588 ARNICA 



ARNICA 



ARNICA RHIZOMA. The dried rhizome and roots of Arnica 

 montana (B.P.). Leopard's Bane. Mountain Tobacco. 

 Nat. Ord. Composite. 



Arnica montana is a perennial, growing on the mountain- 

 ous parts of Central and Southern Europe, and also in 

 Asia and America. It has a hairy stem about one foot 

 high, composite yellow flowers, used in America for making 

 the tincture, obovate leaves, and a cylindrical, contorted, 

 brown root, one to three inches long, two or three lines thick, 

 distinguished by a peculiar, aromatic, offensive odour, and 

 a bitter, peppery, acrid taste. It contains mucin, extractive 

 matter, two volatile oils, and an active, bitter, yellow, 

 amorphous principle, arniein. 



ACTIONS AND USES. Arnica is irritant and stimulant, 

 has been credited with alterative properties, and is used 

 externally as a stimulant for strains, bruises, and wounds. 



Externally, arnica is a popular vulnerary for strains, 

 bruises, and wounds, and especially for broken knees and 

 sore shoulders. An ounce of the tincture is dissolved in 

 twelve to twenty ounces of cold, water. A more efficient 

 lotion is made with a drachm of arnica tincture and one to 

 two drachms of zinc sulphate or lead acetate, diluted with 

 ten or twelve ounces of water. For painful or irritable 

 wounds the tincture is employed with chloroform, bella- 

 donna, or laudanum, diluted with water according to 

 circumstances. With liberal feeding and tonics, a drop 

 of arnica tincture placed daily within the eyelids is one 

 of the remedies for those troublesome ulcers of the 

 cornea which affect weakly dogs recovering from distemper. 

 Arnica has, however, been overestimated ; the evidence 

 of its value as an internal remedy requires confirmation, 

 while the healing properties ascribed to it appear to depend 

 on the other drugs, spirit, or cold water with which it is 

 generally used. 



DOSES, etc. Horses take f3iv. to f i. of the tincture ; 

 cattle, double that quantity ; dogs H\v. to fl\viij., mixed 

 with water, ale, or gruel. The flowers, leaves, and root 

 are occasionally used powdered, especially in poultices ; 



