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OPOPANAX

Volume 7 · 153 words · 1778 Edition

in the materia medica, is a gum resin of a tolerably firm texture, usually brought to us in loose granules or drops, and sometimes in large masses, formed of a number of these connected by a quantity of matter of the same kind; but these are usually loaded with extraneous matter, and are greatly inferior to the pure loose kind. The drops or granules of the fine-opopanax, are on the outside of a brownish red colour, and of a dusky yellowish or whitish colour within: they are of a somewhat unctuous appearance, smooth on the surface; and are to be chosen in clear pieces, of a strong smell and acid taste.

Opopanax is attenuating and diffusive, and is gently purgative; it dispels statulencies, and is good in asthmas, in inveterate coughs, and in disorders of the head and nerves. It also promotes the menes, and is good against all obstructions of the viscera.