266 MEDICAL BOTANY. 



that he has always been successful in making solidified copaiva with balsam 

 that would dissolve in that menstruum, but always failed where the reverse 

 was the case. He adds that the test proposed by Gerber, and also by Planche, 

 of solution in caustic ammonia, is insufficient and not to be relied upon. 



Medical Properties, fyc. — Balsam of Copaiva, like the other oleo-resins, is 

 stimulant, diuretic, and cathartic. It appears, however, to exert more in- 

 fluence on the urinary passages than the other articles of its class, and has, 

 in consequence, been much used in diseases of these parts. An old writer on 

 Materia Medica (Fuller, Dispensatory), says of it : " It wonderfully deterges 

 the reins, ureter and bladder when obstructed with sand, mucus or pus; 

 strengthens them when relaxed, and heals them when ulcerated. It provokes 

 urine, extinguishes its heat, and cleanses off its bloody, foul, and purulent 

 contents more effectually than anything I ever met with." When the balsam 

 is taken internally, it is absorbed, and some of the oil passes out of the system 

 by the lungs, as the odour of it is very marked in the breath ; it also passes 

 off by the urinary passages, as is manifested by the heightened colour of the 

 urine, and the odour communicated to it. It often creates nausea and vomit- 

 ing, even in small doses, and any long-continued use of it impairs the diges- 

 tive function in a striking degree. In large doses it acts as an irritant to the 

 gastro-intestinal mucous membrane, giving rise to heat, nausea, Vomiting, 

 griping, and severe purgation. 



The principal employment of copaiva is in mucous discharges from the 

 genito-urinary organs, and especially in gonorrhoea, but there is much dif- 

 ference of opinion as to its exact powers in this complaint, and to the time 

 or stage of the disease to which it is most appropriate ; some writers recom- 

 mend that it should be given at the very commencement of the disease, with- 

 out any preliminary treatment, whilst others, on the contrary, assert that it is 

 injurious, except when the violence of the inflammatory stage is subdued by ap- 

 propriate remedies. The first of these plans is very commonly resorted to in 

 this country, and has, in some cases, been productive of unpleasant results, at 

 the same time it must be stated that empirical as such treatment must appear, 

 it is more successful than where the balsam is employed at a later stage of the 

 complaint. In all stages, the copaiva is more successful in gonorrhoea in 

 males than in females ; this is accounted for by the fact, that except at the 

 very commencement of the disease, and oftentimes even then, the vagina is 

 more affected than the urethra. 



Copaiva has also been much employed in chronic inflammation of the blad- 

 der, and in some obstinate forms of chronic bronchitis, spasmodic asthma, and 

 hooping cough, either alone or in combination with opium and ipecacuanha. 

 In old inflammations of the lower intestines, it has proved beneficial, and ac- 

 cording to Cullen, it gives great relief in hsemorrhoidal affections. 



Copaiva is given in a variety of forms, either dropped on sugar, or floated 

 on water, with the addition of a few drops of bitter tincture to disguise the 

 taste, or in emulsion made of white of egg or mucilage, flavoured by some 

 aromatic, or with the addition of sweet spirits of nitre. When combined 

 with liquor potassse, its effects in gonorrhoea are much increased. It is also 

 given in pills made of the balsam solidified, by means of magnesia, but since 

 the invention of the gelatine capsules, the usual form of administration is in 

 an unmixed state, enclosed in these coverings, by which the nauseous odour 

 and taste are completely removed. The dose of copaiva is from twenty drops 

 to a drachm, or more. 



Numerous other species have been described by Hayne and others, but only 

 five are recognised by De Candolle, in his Prodromus. 



