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ELATERIUM

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Originally appearing in Volume V09, Page 160 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

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ELATERIUM , a See also:

DRUG
DRUG (from Fr. drogue, a word common in Romance languages, cf. Span. and Ital. droga; the origin of the word is obscure, but may possibly be connected with Dutch droog, dry)

drug consisting of a sediment deposited by the juice of the See also:

FRUIT (through the French from the Lat. fructus; frui, to enjoy)

fruit of Ecballium Elaterium, the squirting See also:

CUCUMBER (Cucumis sativus, Fr. concombre, O. Fr. coucombre, whence the older English spelling and pronunciation " cowcumber," the standard in England up to the beginning of the 18th century)

cucumber, a native of the Mediterranean region. The plant, which is a member of the natural See also:

order See also:

CUCURBITACEAE

Cucurbitaceae, resembles the See also:

VEGETABLE

vegetable marrow in its growth. The fruit resembles a small cucumber, and when ripe is highly turgid, and separates almost at a See also:

TOUCH (derived through Fr. toucher from a common Teutonic and Indo-Germanic root, cf. " tug," " tuck," O. H. Ger. zucchen, to twitch or draw)

touch from the fruit stalk. The end of the stalk forms a stopper, on the removal of which the fluid contents of the fruit, together with the seeds, are squirted through the See also:

APERTURE (from Lat. aperire, to open)

aperture by the sudden contraction of the See also:

wall of the fruit. To prepare the drug the fruit is sliced lengthwise and slightly pressed; the greenish and slightly turbid juice thus obtained is strained and set aside; and the See also:

DEPOSIT (Lat. depositurn, from deponere, to lay down, to put in the care of)

deposit of elaterium formed after a few See also:

HOURS, CANONICAL

hours is collected on a See also:

LINEN

linen See also:

FILTER (a word common in various forms to most European languages, adapted from the medieval Lat. fi-ltrum, felt, a material used as a filtering agent)

filter, rapidly drained, and dried on porous tiles at a See also:

GENTLE (through the Fr. gentil, from Lat. gentilis, belonging to the same gens, or family)

gentle See also:

HEAT (0. E. haktu, which like " hot," Old Eng. hat, is from the Teutonic type haita, hit, to be hot; cf. Ger. hitze, heiss; Dutch, hitte, heet, &c.)

heat. Elaterium is met with in See also:

commerce in See also:

LIGHT

light, thin, friable, See also:

FLAT (a modification of O. Eng. flet, an obsolete word of Teutonic origin, meaning the ground beneath the feet)

flat or slightly incurved opaque cakes, of a greyish-See also:

green See also:

COLOUR (Lat. color, connected with celare, to hide, the root meaning, therefore, being that of a covering)

colour, See also:

BITTER, KARL THEODORE FRANCIS (1867– )

bitter See also:

TASTE (from Lat. taxare, to touch sharply; tangere, to touch)

taste and See also:

TEA (Chinese cha, Amoy dialect t€)

tea-like See also:

SMELL (connected etymologically with " smoulder " and " smoke ")

smell. The drug is soluble in See also:

ALCOHOL

alcohol, but insoluble in See also:

WATER

water and See also:

ETHER, (C2H5)2O

ether. The See also:

OFFICIAL (Late Lat. QJicialis, for class. Lat. apparitor, from officium, office, duty)

official dose is io-2 See also:

GRAIN (derived through the French from Lat. granum, seed, from an Aryan root meaning " to wear down," which also appears in the common Teutonic word " corn ")

grain, and the See also:

BRITISH

British pharmacopeia directs that the drug is to contain from 20 to 25% of the active principle elaterinum or elaterin. A See also:

RESIN (through O.Fr. resine, modern reline, from Lat. resina, prcbably Latinized from Greek Pirivrt, resin)

resin in the natural product See also:

AIDS

aids its See also:

ACTION

action. Elaterin is extracted from elaterium by See also:

CHLOROFORM (trichlor-methane), CHC13

chloroform and then precipitated by ether. It has the See also:

formula C2oH28Os. It forms colourless scales which have a bitter taste, but it is highly inadvisable to taste either this substance or elaterium.

Its dose is iv- I s grain, and the British pharmacopeia contains a useful preparation, the Pulvis Elaterini Compositus, which contains one See also:

PART

part of the active principle in See also:

FORTY

forty. The action of this drug resembles that of the saline aperients, but is much more powerful. It is the most active hydragogue purgative known, causing also much depression and violent griping. When injected subcutaneously it is inert, as its action is entirely dependent upon its admixture with the bile. The drug is undoubtedly valuable in cases of See also:

DROPSY (contracted from the old word hydropisy, derived from the Gr. 154w¢; i Swp, water, and appearance)

dropsy and See also:

Bright's disease, and also in cases of cerebral See also:

HAEMORRHAGE (Gr. atµa, blood, and prryvvvac, to burst)

haemorrhage, threatened or See also:

PRESENT

present. It must not be used except in urgent cases, and must invariably be employed with the utmost care, especially if the See also:

state of the See also:

heart be unsatisfactory.

End of Article: ELATERIUM

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ELBA (Gr. AiWaXla; Lat. Ilva)