The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-07-30
CURIOSITIES OF DRUGS.
They Are Gathered and Prepared
from Snakes, Insects, ,FIshe ;, TOads, ,
Beasts and Vegetables,

They Arc Gathered ana prepared
from Snakes, Insects,FIshes, ), TOads,
Beasts and Vegetables.
There is meat for mild surprise, says
the Pittsburg News, in the stupendous
recapitulated in the pharmacopoeia.
but incitement to establishment in the
reflection that anybody was ever capa-
BILE of imagining that some of them
might possess curative virtues.
All schools of practitioners employ
certain animal products. such. for in
stance as tincture of Spanish flies, the
Russian cockroach, the poison of the
honey bee. an oily secretion of the
beaver. the odoriferous secretion Of the
musk deer and serpent poison. E.Xcep-
tional local value is given to some ma
terials of this class which are not gen.
eially known by the profession. as in
Switzerland, where consumptives are
supposed to derive much benefit from
feeding upon golden beetles. and in
Venezuela, where the horny snout Of an
enormous beetle Is supposed to be a
sure cure for fits. and in several tropical
countries. where the skin of a freshly
killed monkey, drawn on the left leg,
cures hernia. But possibly those rem
edies lie too close to the margin of faith
cures to be seriously considered among
the things which have the authorita-
tive approval of a medical school.
The homeopathic pharamacopoeia,
published no longer ago than 1873, men
tions quite an interesting lot OF animal
products recognized as remedies in that
system of medicine and gives instruc-
quite a lot of them. Various reptile
venoms figure conspicuously in the list.
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The rattlesnake Is In demand for the
virus in the sacs at the roots of his
fangs. Two ways of getting 1T are rec
commended. In one his fangs are pulled
out. with the poison sac attached. and
dropped in alcohol. BY the other.
which would perhaps be more exciting
for the pharmacist, the snake is to be
cnraged, and. when his fury is greatest,
caused to bite repeatedly into some alb
sorptive substance, which is then i'm
mersed in alcohol. Trituration in sugar
or milk prepares the virus for admins
tration. The Brazilian rattlesnake Is
utilized in the same way and seems to
be regarded as yet more potent crea-
ture. A Brazilian snake (which has the
popularity of being able to move either
forward or backward as 1t may desire"
though not both ways at once, Is also
sought for its venom. Its whole jaw Is
triturated for medicine. Naia tripudi-
ans, the cobra de capello Of India. also
duoIuS Soou HlcuiSihC, put otioh6. III
ten drops of its venom must be diluted
with ninety drops Of alcohol, or II tri-
turated with sugar of milk the same
proportions must be preserved. The
Italian viper yields a virus-prObably
when enraged, though that Is not speci-
fied-of which one drop Is enough to
triturate with ninety-nine grains of
sugar of milk. "A tincture is made Of
Scorpio europaeas, the scorpion. the
entire living animal being maceG2 ted
in five times his weight in alcohol, and
that Is also probably the way the cent?
ped is treated. though mere mention Is
accorded to him.
tilt
Closely allied to the snake poisons Is
curare, a substance prepared by the In
dians of South America, particularly
those of British Guiana, which Is sup
posed 20 be made from various species
of strychnos. with which are mingled
serpent virus, toad venom" etc, with
rosins and gums to give consistence to
the nice mess. It's ingredients are ex-
actly known by its makers only, but its
powerful effects commend 1t for tritura-
ton and prescription.
Insect life affords a great variety of
drugs that, IL not exactly odd them
selves. perhaps have odd sources. The
spiders head the list, and naturally the
tarantula, that very big and venomous
one found in the West Indies, Mexico
and California, holds first place. He Is
macerated in alcohol to make a tincture,
and it is observable that the directions
prescribe that "the entire living insect"
is to be dropped into the fluid. A Cuban
black spider may also be treated in the
same alcoholic way or triturated with
sugar of milk.
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The fishes contribute their share.
Tb., he fnlInl n .>iNyarc a nd
small streams is pounded in q mortar.
covered with three parts of alcohol, and
macerated seven or eight days before
filtering. Eminently satisfactorily re-
suits might also be attained by making
a bisque of him after he is pounded, but
the book says nothing about that. The
dried blood of the king crab is triturated
European starfish, alive, is macerated
in alcohol for eight days and then fill
tered. The sea nettle Is cut in pieces
and macerated in alcohol to make a
tincture, and will receive no sympathy
from anybody who has ever come in
contact with one while bathing. The
hide of the gigantic dolphin (Delphinus
amazonicus), which grows to be nine or
ten feet long, and Is only found at the
mouth of the Amazon river, is to be
triturated, which is probably laborious,
but ought to give lots of medicine Of
some sort. Only the first cervical ver-
zebra of Gadus morrhua, the Goldfish, Is
deemed worth trituration with sugar of
milk for medicinal purposes.
ill
The beasts do not yield much, ac-
cording to this code. The peculiar con-
trbutions of castor fiber and musk have
already been mentioned. About the
most startling thing proposed is the in
tensely offensive secretion Of Mephitis
putorius, the skunk, which Is to be ad-
ministered in an aqueous solution. And
hydrophobinum, the virus Of a rabid
dog, triturated with sugar of milk,
seems slightly sensational. The hide,
with the hair upon it, of the Brazilian
deer. is to be triturated. And castor
equi is surely an odd medicine. 1t is
the small fiat, oblong. rough, dark, hor-
ny substances seen growing on the in
ner side of horses leg about the fet-
lock, the animals rudimentary thumb
nail. But when triturated with sugar
of milk Ii Is medicine