Lamb's Quarters

LEBEDA, or lamb's quarters, Chenopodium, a herbaceous annual plant of the family Chenopodiaceae. There are many species of L.; some contain aromatic essential oils and are used for medicinal purposes in scientific and folk medicine, while others are fed to animals and even to humans: leaves as vegetables, seeds as substitutes for cereal bread. For example, seeds of Chenopodium album, or less frequently seeds of its variety Chenopodium viride, which is a common weed in gardens, orchards, and fields, have been used in our country for making substitute bread in years of famine. The seeds of these species of L. contain much fat, nitrogenous substances (proteins), starch, and cellulose. According to research at the laboratory of the Kazan University Institute of Hygiene, the seeds of L. contain in dry matter 16.82% of nitrogenous organic substances, 6.9% of fats, 21.0% of cellulose, 5.3% of ash, and 49.98% of starch and non-nitrogenous extractive substances. According to Erisman, as early as 1092 monks of the Pechersk Monastery in the Kiev region baked bread from L. In all subsequent famines until our day, literature constantly indicates that the population of crop-poor areas also feeds on L. For instance, according to the journals of the Medical Council for 1890–91, peasants of the Tula province fed on bread made from flour mixed with L., and peasants of the Obukhovsky district of the Kursk province fed on bread made solely from L. The same was observed in 1921 during the famine in the Volga region. Seeds of L., intended for bread, are first crushed in a mortar to separate the green, bitter-tasting parts covering them; the hard black seed coat of L. is extremely difficult to remove due to its brittleness and turning into very small fragments; therefore, and also for economic reasons to avoid great loss of grain, the seeds of L. are ground into flour without dehulling. Bread is usually baked from a mixture of L. with rye flour, and only in the complete absence of rye flour is bread made solely from L. used. Bread with L. is bitter, hard, crumbly, difficult to digest, and causes strong irritation of the digestive tract, often vomiting; the digestibility of the nitrogenous substances of L. is very low, and the nitrogenous balance is not maintained when feeding on it; persons feeding on bread made from L. quickly become emaciated, suffer from dizziness, and become poorly capable of mental and physical labor; body weight, temperature, and the number of heart contractions fall. The presence of a toxic principle in L. is suspected. The elderly and children suffer more from L. than young people and adults. The pathological phenomena caused by L. do not respond to treatment until the consumption of L. as food ceases (Popov, Sulmenov, Stef anovich, Erisman). From a hygienic point of view, bread even with a small admixture of L. should be considered an unsuitable food substitute. The greatest medicinal significance belongs to Mexican L., or aromatic lamb's quarters, Chenopodium ambrosioides L. Its homeland is Mexico, where it is called Herba de Santa Maria. Mexican L. grows wild in the USA, Brazil, and Chile. In a cultivated form it is grown in gardens throughout Europe. The smell is pleasant, aromatic, the taste is spicy, slightly pungent and bitter, in general pleasant. Constituent parts: essential oil (about 0.3%), soluble in 9–10 volumes of 70° alcohol; a large quantity of oxalic, malic, nitric, and other salts; gum, resin, starch, protein substances. In medicine, aromatic lamb's quarters is prescribed as a water infusion as a stimulating stomachic remedy; it was also sometimes used as an emmenagogue, abortifacient, anti-asthmatic, anthelmintic, etc. In Brazil the herb is used to replace Chinese tea ('Jesuit tea'). A variety of Mexican lamb's quarters, Chenopodium ambrosioides anthelminticum (homeland Pennsylvania, Buenos Aires), is distinguished by a high content of essential oil in the plant itself and its seeds, which is used as a good anthelmintic. Literature indicates that this herb was known to the natives even in the time of Columbus. - Oleum Chenopodii anthelmintici is one of the most widespread anthelmintic remedies in the USA and in some other countries. The action of this essential oil was studied in detail and verified on a large amount of material during the World War, when the use of santonin was extremely limited due to the cessation of its export from Russia. Oleum Chenopodii anthelmint., prepared from seeds, is colorless or yellowish, rotates the plane of polarization to the left, and [α]° = from -4° to -9°, has an unpleasant, very penetrating smell and a bitterish pungent taste; specific gravity at 15° is from 0.973 to 0.981, contains from 62% to 70% ascaridol /CH.-CH.ч

