SEDATIVES.
Sedatives are a class of agents which control excitation of the circulation, and diminish irritability of the nervous system.
Aconite (Aconitum Napellus), The parts used are the root and leaves. Aconite slows the pulse, diminishes arterial tension, and lowers the temperature of the body in fevers. It is an effectual remedy in acute inflammation of the tonsils and throat, in acute bronchitis, in inflammation of the lungs, and pleurisy, in the hot stage of intermittent and remittent fevers, in the eruptive fevers, in fever arising from a cold, and in some forms of neuralgia. Acute suppression of the menses from a cold, may be relieved by the tincture of aconite in drop doses every hour. Dose—Of the tincture of the root, from one-half of a drop to two drops, in a spoonful of water, in acute fevers and inflammations, from one-half drop to one drop should be administered every half hour or hour, according to the severity of the symptoms.
Peach Tree (Amygdalus Persica). Peach tree leaves and bark are slightly sedative, but the chief use which we have found for these articles is to control nausea and vomiting arising from irritability of the stomach. It also possesses mild, tonic properties. Dose—Of infusion at the bark of the small twigs or of the leaves, from two to six teaspoonfuls.
American Hellebore (Veratrum Viride) is also known as White Hellebore, Indian Poke, or Swamp Hellebore. The root is the part used. It is a most valuable agent with which to control the frequent, strong, bounding pulse common to many febrile and inflammatory diseases. When the pulse is hard, incompressible, and bounding, this remedy is more effectual than aconite. Dose—Of the tincture and fluid extract, from one to two drops, repeated every half hour to two hours, according to the severity of the symptoms. This remedy should be given in very small doses, frequently repeated, if we would secure its best effects. Our favorite mode of administering both veratrum and aconite is to add ten drops of the tincture to ten or fifteen teaspoonfuls of water, of which one teaspoonful may be administered every hour.
Yellow Jessamine (Gelseminum Sempervirens). The root is the part used. Through its controlling effect over the sympathetic nervous system, this agent exerts a marked influence in controlling morbid excitability of the circulatory organs. It allays irritation, and determination of blood to the brain, indicated by flushed face, contracted pupils, irritability, and restlessness, a frequent condition in diseases incident to childhood. Its concentrated principle, Gelsemin, is an efficient remedy in bloody-flux or dysentery. It should be administered in very small doses to secure the best results. Only one-sixteenth to one-eighth of a grain is required, repeated every two hours. It should be triturated with sugar of milk or with common white sugar, in the proportion of one grain to ten of sugar. Dose—Of tincture, from five to fifteen drops; of fluid extract, three to six drops; of Gelsemin, as a sedative, one-fourth to one-half grain.