Important: Safety Warning
This page prescribes plants as medicine according to pre-modern medical theory. Several of the plants named are toxic, correct identification is difficult, and the doses given have no scientific basis. Do not ingest or apply any preparation described here.
In addition, this page presents medical treatment from an era before modern medicine. The remedies described are ineffective against the conditions named, and some of the ingredients or doses are harmful. Do not use them to treat any illness; consult a qualified medical professional.
This information has been left in for historical purposes but should not be acted upon.
Vermifuges
VERMICIDES, or ANTHELMINTICS, remedies which possess the property of destroying intestinal worms, or of expelling them from the digestive canal. Those in most common use at the present day are: For tapeworms, extract of malefern root, in doses of half to one teaspoonful, and turpentine in doses of one to two tablespoonfuls for round worms, santonin; and for thread worms santonin and saline cathartics by the mouth, but particularly injections by the rectum of common salt, strong green tea, infusion of quassia, or diluted steel drops.