Capsicum Annuum

(Pulverize the ripe capsules together with the seed, and mix 20 grains of the powder with 400 drops of alcohol. Leave the mixture a week, without exposing it to any warmth, shaking it twice a day. Twenty drops of this tincture contain one grain of the extract of Cap- sicum.)

In the East and West Indies, where pepper is grown, it was generally employed as a spice. This custom was imitat- ed by the English, French and Germans, who use it in sauces (substituting frequently cayenne-pepper, which is stronger than the other,) for the purpose of stimulating the palate, thereby exciting an unnatural appetite and undermining health.

The remedial agency of this substance was scarcely known. Bergius (Mat Med., p. 147) asserts that he cured several cases of inveterate intermittent fever by means of three doses of Capsicum, of two grains each, but not only with Capsicum ; for, carried away by the old hereditary sin of Alloeopathy, he mixed laurel-berries with the Capsicum, in the proportion of 20 of the former to 3 of the latter. He has likewise neglected to describe the symptoms of his cases ; he simply designates

CAPSICUM ANNUUM. 21 1

them- as cases of old intermittent fever, and, like the whole tribe of his colleagues in similar cases, leaves the clinical use of his mixture in the dark.

To individuals of a rigid fibre, Capsicum is less suitable.

A small portion of a drop of the 18th potency is quite suf- ficient at a dose.

FROM NOACK AND TRINKS.

Intermittent fevers. Nostalgia with redness of the cheeks and nightly sleeplessness Hysteric cephalalgia and me- grim ; Amblyopia amaurotica

Prosopalgia, also Fothergill's Stomacace Angina aphthosa ; angina pharyngea maligna, gangrenosa Heartburn, especially of pregnant females

Ramollisement of the stomach Spasm of the stomach Tym- panitis and flatulence Colica flatulenta

Hernias ventosae Diarrhoea Dysentery Burning and blind haemorrhoids

Tenesmus of the bladder Gonorrhoea with spontaneous he- morrhage from the urethra Gonorrhoea in the second stage Tabes of the testicles

Influenza Bronchitis maligna Pneumonia complicated with bronchitis Bronchopneumonia, (also Merc.

Spong) Asthma flatulentum, etc. etc.