4]^ VEGETABLE DRUGS 



Constituents. — 1, gambogic acid, a bright yellow or orange-red resin, to the 

 extent of about 75 per cent, of the crude drug; it is not so active as the crude 

 drug; 2, a soluble gum. 



Dose.~n., 3ss-i, (15-30); C, gi-iss, (30-45); Sh. & Sw., gr.xx-3i, (1.3-4); 

 D., gr.v-x, (.3-.6). 



Action and Uses. — Gamboge is a drastic, hydragogue purgative, and 

 slightly diuretic. Its action is uncertain and often violent, with produc- 

 tion of griping pains. Large doses cause vomiting in carnivora and 

 omnivora, and gastro-enteritis in all animals. 



Gamboge is dissolved by the bile and alkaline intestinal juices and 

 some of it is absorbed, since it colors the urine yellow in its elimination 

 and occasions diuresis. Attempts to create catharsis by injection of 

 gamboge into the blood, have proved futile. Gamboge should never be 

 prescribed alone and is rarely used in veterinary medicine. It has been 

 recommended in obstinate constipation, indigestion, impaction of the third 

 stomach, and cerebral diseases of cattle, combined with salts, or rubbed 

 up with water and an equal amount of aloes (aa§i). The gum forms an 

 emulsion when the drug is triturated with water. 



Purge for Cattle. 



Pulveris cambogiae oi- 



Sodii sulphatis. 



Sodii chloridi aa Ibss. 



Aquae Oil. 



M. 



S. Give at one dose. 



CoLOCYNTHis. Colocynth. (U. S. P.) 



Synonym. — Colocynthidis pulpa, B. P.; bitter apple, gourd, or cucumber, E.; 

 coloquinte, Fr. ; koloquinthen, G. 



The dried pulp of the fruit of CitruUus Colocynthis Schrader (Fam. Cucur- 

 bitaceae). 



Habitat. — A vine growing in North and South Africa, South and West Asia, 

 and Japan, etc. 



Description. — Fruits, before the removal of the seeds, nearly globular, from 

 4 to 7 cm. in diameter, usually more or less crushed and in broken pieces, with 

 occasional patches of the nearly smooth epicarp; yellowish-white or brownish; 

 light, spongy; odor slight; taste intensely bitter. 



The powder is yellowish-white or buflf. 



Constituents. — 1, the chief purgative principle is colocynthin (CBsHg^Oa), 1-2 

 per cent. An amorphous or Crystalline bitter glucoside. Soluble in water and 

 alcohol. There is also (2) an insoluble, resinous body called colocynthitin, colo- • 

 cynthein or citrvillin. 



Dose.— Colocynthin.— H., 3ss-i, (2-4); D., gr.i4-i, (.015-.06). 



Colocynth. — D., gr.ii-iii, (.12-.18). 



Elateriitum. Elaterin. C^HmOb. (U. S. & B. P.) 



Synonym. — Elaterine, Fr. ; elaterin, G. 



A neutral principle obtained from elaterium (wild or squirting cucumber), a 

 substance deposited by the juice of the fruit of Ecballium Elaterium (LinnS) 

 A. Richard (nat. ord. Cucurbitaceae). 



Habitat. — Elaterium grows in North Africa, West Asia and Southern Europe. 

 It is also cultivated. 



Derivation. — Elaterium is exhausted with chloroform. Ether is added and 

 elaterin is precipitated and is purified by redissolving in chloroform and crystal- 

 lizing. 



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