cantharides

American  

[kan-thar-i-deez] / kænˈθær ɪˌdiz /

plural noun

singular

cantharis

1. Spanish fly.

2. cantharis. Spanish fly.

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cantharides British  

/ kænˈθærɪˌdiːz /

plural noun

1. Also called: Spanish fly.  a diuretic and urogenital stimulant or irritant prepared from the dried bodies of Spanish fly (family Meloidae, not Cantharidae ), once thought to be an aphrodisiac

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Etymology

Origin of cantharides

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin, plural of cantharis < Greek kantharís blister fly

Example Sentences

Jackson long before had mentioned, as one of the eruptions belonging to this disease, "large bull�, as if produced by cantharides."

From A System of Practical Medicine by American Authors, Vol. I Volume 1: Pathology and General Diseases by Various

Several green-coloured beetles are, on account of their colour, used as adulterants to cantharides, but they are very easily detected by examination with the eye, or, if powdered, with the microscope.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 2 "Camorra" to "Cape Colony" by Various

As early as 1826, Bretonneau, by the introduction of tincture of cantharides and olive oil into the trachea, succeeded in producing a "dense, elastic, reed-like membranous concretion."

From A System of Practical Medicine by American Authors, Vol. I Volume 1: Pathology and General Diseases by Various

A dangerous compound of the latter sort introduced during the first epidemic of cholera in this country became officinal under the name of liniment of cantharides.

From A System of Practical Medicine by American Authors, Vol. I Volume 1: Pathology and General Diseases by Various

Treatment.—The treatment for inflammation of the vein is to clip the hair from along the course of the affected vessel and apply a blister, the cerate of cantharides.

From Special Report on Diseases of Cattle by United States. Bureau of Animal Industry