Bark (medicine)

“ When the disease is prolonged, and the patient is free from a fever, the Peruvian bark, and other bitters, are the most proper medicines. The bark may either be taken in substance, or in a decoction or infusion, as is most agreeable. For a child, ten, fifteen, or twenty grains, according to the age of the patient, may be given three or four times a day. For an adult, half a drachm or two scruples will be proper. Some give the extract of the bark with cantharides; but to manage this requires a considerable attention. It is more safe to give a few grains of castor along with the bark. ”

“ The bark is scraped from the stalk, crushed and dried. When it is to be used the powder is put into a small bag of cloth and soaked in hot water to extract the virtue. It is used to expel evil man ́idōs which cause obstinate coughs, and is also administered to consumptives. The quantity of bark derived from eight stems, each 10 inches long, makes a large dose. When a Midē ́ gives this medicine to a patient, he fills his pipe and smokes, and before the tobacco is all consumed the patient vomits. ”

“ The bark thereof is good for Ulcers in tender persons that refuse sharp medicines. The inner bark of young board-pine cut small and stampt and boiled in a Gallon of water is a very soveraign medicine for burn [p. 65.] or scald, washing the sore with some of the decoction, and then laying on the bark stampt very soft: or for frozen limbs, to take out the fire and to heal them, take the bark of Board-pine-Tree, cut it small and stamp it and boil it in a gallon of water to Gelly, wash the sore with the liquor, stamp the bark again till it be very soft and bind it on. ”

“ Nay sometimes old Persons, and those who are very weak, expire in the Fit; though such an Event never happens but in the cold Fit.
§ 258. Very happily Nature has afforded us a Medicine, that infallibly cures these Fevers: this is the Kinkina, or Jesuits Bark; and as we are possessed of this certain Remedy, the only remaining Difficulty is to discover, if there be not some other Disease combined with these Fevers, which Disease might be aggravated by the Bark. Should any such exist, it must be removed by Medicines adapted to it, before the Bark is given. ”

“ Indeed, formerly, when in the habit of directing large and frequent doses of the powder of bark for the cure of ague, I found it expedient almost to forbid food, seeing that the stomach was sufficiently occupied with the presence of the bark. It is scarcely necessary to observe, that, in some cases of ague, where the digestive organs, and the liver especially, are in fault, bark, in any form, is not the appropriate medicine for the cure.
The sulphate of quinine is unquestionably a powerful and excellent tonic, and at the same time does not stimulate unfavourably. ”

“ The rabid bark or howl which is often heard early in the disease is hoarse, low, and muffled, partaking of the nature of both bark and howl, the first running into the second, and consists of one loud howl followed by three or four others progressively diminished in force and uttered without closing the mouth. Some rub the chaps with the forepaws as if to dislodge an offending body from the mouth; others reject bloody matter by vomiting; and others turn the head and eyes as if following imaginary objects, and snap at them. ”

“ The bark is seldom necessary to prevent the return of the disease. It is always ineffectual, where blood-letting is indicated. I have known several instances where pounds of that medicine have been taken without effect, in which the loss of ten or twelve ounces of blood has immediately cured the disease.
I once intended to have added to this account of the efficacy of blisters and bleeding in curing obstinate intermittents, testimonies from a number of medical gentlemen, of the success with which they have used them ”

“ Description—The Slippery Elm Bark used in medicine consists of the liber only. It forms large flat pieces, often 2 to 3 feet long by several inches broad, and usually 1/20 to 2/20 of an inch thick, of an extremely tough and fibrous texture. It has a light reddish-brown colour, an odour resembling that of fenugreek (which is common to the leaves also) , and a simply mucilaginous taste.
In collecting the bark the tree is destroyed, and no effort is made to replace it, the wood being nearly valueless. ”

