Solanum Dulcamara. (Bittersweet).

Preparation.—Prepare a tincture from the fresh twigs gathered in the fall, when the leaves have fallen, ℥viij. to Alcohol 70° Oj. Dose, from gtt. j. to gtts. x.

The Bittersweet has the reputation of being a good alterative, in cutaneous diseases, syphilis, scrofula and inflammatory deposits, and we conclude that it increases waste and excretion. It exerts a marked influence upon the cerebro-spinal centers, when used in large doses, but this has not been studied.

I would advise the employment of the remedy in small doses in those cases of chronic disease in which the circulation is feeble, the hands and feet cold and purplish, with fullness of tissues and tendency to oedema. I do not know that it will prove better than other remedies, but it deserves investigation.

Specific Medication and Specific Medicines, 1870, was written by John M. Scudder, M.D.