THE REQUISITION TO THE COUNCIL. 
505 
By the older pharmacologists it was regarded as an excellent vulnerary and 
styptic, a character in which it is still esteemed by the lower classes in Europe ; 
hence its popular French name Herbe aux Charpentiers. It has also been re¬ 
garded as efficacious in internal haemorrhages, leucorrhcea, nervous debility, 
epilepsy, colic, and in all cases requiring tonics, stimulants, and anti-spasmodics. 
In Sweden, according to Linnaeus,* it is employed for increasing the intoxicating 
powers of beer. The root has been used as a substitute for serpentaria, but 
Griffith states that the trials made with it have proved that it is very inefficient. 
As a remedial agent, it may be given in the form of extract, in doses of grs. v.- 
xxx ; or tincture (one part of the herb to six parts of alcohol), in doses of ^ss— 5 L 
The dose of the expressed juice is * * § iss—^iii, and that of the essential oil, gutt. 
x-xxx. Though rarely employed in modern European practice, it seems to 
merit further attention in the following cases: — 
1 . In suppression of the loclvia it was formerly employed with alleged success 
by Maumery,f and this practice has recently been revived by Dr. Eouzier-Joly.J 
who relates two cases illustrative of the emmenagogue powers of this plant; but 
further observations are necessary to establish its character as an emmenagogue. 
It is worthy of remark that in former times it was praised for a diametrically 
opposite state ; thus Dodoens,§ writing in 1586, remarks,—“ A decoction of 
Milfoyle drunken stoppeth all fluxes, especially the red flux in women that 
floweth too abundantly.” 
2. In hemorrhoidal affections it has long enjoyed considerable repute, both as 
a local application and as an internal remedy. The recent trials with it by Dr. 
Teissier,|j given internally in the form of infusion or expressed juice, seem to 
establish its utility beyond a doubt. He found it effectual not only in diminish¬ 
ing the size of hsemorrhoidal tumours, but in arresting hsemorrhoidal discharges, 
whether sanguineous, purulent, or mucous. This, he considers, is effected, not 
simply by the astringent property of the remedy, but by a special action on the 
vessels and nerves of the rectum. He limits its use to passive atonic states. 
3. In some atonic affections of the bladder attended with discharges it is well 
thought of by some American practitioners. u It is asserted,” remarks Dr. 
Porcher,^" “ that this plant has a marked tonic power upon the bladder; it is 
employed in debility of that organ, and is especially useful in correcting the in¬ 
voluntary discharge of urine in children.” May it not be that the special action 
which Dr. Teissier found this plant to exercise on the vessels and nerves of the 
rectum, mayexteud beyond that viscustotke neighbouring viscus—the bladder? 
4. In intermittent fevers it has the recommendation of Ferrein ; but probably 
its use in this class of cases would have been buried in oblivion, had it not been 
for the statement of M. Zanon,** that the bitter principle of the plant Achilleine 
used in Southern Europe as a substitute for quinine. If this be correct, the 
parent plant may merit attention as an antiperiodic.f f 
THE EEQUISITION TO THE COUNCIL. 
TO THE EDITOR OF THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL. 
Sir,—Iii the last number of the Journal was a report of the proceedings of 
the Liverpool Chemists’ Association. It contains the following statement :— 
* Flov. Suec. p. 299. t Journ. de Med. xxxiv. p. 402. 
t Bull. Gen. de Therap., June 30th, 185*7. 
§ Herbal, ed. 1586, p. 161. || Gaz. Med. de Lyon, Jan. 31st and Feb. 15th, 1857. 
Med. Bot. of South Carolina, p. 796, ** Op. cit. 
ft [. Achillea Millefolium has been introduced into the Secondary List of the Materia Medica 
in the recently-issued United States Pharmacopoeia.— Ed. Pharm. Journ.] 
