This section is from the book "A Text-Book Of Pharmacology, Therapeutics And Materia Medica", by T. Lauder Brunton. Also available from Amazon: A text-book of pharmacology, therapeutics and materia medica.
The dried root of (1) Peruvian Rhatany, Krameria triandra, or of (2) Savanilla Rhatany, Krameria Ixina (Krameria tomentosa).
Characters. - Peruvian rhatany is about an inch thick, knotty above, un-branched or branched below; the branches are long, often broken or torn, reddish-brown and rough externally, reddish-yellow internally, with a readily separated bark.
The root of Krameria tomentosa (Savanilla Rhatany) is less knotty and more slender, and has dark purplish-brown, firmly adherent bark.
The bark of both kinds is strongly astringent, and when chewed tinges the saliva red, but has no marked odour.
Composition. - The bark contains about 20 per cent. of a kind of tannin called ratanhia-tannic acid, a red matter, ratanhia-red, and a neutral substance, ratanhin.
B.P. | Dose. |
Extractum Krameriae................................................... | 5-20 gr. |
Infusum ,, (1 oz. to 1 pint)....................... | 1-2 fl. oz. |
Pulvis Catechu Compositus............................................ | 20-40 gr. |
Tinctura Krameriae...................................................... | 1/2-2 fl. dr. |
U.S.P. | |
Extractum Krameriae...................................................... | 5-20 grs. (0.3-1.3 gm.) |
,, ,, Fluidum......................................... | 5 min.-l fl. dr. (0.3-3.75 c.c.) |
Syrupus ,, ..................................................... | 1 fl. oz. (30 c.c.) |
Tinctura ,, .................................................... | 1/2-2 fl. dr. (1.9-7.5 c.c.) |
Trochisci „ ..................................................... ............................ | ad lib. |
Action. - It is strongly astringent.
Uses. - The powder is used as a dentifrice when the gums are spongy and bleed easily. The infusion or tincture is employed in bleeding from the nose, mercurial affections of the mouth, relaxed sore-throat, leucorrhoea, prolapsus ani. Internally it is given in diarrhoea, and haemorrhage from the kidneys or genito-urinary passages.
 
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