American Materia Medica, Therapeutics and Pharmacognosy

of this remedy.
He says: “In malarial troubles it has no superior.” He also recommends it
as a remedy for hemorrhoids; twenty-five drops of the pure tincture
injected into the rectum three a day promptly effect a cure. “It is also
prompt in stings from. insects and in poisoning by contact with certain
plants.” As an antidote to the venom of the crotalus horridus it stands
without a peer. He gives the history of 613 cases of rattlesnake bite in
men and animals, all successfully treated. With the courage of his
convictions upon him he injected the venom of the crotalus into the first
finger of his left hand; the swelling was rapid and in six hours was up to
the elbow. At this time he took a dose of the remedy, bathed the part
thoroughly, and laid down to pleasant dreams. On awakening in four
hours the pain and swelling were gone.
The fresh root scraped and given freely is the treatment used by the Sioux
Indians for snake bite. Recoveries from crotalus poisoning are effected in
from two to twelve hours.
By far the most difficult reports to credit are those of the individuals
bitten by rabid animals; there are between twenty and thirty reports at the
present time. In no case has hydrophobia yet occurred, and this was the
only remedy used in many of the cases. In five or six cases, animals
bitten at the same time as the patient had developed rabies, and had even
conveyed it to other animals, and yet the patient showed no evidence of
poisoning, if the remedy was used at once. One case exhibited the
developing symptoms of hydrophobia before the agent was begun. They
disappeared shortly after treatment. In no case has an opportunity offered
to try the remedy after the symptoms were actually developed. One poorly
nourished anemic and jaundiced child was badly bitten and the
treatment improved the general condition in a marked manner. In the
treatment of hydrophobia, a case is reported, which was bitten by a rabid
animal out of a litter of six halfgrown pups, all of which showed signs of
hydrophobia and were killed. A number of parties were bitten by these
pups. Two who were bitten died of hydrophobia, three were treated at the
Pasteur institute and cured, one was treated with echinacea and cured.
The doctor prescribed teaspoonful doses of echafolta, every three hours.
The remedy was introduced on saturated gauze into the wounds, and
covered all the injured surfaces. This was secured by a roller bandage.
Prior to the administration of the remedy the symptoms of nervous
irritation and incipient hydrophobia were strongly marked. These
Ellingwood’s American Materia Medica, Therapeutics and Pharmacognosy - Page 189