Alumen. Alum.

Other tomes: Potter

Synonyms—Aluminum and potassium sulphate, alum, sulphate of aluminum and potassium.

Alumen Exsiccatum.

Synonyms—Dried alum, burnt alum.

Aluminum and Ammonium Sulphate.

Synonyms—Sulphate of aluminum and ammonium, ammonia, alum.

Physiological Action—Alum is actively astringent. It coagulates the albumin in the tissues and in the blood, produces local contraction of the capillaries, is somewhat escharotic, and produces induration of the skin and tissues. It at first excites and subsequently diminishes the salivary secretion and the secretions of the mucous surfaces of the mouth and stomach, diminishing the secretion of the gastric fluids, and precipitating pepsin. It produces constipation from the suppression of the intestinal secretion. In large doses it has irritant properties which are in excess of its astringent properties, and may produce nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and stomach and intestinal pains. The method of its action as an astringent is not well defined.

Therapy—By its local action it is used to control passive hemorrhage. The powdered alum is thrown into the nostrils, or applied to a tooth cavity, or to the open blood vessels in a blooding wound. The solution has been introduced into the uterus to control post-partum hemorrhage, and solutions are in common use for the treatment of passive uterine hemorrhage and leucorrhea.

The American Materia Medica, Therapeutics and Pharmacognosy, 1919, was written by Finley Ellingwood, M.D.
It was scanned by Michael Moore for the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine.