Dog's Bane

Therapy. No remedy in the Eclectic materia medica acts with greater certainty than does apocynum. In former times it was employed in heroic doses chiefly for its hydragogue cathartic and diuretic effects. Early in the last century it was employed by the botanic practitioners for the relief of dropsy.

Action and Therapy. External. A cooling, non-irritating and slightly astringent collyrium. As a perfume preparation it is of much value in cosmetic lotions and washes, and the Stronger Rose Water (Aqua Rosae Fortior) is an ingredient of Ointment of Rose Water (Unguentum, Aquae Rosæ), or so-called Cold Cream. Equal parts of Rose Water and Glycerin is a favorite perfumed lotion for chapped hands, lips, and face.

Therapy. The statements made in my first editions concerning the therapeutic action of this remedy upon the heart have been more than confirmed by subsequent reports other than those of Wood. It acts in harmony with cactus, which is the superior remedy, however, in its tonic effects upon the nervous control of the heart and in improving its muscular power.

Properties and Uses. The root of this article has by some been called poisonous, but we are abundantly able to certify to the contrary. It is one of the powerful and reliable articles of a harmless materia medica; and the virulent qualities which attach to some plants of the same botanical order-such as the nux vomica and the upas-in no degree belong to this agent.