268

Materia Medica.

part II.

and the tincture evaporated on water deposited two grainsand a half of very bitter resin, and half a grain of extract-tive matter, which also tasted bitter. The part insoluble inthe ether was nearly all soluble in water, and afforded a so-lution resembling that of acacia gum; but differed from it inbeing precipitated by solutions of muriate of mercury and ofsuperacetate of lead. When treated with nitric acid it yieldsoxalic acid. Hence myrrh seems to consist of resin, essentialoil, extractive, and mucus rather than gum.

Medical properties and uses. — Myrrh is tonic and expecto-rant. In moderate doses it stimulates the stomach, promotingthe appetite and digestion; but in large doses, increases thefrequency of the pulse, and augments the general heat of thebody. 1 As a tonic, it is efficaciously given in cases of debi-lity, as amenorrhcea, chlorosis, and convalescencies; and inphthisis pulmonalis, when the inflammatory symptoms andhectic fever do not run high. Its use in phthisis has indeedbeen condemned by several physicians of great repute l ; butwheh there is an. evident ulceration of the lungs without muchhectic, and the patient's strength is considerably reduced bythe quantity of the expectorated matter, the proper exhibitionof myrrh is certainly productive of much benefit. In thefirst-mentioned diseases, it is advantageously combined withaloes, cinchona, or other bitters, and chalybeates; and inphthisis, with nitre, digitalis, opium, camphor, and the sul-phate of iron or of zinc. Combined with oxide of zincit has been found extremely useful in the peculiar coughwhich sometimes accompanies pregnancy, and continues afterabortion. As an expectorant it is often employed in humoralasthma and chronic catarrh; and with the same view also hasbeen given in phthsical affections; but as it cannot be em-ployed with propriety in pulmonic cases, where there is muchinflammatory action or hectic present, any advantage derivedfrom its use in phthisis probably depends altogether on itstonic operation counteracting the exhaustion produced by acopious purulent expectoration. As a local stimulant the al-coholic solution of myrrh diffused in water is used as a lotionin a spongy state of the gums, and for correcting the foetid dis-charge of vitiated ulcers, particularly when connected with ca-ries of the bone; and as a gargle in cynanche maligna.

Myrrh is administered in substance, or in the form of wa-tery infusion, or a tincture properly diluted. A watery extractis ordered in some foreign pharmacopoeias, and preferred bymany physicians, from an idea that it is less heating than the

« Cullen, Mat. Med. ii. 193.

* Cullen. Fothergill.^