What was elaterium?
By Chelsie Vandaveer
October 7, 2002
killerPlants Tendrils: ~~1~~2~~3~~4~~5~~
Suggested Reading—>Click here.
Assorted Killer Savings Garden Links—>Click here.
Killer Picks: St. Thomas Aquinas Gothic Wooden Bookstand—>Click here.
Wallingford Manor Solid Oak Sideboard, Elizabethan Solid Oak Settee—>Click here.
©"Demeter, Goddess of the Earth" Fountain, Roundabout Garden Bench—>Click here.
©"The Somerset Greenwoman", Le Printemps and Le Etoile Wall Sculptures—>Click here.
Pliny the Elder wrote of elaterium in his chapters on materia medica (medicinal materials). "There is a variety of cucumber that grows wild...." (Natural History, Chapter XX, pre-79 CE, trans. John Healy) Pliny's "cucumin silvestrem", source of elaterium, was the squirting cucumber (Ecballium elaterium
(L.) A. Richard).
John Gerard (The Herbal, 1633 ed.) recommended, "The juice called Elaterium doth purge forth choler, flegme, and waterie humours, and that with force, not onely by siege, but sometimes also by vomit. The quantity that is to be taken at one time is from five grains to ten, according to the strength of the patient....[It] prevaileth mightily against the dropsie, and shortness of breath."
Elaterium referred to the juice squirted out of the cucumber with the seeds. (See Weird Plants, October 3, 2002) The name, elaterium, is derived from the Greek elater meaning 'driver', and elasis meaning 'a driving out'. The name appears a double entendre--the squirting of the juice from the fruit and its effect on the human body.
The juice is mostly water, but contains the resin, elaterin, a nasty chemical intended as protection for the seeds. An animal that ate squirting cucumber seeds, even if the juice had dried, would not do so a second time. Elaterin acts as a hydragogue purgative, a laxative that functions by removing water from intestinal tissues and causing severe diarrhea--Gerard's "purge...with force...by siege".
The treatment possibly brought temporary relief to those suffering from dropsy (edema caused by cardiovascular failure or kidney disease) for it quickly reduced the amount of fluids in the body. Since the dosage, "from five grains to ten", was a guess by the herbalist, probably as many people died from the treatment as from dropsy.
In 1901, John Henry Clarke published A Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica. Homéopathe International has posted Clarke's work on the internet. To read his description of the symptoms caused by elaterium, click on the link:
http://www.homeoint.org/clarke/e/elat.htm
killerPlants Tendrils: ~~1~~2~~3~~4~~5~~
Suggested Reading:
What is the seed of a modern standard? What's in a Name? - July 28, 2006
How was this Biblical plant used? Herbal Folklore - May 13, 2002
Why have a mandrake on the mantle? Herbal Folklore - December 15, 2003
What are Job's Tears? Herbal Folklore - December 3, 2001
What is myrrh? Herbal Folklore - July 23, 2001
Frankincense and the Lost City of Ubar Herbal Folklore - December 24, 2001
Killer Savings Links:
Breck's Bulbs -$25 off—>Click here.
Gurney's Seed and Nursery -$20 off—>Click here.
Henry Fields Seed and Nursery -$20 off—>Click here.
Spring Hill Nursery -$20 off—>Click here.
Gardens Alive! -$20 off—>Click here.
Michigan Bulb -$20 off—>Click here.
Unique Professionally Designed Gardens
Springhill Nursery®
Spring Hill Nursery has unique gardens professionally designed by experts to take the guesswork out of gardening. Whether you are looking for a three season garden, foundation garden, or a garden to attract hummingbirds and butterflies, Spring Hill Nursery has created a step-by-step design just for you.
Click here - $20 off your first order at Spring Hill Nursery!
|
BACK TO TOP
