SQUILL  , the name under which the bulbous

root of Urginea Scilla is used in medicine . It belongs to the natural order Liliaceae . The name of " squill " is also applied by gardeners to the various species of Scilla . The medicinal squill is a native of the countries bordering the Mediterranean, and grows from the sea-level up to an elevation of 3000 ft . The bulbs are globular and of large size, often weighing more than 4 lb . Two varieties are met with, the one having white and the other pink scales . They are collected in August, when they are leafless, the membranous outer scales being removed and the fleshy portion cut transversely into slices and dried in the sun . These are then packed in casks for exportation . They are chiefly imported into the United Kingdom from Malta . When reduced to powder and exposed to the air the drug rapidly absorbs moisture and cakes together into a hard mass . Squill has been used in medicine from a very early period . The ancient Greek physicians prescribed it with vinegar and honey almost in the same manner as it is used at present .

The

composition of the drug, first efficiently studied by Merck in 1878, is very complex . The chief constituent is scillitoxin, a bitter and intensely irritant principle . A somewhat similar substance, scillipiain, is also physiologically active . The bitter glucoside scillin, or scillain, is unimportant . The bulb also contains mucilage, and a considerable quantity of an irritant resin . It has been shown that a definite action on the heart is not obtainable unless so large a dose of squill is given that some astro-intestinal irritation or even inflammation is set up by this resin . The dose of squill is from I to 3 grains . Of the numerous pharmacopoeial preparations only three are of any importance: the syrup of squill, composed of one part of squill, eight of dilute acetic acid and four of sugar; the Piinla Ipecacuenhae cum Scilla, in which ipecacuanha and opium are the chief constituents; and the tincture of squill, which is still widely used, made by macerating one part of squillwith five of alcohol . The action of the drug is that of a cardiac stimulant, with three important further properties all dependent on its irritant constituents . Even in small doses, such as will not affect the heart, it is a gastro-intestinal, a bronchial and a renal irritant . The two latter properties constitute it a powerful expectorant and a fairly active diuretic . The drug must not be given alone, owing to its irritant action .

It is very frequently given as a diuretic in cardiac cases in the

form of a pill containing one grain each of mercury, digitalis and squill . Combined with a sedative, such as opium, it may be given in chronic bronchitis . It must not be given in acute bronchitis, which it only aggravates; nor in phthisis, which is invariably accompanied by a hypersensitive state of the alimentary tract . For similar reasons squill should not be given in any form of Bright's disease . The textbook prohibition against its use in acute Bright's disease should certainly be extended to chronic nephritis in all its forms . The use of this irritating drug, while still extensive, is yearly diminishing . It does not accomplish anything that may not otherwise be achieved at less cost to the secreting surfaces of the patient . An allied species, Urginea indica, is used in India in the same manner as the European species . The true squills are represented in Great Britain by two species, Scilla autumnalis and S. verna . The former has a racemose inflorescence and leaves appearing in autumn after the flowers; the latter has the flowers arranged in a corymbose manner, leaves appearing in spring, and is confined to the sea-coast . Several species are cultivated in gardens, S. bifolia and S. sibirica being remarkable for their beautiful blue flowers, which are produced in early spring; Chinese squill is S. cltinensis, a half-hardy species; Roman squill is a popular name for species of Bellevalia, a genus now generally included in Hyacinthus; striped squill is Puschkinia scilloides, a liliaceous plant resembling the squill in habit .