Swamp-Root
What is Swamp-Root good for? Dr. Kilmer blended the fifteen herbal ingredients of Swamp-Root, coming from South Africa, North and South America, Europe, the Middle East, Tibet, and North-west China, into a balanced formula that benefits the digestive, respiratory, and nervous systems. Here are these herbs listed in order of relative percentage.
XIV : Balsam of Copaiba (Copaifera langsdorffii) is found in Brazil and northern South Africa. It was first noticed in England in 1625, in a work published by Purchas. There are many species in South America, all yielding Copaiba- a single tree is said to yield about 40 liters. The first yield is clear, colorless and very thin, but in contact with the air its consistency soon becomes thicker and yellower. It is most largely collected from Para and Maranhao in Brazil, and is exported in small casks and barrels; large quantities also come from Maracaibo in Venezuela, and it is also exported from Angostura, Cayenne, Rio Janeiro and some West Indian Islands. The variety that comes from Venezuela is more viscid and darker. As it contains no benzoic acid, it cannot properly be called a resin. Medically, copaiba balsam is a stimulant, diuretic, carminative (A drug or agent that induces the expulsion of gas from the stomach or intestines), and laxative. It is also good remedy for chronic catarrh and bronchitis, as it assists expectoration and is antiseptic; is given with advantage in leucorrhoea, chronic cystitis, diarrhea and hemorrhoids. It is chiefly used in gonorrhea (though not advocated for chronic cases), often combined with cubebs (Piper cubeba) and sandal. It has also been recommended externally for chilblains. Both the volatile oil and resin are greatly altered when expelled in the urine, and when precipitated by nitric acid might be mistaken for albumen; it is considered a valuable hydragogue diuretic in obstinate dropsy. Used prudently and in small quantities, Copaiba is a wonderful natural remedy for stomach ulcers, inflammation of all kinds, nail fungus (applied topically) and for its documented wound-healing, antimicrobial and anticancerous properties. It creates an irritant action on the whole mucous membrane, imparts a peculiar odor to the urine and breath, causes an eruption resembling measles attended with irritation and tingling; it is the resin, not the oleoresin, that is used as a diuretic.
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