PODOPHYLLUM 249 



Plaster" of the early botanies. This contained podo- 

 phyllum, phytolacca, and sanguinaria. Concerning 

 podophyllum, Buchan (110) comments as follows 

 (1816): 



"This plant is very common throughout North 

 America. The fruit is esculent, and by many thought 

 delicious. The leaves are poisonous. The root is an 

 excellent purgative in doses of twenty grains. It is 

 most advantageously used in combination with calomel, 

 or crystals of tartar. The root, also, often operates as 

 anthelmintic, and as such it is used by the Cherokee 

 and other Southern Indians. 



"The best time for gathering the May apple, for medi- 

 cal purposes, is in autumn, when the leaves have turned 

 yellow, and are about falling off. The Indians dry it in 

 the shade, and powder it for use." 



King, in the first edition of the American Dispensa- 

 tory, 1852, introduces podophyllum as follows: 



"PROPERTIES AND USES. Cathartic, emetic, alter- 

 ative, anthelmintic, hydragogue, and sialagogue. It is 

 equal, if not superior to jalap as a cathartic, and espe- 

 cially when in combination with bitartrate of potassa, 

 it induces copious watery stools, on which account it 

 has been found serviceable in dropsical affections. As a 

 deobstruent, it is one of the most valuable in our ma- 

 teria medica, acting through and upon all the tissues 

 of the system and its action continues for a long 

 tune. . . . 



"In constipation, podophyllum acts upon the bowels, 

 without disposing them to subsequent costiveness." 