^x сн₃ and about 22% of thymol. The main active principle of the oil, ascaridol, is a liquid of unpleasant smell, its specific gravity at 15° is 1.008; at reduced pressure down to 4–5 mm of mercury it boils at 80–84°. When heated to 130–150° and normal pressure, ascaridol decomposes with a strong explosion; the same explosion is given by Oleum Chenopodii anthelmint. at the named temperature and specific gravity; phosphoric and arsenious acids decompose ascaridol. The oil obtained from the herb has a specific gravity at 15° of only 0.930–0.950, contains 45–50% ascaridol and the same amount of hydrocarbons (E. Schmidt). According to Nelson, ascaridol, which explodes upon heating, is a peroxide. The oil is stored in pharmacies with caution (lit. BFUN). The maximum dose (N. Thorns) of essential oil is 0.5, per day 1.0; for 4-year-old children 2–3 drops, 6 years-4¹/₂ drops, 8 years-6 drops, 10 years-9 drops, 12 years-10 drops, 14 years-12 drops, 16 years-15 drops, 18 years-20 drops, 20 years-24 drops. After ¹/_г-2 hours a laxative must be given. Introduced internally, Oleum Chenopodii anthelmint. is partly absorbed, but is excreted very slowly, which is why with prolonged treatment a cumulative action is manifested; with large single doses of Oleum Chenopodii anthelmint. acute poisoning is observed, manifesting as an inflammatory state of the stomach and intestines, vomiting and diarrhea, disturbance of hearing, convulsions, and finally a severe coma, lasting for whole days. Oleum Chenopodii anthelmint. quickly kills Ascaris lumbri-coides, Ankylostomaduodenale, Necator ame-ricanus, significantly surpassing santonin in these cases; however, its action on Oxyuris ver-micularis is not so reliable. To expel the killed worms and to remove Oleum Chenopodii anthelmint. from the intestines to prevent its absorption, 20–30 g of castor oil or an equivalent amount of Magnesia sulfurica is given 1 hour after taking 2 doses of this oil of 15 drops each (one dose after another every ^x/г ^чas). Oleum Chenopodii anthelmint. should not be prescribed for more than 2 days. A second course of treatment should not be undertaken until at least 2 weeks have passed. Due to the unpleasant taste of Oleum Chenopodii anthelmint., it is prescribed in gelatin capsules, and for children it is given with sugar or in an emulsion. For pinworms, Chenopodium oil is added to a cleansing enema. A patented preparation, Rademacher's emulsion of purified Oleum Chenopodii, is called vermolin. Medicinal significance (primarily in folk medicine) also has the following species of L.: Chenopodium suffruticosum W. (Mexico); applied

Chenopodium ambrosioides. Chenopodium vulvaria L. (Ch. foetidum) (Europe); the herb is applied as an emmenagogue, against hysteria, etc.; it contains trimethylamine. Ch. hybridum L. (Europe, Asia) is considered poisonous to pigs. Ch. polyspermum L. is used as bait for fish. Ch. urbicum L. and Ch. intermed. Koch (Ficoi'ol. sm.) (Central Europe); leaves and seeds are edible. Ch. Quinoa and its variety purpurescens L. (Chile); often cultivated; seeds are rich in starch and protein, used as a food substance; according to Dujearden-Bometz, the seeds cause vomiting. Ch. mexicanum Moq. (Mexico); contains saponins, serves as a substitute for soap root. Ch. hircinum Schrad. (Brazil); contains essential oil. Ch. chilense (Chile); flowering tops ('Paico')-for gastric and intestinal catarrhs. Ch. botrys L. (Mediterranean coast); contains essential oil; the herb is applied against asthma, catarrh, spasms, and migraine. Ch. rubrum L. (Blitum rubrum) (Europe, China, South Asia); the herb is applied for destroying insects, etc. Ch. opulifolium Schrad. (Ch. erosum R. Br.) (Central Europe, New Holland); seeds and leaves are edible. Ch. Bonus Henricus L. (Agatophyllum Bon. Henr. Moq., Blitum B. H. Koch) ('goosefoot') (Europe); the root and herb are applied for phthisis, externally for tumors, etc. Ch. capitatum Aschers (Blitum capita-turn L.) (strawberry spinach, reddening berries) and Blitum virgatum L. (both in Central

and Southern Europe); used as a vegetable, the fruits contain a red dyeing substance.