“ The Flambeau Ojibwe medicine man puts the leaves in his medicinal tea to disguise the taste. The bark is used for healing cuts and wounds, and for stopping the flow of blood from a wound. The bark is rich in tannin and naturally quite astringent. White men have used the bark and its resulting pitch as substitutes for burgundy pitch in making plasters. These have been used as external remedies for lumbago, chronic rheumatic pains, chronic bronchitis and pleurisy. ”

“ A much better security against them, is a tea-spoonful of the jesuits bark, taken every morning during a sickly season. If this safe and excellent medicine cannot be had, a gill or half a pint of a strong watery infusion of centaury, camomile, wormwood, or rue, mixed with a little of the calamus of our meadows, may be taken every morning, with nearly the same advantage as the jesuits bark. Those persons who live in a sickly country, and cannot procure any of the preventives of autumnal fevers which have been mentioned, should avoid the morning and evening air ”

“ Pale Cinchona Bark, Loxa Bark, Crown Bark [1337] —This bark, which previous to the use of Quinine and for long afterwards, was the ordinary Peruvian Bark of English medicine, is only found in the form of quills, which are occasionally as much as a foot in length, but are more often only a few inches or are reduced to still smaller fragments. The quills are from 3⁄4 down to an 1⁄8 of an inch in diameter, often double, and variously twisted and shrunken. The thinnest bark is scarcely stouter than writing paper; the thickest may be 1⁄10 of an inch or more. ”

“ It has a sweetish taste, but a disagreeable smell, and is generally given in the form of a decoction, which is made by boiling an ounce of the dried bark in a quart of water until it assumes the color of Madeira wine. Three or four grains of the powdered bark acts as a powerful purgative. The bark is known as bastard cabbage bark, or worm bark. It is almost obsolete in medicine.
29. Andropogon muricatus.—The Khus-Khus, or Vetiver grass of India. The fibrous roots yield a most peculiar but pleasing perfume. In India the leaves are manufactured into awnings, blinds, and sunshades ”

“ The bark is red and the root large. The bark was used as a medicine in dysenteries. Pliny [Pg 23] xii. 8; Salmasius, 1302. (? The Karachâlâ of the bâzârs, Kutajatvak) .
23. Μάλαβαθρον (Sans. tamâlapattra, the leaf of the Laurus Cassia) , Malabathrum, Betel. Obtained by the Thînai from the Sesatai and exported to India [10] (65) ; conveyed down the Ganges to Gangê near its mouth (63) ; conveyed from the interior of India to Mouziris and Nelkunda for export (56) . That Malabathrum was not only a masticatory, but also an unguent or perfume, may be inferred from Horace (Odes, II. vii. 89) :—
... ”

“ It uniformly happens, however, that, in many instances, where the action of the bark would be most beneficial, it is impossible to induce it, owing to several causes, but particularly to its effect on the stomach; for, in many instances, it produces sickness, or nausea, in which case it can do no good, and ought to be abandoned. Momentary sickness, after taking a dose of bark, is indeed a very general effect, and does not materially injure its operation ”

“ If ever she has a fever, I hope she will take medicine made from my bark, because it will be strong and pure. I've half a notion to set some one else gathering the stuff and tending the plants and spend my time in the little laboratory compounding different combinations. I don't see what bigger thing a man can do than to combine pure, clean, unadulterated roots and barks into medicines that will cool fevers, stop chills, and purify bad blood. The doctors may be all right, but what are they going to do if we men behind the prescription cases don't supply them with unadulterated drugs. ”

“ Uses.—According to Mooden Sheriff, the root bark is an efficient emetic in doses of 3 grams. In smaller doses it is febrifuge and produces nausea. The bark is extremely bitter; its reputation in the treatment of skin diseases is undeserved. It is a good substitute for ipecac, having given good results in all conditions in which the latter is indicated, with the exception of dysentery. ”

“ Anodynes in the evening, by procuring rest, will also be useful; but none of these remedies will produce their proper effect, unless the patient respire a pure air. Bark is considered as useful in these cases; but, unless good diet be conjoined, it is not of much benefit. If, however, we give the means of increasing the quantity of vital power, bark, by inducing an action more nearly resembling the natural one, will be serviceable ”

