Root of Stillingia sylvatica Linné (Nat. Ord. Euphor-biacece).

Extractum Stillingiae, Fluidum

Fluid extract of stillingia. Dose, τη x —3 j.

(A tincture may be made of two ounces of the bruised root to a pint of diluted alcohol, of which the dose is 3 ss— 3 ij. A decoction may be made as follows: one ounce of the bruised root to two pints of water, boiled down to one pint, of which the dose is oz ss— oz ij. All the preparations should be made of the fresh root, as the activity of the drug is diminished by drying.)

Composition

The plant yields on incision a milky juice, which appears to possess the medicinal properties of the drug. The so-called stillingin of the eclectics is not the active principle, but an extract. The active principle has not yet been isolated.

Physiological Effects

The juice of the plant has an acrid, pungent taste, leaving a persistent after-taste of great activity. It excites an abundant flow of saliva. In the stomach a feeling of warmth follows its use, and the secretions of the organ are increased in amount. In full doses it excites nausea and vomiting, epigastric pain, and an acrid, burning sensation in the fauces. It increases the secretions of the intestinal canal, notably of the liver, and, in full doses, purges, the faeces having the appearance of the so-called "bilious stools." Increased action of the heart follows the introduction of the active principle into the circulation, and the skin becomes warm and moist. The bronchial mucous membrane exhales a larger quantity of mucus, and the kidneys become more active, excreting an increased quantity of water and solids. It may, therefore, with propriety be grouped with the so-called alteratives.

Therapy

Stillingia is certainly a very valuable remedy. It has long had a local reputation in the Southern Atlantic States as an alterative.

In habitual constipation, due to deficient secretion of the intestinal mucous membrane, it may be used with advantage. The torpidity of the liver and jaundice, which follow attacks of intermittent fever, are removed by stillingia. This agent also renders important service in the first stage of cirrhosis, and in ascites due to the hepatic changes. Haemorrhoids, when produced by obstructive difficulty in the liver, may be removed temporarily, and, if due to constipation, may be removed permanently, by stillingia.

In habitual constipation the following formula is useful: Rx Ext. stillingiae fl., 3 v; tinct. belladonnae; tinct. nucis vom.; tinct. physostig-matis, āā 3 j. M. Sig.: Twenty drops, in water, three times a day before meals. When the biliary secretion is deficient, the following: Rx Ext. stillingiae fl., 3 v; tinct. aloes, 3 ij; tinct. nucis vom., 3 j. M. Sig.: Twenty drops, in water, three times a day.

Stillingia has long been in popular repute as an alterative, and employed in domestic practice as a remedy for scrofula in its various forms. The success which has attended its employment in some degree justifies the high encomiums which have been bestowed on it. It is very serviceable in children who present the following symptoms: enlarged cervical glands, muco-purulent discharge from the nose, with excoriations of the surrounding integument, a pasty complexion, capricious and unnatural appetite, tumid abdomen, whitish and pasty stools; dull-red, soft, and tubercular eruption on the skin, ulcerating and furnishing a large quantity of unhealthy pus. The steady use of stillingia, combined with suitable hygienic means, will accomplish important relief in such cases.

The most satisfactory results have been obtained from the use of stillingia in syphilitic affections. It is applicable to the same conditions under which the preparations of sarsaparilla are now used, viz., in chronic cases of the secondary and tertiary form, the patients having been broken down by the long-continued use of mercurials and iodides. Repeated observation of cases in which it was used as the sole agent has satisfied me of its curative value. It differs from the compound decoction of sarsaparilla in this, that its effect is distinctive, and is not due to the use merely of a large quantity of fluid. The eminent Dr. Porcher, of South Carolina, thus expresses himself with regard to the use of stillingia in syphilitic affections: "I have employed the decoction of the root of this plant as an alterative in syphilitic sores, occurring in patients in the City Hospital, Charleston, the spread of which nothing else could arrest. It proved completely satisfactory. Phagedenic chancres were rapidly cured under its use. A strong decoction was given three times a day, with four drops of nitric acid to each dose."

A strong infusion or decoction of stillingia is said to be effective in preventing the development of a paroxysm of ague, if taken before or just as the chill is beginning. It is reported that profuse diaphoresis is produced and the impending attack is averted. The fluid extract of stillingia may be given in combination with quinine or arsenic in intermittents.

Authorities referred to:

Porcher, Dr. Francis Peyre. Resources of the Southern Fields and Forests, Charles-ton, 1869, p. 146.