Am.  Jour.  Pharm.) 
April,  1920. ) 
Clay  as  a  Medicine. 
233 
seems  to  me  that  there  is  something  of  value  in  the  claims  of  the 
health  giving  properties  of  this  dirt.  We  all  know  that  many- 
dyspeptics  suffer  from  constipation  because  there  is  no  "roughage" 
in  their  food.  It  is  asserted  that  much  of  the  ill  health  of  the  Indian 
tribes  on  the  Government  reservations,  is  due  to  the  Government 
issuing  to  them  as  rations,  fine  wheat  flour,  so  different  from  the 
coarsely  comminuted  maize  used  by  the  Indians  when  running  wild. 
The  coarse  grain  containing  so  many  indigestible  particles  stimulated 
the  peristaltic  movements  of  the  bowels  and  constipation  was  un- 
known. 
As  to  the  use  of  clays  as  medicines  we  learn  from  the  very  in- 
teresting translation  of  Schelenz  writings  by  Mr.  Raubenheimer 
published  in  the  American  Journal  of  Pharmacy,  March,  1909, 
"that  Dioscorides  taught  that  alum  possessed  healing  and  astringent 
properties,  that  it  cured  boils  and  carbuncles,  frost  bite,  etc. 
"In  ancient  times,  earths  got  the  reputation  of  being  remedies 
against  poisons  and  also  against  plague  or  contagious  diseases. 
"The  ancients  went  so  far  as  to  claim  that  the  dishes  and  ves- 
sels burned  from  these  clays  and  earths  also  possessed  medicinal 
properties,  inasmuch  as  they  transferred  magic  power  to  the  liquids 
contained  therein.  Red  clays  were  also  very  popular.  Bole  Ar- 
menia was  especially  renowned  as  a  remedy  against  plague. 
"Many  family  recipes,  handed  down  for  centuries  involved  the 
use  of  various  earths,  externally  applied  as  clay  poultices  for  bee 
stings,  ulcers,  sores  and  all  kinds  of  inflammations." 
Thos.  Keenan  in  an  interesting  article  in  the  American  Druggist, 
February,  19 14,  says  that  "Antiphlogistine  which  was  placed  on 
the  market  in  1893  was  an  impure  form  of  kaolin,  originally  mined 
in  Wyoming,  now  obtained  from  other  sources.  The  name  kao-lin 
is  of  Chinese  origin,  meaning  high  hill  in  allusion  to  a  high  hill  in 
the  neighborhood  of  the  chief  ceramic  town  in  China." 
We  find  that  clay  in  various  forms  has  been  used  as  a  medicine 
for  generations,  either  externally  or  internally,  its  value  probably 
residing  in  its  powers  of  both  absorption  and  adsorption.  When 
used  as  a  poultice  its  heat  and  moisture  tend  to  soften  and  relax  the 
tissues,  thus  relieving  pressure  upon  the  nerves  and  also  taking  up 
discharges  from  suppurating  wounds,  sores,  etc. 
"Prof.  Una  of  Hamburg,  a  renowned  dermatologist,  holds  that 
the  therapeutic  action  of  Cataplasm  Kaolin  is  due  chiefly  to  the 
glycerin,  and  others  have  expressed  similar  opinions.    Una  contends 
