Convallaria.

The entire plant Convallaria maialis.—U.S.

Preparations.—A tincture of the entire plant. Convallaramin.

Dose.—The tincture may be given in doses of from one to thirty drops. Of Convallaramin, gr. 1-30 to gr. 1/8.

Therapeutic Action.—Convallaria Maialis has a direct action upon the heart, giving better innervation and greater strength to its movements. When the frequency of pulse depends upon feebleness, this remedy will lessen the number of pulsations in a minute. M. Germain See makes the following statements in regard to it:—

"1. The Convallaria maialis, or Lily of the Valley, is an important cardiac remedy.

"2. In the form of the aqueous extract of the whole plant, given in the dose of from 15 to 20 grains daily, the maialis produces constant and favorable effects on the heart vessels and the respiration, slowing the beats of the heart, establishing the normal rhythm, increasing the force of the heart and the arterial pressure. The respiration becomes deeper and the sense of suffocation and the desire for air less troublesome and painful.

"3. The most powerful, constant, and useful effect is its diuretic, which renders it of great use in dropsies of cardiac origin.

"4. There are no contra-indications, for the remedy is applicable to all the affections of the heart. In addition to that, it has no bad effect upon the cerebro-spinal system, nor on the digestive organs. Moreover, it has no cumulative effect, nor unpleasant after results.

"5. For these reasons, maialis is superior to digitalis, which we are often obliged to give up, or at least reduce the dose of, on account of the vomiting, loss of appetite, digestive disorders, cerebral excitement, and dilatation of the pupil, which it so often produces after a more or less prolonged use. Digitalis often brings about a weakness of the heart and an increase in the number of the contractions, and in short often has directly opposite effects to those desired.

"6. To combat cardiac dyspnoea, maialis is inferior to morphia, and more particularly to the preparations of iodine, but morphia tends to cause suppression of urine."

The American Eclectic Materia Medica and Therapeutics, 1898, was written by John M. Scudder, M.D.