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Santonin is a drug used in U.S. and British pharmacopoeia consisting of colorless flat prisms, turning slightly yellow from the action of light and soluble in alcohol, chloroform and boiling water. It is derived from santonica which is the unexpanded flower-heads of Artemisia maritima. The dose is 2 to 5 grams. The only British preparation is the trochiscus santonini, but the preparation sodii santoninas is official in the U.S. Santonin is an anthelmintic used to poison the roundworm Ascaris lumbricoides. It has no influence on tape worms. It must be administered fasting and be followed by a purgative in order to expel the worm. The most convenient mode of administration is in capsules. For threadworms which infest the anus of young children, a suppository containing 2 to 3 grams of santonin and used on alternate nights for three nights is effective. The U.S. preparation sodii santoninas is useless as a vermifuge and is used in diseased conditions of the optic nerve. Even small doses of santonin cause disturbances of vision, usually yellow vision or perhaps green (xanthopsia or chromatopsia). The urine also turns yellow and finally purple or red.

These effects usually pass off in a few days. Large doses, however, produce toxic effects, aphasia, muscular tremors and epileptiform convulsions, and the disturbances of vision may go on to total blindness.

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