Ceanothus. Ceanothus thyrsiflorus.

Related entry: Ceanothus americanus

Synonyms—California Lilac, Deer Bush.

Therapy—Henderson has written a very interesting article which was published in the Annual. He says he has employed an infusion of the leaves in conjunctivitis, and as an application in inflamed eyes he has applied the steeped leaves themselves. At one time he contracted a severe cold, which caused hoarseness, burning pain and a dry constricted throat, with much difficulty in swallowing. He gathered some of the berries from this tree, and eating them noticed a pleasant influence upon the throat and an ability to swallow with less difficulty. He determined to try them in other cases of throat disease, and had a tincture prepared from the berries.

Shortly after, in a severe epidemic of malignant diphtheria, he treated eighteen cases without the loss of one, using the ceanothus in all cases. He has used it since in diphtheria, pharyngitis, tonsilitis, and nasal catarrh, with good results. He gives it in diseases of the mucous surface where the discharge is profuse, thick and tenacious. For a gargle he uses two drams of the tincture to four ounces of water. It foams in the throat like the peroxide of hydrogen, and must be used with care. It removes all accumulations, leaving the membranes clear and clean.

He has further employed the remedy in the treatment of subinvolution, and evaporating it on a water bath, has made an ointment which is applied to ulcers of the os uteri. It gives good results as a wash in the treatment of gonorrhea, gleet, leucorrhea, and ulcers and old sores. He believes the berries should be gathered just before they are ripe, to obtain the best action.

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.