Part 79

1787. D. J. D. Schoepf, M. D.--Materia Medica Americana potissimum Regni Vegetabilis. Erlangen. (Not in my possession. Quoted from Barton.)

1813. James Thacher, M. D.--The American New Dispensatory. Boston. (This is the second edition wherein Pothos is mentioned for the first time. Our citations are from the fourth edition. Boston, 1821.)

1817. James Thacher, M. D.--American Modern Practice, etc. Boston.

1818. Jacob Bigelow, M. D.--American Medical Botany, etc. Vol. 2. Boston.

1820. Wm. M. Hand.--The House-Surgeon and Physician. Second edition. New Haven.

1822. Jacob Bigelow, M. D.--A Sequel to the Pharmacopoeia of the U. S. Boston.

1822. John Eberle, M. D.--Materia Medica and Therapeutics. Philadelphia. (The citations are from the fourth edition. Philadelphia, 1836.)

1825. Ansel W. Ives, M. D.--Paris' Pharmacologia. Third American edition. New York.

1830. Elisha Smith.--The Botanic Physician, etc. New York. (The title page proclaims him "president of the New York Association of Botanic Physicians.")

1838. C. S. Rafinesque.--Medical Flora, etc. Philadelphia.

It was admitted into the catalogus secundarius of the second edition of The Pharmacopoeia of the United States of America, and dropped into the dust-heap when the men who knew how to use it had passed away.

EMPIRICAL APPLICATIONS.

In dealing with authors who have gone to their reward, it has always seemed to me a duty to give their own words as far as possible. It brings them face to face with the reader, and is as if one brushed the moss from their gravestones, or perhaps, like Old Mortality, carved afresh a half-obliterated name.

It is not the briefest way, but it has the merit of showing from whence the bricks came of which the edifice is built. I shall, then, cite the authorities in chronological order, and copiously enough to include essentials.

Cutler.--The roots dried and powdered are an excellent medicine in asthmatic cases, and often give relief when other means are ineffectual. It may be given with safety to children as well as to adults; to the former, in doses of four, five or six grains, and to the latter in doses of twenty grains and upwards. It is given in the fit, and repeated as the case may require. This knowledge is said to have been obtained from the Indians, who, it is likewise said, repeat the dose, after the paroxysm (sic) is gone off, several mornings, then miss as many, and repeat it again; thus continuing the medicine until the patient is perfectly recovered. It appears to be anti-spasmodic, and bids fair to be useful in many other disorders.--Op. cit., 1,409.

Schoepf.--I am obliged to cite at second hand, as I have never been able to find a copy of his opus. One may judge of its rarity, when a foreign advertisement by a German bookseller some years since failed to obtain it for me.

Prof. W. P. C. Barton, op. cit., gives the gist of the Hessian surgeon's contribution in a style and manner as prim and orderly as that of Surgeon Schoepf himself on a dress parade.

"Pharm. Dracontii Radix. Qual. Acris, alliacea, nauseosa. Vis. Incidens, califaciens, expectorans. Usus: fol. contrita ad vulnera recentia et ulcera. Tussis consumptiva. Scorbutus et elii morbi radix. Ari officin. utilis."

"Incidens": Young reader, you must go back more than a century to understand the "pathology" that is wrapped up in that word like a mummy in its cerements. Don't laugh at that "pathology," for some graceless graduate will laugh at yours in 1989. Note, however, in passing, that Schoepf says nothing, save tussis, that suggests the vis anti-spasmodica of Cutler.

Thacher.--The roots and seeds, when fresh, impart to the mouth a sensation of pungency and acrimony similar to Arum.

It may be ranked high as an anti-spasmodic, experience having evinced that it is not inferior to the most esteemed remedies of that class. In cases of asthmatic affections, it alleviates the most distressing symptoms, and shortens the duration of the paroxysms. * * * Rev. Dr. Cutler experienced in his own particular case very considerable relief from this medicine, after others had disappointed his expectations. * * * The seeds of this plant are said by some to afford more relief in asthmatic cases than the root.

In obstinate hysteric affections this medicine has surpassed in efficacy all those anti-spasmodics which have generally been employed, and in several instances it has displayed its powers like a charm. In one of the most violent hysteric cases I ever met with, says a correspondent, where the usual anti-spasmodics, and even musk had failed, two teaspoonfuls of the powdered root procured immediate relief; and on repeating the trials with the same patient, it afforded more lasting benefit than any other medicine. In those spasmodic affections of the abdominal muscles during parturition, or after delivery, this root has proved an effectual remedy. In chronic rheumatism, and erratic pains of a spasmodic nature, it often performs a cure, or affords essential relief.

It has in some cases of epilepsy suspended the fits, and greatly alleviated the symptoms.

In whooping cough, and other pulmonic affections, it proves beneficial in the form of syrup.

During every stage of nervous and hysteric complaints, and in cramps and spasms, this medicine is strongly recommended as a valuable substitute for the various anti-spasmodic remedies commonly employed. It is free from the heating and constipating qualities of Opium. [Yet Schoepf endowed it with the vis colifaciers.]

Having in a few instances tested its virtues in subsultus tendinum, attending typhus fever, its pleasing effects will encourage the future employment of it in similar cases.

Two instances have been related in which this medicine has been supposed to be remarkably efficacious in the cure of dropsy.

The roots should be taken up in the autumn or spring, before the leaves appear, and carefully dried for use. Its strength is impaired by long keeping, especially in a powdered state.--Mat. Med., 4th ed., p. 249.