Wild Ginger

Action and Therapy. A very pleasant stimulating carminative, diaphoretic and emmenagogue, of considerable value in amenorrhea from recent colds, in atonic dysmenorrhea, and in flatulent colic. A warm infusion is a very good diaphoretic with which to “break up a cold”. Asarum may be added to cough mixtures, and with syrup forms a very agreeable vehicle for the administration of pectoral medicines to be used in the chronic coughs of debility to aid expectoration. It is contraindicated by gastro-intestinal inflammation.

Action, Medical Uses, and Dosage. Asarabacca produces nasal irritation, followed by free secretions, which flow persistently. It is emetic, cathartic, and errhine. Used principally as an errhine in certain affections of the brain, eyes, face, and throat, toothache, ophthalmia, and paralysis of the mouth and tongue. Internally it is a stimulant in doses of 10 or 12 grains; and an emetic in ½ drachm or 1 drachm doses. It is said to be used in France by drunkards to produce vomiting.

Action, Medical Uses, and Dosage. This tincture forms an excellent emetic for children and infants, and may be safely used in croup, whooping-cough, bronchitis, asthma, convulsions, and in all cases where an emetic is required. It will likewise be found beneficial as an expectorant, or nauseant in coughs, pleuritic affections, asthma, pertussis, and whenever expectorants are indicated.

Description and History. The root is ash-colored, 2 or 3 lines in thickness, 4-angled, contorted, rough; has a pepper-like odor, a biting, spicy taste, and yields an ash-colored powder. Its properties are taken up by water or alcohol; boiling evaporates and age impairs them. The leaves have virtues similar to those of the root; they have a very feeble odor, a taste like that of the root, with some bitterness, and produce a green powder, having a yellow tinge. Asarabacca is a European plant, growing in moist, hilly woods, and presenting a single, bell-shaped, dingy-brownish-red flower from May to August. The root and leaves are used in medicine, and when recent are quite acrid. They should always be carefully dried for preservation.