This section of the book is from "The Complete Herbalist" by Dr. O. Phelps Brown. Also available from Amazon: The Complete Herbalist: The People Their Own Physicians By The Use Of Nature's Remedies.
MEDICINAL PART. The concrete juice.
Description. -- The Sweet Gum tree grows
to the height of from fifty to sixty feet. Its bark is gray and deeply
furrowed, and there are corky ridges on the branches; the leaves are palmate,
rounded, smooth, and shining, fragrant when bruised, and turn a deep red
in the fall. Fruit a kind of strobile.
History. -- This tree is very abundant in
the Southern and Middle States, and can be found in the moist woods of
nearly all parts of the Union. From incisions made in the tree a
gum exudes which is resinous and adhesive, and somewhat like white turpentine
in appearance.
Properties and Uses. -- As a remedy for catarrhs,
coughs, and pulmonary affections generally, it is without an equal, although
physicians generally do not use it in their practice. It is also
very valuable for fever-sores, fistula, scrofula, etc., when made into
an ointment.
Dose. -- The dose internally is from ten
to twenty grains, according to circumstances.
 
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