Family Name: Thymaliaceae

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Notes from the Eclectic Physicians

Notes from the Eclectic Physicians

1854: JOHN KING – DAPHNE MEZEREUM – MEZEREON
Properties and Uses – In large dose, mezeron is an irritant poison, causing redness and vesication of the skin when left in contact with it, and causing, when swallowed, drynes and burning of the throat, vomiting, hypercatharsis, and frequently renal irritation. The berries have proved fatal to children who have eaten them; yet in some countries they are used as a purgative, in doses of eight to twelve. In small doses it acts as a stimulant, alterative, diuretic, diaphoretic in warm decoction, and cathartic. It acts favorably in syphilis, mercuriosyphilis, scrofula, chronic rheumatism, and some forms of obstinate disease of the skin. Dose of the decoction, from one to three fluidounces; of the powder ten grains.

Externally, it is seldom used by Eclectics; sometimes employed by other practitioners to produce rubefaction and vessicaion, and in the form of ointment as an application to blistered surfaces, indolent ulcers, and issues, in order to keep up a discharge. When vesication is desired, the bark is moistened with vinegar, after having been cut in the requisite form and size, and applied to the skin; it is renewed twice a day, until a blister is formed. It is slow in its operation, frequently requirng forty-eight hours to vesicate.

1883: Scudder (alterative) – MEZEREUM
(The bark of the root and stem of Daphne Mezereum – Europe )

Preparation – Tincture of Mezereum.

Dose -From one to ten drops.

Therapeutic Action – Mezereum is alterative, diaphoretic, diuretic, stimulant, cathartic, irritant, and vesicant. All parts of the plant are irritant, but the bark and fruit possess a high degree of acridity, producing irritation and inflammation of the organs to which they may be applied, even causing vesication when applied to the skin.

Mezereon is mostly employed as an alterative and diaphoretic in syphilis an dmercurio-syphilis, scrofulous and chronic cataneous affections. It is mostly used in conjunction with other agents in the form of diet-drinks, as sarsaparilla, guaiacum, etc. The bark has been found efficacious in venereal modes, nocturnal pains, and in venereal tumors assuming a seirrhous character.

1898: Felter and Lloyd: MEZEREUM (U.S.P.) – MEZEREUM
Action, Medical Uses, and Dosage – In large doses, mezereon is an irritant poison, causing redness and vesication of the skin when left in contact with it, and causing when swallowed, dryness and burning of the throat, vomiting, hypercatharsis, and frequently renal irritation. The berries have proved fatal to children who have eaten them; yet in some countries they are used as a purgative in doses of 8 to 12. In small doses it acts as a stimulant, alterative, diuretic, diaphoretic, in warm decoction, and cathartic. It acts favourably in syphilis, mercuriosyphilis, scrofula, chronic rheumatism, and some forms of obstinate disease of the skin. Dose of the decoction, from 1 to 3 fluid ounces; of the powder, 10 grains. Homoeopathists regard it highly in the treatment of the periosteal pains and nodes following syphilitic infection, and in rheumatic, and even in syphilitic periostitis.

Externally, it is used occasionally; sometimes employed by practitioners to produce rubefaction and vesication, and in the form of ointment as an application to blistered surfaces, indolent ulcers, and issues, in order to excite suppuration. When vesication is desired, the bark is soaked in hot vinegar and water to soften it, and then applied to the part by a compress and bandage. The application is to be renewed night and morning, until vesication is produced.

1898; Webster; (Periosteum) – MEZEREUM
Referring to the influence of this remedy upon periosteal irritation and structural changes following syphilis, Hughes, in his Manual of Pharmacodynamics , remarks: One of its antisyphilitic applications has stood the test of later practice, and is vouched for by such practitioners as Hufeland and Alexander Russell. I refer to its influence over nodes and nocturnal bone pains – dolores osteocopi as they used to be called. Hahnemann’s pathogenesis in the Fragmenta mentions such pains as caused by it in the cranium, clavicle, and thighs, and several of the later provers report the same experience (See Webster’s Principles of Medicine , Introduction); in homeopathic practice we use it with much confidence in these cases, and in simple or rheumatic periostitis. Whether it acts upon the bones themselves, I hesitate to say. There is, however, a case on record, in which it seemed to check the necrosis of the jaw produced by phosphorus; and Noack and Trinks mention several osseous diseases benefited by it.

1911: Fyfe
Sticking, transient or flying pains, worse at night, low grades of inflammation,as of the peristeum, with bone pains. This remedy has given favorable results in syphilis, scrofula, chronic rheumatism, and in obstinate diseases of the skin.

Mezereum in small doses is stimulant, alterative, diuretic, and diaphoretic. In large doses it is an irritant poison, causing hypercatharsis and renal irritation. It causes vesication of the skin when left in contact with it.

1911: LLOYD
Daphne mezereum is an acrid shrub familiar to persons conversant with domestic medicine in mediaeval English times, being employed by the herbalists, and also, somewhat, by the medical profession of that day. It was recognized in Culpeper (175) as a acrid substance, generally applied externally, although it was given internally in dropsy and some other affections, about a dram of the dried bark of the tree being mixed with three parts of water, and taken internally. Hooper (325) in his Medical Dictionary states that a prevailing method of preparation was to macerate thin slices of the bark of the fresh root in vinegar and apply it externally. In Stephenson and Churchill’s Medical Botany (614a) a Mr. Pierson serves as authority for a Dr. Russel, who, as did Mr. Pierson, reviewed the uses of the drug as a substitute for mercury and as an application in scrofulous and cutaneous affections, but with decided opposition to its use, on account of its exceeding acridity, a refreshing innovation in former orthodox medication. This imported, disagreeable drug crept into the United States Pharmacopeia and American practice by reason of the fact that it was made a constituent of the Compound Syrup of Sarsaparilla.

MEZEREUM (Mezereum)
Official in all editions of U.S.P., from 1820 to 1910. U.S.P., 1910, directs the bark of Daphne Mezereum, Daphne Gnidium or of Daphne Laureola.

Daphne Mezereum is an acrid shrub familiar to persons conversant with domestic medicine in medieval English times, it being employed by the herbalists and also, somewhat, by the medical profession of that day. It was recognized in Culpeper (175) as an acrid substance, generally applied externally, although it was given internally in dropsy and some other affections, about a dram of the dried bark of the tree being mixed with three parts of water, and taken internally. Hooper (325) in his Medical Dictionary states that a prevailing method of preparation was to macerate thin slices of the bark of the fresh root in vinegar and apply it externally. In Stephenson and Churchill’s Medical Botany (614a) a Mr. Pierson serves as authority for a Dr. Russel, who, as did Mr. Pierson, reviewed the asserted uses of the drug as a substitute for mercury and as an application in scrofulous and cutaneous affections, but decided in opposition to its use, on account of its exceeding acridity. A refreshing innovation upon former primitive processes of medication was this thought for the comfort and welfare of the patient. This imported, disagreeable drug crept into the United States Pharmacopeia and American practice through traditional European authority, and by reason of the fact that it was a constituent of the once popular “Compound Syrup of Sarsaparilla,” maintained its position in medical literature.