Address of Earl Stanhope, President of the Medico-Botanical Society, for the anniversary meeting, January 16, 1831.

  • Stanhope, Philip Henry Stanhope, Earl, 1781-1855.
Date:
1831
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Address of Earl Stanhope, President of the Medico-Botanical Society, for the anniversary meeting, January 16, 1831. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    and it is much to be regretted that he does not inform us what are the proportions of the Lemon Juice and Salt which are to be mixed with it, nor whether its efficacy is increased by that combination ; or if not, for what other purpose it is recommended; and upon these points, as well as upon several others, I am anxious to receive full and satisfactory particulars from our Corresponding Mem¬ bers in that quarter of the world. We have also been favored with another communication upon this subject by Mr. Herman, who confirms the other accounts that had reached us of this remedy, the virtues of which, he says, were known to the Indians from the earliest ages. He states, that it acts as a preservative when taken in frequent doses; that it cures, in all instances, the poison¬ ous bites of Vipers, and that it is, in such cases, universally employed by medical practitioners in the tropical regions of South America. He observes, that it is requisite to employ the leaves when fresh ; that they are to be bruised and applied to the wound; and that the Juice may be given without any previous preparation, either pure or mixed with a small quantity of warm water. According to his information, the Juice operates as a powerful ano¬ dyne, and produces a copious perspiration. He adds, that it is an excellent vermifuge, as well as stomachic and tonic. A decoction of the plant is represented by Lieut. Hardy to be also “ most efficacious in inveterate cases of Dysen- “ tery,” in many places on the north Coast of Spanish America, where that disorder is so prevalent. The Mika^NIA Guaco is also considered to be useful in the cure of Hydrophobia, and in this respect it is pe¬ culiarly interesting, and might prove of the utmost im¬ portance in this Country, which has lately been so much' alarmed by that disorder. My learned and revered Friend,