Supplement to the American dispensatory / by John King and John U. LLoyd.

  • King, John, 1813-1893.
Date:
1880
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Supplement to the American dispensatory / by John King and John U. LLoyd. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.

    209/230 (page 187)
    and as a local application in leucorrhea, gleet, chronic conjunctivitis, and catarrhal affections. The fluid extract, diluted with water, may be applied locally, by injection, or by spray.—K. DUGONG OIL. The Dugong (Haticore Dugong) is an herbaceous mammal found in shallow waters throughout the Indian Seas. There are two species of them—the Malay, or Indian Dugong (Salicore Indicus), and the Australian (Halicore Australis). They are from six to sixteen feet in length, and weigli from four hundred to six hundred pounds upon an average; occasionally, however, they are found of larger size. They frequent the neighborhood of ocean inlets where sea-grass, algae, and fuci abound, and the water is shallow. They are called sea-hogs, and their flesh (intermediate in flavor between beef and pork) is esteemed a great delicacy by the natives of the islands and countries near which this animal abounds. Underneath the skin (which is about half an inch in thickness, and is often made into gelatin) is found a layer of adipose tissue, which yields from four to sixteen gallons of oil, accord- ing to the size of the dugong. This oil is very palatable, and is accept- able to the most sensitive stomach, and of late has attained somewhat of a reputation as a substitute for cod-liver oil.—L. The oil is fully as nutritious as cod-liver oil, and may be administered in all forms of tuberculous and wasting diseases, and, with equal ad- vantage, in cases where there is a decided repugnance to the cod-liver oil.—K. EUPHORBIA HYPERICIFOLIA. Nat. Ord.—Euphorbiacese. The entire plant Euphorbia hypericifolia {Linn.). Common Name.—Garden spurge. Euphorbia h3q)ericifolia is a common weed, found in gardens and on cultivated land, in all parts of the United States. The stem is from one to two feet high, ascending, and much branched; it is smooth, and when the plant grows in sunny situations, is of a purple color. The branches are alternate, and proceed from opposite sides of the stem, giving the plant a flat appearance. The leaves are about an inch long, opposite, unequal at the base, and supported on very short leaf-stalks; they are oblong, obtuse, triple-veined from the base, and serrulate, with numerous small, appressed teeth. The larger leaves have large purple spots near the center, which is very characteristic of the plant. The flowers are small, inconspicuous, and appear late in summer. They have the peculiar structure of the genus Euphorbia^ and the involucrate clusters are borne from the forks of the branches on slender stalks, about a quarter of an inch long. The fruit is a three-lobed carpel, containing three wrinkled, blackish seed. The plant is described in King's Dis- pensatory, but has lately attained such a reputation among Eclectic physicians as to justify further notice. Dr. H. L. True brought it for- ward in the E. M. Journal^ 1874, since which time numerous articles have appeared in various medical journals, and, at present, the plant is in regular use among Eclectic physicians. There has been no further anal3^sis or chemical examination.—L. This plant is highly recommended in diarrhea, dysentery, cholera morbus, and cholera infantum, and to remove gastrointestinal irritation, and is certainly deserving the attention of medical men. The dose of