Apis. Apis mellifica.

Synonym—Honey bee.

Preparations—

Tincture of Apis. Dose, from one-half to five drops.

Specific Medicine Apis. A superior preparation, used by physicians generally; administered from ten to twenty drops in four ounces of water, a teaspoonful every two to four hours.

Specific Symptomatology—Acute swelling-edema of the cellular tissues, local or general swelling, without the formation of vesicles; urinary irritation from atony; incontinence from feebleness; retention from irritation, with dark, heavy, scanty urine.

Therapy—The agent is prescribed in dropsy which appears suddenly. Old standing dropsies are not so readily influenced by it. Edema glottidis is subject to its influence, and it quickly relieves the edema of the throat and nasal passages which accompany diphtheria and scarlet fever. It is also curative in the dropsy, which follows these two closely related diseases, from sudden suppression of urine. It influences the kidneys at the same time, causing an increase of the urine; it soothes the irritability of these, organs and relieves the congestion present. When effusion from pleuritis, peritonitis, or other acute serous inflammation, is present, it is given with confidence.

In retention and suppression of urine in children, and the aged, from atonicity or general feebleness, it is a useful agent.

It is also useful in irritable bladder with teasing tenesmus, where the urine is scanty and high colored, when micturition is frequent and accompanied by much soreness and burning.

In the urinary incontinence of the aged and feeble it is prompt in its action.

In doses of two drops of the specific apis four or five times daily, many cases of passive haematuria intractable to other remedies, will yield promptly.

Apis has been used to excellent effect in angeoneurotic edema in a case where the patient was threatened with death from asphyxiation, the difficulty of breathing being very great. Five drops of the specific apis in four ounces of water, a teaspoonful every ten minutes for an hour, then every hour, produced immediate effects.

It is especially useful for the dropsy following peritonitis, and pleurisy, and will act directly if with the dropsy there is an entire absence of thirst.

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.