st
valuable agent with which to control the frequent, strong, bounding
pulse common to many febrile and inflammatory diseases. When the pulse
is hard, incompressible, and bounding, this remedy is more effectual
than aconite. _Dose_--Of the tincture and fluid extract, from one to two
drops, repeated every half hour to two hours, according to the severity
of the symptoms. This remedy should be given in very small doses,
frequently repeated, if we would secure its best effects. Our favorite
mode of administering both veratrum and aconite is to add ten drops of
the tincture to ten or fifteen teaspoonfuls of water, of which one
teaspoonful may be administered every hour.

YELLOW JESSAMINE (_Gelseminum Sempervirens_). The root is the part used.
Through its controlling effect over the sympathetic nervous system, this
agent exerts a marked influence in controlling morbid excitability of
the circulatory organs. It allays irritation, and determination of blood
to the brain, indicated by flushed face, contracted pupils,
irritability, and restlessness, a frequent condition in diseases
incident to childhood. Its concentrated principle, Gelsemin, is an
efficient remedy in bloody-flux or dysentery. It should be administered
in very small doses to secure the best results. Only one-sixteenth to
one-eighth of a grain is required, repeated every two hours. It should
be triturated with sugar of milk or with common white sugar, in the
proportion of one grain to ten of sugar. _Dose_--Of tincture, from five
to fifteen drops; of fluid extract, three to six drops; of Gelsemin, as
a sedative, one-fourth to one-half grain.

STIMULANTS.

Stimulants are medicines which have the power of increasing the vital
activity of the body. Some have a very transient action, while others
are more permanent in effect.

CAYENNE PEPPER (_Capsicum Annuum_). Cayenne Pepper is a powerful
stimulant. _Dose_--Of the powder, from one to six grains, administered
in milk; of the tincture, from five to ten drops, largely diluted in
milk or water.

BLACK PEPPER (_Piper Nigrum_). Black Pepper is a warm, carminative
stimulant. _Dose_--From five to fifteen grains; of the fluid extract,
from ten to fifteen drops.

[Illustration: Fig. 138.
Prickly-ash. ]

PRICKLY-ASH (_Xanthoxylum Fraxineum)._ Prickly-ash bark is a stimulant
and tonic. The parts used are the bark and leaves. _Dose_--Of the fluid
extract, from five to fifteen drops; of the tincture, ten to twenty
d