Resina Cimicifugae.—Resin of Cimicifuga.
Related entry: Cimicifuga (U. S. P.)—Cimicifuga
SYNONYMS: Resin of black cohosh, Cimicifugin, Macrotin.
Preparation.—Take of strong tincture of black cohosh root, 1 pint; water, 1 gallon. Distill the alcohol from the tincture, and pour the syrupy residue into the water, allow the mixture to stand 24 hours, or until there is no further precipitate, collect the precipitate on a filter, wash it with water, and then allow it to dry in a cool place.
History and Description.—This valuable and useful remedy I have used with much success in my practice since 1835, and had the honor of calling the attention of practitioners to it in 1844, and again in the Western Medical Reformer, of 1846, but it was not received into general use among practitioners until its preparation on a large scale by Mr. W. S. Merrell. Resin of cimicifuga is a dark-brown or yellow substance, lighter colored after pulverization, of a faint, narcotic odor, a slightly bitter, feebly nauseous taste, and soluble in alcohol (J. King).
Action, Medical Uses, and Dosage.—The resin of black cohosh possesses alterative, nervine, and antiperiodic properties, without having the narcotic virtues of the root, which are to be had in the alcoholic or the ethereal extract. It also appears to exert a peculiar influence upon the uterus, on which account it has been termed a "uterine tonic." Prof. T. V. Morrow, M. D., during his life, expressed himself as having made an extensive use of this preparation in various affections peculiar to the female sex, and with success. Prof. Morrow writes: "My experience in the use of the resin of black cohosh, has demonstrated to my mind that there is a slight difference in the modus operandi of this form of the medicine, when compared with the usual forms in which the Cimicifuga racemosa has been used. That difference principally consists in the increased liability of the latter to produce a heavy, dull, and aching sensation in the forehead, in connection with a feeling of dizziness, while the former appears to manifest a greater tendency to produce aching, and somewhat painful sensations in the joints and limbs generally." Resin of cimicifuga has been employed advantageously in intermittent fever, periodic diseases, leucorrhoea, amenorrhoea dysmenorrhoea, menorrhagia, threatened abortion, sterility, rheumatism, scrofulous affections, and in prolapsus uteri, not accompanied with an inflammatory condition of that organ or of its ligaments. It has also been successfully used in dyspepsia, chronic gonorrhoea, gleet, smallpox, etc., and its tincture has been found an excellent local application in chronic conjunctivitis. It may be advantageously combined with other uterine tonics and alteratives—as, extract of aletris, resin of caulophyllum, oleoresins of senecio, or asclepias, etc.; with extract of dioscorea it often improves the action of this agent in flatulency, and in bilious colic, rendering its influence more prompt and certain in certain obstinate cases. Made into a pill, with equal parts of extracts of dioscorea and cramp bark, it will be found highly beneficial in flatulency, bilious colic, cramps of pregnant women, painful dysmenorrhoea, spasmodic affections, borborygmi, and in cholera morbus, to remove the cramps. As a parturient, it is inferior to the powdered root, or to the resin of caulophyllum. In pulmonary, rheumatic, and dyspeptic affections, where there is a want of tone in the nervous system, it will prove a most valuable medicine, especially as ail adjunct of other remedies. Its usual dose is from ½ to 3 grains, and, in some cases, even to 6 grains, repeated 3 times a day (J. King). It is but little used at the present day, but when employed, the specific indications for its use, practically those given under Cimicifuga (which see), should be regarded.
The preparation obtained by Prof. Wayne's process (see previous editions of this Dispensatory) appears to possess more of the active properties of the root than the ordinary resin, and may be used in all cases where the root or its tincture is indicated, in doses varying from ¼ to 1 grain (J. King).
