956
ELEMENTS OF MATERIA MEDICA.
0*15, green resin 0'50, bitter resin 0*233, albumen 1*250, starch 0 ’
azotized matter, having little taste, 1*333, bitter azotized matter ’woody fibre 10*833, absinthate of potash 0*917, nitrate of potash 0- ’
sulphate of potash and chloride of potassium traces, water 61*2.
1. Volatile oil (Oleum Absinthii). —Green, sometimes yellow or brownish oil, j s
a strong odour of wormwood, aud an acrid, bitterish, peculiar taste. S P* "0*972. Nitric acid colours it green, then blue, afterwards brown. 0 b-
2. Bitter principle (Absinthin ).—Caventou (Journ. de Chim. Med. t. iv. p- O" ^ v0 „d
tained what he calls the pure bitter principle by precipitating an infusion of " ornl ■£(,eby acetate of lead, and separating the excess of lead by sulphuretted hydrogen.liquor was then evaporated to dryness, and the extract digested in alcohol nj lX ® H . sS aether; and the solution abandoned to spontaneous evaporation. The produc ^very bitter matter, in brown ramifications. By heat no crystalline sublimateobtained. , aler y
3. Absinthic acid. —May be precipitated, according to Braconnot, from the w j e |j.infusion of wormwood by acetate of lead. It is very acid, uncr vstallizable, a 11quescent. It does not precipitate the solutions of the nitrates of lead, mel ! clir '^. a ter-silver; but causes flocculent precipitates when dropped into barytes or b n,e "Absinthate of ammonia crystallizes in quadrilateral prisms, insoluble in alcohol- . e j
4. Salt of Wormwood (Sal Absinthii).— This is impure carbonate of potash, 0by incinerating wormwood.
Physiological Effects. — In moderate doses it produces theeffects of the aromatic bitter tonics (see p. 80). Its bitter priucipj®comes absorbed; hence the flesh and milk of animals fed with drendered bitter. Borrich [Act. Hafn. vol. ii. p. 165) says, that the 111rendered bitter by it proves noxious to the infant. \
Large doses irritate the stomach and excite the vascular system*specific influence over the nervous system, characterized by , ^ a y,giddiness, &c. has been ascribed to it (see Lindestolpe, in A.,App. Med. i. 183 ; and Kraus, Heilmittell. p. 422). This has usU j ja sbeen supposed to depend on the volatile oil; but a similar powerbeen assigned to the bitter principle.
Uses. —Wormwood is but little employed in medicine,ble to dyspepsia occurring in debilitated and torpid constitutions-was at one time celebrated for the cure of intermittents ; but it h aSsuperseded by other and more powerful febrifuges. It is said toefficacious as an anthelmintic, but it is very rarely employed as sIt has been used as a substitute for Artemisia vulgaris in epilepsy- . n
Administration. —Dose of the powder, 9j. to 5j.; of the(prepared by macerating Sj. of the dried herb in Oj. of boiling " a
f 3j* t0 f s’.i* , ,,- a y
Extractum Artemisia Absinthii, D. (Prepared in the usual ^from the tops of wormwood, by water).—It possesses the bitterness^the plant, but is devoid of the odour, flavour, and aromatic qualities ^pendent on the volatile oil. It is stomachic and tonic. Dose, g r *to 9j.
It is apP lic J"
Artemisia Mow’a, D. C.— Moxa-weed.
Sex. Syst, Syngenesia, Polygamia superflua.
(Folia; Moxa).
or
History. — The moxa is a small mass (usually cvlindri#^.^
IIIOIUIU. AHV, HH/au- If> a JMXldJU llldSft (UftLlallJ
pyramidal) of combustible vegetable matter employed tor