Aspidium

Male Fern

Male fern. The rhizoma of Dryopterisfilix-mas Schott, and of Dryopteris marginalis Asa Gray (Nat. Ord. Filices). (U. S. P.) Fougére male, Fr.; Wurmfarnwurzel, Ger.

Oleo-resina Aspidii

Oleo-resin of fern. Dose, 3 ss— 3 ij.

Composition

A green, fatty oil, volatile oil, resin, tannin, etc. The ethereal extract deposits a granular, crystalline substance (filicic acid), on which the medicinal activity of the drug appears to depend.

Actions and Uses

The oleo-resin of filix mas is a very efficient remedy for tape-worm, especially the unarmed variety; but, if suitable precautions be taken to insure success, it is quite a certain remedy for the armed taenia. The method of Trousseaux and Pidoux is as efficient as any (vol. ii, page 1040). On the first day, a strictly milk diet; on the morning of the second day, four grammes (about 3 j) of the oleo-resin in four doses, with an interval of a quarter of an hour between each; on the third day, the same quantity at the same intervals, followed by fifty grammes of the sirup of ether, and, a half-hour later, an emulsion containing three drops of croton-oil. Kuchenmeister gives a number of methods, and Cobbold favors the employment of male fern in certain cases.