A gum resin obtained from the tuberus roots of Convolvulus Scammonia (see sense 2) used in medicine as a strong purgative; also, the dried tuberous…

(a) The bitter drug aloes; = aloe, n. 3a. (b) Aloes-wood; = aloe, n. 1. (c) An aromatic wood obtained from a Mexican tree of the genus Bursera.

A purgative drug composed of aloes and canella bark, sometimes mixed with honey and other ingredients. Also corruptly hickery-pickery, hicra picra, h…

Originally: an exotic plant producing the medicinal rootstock known as rhubarb, rhabarbarum, or rhapontic (see sense A. 2a) (later identified as…

Also more fully bitter aloe(s). A drug made from the concentrated or dried juice of plants of the genus Aloe, having a bitter taste and unpleasant…

Botany. A genus of trees, shrubs, or herbs (family Leguminosæ) distributed in numerous species over the warmer regions of the earth. The leaflets…

The colocynth, n.

= senna, n.

A cathartic drug prepared from the root of East Indian jalap, Ipomœa Turpethum, an Indian and Australian plant; also, the plant itself, or its root.

colocynth, n.

An old name for a preparation of scammony, used in pharmacy.

= lign-aloes, n.

The dried rootstock of any of various species of rhubarb, imported to Europe from Asia (esp. China) and used medicinally as a purgative; a…

= lign-aloes, n., aloe, n. 1. Also attributive.

A dried, sweet exudate or gum produced by various plants when cut, damaged, or punctured; esp. one rich in mannitol exuded from the branches of the…

The pear-shaped bulb of the sea onion, Drimia maritima (formerly Scilla maritima) or of any of various other plants included or formerly included in…

= hiera picra, n. a.

The fruit of Emblica officinalis, a tree of the family Euphorbiaceæ, whose flowers are aperient, leaves and bark a remedy against dysentery. Also e…

A purgative electuary of which senna formed the base; the confection of senna.

The Bitter-apple (Citrullus colocynthis), a widely-cultivated plant of the Gourd family, the fruit of which is about the size of an orange, and…

An araceous plant, probably dragon arum, Dracunculus vulgaris, or cuckoo pint, Arum maculatum. Cf. dragons, n.

An edible seed from the cones of the stone pine, Pinus pinea, of southern Europe. Also: the purgative seed of the physic nut, Jatropha curcas…

The purgative drug obtained from this root. Obsolete.

aloes-wood.

A gum resin obtained from various trees of the genus Garcinia (see sense A. 2), used as a yellow pigment or dye, and also (now historical) as a…

The root of dragonwort or dragons. Obsolete.

Originally: †any of various medicinal preparations containing hellebore (probably Veratrum album) (obsolete). In later use: treatment, esp…

‘An electuary made of damask prunes and divers other simples, good to cool the body in hot burning feavers’ (Physical Dict. 1657).

The purgative drug colocynth, esp. as formulated in troches.

Irish spurge, Euphorbia hyberna.

A kind of grape which causes looseness of the bowels.

made with diagrydium. Also as n.: see quots.

A tropical American shrub, Jatropha curcas (family Euphorbiaceae), having large, roundish to heart-shaped, sometimes lobate leaves and a reddish…

An aloetic medicinal preparation; spec. a purgative or laxative containing aloes. Now rare.

A medicine containing scammony; a purgative medicine.

A purgative drug obtained from the tuberous roots of Exogonium (Ipomœa) Purga and some other convolvulaceous plants; the active principle is the…

Medicine. A purgative medicine having aloes as a chief ingredient; = aloetic, n.

= coloquint, n.

a (dried) sugary substance, formerly used medicinally as a mild laxative, which contains the sugar melezitose and is produced by certain insects…

ground liquorice root, used as an aperient.

= coloquintida, n.

A pale yellow oil obtained from the seeds of Ricinus communis or Palma Christi (family Euphorbiaceæ), having a nauseous slightly acrid taste; used in…

an infusion of the drug taken as a purgative.

= hiera picra, n.

medicinal rhubarb, n. 1: see quot. 1866.

The leaves of the African asclepiadaceous plant Solenostemma argel, formerly used to adulterate senna; also, the plant itself.

= hiera picra, n.

A bitter substance extracted from senna, and acting as a purgative.

Any of several organic compounds isolated from the sap of aloes; (in later use) spec. an anthraquinone which forms bitter-tasting lemon-yellow…

a fatty oil existing in the seeds of the East Indian species, Croton Tiglium; it is a drastic purgative.

A glucoside resin, one of the purgative principles of officinal jalap and allied plants; the resin of jalap-stalks.

A cathartic said to have been used in some Egyptian forms of embalming.

‘The bitter principle of the root of the red-berried bryony (Bryonia dioica).’ Watts.

an organic acid which is a principal constituent of gamboge.

The dried rhizome of the mayapple, Podophyllum peltatum or P. hexandrum. Also: a resin prepared from this rhizome; = podophyllin, n.

A yellow, bitter resin with violent purgative properties, obtained from the dried rhizome of the mayapple, Podophyllum peltatum or P. hexandrum…

A mixture of grape-juice, brandy, sugar, and red colouring-matter, manufactured in Portugal, and used in the adulteration of port-wine.

= hiera picra, n.

common name for Globularia alypum, the decoction of the leaves of which acts as an active but gentle purgative.

= hiera picra, n.

A West African tree, Carapa guineensis. tallicoona oil, a fixed oil expressed from the seeds of this.

= jalapin, n.

= pharbitin, n.

Medicine. (An extract of) the bark of a Californian buckthorn, Rhamnus purshiana, used as a laxative or cathartic; in full cascara sagrada, ‘sacred…

see quot. 1890.

an aperient prepared from dried figs, usually with senna and carminatives.

A glycosidal resin obtained from the seeds of a morning glory, Ipomoea (formerly Pharbitis) nil, to which their purgative properties were formerly…