COMMON CAPSICUM.

879

^ head, drunkenness, and giddiness, as being produced by large

cin e SF * S '"—Capsicum is more employed as a condiment than as a medi-v «Ur ^ ' s a dded to various articles of food, either to improve their fla-j\f e v’ 0r ’if difficult of digestion, to promote their assimilation, and toflatulence. The inhabitants of tropical climates employ it toand ate l ^ le digestive organs, and thereby to counteract the relaxing^ en ervating influence of hot climates.r n( '* a Medicine it is principally valuable as a local stimulant to theto p’ throat, and stomach. Its constitutional not being in proportionAdip lo 1’' c al effects, it is of little value as a general or diffusible stimulant.e ^a WlSteve d internally capsicum has long been esteemed in cases ofS[J r Jf fle maligna. It was used, in 1786, with great success, by Mr.(J 0 jp ens (Duncan’s Med. Comment. Dec. 2nd, vol. ii. 1788), and by Mr.K(.p a * ns . ( Med. Communications, vol. ii. p. 372, 1790). It promoted the

t()in '“ ll0n °f the sloughs, and soon improved the constitutional symp-al SQ S ‘ Mr. lleadbv ( Land. Med. and Phys. Journ. vol. v. p. 425, 1801)^Ployed it both internally and by way of gargle. Its use has beenV°isrt *° scar ^' lna anginosa (Kreysig, U. d. Scharlachfieber , 1802, intffj f) s Arzneim.) As a gargle in relaxed conditions of the throat, itsof a ac f is undoubted. The powder or tincture may be applied by means»bl e Caule !’ s 'hair pencil to a relaxed uvula. It is a very useful and valu-.^.ic stimulant in enfeebled, languid, and torpid conditions of theje^h. Thus, in the dyspepsia of drunkards, as well as of gouty sub-'ario U *’ as * )uei1 foun d useful (Chapman, Elem. of Therap. vol. ii.) InC* diseases, attended with diminished susceptibility of stomach,the > is an exceedingly useful adjunct to other powerful remedies,

t},i s T Wat i°n of which it promotes by raising the dormant sensibility of1 ), Vls '"-- ■ . , - - 1 -’ “

Ministration. —The powder of capsicum is usually given in doses

The dose

°perat:

r. w SCUS : as in cholera,"intermittents, low forms of fever, dropsies, &c.a s a Vri 8ht {Med. Facts and Observ. vol. vii.) speaks in high terms of itt r °,. re 'ne < ly for obviating the black vomit—a symptom of the fever ofio a y | climates, at one time considered fatal. A capsicum cataplasmMflch USe( ^ ' y hh advantage to occasion rubefaction, in any cases indel )f a n focfacient counter-irritant is indicated ; as in the coma andPefj ! lrn of fever, in chronic rheumatism, &c.: unless kept on for a long

A „ ^ ^ 0es not vesicate.

■ r v D' ~of f ro

of ^ 111 S 1- - v. to gr. x., made into pills with crumbs of bread,dig®, tincture will be mentioned presently. The infusion (prepared bya.(] ni j . s 3ij. of capsicum in f3x. of boiling water for two hours) may beti ria lste red in doses of fjss. But, in malignant sore tliroat and scarla-per L Ca J!' s ! CUm has been employed in much larger doses. Stephen's pep-*icu m e< 7 c * ne consisted of two table-spoonfuls of small red pepper [Cap-^J\ Utescens ^ or three of the common Cayenne pepper, and two tea-li(| Uor " s °f fine salt, digested in half a pint of boiling water. To thetahjy ’ stra ined when cold, half a pint of very sharp vinegar is added. Ae a *P°°nful of this mixture is given to an adult every half hour. Theitig m gargle is prepared by infusing 3ss. of capsicum in a pint of boil-r° Ses ater i or by adding f5yj. of the tincture to f3viij. of the infusion ofgargle ° r > in some cases, Stephen’s pepper medicine may be used as a

m CTUR A Capsici, L. E. D.—(Capsicum , bruised [or, if percolation