This section is from the "A Handbook of Useful Drugs" book, by State Medical Examining and Licensing Boards.
The starch grains obtained from the fruit of Zea mays occur in the form of powder or irregular, angular, white masses, insoluble in both water and alcohol, but swelling into a colloidal "paste'' when boiled in water.
Action and Uses: Dry starch is used as a dusting and drying powder and also as a diluent for other more active substances. The mucilage produced on boiling, with water or glycerol is employed as an emollient and protective; as a cataplasm, and as an antidote to iodin poisoning. The starches from other cereals, from cassava and the potato have practically the same medicinal properties as corn-starch.
 
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