10 On the Medical Properties of the 



II. On the Medical Properties of the Eapatorium Per- 

 foliatum, or American Thorough-Wort. In a letter 

 from William Darlington, M. D., of Chester- 

 County, Pennsylvania, to the Editor. 



Dear Sir, 



THE beneficial effects of the Eupatorium Per- 

 foliatum, in certain cutaneous affections, have been 

 observed by several physicians ; and I think it a me- 

 dicine which merits a more frequent attention from 

 the faculty than it has yet received. As a Tonic, I 

 have used it to a considerable extent, and always with 

 satisfaction. It serves as an excellent substitute for 

 the Peruvian Bark ; and is often admissible where 

 the exhibition of the Cinchona would be doubtful 

 practice. This superiority is probably owing, in a 

 great measure, to its greater diaphoretic tendency. 



I have lately given the infusion of the flowers, with 

 the best effect, in the case of a man who had greatly 

 impaired his constitution, by excessive potation of 

 ardent spirits. He complained of debility of the sto- 

 mach and bowels, accompanied with slow fever, and 

 a dry, husky state of the skin. Those affections are 

 now in a great measure removed, and his health in a 

 fair way of being restored. He still continues the 

 use of the infusion. 



But it is in diseases of the skin that the Eupatorium 

 exerts its most remarkable influence. A number of 

 cases have come to my knowledge, in which the use 



