Colocynthis quidem est pomum cuiusdam arboris et cetera: i.e. colocynth is a hollow apple or fruit of a tree which grows in the Orient around Jerusalem, and which has as a synonym cucurbita alaxandrina. Nature: it is hot in the third degree and dry in the second degree. Primarily it purges gross dense phlegmatic humor from the joints with acuteness by its attractive force. Secondarily, it purges melancholia from the brain . Because of that it is suitable for ailments of the head such as melancholia, epilepsy, and the likes. Since it causes, when it is administered, great discomfort to the stomach, vomiting, and syncope, it is proper for that reason to correct it, before it is administered, by a scruple of pulverized tragacanth compounded with it. Let it not be administered in hot weather and let it not be mixed with another powerful laxative. Dosage: its maximum dose singly or together with another medicine one dram; and its minimum dose up to one and one half scruples. It is best when it has an abundance of bright uniform pith.