Galbanum
Also called ‘Syrian Ferula’, Fennel Giant, or Metopium
Jaosheer (Unani)
Jaosheer (Unani)
Icones Plantarum Medcio-oeconomico, Vietz, 1800
Atlas der officinellen pflanzen (2), Felix, 1899
ADVERTISEMENT:
Botanical name:
Ferula galbaniflua (syn. F. rubricaulis, Bubon galbanum)
Parts used:
Gum
Temperature & Taste:
Warm, dry. Pungent, Bitter, aromatic
Classifications:
2B ATTENUATERS. 2K. RESOLVENT. 2L. EMOLLIENT. 2M. DRAWING. 2Q. ANODYNE
3G. EMMENAGOGUE
4f. SPLENETIC. 4k. ARTHRITIC
Ferula galbaniflua (syn. F. rubricaulis, Bubon galbanum)
Parts used:
Gum
Temperature & Taste:
Warm, dry. Pungent, Bitter, aromatic
Classifications:
2B ATTENUATERS. 2K. RESOLVENT. 2L. EMOLLIENT. 2M. DRAWING. 2Q. ANODYNE
3G. EMMENAGOGUE
4f. SPLENETIC. 4k. ARTHRITIC
Uses:
1. Moves Blood and Qi, Promotes Menstruation:
-Amenorrhea, Dysmenorrhea
-obstructions of the Uterus
-expels Birth and Afterbirth; a piece the size of a bean is given for protracted labor.
2. Clears Cold-Phlegm, Stops Cough:
-chronic and persistent Coughs, Wheezing, Asthma from Cold-Phlegm
3. Clears Damp, Warms the Stomach:
-Poor digestion from Cold or Damp
-Hernia
4. Clears Wind-Damp, Stops Spasms:
-Dizziness, Vertigo from Wind-Phlegm
-Spasms, Convulsions
-smell was said to revive Epileptics
-Wind-Damp Arthritis and Rheumatism
5. Resists Poison
-arrow poison (Dioscorides)
-applied to resist Bites
6. Externally:
-promotes Delivery, for suffocation of the Uterus (in pessaries)
-applied with vinegar to remove Birthmarks (Dioscorides)
-Migraine
-kneaded into a hollow tooth to relieve Toothache (Dioscorides)
-Dandruff
DOSE:
200–500mg
SUBSTITUTE:
Asafetida
200–500mg
SUBSTITUTE:
Asafetida
Main Combinations:
1. Cough from Cold:
i. Galbanum with Storax, Myrrh, Opium (as in Expert Pills for Cough)
ii. Galbanum with Storax, Opium, Sulphur, Terebinth, Black Pepper (as in Pills Proven for Coughs)
iii. Galbanum with Saffron, Licorice, Cinnamon, Spikenard, Storax, Opium, Myrrh, Aniseed (as in Antidote Appropriate for Cough)
2. Cold Phlegm obstructing the Lungs:
i. Galbanum with Gum Ammoniac, Rhubarb, Licorice
3. Amenorrhea:
i. Galbanum with Myrrh, Iron sulphate, Cinnamon, form pills with Syrup of Orange peel
ii. Galbanum with Valerian, Iron, Savin
4. To promote Birth, Galbanum with Pennyroyal, Mugwort, Cassia Fistula, Saffron, Cinnamon, Myrrh (as in Powder to Facilitate Birth)
5. To expel a dead fetus, and against various Poisons, Galbanum and Myrrh taken with Wine. (Pliny)
6. Against Poison, Galbanum with Myrrh and Wine (Dioscorides)
Major Formulas:
Pills Proven for Coughs (Galen)
Expert Pills for Cough
Antidote Appropriate for Cough
Antidote Proven for Diverse Diseases (Nicholas)
Electuarium Acharistum (Nicholas)
1, Compound Pills of Galbanum:
i. Galbanum, Gum Ammoniac (1 dram each), Syrup, sufficient to form a pill mass. Make 30 pills.
ii. Galbanum (1 oz.), Myrrh, Sagapen (1 ½ oz. each), Asafetida (half oz.), Syrup (sufficient). Form pills. (London)
iii. Galbanum, Opopanax, Myrrh, Sagapen (1 oz. each), Asafetida (half oz.), Syrup of Saffron, sufficient to make pills.
2. Tincture of Galbanum:
i. Galbanum (2 oz.), Proof Spirit (2 pints). Digest 7 days, filter.
ii. Galbanum (1 part), Rectified Spirit (5 parts)
3. Compound Tincture of Galbanum:
i. Tincture of Galbanum, Tincture of Wormwood, Spirit of Rosemary (equal parts). Mix. Dose: 40–50 drops in a spoonful of water. (Pharmacopoeia extemporanea, Augustin, 1822)
4. Foetid Water (Aqua Foetida)
i. Galbanum (1 ½ oz.), Asafetida (6 drams), Valerian (1 oz.), Angelica (½ oz.), Zedoary (3 drams), Cumin (half oz.), Myrrh (6 drams), Mentha crispa (1 oz.), Peppermint, Wild Thyme (½ oz. each), Camomile (2 oz.), Water (5 lbs.), Proof Spirit (1 lb.). Digest, distil 3 pounds.
