Petroselinum

Parsley-root

Parsley-root. The root of Petroselinum sativum. (Not official.)

Composition

The most important constituent of parsley is apiol, an oily, non-volatile, yellowish liquid, having a distinctive odor and an acrid taste. It contains, also, a gelatinous substance, apiine (pectin ?), and a volatile oil.

Actions and Uses

Petroselinum has a hot, pungent taste, with an after acrid sensation. It is somewhat laxative—a property, doubtless, dependent on the irritation which it produces. It is stimulant in its effects on the circulation, and promotes the cutaneous and bronchial secretions. It is diuretic, by reason of the local irritant action of the principles which are eliminated by the kidneys.

Apiol has decided properties, and in its action strongly resembles quinine. It produces headache, tinnitus aurium, vertigo, intoxication,, etc.

Petroselinum is rarely employed for its diuretic effects. Its use is indicated in dropsy under the same conditions as juniper, squill, and other stimulating diuretics. It may be given in the form of infusion (oz j—Oj), one to three ounces at each dose.

Apiol is a remedy of considerable value in the treatment of malarial diseases, but it is inferior in every respect to quinine. Its use is only justifiable in the treatment of intermittens, and when the prejudices or idiosyncrasies of the patient forbid the use of quinine. Fifteen grains should be administered in one dose, or in divided doses, within an hour, in order to procure the maximum effect, and about four hours previous to the paroxysm.

The evidence is conclusive that apiol has decided emmenagogue power. It is a stimulant to the uterine system, and therefore is con-traindicated in plethora of these organs, and should not be administered as an antiperiodic to pregnant women. It is indicated when a state of torpor of the ovaries and uterus exists. The amenorrhoea of anaemia, of functional inactivity, is the form of the malady in which apiol is serviceable. The condition of the blood should be corrected by iron, constipation should be removed by aloetic purgatives, and the apiol, in a considerable dose (fifteen grains), should then be administered at the time of the menstrual molimen, or just preceding the time when the flow should begin. If the case has been obstinate, a daily dose of apiol may be given for a week, or at least for several days before the menstrual period. The neuralgic form of dysmenorrhea is also benefited by this remedy. Other neuralgiae are, it is said, relieved by apiol, but the existence of a malarial cause is, no doubt, the explanation of its curative action in such cases.

Authorities referred to:

Delorme, Dr. Gazette des Hopitaux, 1860, p. 511.

Joret and Homolle. Bulletin General de Therapeutique, vol. xlviii, p. 32.

Marotti, Dr. Ibid., 1863, p. 295.

StillÉ, Dr. A. Therapeutics and Materia Medica, vol. ii, p. 631.