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CROTON OIL (Crotonis Oleum)

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Originally appearing in Volume V07, Page 511 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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CROTON OIL (Crotonis Oleum) , an oil prepared from the seeds of Croton Tiglium, a See also:

tree belonging to the natural See also:order See also:Euphorbiaceae, and native or cultivated in See also:India and the See also:Malay Islands. The tree is from 15 to 20 ft. in height, and has few and spreading branches, alternate, See also:oval-oblong leaves, See also:acuminate at the point, and covered when See also:young with stellate hairs, and terminal racemes of small, downy, greenish-yellow, monoecious See also:flowers. The male blossoms have five petals and fifteen stamens; the See also:females have no petals but a large oblong ovary bearing three bifid styles. The See also:fruit or See also:capsule is obtusely three-cornered, and about the See also:size of a See also:hazel-See also:nut; it contains three cells each enclosing a See also:seed. The seeds resemble those of the See also:castor-oil plant; they are about See also:half an See also:inch See also:long, and two-fifths of an inch broad, and have a See also:cinnamon-See also:brown, brittle integument; between the two halves of the See also:kernel See also:lie the large cotyledons and radicle. The ocular distinction between the two kinds of seeds may be of See also:great See also:practical importance. The most obvious distinction is that the castor-oil seeds have a polished and mottled See also:surface. The kernels contain from 50 to 6o % of oil, which is obtained by pressing them, when bruised to a pulp, between hot plates. Croton oil is a transparent and viscid liquid of a brownish or See also:pale-yellow tinge, and acrid, See also:peculiar and persistent See also:taste, a disagreeable odour and See also:acid reaction. It is soluble in volatile See also:oils, See also:carbon disulphide, and See also:ether, and to some extent in See also:alcohol. It contains acetic, butyric and valeric acids, with glycerides of acids of the same See also:series, and a volatile See also:body, C5H802, tiglic acid, metameric with angelic acid, and identical with methylcrotonic acid, CHs• CH:C(See also:CH3)(See also:CO2H). The odour is due to various volatile acids, which are See also:present to the extent of about 1 %.

A substance called crotonal appears to be responsible for its See also:

external, but not its See also:internal, See also:action. The latter is probably due to crotolinic acid, C9H1402, which has active purgative properties. The maximum dose of croton oil is two minims, one-See also:fourth of that quantity being usually ample. Applied to the skin, croton oil acts as a powerful irritant, inducing so much inflammation that definite pustules are formed. The destruction of the true skin gives rise to ugly scars which constitute, together with the See also:pain caused by this application, abundant See also:reason why croton oil should never be employed externally. Despite the pharmacopoeial liniment and the practice of a few, it may be said that this employment of croton oil is now entirely without See also:justification or excuse. Taken internally, even in the See also:minute doses already detailed, croton oil very soon causes much See also:colic and the occurrence of a fluid See also:diarrhoea which usually recurs several times. It is characteristic of this purgative that it is a hydragogue even in minimal dose, the fluid secretions of the bowel being most markedly increased. The See also:drug appears to See also:act only upon the small See also:intestine. In somewhat larger doses it produces severe gastro-See also:enteritis. The flow of bile is somewhat increased. Such effects may all be produced, even up to the See also:discharge of See also:blood, by the absorption of croton oil from the skin.

The minuteness of the dose, the certainty of the action, and the large amount of fluid drained away constitute this the best drug for See also:

administration to an unconscious patient (especially in cases of See also:apoplexy, when it is desirable to remove fluid from the body), or to insane patients who refuse to take any drug. One drop of the oil, placed on the back of the See also:tongue, must inevitably be swallowed by reflex action. A dose should never be repeated. The characters of this drug obviously contra-indicate its use in all cases of organic disease or obstruction of the bowel, in pregnancy, or in cases of See also:constipation in See also:children or the aged.

End of Article: CROTON OIL (Crotonis Oleum)

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