“ The flowers, testa and bark are, in Hindoo therapeutics, considered “cold,” and “astringent,” and are used especially in diarrhœa. In certain throat affections the Hindoos employ [84] the burning leaves for inhalation. They also use the gum made by evaporating the juice of the ripe fruit, as a confection and an antiscorbutic. Dr. Linguist recommends the bark as a local astringent in uterine, intestinal and pulmonary hemorrhage and employs the following:
Fluid Extract.—
Mix. ”

“ When cinchona bark was first used its obvious and immediate effect in malarial fever led to the opinion that it had great and unknown powers, and must be used with extreme caution, and this essay is one of a long series extending from the time of Thomas Sydenham [q. v.] to the first half of the present century, when it was finally determined that the evils anticipated were imaginary, and that bark in moderate doses might be given whenever a general tonic was needed, and to children as well as to adults. ”

“ I have no doubt but this disease, as also palsy and consumption, obstructions of the liver and bowels, and dropsies of the belly and limbs, are often induced by the use of the bark, during an inflammatory state of the blood-vessels. It is to be lamented that the association of certain diseases and remedies, in the minds of physicians, becomes so fixed, as to refuse to yield to the influence of reason. ”

“ When the bark is of a dark colour between red and yellow, it is either of a bad species, or it has not been well preserved. Its taste should 337be bitter, with a slight acidity, but not nauseous, nor very astringent; when chewed, it should not appear in threads, nor of much length; the odour is not very strong, but when bark has been well cured, it is always perceptible, and the stronger it is, provided it be pleasant, the better may the bark be considered. ”

“ The remedies called agentes similes operate more directly on the scrophulous mode of action than those means which tend simply to strengthen the system, and may be usefully conjoined with them, because these agents tend to induce an action different from the scrophulous one, at the same time that it possesses a certain coincidence with, or general resemblance to the natural or healthy action. Hence, the bark has been frequently found to be useful in the cure of scrophulous inflammation, but oftener of ulceration than tumefaction of the glands, for the reason mentioned above. ”

“ The bark is nearly black externally, with deep clefts; the liber is made up of an abundance of white, needle- shaped cells, which are readily detached and act as cowage, in producing painful irritation, when brought into contact with the skin. ”

“ Uses.—The root bark is antiasthmatic, emmenagogue, and according to Daruty4 is a substitute for ergot in uterine hemorrhage. The leaves are used in bronchial troubles and the seeds are sudorific. The negroes in the United States use the root bark in large doses as an abortifacient; but a dose of 60 grams to 1,200 of water in decoction is proper and useful in treating dysmenorrhœa. ”

“ Even the Peruvian bark and the cold bath, so often and so generally condemned in consumptions, are always innocent, and frequently active remedies, where there is a total absence of inflammatory diathesis in this disease. The bark is said to be most useful when the consumption is the consequence of an intermitting fever, and when it occurs in old people. ”

“ They use the inner bark for poulticing a sore arm or leg, and make the inner layer of their splints of the inner bark so that a broken limb may heal healthily. Eclectic practitioners use both bark and leaves in treating acute rheumatism, also to lower the temperature in fevers, to relieve pain and reduce arterial swellings, colds, hay fever, influenza, neuralgia and diabetes. Externally the whites have used it as a wash for gangrenous wounds, eczema, cancer, burns, and body odor. ”

“ It is hard and brittle; the fracture coarse-grained, slightly foliaceous, and only fibrous in the inner layer. The grey suberous coat is always thin, often forming small warts, and leaving when removed longitudinal depressions analogous to the digital furrows of Flat Calisaya Bark (p. 353) , but mostly longer. Greenheart bark has a strong bitter taste, but is not aromatic. Its watery infusion is of a very pale cinnamon brown.
Microscopic Structure—The general features of this bark are very uniform, almost the whole tissue having been changed into thick-walled cells. ”