Botanic Remedies 171 



said to influence the respiratory center. It has 

 been urged in the treatment of asthma and hay fever, 

 principally by the Homeopathists. Use fl. in 10- to 

 15-minim doses. Some contend for much smaller 

 doses. Sometimes it has aided cases of spasmodic 

 asthma under my care; but usually it has failed. It 

 has wholly failed in hay fever. 



Euphorbia corollata is used in 1- to 5-minim doses 

 fl. in atonic dyspepsia. The smaller dose may aid 

 such cases in the same way that very small dosage 

 of ipecac sometimes does. E. ipecacuanhae is used 

 similarly to E. corollata. E. heterodoxa is, with sal- 

 icylic acid, the secret "cancer cure" of certain 

 quacks. 



FRANGULA 



BUCKTHORN, Rhamnus frangula. Very generally 

 official; the bark in the U. S. and many other coun- 

 tries, the berries in France and Belgium. Like 

 cascara, the bark should be collected one year 

 before using so as to lose its acrid and emetic prop- 

 erties. A purgative of the anthracene group, con- 

 taining emodin and chrysophanic acid. 



Some years ago a prominent authority said: 

 "There is little reason for considering it (cascara) 

 as essentially different from or more valuable than 

 frangula bark or common buckthorn, and hence its 

 popularity, being forced and fictitious, will be short- 

 lived." How fallible authorities are! Now, as a 

 matter of fact, both R. purshiana and R. frangula, 

 when fresh, are harsh and violent in action; but a 

 year's curing of the bark removes these harsh 

 properties. Frangula should be more popular; it 

 is very closely allied to cascara. The old "SUR- 

 GEON'S TEA" was a decoction of frangula and uva 



