(UllF S. '£. Bill Sitbrarg Norttj (Earalina &talf Imopraitg Special Collections QK99 1450 THIS BOOK MUST NOT BE TAKEN FROM THE LIBRARY BUILDING. 20M 5-79 AMERICAN MEDICINAL PLANTS; Illustrated and Descriptive Guide m iEPiicAi mm iseb is mwmie reiipiies Thkik History, PRErAKAxioN, Chemistrn, anu Physiological Effects. liV CHARLES F. MILLSPAUGH, M.D. ILLUSTRATED BY THE AUTHOR BOERICKE & TAFEL. NEW YORK: I'llILADELl'HIA: 145 GRAND STREET. 1011 ARCH STREET. Copyright, 1887, by Boericke & Tafel. CAXTON PRESS OF SHIiKMA PHlLAnEI.PHIA. TO John Hill Millspauch. Artist, Mv Kkluvi-.h Kaihkk, To Whom I am Inhkhikh i i_ik WnAitxEK 1 may Possess OF AkT ]N 1)KA\VIN<; ami Cnl.ORlNli. THL PLATHS Are CiRATEi ullv Dedicated. TO Timothy F. Allhn, A.M., M.D. Mv Honored Prdkessok and Preceptor, THE TEXT OI- THIS WORK Is KESI'ECTFn.I.Y iNSl RlliED. 68S60 PROSPECTUS. TiiK American plants now proven and incorporated in tlie Homn;opatIiic Materia Medica, have become not only numerous, but of great promise as therapeutic agents ; and the fact that the greater part of them are not officinal in the United States Pharmacopoeia, has led the author to place them before his profession, in such a manner that their distinguishing characteristics may become known to all who wish to thoroughly understand the agents they use in the cure of diseased conditions. Most of these plants grow within the daily ride of country practitioners and should be well known to them, in order that they may make fresh tinctures for their own use, when necessary to avoid delay. The author has in every case drawn and colored the plants represented in this work, by his iKl'ii Jiand, from the specimens as tliey stood in the soil ; making mathematically accurate drawings, and avoiding the misrepresentations of wilted individuals, or too highly colored fancy pictures. The work contains one hundred and eighty colored illustrations, and com- plete te.xt, of all the proven plants indigenous and naturalized in the United States; arranged qcnericaliy according to the numerical order of the plates. A glossary of botanical terms, and complete index, together with a carefully arranged bibliography, are given in the appendix. PREPACK In preparing for the use of students of our materia inedica, this s)steniatic account of American proven plants, I liave inckided only such as may he found in that district of North America in which most of the Homceopathic physicians reside. That many of the plants here described are not purely American is evident, yet all of them are true representatives of the tinctures used in the provings noted: such plants as the Chinese Ailantus : the Asiatic .Esculus Hippocastanutn : the European Euphorbia Lathyris and many others, have received much of their value from provings of individuals growing here. Of the plants represented, i 28 are truly indigenous; 23 are fully naturalized; 22 are escapes from gardens ; 6 are cultivated ; and one only is too rare to be of much value to the pharmacist. As regards their location, i i 7 are generally common throughout the northern portion of the L'nited States: 27 abound in the Eastern and Adantic .States only; 14 in the Northern States only ; 6 in the Southern States ; S in the central belt ; i only to be found west ot the Mississippi ; and 7 are local. The work has occupied over five years in its publication, and the order in which the plates are numbered gives no idea of time when the plant itself was gathered and its text written. This was determined by my ability to locate the plant. It will be necessary to remember this, as many plants have been proven, and much more discovered concerning those represented since the work began, and the indi- viduals were described. Each plant and its accompanying text should be looked upon as an article by itself, written in the light of the time; the author has, how- ever, as fully as was in his power, searched all important references at his com- mand, and hopes that he has left out nothing that wnukl increase the value of the work in the light in which it is written. The following explanation of the arrangement and objects of tlie work is deemed necessary to its completeness: First, the natural order under which the genus falls is given in prominent type, and, should the order be a large one, the tribe then follows to give a better idea of its place ; then the genus is mentioned in black-face type, together with the name of the scientist who formed it; to the genus, wherever possible, is appended a foot-note, showing the derivation of the name ; and, lastly, in this department, is given the old, or sexual, arrangement according to Linnaius. All of this is considered essential, as it is conceded that plants of like botanical, and therefore chemical, nature, have a similar action, giving a class of what we may term generic symptoms, though each has its special {specific) symptoms that characterize it. It is for this reason that the plants here treated of are arranged as above; for, if alphabetically arranged, the work would have lost at least one- half its value. yjji PREFACE. The most prominent type gives in display the name of the remedy, i. e., the name under which the plant was proven, and which characterizes it to us as Homceopathists ; this is followed by the most generally accepted vulgarism. The synonymy which follows has become necessary, as most species, unfor- tunately, have received more than one name, resulting mostly from two causes : first, that of different views held concerning the limits of the genera and species ; and, second, from an unavoidable ignorance in the discoverer, in a given locality, of the previous discovery of the plant in another. The descriptive binominal sys- tem, invented by Linnaeus in 1753, is the earliest date any such names can have, though many plants l>ad been quite fully described before that time. It becomes, therefore, quite a necessity in all botanical works that full mention of aliases should be made, to render reference to earlier writers satisfactory. I have made as full a department as was possible, in the limit of time allowed in writing the articles, of the common names, considering them very essential in a work of this kind, for many physicians, in their country practice, will meet hundreds of patients who will tell them of some plant they have been using in the case before his arrival, and it is sometimes necessary that he should know what species has been made use of. In describing the plants, I have condensed even at a great sacrifice of grammatical construction, using botanical terms freely, but not unreservedly; where several species of a genus occur in sequence, the genus is separately described to avoid repetition, and under the first genus of any order the natural order itself is described in brief. Under the description of each order I have taken pains to mention all the proven plants belonging to it, and then mentioning the prevailing qualities of all the important medicinal plants outside of our provings, that the student may become acquainted with the qualities prevailing in the class of drugs under which the species considered falls. Slight mention is then made of edible and economic species by way of a further understanding of the class. In the next rubric, the first paragraph is given to the origin of the plant, its geographical distribution here, its favorite locations and time of flowering ; this is followed by a concise history of the species, especially that much as may be of interest in the light of our use of it; this is completed by a mention of the various preparations in use in general Pharmacopoeias. In the preparation of the tinctures, I have innovated but little, and that only where considered absolutely essential, holding to the text of the American Homoeopathic Pharmacopoeia in nearly all cases. The description of the physical properties is, however, original, and I hope will prove of value, as, I am sorry to say, the preparations of all our pharmacies do not agree in strength ; any tinc- ture varying markedly from the appearances here given should be looked upon with suspicion. In compiling the rubric relating to the chemical nature of the plants, great pains have been taken to arrive at the solubility and frequency, as well as the nature and stability of the principles ; of course, to one man very litde time can be spared for work in organic analyses of any stated number of species. P R E F A C K. ix but little, therefore, that is original investigation will be found here ; much com- parative and differentiating study has, however, been spent upon this sui)ject, and all brought up to the date of the article. There is something, nevertheless, very much against conclusiveness regarding organic analyses, as it would seem that the more a given species is analyzed the greater is the number of con- stituents found, savoring much of artificial re-arrangement of atoms. Under the head of physiological action, only cases of actual toxic effects are, as a rule, noted, as the work should in no wise be looked upon as a symptoma- tology, its scope being pharmacological only. Observations upon the sphere of action and organs involved, are studiously omitted, except under such drugs as have caused death and yielded opportunities for post-mortem examinations. The original intention in regard to drawing the plates from the plants as they stood in the soil, has, in the majority of cases, been rigidly adhered to ; but so little spare time is allotted to the general practitioner, that many long trips into other States than his own cannot be taken, and thus the aid of expe- rienced botanists was called in. All the plates, however, have been executed from fresh, living individuals, gathered with especial reference to typical features, propitious soils, and natural locations. The drawings are all made to a mechanical scale, and, unless otherwise stated, are natural size ; the coloring I have bent every endeavor to have natural, without regard to artistic beauty or pleasing fancy ; some may be criticised as being too brilliant, others not brilliant enough. Suffice it to say, however, that natural color and texture cannot be exactly reproduced, nor is lithography a perfect art. In conclusion, I offer my thanks to many who have kindly contributed to whatever success this work may attain. To the many authors from whose books, pamphlets, and articles I have drawn, I must generalize my obligation, hoping that personal references in the text will in all cases be found satisfactory. To Professor Asa Gray, who, in disinterested kindness, allowed me the unreserved use of his many most valuable works on our American Flora, my special con- sideration is due. To the following botanists who willingly lent their aid in procuring many species not growing near my locations, I can but generally acknowledge : Mr. J. H. Sears, Salem, Mass. ; Dr. T. F. Lucy, Elmira, N. Y. : Mr. F. V. Coville, Ithaca, N. Y. ; Mr. C. H. Gross, Landisville, N. J. : Mr. J. A. Shafer, Pittsburgh, Pa. ; Miss Mary C. Cuthbert, Augusta, Ga. ; Messrs. J. U. and C. G. Lloyd, Cincinnati, O. ; Mr. James Galen, Rawlinsville, Pa. ; Miss M. C. Reynolds, St. Augustine, Fla. ; Dr. Thos. M. Wood, Wilmington, N. C. : Rev. E. \. Campbell, St. Cloud, Minn. ; and Mr. A. B. Seymour, Champaign, 111. C. F. Mii.i,spau(;h. XLirch I. 1SS7. REMEDIES. Abies Canadensis, 164 nigra, 163 Absinthium, 88 Actaea alba, 10 racemosa, 1 1 ^sculus glabra, 44 Hippocastanum, 43 ^thusa Cynapiiim, 65 Agrostemma Githago, 31 Ailantus, 35 Aletris, 172 Ambrosia artemisiaefolia, 82 Ampelopsis, 40 Anagallis, 108 Angelica atropurpurea, 64 Anthemis nobilis, 84 Apocynum androsEemifolium, 132 cannabinum, 133 Aralia (piiniiiiefolia, 70 racemosa, 69 Argemone, 20 Artemisia vulgaris, 87 Arum dracontium, 168 triphyllum, 167 Asclepias cornuli, 134 tuberosa, 135 ' Asimina triloba, 13 Baptisia, 52 Benzoin, 145 Berberinum, 92 Berberis, 15 Bursa-Pastoris, 25 Caltha, 7 * Cannabis sativa, 154. Carya alba, 157 Castanea vcsca, 158 Catalpa, 109 Caulophyllum, 16 Celt is, 152 Ccphalanthus, 76 Clielidonium, 21 Clielone glabra, 113 Chenopodium anthelniinticum, 140 Chimaphila, 104 Chionantbiis, 136 Cichorium, 93 Cicuta maculata, 67 *Cimicifuga, 1 1 Cistus, 28 Collinsonia, 1 19 Conium, 68 Convolvulus, 1 23 Cornus circinata, 72 florida, 71 sericea, 73 Cypripedium pubescens, 1 70 Dioscorea, 174 Dirca palustris, 146 Drosera, 29 Dulcamara, 124 EpigEea, loi Epilobium, 59 Equisetum, 179 Erechthites, 90 Erigeron, 80 'Eryngium, 62 Euonymus atropurpureus, 42 Eupatorium perfoliatum, 79 purpureum, 78 Euphorbia corollata, 148 hypericifolia, 147 Ipecacuanha, 149 Lathyris, 150 Euphrasia, 1 15 Fagopyrum, 142 Fragaria, 55 Fraxinus, 137 Gaultheria, 102 Gelsemium, 130 Genista, 46 Geranium maculatum, 32 Geum rivale, 54 Ginseng, 70 Gnaphalium, 89 Gymnocladus, 53 Hamamelis, 58 Hedeoma, 1 1 8 Helianthemum Canadense, 28 *Helianthus, 83 Helleborus viridis, 8 Helonia-s, 177 Hepatica, 2 ' Hydrastis, 9 I Hydrophylluni, 122 Hyoscyamus, 126 Hypericum, 30 I Inula, 81 I Iris versicolor, 173 Jacea, 27 Juglans cinerea, 15C Juniperus Virginiana, 166 Kalmia, 103 Lachnanthes, 171 Lactuca, 96 Lamium, 121 Lapatluim, 144 Lappa, 92 Leptandra, 114 Lilium superbum, i 78 Linaria, in Lobelia cardinalis, 97 inflata, 99 syphilitica,^ 98 Lupulus, 155 Lycopodium, 180 Lycopus, 1 1 7 Magnolia glauca, i 2 Melilotus, 49 Menispermum, 14 Mentha jjiperita, 1 16' Menyanthes, 129 Millefolium, 85 ' Mitchella, 77 ■ Monotropa, 105 Myrica, 160 Nabalus, 94 Nymphiea, 18 CEnothera, 60 * Opuntia, 61 Ostrya, 159 Pastinaca, 63 Penthorum, 57 Piiaseolus, 51 Phytolacca, 139 REMEDIES. Plantago, 107 Podophyllum, i 7 Polygonum, 141 Populus, 162 Pothos, 169 Prinos, 106 Ptelea, 34 Pulsatilla Nuttalliana, 1 Pyrus, 56 Ranunculus acris, 6 bulbosus, 5 repens, 4 sceleratus, 3 Raphanus, 26 Rhamnus catharticus, 41 Rhus aromatica, 39 glabra, 36 radicans, 38 Toxicodendron, 38 Rhus venenata, 37 Robinia, 50 Rnmex, 143 Salix purpurea, 161 Sambucus Canadensis, 75 Sanguinaria, 22 Sarracenia, 19 Scrophularia, 112 Scutellaria, 120 Senecio, 91 Senega, 45 Serpentaria, 138 Sinapis alba, 23 nigra, 24 Solanum nigrum, 125 Spigelia Marilandica, 131 Stillingia, 151 Stramonium, 129 Symplocarpus, i6g Tabacuni, 128 Tanacetum, 86 Taraxacum, 95 Thaspium aureum, 66 Thlaspi Bursa- Pastoris, 25 Thuja, 165 Trifolium, 47 repens, 48 Trillium, 175 pendulum, i 75 Triosteum, 74 Urtica Urens, 153 Uva-ursi, 100 Veratrum viride, 176 Verbascum, no Viola tricolor, 27 Xanthoxylum, ^^ Zizia, 66 NATURAL ARRANGEMENT OF THE PLANTS INCLUDED IN THIS WORK. DiCOTVLKDOXOUS Ph/KNOGAMS. RANUNCULACE/E. Anemoiiea. Anemone patens, var Nuttal- liana, i Anemone triloba, 2 Ranuitculcie. Ranunculus sceleratus, 3 repens, 4 bulbosus, 5 acris, 6 Helleborineip. Caltha palustris, 7 Helleborus viridis, 8 Cimicifiigea\ Hydrastis Canadensis, 9 Actjea alba, 10 Cimicifuga racemosa, 11 MAGNOLIACEiE. Magnolia glauca, 12 ANONACEiE. Asimina triloba, 13 MENISPERMACE^. Menispcrmum Canadense, 14 BERBERIDACE^. Berberis vulgaris, 15 Caulophyllum thalictroides, 16 Podophyllinii peltatum, 17 NYMPHACE^. Nymphxa odorata, 18 SARRACENIACEiE. Sarracenia purpurea, 19 PAPAVERACEiE. Argemone Mexicana, 20 Clielidonium majus, 21 Sanguinaria Canadensis, 22 CRUCIFER^. Brassiccce. Brassica alba, 23 nigra, 24 Lepidinea. Capsella Bursa-pastoris, 25 Raphanece. I Raphanus Raphanistrum, 26 I VIOLACE^. Viola tricolor, 27 CISTACE^. Helianthemum Canadense, 28 DROSERACEyE. Drosera rot undi folia, 29 HYPERICACEiE. Hypericum jjerforatum, 30 CARYOPHYLLACE^. Lychnis (iithago, 31 GERANIACEiE. Geranium maculaium, 32 RUTACEiE. Xanthoxylum Americanum, 2,7, I'tclea trifoliata, 34 SIMARUBACE^E. Ailantus glandulosus, 35 ANACARDIACE.E. Rhus glabra, 36 venenata, 37 Toxicodendron, 3S aromatica, 39 VITACE2E. Ampelopsis quinquefolia, 40 RHAMNACE^. Rhamnus catharticus, 41 CELASTRACE^. Euonymus atropurpureus, 42 SAPINDACEyE. .^isculus Hippocastanum, 43 glabra, 44 POLYGALACEiE. Polygala Senega, 45 LEGUMINOS^. GcnistciT. Genista tinctoria, 46 Trifoliea. Tri folium pratense, 47 repens, 48 Melilotus officinalis, 49 alba, 49 Galegeit. Robinia I'seudacacia, 50 NATURAL ARRANGEMENT OF THE PLANTS. Phaseolea. Phaseolus vulgaris, 5 i Sophorea. Baptisia tinctoria, 52 CiTsalpinciT. Gymnocladus Canadensis, 53 ROSACE.ictiiu-iC. Abies nigra, 163 Canadensis, 164 Ctipressittea:. Thuja occidentalis, 165 Juniperus Virginiana, 166 MoNOCOTVLEDONOUS Ph.-ENOGAMS. ARACE-iE. Arissema triphyllum, 167 dracontium, 168 Symplocarpus foetidus, 169 ORCHIDACE^. Cypripedium pubescens, 170 HiEMORODACE^. Lachnanthes tinctoria, 171 Aletris farinosa, 172 IRIDACE^. Iris versicolor, i 73 DIOSCOREACEiE. Dioscorea villosa, 174 LILIACE^. TrillideiC. Trillium erectum, 175 var. alinim, 175 MelaiithiccF. Veratrum viridc, i7''i Chamailiriuni luteum, 177 Lilicce. Lilium superbum, 178 AcROGENOUS Cryptogams. EQUISETACE/E. Equisetum hyemaie, 1 79 LYCOPODIACEiE. Lycojiodiuni clavatum, iSo PLATES I TO i66. SERIES PH^NOGAMIA. Plants producing true flowers and seeds. CLASS DICOTYLEDONS Plants with stems composed of l^ark, wood, and pith netted veined leaves; and a pair or more of opposite or whorled seed-lea\^es (cotvledons). [To precede plale I.] ^ (pTH.adnatMetpinxt AnEMOnE PaTENS, var. NuTTALLIANA. Gray. N. ORD.-RANUNCULACE^. GENUS. — ANEMONE,* LINN. SEX. SY.ST.— rOLVAM.)KI.\ I'DI.YGNIA. PULSATILLA NUTTALLIANA. PASQUE FLOWER. SYN. — ANEMONE PATENS, VAR. NUTTALLIANA, GRAY; ANEMONE NUTTALLIANA, D. C. ; ANEMONE LUDOVICIANA, NUTT. ; ANE- MONE FLAVESCENS, ZUCC. ; CLEMATIS HIRSUTISSIMA, POIR; PULSATILLA PATENS, GRAY ; PULSATILLA PATENS VAR. ; WOLP- GANGIANA, TRAUVT ; PULSATILLA NUTTALLIANA, GRAY. COM. NAMES. — PASQUE FLOWER (CROCUS, MAY FLOWER, PRAIRIE FLOWER, AMERICAN PULSATILLA, HARTSHORN PLANT, GOSLIN- WEED). A TINCTURE OF THE WHOLE FRESH PLANT, ANEMONE PATENS, VAR. NUTTAI,LIANA, GRAY. Description. — This beautiful prairie flower grows to a height of from 4 to lo inches, from a branched perennial root. Stc7n erect and hairy, encircled near the flower by a many-cleft, silky-haired involiicre, composed of numerous linnear, acute lobes, which form the true stem-leaves. Leaves upon long hairy petioles, rising more or less erect from the rootstock ; they are ternately divided, the lateral divisions sessile and deeply 2-cleft, the central stalked and 3-cleft ; all the seg- ments deeply incised into narrow, linnear, acute lobes, smooth above and hairy beneath. Inflorescence a conspicuous, terminal, villous, light purplish-blue flower, fully developed and fertilized before the appearance of the true leaves. Sepals generally 5, at first incumbent, then spreading, answering to petals in appearance ; villous upon their outer surface. Petals wanting, or replaced by minute glandu- lar bodies, resembling abortive stamens. Stamens innumerable, in a dense cir- clet surrounding the pistils; fllanients slender; antJters extrose, 2-celled ; pollen with three longitudinal, deep sulci. Pistils numerous, in a dense cluster, separate, hairy ; style long and slender, with a somewhat recurved summit ; stigvia indcfinate. Fruit a plumose head, similar to that of Clematis ; carpels i -seeded, with long feathery tails, composed of the lengthened, persistent, hairy styles. Seeds sus- pended. RanunculacesB.— This natural order is composed of herbs and woody climbers. * AMfioj. anemos, ihe wind. So named upon the supposition that the flowers of this genus only opened when the wind was blowing. D. H. HILL LIBRARY North Carolina State College 1-2 Its genera are various, but easily distinguishable by the acrid juice prevailing to a greater or lesser extent in all species, and by the disconnection of the parts of its flowers. The tribes vary greatly in regard to the sepals ; in some they are want- ing, and replaced by petal-like organs ; in others, very fugacious ; while in one only, in this country, are they present in the mature flower. The stamens are numerous, furnished with short anthers. The fruit varies from a dry pod to a fleshy berry ; the ovules are anatropous, so distinguished by the dorsal rhaphe when suspended ; the seeds have a minute embryo, invested with fleshy albumen- The leaves are usually palmately, and generally ternately, divided, and are desti- tute of stipules. This family of plants, many of which are poisonous, contains, beside those treated of in this work, the following species of special interest to us : Clematis erccta, Helleboriis 7iiger, Delpliinuan Staphisagria, Aconiiutn napel- his, cavimariun, Jcrox, and lycoclomun, and Paonia officinalis. History and Habitat.— The American pasque flower is found in abundance upon the prairies from Wisconsin northward, and westward to the Rocky Moun- tains, flowering from March to April. Lieberg says* that in Eastern Dakota this plant attains a luxuriance of growth never met with farther east, and that it wholly disappears west of the Missouri, Its habit of being in flower about Easter- tide gave it the principal distinguishing name, "Pasque flower;" its peculiar effect upon the nose and eyes when crushed between the fingers gave it another, but local, appellation, " Hartshorn plant;"-!- ^"^ '^he silky-hariness of the involucre and newly-appearing leaves caused the children in locahties to term it " Goslin weed." The U. S. Ph. allows the use of this species under the drug Pulsatilla, with or in place of Herba Pulsatilla; nigricantis, PART USED AND PREPARATION.— The whole, fresh, flowering plant is chopped and pounded to a pulp and weighed. Then two parts by weicrht of alcohol are taken, the pulp mixed thoroughly with one-sixth part of it, and the rest of the alcohol added. After thorough mixture the whole is allowed to stand eight days in a well-stoppered bottle. The tincture thus prepared, after strainino- and filtering, should have a light seal-brown color by transmitted light, an acrid astringent taste, and a decidedly acid reaction. CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS.-I am unable to find any data upon this spe- cies. It is said to have been found similar to its European relative, Aiiemoiie Pulsatilla, which, together with Anemone nemorosa and pratensis (Eu.), contains: Anemonin, Cj.Hj^O,,. — This body forms in colorless, klinorhombic prisms, from an aqueous distillate of the herb when the volatile oil is present. When dry it has a sharp and burning taste and neutral reaction. It softens at 150° (302.0° F.), and soon decomposes ; it dissolves in hot water and alcohol, slighdy also in cold. Anemonic Acid, Cj^Hj^O,. — This amorphous, white powder separates from the aqueous distillate together with the above and under the same circumstances. * Bot. Gaz., 1884, p. 104. f /bid, 1884, p. 77. 1-3 It is a tasteless acid, insoluble in water, alcohol, ether, oils, and dilute acids, but enters into combination with alkalies. (Wittstein.) Oil of Anemone.— This acrid yellow oil separates from the aqueous infusion of the plant, and, owing to the presence of the water, soon breaks down into the bodies mentioned above. PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION.— The following represents the general action of the tincture when taken in moderate doses, as reported by Drs. Burk, Duncan, and Wesselhoeft : Profuse lacrymation, with smarting and burning of the eyes, mouth, and throat, followed by mucoid discharges; sharp pains about the stomach and bowels, with rumbling of flatus ; pressure in the region of the stomach as from a weight; frequent urging to urinate, with an increased secretion; a tickling in the throat and constant inclination to cough ; rheumatic pains, especially in the thighs, with erysipeloid eruptions, especially about the limbs ; heat and feverish- ness, with great debility. The action of this drug will be seen to be very like that of Herba PulsatilUc nigricantis, differing mostly in a less intense action. Description of Plate i. I. Whole plant, from St. Cloud, Minn.,* April 24th, iS84. 2. Full-grown leaf in outline. 3. Sexual organs. 4. Receptacle. 5. Pistil (enlarged). 6. Stamen (enlarged). 7. Pollen X 380. 8. Ripe carpel. 9. Fruit. * One of a number of typical living plants, sent me, with their natural soil intact, by Rev. E. V. Campbell, through who^c kindness 1 also procured the full-grown leaf and ripe fruit. ^m.ad natdei.etpinxt Anemone Hepatica , Linn. N. ORD. RANUNCIJLACE/E. Tribe.-ANEMONE/E. GENUS— ANEMONE, LINN. SEX. SVST.— rOLVANDKIA roLVGVNIA. HEPATICA. LIVER-LEAF. SYN.— ANEMONE HEPATICA, LINN.; HEPATICA TRILOBA, CHAIX. ; HEPATICA TRILOBA, VAR. AMERICANA, D. C. ; HEPATICA TRI- LOBA, VAR. OBTUSA, PURSH. ; HEPATICA AMERICANA, KER. COM. NAMES. — LIVER -LEAF, HEPATICA,* ROUND -LOBED HEPATICA, LIVER-WORT,t LIVER-WEED, TREFOIL, HERB TRINITY, KIDNEY- WORT ; (FR.) HEPATIQUE; (GER.), EDELLEBERE. A TLNCTURE OF THE FRESH LEAVES OF ANEMONE HEPATICA, LINN. Description.— This dwarf herb, so eagerly sought after as one of our earhest spring flowers, grows from radical scaly buds amid the thick, leathery leaves of the previous year's growth. Root fibrous, perennial. S/c7ii none. Leaves ever- green, all radical on long, slender petioles; light green and hairy when young; dark olive-green above and purplish beneath, when old, and while the plant is in blossom ; they are cordate in general outline, 3-lobed, the lobes ovate, obtuse. Inflorescence solitary, terminal, on long, hairy scapes, circinate, then erect. Invo- lucre simple, composed of three entire, obtuse, hairy, persistent leaves, somewhat resembling a calyx, from its close proximity to the flower. Calyx composed of from 6 to 9 ovate, obtuse, petaloid sepals, varying in color from pure white to a deep purplish-blue with white borders ; these latter, I have noticed, are always destitute of stamens. \ Stamens numerous, hypogynous ; filaments long, slender, and smooth; anthers short, 2-celled. Pistils 12 to 20, hairy; ovary i-celled ; oviilcs one in each cell, suspended, anatropous ; style single, short, pointed ; stigma a stig- matose marginal line, extending down the inner side of the style. Achenia loosely aggregated in a globose head, ovate-oblong, hairy, tipped with the short persistent style ; seed filling the whole cell to which it conforms. History and Habitat. — Hcpatica is a native of the colder portions of the North Temperate Zone, growing in rich, open woods as far as the limit of trees. In North America it grows from Minnesota, Iowa and Missouri, east and north- east to the Atlantic ; flowering, in some seasons, as early as March, and continu- ing in flower until May. This plant was placed in the genus Anemone by * Erariirdf, f^rt///t«, affecting the liver; or, "ijirop, -; 11. , .ad nal.dei.et pinxt ClIVIl'CIFUCA RaCEMOSA, Ell. N. ORD.-RANUNCULACE^. li Tribe.-CIMICIFUGE^. GKNL'S.- C I M I C I F U G A ,* LINN. SKX. SVST.— rol.VANDRIA MOXOCVMA. CIMICIFUGA. BLACK COHOSH. SYN.— CIMICIFUGA RACEMOSA, ELL.; C. SERPENTARIA, PURSH. ; AC- T^A RACEMOSA, LINN. ; A. ORTHOSTACHYA, AND GYROSTACHYA, WEND. ; A. MONOGYNIA, WALT. ; MACROTRYS ACT^OIDES, RAF. ; M. SERPENTARIA, AND RACEMOSA, EATON; BOTROPHIS SERPEN- TARIA, RAF.; B. ACT^OIDES, FISCH AND MEY. ; CHRYSTOPHOR- lANA CAN A DENSE RACEMOSA, PLUCK. COM. NAMES.— BLACK COHOSH, BLACK SNAKE-ROOT,t RICH WEED.t SQUAW-ROOT,? RATTLE-^^EED, RATTLE-ROOT, RATTLESNAKE ROOT,iiBUGBANE; IFR.) ACTEE AGRAPPE; (GER.) SWARZB COHOSCH, TRAUBENFORMIGES CHRISTOPHSKRAUT. A TINCTURE OF THE FRESH ROOT OF CIMICIFUG.\ R.\CEMOS.\, LINN. Description. — This tall, graceful, and showy perennial grows to a height ot from 3 to 8 feet. Rootstock thick, blackish, successively knotted and fringe-ringed, whitish-yellow internally, with a ring of cuneiform wood-bundles pointing inward ; rootlets long, simple, and uniform, a section under a lens shows the cuneiform- bundles arranged like a cross. Stem smooth, angular, or furrowed. Leaves alter- nate, tri-ternately divided, the lowermost almost radical, very large and ample, the petiole at its base almost as large as the stem ; leaflets various on the same petiole, simple, bifid, and trifid, all ovate-oblong, cut serrate. Inflorescence of very long, simple, or compound, virgate, inclined, upper-axillary or terminal racemes ; flowers scattered, foetid, creamy-white. Sepals 4-5, petal-like, scaphoid, early deciduous. Petals [Staminodia) 1-8, very small, long clawed, and 2-horned or forked ; apices ahtherose. Stamens numerous; filaments slender, club-shaped, creamy-white; anthers innate, introrse, yellow. Pistil solitary, simple ; ovary ovoid, sessile ; style short ; stigma simple, inclined to be lateral, the centre somewhat cylindrically de- pressed. Priiit numerous, dry, ovoid or globose, dehiscent carpels, arranged upon a raceme from i to 3 feet in length, and retaining each its stigma in the form of an oblique beak ; seeds semi-discoid, smooth, horizontal, and compressed. History and Habitat. — This indigenous plant is comparatively common all * Cimex, a bug, yV/^o, I drive away. A Sil>erian species being used as a vermifuge. f The black snake-root is Sanicula Canadensis (Umbelliferoe). If written black-snake root the n,Tme might be applied, but does not apply. J Two other plants are known by this name, viz. : Collinsonia Canadensis ( I.abialar), and Pi/ea piimila ( Lrticaceae), ^ The true squaw root is Conopholis (Oroianehe) Americana (Orobanchacea:). II This name properly belongs to many species of Nabalus (Compositcc). 11-2 over the eastern halt of the United States and in Canada, growing in rich, open woods, and along the edges of fields, but especially noticeable on newly cleared hill-sides. When woods in its favorite localities are at all dense, the plant will be found only in the borders. Black cohosh was a favorite remedy among all tribes of the aborigines, being largely used by them in rheumatism, disorders of menstruation, and slow parturition. It was also used as a remedy against the bites of venomous snakes, with what success history does not relate, but we can easily judge. The plant was first made known by Pluckenet in 1696 ; Colden recommended its use in 174J, and Dr. S. Garden in 1823. In England its use began in i860.* Its uses at this time were confined to chorea, rheumatism, dropsy, hysteria, and affections of the lungs. In regard to chorea. Dr. G. B. Wood statesf that he ad- ministered the drug in a case, which rapidly recovered under its use after the failure of purgatives and metallic tonics. In convulsions occurring periodically, connected with uterine disorder, Dr. Wood also derived the happiest effects from its use. In inflammatory rheumatism Dr. N. F. Johnson used the remedy with "the best results, the disease disappearing in from 2 to 10 days"; he says, "the more acute the disease the more prompt and decided will be the action of the drug."J Dr. A. Clapp§ used the drug in " chronic facial erysipelas, with satisfac- tory results." Dr. Williams says :|| " Indians and quacks recommend its use in rheumatism," etc. ; he then recommends it himself! The statement of Dr. Whee- ler^l that some eminent physicians thought it to be a good substitute for Secale cornutum in parturition, relaxing the parts and thereby rendering labor short and easy, is one that should have received much attention. In all the above uses except mayhap those concerning the lungs, we have proven its application trustworthy. Its usefulness in phthisis when given in proper dosage is simply to palliate the cough through its action upon the nerve centres. It will be found in most cases to act with far more constant success In females than In males, as its action upon the female economy Is marked and distinctive. The ofificlnal preparations in the U. S. Ph. are : Extractum Cimicifug!j-/« or Macrotin, the so-called resinoid, * Fluck. & Hail., Pharmacosrapliia, p. 1 6. f Dunglison's Nnu Rem., p. 145. X Clapp, Cat., Am. Met!. Ass'n, 1852, p. 725. I Op. et he. cit. II Kept. Imlig. Med Bot. Mass., Am. Med. Ass' 11, £849, p. 914. \ Bost. Med. and Suig. Jour., Sept., 1S39, p. 65 *«• Ciniicifuga, Sanguinaria, and Phytolacca. ff Culchicuni and CimiciTuga. \X Cimicifuga and Geranium maculatum. il-3 is not strictly spcakiiii^ a chemical derivative, beiny; sim[)Iy a precipitate of what- ever principles in the root are not soluble in water. An alkaloid has, however, been determined by T. E. Conard,* and corroboratetl l)y M. S. Falck,i- to which the above name might be, but has not been, applied. This alkaloid is a neutral crystalline body, having an intensely acrid taste, and is soluble in alcohol, chloro- form, and ether, slightly also in water. It has been determinetl also in the " resinoid." A resin soluble in alcohol and ether, another soluble in alcohol only ; fatty and waxy matters, volatile oil having the odor of the root, green and brown color- ing matters, gum, uncrystallizable sugar, tannic acid, extractive, and other plant constituents have also been determined.J PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION. — Cimicifuga acts as a severe irritant to die nerve centres in general, and causes through its action upon the vaso-motor system cere- bral, cerebro-spinal and pelvic congestion, followed by inflammatory action, espe- cially upon the nerves themselves. The cho^a-like spasmodic action following the exhibition of the drug is of two types, one having apparently a rheumatic basis, the other uterine ; the latter is most common, as the choreas curable by this drug will be found aggravated or originating at the age of puberty or during men- struation. It causes rheumatic pains resembling those of torticollis, lumbago, and especially pleurodynia, sympathetic angina pectoris, and rheumatoid gout. The drug seems also to cause irritation of the uterus directly, especially when this irri- tation is rheumatoid in its character, and in consequence the individual under the effects of the drug will present symptoms of epileptiform or hysterical spasms, restlessness and jactitation of muscles, dysmenorrhoea or amenorrhoea, cephalalgia, infra-mammary pain, etc., as the case may be. In pregnancy it often causes abor- tion, and in labor will stimulate the uterus and cause rapid, painless expansion of the parts. According to Dr. Chapman it produces free nausea, with abundant expectoration, followed by nervous trembling, vertigo, and remarkable slowness of the pulse. Description of Pi,.\te ii. 1. Part of the summit of a plant showing one of the smaller racemes, Binghamton, N.Y., July 19th, 1884. 2. Luwer portion of stem, with a part of the root showing the remains of the growth of the two pre- vious seasons. 3. Portion of one of the smaller leaves. 4. Section of the root. 5. \ sepal (somewhat enlarged). 6. A staminodium (enlarged). 7. Stamen (enlarged). 8. Pollen X 300. 9. Pistil (enlarged). 10. Section of pistil (enlarged). 11. Fruit. 12. Section of capsule showing seeds. * ^m. your. Phar., 1871, p. 151. t P'riod. cU., 1884, p. 459. t Tilghman, Jour. PAH. Coll. Phar., 1834, p. 20; J. .S. Jones, Am. Jour. Phar., 1843, P- > ; G. H. Davis, period, cit., 1861, p. 391 ; E. C. Jones, Proc. Am. Phar. Ass'n, 1865, p. 186; T. E. Conard, art. cil. sup. ; M. S. Kalck. vrt. cil. sup. .TU.adnstdel.etfiinxt Magnolia GiAOcA^unn. N. ORD. MAGNOLIACE/E. 12 GENUS.— MAGNOLIA,* LINN. SEX. SYST.— POLY.\KDRI.\ I'OI.VGV.N'I.V. MAGNOLIA GLAUCA SWEET BAY. SYN.— MAGNOLIA GLAUCA, LINN; M. VIRGINICA, a GLAUCA, LINN • M FRAGRANS, SALISB. ; M. LONGIPOLIA, SWEET. COM. NAMES. — SMALL, LAUREL, OR SWEET MAGNOLIA; SWEET, OR WHITE BAY; CASTOR, OR BEAVER WOOD; ELK OR INDIAN BARK; SWAMP SASSAFRAS, OR LAUREL; BEAVER TREE, BREWSTER- iFR j LE MAGNOLIER GLAUQUE; (GER.) MAGNOLIE. A TINCTURE OF THE FRESH FLOWERS OF MAGNOLIA GLAUCA, LINN. Description. — This beautiful swamp shrub usually ipclos Fareira, Linn.), more often used than the true article for the purposes mentioned. The root of the Crayor and Senegal Coccidiis Bakis, GuilL, is used by the natives in the treatment of their intermittents and m urethral discharges; the root of the Cochin-China C. Jibraiirea, I ). C, is used like the former, and also in various liver aft'ections ; C. cincrasccns and A. platyphyllus, St. Hil., command the same attention by the Brazilians ; while the Javanese use C. ci'ispus, D. C , which is powerfully bitter, in like troubles. Coccu'ais acumiiiatus, D. C, is considered ale.xiteric in Brazil. The Malabar and Ceylon Clypea Bm-manni, W. and A., is employed, according to Lindley, in inter- mittents and hepatic disturbances, as well as a remedy against dysentery and hemorrhoids. Cissavipelos ova/ifolia, D. C, in Brazil, and AbiUa rufcsccns, Aubl, in Guayana are used, like most of the members of this order, as a remedy in intermittents and obstruction of the liver. History and Habitat. — The Canadian Moonseed is indigenous to North America, where it is quite common on the banks of streams from Canada south- ward to the Carolinas and westward to the Mississippi. Our first knowledge of this plant as a remedy was undoubtedly handed down from the Aborigines, who are said by Rafinesque to have used the root in scrofu- losis ; the early settlers also found it useful as a diuretic in strangury in horses. Its employment generall)' by early practidoners has been very similar to that of Sarsaparilla, /'. X4;, kaulos, a stem; and ^iWtv, phyllon, a leaf, the stem resembling the petiole of a large leaf. t The true squaw-root is Conopholis Amtritana, Wall. (Orobanchaceac). \ This vulgarism properly belongs to several species of Vaccinium (EricacesE). 16-2 and the Carolinas. It blossoms from April to May, before the full development of the leaves. The berries are mawkish, insipid, and without special flavor. The seeds are said to resemble coffee when roasted. The aborigines found in Caulophyllum their most valuable parturient; an infusion of the root, drank as tea, for a week or two preceding confinement, ren- dering delivery rapid and comparatively painless. They also used the root as a remedy for rheumatism, dropsy, uterine inflammation, and colic (Raf). These uses have been proven reliable by all methods of practice since. The root is officinal in the U. S. Ph. The preparations in the Eclectic Ma- teria Medica are : Exlractiun Caidophylli Alcoholiciim, Resina Caulophylli, and Tinctura Caulophylli Composiia* PART USED AND PREPARATION. — The fresh root, gathered in early spring, should be chopped and pounded to a pulp and weighed. Then two parts by weight of alcohol are taken, the pulp mixed thoroughly with one-sixth part of it, and the rest of the alcohol added. After stirring the whole well, and pouring it into a well-stoppered botde, allow it to stand at least eight days in a dark, cool place. The tincture, obtained from the above mass by filtration, should have a deep orange-red color, by transmitted light, a taste at first sharp and penetrating, then sweetish, an acid reaction, and should foam largely on succussion. CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS.— 5^/^«/;?. This body was discovered in the roots of Caulophyllum by Prof Mayer. A. E. Ebertf corroborates the discovery, and adds the presence of two resins, one soluble in alcohol and ether, the other not soluble in ether. Caulophyllin. — The mass sold under this name is a mixture of the resins, extracted by simply pouring the partly-evaporated alcoholic tincture into water. Ebert determined also gum, starch, and a greenish-yellow coloring-matter, beside the general plant constituents. PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION.— The dust of the powdered root is extremely irritating to the mucous membranes with which it comes in contact, so much so that the Lloyds say,J " workmen dislike to handle it, some even preferring capsi- cum." This irritation follows the administration of the drug throughout the body, but especially upon the female generative organs. It also exhibits the power of causing contractions of both voluntary and involuntary muscular fibres, the latter showmg in the gravid uterus especially ; here it does not cause the long-lasting contractions of ergot, but intermittent and more successful ones. Its spasmodic action on general muscles is somewhat chorea-like. Caulophyllum also causes many forms of constant pains in the small joints, as well as fleeting rheumatic pains in the extremities. There is hardly an American remedy in our Materia * Caulophyllum, Secale, Polygonum, and Oil of Sabina. t Am. your. Phar., 1S64, p. 203. X " Berberidacea:;' C. G. and J. U. Lloyd, 1S7S. 16-3 Medica that needs, and probably merits, a more thoroii;^h proving, upon females especially, than Caulophylkim ; and the sooner it is done, the better able will we be to cope with many of our most obstinate uterine cases. Description of Plaie i6. 1. Summit of flowering plant, Ithaca, N. Y., April iSth, iS8o. 2. Root, rootlet, sheathing scales, and stem. 3. Flower (enlarged). 4. .\n enlarged sepal, showing the gland-like petal (enlarged). 5. Under surface of sepal, showing bract (enlarged). 6. Pistil (enlarged). 7. Stamen (enlarged), showing open anther-cell. 8. Pollen X 200 (3 views). 9. Section of the root. /.Tll.iilnatdel.etpinxt Podophyllum Peltatum, Linn <^. N. ORD.-BERBERIDACE^. 17 G1:NT S — P O D O P H Y L L U M ,* LINNT. SEX. SVST.— POI.VANDRIA MONOGVNIA. PODOPHYLLUM. MA Y- APPLE. SYN.— PODOPHYLLUM PELTATUM, LINN.; ANAPODOPHYLLUM CANA- DBNSE, CATESBY; ACONITIFOLIUS HUMILIS, Etc., MENTZ. COM. NAMES.— MAY-APPLE, INDIAN-APPLE, HOG- APPLE, WILD LEMON, DUCK'S FOOT, WILD JALAP, PEC A, RACCOON -BERRY, MAN- DRAKE ; t (FR.) PODOPHYLLE; (GER.) FUSSBLATT, SCHILDBLATT- IGER ENTENFUSS. A TINCTURE OF THE FRESH ROOT OF PODOPHYLLUM PELTATUM, LINN. Description.— This well-known plant grows to a height of from 8 to i8 inches. Root perennial, horizontal, extending several feet ; the annual growths are from I to 3 inches in length, distinguishable by the scars of previous stems ; they are cylindrical, from J/^ to i^ inches in diameter, and give off a few, nearly simple, fibrous rootlets. Steffis single, simple, erect, and rounded, the flowerless ones surmounted by a single 7 to 9 lobed leaf, round in its general outline, peltate in the centre, and somewhat resembling an umbrella ; the flowering stems generally bifurcated at the summit, thus bearing two leaves, with a flower, at the bifurcation. Leaves of the flowering stems 2, somewhat one-sided and deeply lobed, the lobes variously incised and toothed ; drooping at the edges, and strongly marked by the prominent roundish ribs below. Lujloresccnce a single, drooping, pedunculated flower, generally in the fork of the stem, but sometimes varying gready in its location. J Calyx during the prefloral stage, with three fugacious green bractlets at its base; sepals 6, breaking off from the peduncle as the bud expands, never appearing upon the flower except when, by accident, one of them clings to and deforms a petal. Petals either 6 or 9, obovate, creamy-white, and fleshy. Stamens generally 12 to 18, twice as many as the ^(ttaXs \ Jilaments short; anthers large, flattened, opening extrorsely by a single longitudinal line, thus forming what might be termed two lateral valves, hinged upon the inner surface ; pollen shaped like grains of rice, and furnished with three comparatively deep sulci. Pistil sim- ple ; ovary more or less ovoid, i -celled; ovules many, situated in many rows upon a broad, lateral placenta, extending the whole length of the cell ; style not mani- fest ; stigma more or less peltate-globose, composed of a number of fleshy lobes * noS,-, /o«i, a foot; •piyyi'^, fhyllon, a leaf. Probably from a supposed likeness of the leaf to the webbed foot o( some aquatic bird. t The true mandrake is Atropa mandragora ; habitat, south of Europe. X See article by Foerste, Bull. Ton: Club, 1884. p. 63. 17-2 closely set, each resembling a half meat of the hickory-nut. Fruit an egg-shaped, yellow edible berry, i to 2 inches long, irregularly blotched, and retaining the withered stigma, or is marked by its scar ; seeds enclosed within a copious, pulpy arillus ; embryo minute, situated at the base of the fleshy albumen. History and Habitat.— The May-apple is indigenous throughout the United States, growing profusely upon wet meadows and in damp, open woods ; it flowers in May, and fruits in August. The apples, when fully ripe, are gathered, especially by children, who seem to relish their sweet, mawkish taste. I have also seen them exposed for sale in markets, though catharsis often follows indulgence in them, and, to susceptible persons, it is often quite severe. The fruit tastes somewhat like that of the paw-paw [Asiviina triloba), and is much esteemed by the abo- rigines. The odor of the flowers is nauseous; I am always forcibly reminded of a bad case of ozasna when inhaling their perfume (?). The foliage and stems, when appearing in spring, have been used for a potherb, and in some cases with fatal results. Only one species of Podophyllum is recognized in this country, although Rafinesque has mentioned two others, together with ten named varieties. There is, however, one other species of this genus growing in the mountains of Nepaul, the Podophylliim hexandnun. This plant constitutes one of the principal remedies used by the American aborigines, by whom it is especially valued on account of its cathartic action. Their use of the drug as an anthelmintic seems to be successful only as far as purging is concerned ; specifically, it has no anthelmintic power. Tlie use of podo- phyllum as a component of cathartic pills is very general. The officinal preparations of the U. S. Ph. are : Abstractztm Bodophylli, Ex- tractum Podop/iylli, Exli-actjim Podophylli Fhiidiim, and Rcsina Podophylli ; the Eclectic: Decoctum Podophylli, Tinelura Podophylli and Podophyllin, and as a component of Emplastrum Picis Compositum, Pilulcp Aloes Compositte, Tinetura Corydalis Coinp., Pihdce Baptisics Composita, Pilulce Copaiba Composites, Pilules Ferri Composites, Pilulee Leptandrini Composites, Pihdcs Podop:hyllini Covipositee, Piilvis Lcptandidiii Composilus, and Ptilvis Podophyllini Compositits. PART USED AND PREPARATION.— The fresh root should be procured after the fruiting season, and chopped and pounded to a pulp and weighed. Then take two parts by weight of alcohol, mix the pulp thoroughly with one- sixth part of it, and add the rest. After stirring the whole well pour it into a well-stoppered botde, and allow it to stand at least eight days in a dark, cool place. The tincture, separated by straining and filtering, should have a brownish- orange color by transmitted light, a bitter, acrid taste, and an acid reaction. CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS.— From many careful examinations and assays of the root of this plant, F. B. Power ='= and Prof Maischf claim the absence of any alkaloid, their observations in this respect being corroborated by Podvvissotzki, whose exhaustive analyses of the resin % are largely drawn from here. * 'S??- t Am. Jour. P/uir., 1S79, p. 5S0. X Archiv. fiir experimenlflle Palhologie iind Pharmacognosie, v. xiii, 1 and 2, 18S0; and PJiarm. Zeitschrift fiir Russland, Nos. 44-50. 1881. F. B. Tower, in Am. Jour. Pilar., 18S2, p. I02. 17-3 Podophyllin.— A resin mass, first observed and usctl by Prof. John King (1835). This resin is prepared substantially as follows : The root is exhausted with alcohol by percolation, and the alcohol evaporated from the percolate until it is of a syrupy consistence; this is warmed, and poured into many times its bulk of cold water constantly agitated, and allowed to stand for twenty-four hours, when the resin will be precipitated ; this precipitate should be washed by decantation, straining and pressing, and dried at a temperature of about 80° F. ; greater heat renders it darker, and the addition of alum to the water gives it a deep yellow color. Podophyllin prepared as above is of a blanched yellowish-gray color, slightly soluble in water, partly in ether, and boils at 124° (255° F.). The yield of the resin is about eighty-four pounds to the ton ; highest in the month of April, lowest in July.''' Podophyllin contains, according to Podwissotzki : Picropodophyllin, C„H^O^ + H.^O. — This body purifies into colorless, silky, delicate crystals, soluble in strong alcohol, choloroform, and ether, insoluble in water, and lovv-per cent, alcohol, and melts at from 200 to 210° (392 to 410° F.). Picropodophyllin, when in solution, possesses a very bitter taste, and the action of podophyllin intensified. Podophyllotoxin, Cj^Hj^O.^. — A bitter amorphous substance, soluble in dilute alcohol and hot water, precipitating from the latter, on cooling, in fine flakes. Its medical properties are very similar to picropodophyllin, and its availability greater, as it is more soluble. Picropodophyllinic Acid.— This resinous acid is notable from the fact that it holds in solution the active principle of podophyllin, crystalline picropodophyllin. In its pure form, or as nearly pure as traces of picropodophyllin will allow, it is in the form of hornlike granules, readily soluble in alcohol, chloroform, and ether. Podophylloquercetin, Cj^H^O^. — This bod)-, having none of the emetic or cathartic properties of podophyllin, is soluble in alcohol and ether ; from the lat- ter it crystallizes in short yellowish needles, having a metallic lustre. By e.xposure to air it takes on a greenish color. It melts at 247 to 250° (476.6 to 482° F.). It is to this body that the investigator claims is due the griping pains produced by podophyllin. Podophyllinic Acid.— This principle results as a brown amorphous resinous body, soluble in alcohol and ether, insoluble in water, and having no action upon the animal organism. Fatty oils ami extractive matters were also determined. The claims as to the presence of hcrbcrin and saponin have been entirely refuted, as before men- tioned. PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION.— The force of podophyllum seems to he almost entirely expended upon the lining membrane of the almentary canal. Whatever * Biddle, Am. Jour. I'har., 1879, p. 544. 17-4 action noted upon those organs, and the glands in connection with this tract, is, so far as known, reflex and sympathetic. On Animals.— Among other experiments with this drug upon animals, those of Dr. Anstie seem to be the most characteristic. He found, resulting from his many applications of an alcoholic solution to the peritoneal cavity direct, that no local inflammation arose, although an intense hypersemia occurred in the duo- denum especially, and the whole of the small intestine, even going so far as to cause a breaking down of the tissues and resulting ulceration, causing discharges of glairy mucus streaked with blood ; this hypersemia ceased usually at the ileo- caecal valve. Post niortetn the mucous-membranes were found inflamed and cov- ered with bloody mucus. Other observers noted that retching, salivation, and emesis, followed by purging, colic, and intense tenesmus, with low pulse, and rapid exhaustion followed the administration of the drug. On Man. — Here the same action takes place, but extends to the rectum with sufficient intensity to cause prolapsus and hemhorrhoids. The first effect of the drug is an excitation of salivary and biliary secretions, followed by torpor and icterus. The symptoms of disturbance caused by the drug in doses varying from % to y^ grains of " podophyllin," and in persons working in the dust of the dried root, are substantially as follows : Inflammation of the eyes, soreness and pustula- tion of the nose ; salivation and white-coated tongue ; extreme nausea, followed by vomiting ; severe pains in the transverse colon and abdomen, followed by an urgent call to stool ; thin, offensive, copious stools ; weak pulse, prostration, drowsi- ness, and cold extremities. Description of Plate 17. 1. Whole plant, once reduced, Newfield, N. Y., May 20th, iSSo. 2. Flower. 3. Bud, showing sepals. 4. Pistil. 5. Pistil in section (enlarged). 6. Pistil in horizontal section (enlarged). 7. One of the lobes of the stigma (enlarged). 8. Anther (enlarged). 9. Pollen ; side and end views x 200. 10. Fruit. 18 ^m.a(i DK" nat.dei.et pinxt. NyMPHAA OoORATA.Ait. N. ORD -NYMPHACE^. 18 Tribe. -NYMPHE/E. GENUS.-NYM PH/E A,* TOURN. SEX. SYST.— POLVAXDKIA .M()N( n;V.\l.\. NYMPH^A. SW'EET WATEB. LILY. SYN.— NYMPH^A ODORATA, AIT ■ NYMPH^A ALBA, MICHX.; CAS- TALIA PUDICA, SALISB. COM. NAMES.— SWEET-SCENTED WATER LILY, WATER NYMPH, WATER LILY, LARGE WHITE WATER LILY, WHITE POND LILY. A TINCTURE OF THE FRESH ROOT OF NYMPH^A ODORATA, AIT. Description. — This beautiful perennial aquatic herb, grows to the surface of the water from a thick submerged horizontal rootstock. The stevi is absent, the liowers growing on long peduncles, and the leaves on separate petioles, all round, smooth, and furnished with four equal, central canals. StipuicH deltoid or nearly renniform, emarginate, closely appressed to the rootstalk at the base of the petiole ; leaves always floating, orbicular, with one deep cuneiform fissure passing from the circumference to the centre at the juncture of the leaf with its petiole, thus making it more or less heart-shaped ; smooth and shining dark green above, wine color beneath, plainly marked with the interlacing veins ; margin entire. Inflorescence solitary, axillary ; flowers large, white, showy and fragrant, often being nearly six inches in diameter when fully expanded. Sepals iour, ellip- tical, scaphoid, nearly free, persistent, bright green on the outer surface, greenish- white internally. Petals numerous, arranged imbricately upon the fleshy ovary, the outer rows large, the inner smaller, all obtuse. Stamens indefinite, arranged like the petals upon the surface of the ovary about the centre of the flower; Jila- tnents of the outer rows petaloid, the inner more or less ligulate ; anthers with adnate, introrse cells. Ovary large, globular, depressed, eighteen to twenty-four- celled ; ovules anatropous, borne upon the sides of the ovary, none being upon the ventral suture; style none; stigma compound, peltate, marked by as many rays as there are cells to the ovary, these rays projecting beyond the general surface, thus forming a fringe of recurved, sterile, stigmatose appendages. Fruit a depressed, globular, fleshy body, retaining the stigma and marked plainly by the scars of the fallen petals and stamens, decaying ; dehiscence none ; seeds oblong, stipitate, shorter than the enveloping sac-like false coat ; embryo situated in the albumen, close to the hilum ; radicle very minute ; cotyledons large and thick, enveloping a well-formed plumule. *The name is given on account of its situation being similar to the supposed habit of fabled water nymphs. 18-2 Nymphaceee. — This beautiful family of aquatic plants, whose species have been themes for poets, and designs for ancient sculptors, is tropical or sub- tropical in its most general habitat. Its prominent species are : Victoria regia, a native of tropical South America, named in honor of Queen Victoria. Its mag- nificent flowers are rose-white, and often measure nearly two feet in diameter, while that of its leaves often reaches five feet. Nymphcra lotus, a native of Egypt and Nubia, with white flowers. The seeds of this plant are eaten by the natives, but do not form the lotus of the lotus-eaters^^ A^ymphcra alba. This European species differs but slightly from our N. odorata. This order contains in the United States the following genera : Brasenia, Cabomba, Neliumbium, Nuphar and Nymphcea. History and Habitat. — This, our most beautiful northern flower, frequents ponds and still-flowing streams in the Eastern United States, especially near the coast, flowering from June to August. There are many varieties, due mostly to color and mode of growth, some being blue, others pink or rose-color; but the true N. odorata is pure white or creamy. The stems of the flowers and leaves vary in length according to the depth of the water. The flowers form one of the most typical illustrations of plant metamorphosis; the petals are but colored sepals, the stamens but anther-tipped petals, the stigmas but changed stamens, and all gradually merging into each other in easily distinguishable stages. After ripening, the fruits, now becoming spongy and water- soaked, sink to the mud, where they decay and allow the escape of the seeds. The flowers open as the sun rises, and are usually fully expanded at about eight o'clock ; after that time they again gradually close, being entirely shut during the heat of the afternoon and at night. In the very centre of the disk-like compound stigma, is a small, glutinous protuberance, called by many botanists a nectary or honey-gland. I am inclined to term this the true stigma, on account of the well-known fact that pollen grains need moisture to enable them to burst their outer coat and allow the escape of the fertilizing tubes. This glandular body is always moist, while the stigmatose disk is dry, and rejects water as freely as does the upper surface of the leaves. Our species are often said to be much inferior to the European in beauty; but, as their purity of color and exquisite fragrance far excel that of Nymphcea alba, it fully deserves to rank as superior in all respects. Rafinesque states that in Canada the fresh leaves are boiled and eaten as "greens," that the fresh roots are used as a part substitute for soap, and that the juice of the roots, mingled with that of lemons, is used to remove freckles and pimples from the face. The roots, in decoction, were much esteemed by Indian squaws as an inter- nal remedy, and injection or wash for the worst forms of leucorrhoea, its properties in this direction- being due to its great astringency. The macerated root was also used as an application in the form of a poultice to suppurating glands ; its styptic properties were also fullv known and utilized. *This plant is mentioned under Genista tinctoria, A,i>. 18-3 The roots have been used for dyeing- fabrics deep brown, the goods thus dyed retaining their color admirably. Nymphaia has no place in the U. S. Ph. ; in the Eclectic Materia Medica it is officinal as Caiap/asina Ayiiipluc and /ii/nsiiii/ Nyiitpha-. PART USED AND PREPARATION.— I'he fresh root, gathered in the fall, is chopped and pounded to a pulp and weighed. Then two parts by weight of alcohol are taken, the pulp thoroughly mi.xed with one-sixth part of it, and ihe rest of the alcohol added. After stirring the whole well, it is poured into a well- stoppered bottle and allowed to stand for eight days in a dark, cool place. The tincture, separated by straining and filtering, presents the following physical properties : A deep wine-red color by transmitted light, a sherry-like odor, a slightly bitter, astringent taste, and a very strong acid reaction. CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS.— The bitter acrid principle of Nympha?a odor- ata has not been isolated. According to Bigelow, the roots contain tannin, gallic acid, and mucilage. It is quite likely that the constituents are similar, if not the same, as those of the European species, N. alba, the roots of which, according to Griining,'-' contain: Taiino-nytnp/uein, Cj^H.^Oje; NympJuro-pIt'obaphcne^Q.^^^^O^f,; and Nymplicca-tannic acid, C.5 H53 Ojg, a brown, red, transparent mass, yielding easily a pale yellow powder. This is the true special tannin, to which the great astringency of the root is due. PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION. — I can find no accounts of poisonings with this plant, nor experiments in this direction. In the provers who took large doses of the tincture, a marked dryness of the fauces was experienced, followed by painful deglutition ; pain in the hypogastric region, with loose evacuations ; venereal excitement, and involuntary ])assage of the urine. ' Description 01 Plate 18. I. A small flower, from a pond near New Milfonl, Pa., July 17th, 18.S3. 2. A medium-size leaf. 3. Section of a peduncle, showing air cavities or canals. 4. Root. 'Arch. ,/. 1 har.. 3, xvii , p. 73C.; Am. Jour. Ph„r., 1883, p. 96. (pTU.adnat.del.etpinxt. Sarracenia Purpurea, Linn. N. ORD.-SARRACENIACE/E. 19 GENUS.— S ARRACENIA,* TOURN. SEX. svsT.— pi:nt.\ndria monogv.nia. SARRACENIA. PITCH ER-PLAJ\rT. SYN.— SARRACENIA PURPUREA, LINN.; SARAZINA GIBBOSA, RAP. COM. NAMES.— PITCBER-PLANT, HUNTSMAN'S CUP, WATER-CUP, EVE'S CUPS, SIDE-SADDLE FLOWER, FLY-CATCHER. A TINCTURE OF THE FRESH ROOT OF SARRACENIA PURPUREA, LINN. Description. — This peculiar bog perennial is characterized as follows : Root somewhat ligneous, yellowish, furnished with numerous yellowish-brown fibrous rootlets; stem none; leaves {ascidia) all radical, pitcher-shaped, and composed of four parts: ):he petiole about one-third the whole length, slender, dilated at the base and somewhat equitant ; tiide ovate, narrowing to the petiole, and longitudinally marked with reddish veins; /iood auriculate-cordate, wavy, covered in the throat with nu- merous stiff, sharp, curved bristles pointing downward ; zcu'ho- broad, laterally undu- late, passing along the median line of the upper surface of the tube, from the base of the hood to the petiole. These ascidia, usually six in number, lie dorsally pros- trate upon the sphagnum in which the plant usually grows, the open mouths of the tubes looking upward toward the nodding flower and forming about the scape a rosette of gaping wells half filled with water, and having a path represented by the free margin of the wings leading to each.f Inflorescence a single large reddish purple flower, terminal and nodding upon a long smooth and naked scape. Sepals 5, colored, persistent, 3-bracted at their base. Petals 5, obovate or somewhat fiddle-shaped, caducous, incurved over the style. Statnens numerous, hypogynous. Ovary globose, 5-celled ; style greenish-yellow, composed of a short erect shaft, and an umbrella-like expanded extremity consisting of 5 petaloid segments rayed at their approximations, each ray ending in a short nipple-like projection,, which con- stitutes the stigma. Frtdt a granular 5-celled and valved capsule ; placentce axial, many seeded ; seeds anatropous ; einbryo small, basal ; albumen flesh}-. SarraceniacesB. — This family of bog plants is characterized as follows : Root perennial; leaves all radical, purplish or yellowish-green, more or less inflated tubular, the true blade represented by a hood or lamina surrounding the throat of the tube. Flowers single [Exc. Heliamphora) nodding at the summit of a long, * In honor of Dr. Sarrazin of Quebec, who sent the plant to Tournefort. t In the plate most of the leaves have been cut off, and those reni.-iining have been constrained to ta'LVAXl)kI.\ Mo.M i( .\M.\. ARGEMONE. PRICKLY POPPY. SYN.— ARGEMONE MEXICANA, LINN. COM. NAMES.— PRICKLY POPPY, DEVIL'S FIG, MEXICAN POPPY, THORN APPLE, t YELLOW THISTLE,! THORN POPPY; (MEX. i CHICALOTE • fFR ) ARGE'MONE; (GER.) STACHELMOHN. .