Page:Botanic drugs, their materia medica, pharmacology, and therapeutics (1917).djvu/165

 the streptococci, staphylococci, and other pyogenic organisms."

.—Now this may not all be true. I am not prepared to say it is all true; but, simply because a host of physicians are employing the drug empirically and, many of them, making impossible claims for it, does not prejudice me against the drug itself. So I have used gallons of its fluid preparations in an effort to draw some personal conclusions. Considerable space is given to it here because it is a much-debated drug. And these are my conclusions:

Externally (2 fluidounces fl. to 1 pint water) it is a good wet dressing, severe cases requiring greater concentration. It stops the formation of pus in many cases; but it does not, of itself, sufficiently promote healing. The drug is of use externally in cases where sound surgical practice indicates a wet dressing, and it is not useful otherwise. As a zymocide echinacea is inferior to the commonly used antiseptics and germicides, but it often serves well to follow them, being itself followed, later, by agents more promotive of healing. It has some effect, locally, in relieving pain.

The bites of insects are much relieved by it, locally applied. It has no destructive effect upon the venom of reptiles, not being an oxidizing agent; but it i's a good dressing in these cases to prevent the common septic infection developing in the bite. Apply in a concentrated state or inject into the wound one of the echinacea preparations devised for hypodermic use. It is unwise to depend upon echinacea alone in the treatment of bites from a rabid dog or a reptile, or to treat with it a pene-