American Materia Medica, Therapeutics and Pharmacognosy

CHIONANTHUS. Chionanthus virginica.
Synonym—Fringe Tree.
CONSTITUENTS—
Chionanthin, saponin.
PREPARATION—
Specific Medicine Chionanthus. Dose, ten to twenty minims.
Specific Symptomatology—The specific influence of the agent is exerted
upon the liver. It is a remedy for hepatic engorgement; jaundice more or
less pronounced; pain over the region of the gall bladder; pain in the
epigastrium; pain radiating from the navel over the abdomen; soreness in
the region of the liver, extending to the umbilicus; enlargement of the
liver, determined by percussion; nausea; occasional vomiting;
constipation with dry feces; temperature slightly above normal; skin
usually yellow. This latter indication—a distinctly yellow skin—has
always been my immediate suggestion for chionanthus and I have rarely
been disappointed.
Therapy—It is a cholagogue cathartic in full doses, but its best influence
is in acute congestion of the liver with imperfect discharge of bile, or
catarrh of the common bile duct. We have no agent more certain in its
action when indicated. The indications are acute jaundice evidenced by
yellowness of the conjunctiva first, subsequently of the skin, with distress
in the right hypochondrium, with cramp-like pains in the abdomen.
It overcomes catarrh, liquefies the bile, prevents the formation of calculi,
and promotes the discharge of those formed. It is a remedy for chronic
forms of liver disease, but its influence is not so plainly apparent, being
much slower in its operations. It is not indicated in jaundice from
permanent occlusion of the duct, from impacted gall stones or foreign
and malignant growths.
Bilious headaches resulting from liver faults especially if irregular or
periodical are cured by chionanthus.
The action of chionanthus in the treatment of tobacco habit must be
studied. It has an influence in many cases.
Ellingwood’s American Materia Medica, Therapeutics and Pharmacognosy - Page 119