(ERYNGIUM AQUATICUM)
COMMON NAMES. Buttonsnake Root, Rattlesnake's Master, etc.
MEDICINAL PART. The root.
Description.--This indigenous, perennial herb has a simple stem from one to five feet high. The root is a tuber; the leaves are one or two feet long, half an inch to an inch wide, and taper-pointed. The flowers are white or pale, and inconspicuous.
History.--This plant is indigenous, growing in swamps and low, wet lands from Virginia to Texas, especially on prairie lands, blossoming in August. The root is the officinal part. Water or alcohol extracts its properties.
Properties and Uses.--It is aphrodisiac, exciting venereal desires and strengthening the procreative organs. It is also diuretic, stimulant, diaphoretic, expectorant, and, in large doses, emetic. Very useful in dropsy, nephritic and calculous affections, also in scrofula and syphilis. It is valuable as a diaphoretic and expectorant in pulmonary affections. It is a good substitute for Senega. The pulverized root, in doses of two or three grains, is very effectual in hemorrhoids and prolapsus ani. Two ounces of the pulverized root, added to one pint of good Holland gin, is effectual in obstinate cases of gonorrhoea and gleet, to be administered in doses of one or two fluid drachms, three or four times a day. By some practitioners the root is employed as a specific in gonorrhoea, gleet, and leucorrhoea; used internally in syrup, decoction, or tincture--and the decoction applied locally by injection. Used externally and internally, it cures the bites of snakes and insects.
Dose.--Of the powder, from twenty to forty grains; of the decoction, which is principally used, from two to four fluid ounces, several times a day.