\ TLXCTURE OF THE WHOLE PLANT .ARGEMONE MEXICANA, L. Description. — This annual weedy herb, grows to a height of from i to 3 feet. Root long, subcylindrical ; sie?n erect, branching, prickly-bristled, and furnished, as the rest of the plant, with a gamboge-yellow milky juice. Leaves sessile, broadly lanceolate in general outline, sinuate lobed, spiny toothed, and blotched or striped with white along the principal veins. Injioresecnee solitary in the axils of the upper leaves, and terminal ; buds erect, pedunculate \ floiL^ers large, yellow, or rarely white. Sepals 2 to 3, roundish, acuminate, often prickly, very fugacious. Petals 4 to 6, i. €., twice as many as the sepals, roundish, more or less crumpled in the bud. Stamens indefinitely numerous ; filaments filiform, greatly attenuated at the apex ; anthers large, innate. Ovai'y stricdy i -celled; style almost none; stigmas 3 to 6, stellate-radiate, purple, velvety on the receptive surface; lobes reflexed. Fruit an oblong-ovate, prickly pod, opening by 3 to 6 valves at the apex, leaving a skele- ton of from 3 to 6 filiform placentce in the shape of the original pod ; seeds globular, crested, and pitted. Papaveraceae. — This principally European family of herbs, noted for their milky, and generally colored, narcotic or acrid juice, is represented in North America by 15 genera, 23 species, and 7 recognized varieties. The order is fur- ther characterized as follows: Leaves alternate, exstipulate. Peduncles i -flowered ; floiueis regular, the parts in twos or muliples of two. Sepals 2, very rarely 3, fugacious Petals 4 to 12, early deciduous, rarely absent, imbricated in the bud. Stamens numerous, rarely as few as 16, distinct, hypogynous ; anthers 2-celled, innate, introrse. Ovary i -celled, with two or more parietal placentce. Fruit a dry, I- rarely few or many-celled pod. Seeds numerous, anatropous ; embryo minute, basal ; albumen fleshy or oily. * 'Apyifia, argema, cataract; as the juice was supposed to cure that disease. ■)■ Applicable only to Datura Stranionium (Solanacea;.) X The true Yellow Thistle is Cirsiiim horridultim (Compositre.) 20-2 The only remedy in our Materia Medica derived from this order, beside the three here represented, is Opium, the inspissated juice obtained by incising the unripe capsules of the South European and Asiatic White Poppy {Papaver somni- fcrum, Linn.) ; our other remedies, Papaverinum and Morphinum, being also derived from the same substance ; the only other remedy used in general med- icine being the petals of the Red Poppy [Papaver Rhceas, Linn.) ; they have a slightly narcotic action, but are as yet principally used as a coloring-matter for pharmaceutical preparations. History and Habitat. — The Prickly Poppy is indigenous to tropical and sub- tropical America, from whence it has become scattered even as far north as \'ir- ginia, and escaped from cultivation in many places still further north. It grows with us in waste places and blossoms from April to July. The use of the oil of the seeds, the leaves, and the petals of this species has been quite prominent among the natives of all tropical countries in which the plant grows. Among the ancient Greeks the juice was supposed curative of cataract and of opacities of the cornea. The oil of the seeds is spoken of as being as active as that of Croton tiglium.* Lindley says that in India the juice is employed in chronic ophthalmia and in primary syphilis ; and the infusion in strangury from blisters (of cantharis?); he also states that the seeds are narcotic, and are smoked with tobacco. In Mexico the plant is still held In the pharma- copoeia, the juice being recommended, mixed with water, for skin diseases, and for incipient opacities, the flowers as a pectoral and narcotic.f In Java the juice is said to be employed as a caustic in chancres. In the West Indies the plant is administered as a substitute for Ipecacuanha. The juice when inspissated resembles, in its physical properties, gamboge. As a whole the plant has gen- erally been conceded to be anodyne, detersive, resolutive, hypnotic, diuretic, diaphoretic, ophthalmic, anti-icteric, and a hydragogue cathartic ; and, according to Rafinesque, appearing to unite the properties of Opium, Gamboge, and Celandine. PART USED AND PREPARATION. — The whole fresh plant, gathered while in blossom, is chopped and pounded to a pulp and weighed. Then two parts by weight of alcohol are taken, the pulp thoroughly mixed with one-sixth part of it and the rest of the alcohol added. After stirring the whole well, it is poured into a well-stoppered bottle, and allowed to stand eight days in a dark, cool place. The tincture, separated from the above mass by pressure and filtration, has a brownish yellow color by transmitted light, no distinguishing odor or taste, and an acid reaction. The plant, from its history, deserves at our hands a most thorough proving, and should by all means receive it; for a new proving the tincture should be made while the plant is in fruit, and just before the capsules are ripe. CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS. -Morphia, Cj-H^NO^.— There is considerable doubt that this alkaloid exists in this species, although CharbonnierJ reports its presence from his analysis of the carpels and leaves. * Jour. Je P/iarm., xiv, 73. f Maisch, in Am. Jour. Pliarni., 18S5, 506. % Jour, de Pharm., 1S68. 20-3 Oil of Argemone. — This fat oil, obtained by pressure from the seeds, is reported by Wittstein, but upon whose authority we are unable to ascertain. He describes it as, light yellow, still liquid at 5° (41° F.), of a slighdy nauseous odor and raw taste, drying, dissolves in 5 to 6 times its volume of alcohol, and is easily saponified. PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION.— This is as yet unknown, but certainly deserves prolonged experimentation. Description of Plate 20. I. Upper part of plant, Salem. Mass., July 31, 1885. 2. Root. 3 Stamens. 4. Pistil. 5. Horizontal section of ovary. 6. Fruit. (3-5 enlarged.) <^' ^ni.jiinaiiial.ttpinxi CHELI06NIUM MAJUS,Linr N. ORD.-PAPAVERACEyE. 21 (;KNUS.— CHELIDON I U M ,* l.INN. SEX. SVST.— Pt)LVAN'DRIA MON()G\NIA. CHELIDONIUM. CELAJ^DIME. SYN.— CHELIDONIUM MAJUS, LINN. COM. NAMBS.—COMMON CELANDINE, TETTER"WORT; (PR.) HERBE A L'HIRONDELLE ; (GER.) SCHOLLKRAUT. A TINCTURK OF THE FRESH PLANT CHELIDONIUM MAJUS, LLNN. Description. — This upright, widely branching, perennial herb, grows to a height of from i to 2 ieet from a fusiform root. Stem upright, cylindrical and branching, somewhat hairy and \ery brittle. Leaves alternate, petiolate, large, pale-green and glaucous, Urate, pinnatifid, with a crenately cut or lobed border, the terminal lobe obovate-cuneate. Inflorescence, pedunculated, somewhat umbel- late, axillary clusters, with nodding buds and medium-sized flowers, the sepals, petals and stamens of which are early deciduous. Peduncles 2 to 4 inches long, bearing from 3 to ^pedicels i inch in length, and involucrate at their base. Sepals 2. Corolla cruciform ; petals 4. Stamens 1 6 to 24. Style merely present ; stigma 2-lobed. Fruit a linear, slender pod, about i inch in length, somewhat swelled at intervals, the two valves opening upward from the base to the apex ; seeds rounded reniform, with a glandular ridge at the hilum, and a crustaceous, blackish-brown testa, marked with more or less regular, hexagonal reticulations. A description of the Papaverace:e will be found under Argemone Mexicana, 20. History and Habitat. — Celandine grows all over Germany and France, in waste places, on old walls, along roadways, and about dwellings ; it is pretty well naturalized in the United States, but so far it is not found at any great distance from dwellings, Howering from early in May until October. A fine gamboge yel- low, acrid juice, pervades the plant, root, stem and leaves; this fact led those who practised upon the doctrine of signatures, to employ the drug in hepatic disorders, from its resemblance to bile in color. It proved one of the hits of that practice. The U. S. Ph. still mentions Chelidonium, but not officinally ; it will probably be thrown aside at the next revision as worthless, totidem verbis. In the Eclectic Materia Medica it is officinal as Decoctnm Chclidonii. PART USED AND PREPARATION. — The fresh plant, gathered in Spring, is chopped and pounded to a pulp, enclosed in a piece of new linen and subjected * ,1-f''."'""', swnllo-aK lu flowers appearing with the arrival of that bird ; or, it was said that when the eyes of young swallows became, through injury or otherwise, affected with a white film, the parents gathered and applied the juice of this plant, rapidly curing the trouble. 21-2 to pressure, the fresh juice is then by brisk succussion mingled with an equal part by weight of alcohol. This mixture is allowed to stand eight days in a dark, cool place, then filtered. The tincture thus formed is of a brownish orange color by transmitted light, having an odor quite like that of tincture of apis mellifica, an acrid, bitter taste, and strong acid reaction. CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS.— O^Z-^/j////-^;/, C,^ H,, NO,. This alkaloid is identical with Sanguinarina, vide 22. Chelidonin, C.^ H,^ N3 O3 + Aq. This alkaloid exists particularly in the root. When pure it has the following properties : colorless, glassy, tabular, bitter crys- tals, losing water at 100° (212° F.), fusing at 130° (266° F.), and decomposing at higher heats ; it is insoluble in water, slowly soluble in alcohol, and forms color- less salts. Chelidoxanthin. — A bitter principle existing in all parts of the plant, crystal- lizing in short, friable, yellow needles, which are very slowly soluble in both water and alcohol. Chelidonic Acid. — C, H (CO, OH)3. A tribasic acid occurring together with the other acids in all parts of the plant. It crystallizes in small colorless needles, which carbonize by heat, and are soluble both in water and alcohol. Malic Acid. — Is also present in the plant, vide Pyrus Americana, 56. Citric Acid. — Herr Haitinger determines (Monatsch., Ch. ii,, p. 485) that notable quantities are contained in this plant. Mdc iif supra. PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION. — The principal action of Chelidonium seems to be that of causing congestion of the lungs and liver, especially the latter; it is also an excessive irritant, and has a narcotic action upon the nervous system. The lungs of animals poisoned by this drug have been found, post-mortem, to be highly engorged, and in some cases hepatized. The liver under its action becomes the seat of much pain, soreness and tenderness ; the bowels move rapidly and freely, with thin, bright-yellow, pasty evacuations ; the urine becomes bright-yellow, and even stains the linen dark-yellow. It irritates the respiratory nerves, causing a tickling, like dust, in the trachea and bronchi, with violent spasmodic coughing, followed by dyspnoea and oppression of the chest. Sensations of indolence, sleep- iness and languor are persistent. Its action upon the skin is that of vesication. Description of Plate 21. I. A portion of the upper part of a blossoming plant, from Ithaca, N. Y. , May loth, 1880. 2. Pistil (enlarged). 3. Section of the ovary (enlarged). 4. Fruit. 5. Pollen X 380. 22. 'W Gjin.adnat.del.etpinxt. Sanguinaria Canadensis, Linn. N. ORD -PAPAVERACE^. 22 (lENUS— S ANGUINARIA,* IMI.L. SEX. SVST.— rULYANURIA MONOGVXIA. SANGUINARIA. BLOODROOT. SYN.-SANGUINARIA CANADENSIS, L. SANGUINARIA MINOR, DILL. COM. NAMES.— BLOODROOT, RED PUCCOON, PUCCOON, TETTERWORT, REDROOT, PAUSON, TURMERIC, INDIAN PAINT, (PR.) SANGUIN- AIRB, (GER.) BLUTWURZEL. TINCTURE OF THE FRESH ROOT OF S.\NGUINARIA CANADENSIS, L. Description. — This low, erect, perennial plant, dots with its creamy white flowers our open woods and bottom lands in early spring, the most beautiful harbinger of Its season. It arises by a naked scape enveloped by its leaf to a height of from 3 to 6 inches. Root horizontal, extending from 2 to 4 inches, with a diameter of from one-quarter to three-quarters of an inch, slightly branched, cylindrical, giving off, especially from the under side, numerous tender rootlets, and somewhat annulate by the scars of previous membraneous sheathing scales which enveloped the scape and petiole. When fresh it is brownish-red externally, and, upon breaking or cutting, it shows minute points of bright red juice, which rapidly coalesce and cover the entire wounded surface. When dry similar red dots appear upon the fracture, the root becomes longitudinally wrinkled, the section showing a bark of about one-twelfth the whole diameter, a very slight cambium line and a granular white centre. The sfetu is a simple, smooth, naked scape, terminated by a single flower, from one to one and a half inches in diameter. The leaf, which does not reach its full expansion until the flower has fallen, is pal- mately seven- to nine-lobed, with an equal number of reddish ribs, from which (especially noticeable upon the under surface) extend a perfect network of veins; it has a heart-shaped base, and obtuse lobes ; the upper surface is light green, the under whitish, glaucous. Sepals 2, caducous, forming the ephemeral calyx. Petals 8-12, spatulate, not crumpled. The stamens, generally 24, unequal and about one-half the length of the petals, arranged more or less distinctly in two rows, jlnthers innate, introrse, dehiscent. Pollen grains globular, more or less six-sided by compression, of a beautiful golden-yellow color. Oz'ary i-celled, with 2 parietal placentae. Style short, thick, rounded. Stigma thick, glandularly pubescent, 2-grooved. Pod oh\ong, sharp-pointed, turgid, opening by two uplifting valves, allowing the escape of the numerous anatropous, sometimes crested seeds. Embryo minute, situated at the base of the sarcous, oily albumen, * Sanguis, blood. From the color of llie juice. 22-2 History and Habitat.— This is the only species of the genus, although Rafi- nesque has described six varieties. It is found, as the specific name denotes, in Canada, and in all parts of the United States except southward to Florida, and westward to Mexico and Oregon, the sea-coasts, and high mountains. It o-rows in rich open woods, or on bottom lands along shaded streams, flowering from March, in eariy springs, until May, fruiting in June. For many years it has been used by the aborigines of this country for paint- incr their faces, clothing and implements of warfare, and by the laity as a domestic remedy in gastric troubles, compounded with podophyllum and kali tartaricum. Applied to a denuded surface it is quite a powerful escharotic. The root is still officinal in the U. S. Ph. as Acchim Sanguinarice , Tinctura Saiigidnaricr, Radix Sanguinarice, and Exh'actwn Sangtiinarice. In the Eclectic Materia Medica this drug and its derivatives have a prominent place, especially in compounds with Lobelia; sanguinaria not having emetic properties. It takes a part in the following preparations: Pilula Taraxaci Composite?; Pulvis Ipeca- C2ianhcs Compositus ; Pulvis Lobelia; Compositns; Pilvis Myricce Composilus ; Tinctura Lobelice Composita; Tinctura Vibw-nii Composita ; and Sanguinarin, a so-called alka-resinoid principle, which is often confused by both prescriber and pharmacist with the true alkaloid sanguinarina. PART USED, AND PREPARATION. — The fresh root, gathered when the seeds are ripe, is chopped and pounded to a pulp and weighed. Then two parts by weight of alcohol are taken, and after thoroughly mixing the pulp with one- sixth part of it the rest of the alcohol is added. After having stirred the whole, pour it into a well-stoppered botde and let it stand eight days in a dark, cool place. The tincture is then separated by decanting, straining, and filtering. Thus prepared it is, by transmitted light, of a deep orange-red color, slightly bitter and acid, and has a strong acid reaction to litmus. CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS.— Sanguinarina,='= C.^ H,^ NO,. This alkaloid crystallizes from alcohol in warty or needle-like masses, very acrid to the taste, toxic, and when pulverized and insufflated causes violent sneezing ; these masses are soluble in ether or alcohol, insoluble or nearly so in water. The various salts of this body are of a red color, and give orange-colored aqueous solutions. Puccina has been claimed to be another alkaloid principle of this plant, remaining in the menstruum after the precipitation of sanguinarina by sulphuric acid ; but Hopp determined this body to be a sulphatic salt of sanguinarina. Porphyroxin has been determined as a third alkaloid, so named from its supposed identity with Merck's opium principle porphyroxin, a mixture which owes its color reaction to Hesse's rhoeadine. (Maisch.) It exists as tabular or linear, white and tasteless crystals. Acid. — The acid of sanguinaria is not fully determined, though it would prove doubtless to be chelidonic acid {vide Chelidonium). * This alkaloid is identical with C/ieleiyt/irine, hom Chelidonium raajus, r'zVe', 21. 22-3 Gum, Lignin, an Orange-colored Resin, Albumen, and a Saccharine matter have also been determined. PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION. — Sanouinaria in toxic doses causes a train of symptoms showing it to be an irritant; it causes nausea, vomiting, sensations of burning in the mucous membranes whenever it comes in contact with them, faint- ness, vertigo, and insensibility. It reduces the heart's action and muscular strength, and depresses the nerve force, central and peripheral. Death has occurred from overdoses, after the following sequence of symptoms ; violent vom- iting, followed by terrible thirst and great burning in the stomach and intestines, accompanied by soreness over the region of those organs ; heaviness of the upper chest with difficult breathing ; dilation of the pupils ; great muscular prostration ; faintness and coldness of the surface, showing that death follows from cardiac paralysis. (Allen, Ency. Pure Mat. Med., viii., p. 481, et seq.) Description of 1'late 22. I. NVhoIe plant, Chemung, N. V., May 3d, 1S80. 2. Expanded leaf. 3. Expanded flower. 4. Pistil (enlarged). 5. Bud, showing se|)als. 6. Seed (enlarged). 7. Pod. 8. Stamen (enlarged). 9. Pollen grains x 380. 23. ^lU.adnat.ilel.et piiut. SINAPIS Alba, Linn. N. ORD-CRUCIFER^. 23 Tribe.-BRASSICE/E. GENUS.— SIN A PIS, TOURN. SEX. SYST.— TETRADYN.\MI.\ SII.IOLOSA. SINAPIS ALBA. WHITE MUSTARD. SYN.— BRASSICA ALBA, HOOK, f. ; SINAPIS ALBA, LINN. ; LEUCOSINAPIS ALBA, SPACH. COM. NAMES.— WHITE OR YELLOW MUSTARD ;* (FR.i MOUTARDE BLANC ; (GER.) WEISSBR SENF. A TINCTURE OF THE RIPE SEEDS OF SINAPIS ALBA, LINN. Description. — This coarse, hairy annual, usually grows to a height of about 2 feet. S/em erect ; branches few, ascending, all parts covered with bristling re- flexed hairs. Leaves all petioled and pinnatifid, the lowest having a large termi- nal lobe and the divisions cutting down to the midrib. Flozvers about twice as large as those of .S. nigra; sepals 4, narrowly oblong, spreading; petals 4, spread- ing, alternate with the sepals, and consisting of a narrow claw and an orbiculate blade. Stamens 6, hypogynous, tetradynamous, the two having shorter filaments being lateral and inserted lower down than the others, the four with longer fila- ments situated in pairs from before backward and accompanied by a quite large gland to each pair. Pistil slightly exceeding the stamens ; ovary hairy ; style nearly terete, persistent ; stigma bi-labiate. Fruit a linear, bristly, ascending silique ; valves short, furnished with 3 prominent veins ; pedicels spreading ; beak sword-shaped, i -seeded, about half the length of the pod. Seeds globular, pale- yellowish, 1 to 6 in each pod; cotyledons incumbent, conduplicatc, narrow, and plane. Cruciferse. — This large family of pungent and often acrid herbs is represented in North America by 42 genera, containing in all 275 species and 50 recognized varieties. The order is characterized as follows : Leaves alternate ; stipules none. Inflorescence in terminal racemes or corymbs ; floioers cruciform, tetradynamous. Sepals 4, deciduous ; petals 4, hypogynous, regular, placed opposite each other in pairs. Stamens 6, rarely 4 or 2, when 6, then two are inserted lower down than the rest and furnished with shorter filaments. Fruit a 2-celled silicle, loment, silique or necument. Seeds campylotropous; embryo \airg&; albumen none; coiy- ledons incumbent o ||, acumbent o=, or conduplicate o)), being straight in one genus only. * The name mustard is modernized from musliim aniens, hot must; as wine-must is often mixed with the seed- meal in the manufacture of table mustard. 23-2 Only three other plants of this order are proven and find place in our Materia Medica, viz.: The seeds of the European bitter Candytuft {Iberis aniara, Linn.), extolled as a remedy for cardiac hypertrophy, but needing further corroborative proving; the Buenos Ayres Pepperwort {Lepidium Bonariensc, D. C), used in Brazil much as arnica is among the laity here ; and the British Rape or Cole Seed [Brassica napus, Linn.). Many species, however, find a place in domestic practice, principal among which are: The South European Scurvy Grass [Cochlcaria officinalis, Linn.), long known and used as an anti-scorbutic ; C. armoracia, Linn., our common horse- radish, is much used as a counter-irritant, diuretic, diaphoretic, and stimulant ; the dried flowers of the Cuckoo Flower {Cardamiiic pratensis, Linn.) have been recom- mended for the cure of epilepsy in children ; and the seeds of the Oriental Arabis Chi)iensis are considered by the natives stomachic, and are said to cause abortion in pregnant women. Many species afford vegetables of value as foods, or, more properly, relishes, notably the Cresses, of which the following European species are most used: The Common Water Cress [Nasiurtiiim officijiale, R. Br.) ; Winter Cress {Barbai'ea vidgaris, R. Br.) ; Belleisle Cress [B. prcecox, R. Br.) ; and the Common Cress" i^Lepidium sativwn, Linn.). The edible Pepperwort of New Zealand (Z. olera- ceuni) is greatly valued, as also are the Chinese Mustard [Sinapis Chiiiensis, Linn.), and the British Sea Kale {Crambc viaritiima, Linn.). The most useful species, however, for relishes, and nourishment as well, are the Turnip [Brassica Rapa, Linn.), and the Cabbage [B. oleracca, Linn.), with its numerous varieties by culti- vation, prominent among which stands the Cauliflower as var. Botiyfis, Dec. History and Habitat. — White Mustard has as yet hardly become naturalized in this country from its European and Oriental haunts, but has escaped from cul- tivation here in many places, and grows the life of what is commonly known as a roadside weed. The previous uses of the seeds of this plant are intimately connected with those of 5. nigra, as they are usually mixed in the preparation of Sinapis or mustard flour, which is used as an emetic, diuretic, stomachic, and gastro-intestinal stimu- lant ; and externally applied, wet with vinegar, as a rubefacient and vesicant. The power of vesication resides in the oil to a high degree. The unground seeds of this species have held a high place in former practice as a remedy in atonic dys- pepsia, and various kindred complaints where there appeared to be a torpid state of the alimentary tract, as they were known to increase peristaltic activity ; but the e.xhibition of the seeds proved dangerous, as they are liable to become im- pacted in the bowel and set up a fatal inflammation. The seeds, though mentioned, have no ofificinal preparation in the U. S. Ph. ; in the Eclectic Materia Medica their use is as Cataplasma Sinapis. PART USED AND PREPARATION. — The ripe seeds, prepared as noted under the next (Sinapis Nigra, p. 24-2), yield a tincture having a light, clear orange color by transmitted light; a sinapic odor and taste, biting and burning the tongue; and an acid reaction. 23-3 CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS.— 5/;/^?/^/;/. C.,„H^N,S,0„, or Sidpho-sinapisin. This peculiar compound body, determined by Hill, may be obtained from the seed- cake, after removal of the fat oil, by boiling the cake in alcohol. Sinalbin results as clear, colorless, united, acicular crystals, fusing at 130° (266° F.), soluble in water and slightly in alcohol. In the presence of water and myrosin, this body breaks down into its components as follows : Sinalbin .= Sulphocyanatc .\crinol -|- Siilpliate of Sinapine -- Sugar. Q„H^N,S,0,„ = C3H,NS0 + C,„H.,NSO„ + C„H,,,0,, The first of these resultants is proven to be the vesicating principle of the seed, though it does not pre-exist in them while dry. Sinapine, Cjj.H.,.,NO-. — This volatile alkaloid too readily decomposes to be isolated except as a sulpho-cyanide ; when heated with baryta water it breaks down as follows : Sinapine. Water. Sinapic Acid Choline.* Q„H.,3N0, + (H.p).-, = QjHj.X), + QH,.NO,. Oil of Mustard (mixed). — This yellow, fixed, fat oil, obtainable by pressure from the seed-meal, has a sp. gr. of .917-.920, thickens at -12° (10.4° F.), is not drying, and contains glyceroles of Erucic,f Sinapoleic,J and Behenic Acids.§ This oil is used largely to adulterate olive oil, as it has a great power of resisting rancidity. Myrosin. — This emulsion-like body is obtained from the seeds of this species by treating them with water, evaporating the menstruum at 40° (104° F.) to a syrup, and precipitating with alcohol. The precipitate, dried by gentle heat, results as impure myrosin, which has not yet been isolated from the albumen that is inti- mately mixed with it. PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION.— The essential oil of mustard (Sinalbin ?) is a virulent, irritant poison, causing, when ingested, severe burning, followed by in- creased heart's action, and, if pushed to extremes, loss of sensibility, paralysis, stupor, rigors, and death. When applied to the skin it causes almost immediate vesication, followed by deep ulceration hard to heal. The symptoms caused by small repeated doses of the ground seeds are, in abstract: Salivation, with yellow- coated tongue ; burning and scraping in the throat, followed by a sense of con- striction ; thirst; nausea and vomiting ; painful flatulence; burning and crawling in the rectum ; copious pasty stools ; dark-colored urine ; creeping chills, and inclination to sweat. Description of Pl.\te 23. I. End of flowering branch, Salem, Mass., July 28th, 18S5. 2. Essential organs. 3. Pistil. 4. Anthers. 5. Silique. 6. Seed. 7. Longitudinal section of seed. (2-7 enlarged. ) *^w. 7o«7-. /'//<7r., 1883, 551. t Or Brassic (Cj,H„Oj). • J Ca,H„Oj. g C„H„0,. 24. Gltt.adnat.del.et pinxt. SiNAPIS NiGRA,Li N. OKD-CRUCIFER^. • 24 Tribe.-BRASSICE/E. GENUS.— S I N A P I S ,* TOURN. SEX. SYST.— TETR.\DYNAM1.\ SILIQUOSA. SINAPIS NIGRA. BLACK MUSTARD. SYN.-SINAPIS NIGRA, LINN.; BRASSICA NIGRA, BOISS. ; BRASSICA SINAPIOIDES, ROTH. COM. NAMES.— BLACK MUSTARD, BROWN OR RED MUSTARD; (FR.) MOUTARDE NOIRE; (GER.) SCHWARZ SENP. A TINCTURE OF THE RIPE SEEDS OF SINAPIS NIGRA, LINN. Description. — This useful plant has become a troublesome weed in many parts of North America, (growing from 3 to 6 feet high. The rool is fusiform, thin and branching. The stem generally erect, smooth and numerously branched ; the lower leaves are either lyrate or lobed, the terminal lobe large, rough, and harsh to the touch, with two or more small lateral divisions or lobes at its base, the stem leaves are entire, lanceolate and smooth. The inflorescence is a dense head at first, extending as the fruits form into an elongated raceme, which con- tinues flowering at its top until frost checks the growth. The pods are smooth, about one-quarter inch long, upon appressed pedicels, and closely set to the elongated axis of the inflorescence, they are 4-angled, erect, and surmounted by the 4-angled, stout, persistent style. Valves 2, each i -nerved. Seeds 4 to 6 in each cell, they are spherical, or somewhat oval, of a dark, reddish-brown color, 25 of them in line would about equal an inch, and 50 would generally weigh i grain. The pitted reticulation of the outer coat is coarser, while the seeds themselves are smaller and more pungent than S. alba. A description of the order and genus is incorjjorated in the description of Sinapis alba, 23. History and Habitat. — Black Mustard is found wild over the whole extent of Europe, excepting its most northern latitudes, as well as the central part of Asia and in Northern Africa. It is quite extensively cultivated in Italy, Germany, and England, and fully naturalized in both North and South America, flowering in temperate regions from June to September. It was well known to the ancients as a medicinal agent, but not as a condiment until somewhat more modern times. The seeds, when ground, form a greenish-yellow powder, inodorous when dry, "Zn-aTTi, siiiapi, turnip. Biasska or Sinnpis campeslris. 24-2 penetrating when moist, with at first a bitter, then extremely pungent taste, blis- tering the tongue. The seeds should be of a bright reddish-brown color, free from gray coating, this ashy film being the effect of dampness, during the ripen- ing, and a great detriment to the value and properties of the seed. The fresh plants, soon after their appearance, while the leaves are yet young and tender, are used by the laity in many jjarts of this country as a pot-herb (" greens "). This relish is termed at that stage of its growth, sciu^y-grass, though the true Scurvy-grass is Sinapis ati^ensis {Brassica Sinapistrum) . The use of Sinapis nigra in the U. S. Ph. is simply as Charta Sinapis. In the Eclectic Materia Medica the use is the same, and both employ the volatile oil in Linini'nihofi Sinapis Compositum. PART USED AND PREPARATION. — The ripe seeds are coarsely powdered and covered with five parts by weight of alcohol, poured into a well-stoppered bottle, and allowed to stand eight days in a dark, cool place, being shaken twice a day. The tincture is separated by decanting, straining and filtering. Thus prepared, it has a clear, greenish-yellow color by transmitted or reflected light, a sweetish, biting taste, afterward somewhat burning, and is neutral to litmus paper. CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS. — Sinapisin ; this body exists (Simon) as an unsaponifiable fat, in the seeds of black mustard, from which it may be obtained by percolating the powdered seeds with alcohol of 94 per cent., evaporating the percolate, treating the residue with ether, again evaporating, treating with alcohol of 90 per cent, and filtering through animal charcoal. The impure crystals thus gained are to be dissolved in ether, from which they deposit on evaporation as snowy scales, soluble in alcohol, ether and oils. (Wittstein). Sinigrin, — Q^^W^^Y^^'^^O^^, or potasso-niyronic acid, xs the principle peculiar to this species, from which it may be obtained as silky, needle-like crystals, soluble in alcohol and water. When acted upon by myrosin it breaks down, forming mustard oil, glucose, and KHSO^. An analysis of three samples of black mustard farina, made by A. R. Leeds and E. Everhart, reported in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, 1881, p. 130, gave the following averages, each sample differing but very slightly from the others : Moisture, . . 6.833 Myronate of potash (sinigrin). .646 Sulphocyanide of sinapine (sinalbin), 11.123 Myrosin, 28.483 Mustard oil 29.208 Ash, 3-757 Cellulose (by difference), . . . 19.950 For a full description of erucic acid, sinapoleic acid, my7-osin, and fat-oil, which exist alike in both S. alba and .S. nigra, see 23. 24-3 PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION. — So far as I can determine, no specific toxic symptoms have been noted ; under S. alba I have given the general action of mustard without differentiation. Description of Pi.atf. 24. I. End of a branch in fruit and flower, Binghamton, N. Y., July 5, li 2. Outline of one of the lower leaves. 3. Fruit (enlarged)i 4. Pollen grains x 380. 25. ^m. ailnatdei.etpinxl. CaPSELLA BURSA-PASTORIS , Moench: N. ORD.-CRUCIFER/E. 25 Thbe.-LEPIDINE/E AND THLASPIDE/E. GENUS.— CAPSELLA,* VENT. SEX. SYST.— TETRADYNAMIA. BURSA-PASTORIS. SHEPlfERD'S PURSE. SYN.— CAPSELLA BURSA-PASTORIS, MCBN. ; THLASPI BURSA-PASTORIS, LINN. COM. NAMES.— SHEPHERD'S PURSE; (FR.) BOURSE DE PASTEUR; (GER.) HIRTENTASCHLEIN. A TINCTURE OF THE WHOLE PL.ANT CAPSELLA BURSA-PASTORIS, MCEN. Description. — This intrusive little annual grows to a height of from 6 to 18 inches. Root tap-shaped. Stem erect, simple, or branching at the summit, smooth or sometimes pubescent. Leaves mostly rosulate at the root, pinnatifid or pinna- tifidly toothed; stem leaves sessile and partly clasping, more or less sagittate, toothed or in some cases entire, especially those at the base of the racemes. Inflorcsce7ice apparently a dense cluster at the summit of the stem, but as fruiting advances showing a racemose arrangement ; floivers minute, white ; pedicels long, especially in fruit. Sepals ovate, long-pointed, and having inserted about their middle a filamentous appendage. Petals spatulate. Anthers sagittate. Style short ; stigma capitate. Silicle obcordate triangular, flattened contrary to the septum ; valves 2, scaphoid, wingless. Seeds numerous ; cotyledons plane, incumbent. Read description of Crucifers under Sinapis alba, 23. History and Habitat. — This European immigrant has become too thoroughly a nuisance as a weed about the cultivated lands of this country from Florida north- ward and westward, where it flowers from earliest spring to September. This plant was formerly classed with the genus Thlaspi, from which it was removed on account of its wingless valves. The Shepherd's Purse has been used in English domestic practice from early times, as an astringent in diarrhoea ; it was much used in decoction with milk to check active purgings in calves. Later its value here was much doubted, and other properties accorded it, especially those of a stimulating astringent and diuretic. It has been employed in fresh decoction in hematuria, hemorrhoids, diarrhoea and dysentery, and locally as a vulnerary in ecchymosis and as an appli- cation in rheumatic affections. The juice on cotton, inserted in the nostrils, was often used to check hemorrhage in epistaxis. * Fro-n capsula, a pod. t I use the specific name, which should always distinguish tliis plant in medicine, to avoid confusion in synonyms. 25-2 PART USED AND PREPARATION. — The fresh plant, gathered when the flowering season is about half completed and the fruits rapidly forming, is chopped and pounded to a pulp and weighed. Then two-thirds by weight of alcohol is taken, the pulp thoroughly mixed with the spirit and the whole pressed out in a piece of new linen. The tincture thus prepared has, after filtration, an orange- brown color by transmitted light, a peculiar odor, resembling decayed vegetation, a pungent taste, too like its odor, and an acid reaction. CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS. — Several partial analyses have been made of this plant, but none have resulted in the separation and determination of a pecu- liar principle. The general constituents of plants, and a volatile oil said to be identical with oil of mustard, as well as a fixed oil, have been determined. Clinical Uses. — In the absence of provings of this drug, it has been found curative in various uterine hemorrhages, especially those with which uterine cramp and colic are associated; also in various passive hemorrhages from mucous sur- faces.* A thorough proving is greatly to be desired. Description of Plate 25. I. Whole of young plant above the radicle leaves, Binghamton, N. Y., May 24th, 1S85. 2, 3, 4. Forms of radicle leaves. 5. Flower. 6. Petal. 7. Pistil. 8. Stamen. 9. Silicle. 10. Open silicle, showing seeds. * See Hale, New Kern., p. 625. (^m.adnaf.deletpinxt RaPHANUS RaPHANI'STRUM, Linn. N. ORD.-CRUCIFER^. 26 Tribe.-RAPHANE^. GENUS. — RAPH ANUS,- LINN. SEX. SVST.— TKTKA1)VNAMI.\ SlI.IoU ).SA. RAPHANUS. RADISH. SYN.— RAPHANUS RAPHANISTRUM, LINN. COM. NAMES.-WILD RADISH, JOINTED CHARLOCK, CHARLOCK- (FR ) RAIFOOT, COMMUNE; (GER.) WILDE RETTIG. A TINCTURE OF THE FRESH ROOT OF RAPHANUS RHAPHANISTRU.M, LINN. Description. — This rapid-growing annual or biennial herb usually attains a height of from i to 2 feet. Root tap-shaped ; skin erect, glaucous, sparino-ly brisdy, and much branched below. Leaves lyrate, petiolate or sessile, dentate, and rough, the terminal lobe oval or obovate. Ca/yx erect, somewhat 2-saccate at the base. Petals at first yellow and veiny, becoming purplish or whitish with age, obovate and unguiculate. 5/c?;//£';/.s- distinct toothless. Style \ov\g\ .y/'/Vw^ capitate. Pod linear-oblong, terete upward, longer than the style, 2-jointed, indehiscent, and valveless ; the upper joint markedly necklace-form by strong contractions between the seeds ; the lower joint often seedless and stalk-like. Seeds 3 to 8, lan-'e and spherical ; cotyledons conduplicate and incumbent. History and Habitat. — The Wild Radish grows profusely over the fields of Great Britain and Europe, and has become a troublesome weed in New Eno-land, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, from whence it is spreading westward. It blossoms in July and fruits in September. The cultivated forms, R. sativjis, Linn., and its varieties, niger (Black Spanish), oblongus (Long Radish), and rotiindus (Globose Radish), supposed to be of Chi- nese origin, are well-known salad roots ; all of them have contributed more or less to our provings. Very litde and unpronounced use has been made in medicine of these forms, or of the wild plant. The seeds have proved emetic, and the root diuretic and laxative. PART USED AND PREPARATION. — The fresh, perfect roots, gathered when full formed, at about the time of llowering, are chopped and pounded to a pulp and weighed. Then two parts by weight of alcohol are taken, the pulp thoroughly mixed with one sixth part of it, and the rest of the alcohol added. * 'Pn, ra, quickly ; ^aiVw, phaino, to appear; from its rapid germination. 26-2 After thoroughly stirring the whole, it is poured into a well-stoppered bottle, and allowed to stand eight days in a dark, cool place, shaking twice a day. The tinc- ture, after straining and filtering, has a clear yellow color by transmitted light ; an offensive odor, something like that of boiling cabbage ; a similar miserable taste ; and an acid reaction. PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION.— The effects noted in people who have eaten too freely of radishes, and in others who took large quantities of the tincture, were substantially as follows : Mental excitement, followed by depression and anxiety ; confusion and vertigo with cephallagia ; stuffiness of the nostrils ; paleness of the face ; bitter taste in the mouth ; constriction of the oesophagus ; violent thirst ; nausea with violent pressure in the stomach; great distention of the abdomen, which became hard and tense, though painless, and no flatulence escaped ; numer- ous liquid diarrhoeic stools ; great desire to urinate, with greatly augmented quan- tity; great sexual excitement in women, coming on in paroxysms of great violence ; lancinating pains in the chest ; violent palpitation of the heart ; attacks of hysteria ; emaciation ; itching of the skin ; restlessness ; and chilliness followed by inclination to sweat. Description of Plate 26. Whole plant, Jamaica, L. I., July 29th, i< 2. A sepal and stamen. 3. Petal. 4. Pistil. 5. A ripe pod. 6. A section of a pod. (2-4 and 6 enlarged.) 27. F I .lU.ailnat.iJei.etpinxf. Viola Tricolor , Linn. N. ORD -VrOLACE^. 27 GENUS.— V I O L A,* LINN. SEX. SY.ST.— PEXT.WURI.'V MONOGYNIA. VIOLA TRICOLOR (JACEA). WILD PA^'SY. SYN.— VIOLA TRICOLOR, LINN. ; VIOLA BICOLOR, PUBSH ; VIOLA TEN- ELLA, MUHL. ; VIOLA ARVENSIS, ELL. ; JACEA TRICOLOR, SIVE TRINITATIS, ETC., J. BAUH. COM. NAMES.-PANSY, PANSIE, PANSEY, HEART'S-BASE, THREE COL- ORED VIOLET, TRINITY VIOLET, FIELD PANSY. WILD PANSY; (FR.) PENSEE; (GER.) STIEFMUTTERCHBN-KRAUT, FRBISAMKRAUT.' A TINCTURE OF THE WHOLE FRESH PLANT VIOLA TRICOLOR, LIXN. Description. — This beautiful little plant, belonging to the leafy-stemmed violets, springs from an annual, biennial, or short-lived perennial, fusiform root. Slcm 3 to 8 inches high, angled, at first creeping, then erect, simple or branched, and leafy throughout; stipules w&ry IdLVge, herbaceous, lyrate-pinnatifid. Jnftoi'cscouc sewGraA smallish flowers on a terminal and axillary peduncle. Ca/yx with short auricles. Corolla with an obtuse, thick spur ; petals short clawed. Ovary partly concealed in the concave receptacle ; style somewhat conical, narrowing toward the o\ary ; stigma cup-shaped. Capsule smooth ; seeds oblong. Description. — Violaceae and Viola. — The plants under this natural order and genus are low, caulescent or acaulescent, those with stems springing from annual or perennial roots, those without stems from scaly root-stocks. The leaves are alter- nate and petiolate, with leaf-like persistent stipules. In the stemless violets the scapes are axillary, solitary, and furnished with two bracts at the base. Inflorescejice a single, more or less irregular flower upon the incurved summit of the scape or peduncle ; many species having also radical apetalous or cryptopetalous, fertile summer flowers. Calyx herbaceous, persistent; sepals 5, often auriculate at the base, the odd one superior. Corolla irregular ; petals 5, somewhat unequal, hypogynous, alternate with the sepals, the superior one — which becomes inferior by the inversion of the scape — is saccate or spurred at the base, the two lower petals with an appendage at the base concealed in the spur. Stamens 5, hypogy- nous upon a ring-like or concave torus, alternate with the petals, closely surround- ing the ovary, and are sometimes slightly coherent into a ring or tube ; filamcnis very short and broad, projecting beyond the anther into a little persistent wing or tip, or sometimes obsolete. The two lower filaments, when present, are furnished * Derivation Latin, obscure. t Herring's Condensed Materia Medica. 27-2 each with a little projection, concealed in the sac or spur of the lower petal ; ajithers adnata, 2-celled. the cells somewhat separated at the base, opening by a longitu- dinal introrse slit. Ovary sessile, ovoid, one-celled, with three parietal placenta: ; jA'/^ terminal, various, usually declined; stigma vd.now'i. Fruit an ovoid, crusta- ceous or papyraceous, t, valved, loculicidal capsule; seeds many, horizontal, and furnished with a distinct wart-like excrescence at the hilum, raphe apparent; albu- men fleshy ; embryo straight, situated in the axis. This description essentially includes the two genera lonidiim {solea) and Viola of the northern United States ; in the tropics many plants of this order are shrubby. The genus lonidum contains the Brazilian Poaya da Praja [lonidum IpecacuaJiha, A. de St. H. ; /. Itubu, H B K. ; Iwla Jtubu, Aubl. ; Pombalia Jtubu, D C.) ; the Poaya do campo [lonidniii Poaya.) ; the Chimborazian CuichunchuUi {lonidum microphylhnii, H B K.) noted as a supposed specific for the " mal de San Lazaro " or Elephantiasis tuberculata; and the Chilian purgative Maytensillo {lonidum parviflormn, Linn.), the roots of which arc stated by Lindley to bear in appearance and properties a great similarity to Ipecacuanha. History and Habitat. — The wild pansy has become naturalized in this country from Europe, growing here in dry, sandy soils, from New York westward to Illi- nois and southward, blossoming northward from April until the summer months. The varieties of this plant in cultivation are innumerable, affording some of the most beautiful of our garden-plants ; the principal changes in cultivation are in the size and colors of the flowers, varying, as they now do, from pure white to silver, gold, bronze, and jet-black, with admixtures in immense variety. The use of the pansy in medicine dates far back in ancient medication, the first real experimenta- tion with the plant is that of Starck in i 776, who wrote '■■ De a^usta lactea infantum ejusdemqiie rcniedis disscrtatio, etc." in that year; the provings substantiate this use of the plant and show it to be useful in other forms of impetigo. Its use in some forms of burrowing ulcers, tinea capitis and scabies is also sanctioned by the provings. The plant is mentioned in the U. S. Ph. and the Eclectic Materia Medica. Part Used and PreparatioTi. — The whole plant, gathered while in flower, should be chopped and pounded to a pulp and weighed ; then two parts by weight of alcohol taken, the pulp thoroughly mixed with one-sixth part of it, and the rest of the alcohol added. The whole should be well mixed, poured into a well-stoppered bottle, and allowed to stand at least eight days in a dark, cool place. The tincture, separated by filtering, should have an orange-brown color by transmitted light, a cucumber-like odor, rich, sweet taste, and strong acid reaction. CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS. — Violin;'^ this acrid, bitter principle, bearing in its properties a close resemblance to emctia:\ was extracted by Boullay from Viola adorata ; it is found also in Viola tricolor and var. arvensis as well as in * Violia, Vhline. -j- Alkaloid of Ctphalis Ipecacuanha. 27-3 Viola pcdata. According to Wittstein it is a pale yellow, bitter powder, fusible, and inflammable at greater heat ; it dissolves slightly in water and alcohol, and is insoluble in ether. Violaqueritrin, Q.H^^Oo^. This coloring-matter was discovered by Karl Mandelin* in viola tricolor var. arvensis ; it forms a yellow crystalline mass, easily soluble in alkalies, and hot water, crystallizing from the latter on cooling. f OH Salicylic Acid, QH^ < p^ tt This acid, so far in its history, has been but rarely extracted under its own form from plants ; the flowers of Spij'ca ti/iiiaria alone yielding itf Karl Mandelin, however, who has made careful analyses of viola tricolor, extracts the acid pure. He reports in his " Inaugural Dissertation" (Dorpat, 1881) a proportion of from .043 per cent, in cultivated plants, to .107 per cent, in var. arvetisis. He finds it in all parts of the fresh plant, and principally in tiie roots, stems and leaves. Pectin, or vegetable jelly, Q.y^^f}.,^ (H^O)^. From the fact that a mixture of one part of the juice of this plant with ten parts water, will form a jelly-like mass, the presence of the above body or a very strong mucilage seems proven. This property has given various uses to llola as an expectorant, emollient, and infusion for coughs and bronchial affections. Sugar, both crystallizable and uncrystallizable, shiIs of potassium, tartrate of magnesium, and other general constituents of plants have been determined. PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION. — The emetic effect of some of the violets, due to the presence of violin, has been noted to some extent in this species. The most characteristic symptom of its action is an offensive odor of the urine, like that of the cat. The pains caused by this drug are of a stitching character, while its action seems spent almost entirely upon the skin, and the male sexual organs. On the skin it causes burning, stinging, and itching, followed by breaking down of the tissues into either squamous spots, or any grade of incrusted eruptions; the erup- tion pours out a thin yellow fluid. Boils, impetigo, especially crustea lactea, ichorous and burrowing ulcers, and zoster followed the exhibition of generous doses of this drug. On the genital organs of the male the prepuce becomes swollen, with stitching and burning pains in the glans and scrotum, the testicle becomes indurated, and venereal ulcers form ; stitchings are frequent in the urethra, followed by urging to urinate with profuse discharge. Description of Plate 27. I. Whole plant from Binghamton, N. Y., May 13, 1884. 2. Bud showing sepals. 3. Pistil (enlarged). 4. Discharged anther (enlarged). 5. Pollen X 380. » Phar. Zeit.fiir Russland, 1883, pp. 329-334- ^m- Jour. Phar., 1883, p. 47°- t Low'g- 28. nat.dei.et pjnxt. HeLIANTHEMUM CANADENSE,Michx. N. ORD -CISTACE^. 28 GENUS.— HE LI A NTH EMU M,* TOURN. SEX. SVST.— P01.VA\I)RI.\ MUXOGVNIA. C I S T U S. ROCK ROSE. SYN. — HELIANTHEMUM CANADENSB, MICHX. ; H. RAMULIFLORUM, MICHX. ; H. ROSMARINIFOLIUM, PURSH. ; H. CORYMBOSUM, PURSH.; CISTUS CANADENSIS, LINN.; C. RAMULIFLORUM, POIR. ; LECHEA MAJOR, LINN; HETERAMBRIS CANADENSIS, SPACH. ; H. MICHAUXII, SPACH. COM. NAMES. — ROCK ROSE.t FROST -WORT, FROST -PLANT. FROST- WEED, HOLLY ROSE; iFR.) HELIANTHEME DU CANADA; (GER.) CANADISCHES SONNENROSCHEN. A TINCTURE OF THE WHOLE PL.VNT HELIANTHEMUM CANADENSE, MICHX. Description. — This peculiar plant grows to a height of from 6 to i 2 inches. Slem at first simple, erect or ascending, somewhat hairy ; pjibescence stellate and fasciculate. Leaves sessile or nearly so, oblong lanceolate. Flowers of two sorts, both diurnal; Primary foj-ni : few or solitary, large, pedunculate; calyx hairy pubescent ; petals 5, obovate, fugacious, crumpled in the bud, erosely marginate ; staineiis indefinitely numerous; pod ova.te, shining, many-seeded ; Secondary /or/u: numerous, small, sessile, axillary, solitary or few-clustered upon short leafy branches ; sepals 5, the outer pair sometimes wanting ; petals very small or absent ; staviens 3 to 10; pod minute, hoary, 3- few-seeded. Style columnar or absent; stigma capitate, 3-lobed, fimbriolate. Fruit -a. i -celled, 3-valved capsule. 6'^i'rt' somewhat triangular ; testa rough ; embryo incurved in the form of a hook or ring. There are two very distinct forms of this species, difterentiable as follows : Early Flowering Form (Fig. ij. ', Later Flowering Form (Fig. 2). Stems upright, branching, bright crimson, nearly Stem upright, less branched, purplish, covered glaucous. Leaves ovate-lanceolate, light green. Primary flowers axillary solitary. Secondary flower-buds minute. Capsule of primary flowers nearly twite as large Capsule of primary flowers smaller. as the later form. with a downy pubescence. Leaves dark green. Primary flowers terminal clustered. Secondary flowers numerous, larger. Cistaceae. — This small family of low shrubs or herbs is represented in North America by 3 genera and 1 7 species ; its members are characterized as follows : * HXioj, helios, the sun; a.v9tnov, anthftnon, a flower. t The true Rock Rose is C. Creticus, Linn., a native of Syria. 28-2 Leaves simple, mostly entire, the lower often opposite, the upper alternate ; stipules absent. Flowers regular. Calyx persistent ; sepals 5, the two outer often smaller, bract-like, or absent, the three inner twisted in the bud. Petals 3 to 5, twisted in an opposite direction to the sepals, fugacious. Stamens distinct, mostly indefinite, hypogynous ; filainents slender ; anthers short, innate. Ovtdcs few or many, stipi- tate, and furnished with an apical orifice ; style small or wanting. Fruit a i -celled capsule ; valves 3 to 5, each with a dissepiment attached to its median line and pla- cental at the axis. Seeds mostly orthotropous ; embryo long and slender, straightish or curved ; albumen mealy. The only other plant of this order used in medicine is the European Rock Rose [Gstus Creticus, Linn.), from which the natural exudation, a gum resin called Ladanum, has been much esteemed as a stimulant, especially to mucous mem- branes, and as an emmenagogue. C. Ladanijcrous, Linn., C. Ledon, Lam., and C. Laurifolius, Linn., are said to yield the same substance. History and Habitat. — Frost-wort is indigenous to North America, where it ranges from Maine to Wisconsin and thence southward ; it habits sandy soils, and flowers from April to August. In early winter the bark near the root fissures, and spicules of ice project from the rents ; this fact gave the plant its vulgarisms. Frost-wort, etc. This plant has been long held in repute as a remedy for scrofula and tor many disorders arising in persons of strumous diatheses, especially, however, those diseases in such persons which have seemed to need an astringent, tonic, or alterative, such as diarrhoea, aphthous ulcerations, ulcers, ophthalmia, syphilis, and the like. The preparation of the Eclectic Materia Medica is DccoctJiiii Hclianthciiu. PART USED AND PREPARATION. — The whole fresh flowering plant is chopped and pounded to a pulp and weighed. Then two parts by weight of alco- hol are taken, the pulp thoroughly mixed with one-sixth part of it, and the rest of the alcohol added. After stirring the whole well, it is poured into a well-stoppered bottle, and allowed to stand eight days in a dark, cool place. The tincture, separated from the mass by pressing and filtering, has a beauti- ful crimson color by transmitted light ; an odor resembling that of damp clover hay; a sourish, bitterish, and astringent taste, and an acid reaction. CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS. — No analysis of this species has, to our knowl- edge, been made; the tincture, however, would indicate a bitter principle, and probably tannin. PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION. — When taken in large doses the decoction causes nausea and vomiting. Small doses persisted in cause the following train of symptoms: Headache; pressure and stitches in the eyes; swelling and dis- charge in the internal ear, and of the salivary and cervical glands ; swelling of the inner nose, and sneezing; soreness, dryness, and rawness of the tongue, mouth. 28-3 and throat ; abdominal tlatulcncc ; diarrhoea ; swelling and hardness of the mam- mae ; pains in the chest; articular drawing and tearing pains; itching vesicular eruption ; chilliness, heat and resdessness, with thirst and trembling during the fever. Description ok Plate 28. 1. Early flowering form, with primary flower, June 15th, 1885. 2. Late flowering form, August ist, 1885, •'^alem, Mass. 3. Primary flower-bud. 4. Pistil and stamen. 5. Horizontal section of ovary. 6. Ovule. 7. Open fruit. 8. Seeds. 9. Section of seed. 10. Secondary bud. (3-6 and 8-10 enlarged.) r f j^» 1 ' .TQ..iiinatiJel.et|tinxt DROSERA ROTUNDIFOLIA.Linn. N. ORD -DROSERACE^. 29 GENUS.— DROSERA,* LINN. SEX. SYST.— PENTANDRIA I'ENTAGVNIA. DROSERA. SUJ^DEW. SYN.— DROSERA ROTUNDIFOLIA, L. ; RORELLA ROTUNDIFOLIA, AND ROS SOLIS FOL. ROTUND. RAIL COM. NAMES.— ROUND -LEAVED SUNDEW, RED-ROT, MOOR GRASS, YOUTH ROOT; (FR.) DROSE'RE A FEUILLES RONDES, ROSEE DU SOLEIL; tGER.) RUNDBLATTRIGBR SONNBNTHAU. A TINCTURE OF THE WHOLE FRESH PLANT, DROSERA ROTUNDIFOLIA, L. Description. — This low, stemless, perennial herb is characterized as follows : Leaves orbicular, tufted, the upper surface covered with red, glandular, setose hairs, each bearing a pellucid globule of glutinous fluid at its apex ; petioles long, hairy, and spreading ; stipules replaced by a fringy tuft of hairs. Scapes naked, i to 3 from each root; mflorescence a terminal, unilateral, at first circinate then nodding raceme which becomes gradually erect as the buds expand and fruits ripen ; thus each flower as it opens appears terminal. Flowers 5 to lo, white, diurnal, opening only in sunshine, the parts sometimes in sixes. Petals oblong, styles gene-rally 3, deeply forked ; stigmas 6, situated upon the inner face of the club shaped apex of each fork. Pod globular, 3— valved ; seeds numerous, fusiform, arranged in 2 to 5 rows along the placentiferous median line of each valve, testa loose, arllliform and chaffy. Droseraceae. — The members of this small family of bog plants are known mainly by their being mostly clothed with gland-bearing hairs. Leaves clustered at the base of the scape, or alternate, petiolate, circinate in the bud. Flowers hypogynous ; calyx composed of 5 equal and persistent sepals; corolla of 5 equal and regular, marcescent petals, convolute in the bud. Stamefis equaling in num- ber the petals and alternate with them ; anthers innate, extrorse. Styles 3 to 5 gen- erally distinct, undivided, bifurcated or two-lobed, at the apex. Fruit 3. i -celled 3 to 5-valved, loculicidal capsule ; placenta thick at the base of the pod, or merely a line on each valve ; seeds numerous, anatropous ; albumen sarcous or cartilagi- nous; embryo basal, minute. The species under consideration is the only one used in medicine. The North Carolinian fly-trap {Dionea muscipula, Ellis) has furnished material for the study of carnivority in plants ; the sundew has also been experimented upon in this * Jponcpis, droseros, dewy ; in allusion to the appearance of the leaves. 29-2 reo-ard, but as yet the results are far from . proving it carnivorous per se, though the plants allowed insects as " food " appear to flourish better and ripen more seeds than those deprived of that nourishment.* History and Habitat. — The sundew grows in dense sphagnum or sandy swamps in England and America. Its range here extends from Florida northward, most common north, where it blossoms in June and July. The previous uses of this plant in medicine have been but slight; it was sup- posed in the sixteenth century to be curative of consumption ; of this quality, how- ever, Gerarde says : " The later physitians have thought this herbe to be a rare and singular remedie for all those that be in a consumption of the lungs, and especially the distilled water thereof ; for, as the best doth keep and hold fast the moisture and the dew, and so fast that the extreme heate of the sun cannot con- sume and waste away the same ; so, likewise, men thought that herewith the naturale and heate in men's bodies is preserved and cherished. But the use thereof doth otherwise teach, and reason showeth the contrarie ; for, seeing it is an extreme biting herbe, and that the distilled water is not altogether without this biting qualitie, it cannot be taken with safetie : for it hath also been observed that they have sooner perished that used the distilled water hereof, than those that abstained from it and have followed the right and ordinary course of diet." Geoffroi assertsf that its infusion is a valuable pectoral, useful in pulmonary ulceration and in asthma. Rafinesque saysj the juice is used " to destroy warts and corns ; with milk, for freckles and sunburns. It makes milk solid, but sour like bonyclabber, liked in Sweden. Deemed pectoral in South America, a sirup used in asthma." Many medical writers, among them Schenck and Valentin, recommend its use in "different kinds" of coughs, arising from bronchial attacks, phthisis, and other diseases of the lungs. A fit summary of all this practice may be found in Hahnemann's observations. " Drosera is one of the most powerful medicinal agents in our country. It was formerly used externally, but without success, in cutaneous affections, and it seems to have been taken with greater advantage internally. Modern practitioners who, according to custom, have tried only large doses, have not ventured upon giving it internally, fearing to kill their patients, and have therefore rejected it." No preparations of Drosera are officinal either in the U. S. Ph. or Eclectic Materia Medica. PART USED AND PREPARATION.— The entire fresh plant gathered in July should be chopped and pounded to a pulp, enclosed in a piece of new linen and pressed out. The juice should then be added to an equal part by weight of alcohol, thoroughly mixed and allowed to stand eight days in a well-stoppered bottle in a dark, cool place. The tincture separated from the above mass by * Busgen, your. Chem. Soc, 1884, p. 917. A more extended discussion of this subject will be found under Sar- racenia, 19. t Mtr. et de L. Diet, de M. Med., II., p. 699. X Med. Flora, II., p. 217. 29-3 filtration should be opaque, and present in thin layers a reddish-brown color, have an acrid, astringent taste, and an acid reaction. CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS.— ^/z>aW«, C,,H,0/= (C,„HP3 + H,0 or Cj^HjgOJ.f This dioxyanthroquinone coloring matter was first discovered in Madder root {Rubia titu/oria), as a glucoside J It crystallizes from its solution in alcohol in long, lustrous, translucent, yellowish-red, neutral and bitter prisms, containing three molecules of water, which it loses at ioo°-i20° (2i2°-248° F.). It sublimates at 215° (419° F.), in brilliant red needles that are only slighdy soluble in water, but fully in alcohol and ether. (Wittstein.) The plant is acrid and corrosive, but the principle to which this property is due has not, as far as I can determine, been investigated. Rafinesque states that the glutinous secretion of the leaf hairs is acid ; this may be a similar body to that which renders the water in the leaves of the pitcher-plant acid.§ PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION.— Drosera has long been deemed poisonous to animals, especially sheep ; in the latter its action was mostly supposed to be upon the mucous membrane of the intestinal tract. Dr. Curie slowly poisoned three cats with daily doses of the drug;|| the post-mortem examination with the micro- scope revealed the pleural surface of both lungs studded with true tubercle. In one cat the mesenteric glands were much enlarged; in another the submaxillary glands, with the solitary glands of the colon and Peyer's patches. Burdach states that in man the juice produces shuddering, sense of constriction at the chest, raw- ness in the throat, cough, haemoptysis, pain in the bowels, diarrhoea, sweat, and diminished secretion of urine. The cough caused by this drug arises from a tick- ling in the larynx ; it is spasmodic in its nature and causes vomiting if the stomach contains food. Drosera asserts altogether a peculiar action upon the lungs and, in fact, the whole respiratory tract, thus leading us to value it deservingly in pertussis, bron- chial irritation and even phthisis, where in fact it gives many a patient a restful night and more peaceful day when the disease is too far advanced for still greater benefit. Description of Plate 29. I. Whole plant from Spruce Pond, N. Y., July 21st, 1884. 2. Stamen. 3. Pistil. 4. Leaf hair. (2-4 enlarged.) * Grieb et Lieb. f Schunck. % Rubianic acid. g Sarracenia purpurea, 19. II French Acad. Sci., British your. Horn., xx., 39. 30. ]'KI.I'III.\ r(»LV.\\[)KI.\. HYPERICUM. .ST. JOIf.¥'S WORT. SYN. — HYPERICUM PERFORATUM, LINN.; H. VULGARB, BAUH. ; H. PSBUDOPERFORATUM, BERTOL. COM. NAMES. -ST. JOHN'S WORT, GOD'S WONDER PLANT, DEVIL'S SCOURGE, WITCHES' HERB; (FR.) HERBE ST. JEAN, CHASSE DIABLE, MILLS -PERTUIS; ^GBR.) JOHANNISKRAUT, HARTHEU, HEXEN- KRAUT. A TINCTURE OF THE WHOLE PLANT HYPERICUM PERFOR.