Oxydendron.
The leaves of Oxydendron arboreum, De Candolle (Nat. Ord. Ericaceae.) A handsome tree of the eastern third of the United States. Dose, 1 to 60 grains.
Common Names: Sourwood, Sourwood Tree, Sorrel Tree.
Principal Constituents.—No satisfactory analysis has been made of sourwood leaves.
Preparations.—1. Specific Medicine Oxydendron. Dose, 1 to 60 minims.
2. Extractum Oxydendri. Extract of Sourwood. Dose, 3 to 6 grains.
Specific Indications.—Anasarca, ascites, and other forms of dropsy; urinary difficulty of old men; painful, burning micturition, with scanty flow of urine.
Action and Therapy.—Sourwood is a cooling diuretic and a tonic to relaxed capillaries. It is said to give relief in bowel disorders caused by a hyperaemic condition of the viscera, or to colds. It relieves the unpleasant urinary troubles of old men, when due to prostatic and cystic disorders of an atonic type—with painful micturition, scanty urine, meatal burning, and blood in the urine, the latter passing drop by drop. Its reputation rests largely upon its asserted value in anasarca and other forms of dropsical effusion, conditions in which it has been somewhat overrated.
