pine 223 



powerfully antiseptic, and is used in curing several articles of food. In a 

 medical point of view, its character is not yet sufficiently established, but it 

 appears to be the principle to which the various preparations of tar and 

 pitch owe their efficacy. It has proved very successful in the cure of tooth, 

 ache, as an application to burns, scalds, and ulcers, and is a powerful styptic 

 in arresting haemorrhage from capillary vessels ; it has also proved beneficial in 

 several cutaneous affections, in dyspepsia, neuralgia, diabetes, &c. From one 

 to three drops given in mucilage is a very efficacious remedy in arresting 

 vomiting occasioned by nervous irritability of the stomach. 



Pitch is seldom employed medicinally, it is reputed to remove 

 corns, and to have proved useful in various rheumatic affections, 

 applied in the form of plaster. The barbarous practice of 

 employing a pitch cap, in the scald head of children, is now very 

 properly abandoned. 



The resins are only used externally, and enter into some 

 ointments and plasters, in which stimulant or adhesive sub- 

 stances are required. 



Linnaeus*, and Gmelint, states, that the buds of the pine 

 are used in Siberia as a remedy for scurvy ; they have been 

 given in decoction in milk, whey, wine, or beer. They have 

 also been recommended in dropsy, leucophlegmasia, wander- 

 ing gout J, chronic rheumatism, and even syphilis. According to 

 Murray §, the bark, leaves, and tops of pine have similar pro- 

 perties to the buds, and the decoction has been used externally 

 for the same purposes as tar-water. The young cones yield by 

 distillation an essential oil, somewhat resembling that of tur- 

 pentine, and a resinous extract is prepared from them, which is 

 believed to possess similar properties to the Balsam of Peru. 



The dose of the essential oil of turpentine in gleet, &c. is from ten 

 to thirty drops ; in rheumatism a drachm may be given every four, 

 hours combined with cinchona, and two or three drops of tincture 

 of capsicum ; and for expelling tape worm an ounce combined 

 with syrup of poppies, or beat up with yolk of egg and some 

 aromatic water, which should be repeated every eight hours 

 till the desired effect is produced. If the second dose do not 

 operate, some castor oil should be exhibited. Dr. Copeland 

 recommends tincture of capsicum to obviate the unpleasant 

 effects produced by the oil upon the stomach. 



* Flora Suec. p. 874. 



f Flora Siberiie, torn. 1, p. 178. 



$ Bagliv. Opera, p. 117. 



§ Appar, Med. torn. 1. p. 5, 