\TUM, LINN. Description. — This rapidly-spreading perennial grows to a height of a foot or more. S^cm erect, somewhat two-edged, much branched at the summit and pro- ducing many long runners from its base. Z^^r'^.y elliptical to linear oblong, obtuse, and punctate with numerous scattered pellucid dots. Inflorescence in a dense, ter- minal, leafy cyme ; floi^'ers numerous, deep yellow. Calyx erect ; sepals lanceolate, acute. Petals twice as long as the sepals, black-dotted along the edges, margins unequal. Stamens numerous, in 3 to 5 clusters ; filainents filiform ; anthers black- dotted. Styles 3-divergent. Fruit a globose-ovoid capsule, 3-celled by the meeting of the placentae in the axis ; seeds pitted. Hypericaceae. — This family of herbs or shrubs is represented in North America by 3 genera, containing in all 39 species and 6 varieties. Leaves opposite, entire, dotted ; stipules none. Inflorescoice cymose ; flowers regular, hypogynous. Sepals 5, nearly equal, sometimes united at the base, persistent, and imbricated in the bud. Petals 5, alternate with the sepals, deciduous, oblique, convolute or imbricated in the bud. Stamens mostly numerous, united or clustered, and not furnished with inter- posed glands ; anthers introrse, fi.xed by the middle. Ovules anatropous ; styles 2 to 5, persistent; stigmas hardly evident, capitate. Fruit a i - to 5-celled pod; dehiscence septicidal ; valves 2 to 5. Seeds numerous, usually c)'lindrical ; embryo straight ; albumen none ; tegmen fleshy. The only plants of this order used in general medicine are: The Isle of France Hypericum lanceolatum, which is considered specific for syphilis by the natives ; the Brazilian H. connatum, used as an astringent in sore throat; //. laxiuscidum, considered ale.xiteric ; and some Russian species, which are vaunted as cures for hydrophobia. The European Androscstnmn ^j/^m/rt/^, All., is vulnerary ; and the Guiana P'isnia Guiancjisis, Pers., yields a purgative juice, greatly resembling gamboge. * The ancient name, of unknown derivation. 30-2 History and Habitat. — This European immigrant has become so thoroughly naturaHzecl with us as to become a very troublesome weed upon our farm-lands, where its rapid and rank growth render it difficult to exterminate and very ex- hausting to the soil. It flowers in July and August, and fruits a little later. Hypericum is mentioned by some of the earliest writers upon Materia Medica as a febrifuge and anthelmintic. Paul of ^gina speaks of it as an emmenagogue, and as being desiccative_ and diuretic ; also as a vulnerary. Galen, Dioscorides and others recommend its use as above. Gerarde says, in his Ha-ball : " S. John's Wort, with his flowers and seed boyled and drunken, provoketh urine, and is right good against stone in the bladder, and stoppeth the laske. The leaves, flowers, and seeds stamped, and put into a glass with oyle olive, and set in the hot sunne for certain weeks together, and then strained from these herbes, and the like quan- tity of new put In, and sunned in like manner, doth make an oyle of the colour of blood, which is a most precious remedy for deep wounds and those that are thorow the body, for sinews that are pricked, or any wound with a venomed weapon." The popular and empirical uses of this plant were various, depending in great part upon its balsamic odor and property. Among the more superstitious peas- antry of Middle Europe the most astonishing virtues were assigned to the herb; it became in fact with them a /}/£n danwn7un, and was gathered under this idea, especially on St. John's Day. It was also supposed to be useful in mania, hys- teria, and hypochondriasis. Later on, especially in Eclectic practice, it became noted as a diuretic, astringent, nervine, and anti-hemorrhagic, but is thrown aside by the so-called " regulars," whose latest author (our contemporary. Dr. Johnson) says:* "In scientific medicine it has become obsolete long ago. One author of comparatively recent date considers 'the saturated tincture nearly as valuable as that of arnica for bruises, etc' As tincture of arnica, however, apart from the alco- hol which it contains, is of doubtful efficacy in these cases, the above statement does not tend to inspire faith in St. John's Wort." This, my reader, is one of the deductions ot " scientific medicine." The great use of Hypericum in wounds where the nerves are involved to any extent is the rightful discovery of the true science of medicine. Dr. Franklin, who had ample field to test it during the war, says : " Lacerated wounds of parts rich in nerves yield nicely to this drug." Many cases of injury to the cranium and spinal column are reported benefited by its use ; and every homoeopathic phy- sician of at least three months' practice can attest to its merits. It is to the ner- vous system what arnica is to the muscular. Hypericum is no longer officinal in the pharmacopoeias. In the Eclectic Materia Medica its preparation is Infnsinu Hypcrici. PART USED AND PREPARATION.— The fresh blossoming plant is chopped and pounded to a pulp and weighed. Then two parts by weight of alcohol are taken, the pulp mixed thoroughly with one-sixth part of it, and the rest of the alcohol added. After having stirred the whole well, pour it into a closely-stop- pered bottle, and let it stand eight days in a dark, cool place. * Med. Bet. of North America, Wood's Library, Dec, 1884. 30-3 The tincture, separated from this mass by filtration, should have a deep crim- son color, almost opaque ; an odor resembling that of port wine ; a slightly astrin- gent vinous taste ; and an acid reaction. CHEMICAL OONSITUENTS.— (9A7/W Hypcria. This body is a product of the apparently black dots upon the petals and fruits. It gives a beautiful red color to alcohol and essential oils. This oil is doubdess one of the active prin- ciples of the plant. A resin, acrid and slighdy bitter, however, is one of the most active, if not the active, principle. The Tilden analysis''' yields a " Bitter jjrinciple," which does not appear as a result in the analyses of Blairf or Buchner. Tannin, and the usual plant constituents, have also been determined. PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION.— The compiled results of the ingestion of this drug are in substance as follows : Mental depression and exhaustion ; vertigo and confusion of the head with pain, heat, and throbbing ; dilation of the pupils ; nau- sea ; profuse urination ; dry, hacking cough ; increased heart's action ; numbness, weakness, and trembling of the legs ; tearing pains in the upper extremities ; great weakness and prostration ; fuzzy feeling of the hands ; restless sleep ; shiverings and coldness of the body followed by dry heat. Description of Plate 30. I and 2. Whole plant, Bingliamton. N. Y.. July 7th, 18S5. 3 and 4. Stamens. 5. Pistil. 6. Section of ovary. 7. Leaf. S. Petal. (3-6 enlarged.) Jour. Mat. Med., N. S., i, 232. t ■^'■"- Jour. P/inr., xi, 23. natdei.etpinxt. AGROSTEMMA GiTHAGO.Linn N. ORD -CARYOPHYLLACE^. 31 Tribe.-SILENE^. GENUS— LYCHNIS,* TOURN. SEX. SYST.— DECANDRIA I'ENTAGVNIA. AGROSTEMMA GITHAGO. CORM COCKLE. SYN.— LYCHNIS GITHAGO, LAM. ; AGROSTEMMA GITHAGO.t LINN. COM. NAMES.— CORN COCKLE, COCKLE OR COCKEL, ROSE CAMPION; (FR.) LA NIELLE DES BLE'S, L'IVRAIE ; (GBR.) GEMEINE RADE, KORN RADE. A TINCTURE OF THE RIPE SEEDS OF LYCHNIS GITHAGO, L.'^M. Description. — This softly pubescent annual, a pernicious emigrant, grows to a heig-ht of from i to ^ feet. Stem erect, dichotomous; leaves linear-lanceolate, acute, covered with a whitish cottony down ; stipules none ; pubescence consisting of long appressed cilia. Injloi'escence solitary, axillary and terminal, long-peduncled flowers. Calyx cylindrical-campanulate, pubescent; and naked as regards bracts ; lobes 5, linear-lanceolate, foliaceous, deciduous. Petals obovate, emarginate, crownless, slender-clawed, shorter than the lobes of the calyx. Stamens 10. Ovary stipe- less ; styles 5, or rarely 4. Fruit a i-celled coriacious capsule, opening by 8 or 10 teeth; seeds numerous, velvety black, reniform, muricately roughened in longitu- dinal concentric curved lines from the hilum. CaryophyllacesB. — Stems usually enlarged at the nodes ; leaves opposite, entire, often united at the base, the upper sometimes alternate. Flowers sym- metrical, 4- to 5-merous ; sepals 4 to 5, distinct or cohering, persistent, continuous with the peduncle ; petals 4 to 5 or none, hypogynous or perigynous, the latter clawless, the former unguiculate, inserted upon the peduncle of the ovary, they are sometimes deeply notched, sometimes simply emarginate, and in a few species split through their whole length. Stamens not more than twice the number of the petals, in many species equal in number with the sepals and opposite them; fila- ments subulate, sometimes monadelphous at the base, inserted witli the petals upon the peduncle of the ovary; anthers versatile or innate, introrse, 2-celled, opening longitudinally. Ovary generally gynophorous, composed of from 2 to 5 confluent carpels; styles 2 to 5, rarely one by cohesion, filiform, stigmatic down the inner * hixnoi, lychnos, a lamp; from the use of the cottony substance on the leaves of some spices in lieu of wicks. f Git or gith, the name of certain black aromatic grains, \vhich were employed by the Romans in cookery. These grains are the seeds of the European fennel flower (A'4r//« sativa, Linn.); and bear little resemblance to those of the cockle except in size and color. 31-2 face. Fruit a coriaceous capsule, 2- to 5-valved and -celled, or more commonly I -celled by the wasting away of the dissepiments; placenta central and generally free ; dehiscence loculicidal, or more commonly terminal by the splitting of the apex into twice as many teeth as there are styles. Seeds generally indefinite, inserted upon, and clustered about, the base of the central placenta, amphitropous or cam- pylotropous ; embryo external to the albumen and generally coiled around it, or in Dianthus nearly straight ; albumen farinaceous. The usefulness of this family of more or less mild plants lies mostly in the principle saponin found in many of its species, but especially prominent in two, viz.: the European soapwort [Saponaria officinalis, Linn.), and the Spanish fleshy- leaved Gypsophila [Gypsophila Struthiiim, Linn.). This substance is detergent and often used alone and in the composition of soap. The plants in which this prin- ciple exists are deemed nearly equal to Sarsaparilla as cleansers of the blood in syphilis and similar affections when the skin is involved ; pai'illin, the active prin- ciple of sarsaparilla, being similar in its properties to saponin. Several species of the genus Silene are considered to be anthelmintics, some measure of success having followed the use of the Fire pink (Silene Virginiaca, Linn.).* Many species of pinks (Dianthus) were formerly used and esteemed as astringents and sudorifics, and one species, Dianthus pluniarius, us(;ful in epilepsy, but all have fallen into disuse, their petals now only being utilized as a coloring matter for ointments and perfumes. History and Habitat. — The cockle was introduced into this country with grain from Europe, and is very seldom to be found growing elsewhere than in a field of wheat. It blossoms and ripens its seed in good season for the harvest, thus mixing well with the grain. The seeds are so small that they are only with difficulty separated, and when left and ground with the wheat render the resulting flour dark-colored, unwholesome, bitter, and in some cases poisonous, as will be noted hereafter. PART USED AND PREPARATION.— The ripe, dried seeds are broken into a coarse powder and weighed. Then five parts by weight of alcohol are poured upon the powder, and the whole allowed to stand eight days in a well-stoppered bottle, in a dark, cool place, shaking thoroughly twice a day. The tincture separated from this mass by filtration should be of a clear, light bistre color by transmitted light ; its odor is strangely similar to the taste of the sweet acorn ; its taste like its odor, and also somewhat acrid ; and its reaction strongly acid. CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS. — ^^ro^/^;«;«/«. — I am unable to find the authority for this body, which Wittstein says is an "alkaloid alleged to exist in the seeds of Lychnis Githago. It is obtained by extracting with alcohol of 40 per cent, containing acetic acid, and by precipitating with calcined magnesia. The precipi- tate to be treated with alcohol and left to crystallize. It results as yellowish-white, * Barton Collections, vol. i, p. 39. 31-3 minute scales, fusible by heat and slowly soluble in water. It has a perceptibly alkaline reaction and yields crystallizable salts with acids." Githagin. — Specific saponin, described under Aesculus Hippocastanum, page 43-4. PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION — The seeds of the cockle are said to be fre- quendy allowed to adulterate the cheaper grades of flour in France, being inten- tionally ground with the wheat. Two 500 gram. (14^ oz.) lots of wheat flour, containing respectively 30 and 45 per cent, of these seeds, administered to two calves, caused severe cramps in the stomach within an hour, followed by diarrhoea, and finally death. Ducks and geese will eat of the seeds, but suffer death as above, and show post-mortem severe inflammation of the bowels.* In feeding my chickens " wheat screenings " I have often noted that they always carefully avoid the cockle seeds; not even the young chicks will pick up a single seed. The following symptoms are noted by Dr. Allen ;f they were observed from eating bread made of flour contaminated by cockle seed : Coma, in some cases ; vertigo ; headache with a sensation of heat and burning rising into the vertex ; mouth hot and dry ; nausea, sour and bitter vomiting ; burning, extending along the oesophagus, from the stomach into the throat ; cutting pains in the stomach ; diar- rhoea, with tenesmus and burning in the bowels and rectum ; pulse at first small and rapid, then tense, hard, and slower ; hot skin ; tearing along the spine with impaired locomotion, and difficulty in maintaining an erect position. These symp- toms class the seeds among the cerebro-spinal irritants. Description of Plate 31. 1. End of a flowering branch, Ithaca, N. Y., June 13th, 18S0. 2. Pistil. 3. Flower. 4. Seed, X 25. (2 and 3 enlarged.) * Ant. Jour. Phar., 1879, p. 129; from Arch. d. Phanii., 1S79, p. t Ency. Pure Mat. Med., vol. i, p. 132. 32. 1/ 4 ^m. 41^1 / r iilnatdei.etpinxt. Geranium Maculatum Unn. N. ORD.-GERANIACE^. 32 GENUS.— G E R A N I U M,* LINN. SEX. .SYST.— MONADKI,riII.\ UL:CANDRI.\. GERANIUM MACULATUM. WILD GERAJsriUM. SYN.— GERANIUM MACULATUM, LINN. COM. NAMES.— WILD GERANIUM OR CRANESBILL, SPOTTED GERANIUM OR CRANESBILL, CROWFOOT.t ALUM-ROOT, TORMENTIL, STORK- BILL; (FR.) BEC DE GRUB; (GER.) GEFLECKTBR STORCHSNABEL. A TINCTURE OF THE FRESH AUTUMNAL ROOT OF GERANIUM MACULATUM LINN. Description. — This erect perennial, hairy herb, grows to a height of from one to one and a half feet. Root somewhat woody. Stem erect, hair)', forking. Leaves: of two kinds ; those from the root, long petioled, those of the stem, opposite ; all generally 5-parted, the cuneate divisions lobed and cut at. the end, hairy. The leaves when old become somewhat blotched with whitish-green, whence the specific name. Stipules lanceolate. Inflorescence a terminal open panicle; pedicels ?Lho\\X. one inch long, from one to two sometimes three flowered ; flowers large and showy. Sepals equal, cuspidate, persistent, villous. Petals equal, entire, bearded upon the claw. Stamens 10, unequal, the longer 5 alternate with the petals, and furnished each with a basal gland \ filaments slightly hairy at the base ; anthers per- fect on all the filaments. Style terminal, persistent, smooth inside. (This is notice- able in the fruit after their cleavage from the axis.) S:ecls minutely reticulate. GERANIACE.^. — This order, having a position between Zygophyllaccce and Rutacecv, is characterized by generally strong-scented herbs or shrubs, having as- tringent roots ; leaves palmately veined and usually lobed ; flowers symmetrical. (Exc. Impaticns and Tropceohim.) Calyx of 5 persistent sepals, imbricated in the bud; corolla of 5 petals, furnished with claws, mostly convolute in the bud; sta- mens 10, in two rows, the outer often sterile; filaments broad and united at the base; styles 5, connected about an axis; stigmas 5, separate; ^:'«;j 5-carpelcd, each carpel containing from i to 2 seeds, the carpels opening by the curling back of the drying persistent styles ; seeds destitute of albumen. (Exc. Oxalis.) Coty- ledons convolute, and plicate with each other. This is one of those orders that are often broken up into smaller ones then recombined, in botanical history. It contains in the more northern United States the following genera : Erodiuni, Flwrkca, Geranium, Impatiens, Limnanthcs, and Oxalis. There are two particularly interesting genera besides the above, viz., Pelargonitmi, to which belong our cultivated geraniums, introduced from the Cape * Tifa ot,geranos, a crane; the styles bearing resemblance to a crane's bill. I More applicable froin usage to the Raniiniula!. 32-2 of Good Hope, and Tropceo'.um, containing the garden nasturtium. Of this order our only proven plants are the one under consideration and Oxalis stricta, Linn.* History and Habitat. — The wild geranium grows lu.xuriantly in our open woods and new clearings, flowering from April to July. The American Aborigines value the root of this plant as an astringent in looseness of the bowels, and exhaustive discharges of all kinds; it was thus brought forward by Colden, Coellen, and Shoepf, and recommended as a remedy in the second stages of dysentery and cholera infantum, cynanche tonsillaris, oral aphthae, passive hemorrhage, leucorrhoea, etc., in fact the uses of a decoction of the root have been great wherever an astringent or styptic seemed to be required. Geranium root is officinal in the U. S. Ph. as Exlractum Geranii Fluidnm, and in the Eclectic Materia Medica as Extracliini Gcraiiii. PART USED AND PREPARATION. — The fresh root, gathered in autumn, is chopped and pounded to a pulp and weighed. Then two parts by weight of alco- hol are taken, the pulp mixed thoroughly with one-sixth part of it, and the rest of the alcohol added. After having stirred the whole well, it should be poured into a well-stoppered bottle, and allowed to stand eight days In a dark, cool place. The tincture prepared from this mass by filtration, shoukl have a deep reddish- brown color by transrtiitted light, a bweet and astringent taste, and a strong acid reaction. This tincture becomes muddy on long standing, but does not deposit ; at least mine has not yet done so, although it has been made over three years.-j- CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS.— An analysis by Dr. Bigelow in 1833 corrobo- rated Staples' determination of tannin In quite large percentage, and oallic acid. The gallic acid in his hands differed somewhat Irom that body as extracted from galls. Messrs. Tilden (1863) J determined beside the above : tivo resins, one soluble in alcohol, the other in ether; an oleo-resin soluble in ether; gum, pectin, starch, sugar, and the usual plant constituents. Dr. Staples (i8:29)§ detected, beside the above, a "peculiar crystalline prin- ciple," which does not seem, so far, to have been analysed or even corroborated. PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION. — In moderate doses Geranium causes constipa- tion, attended with but fruitless attempts at evacuation ; some pain in the stomach and bowels, and tenesmus when a stool is gained ; stool odorless. Its action will be seen to so far differ but slightly. If at all, from that of Acidiun Tannicum, which should be studied in this connection. Description of Plate 32. I. Whole plant (once reduced), with a portion of the stem removed ; I'amrapo, N. J., May 21st, 1S79. 2. Flower. 3. Pistil and calyx. 4. Ovary. 5. Fruit (once reduced). * Author's proving. See Trans. Horn. Med. Sac. Staff N. K, Vol. XIX, 1S84, p. 136. t .^ better method of preparing the tincture, should Iw l)y usinij dilute alcohol. X .Am. Jour. Pilar., 1863, p. 22. I Jaitr. Phil. Col. Pilar., i, p. 171. ^Xa.adnatdeletpinxt XaNTHOXYLUM AmERICANUM, Mill. N. ORD.-RUTACE^. 33 (; KNUS.— X A N T H O X Y L U M ,* GOLDEN. SEX. SVST.— DI()i:CI.\ TENTANDKIA. XANTHOXYLUM. PRICKLY ASH. SYN. — XANTHOXYLUM AMERICANUM. MILL.; X. CLAVA-HERCULIS, LAM. (Not LINN.); X. FRAXINBUM, AND MITE, WILLD. ; X. FRAX- INIFOLIUM, MARSH. (Not WALT.l; X. RAMIFLORUM, MICHX. ; X. TRICARPUM, HOOK. (Not MICHX. ) ; THYLAX FRAXINEUM. RAP. COM. NAMES.— NORTHERN PRICKLY ASH.t TOOTHACHE TREE, PELLI- TORY.t YELLOW WOOD,? SUTERBERRY, ANGELICA TREE ; 1| (FR.) PRBNE E'PINEAUX; (GER.) ZAHNWEHOLZ. A TINCTURE OF THE FRESH B.\RK OF XANTHOXYLUM AMERICANUM, MILL. Description. — This well-known shrub grows to a height of from 3 to 8 feet, with a like spread of banches. Baj-k grayish, smooth, white maculate, and slighdy warty; branches alternate, beset with short, triangular, sharp prickles, similar to those of the rose bush, and generally arranged in pairs beneath the axils of the younger branches ; leaves alternate, pinnately compound ; leaflets 4 to 5 pairs and an odd one, ovate-oblong, acute, entire or glandularly serrate, nearly sessile, the under surface downy when young; petiole often prickly on the upper side. Inflor- escence sessile umbellate clusters axillary to the yet undeveloped branchlets ; floivers yellowish-green, polygamo-dioecious, appearing before the leaves ; pei-fect floivers with 3 pistils, sterile flowers with rudimentary, abortive, gland-like ova- ries, fertile floiuers with 5 fruiting pistils. Calyx none. Petals 5, oblong, blunt, with a glandularly fibrillate border and somewhat inflated base. Stamens 5, exserted, alternate with the petals and inserted upon the torus; anthers innate, sagittate, 4- celled. Pistils 3 or 5 ; styles exserted, slender, somewhat intertwined, connivant, or sometimes united at the apex ; stigfnas capitate or obtuse. Ovaries distinct i- celled. Fruit reddish-green, short-stalked, fleshy, pitted, 2-valved pods ; seeds oval, blackish, one to each pod, suspended. Rutaceae. — A large family of herbs, shrubs and trees inhabiting chiefly the Southern hemisphere. Leaves simple or compund, pellucid-dotted and rich in a pungent or bitter and aromatic oil ; stipules none. Flowers by abortion dioecious * Sa^fliS,-, xanthos, yellow ; \i\ov, xylon, wood. f The Southern Prickly Ash is X Caroliiiianum, Lam. % The true Pellilories are the African Anacycltis pyrtlhrum, D. C. (Composit.-v), and various European and the American species of the genus Parietaria (Urticacecv). J The true yellow-wood with us is Cladrastris tinctoria, Raf. (Leguminosx). II The true Angelica tree, so often confounded with the prickly ash from its slightly similar effects, is Aralia spi- ttosa, Linn. (AraliaceDe). 33-2 or polygamous, usually regular and hypogynous; calyx of 3 to 5 sepals, or wanting ; petals 3 to 5, convolutely inbricated in the bud. Stamens as many as the sepals and alternate with them, twice as many, or rarely numerous ; filaments arising from the base of the gynophore. Pistils 2 to 5, separate or combined into a com- pound ovary of as many cells, gynophorus or raised on a glandular torus ; styles generally united or cohering, even when the ovaries are separate. Fruit mostly capsular, sometimes drupaceous, and baccate ; seeds few, anatropous and pendulus ; testa smooth, shiny, or crustaceous ; embryo large, curved or straight ; albumen sar- cous, generally enclosing the embryo ; cotyledons oval, flat. This large order now contains, beside the typical Rutacese, the formerly sepa- rate families Xanthoxylacese and Aurantiaceae, including thus many valuable med- icinal plants and pleasant fruits, among them are the following more or less prominent: The Central American Carony or Angustura bark {Galipea Cusparea, St. Hil., Angustura vera), of which we have an excellent proving ; the European Rue {Ruta graveolens, Linn.), also prominent in our Materia Medica; the famed Buchu of the Cape of Good Hope {Barosma crenulata. Hook.), and the lesser species B. betulina, B. & W., and B. serratifolia, Willd., of the same country ; the powerful diaphoretic Jaborandi {Pilocarpus pennatif alius. Lam. ; the following febri- fuges : the ^rdizWidin Evodia febrifuga, Ticorea jasminifolia,z.x\d. T./ebriftiga,2i\\ of St. Hil. ; and the European Bastard Dittany {Dictamnus /raxinella, Linn.). Next our attention is brought to the Auraiiticccs, the latest addition to the order, where we find the following well-known fruits: the Bitter or Saville Orange {Citrus Vul- garis, Risso.), supposed to be the original of the Sweet or China Orange {Citrus Aurantium, Linn.), which cannot be said to be ever found in a really wild state; the source of the Oil of Bergamot {Citrus Bergamina, Risso.), supposed to be either a variety of the orange, or lemon, or a hybrid ; the Citron {Citrus Medica, Risso.), its wild state growing in the mountainous northern district of India ; the Limes {Citrus acida, Roxb., C. Ltmiina, and C. Limetta, Risso.) ; and finally the Indian astringent Bael {Aegle Marmelos, Correa, Cra'.cEva Marmelos, Linn.) the ripe fruit of which is known as the Bengal Quince, and said to be made into a laxative preserve, or a pleasant refrigerant drink. Lastly, the former Xan- thoxylacece yield us beside Ptelea and Xanthoxylum treated of here, the following stimulants : the Chinese Xanthoxylum Avicenne, D. C, supposed to be a general antidote for all poisons by the natives ; the West Indian X. Clava-Herculis, Linn. ; the Bengalese A'. Alatum, Roxb. ; and the Japanese X. piperita, D. C. ; the astringent tonics Brucea Sumatrana, Roxb., and the Abyssinian B. antidysenterica. Mill., the Indian Toddalia aculeata, Pers., and the African sub-astringent Lopez- root T. lanceolata. Lam.). History and Habitat. — The northern prickly ash is common in localities only, throughout the northern portion of the Eastern United States, where it flowers in April and May, before the appearance of the leaves. Three other species are found in the South United States, viz. : X. Clava-Herculis, Linn. {X. Carolinianum, Lam.) ; X. Caribceum, Lam. {X. Floridanum, Nutt.) ; and X. Pterota, H.B.K. Xanthoxylum was an article of American aboriginal medicine called Hantola ; 33-3 the Western tribes used principally the bark of the root in decoction, for colics, gonorrhoea, and rheumatism ; chewed for aching teeth ; and made into a poultice with bears grease and applied to ulcers and sores.* From personal experience one day in the woods while botanizing, I found that, upon chewing the bark for relief of toothache, speedy mitigation of the pain followed, though the sensation of the acrid bark was nearly or fully as unpleasant as the ache, and so painful finally in itself that I abandoned its use, only to have the toothache return when the irrita- tion of the bark had left the mucous membranes. A decoction of the bark is dia-. phoretic and excites secretion generally. Its action upon the salivary glands causes in time almost as full ptyalism as mercury. Its speedy relief of rheumatism is said to occur only when it causes free perspiration; for this disease a pint a day is taken of a decoction of one ounce of the bark boiled in a quart of water. It is a powerful stimulant to healing wounds or indolent ulcerations. Dr. King, who introduced the use of this drug in Cincinnati in 1849, both in the treatment of tympanitis, distention of the bowels during peritonitis, and in Asiatic cholera, says :f "In tympanitis one half to one drachm of the tincture may be given per ons, in a little sweetened water, and repeated hourly, and the same amount used as an enema. The action is usually prompt and permanent. In Asiatic cholera, during 1S49 and 1850, it was much employed by our (Eclectic) physicians in Cin- cinnati, and with great success ;• it acted like electricity, so sudden and diffusive was its influence over the system. In typhus fever, typhoid pneumonia, and typhoid conditions generally, I am compelled to say that I consider the tincture of prickly-ash berries superior to any other form of medication. I have known cases of typhoid pneumonia in which the patients were so low that all prospect of re- covery was despaired of, to be so immediately benefited that the patients who, a few minutes before, were unable to notice anything around them, would reply to questions, and manifest considerable attention, and ultimately recover." Prickly ash is officinal in the U. S. Ph., as Extractuin Xanthoxyli Fhiidum ; and in the Eclectic Materia Medica its preparations are: Enema Xanthoxyli; ExtracUun Xanthoxyli Fluidimi ; Oleoresina Xanthoxyli ; Tinciura Xanthoxyli ; Tinctura Laricis Composita.\ PART USED AND PREPARATION. — The fresh bark, together with that of the root, is ground to a pulp, covered in a well-stoppered bottle with two parts by weight of alcohol, and allowed to stand eight days in a dark, cool place, being shaken twice a day. The tincture separated from this mass by filtration has a clear, yellowish- green color by transmitted light ; it retains the peculiar odor and taste of the bark, and exhibits an acid reaction. CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS.— .Yrt«/'//fl-t:j'//«. This body, extracted by Dr. Staples from the bark, and so named, has been determined to be berberin.\ * Rafinesque, Med. Flora. 2, p. 115. t Co//f^e Jour., March, 1856; quoted l.y Miller in The Jour, of Mat. Med., Vol. Ill, N. S., 1861. 9. X Tamarac bark, Juniper berries, Prickly Ash bark, Wild Cherry bark, Seneca Snake-root, Tansy, Whiskey, Molasses, and Hydro-alcoholic Extract of Podophyllum. \ See under Berberis, p. 16-2. 33-4 Oil of Xanlhoxyhim — probably also containing resin and extractive — is a dark brown, aromatic, warm, pungent, turbid body, found in about 25 per cent, in the berries by W. S. Merrell. An etherial oil of the bark is obtainable, answering to the above ; it is, though, simply an extract containing all the principles in the bark. Volatile oil and resin have also been determined. This plant has not been carefully analyzed. Some idea of its probable con- stituents other than the above might be gained from those of Xanthoxylum piperi- tum, which contains : Xanthoxylen or Xantlwxylene, Cj„ Hj,., is the colorless watery liquid part of the volatile oil. It has a pleasant aromatic odor, and great refracting power ; it boils at t62° (324° F.). Xanthoxylin, Q^ H,,^ Og. This crystallizable product of the volatile oil which may be extracted after the oil is freed from Xanthoxylene by distillation at 1 30° (266° F.). It crystallizes in large, colorless, silky, neutral, aromatic, klinorhombic forms, soluble in alcohol and ether. The crystals fuse at 80° (176° F.), and vola- tilize at higher temperatures undecomposed {et supra, IViifsfein.) PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION. — Although we have a quite full proving of this drug by Dr. C. Cullis,* it is hardly sufficient to determine its physiological sphere of action. The drug proves, however, at least a stimulant of mucous surfaces and attendant secretory glands by an irritant action upon the nerves. Its action, taken all in all, appears quite like that of Mezereum.- Description of Plate 33. I. End of a flowering branch, Binghamton, N. Y., May Sth, 1S84. 2. End of fruiting brancli. 3. Sterile flower. 4-5. Fertile flowers. 5. Longitudinal section of a tri-pistillate flower. (2-5 enlarged.) * Allen, Emj. Pure. Mat. Med., X, p. 169. ^Tll.adnaf.del.etpinxt. Ptelea Trifoliata,Li N. ORD -RUTACE^. 34 GENUS— PTELEA,* LINN. SEX. SVST.— TETKAXDRIA MUNDGVNIA. PTELEA. WAFER ASH. SYN.— PTELEA TRIFOLIATA, LINN.; P. VITICIFOLIA, SALISB.; AMYRIS ELEMIFOLIA, LINN. COM. NAMES.— WAFER ASH, SHRUBBY TREFOIL, TREE TREFOIL, HOP TREE, STINKING ASH, WINGSEED, SWAMP DOGWOOD, PICKAWAY- (FR.i ORME DE SAMAIRE A TROIS FEUILLES; iGER.) DRIBLATTRIGE LEDERBAUM. .\ TINCTURE OF THE BARK OF PTELE.\ TRIFOLIATA, LINN. Description. — This peculiar shrub attains a growth of from 6 to 8 feet. Leaves trifoliate, long petioled; /ca/fe^s sessile or very slightly petiolulate, ovate, pointed, dark shining green above, pale and somewhat downy beneath, the terminal more or less wedge-shaped and contracted at the base, all more or less crenulate. hiflorescence in compound lateral and terminal cymes; floivers numerous, greenish-white, polyga- mous, their odor disagreeable. Sepals 3 to 5, usually 4, somewhat deltoid, much shorter than the petals. Petals 3 to 5, usually 4, spreading, imbricated in the bud. Stamens as many as the petals and alternate with them ; filaments in the sterile flowers long, dilated, and hairy at the base ; shorter than the ovary in the fertile ; anthers larger, present in both kinds of flowers, but sterile in the female. Ovary 2-celled ; style short or wanting; stigma capitate, 2-lobed. Fruit a large, dense, globular cluster of nearly orbicular, 2-seeded, membranaceous, reticulate-veined samaras ; seed somewhat triangularly compressed. History and Habitat. — The Wafer Ash is indigenous to North America, rang- ing from Pennsylvania westward to Wisconsin and southward to Florida and Texas, It grows in moist, shady places, on the borders of woods, and among rocks, flower- ing in June at the northern range. The plant was sent to England for cultivation in 1704 by Bannister, but, being lost there, Catesby reinforced their gardens from Carolina twenty years later. Rafinesque first introduced the plant in American medical literature in his work on Medical Botany, 1830, speaking of the leaves as vulnerary and vermifuge. Schoepf gives the same in substance ; and Merat and De Lens speak of the fruit as aromatic and bitter, and an affirmed substitute for hops. Howard speaks of the bark of the root as an excellent stimulant, expectorant tonic ; especially useful * Ilrau, ptao, to fly: the Greek name of the elm, alluding to the winged fruits. 34-2 in ao^ues. Jones* speaks of the plant as "a pure unirritating tonic" in cold infu- sion, especially adapted to convalescence after debilitating fevers. Following these, its use became general, especially in Eclectic practice, for a variety of troubles, especially asthma, phthisis, glandular degeneration in general, syphilis, scrofula, chronic diarrhoea, epilepsy, dyspepsia, intermittent fever, and chronic rheumatism. The Eclectic preparations are : Exti-actum PtelecB Hydro-alcoholicum ; Infu- siim Ptclece ; and PtelccB Oleo-resmece. PART USED AND PREPARATION. — The fresh bark, gathered after the fruit is ripe, but before the leaves begin to fade, is treated as in the preceding drug. The tincture, separated by pressure and filtration, has a brownish orange color by transmitted light; a bitter odor; an extremely bitter taste ; and an acid reaction. CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS. — The analysis of G. M. Smyserf resulted in the determination of albumen, bitter extractive, tannic and gallic acids, a brittle, tasteless resin, and a soft acrid resin. According to Justin Speer,| the root-bark contains a crystalline yellow coloring-matter, oleo-resin, and berberina,% but no tannin. PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION. — In Dr. E. M. Hale's provings of this drug upon a number of observers, who took from 30 to 500 drops of the tincture, and from I grain to a scruple of " Ptelein." the following disturbances occurred : Mental depression and confusion ; frontal headache , vertigo ; contraction of the pupil ; aural pains with swelling of the lymphatics; tongue sore, yellow-coated; ptyalism ; voracious appetite ; nausea, with pressure in the stomach as of a stone ; griping colic; great urging followed by copious diarrhoeic stools; urine increased; heart's action increased ; general restlessness and prostration, followed by chilliness and fever. Description of Plate 34. 1. Female flower. 2. Male flower. 3. Stamen. 4. Anther. 5. Fruiting branch. 6. Samara. 7. Section of fruit. 8. Seed. (1-4 and 7-8 enlarged.) * Eclectic Practice. f Am. Jour. Phar., 1862. % Ibid., 1867. I See p. 15-2. InatdeI.etpinxt '3 ■ 7 AlLANTHUS GlANDULOSUS, Desf. ^d N. ORD-SIMARUBACE/E. 35 Tribe.-SIMARUBE/E. GENUS. — A I LA NTH US,* DKSF. SEX. SY.ST.— MONtP:CI.\ I'OLVGAMIA. AILANTUS. TREE OF HEA VEjY. SYN.^AILANTHUS GLANDULOSUS, DESP. COM. NAMES.— TREE OF HEAVEN, CHINESE AILANTHUS, TILLOW TREE, CHINESE SUMACH; (FR.i AILANTE, VERNIS DES JAPON;t (GER.) GOTTERBAUM. A TINCTURE OF THE FRESH BARK AND FLOWERS OF AILANTHUS GLANDULOSUS, DESF. Description. — This beautiful tree, which so much resembles an overo-rovvn staghorn sumach, grows in this country to a height of from 30 to 60 feet Sfem erect, columnar, much branched ; zoood hard, heavy and glossy, like satin. Leaves long, odd pinnately compound; petioles i to 2 feet long; leaflets oblong, pointed, with two blunt teeth at the base, rendering them somewhat hastate; tectJi glandu- lar upon the under surface. Inflorescence in large terminal thyrsoid panicles; floiL'srs greenish, dioeciously-polygamous. Calyx 5-toothed. Petals 5, inserted under an hypogynous disk. Stamens 10; filaments inflated and hairy at the base; anthers 2-celled. Ovary 5-lobed ; style columnar; stigma capitate, radiately 5-lobed. Fruit composed of from 2 to 5 long, thin, somewhat twisted, linear-oblong, veiny, I -celled, I -seeded samaras. Simarubaceae. — This small family of mostly tropical trees and shrubs, is rep- resented in North America by 7 genera of i species each. The characteristics of the order are as follows : Bark bitter. Leaves alternate, pinnately-compound ; stipules none. Flozvers hermaphrodite or unisexual. Calyx persistent; sepals^ to 5. Corolla deciduous, twisted in aestivation ; petals 4 to 5, hypogynous. Stamens as many or twice as many as the petals ; filaments inserted upon an hypogynous disk. Ovary composed of 4 to 5 lobes ; ovules suspended, i in each cell ; style various. Carpels 2-valved, as many as the petals, capsular or keyed ; se:ds pendu- lous; albumen none; cotylcdoiis thick; radicle short, superior. The only proven plants of this order, excepting the one under consideration, are : the tropical-American Cedron [Sitttaba Cedron, Planch), and the South- American Quassia or Dysentery-bark [Simarouba amara, Aubl.), the bark of which was once a noted remedy in dysentery. * The nanae should be spelled, Ailantiis, being derived from a Moluccian species called Ailanlo. t Also used to designate Rhus vernix. 35-2 The otiier more or less prominent medical plants are: the West-Indian Jamaica Quassia or Bitter Ash {Picrana excclsa, Lindl.), noted for its extreme and lasting bitter wood, so largely used in commerce for the manufacture of Quassia-cups, the water from which is useful as a stomachic tonic, anthelmintic, and antiperiodic ; the Brazilian Simarouha versicolor, St. Hil., noted as being so bitter that insects will not attack the wood ; and the Indian Nima qiiassioides, Hamilt., employed as a bitter tonic in the North of India. History and Habitat. — This large tree, that has caused more newspaper comment than any other now planted in this country, is a native of China, and is included in this work as an American remedy because it is from the naturalized tree that our provings were made. The Ailanthus tree was introduced into England in the year 1751, and tlirived well ; about the year 1800 it was brought to this country, and soon grew in public favor as an ornamental tree for lawns, walks and streets ; later on it became in greater demand on account of its supposed property of absorbing from the atmosphere malarial poisons; under this new idea the tree became a great favorite in cities and large towns, especially as its growth was rapid and its beautiful foliage pleasing. The occurrence, however, of several severe epidemics, especially in the larger cities, set people thinking — might not this tree, which so fully absorbs poison, also throw off toxic effluvia ? may it not store up the noxious gases and again set them forth in the flowering season? Certainly the staminate flowers smell bad enough to lay any disease to their emanations. A war upon the trees followed, both wordy and actual, which almost banished them from the country. The feeling, however, died a natural death, and to-day many fine trees abound, especially in the larger eastern cities. Another vote for its preservation lay in the fact that the tree afforded material for a silkworm [Attaciis Cynthia, Drury), which has been successfully acclimated in this country by Dr. Stewardson and Mr. Morris. The cost of production of silk from their culture is said to be about one-fourth that of mulberry silk, beside, the product is tough and stronger than any other fabric made ; it is said that tne Chinese wear garments of this material through several generations of constant use. The bark of the tree was experimented with in France about the year 1859, and found to be emetic, cathartic and anthelmintic. The bark has been employed by Roberts and others, both dried and fresh, as a remedy for dysentery and diarrhoea, and as an injection in gonorrhoea and leucorrhoea ; an alcoholic extract was found by Prof. Hetet* efficacious in the removal of tapeworm, though the prostrating nausea caused by the draught renders it disagreeable. The tincture has been used in doses of from five to sixty drops in palpitation of the heart, asthma and epilepsy. PART USED AND PREPARATION.— Equal parts of the fresh shoots, leaves and blossoms, and the young bark, are chopped and pounded to a pulp and weighed. Then two parts by weight of alcohol are taken, the pulp mixed thor- * your. ,i'e Chine Med., D>.-c., 1S59. 35-3 oiighly with oiiL'-sixth part of it, ami the rest of the alcohol addetl. After stirring the whole well, and pouring it into a well-stoppered bottle, it is allowed to stand eight da)s in a dark, cool place. The tincture is then separated by decanting, straining and filtering ; it has a deep orange-brown color by transmitted light ; a strongly vinous odor; a mawkish taste ; and an acid reaction. CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS.— Several analyses of the bark have been made, all of which agree with the latest one by Mr. F. H. Davis.* He determined the presence of fixed and volatile oil, resin, wax, sugar, tannin, gum, starch, and oxalic acid ; but failed, as had the others, to detect the presence of alkaloids or glucosides. PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION. — Ailanthus causes nausea, vomiting, great relax- ation of the muscles, and death-like sickness, very similar to that produced by tobacco-smoking in beginners. According to M. Hetet, the purgative property resides in the resin, while the volatile oil gives rise to the prostrating and other ill effects produced in some persons by the emanations from the Howers. The characteristic symptoms produced by Ailanthus are : vertigo and dizziness, severe headache, purulent discharges from the mucous membranes of the nose and eyes, dilated pupils with photophobia, pale, sickly, bilious countenance, irritation of the throat, loss of appetite, tenderness in the stomach and abdomen, looseness of the bowels, suppressed urine, oppression of breathing, languor and lassitude. Description of Pl.\te 35. I. End of a flowering branch, several leaves and thyrsi removed, Binghamton, N. Y., June 30th, 1885. 2. Flower. 3. Calyx and pistil. 4. Petal and stamen. 5. Stigma. 6. Stamens. 7. Section of ovary. 8. A leaflet. 9. Fruit. 10. Full leaf in outline. (2-7 enlarged.) * Am. Jour. Phar., 1885, 600. 36 3 4 5 ^.TU.adnatdel.efpinxt Rhus Glabra, Linn. N. ORD -ANACARDIACE^. 36 Seciion.-SUMAC* D. C. GENUS.— RHUS, LINN. SEX. SV.ST.— PENT.VNDRI.V TRI(;VNI.\. RHUS GLABRA. SMOOTH SUMACH. SYN.— RHUS GLABRA, LINN. ; R. ELEGANS, AIT. ; R. VIRGINIGUM, CATESB. ; R. CAROLINIANUM, MILL. COM. NAMES.— SMOOTH SUMACH OR SUMAC ; SHUMAKE ; (FR.) SUMAC ; (GER.) SUMACH. A TINCTURE OF THE FRESH BARK OF RHUS GLABRA, LINN. Description. — This smooth shrub usually attains a growth of from 5 to 15 feet in height. Branches somewhat straggling. Leaves odd-pinnate ; petioles crimson, 12 to 18 inches long; leaflets 12 to 30, lanceolate-oblong, acutely serrate, pointed, and whitened beneath. Itiflorescetice dense, terminal, thyrsoid panicles ; flowers perfect, polygamous. Sepals lanceolate, or more or less triangular, very acute, nearly as long as the petals. Petals incurved at the apex. Hypogynotis disk almost entire, its lobes, however, separating when a sepal is detached from the calyx, bringing away with it a stamen and petal ; lobe somewhat reniform. Fruit globular, clothed with acid, velvety, crimson hairs ; stone smooth. Rhus. — This genus is widely distributed, and contains numerous species characterized in general as follows : Leaves usually compound. Flowers polyga- mous or dioecious, greenish-white or yellowish-green ; sepals 5, small, united at the base, generally persistent; petals 5, ovate, spreading, slighdy hairy within. Stamens 5, alternate with the petals ; filaments inserted with the petals underneath the lobes of a chrome-yellow hypogynous disk, situated at the base of the sepals. Styles 3, short, generally united into one, sometimes distinct; stigmas 3, capitate. Fniit consisting of many small, indehiscent, dry, drupes ; stone or nutlet osseous ; seed suspended from the apex of a funiculus that arises from the base, and extends to the apex of the cell ; cotyledons foliaceous. Many other species of Rhus are used beside those embodied in this work ; among which are the following: The Japanese R. vernix affords the finest of the black lacquers, so extensively used in China and Japan for coating household articles, etc. This species in its toxic action is said to greatly simulate R. venenata, of this country. The South European R. coriaria, and R. cotinus, are extensively used in tanning the finer grades of morocco leather ; the seeds of the former * An .nlleration of the Arabic simaq (Forsk.). f The ancient Greek and Latin name (Celtic Rhtidd., red). 36-2 species are said to be used at Aleppo to provoke an appetite, and in Turkey o-enerally, in tlie manufacture of vinegar. Inferior grades of the inimitable black lacquer, made from H. venii.w are furnished by R. Javanica, R. Sinense, and R. siiccedaneum. Our southern R. pumila, Michx., has been variously considered; some writers claiming it to be entirely innocuous, others judge it to be the most poisonous of the North American species, claiming that it will show its effects upon those who are not susceptible to the influences of R. toxicodendron. The Floridian and West Indian R. mctopium produces a substance called Doctor's Gum, which is said to be emetis and purgative ; and the Chinese R. Buchi-amela, Roxb., certain CTalls used in Germany for the manufacture of tannic and gallic acids, and pyrogallol. Anacardiaceae. — This large, chiefly tropical family, consists of mostly poison- ous trees or shrubs, having a resinous or milky, acrid juice, which turns black or blackish in drying. Leaves alternate, usually compound, and devoid of dots ; stipules none. Inflorescence usually in axillary or terminal, erect panicles ; flowers small, regular, often polygamous ; ccstivation imbricate, rarely valvate. Sepals 3, or 5, usually distinct, but sometimes more or less united at the base, and persistent. Petals as many as the sepals, and inserted beneath an hypogynous disk, lining the base of the calyx. Stamens as many as the petals and alternate with them ; fila- ments distinct. Ovaiy ovoid ; styles 3, distinct or combined ; stigmas 3, decidedly distinct. /v'?«V drupaceous, indehiscent, i -celled; seed borne upon a curved stalk arising from the base of the cell ; testa membranaceous ; embryo more or less curved ; albumen none. The following plants of this family figure more or less prominently in our Materia Medica : The Indian Cashew-nut {Anacardium orientale, Semecarpus Anacarditim, Linn.) ; the fruit of this tree is also called the marking-nut, and is almost universally used for stamping linen. The Cuban o-Jiao {Comocladia dentata, Jacq.), which is said by the natives (and corroborated by others) to cause the death of any who sleep beneath its shades ; this is especially true of individuals of plethoric habit. The New Zealand Karaka or Kopi-tree [Coryno-carpus Icevigatus, Foster) ; and the Mexican and Peruvian Schinus, a product of Schiims molle, Linn., used by the natives for healing tumors and reducing inflammation, especially of the eye. Other members used in medicine and the arts are : The Brazilian Schinus arcsira, Linn., which is said to exude an effluvia that causes swellings to appear in those who remain for a few hours beneath it. (Note S. molle above.) The Tropic American Anacardium occidentale, Linn., is used as a vermifuge, and the juice is said to be efficient in the removal of warts, corns, and vegetative growths ; the nuts, however, are edible, either raw or boiled. The Mediterranean Lentisk or Mastic Tree [Pistacia Lentiscus, h'lnn.) yields Gum Mastich, a concretion highly valued by the Turks as a masticatory for sweetening the breath and hardening the gums. This product is useful also, for a temporary filling in carious teeth, easing the pain therein. Pistacia terebinthus, Linn., yields the famous Chian Turpentine ; while the European P. vera furnishes the Pistachio nuts of the confectioner; the Cochin China P. oleosa, a valuable oil ; and the African P. Atlantica, an Arabian article of food. 36-3 The Indian Mango {Mangifera Indica, Linn.) fields a luscious fruit which holds the place in that country, that the peach does in this. The Malabar Holi- garna longifolia, Ro.xb., and Stagmai-ia veniicifliia. Jack., of the Indian archipelago, furnish to the Chinese two of their famous black lacquers. It is said that the resin of the last named species is noxious and acrid, and that it is unsafe to remain long under the branches of the tree. History and Habitat. — Rhus glabra is one of our least nocuous species. It grows in rocky or barren soil, common throughout North America, flowering northward in June and July. An infusion of the berries of this species is said to furnish an unequalled black dye for wool. The berries, when dried, form an article of trade in Canada, known as sacacomi, this, when smoked as a substitute for tobacco, is said to anti- dote the habit ; the Western Indians make a preparation of equal parts of the roots, leaves, and of tobacco, which they smoke under the name of KiitikahJ^'' A cold infusion of the berries is often used as a cooling drink in fevers ; it is also claimed to be of benefit in diabetes and strangury. The bark of the root is claimed to form an antiseptic dressing for ulcers and open wounds ; while an infusion of the same is considered an excellent astringent for use in aphthous and mercurial sore mouths, diarrhoea, dysentery, gonorrhoea, and leucorrhoea, and to be anti-syphilitic. I have known the juice of the root to remove warts, I have also known these strange growths to disappear from the use of various innocuous " charms," such as a neighbor's potato surreptitiously obtained, rubbed upon the growths and cast over the left shoulder without noting its fall, etc.,- etc. Smooth Sumac is officinal in the U. S. Ph., as : Exlractum Rhois Glabra. In the Eclectic Materia Medica the preparations are : Dccoctum Rhus (jlabri, and Extractuni R/uis FluidiDii. PART USED AND PREPARATION.— The fresh bark, including that of the root, gathered when the plant is mature, should be chopped and pounded to a pulp and weighed. Then two parts by weight of alcohol are taken, the pulp well mixed with one-sixth part of it, and the rest of the alcohol added. After stirring the whole well, it should be poured into a well-stoppered botde, and allowed to stand for eight days in a dark, cool place. The tincture, separated from the mass by filtration, should exhibit a beautiful, very deep crimson color by transmitted light. Its taste should be at first sour, then astringent, leaving a sensation upon the tongue very like that of alum ; its odor sour-vinous ; and its reaction strongly acid. CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS. — Ciallotaimic acid, C„H,„0,,. This pure tan- nin of nut-galls also exists in the leaves and bark of the plant. It is an amorphous, porous, resinous, friable mass, freely soluble in water, less so in alcohol, and insolu- ble in pure ether. Rafincsque, MeJ. Flor., ii., 257. 36-4 Calcium Bimalate. — This salt is found clinging to the hairs of the fruit as a concretion exuded from them ; when soaked off the fruits are no longer sour. Oil of Rhus. — This waxy oil may be extracted from the seeds of this and other species of the genus. It will acquire a tallow-like consistence on standing, and can be made into candles, which burn brilliandy, but emit a very annoying pungent smoke. Resin, oleo-resin, sugar, starch, coloring matter, and gum, have also been determined.* PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION. — Rhus glabra caused in one individual, in doses of from 30 to 120 drops of the tincture, headache, dryness and heat of the nostrils, with hemorrhage, ulceration of the mouth, loss of appetite, with painful distress in the stomach and bowels, followed by diarrhoea, scanty secredon of urine, great weariness and fatigue, loss of flesh, heat and dryness of the skin, followed by copious sweat during sleep.f One symptom was also developed in this case that I desire to comment upon, viz. : " Dreams of flying through the air." During the summer of 1879, while botanizing near Bergen Point, N. J., I came into a swarm of furious mosquitoes ; quickly cutting a large branch from a sumach bush at hand, I used it vigorously to fight off the pests. Several fine specimens of Baptisia tinctoria grew at hand, and while studying them I kept the sumach branch in con- stant motion, perspiring freely during the time. On leaving the spot I cut a cane from the same shrub, and also ate of the refreshing berries. For three successive nights following this occurrence I flew (!) over the city of New York with a graceful and delicious motion that I would give several years of my life to experience in reality. Ouery: Did I absorb from my perspiring hands sufficient juice of the bark to produce the effect of the drug, or was it from the berries I held in my mouth ? I noticed no other symptoms, and never before or since enjoyed a like dream. Description of Plate 36. I. End of flowering branch, Waverly, N. Y., July 4th, 1884. 2. Flower. 3. Petal. 4. Pistil. 5. Stamen, lobe of disk, and sepal. (2-5 enlarged.) * AiN. Jour. Phar., N. S., i., 56 ; ibid., XXV., 193 ; Tilden, Jour. Mat. Med., N. S., i., 195 ; Proc. Royal Society, 1862 402. t I^'"- Marshall in Hale's Neiv Rem., 2d ed., 872. ^Ill.adnat.del.et pinxt Rhus Venenata, dc N. ORD.-ANACARDIACE^. 37 GENUS— RHUS, LINN. SEX. SVST.— PENTANDRI.'V TUIGVM.V. RHUS VENENATA. POISOM SUMACH. SYN.— RHUS VENENATA, D. C. COM. NAMES.— POISON OR SWAMP SUMACH, POISON ELDER, POISON OR SWAMP DOGWOOD, POISON ASH, POISON TREE, POISON WOOD. A TINCTURE OF THE B.\RK OF RHUS VENENATA, D. C. Description. — This too common swamp shrub grows to a height of from 6 to 30 feet. Stem erect, brandling at the top ; branches smooth or nearly so, some- times verrucose. Leaves odd pinnately compound ; petiole brilHant red or purpHsh ; leaflets 7 to 13, smooth, ovate-lanceolate, acute, entire. Inflorescence loose, slender, erect panicles, in the axils of the uppermost leaves; flozocrs polygamous, greenish- white; pedicels pubescent. Calyx persistent. Fruit a persistent, drooping, thyrs- oid receme of globular, smooth, grayish-white berries, about the size of a small pea; testa thin, papyraceous, loose and shining; millet oblong, flattened, longitu- dinally striate by deep sulci ; inner coat soft, membranaceous, incised ; cotyledons somewhat thick and fleshy. History and Habitat. — The Poison Sumach is indigenous to North America, ranging from Florida to Mississippi and northward to Canada. It habits swampy ground, and blossoms in June at the north. This most poisonous of our northern species has at times been confounded and considered identical with the Japanese R. vernix, L. ; how near the resem- blance may be I have had no opportunity to judge ; however, we, as Homce- opathists, should not confound them, as climatic difference may cause varying properties, and R. veniix may yet be proven. The poisonous nature of this species has precluded its use in domestic and pre- vious practices; the principal effort concerning it has been attempts by farmers and others toward its extermination ; very few persons, however, who understand the plant will even approach its vicinity unless compelled by circumstances to do so. Like the R. vernix of Japan, the wounded bark in spring and autumn exudes a thick, whitish, opaque and viscid fluid, having a penetrating smell, which on exposure soon changes to a deep black. On boiling the juice in water long enough to evaporate the volatile oil, and applying the resulting fluid to any sub- stance, it forms a glossy-black permanent coating ; thus making a varnish of value which might be used in lieu of the famous Japanese varnish which they utilize so extensively upon their fans, boxes, and household utensils and furniture. 37-2 It is a well-known fact that this species will prove poisonous to many persons who are unaffected by /t'. toxicodendron, and, like it, even the emanations of the shrub are virulent to many, while others may handle, and even chew it, with impunity. PART USED AND PREPARATION. — The fresh bark, stemlets and leaves are treated as in the preceding species. The resulting tincture is opaque in even small quantity ; in thin layers it has a deep red color ; its taste is bitter and astringent ; and its reaction acid. CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS.— An examination of the juice by Dr. Bigelow* is the only analysis so far made ; this shows no active principle. An examination of the chemistry of R. toxicodendron, page 38-3, would not be out of place here. PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION.— Many opportunities are offered for study under this rubric, on account ol the numerous cases of poisoning, both on record and often occurring in country practice. The general effects are usually ushered in within a day ot the exposure, commencing with a general flush of the skin, accom- panied by intolerable itching and more or less tumefaction, especially at first of the hands and face ; this continues until an erysipelatous condition apparently ensues. A more livid appearance follows, with great burning, followed by groupings of watery vesicles, which soon coalesce ; this is followed by pustules forming of the watery vesicles, which finally discharge and form yellow crusts, which later on become brown and disgusting in appearance. Great heat and swelling have mean- time progressed until the face is often unrecognizable; this condition is about four or five days at its height before resolution commences. Marks are often left, and sometimes the crusts remain chronic on some portion of the exposed parts for long periods. One case in my practice had resisted all the efforts of physicians for over thirty years; then yielded in about thirty days to a high potency of the drug itself at my hands. Several cases of poisoning came under my observation here some four years ago in several young men employed in a boot factory as finishers. Their duty was to dress the new boots with a black varnish applied with a sponge by the right hand, while the left hand and arm was thrust into the boot. All suffered from a scabby eruption about the left biceps and right hand and wrist, while the fingers of the right were cracked, sore, inflamed and painful. Upon first observing the cases I judged some poison must be used in the varnish, and so informed them ; to me Rhus seemed to be that substance. While on a train, a month or so later, I overheard two manufacturers of boots, who sat before me, talking of their trade ; when, on passing a swampy spot, one pointed out of the car window at some R. venenata, and e.xclaimed, " That is the stuff we use." These cases all yielded finely to idem high. The specific action of the drug, collated from various cases, is as follows: Sadness and gloomy forebodings ; vertigo ; dull, heavy headache ; smarting and burning of the eyes, with dimness of vision; redness and swelling of the face; * Am. Med. Bot., I, 4C2. 37-3 tongue red, especially at tlie tip, swollen and cracked ; difficult dei^dutition ; profuse watery stools; burning- of the urethra; hoarseness and dryness of the larnyx ; increased heart's action ; trembling of the limbs ; bruised and paralyzed feeling in the legs, wMth aching and weakness ; tired, weak, and prostrated generally ; almost all forms of skin trouble, from simple redness and inirning to vesicles, cracks, pustules and complete destruction ; restlessness, chilliness and heat, with great dryness but no subsequent sweat; — all of which show the poison to be of a highly irritative nature. DesCRIPTIDN ok I'LATli 37. I. End of flowering branch, Ithaca, N. Y., June 24th, 1S85. 2. Flower. 3. Pistil. 4. Stamen. 5. Fruiting thyrsus. 6. Fruit. 7. Fruit, with outer coat removed. 8. Nutlet. (2-4 and 6-S enlarged.) ^m. ad nat.dei.et pinxt Rhus Toxicodendron, unn. N. ORD.-ANACARDIACE^. 38 Sect. - WXICODENDRON, 'n ) U R N. GENUS.— RHUS, SEX. SVST.— rENT.\NI)RI.\ TKK;VXI.\. RHUS TOXICODENDRON. FOISOJV IVY. SYN.-RHUS TOXICODENDRON, LINN. ; R. TOXICODENDRON, VAR. QUER- CIPOLIUM, MICHX. ; R. VERRUCOSA, SCHEELE ; R. TOXICARIUM, AND HUMILE. SALISB.; R. RADICANS, VAR. TOXICODENDRON, PERS. ; TOXICODENDRON PUBESCENS, MILL. COM. NAMES.— POISON IVY, THREE-LEAVED IVY, POISON OAK, POISON VINE, MERCURY; (FR.) SUMAC VBNENEUX,ARBRE A POISON ; (GER.) GIPTSUMACH. A TINCTURE OF THE FRESH LE.WES OF RHUS TOXICODENDRON, LINN. Description. — This decumbent or more or less erect shrub, grows to a height of from 2 to 4 feet, or more, according to whether /?/ius 7'adica7is is distinct from this species or not. Root reddish, branching. Leaves 3-foliate, thin ; leaflets rhom- bic-ovate, acute, rather downy beneath; they are entire when young (see plate), but when full grown become variously dentate, crenate, sinuate, or cut-lobed. The lateral leaflets are unequal at the base, and sessile, the terminal one larger and situated at the end of a prolongation of the common petiole. Iitflo7-esceiice loose, slender, axillary, racemose panicles. Flowers polygamous. Fruit glabrous, globose, pale brown ; tiutlct somewhat gibbous, striate, and tuberculate. History and Habitat. — The Poison Ivy grows in thickets and low grounds, quite common in North America, flowering in June. Rhus toxicodendron was introduced into England as a plant in 1640 ; but was not used as a medicine until 1798, when Du Fresnoy, a physician at Valenciennes, had brought to his notice a young man who had been cured of an herpetic erup- tion [dartre^ on his wrist, of six years' standing, on being accidentally poisoned by this plant. He thereupon commenced the use of this plant in the treatment of obstinate herpetic eruptions, and in palsy; many cases of eacn yielding nicely to the drug.