Cascarilla.

Botanical name: 

The bark of Croton cascarilla.—West Indies.

Preparation.—Tincture of Cascarilla.

Dose.—From five drops to one drachm.

Therapeutic Action.—The Cascarilla bark is tonic, stomachic, stimulant, aromatic and diaphoretic. It was at one time extensively employed in Europe as a febrifuge in intermittent and remittent fevers, in the place of cinchona, and by some regarded as superior to that article. Its aromatic and stimulant properties, which it possesses in a high degree, render it much more acceptable to the stomach.

In large doses it acts as a general excitant as well as tonic, causing an acceleration of the pulse, increased heat of the body and diaphoresis. It may be used with advantage in atonic states of the stomach attended with flatulency.


The American Eclectic Materia Medica and Therapeutics, 1898, was written by John M. Scudder, M.D.