Dose: 1 spoonful. (Pharmacopoeia extemporanea, Augustin, 1822)
5. Plaster of Galbanum:
i. Turpentine (5 oz.), Yellow Wax (8 oz.); melt together, then add Galbanum dissolved in vinegar and evaporated (1 pound), Mix. (Pharmacopoeia extemporanea, Augustin, 1822)
6. Compound Plaster of Galbanum:
i. Simple Plaster (50 parts), Yellow Wax, Resin, Turpentine (3 parts), Gum Ammoniac (2 parts), Galbanum, Sagapen (1 part each). Melt the plaster in a water-bath; put the other ingredients into a pot with 4 parts of water and when dissolved express into the liquified plaster and stir until cold. (Formulaire Pharmaceutitique a l’usage des Hospitaux Militaires de France, 1821)
ii. Simple Plaster (1 lb.), Melt slowly and add: Gum Ammoniac, Galbanum (1 oz. each) dissolved in Vinegar (1 oz.), then add Saffron (1 ½ drams) and Mix. (Dispensatorium Pharmaceuticum, 1777)
ADVERTISEMENT:
Cautions:
1. Not used during Pregnancy
2. 'It is thought to cause difficult Micturation' (Dioscorides); Strangury (Pliny)
Main Preparations used:
Purified Galbanum (dissolved in liquor, strained and dehydrated), Distilled Oil
1. Not used during Pregnancy
2. 'It is thought to cause difficult Micturation' (Dioscorides); Strangury (Pliny)
Main Preparations used:
Purified Galbanum (dissolved in liquor, strained and dehydrated), Distilled Oil
History
Pliny on Galbanum:
'We have already given some description of galbanum: to be good, it should be neither too moist nor too dry, but just in the state which we have mentioned. It is taken by itself for inveterate coughs, asthma, ruptures, and convulsions; and it is employed externally for sciatica, pains in the sides, inflamed tumours, boils, denudations of the bones, scrofulous sores, nodes upon the joints, and tooth-ache. It is applied with honey also, to ulcerations of the head. In combination with oil of roses or with nard, it is used as an injection for suppurations of the ears; and the odour of it is useful for epilepsy, hysterical suffocations, and faintness at the stomach. Employed as a pessary or as a fumigation, it brings away the foetus in cases of miscarriage; branches too of hellebore covered with it and laid beneath the patient, have a similar effect.
'We have already stated that serpents are driven away by the fumes of burnt galbanum, and they will equally avoid persons whose body has been rubbed with it. It is curative also of the sting of the scorpion. In protracted deliveries, a piece of galbanum the size of a bean is given in one cyathus of wine: ithas the effect also of reducing the uterus when displaced, and, taken with myrrh and wine, it brings away the dead foetus. In combination with myrrh and wine too, it neutralizes pqisons—those which come under the denomination of "toxica" in particular. The very touch of it, mixed with oil and spondylium, is sufficient to kill a serpent. It is generally thought to be productive of strangury.' (The Natural History of Pliny, trans. by Bostock and Riley, Vol. 5, 1856)
'We have already given some description of galbanum: to be good, it should be neither too moist nor too dry, but just in the state which we have mentioned. It is taken by itself for inveterate coughs, asthma, ruptures, and convulsions; and it is employed externally for sciatica, pains in the sides, inflamed tumours, boils, denudations of the bones, scrofulous sores, nodes upon the joints, and tooth-ache. It is applied with honey also, to ulcerations of the head. In combination with oil of roses or with nard, it is used as an injection for suppurations of the ears; and the odour of it is useful for epilepsy, hysterical suffocations, and faintness at the stomach. Employed as a pessary or as a fumigation, it brings away the foetus in cases of miscarriage; branches too of hellebore covered with it and laid beneath the patient, have a similar effect.
'We have already stated that serpents are driven away by the fumes of burnt galbanum, and they will equally avoid persons whose body has been rubbed with it. It is curative also of the sting of the scorpion. In protracted deliveries, a piece of galbanum the size of a bean is given in one cyathus of wine: ithas the effect also of reducing the uterus when displaced, and, taken with myrrh and wine, it brings away the dead foetus. In combination with myrrh and wine too, it neutralizes pqisons—those which come under the denomination of "toxica" in particular. The very touch of it, mixed with oil and spondylium, is sufficient to kill a serpent. It is generally thought to be productive of strangury.' (The Natural History of Pliny, trans. by Bostock and Riley, Vol. 5, 1856)