132 ORD. Polygalez. KRAMERIA TRIANDRA. 
_ cases of leucorrheea, and Sir Henry Halford has prescribed it with beneficial 
effects, in passive uterine hemorrhage. It has also been given with advan- 
tage in the advanced stage of typhus fever, also in intermittents, chronic 
rheumatism, and many diseases arising from a debilitated state of the diges- 
tive organs. As a general tonic it has proved equally beneficial, and often 
more speedy in its effects than the peruvian barks; and also where the lat- 
ter disagree with the stomach, it will be found a valuable substitute. Asa 
styptic, it has been applied to wounds with good effects; it has also been 
employed as a detergent in ulceration of the gums, and for fixing the teeth, 
when they become loosened by the receding of the gums; and for the latter 
purpose, the tincture, diluted with an equal proportion of water, forms an 
admirable lotion. As a dentifrice, equal parts of Rhatany root and powdered 
charcoal, will be found more efficacious than probably any other in use ; es- 
pecially when the gums are in a soft and spongy state. Rhatany root may 
be given in substance, in doses of from ten to thirty grains, repeated three 
or four times in the day. It may also be administered in decoction or infu- 
sion, or in the form of tincture or extract. The tincture (which is the mode 
in which it is generally exhibited on the Continent) is prepared by digesting 
three ounces of the bruised root, half an ounce of Serpentaria root, one 
drachm of hay saffron, and two ounces of orange-peel, in two pints of proof- 
spirit: of this tincture, two or three tea-spoonfuls may be taken, diluted 
with an equal quantity of water, three or four times a day. The infusion is 
prepared by pouring eight ounces of boiling water upon half an ounce of the 
bruised root ; of which, from one to two ounces may be taken for a dose, and 
repeated every six or eight hours. The decoction is made by boiling two 
ounces of the bruised root in one pint of boiling water, and may be given in 
doses equal to the infusion, The extract, which is also much used, we have 
administered in doses of from ten to twenty grains, with much benefit. Al- 
though Rhatany root is not in general use in this country, we are warranted 
in saying it is a valuable addition to our Materia Medica. 
Off. The root 
