Domestic Encyclopædia (1802)/Gamboge

GAMBOGE, a concrete vegetable juice, of a gummy-resinous nature. It issues from the Cambogia gutta, a native of Cambia, in the East Indies; whence it is imported in large cakes or rolls. The best sort is of a deep yellow colour; is divested of all smell; and has very little taste.

As a pigment, gamboge makes a beautiful yellow, which is much used by painters. When taken as a medicine, it operates violently both upwards and downwards. It has been used in dropsies with cream of tartar, or jalap, or with both, to accelerate their operation: it is also recommended to be taken for the expulsion of the tape-worm, in doses of fifteen grains, early in the morning; and, if the worm be not expelled in two or three hours, this powerful dose is said to have been repeated with safety and with success, even to the third time, and in persons of delicate habits.—Great precaution, however, is requisite in the use of this precarious and active medicine; but, if accidentally too large a dose of it should have been swallowed, the most effectual antidote will be copious draughts of a solution of pearl-ashes in water.