* Since Du Fresnoy's success, the plant has rapidly gained a place in general practice, meeting some success in the treatment of paralysis, rheumatism, amaurosis, and various forms of chronic and obstinate eruptive diseases. The milky juice of this species is used as an indelible ink for marking linen, and as an ingredient of liquid dressings or varnishes for finishing boots and shoes. * Des caractires, du trailemtnt, el de la cure des dalres, etc., par F usage du Rhus radicans. 38-2 I an certain, however, that Rhus venenata is more extensively used for the latter purpose, as will be seen from my experiences detailed under that drug. The fresh leaves are officinal in the U. S. Ph.; in the Eclectic Materia Medicas the preparation advised is Tinctnra Rhus Toxicodendron. PART USED AND PREPARATION. — On account of the care necessary in the preparation of our medicamentae, it is an absolute necessity that we should know, without a chance for doubt, the exact plant that we use, after proving. I have therefore, especially in this case, carefully examined into the relationship existing between R. Toxicodendron and its so-called variety radicans. The only differences acknowledged by authors are as follows : Ji. toxicodendron, L. Stem erect. Height of growth 2 to 4 feet. Stem devoid of rootlets. Leaves trifoliate. Leaflets variously toothed or crenate, smooth R. mdiians, L.* Stem more or less tortuous. Height 4 to 30 feet or more. Stem profusely studded with dark-colored rootlets, by which it clings to its chosen support. Same. Leaflets entire, or slightly dentate, smooth both above and slightly pubescent underneath. | sides. During the present season I have carefully examined a great number of indi- viduals in this and adjoining counties, and conclude, as the result of my observa- tions, that an individual commencing its growth as toxicodendron may become radicans if proper support is reached. I found in several places along the Chenango River, both forms growing from the same root. At the entrance of a ravine near Glenwood Cemetery, upon the outskirts of this city, is the plant from which the accompanying plate was made; this individual is radicans in its mode of growth (climbing about 9 feet into a young elm tree), but it bore no rootlets, being supported merely by the shoots of the elm ; its foliage answers exactly to toxi- codendron. One large plant, on the bank of the Susquehanna River, below the usual high-water mark, has all the characters of radicans except the rootlets, and grows in a trailing manner along the bank ; passing in its growth four excel- lent supports : /. e., two sturdy elms, one sycamore, and a large stump surrounded by bushes. It is said that the two forms differ in their place of growth, toxicoden- dron choosing open places and radicans shady spots ; it however follows as a necessity that if toxicodendron is radicans when it climbs, radicans is in the shade because of its support. Many other far more competent observers than myself, have doubted the verity of the distinctions in these forms : among them are Michaux and Pursh, who considered them merely localisms, and Bigelow states : " among the plants which grow around Boston, I have frequently observed individual shoots from the same stock, having the characters of both varieties. I have also observed that young plants of R. radicatis iT&(\u&nl\y do not put out rooting fibers until they are * Rhus Toxicodendron, vay. radicans, Tortey; Toxicodendron vulgare,'lA\\\.; Rhus Toxicodendron, var. a 7'ulgare, Michx. ; Rhus scandens, Salisbury. 38-3 several years old, and that they seem, in this respect, to be considerably influenced by the contiguity of supporting objects." My tinctures of both forms are exactly alike in physical properties ; portions of each yielded the same amount of solid extract per ounce, after evaporation ; and as far as I can determine, they are identical. The bulk of our guiding symptoms are compiled from cases of poisoning, where the form causing the effect is not identified. I then, in the light of all this, would suggest that our tincture be made as follows : Take equal parts by weight of fresh leaves of each form, gathered on a cloudy, sultry day, just before the flowers are developed, chop and pound them to a pulp, and weigh, treating the resulting mass as in the preceding species. The resulting tincture should have a dark brown color by transmitted light, and will give off no characteristic odor; it will have a biting and astringent taste, and a strong acid reaction. CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS.— 7?/^(7/A?«;//f Acid Cj,H.,,0,,. This specific tannin of Rhus is a yellowish-green, gummy mass, having a slightly bitter and astringent taste and an acid reaction (Wittstein). Toxicodendric Acid. — This peculiar, poisonous, volatile principle, was isolated from this plant by Prof. Maisch.* He describes it as resembling both formic and acetic acids in some of its reactions, but distinguishable in its failure to pro- duce a red color with neutral ferric salts. PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION. — The toxic action of this species is one difficult to explain. The first noticeable peculiarity is its choice of victims, many persons being entirely devoid of response to its influences, many others peculiarly suscep- tible. Out of ten men employed to " clear out a twelve-acre lot that was completely filled with poison vine, cat briers, and brambles, the poison vine greatly predomi- nating," four only escaped poisoning. "At first there was a lively fight between the poison vine and the men, and it looked as if the former would get the better of it ; for most of the men soon began to show signs of being tired, and at the end of the fourth day six of the men were flat on their backs, too sick for any- thing." f I remember one illustration. When a lad, while in bathing with five others, we all ran a race, stark naked, through the underbrush near by, passing in and out through a clump of what was afterward found to be poison ivy ; two of the party were taken ill the next day and soon developed quite serious symptoms of poisoning ; all the others, including myself, escaped. Another peculiarity is that in many cases it is not necessary to even touch the plant to be severely poisoned. While playing croquet one sultry day in June, with a young lady cousin, she struck her ball with sufficient force to cause it to roll underneath a clump of poison ivy that grew at a short distance from the edge of the lawn. She, knowing her susceptibility to the poison, carefully reached under the vine and extracted the ball without touching even a leaf. During the evening * Prot:. Am. Phar. Assoc, 1865, 166. f ^«"»' ^'M' Yorker, quoted in daily press, original not accessible. 38-4 of the same day, her face began to itch and burn, and in the night it swelled to such extent that the eyes were not only closed, but the lashes even were lost to view in the swollen countenance. Nearly two weeks elapsed before the symptoms caused by this exposure entirely subsided. A third peculiarity is that the plant is more poisonous during the night, or at any time in June and July when the sun is not shining upon it. Absence of sun- light, together with dampness, seems to favor the exhalation of the volatile prin- ciple (Toxicodendric Acid) contained in the leaves. Of this Porcher says:''' "An acrimonious vapor, combined with carburetted hydrogen, exhales from a growing plant of the poison oak during the night. It can be collected in a jar, and is capable of inflaming and blistering the skin of persons of excitable constitution, who plunge their arms into it." The symptoms caused by this plant are: First, redness and swelling of the affected part, with intolerable itching and burning, followed by vertigo, weariness, and a sort of intoxication. Infiltration of the face and eyes, and agglutination of the lids after sleep ; great restlessness, pain, thirst, and fever. The surface of the skin, after a time, becomes studded with confluent bullae where the cellular tissue is loose, then a dermatitis follows resembling erysipelas ; this may spread rapidly and finally communicate to the mucous membranes. This is followed by swelling of the mouth and throat, cough, nausea, and vomiting. Rheumatoid pains develop about the joints, and a painful stiffness asserts itself in the lumbar region, while the legs and arms become numb. Confusion of mind and delirium may then set in, during which the patient may become so ill-humored, restless, and anxious, that he will jump out of bed. The concomitant symptoms are inflammation of the eyes, dilation of the pupil, weakness of vision, and sometimes dilopia ; frequent epistaxis ; brown coated tongue, with a triangular red tip ; swelling of the parotid glands, with difficult deglutition ; griping in the abdomen ; diarrhoea ; profuse urination; oppression of the chest ; rapid pulse ; great weakness, weariness, and prostration ; soreness of the muscles, worse while at rest, and passing off when exercising; sleepiness; and chilliness, followed by fever and copious sweat. There are almost as many antidotes recommended for Rhus tox. poisoning as for the bite of the rattlesnake. Prominent, however, among the applications are : alkaline lotions, especially carbolate of soda, alum-curd, and hyposulphite of soda, keeping the skin constantly moist with the agent in solution ; meanwhile administering Bryonia, Belladonna, Apis, Grindelia robusta, or Verbena urticifolia. Description of Plate 38. I. End of flowering branch, Binghamton, N. Y., June 27th, 1884. 2. Outline of leaf. 3. Flower. 4. Calyx and pistil. (3 and 4 enlarged.) * Resorc. South. Fields and Forests, 202. 39. I naidel.et pinxt. 7 8 Rhus Aromatica, Ait. N. ORD -ANACARDIACE^. 39 Series.-LOBADIUM. RAF. GENUS.— RHUS. SEX. SVST.— PENTANDRI.\ TKIGVMA. RHUS AROMATICA. FRAGRAJ^T SUMACH. SYN.— RHUS AROMATICA, AIT.; RHUS CANADENSIS, MARSH.; RHUS SUAVEOLENS, AIT.; BETULA TRIPHYLLA, THUN.; TURPINIA PU- BESCENS, AND GLABRA, AND LOBADIUM AROMATICUM, RAF. COM. NAMES.— FRAGRANT, OR SWEET-SCENTED SUMACH, STINK BUSH, SKUNK BUSH. A TINCTURE OF THE FRESH ROOT BARK OF RHUS AROMATICA, AIT. Description. — This strag^gling but very pretty bush usually grows to a height of about 4 feet. Leaves 3-foliate, slightly sweet-scented ; leaflets rhombic-ovate, prominently ribbed, crenate or cut-toothed; the middle leaflet broadly cuneate at the base, and narrowing gradually to its insertion at the end of the common petiole ; all sessile, and coriaceous when old. hiflorescence single or clustered, scaly bracted, catkin-like spikes; scales reddish, and furnished with copious hairs upon the border ; flowers polygamo-dioecious, prefolial. Hypogynous disk 5-parted, large; lodes strongly reniform, the hilum of each almost entirely surrounding the base of the filament inserted under it. Fruit similar to that of R/ms glabra, but somewhat flattened ; nutlet smooth, depressed. History and Habitat. — This least poisonous of all our indigenous species of Rhus, is common in dry, rocky soils, where it flowers in April or May, before the appearance of the leaves. It is the finest species to cultivate, its dense foliage becoming still more so, and the leaves enlarging and varying beautifully. It was introduced into England as an ornamental shrub in 1759. The previous medical uses of the berries were the same as those of R. glabra. This fruit is termed the squaw-berry, because the Indian women gather large quantities, which are dried and used for food. The berries are excessively sour, but very much used while fresh during the summer months; when macerated they make a pleasant drink. The wood is very tough, far more so than the willow, and is used by the Indians in Utah, Arizona, Southern California, and New Mexico for making into baskets. This wood exhales a peculiar odor, which is always recog- nizable about the camps of these Indians, and never leaves articles made from it.* * Dr. Edward Palmer in Am. Nat., 1878, 597. 39-2 PART USED AND PREPARATION.— The fresh bark of the root is treated as in the preceding species. The tincture obtained is the most transparent and lightest in color of all the species of Rhus here mentioned. It has a beautiful, clear, crimson color by transmitted light ; a decidedly terebinthic odor ; very astrin- gent taste, and strong acid reaction. CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS.— Volatile Oil. This body has, when first dis- tilled, the disgusting odor of bed-bugs ; but when treated with ether and evapo- rated, it acquires a pleasant aroma after having been exposed to the air for twenty- four hours. Beside the above, Mr. H. W. Harper* determined the presence of gallo- tannin, resin, acid resin, fixed oil, and a red coloring matter. Description of Plate 39. 1. A flowering branch, from Lowmansville, N. Y., May 14th, 1884. 2. End of late summer branch, showing the inflorescence preparing for the next season. 3. Flower. 4. Petal. 5. Stamen and lobe of disk. 6. Pistil and hypogynous disk. 7. Dormant inflorescence. 8. Scale of same, outer face. 9. Scale of same, inner face. (3-9 enlarged.) * Am. Jour. Phar., 1881, 212. 40 w^ ^ta.ailialiiel.elpi.stilute for which was claimed in the exuda- tion of the Canary Island Drcatena Draco, Linn. (Liliaceae). 46-4 calculous and kidney complaints. The root of the East Indian Flower Fence [Poinciaiia pulclicrrinia, Linn.), is claimed by Schomburgh to be an acrid poison, and the leaves and flowers as having been used in decoction as a successful remedy against the fevers of Tortcola ; while Macfadyen claims them to be a powerful emmenagogue, even to abortion. Jatahy, the resin of the Jamaica Hy- nieiiacs Courbaril, Linn., is employed, according to Martius, as a remedy for obsti- nate coughs and incipient phthisis with hematic sputa; while Gum Animi, from the same species, is employed like a pastile for fumigation in asthma. Lignaloes, a fragrant product of disease in the Cochin-China Eaglewood, Alcexyloii Agallo- chum, Lour., is said by Loureiro to be an astringent useful in preventing vomiting and easing diarrhoea ; its perfume is also claimed to be useful against paralysis and vertigo. Two astringents — the first acrid and the second diuretic — are found in the West Indian Mimosa fragi folia, Linn., and M. Unguis, Linn. The Javanese Ejicliresta Horsficldii is esteemed by the natives as an antidote to poisons of any description. The roots of the North American Turkey pea {Tcphrosia Vii-giniatia, Pers.) are purgative, and were greatly esteemed by the Aborigines as an anthel- mintic; and the roots of the Chinese Robinia antara are powerfully bitter and astringent; while R. Jiava, of the same country, is used as a febrifuge. This glance at a few of the medicinal plants of the order shows a general stimulant, tonic, and astringent line of action to prevail. Many virulent poisons are lound in this order, principal among which are: The seeds of the European Bitter Vetch ( Vicia crvilia, Willd.) are said by M. Virey to be poisonous, and cause a weakness of the limbs when eaten mixed with flour, in bread, and to cause horses to become almost paralytic ; Christison claims that flour containing the ground seeds of Lathyrus Cicera, Linn., is also poisonous. The roots of the East Indian Pliaseohis radiahis, Linn., are said by Royle to be a narcotic-poison. The powdered bark of Robinia viaciilala is used in Campeachy as a poison for rodents. The violet seeds of the European Anagyris fa'tida, Linn., are said- to have poisonous properties similar to those of laburnum. The branch- lets of the Jamaica TepJirosia toxicaria, Pers., are used by the natives to stupefy fish ; this poison is said to act immediately, and to somewhat resemble digitalis in its effects. The blue flowers of the West Indian Sabinca Jiorida, D.C., are con- sidered poisonous — a property probably due to their indigo. Many valuable gums are produced either as natural exudations, as a result of insect depredations, or are intimately held in the wood-cells of many species. Principal among them are: the Gum Arabics, derived as follows: Kordofan or White Sennaar Gum, as well as Senegal Gum, are produced by Acacia Senegal^ Willd. ; Suakin or Talha Gum, hy A. stcnocarpa, Hoch., and A. Seyal, van Fislida ; Morocco or Brown Barbary Gum, supposedly by A. Arabica, Willd. ; Cape Gum, by A. horrida, Willd. ; East India Gum, by A. Arabica and other species ; Austra- lian Gum, by various species, principally A. pycantha, Benth. ; and Red Gum, by the Senegal A. Adansonii, Guill. Gum Sassa is a product of the Abyssinian Aca- cia Sassa, Willd. The Oriental Tragacanth, of varied utility, is produced by Astragalus gnmmifer, Labi. Among the many food-products, our attention is first called to the beans and pease — the first of which will be found described under Phaseolus vulgaris, page 46-5 51, et scq.; our common garden pea is derived from Pisnvi sativum, Linn., whose native country is extremely doubtful. The Asiatic Lentil, the seed of Lens escu- lenta, Moen., is well known as a food ; and it was for an indigestible mess of these that Esau is said to have sold his birthright to his brother Jacob. It is the opinion of many writers on Egyptology that tiie Camel's Thorn {Alhagi 3fanronim,Tourn ), which e.xudes a sweet substance that may be gathered by merely shaking the branches, was the manna that is said to have nourished the children of Israel while in the wilderness. The unripe seeds of the common European Laihyriis Apliaca, while still young and tender, are claimed to be a useful substitute for our garden pease ; yet, according to Lindley, they are narcotic when ripe, and if eaten then produce excessive headache; Dutch Mice, the tuberous roots of the same species, are amylaceous, and eaten in Holland. The fruit of the Caspian Vicia Faba, Linn., is eaten young, as in the last-mentioned species, but the roots are a narcotic poison. Johannisbrod, so greatly esteemed in Germany, is the pulp of the fruit of the Syrian Ceratonia Siliqria, Linn.* The tropical oil, ground, or peanut, the fruit o{ Arachis hypoo(ea, Linn. — which so strangely ripens under the ground after flowering at some distance above it — furnishes an oil not inferior to that from the olive, which is used largely to adulterate table oils. The fruits are too well known as an article of commerce to need description. The "cake," formed after pressing out the oil from the nuts, is very digestible, and should be more exten- sively used as a flesh-forming food for cattle. Among the many food-products of the North American Indians derived from this order we find : the Prairie Potato or Bread-root {Psora/ca esculcnta), greatly esteemed by the Sioux, who use this root extensively under the name of tip-sin- nah. It is of a sweetish, turnip-like taste, is often cut in thin slices and dried for winter use, and when pulverized forms a light, starchy flour; it is very palatable, however prepared. Another so-called wild potato, or ground-nut of the .Siou.x — the true pommc- de-tcrrc of the French — is afforded by Apios tubcrosa, and is largely used as an article of diet. Bur Clover {Mcdicago lupulina) produces an abundance of seed, much relished by the Indians. The Indian pop-pea, the fruit of several species of the genus Astragalus, is highly valued, when boiled, by the Indians of the Western Territories. The Screw bean [Strombocarpus pubcscens), although insipid until quite dry, is no sooner ripe than it becomes very sweet and palatable, and is con- sidered a superb article of diet by the Indians along the Colorado River, who collect with assiduity all they can store for winter use. When ground it is made into sun-baked bread, like the next. The fruit of the Mesquite {Prosopsis juliflora) is an important article of food for many Indian tribes; the pods, with their seeds, are pounded into a coarse meal, mixed into doughy cakes with water, and baked in the sun, after which they keep for long periods. This bread-cake is very sweet and nutritious.-j- Many leguminose plants afford e.xcellent dyes, principal among which are indigo and logwood, both of which have been mentioned; further than these we * Johanniskraut is Hypericum perforatum (Hypericaceae), and Johanniswurzel, filix Mas (Filices). t J. A. Dodge, in U. S. Agric. Kept., 1870, pp. 404-428. 46-6 have: The Indian Red Saunders in the wood of Pterocarpiis santalhnis, Linn., valued in India as a red dye for silks and other fabrics; Brazil Wood {Ccrs- alpina echinata, Lam.) affords a red dye; Braziletto Wood, from C. Braziliensis ; Sappan Wood, from C. Sappan, and Camwood, from Bapliia nilida, are all well- known dyes. The fibres of the Spanish Broom {Spat^tiicm Jnncemn), whose seeds are emetic and purgative, are used in Southern Europe for cordage, and also for the manu- facture of gunny-bags. The Prayer Bead, the seed of the Indian Liquorice {Abrus precatorius, Linn.) is a beautiful little scarlet oval with a black spot. These seeds are used by the Hindoos as a standard of weight called Rafi, and are celebrated as having been used to determine the value of the great Koh-i-noor diamond ; they are also used in the manufacture of rosaries. Valuable timbers, elegant perfumes, fine balsams, brilliant varnishes, and numerous articles of commerce, difficult to classify, are products of this most varied order. History and Habitat. — Genista is indigenous to Northern Asia and Europe, but has become thoroughly naturalized in eastern New York and lower New England, especially, however, in Essex County, Massachusetts, where it has become an actual pest on dry, sandy hillsides, which it renders positively yellow, in June and July, with its profusion of flowers. Though once vaunted in Russia as a prophylactic in hydrophobia, this plant has nearly dropped out of medical thought. Its leaves and seeds are mildly pur- gative, its seeds alone often emetic, and the whole plant sometimes diuretic. Ray says that after cows have browsed upon this plant their milk becomes bitter — a property communicated also to butter and cheese if made from such milk. As its common names denote, Genista is one of the many leguminose plants yielding dyes. The flowers, and indeed the whole plant, yield a clear, greenish- yellow coloring-matter, that, in conjunction with Woad [Isatis tinctoria — Cruci- ferse), gave fine results in the dyeing of wool green. PART USED AND PREPARATION.— The whole plant, while in flower, is chopped and pounded to a pulp and weighed. Then two parts by weight of alco- hol are taken, the pulp thoroughly mixed with one-sixth part of it, and the rest of the alcohol added. The whole is then placed in a bottle, tightly corked, and allowed to stand eight days in a dark, cool place. The tincture, separated from this mass by filtration, has a deep reddish- orange color by transmitted light ; a strong herbaceous odor ; an astringent taste ; and an acid reaction. CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS.— No analysis of this species has, so far. resulted in the isolation of its active principle, the general constituents of plants and a vola- tile oil only being separated. PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION.— Our provings of Genista by Dr. E. B. Gushing are the only data obtainable, so far, for the determination of its action. These 46-7 experiments failed to prove the plant capable of acting as an emetic, purgative, or diuretic; still, they cannot be pronounced as conclusive. Description of Plate 46. 1. A branch, with two flowering branchlets, Salem, Mass., June 25th, 1885. 2. Flower. 3. Elements of the corolla — a, standard ; /', wings ; c, keel, Liid open. 4. Stamens.* 5. Anthers. 6. Calyx, opened. 7. Pistil. 8. Fruit. 9. Seed. 10. Longitudinal section of seed. 11. Horizontal section of same. (2-7 and 9-1 1 enlarged.) By some inexplicible error, this figure cont-iins 11 stamens, instead of 10, .ts shoiiUl be. 47. •-f •-'«-«?^ ^lU.adnat.del.efpinxt. TrIFOLIUM PRATENSE.Lmn, N. ORD-LEGUMINOS^. 47 Tribe.-TRIFOUEJE. CKNrs.—TR I FOLIUM ,* IJNN. SEX. SVST.— DIADEI.I'IIIA 1 iK( ANURIA. TRIFOLIUM. BED CLOVER. SYN.— TRIFOLIUM PRATBNSE, LINN. COM. NAMES.— COMMON RED CLOVER; (PR.) TRBFLE ; (GER.) ACKER- KLEE. A TLXCTURK OF THE FI.OWER-HEADS OF TRIFOLIUM I'RATENSE, L. Description. — This largely-cultivated biennial, or short-lived perennial plant, attains a height of from i to 3 feet. The root is large, diffusely branched, and gives rise to many stems. Stews ascending, stout and slightly hairy. Stipules broadly lanceolate, clasping at the base and surmounted by an awl-shaped tip ; leaves three-foliate, on long petioles ; leaflets oval or obovate, sometimes retuse or even emarginate, with a nearly entire edge, and marked with a whitish-green ^-shaped spot on the central portion of the upper surface. Injlorescence a dense, ovoid head of bracted, sessile flowers. Calyx not distinctly hairy, but having a bearded zone in the throat ; teeth setiform, the lowermost longer than the others, which are equal. Corolla extended-tubular, about twice the length of the caly.x, withering soon after expansion ; petals more or less coherent with one another. Legumes dry. scarious, containing each a single seed; seed somewhat kidney- shaped. TRIFOLIUM. — This genus comprises leguminose herbs growing in tufts or diffusely spreading, and characterized as follows : Leaves palmately or sometimes pinnately three-foliate, rarely more ; leaflets usually minutely toothed, rarely entire; stipules scarious, coherent with the petioles. Infiorescence dense heads or spikes, or sometimes, when the flowers are few, umbellike. Calyx persistent, tubular or somewhat bell-shaped, five-cleft or toothed ; teeth awl shaped. Corolla five-cleft, withering or persistent, monopetalous at the base ; vexillum longer than the eIje, and generally than the keel. Stamens rendered more or less diadelphous by the tenth filament, the tube usually free from the corolla ; when united with it, it is through the mediumship of the claws of the aKt and keel. Ovary two- to six- seeded ; style filiform. Fruit a small, scarious legume, containing from one to two or sometimes three to six seeds; dehiscence none, or, if present, it takes * Tics, three : folium, .i leaf. 47-2 place at the suture and extends through the calyx. A description of the natural order may be found under Genista tinctoria, 46. History and Habitat. — Red clover has become extensively naturalized here since its introduction from Europe, escaping to unused fields, along roadsides, and even to open woods, beautifying all with its close, red, sweet-scented heads, which appear from May to August. As hay, clover is highly valuable, either alone or mixed with succulent grasses. Its nutritive ratio is lower by nearly one- half than that of timothy [Phlcum pratcnse\ yet ruminants seem to eat of it more cvreedily and with a fuller sign of satisfaction. Porcher says that, in Ireland, when food is scarce, the powdered flowers are mixed with bread, and esteemed wholesome and nutritious. As a green manure for field fertilization, and an ele- ment of importance in rotation of crops it is also greatly prized, on account of its large percentage of potash, lime, and phosphoric acid. Its former use in medicine has been as a component of a salve, or extract, for all kinds of indolent sores and ulcers, to which it proves peculiarly soothing. A strong infusion is often used in half-ounce doses, to suspend the spasm ot whoop- ing-cough. Trifolium is not officinal either in the U. S. Ph. or Eclectic Materia Medica. PART USED AND PREPARATION. — The fresh blossoms are pounded to a pulp and weighed. Then two parts by weight of alcohol are taken, the pulp thoroughly mixed with one-sixth part of it and the rest of the alcohol added. After. having stirred the whole well, allow it to stand at least eight days in a dark, cool place. The tincture thus formed, after decanting, straining and filtering, should have a light, clear, orange-brown color by transmitted light, a slighdy astringent, hay- like taste, and a decided acid reaction. CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS. — The only assay of the flower-heads that I have been able to find is one by Grazel, reported in the Proceedings of the Cal. Phar. Soc, 1883, p, 49. He found, beside the usual constituents of vegetable matter, an acid, an extractive, tannin, and a resinoid principle soluble in ether, giving a green color when dissolved in liquor ammonia, and a yellow color in liquor potassa. PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION.— With the exception of the following effects, noted by Dr. T. C. Duncan, litde or nothing is known of the action of this plant : Excessive dryness of the throat and fauces, causing a severe, hacking, irritative cough, a feeling of congestion of the lungs, dry, costive passages from the bowels, and a copious flow of pale yellow urine. Description of Plate 47. I. Upper part of stem, Bergen, N J., June 13th, 1879. 2. Outline of root. 3. Flower (enlarged). 4. Friiiting-head. 5. Pollen, X 380. (p'm.ad nat.dei.et pinxt. TRIF6LIUM REPENS.Linn N. ORD-LEGUMINOS/E, 48 Tribe-TRIFOUE^. GENUS— TR I FOLIUM, LINN. SEX. SVST.— DIADELPHIA DEl ANURIA. TRIFOLIUM REPENS, WHITE CLOVER. SYN.— TRIFOLIUM REPENS, LINN. COM. NAMES.— WHITE CLOVER ; (FR.) TREFLE BLANC ; i GER.) WIESEN KLEE. A TINCTURE OF THE FRESH BLOSSOMS OF TRIFOLIUM REPENS, LINN. Description. — This prostrate perennial herl) has no positive size, the stem is slender, spreading and creeping, pale and glabrous throughout. Petioles very long and slender ; leaflets obovate, obovate-emarginate or obcordate, the edges very minutely toothed, the caret-shaped grayish spot upon the upper surface pale and indistinct ; stipules nearly linear-lanceolate, scarious and pointed. Peduncles glabrous, longer than the petioles. IiiJloresce?ice axillary, consisting of small, open, more or less flattened globose heads. Calyx much shorter than the corolla ; teeth shorter than the tube, awl-shaped and of unequal sizes. Corolla white, larger in proportion to the size of the head than the preceding. Fi-uit a 4-seeded legume. (Read also the generic description under T. pratense, 47.) History and Habitat. — This species is doubtless indigenous, at least to the northern portion of America, from which it has spread southward and westward, over fields, roadsides and open woods, blossoming earlier than the preceding^ and changing from a creamy-white to a dull-rose and finally a rusty-brown color. As hay the white clover is far inferior to the red, especially in the warmer climates where the catde refuse to eat of it altogether, probably on account of its action upon the salivary glands. This species is not mentioned in the U. S. Ph., nor is it spoken of in the Eclectic Materia Medica. PART USED AND PREPARATION. — The fresh flower-heads prepared as in T. pratense, afford a tincture of a clear chestnut-brown color by transmitted light, of less astringency, greater acidity, and a more penetrating taste. CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS. — Although without doubt this species will prove of greater use in medicine than tiie preceding, I can find no data upon its specific chemistry. 48-2 PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION. — Dr. T. C. Duncan notes the following symp- toms in seven persons who partook of the pounded fresh flower-heads : A sensa- tion of fulness and congestion of the salivary glands, with pain, which in one individual amounted to mump-like pains in the parotids; this was quickly followed in all by a copious flow of saliva. A similar effect has been noted in the south upon all stock that ate of the plant. A further and critical examination into the chemistry and action of this species is gready to be desired. Description of Plate 48. I. Flower (enlarged). 2. Whole plant from a stony pasture, Ithaca, N. Y., June 3d, 1880. 3. Pollen -x 380. 49, Inatdel.etjiinxt Melilotus Officinalis, wiiid. N. ORD.-LEGUMINOS^. 49 Tribe.-TRIFOLIE/E. GENUS. — ME LI LOTUS,* TOURN. SEX. SYST.— DIAUELPHIA DECANURIA. MELILOTUS. SWEET CLOVER. MELILOTUS OFFICINALIS, WILLD. SYN.-MELILOTUS VULGARIS, EATON. TRIPOLIUM OFFICINALE. LINN. COM. NAMES.— SWEET CLOVER. YELLOW MELILOT, YELLOW SWEET CLOVER, MELILOT; (FR.) MELILOT; (GER.) STEINEILEE, MELILO- TENKLEE. MELILOTUS ALBA, LAM. SYN.-MELILOTUS LEUCANTBA, KOCH, MELILOTUS OFFICINALIS, PURSH, MELILOTUS OFFICINALIS, VAR. ALBA., NDTT. COM. NAMES.— SWEET CLOVER, WHITE MELILOT, MELILOT. A TINCTURE OF THE FRESH FLOWERS OF M. OFFICINALIS, AND M. ALBA.f Description. — Melilotus ofiBcinalis. — This sweet-scented European plant has now become quite thoroughly naturalized here, growing either as an annual or perennial herb. Stem with its spreading branches 2 to 4 feet high. Leaves alter- nate, pinnately 3-divided. Leaflets obovate-oblong, obtuse, sharply and widely serrate, from one-half to one inch long. Racemes axillary, spiked, from 2 to 3 inches long while flowering. Floiuers small, yellow, about one-quarter of an inch long when fully expanded. Calyx persistent, with 5 unequal pointed teeth. Corolla more than twice the length of the calyx, deciduous. Petals: vexillum ovate, acute, slighdy longer than the wings: alee induplicate ; carina completely united, cohering to, and looking backward between, the alse, entirely free from the stamen tube. Stamens 10, diadelphous, inserted with the corolla ; anthers uniform ; pollen grains more or less abruptly cylindrical, resembling Trifolium, but much smaller and more uniform. Ovary free, i -celled, containing i or 2 amphitropous ovules ; style filiform, terminal. Pod (legume) about one-sixth of an inch in length, pyriform in the cup of the withered calyx, inflated or gibbous, coriaceous, transversely wrinkled, scarcely dehiscent and tipped with the persistent style. * pf/, honey, ?.o>tAc, a leguminose plant , so called. t The " Amer. Horn. Phar." orders separate tinctures to be made. The provings were made of a tincture of both M. officinalis and M. alba combined. The German I'harniacopuia recognizes only M. officinalis (Yellow Melilot). 49-2 Melilotus alba. — This biennial species is taller and more widely branched than the preceding, the flowers are smaller, white, and more densely crowded, the vexillum is comparatively longer and the leaflets mucronate-truncate. For a full description of the Leguminosae, vide Genista tinctoria, 46. History and Habitat. — Melilot, especially the white species, is found in many places in the Eastern States and New York, flowering from June to August, and oTOwino- in stony, waste places, generally along river-banks, though some- times in cultivated ground, where it has become naturalized from Europe. Its sweet-scented flowers have been variously used as flavoring for many products, notably Gruyere cheese, snuff and smoking tobacco. In Europe it has been often used in the food of cattle to whet their appetites ; it is also claimed that when packed with furs and clothing it protects the articles from moths, besides giving them a pleasant odor before wearing. The odor of Melilot is due to an aromatic compound cumaric anhydride, which when first observed was supposed to be benzoic acid ; its identity was proven some years after by Guillemette ; it also occurs in faham-Ieaves, sweet bed-straw {Gallium trijiorwii), tonka-beans [Dip- terix odoratd), sweet woodruff {Asperula odorata), and sweet-scented vernal grass {Anthoxanthum odoratum). The flowers of the Melilots have been extensively used by the laity, boiled with lard, as a salve for ulcers, open indolent sores and broken breasts with much success. Melilotus is neither officinal in the U. S. Ph., nor the Eclectic Materia Medica. PART USED AND PREPARATION. — The fresh flowers are pounded to a pulp and weighed. Then two parts by weight of alcohol are taken, the pulp mixed thoroughly with one-sixth part of it and the rest of the alcohol added. After having stirred the whole well and poured it into a well-stoppered bottle, it is allowed to stand eight days in a dark, cool place. The tincture separated by decanting, straining, and filtering, is by transmitted light of a clear, red- dish brown color, it has a vanilla-like odor, a bitterish taste very similar to that imparted to the palate by chewing tea-leaves, and a decided acid reaction. CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS.— Cumarin, or Cumaric Anhydride, Q Ho O.^, is found combined with either of the acids; it is sparingly soluble in cold water, more freely in alcohol and boiling water, and crystallizes in large transparent, fragrant prisms, melting at 67° (152.6° F.) and boiling at 291° (556.0° F.). MeliloticAcid, or Hydrocumaric Acid. — C, H,o O3, crystallizes from water in large, pointed prisms, melting at 82° (179.6° F.). On fusing with potash it yields acetic and salicylic acids. Hydrocumaric Acid. Pol.ish. Acetic Acid. Salicylic Acid. Potash. C, H.„ O3 + 5H K O = C, H, O, + C. He O3 -^ H K O Aq. Cumaric Acid. — Q Hg O;,, occurs together with the preceding ; it crystallizes from water in long needles, melting at 195° (383.0° F.). (Schorlemmer). 49-3 PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION.— What sliulu action Melilotiis has upon the system is without doubt due to the principle cumarin, which in quite large doses causes nausea, vomiting, vertigo, and great depression, with sleepiness, confusion, severe pain in the head, depression of the heart's action and cold extremities. Description oi' I'latk 49. I. A branch from BinghanUon, N. Y., July 25, 1882. 2. Flower (enlarged). 3. Tod (enlarged). 4 Seed (enlargeil). 5. I'oUen X 380. 1 ' -^A / 50 /.Ill.ailnat(jel.etpi(ixt ROBINIA PSEUDACACIA, Linn N. ORD.-LEGUMINOS^. 50 Thbe.~GALEGE/E. GENUS— ROBIN I A,* LINN. SEX. SVST.— UIAUhLPHlA DHC.\NUK1.\. ROBIN I A. FALSE ACAC LI. SYN. — ROBINIA PSEUD -ACACIA, LINN.; PSEUDACACIA ODORATA, MOENGH. COM. NAMES.— COMMON LOCUST, YELLOW LOCUST, TREENAIL, BLACK LOCUST; (FR.) ROBINIBR; (GER.) FALSCHE ACACIBN. A IINCTURE OF THE FRESH b.ARK OF YOUNG TWIGS, ROBINIA PSEUD-ACACIA. Description.— This commonly cultivated, ornamental tree, grow.s to a height of from 50 to 80 feet, attaining its greatest height only in the southern parts of the United States. The stem is erect, straight, deliquescent, from i to 4 feet in diameter and covered with a dark, rough bark ; wood yellow, much valued for its lightness, hardness and durability. Branches naked, spinous when young, the spines taking the place of stipules. Leaves odd-pinnate, the base of the stalks forming sheaths about the developing buds of the next season; leaflets in from 8 to I 2 pairs of ovate or oblong, stipellate, nearly sessile, smooth blades, hiflor- escence axillary; of showy, drooping, slender, loose racemes ; of white or creamy, fragrant flowers. Calyx short, more or less campanulate, five-toothed or cut and slightly two-lipped by the coherence of the two upper teeth. Corolla papilliona- ceous ; standard large, rounded and reflexed, slightly longer than the loings, and obtuse keel. Stamens diadelphous, nine-and-one. Style bearded along the inner side. Fruit a nearly sessile, smooth, linear, flat pod, from 2 to 3 inches long, one- celled and four- to eight-seeded, at length with two thin valves. Seeds small, dark brown, somewhat renniform, but the hilum is small and so near one end that their form is more like the body of a retort; testa smooth; radicle incurved; cotyledons leafy. For description .of the N. Ord. Leguminos:e, vide (ienista tinctoria, 46. History and Habitat. — This tree is indigenous to the central and southern belts of the United States, and so fully cultivated in the northern parts, that it now grows there spontaneously, blossoming in May and June. The inner bark of the roots, stem, and inner coating of the pods is sweet and mucilaginous. The seeds, upon pressure, yield a large quantity of oil. They are quite acrid, but lose this quality upon boiling; they then furnish a pleasant, nutritious article of food, much esteemed by the aborigines. The yellow locust should take first rank among ornamental trees to be planted by settlers in the West, not only on * John Robin, herbalist to Henry IV. 50-2 account of its beautiful foliage and fragrant flowers (points of great use for shade and honey), but also for its invaluable wood. Locust is well known for its great durability, even when thoroughly exposed, and is thus exceedingly valuable for fence-posts, railroad ties and supports for structures generally. Robinia is not mentioned in the U. S. Ph. It has a place, but is not officinal, in the Eclectic Materia Medica. PART USED AND PREPARATION.— The fresh bark of the young twigs is chopped and pounded to a pulp and weighed. Then two parts by weight of alco- hol are taken, the pulp mixed thoroughly with one-sixth part of it and the rest of the alcohol added. After having stirred the whole well it is poured into a well- stoppered bottle and allowed to stand eight days in a dark, cool place. The tinc- ture is then separated by straining and filtering. Thus prepared, it has a beautiful, clear reddish-orancre color by transmitted light, a dry, sweetish taste peculiar to the inner bark, and a decided acid reaction. CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS.— Robinin, Q,H.,„0,,+Aq. This aromatic glu- coside bears ^rreat resemblance to quercctin, yielding as products of decomposition this body, and peculiar sugars. (Schorlemmer.) Robinin is found principally in the flowers ; it forms fine, sadny, yellow needles, neutral and tasteless, losing water at ioo° (212° F.), and fusing at 195° (383° F.). It is soluble in both water and alcohol. Robinic acid. This body was discovered in the roots by Reinsch, but after- wards doubted. Prof. Hlasiwetz {Chcut. Gaz., Aug. 15, 1855), in his examination of the root, decided that the above body was Asparagine : he obtained some two and a half ounces of this substance from thirty pounds of the root. The body answers to the following properties : Large, hard, refractive, octohedral crystals, colorless and constant upon recrystallization, and having a mawkish taste ; they fuse when heated, giving off an ammoniacal odor. Tannin, and the usual plant constituents, have also been determined. PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION.— Robinia causes extreme nausea, profuse acid vomitino-s, fluid eructations and purging. These symptoms followed eating of the bark. tor. A. R. Ball.) Dr. Shaw [Med. Times and Gazette, vol. i., p. 570) gives the following effects noticed in a child who had eaten of the seeds : Inability to hold the head upright, nausea and attempts to vomit, with a tendency to syncope, when in an upright position ; voice, respiration and heart's action feeble, as from exhaustion ; a pain- ful, paralytic condition of the extremides, which became shrunken on the fifth day. All the symptoms seemed like those produced by a long-continued diarrhoea, though in this case purging was not present. Description of Plate 50. 1. Flower (somewhat enlarged ). 2. Stamens. 3. Pistil. 4. Fruit. 5. End of young branch in flower, Ithaca, N. Y., May 24th, 1S80. ■4 51 GXU.adnatilel.etpifixt Phaseolus Vulgaris. N. ORD -LEGUMINOS^. 5-^ Tribe.-PHASEOLE/E. GENUS.— PHASEOLUS,* LINN. SEX. SVST.— DIADELPHIA DECAXDRIA. PHASEOLUS. COMMOJV BEAA'. SYN.— PHASEOLUS VULGARIS, LINN. COM. NAMES.— KIDNEY BEAN, WHITE BEAN, POLE BEAN, STRING BEAN ; (FR.) HARICOT; (GER.) SCHMINKBOHNE. A TINCTURE OF THE DRIED SEEDS OF PHASEOLUS VULGARIS, LINN. Description. — This common cultivated annual herb grows to various heights, according to its form and the method of cultivation. Stem twining and twisted, or short and erect in the bushy forms. Leaves pinnately trifoliate ; leaflets laro-e, ovate, pointed, entire. Inflorescence in solitary axillary racemes, the peduncle stout and shorter than the leaves. Calyx campanulate ; teeth 5, unequal, the three lower ones larger, cuneate, acute, the two upper merely apparent. Corolla papilio- naceous ; keel circinate and somewhat spirally twisted ; vexillutn entire or nearly so, notched at the apex ; ales pear-shaped, each furnished with a long claw and short incurved appendage. Stamens diadelphous ; filaments circinate, dilated at the base. Ovary stipitate, hairy ; style long, circinate, with a hairy margin ; stigma pointed, hairy. Fruit a continuous, pendent, compressed, loculicidal, more or less falcate pod, polyspermous, and with cellular partitions between the seeds ; seeds more or less reniform, cylindrical, or compressed ; hiliim small, oval-oblong, naked ; cotyledons thick ; radicle incurved. History and Habitat. — The Common Bean, so extensively cultivated as an esculent, was formerly supposed to have been introduced here from India, but Prof Gray claims it a native plant, as the fruit and seeds were found in the tombs of ancient Peruvians at AnQon, along with other purely native vegetables ; it is, however, probable that the plant is not indigenous north of Mexico. The Bean has been cultivated by the natives from remote aboriginal times, many varieties having become valuable to them then (as they are to us now) as a potage, both while green, legume and all, and the seeds alone when ripe and dried. No previous medical use is discoverable. * From the Latin //;a«/«j, a little boat, the pod beinj somewhat scaphoid. 51-2 PART USED AND PREPARATION. — The ripe dried seeds are pounded to a pulp and macerated for eight days in twice their weight of strong alcohol, being shaken twice a day, and kept in closely-stoppered bottles in a dark, cool place. The tincture, separated from this mass by filtration, has a disgusting fecal odor, a clear but slighdy yellowish color, and a neutral reaction. CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS. — Legumin, or Vegetable Casein. This albu- minoid, or proteid body, containing both N and S, is found in many seeds of the Leguminosse, from which it may be separated by triturating them, after soaking in warm water and pressing the pulp through a sieve. The liquid deposits starch on standing, and the casein-like body may be precipitated from the liquor by ace- tic acid. Phaseolin. — This peculiar amorphous body is obtained by extracting the seeds with alcohol, and treating the extract with ether to remove the sugar. Phaseolin produces a volatile oil, of very disgusting fecal odor, by decomposition. Inosite,* or animal galactose, existing in the muscles of the heart and lungs, as well as in the parenchyma of the liver and kidneys, is also found in the seeds of this and other Leguminoss. The following analyses of Beans by Einhoff and Braconnot J show the general constituents : Einhof. Braconnot. Skins 288 7. Starchy fibrous matter, 425 Starch, 1380 42-34 Animo-veg. matter and starch, 799 5.36 Extractive, 131 Albumen and animo-veg. matter, 52 Mucilage, 744 Loss and water, 21 23. Legumin, 18.20 Pectic acid, legumin and starch, 1.50 Fatty matter, .70 Pulp skeleton, .70 Uncrystallizable sugar, .20 Earthy salts, i.oo 3S40 100.00 PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION.— The only accounts of the ill effects produced by eating raw beans are those of Dr. Demeures§ and William Dale, Esq. ;|| the latter I exclude here, as the beans were mildewed, and the severity of the symp- toms, together with their character, appear to me to be due to the fungus. The symptoms produced in the first case were: Severe frontal headache accompanied by pain, soreness, and itching of the eyeball ; eyeball painful to touch ; pain in the epigastrium when touched, and hernia-like pain at right inguinal ring. Beans, * See p. 95-3. I Jour, de la SocUti Gall., i Ser., 4, 112. t GehUn's Jour., vi, 545. || Brit. Med. Jour., 1864, 471. X Ann. de Chini. ct Phys., xxxiv, 85. 51-3 when cooked, produce a well-known riatulency, which symptom I have also noted from a dose of about five drops of the tincture. The seeds certainly deserve a thorough proving, especially so if the symptoms recorded by Dale could be verified. Desckhmion ok Plate 51. 1. Summit of plant, Binghamton, N. Y., July 27tli, 1886. 2. Flower. 3. Calyx and standard. 4. Ala. 5. Keel and calyx. 6. Stamen. 7. Pistil, 8. Stigma. (3-8 enlarged.) (Elfl..adnat.(iel.et pinxt. BAPTISIA TINCTORIA, R.Br. N. ORD -LEGUMINOS^. 52 Tribe.-SOFHORE/E ET PODALYRIE^. GENUS.— BAPTISIA,* VENT. SEX. .SVST.— DECANDRI.V MONOGYNIA. BAPTISIA. WILD IJ^BICrO. SYN.— BAPTISIA TINCTORIA, R. BR. ; SOPHORA TINCTORIA, LINN. ; POD- ALYRIA TINCTORIA, MICHX. COM. NAMES.— WILD INDIGO, FALSE INDIGO, INDIGO WEED, YELLOW WILD INDIGO. DYER'S BAPTISIA, HORSEFLY WEED, RATTLE BUSH, YELLOW BROOM, CLOVER BROOM; (FR.) INDIGO SAUVAGE, INDIGO TREFLE ; (GER.) BAPTISIB. A TINCTURE OF THE FRESH ROOT OF BAPTISIA TINCTORIA, R.BR. Description. — This slender, glaucous, perennial, bushy-branching herb, grows to a height of from 2 to 3 feet. Root large, irregular, ligneous, light yellowish- brown internally, blackish externally; rootlets numerous and lighter in color. Leaves palmately 3-foliate, sessile or nearly so, becoming like all other portions of the plant — even the yellow flowers — black, when dry ; leaflets j4 to }^ inch long, rounded or cuneate-obovate, dark bluish-green with a light green stripe on the midrib ; stipules and bracts minute, caducous. Inflo7'csccnce short, loose, few- flowered racemes, terminal upon the branches; flo^oers canary-yellow, about as long as the leaflets. Calyx cup-shaped ; limb 4-toothed, the upper tooth double, therefore broader than the rest. Corolla : standard about the length of the wings, or slighdy shorter, emarginate, and reflexed laterally ; ^eel somewhat incurved, the two petals composing it nearly separate, straight ; wings oblong, straight. Stamens 10, distinct; anthers alike and uniform. Ovary stipitate ; style curved, dilated below ; stigma minute. Fniitd^n oval, centrally inflated, mucronate legume, stalked in the persistent cup of the calyx ; stipe nearly twice the length of the calyx-cup. Seeds many, ovoid, cinnamon-brown ; hilum small, rounded ; embryo straight or incurved. Read description of Leguminosae under Genista tinctoria, 46. History and Habitat. — Wild Indigo is indigenous to the Canadas and the United States. It grows as far south as F"lorida and west to the Mississippi, plentifully however only near the coast, where it delights in the dry, sandy soils, * pojrri'?M, Baplho, I dye. Some species yielding an inferior indigo dye. 52-2 As regards New York State : I have noted in traveling upon the N. Y. & Erie R. R., that it ceased entirely at Narrowsburg, 122 miles from New York City.* I have not met with the plant in Chenango, Broome, Tioga nor Tompkins Counties, and Dr. Lucy fails to find it in Chemung ; this is probably due to the rich loam of these localities. Dr. Barton says;-j- "It promiscuously inhabits a variety of situa- tions, though almost always in a dry soil, in every State of the Union." It flowers in the Northern States from June to August. The young shoots of this plant resemble, in form and general appearance, those of asparagus, and are used, especially in New England, in lieu of that herb for a pottage. As a dye, it is no longer used, being far inferior to Indigofera and- its employment unnecessary. The most important previous use of the plant as a drug, was as an "anti- septic " dressing for gangrenous wounds, especially in such cases as were accom- panied by a low torm of fever ; and in decoction in putrid fevers generally. Dr. Thatcher says: J "its employment has been extended in a few instances to Typhus or putrid fever, with such good effect as to encourage further trials. In the form of fomentation or cataplasm it has proved eminently beneficial when applied to phagedenic and gangrenous ulcers ; especially if the decoction be adiiiviistered internally at the same time" (italics ours). Dr. Comstock says :§ "I would observe that it is used in cases of mortification, in fevers supposed to be putrid, and inclining to putrescency, and in general where antiseptics are indicated." Our provings thoroughly corroborate, and our practice substantiates the above use of the drug. Any physician, of whatever school of practice, who fails to use this remedy in Typhoid alone where it is so often indicated, allows many an opportunity to save a life to escape him. The National DIspensatory|| contains under this drug the following, written, we feel compelled to say, in willful ignorance : " Nothing has recently been added to the knowledge possessed many years ago respecting this medicinal plant." The U. S. Pharmacopoeia gives no officinal preparation ; this in the full light of our excellent success with the drug, and our vastly lower percentage of death in Typhoid. The preparations of the Eclectic Materia Medica are : Extractnui Baptisice Alcoholicuni ; Unouentiim Baptisice, and Pilulce Baptisice Compositce^ PART USED AND PREPARATION.— The fresh root with its bark is chopped and pounded to a pulp and weighed. Then two parts by weight of alcohol are taken, the pulp mixed thoroughly with one-sixth part of it and the rest of the alcohol added. After stirring the whole well, it is poured into a well-stoppered bottle and allowed to stand eight days in a dark, cool place. The tincture separated from this mass by filtration is opaque, in thin layers it presents a deep brownish-red color by transmitted light ; it has no distinguishing * Author ill Bull. Torrey Club, vol. xi, 18S4, p. 133. t Veg. Mat. Med., vol. ii, p. 56. % Thalclier's Dispensatory, \>. 361, c|uoloci in B.iiton's I'eg. Mai. Med., pp. 5S-59, vol. ii. \ " Letter to Mr. Weems," in /V». Mai. Med. B.irton, vol. ii, p. 58. II >879. P- 267- ]] Leptandria, Podophyllin, Sanguinaria and Baptisia. 52-3 odor, a peculiar bitter ami astringent taste, imparts to the tongue on first applica- tion a cold sensation (juite similar to that of sulpiiate of soda ((ilauber's Salt). and has an acid reaction. CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS.— An analysis of the root was made by Dr. Greene,* U. S. N., for the express purpose of obtaining the alkaloid, the previous analyses by Smedley.f and Warner.J resulting in alkaloidal .salts only. Dr. Greene succeeded in obtaining pale yellow crystals of various forms, .some being perfect octahedra. This purified alkaloid was found to be .soluble in water, alcohol, and •ether, other physical and chemical properties are as yet unknown. A whitish yellow resin was also determined in his analysis, whether or not it is the same as one isolated by Smedley is not stated. PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION. — The symptoms of disturbance in the s)stem following the ingestion of doses varying from i to 200 drops of the tincture of the root, 30 grs. of the powder, and 4 to 14 grs. of " Baptisin" in different individuals are marked, and correspond to those of Typhoid or disintegrating forms of fever. They are substantially as follows :§ mentally gloomy, low-spirited, indisposed to think followed by inability, dullness, and stupidity. Vertigo. Dull, heavy headache with weakness and weariness of body, and tendency to tlelirium. Soreness and lameness of the eyeballs, with hot, flushed face. Tongue coated white, yellow or yellowish-brown. Loss of appetite, nausea, and burning in the stomach. Dull pains in the region of the liver, especially at the site of the gall-bladder. Face sallow, with burning cheeks. Constant pain and aching in the abdomen, followed by marked distention, and soreness on pressure. Soft, dark, mucous stools, followed by constipation. Urine dark red. Difficult breathing with oppression of the chest. Pulse at first accelerated antl full, then low and faint. Aching, stiffness, and soreness of back and e.Ktremitic-s. Chills general, followed by fever, restless- ness, weakness and great prostration. No sweat. Dr. Hughes says:|| " Baptisia is capable of e.xciting true primary />j';r.v/a in the human subject. This is no slight thing, for there are very few other drugs to which we can ascribe such power. Antl this pyrexia is exceedingly like that of the early stages of Typhoid. We have no evidence that Baptisia affects Peyer's patches as they are affected in Typhoid, nor even that it acts upon them at all as Arsenic and Iodine, and perhaps Mercury and Turpentine do. But it is certain that it produces congestion and catarrh of the intestinal mucous membrane with abdominal tenderness, distention, and diarrhrea." Still, as the specific condition of inflammation of the patches of Peyer does not appear until the second or perhaps third stage, our remedy properly used has done its work ere this and is not then required, nor will any other be, such condition not following, liaving been thwarted. * /*»/. your. Phar., 1879, p. 577. t Idem, 1862, |). 310. J Idem, 1 87 1, p. 251. I Allen, Ency. Pure Mat. Med., v.jI, ii, pp. 31-39- II Pharmneodynamics, p. 162. 52-4 The only post-mortem examination that has come to my notice is that of a cat under Dr. Burt's experiments. In this animal the large and small intestines were found greatly congested, and filled with mucus and blood. Description of Plate 52. I. End of flowering branch, Pamrapo, N. J., July 6th, 1879. 2. Flower. 3. Pistil. 4. Stamen. 5. Pollen, X 250. 6. Pod. (3 and 4 enlarged.) ^m.adnatdeletpinxt GYMNOCLADUS CANADENSIS. Lam N. ORD-LEGUMINOS^. 53 S. ORD.-C/ESALPINIE/E. GENUS.— GYMNOCLADUS,* LAM. SEX. SYST.-DICECIA DEC.^NlM^l.V. GYMNOCLADUS. COFFEE TREE. SYN.— GYMNOCLADUS CANADENSIS, LAM. ; GUILANDICA DIOICA, LINN. COM. NAMES.— KENTUCKY COFFEE TREE, AMERICAN COFFEE BEAN, KENTUCKY MAHOGANY, NICKAR TREE, BONDUE, CHICOT. A TINCTURE OF THE FRESH FRUIT PULP OF GYMNOCLADUS CANADENSIS, LAM. Description. — This peculiar tree, wiien mature, reaches a height of from 50 to 60 feet. Trunk erect; bark extremely rough, and curiously broken trans- versely ; branches few, thornlcss, when young- cane-like, and in winter so destitute of anything looking like a bud tliat the whole tree appears as if dead. Leaves bi-pinnate, 2 to 3 feet long, bearing a pair of opposite leaflets near the base, and from 4 to 7 larger, odd-pinnate accessory leaf-stalks, each of which (upon the younger branches) is composed of from 6 to 8 pairs of leaflets, so that each leaf may bear from forty-eight to one hundred and seventy-four leaflets. These leaves develop late and fall early. Leaflets alternate, vertical, ovate-lanceolate, taper- pointed and entire, the lower pair upon the base of the petiole almost cordate, larger and more pointed ; stipules none. Lnfloresce7ice terminal compound racemes or thyrsi ; flowers dioecious, pedicillate ; (estivation imbricate. Calyx elongated- tubular below ; limb 5-cleft ; lobes lanceolate, equal. Corolla not papilionaceous ; petals oblong, equal, inserted upon the summit of the calyx-tube. Stamens 10, included, inserted with the petals; filaments distinct, short, and bearded; anthers sagittate, versatile, introrse, 2-celled, opening longitudinally. Style single. Ovules anatropous. Fruit an oblong, flattened pod, 6 to 10 inches long and about i inch broad, pulpy inside; seeds 2 to 4, flattish, hard, somewhat ovoid, about one-half an inch broad, and of a dark olive color ; embryo straight. History and Habitat. — The Kentucky Coffee Tree grows in rich woods, along rivers and lakes, from Western New York and Pennsylvania, to Illinois and south- westward, where it flowers in June. The previous uses of this plant in medicine are grounded upon its peculiar action on nerve-centres. A decoction of the leaves and fruit pulp has been found useful in locomotor ataxia, reflex troubles incident upon masturbation, laryngeal * rnjifd;, gyinnos, n.iked ; iXiido;, klailos, branch, from the l)arren and de.ad appearance of the tree in winter. 53-2 couohs dependent upon a chronic irritation of the mucous membranes of the air-passages, puerperal peritonitis, erysipelas, and typhoid forms of fever. To the arts it furnishes a hard wood, something like mahogany, with a fine grain, suitable for cabinet-work ; it weighs 40 lbs. 7 oz. per cubic foot, and has a sp. gr. of 647. The seeds are said to have been used by the early setders of Central United States as a substitute for coffee, and the leaves as a purgative and insecticide. Concerning the use of Gymnocladus as a fly-poison, a Virginia correspondent of The American Agriculturist says: "Back of our house here, and overhanging the piazza, is a very large coffee-tree. Though this locality is infested, like Egypt, with a plague of flies, we have never suffered any serious annoyance from them. One year this tree was nearly stripped of its leaves by a cloud of potato-flies (the blistering fly), and we feared that the tree would die from the complete defoliation. In three days the ground beneath was black with a carpet of corpses, and the tree put out new leaves, and still flourishes. For ten years we have used the bruised leaves, sprinkled with molasses water, as a fly- poison. It attracts swarms of the noisome insects, and is sure death to them." Gymnocladus is officinal in none of the Pharmacopoeias. PART USED AND PREPARATION.— The fresh, green pulp of the unripe seed-pods is to be crushed and prepared as in the preceding drug. The tincture, after filtering from the mass, has a clear orange color by transmitted light ; is gummy upon the fingers ; and of a familiarly characteristic odor, resembling that of the pulp. CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS.— Cj)/^V/«^, C^^H^jN^O. This alkaloid, found in the seeds of Cytisus Labitrnuiu, is said to exist also in the leaves and fruit pulp of this tree. Extracted from Laburnum, it crystallizes in radiate, colorless, deliquescent forms, having a caustic and bitter taste, and an alkaline reaction, neutralizing acids completely. It sublimes without decomposition by the careful application of heat. PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION. — Gymnocladus causes vertigo with a sensation of fullness of the head; burning of the eyes; sneezing; salivation; nausea with burning of the stomach; desire to urinate; increased se.xual desire; pains in the limbs, numbness of the body, sleepiness, and coldness. Description of Plate 53. End of a sterile branch, Ithaca, N. Y., June 17th, 1SS5. 2. A small leaf, four times reduced. 3 and 4. Sterile flowers. 5. Sterile flower in section. 6 and 7. Stamens, posterior and lateral views. (5, 6 and 7 enlarged.) 54 .ad naf.dei.et pinxt GEUM RIVALE, Linn. N. ORD.-ROSACE^. 54 GENUS.— G E U M ,* I.INN. SEX. svsr.— iro.s.\xi)Ki.\ I'di.vovn'i.v. GEUM RIVALE. WATER AVEJYS. SYN.— GEUM RIVALE, LINN. COM. NAMES.— PURPLE OR WATER AVENS, CHOCOLATE-ROOT; (FR.) BBNOITB AQUATIQUB; (GER.) SUMPFNELKENWURZEL. A TINCTURE OF THE WHOLE PL.VNT, GEUM RIV.