Observations placeholder

Bulletin of the Nevada State Board of Health [1920] - Dr Ernst Krebs

The Indians gather this root in the late fall, November being considered the proper month for gathering. The root is used in the fresh or dry state.

It is cut up and a decoction is made by boiling the root in water, skimming off the top and giving large doses of the broth. A pound of root is considered about the proper dose to treat a case of fever for 3 days, which is the longest time needed to break up a fever due to influenza or puimonary disease, although the Washoes used it as a panacea.

Whether a coincidence or not, there was not a single death in the Washoe tribe from influenza or its complications, although Indians living in other parts of the State where the root did not grow died in numbers.

It was such a remarkable coincidence that the root was investigated by a practicing physician who saw apparently hopeless cases recover completely without any other medication or care of any kind.

A preparation was prepared and employed in a great many cases among the whites, from the mildest to the most virulent types of influenza, and it proved itself to be a reliable agent in preventing pulmonary complications.

Other physicians were induced to give it a trial with the same results. It is beyond the experimental stage, as its therapeutic action in this direction is established and beyond any doubt. The cases in which it has been used run into the hundreds. There is probably no therapeutic agent so valuable in the treatment of influenzal pneumonia and, as far as being tried, in ordinary lobar pneumonia if started early.

Its action on coughs is more certain than opiate expectorants and its benefit is lasting. It acts as a powerful tonic to the respiratory mucus membranes. It is a bronchial, intestinal and urinary antiseptic and is excreted by these organs.