WARNING: All medicines, drugs, plants, chemicals or medicial precedures below are for historical reference only.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 Xanthium
ALLIUM CEPA
The fresh bulb of Allium Cepa, Linné (Nat. Ord. Liliaceae). Common in cultivation everywhere. Common Name: Onion. Principal Constituent.A colorless oil, composed chiefly of a sulphur compound (C6 H12 S2). Preparations.-1. Tincture of Red Onion. 5 to 60 drops. 2. Syrup of Onion. Dose, 1 to 2 fluidrachms. Action and Therapy.External. Onion is rubefacient. A poultice of onion with vinegar gives relief to inflamed corns and bunions. Roasted onion makes an efficient poultice for acute broncho-pulmonic inflammations, especially of young children, when local applications are desired. Onion poultices are objectionable only when made too heavy, carelessly applied, or when applied to open surfaces. Internal. Onion is stimulant, expectorant, and diuretic. A syrup of onion, prepared by drawing the juice with sugar, is a very effectual expectorant cough medicine for infants, young children, and old persons. If given in moderate quantities it is very soothing; if too freely administered it may cause nausea and disorder digestion. It, together with the onion poultice, are among the good things inherited from domestic medication, and might well be considered in preference to less safe and less depressing pulmonic medication. A tincture of red onion is useful in gravel and other urinary disorders with passages of blood, pus, and mucus. The dose is from 5 to 10 drops in water. It is sometimes given with an equal quantity of tincture of Xanthium Strumarium. 1
The fresh bulb of Allium Cepa, Linné (Nat. Ord. Liliaceae). Common in cultivation everywhere. Common Name: Onion. Principal Constituent.A colorless oil, composed chiefly of a sulphur compound (C6 H12 S2). Preparations.-1. Tincture of Red Onion. 5 to 60 drops. 2. Syrup of Onion. Dose, 1 to 2 fluidrachms. Action and Therapy.External. Onion is rubefacient. A poultice of onion with vinegar gives relief to inflamed corns and bunions. Roasted onion makes an efficient poultice for acute broncho-pulmonic inflammations, especially of young children, when local applications are desired. Onion poultices are objectionable only when made too heavy, carelessly applied, or when applied to open surfaces. Internal. Onion is stimulant, expectorant, and diuretic. A syrup of onion, prepared by drawing the juice with sugar, is a very effectual expectorant cough medicine for infants, young children, and old persons. If given in moderate quantities it is very soothing; if too freely administered it may cause nausea and disorder digestion. It, together with the onion poultice, are among the good things inherited from domestic medication, and might well be considered in preference to less safe and less depressing pulmonic medication. A tincture of red onion is useful in gravel and other urinary disorders with passages of blood, pus, and mucus. The dose is from 5 to 10 drops in water. It is sometimes given with an equal quantity of tincture of Xanthium Strumarium. 1
XANTHIUM
The whole plant of Xanthium spinosum, Linné (Nat. Ord. Compositae). An introduced weed common along the coasts of the United States. Dose, 5 to 30 grains. Common Name: Spiny Clot-Bur. Principal Constituents.Possibly an evanescent alkaloid and considerable nitrate of potassium. Preparation.Specific Medicine Xanthium Spinosum. Dose, 1 to 60 drops. Specific Indications.Ague, with profuse sweating; prophylactic against malaria, and to prevent the recurrence of chills; nervous excitation, with profuse sweating; bloody urine, with urination painfully tenesmic and frequent; urine heavily loaded with mucus and gravelly deposits. Action and Therapy.Clotbur is used chiefly as a soothing diuretic, to allay irritable conditions of the bladder, and is especially recommended in chronic cystitis and haematuria. It is frequently used in conjunction with tincture of red onion, for irritation of the urinary tract with bloody, painfully voided urine loaded with mucus and gritty deposits. Its other uses cover the indications given above, unnatural sweating being an especial indication for the drug.1
The whole plant of Xanthium spinosum, Linné (Nat. Ord. Compositae). An introduced weed common along the coasts of the United States. Dose, 5 to 30 grains. Common Name: Spiny Clot-Bur. Principal Constituents.Possibly an evanescent alkaloid and considerable nitrate of potassium. Preparation.Specific Medicine Xanthium Spinosum. Dose, 1 to 60 drops. Specific Indications.Ague, with profuse sweating; prophylactic against malaria, and to prevent the recurrence of chills; nervous excitation, with profuse sweating; bloody urine, with urination painfully tenesmic and frequent; urine heavily loaded with mucus and gravelly deposits. Action and Therapy.Clotbur is used chiefly as a soothing diuretic, to allay irritable conditions of the bladder, and is especially recommended in chronic cystitis and haematuria. It is frequently used in conjunction with tincture of red onion, for irritation of the urinary tract with bloody, painfully voided urine loaded with mucus and gritty deposits. Its other uses cover the indications given above, unnatural sweating being an especial indication for the drug.1
XANTHIUM STRUMARIUM
The whole plant of Xanthium strumarium Linné (Nat. Ord. Compositae). Waysides in the United States. Common Name: Broad Bur-Weed. Preparation.Fluidextractrum Xanthii Strumarii, Fluidextract of Xanthium Strumarium. Dose, 5 to 60 drops. Action and Therapy.This agent acts much like clotbur, and has been used with advantage in painful urination, with scalding, and marked sensitiveness of the urethra and bladder, with frequent micturition. It is also said to be of service in hemorrhages, as passive hemorrhage from the bowels and the epistaxis of purpura hemorrhagica. For the lastnamed disorders it is probably of little value, though it should be tried where other means are unavailing.1
The whole plant of Xanthium strumarium Linné (Nat. Ord. Compositae). Waysides in the United States. Common Name: Broad Bur-Weed. Preparation.Fluidextractrum Xanthii Strumarii, Fluidextract of Xanthium Strumarium. Dose, 5 to 60 drops. Action and Therapy.This agent acts much like clotbur, and has been used with advantage in painful urination, with scalding, and marked sensitiveness of the urethra and bladder, with frequent micturition. It is also said to be of service in hemorrhages, as passive hemorrhage from the bowels and the epistaxis of purpura hemorrhagica. For the lastnamed disorders it is probably of little value, though it should be tried where other means are unavailing.1
References
1) Felter, Harvey Wickes, 1922, The Eclectic Materia Medica, Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Cincinnati, Ohio.