^LE, LINN. Description. — This beautiful perennial plant, disting-uished on account of its hibiscus-like petals, grows to a height of from one to two feet. Root creeping, lig- neous, giving off numerous fibrous rootlets. Sicni simple or nearly so, hairy. Leaves of two kinds ; those from the root on long deeply grooved petioles, lyrate and ir- regularly pinnate ; those of the stem few, nearly sessile, more or less lyrate below and 3-lobed above, serrate, pointed ; stipules ovate, incised. Inflorescence terminal on long, sometimes branched, peduncles i^fzivr.? few, large and handsome, nodding on bracted pedicels. Calyx erect, concave below, 5-lobed, with 5 alternating bractlets in the sinuses. Petals 5, erect, retuse, dilated obovate, contracted into a claw at the base. Stamens numerous, inserted into a stipitate disk in the cup of the calyx ; anthers in- trorse, opening by a longitudinal slit or pore. Pistils many; ovary hairy; styles long, with fle.xed tips. Fruit a dense, hairy, conical head, situated upon an erect stalk arising from the cup of the caly.x; seeds oval, bearded, the epicarp retaining the persistent style, which is now hispid below and plumose above the angular tle.xion ©f the style. Rosaceae. — This grand natural order is represented in North America by 35 genera, 213 species, and 92 varieties, aside from innumerable cultivated specimens. The general characters of the order are : Plants consisting of trees, shrubs and herbs, and furnishing our most valuable fruits. Leaves alternate ; stipules gener- ally present though sometimes early deciduous. Flowers regular, handsome. Calyx of 5 to 8 sepals united to form the calyx-tube ; in some species with a sec- ond set as bractlets, outside of, and alternate with, the sepals. Petals as many as the sepals, and inserted with the stamens upon a thin disk that lines the calyx-tube. StameJis very numerous, perigynous ; fllaments slender. Pistils one or many. *Tmoi,gial herb attains a height of from i to 3 feet. Root tap-shaped, 2 to 4 inches long by ^ to ^ of an inclr in diameter, yellow internally. Leaves i- to 2-ternately parted or divided; lower leaves on long petioles, sometimes simple or more or less cordate ; upper leaves sessile or nearly so; leaflets i to 2 inches long, oblong-lanceolate, cut serrate, the bases elongated cuneate. Inflorescence axial or terminal compound umbels, on long, naked pedun- cles ; involucre inconspicuous or absent; pedicels 10 to 20 elongating in fruit; in- volucels minute, few-leaved ; floivers deep, orange-yellow. Calyx teeth obscure. Petals oblong, terminated by an inflexed tip. Fruit oval-oblong, somewhat flat- tened or laterally contracted ; ridges lo-winged ; transverse section orbicular ; vittcz solitary in each sulcus, and 2 in the commissure. Read description of the natural order, under Eryngium, 62. History and Habitat. — The Meadow Parsnip is quite a common indigenous plant on the moist banks of streams, and in open, wet woods, where it flowers in June and July. I find no mention of this plant in medical literature. The genus is spoken of by RafinesqueJ as vulnerary, antisyphilitic, and sudorific. PART USED AND PREPARATION.— The whole fresh plant (the prover used only the root) is chopped and pounded to a pulp and weighed. Then two parts by weight of alcohol are taken, the pulp mixed thoroughly with one-sixth part of it, and the rest of the alcohol added. After having stirred the whole well, pour it into a well-stoppered bottle, and allow it to stand eight days in a dark, cool place. * A play upon the genus TItapsia, named from the Isle of Thapsiis. f I have retained the name under which the plant was proven. See second synonym. X Med. Bot., vol. ii, p. 267. 66-2 The tincture, separated from this mass by straining and filtering, should have a deep brownish-orange color by transmitted light, no distinguishing odor, a slightly bitter taste, and strong acid reaction. It leaves a numb, furry sensation upon the tongue, something like the impression left by tincture of aconite. PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION. — The Meadow Parsnip appears to uphold the general action of the Umbelliferse, and act specifically in a similar manner to yEthusa. The symptoms of those proving the drug under the direction of Dr. E. E. Marcy are those of a nerve irritant. The only report of a toxic quantity being taken is that by Judge Gray of a young lady who ate a large root. In this case violent vomiting followed immediately, ejecting the root in time to ward off any farther action.* Description of Plate 66. f i. la to ifi, upper part of plant, Ithaca, N. Y., June 3d, 1880. 2. Flower (enlarged). * Marcy, in Ency. Pun Mat. Med., vol. x, p. 634. f This Plarte has been titled Thaspium atireum, var. nperlum ; liut the seed, the only characteristic of var. aperlum, having been omitted, it reverts to its proper title — i. e., Thaspium aureiim, Nutt. Shortly after taking note of the physical properties of the tidicture here recorded, — during which I made many futile attempts to detect a characteristic odor and taste, and took probably about 10 minims, — the tongue felt fuzzy and numb. This sensation was followed by a feeling as if the tongue had been scalded with hot tea ; my eyes began to water and smart; I ceased writing, and threw myself upon my lounge (12 M.) ; my face then began to feel suffused with blood and soon became hot, especially the cheeks and forehead; drowsiness followed, and I fell into a distressingly dreamy sleep, lasting an hour. When I awoke (J. 30 P. M.) all symptoms had passed awiy except the scalded sensation of the tongue, which lasted fully an hour longer. 67- ^.m.ad nat dei.et pinxt. CiCUTA MACULATA.Linn N. ORD-UMBELLIFER^. 67 (;ENUS.— CICUTA,* LINN. SEX. SVST.— PKNTANDKIA DKIVNIA. CICUTA MACULATA. WATER HEMLOCK. SYN.-CICUTA MACULATA, LINN. ; CICUTARIA MACULATA, LAM. ; SIUM DOUGLASII, (?) D. C. COM. NAMES.— AMERICAN WATER HEMLOCK, SNAKEWEED, BEAVER POISON, MUSQUASH ROOT, SPOTTED COWBANE, DEATH OF MAN, CHILDREN'S BANE; (PR.) CIQUE D'AMBRIQUE; (GBR.) AMERIKA- NISCHER WASSERSCHIERLING. A TINCTURE OF THE FRESH ROOTS OF CICUTA MACULATA, LINN. Description. — This poisonous marsli perennial attains a growth of from 3 to 6 feet. Rooi a fascicle of several oblong, thick and fleshy tubers. Stem stout and smooth, fistulate, streaked with purple {not maculate), or when growing in open places deep purple, and in shady situations wholly green. Leaves bi-ternately compound, the lower on long petioles ; leaflets oblong-lanceolate, pointed, and sometimes lobed ; mai'gins mucronately coarse-serrate, the veins ending in the notches, hifloresceiice in long peduncled, axillary umbels; involucre few leaved or wanting ; involucels 5 to 6 leaved ; leaflets linear ; Jioiuers white. Calyx minutely 5-toothed ; teeth acute. Petals obcordate, with an inflexed, pointed tip. Fruit aromatic, almost globular, geminate, and a little contracted at the sides. Carpels with 5 strong, flattish ribs, the lateral ones marginal ; vittce large, single in the intervals, double in the commissure ; seeds terete. Read description of the order under Eryngium, 62. History and Habitat. — The Water Hemlock is indigenous to the United States from F"Iorida and Mississippi northward, where it grows in wet places, and flowers in June and July. Cicuta had, until the publication of Dr. Bigelow's work,-j- been considered more as a poison than a drug, a few practitioners only using very small doses as a substitute for conium, and some of the laity, little knowing its toxic proper- ties, as a gargle in sore throat. Rafinesque claims that its roots were eaten by such Indians as were tired of life and desired a speedy demise. Later the pow- dered leaves were employed to a limited extent to alleviate the pain of scirrhus cancers. Cicuta plays no part in any system of medicine except the homoeopathic. * The ancient Latin name, in reference to the hollow stems of this genus, the name Cicuta designating the hollo-.v joints of reeds from which pipes were made, t jini. Med. Bo/., Boston, 1817. 67-2 The specific name maailata is badly chosen, as the stems, as far as I have observed, are never spotted, nor do I find any record of such a marking having been noticed ; Dr. Bigelow modestly offers the name fasciculata, which is true of the roots, and should be adopted, being much less like that of conium. Great similarity is said to exist between this species and the European C. virosa. Not having had an opportunity to examine the latter, I am at present unable to differ- entiate between them. According to descriptions, C. virosa has not a fasciculate root, and its umbels are larger in every way and much denser. PART USED AND PREPARATION.— The fresh roots, chopped and pounded to a pulp, are treated as in the preceding drug. The resulting tincture has a clear yellowish-amber color by transmitted light, the peculiar odor of the fresh root, a sweetish taste, and an acid reaction. CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS. — Dr. Bigelow's examination of the root is the only attempt so far made toward an analysis; he procured a volatile oil and a yellow, inflammable resin. Mr. J. E. Young succeeded in obtaining a volatile alka- loid from the fruits, which he regarded as identical with conia. A glance, however, at the chemistry of C. virosa will not be out of place here : Cicutina. — This volatile alkaloid found in all parts of the plant by Wittstein, Polex, and others, remains as yet very imperfectly investigated ; it is simply men- tioned by Wittstein as having been obtained in an aqueous solution. Oil of Cumin. — This compound of several hydrocarbons, first obtained from the fruit of Ctmiimini cyminum, Linn., is proven by Trapp to be identical with the oil of this species. Two of the hydrocarbons are identified as follows : Cicutcn, C,(,H,„ (Van Ankum), boils at \t&^ (330.8° P.), is dextrogyrate, sp. gr. at 18° (64.4° F.), 0.87038, and is soluble in alcohol, ether, and chloroform ; Cymol, Cj„H,^, a colorless oil of great refractory power and the odor of lemons, having a sp. gr. at 15° (59° F.) of 0.86, and a boiling point at 172° (341.6° F.). Cicutoxin. — This amorphous, resinous body, in all probability identical with that found by Bigelow in the root-juice of C. maailata, was isolated and named by Trojanowski. PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION. — Many cases of poisoning from the root of this species have been reported, all showing, by the symptoms, that cicuta produces great hypersemia of the brain and spinal cord. The following case, reported by letter to Dr. Bigelow by Dr. R. Hazeltine (1818),* gives all the symptoms noted by observers in other cases: A boy had eaten of certain tuberous roots, gathered in a recently-ploughed field, supposing them to be artichokes, but which were identified as the roots of Cicuta maculata. His first symptom was a pain in the bowels urging him to an ineffectual attempt at stool, after which he vomited about a teacupful of what appeared to be the * Bigelow, Am. Med. Bot., vul. iii., iSi. 67-3 recently-masticated root, and immediately fell back into convulsions which lasted off and on continuously until his death. The doctor found him in a profuse sweat and "convulsive agitations, consisting- of tremors, violent contractions and distor- tions, with alternate and imperfect relaxations of the whole muscular system, astonishing mobility of the eyeballs and eyelids, with widely-dilated pupils, stridor dentium, trismus, frothing at the mouth and nose, mixed with blood, and occasion- ally violent and genuine epilepsy." The convulsive agitations were so powerful and incessant, that the doctor " could not examine the pulse with sufficient con- stancy to ascertain its character." At the post-mortem no inflammation was observed, the stomach was fully distended with flatus, and contained "about three gills of a muciform and greenish fluid, such as had flowed from the mouth ; this mass assumed a dark ereen color on standinsr." Description of Plate 67. I. Part of flowering branch, Binghamton, N. Y., July 2d, 1885, 2. Leaf. 3. Flower, showing calyx. 4. Face of flower. 5. Petal. 6. Pistil and calyx. 7. Stamens. (3-7 enlarged.) =-*-= ^'Tn..a(lnat.iJel.etpinxt. CONiUM MACU LATUM, Linn. N. ORD -UMBELLIFER^. 68 GENUS.— C O N I U M ,* LINN. SE.K. SYST.— PKNT.ANDRIA DIGVNI.V. CONIUM. POISOA' HEMLOCK. SYN.— CONIUM MACULATUM, LINN. ; C. MAJOR, BAUH. ; CORIANDRUM CICUTA, CRANTZ.; C. MACULATUM. ROTH.; CICUTA MACULATA, LAM. (not Linn.); C. VULGARIS MAJOR, PARK.; CICUTARIA VULGA- RIS, CLUS. COM. NAMES.— WILD OR POISON HEMLOCK, STINK-WEED, t SPOTTED POISON PARSLEY, HERB-BENNET; (FR.) GRAND CIQUB, CIQUE OR- DINAIRE; (GER.) SCHIERLING. A TINCTURE OF THE FRESH PLANT, EXCLUDING THE ROOT, OF CONIUM MACULATUM, L. Description. — This large, unsavory, biennial herb, grows to a height varying from 2 to 6 feet. Root fusiform, sometimes forked. Stet)i erect, hollow, smooth, and striate, stout below, corymbosely branching above, the whole dotted and splashed with crimson beneath the white, pulverent, easily detached coating that pervades the whole plant except the leaves and flowers. Leaves generally large, decompound, somewhat deltoid in outline ; common petioles with broad striate sheathing bases ; segments lanceolate pinnatifid ; lobes bright green, acute and regularly serrate. Injiorescejice terminal, flat-topped, compound umbels ; involucre about 3-leaved ; leaves lanceolate, acuminate, deflexed ; involucels about 5-leaved, shorter than the umbellets, and situated to the outside of them ; leaves lanceolate ; rays numerous, straight ; flowers small, white. Petals obtuse or somewhat obcor- date, the apices incurved. Calyx teeth obsolete, the limb forming a thickened crowning ring in fruit. Stamens but slightly longer than the petals ; anthers white. Fruit orate, turgid, laterally flattened, the crown retaining the divergent styles, each of which, together with its dilated base, greatly resembles the depicted head- gear of the mediaeval court jester. Carpels with 5 prominent, nearly equal, papil- lose ribs, the lateral ones marginal ; vittce none ; seed with its inner face marked by a deep and narrow longitudinal sulcus. History and Habitat. — Conium is indigenous to Europe and Asia. It, how- ever, has become thoroughly naturalized in this country, where it grows in waste places, usually by river-sides. It blossoms during July and August. * KJwioK, koneion; from kmoj, konos, a top, judged by Hooker to be so named on account of the whirling vertigo caused by the poison. f \ name more commonly applied to Datura Stramonium. 68-2 The history of this fetid, poisonous plant, dates back to about the fifth cen- tury before Christ. From the careful observations of many pharmacographists and historians, there seems little doubt that the Grecian State potion used at Athens as a mode of execution of those condemned to death by the tribunal of Areopagus, was principally, if not wholly, composed of the fresh juice of the leaves and green seeds of this plant. It is the xuvetov which destroyed Thermanes, one of the thirty, Phocion, and Socrates, whose disciple he had been. Plato, in describing the potion, does not give it a specific name, nor mention its source, but terms the potion . ii, 662. ? Bii. Therap., iii, 618. 68-3 syphilitic affections, enlargement of glands, especially those of a scrofulous nature, as a sedative in mania, chorea, epilepsy, laryngismus stridulus, pertussis, and various forms of nervous diseases. Like all other drugs used by the dominant school of medicine then and now, many physicians failed to get any effect whatsoever from this drug in the diseases specified by Siorck and others; so frequent were the failures that most careful and protracted experiments in gathering, curing, preserving, and preparing thei drug were resorted to, analyses were made, essays written, and finally serious doubts expressed as to Baron Storck's cases ; * widiout once a thought that it might be adaptability to his cases, and not pharmaceutical preparation that caused the drug to cure. It is well known to us as homoeopathists that Baron Storck had a " peculiar notion " as to the adaptability of drugs to diseased conditions, a notion very like the law that guides us to-day.f I can personally testify to the cure of one well-marked case of mammary scirrhus, by Conium. The case is as follows : Mrs. B complained to me of having experienced, for some months past, sharp stitching pains in the left mamma, extending thence in all directions, but especially through to the shoulder-blade, and upward and outward into the axilla; these stitches would awaken her at night, causing her sleep to be interfered with seri- ously. On examining the breast I found the nipple retracted and surrounded by a hard nodular lump, just movable, and about the area of a silver dollar. Her mother died of " a cancer of the breast " several years before. I prescribed Conium in a potency, one dose per diem. Within six weeks the subjective symp- toms entirely passed away, four months after, the " tumor" was much softer and the nipple less cupped. The remedy was then stopped, and upon examining her to-day (nearly four years after the first dose), I find no vestige of the growth whatever, the mamma appearing entirely normal. Concerning the root of this virulent plant, Lepage J corroborates the asser- tion of Orfila, that the amount of alkaloid therein is very small; this accounts for the following experiences: Ray relates § that Mr. Petiver ate half an ounce, and Mr. Healy four ounces without experiencing any remarkable effect. Curtis says: || "Mr. Alicorn assures me that he has tried this (eating the roots) in every season of the year, and in most parts of our island, without feeling any material difference ; and Mr. T. Lane informs me that he also, cautiously, made some experiments of the like kind, without any inconvenience; after many successive trials, he had some of the larger roots boiled, and found them as agreeable eating at dinner with meat as carrots, which they somewhat resembled;" Mr. Steven, a Russian botanist, states that the Russian peasants eat it with impunity, and concludes that the colder the climate the less poisonous is the root. Pliny says:T[ "as for the stems and * Woodville says {Mtd. Sot., i, io8) :".... Nay, it never succeeded so well as when under his own direction or confined to the neighborhood in which he resided, and to the practice of those physicians with whom he lived in habits of intimacy and friendship. [A base imputation, unworthy of the author.— c. F. M.] The general inefficiency of Hem- lock experienced in this counlrj', induced physicians at first to suppose that this plant, in the environs of Vienna and Berlin, differed widely from ours, and this being so stated to Dr. Siorck he sent a quantity of the extract, prepared by himself, to London, but this proved equally unsuccessful, and to differ in no respect from the English extract.'' t Note also Baron Storck's use of .Stramonium, as cited under (hat drug. % your. Phor. tt Chim., 1885, 10. I PAH. Trans., xix, 634. || Plor. Londinensis. ^ Nat. Hisl., b. 26, c. xii. 68-4 stalks, many there be who do eat it, both green and also boiled or stewed between two platters." Notwithstanding all this, many children have been poisoned from eating the roots. Conium is officinal in the U. S. Ph., as Abstractum Conii ; Extractimi Conii Alcoholicum ; Extractimi Conii Fhiidum, and Tinctura Conii. In the Eclectic Materia Medica the preparations are : Extracinm Conii Alcoholicuvi ; Unguentiim Conii and Emplastnmt BelladonncE Coinposituiu* PART USED AND PREPARATION.— The entire fresh plant, with the excep- tion of the root, should be gathered while the fruits are yet green, and prepared as in the preceding drug. The resulting tincture should have a clear madder color by transmitted light, and give an odor somewhat similar to that of the bruised leaves, a taste at first sweetish, then similar to the odor, and an acid reaction. CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS.— G;«/^,t C,H,.N. This volatile alkaloid was discovered by Giseke in the leaves and fruit of this plant; Geiger, however, was first to purify it. Conia is a limpid, colorless, oily liquid, having the specific gravity of .89, and boiling at i63.°5 (.328.°3 F.). It possesses a nauseous and sharp taste, and a disagreeable odor. It is soluble in cold water, in which solution it becomes turbid on the application of heat. Methylconine, CgHj^NCHj. This alkaloid is also sometimes present in conium. It bears great resemblance to conia. Conydrine.t CgHj^ON. A crystalline alkaloid melting at I20.°6 (249° F.), and boiling at 225° (437° F.). Paraconine, CgHj^N. This fourth alkaloid, isomeric with conia, differs from it only in being atertiary base devoid of rotary power. Paraconine is liquid, and boils at i6o°-i7o° (320°-338° F.). (Ul stip)'a, Schorlemmer.) Oil of Conium, C^Hj^N^O. A pale, yellow oil extracted from the seeds. This oil is also formed when nitrogen trio.xide is passed into conia and the resulting liquid decomposed by water. Conic Acid. — This body, yet uninvestigated, exists in all parts of the plant and holds in solution the alkaloids present. PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION.— No more fitting introduction to the action of this virulent spinal irritant could be written than the description, in Plato's "Phaedo," of the death of Socrates: "And Crito, hearing this, gave the sign to the boy who stood near; and the boy departing, after some time returned, bringing with him the man who was ta administer the poison, who brought it ready bruised in a cup. And Socrates, beholding the man, said : ' Good friend, come hither ; you are expe- rienced in these affairs — what is to be done?' ' Nothing,' replied the man, 'only when you have drank the poison you are to walk about until a heaviness takes Rosin, Belladonna, Conium, and Iodine. f Conine, Conicina, Conein, Coniin, Conicin. X Conydrina, Conhydria, Conliydrin. 68-5 place in your legs ; then lie down — this is all you have to do.' At the same time he presented the cup. Socrates received it from him with great calmness, without fear or change of countenance, and regarding the man with his usual stern aspect he asked : ' What say you of this potion ? Is it lawful to sprinkle any portion of it on the earth, as a libation, or not ?' ' We only bruise," said the man, ' as much as is barely sufficient for the purpose.' ' I understand you,' said Socrates ; 'but it is certainly lawful and proper to pray the gods that my departure from hence may be prosperous and happy, which I indeed beseech them to grant.' So saying, he carried the cup to his mouth, and drank it with great promptness and facility. "Thus far most of us had been able to refrain from weeping. But when we saw that he was drinking, and actually had drank the poison, we could no longer restrain our tears. And from me they broke forth with such violence that I cov- ered my face and deplored my wretchedness. I did not weep for his fate so much as for the loss of a friend and benefactor, which I was about to sustain. But Crito, unable to restrain his tears, now broke forth in loud lamentations, which infected all who were present, except Socrates. But he observing us, exclaimed, 'What is it you do, my excellent friends ? I have sent away the women that they might not betray such weakness. I have heard that it is our duty to die cheerfully, and with expressions of joy and praise. Be silent, therefore, and let your fortitude be seen.' At this address we blushed, and suppressed our tears. But Socrates, after walking about, now told us that his legs were beginning to grow heavy, and immediately lay down, for so he had been ordered. At the same time the man who had given him the poison examined his feet and legs, touching them at intervals. At len(>n/u-\\kc i^Iiicosidc was discovered by HokUn and puri- fied by Lilly. It results as a slightly acrid, inodorous, whitish powder; soluble in water, insoluble in cold, strong alcohol, ether, and chloroform. Its watery solution yields a dense, persistent froth on agitation. It precipitates whiter from its solution in boiling alcohol when cold. Boiled with very dilute hydrochloric acid, it breaks down into glucose and Araliretin (Holden), a white, insoluble, tasteless and odorless, amorphous product. Alkaloid. — Elkin announced an alkaloid principle separable as a yellowish, amorphous, semi-transparent, bitter mass, soluble in water and ether, and answer- ing to Mayer's test. Lilly failed to procure this precipitable body, but isolated a '' bitter principle " having all its characteristics except that it was crystalline. Oil of Aralia (Elkins, Lilly). — An aromatic, somewhatc amphoraceous, acid body, having the characteristic odor of the root. An acrid resin, soluble in alcohol and ether, insoluble in water ;"*f tannin ;* glucose rj-J pictin \-\\ gum ;-j- fat ;* and starch,tj were also determined. PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION.— The only account of the action of this drug that we have, is a proving by Dr. Sam'l A. Jones, of Ann Arbor, § in whom a dose of lo drops of the tincture caused a severe asthmatic fit, characterized by dry, wheezing respiration ; obstructed inspiration ; a sense of impending suffocation and inability to lie down during the attack; profuse night sweat during sleep; nausea ; prostration ; and difficult expulsion of small, soft stool, accompanied by the abdominal sense of oncoming diarrhoea. I have had the pleasure of seeing drop doses of the tincture promptly relieve a similar case, in my own practice, in a half hour, and exert a beneficial effect in warding off recurring attacks. Descriptidn of Plate 69. I. Portion of a fruiting stem, Binghamton, N. Y., Oct. 12, 1S82. 2. K leaf, half natural size. 3. A flower. 4. Bird's-eye view of flower after removal of trie anthers. 5. Styles. 6. Stamen. 7. Pollen X 300. 8. Section of the root. (3-6 enlarged.) Holden, loc. cil. f Klkins, he. cil. J Lilly, loc. cit. \ Male's .Vc;t< Reme.liis, |>. 53. (ElXl.adnal.ilel.et pifut. ARALIA QuINQUEFOLIA, Gray. N. ORD -ARALIACE^. GKxNUS. — ARALIA. SEX. SYST— PENTANDRI.V DUiVNIA. GINSENG. JIJV-CHEJf. SYN.— ARALIA QUINQUEFOLIA, GRAY; A. CANADEN"SIS, TOURN. ; PA- NAX QUINQUBPOLIUM, LINN. ; P. AMERICANUM, RAP. ; AURBLIANA CANADENSIS, LAFIT; GINSENG QUINQUEFOLIUM, WOOD ; GIN-SENG CHINENSIBUS, JARTOUX. COM. NAMES.-GINSENG, TARTAR-ROOT, FIVE-FINGER, RED BERRY, MAN'S HEALTH; (FR.) GINSENG D'AMERIQUB; (GER.) KRAFTWUR- ZEL. A TINCTURE OF THE DRY ROOT OF ARALIA QUINQUEFOLIA, GRAY. Description. — This herbaceous perennial grows to a height of about i foot. Root large, sometimes forked, but generally consisting of a fleshy, somewhat fusi- form body, from the larger end of which is given off an irregular, cylindrical, knotty portion, narrower at its abrupt juncture with the main root, and showing the scars of previous stem-growths. Both parts are transversely wrinkled, closely above and sparsely below. Stem simple, erect ; leaves 3, palmately 5-divided ; leaflets obovate, thin, serrate, and pointed, in two sets, 3 large and 2 small, all long petioled. hiflorescciice a single terminal, naked, peduncled umbel ; floivers few, dioeciously-polygamous. Gz/j'A'-//;;/(5 very short, obscurely 5-toothed ; teeth trian- gular acute. Petals 5, spreading, ovate-oblong. Styles 2 to 3, erect or spreading. Stamc7is 5, Friut a cluster of bright-red, 2-celled, more or less reniform, fleshy berries, each retaining its calyx-limb and styles ; endocarp thin. This portion of the genus Aralia is the genus Pafiax* of Linneeus. It has many characters, which have given rise to opportunities for forming distinct genera from its species, though its close resemblance to the Aralias serves to hold it there. History and Habitat. — The American Ginseng grows in the rich, cool woods of central and northern North America, where it flowers in July. There is great similarity in the American and Chinese individuals of this species, but the place of growth or mode of drying seems to more or less affect the properties of the roots, especially if the accounts of the usefulness of the Oriental product can be credited. Father Jartoux, who spent much time, and had special privileges accorded him in the study of this plant, remarks, that so high is it held in esteem by the natives of China that the physicians have written volumes upon its virtues, and deem it a necessity in all their best prescriptions, ascribing * Hat, pan, all; a/n>;, akos, a remedy; as the Chinese and Tartar species were considered panaceas. 70-2 to it medicinal properties of inestimable value, and a remedial agency in fatigue and the infirmities of old age. So great is the plant esteemed in China that the Emperor monopolizes the right of gathering its roots. The preparation of the best roots for the Chinese market is a process which renders them yellow, semi-trans- parent, and of a horny appearance ; this condition is gained by first plunging them in hot water, brushing until thoroughly scoured, and steaming over boiling millet seed. The root thus prepared is chewed by the sick to recover health, and by the healthy to increase their vitality ; it is said that it removes both mental and bodily fatigue, cures pulmonary complaints, dissolves humors, and prolongs life to a ripe old age, — for all of which the root has often brought in the markets ten times its weight in silver. Father Jartoux * finally became so satisfied that the use of the root verified all that was said of its virtues, that he, in his own case, adds testimony as to its relief of fatigue and increase of vitality. Those roots that are bifurcated are held by the natives to be the most powerful ; it was to this kind — which they considered to resemble the human form — that they gave the name Jin-cheji, like a man. Strange as it may seem, the American Indian name of the plant, garant- oquen, means the same. The plant is becoming rare in this country, and in fact wherever it is found, on account of the value it brings in the markets. In 1718 the Jesuits of Canada began shipping the roots to China; in 1748 they sold at a dollar a pound here and nearly five in China; afterward the price fluctuated greatly on account of a dislike in China of our product ; and finally its gathering has nearly ceased, though fine sun-dried roots will now bring nearly a dollar per pound at New York. Panax was dismissed from the U. S. Pli. at the last revision, and is simply menUoned in the Eclectic Materia Medica. PART USED AND PREPARATION. — The genuine Chinese or the American root, dried and coarsely powdered, is covered with five times its weight of alcohol, and allowed to stand eight days, in a well-stoppered bottle, in a dark, cool place, being shaken twice a day. The tincture, poured off and filtered, has a clear, light- lemon color by transmitted light, an odor like the root, a taste at first bitter then dulcamarous, and an acid reaction. CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS.— Panaquilon, Cj.H^p,,.— This peculiar body, having a taste much like glycyn-Jiiziii but more amarous, may be extracted from the root. It results as an amorphous, yellowish powder, soluble in water and alcohol, but not in ether, and precipitable by tannin. It breaks down under the action of sulphuric acid, which, in extracting three molecules of water, causes it to give off carbonic dioxide and yield a new body as follows : ranaquilon. Panacon. Q,H,A = CO, + (HP)3 + C,H,,0, PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION. — Ginseng causes vertigo, dryness of the mucous membranes of the mouth and throat, increased appetite, accumulation of flatus * Phil. Tram., 28, 239. 70-3 with tension of the abdomen, diarrhcea, decreased secretion of urine, sexual excite- ment, oppression of the chest and a dry cough, increased heart's action and irregu- lar pulse, weakness and weariness of the limbs, increased general strength, followed by weakness and prostration, somnolence, and much chilliness. Description ov Plate 70. I and 2. Whole plant, Pittsburgh, Pa., June 2Sth, 1885 3. Section of flower. 4. Part of calyx, a petal and stamen. 5 and 6. Fruit. 7. Section of rhizome. (3, 4, and 6 enlarged.) f TQ..aiJ nat.dei.et pinxt 3 CoRNus Florida, Linn. N. ORD -CORNACE.^. 71 GENUS— CORN us.* TOURN. SEX. SVST,— TETRANDKIA MONOGVXIA. CORNUS FLORIDA. FLOlJ'inUjYG DOG WOO I). SYN.— CORNUS FLORIDA, LINN. ; BENTHAMIDIA FLORIDA, SPACH. COM. NAMES.— FLO"WERING DOGWOOD, DOG TREE, BOX TREE, NEW ENGLAND BOXWOOD, CORNEL, BITTER REDBERRY; (PR.) CORNUIL- LIER A GRANDES FLEURS; (GER.) GROSSBLUTHIGE CORNEL. A TINCTURE OF THE FRESH BARK. OF CORNUS FLORIDA, LINN. Description. — This small but beautiful forest tree, grows to a height of from lo to 30 feet; its form is usually somewhat bent, scraggy, and loosely branched; but if transplanted when young to open places, it grows into a beautiful full, umbrella-like tree, with an immense spread of branches. Bark greyish, cracked into small, more or less rectangular pieces ; that of the branches is smooth, red, and shows strongly the scars of previous leaves. Inflorescence terminal, peduncled, involucrate, greenish heads; involucre white and showy; lobes 4, peta- loid, obcordate or furnished with deep notches, having a discolored and thickened margin. Flozvers perfect, appearing with the leaves ; calyx tubular ; lobes 4, minute, triangular and somewhat obtuse ; petals 4, oblong, obtuse, spreading, but at length recurved in such a manner as to cause each flower, when magnified, to bear great resemblance to a plain Ionic capital. Stamens 4, erect; filatnents slender and filiform ; anthers oval, versatile, 2-celled. Style erect, slender, clavate, shorter than the stamens ; stigma terminal, obtuse. Fruit a few oval, red drupes, contain- ing each a 2-celled and 2-seeded nutlet. Cornaceae. — This small order is composed of shrubs or trees (rarely herbs) having the following characters : Leaves mostly opposite, rarely alternate ; stipules none. Inflorescence cymose, or (in two species of Cornus) capitate and subtended by a showy, white involucre ; flozvers perfect or polygamous. Calyx tubular and coherent with the ovary ; li^nb minute, 4-toothed. Petals valvate in the bud, equal in number to the calyx teeth or sometimes wanting. Stamens as many as the petals and alternate with them ; in the perfect flowers they are borne on the margin of an epigynous disk ; filaments usually ascending, sometimes erect. Ovary i to 2-celled ; ovules one in each cell, anatropous, hanging from the apex of its cell ; styles united into one. Fruit a i to 2-seeded drupe ; seeds oval ; testa coriaceous ; albumen sarcous ; embryo axial, nearly the length of the albumen ; cotyledons foliaceous. * Cornu, a horn, alluding to the density of the wood. 71-2 This family is represented by only two genera, Conius and Nyssa, the latter having dioecious and pardy apetalous flowers. Beside the three species treated of in this work, the following are useful : The European and Asiatic Cornellian Cherry [Cortius mas, Linn.), the fruits of which were formerly fermented as a beverage, and are now used in Turkey in the concoc- tion of a kind of sherbet; and the North European Ltis-n-chrasis {C. sjiccica, Linn.), the berries of which are claimed by the Highlanders to have the power of enor- mously increasing the appetite. The berries of the Red Osier Dogwood (C stolonifera, Michx. ; C. sanguinea, Linn.), are claimed by Murion* to yield about one-third their weight of a pure, limpid oil, resembling olive, and fit for table use or for burning. History and Habitat. — The flowering dogwood is common in the deep woods of North America from the 43° north latitude southward, eastward, and westward ; it is especially common in the South, where it extends from Florida westward to the Mississippi. Its principal central localities are the States of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, where it flowers in May, generally from the 15th to the 22d, and fruits in September. A peculiar feature in the blossoming of this species is the great regularity in time of appearance of its short-lived blossoms ; so characteristic is this that the Indians always planted their corn when the blossoms appeared. Notwithstanding the small diameter of the trunk of the dogwood, its wood is nevertheless quite valuable, on account of its great density and susceptibility of polish. It has been used for every purpose generally filled by the European Box- wood, such as engravers' blocks, cog-wheels, forks, spoons, rules, etc., etc. The twigs have long been used as a dentifrice ; of this use Barton says : f "The young branches stripped of their bark, and rubbed with their ends against the teeth, render them extremely white. The Creole negroes, who inhabit Norfolk, in Virginia, in great numbers, are in constant practice of using dogwood twigs in cleansing their teeth ; the striking whiteness of these, which I have frequently observed, is a proof of the efficacy of this practice. The application of the juice of these twigs to the gums, is also useful in preserving them hard and sound." The bark of the root afforded the aborigines a scarlet pigment. The previous medicinal use of dogwood bark dates from the discovery of this country, as it was then used by the Indians, who called the tree Mon-Jia-can-ni-min- schi, or Hat-ta-iva-no-min-schi by the Delawares. The bark has proven tonic, astringent, and slightly stimulating; being a stomachic tonic and anti-periodic, said to possess an action very like that of Peruvian bark, and differing from the latter only in quantity of action. Eberle states J that 35 grains equal 30 grains of cinchona bark, and Barton says,§ " It may be asserted with entire safety, that as yet there has not been discovered within the limits of the United States any vegetable so effectually to answer the purpose of Peruvian bark in the management of intermittent fever as Corims floj-ida." The dose of the dried and powdered * jfour. de Pharm., lo. f Med. Bot., i., 55. J Therapeutics, i., 304. \ Collections. 71-3 bark is placed at from 20 to 30 grains, and caution is necessary against its bein^ too fresh, as it then disagrees seriously with the stomach and bowels. The bark is also considered a tonic, stimulant, and antiseptic poultice for indolent ulcers, phlegmonous erysipelas, and anthrax. The officinal preparation of the U. S. Ph. is Extractum Conms Fhddiim ; in the Eclectic Materia Medica the preparations are: Dccochun Co?'?nis Floridcr, Extractum Conius Florida;, Exlracliim Conms Floridcv Fhiiduvi, and Pilulce Quiniee Compositce^ PART USED AND PREPARATION.— The fresh bark, especially that of the root, is to be chopped and pounded to a pulp and weighed. Then two parts by weight of alcohol are taken, the pulp thoroughly mixed with one-sixth part of it, and the rest of the alcohol added. After having stirred the whole well, pour it into a well-stoppered bottle and allow it to remain eight days in a dark, cool place. The tincture separated from this mass by filtration, presents a magnificent, clear, crimson color by transmitted light. It has a vinous odor, a sharply astringent cinnamon like taste, and a strongly acid reaction. CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS.— G7;7^/r Acid. This acid was discovered by Carpenter (1830), who judged it alkaloidal and gave it the name Cornin. Geigerf (1836) investigated the principle and determined it to be a crystalline acid; his observations were corroborated by FreyJ (1879). It crystallizes in nearly white, silky forms, very bitter and soluble in alcohol and water. The crystals deliquesce when exposed to the air, and when subjected to heat upon platinum foil they melt readily, become black, and finally burst into a fiame and burn without residue. Oil of Cornus. — The ripe berries, when boiled and pressed, are said to yield a limpid oil ; this body is uninvestigated. Tannic,^''^' and gallic acid,'-' a neutral resin crystallizing in shining needles, ^"^^ gum,'*^ extractive,'-^' fatty matter," oil,'-^ wax,- red coloring matter,-'*' cornic acid,"**' and a bitter principle,'' have been determined. PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION.— The fresh bark in doses of from 20 to 40 grains causes increased action of the heart, heat of the skin, and severe pain in the bowels. The American Indian, true to the principle that seems to have guided him in the use of all medicines, used the bark for fever and colic. The symptoms so far devel- oped in proving are : sensations of fullness of the head with headache; nausea and vomiting; violent pain in the bowels with purging; and increased bodily tempera- ture, followed by hot sweat." Dr. Chas. A. Lee sums up the action of the drug as follows : " " The physiological effects of Cornus bark are : increased frequency of pulse, exalted temperature, diaphoresis, sensation of fullness or pains in the * Sulphate of Quinia, extract of Cornus florida, Tartaric acid, and alcoholic extract of Cimicifuga. i" M. Geiger, Ann. der Pharm., XIV., 206. X Am. Jour. Phar., 1 879, 390. 1 Walker, Inaiig. Diss. '' Cockburn, Am. Jour. PImr., 1835, 1 14. ' Tilden, Jour. .Mat. Med., i., N. S., 294. * Geiger, 1. c. 5 Frey, 1. c. " Hale, A'l-.v AVm., 242. ' The Jour, of Mat. .!/«•. 357. (|m. ad nat.delet NULA HELENIUfVI. Linn. N. ORD -COMPOSITE. 81 Tribe.-ASTEROIDE/E. C'.ENUS.— I N U LA,* I.INN. SEX. SV.sr.— SVNGENESIA, POLYGAMIA SUI'EKILUA. INULA. ELECAMPAKEA SYTSr.-INULA HELENIUM, L. CORVISARTIA HELENIUM, MERAT. COM. NAMES.— ELECAMPANE, SCABWORT, (GBR.) ALANT, (FR.) AUNEB. TINCTURE OF THE FRESH ROOT OF INULA HELENIUM, L. Description. — This strikingly beautiful perennial attains a height of from 3 to 6 feet. Root thick, mucilaginous, more or less tap-shaped, about 6 inches long, and I to 2 inches thick in the largest part, having a curled furrow commencing about an inch from the stem end, and running nearly to the tip ; somewhat branch- ing, the branches generally longer than the main root, but not so thick. The bark is rough, laminated or flakey, showing upon section a thickness of from one- sixteenth to one-eighth of an inch. The inner portion is radiate with numerous bundles of fibres, and dotted generally with yellowish resin-cells. Stem erect, stout, rounded, downy above, branching? near the top. Leaven alternate, large, sometimes reaching a length of 18 inches and a breadth of from 4 to 6 inches; those near the root are ovate, petioled, the others sessile partly clasping ; all green above, and whitish downy beneath. Peduncles of the flower-heads are given off from the axils of the upper leaves, they are long, thick, sometimes furnished with a pair of small leaves midway in their length ; such are the so-called branches, and bear usually more than one flower-head on separate pedicles. Involucre dense, woolly, the outer scales broadly ovate, sometimes leaf-like, the inner becoming at length linear. Flaiver-hcads large, solitary or corymbose, all at or near the sum- mit of the plant ; the somewhat convex, naked, flat receptacles measuring about i inch in diameter. The heads are many-flowered, the ray-florets numerous and arranged generally in a single series, pistillate, but often infertile; the rays ligu- late, unequally three-notched at the tip, and generally clasping the pistil forming a tube. Disk-florets many, tubular, perfect, the tube 5 toothed or lobed. Stamens five, inserted on the corolla, their Anthers syngenesious, with two serrate tails at the base. Ovary oblong ; Style 2-cleft at the apex. Achenia terete or 4-sided, the sides smooth ; pappus simple, composed of bristly hairs. A general descrip- tion of the Compositae will be found under Eupatorium purpureum. * Inula, a Latin classical name for this plant, probably a contraction of the word Helenii'M, fJ.^ci'O", which was ap- plied to the same species. Medieval, Enui A. f Ante-Linnaean name Enula Campana, from which Elecampane. 81-2 History and Habitat. — Inula was one of the most famous of ancient medi- cines, and continued in vogue in tiie old school until very recent times. It owed the reputation it gained to its sdmulant qualities. As far back as the Hippocratic writino-s, it is stated to be a stimulant to the brain, the stomach, the kidneys, and the uterus. This plant is a native of Southern England, now thoroughly naturalized in Europe and our country. It grows here spontaneously in the Northern States, in damp places along road-sides, the borders of gardens and about the ruins of old buildino-s. It flowers in July and August, and is a strikingly beautiful plant, reminding one forcibly of its near relative, the sunflower. Inula is simply mentioned in the U. S. Ph. The Eclectic officinal preparations are : Dccoctiim Helctiii, and Extractum Helejiii Alcoholicuni. Inula is also one of the components of Synipus Aralice Conipositus. PART USED AND PREPARATION. — The fresh roots gathered in autumn (those of the second year's growth in preference, as the older ones are too woody) are chopped and pounded to a pulp and weighed. Then two parts by weight of alcohol are taken, and having mixed the pulp thoroughly with one-sixth part of it, the rest of the alcohol is added ; after having stirred the whole well, and poured it into a well-stoppered bottle, it is allowed to stand eight days in a dark, cool place. The tincture is then separated by decanting, straining and filtering. Thus prepared it is, by transmitted light, of a clear amber color, has a decided bitter and astringent taste, and an acid reaction to litmus. CHEMIOAL CONSTITUENTS. — Inulin,* Q H,o O,,. This amylose principle is found in the plants of many genera of the order Compositse ; but as it occurs in greater percentage in this genus, I describe it here. It will be noticed that this substance has the same composition as starch, still, though it takes the place of that body in the roots of this order of plants, it acts in many ways entirely different ; for instance, it dissolves readily in hot water, but forms a clear solution, not an opaline pasty mass, its reaction with a solution of iodine gives a brown, not a blue color. It does not form in the plant as granular shell-like bodies as does starch, but is in solution in the plant juice. Inulin may be thrown down from its watery solution by alcohol, forming thus globular masses of white needle-like crystals, called in the dried plant " Sphsero-crystals." Upon boiling this substance with a dilute acid, it is rapidly converted into levulose, but not at lower temperature. It is considered by Kiliani to be an anhydride of levulose. Elecampane Camphor, formerly called Helinin, was given the composition C,6 H,a 0,0. Kallen succeeded in resolving it into two crystallizable bodies which he describes as follows : Helinin, Q H3 O, a principle devoid of odor or taste, crystallizing in needles and fusing at 230°F., and Alant-Camphor, (Inulol, Inuloid, Elecampane-camphor), C,<,H,f,0, not sup- posed to be a pure substance ; it has an odor and taste resembling peppermint, and fuses at 147.2° F. iyEt supra, Wittstein.) *Alantin, Menyanthin, Klecampin, Dahlin, Datiscin. 81-3 Synanthrose, C,, H,, O,,. — This saccharose body occurs accordinj^ to Schor- Icmnier in tlie tubers of Inula and other Composita-. It is a non-crystaHine powder, liyht, deliquescent, anil liaviny no sweet taste. Inulic Acid. — Exists in larger quantities than inulol ; it is probably the an- hydride of some acid peculiar to this plant. Resin. — A brown, bitter, nauseous acrid body, aromatic when warm, soluble in alcohol and ether; wa.x, gum, salts of K, Ca, and Mg', and a trace of volatile oil have also been determined. PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION.— Inula has been held to be a stimulant to the secretory organs, but the efl'ects produced — according to Fischer-' — in those who partook of the juice of the root, show the opposite effect! His scheme of promi- nent symptoms is as follows : Confusion of the head, with nausea and vertigo on stooping; burning of the eyeballs; dryness of the mouth and throat; increased peristaltic action of the intestines, with griping or tensive pain ; dragging in the rectum and female genitalia; much urging to urinate, with scanty results ; severe pain in the lumbar region, with sleeplessness and coldness. The more minute action of the drug seems to fully carry out the above, which shows Inula to be anything but diaphoretic, diuretic, or expectorant in a physiological sense. Description of Plate 8i. I. Wliole iiUmt five times reduced, from Waverly, N. Y., August nth, 1880. 2. Flower-head. 3. Disk flower (enlarged). 4. Stamen (enlarged). 5. Ray-floret (enlarged). 6. Section of the root. 7. Seed. * Vide Allen, " Encyc. Mat. Med.," Vol. V, p. 113. 82, M ^m.adnatdel.etpinxt AMBROSIA ARTEMISIAEFOLIA , Linn. N. ORD.-COMPOSIT/E. 82 Tribe.-SENECIONIDE/E. GENUS— AMBROSIA,* lOURN. SEX. SVST.— MOXdXIA I'ENTAN'DKIA. AMBROSIA ARTEMISI^FOLIA RAG-Vi^EED. SYN.— AMBROSIA ARTIMISI^FOLIA, LINN.; A. BLATIOR, LINN.; A. ABSYNTHIFOLIA AND PANICULATA, MICHX.; A. HETEROPHYLLA, MUHL.; IVA MONOPHYLLA, WALT. COM. NAMES.— RAG-'WBED, ROMAN WORMWOOD, CARROT- WEED, WILD OR BASTARD WORMWOOD, HOG -WEED, CONOT-WBED, BITTER- WEED; (PR.) AMBROSIB; (GER.l TRAUBBNKRAUT. A TINCTURE OF THE WHOLE HERB AMBROSIA AR TEMISI.^FOLIA, LINN. Description. — This annual, pubescent or hirsute weedy-herb, attains a growth of from I to 3 feet. Stem erect, at first simple, then paniculately branched. Leaves opposite and alternate, thinnish, bipinnatifid, or pinnatifidly parted, those of the inflorescence often entire, all smooth above and pale or hoary beneath ; divisions irregularly pinnatifid or entire. Floivers unisexual on the same plant. Stenlc heads numerous, gamophyllous, arranged in centripetal, racemose spikes, all more or less recurved-pedicelled and not subtended by bracts; invohca-e truncate, sau- cer-shape or campanulate, not costate but indistinctly radiate veined ; border irreg- ularly 4 to 6 toothed ; corolla obconical, the border 5-toothed ; stame/is 5 \ filajnents short; anthers deltoid, slightly united, their short appendages inflexed ; abortive style columnar, the apex dilated and penicillate, strongly exserted. Fertile heads I to 3, apetalous, glomerate in the axils of the upper leaves and below the male spikes; involucre oi^&n, nudet-like; corolla reduced to a ring around the base of the style ; style bilamellar, exserted. Aketies turgid-ovoid, triangularly compressed, short-beaked, and crowned with from 4 to 6 short teeth or spines ; pappus wanting. History and Habitat. — This too-common, truly American weed, is indigenous from Nova Scotia to Saskatchewan, Washington Territory, and southward to Bra- zil. It habits waste fields, roadsides, and dry places, and blossoms from the latter part of July to October. The former uses of this plant were but slight, its principal use being as an antiseptic emollient fomentation ; its bitterness caused its use in Maryland as a substitute for quinine, but not successfully. J A. Zabriskie, of Closter, N. J., * 'Ajipporrm, aiiil/rosia, ihe fooil of the goils ; tlie {jods know why I 82-2 claims it to be a successful application to the poisonous effects of Rhus if rubbed upon the inflamed parts until they are discolored by its juice.* Being- very astrin- gent, it has also been used to check discharges from mucous surfaces, such as mercurial ptyalism, leucorrhoea, gonorrhoea, and especially in septic forms of diar- rhoea, dysentery, and enteritis. It lays some claim also to being stimulant and tonic, and is recognized in the Mexican Pharmacopoeia as an emmenagogue, feb- rifuge, and anthelmintic. Of late years much attention has been called to the species of this genus, especially this and A. trijida, as being, through their pollen, the cause of hay fever, many people affected with this troublesome disorder laying the charge direct ; certain it is that when the pollenation of the plant is begun the disorder generally commences in those subject to it, and only ceases when the plants are out of flower, unless the patient is able to sojourn to mountain heights out of the limit of their growth. We have had the pleasure of curing two patients of this disease, both of whom had asthmatic symptoms at the height of the trouble, with drop doses of the tincture ires in dies. PART USED AND PREPARATION. — The whole fresh plant, when in the height of its sexual season, should be carefully gathered to retain all the pollen possible, and macerated for fourteen days in twice its weight of absolute alcohol, being kept in a dark, cool place, well corked, and shaken twice a day. The tinc- ture thus prepared should, after pressing, straining, and filtering, have a clear orange-red color by transmitted light; an odor like chocolate; a similar taste, followed by bitterness ; and an acid reaction. CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS. — This plant has not yet been investigated as to its specific chemical nature ; Tannin, and an essential oil, itself uninvestigated, being all we possess of knowledge in this direction. PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION. — Ambrosia appears to have a decided irritant action upon mucous membranes, not only by its pollen directly applied, but also upon its ingestion in infusion and tincture. The plant certainly deserves thorough and extended experimentation. Description of Plate 82. I. Whole young plant, Binghaniton, N. Y., Aug. 15th, 1886. 2. A leaf. 3. Male involucre. 4. Face of same, showing sterile flowers. 5. Sterile flower. 6. Sterile style. 7. Stamen. 8. Anther. 9. Female flower. TO. Fruit. II. Horizontal section of akene. (3-1 1 enlarged.) * New Rem., 1879, 239. 83. \i^ i^^ (itll. ad nat.dei.et.pinxt. HELIANTHUS ANNUUS. Linn. N. ORD.-COMPOSIT^. 83 Tribe.-SENECIONIDE/E. GENUS.— H ELIANTHUS," LINN. SKX SVST.— SVNCK.XKSl.V rkUS IR.VN'K.V. HELIANTHUS. SUNFLOWER. SYN.— HELIANTHUS ANNUUS, LINN. COM. NAMES.— SUNFLOWER; (GER.) SONNENBLUME ; (PR.) LE TOURNE- SOL. TL\C rURE OF THE RIPE ACHENL\ OF HELL\NTHUS ANNUUS, LINN. Description. — This commonly cultivated plant, springing- from an annual root, attains a height of from 3 to 18 or more feet, and bears numerous large flower- heads on long peduncles. Stem erect, rounded and rough, bearing opposite leaves below and alternate ones above Z^^rr'^'.? petioled, broadly ovate or heart- shaped, from 5 to 10 inches long, and 4 to 8 inches broad, rough and conspicuously 3-ribbed. Pcdimcles long, gradually thickening into a funnel-form base at the involucre. Involucre composed of ovate aristate, hirsute scales, imbricated in several rows. Flozver-lieads many, nodding, bearing innumerable ray and many disk florets; they range from 6 to 12 inches in diameter with a flat or convex disk. Ray-florels numerous, ligulate and neutral. Disk-Jiorets, all perfect and fertile, with short 5-lobed tubes, decemneurate. Pollen grains ovate, beset with nume- rous rows of spines. Ovary i -celled ; style invested with stiff hairs ; stigma 2- branched, with subulate appendages. Achenia ovate-oblong or cuneiform, some- what quadrangularly compressed, without margins, each achenium bearing 2 ear- like chaffy scales, sometimes accompanied by an accessory pair, all of which fall away when the seed is ripe. A description of the natural order will be found under Eupatorium purpureum. History and Habital;. — The sunflower is one of the natives of trojjical America, that has become popular in cultivation in many countries, both on ac- count of its beautiful flowers, whose bright chrome rays, in their many modes of curling and refle.\ing in a circle about the handsome seal-brown disk, render it attractive as a garden ornament, as well as the many uses to which the seeds are put. From points where it is cultivated it often spreads about in many places by spontaneous growth, blossoming from July until August. The white central pith of the stalk contains nitre; this fact has led to its use as a diuretic, and recom- mended it also as a form of moxa. The leaves, when carefully cared for and * FJXio;, Ihe sun, o-'*j;, a flower. 83-2 successful!}' dried, have been used as a substitute for tobacco in cigars, the flavor of which is said to gready resemble that of mild Spanish tobacco. The seeds have been extensively used for fattening poultry; fowls eat of these greedily on account of their oily nature. How much a fact it may be that a growth of this plant about a dwelling protects the inhabitants against malarial influences is not yet proven, though strongly asserted by many. An infusion of the stems is claimed to be anti-malarial, and with some forms will probably prove such. A further proving of the tincture is greatly needed, as it would doubdess show an adaptability in this direction. Helianthus has no place in the U. S. Ph. In the Eclectic Materia Medica the infusion of the seeds is used as a mild expectorant, and the expressed oil as a diuretic. PART USED AND PREPARATION.— The ripe seeds. The seeds when ripe are of a dark purplish color, more or less 4-sided and 4-angled by com- pression; they are about half an inch in length by one-eighth in breadth. The husk is whitish internally and the kernel sweet, oily and edible. The tincture is made by coarsely powdering the ripe seeds, covering the mass with five parts by weight of dilute alcohol, and allowing it to remain at least eight days in a well- corked bottle, in a dark, cool place, being shaken twice a day. The tincture is then decanted, strained and filtered. Thus prepared it is by transmitted light a very pale straw-color, has no char- acteristic taste, and has an acid reaction to litmus-paper. CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS.— The analysis of this plant by Wittstein, in 1879, was made exclusive of the seeds, and has therefore no interest to us. The fruit contains by his analysis from twelve to twenty-four per cent, of fixed oil, hav- ing a light straw-color, mild taste, and watery consistence, its specific gravity being .926°. It becomes turbid at ordinary temperatures and solidifies at — 16°. Helianthic Acid. — C. H,, O^, in the form of a slighdy colored powder, has been extracted from the kernels; it is soluble both in water and alcohol. PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION.— Very litde or nothing is known of the physio- logical action of this plant, which would necessarily be slight. It causes dryness of the mucous membranes of the mouth, throat, and fauces, excites vomit- ing, heat and redness of the skin, and some slight inflammation of the cuticle. A thorough proving of the iv hole plant is gready to be desired, as without doubt another remedy would be found in it to add to our excellent list for intermittents. Description of Plate 83. I. Whole plant, seven times reduced, from a cultivated specimen. Binghamton, N. Y., Sept 8, 18S2. 2. Flower head. 3. Floweret (enlarged;. 4. Young seed. 5. Mature seed. 6. Scale of involucre. 7. Ray. 8. Pollen grain .\ 200. 84. If '%' ^m.ad % natdei.etpinxt. AnTHEMIS NOBILIS . Linn. V7 '\/J 8 P, N. ORD-COMPOSITyE. 84 Tribe.-SENECIONIDE/^. GENLS— ANTH EMIS,* LINN. SEX. SV.ST.— SVNGKNliSI.X SUPERKIA A. ANTHEMIS NOBILIS. homajX chamomile. SYN.— ANTHEMIS NOBILIS, LINN.; A. AUREA, D. C; CHAMOMILLA NO- BILIS, GODR.; CHAM^MELUM NOBILE, ALL.; ORMENIS NOBILIS, GAY. COM. NAMES.— TRUE CHAMOMILE, GARDEN CHAMOMILE,! CORN FEVER- FEW:; (FR.) CHAMOMILE ROMAINE ; (GBR.) ROMISCHE KAMILLBN. A TINCTURE OF THE WHOLE PLANT ANTHEMIS NOBILLS, LINN. Description — This low, aromatic perennial, seldom rises to any great heio-ht above the ground. Stems smooth or slightly pubescent, the sterile creeping, the fertile somewhat ascending ; branches numerous, hairy. Leaves alternate, sessile, pinnately bi- or tri-ternately compound, and dissected into filiform segments. Heads heterogamous, many-flowered, and rather large, terminal and solitary upon the branches ; peduncles long, pubescent ; hivolucre hemispherical, consisting of 2 or 3 rows of comparatively small, imbricated bracts, the outer successively shorter ; receptacle oblong, with blunt, chaffy bracts subtending most of the florets. Disk- florets numerous, yellow, bi-sexual; corolla tubular, slightly gibbous below, enlarged above to bell-shaped, and having a few oil glands upon its surface; limb 5-lobed; stamens 5: anthers tailless at the base; style slender, bifurcated. Ray-florets 15 to 20, white, fertile ; ligules 3-toothed at the apex ; style-branches stigmatic at their truncate, penicillate extremities. Akenes terete, glabrous, marked by 3 indistinct ridges upon their inner faces, the truncate summit naked ; pappus none, the persistent base of the corolla, however, appearing like a coronal body of that nature. History and Habitat. — This European immigrant has, as yet, spread but little in this country, it being only occasionally iound spontaneous near gardens, where it blossoms in July and August. On account of many species being nearly related to this one, and the ancient descriptions of so meagre a type, the history of this plant, which has, without doubt, been used as long as any other, is not traceable with an)- chance of correct- ness. In later times, however, it has been regarded important, by both physicians and the laity, and judged more active than Chamomilla, which it gready resembles * 'Av»,')ii$, anthemis, a Greek name for some allied plant, f Our Chamomilla i^ Matricaria Chamomilla, Linn. \ Ciarden Feverfew is Malricaria Parlhenium. 84-2 in its action. As a stomachic tonic and carminative, it has been found useful in atonic dyspepsia, gastro-intestinal irritation, intermittent and typhoid fevers, and colic, and is claimed to be an effectual preventive of incubus. A warm infusion acts as a prompt emetic, emptying the stomach without enervating the system. Fomentations of the steamed leaves make a kindly application in local pains, neuralgic, podagric, uterine, or abdominal. Hot infusions are sudorific and emmenagogue, but are very apt to cause profuse diarrhoea. The oil of the plant is considered anti-spasmodic, useful in hysteric complaints ; stimulant, and anti- flatulent ; and is often combined with purgative pills, to prevent griping. The flower-heads are official in the U. S. Ph. ; in the Eclectic Dispensatory the preparations are : Extractum AntJicmidis, Extractuni Anthcniidis Fliiidiint, Infjisuvi AntJicmidis, and Olctim Antliemidis ; it is also a component of I'inniu Synipliytii Com post in in . * PART USED AND PREPARATION. — The fresh-flowering plant is treated as directed for the root of Inula. f The tincture resulting has a light, brownish- orange color by transmitted light ; the pleasant, aromatic odor of the bruised plant ; a taste at first sourish and pine-apple-like, then bitter; and acid reaction. CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS. — From various analyses, this herb has been found to contain a volatile and fixed oil, a resin, tannin, and a bitter principle judged by Fliickiger to be a glucoside. Oil of Anthemis. — This volatile body has a bluish or greenish tint, becom- ing brownish or yellowish by age. It has a specific gravity of about 0.91, is com- posed principally of the angelates and valerates of butyl and amyl, and yields the following bodies : Angelicaldehydc, Q.