glycyrrhizae, Fluidextract of Glycyrrhiza. Dose, 30 drops. Derivative: Glycyrrhizinum Ammoniatum, Ammoniated Glycyrrhizin. Very sweet, odorless, dark-brown or red-brown scales; soluble in alcohol or water. It is derived from glycyrrhiza and combined with ammonia. Dose, 1 to 8 grains. Action and Therapy.—Glycyrrhiza root is demulcent, laxative, and expectorant. It acts upon mucous surfaces, lessening irritation and relieving coughs, catarrhs, and irritation of the urinary tract. The powdered extract is sometimes used to give solidity to pills, and the powdered root as a dusting powder for the same. The fluidextract is an agreeable flavoring agent for other medicines and soothing to irritated bronchial surfaces. The bitterness of cascara, quinine, aloes, quassia, the acridity of senega, guaiac, and the taste of ammonium chloride and sodium salicylate are more or less masked by the fluidextract. Licorice root is an ingredient of Compound Licorice Powder. (See Senna).¹

MYRRHA (Commiphora spp.)
   The gum-resin obtained from one or more varieties of Commiphora (Nat. Ord. Burseraceae). Region of Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, Africa, and Arabia. Dose, 1 to 15 grains. Common Names.-Myrrh, Gum Myrrh. Description.—Brownish-yellow or reddish-brown tears or masses, covered with a brownish-yellow dust; taste: bitter, acrid, and aromatic; odor: balsamic. Soluble in alcohol; forms an emulsion with water. Dose, 1 to 30 grains. Principal Constituents.—A resin, myrrhin, 23 to 40 per cent; a volatile oil, myrrhol, 2 to 8 per cent; gum, 40 to 60 per cent, and a bitter principle. Preparation.—Tinctura Myrrhae, Tincture of Myrrh (Myrrh, 20 per cent). Dose, 1 to 30 drops. Specific Indications.—Mucous membrane pale and lax; tonsils enlarged and spongy; throat pale and tumid; chronic bronchitis with profuse secretion of mucus or muco-pus, difficult to expectorate; soreness and sponginess of the gums; ptyalism; weight and dragging in pelvis in females; leucorrhea; muscular debility. Action and Therapy.—External. Myrrh is the best local application for spongy and bleeding gums and is effective in mercurial and other forms of salivation. The tincture may be diluted with about 6 to 10 parts of water. It may also be used with benefit when the throat is sore and exhibits aphthous or sloughing ulcers, and in chronic pharyngitis with tumid, pallid membranes and elongated uvula. In spongy, enlarged tonsils it is an ideal topical medicine. After the removal of tonsils the following gives great relief from pain and deodorizes the fetor: Rx Tincture of Myrrh, 1/2 fluidrachm; Asepsin, 10 grains; Echafolta, 2 fluidrachms; Glycerin, 2 fluidrachms; Water, enough to make 4 fluidounces. Shake. This may be applied by means of an atomizer. This combination is also a good mouth wash and dentifrice and minimizes the possibility of pyorrhea alveolaris. Myrrh, in powder, is often added to dentifrices. Internal. Myrrh is a stimulant to mucous tissues and should not be used, as a rule, in active inflammatory conditions. Small doses promote digestion and prove antiseptic to the intestinal canal. Large doses quicken the pulse, raise the temperature, cause gastric burning, great sweating and prostration; vomiting and purgation may follow. Myrrh is a remedy for enfeebled conditions with excessive mucous secretion, exhibiting its restraining power especially upon the bronchial and renal mucosa. It is of much value in chronic bronchitis with relaxation of tissues, profuse, unhealthy and exhausting secretion and difficulty in raising the sputa. Locke advised the following: Rx Compound Tincture of Myrrh and Capsicum, 2 fluidrachms each; Syrup of Wild Cherry, Syrup of Senega, 2 fluidounces each. Mix. Sig.: One teaspoonful every three hours. This acts kindly upon the stomach and sustains the strength of the patient. The same combination often relieves the asthma of the aged. Myrrh is useful in chronic gastritis and atonic dyspepsia, with full, pale tongue and membranes, and frequent mucous stools accompanied by flatulence. It acts well with the simple bitters, especially gentian. Myrrh is probably emmenagogue, though much of its reputation as such has been acquired in anemic states in which it has been administered conjointly with iron and aloes. It is used in diseases of women when there is weight and dragging in the pelvis and leucorrhea; and in suppression of the menses in anemic girls. For the type of amenorrhea dependent upon uterine torpor and constipation Locke advised the following: Rx Myrrh, 30 grains; Aloes, 10 grains; Macrotin, 10 grains. Mix. Make into #20 pills. Sig.: One or two pills, three times a day. Myrrh is an ingredient of the celebrated Griffith's Mixture (Mistura Ferri Composita) for the amenorrhea of chlorosis and other forms of anemia; and of the Compound Pills of Rhubarb (Pilulae Rhei Compositae).¹

