142  On  New  Pulmonary  Medicaments.      { XmMt™h  imrni' 
furnished  to  medicine  very  energetic  purgatives,  such  as  croton  tiglium 
and  caper  spurge ;  it  is  an  herbaceous  annual  plant,  growing  in  Brazil 
and  other  tropical  countries,  and  in  Australia;  the  specimens  which 
served  for  our  clinical  experiments  came  from  Queensland,  Australia. 
The  active  principle  is  an  acrid  resin  which  is  soluble  in  water  and 
dilute  alcohol.  When  the  aqueous  extract  or  the  hydro-alcoholic 
extract  is  administered  to  animals,  such  as  frogs  or  guinea-pigs,  it  is 
observed  that  in  the  case  of  frogs  this  extract  is  toxic  in  the  dose  of 
ten  to  fifteen  centigrams,  which  corresponds  nearly  to  five  grams 
of  the  dried  plant  to  one  hundred  grams  of  the  weight  of  the 
animal.  In  the  guinea-pig  the  toxic  dose  is  less ;  the  animal  suc- 
cumbing to  a  dose  of  fifty  or  sixty  centigrams  of  the  extract, 
equivalent  to  about  one  gram  of  the  dried  plant  per  one  hundred 
grams  of  the  animal's  weight. 
When  we  come  to  inquire  into  its  physiological  effects,  we  note  that 
it  acts  chiefly  on  the  respiratory  apparatus,  and  that  to  a  period  of 
acceleration  succeeds  a  period  of  retardation  of  the  respiratory  move- 
ments and  beatings  of  the  heart ;  hence,  it  is  probable  that  this  medi- 
cine acts  directly  on  the  respiratory  and  cardiac  centers. 
Dr.  Mattheson,  in  1884,  was  the  first  to  call  attention  to  the  action 
of  euphorbia  pilulifera  in  the  treatment  of  asthma,  and  Dr.  Tison,  of 
France,  was  the  first  to  utilize  this  property  in  dyspnoeas  of  asthmatic 
and  even  of  cardiac  origin. 
From  a  pharmaceutical  point  of  view  you  may  make  use  of  the 
following  preparations  :  (1)  The  hydro-alcoholic  extract  of  the  plant, 
which  may  be  given  in  the  dose  of  ten  centigrams  (one  and  two- 
thirds  grains)  a  day;  (2)  or,  the  decoction,  which  Dr.  Tison  directs  to 
be  prepared  by  steeping  half  an  ounce  of  the  dried  plant  in  two  quarts 
of  water,  the  dose  to  be  three  or  four  wineglassfuls  a  day.  (3)  I  am 
myself  in  the  habit  of  using  the  tincture,  of  which  I  give  ten  drops 
three  times  a  day.  I  recommend  you  to  cause  this  preparation  to  be 
taken  shortly  before  meal-time  in  a  cup  of  some  aromatic  infusion, 
such  as  polygala  or  wall  pellitory.  You  will  thus  avoid  the  local 
irritant  action  which  characterizes  almost  all  the  extracts  of  this 
spurge.  (1)  There  exists,  lastly,  a  syrup  made  by  Petit,  which  con- 
tains five  centigrams  of  the  extract  in  each  tablespoonful. 
In  patients  suffering  from  dyspnoea,  whether  resulting  from  simple, 
asthma,  or  from  pulmonary  emphysema,  or  even  a  cardiac  affection, 
euphorbia  has  sometimes  given  us  good  results,  but  it  will  not  do  to 