\\f), and a hydrocarbon, Cj„Hj|,, having a lemonaceous odor, and boiling at 175° (347° F.). Angelic Acid, C.HgO.^. — According to the analysis of Fittig, this body, first discovered in Angelica Ai'changelica, exists in the oil of Anthemis, of which it constitutes nearly 30 per cent. It crystalizes in large, colorless prisms, having a peculiar aromatic odor, and an acid and burning taste. The crystals melt at 45° (113° F.), boil at 191° (375.8° F.), and are soluble in both water and alcohol. By heating this body, with hydriodic acid and phosphorus, to 200° (392° F.), it is con- verted into valerianic acid. Tighc Acid, C.HgO,. — This isomer of the above, and of Methylcrotonic Acid, was discovered in Croton Oil. It exists, according to E. Schmidt, in company with the above ; and it is more than possible that it is identical with it, its boiling point and that of its ethyl-ether being the same. (Fliick. and Han., Schorlemmer and Wittstein.) *Comfrey Root, Solomon's Seal, Helonias Root, Chamomile Flowers, Colombo Root, Gentian Root, Cardamom Seeds, Sassafras Bark, and Sherry Wine, t Page 81-2. 84-3 PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION. — According to the experiments made with the tincture by Dr. Berridge, Anthemis causes the following symptoms of disturbance : Pain and fullness in the head, lachrymation, rawness of the throat, a feeling of warmth in the stomach and desire for food, followed by qualmishness and nausea ; some abdominal pain, freeness of the bowels, increased urine ; higher heart's action, lassitude, and a general feeliny- of chilliness. Deslkiption of Plate 84. I. End of a fertile braiiLh, from an esca])ecl garden plant. 2. Ray-floret. 3. Disk-floret. 4. .Stamen. 5. Scales of receptacle. 6. Stigmas. 7. Acheniurn. 8 and 9. Longitudinal section of akene. (3-9 enlarged.) 8.") ^M5^ ^m. ad naldei.et pinxt. Achillea Millefolium, Linn. N. OKD -COMPOSIT/E. 85 Tribe.-SEHECIONIDE/E. GLNLS— ACH ILLEA,* IINN SEX. SVST.— SVNCENKSIA SUl'ERIl.UA. MILLEFOLIUM. YARRO W. SYN.— ACHILLEA, MILLEFOLIUM, LINN. ACHILLEA SETACEA, W. & KIT. COM. NAMES.— COMMON YARROW, MILFOIL, NOSEBLEED ; (FR.) MIL- LEFEUILLE; iGER.) SCHAFGARBE, SCHAFRIPPE. A TINC'TrRE OF THE FRESH PLANT ACHILLEA MUXEFOLIUM, LINN. Description. — This very common roadside herb rises to a height of from 6 to 20 inches, from a slender, creeping, perennial root, which, beside a multitude of filiform rootlets, gives off several long, reddish stolons. The stem is simple or nearly so, erect, slightly grooved and roughly hairy. Leaves alternate ; those from near the root wide-petioled, 2 to 6 inches long ; those of the stem proper, shorter, sessile or nearly so, and all in their general outline more or less lanceo- late oblong, twice pinnately parted, the divisions linear, crowded and 3 to 5 cleft. Peduncles 3 or more ; pedicels man)', forming small, crowded, flat-topped corymbs at the summit of the plant. Heads many-flowered, radiate. Involucre, of 2 to 3 imbricated rows of ovoid-oblong scales, with a prominent midrib and brownish, scarious edges. Rays 4 or 5, pistillate, with a short, obovate, refle.xed limb, more or less 3-lobed. Disk-Jiorets 8 to 12, bisexual. Calyx limb obsolete. Corolla tubular, the summit slightly inflated, 5-lobed, the lobes revolute, acute. Stamens 5, inserted upon the tube, and rising slightly above the face of the corolla. Anthers adnate, without tails at the base. Style long, upright, slender, rising above the anthers. Stig))ia 2-cleft, the divisions recurved and fringed at their tips. Receptacle small, usually flat and chaffy. Achenia oblong, flattenid. 86-3 violent tonic spasms, with dilated inipils, frequent and feeble pulse. Constant kneading on the stomach had produced partial emesis, and then ipecac, mustard, and large draughts of hot water, emptied the stomach. Two drachms of magne- sia were then given, and a full dose of acetate of morphine; consciousness then returned, no unfavorable symptoms iollowed, and, alter thirt)-six hours, with- out additional medication she was entirely restored. '•' A married woman aged 2S, accustomed to taking 5-drop doses without incon- venience, took from 15 to 20 drops. Shortly after, she complained of dizziness, agonizing pain in the head and burning in the stomach ; a sense of cold numbness crept over her limbs, increasing until it amounted almost to paralysis ; convulsions followed, during which she vomited twice, freely, and finally uttered a shriek and fell senseless to the floor. She continued in this comatose condition for over an hour, when, on again vomiting, she recovered consciousness.f A woman took half an ounce of the oil ; the most violent, rigid kind of clonic spasms occurred once in about twelve minutes, coming on generally and instantly, and continuing about one minute. They were attended with slight, if any mo- tion of the arms ; it might be called a trembling. The arms were peculiarly af- fected, and invariably in the same way; they were thrown out forward of, and at right angles with, the body ; the hands at the wrists bent at right angles, with the fore-arm supinated, the points of the fingers nearly in contact, the fingers straight and slightly bent at the metatarsophalangeal joints. The muscles of respiration were strongly affected during each paroxysm ; air was forced from the chest slowly but steadily, and made a slight hissing noise as it escaped from be- tween the patient's lips. During the intermission of spasm, the muscles were perfectly flexible, and the transition seemed very sudden. The jaws were the only exception to this rule ; they were, for the first hour and a quarter, rigidly closed, and were with difficulty opened, but after that were subjected to the same action as the rest of the body — when the spasms were on they were rigid ; when off, they were relaxed. After the patient grew weaker, the spasms were more frequent, but had about the same severity and length. Death ensued in two hours. J A young woman took two tablespoonfuls of the oil to procure abortion, after which, those who saw her related, that she suffered from symptoms much resem- bling apoplexy. Two weeks afterward, the vaginal walls of the labia were found inflamed to such extent that one of them resulted in an enormous abscess ; the sclerotic coat of the eye was also so congested that it had a dark purple, glassy appearance, and was so badly swollen that the cornea seemed to be depressed. § A girl aged 21 years, took 11 drachms of the oil to produce an abortion. Total unconsciousness soon followed ; at Intervals of 5 or 10 minutes the body was convulsed by strong spasms, in which the head was thrown back, the respira- tion suspended, the arms raised and kept rigidly extended, and the fingers con- tracted. After this state of rigidity had continued for about half a minute, it was * Dr. W. W. Bailey, in the S/. Lotiis Courier of Medicine, April, 1885. t A. D. Binkerd, M.D., AM. and Surg. Rep., 1870, 588. I C. T. Hildr.-dth, M.D., Med. Mag., 1834 (Am. J. of Med. Sci., 1S35, 256). \ E. M. Hale, M.D., West. Horn. Obs., 1S69, 345. 86-4 usually succeeded by tremulous motion often sufficient to shake the room, to- gether with very faint and very imperfect attempts at inspiration. The whole interval, from the commencement of the convulsion to the first full inspiration, varied from a minute to a minute and a half Respiration was hurried, labored, stertorous, and obstructed by an abundance of frothy mucus, which filled the air passages and was blown from between the lips in expiration ; the breath had a strong odor of Tansy. Occasionally the tongue was wounded by the teeth, and the saliva slightly tinged with blood. Immediately after a convulsion the counte- nance was very pallid and livid, from the suspension of respiration, and the pulse, which, during the spasm, was quite forcible, full and rapid, was now exceedingly reduced in strength and frequency. The pulse and color then gradually returned, until the next spasm came on. It was very common, a kw seconds after the ter- mination of a convulsion, for the head to be drawn slowly backward, and the eye- lids at the same time stretched wide open, at which times the eyes were very bril- liant; pupils of equal size, widely dilated, anci immovable; and the sclerotics injected. A little inward strabismus was noticeable, of the right eye, as was, also, occasionally slow, lateral, rolling motion of the eye-balls. The mouth and nose were at times drawn a little to the right side. In the intervals of the convulsions, the limbs were mostly relaxed, but the jaws remained clenched. The skin was warm, but not remarkable as to moisture. The victim died in three hours and a half* On Animals. — Dr. Ely Van DeVVarker records cases of the action of the oil upon dogs. In one case two drachms were given, causing salivation, vomiting, dilation of the pupils, muscular twitchings, followed by clonic spasms, and a cata- leptic condition from which the animal recovered. Recovery also followed a half ounce after the same class of symptoms, but, however, on repeating the dose, the already poisoned animal was plunged into a long and fatal convulsion Post- mortem examination disclosed the cerebral veins and spinal cord itself highly congested, and serous effusions had taken place in the pia mater. The lungs were found to be engorged, the left heart empty, and the right distended with dark, liquid blood. Congestion of the kidneys had also taken place, and the bladder was found contracted.f The safe maximum dose of the oil is indeterminable, a few drops only sometimes proving serious. The symptoms occurring in a number of cases of poisoning and experiments, were substantially as follows : Mental confusion, loss of consciousness ; vertigo, with cephalalgia ; at first contraction, then wide dilation, of the pupils, staring, immovable eye-balls ; ringing in the ears ; face congested ; roughness of the mouth and throat, difficult deglutition ; eructations, nausea, free vomiting, and burning of the stomach ; sharp colic pains in the abdomen ; diarrhoea ; constant desire to urinate — urine at first suppressed, then profuse ; respiration hurried and laborious ; pulse at first high, then very low and irregular ; numbness of * J. C. Dalton, Jr., M.D., Am. Jour. Med. .SV/., 1S52, p. ij6. t T/ie Detection of Criiiiinal .Abortion. 86-5 the extremities ; tonic and clonic spasms, and nervous tremblings ; drowsiness and cold sweat. Death appears to ensue from paralysis of the heart and luncs. Descrii'tion oi' Plate 86. I. Summit of an escaped [jlant, Binghamton, N. Y., July 21st, 1886. 2. A flower-head. 3. A flower-head, longitudinal section. 4. A floret. 5. Anther. (4 and 5 enlarged.) 87. .Ul.adnatdel.etpinxf. .j^ Artemisia Vulgaris, Linr N. ORD -COMPOSITE. 87 Thbe.-SENECIONIDE/E. GENUS. — A RT E M I S I A . SEX. SYST.— SV.\UEM:SI.\ SLI'KRILUA. ARTEMISIA VULGARIS MUGWORT. SYN.— ARTEMISIA VULGARIS, LINN.; A. HETBROPHYLLUS, NUTT. ; A. INDICA CANADENSIS. BESS. COM. NAMES.— MUGWORT; (FR.) COURONNE DB ST. JEAN; (GBR.) BI- FUSS. A TINCTURE OF THE ROOT OF ARTEMISIA VULGARIS, LINN. Description. — This perennial herb grows to a height of from 2 to 3 feet. Stem erect, furrowed, paniculately branched. Leaves mostly glabrous and green above, white-woolly beneath and on the branches, the lower laciniate, the median pinnatifid, the upper lanceolate to linear; diz'isions often cut-lobed or linear- lanceolate. Inflorescence glomerate, in open, leafy jjanicles ; heads numerous, small, ovoid, heterogamous ; floivers all fertile ; involucre mostly oblong, cam- panulate ; brads scarious, sparingly arachnoid, but mostly glabrate. Corolla smooth. Receptacle naked. Otherwise agreeing in minutiae of florets and sexual organs with the following species, p. 88. History and Habitat. — The Common Mugvvort is an immigrant from Europe in most of its situations here, but is considered apparently indigenous at Hudson's Bay by Prof. Gray. It is naturalized in Canada and the Atlantic States, where it frequents old fields and gardens, roadsides, and waste places, and flowers from September till October. Hippocrates very frequently mentions Artemisia as of use in promoting uter- ine evacuations. Dioscorides and Galen used it as a fomentation for amenorrh(x-a and hysteria — a practice then in vogue among the women of China. German physicians have urged the drug in epilepsy, but it has nevertheless fallen entirely into disrepute, being now very seldom, if ever, used in any disease. That torturous, barbaric practice, the use of the Moxa, is closely related to this plant, as it was one of the substances, in connection with ./. Cl/lnensis, used in the manufacture of that pastile. The Mexican Pharmacopceia is now, we believe, the only one recognizing this druor. 87-2 PART USED AND PREPARATION. — The fresh root is chopped and pounded to a pulp and weighed. Then two parts by weight of alcohol are taken, the pulp thoroughly mixed with one-sixth part of it, and the rest of the alcohol added. After thorough succussion, the whole is poured into a well-stoppered bottle, and allowed to stand eight days in a dark, cool place. The tincture thus prepared should, after straining and filtering, have a deep yellowish-brown color by trans- mitted light; a characteristic, uncomparable odor — that of the bruised leaves; an aromatic, slightly bitter taste ; and an acid reaction. CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS. — No analysis has, as far as we are able to ascertain, been made of this plant since Baierus found that by fermentation, dis- tillation, and mixture with water, a fragrant sapid liquor was obtained, with a thin fragrant oil upon the surface. PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION. — Mugwort is said to cause increase of epileptic spasms ; irritation of the nervous system ; profuse sweat, having a fetid, cadaver- ous odor, resembling garlic ; violent contractions of the uterus ; labor-like pains ; prolapsus and rupture of the uterus; miscarriage; metrorrhagia; and increase of lochial discharges.'^' Description of Plate 87. I. A portion of a panicle, from Salem, Mass., August loth, 1885. * Noak and Tvinks. F ^m. #1 %^ # ad naldei.et pinxt Artemi'sia Absinthium, Linn. m N. ORD-COMPOSIT^. 88 Tribe-SENECIONIDE/E. GENUS.— ARTEMISIA,* l.INN. SKX. SVST.— 1'OLVc;AMIA SUl'ERl'LUA. absinthium; ]] 'OEM WOOD. SYN.— ARTEMISIA ABSINTHIUM, LINN. ; ABSINTHIUM VULGARB, PARK.; A. OFFICINALE, LAM. COM. NAMES.— WORMWOOD ; (FR.) ABSINTHE; (GER. i WERMUTH. A TINCTURE OF THE LEAVES AND FLOWERS OF ARTEMISIA ABSINTHIUM, LINN. Description. — This bitter, aromatic, frutescent perennial, attains a growtli of 2 to 4 feet. Stem stiff, almost ligneous at the base and paniculately branched ; branches of two kinds, some fertile, others barren. Leaves alternate, 2 to 3 pin- nately parted, finely pubescent with close silky hairs, the uppermost lanceolate, entire ; leaflets oblong or lanceolate, obtuse and entire, sparingly toothed or incised. Inflorescence in long, leafy panicles ; heads numerous, small, heteroga- mous, on slender nodding pedicles ; invohicre canescent ; bracts of two kinds, i to 2 loose, narrow, herbaceous ones, and several that are roundish and scarious ; florets many, all discoid, the central hermaphrodite, the marginal pistillate. Corol- las tubular glabrous; Ihnb nearly entire in the marginal florets, 5-toothed, and spreading in the central. Style 2-cleft, in the marginal florets bilamellar, with the inner surfaces stigmatic, in the central bifurcated with only the tips stigmatose, fringed or fimbriate. Antheis tipped with an acuminate appendage, not inflexed. Receptacle flattish, beset with long woolly hairs; akenes obovoid or oblong; pappus none. History and Habitat. — This European synonym of bitterness has escaped from gardens in many places in North America, especially, however, in Nova Scotia, New England, and at Moose Factory, Hudson's Bay. It blossoms with us from the latter part of July to October. Wormwood has been used in medicine from ancient times. Dioscorides and Pliny considered it to be a stomachic tonic, and anthelmintic. Boerhaave, Linnjeus, Haller, and all of the earlier writers speak of its good effects in many disorders, such as, intermittents, hypochondriasis, gout, scurvy, calculus, and hepatic and splenic obstructions. Bergius, in recounting its virtues, says it is " antiputredi- nosa, antacida, anthelmintica, resolens, tonica, et stomachia." The famous " Port- * Artemisia, the Greek Diana, goddess of chastity, as the plant was thought to bring on early puberty. Pliny says the name is in honor of Artemisia, queen of Mausolus, king of Caria. t "Ai^ii'Sioi', apsinlhion, the classical name of many species of the genus. 88-2 land powder," once noted for its efficacy in gout, had this drug as its principal ingredient. A decoction has ever been found a most excellent application for wounds, bruises, and sprains, relieving the pain nicely in most cases ; every reader will recall "wormwood and vinegar" in this connection. Latterly it has been found diuretic, discutient, and antispasmodic in epilepsy. The bitterness of the herb is communicated to the milk of cows who may browse upon it, and also to mothers' milk if the drug be taken. Brewers are said to add the fruits to their hops to make the beer more heady ; and rectifiers also to their spirits. Absinthe forms one of the favorite drinks for those who love stimulating beverages ; it is compounded of various aromatics as follows: Green anise (Pimpinella anisi). Star anise (Illicum anisatum), Large absinth (Artemisia absinthium). Small absinth (Artemisia pontica), Coriander (Coriandum sativum), and Hyssop (Hyssopus officinalis); these are distilled to- gether until the distillate comes over reddish, then the following herbs and products are steeped in the distillate to color and flavor it: Peppermint (Mentha piperita). Balm (Melissa officinalis). Citron peel (Citrus medicus), and Liquorice root (Gly- cyrrhiza glabra). The leaves and tops of the plant are recognized in the U. S. Ph., and the officinal preparation is Vinum Aromalicwn:^ It is officinal in the Eclectic Materia Medica as Absinthiiic and Infusum Absynthii. PART USED AND PREPARATION.— The fresh young leaves and the blos- soms are treated as in the preceding species. The resulting tincture is opaque ; in thin layers it has a beautiful crimson color; its odor is terebinthic and pleasant ; its taste extremely and penetratingly bitter ; and its reaction acid. CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS.— ?Va^//^ Oil of Wormwood. This oil, isomeric with camphor, consists principally of absinthol, Cj^Hj^O. It is dark green, acrid, and bitter, retains the odor of the plant, boils at 205° (401° F.), has a sp. gr. of 0.973, 3-nd is soluble to almost any extent in alcohol. Absinthin, C^^H^gO^. — This bitter principle when first extracted forms in yel- low globules, which soon crystallize and become a bitter, neutral, inodorous, friable powder, fusing at 120° (248° F.) to 125° (257° F.). It is soluble in alcohol, slighdy also in water, and forms no sugar on decomposing with a mineral acid. Succinic Acid.f C^H^Oj. — This acid, together with citric and malic acids, exists in the leaves and fruit of the plant, from which it may be isolated in inodorous, moderately acid, klinorhombic prisms, that fuse at 180° (356° F.), boil at 235° (455° F.), and are soluble in alcohol and twenty-five parts water. Potassium Chloride, KCl. — This salt has been determined in the plant,J from which it may be isolated in yellowish cubes and octahedrons. * One part each of Lavender, Origanum, Peppermint, Rosemary, Sage, and Wormwood. t .A.bsynthic Acid of Braconnot. X Kunsmuller, Ann. de C/iim., vi, 35, from the ash; Claassen, Am. Jour. Sci., 1882, 323, from the extract. 88-3 Braconnot also determined a green and a bitter resin, albumen, starch, a tasteless nitrogenized body, a bitter nitrogenized body, and nitre.* PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION.— A druggist's clerk took about half an ounce of the oil ; he was found on the floor perfecdy insensible, convulsed, and foamino- at the mouth; shortly afterward the convulsions ceased, the patient remained insen- sible with the jaws locked, pupils dilated, pulse weak, and stomach retching. After causing free emesis and applying stimulants the man recovered, but could not remember how or when he had taken the drug. According to Dr. Legrand, the effects prominent in absinthe drinkers are : Derangement of the digestive organs, intense thirst, restlessness, vertigo, tingling in the ears, and illusions of sight and hearing. These are followed by tremblings in the arms, hands, and legs, numbness of the extremities, loss of muscular power, delirium, loss of intellect, general paral- ysis, and death. Dr. Magnan, who had a great number of absinthe drinkers under his care, and who performed many experiments with the liquor upon animals, states that peculiar epileptic attacks result, which he has called "absinthe epilepsy." f Post-Mortcni. — Great congestion of the cerbro-spinal vessels, of the meninges of the brain, extreme hyper^emia of the medulla oblongata, injection of the vessels of the cord, with suffusion of the cord itself The stomach, endocardium, and pericardium show small ecchymoses.J Description of Plate 88. I. End of a flowering branch, escaped at Binghamton, N. Y., Aug. loth, 1885. 2. A lower leaf. 3. Flower head. 4. Marginal floret. 5. Central floret. 6. Anther. 7. Style of central floret. C3-7 enlarged.) * Thomson, Organic Chem., 1838, 864. f Et supra, Taylor On Poisons, 1885, 652. X Jour, of Physiological Med., 9, 525; in Allen, Ency. Mat. Meii., loc. cit. 89. ^m. ad nat.dei.et pinxt. GnAPHAUUM POLYCEPHALUM, Michx. N. ORD-COMPOSIT^. 89 Tnbe.-SENECIONIDE/E. GENUS— GN APHALIUM,* LINN. SEX. SV.ST.— .SVNGENKSl.V .SI TKKl- l.l A. GNAPHALIUM. em^:blastta'G. SYN. — GNAPHALIUM POL YCEPH ALUM, MICHX. ; G. OBTUSIFOLIUM. LINN.; G. CONOIDEUM. LAM. COM. NAMES. — FRAGRANT EVERLASTING, LIFE EVERLASTING, OLD FIELD BALSAM, V^HITE BALSAM, INDIAN POSEY, CAT FOOT, SILVER LEAF, NONE-SO-PRETTY; (FR. i IMMORTELLE, LB COTONNIERE ; (GER.) IMMERSCHON RUHKRAUT. A riNCTURE OF THE WHOLE PL.'\NT GNAPHALIUM POLVCEPHALUM, MICHX. Description. — This persistent, annual herb, usually grows to a height of from I to 3 feet. Stem erect, terete, and floccose-woolly ; branches numerous at the summit, either glabrous or minutely viscid-pubescent when the wool is off. Leaves alternate, closely serrate or slightly amplexicaul, but never decurrent, somewhat aromatic, thinnish, all lanceolate or linear, narrowed at the base, and mucronately acute or acuminate at the tip, soon bare and green, or viscid-puberulent above ; mar otitis entire, often finely undulate. Inflorescoice in terminal -paniculate, or cymose, glomerules ; heads numerous, ovate-conoidal before expansion, then obo- vate, all discoid and heterogamous ; involucre woolly only at the base ; brads oblong, obtuse, thin, dull white, becoming somewhat rusty-colored, pluriserially- imbricate, without tips or appendages ; receptacle flat, chafifless, and bractless. Floiuers fertile throughout, arranged in several rows; corona filitorm-tubular, shorter than the style ; anthers with slender tails. Hermaphrodite flozoers, very few; styles two-cleft, the branches mostly truncate. Akcncs terete, lightly 3- to 4- nerved, smooth and glabrous ; pappus a single row of scabrous, capillary bristles, each free at the base and falling separately. History and Habitat. — This species is indigenous to North America, where it ranges from Florida and Texas northward to Canada and Wisconsin. It grows upon old fields and in quite open, dry woods, and blossoms from July to October. The Everlastings formed a part of aboriginal medication, and from there they descended to the white settlers, who, in conjunction with the more or less botanic physicians, used them about as follows : The herb, as a masticatory, has always been a popular remedy, on account of its astringent properties, in ulceration of the * Vii^aKov, gnaphalon, a lock of wool ; from the floccose appearance of any torn or broken end. 89-2 mouth and fauces, and for quinsy. A hot decoction proves pectoral and some- what anodyne, as well as sudorific in early stages of fevers. A cold infusion has been much used in diarrhoea, dysentery, and hemorrhage of the bowels, and is somewhat vermifugal ; it is also recommended in leucorrhoea. The fresh juice is considered anti-venereal. Hot fomentations of the herb have been used like Arnica, fur sprains and bruises, and form a good vulnerary for painful tumors and un- healthy ulcers. The dried flowers are recommended as a quieting filling for the pillows of consumptives. Of Antctmaria plantaginifolia. Hook. (Gnaphalium plantaginifolium, Linn.), Rafinesque says: "For a small fee, the Indians, who call this plant SiiijacJni,^''^ allow themselves to be bitten by a rattlesnake, and immediately cure themselves with this herb." Gnaphalium is not officinal in the U. S. Ph. ; in the Eclectic Dispensatory, the preparation recommended is : Infus^im Gitapkalii. PART USED AND PREPARATION. — The whole fresh plant, gathered when the flowers are still young, should be treated as directed for the root of Inula.* The resulting tincture should have a brownish-orange color by transmitted light; a pleasant, slightly balsamic odor ; a taste at first aromatic, then bitter ; and an acid reaction. CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS.— No analysis to determine the character of the bitter principle has been made. The herb contains a little resin, a volatile oil, a bitter principle, and tannin; and yields all its sensible qualities to both water and alcohol. PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION. — The symptoms following the ingestion of from 15 drops to a half ounce of the tincture, at the hands of Dr. Woodbury,-)- were essentially as follows : Slight abdominal griping, vomiting and purging; profuse diarrhoea, dark-colored offensive passages. Experiments with small doses of the triturated dry flowers and leaves, at the hands of Dr. Banks,J corroborated the above symptoms, though the result was less severe, and gave the following symp- toms beside : Giddiness, especially on rising ; dull, heavy expression of counte- nance ; diminished appetite; rumbling of flatus, increased urine; sexual excite- ment ; intense sciatic pain ; weakness, and languor. Description of Pl.^te 89. Summit of plant, Binghamton, N. Y., Aug. loth, 1886. 2. A leaf (from a plant gathered liy Chapman in Florida). •5. Outer ) , r ■ - \ scale of involucre. 4. inner ) 5. Floret. 6. Stigmas. 7. Seed. (3-7 enlarged.) Page 81-2. t Trans. Mass. Bom. So,: J TV. A. Jotii: Horn., 7, 3S3. 90. ^m.Bd nstdel.etpjnxt. ERECHTHItES HiERACIFOLIA.Rat. N. ORD. -COMPOSITE. 90 Tribe.-SENEGIONIDE/E. GENUS.— ERECHTHITES,* RAF. SE.\. SVST.— SVNCIENliSI.^ SLl'KKKI.l \ ERECHTHITES. FIRE WEED. SYN.— ERECHTHITES HIBRACIPOLIA, PREALTA, AND ELONGATA, RAF. ; SENECIO HIERACIFOLIUS, LINN.; CINERARIA CANADENSIS, WALT. COM. NAMES.— FIREWEED ; (FR.i HERBE DE FEU; (GBR.) FEUERKRAUT. A TINCTURK OF THE WHOLE PLANT ERFCHTHLrES HIKRACIFOLLA, RAF. Description. — This rank, glabrous, or slightly hairy annual, usually grows from I to 7 feet high. Skin stout, erect, virgate, sulcate, and leafy to the top. Leaves alternate, sessile, tender, and thin, all narrowly or broadly lanceolate and acute; margins sharply denticulate or somewhat pinnately incised ; bases oi the upper leaves somewhat auriculate and partly clasping. Inflorescence in a loose, terminal, corymbose panicle ; heads about one half inch long, cylindraceous, hetero- gamous, and discoid ; involucre a single row of erect, linear, acute scales ; bracteoles few, setaceous ; flowers numerous, white, or ochroleucous, the outer female, the inner hermaphrodite. Corollas 2\\ slender and tubular. Female florets : corolla- tube filiform, the limb slightly dilated, and 2- 4-toothed. Hermaplirodite flowers : corolla-tube filiform, the limb short, cyathiform, 4- 5-lobed. Anthers tailless. Style- branches narrow, tipped with a conical pubescence. Receptacle flat and naked. Pappus white and copious ; bristles soft, fine, and elongated. Akcnes oblong, somewhat striate, tapering at the end. History and Habitat. — This coarse, homely, indigenous weed ranges from Newfoundland and Canada southward to South America ; it grows in moist, open woods, upon enriched soil, and blossoms in July and September. Its vulgarism, Fireweed, is given it on account of its seeking newly-burned fallows, there growing in its greatest luxuriance. The whole plant is succulent, bitter, and somewhat acrid, and has been used by the laity principally as an emetic, alterative, cathartic, acrid tonic, and astringent, in various forms of eczema, muco-sanguineous diarrhoea, and hemorrhages. The oil, as well as the herb itself, has been found highly serviceable in piles and dys- entery. In the Eclectic Dispensatory, the preparations recommended for use are : Oleum Frechthiti and Infusum Freeh thiti. * Derived from the ancient name of some troublesome groundsel. 90-2 PART USED AND PREPARATION.— The whole fresh, flowering plant is treated as recommended for the next drug.* The resulting tincture has a clear, beautiful, reddish-orange color by trans- mitted light ; a sourish odor, resembling that of claret wine ; a taste at first sourish, then astringent and bitter; and an acid reaction. CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS. — In all probability, the principal virtues of the plant reside in its peculiar volatile oil, though no analysis to determine other bodies has been made. Oil of Ercchthites. — This fluid, transparent, yellowish oil, is obtained by dis- tilling the plant with water. It has a strong, fetid, peculiar, slighdy aromatic odor, and a bitterish, burning taste. Its sp. gr. is 0.927. It is soluble in both alcohol and ether. According to Beilstein, and Wiegand,t it consists, almost exclusively, of terpenes, boiling between 175° and 310° F. (79.5°-! 54.4°). PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION. — The symptoms of disturbance caused by doses of from 12 to 200 drops of the tincture, at the hands of T. J. Merryman,| were in substance as follows: Uneasiness approaching nausea; griping in the bowels, fol- lowed by three copious, yellow, mushy, fecal stools, followed again by constipation ; increased flow of urine, containing a large amount of mucus ; stimulation of the genital organs, followed by erections ; and pains in the extremities. Description of Plate 90. I. Summit of plant, Binghamton, N. Y., Aug. 27th, 1S86. 2. A middle leaf. 3. A floret. 4. Stamen. 5. Stigmas. 6. Fruit. 7. Akene. (3-7 enlarged.) * Senecio, page 91-2. \ Berichte, 1SS2, 2S54 ; Am. Jour. Phar., 18 S3, 372. + E. M. Hale, Trans. Horn. Med. Soc, N. )"., 1S68, 78. 91. ^.TU.adnatdeletpifixt^ " SeNECIO AUREUS Linn. N. ORD. COMPOSITE. Tribe.-SENECIONIDE/E. GKNUS.— SENECIO,* LINN. SEX. SVST.— SVNGENESIA SUl'KRl- I.L A. SENECIO. goldejy ragwort. SYN.— SENECIO AUREUS, LINN. ; SENECIO GRACILIS, PURSH. ; SENECIO FASTIGIATUS, ELL. COM. NAMES.— GOLDEN RAGWORT, GROUNDSEL, SQUAW-WEED, LIFE- ROOT, FALSE VALERIAN, GOLDEN SENECIO, FEMALE REGULA- TOR, FIREWEED,t UNKUM; (FR.) SENE9ON; (GER.) GOLDBNES KREUZKRAUT. A TINCTURE GF THE ENTIRE, FRESH, FLOWERING PLANT, SENECIO AUREUS, LLNN. Description. — This early spring perennial, usually attains a growth of about I or 2 feet. Root small, thin, horizontal ; rootlets numerous, slender. Stem usually free of woolliness at the flowering season, fJoccose woolly when young. Leaves alternate; radical leaves on long, slender petioles, blade mostly rounded and un- divided, base somewhat truncate or almost cordate, margin crenate, under surface pinkish-purple ; cauline leaves, lowermost similar to the root-leaves with the addi- tion of 2 or 3 lobelets opposite along the petiole, blade subcordate, crenate, pink- ish beneath ; middle leaves lyrately divided and passing gradually to laciniate- pinnatifid, bases semi-auriculate, clasping; superior leaves linear-lanceolate, lin- ear, sessile, and lastly bracteolate. Inflorescence numerous superior-axillary and finally corymbose, long-peduncled, ray-bearing heads ; heads radiate, many-flow- ered ; receptacle flat and naked. Ray florets 8—12, conspicuous, ovoid, pistillate. Disk florets numerous, perfect, tubular; corolla 5-lobed ; lobes revolute, obtuse. Involucre of a few lanceolate scales arranged m a single row ; pappus of man)-, soft, capillary bristles. 'Anthers tailless. Style bifurcated ; stigmas recurved. Akenes quite glabrous or only microscopically hairy on the angles, neither rostrate nor winged. Read description of the order, under Eupatorium purpureum, 78. History and Habitat. — The Golden Ragwort is common every.where, the primary form mostly in swampy spots and on the wet borders of streams. It flowers from May until June. Like many another of our partially-proven plants, the medical history is very superficial. Senecio has been found useful in Aboriginal medicine as an anti- * The old Latin name for the plant, from senex, an old man, on account of the hoary pappus. This large ami widely-distributed genus contains in North America 57 species and 15 varieties, all but 3 of which are indigenous; of the varieties, 6 belong to 5. aureus. t The true firewecd is Erechthiles hieiacifolia, Raf. (90). 91-2 hemorrhagic, abortivant and vulnerary. Later it has been recommended as a substitute for ergot, as an excellent drug to control pulmonary hemorrhage, gene- rally as a diuretic, pectoral, diaphoretic, tonic, and a substance to be thought of in various forms of uterine trouble. The plant has no place in the U. S. Ph. The officinal preparations in the Eclectic Materia Medica are ; Dccoctiini Senecii, Exti-actiiin Scnecii Fluidrtni, and Senecii Olco-resince. PART USED AND PREPARATION. — The entire, fresh, flowering plant, is chopped and pounded to a pulp and weighed. Then two parts by weight of alcohol are taken, the pulp mixed thoroughly with one-sixth part of it, and the rest of the alcohol added. After having stirred the whole, pour it into a well-stoppered bottle, and let it stand eight days in a dark, cool place. The tincture, separated from this mass by filtration, has a brownish-orange color by transmitted light, the peculiar odor of the bruised herb, a sweetish then slightly bitter taste, and a strong acid reaction. CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS. — Senecin, an arbitrary oleo-resin, of unknown constitution. No analysis of the plant has been made, as far as I can determine. Upon adding the tincture to water a decided deposit of resin takes place, and tincture of iron shows the presence of tannin, even in a mixture of four drops of the drug-tincture in a drachm of alcohol. PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION. — We have several provings of this drug, but its action is not determinable from them. Description of Plate 91. I. Whole plant, Ithaca, N. Y., May 24th, 1880. 2. Disk floret (enlarged). 3. Ray floret (enlarged). ^la.adnat.del.etpinxt LaPPA OFFICINALIS ,var. MaJOR, Gray. N. ORD -COMPOSITE. " 92 Tribe.-CYNARODE/E. GENUS.— ARCTIUM,* LINN. SEX. SYST.— SVNGIiNliSIA I'oLVG.VMlA vEQUALIS. LAPPA. BURDOCK. SYN.— ARCTIUM LAPPA, LINN.; A. MAJUS, SCHK. ; LAPPA OFFICINALIS, ALLIONI; L. MAJOR, G^RTN. ; L. OFFICINALIS, VAR. MAJOR, GRAY; BARDANA MAJOR, GBR. COM. NAMES.-COMMON BURDOCK, CLOTBUR; t BAT WEED ; (FR.) GLOU- TERON, BARDANE; (GER.) KLETTE. A TINCTURE OF THE FRESH ROOT OF ARCTIUM LAPPA, LINN. Description. — This coarse, rank, biennial emigrant, grows to a height of about 3 or 5 feet. Roo/ deep, sub-cylindrical, almost black externally and white widiin. Siciii stout; branches numerous, widely spreading. Leaves alternate, ample, orbicular-cordate, unarmed ; green and smooth above, whitish cottony beneath, all marked with prominent, crimson veins ; petioles stout, those of the lower leaves deeply channelled upon the upper side. Inflorescence somewhat cymose or clustered ; heads many flowered, homogamous, tubulifloral, herma- phrodite ; invohccre globular, strongly imbricate ; bracts all spreading, coriaceous, and nearly smooth, divided into three portions from below upward, viz. : base dilated appressed, with a ridge marking its outer median line, the edges some- what serrated ; ansta long, slender and smooth, the apex coverted into a strongly incurved hook of a horny consistence, sharp and transparent. Corolla pink, equally or somewhat unequally five-cleft; lobes long, narrow, and acute. Stamens exserted, united by their anthers (except the tips) into a purple tube enclosing the style; filaments smooth, distinct; anthers tailed at the base and furnished with an elon- gated, connate, cartilaginous apex. Style long, filiform, thickened at the apex where it bifurcates into partly distinct, slender, smooth branches without appen- dages, and stigmatic to the apex on the inner side. Receptacle flat or convex, densely setose. Akenes somewhat bony, inversely pyramidal, transversely wrin- kled, and attached by the very end of the pointed base ; pappus composed of numerous, short, rigid, barbellate bristles, which are finally separately deciduous. * ' \fKTOi, nrktos (Celtic arth), a bear, from a fancied resemblance in the rough, shaggy, fruiting heads, t Kaf^tXii, tabein, to lay hold of, Celtic llap, a hand, signifying the tenacious hold the burr takes upon fabrics an 1 the coats of animals. Ray says (//»/., 232; Syn., 196), Lappa dici potest vel qto r» \a^:iv prehendere vel Aajrrtii' lambere. X The clotburs are properly species of XaiUhium. 92-2 History and Habitat. — This common weed is indigenous to Europe and Asia, growing there as here — about roadsides and dwelhngs. Since its introduction into this country it has spread rapidly westward, its seeds being numerous and readily carried about by both man and animals. It flowers from June to October. The herb is so rank that man, the jackass, and caterpillar are the only animals that will eat of it. The young stems, stripped of their rind, may be eaten raw or boiled, as a salad with oil, or a potage with vinegar. (Withering.) The previous uses of this plant have been a decoction of the root in pulmo- nary catarrh, rheumatism, gout; and a depurant in scrofula, scurvy, venereal erup- tions, lepra, and kindred affections, in which it is even now considered better in many cases than sarsaparilla. It is also diuretic. The powdered seeds have been used as a diuretic, and application for the cure of styes. Woodville says* that he " never had an opportunity of observing the effects of the root, except as a diuretic, and in this way we have known it succeed in two dropsical cases, where other powerful medicines had been ineffectually used ; and as it neither excites nausea or increases irritation, it may occasionally deserve a trial where more active remedies are improper." The root is officinal in the U. S. Ph. ; in the Eclectic Materia Medica the following preparations are given : Infusum Arctii; Extractum Arctii; and Synipus Aralice Compositus:\ PART USED AND PREPARATION.— The fresh root gathered in Autumn, before the frost has touched the plant deeply, should be chopped and pounded to a pulp and weighed. Then two parts by weight of alcohol are taken, the pulp well mixed with one-sixth part of it, and the rest of the alcohol added. After the whole has been thoroughly stirred, pour it into a well-stoppered bottle and allow it to stand eight days in a dark, cool place. The tincture, separated from this mass by filtration, should be clear and trans- parent. It should have a slighly brownish-orange color by transmitted light, and an acid reaction. This tincture gives no odor or taste by which it may be identified. CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS.— Z^Z-Z/^r.— This peculiar bitter principle was discovered by Messrs. Trimble and Macfarland.J and judged by them an alkaloid, as it answered to several of the alkaloid tests. It is described as an amorphous, intensely bitter body, with a faintly alkaline reaction. Its solubility and peculiar physical properties are as yet uninvestigated ; it cannot, however, be soluble in cold alcohol to any great extent, as our tincture does not show its presence, at least to the taste. Oil of Lappa. § — This fixed oil exists in the seeds in the proportion of 15.4 per cent. It is yellow, bland, not soluble in cold alcohol, and has a sp. gr. of .930. * Med. Bot., i, 34. t Containing Aralia Spinosa and nud'icaiilis (loot), Sassafras (root bark), Runiex crispus (root), Burdock (root), Sambucus (flowers), Guaiacum (wood), and Iris (root). % Am. Jour. Phar., 1885, p. 127. \ Ibid. 92-3 Inu/in* tannin, a gummy extractive, nitrate of potash,-}- a resin soluble in water, and another in alcohol, have been determined. PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION. — The only symptom of importance so far recorded from the action of this drug, is an increased secretion of milky urine, with frequent desire and copious discharges. Description of Plate 92. I. A flowering branch, Binghamton, N. Y., August ist, 1884. 2. Floweret. 3 and 4. Bract 5. Seed 6. Bristle of Pappus. 7. A thoroughly dried horn, (2-7 enlarged.) * See under Inula Helenium, Si. f Loudon says that the mature green herb, when burnt, wiBl yield fully oce-thi-rd hs quantity of a pure, white, all line salt equal to the best potash. 93. f TU.adnat.deI.et pinxt. CiCHORIUM lNTYBUS,Linn. N. ORD -COMPOSITE. 93 S. ORD.-LIGULIFLORA. GENUS.— CICHORIUM,* TOURX. SEX. SVST.-SYNGENESIA rOLYGA.MI.\ .EQU.VLIS. CICHORIUM. CHICCOR Y. SYN.— CICHORIUM INTYBUS, LINN.; CICHORIUM SYLVESTRE GIVE OFFIC. BAUH. COM. NAMES.— WILD OR BLUB SUCCORY OR CHICCORY, WILD EN- DIVE; (FR.) CHICOREE SAUVAGE; (GER.) CICHORIE, WEGEWART. A TINCTURE OF THE FRESH ROOT OF CICHORIUM INTYBUS, L. Description. — This partially naturalized, branching, perennial herb, grows to a height of from 2 to 4 feet. Roof deep, more or less fusiform, woody, branching, and surcharged with milky juice. Stem bristly, hairy ; branches rigid and stout ; leaves alternate, those from the root runcinate, the lower stem leaves oblong-lan- ceolate, dentate, and partly clasping, those on the branches varying from auricu- late-lanceolate to mere bracts, hiflorescence axillary and terminal heads ; hearts 2 or 3 sessile, several-flowered, homogamous, or single and raised upon a hollow peduncle. Involucre double, the outer row composed of 5 short, spreading scales ; the inner of 8 or 10. Floivercts all ligulate and perfect; ligulcs 5-toothed, bright blue, becoming pinkish, then whitish, as the day advances. Slamens : filaments white, slender, and unconnected ; anthers deep blue. Stigmas 2, circinate, dark blue. Akenes turbinate, striate, angular, and glabrous ; p.ippiis composed of numerous short, chaffy scales, forming a sort of crown. History and Habitat. — This European emigrant grows cliiefly near the eastern coast, from whence it is spreading somewhat inland. It flowers through- out the months of July, August, and September. Its blossoms present a beau- tiful sight in early morning or on cloudy days, but fade and wither during bright sunshine. The principal previous use of this plant has been that of the root as an adulteration of, or substitute for, coffee. This use, it appears, originated with the Egyptians and Arabians, who also used the bleached leaves as a salad, the boiled or baked roots as pottage, and made a flour for bread from them when dried. Endive [Cichoriiwz Endkna), so much used in many countries as salad, was at one time thought to be merely a cultivated state of this species. The specific names Endivia and Intybus both appear to spring from the same Arabic word designating the herb, hcndibch. As regards the use of chiccory, Dickens says in his " Household Words : " " The great demand for chiccory has led to its very extensive cultivation in this country; considerable sums of money have been * The Latinized Arabian name Chickouryeh. 93-2 expended on the kilns and machinery required to prepare it for the markets, and a large amount of capital is profitably employed upon this branch of English agricul- ture. . . . The bleached leaves are sometimes used as a substitute for endive, and are commonly sold as an. early salad in the Netherlands. If the roots, after being taken up, be packed in sand in a dark cellar, with their crowns exposed, they will push out shoots, and provide through the winter a very delicate blanched salad, known in France as Barbe de Capucin. When chiccory is to be used for coffee the roots are partly dried, cut into thin slices, roasted and ground. The ground chiccory thus made is used by many poor upon the continent as a substitute for coffee by itself It has not, of course, the true coffee flavor, but it makes a rich and wholesome vegetable infusion of a dark color, with a bitterish, sweet taste, which would probably be preferred by a rude palate to the comparatively thin and weak, and at the same time not very palatable infusion of pure coffee of the second and third quality. By the combination of a little chiccory with coffee the flavor of the coffee is not destroyed, but there is added to the infusion a richness of flavor and a depth of color — a body — which renders it to many people much more welcome as a beverage than pure coffee purchased at the same price." In times of scarcity chic- cory certainly would make a better substitute than many other substances used, as, for instance, during- the war of the Rebellion, when — especially in the South — beans, peas, rye, sweet potatoes, corn, cotton seed, pea-nuts, etc., were utilized. The medical history of chiccory is of little value to us. A free use of the root and leaves produces, according to Lewis, a mild catharsis, rendering aid in jaundice and obstruction of the bowels. It has also been used as a diuretic and detergent in gravel, and a refrigerant in hectic fevers and agues.* PART USED AND PREPARATION._The fresh root, gathered while the plant is budding to blossom, is to be treated as in preceding drug. The resulting tincture has a clear orange color by transmitted light, an acid bitter taste, and acid reaction. CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS.— The activity of the plant, without doubt, lies wholly in its milk-juice, which has not yet been investigated. PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION.— We have no record of toxical effects of Cicho- rium ; its disturbance of the system is very slight, and that appears to be wholly confined to a slight increase of glandular secretions. Description of Plate 93. 1. Part of a flowering branch, Binghamton, N. Y.,t Sept. loth, 1SS4. 2. A portion of the main stem. 3. Floweret. 4. Akene. 5. Stigma. 6. Section of the root. 7. Pollen grain, x 150. (3-6 enlarged.) * Rafinesque, Med. Bof., II, p. 206. f Where it has escaped to the streets in many localities. ^la.adnat.del.etpinxt PrENANTHES SeRPENTARIA , Pupsh. N. ORD -COMPOSITE. 94 Tribe.-CICHORIACE/E. (iKNUS.— PREN ANTH ES,- \ AIl.l,. SEX. SVST.-SVNdKNKSI A Kf HAIIS. NAB ALUS. RATTLESNAKE ROOT. SYN.— PRENANTHES SERPENTARIA, PURSH. ; P. ALBA, VAR. SERPEN- TARIA, TORR.; P. GLAUCA, RAF. ; NABALUS ALBUS, VAR. SERPENTA- RIUS, GRAY; NABALUS SBRPBNTARIUS, HOOK.; N. TRILOBATUS, CASS, AND D. 0. ; N. KRAZERI, D. C. ; N. GLAUCUS, RAF. ; HARPALYCE SERPENTARIA, DON.; ESOPON GLAUCUM, RAF. COM. NAMES.— RATTLESNAKE ROOT, WHITE LETTUCE, LION'S FOOT, GALL-OF-THE-EARTH, DEWITT SNAKEROOT, DROP FLOWER, CAN- CER WEED; iFR.) LAITUE BLANC, PIED D'LEON; iGER.i WEISSER LATTICH. A TIXCIURE OF I'HK WHOLE PLANT PRENANTHES SERPENTARL\, PURSH. Description. — This variable perennial herb, grows to a height ot from i to 3 feet. Root very bitter, fusiform, thickened or more or less tuberous; stem stout, upright, glabrous or a little hirsute, sometimes purple-spotted or splashed. Leaves alternate, diversely variable, dilated, often decurrent upon the petiole, rather thin and pale beneath ; deeply sinuate-pinnitihed, or 3-parted, and the terminal lobe 3-cleft ; the margin a little rough-ciliate ; the caullne nearly all long, slender, petioled ; the upper more or less lanceolate ; the lower and radical truncate, cor- date, or hastate at the base. Inflorescence corymbosely thyrsoid-paniculate ; heads drooping, mostly glomerate at the summit of ascending or spreading Horal-branch- lets or peduncles, 8 to i 2 flowered; involucre cylindrical, green, rarely purplish- tinged ; scales 5 to 14, in a single row, with a few small bracdets at their base; receptacle naked. Floivcrs all perfect, pendulous, purplish, greenish-white or ochroleucous ; corolla ligulate ; style long and slender; stigmas much exserted. Akenes linear-oblong or terete, truncated, and finely serrate ; pappns sordid, straw- color, or whitish.f composed of rough capillary bristles. History and Habitat. — This botanically difficult species, assumes, in its mode of growth and shape of leaf, all the forms from P. alba to P. altissima, including two varieties {nana and barbata) ; hardly two plants in any one district being found with constant characters except, mayhap, those of the glomerules and pappus. Thus, now, /^. serpentaria includes in itself what were once considered * Vlfi\v<\i, prenes, drooping; o-vBt, anthe, flower. t As a shade of color cannot be absolutely kept through sever.il thousand copies in lithography, some of the plates may not represent the pappus correctly. 94-2 to be 17 distinct species and varieties; and affords an interminable field of work for a botanist of Rafinesquian tendencies. The Rattlesnake Root is indigenous to North America, where it ranges from New Brunswick and Canada, to Florida, being especially abundant northward. It habits the sterile soil of open grounds and hilly wood-borders, and blossoms in August and September. As Gall-of-the-Earth, it has been known in domestic practice irom an early date, and is said to be an excellent antidote to the bite of the rattlesnake and other poisonous serpents, — one who searches through the domestic literature of medi- cinal plants, wonders why the bite of snakes ever has a chance to prove fatal. — As an alexlteric, the milky juice of the plant is recommended to be taken inter- nally, while the leaves, steeped in water, are to be frequently applied to the wound ; or a decoction of the root is taken. A decoction of the root has been found useful in dysentery, anemic diarrhoea, and as a stomachic tonic. Prenanthes is officinal in none of the pharmacopoeias. PART USED AND PREPARATION. — The whole plant, gathered during the flowering season, is treated as directed under Lappa.* The resulting tincture has a beautiful deep-orange color by transmitted light ; an odor similar to that of the root; a bitter, astringent taste; and an acid reaction. CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS.— No analysis of this species has been made to determine a specific principle. An analysis of the root of P. alba — too nearly allied to this species — by Neri. B. \\' illiams.f showed the presence of resins, tannin, extractive, gum, and waxy matters. Description of Plate 94. Inflorescence, Binghamton, N. Y., Aug. 25th, icS86. 2. A lower leaf. 3. A portion of leaf-margin. 4. Flower. 5. Involucral scales. 6 and 7. Floret. (3-7 enlarged.) * I'age 92-2. t Thesis, Am. Jour. Phar., 1886, 117. 95. f Tn.a(lnat,iiel.etpinxt TARAXACUM DeNS - LeCNIS, Desf N. ORD. COMPOSITE. 95 Tribe.-CICHORACE/E. GENUS.— TARAXACUM,* HALLER. SEX. SVST.— SYNGENESI.V l'ULVc;.\.\II.\ .Kc^UALIS. TARAXACUM. DAJVDELIOJY. SYN.-TARAXACUM DBNS-LBONIS, DESF. ; TARAXACUM OFFICINALIS, WEBER; TARAXACUM VULGARE, SCHR. ; LEONTODON t TARAXA- CUM, LINN.; LEONTODON DENS-LEONIS, LAM.; LEONTODON VUL- GARE, LAM.; LEONTODON OFFICINALIS, WITH.; DENS-LEONIS, RAIL; HEDYPNOIS TARAXACUM, SCOP. COM. NAMES.— DANDELION,: PUFF-BALL ;>^ (ENG.) PISSABED; (FR.) DENT DE LION, PISSENLIT COMMUNE; (GER.) LOWENZAHN, PFAFFEN- ROHRLBIN. A TINCTURE OF THE FRESH ROOT OF TAR.\X.\CUM DENS-LEONIS, DESF. Description. — This vernal, tufted, perennial herb, springs from a vertical tap- shaped root, furnished with numerous short, thickened rootlets. Leaves radical, varying from spatulate to lanceolate, pinnatifid, runcinate, or irregularly dentate. Inflorescence several many-flowered heads, each raised upon a scape that elongates during and after anthesis ; scape slender, naked, cylindrical, fistulous, 6 to i8 inches long in fruit. Involucre double, the outer portion composed of numerous short scales ; the inner of a single row of linear, erect scales. Receptacle naked. Akenes terete, oblong, ribbed ; ribs roughened by numerous, ascending tubercles ; apex abruptly conical or pyramidal, prolonged into a slender, filiform beak ; pappus borne upon the summit of the beak, and composed of copious, soft, white, capillary bristles. Read description of the order, under Eupatorium purpureum, 78. BUstory and Habitat. — The Dandelion is a native of Greece, or, at least, of Europe and Asia Minor, and has become by introduction a common herb in fields, pastures, lawns and open grounds everywhere in this country, where it blossoms in early spring and fruits in the summer. The growth of this plant furnishes an instance of a beautifully provisional Nature. During the expansion of the flower,, the outer scales of the involucre reflex, after anthesis the inner row contracts until it covers the forming pappus ; then while the fruit is maturing the beaks gradually extend by growth and raise the pappus, until finally the inner involucre * Topii(7ff Pereira, /. c. " Procter, /. e. 99-4 in large doses is a decided narcotic poison, producing effects on animals generally, bearincr creat similitude to somewhat smaller doses of tobacco; and lobeli7ia in like manner to nicoiia. Its principal sphere of action seems to be upon the pneumogastric nerve, and it is to the organs supplied by this nerve that its toxic symptoms are mainly due, and its " physiological " cures of pertussis, spasmodic asthma, croup and gastralgia gained. Its second action in importance is that of causing general muscular relaxation, and under this it records its cures of stran- gulated hernia (by enemata), tetanic spasms, convulsions, hysteria, and, mayhap, hydrophobia. Its third action is upon mucous surfaces and secretory glands, increasing their secretions. The prominent symptoms of its action are : great dejection, exhaustion, and mental depression, even to insensibility and loss of consciousness ; nausea and vertigo ; contraction of the pupil ; profuse clammy salivation ; dryness and prick- ling in the throat ; pressure in the oesophagus with a sensation of vermicular motion, most strongly, however, in the larynx and epigastrium ; sensation as of a lump in the throat ; incessant and violent nausea, with pain, heat, and oppression of the respiratory tract ; vomiting, followed by great prostratiort ; violent and painful cardiac constriction ; griping and drawing abdominal pains ; increased urine, easily decomposing and depositing much uric acid ; violent racking parox- ysmal cough with ropy expectoration ; small, irregular, slow pulse ; general weak- ness and oppression, more marked in the thorax ; violent spasmodic pains, with paralytic feeling, especially in the left arm ; weariness of the limbs, with cramps in the gastrocnemii ; and sensation of chill and fever. Death is usually preceded by insensibility and convulsions. Post-mortein. — The stomach is found congested and filled with fluid, and the brain engorged with blood. Description of Plate 99. 1. Whole plant, Chemung, N. Y., September 9th, 1879. 2. Flower. 3. Fruit. 4. Seed natural size and magnified 100 diam. (2-3 enlarged.) 100 .TU.adnatdel.etiiinxt ArCTOSTAPHYLOS UVA-URSI,Spreng. N. ORD.-ERICACE^. 100 Tribe- ERICINt/E. GENUS— ARC TO STAPH Y LOS,* A DANS. SEX. .SVST.— LiECANDKI.V MOXOC;VM.\. UVA-URSI. BEARBEliRY SYN.— ARCTOSTAPHYLOS UVA-URSI, SPRENG. ; A. OFFICINALIS, WILLD. ; ARBUTUS UVA-URSI, LINN.; DAPHNIDOSTAPHYLIS FENDLERIANA, KLOT. COM. NAMES. — BEARBBRRY, MOUNTAIN BOX, RED BERRY, UPLAND CRANBERRY, BEAR'S GRAPE, RED-BERRIED TRAILING ARBUTUS, "WHORTLEBERRY, T HETH, UNIVERSE; (FR.) BUSSEROLLE, RAISIN D'OURS; (GER. I BARENTRAUBE. A TINCTURE OF THE LEAVES OF ARC TOSTAPHVLOS UVA-URSI. Description. — This peculiar boreal shrub i.s seldom erect except that it throws its young shoots upward for from 3 to 8 inches. Stems numerous, depressed or trailing; branches various, the sterile from 2 to 3 feet long and compactly leafy, the fertile shorter ; bark mahogany color, scaling off in irregular patches ; roots thick, ligneous, and creeping. Leaves alternate, coriaceous, thick, shining, and evergreen, turning mahogany color when aged, those of the erect branchlets more or less vertical, all oblong spatulate, entire, retuse, and tapering to a short-petioled base. Inflorescence in few-flowered, terminal clusters or racemes ; bracts and bract- eoles persistent, finally becoming rigid; floioers pale, rose-colored, drooping. Calyx reddish, persistent, free from the ovary; lobes 5, roundish. Corolla urceolate, pellu- cid at the base, deciduous; tiibe inflated, hairy inside, hypogynous ; lobes 5, short acute, recurved. Stamens 10, included; antJicrs large, upright, introrse, the cells opening by terminal pores and appendaged upon the dorsal surface by 2 reflexed awns. Ovary 4 to 10 celled; ovules solitary in each cell. Fruit a glabrous, de- pressed-globose berry or drupe, about the size of a pea ; pulp mealy and insipid ; nutlets 5, when the fruit is baccate, or united firmly into a 5-several celled stone when drupaceous; whether distinct or coherent, the nutlets are bony and i -nerved upon the dorsal surface. Ericaceae. — This chiefly boreal family is represented in North America by 34 genera, 135 species, and 32 recognized varieties, thus producing half the erica- ceous genera of the globe, but only one-eighth of the total number of species. The order is characterized as follows: The growth comprises trees, shrubs, and » 'Aprro,-, arktos, a bear; , Tannin. — This glucoside is generally considered to have the composition Cj^HjA, which proves it an anhydride of gallic acid, and its true name Digallic Acid.^ The difficulty of obtaining tannin pure renders its composition, however, somewhat doubtful ; when as pure as possible it results as a porous, greenish- yellow, friable mass, freely soluble in water, less so in alcohol, and insoluble in ether. The tannic acids, so called, are a group of bodies widely diffused through the vegetable kingdom, the species containing them usually lending a portion of * M. von Mering, Arch.f. d.gesam. Physiol. 1877, 276. \ Wittsteiii. || Trommsdorf. t Arctuvin, Quinhydrone, Hydroquinone, Hydrochinone. Gallic Acid. Water. Tannin. X Gmelin, Chem., xvi, 28. 1 (CjH.OJ, — H._,0 = C„H,„Oj. 100-6 their name to specify the body as found in them — (Gi^cc- tannic Acid, Oiiino- tannic Acid, Catec/in-tdLnmc Acid, AvV/i^-tannic Acid, etc.). With gelatine, these tannins form an insoluble compound ; and with ferric chloride they yield bluish- black or green precipitates. They combine readily with animal skin, giving it the property of resisting putrefaction, which forms part of the process called tanning. Resin, gum, pyrocatechin,''' extractive matters, and the usual plant constituents, are also found.-j- PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION. — .Should we prescribe on the palliative principle, and at the same time believe in disinfection by killing germs, I could hardly point to a drug more adapted to diseases of the kidneys, bladder, and urethra than arbutin, which is changed in the renal tract to hydrokinone, a sort of phenol, which is in itself a germicide, the arbutin being more or less innocuous and at the same time a diuretic ; it has, however, caused an eruption of the skin. J Uva-Ursi itself causes vomiting and purging, involuntary passage, bloody and green urine, and reduces the heart's action ; further than this little is known of its direct effects. Description of Plate ioo. 1. End of a flowering branch. 2. Fruiting branch, Salem, Mass., Nov. 22, 1886. 3. Leaf, under surface. 4. Flower. 5. Longij'i.linal section of flower. 6. Pistil. 7. Stamen, front and side view. 8. Drupe. 9. Pyrenas consolidated into a stone. 10. Transverse section of a pyrena. 12. Longitudinal section of a seed. 13. Horizontal section of a seed. 14. Section of ovary. 15. Se^-iarate p}rena. (4-15 enlarged.) * See page 40-2. f Further bibliography in this departmeiU: G:'ays Elei.ients ; Gmelin, Chein., xv, 419, xvi, 2S; Phar. your., 3, V, 401 ; Am. Jour. Pkar., xxvii, 334; 1S73, 197; 1886, 385; 1885, I .q ; Chem. Gaz., 1S53, 61 ; Wiltstein, Org. Cottslit. Plants ; .Scliorlemmev, Chem. Carb. Comp. % Lcwin, ibid. 101. Gm.ad nat.iiel.et pinxt EPIGAA REPENS,Linn. N. ORD-ERICACE/E. 101 Tnbe.-ANDROMEDE£. (lEXUS.— EPIG/E A,* LINN. SEX. SVST.— DECANURI.A. MtUNC" .\ NI.V. EPIGtEA. TRAIL IMG ARBUTUS. SYN.— EPIG^A REPENS, LINN. COM. NAMES.— TRAILING ARBUTUS, MAY FLOWER, GRAVEL PLANT, GRAVEL WEED, GROUND LAUREL, MOUNTAIN PINK, WINTER PINK. A TINCTURE OF THE FRESH PL.\NT EPIG.^A REPENS, LINN. Description. — This fragrant spring flower, blossoming amid the verdure of its previous year's growth is prostrate or trailing''' from a mass of perennial red-brown, fibrous 7^oots thickly beset with a tangle of rootlets ; the stem is rounded and conspicuously hairy, the bark and hairs having a rusty color. Leaves alternate, evergreen, reticulate, ovate-cordate and entire, from i to 2 inches long, and relatively one-half as wide, the edges and under surface rusty hairy. Inflorescence apical or axillary; \.\\q floToers spring from dry, scaly bracts, and have a delicate pink, a deep rose-color, or are in some cases white, and emit a fragrant, spicy aroma. Sepals 5, dr)-, nearly separate, ovate-lanceolate, acute. Coj-olla monopetalous, salver-form, with 5 ovate, spreading lobes, the tube hairy inside. Stamens 10, shorter than the corolla; filaments hairy at the base; anthers linear, opening longitudinally ; pollen of compound grains as in the preceding, but smaller. Ovary globular, depressed, 5-celled, many-seeded ; style slender, form- ing a zone about the minutely 5-lobed stigma. Capsule 5-lobed, 5-celled, 5-angled, many-seeded, inclosed in the persistent caly.x ; placentce large, 2-celled ; seeds ovate. History and Habitat. — Upon rich, damp, mossy banks throughout the central part of North America east of the Mississippi, under the shade and protection of low pines and hemlocks, in the early sunny days of spring, sometimes even peep- ing from under a snow-bank, appear the sweet-scented flowers of this much- sought-after little plant ; so closely do the prostrate spreading stems cling to and mingle with the mosses, to which they in their rusty hairiness bear great simili- tude, that one of its common names in some localities is Moss Beaicty. Epigsea flowers until ^^ay, and ripens its fruit in July. It is stated that in lithic acid gravel, and some forms of nephritis, cystitis and vesical catarrh, its use has often been of greater benefit than uva-ursi or buchu. * f ri, upon, yi'i, the earth. 