536 MEDICAL BOTANY. 



The Poke is found in most parts of the United States, and is naturalized in 

 some places in Europe and Northern Africa. It flowers in July and ripens 

 its fruit in the autumn. The shoots, when they first emerge from the ground, 

 are used as a substitute for Asparagus, but when they have attained any size 

 are apt to act on the bowels. The ashes of the stem and leaves contain a large 

 proportion of potash, which in the plant is in union with an acid very similar 

 to the malic; in consequence of this abundance of alkali, and the supposed 

 detergent properties of the plant, the author of the notes to the Pictorial Bible 

 (i. 161), suggests that this plant or one of its kindred species is the Hyssop 

 of Scripture. 



The parts used in medicine are the leaves, berries and root, the two latter 

 of which are officinal. These berries are succulent, and contain much purple 

 juice. They have a sweetish, nauseous, somewhat acrid taste, and a peculiar 

 though faint odour. The colouring matter is exceedingly changeable, and 

 hence cannot be applied to purposes of dyeing. Some years since I made 

 many hundred trials to discover a mordant for this purpose, but failed in them 

 all ; the nearest approach to fixing it being with the juice of the Crab apple, 

 but in all cases it changed to a dirty brownish-red. The root as brought to mar- 

 ket is in transverse slices, of a whitish-brown externally, somewhat wrinkled, 

 and showing on the internal cut surface, numerous concentric rings ; when 

 fresh, these rings are alternately light-brown and yellowish-white, but change 

 to a general shade of brown, when the root has been kept for some time. 

 The taste is somewhat sweetish, followed by a sensation of acrimony. When 

 the root is fresh, it has an odour resembling that of Ginseng {Donnelly), which 

 it loses by age. From an analysis by Mr. E. Donnelly {Am. Jour. Pharm. 

 ix. 165), it appears to contain, Gum Resin, 2*62 ; Starch, 20 ; Potash, 2 ; a 

 small quantity of fixed oil, &c, and 66*5 of woody fibre. 



Medical Uses, fyc. — The leaves are somewhat purgative, but are principally 

 used in domestic practice as a dressing to ulcers. The root is an exceeding- 

 ly active emeto-cathartic, and also displays some narcotic powers, and in 

 large doses causes most of the symptoms of the acro-narcotics. Mr. Donnelly 

 states that he has known it to cause all the effects of a severe coryza, on a 

 person powdering it, accompanied with headache, purging, and prostration 

 of strength. It has been proposed as a substitute for Ipecacuanha, but its 

 tendency to act on the bowels, and its slowness of operation, militate against 

 its use. It has been given in small doses, as an alterative in chronic rheu- 

 matism. Drs. Jones and Kollock, of Savannah, state that it is an effectual 

 remedy for syphilis in its various stages, and is also very beneficial in rheu- 

 matism and chronic eruptions, (Coxe, Dispen.) The extract of the root, or 

 of the whole plant, according to Dr. Shultz (Inaug. Diss.), is highly useful 

 in the cure of scabies and herpes, and in syphilitic rheumatism is more bene- 

 ficial in allaying pain than opium. This extract is also employed in domestic 

 practice, in the treatment of indolent ulcers, and as a dressing to ulcers. 



From the berries an extract or tincture may be made, the first of which 

 has attained some celebrity in rheumatism, and the extract has, it is said, 

 been beneficial in scrofula, and as an external application to cancerous sores. 

 An ointment, made by mixing a drachm of the powdered leaves or root with 

 an ounce of lard, has proved of advantage in obstinate cutaneous affections. It 

 has also been asserted on good authority, that a strong infusion of the leaves 

 is an admirable remedy in hemorrhoids. It is to be given internally and by 

 injection. 



The dose of the powdered root as an emetic is from ten to thirty grains ; 

 as an alterative, from one to five grains. That of the tincture about f3j., 

 three or four times a day. 



