American Materia Medica, Therapeutics and Pharmacognosy

infusion, capsicum and white- oak bark—quercus alba—and adding to it
an active antiseptic, as boric acid or echinacea. This can be given for sore
throats when no opportunity for specific diagnosis is afforded.
In its general stimulant effect this agent is a valuable one in combination
with quinine in intermittents, and also when the latter agent is given as
a tonic and restorative. They act most harmoniously in conjunction, and
the influence of the quinine is greatly intensified. It is safe to say that
one grain of capsicum, combined with three grains of quinine, will
produce better antiperiodic effects than ten grains of quinine would
accomplish uncombined in extreme cases of ague, especially if
accompanied with general torpor and inactivity of the liver and of the
nervous system, as in malignant intermittents and pernicious fever.
The old Thompsonian No. 6 is made by combining myrrh two ounces,
capsicum half an ounce, and dilute alcohol two pints. Of this, from five
drops to a dram may be given at a dose, and it produces a most
profoundly stimulating influence. It was the main dependence of Samuel
Thompson.
The old antispasmodic combination known as the Compound Tincture of
Lobelia and Capsicum, unfailing with many of the old doctors as an
antispasmodic and general relaxant, is made of lobelia, capsicum and
skunk cabbage root two ounces, alcohol two pints. It may be made
extemporaneously by combining equal parts of the tinctures of the
remedies. It is given in from ten drops to one dram, and was relied upon
in all spasmodic affections, including puerperal eclampsia and tetanus.
Capsicum is advised in chronic parenchymatous nephritis, in
pyelonephritis and in pyelitis. Also in spermatorrhea, with general
relaxation of muscular fiber and in impotence. It is an aphrodisiac of
some power. It may be combined with phosphorus or nux vomica in the
treatment of impotency. It is eliminated from the system through the
medium of the kidneys, which it stimulates to increased action. It may
produce urinary irritation and tenesmus.
It is used somewhat externally in the form of plasters, embrocations or in
liniments, but it is rather slow in its action upon the skin and is replaced
by more active agents. It is a valuable agent, however, in the treatment of
chilblains, exceeding other better known remedies.
Ellingwood’s American Materia Medica, Therapeutics and Pharmacognosy - Page 96