101-2 Epigsea has no place in the U. S. Ph. In the Eclectic Materia Medica its officinal preparations are Extracium Epigecc Fluiduni, and Infiisiun Epigecr : it is also the principal component of Iiifusiim Epigecr Covipositiini, together with Eupatorium purpureum, Aralia hispida, and Radix althaea officinalis, this being one of their much used diuretics. PART USED AND PREPARATION. — The fresh leaves, or the whole plant gathered when budding to blossom, being chopped and pounded to a pulp and weighed, two parts by weight of alcohol are taken, the pulp mixed with one-sixth part of it, and the rest of the alcohol added. After thorough succussion the whole is poured into a well-stoppered bottle and allowed to stand for eight days in a dark, cool place. The tincture is then decanted, strained and filtered. Thus prepared it is opaque, showing in thin layers a deep brown color ; it has a pleasant woody taste, is slightly astringent, and of a decided acid reaction. CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS. — The three glucosides, 7irson, cricolin, and arbutin {vide Uva-ursi, loo). Formic acid and a body having properties similar to gallic acid have been determined in this plant. Tannic Acid. — The amount of this body existing in epigsea is given by Bowman as 3.5 per cent. Ericinol. — C,n H.^^O, a pale-yellow, aromatic oil, is also present. PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION. — Epigjea, so far as is determined at present, shows no important symptoms of physiological disturbance of the system. The provings are scanty ; the only one so far published was made upon myself and may be found in the "Horn. Physician," Oct., 1881, vol. i, No. 10, pp. 486-9. Description of Plate ioi. I. Flowering branch, from Waverly, N. Y. , Ajiril 3, 1880. 2. Flower showing calyx (enlarged). 3. Section of flower (enlarged). 4. Stamen (enlarged). 5. Pollen grains x 380. 102. J0/ (x lU.adnat.iJeletpinxt. GaULTHERIA PrOCUMBENS, Linn. N. ORD-ERICACE/E. 102 Tribe.-ANDROMEDE/E. GENUS.— G A U LT H E R I A ,' LINN. .^EX. SV.ST— DECANDRIA MONOGYNl.\. GAULTHERIA. WIJ^TERGREEJ^. SYN. — GAULTHERIA PROCUMBENS, LINN.; GAULTHERIA HUMILIS, SALISB.; GAULTIERA REPENS, RAF. COM. NAMES.— CREEPING WINTERGREEN, CHECKER BERRY, PAR- TRIDGE BERRY, BOX BERRY, SPICE BERRY, TEA BERRY, MOUN- TAIN TEA,t JERSEY TEA. GROUND HOLLY, AROMATIC WINTER- GREEN, GROUSE BERRY, DEW BERRY, RED BERRY. HILL BERRY, (FR.) THE du CANADA; (GER.) BERGTHEE. \ TINCTURE OF THE FRESH LEAVES OF GAULTHERL\ PROCUMBENS, LINN. Description. — This well-known perennial, spicy-aromatic evergreen grows, in its upright height, from 3 to 5 inches, the true sfon creeping, generally below the surface, and resembling a root. The flowering branches upright, stem-like, naked below and leaf)- at the top. Leaves alternate, upon very short petioles, obovate or oval, with a wedge-shaped base and very finely serrate edges ; thick, smooth and shining. Inflorescence axillary ; ftozcers usually single, sometimes more, upon nodding, two-bracted pedicels from the base of the upper petioles. Calyx five- lobed. Corolla inflated-cylindrical or pear-shaped, hairy within, with five small revolute teeth. Statneus ten, included within the tube of the corolla ; filaments flat, hairy, curving toward the style ; aiithers large, introrse, two-celled with two awns at the apex of each cell, opening by a terminal pore. Ovary smooth, five- lobed, five-celled, depressed, situated upon an hypogenous disk ; placenta axillary ; style simple, cylindrical, thick, longer than the stamens ; stigma blunt, apparendy endre, but in reality faintly marked into five lobes. Fruit a depressed, five-lobed, -celled and -valved, many-seeded pod, invested, when ripe, by the now thickened and fleshy calyx, thus forming a globose, bright red, edible berry, having a depres- sion at its apex, surrounded by crenations formed of the thickened calyx teeth. Seeds situated upon the axis, minute, very irregularly shaped, the average being rounded-triangular, with concave or convex surfaces ; testa light-yellow, with fine he.xagonal reticulations. A description of the Ericacece will be found under Uva- Ursi, 100. * Dedicated to Dr. Gaultier of Quebec. The orthography of whose name, after passing througli botanical works as "Gaulthier" and "Gautier." was finally settled by the records of Quebec, searched by I'rof. Brunct, as "Gaultier." (Gray \ t The leaves of this plant formed one of the subsliiutes for Thea Ckinemis during the Revolutionary War. 102-2 History and Habitat. — The wintergreen is indigenous to tlie eastern portion of the United States, growing from Maine to South Carolina, and westward to Central Kentucky, especially among the mountains in the shade of pines, flower- ing in July. The strange fruit hangs, and retains its bright color, until the next spring, then rots upon the pedicels or drops to the ground, thus allowing the escape of the seeds. The common names given to Gaultheria procimibens, C Jiiiiia- phila umbellata, and Mitchclla repens are very confusing, being interchanged in different sections of the country. The berries when fresh, and the young leaves, are very pleasant to the palate, being esteemed highly by many, and forming an article for sale by hucksters in some localities. They form, especially among the mountains of Pennsylvania, together with those of MitcJiella, the principal food of partridges, grouse and deer, in the late autumn months. Distillation of the oil of wintergreen, for use as a flavoring extract — to which its principal commercial value is due — is confined to men of limited means, in those districts where its growth is most abundant. The apparatus used is simple and movable, being shifted as the supply of leaves gives out. It consists usually of a copper whiskey-still. This is placed near some rivulet with a sufficient fall to keep the cooler filled. It is entirely invested by brick, with the exception of the cap, filled with leaves covered with water, and heated by an open fire beneath. The volatile oil, together with the steam, passes through the condensing" worm into the receiver, which is kept filled with water. The oil is collected by a separating funnel, placed in the bottom of the receiver, and the water used over and again to economize the product. The average yield is ten pounds from a ton of the leaves; greater in dry seasons. Most of the so-called oil of wintergreen is made from young birch trees {Betu/a lcnt(c), in a similar manner to the process described above. Mr. G. W. Kennedy decides'-' that there is but little variance between the oil of wintergreen and that of birch. This, as far as he determined after many tests, consists only in a slight difference in the boiling point. Gaultheria is only mentioned in the U. S. Ph., no officinal preparation being given. In the Eclectic Materia Medica it meets with the same lack of popularity. PART USED AND PREPARATION. — The fresh leaves, gathered in summer, are chopped and pounded to a pulp and weighed. Then two parts by weight of alcohol are taken, the pulp thoroughly mixed with one-sixth part of it and the rest of the alcohol added. The whole is then poured into a well-stoppered bottle and allowed to remain for eight days in a dark, cool place. The tincture is then sepa- rated by straining and filtering. Thus prepared, it is of a deep brownish red color by transmitting light through thin layers, or black and opaque when in quantity. It retains the pleasant odor of the plant. The taste peculiar to the plant is covered at first by its great astringency, but gradually becomes apparent as the natural condition of the tongue returns. Its acidity is marked. CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS.— The general constituents of this plant are the same as those described under Uva-Ursi, loo, viz., arbutin, urson, ericolin and tannin. * Am. Jo„r. r/mr., 18S2, p. 49. 102-3 Oil of Gaultheria. This body is a mixture of the volatile oil of the plant, salic)late of methyl, gaiiltherilene and uaulthc-ric acid, forminj^^ the heaviest of the known essential oils, its sp. gr. being i.i7,v Unless purified by macerating in animal charcoal, it has a reddish color, and boils at 200° (,^92° F. ). Gaultherilene, C.^H,;,. This hydrocarbon is one of the constituents ot the mixed oil. Gaultheric acid. Methyl-salicylic acitl, C^H^ ' ..' This methyl-ether of salicylic acid, is obtained from the oil of wintergreen through the agency of an alkali. It crystallizes in plates, melting at 98.5° (209.3° P.). It is isomeric with the next, from which it differs by being a strong acid.. Salicylate of methyl, QH^ ■! ^ COH ^'^'^ '^°*^'^ constitutes the principal part of the compound oil distilling over after the passage of the volatile body when the temperature is raised to 222° (431.6° F.). It exists as an oily liquid, possessing a very pleasant penetrating odor and a sweet, aromatic, refreshing laste. (Schorlemmer, Wittstein.) All of the above constituents are soluble in alcohol. PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION. — The following digest of the action of Gaulthe- ria is from Dr. T. J. Gallaher {A/e(/. Ex., 8, 347) and Drs. W. E. Townsend and Hooker [Rec. Boston Soc. Med. Imp.], the first from an -overdose of the oil, the last from large amounts of the essence : Stupidity, swelling of the tongue and very active inflammation of the stomach, attended with a highly morbid'desire for tood, with a painful tenderness in the epigastric region and violent retching and vomit- ing whenever anything entered the stomach ; slow, laborious breathing, with loud respiration, but no stertor; hot .skin, high pulse and restlessness. Description of Pl.^te 102. I. A branch in flower, Binghamton, N. Y., July 2i.st, 1883. 2. .\ fruiting branch in October. 3. Flower (enlarged). 4. Flower (section enlarged). ATU.adnaldel.etpinxt. KALMIA LaTIFOLIA, Linn f N. ORD. ERICACE^. 103 Thbe.-RHODORE/E. GENUS.— KALMIA,*LINX. SEX. SYST.— DECANDRIA MONOGYNIA. KALMIA. MOV Jf TALK LAUREL. SYN.— KALMIA LATIFOLIA, LINN.; CISTUS CHAM^RHODODENDROS, ETC., PLUK.; LEDUM FLORIBUS BULLATIS, ETC., TREW. COM. NAMES.— MOUNTAIN LAUREL, AMERICAN LAUREL, CALICO-BUSH, SPOONWOOD, BIG IVY, ROSE LAUREL, ROUND-LEAVED LAUREL, SHEEP-LAUREL,t LAMB-KILL,t WICKE ; (PR.) GRANDE KALMIE ; (GER.) GROSS KALMIE. A TINCTURE OF THE FRESH LEAVES OF KALMIA L.\TIFOLIA, LINN. Description. — This beautiful evergreen shrub attains a height of from 4 to 10 or more feet. Stem smooth; branches more or less terete, irregular, and tor- tuous. Leaves more or less scattered but tending to alternation, they are thick, coriaceous, glabrous, dark and shining green both sides ; in form they are elliptical or ovate-lanceolate, acute at both ends and entire, hifloresccnce simple or clus- tered, naked, umbel-like corymbs, terminal upon the branchlets ; pedicels long, arising from leaf-like bracts ; floivers clammy-pubescent. Calyx rotate, persistent, somewhat smaller than the fruit ; limb 5-parted ; teeth deltoid. Corolla somewhat hypocrateriform, infundibular, or campanulate ; furnished with 10 mamm:e, into the internal depressions of which the anthers are held until irritated; tube short; liTnb 5-lobed ; lobes semi-ovate, acute. Stamens 10; filaments smooth, filiform; anthers 2-celled, each opening by a large apical pore or chink. Ovary globose ; style terminal, filiform; stigma capitate. Fruit a globose, 5-celled, pubescent, coriaceous capsule ; seeds many, oblong ; testa thin and somewhat loose. History and Habitat.— The laurel bush is indigenous to North America, grow- ing from Canada and Maine southward and westward to Ohio, and on the moun- tains as far as Florida. Its large clusters of beautiful flowers, embosomed in the rich, dark green foliage so characteristic of the plant, is one of the most attractive points of beauty of our mountain woods in May and June. In southern Pennsyl- vania, on the Alleghanies, this shrub often attains the dimensions of a small tree, sometimes reaching as high as 30 feet. The wood when dry is hard and dense, somewhat like that of the box {Buxus), and is used for the manufacture of household implements, such as ladles, spoons, forks, etc.; for the handles of small tools, and for cog-wheels and the like. * Peter Kalm, a Swedish botanist and a pupil of Linna;us. f More properly names applied to IC. angustifolia. •103-2 The previous uses of this plant in medicine were of a very limited character. A decoction was used in domestic practice for various forms of tinea capitis, psora and herpes; also in secondary syphilis. It has been recommended in inflammatory fevers as a cardiac depressor ; its astringency was utilized also by the application of the drug in diarrhoeas and hemorrhages of the bowels. Kalmia is not officinal in the U. S. Ph. ; in the Eclectic Materia Medica its preparations are: Decoctum Kalmice ; Tinctiwa Kahnics ; and Syrupus Phytolacca Coviposiins'^ PART USED AND PREPARATION.— The fresh leaves, gathered while the plant is in blossom, are treated as in the preceding species. The tincture thus prepared is opaque ; in thin layers it has a deep brownish-orange color; it retains the peculiar odor of the bruised leaves, has an extremely astringent and somewhat bitter taste, leaves a slightly scalded sensation upon the tongue, and has a strong acid reaction. CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS.— A special active principle has not as yet been determined in this plant. The analyses of Bigelow.f Bullock, J and Kennedy,§ resulted in the determination oi Arl>utiti,\\ tannic acid.fj resin.fj fat.J gum,fj wax,| an acid body uninvestigated,^ extractive,! yellow coloring matter.J a mannite,J and the usual plant constituents. PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION.— Laurel leaves have always been deemed poi- sonous, especially by the Indians and the laity. Their action upon sheep, especially lambs, has given two of its vernacular names, Sheep-laurel and lamb-kill. Catesby says :^ " deer feed upon its green leaves with impunity ; yet when cattle and sheep, by severe winters deprived of better food, feed on the leaves of this plant, a great many of them die annually." And Kalm gives the following:** " The leaves are poison to some animals, and food lor others ; experience has taught the people, that when sheep eat of these leaves, they either die immediately, or fall very sick, and recover with great difficulty. The young and more tender sheep are killed by a small portion, but the older ones can bear a stronger dose. Yet this food will also prove mortal to them if they eat too much of it. The same noxious effect it shows in regard to calves, . . . they fall very sick, swell, foam at the mouth and can hardly stand. The sheep are most exposed to be tempted with these leaves in winter, . . . being greedy of all greens ; especially if snow still lies upon the ground. Horses, oxen, and cows, which have eaten them, have likewise been very ill after the meal." He farther adds that these leaves form a winter food for stags, and if killed during the time of feeding and the entrails given to dogs to eat, they " become quite stupid, and, as it were, intoxicated, and often fall so sick that they seem to be at the point of death ; but the people who have eaten the venison have not felt the least inconvenience." Dr. Bigelow states, as do other observers, that it is a common belief that the flesh * Phytolacca, Ampelopsis, Cimicifuga, and Kalmia. f Am. Med. Bot, ,vol. i, p. 136. + Am. Jour. P/iar., 1848, p. 264. § Am. your. Phar., 1S75. II Kennedy (see Uva Ur>i, loo). <[ Op. cit., p. 137. ** Travels in North Aineriea, vol. I, p. 335. 103-3 of the Partridg-e, after feeding upon the leaves and fruits, becomes of itself poi- sonous ; this Wilson the ornithologist denies on trial, though other observers declare it a fact. Dr. Bigelow judges that the illness caused in animals is due to the indigestibility of the plant ; other authors think that those persons made ill by eating the flesh of the partridge under the circumstances mentioned, are made so from a decomposed state of the meat. Beck* appears to deem the flesh poisonous from eating the berries as above. From the experience of nearly all persons who have experimented upon themselves with a tincture or decoction of the leaves, it is obvious that the effects produced on cattle after grazing on the leaves, and on persons eating of " poisoned " partridges, are due to the plant itself, not to indigestion or putrefaction. Dr. Bigelow's later observations,t agree in toto with our provings. He gives the following as its action : "The flesh of the bird impairs the functions of the brain and acts directly as a sedative poison, secondarily affecting the digestive and circulatory organs." The symptoms arising in those proving the drug are : Vertigo and headache ; almost complete loss of sight ; pale, somewhat livid coun- tenance ; salivation and difficult deglutition ; thirst, nausea and vomiting, with oppression and pressure in the region of the stomach; difficult respiration with great palpitation and fluttering of the heart, followed by an irregular, feeble, and slow pulse; weakness, weariness and pains in the limbs; coldness of the surface and great prostration. Description of Plate 103. I. End of flowering branch, Waverly, N. Y., June isth, 1880. 2. Flower. 3. Pistil. 4. Stamen. 5. Pollen X 200. (3 and 4 enlarged). Kalmia Angustifolia, Linn., seems from the experience of others to be the most poisonous species, its habitat is the same as that of K. latifolia. It may be the confusion of species that causes so much doubt upon the questions of toxi- cology. It is stated^ that a few drops of a saturated tincture of the plant caused the death of a rattlesnake when poured upon it. We cannot be certain that our preparations and those of the provers were made from K. latifolia alone ; therefore I append a differentiation for future reference in experimentation, judging that a thorough revision and re-proving of the two species separately, would be vastly important to us. KALMIA. K. I.ATIFDI.IA. K. ANGUSTIFOLIA. (Calico-bush, Mountain I.aurcl.) j (Shcep-laurel, I.anibkill.) Height 4 to 30 feet. | Height 2 to 4 feet. Leaves alternate or scattered, ov.itc-lanceolate or elliptical. Leaves opposite or in whorls of three, narrowly oblong, acute, bright, rich green both sides. obtuse, light green above, pale to whitish beneath. /«/?<)/«c^»<-^ terminal, clammy, pubescent; /?ojw« pink to Lnjlorescence lateral, slightly glandular; Jiotvers red, and nearly white. nearly two-thirds smaller. Fruit a depressed glandular capsule. Fruit a depressed smooth capsule, upon a recurved pedicel. * Medical Jurisprudence, p. 864. f Nearly 40 years after the publication of his Am. Med. Bol., quoted above. X Hy Dr. Barton. fm. 104.. ad nat.dei.et pinxt. ChIMAPHILA UMBElLATA.Nutt. N. ORD-ERICACE/E. 104 S. ORD.-PYROLE/E. GI:NL S— c H I M A PH I L A, I'URSH. SKX. SVST.— DElANDRIA MDNOCIVNIA. CHIMAPHILA. PIPSISSEWA. SYN.- -CHIMAPHILA UMBELLATA, NUTT., CHIMAPHILA CORYMBOSA, PURSH., PYROLA UMBELLATA, LINN., PYROLA FRUCTICANS, PARKINSON. COM. NAMES.-PIPSISSEWA, WINTERGREEN, PRINCE'S PINE, BITTER WINTERGREEN, GROUND HOLLY; (FR.) PYROLE OMBELLEE ; (GER.) DOLDENBLUTHIGES HARNKRAUT, ODER WINTBRGRUN. A TINCTURE OF THK FRESH PLANT CHIMAPHILA, Kri'HKR UMBELLATA OR MACULA TA, OR BOTH, AS THE PROVINGS HAVE BEEN MADE WITHOUT DISCRIMINATION. Description. — This small, sliohtly woody, nearly herbaceous evergreen pe- rennial, springs from a long, cylindrical, creeping, yellowish root, about one-eighth to one-quarter of an inch in diameter, giving off numerous fine rootlets, and sending up many branches, which terminate in leafy and flowering stems alter- nately. Stem simple, or sometimes branched at the base, 3 to 6 inches higji beiore the flowering season. Leaves mosdy in several imperfect whorls, or sometimes scattered about the upper portion of the stem ; they are dark green above, paler below, thick, shining, wedge-lanceolate, acute at the base, sharply saw-toothed, amaculate, short-petioled, and from one and a half to two inches long, by one- quarter to one-half an inch broad. Peduncle from 3 to 6 inches long, erect, smooth, terminating in from 4 to 7 pedicels covered with a very fine down, nodding in flower, erect in fruit, and forming a loose umbel or corymb. Calyx much smaller than the corolla ; sepals five, blunt, persistent, slighdy hairy. Corolla of ^v it petals rounded, concave and spreading. Stamens ten, free, inserted under the pistil ; filaments at first convex, obovate, fleshy, then concave, filiform and hairy; anthers large, extrorse in the bud but becoming inverted in flower, more or less conspicuously 2-horned, 4-celled, and opening by two pores ; pollen grains white, compounded of four more or less globose granules. Ovaries 5, connected about a fleshy receptacle in such a manner as to form a depressed globose mass, surrounded at its base by a glandular zone; ovules many, small, anatropous; style very short, rounded and wedge-shaped, the apex entering into the summit of the substance between the ovaries; stigma broad, convex, discoid, faintly marked by ^ X^i/ia, winter, ipiXiu, to love. -104-2 5 crenations. Pod depressed-globose, 5-lobed, 5-ce!led and 5-valved, loculicidal from the apex downward ; seeds innumerable, minute. Chimaphila Maculata, Pursh. — This species differs from the foregoing as follows; Peduncles from i to 5 flowered. Leaves ovate-lanceolate, obtuse at the base, the edges widely toothed, their upper surface white-maculate. A description of the natural order will be found under Arctostaphylos Uvaursi. History and Habitat. — This hardy little plant seeks the deep shaded portion of woodlands, where it flourishes best in the loamy formations of rotted leaves. It abounds throughout the central pordon of North America, the forests of Siberia and the Northern countries of Europe. It blossoms here in June and July, fruiting in September. It is used among the aborigines of this country as. a tonic and diuretic, as well as for rheumatic and scrofulous disorders, and latterly as an application to scrofulous and other open sores. Chimaphila is still retained in the U. S. Ph. as Extractum CJiiinaphilff Fliiidiiin. In the Eclectic Materia Medica its officinal preparation is Deeoetuni Cliimaphilce ; it is also a component of Syrupus Stillingier Compositus. PART USED AND PREPARATION. — The fresh plants while in flower are chopped and pounded to a pulp and weighed. Then two parts by weight of alcohol are taken, the pulp mixed thoroughly with one-sixth part of it, and the rest of the alcohol added. After stirring the whole well it is poured into a well- stoppered bottle and allowed to stand eight days in a dark, cool place. The tincture is then decanted, strained and filtered. Thus formed it is opaque ; thin layers have a deep, rich, reddish-brown color ; it is decidedly bitter, slightly astringent, and has an acid reaction to litmus. CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS. — The chemistry of this plant corresponds with that of Arctostaphylos Uva-ursi (vide Uva-ursi, plate 100), differing probably little except in also containing the following principle, determined by Fairbank : Chimaphilin. — On the aqueous distillation of the stems in a retort, a deposit of golden-yellow, odorless, tasteless crystals takes place upon the neck, the chemical nature of which has not yet been determined; their physical features are; a slight solubility in water, and a free solution in alcohol. The percentage of tannin in this plant is somewhat less than in Uva-ursi. PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION.— Here again Uva-ursi should be consulted. Chimaphila does not cause nausea and vomidng to the extent of Uva-ursi, while its diuretic action is greater. Its physiological action as such is undetermined. Description of Pl.i^te 104. 1. Whole plant in fruit. 2. Flowering stem, Binghamton, N. Y., June 26, 1S83. 3. Stamen (enlarged). 4. Fruit (enlarged). 5. Seed (enlarged). N. ORD -ERICACE^. 105 5. ORD.-MONOTROPE/E. GENUS.— MO NOT RO PA,* LINN. SEX. SYST.— DEC.A.NDRIA MONOGYNIA. MONOTROPA. IJVDIAJy PIPE. SYN.— MONOTROPA UNIFLORA, LINN.; MONOTROPA MORISONIANA, MICHX. ; MONOTROPA MORISONI, PERS. COM. NAMES. — INDIAN PIPE, TOBACCO PIPE, PIPE PLANT, CORPSE PLANT, ICE PLANT, BIRD'S NEST,t NEST PLANT, PIT-ROOT, CON- VULSION-ROOT, OVA-OVA; (GER.) EINBLUTHIGE MONOTROPA. A TINCTURE OF THE WHOLE FRESH PLANT MONOTROPA UNIFLORA, L. Description. — This strange waxy or bluish-white, fleshy, inodorous, semi-para- sitic herb, grows from 2 to 8 inches high. Rootlets very numerous, forming a ball of densely-matted fibres. Stems several from each clump of rootlets, simple, sub- cylindrical and smooth. Leaves, none ; their place supplied below by numerous small triangular scales, which gradually enlarge and become ovate-spatulate folia- ceous bracts toward the summit of the stem, where they pass into the inflorescence, composed of a single, terminal, declined flower, which becomes horizontal, then inclined as it performs its life-work, and rigidly erect in fruit. Flower slightly pubescent, entirely devoid of color except where the yellow anthers and flesh- colored pistil are disclosed. Sepals replaced by 2 to 5 bracteolate, irregular, lanceolate, caducous bodies ; petals 5, erect, gouge-shaped, saccate at the base, marcescent. Stamens 10, shorter than the petals, each alternating at the base with a short, recurved, nipple-like process of the base of die ovary ; filatnents awl- shaped, pubescent ; anthei's horizontal, reniform, becoming one-celled and opening by transverse chinks ; pollen simple, showing i to 2 translucent depressed spots.J Style columnar, short and thick ; stigma naked, discoid, obtusely 5-angled, with a funnel-form depression in the centre. Fruit an erect, ovoid, 8- to lo-grooved, 4- to 5-celled loculicidal pod ; place^itce large and sarcous ; seeds very numerous, minute, subulate ; testa loose, cellular, translucent. A description of the Ericaceee will be found under Uva Ursi 100. History and Habitat. — The Indian pipe grows in deep, rich, shady woods — especially those in which the beech abounds — from Florida to Mississippi, and thence northward, flowering in July in the North and from August to September in the South. This curious herb well deserves its name oi corpse plant, so like is it to * MoMij monos ; rpno^^ tropos ; one turn, from the facing of the flower. f More applical)le to Daucus carota, on account of the resemblance of the fruiting umbels to that structure. X The pollen of Monotropa uniflora bears a striking resemblance in this regard to that of PcndUularis Canadensis. 105-2 the general bluish waxy appearance of the dead ; then, too, it is cool and clammy to the touch, and rapidly decomposes and turns black even when carefully handled. The whole plant when wounded — especially, however, the floral envelope — emits a clear glutinous fluid. Attempts to preserve it in alcohol turn it a bluish-black, and tinge the preservative a deep reddish-violet hue, while the drying process turns it jet-black, leaving very little semblance to its natural appearance. The medical history of the plant begins with its use by the American Aborigines as an application in "sore eyes;" they valued a mixture of the juice with water highly as a soothing and often curative measure. Of this property Dr. Kunze* says in corroboration : " This is a drug very highly recommended^ for overcoming ner- vous irritability, epilepsy, chorea, etc., when used in large doses — inwardly, of course — and for ophthalmic as well as other inflammations of delicate mucous sur- faces outwardly applied, either in its fresh state or the preserved juice. I have myself used it very much in ordinary cases of inflamed eyes, both chronic and acute, and have never seen, or even before heard any evil effects following the most indiscriminate use.J Have applied it to the eyes of infants when only three days old, in Ophthalmia purulenta infantum, as well as in old age in every variety of so-called constitutions, and even where not successfully employed no ill effects have ever been observed thereafter." He farther on describes an incidental cure which is of interest botanically and medically : " Fourteen years ago — it was in the early part of July — I went woodcock-shooting with two friends, near Hackensack, N. J., and while taking some luncheon in a beech grove along the course of Saddle River, I found a large patch of ground literally covered with Monotropa uniflora in full bloom ; it covered a space some five feet wide by nine feet long, a beautiful sight of snow-white stems and nodding flowers. Being in need of some just then, I proceeded to fill my game-bag, and to the question, what it was used for, answered: 'Good for sore eyes;' little thinking that the party addressed was suffering from a chronic inflammation of the eye-lids, the edges of which had a very fiery-red appearance. No sooner said than he proceeded to take in his game-bag a supply also, and he made very good use of it, as I ascertained after- wards. His inflamed lids were entirely cured in four weeks' time, and he has had no further trouble since, by applying the fresh juice of the stems he obtained while it lasted." Dr. King mentions the drug§ as " tonic, nervine, sedative and antispas- modic." The former uses of the herb in spasms of children, epileptiform and chorea-like, gave it the popular names so characterizing it. Dr. Stewart claimed that the dried herb was an excellent substitute for opium, " easing pain, comfortino- the stomach, and causing sleep." In spasmodic affections the usual dose is a tea- spoonful of the dried root in powder; to this is often added the appropriate dose of valerian. No mention is made of this drug in the U. S. Ph., and no officinal preparation appears in the Eclectic Materia Medica. * Bot. Gaz., 1878, -Vol. iii, No. 6, pp 53, 54. f In King's Am. Disp., and Howard's Botanic Medicine. \ This clause he uses in discussing Mr. A. H. Young's case of poisoning, which I shall quote under the proper rubric. \ American Dispensatory, 18S0, p. 530. 105-3 PART USED AND PREPARATION.— The whole fresh flowering plant is treated as in the preceding drug. The resultant tincture has a brilliant orage-red color by transmitted light, a bitterish odor, a decidedly sweet taste, and a slightly acid reaction. CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS.— No analysis of this plant has, as far as I am able to determine, been made. The European species, also found here, Monotropa hypopitys, a tawny, many-flowered form, yields a volatile oil and Salicylate of Methyl.'' PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION. — The only account of poisoning by this plant is that of Mr. A. H. Young.-j- This case was discussed by Dr. R. E. Kunze, as before mentioned, who was of the opinion that in the gathering the young lady handled RJms toxicodcndro7i ; Mr. Young then again consulted the patientj and found that she was not susceptible to Rhus poison, and farther, that she had not personally gathered the plant, but met with her ill-fortune while examining it at home. As Mr. Young had the identical plant in his herbarium, he searched for rootlets of Rhus tox. clinging to the plant, but found none, and states it as his conviction that the case, though standing alone, is veritable. He says : " During the month of Sep- tember a young lady brought me a plant which she said had poisoned her, and she desired its name. With some surprise, and perhaps I should have had none after considering its fostering food and close resemblance to the Fungi, I found the plant to be Monotropa uniflora. The circumstances of the case are as follows : The young lady while examining the plant, accidentally crushed the stem, and some of the juice was driven upon her lips. The mucous portions which were somewhat chapped became very much irritated, and began to inflame and swell consider- ably, while in two or three places upon the epidermal skin of the lip small ulcerous sores were formed. The effect remained some four or five days and then gradually healed. The whole effect was very much like a mild case of poisoning with Rhus toxicodendron!' As we have no proving of this drug, we cannot as yet corroborate this case ; there is, however, no plant in our country that promises so good results from provings. Description of Plate 105. (. Whole plant, Binghamton, N. Y., July 21st, 1884. 2. Flower with petals removed. 3. Petal. 4 and 5. Anthers. 6. Pollen, X 300. 7. Pistil. 8. Bird's-eye view of stigma. 9. Longitudinal section of pistil. (2-9 enlarged.) * See Gaultheria, p. 102-3. t ^°'- G"') 1878, Vol. iii, No. 1, p. 37. % Ibid., No. 9, \>. "9. 106. 4 ^' .TU.idnatdel.etpinxl. Ilex VeRTICILLAtA, Gray. N. ORD.-AQUIFOLIACE^. 106 GENUS. — ILEX,* LINN. SEX. .'^VST.— HliX.WDKI.X MOX( H.VNI.V. PRINOS. BLACK ALDER. SYN.— ILEX VBRTICILLATA, GRAY; PRINOS VERTICILLATUS, LINN.; P. GRONOVII, MICHX. ; P. CONFERTUS, MCEN. COM. NAMES.— BLACK ALDER, FEVER BUSH, WINTERBERRY, VIRGINIAN WINTERBERRY ; (FR. i APALACHINE A FEUILLES DE PRUNIER ; f GBR. i VIRGINISCHE WINTERBEERE. A TINCTURE OF THE BARK AND FRUIT OF ILEX VERTICILLATA, GRAY. Description. — This upright or ascending, much-branched shrub, usually attains a growth of from 4 to 8 feet. Leaves thin and deciduous, not spiny, in form obovate, oval, or cuneate-lanceolate, acute at the apex and base, uncinately serrate, and downy upon the veins underneath; petioles about one-quarter the length of the blade. Inflorescetice dioecious; floicers all short peduncled, white, appearing with the leaves. Sterile floivers in small axillary umbels ; calyx-lobes ciliate ; petals mostly 4 to 6 ; stamens 6 to 7 ; ovary abortive. FeiHile flowers aggregated or solitary ; petals mostly 5 to 8 ; ovary conical, about 6-celled ; stigma 4- to 6-lobed. Fruit a globose, bright vermilion berry, about the size of a large pea, crowded upon the branches so as to appear whorled ; nutlets about 6, smooth and even, or dorsally furrowed or ridged. Embryo minute, nearly globose. Aquifoliaceae. — This small order, to which Prinos is but lightly wedded, and represented in North America by but 2 genera and 14 species, is characterized as follows: Shrubs or trees with their leaves simple, mostly alternate, and generally coriaceous and evergreen. Flozoers small, axillary, 4- to 8-merous, white or green- ish, often polygamous by abortion. Calyx minute, free from the ovary, 4- to 9-toothed. Stamens as many as the divisions of the corolla and alternate with them, the filaments attached to their very base ; anthers adnate, opening length- wise. Coi'olla hypogynous, rotate, or almost or quite 4- to 8-parted, imbricated in the bud. Ovary 4- to 8-celled ; ovules anatropous ; stin^mas 4 to 8 or united into i, nearly sessile. Fruit a baccate 4- to 8-seeded drupe ; seeds solitary in each cell, suspended ; embryo minute ; albumen fleshy. Our only other proven species in this order is the South American Mate, or Paraguay Tea {Ilex Paraguayensis, St. Hil.), the leaves of which are used like Chinese tea, and are considered slightly nervine, diaphoretic, and diuretic. In * The ancient nair.e of the holly oak. 106-2 general medicine the following species are more or less useful : The English Holly {Ilex aqui/oliiiiu, Linn.), and the American co-species, /. opaca. Ait., have been considered nearly equal to Peruvian Bark in intermittent fevers and jaundice. The Cassena of the American aborigines, /. Cassette, Linn., and /. Dahooti, Walt., are emetic, and enter into the ceremonies of the natives as holy plants, which the males only were allowed to use as purifiers of the body. The Carthaginian Myginda Uragoga, Swartz., is said to be a most powerful diuretic. The juice and leaves of the Indian Monetia Barleroides, Linn., are considered by Hindoo doctors to be anti-catarrhal and anti-asthmatic ; and the unripe fruit of the Brazilian Ilex macoucoua, Linn., are so rich in tannin as to be used as a substitute for galls. History and Habitat. — The Black Alder is common in thickets at the margins of pools and marshy places, from western Florida northward ; during its flower- ing season, in April and May, it is hardly distinguishable, to those who are not well acquainted with it, from the surrounding bush ; but when the autumnal frosts have deprived all vegetation of its leaves, then the fruiting plant stands out like a flaming spot in the dreary waste, striking, even to the most careless observer, in its beauty. This is another of the growing list of plants handed down to us by the aborigines, who used the bark both internally and e.xternally as a tonic, astrin- gent, and antiseptic, and is probably as well known to domestic practice as any indigenous shrub. In intermittent fever it has often proved as generally appli- cable as Peruvian Bark, and in such low typhoid forms associated with diarrhoea, and in later stages, where ulceration and hemorrhage are present, it is a very valuable agent. In general debilitated conditions of the system after long fevers, and where the body is depleted by exhausting discharges, it is also very useful, as well as in gangrenous affections and jaundice. Certain forms of chronic herpetic eruptions and ulcers are also benefited by its use as an external application. The berries are purgative and vermifuge, forming one of the pleasantest adjuvants in children's remedies, for the expulsion of lumbrici. Shoepf first noted the plant as having the above field of utility, and also mentioned its usefulness in anasarca. The bark is officinal in the U. S. Ph. ; in the Eclectic Dispensatory the prepa- ration recommended is DecoctiiDi Prinos. PART USED AND PREPARATION.— The fresh bark and fruit, gathered before the first autumnal frost, are chopped and pounded to a pulp and weighed. Then two parts by weight of alcohol are taken, the pulp thoroughly mixed with one-sixth part of it, and the rest of the alcohol added. The whole is then poured into a well-stoppered bottle, and allowed to stand eight days in a dark, cool place, being shaken thoroughly twice each day. After decanting, straining, and filtering, the resulting tincture has a greenish-brown color by transmitted light; an herba- ceous odor; a bitter taste, and an acid reaction. CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS. — Beside a bitter principle, the nature of which has not yet been determined, this species contains about 4.8 per cent, tannin ; a 106-3 resin soluble in alcohol, another insoluble in alcohol ; coloring-inatter ; albumen; gum, and sugar.* PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION. — The berries caused nausea, vomiting, and purging, in two children who ate of them, but whom I had no further chance to watch. In a case reportedf of the effects attending the ingestion of about twenty- five berries, the following symptoms supervened: Sensation of nausea in the stomach not amounting to real sickness nor interfering with the appetite ; vomit- ing of bile without retching; profuse evacuation of the bowels, consisting of their natural contents, diluted with an immense quantity of greenish liquid, attended -with no pain or uneasiness; another similar but less profuse evacuation followed in about half an hour, after which the patient felt remarkably well, but as though he had lost ten or twelve pounds in weight. Following this, his appetite and dio'estion seemed much better than usual. Description of Plate io6. I. End of a flowering branch, Binghamton, N. Y., May 5th, 18S6. 2. Under side of leaf-margin. 3. Flower. 4. Calyx. 5. Stamen. 6. Pistil. 7. Fruiting branch. 8. Nutlet. ( 2-6 and S enlarged.) Til.len analysis, Jour. Mat. Med., vol. i, \. S., 329. f ^oi^l- '^^ed. and Surg. Jour., 1S33, 3S3. ^f A .TQ..i(lnai(lel.etpinxt. Plantago Major, unn. N. ORD -PLANTAGINACE^. 107 GENUS.— PLANTAGO,* LINN. SEX. SVST.— TETRANDRIA MONOGVNIA. PLANTAGO. SYN.— PLANTAGO MAJOR, LINN.; PLANTA GOVULGARIS, GER.; Ap'^6rlionaov, DIOSCOR. COM. NAMES.— PLANTAIN, BROAD-LEAVED PLANTAIN, RIB-GRASS, RIB- WORT, WAY-BREAD (WAY-BRED); (FR.) PLANTAIN ORDINAIRE; (GER.) GROSSER WEGETRITT. A TINCTURE OF THE WHOLE FRESH PLANT, PLANTAGO MAJOR, L. Description. — This cosmopolitan immigrant varies greatly in its growth, some individuals only attaining a height of 2 inches, others 18. Root perennial, fascicu- late. Leaves all radical, broad, ovate, ovate-cordate or oblong, sometimes slightly toothed, 5 to 7-ribbed; petioles deeply channelled, smooth or slightly hairy. Inflor- escence 1 to several long and slender, bracted, densely floral, sub-cylindrical spikes, each raised upon a naked scape ; flowers all alike and perfect. Sepals 4, imbri- cated, persistent, membranaceous, and margined. Corolla whitish, thin, mar- cescent ; lobes reflexed after flowering. Stamens 4, rarely 2, much exserted ; filaments long filiform, lengthening suddenly when the anther is ripe ; anthers 2-celled, early deciduous. Pistil dichogamous, ije., protruding from the flower tube before the anthers are ripe ;f ovary 2-celled ; stigma more or less unilateral, fringed. Frtiit a 2 to i6-seeded pyxis, opening by a complete transverse fissure, the top falling off like a cap, and the thin partition escaping with the seeds ; seeds somewhat fusiform ; albtmien sarcous ; onbryo straight, enclosed. PLANTAGINAOEjE. — This small anomalous family of low acaulescent herbs is principally represented by the genus Plantago. Its members are characterized by having: Leaves 2}\ radical and ribbed. Floivers spiked upon a simple scape; calyx 4-cleft, persistent; corolla tubular or hypocrateriform, scarious and veinless. Stame?ts 4, inserted upon the tube of the corolla alternate with its lobes ; filaments persistent, long and weak. Ovary 2-celled ; ovules amphitropous ; style single, long, and stigmatose. Fruit a membranaceous pyxis ; dehiscence circumscissile ; seeds i to several in each cell ; embryo large, mostly straight ; albumen sarcous. The mucilaginous principle of the seeds of Plantago renders them somewhat valuable in medicine. The Indian plantain Plantago Isphagula {P. decumbens, Forsk) furnishes seeds from which a mucilaginous drink is prepared and used as an emollient ; this species is mentioned in the native Materia Medica. The seeds of * The ancient Latin name. \ A help in cross-fertilization. 1107-2 the European and Barbarian P. Psyllhmi, the Hungarian P. areiiaria, and the South European P. Cynops, are spoken of by Lindley as a good substitute for lin- seed and marsh-mallows. The leaves and roots of the common rib-grass P. lan- ceolata are considered expectorant and vulnerary; the Scottish Highlanders attach great value to this plant as a healing application to fresh wounds. History and Habitat. — The common plantain grows in rich, moist soils, in Europe, India, and America, where it is considered truly indigenous north of Lake Superior. It flowers throughout the summer months, fruiting as it flowers. It is said that the American Indians gave this plant the name of " White Man's Foot," in allusion to its method of introduction, and its trait of accompanying the civilizer and literally growing in his footsteps. This character also gave rise to the vul- garism " way-bred." The previous medical uses of plantain are chiefly those of a general vulnerary and demulcent; thus it became in great demand in the coughs attending various pulmonary and bronchial diseases as well as an application to recent wounds and chronic sores. The seeds were used in the former instance, the leaves in the latter. A decoction of the roots was recommended by Bergius in tertian intermittents, one ounce to four being taken when the chill came on. An infusion of the seeds in milk has been much used by the laity to check various hemorrhages from mucous surfaces, diarrhoea, dysentery, and leucorrhoea. The fibrous strings in the petioles have been extolled* as an almost certain cure for aching carious teeth, if placed in the ear on the affected side. It is said that these fibres turn black if the pain is relieved, but remain green if not. Boerhaave says that in his own experi- ence he has found that plantain leaves placed upon the feet will ease the pain and fatigue engendered by long walks. Plantain has also been highly praised as an antidote to the effects of bites of venomous reptiles and insects; it is stated by Duncan-j- to be one of the principal ingredients in the remedy of the negro Caesar, for the discovery of which he received a large reward from the Assembly of South Carolina. To complete this review of the uses of this herb no better expression could be used than that of M^rat :% " En fin, on a port^ la racine des plantains en amulet pour guerir on pr^venir une multitude des maladies." PART USED AND PREPARATION.— The fresh plant, gathered when coming into flower, is chopped and pounded to a pulp and weighed. Then two parts by weight of alcohol are taken, the pulp mixed thoroughly with one-tenth part of it, and the rest of the alcohol added. After having stirred the whole, pour it into a well-stoppered bottle, and let it stand eight days in a dark, cool place. The tincture separated from this mass by filtration is opaque, in thin layers it has a deep reddish-brown color by transmitted light. It retains the peculiar odor of the plant, has a sourish astringent taste and an acid reaction. CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS.— J/?<«7«^^-^.— This substance exists plentifully in the seeds of all species, from which it may be extracted by water, and pre- * Dr. Reutlinger to Dr. E. M. Hale, New Rem., p. 500. f New Edinburgh Dispensatory. X Diet, de M. Med., Supplement, 1846, p. 567. 107-3 cipitated from its watery solution (impure) by alcohol. Dry pure mucilag-e is a yellowish, tough, opaque body, swelling- upon the addition of water, and finally dissolving into a ropy mass. The vegetable mucilages vary in their behavior toward reagents according to the plant from which they are extracted ; they all, however, break down under the action of dilute sulphuric acid, first into gum, then sugar. The whole plant has not been analyzed. PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION.— The principal symptoms caused by this drug are, according to Dr. F. Humphreys: headache; excessive digging, boring pain in carious teeth ; severe dryness of the fauces and pharynx ; colic ; urging to urinate, with copious discharges ; looseness of the bowels; weakness and oppression of the chest ; restless sleep ; and a strong fever, with a high pulse which finally becomes weak and intermittent. Description of Plate 107. 1. Whole plant once reduced, Bergen, N. J., July iSth, 1879. 2. Flower. 3. Pistil. 4. Stamen. 5. Pollen, X 250. (2-4 enlarged.) 108. 4 2 / \ i K * The leaves of some species reseiTil)Iing those of flax [Liniiiii). ill-2 pered bottle and allowed to stand for eight days in a dark, cool place. The tincture is then separated by straining- and filtering. Thus prepared, it has a very deep brownish-red color by transmitted light, a taste at first cooling and sour, then like weak tea, and a very acid reaction. CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS. — I am unable to find any chemical data regard- ing this plant, with the exception of the flowers; they have been analyzed, but show nothing of the active principle, which probably lies in its acid. PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION. — The true action, physiologically, of this plant is not known. The provings have been carefully made, and show symptoms of some importance, but are not sufficient to determine its sphere. Description of Plate hi. I. Upper part of a plant from W. Brighton, S. I., July 5th, 1879. 2-4. Flowers. 3. Section of flower. 5. Root. 6. Pollen X 380. 7. Seed (enlarged). 112. ^Tn..aiinat.ilel.et pinxt. SCROPHULARIA NODOSA, Linn. N. ORD.-SCROPHULARIACE/E. 112 GENUS. — SCROPHULARIA,* TOURN. SEX. .SVST.— niDVN'.AMI.V .\NGIOSrERMIA. SCROPHULARIA FIG- WORT. SYN.— SCROPHULARIA NODOSA, LINN.; SCROPHULARIA MARILAND- ICA, LINN.; SCROPHULARIA NODOSA, VAR. AMERICANA, MICHX.; SCROPHULARIA LANCEOLATA, PURSH. COM. NAMES.— FIG-WORT, SCROFULA-PLANT, HEAL-ALL, HOLMES- WEED, SQUARE-STALK, CARPENTER'S SQUARE ; (FR.) SCROPHU- LAIRE ; (GER.) KROPPWURZ, SCROPHELNPFLANZE. A TINCTURE OF THE WHOLE FRESH PLANT SCROPHULARIA NODOSA, LINN., OR VAR. MARILANDICA, GRAY, OR BOTH. Description. — This rank perennial herb grows to a height of from 2 to 4 feet. Stoii clearly quadrilateral, with slight obtuse ridges at the angles, glabrous through- out. Leaves opposite, ranging from oval below to lanceolate above, doubly serrate, and cordate or nearly so at the base. Inflorescence a primarily nodding terminal panicle, of loose, 3 to 6-flowered cymes ; flowers small, lurid, brownish- or greenish- purple. Calyx deeply 5-cleft into ovate, equal lobss. Corolla globose, contracted at the throat, and furnished with a two-lipped border; petals 5, the upper lip of two erect, equal lobes, the lozoer lip composed of a lateral equal pair, shorter however than those of the upper, and a lower reflexed, spreading lobe, closely appressed to the tube. Stamens 4, curled inward with the anthers closely sur- rounding the ovary ; they become erect when ripening, and fmally decline. The rudiment of a fifth stamen forms a protuberance at the summit and in the throat of the corolla-tube. Filaments pubescent, broader above than below ; anthers with two confluent cells, opening transversely at the apex. Fruit a 2-celled, ovoid, septicldal, many-seeded pod; seeds black, rough, and dotted with minute pits. Read description of the N. Order under \'erbascum, iio. History and Habitat. — The Fig-wort grows along the borders of woods and dry roadsides, from Utah eastward throughout the United States and Canada, flowering from June to September. The European Scrop/iitlaria nodosa and our var. Marilandica seem to differ but slightly in their parts and properties from the species under consideration. This herb is said to serve as a soothing poultice to inflamed tumors, suppurating mammae, ulcers, burns, hemorrhoids, etc. ; it is also used alone and as a component of salves, for itch, various eruptions, and "scabs" * On account of its repute in scrofula. 112-2 in swine, as well as a tonic and deobstruent in hepatic and glandular disorders. All parts of the plant have a heavy, rank odor when bruised, resembling that of the elder [Sauibucus) . Scrophularia is not mentioned in the U. S. Ph. ; in the Eclectic Materia Med- ica it is officinal as Dccoctum Scrophularics, and as a component of Synipus Riune- cis Conipositus, and Tinctura Corydalis Coiiiposita. PART USED AND PREPARATION. — The whole fresh plant, gathered just before flowering, should be chopped and pounded to a pulp and weighed. Then two parts by weight of alcohol should be taken, the pulp thoroughly mixed with one- sixth part of it, and the rest of the alcohol added. After having stirred the whole, pour it into a well-stoppered bottle and let it stand eight days in a dark, cool place. The tincture, separated by straining and filtering, should have a beautiful deep crimson color by transmitted sunlight, a rank, acrid odor and taste, and strong acid reaction. CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS. — Scrophularin ; this principle, the chemistry of which has not yet been determined, was extracted from a decoction of the fresh plant by Walz.* It crystallizes in bitter scales, soluble in both alcohol and water. Scrophularosmin ; this stearoptene was also discovered by Walz in an aque- ous distillate of the plant. Walz's analysis also yielded acetic acid, C, H^O,; propionic acid, C3 H,, O., ; pectin, C3., H^j, O3., ; and a red coloring matter. PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION. — According to Dr. Blakely,t this drug, in re- peated doses of from 20 drops to a teaspoonful of the tincture, causes : Fullness of the head, and vertigo ; free bleeding of the gums ; salivation ; increased appe- tite ; colic ; general weariness ; sleepiness ; and sallow skin. In this experimenter the drug seemed to expend its force upon the liver. Description of Plate 112. 1. Panicle. 2. Second pair of leaves from panicle. 3. Flower, under side. 4. Corolla opened to show sexual organs. 5. Ripe stamen (enlarged). 6. Pollen, X 250. Binghamton, N. Y., June Sth, 1884. * Mayer in Am. Jour. Phar., 1863, p. 295. + N. k. fouv. Horn., 1866, p. iS Y-nLadnatdeletpinxr. Chelone Glabra, Linn. N. ORD.-SCROPHULARIACE^. H3 Tribe.-CHELONE/E. GENUS— C H E LO N E ,* LINN. SEX. SVST.— DIDVXAMIA ANGIOSPER.MIA. CHELONE GLABRA. TURTLE-HEAD. SYN.— CHELONE GLABRA, LINN.; CHELONE OBLIQUA, LINN. COM. NAMES.— TURTLE-HEAD, SNAKE-HEAD, SHELL-FLOWER, BAL- MONY, SALT-RHEUM WEED; (PR.) CHELONE; (GBR.) GLATTE, CHELONE. A TINCTURE OF THE FRESH PL.-\NT CHELONE GLABRA, LINN. Description. — This beautiful swamp herb grows to a height of from 2 to 6 feet, from a creeping perennial root. The slcm is smooth, upright, somewhat obtusely four angled, and branching laterally, particularly near the top. It is a question though, whether it is really a branching herb, or whether the .so-called branches are merely elongated peduncles of the lateral axillary flower spikes. The leaves are opposite, either sessile or very short petiolate, broadly lanceolate, serrate and pointed, ranging from 2 to 4 inches in length and of various breadths. The jiijloirseenee consists of a dense, bracted spike, terminal upon the stem and its branches?; the flowers are sessile, closely imbricated with concave, rounded-ovate, sharp-pointed bracts and bractlets. Calyx of five deeply parted or distinct imbricated sepals. Corolla tubular, with either equal or unequal lateral inflations, the mouth either a little open or widely gaping; upper lip broad-arching, keeled in the middle, and either entire or notched at the apex ; lotcer lip 3-lobed at the apex, the middle lobe narrow or sometimes smallest. Slainens consisting of four didynamous, included, fertile or complete ones and one sterile or rudimentary; filaments flat, woolly, the rudimentary fifth much smaller than the other four; anthers heart-shaped, acuminate, completely connected in pairs by the adhesive cottony wool ; pollen more or less cylindrically " hat-shaped," the sulcus being between the crown and the rim. Pistil as a whole, projecting beyond the stamens ; ova7'y 2-celled, ovoid ; style long, slender and cylindrical ; stigma small and blunt. Emit a 2-grooved, 2-celled ovoid capsule, opening by dehiscence through the partition, each half carrying a section with it bearing the placenta;. Seeds numerous, winged and margined. A description of the natural order may be found under Verbuscum thapsus, iio. * xtXi*;), toitoisc, from the resemblance of the corolla to the head of that reptile. 113-2 History and Habitat. — This strikingly erect plant, native of Canada and the United States, grows — though not in great abundance in any one locality — about the margins of swampy places and along the wet edges of open woods, flowering from August to September. The flowers are large and without odor, they vary from white to cream, rose or purplish ; varieties have been at different times named both on account of the color of the flowers and the mode of growth, but they are too indistinctly separate to afford a place and name. C. alba ; C. rosea ; C. purpurea ; C. lajiccolaia ; and C. obliqua. Balmony has for years been a favorite tonic, laxative and purgative, among the aborigines of North America and Thomsonian physicians ; without sufficient reason however as a tonic, in the doses usually employed. Chelone has no place in the U. S. Ph. In the Eclectic Materia Medica it is officinal as Decochim Chelonis. PART USED, AND PREPARATION.— The fresh herb as a whole, is chopped and pounded to a pulp and weighed. Then two parts by weight of alcohol are taken, the pulp mixed with one-sixth part of it, and the rest of the alcohol added. After thorough stirring, and pouring the whole into a well- stoppered bottle, it is allowed to stand eight days in a dark, cool place. The tincture is then separated by straining and filtering. Thus prepared, it has a clear orange-brown color by transmitted light, a bitter taste and highly acid reaction. CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS.— No analysis has been made of this plant ; all parts of it are very bitter, and as it yields this property to alcohol and water, we may consider at least, that the active body is soluble in these liquids. Description of Plate 113. I. Whole plant five times reduced, from Binghamton, N. Y., August 15th, 1882. 2. Apex of stem in flower. 3. Pistil (enlarged). 4. Fertile stamen (enlarged). 5. Rudimentary stamen (enlarged). 6. Pollen X 380. Q;lQ.aiinal.del.et pinxt 8 ;v m ^9 ^ Veronica Virginica, Linn N. ORD -SCROPHULARIACE^. 114 Thbe.-SIBTHORPIE/E. VERONICE/E, etc. GENUS. — VERONICA,* LINN. SEX. SYST.— DIAXDRIA M(i\(K_;VNIA, LEPTANDRA, CUL VER'S PHYSIC. SYN.- VERONICA VIRGINICA, LINN.; V. PURPUREA, STEUD.; V. SIBI- RICA, LINN. ; V. JAPONICA, STEUD. ; LEPTANDRA VIRGINICA, NUTT. ; P^DEROTA VIRGINICA, TORR. ; CALLISTACHYA VIRGINICA, AND EUSTACHYA ALBA. RAP. COM. NAMES.— CULVER'S ROOT OR PHYSIC, BLACK ROOT, TALL SPEED- WELL, HIGH VERONICA. WHORLY WORT, QUINTEL, HINI; (PR.) VERONIQUE DE VIRGINIE ; (GER.) VIRGINISCHBR EHRENPREIS. A TINCTURE OF THE FRESH ROOT OF VERONICA VIRGINICA, LINN. Description. — This graceful perennial herb grows to a height of from i to 7 feet. Root horizontal, blackish, sometimes branched, scarred upon its upper sur- face by the previous growths, and giving off from the nether numerous long and fibrous rootlets. Stem simple, strict, and glabrous. Leaves whorled in numerous clusters of from 3 to 9 ; short petioled, lanceolate, acute, tapering at both ends, finely serrate, and often downy beneath especially upon the veins. Inflorescence in from i to 9 terminal, panicled, spike-like, densely-flowered racemes ; floivers small, nearly sessile ; bracts very small, subulate. Calyx 4-parted, persistent ; sepals lanceolate, acute. Corolla salver-form, pubescent within, the tube much longer than the 4-parted limb, and gready exceeding the calyx ; lobes erect, acute, the upper broadest, the lower narrowest. Stamens 2, far exserted ; filaments hairy, inserted low down upon each side of the upper lobe of the corolla and about twice its length ; anthers rather large, 2-celled ; cells confluent at the apex. Ovary supe- rior, 2-celled ; style columnar, entire, exserted, persistent; stioma solitary, capitate. Fruit an oblong-ovate, 2-celled pod, not notched at the apex nor much flattened ; dehiscence by 4 apical teeth, at length becoming somewhat loculicidal; seeds numer- ous, black, oval, and terete ; testa minutely reticulated. History and Habitat. — This most graceful and attractive of all American Veronicas, habits moist wooded banks from Canada and the valley of Winnipeg, to Georgia, Alabama, and Missouri. It blossoms contemporaneously with Cimi- cifuga early in July, and, when viewed at a distance, the two plants appear to be the same, while either has a beauty and grace which would render it poetically suitable for a fairy's wand. The species also grows in Japan and Eastern India, and varies * Dedicated to St. Veronica ; or, perhaps, a play upon Betonica. somewhat in color of anther and perianth in different locaHtles. Culver's Physic was introduced into English gardens in 1714, and has been somewhat planted in this country. This is one of the many American Aboriginal remedies handed down by them to the botanies, and extensively, therefore, used in domestic practice from our earliest settlements. In a fresh state the root gained a great reputation as a drastic purge and abortivant, but its action was too uncertain and severe; in this state it was also frequently employed in intermittents, and was thought to be a prophylactic against future attacks. The use of the fresh drug has, however, almost ceased in general practice, giving place to the dried root, and an extrac- tive called Leptandriii. Doses of from 20 to 60 grains of the powdered root have been used as a stomachic tonic, laxative, and antiperiodic ; in dyspepsia, torpidity of the liver, debilitated conditions of the alimentary tract, typhoid and intermittent fever, and some forms of dysentery and diarrhoea. Speaking of the drug in the light of sixty years ago, Rafinesque says:* "The root alone is medical ; it is bitter and nauseous, and is commonly used in warm decoction as purgative and emetic, acting somewhat like the Eupalor-iuni and Verbena hastata ; some boil it in milk for a milder cathartic, or as a sudorific in pleurisy. A strong decoction of the fresh root is a violent and disagreeable, but effectual and popular remedy in the Western States, for the summer bilious fevers." The officinal preparations of the U. S. Phar. are : Exlractum Leptandrcs and Extractum Leptandrcs Fluidiun. In the Eclectic Materia Medica the same prepa- rations are recommended, and the following also advised : Extractimi Leptandr-a HydroalcohoUciwi and Tinctura Leptandrce. PART USED AND PREPARATION. — The fresh root of the second year, gathered after fruition, should be chopped and pounded to a pulp and weighed. Then two parts by weight of alcohol are to be taken, the pulp thoroughly mixed with one-sixth part of it, and the rest of the alcohol added. After stirring the whole well, transfer it to a well-stoppered bottle, and allow it to macerate eight days in a dark, cool place, shaking twice a day. The tincture, prepared from this mass by pressing and filtering, has a deep reddish-orange color by transmitted light ; a somewhat earthy odor ; no character- istic taste ; and an acid reaction. CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS.— Z^//«;/rt';'/«6'.t This bitter principle, sepa- rated by Wayne,J retains the characteristic odor of the root. It is crystallizable when free from coloring-matter, and is soluble in water, alcohol, and ether. Tannin, gum, resin, volatile oil, and mannite,§ a volatile alkaloid, citric acid, and a saponin-like body having a glucosidal nature,|| have also been determined. * Med. Flora, 2, 22. t This name is proposed, that the substance may not be confounded with ''Lep/anJrin," the extract of the tincture now on the market. J Froc. Am. Phar. Assoc, 1S56, 34. \ Wayne, Am. Jour. Phar., 1859, 557. II Mayer, Am. Jour. Phar., 1863, 298. 