58 Baptisia tinctoria. 
After premising these cautionary remarks, I shall notice the extent 
of the information relative to the medical powers of this plant, as con- 
tained in the ouly two publications of any claim to authority, that 
have met my eyes; the Dispensatory of Dr. Thacher of Plymouth, 
(New Eng.) anda paper by Dr. Comstock, published in the Eclectic 
Repertory. To these gentlemen, confessedly, is due the credit of 
bringing this plant into notice, which will sufficiently excuse my giv- 
ing in their own language the result of their experience. “In the 
hands of some physicians,” says Dr. Thacher,“ it is found to operate 
in a large dose, with much severity as an emetic and cathartic. But 
a weak decoction of the root has frequently been given with the ef- 
fect only of a mild laxative. A decoction of the bark of the root has, 
it is said, been made known by an empiric experienced in its use, as 
a remedy in scarlatina anginosa; and its employment has been ex- 
tended in a few instances to typhus or putrid fever with such good 
effect as to encourage further trials. An experienced physician con- 
siders it as an excellent antiseptic and febrifuge, preferring it in some 
fevers to Peruvian bark. As an external application, its antiseptic 
qualities ought to be more extensively known. In the form of fomen- 
tation or cataplasm it has proved eminently beneficial when applied 
to phagedenic and gangrenous ulcers, especially if the decoction be 
administered internally at the same time. 
“Some experiments have been made with the pulverized root in 
doses of twenty to thirty grains, for the purpose of ascertaining its 
a 
