Unguentum Baptisiae.—Ointment of Wild Indigo.
Related entry: Baptisia.—Wild Indigo
Preparation.—Take of wild indigo root, in coarse powder, 20 pounds; fresh butter, 10 pounds; beeswax, 3 pounds; tallow, 11 pounds; diluted alcohol, a sufficient quantity. Macerate the root in diluted alcohol for 48 hours; then transfer it to a percolator, and gradually pour upon it diluted alcohol, until the liquid passes nearly tasteless. Add the filtered liquor to the other ingredients, and carefully digest with heat, until the alcohol and water have evaporated; then strain the mixture (Beach's Amer. Prac.).
Action and Medical Uses.—This ointment is cleansing, detergent, discutient, antiseptic, etc. It is useful in many cutaneous affections, erysipelas, scrofulous, gangrenous, and all other forms of ulcers, piles, etc.
