CALAMUS 33 



and is still favored as a constituent of remedies 

 recommended to the laity. 



CALAMUS (Calamus, Sweet Flag) 



Mentioned in all the early Pharmacopeias from 1820, but 

 given in Secondary List until 1840, when it was promoted to the 

 Primary List, holding this place in 1850. In 1860 it was again 

 reduced. It was official in the editions of 1880, 1890 and 1900, but 

 was dropped entirely from the edition of 1910. 



The use of calamus, Acorus Calamus, in the domestic 

 medication of India, is recorded from the very earliest 

 times. It is sold commonly in the bazaars, and Ainslie 

 (7) in his Materia Medico, of Hindoostan, 1813, 

 states that in consequence of its great value in the 

 bowel complaints of children, a severe penalty was 

 placed on the refusal of any druggist to open his door 

 in the night to sell calamus, when demanded. The 

 antiquity of its use is shown from the fact that it was 

 one of the constituents of the ointment Moses was com- 

 manded to make for use in the Tabernacle, (Ex. xxx), 

 while the prophet Ezekiel says of the commerce of Tyre, 

 "Bright iron, cassia, and calamus were hi thy market." 

 Theophrastus (633) mentions calamus, and Celsus 

 (136), nearly two thousand years ago, refers to it as a 

 drug from India. In the sixteenth century Amatus 

 Lusitanus (16a) reports it as imported into Venice, and 

 in 1692 Rheede (547) figures it as an Indian plant under 

 the name Vacha, the same name being stiU applied to it 

 on the Malabar Coast. From its tropical home cala- 

 mus has spread until it is now found in all temperate 

 climates suitable for its growth, the market supply 

 coming mainly from Southern Russia, through Ger- 

 many. The therapeutic use of calamus in pharmacy 

 and licensed medicine, as with other like substances, is 

 a gift of empiricism founded in the far distant past. 



