Note 476 — PHARMACOLOGIA. (continued 3)
Reading edition
Eau Medicinale De Husson. After various attempts to discover the active ingredient of this Parisian remedy, it is at length determined to be the colchicum autumnale which several ancient authors, under the name of hermodactyllus, have recommended in the cure of gout, as stated in the historical preface to this work. The following is the receipt for preparing this medicine. Take two ounces of the root of colchicum, cut it into slices, macerate it in four fluid-ounces of Spanish white wine, and filter. See Veratri Radix (note).
Dr. Wilson’s Tincture for the Gout. This is merely an infusion of colchicum, as Dr. Williams of Ipswich has satisfactorily shewn. Since the discovery of colchicum being the active ingredient of the Eau medicinale, numerous empirical remedies have started up, containing the principles of the plant in different forms.
The expressed juice of the colchicum is used in Alsace to destroy vermin in the hair: it is very acrid, and excoriates the parts to which it is applied.