107. The dried fruit, sold in most bazaars, is rather larger than a full-sized pea, somewhat kidney-shaped, blackish-brown, wrinkled, containing a yellowish, oily, bitter, kidney-shaped kernel enclosed in a two-valved shell. It is powerfully poisonous and is never administered internally; its sole use, and in this respect it is very effectual, is as an insecticide, i.e., as an agent, for destroying pediculi, or lice, which infest the body. For this purpose 80 grains of the seeds, divested of shell, should be beaten up into a paste in a mortar, and then thoroughly incorporated with an ounce of kokum butter, or ghee. In applying this ointment, care should be taken to avoid all abraded or ulcerated surfaces, on account of the danger of absorption of the poisonous principle of the seeds.
108.
Sulphate of Copper. Blue Stone.
Nílá-tútá (Hind., Punj.), Mór-tuttá, Mhor-tuttah (Duk.), Tutiyá (Beng.), Nila-toth (Kash.), Mayil-tuttam, Turichu, Tuttam-turichi (Tam.), Mayilu-tuttam (Tel.), Turisha, Mayil-tutta (Mal.) Mail-tutyá (Can.), Mórtúta (Guz.), Palmánikam (Cing.), Douthá (Burm.), Toorsi (Malay).
109. Sulphate of Copper, of fair quality, is procurable in most bazaars; it should be in crystalline masses, of various sizes, of a dark-blue colour, without any light green or whitish powder adherent on the surface; if these exist they should be thoroughly removed previous to the salt being employed medicinally. Or it may be further purified by dissolving in boiling water, filtering, and setting the solution aside to crystallise. In doses of from a quarter grain to two grains it acts as an astringent and tonic; in larger doses (5 to 10 grains) it is a powerful emetic.
110. In Chronic Diarrhœa and Dysentery the following pills are often productive of great benefit. Take finely powdered Sulphate of Copper and Opium, of each 6 grains; thoroughly mix them with a small portion of honey, and divide into twelve pills, of which one should be taken thrice daily. These pills have been found very useful in controlling Diarrhœa in the advanced stages of Consumption (Phthisis). In the Chronic Diarrhœa and Dysentery of Children, a better form is 2 grains of the Sulphate dissolved in 12 drachms of Omum water; of this the dose is a teaspoonful thrice daily. In all these cases, should benefit not be manifest in a few days, the remedy should be discontinued.
111. In Diphtheria the Sulphate of Copper has been highly spoken of. Of a solution of 5 grains in one ounce of water, a teaspoonful may be given to young children, and repeated every half-hour till it produces vomiting. The same treatment has also been advised in cases of Croup. After the occurrence of free vomiting its use should be discontinued.
112. In Ulcerations of the Mouth, whether occurring in children or adults, 3 to 5 grains of finely powdered Sulphate, incorporated with half an ounce of honey, is a very useful application. It may be easily applied to the ulcers by the finger.
113. In the Ophthalmia of Children attended with copious discharge, a solution of one grain in one ounce of water, applied several times in the day, will often be found serviceable. In obstinate cases the strength may be doubled, but it should never be so strong as to cause pain.
114. Obstinate Indolent Ulcers will often yield, when other measures have failed, to the persevering application of solutions of the Sulphate, of graduated strengths, from 2 grains to 10 grains in the ounce of water. At the commencement the weakest solution is applied morning and evening, water dressing (394) being applied in the intervals. When the first solution ceases to occasion a feeling of heat in the ulcerated surface, the strength should be gradually increased by single grains till the 10-grain solution is borne, by which time the ulcer is generally almost healed. When the edges of the ulcer are hard and unyielding, they may be touched every second or third day with the Sulphate in substance; and it may also be thus used to check Exuberant Granulations.