298 
MEDICAL PEOPEETIES OF THISTLE-OIL. 
“ From my experience of the oil, it seems sometimes to have great power in relieving 
colic ; but it is very uncertain in its effects.” 
Dr. Selons reported from Sultanpore—“ I have had several opportunities of trying the 
thistle-oil, and in my opinion it is an excellent remedy in colic. 
“ In one case, which occurred in my own compound, one dose of half a drachm allayed 
the pain and caused action of the bowels ; in others, two doses have been required; but 
in all, the medicine appeared to exercise some influence beyond that of a mere purgative, 
as the pain vv^as in all cases alleviated by its administration before the bowels acted. 
“ I am inclined to consider it a valuable addition to the indigenous Pharmacopoeia.” 
Dr. Condon reported from Baraitch that “ it was tried in only three or four cases, and 
in some it did no good at all; in others it did afford some relief. It w’as more exten¬ 
sively used as an application to some skin diseases, as ‘ scabies ’ or ‘ itch,’ and in some 
forms of ‘psoriasis;’ and its beneficial effect was very marked in all. 
“I am of opinion,” he says, “that its utility in colic is doubtful; but as an applica¬ 
tion in skin diseases, there can be no doubt whatever of its being a valuable remedial 
agent.” 
The same medical officer reported from Gondah that “ it was used internally in four- 
cases of colic, in each of which it gave relief“ but,” he states, “ the number is too 
small for me to form an opinion of its merits.” He tried it in skin diseases very exten¬ 
sively, and found that it was an excellent remedy, rarely failing to afford relief ; he 
further states that there can be no question as to its utility in some skin diseases, more 
especially that kind of “psoriasis” which is so common among natives, and also in 
“scabies.” I sent a large tin of the oil to Dr. Wilkie, then Deputy-Inspector-General 
of Hospitals, Meerut Circle, for trial in his dispensaries. He soon after left Meerut for 
the lower provinces, and I have not heard what the result has been. 
Dr. O’Shaughnessy, in his ‘Bengal Dispensatory,’ under article Argemone Mexicana, 
states that “ he subjected the seeds to numerous experiments, and has never found them 
to show any emetic or narcotic influence ; they contain a bland oil, resembling that of 
poppy oil, and which can be used in ounce doses -without producing any purgative 
effect.” 
The accounts given by the different individuals who tried it are conflicting, b-at, upon 
the whole, they are favourable. Its great usefulness in skin diseases I don’t think can be 
doubted. There is discrepancy in results of trials made with the oil used internally for 
colic. I think this can be easily accounted for. All oils are changed more or less by 
keeping, and it is quite possible that the differences in the result originated in one case 
in being kept more exposed to the air than in another. The newly-pressed oil may give 
results different from those when a long time has elapsed after the seeds have been 
pressed. Differences of climate and soil may undoubtedly produce a change in the pro¬ 
perties of a plant. No one doubts that all the varieties of Nicotiana TahacMm descended 
from the same stock, but no two kinds agree exactly in their properties; some have 
more, some have less of the narcotic principle. So it may be with the plant under con¬ 
sideration. We all call it Argemone Mexicana, but the one that grows in Mexico may 
have different properties from the one that grows in the West Indies, in Bengal, or the 
North of India. 
I think it is well deserving of more extensive trials. If we find it of use, its value will 
be enhanced by the extent of country over which it spontaneously grows. I think if 
separate trials be made with fresh seed and old seed, with fresh oil and old oil, we may 
arrive at some conclusive results regarding the properties of each. I am now making 
trials with the fresh pounded seed mixed up with a little flour and water. I use it rs a 
poultice for indolent ulcers and skin diseases. At some future period I shall give the 
result of my experiments. 
Baboo Kanny Loll Dey states that the oil is of a pale yellow colour. Certainly, the 
oil -which I had extracted in Lucknow was of a very different colour, it had a marked 
reddish-brown tinge, resembling somewhat that of the dark coloured cod-liver oil. It 
became much paler by keeping. The cost of producing the oil in Lucknow is as 
follows:— 
Collecting seed, from 2 to 4 pice per seer. 
Pressing a maund of seed (40 seers) by the native process, 1 rupee and 4 annas. 
A maund of seed gives 8 seers of oil. 
So that the oil costs about 3 rupees and 2 annas for 8 seers, or less than 8 annas a 
