Borax (Sodium Borate).—­This drug as it appears in commerce of America is derived entirely from natural deposits found on the shores of lakes of California and Nevada.  This is purified.

Action.—­It is antiseptic in its action.  It renders the urine alkaline.

Gargle.—­It is used as a gargle in sore mouth and throat in dose of a dram to a pint of water.  It is very good used as a wash for fetid sweating, especially of the feet.  It is often used in combination in catarrh of the nose.  It can be combined with soda for this purpose in dose of one dram of each to two pints of pure water and used in an atomizer.

Camphor.—­This is distilled from the wood and bark of the camphor tree, cinnamomum camphora, which grows chiefly in China and Japan.  It should be kept in closed bottles.

Uses.—­It is good for cold in the head in the early stages.  It may be snuffed up the nostrils in fine powder, or put in boiling water and the fumes inhaled.  It is good used as a liniment in neuralgia, stiff neck, rheumatism and for boils and sores.  Used in the form of camphor ice it is very good for sores, cuts, boils, etc.  It is often of use to smell when one feels faint.  It is one of the ingredients in many liniments.  Its external use as spirits of camphor is extensive.

Castor oil (Oleum Ricini).—­This is derived from the beans of Ricinis Communis, a plant in the United States.

Action.—­It is bland and unirritating in its action as a purge and generally acts in four to five hours.

Uses.—­It is used whenever irritant materials such as bad food, putrid flesh, decaying vegetables have been eaten, to move the bowels.  It is good in diarrhea produced by above causes and others, such as corn, peanuts, cherry stones, berries.  It is apt to produce piles and constipation if used constantly.  It is often given in the form of capsules containing from one-fourth to one teaspoonful.  Dip the capsules in water, as this renders them slippery and are easily swallowed.  Dose is from one to six teaspoonfuls.

[672 Mothers’ remedies]

Olive oil.  Sweet Oil (Oleum Olivae).—­This is expressed from the ripe fruit.

Action and Uses.—­It is a lubricant.  It is added to poultices as an emollient in pneumonia and skin diseases.  Internally, olive oil is nutritious and laxative, and a purgative in infants in doses of one teaspoonful.  In adults it is a useful remedy in many irritant poisons, excepting phosphorus.  It is given in large doses for gall stones, three to six ounces at a dose.

Ginger (Zingiber).—­Ginger is the rhizome of Zingiber Officinale, a plant of Hindostan, Jamaica and other tropical countries.

Action:  It is an agreeable carminative and stimulant, in easing the secretions and stimulating the wavelike movement of the bowels.  It acts as an irritant to the bladder and urethra.