SCILLA^SCILL
   The inner, fleshy scales of the bulb of the white variety of Urginea maritima (Linné), Baker (Nat. Ord. Liliaceae), cut into fragments and carefully dried. Coast of Mediterranean Basin and in Portugal and France. Dose, 1 to 3 grains; average, 1 1/2 grains. Common Names: Squill, Squills, Sea Onion. Principal Constitutents.—Scillitoxin, the most active principle, insoluble in water, soluble in alcohol, and a heart poison; scillipicrin, a bitter body, sparingly soluble in water; scillin, soluble in water, causing vomiting and numbness; and a bitter glucoside scillain. Preparations.—1. Specific Medicine Squill. Dose, 1 to 5 drops. 2. Acetum Scillae, Vinegar of Squill (Squill, 10 per cent). Dose, 5 to 20 minims. 3. Syrupus Scillae, Syrup of Squill. Dose, 10 to 60 minims. 4. Syrupus Scillae Compositus, Compound Syrup of Squill (Hive Syrup). (Contains Fluidextracts of Squill and Senega, and Antimony and Potassium Tartrate.) Dose, 5 to 40 minims. 5. Tinctura Scillae, Tincture of Squill (Squill, 10 per cent). Dose, 5 to 30 minims. Specific Indications.—Chronic cough with scanty, tenacious expectoration; dropsy dependent upon a general asthenic condition and without fever; scanty, high-colored urine, with sense of pressure in the bladder; renal overactivity with inability to retain the urine. Action and Toxicology.—Squill is a powerful drug acting much like digitalis upon the heart muscle, and probably with greater force upon the peripheral vessels, increasing arterial tension. It is a violent gastrointestinal irritant and it disturbs the stomach more than does digitalis. Even small doses cause nausea and vomiting; and some individuals are so susceptible to its action that it cannot be taken by them in any dose. Squill likewise stimulates the kidneys to increased diuresis, both by acting upon the epithelial cells and by increasing the blood pressure within those organs. Bronchial secretion is increased by it. Fresh squill, when rubbed upon the skin, is rubefacient, and if the surface be denuded it may be absorbed with poisonous consequences. Large doses of squill are violently poisonous, causing severe and painful vomiting and purging, gastro-intestinal inflammation, decreased, and sometimes bloody and albuminous urine, with strangury, and not infrequently complete suppression due to the acute nephritis induced. Dullness and stupor or intermittent paralysis and convulsions ensue. Death usually takes place in from ten to twentyfour hours. Some contend that squill acts more powerfully upon the heart muscle than foxglove, and that by overstimulation with excessive doses cardiac arrythmia and heartblock may be induced. Squill, therefore, while usually causing death by gastro-enteritis, may establish a fatal nephritis, or cause a sudden stoppage of the heart. Therapy.—Squill is a stimulating diuretic and expectorant, and if given in small doses when there is general atony and special lack of tone in the renal and respiratory tracts it is a good medicine. It must be used, however, with care and judgment. If there is the least reason to suspect, or evidence to show, undue renal irritation or inflammation its use should be stopped at once. In very small doses squill allays irritation of mucous membranes and lessens excessive secretion. It was at one time very largely employed for the elimination of dropsical effusion; and still is used for the absorption and removal of pleural, pericardial, and especially peritoneal effusion, but with more care than formerly. In large ascitic collections in curable conditions paracentesis is a more rational measure than long and harsh medication by drastic renal hydragogues. Squill is one of the most certain remedies for dropsy of cardiac origin, or from congestion (not inflammation) of the kidneys; and is proportionately less valuable where dependent upon structural changes in the renal glands. Nevertheless it frequently is used in chronic nephritis to excite the surviving cells to activity and thus increase the output of urine. When renal dropsy depends upon general atony of the system-the kidneys included and the disorder is one of functional weakness, squill may be used with good effect. Its diuretic action is increased by digitalis and the alkaline diuretics, notably acetate and citrate of potassium. Squill, in powdered substance, is usually more effective than any of its preparations; therefore the best form of administration is by pill or capsule. When there is a feeble circulation the following is advisable: Rx Pulv. Scillae; Pulv. Digitalis, 10 grains each. Make into Pilulae, No. 10. Sig.: One pill after meals. Squill is contraindicated, even in dropsy, by a dry, hot skin, rapid circulation, elevated temperature, or any evidence of renal irritation or inflammation. But the greater the atony of the general system the more salutary its action. In dropsy requiring urgent relief two or three grains of squill may be given every three hours, withholding the medicine upon the slightest indication of nausea. When it acts strongly as an expectorant it frequently fails to cause increased diuresis. Neither should it be expected to cure when anasarca or ascites is caused by malignant disease or renal destruction. Locke employed for cardiac dropsy, with feeble heart action and weak rapid pulse, teaspoonful doses of infusion of digitalis to which is added two (2) grains of squill, or one (1) drop of specific medicine squill. Squill has been quite generally used by some physicians for subacute and chronic bronchitis when secretion is scanty and viscid and expectorated with difficulty, and oppositely when the secretions are profuse and debilitating. The dosage should be regulated according to the condition, the fuller doses short of nausea for the former, and minute doses for the latter. These results are attributed to its power to regulate normal equilibrium in the bronchial mucosa. When fever is absent and the sputum scanty and tenacious, the following is useful: Rx Syr. Sci¹

SENEGA
   The root of Polygala Senega, Linné (Nat. Ord. Polygalaceae). Indigenous to the United States. Dose, 5 to 20 grains. Common Names: Senega, Senega Snakeroot, Seneka Root, Seneca Snakeroot. Principal Constituent.-Saponin (Senegin). Preparation.—Specific Medicine Senega. Dose, 1 to 20 drops. Specific Indications.—Relaxed respiratory mucosa and skin, with deep, hoarse cough, excessive secretion; mucous rales, nausea and vomiting; cough of chronic bronchitis; bronchorrhea. Action and Therapy.—Senega has an acrid taste and leaves a disagreeable sensation when swallowed. In ordinary doses it is sialagogue, stimulant, diuretic, expectorant, and is reputed emmenagogue. It may be used in subacute forms of cough as is found in chronic bronchitis with profuse secretion. It is contraindicated in active febrile conditions. Dropsy of renal origin has been benefited by it, but it is of no value when due to cardiac lesions. It is little used, and then chiefly in syrups containing other medicaments. It is an ingredient of the once celebrated Coxe’s Hive Syrup, a vicious preparation now represented by compound syrup of squill, and containing also squill and tartar emetic.¹