OLIBANUM-TREE
1185
j Toxicodendron is considered by some botanists as a variety only of Rhus radicans.)av e followed Nuttall and Decaudolle in considering it a distinct species.
Composition. —I am not acquainted with any detailed analysis of this1, a nt. There are at least two substances in it worthy of investigation;—'j'; the volatile, acrid ( narcotico-acrid?) principle, and the substancenick blackens by exposure to the air. Tannic and gallic acids are said0 p constituents of it.
I hysioeogical Effects. 1. Of the Emanations. —When not ex-? Su d to the sun’s rays, as when it grows in shady places, and during thev 8«t, this plant evolves a hydrocarburetted gas, mixed with an acridinfl ° Ur ’ "’hich acts most powerfully on certain individuals exposed to itsj Uer >ce, and produces violent itching, redness, and erysipelatous swell-o S of tl le f ac6j hands, or other parts, which have been subjected to itsRation; these effects are followed by vesications, and desquamation^ lc cuticle. In some cases the swelling of the face has been so greats Us° ^ av ° al most obliterated the features ; but all persons are not equally'°f ^ 0 UfiUl° of its poisonous operation ; so that some peculiar condition(n ,. le cutaneous organ seems necessary for the effect to be produced
Toxicol. Gen)
lt) " the Plant, (a.) On animals. —Orfila made several experi-Prob 'l ie watery extract of the Rhus radicans (whose operation is“ ; quite similar to that of 11. Toxicodendron), and concludes that
l 0c , Clll ally administered, or applied to the cellular texture, it produces atl>at ' lrr ^ a ti° n > followed by an inflammation more or less intense, anda bs V" exer ts a stupefying action on the nervous system after beingCoil Lavina gave a few drops of the milky juice of Rhus Toxi-
h/^ron to guinea-pigs and birds, who were at first stupefied by it,..f^adualiy recovered, without any other deleterious effect.t] le man.— In the human subject small doses of the leaves increase
ip Secr °tions of the skin and kidneys, act slightly on the bowels, and,W a ( ra ^' se( l persons, are said to have produced a return of sensibilityiu t j Mobility, with a feeling of burning and prickling, with twitcliings,ba lls e Paralysed parts. Large doses occasion pain in the stomach,of q )e a ’ Yomiting, giddiness, stupefaction, and an inflammatory swellinga t VV( Paralysed parts. These effects show that the poison-oak possessespi °*u operation, of an acrid and narcotic.k>rp; ( j S ' It has been employed in old paralytic cases depending on a'bati Con< ld'°n of the nerves. It has also been given in chronic rheu-°tli er ’ °bstinate eruptive disorders, in some cases of amaurosis, and_:\ ' lerVf)u s affections of the eyes.
Iiulf .'^'fsi’RATioN.—The powder of the leaves is given in doses of from
Prod
a grainUced.
or a grain, gradually increased until some obvious effect is
Boswetlia thurifera, Colebrooke.— Olibanum-Tree.
Boswel'lia serrata, L. D.
Sex. Syst. Decandria, Monogynia.r> (Gummi-resina, L. D .)
Idibanum w'as the frankincense used by' the ancients intflous ceremonies It is the Lebonah of the Hebrews, the Luban
4 G