Zingiber.

Related entry: Zingiber under diaphoretics

The rhizome of Zingiber officinale.

Preparations.—Powdered Ginger. Tincture of Ginger.

Dose.—From grs. j. to grs. xx.; of the tincture ʒss. to ʒj.

Therapeutic Action.—Ginger is stimulant, diaphoretic, errhine, sialagogue and rubefacient. It is a very energetic stimulant, highly aromatic and carminative, and when taken in small quantities augments the tone of the digestive organs, promotes digestion, and removes or prevents flatulence, spasm of the stomach or bowels, colic, etc.; for these reasons it is much used as a condiment in atonic states of the stomach. It is also much employed to impart warmth and flavor to other medicines, as tonics and purgatives, correcting their action by preventing nausea and griping, and thus rendering them acceptable to the stomach.

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