Humulus.
Related entry: Lupulinum
The strobiles of Humulus Lupulus, Linné (Nat. Ord. Urticaceae). Europe and Asia; common in cultivation.
Common Names: Hops, Hop.
Principal Constituents.—Lupulin (see Lupulinum), hop-bitter acid, humuli-tannic acid, resins, volatile oil and asparagine, trimethylamine, and choline.
Preparation.—Specific Medicine Humulus. Dose, 1 to 60 drops.
Specific Indications.—(See Lupulinum.)
Action and Therapy.—External. A "hop-pillow" is a favorite device for procuring sleep. The odor of the hop has a decidedly sedative influence upon some individuals, relieving headache and producing sleep; in others it produces intense headache, with nausea and vomiting. Probably the psychic effect has much to do with its value in insomnia. A hot "hop bag" applied to the face is a favorite domestic cure for neuralgic face ache, and a "hop poultice" has anodyne properties.
Internal. This is a remedy to relieve nervous excitability in fevers and to induce sleep. It also checks fermentation of the stomach contents and thus proves useful in fermentative dyspepsia with acid eructations. For other uses see Lupulinum, which has superseded hops largely as an internal medicine.
