PUNICA GJRAXATrSl 121 



Decoction; — (French Codex.) 



Fresh bark of pomegranate root. . 60 grams. 



Water .'..., / ' 750 " 



Macerate 6 hours, boil oyer slow fire till- reduced to 500 

 grams. Strain. Adniinister fasting, in 3 doses half an hoiir 

 apart. The evening before the patient should eat a light meal 

 and take a cathartic in order that the intestinal canal may con- 

 tain the smallest possible quantity of faecal matter. After tak- 

 ing the third dose of the <lecoction the patient should take a 

 mild purgative such as 30 grams of castor oil to expel the taenia. 

 This preparation has, a most disagreeable taste. It is better to 

 give the " tannate of peUetierine," a compound of tannin and one 

 of the alkaloids that Tanret discovered in pomegranate root. 

 A sufficient dose of tannate of pelleti-erincis 30—40 centigrams in 

 wafer form, followed by ^ purge and with the other precautions 

 and preparatory measures mentioned above. It causes toxic 

 sympitoms similar to those produced by curare, according to the 

 experimental studies of Dujardin-Beaumetz and Rochenifere. Its 

 action is upon the - ends of the motor nerves. A dose of 40 

 centigrams may cause id man such symptoms of intoxication as 

 vertigo, inverted vision and muscular paralysis. Pelletierine 

 should not be administered to children,- bift.B6ranger-Feraud 

 states that the tannate may be safely, given theni, as follows : 



Tannate of pelletierine , 0.30 grams. 



Sweetened water ...'..., 40.00 " 



A coffee-spoonful of this solution contains 0.03 gram of the 

 tannate, and this quantity may be given to a child, in a little 

 milk. If no. symptoms supervene within one-half hour give 

 another similar dose and so on up to 3 or 4 doses or.. 12 gm. in 

 all. After the last dose give the purgative as a routine. It is 

 certainly imprudent to trust the administration of such a drug 

 to any one incapable of recognizing the symptoms of intoxica- 

 tion, and as no one but a physician can judge the effects of the 

 alkaloid he himself should remain with the patient until the 



