BUCHU 545 



sparteine is occasionally prescribed in dropsy associated 

 with heart disease, in doses of grs. viii. to grs. xlv. for 

 horses, and gr. f to grs. 1J for dogs. It is given in solution, 

 in pill, or electuary. For hypodermic injection a solution 

 of the sulphate (one part in fifty of distilled water) may be 

 used in appropriate doses. 



BUCHJJ 



BUCHU FOLIA. The dried leaves of Barosma betulina 

 (B.P.). Nat. Ord. Rutaceae. 



Buchu is a shrub two to four feet high, and a native 

 of the Cape of Good Hope. The leaves are smooth, dull 

 yellow-green, with a strong, penetrating odour, a bitter 

 aromatic taste, and varying in different species from half 

 an inch to an inch and a half in length. Oil glands 

 are distinctly visible in the leaves, especially near the 

 margin. They contain a volatile oil, a bitter substance, 

 and mucilage. 



ACTIONS AND USES. Buchu is a mild, stimulating bitter, 

 expectorant, and diuretic, and a disinfectant of the urino- 

 genital mucous membrane. The oil or active principle is 

 excreted by the kidneys and bronchial mucous membrane. 

 Robertson gave it to allay irritability in cystitis, using it 

 either alone or with borax or benzoic acid. The tincture 

 of buchu made with one of buchu to five of alcohol (60 

 per cent.) is seldom prescribed. 



The dose of the infusion for horses or cattle is i. to iv. ; 

 for dogs, 3J- to 39- The infusion is made with one part 

 leaves and twenty parts of boiling water. Animals readily 

 take this infusion when it is mixed with linseed tea or 

 barley water. It is sometimes advantageously conjoined 

 with belladonna, opium, hyoscyamus, potassium bromide, 

 or saline diuretics. 



Bearberry leaves the leaves of Arctostaphylos Uva-ursi 

 contain the bitter neutral extractive arbutin, which 

 within the body is in part converted into hydroquinone, 

 and is employed as a diuretic astringent, and antiseptic, in 

 chronic vesical irritation. 



2M 



