Collinsonia.
Synonyms.—Stone Root; Knob Root; Heal-all.
Collinsonia is the rhizome of Collinsonia canadensis, Linn. (N.O. Labiatae), a plant indigenous to the United States and Canada. The drug occurs in irregular, hard, brown pieces about 4 or 5 centimetres in length and 1 to 2 centimetres thick. It often bears short knotty branches together with conspicuous cup-shaped scars of aerial stems on its upper surface, and short wiry remains of roots or depressed scars of the same on its lower surface. Internally it is whitish, the transverse section exhibiting darker lines, but no vessels. It has no marked odour or taste.
Constituents.—The rhizome contains a glucosidal saponin, resin, tannin, starch, mucilage and wax. The statement that a crystalline alkaloid possessing diuretic properties has also been isolated from the drug requires confirmation.
Action and Uses.—Collinsonia is employed as an antispasmodic in gastric and intestinal flatulence and in biliary colic. In America it is used in stone, gravel, and cystitis for its reputed diuretic and sedative properties; but there is no reliable information as to its action. It is usuallyadministered in the form of tincture, and the powdered root is sometimes made into suppositories, 1 gramme (15 grains) in each, for piles. An eclectic resinoid named collinsonin, which is given in doses of 12 to 25 centigrams (2 to 4 grains), is prepared by pouring a tincture of the drug into water and collecting the precipitate.
Dose.—1 to 4 grammes (15 to 60 grains).
PREPARATION.
- Tinctura Collinsoniae, B.P.C.—TINCTURE OF COLLINSONIA. 1 in 10.
- Used chiefly as a diuretic. Dose.—2 to 8 mils (½ to 2 fluid drachms).
