It has a disagreeable taste, and a heavy, unpleasant odor. Moisture impairs its virtues, which, under the best of keeping, are not retained for more than 1 year. It is white, bitter, soluble in ether, alcohol, and water, of alkaline reaction, forming crystallizable salts, soluble in water. Action, Medical Uses, and Dosage. Upon the lower animals it acts as a spinal excitant, producing tonic convulsions, and destroying life, either by tetanus or exhaustion.
Full doses dilate the pupils.
Ecbolic properties are conceded to it, and, by many, it is preferred to ergot for obstetrical uses , inasmuch as it appears to be less powerful, and to produce clonic instead of tonic uterine contractions. According to Ellingwood, with whom it is a favorite remedy, it produces perfectly regular intermittent and safe contractions. Its use is attended with shedding of the hair, both of man and beast, and sometimes even of teeth. It is doubtless by its abortifacient power that it causes the eggs of fowls to be extruded before there has been time for a shell to be formed. Belge, and R p.