Kousso

Kousso (Kosso or Cusso), a drug which consists of the panicles of the pistillate flowers of Brayera anthelmintica, a handsome rosaceous tree 60 ft. high, growing throughout the table-land of Abyssinia, at an elevation of 3000 to 8000 ft. above the sea-level. The drug as imported is in the form of cylindrical rolls, about 18 in. in length and 2 in. in diameter, and comprises the entire inflorescence or panicle kept in form by a band wound transversely round it. The active principle is koussin or kosin, C31H38O10, which is soluble in alcohol and alkalis, and may be given in doses of thirty grains. Kousso is also used in the form of an unstrained infusion of ¼ to ½ oz. of the coarsely powdered flowers, which are swallowed with the liquid. It is considered to be an effectual vermifuge for Taenia solium. In its anthelmintic action it is nearly allied to male fern, but it is much inferior to that drug and is very rarely used in Great Britain.