20 THE SOUECE OF THE DEUG DIOSCOREA. 



An infusion of the root is a valuable remedy in bilious colic. An ounce of the 

 powdered root must be boiled in a pint of water, and half of it given at a 

 dose. * * * I iiave been informed that Doctor INIiller, of Neville, Ohio, values 

 the tincture highly as an expectorant. He says it is also diaphoretic, and in 

 large doses emetic. 



For the introduction of the dioscorea into this work we are indebted to the 

 kindness of our friend, Dr. J. L. Riddell. He has not informed us upon what 

 principle it is supposed to afford relief in bilious colic, whether as an anodyne, 

 cathartic, or some other. We have no doubt, however, of its value in this com- 

 plaint, and, at the same time, think it highly probable that further investigation 

 will disclose its usefulness in other diseases. 



It will be observed that the plant described by both Kiddell and 

 Hance was Dioscorea glauca Muhl. The description of the rhizome as 

 " singularly tortuous, with numerous spiny protuberances " and 

 " sprangles usually near half an inch in thickness," and of the leaves 

 as " verticillate, from two to eight in a bunch," leaves no. doubt con- 

 cerning the plant which they used. In this connection it should be 

 observed (see fig. 2) that D. glauca occurs in southern Ohio, where 

 Riddell might have observed it. By the time King« published his 

 Dispensatory, however, one of the species with slender rhizomes had 

 come into use in eclectic medical practice. King's description in- 

 cluded characters of two or three species and was obviously compiled 

 from earlier authors. The rhizome, however, he undoubtedly de- 

 scribed from his own knowledge of it as " long, woody, contorted, from 

 an eighth to a fourth of an inch in diameter." He doubtless used D. 

 panicidata. This species was also used by W. S. Merrell in the prepa- 

 ration of his " dioscorein," and at that time (about 1850) was the 

 only plant recognized by the eclectic school as " Dioscorea viUosa^ 

 It must be remembered, however, that the "Z>. villosa " of " Howard's 

 Botanic Medicine " was D. glauca. The history of dioscorea be- 

 tween 1850 and 1880 can not be better outlined than by quoting from 

 Mr, C. G. Lloyd's article in the Supplement to the eighth edition of 

 King's Dispensatory.'' In order to make the quotations intelligible the 

 " Plate VII," which is referred to, is here reproduced as figure 4 : 



The rhizoma of Dioscorea villosa is a favorite tlierapeutical agent among 

 our eclectic physicians, who have advantageously used it for more than 

 forty years. It is known as wild yam and colic root. The first specimens 

 employed were from the Dioscorea villosa, with pubescent leaves (fig. 2, 

 PI. VII), now known as the "true wild yam." About tlie year 1850 botanic 

 druggists noticed the admixture by root diggers of the rhizomata represented 

 by figure 1, Plnte VII. and for a considerable time rejected it as an adulteration. 

 The diggers insisted, however, that both "roots" were obtained from vines 

 almost identical in appearance (although they can distinguish between them), 

 and finally purchasers were compelled to accept them, more especially as the 



^American Eclectic Dispensatory (1854), p. 440. 



& Supplement to the American Dispensatory, by John King and John Uri 

 Lloyd (1880), pp. 81-83. 

 189 



