Chenopodium

Worm-seed

Worm-seed. The fruit of Chenopodium anthelmin-ticum Linné (Nat. Ord. Chenopodiaeeae).

Oleum Chenopodii

Oil of worm-seed. Dose, gtt. v—gtt. xv.

Actions and Uses

The oil of worm-seed is the only preparation of the plant now used, and this is rarely employed, in consequence of its very disagreeable and characteristic odor and taste. It excites a sensation of warmth at the epigastrium, increases the action of the heart, and promotes cutaneous, bronchial, and renal secretions. It is a diffusible stimulant, and as such may be given with advantage in hysteria and chorea, as a carminative in flatulence, and as an antiperiodic in intermittents. The only use of worm-seed is as a remedy for as-carides lumbricoides. It is one of the most efficient of the class. It should be given three times a day for two days, and followed by a brisk cathartic. An excellent combination for the expulsion of the round worm is ten drops of worm-seed oil, and a tea-spoonful of fluid extract of senna and spigelia. It may also be administered in castor-oil.