139-4 
sensitive as an infusion of litmus, but its use limited, as freshness of the juice is 
absolutely necessary. 
PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION.—The principal primary action of Phytolacca is 
upon the stomach as an emetic; this action is remarkably slow, it being from an 
hour to two hours after its ingestion before emesis occurs. The next effects noticed 
are upon the nervous system, The toxic symptoms from an overdose are : more or 
less nausea, violent vomiting and purging, great thirst and discomfort in the epi- 
gastric region, feeble pulse, dimness of vision, vertigo, drowsiness, great prostra- 
tion and coldness of the periphery, followed by convulsion, and in one case, death. 
The grated fresh root applied to the skin causes a sensation of heat and 
smarting, followed by redness and finally vesication. 
On animals, Dr. Schultz found that the juice of the root in repeated trials 
resulted only in emesis, catharsis, and drowsiness. 
Compiling the symptoms occurring in various cases of poisoning, voluntary 
and involuntary, the most prominent and duplicating effects are as follows : mental 
indifference and stupor, dullness, giddiness, and vertigo; severe pressive headache 
with soreness; dilation of the pupil, with dimness of vision and photophobia; 
paleness of the face; tongue white-coated, with-a very red tip; it feels rough and 
blistered, and great pain is produced at its root on swallowing; profuse salivation, 
redness and soreness of the throat, followed by a collection of thick white or yel- 
lowish mucus about the fauces; the throat feels full and constricted, almost to 
suffocation, associated with a sense of suffocation also in the chest; every attempt 
to swallow attended with terrible shooting pains through the ears; nausea, cramps, 
and violent vomiting, followed by epigastric tenderness; griping pains in the ab- 
domen, with flatulence; violent purging, continuing until the passages become 
mucus and blood, and the desire constant; dryness of the larynx, dry hacking 
cough, and shallow breathing; feeble pulse; stiffness of the neck,.and in general, 
where lymphatic glands abound ; constant dull, heavy aching in the lumbar region 
and sacrum, with painful weakness and stiffness of both the upper and lower 
limbs; general sense of soreness and prostration, with drowsiness and coldness, 
followed by profuse cool perspiration. 
) As Homeeopathists, this account of the action of Phytolacca at once impresses 
~ us with its certain value in diphtheria, when a like condition exists, as it often does. 
Its numerous secondary symptoms in various organs noted in the provings, make 
it a valuable remedy in many forms of disease. On the whole, this remedy is one 
of the most important of the purely American plants. 
DESCRIPTION OF PLATE 1 39. 
1. End of a flowering branch, Pamrapo, N. J., August 2d, 1879. 
2. Root. 
3- Horizontal section of root. 
4. Fruit. 
5. Flower. | 
6. Section of ovary. 
(1-4 once reduced. eo 
