cantharides
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can·thar·i·des
(kan-thar'i-dēz), Plural of cantharis.
Farlex Partner Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012
cantharides
A poisonous, blistering preparation made from the powdered, dried bodies of the beetle Cantharis vesicatoria . Cantharides has been used criminally as an aphrodisiac with grave consequences. Also known as ‘Spanish fly’.Collins Dictionary of Medicine © Robert M. Youngson 2004, 2005
References in periodicals archive
The usual blister plaster was a dressing applied over a powder made up of crushed Spanish flies (
cantharides), an irritant which causes a blister to rise on the underlying skin.
Hollenkemp, an 1852 case, the court let stand a punitive damages award against a local drug store where the store's agent had accidentally mixed
cantharides in the plaintiff's medicine, making him ill.
Cantharides, or powdered Spanish Fly (a kind of beetle), powdered bluebottles and groundsel were regarded as love philtres but were far from safe.
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