ELEMENTS OF MATEIIIA MEDICA.
1200
oil*
recognised by its strong disagreeable odour, which it owes to volatileIts taste is bitter and nauseous. 100 lbs. yield by drying about eThe dried herb is greyish-green, and has a less powerful odour. ^
unripe fruit (fructus imrnaturus rutce) is also officinal in the EdinbuVPharmacopoeia. ,. ^
Composition. —Rue was analyzed, in 1811, by Mahl (Pfaff, fiv. 339), who found in it the following constituents :— Volatile oil, a*extractive , chlorophylle, peculiar vegeto-animal matter precipitatetincture of nutgalls, malic acid, gum, albumen, starch, and woody
1. Volatile Oil of Rue ( Oleum Rutm). —Is obtained by submitting the ^ el l ’ (J . r . ofwater, to distillation. It is pale-yellow, has a bitterish acrid taste, and a sP’ »
0 911. It is somewhat more soluble in water than the other volatile oils.
2. Bitter Extractive. —Very bitter, insoluble in alcohol and ether. ^
Physiological Effects, (a.) On Animals generally.— Orfila (7^*Gen.) found that eighteen grains of oil of rue injected into the veins of a °acted as a narcotic, and caused staggering and feebleness of the p ost fextremities ; but in a few hours the animal had recovered. Six ounC - t j 1 iothe juice of rue introduced into the stomach of a dog, killed him 'V j
The mucous membrane of the stomach was
twenty-four hours,inflamed.
(b.) On Man .—The topical action of rue is that of an acridmuch handled it is apt to cause redness, swelling, andskin. The following is an illustrative case from Buchner
fom 10
Whenthe
vesicatl °^
{Tox
265):—After some very hot days in June 1823, Roth, an apo
ithecap
rat
‘fall
Ascliaffenburg, cut down a considerable quantity of rue while 111bloom, and separated the leaves from the stalks. The next morning ^ ;fhis hands were very red and hot, and, on the third day, appearedthey had been exposed to hot aqueous vapour. They were besm gwith oil. Towards evening vesication commenced, and was most cat the points of the fingers. On the fourth day the parts were stm , orswollen; and between the blisters the skin had assumed a dark r t ] j6purplish hue. On the fifth and sixth days the swelling extended VV ^back part of the arms as far as the elbow. Poultices (of chainomielder flowers) were applied, and the blisters cut. Within four weeskin had gradually peeled off. His children, who had played wirue, suffered with swelling of the face and hands. 0 frc-
The constitutional effects of rue are those of a stimulant and ® a gter ja*It has long been celebrated as an antispasmodic in epilepsy* h> q,and flatulent colic. It is a very popular emmenagogue, especi ur .hysterical cases, and is sometimes resorted to for the purpose of 1 ^ eing abortion. Its narcotic and reputed uterine influence seems ^ 0 fproved by three cases of poisoning with it, taken for the p ur P xJC jy.causing miscarriage, published by Helie {Land. Med. Gaz. v0 -
oW c
p. 171). In these cases the rue produced the effects of an acr0 ’JJ„ nlI) i3'poison—viz. epigastric pain, violent and continued vomiting* nl ^. gor( lei'tion and swelling of the tongue, salivation, colic, fever, thirsty ^ aI1 tlof the muscular system (manifested by tottering gait, and irregconvulsive movements of the body and limbs), giddiness, confuse g0ll iecontracted pupil, delirium, or rather reverie, somnolency, and, a gII , a ll,
days, miscarriage. During the stupor the pulse was feeble, ve . r -^ re wei' e
and slow (in one case beating only thirty times in the minute); a ppeH r 'great debility, faintness, and coldness of the skin. The genera