Enquire within upon everything by Robert Kemp Philp

721. Catechu

Catechu is a most valuable astringent. It is _used externally_, when powdered, to promote the contraction of flabby ulcers. As a local astringent it is useful in relaxed uvula, a small piece being dissolved in the mouth; small, spotty ulcerations of the mouth and throat, and bleeding gums, and for these two affections it is used in the form of infusion to wash the parts. It is _given internally_ in diarrhoea, dysentery, and hemorrhage from the bowels. _Dose_, of the _infusion_, from one to three ounces; of the _tincture_, from one to four drachms; of the _powder_, from ten to thirty grains. _Caution_.--It must not be given with soda or any alkali; nor metallic salts, albumen, or gelatine, as its property is destroyed by this combination.