29-2 
regard, but as yet the results are far from proving it carnivorous fer se, though 
the plants allowed insects as “food” appear to flourish better and ripen more 
seeds than those deprived of that nourishment.* 
History and Habitat.—The sundew grows in dense sphagnum or sandy 
swamps in England and America. Its range here extends from Florida northward, 
most common north, where it blossoms in June and July. 
The previous uses of this plant in medicine have been but slight; it was sup- 
posed in the sixteenth century to be curative of consumption ; of this quality, how- | 
ever, Gerarde says: “ The later physitians have thought this herbe to be a rare 
and singular remedie for all those that be in a consumption of the lungs, and 
especially the distilled water thereof; for, as the best doth keep and hold fast the 
moisture and the dew, and so fast that the extreme heate of the sun cannot con- 
sume and waste away the same; so, likewise, men thought that herewith the 
naturale and heate in men’s bodies is preserved and cherished. But the use 
thereof doth otherwise teach, and reason showeth the contrarie; for, seeing it-is 
an extreme biting herbe, and that the distilled water is not altogether without this 
biting qualitie, it cannot be taken with safetie: for it hath also been observed that 
they have sooner perished that used the distilled water hereof, than those that 
abstained from it and have followed the right and ordinary course of diet.” 
Geoffroi asserts+ that its infusion is a valuable pectoral, useful in pulmonary 
ulceration and in asthma. Rafinesque saysf{ the juice is used “to destroy warts 
and corns; with milk, for freckles and sunburns. It makes milk solid, but sour 
like bonyclabber, liked in Sweden. Deemed pectoral in South America, a sirup 
used in asthma.” Many medical writers, among them Schenck and Valentin, 
recommend its use in “ different kinds” of coughs, arising from bronchial attacks, — 
phthisis, and other diseases of the lungs. A’ fit summary of all this practice may 
be found in Hahnemann’s observations. “Drosera is one of the most powerful 
medicinal agents in our country. It was formerly used externally, but without 
success, in cutaneous affections, and it seems to have been taken with greater 
advantage internally. Modern practitioners who, according to custom, have tried 
only large doses, have not ventured upon giving it internally, fearing to kill their 
patients, and have therefore rejected it.” 
No preparations of Drosera are officinal either in the U. S. Ph. or Eclectic 
Materia Medica. 
PART USED AND PREPARATION.—The entire fresh plant gathered in 
July should be chopped and pounded to a pulp, enclosed in a piece of new linen 
and pressed out. The juice should then be added to an equal part by weight of 
alcohol, thoroughly mixed and allowed to stand eight days in a well-stoppered 
bottle in a dark, cool place. The tincture separated from the above mass by 
* Biisgen, Your. Chem. Soc., 1884, p. 917. A more extended discussion of this subject will be found under Sar- 
racenia, 19. 
+ Mer. et de L. Dict. de M. Med, I1., p. 699. 
t Med. Flora, I1., p. 217. 
