276  Ailanthus  Glandulosa  in  Dysentery.  {k"j*™imi!* 
AILANTHUS  GLANDULOSA  AS  A  REMEDY  FOR  DYSENTERY* 
In  a  recent  issue  of  the  Archives  de  Medecine  Navale  is  published 
an  official  note,  addressed  by  Dr.  Robert,  who  is  the  medical  chief  of 
the  naval  division  of  China  and  Japan,  to  the  inspector-general  of  the 
health  service  in  the  French  navy,  calling  attention  to  a  drug  used 
by  Chinese  physicians  in  the  treatment  of  dysentery.  It  consists  of 
the  root  bark  of  the  Ailanthus  glandulosa,  Desf.,  a  plant  belonging  to 
the  natural  order  Simarubaceae,  very  common  in  the  North  of  China 
and  less  so  in  Japan.  It  is  also  frequently  cultivated  in  France  and 
Italy  for  the  purposes  of  shade,  whilst  its  leaves  have  been  used  as 
food  for  silkworms. 
The  bark  of  the  root  is  the  only  part  employed.  It  is  white  when 
fresh,  resembling  mallow  root,  but  it  acquires  a  greyish  tint  in  dry- 
ing. It  is  fibrous  and  loose  in  texture,  and  is  almost  without  smell. 
An  infusion  of  this  bark  however  exhales  a  slightly  nauseous  odor, 
and  posseses  an  excessive  bitterness  resembling  that  of  sulphate  of 
quinia.  The  Chinese  physicians  employ  the  root  in  the  fresh  state 
only  ;  but  Dr.  Robert,  having  been  compelled  to  use  some  that  had 
become  dry,  found  no  sensible  difference  in  its  action  in  the  two 
states. 
For  administration,  50  grams  weight  of  the  fresh  root  is  cut  into 
very  small  pieces  and  triturated  with  75  grams  of  hot  water  for  a  few 
minutes  in  a  mortar,  in  order  to  soften  the  bark,  and  then  strained. 
A  teaspoonful  of  this  strong  infusion  is  administered  as  a  dose  morn- 
ing and  evening,  alone  or  in  a  cup  of  tea.  Taken  in  this  form,  it 
provokes  vomiting.  The  medicine  is  administered  in  this  manner 
during  three  days,  the  patient  being  kept  upon  full  diet.  After  that 
time  the  ailanthus  is  omitted  and  the  diet  is  altered  to  broths  until 
health  is  restored.  If  after  eight  days'  treatment  the  patient  is  not 
cured,  the  Chinese  physicians  recommence  the  use  of  the  ailanthus ; 
but  Dr.  Robert  states  that  he  has  not  met  with  a  single  case  in  which 
this  resumption  has  been  necessary,  although  he  has  had  under  his 
notice  some  where  the  disease  had  lasted  several  months,  as  well  as 
others  of  more  recent  origin. 
The  principal  symptoms  which  follow  the  administration  of  the 
ailanthus  are  said  to  be  nausea,  and  sometimes  vomiting,  followed  by 
a  temporary  lowering  of  the  pulse.    The  disappearance  of  blood  from 
*  Abstract  of  a  paper  in  the  Repertoire  de  Pharmacie,  vol.  ii.  p.  237. 
