= Solution
\b[The principal period groups were <digitalis preparations>, <squill>, <broom>, <juniper oil>, <buchu>, <nitrous ether spirit>, and several soluble <potassium salts>.] They were grouped by observed promotion of <urine> flow, rather than by one common mechanism. The following are historical adult quantities per administration, expressed in the contemporary units; they are not present-day prescriptions.
* <Digitalis preparations>: powdered leaves, ½–2 <grains>; <Infusum Digitalis>, 2–4 <fluid drachms>; <Tinctura Digitalis>, 5–40 <minims>; <digitalin>, 1/40–1/10 <grain> in the period table. Historical <digitalin> was not simply a modern pure <digoxin> product.
* <Squill>: powder, 1–2 <grains>; <Pilula Scillae Composita>, 5–10 <grains>; <Tinctura Scillae>, 10–20 <minims>; <Syrupus Scillae>, ½–1½ <fluid drachms>.
* <Broom>: <Decoctum Scoparii>, 1–3 <fluid ounces>; <Succus Scoparii>, 1–4 <fluid drachms>.
* <Buchu>: powdered leaves, 20–40 <grains>; <Infusum Bucco>, 1–2 <fluid ounces>; <Tinctura Bucco>, 1–2 <fluid drachms>.
* <Juniper oil>: <Spiritus Juniperi>, 10–30 <minims> in the 1864 commentary. This unusually concentrated spirit contains one volume of <juniper oil> in ten; its dose must not be borrowed from a later, weaker formula.
* <Nitrous ether spirit>, \i[Spiritus Aetheris Nitrosi]: 30 <minims> to 2 <fluid drachms>.
* <Potassium acetate>: 10–20 <grains>; <potassium citrate>: 20–60 <grains>; <potassium nitrate>: 5–20 <grains>; <potassium tartrate>: 10–60 <grains>; <potassium hydrogen tartrate>: 20–60 <grains>.
* <Ammonium acetate solution>, \i[Liquor Ammoniae Acetatis]: 10–40 <minims> of the concentrated British preparation, diluted for administration.
<The Essentials of Materia Medica and Therapeutics by Alfred Baring Garrod (1865)>[Posological table: Digitalis, Infusum Digitalis, Scoparius preparations, Bucco preparations, Spiritus Aetheris Nitrosi, potassium salts and Liquor Ammoniae Acetatis; Liliaceae: squill preparations]{ref} <The Prescriber's Analysis of the British Pharmacopoeia by John Birkbeck Nevins (1864)>[p. 61, Spiritus Juniperi, 1 in 10 and 10–30 minims]{ref}
Other recognised period agents included <dandelion> and <copaiba>. The <dandelion> <decoction> was given in quantities of 1–2 <fluid ounces>, its soft extract in quantities of 10–30 <grains>, and its preserved <juice> in quantities of ½–2 <fluid drachms>. <Copaiba> was given in quantities of 15–30 <minims>, and <copaiba oil> in quantities of 5–20 <minims>. Their historical inclusion does not establish that they are suitable substitutes for current <diuretic therapy>. <The Essentials of Materia Medica and Therapeutics by Alfred Baring Garrod (1865)>[Posological table, Taraxacum preparations, Copaiba and Copaibae Oleum]{ref}
The distinction between preparations matters more than a single “dose of the plant”: an <infusion>, <tincture>, <juice> and powder have different <concentrations>. Likewise, a salt's small historical <diuretic> dose is not its larger <purgative> dose. A modern explanation also separates a direct effect on <renal tubules> from improved <cardiac output> in appropriate <heart failure>: <digitalis preparations> cannot be understood simply as agents that make every <kidney> excrete more <water>. Modern <digoxin> is used for selected cardiac indications, rather than as a general treatment for low <urine> output. <Digoxin by MedlinePlus>[Why is this medication prescribed?]{ref}
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