ARABIC GUM POWDER
Latin / Botanical Name:
Acacia senegal
Action, Medical Uses, and Dosage: Gum arabic is nutritive and demulcent, and exerts a soothing influence upon
irritated or inflamed mucous tissues, by shielding them from the influence of
deleterious agents, atmospheric air, etc. On this account it has been used in
diarrhoea and dysentery, to remove tenesmus and painful stools, in catarrh,
cough, hoarseness, gonorrhoea, ardor urinae, etc.—(Coxe.) It may be given almost
ad libitum in powder, lozenge, or solution, alone or combined with syrups,
decoctions, etc. In acute diseases, where it becomes necessary to use the
lightest and most readily digested food, there is no article, probably, equal to
gum arabic. It maybe used for this purpose by dissolving half an ounce of the
powdered gum in 5 ounces of water, and sweetening with loaf-sugar, of which a
tablespoonful may be given every 2 or 3 hours; in low stages of fever, in
typhoid fever, and wherever a mild stimulant is required, 1 ounce of a saturated
solution of camphor in sulphuric ether may be added to the above, and
administered in the same way; it is diuretic, promotes the action of the
absorbents, and does not materially increase arterial action. Equal parts of
pulverized alum and gum arabic form a good preparation to check hemorrhages from
small cuts, wounds, etc. Externally, the application of its solution to burns
and scalds has proved serviceable, repeating it until a complete coating is
secured. It is likewise much used for compounding pills, lozenges, mixtures, and
emulsions; also for administering insoluble substances in water, as oils,
resins, balsams, camphor, musk, etc.