114-3 PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION. — Full doses of the recent root of Leptandra cause dimness of vision, vertigo, vomiting, and purging of bloody or black, tarry, papescent feces. Dr. Burt's experiments with from i to 40 grains " Leptandrin " and 20 to 160 drops of the fluid extract gave the following symptoms: Headache, smarting of the eyes and lachrymation ; yellow-coated tongue ; nausea, burning and distress in the stomach ; severe abdominal pains with great desire for stool ; profuse black, fetid discharges from the bowels ; general lassitude ; hot, dry skin ; and sleepiness, Leptandra proves itself to be a severe irritant to the gastric and intestinal mucous surfaces, and a stimulant to the absorbent system. Description of Plate 114. I. Whole plant, 6 times reduced, Binghamton, N. Y., July 27th, 18S5. 2. Summit of single-racemed plant. 3. Third whorl of leaves from top of No. i. 4. Limb of corolla. 5. Flower. 6. Calyx and pistil. 7. Stamen. 8. Anther. 9. Bract and calyx. 10. Fruit. 11. Horizontal section of ovary. 12. Seed. (4-12 enlarged.) 115. (p.m.ii(inat(lel.etpinxt. EUPHRASIA OFFICINALIS , Linn. N. ORD-SCROPHULARIACE^. 115 Tiibe.-EUFHRASIE/E. GENUS. — EUPHRASIA,* TOURN. SEX. SVST.— DIUY\AMI.\ AXGIOSI'ERMr.V. EUPHRASIA.. EYEBlilGET. SYN.— EUPHRASIA OFFICINALIS, LINN.; E. CANDIDA, SCHCEN. ; EUPHRA- GIA ALBA, BRUN. COM. NAMES.— EYEBRIGHT, EUPHRASY; (FR.) EUPHRAISB ; (GBR.iAUGBN- TROST. A TINCTURE OF THE HERB EUPHRASIA OFFICINALIS, LINN. Description. — This low annual only grows to a height of a few inches. StcDi erect, hairy ; branches o]iTj)o?,\\.e. Z^^i'^j opposite, varying from roundish-ovate to oblong ; margin incisely dentate, that of the upper or floral leaves with strongly setaceous teeth ; in the lower leaves tending more to crenate. Inflorescence spicate ; bracteoles none ; flozvers small, whitish. Calyx tubular-campanulate, 4-cleft; lobes acute, pointed. Corolla purple-striped, dilated at the throat, bilabiate, the lips subequal ; upper lip erect, barely concave, 2-lobed, the sides revolute ; lobes emarginate ; lower lip external in the bud, spreading, 3-lobed ; lobes emar- ginate, the middle one largest and yellow. Stamens 4, didynamous, rising under the upper lip of the corolla ; anthers 2-celled ; cells equal, distinct, each mucronate at its base. Style filiform ; stigma entire. Fruit an oblong, flattened, loculicidal capsule ; seeds numerous, pendulous, oblong, and longitudinally sulcate. History and Habitat. — Euphrasia is indigenous to Europe and North America- VVith us its growth is depauperate and its stations few. It ranges, here, from the north-eastern coast of Maine over the alpine summits of the White Mountains and Adirondacks ; thence northward and westward along the upper shore of Lake Superior to the Aleutian Islands. In many of these locations a dwarf form, with very small flowers, is found. It flowers in July and August. Though this herb has always been known under a name of Greek originl still no mention of the plant is made by Dioscorides, Pliny, Galen, or even by the Arabian physicians. F. Bauhin says that it was known as a remedy for the eyes about the year i38o.t Arnoldus Villanovanus, who died in 131 3, was the author of " Vini Eiiphrasiati tantoperc celebrati." How long before him Euphrasia was in repute for eye diseases, is impossible to say; but in Gordon's '' Liticium Medt- cince," published in 1305, among the medicines for the eyes Euphragia is one, and is recommended both outwardly in a compound, distilled water, and inwardly as a * Eu^par/a, euphrasia, cheerfulness ; as to its effect upon the spirits through its benefit to the sight, t Phy'.op., 442 115-2 syrup.* Euphragia is not mentioned in the Scho/a Salernitana, compiled about I lOO. Tlie earliest notice of Euphrasia, as a medicine, is in the works of Tragus.f It was employed as a remedy in diseases of the eyes, by Fuschius, Dodonaeus, Haller, and others, and has been a vulgar remedy in these diseases from time immemorial, throughout the whole of Europe. Fuschius recommended it in suf- fusions and cataracts. The Highlanders, of Scotland, make an infusion of it in milk, and anoint the patient's eyes with a feather dipped in it. Hoffman employed it in jaundice ; Villanova and Velebt, in weakness of the eyes. In 1836, Krameh- feld| employed it, with success, in rheumatic and catarrhal inflammation of the eyes and their lids ; in cough, hoarseness, earache, and headache, which have suc- ceeded catarrhal affections; and glandulous, catarrhal, and scrofulous blephar- ophthalmia.§ Woodville says:|| " Euphrasia derives its name from its reputed efficacy in vari- ous disorders of the eyes, for which it was used both externally and internally, and has long been so much celebrated as to be considered almost in the character of a specific, the 'veriim oculorttm solamen! But as there cannot possibly be a general remedy for all diseases of the eyes, the absurd and indiscriminate recommendation of Euphrasia as such, must receive but little credit from those who practice medi- cine on rational principles. It must be acknowledged, however, that some authors have stated peculiar complaints of the eyes, in which the use of this plant was thought more remarkably evident ; and, judging by these, we should say that eyes, weakened by long-continued exertion, and those that are dim and watery, as in a senile state, are the cases in which Euphrasia promises most advantage; nor are old people to despair, for according to Hildanus and Lanzonus, several, at the age of seventy and eighty years, were recovered from almost entire blindness." He further remarks that the Icelanders are in the constant habit of using the juice of the plant in all affections of the eyes ; and adds that, "though the great reputation which Eyebright formerly supported for several ages, must have induced some practitioners to have used it ; yet we do not find a single instance of its efficacy recorded in modern times. How far this remark ought to invalidate the positive testimonies in its favor, we leave others to determine." Dr. John King remarks ^y that four fluid ounces of the infusion morning and night, upon an empty stomach, has cured epilepsy. PART USED AND PREPARATION. — The whole fresh flowering plant, above the root, gathered from barren, sunny spots, should be treated as directed for Verbascum, Scrophularia, and Chelone (ante, pp. 110-2, 112-2, 113-2). The resulting tincture has a deep brownish-red color by transmitted light ; a pleasant, vinous odor; a bitter, astringent taste; and an acid reaction. CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS.— ^?^//w'«.y/«-7^a;/;//V Acid, C„Hj„Oj,. — This peculiar tannin gives a dark-green precipitate with ferric salts, and is only obtain- able by combination with lead. It is precipitable by glue, and tartrate of antimony (Wittstein). * Allsion, Mat. Med., 7, IJ9. J Ozann's Journal. || Med. Bot., 2, 369. f Spiengel, op. cit. \ Hamilton, Flor. Horn., I, 275. 1[ Am. Disp., loc. cit. 115-3 The volatile oil, and acrid and bitter principle, liave not as yet b(X'n chemically analyzed. PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION. — The symptoms caused by doses varying from I o to 60 drops of the tincture, observed by several German experimenters* were substantially as follows: Confusion of the mind and cephalalgia; violent pressure in the eyes with lachrymation and itching, redness and swelling of the margins of the lids, violent burning of the lids, dimness of vision, sensation as though the eye were covered with mucus; weakness, and photophobia r sneezing and fluent coryza ; odontalgia ; nausea ; constipation ; hoarseness, violent cough, with profuse expectoration, and difficult breathing ; yawning and sleeplessness ; profuse secre- tion of urine; and sweat. Description of Plate 115. I. Whole phint, once enlarged, Kearsarge, N. H., July 24tli, iSS^. 2. Calyx. 3. Flower. ' 4. Stamen. 5. Seed. (2-5 enlarged.) * See Alleti's Encyc, 4, 254. 116. (Ein..ailnat.ilel.elpinxt. Mentha Piperita, Linn. N. ORD-LABIAT/E. 116 Tribe.-SATUREI/E. GENUS.— MENTHA,* LINN. SEX. SVST.— DIDYNAMIA G VMNOSPERMIA. MENTHA PIPERITA. PEPPERMIJyT. SYN.— MENTHA PIPERITA, SMITH, VAR. OFFICINALIS, KOCH ; M. VIRIDI- AQUATICA, SHULTZ ; M. OFFICINALIS AND HIRCINA, HULL ; M. PALUS- TRIS, RAIL COM. NAMES.— PEPPERMINT; (FR.) MBNTHE POIVREE ; (GER.) PFEFFER- MtJNZE. A TINCTURE OF THE WHOLE PLANT MENTHA PIPERITA. Description. — This glabrous or somewhat hairy, pungent, perennial herb, grows to a height of from i to 2 feet. Rootstock creeping, spreading, and multi- plying ; stent suberect. Leaves ovate-oblong to oblong-lanceolate, sharply serrate, acute, and rounded at the base ; petioles distinct. Inflorescence in numerously glomeruled, terminal and superaxillary, leafless, and at last interrupted, ovate spikes; flowers small, distinctly pedicellate; bracts hispid, mostly longer than the verticillasters, the upper linear. Calyx campanulate, naked in the throat ; li7ub 5-toothed ; teeth hispid. Corolla 4-lobed, hardly irregular, except that the upper lobe, though never galeate nor concave, is broader than the others and emarginate; liibe short, inclined. Stamens 4, included, similar and nearly equal, erect, straight, and distant ; anthers 2-cened ; cells parallel, without a thickened connective. Style long, exserted. Labiatae. — This large family of square -stalked aromatic herbs, and low shrubs, represented in North America by 50 genera, comprising 231 species and 45 recognized varieties, is characterized as follows : Stems square ; leaves opposite, or sometimes verticillate, simple, and usually dotted with immersed glands filled with volatile oil ; stipules none. Inflorescence thyrsoidal ; the general evolution of the clusters in the axils of leaves or primary bracts centripetal ; that of the cymes or glomerules centrifugal ; the leaves being opposite and the clusters nearly or quite sessile, a whorl-like appearance is made (verticillaster) ; floiocrs perfect ; hypogynous disk usually present, or represented by i or 4 gland-like lobes. Calyx tubular, gamosepalous. Corolla irregular and more or less bilabiate; lobes imbri- cated in the bud, the posterior or upper exterior, the middle lower innermost. Stamens didynamous or diandrous, borne upon the tube of the corolla, distinct or * Mfrtf/?, Minthe, daughter of Cocytus, whom, through jealousy, Proserpine changed into one of these plants. 116-2 rarely monadelphous ; the fifih, or anterior, and in diandrous species the adjacent pair also, rudimentary or sterile ; rarely the four fertile stamens are equal. Pistil dimerous, each carpel deeply 2-parted or lobed ; ovary 4-parted or lobed ; lobes uniovulate; ovul s mostly amphitropous or anatropous and erect; style filiform, mostly 2-cleft and 2-stigmatose at the apex. Fruit 4 akene-like nutlets, surround- ing the base of the stigma, in the bottom of the persistent calyx ; nutlets smooth or barely roughish. Embryo straight except in Scutellarinecs ; cotyledons plane or plano-convex ; radicle inferior ; albumen slight or none. The proven plants of this order, besides the six treated of in this work, are : the Mediterranean Germander [Teiicriiun JMariun, Linn.), a noted feline aphro- disiac ; the European, West Asiatic, and North African Pennyroyal [Mentha pulegiziin, Linn.), which is deemed emmenagogue, and antispasmodic; the South American Alfavaca [Ocimiim canum, D. C), which is used, in Brazil, as a sudorific, especially in diseases of the kidneys, bladder, and urethra; the East Indian Ocimum Basilicum, Linn., used by the natives as a palliative for the pains of par- turition ; Sweet Marjoram {Origanum Marjorana, Linn.), a cultivated form of O. vidgare ; the Cape Plectrantkus frnticoszis,]^. ]r{e.nt.; the Mediterranean Rose- mary (7?ci.yOT«/-7'«z^.f t^^^/wfl/Zi-, Linn.), an an tihysteric and emmenagogue; and the European and Siberian Betony [Stac/iys Betonica, Benth.), a sternutatory, emetic and purgative. A large number of species of this order have figured, more or less, in general and domestic practice, as stimulant, antispasmodic, carminatives, and jucunda for unpleasant drugs. A few of them only will be mentioned here, that the order may be well understood. The European, Asiatic, and African Lavender [Laven- dula vera, D. C), a carminative, antihysteric, and antiflatulent. The European Spearmint [Mentha viridis, Linn.), which is also considered stomachic; the Euro- pean, Asiatic, and African Marjoram {Origanum vulgare, Linn.), a mild tonic, diaphoretic, and emmenagogue; and the Mediterranean Thyme {Thymus vidgaris, Linn.), lauded as a local stimulant and rubefacient, in carious teeth, rheumatism, sprains, etc. The leaves of the Mediterranean Sage {Salvia officinalis, Linn.), are well known as a light, bitter tonic, anti-emetic, diaphoretic, and astringent. The American Horsemint {Monarda punctata, Linn.), is considered diaphoretic, em- menagogue, diuretic, and rubefacient. The European and West Asiatic Catmint, or Catnip {Nepeta Cataria, Linn.), so well known in all country households, has been used, from time without date, as a stimulant, antispasmodic, and emmena- gogue, in chlorosis, amenorrhoea, and various low type female disorders. Like Marum Verum it is a feline aphrodisiac. The European Horehound {Marubium vidgare, Linn.), is diaphoretic, diuretic, pectoral, and emmenagogue, and much used in confections, for asthma, phthisis, tussis, night-sweats, as well as in uterine and visceral affections. The South European Hyssop {Hyssopus officinalis, Linn.) ; Balm {Melissa officinalis, Linn.) ; Summer and Winter Savories {Satureia hortcn- sis, and f?iontana, Linn.) ; and Dittany of Crete {Origanum Dictamnus, Linn.), are all considered antiflatulent, antihysteric, antispasmodic, emmenagogue, etc., and are used in chlorosis, amenorrhoea, hypochondriasis, and kindred affections. The iiG-3 European and Asiatic Motherwort [Leo/mrus Cardiaca, Linn.), which has but lately been brought before us, as Homoeopaths, has been esteemed much, as the above species, beside being valued in Russia, as a remedy in rabies. The East Indian Anisomeles jMalabarica, R. Br., is an excellent diaphoretic. The American Dittany [Cuiii/a mariana, Linn.), was used, by the Aborigines, as an antiperiodic and ale.\iteric. The genus Ociinmn furnishes plants of various properties; the Sierra Leone viridc, Willd., and Indian sanctiini, Linn , are febrifugal ; the Japanese crispHS, Thunb., antirheumatic, and the Indian suave, Willd., useful in infantile catarrh. A number of the above species, and a multitude of others, are better known to the housewife and perfumer than to us as physicians. History and Habitat. — Peppermint is nowhere considered truly indigenous, though probably its native haunt is the basin of the Mediterranean. It grows as an escaped plant in all European countries, as it does with us, in ditches and along brooks ; there is nothing to prove that it is not a cultivated variety of ]\I. vi7'idis, into which it is said to revert if not properly reset. It was first said to be found in England about the year 1700, by Dr. Eales. The cultivation of the plant was begun in Great Britain about 1750, and on the Continent in 1770; it was afterward quite extensively planted in Surrey, Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire, and Hertfordshire, in England; Sens, in France; CoUeda, in Germany; and New York, Ohio, and Michigan, in the United States. The yield of oil, for which alone the plant is cultivated, is from .5 to 1.5 per cent, of the production (from 8 to 16 lbs. per acre) ; and the annual product of the world is estimated at about 90,000 lbs.* Peppermint began its usefulness, in medicine, at about the same period of its cultivation, and was then considered specific in renal and vesical calculus, dyspep- sia, and diarrhoea; being considered a stomachic, tonic, stimulant, antispasmodic, and carminative. It was found useful in bowel troubles, especially those associated with flatulency, colic, retching, vomiting, spasmodic actions, and hysteria. Its rubefacient action is intimately associated with what may be considered anodyne properties, when the trouble is neuralgic or rheumatoid, and the affected nerves or muscles are somewhat superficial. Facial and sciatic affections are greatly relieved by fomentations of the leaves, or rubbing the oil, or menthol, directly over the course of the nerve itself; the action is temporary, but decidedly happy. The principal use of the essence or oil is as a flavoring for confections, and a jucund ingredient of prescriptions containing nauseous, and especially griping drugs. The leaves and tops are officinal in the U. S. Ph., as well as Spiri/us McnlJia Piperitce, and Vinum Ai-oniaticiim:\ In Eclectic practice, the preparations are : Aqua MentJics Piperilce, Extractiim Rhei Flnidiim,\ Infusuin Mentha Piperita:, Mistura Camphors Composita,\ Mistura Cajeputi Composita,\\ Oleum Menthce Piperitce, Pulvis Rhei Compositus,^ Tinctura Olei Menthce Piperitce. * Todd, Proc. Am. Fharm. Assoc. 1876, 828. \ Camphor, Opiuin, Peppermint, and .Spearmint. t Lavender, Origanum, Peppermint, Rosemary, Sage, and Wormwood. || Cajeput, Cloves, Peppermint, and Anise. X Rhubarb and Peppermint. \ Rhubarb, Bicarbonate Potash, and Peppermint. 116-4 PART USED AND PREPARATION. — The whole fresh, flowering plant is chopped and pounded to a pulp and weighed. Then two parts by weight of alco- hol are taken, the pulp mixed thoroughly with one-sixth part of it, and the rest of the alcohol added. After stirring the whole well, and pouring it into a well- stoppered bottle, it is allowed to stand eight days in a dark, cool place. The tincture, separated from this mass by pressure and filtration, should have a clear orange-brown color by transmitted light; retain the odor of the plant; have an oily feel ; a bitterish, slightly astringent, mint-like taste ; and an acid reaction. CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS.— (9// of Peppermint. This essential oil of the leaves is either colorless, pale yellow, or greenish, turning brown with age. It is liquid, has a sp. gr. of 0.84-0.92, boils at i88°-i93° (37o.4'^-379.4° F.), has a strong, agreeable odor, and a powerful aromatic taste, at first biting, then cold, especially upon strong inhalation of air over the tongue ; this effect is followed by a peculiar numbness characteristic of this product. The oil is soluble in water and in alcohol. It consists of a solid and liquid portion, and contains from 0.5 to 5 per cent, of a hydrocarbon (Cj^H^^ -|- or— O), which is said to prevent the crystallization of menthol. The oil of commerce is often adulterated with that of pennyroyal, with intent, or that of Mentha arvensis, Erigeron Canadense, or Erechthifes liicracifolia, by carelessness. The tests for the oil are given by the Oil and Drug News as fol- lows: On the addition to the oil of an equal part of a mixture of two parts chloral- hydrate, dissolved in one part of C. P. sulphuric acid and a drop or two of alcohol, a cherry-red coloration follows if the oil is pure; but, if pennyroyal is present, a dark olive-green color ensues ; and D. Reagan says* that the pure oil is but slowly absorbed by blotting paper, but when the three plants above mentioned are mixed with it the absorption is rapid. If the presence of the hydrocarbon above mentioned is very slight, the oil cooled to — 4 (+ 24. 8° F.) will deposit. Fipinent/iol,-\ C^^H.,^0, a stearopten of the exquisite odor of Peppermint, com- posed of fine hexagonal crystals, melting at 36° (96.8° F.), and boiling at 210° (410° v.).x \J\IenthoL — Under this name is understood the Chinese Oil of Peppermint, which is distilled from Mentha Javanica, Bl, which is so pure that it almost wholly yields this product. Chinese menthol is very like that of other countries, but differs essentially in melting at 42° (107.6° F.), and boiling at 212° (413.6° F.). The import of this substance in 1884 was 4000 lbs., since when it has gready increased.] Menthene, Cj^,Hjj. — On distilling menthol with phosphorous pentoxide, this body results as a levogyrate liquid, boiling at 163° (325.4° F.). An almost odorless resin, and tannin, have also been determined. * Am. Jour. Phar., 1885, 600. f Peppermint Camphor. % Henry Trimble, Am. Jour. Phar., 1883, 486. 116-5 PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION. — The symptoms of disturbance caused in Dr. Demeures' experiments are substantially as follows : Headache, with confusion ; shooting pains in the region of fifth-nerve terminals ; throat dry and sensitive ; dry cough on inspiration ; and external muscular soreness of the neck. Dr. Demeures judges that this drug is to dry cough what arnica is to bruised and strained muscles. Description of Plate ii6. I. End of an early flowering plant, Binghamton, N. Y., July 26th, 1SS5. 2. Flower. 3. Section of calyx. 4. Section of corolla. (2-4 enlarged.) ^ 14 f^ ^8 TTg \ 10 ^Tn.adnat.del.etpinxt. LYCOPUS ViRGINICUS, Linn. N. ORD-LABIAT^. 117 Tribe -SAW REIE/E. GENUS. — LYCO PUS,* LINN. .SEX. .SV.ST.— DI.VNDKI.V MdNoGVNIA. LYCOPUS. BUGLE -JVEUD. SYN.-LYCOPUS VIRGINICUS, LINN.; L. UNIPLORUS, MICHX. ; L. PUMI- LUS, VAHL. ; L. MACROPHYLLUS, BENTH. ; L. VIRGINICUS, VAR. PAU- CIFLORUS, BENTH. ; L. VIRGINICUS, VAR. MACROPHYLLUS, GRAY. COM. NAMES. — BUGLE -WEED, WATER HOREHOUND, GIPSY -WEED, GIPSY -WORT, PAUL'S BETONY, WATER BUGLE; (FR.) LYCOPE DE VIRGINIB; (GER.) VIRGINISHER WOLFSFUSS. A TINCTURE OF THE WHOLE HERB LYCOPUS VIRGINICUS, L. Description. — This common perennial weed usually attains a growth of from 6 to 24 inches. Sfem erect, obtusely angled, stoloniferous, and glabrous or very slightly pubescent ; stolons long, filiform, often tuberous at the apex, produced from the base of the summer stems. Leaves ovate or oblong-lanceolate, coarsely ser- rate especially in the middle, acute at both ends, and tapering at the base into a short petiole. Lnflorescence in sessile, axillary, capitate-verticillastrate glomerules ; bracts very short, resembling the calyx-teeth ; flmoers whitish or tending toward purple. Calyx campanulate, only slightly shorter than the corolla, and naked in the throat; teeth 4 to 5, ovate or lance-ovate, obtuse or slightly acutish, 3-nerved. Corolla bell-shaped, small, short, and hardly irregular; lobes 4, nearly equal, the upper entire and broader than the others, but neither galeate or concave. Sta- mens inserted, straight, erect, equidistant, only two furnished with anthers; anthers with two parallel cells. Style bulbous at the base, bifurcating at the apex, the inner surfaces of the lobes stigmatic. Fruit composed of 4 3-sided nutlets, truncate at the top and acute at the base, the lateral margins thickened, the superior 4-cre- nated ; areola basal, small. History and Habitat. — The V'irginian Bugle-weed is indigenous to North America, where it ranges from Labrador to Florida, Missouri, and northwestward to British Columbia and Oregon. It grows in low, damp, and shady grounds, and blossoms from July to September. This is one of the species that caused Rafin- esque to vagarize, he disported with it to such an extent that it was forced to yield him 5 new species and 16 varieties " some of which might even be deemed species." * A(i«o;, Lykos, wolf: ^ovi, pous, foot; from suppositional resemblance. 117-2 The medical history of this species seems to hang upon the laurels of L. vul- garis of Europe. It was first mentioned by Schoepf,* but Drs. Pendleton and Rogers t first presented it in tangible form as an agent in incipient phthisis with hemoptysis. RafinesqueJ thought exceeding well of its general properties, and as a means of producing diaphoresis without debility; he judged it a tonic sedative, and found it very useful in hemoptysis, and internal inflammation ; he further claims that it acts somewhat like Digatalis, lowering the pulse, without producing any bad effects, nor accumulating in the system. Dr. Williams speaks of the plant§ as being " one of the most valuable styptics (hemostatics ?) we possess in our vege- table Materia Medica. Most writers accept the idea that the plant is narcotic ; we, however, inter, both from our own experience and that of others, that it is only sedative in that it rem.oves, by checking hemorrhage, that nervous excita- bility and mental fear always accompanying such conditions. It is certainly an excellent hemostatic, very useful in generous doses, striving for its primary effect in epistaxis, hemoptysis, hematemesis, and menorrhagia. But two days have passed, at this writing, since we checked one of the most serious cases of epistaxis in our practice by the exhibition of teaspoonful doses of the tincture, one drachm to the ounce of water, ten minutes between doses ; three doses alone were suffi- cient, after two hours of hemorrhage and the patient (a healthy man) greatly reduced. Dr. King says,§ Lycopus is decidedly beneficial in the treatment of diabetes, having cured when other means were useless, and has been of service in chronic diarrhoea and dysentery. This valuable remedy was dismissed from the U. S. Phar. at the last revision ; in the Eclectic Materia Medica the officinal preparation is Infusum Lycopus. PART USED AND PREPARATION.— The whole fresh flowering herb is treated as in the preceding drug. The resulting tincture has a clear brown color by transmitted light ; an herbaceous odor ; an astringent and slightly bitter taste ; and an acid reaction. CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS.— The analysis of the Tildens|| determined the presence of a peculiar bitter principle, insoluble in ether, another soluble in ether, the two forming more than ten per cent, of the whole solid extract; tannin, and the usual plant constituents. The plant, according to the observations of myself and others, contains also a volatile oil. The properties of the plant are given up to water, and all seem to remain on drying except the last. PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION.— The symptoms caused in the human body by doses varying from ten drops to three drachms of the tincture, and of a wineglass- ful of the infusion •[ all point to the drug as increasing the tonicity of the capillaries and diminishing the vis-a-tergo in the larger vessels and the action of the heart itself. The symptoms, other than those of circulation, were : Nausea ; flatulence. * N. Y. Meti. and P/iys. Jour., I, lyy. \ Am. Disp., 1870, 494. t Med. J-lor., II, 20. II Jour. 0/ Mat. Med., vol. I, N. S. 1S59, 326. X Am. Med. Assoc, 1S49, 902. "J .\llen, Eiicyc. Mat. Med. VI, 69. 117-3 griping, and diarrhoea; decrease of sp. gr. of urine to as low as icx)4, with dimin- ished quantity, causes deposits of mucus, but no albumen ; fleeting rheumatic pains, and pleurodynia: sensations of cardiac constriction; slight fever; and sleeplessness. Description of Plate 117. I and 2. Whole plant, Binghamton, N. Y., July 31, 18S5. 3. Flower. 4. Face of corolla. 5. Stamen. 6. Pistil. 7. Fruit. 8. ( outer view. 9. Akene, J inner view. 10. (^lateral view. =-H= 118. ^TQ..adnat.ilel.et pinxt HEDEOMA PULEGIOIDES , Peps. N. ORD-LABIAT^. 118 Tribe.~SATUREIE/E. GENUS. — HEDEOMA,=i= PKRS. SEX. SVST.— I)I.\XDRIA MONdGVNI.V. HEDEOMA. AMERICAJ^ PEJYjYYRO YAL. SYN.— HEDEOMA PULEGIOIDES, PBRS. ; MELISSA PULEGIOIDES, LINN.; CUNILA PULEGIOIDES, LINN. ; ZIZIPHORA PULEGIOIDES, R. & S. COM. NAMES.— MOCK PENNYROYAL, TICK-WEED. SQUAW MINT, STINK- ING BALM; (FR.) POULIOT D'AMERIQUE; !GER.) AMERIKANISCHER POLEY. A TINCTURP: of THK WHOLK PL.'\NT HEDK0M.\ PULEGIOIDES, PERS. Description. — This common, annual herb, grows to a height of from 6 to 1 2 inches. Sicrii erect, minutely pubescent, branching ; hairs retuse. Leaves oblong- ovate, obscurely serrate, the floral similar, all narrowed at the base into a slender petiole. Inflorescence in loose, few-flowered, axillary whorls, often having the appearance of terminal racemes ; flozvers very small, pedicillatc. Caly^-' ovoid or tubular, gibbous at the base, 13-nerved, bearded in the throat, and more or less two-lipped ; upper-lip 3-toothed, broad and spreading ; (ect/i triangular ; loivcr-lip 2-cleft, divisions setaceous-subulate, and hispid-ciliate. Corolla bluish, pubescent, scarcely exceeding the calyx; tube naked within ; limb 2-lipped, the throat evenly open ; npper-lip erect, flat, and notched at the apex ; loiocr-lip spreading, 3-cleft. Stamens 4, the inferior (fertile) pair the longer; fertile filaments ascending parallel and under the upper-lip; sterile tipped with a litde head, destitute of cells or pollen. Anthers of fertile stamens, 2-celled. Fruiting calyx ovate-campanulate, strongly gibbous, the throat closed with a ring of villous hairs. Nutlets 4, ovoid, brown, slightly coni])ressed. History and Habitat. — This species is indigenous to North America, where it ranges from Canada to Iowa, and southward. It grows upon the most arid spots of open woods and fields, and blossoms from July to September. The American Pennyroyal differs largely from the European Moitha pulc- gium in its botanical characters, but its action, as a medicine, is very like it. Our species is extensively used, in domestic practice, as an aromatic stimulant and car- minative in colic of children ; a diaphoretic in the beginning of colds (Pennyroyal Tea); and in large doses of a hot infusion, together with the pediluvium, in amen- orrhoea. In the latter trouble, if of recent occurrence, it will often bring on the menses nicely; and, combined with a gill of brewer's yeast, it frequently acts w(;ll * *H(^'tf«T/ioi', heiivcsmon, from n<'»,-, heiiys^ sweet: »a/nri/!c.— This body was discovered in Stramonium by Geiger and Hesse in 1833. A. von Planta in 1850 proved it identical with Atropine* not only in solubility and fusibility, but also in its chemical composition (Cj-Hg^NO^), and many physical properties. It differs, however, sufficiently to suggest to Herr Schmidt that we should distinguish the two products by prefixing the name of the plant from which each is derived. Ledenburgf says, doubtless Daturine, Hyoscyamine, Atropine, and Duboisine are identical. The following points of difterence are, however, distinguishable between the two alkaloids: The crystals are said to differ somewhat in form ;J datura-atropine is levogyrate, while atropa-atropine is non-rotary ; § platinic chloride precipitates atropa-atropine salts, but not salts of datura-atropine, and picric acid precipitates datura-atropine, but not atropa-atropine ; || atropa-atropine is said to be twice as poisonous as datura-atropine;^ and it is claimed that datura-atropine is thrice as powerful a dilatant of the pupil as its isomer, and that the dilation lasts longer.** Atropa-atropine or atropine, Cj-H.^^O^ as purified after its extraction from the flowering Belladonna, forms prisms, having a nauseous, bitter and burning taste, and causing a dryness of the mouth and fauces, widi constriction of the throat. Even in very small doses it produces congestive headache and dilatation of the pupil. It is readily soluble in alcohol, less so in water; its solubility is increased in each by the addition of heat. It fuses at 90° (194° F.) ; and at 140'' (284° F.) it breaks down, the greater portion being destroyed ; by farther heating on plati- num-foil it bursts into a flame, and the slight residue soon vanishes. Stramonin. — This chemically uninvestigated body was separated from the tinc- ture of the seeds, by Trommsdorf.f-j- It is described as a white, tasteless powder ; sparingly soluble in alcohol, insoluble in water and fusing at 150° (302° F.). * Am. Jour. Phar., XXIII., 38. t Berichie. dtr Ckim. ges., 1880, 380. J Erhard, l865. \ Poehl, I'etersb. Med. Wochrnsch., 1877, No. 20. || Poehl, 1. c. \ Schroff. ** Jobert, Ann. de-Therap., 1863, 28. ft Wittstein, I. c. 127-4 Brandes, In his analysis of the seeds, extracted a fixed oil, fat oil, fatty matter, wax, resin insoluble in ether, red extractive matter, uncrystallizable sugar, gum, gummy extractive, malic acid, and various uncharacteristic bodies. PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION. — Datura Stramonium acts very powerfully upon the cerebro-spinal system, causing a line of symptoms showing it to be a narcoto- irritant of high degree. The symptoms collated from many cases of poisoning by this drug are : Vertigo, with staggering gait, and finally unconsciousness ; stupor and deep sleep, with stertorous breathing ; mania, with loquaciousness or melan- cholia ; hallucinations of terrifying aspect, the patient bites, strikes and screams, and throws the arms about, or picks and grasps at unattainable objects ; con- gestive headaches, with dull beating and throbbing in the vertex. The pupils are dilated, and the patient suffers from photophobia, diplopia and hemeralopia ; the eyes are wide open, staring, and set, or are contorted, rolling, and squinting. The face becomes red, bloated, and hot, the mouth spasmodically closed, and the tongue dry and swollen ; the patient suffers greatly from thirst, but the sight of water throws him into a spasm and causes great constriction of the throat, foaming at the mouth, and other symptoms similar to those of hydrophobia. There is often nausea, but seldom vomiting. The sexual functions are often excited, more espe- cially in women, in whom it causes nymphomania. Spasms of the muscles of the chest are of frequent occurrence ; inspiration is slow and expiration quick. Paralysis of the lower limbs and loss of speech, with twitchings and jerkings of muscles often mark a case. Its action will be seen to be similar to that of Bella- donna, yet differing in many respects. A few of the many cases of poisoning by this plant will serve to show its mode of action : Beverly states* that some of the soldiers sent to Jamestown to quell the rebellion of Bacon, gathered the young sprouts of Stramonium and ate them as a potage, " the effect of which was a very pleasant comedy, for they turned natural tools upon it for several days. One would blow up a feather in the air, another would dart straws at it with fury ; another, stark naked, was sitting up in a corner like a monkey, grinning and making maws at them ; a fourth would fondly kiss and paw his companions, and smile in their faces with a countenance more antic than any in a Dutch droll. A thousand simple tricks they played, and after eleven days returned to themselves again, not remembering anything" that had passed." J. R. Dodge statesf that " Datura mcteloides grows abundantly on the Colorado River, in Arizona, and that the Mohave Indians gather the leaves and roots, bruise and mix them with water, and after being allowed to stand several hours, the liquid is drawn off. It is a highly narcotic drink, producing a stupefying effect, which is not very easy to remove. The Mohaves will often drink this nauseous liquid, as they are very fond of any kind of intoxication." The California Indians use a decoction of this species to stimulate young females in dancing. The Pah-Utes call the plant Alain-oph-wcep ; they ferment in the sun a watery infusion of the Hist, of Virginia, 121. \ U. S. Agric. Rep., 1S70, 423. 127-5 bruised seeds, and drink die liquor for the purpose of intoxication.* Dr. Schlesier met a casef in which the subject, a boy, aet. 4, mistook the fruit of Stramonium for poppy heads, and ate a quantity of them. " Soon afterwards his face was flushed, his eyes were glistening and in constant motion, the pupils much dilated, and the countenance was that of an into.xicated person. He sat up in bed quite uncon- scious, but continually babbling and occasionally starting up suddenly, his hands apparently directed at imaginary objects in the air. His pulse was very slow ; there was no fever, but intense thirst and violent perspiration from incessant motion." Dr. Turner;}; describes the effects upon two children who had eaten the seeds: "In an hour and a half they were fully under the influence of the poison. They were lying on their backs, eyes bright, pupils widely dilated and insensible to light, conjunctiva injected, faces deeply suffused, and of a dark-crimson color; difficulty of breathing, inability to articulate, and in a state of complete insensi- bility, broken occasionally by a paroxysm, during which they would utter some indistinct sounds and throw their hands about, as if trying to ward off some threat- ening evil. They then fell into a comatose state, but were easily roused into a state of violent excitement; they grasped at imaginary objects; there was picking of the bedclothes, with paroxysms of excessive laughter." The Thugs, a society of stealthy fanatic murderers of India, often employ D. fastuosa and alba to render their intended victims unconscious. On Animals. — Orfila found that half an ounce killed a dog within twenty-four hours ; and a quarter of an ounce applied to an open wound in another, killed him in six hours. The symptoms in each case showed that the effects were produced upon the nervous system in general. Post-mortem. — The blood was found to be semi-fluid throughout the body, the few coagula that are met with in the auricles and large veins are very thor- oughly formed and easily broken down. A slight injection of the mucous mem- brane of the larynx, pharynx, and upper portion of the oesophagus was observed. The rima glottidis was thickened and very turgid. The alimentary tract, however, was found absolutely normal. § From the symptoms caused by this drug, its homoeopathic adaptability to hydrophobia will be at once evident. There is no drug so far proven that deserves as thorough and careful a trial in this dread disease as Stramonium. The following, from a letter written by the Catholic Bishop of Singapore to the Straits Tunes, has just come to my notice. This bishop says he thinks it his duty to publish the remedies used in the missions in Tonquin for the cure of hydrophobia. These, he says, consist first, in giving as much star-aniseed as may be contained on a cent piece ; and secondly, in making the patient take some water in which a handful of the leaves of stramony, or thorn-apple, or pear-apple, is infused. These will cause an access of the convulsions or delirium, during which the padent must be tied ; but on its abatement he will be cured. If the remedy act too violendy, either by * Dr. Edward Palmer in Am. Nat., 1878, 650. f Canstatt's Jahrbtieh, 1844, 297. J Am. Jour, of Med. Sci., 1864, 552. \ Mr. Duffin's case (his youngest daughter), Lancet, 1845, 195. 127-6 too much being administered, or on account of there being no virus of real hydro- phobia, the consequences may be ameliorated by making the patient drink an infusion of licorice root, a most precious antidote against poisoning by stramony. In 1869, the bishop relates, a very honorable member of the clergy of Paris was bitten by a pet dog, which died thirty hours afterwards with the most charac- terized convulsions of rabies. The following day he felt the first symptoms of the dreadful disease, and these augmented in intensity every day. The priest, how- ever, applied at once all sorts of known remedies, ancient and modern, and even employed a very small dose of stramony. Each time he used the latter the pro- gress of the disease ceased for some hours, even days, and then continued its ravages with greater intensity than before. When the fatal issue was at hand, just at the crisis of the disease, when the paroxysms had attained the greatest violence, the patient, with almost superhuman energy, began chewing a pinch of dried stramony leaves, swallowing the juice. The effect was not long in making itself felt. In half an hour the disease had attained its height, the patient being delirious during the convulsions ; but on the following clay he was perfectly cured. "The same remedy," concludes the bishop, "is used in India, and is always suc- cessful." Description of Plate 127. I. End of a flowering branch and portion of the main stem, Jersey City, N. J., July loth, 1884. 2. Stamen. 3. Ovary. 4. Stigma. 5. Pollen X 200. , (2-4 enlarged.) I-^l! V- s\ .(". •'' 1 - &( m >^ ^!i^ /<. Gm.adnai.del.ttpinxt. NiCOTIANA TABACUM,Linn N. ORD-SOLANACE^. 128 Tribe.-NICOTIANE/E. GENUS— NICOTIAN A,* LINN. SEX. SYST.— PENTANDRIA MONOGYNIA. TABACUM. TOBACCO A SYN.— NICOTIANA TABACUM, LINN., NICOTIANA MACROPHYLLA, SPRBNGBL, LEHM., HYOSCYAMUS PERUVIANUS, GERARD. COM. NAMES.— TOBACCO; (FR.) TABAC ; (GER.) TABAK. A TINCTURE OF THE LE.WES OF NICOTIANA TABACUM, L. A TINCTURE OF THE ALKALOID NICOTINUM. Description.— This largely cultivated, rank, acrid, annual herb, the base of the most wide-spread of all narcotic habits, grows to a height of from 4 to 6 feet at its flowering season. Root long, fibrous and tap-shaped. Stem erect, simple, cylindrical, solid and viscid-pubescent. Leaves alternate, bright-green upon the upper surface, paler beneath, those of the base more or less petioled, large and broad, ovate and from one and one-half to two feet long, by from 10 to 18 inches broad ; those of the upper part of the plant more or less amplectant, oval-oblong or oval-lanceolate, all entire acute and glandularly pubescent. Inflorescence a terminal spreading panicle of rose colored or white flowers ; bracts lanceolate, acute. Ca/yx inflated-tubular or campanulate, 5-cleft, viscid-hairy; teeth narrow-lanceolate, acute. Corolla ; lube funnel-form, clammy-pubescent, from one and one-half to two inches long; lh7ib salver-form, plaited, 5-cleft, the lobes acute and broadly triangular. Stamens 5, equal or nearly so ; filaments inserted upon the base of the corolla and nearly as long as the tube ; anthers small, opening longitudinally. Ovary ovate, 2-celled ; style slender, about equal in length to the filaments ; stigma capitate, 2-lobed. Fruit a 2-celled ovate capsule, situated in the cup of the per- sistent calyx; dehiscence ?,&'^\az\6.?\ from the apex; valves 2, becoming at length separated; pericarp papyraceous, thin. Seeds innumerable, minute, subcylindri- cal ; testa sinuously, raised-reticulate. History and. Habitat.— There seems to be little doubt that tobacco is a native of some i)ortion of South or Central America, where it appears to have been used by the natives as a narcotic from prehistoric times. The first intimation history gives of its use, is the account of the .Spaniards with Columbus, who, upon landing at St. Domingo, in 1492, discovered the natives smoking cylinders of the dried leaves, which they called cohiba. In 1498 its use was again noted by them upon *Jean Nicot, vide History and Habitat, p. 128-2. f Origin somewhat doubtful, vide idem. 12S-2 the British West Indian Island of Tobago. It was either from this island, or from the native word meaning pipe, lobcxco, that the specific name was derived. Tobacco was quite extensively used by the Spaniards in Yucatan as early as 1520, and from there its use was introduced into Spain by Hernandez de Toledo in 1559; about this time also, it was first grown in Europe, at Lisbon, and from there in 1560, Jean Nicot, ambassador to France, sent seeds, mentioning them as the germs of a medicinal plant of great value. From this circumstance Linnaeus honored him with its generic name, Nicofinna. In 15S5 its use by the Canadian Indians was discovered, and in 1586 it was brought to England by Sir Francis Drake and Sir Walter Raleigh and his companions. About the year 1 6co the plant was introduced into Java, Turkey, India and China, though some historians feel confident that the Chinese had used the leaves long before this period, attempt- ing thus to more fully substantiate the theory often promulgated that the Chinese had visited the western shores of America long before the discovery of the eastern coasts by the Spaniards. The rapidity with which this plant has traveled from one extremity of the temperate and torrid zones to the other, notwithstanding the act of English Parliament, the Popish bull, the Russian knout and death, the com- mands of the priests and sultans of Turkey and Persia, and the edict of the hwang-ti of China, is almost incredible, the very opposition that attended its first introduction into all countries seemed only to urge its onward rush, until it has gained to-day a prominence greater than any other known plant. Besides the true Virginian tobacco [N'icoliana Tabaciini, L.) for which the genus was composed, the following species and varieties have been determined : A^. rtistica, L., a species with greenish-yellow flowers, cultivated in Mexico, India, Syria, and Turkey (Zrt;^^z/&/«), and found escaped in the northern United States; I\F. Tcibaciim, v:ir. undidata, Sendtmr, found in Brazil; N. quadrivahis, var. miilti- valvis, Gray, a relic of aboriginal cultivation in Oregon ; N. Paliucri, an Arizo- nian species (Palmer); N. Clevelandi, a Californian species (Cleveland); N. Plinn- baginifolia, I'iv., a Mexican species (Berlandier); N. fruciicosa, L., a beautiful species with sharply pointed capsules ; N.persica, Lindl., cultivated as the fragrant Shiraz or Persian tobacco ; N. rcpanc/a, IVilld., furnishing the fine Havana and Cuban leaves ; N'. quadrivalvis, Pursh., used by the Indians along the Missouri river, and called by them nonrhaxi'\ N. nana, Lindl., the plant of the Rocky Moun- tain tribes ; N'. cliincnsis, as cultivated in China and Japan ; N. trigonophylla, Duiial, N. Bigclovii, Watson, and ^V. attemiata, Torrcy, the leaves of all of which being used by the Indians of Utah, Arizona, New Mexico and Southern Califor- nia, and said to be stronger than^the cultivated plants (Palmer); N. lancifolia, Willd., and N. Vbarrensis, HBK., to which Prof. Asa Gray refers the Yaqui Tobacco, cultivated in Arizona (Palmer); and "H. pctiolata, a variety of cultivation in the United States. The tobacco plant flowers in temperate regions from June to August, varying with the locality and season. Tobacco can be raised in its proper soil at almost any point between the equator and the 50th degree N. or S. latitude, the better grades however not above the 35th degree, and the best between the 15th and 35th degrees, north. 128-3 The production of this narcotic for its specihc use as liefore intimated is enor- mous, and increasing- rapidly from year to year, the United States alone raising 472,061.175 lbs. in 1880, or nearly double the product for 1870. The estimated annual production of the globe is placed at about 3,000,000 tons! which, taking the world's population at present (1882) to be 1,433,887,600, would furnish each individual, without regard to age, sex, or condition, with over 4^ lbs. As an habitual narcotic its modes of use are various. I place them here in the order of their harmfulness: Chewing without e.xpectorating, inhalation of the smoke, chewing and e.xpectorating, insufflation of snuff, and smoking without inhalation. The leaves are prepared for use, — after passing through processes which tend slightly to militate against the poisonous properties, — in the form of twists soaked in molasses or liquorice, for chewing, called plugs ; shredded leaves more or less pure, for chewing or smoking, called yf«^-«^^; finely-broken leaves, sometimes bleached, for smoking, tarmed gra?iu/aied tobacco ; rolled into cylindri- cal forms, either pure or saturated with nitre, as cigars and cheroots ; rolled into small cylinders and wrapped in paper, as cigarettes ; pulverized and kept dry or damp for insufflation or chewing, as sfitiff ; and many other minor forms. Its exhibition internally as a drug, must be conducted with the greatest care and watchfulness according to the susceptibility of the patient and the potence of the preparation. It was formerly quite esteemed as an anthelmintic, emetic, anti- spasmodic, cathartic, and sialagogue. Externally its forms of application were many in hemorrhoids, various skin diseases of man and beast, spasma glottidis, rheumatism, ulcers, tumors, and kindred affections. Its officinal form in the U. S. Ph. is now simply Folia Tabaci ; its former officinal preparations were dismissed at the 6th revision, 1S82. In the Eclectic Materia Medica the preparations are Injustun Tabaci, Oleum Tabaci and Unguenttivi Tabaci. PART USED AND PREPARATION.— The generic effects of Nicotiana being almost, if not quite identical in each species, and as the physiological effects have been gathered from all sources, varieties, and uses, the leaves of any fully-developed plant may be used. Place the dried and finely-cut leaves in a bottle, cover them with five parts by weight of alcohol, and allow them to stand at least eight days, well stoppered, in a dark, cool place. The tincture may then be pressed out and filtered. If prepared from Havana leaves, which contain the smallest percentage of nicotia, it presents a clear orange-brown color by transmitted light, the charac- teristic penetrating odor and taste of the plant, and only a slight acid reaction. Nicotinum.— A Solution of one part by weight of the volatile alkaloid nicotia in 99 parts of absolute alcohol. CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS.— Nicotia,=-= C,„ H,., O,. This volatile alkaloid exists in the leaves and seeds of all species of the genus nicotiana, from which it may be extracted by aqueous or alcoholic distillation. The process best calcu- lated to extract the full amount is Laiblin's modification of that of Schloesing.f *Nicotina, nicotin, nicotylia, nicotine, tabacine. ^ Annal. d. cAem., vnl. 196, p. 130. substantially as follows : The cut leaves and stems are placed in some convenient apparatus, covered to a good depth with water, and allowed to digest 24 hours or more, then heated by means of superheated steam for half an hour, filtered and pressed. The mass is again dealt with in the same way, and the resultant liquids united and evaporated to one-third. Ten per cent, of the original weight of the tobacco of slaked caustic lime is now added, and the whole subjected to distillation by steam, until the disgusting odor of nicotia is no longer perceptible from the still. The distillate is now neutralized by a known weight of oxalic acid and evaporated to a thin syrup, the requisite amount of potassa to neutralize the known quantity of acid is now added, which causes a separation of the crude nicotia ; this is collected and the menstruum treated with ether to extract the re- maining alkaloid. Boih resultants are now mixed, purified by distillation with hydrogen, solution in ether, shaking with powdered oxalic acid, solution again in ether, decomposing with potassa and redistillation in hydrogen. The distillate (Nicotia) is a colorless pure liquid, having a peculiar repulsive acrid odor not resembling tobacco, a burning taste, strong alkaline reaction, turning brown when exposed to light and air, and a specific gravity of 1.048 at 0° C. (32° F.). It boils at 250° C. (482° F.), is soluble to any quantity in water, alcohol or ether, and com- pletely saturates acids. The question as to the presence of nicotia in tobacco smoke, a point quite necessary to determine, seems still unsettled, many chemists of note having failed to detect its presence, while others find it in considerable quantity without appar- ent trouble. Vohl and Eulenberg (1871) conclude that nicotia is completely decomposed in the process of smoking, while Kissling (1882) in a comprehensive essay* criticises their process, and judges that their analysis was incorrect. He also criticises the analyses of Heubel, LeBon and Pease, who found nicotia, and reports its presence in his own analysis. The smoke contains, according to Vohl and Eulenberg, who have made careful analyses,-}- pyridine, Q H^ N ; piccoline, C„ H_ N ; lutidifte, C, H, N ; colli dine, C, Hj^ N ; parvoline, Cg H^^ N ; cori- dine, Cj,, H^,, N ; rubidinc, C,^ Hj„ N ; and viridine, Cj^ H^^ N ; all of which are bases occurring in coal-tar, and in Dippel's oil [Olctim Aninialc Dippelii), a product of the dry distillation of bones and other animal matter. Besides these another hydrocarbon, Q, H^^; carbonic anhydride; hydrocyanic acid; sul- phuretted hydrogen ; acetic anhydride ; formic, propionic, butyric, valeric and carbolic acids ; creosote ; several hydrocarbons of the acetylene group ; ammonia; methane and carbonic oxide were found present. Oleum Tabaci.— This empyreumatic, tarry liquid doubtless contains many of the hydrocarbons mentioned above, and mixed with nicotia is in great part that subsidence found in the smoker's pipes. Nicotianin.— Tobacco Camphor. — Q^ Hj^ N.^ O3. Hermbstadt (1823) ob- served floating separate upon the surface of an aqueous distillate of tobacco leaves, white laminae, to which he gave the above name. Nicotianin consists of white, scale-like crystals, having a bitter aromatic taste, soluble in water, alcohol and ether, and emitting a tobacco-like odor. ♦Quoted in Jour. Chem. 5or., Augu.-t, 1882. t Vierleljahrssclir. f. gd-'uhll. und offc-nll. Metiicin, N. ed., Vul. 14, p. 249. 1128-5 Nicotinic Acid.— C, H^ N, CO.OH, was first discovered by Huber, who sub- sequently recognized it as carbopyridcnic acid. Weidel afterward separated this principle from nicotia by the use of nitric acid, and deemed his product identical with that of Huber; he gave it the formula Cj^H.N, O.,.* Laiblin, however, ( 1 879)1 after successive tests favors the formula of Huber. This acid forms colorless, sublimable crystals, possessing a strongly acid taste. Oil of Nicotiana Tabacum.— The fixed oil of the seeds, according to Witt- stein, is golden-yellow, mild and inodorous, having a density of 0.917. A corre- sponding or identical oil, Cj^ H,„ 0,„ is found (Zeise) in. Oleum Tabaci. Tabacose.— The presence of this tobacco sugar has been determined by Prof. AttfieldJ in amounts varying in different samples, from about 5-10 per cent. The precise nature of this saccharose body is not yet known. Besides the above the plant contains gum, mucilage, tannin, and from 15 to 30 per cent, of inorganic matters, salts of potassium, calcium and magnesium, as sulphates, phosphates, malates, nitrates and probably citrates, these latter differing in quantity according to the nature of the soil in which the individual grows, and showing it to be a very exhaustive crop. PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION.— The important question of whether the use of tobacco in moderation is harmful or not, has been decided in the negative by many of the highest authorities. It would seem that he who can use it at all, and who notes no symptoms from its moderate exhibition, is not particularly in- jured. In this as with all other drugs, it must be remembered, that what is moderation in one individual is often excess in another, and that, therefore, the dose, whether taken as a remedy or otherwise, must in all cases be suited to the particular individual under consideration. Concerning the many essays that are written upon this subject, the fact that all of them show to a careful reader whether the writer is a user or not, renders them very unsatisfactory and more or less faulty through partisanship. Chronic eflfects.— It is almost an impossibility to gain a systematic knowledge of the chronic effects of tobacco poisoning, though the sources of information upon this subject would seem at first to be excellent. The effects produced upon smokers are almost useless in the study of the drug itself, and it is only in that class of chewers who swallow the juice, that positive data could be looked for; still here, as well, we are at a loss to determine facts, for in manufacturing the narcotic processes are used which alter the product greatly ; nevertheless some few symp- toms seem to be more or less common to all who have been for protracted periods subjected to the drug. Mental anxiety and irritability, with at times con- fusion of ideas ; dilation of the pupils ; ringing in the ears ; increased secretion of saliva ; uncertainty of speech ; dryness of the throat ; at times weakness of the stomach and nausea ; increased secretion of urine ; dry cough especially at night ; prsecordial oppression with palpitation of the heart and at times an irregular pulse ; trembling of the extremities when held long in one position ; general * Laiblin, Jour. Client. Soc, October, 1879, quoted from Liebig's Annalen. 1 1'^'''- \ Ph.irm. your. Trans., Jan. 12, quote! in Am. your. Phar., 18S4, p. 147. i28-6 anaemic condition of the blood ; spasmodic contractions or jactation of single muscles ; sensations of exhaustion and especially lassitude ; sleepiness ; profuse perspiration, and sensitiveness to cold. It would seem to be a fact, that in habitual users of this or any other toxic drug, the drug acts more or less as its own antidote, for immediately upon discon- tinuance of its use the preponderance of its symptoms arise. The effects of tobacco or its alkaloid nicotia in toxic quantities, when taken into the stomach, injected into the rectum, or applied to a denuded surface are : Ante-mortem. — Faintness, vertigo and trembling, with extreme nausea, torpor, stertorous breathing, weak irregular pulse, relaxation of the muscles, and vomiting ; followed by severe spasms or paralysis, advancing coldness of the extremities, collapse with cold sweat, and death. Post-mortem.— Excessive cadaveric rigidity, a general contraction and con- gestion of all hollow organs ; the heart, stomach, intestines, kidneys and bladder ; a congestion of the cerebellum, liver, portal and mesenteric veins, and mucous membranes either as a whole or only in patches. The blood is found everywhere very dark and liquid. On Animals.— Johnston states* that the Hottentots are said to kill snakes by placing a drop of the empyreumatic oil of tobacco upon their tongues. Death follows instandy as by an electric shock, or a dose of hydrocyanic acid. The action of nicotia upon small species seems to be in general almost as instantane- ous as above ; especially upon the carnivora, where its action seems more intense. Tobacco, then, from the foregoing facts, acts as a severe irritant to the gan- glionic centers, producing thence an action at first paralytic, then spasmodic, affect- ing the sympathetic, motor and vaso-motor systems. Description of Plate 128. I. Whole plant, eight times reduced, from a cultivated specimen. Chemung, N. Y., Sept. 11, 1879. 2. Flower. 3. Fruit. 4. Seed (somewhat enlarged). 5. Section of fruit. *Chem. of Com. Life, Vol. II., p. 28. 129. % 3 ^m.ad natdel.etpinxt. MENYANTHES TRIFOLIATA,Linn. N. ORD-GENTIANACE^. 129 Tribe.-MENYANTHE/E. GENUS.— MEN Y A NTH ES,* TOURN. SEX. SYST.— PENTANDRIA MONOCIVNIA. MENYANTHES. BUCK BEAJV. SYN.— MENYANTHES TRIFOLIATA, LINN. ; MENYANTHES VERNA, RAF. ; TRIFOLIUM PALUDOSUM, GBR. ; TRIFOLIUM FIBRINUM, G. PH. COM. NAMES.— BUCK BEAN, BOG BEAN, MARSH TREFOIL, MARSH CLO- VER, WATER SHAMROCK, BITTER ROOT; (FR.) MENYANTHE TREFLE, TREFLE D'EAU; (GER.) BACHSBOHNE, BITTERKLEE, FIEBBRKLEE. A TINCTURE OF THE WHOLE FRESH PLANT MENYANTHES TRIFOLIATA, LINN. Description. — This beautiful bog perennial is characterized as follow.s : Root- stalk horizontal, creeping, long, thick, sub-cylindrical, and conspicuously marked by the remains of the sheaths of previous petioles ; roots long, at first stout and sim- ple, then attenuated and greatly branched. Leaves alternate, trifoliate, midribs very prominent and conspicuously pale ; petioles long and thick at the base, where they are surrounded by large membranaceous sheathing bracts; leaflets oval or oblong, situated at the summit of the petiole; margins entire, or sometimes slightly crenate or obscurely serrate. Infloresceiiee a simple, terminal, pyramidal raceme ; scape naked, arising from the axils of the previous year's leaves ; bracts ovate, membraneous, obtuse, shorter than the pedicels ; flowers lo to 15, white or pinkish. Calyx persistent, much shorter than the corolla ; litnb 5-parted, the segments oblong-obtuse. Corolla deciduous, infundibuliform ; limb 5-parted, spreading, its whole upper surface densely bearded ; crstivation induplicate. Statueiis scarcely one-half the length of the corolla; antJiers oblong, sagittate. Style slender, per- sistent, somewhat exserted ; sti 0711a capitate, 2-lobed. Fniit a i -celled, ovoid cap- sule ; pericarp thin, pale brown ; dehiscence irregular, but more or less loculicidal ; placentce in the middle of the valves. Seeds numerous, minute ; testa hard, rough, and shiny. Gentianaceee. — A large order of smooth herbs, having a colorless, bitter juice, and scattered throughout all portions of the globe. Leaves generally opposite, sessile, and entire (Exc. Menyantheee) ; stiptdes wanting. Inflorescence solitary, cymose or racemose ; flozuers regular and showy. Calyx persistent ; corolla mar- cescent, funnel- or salver- form. Stamens as many as the lobes of the corolla, and inserted upon its, tube. Styles united or absent ; stigmas 2-lobed. Ovary i -celled * .M>|i'iiii'8>);, /iiji-f), nieiif, month; uk8o,-, anthos, flower; fioni its reputed power in promoting niensiruation. 129-2 or imperfectly 2-celled ; placenta 2, parietal, or sometimes the whole inner surface of the ovary placentiferous. Fruit a 2-valvecl capsule ; dehiscence septicidal. Seeds small, anatropous ; embryo minute, straight, and axial ; albumen sarcous. Besides Menyanthes, this order furnishes our Materia Medica three other proven species, viz.: The Chilian Centaury or Canchalagua [Erythrcea Ckiicnsis, Pers.) ; the Austrian Cross-wort [Gcntiajia cniciata, L.) ; and the European Yellow Gentian {Gentiana liiiea, L.). Many other species are used in medicine, principal among which are the following species of Gentiana, which often figure as substitutes for G. lutea : The North American G. Catesbaci, Walt. ; and the European G. amarclla, L. ; campes- tris, L. ; purpurea, L. ; pannonica, Murr. ; and punctata, L. The Indian Gentiana Kurroo, Royle, is used in its country in a similar manner to G. lutca in Europe. The Nordi American Columbo [Frazera Carolinensis, Walt.) has, when fresh, properties quite similar to G. lutca ; as have also the European Centuary {Ery- thrcsa Centaurium, Pers.), and Chlora perfoliata, L. The Indian Chiretta [Ophelia Chirayta, Don ) is bitter, tonic, and febrifuge, and is used by English physicians in India as a substitute for Cinchona. The East Indian Cicendia hyssopifo'ia, Wright & A., is tonic and stomachic. The American Centaury {Sabbatia ani^zi- laris, Pursh.) is a bitter tonic and febrifuge, often employed in remittent and inter- mittent fevers. The South American Lisianthus purpurasccns, Aubl., pendulus. Mart., grandijlorus, Aubl., and amplissimus. Mart., are claimed to be e.xtremely bitter tonics, esteemed as febrifuges and anthelmintics, as are also the European Villarsia nymphceoidcs, Vent., and the Cape of Good Hope V. ovata, D. C. The Guianian Coutoubea spicata, and C. ramosa, Aubl., are bitter tonics, much used as emmenagogues, anthelmintics, and for the removal of intestinal obstructions. Limnanthemum Indica is accounted a holy plant by the Chinese, in consideration of its many virtues ; L. nymphoides is febrifugal ; while the leaves of L. peltata are eaten in Japan as a potage. A peculiar property pervades the whole of this natural order — the species when fresh are all emetic and cathartic, and, when dry, tonic and stomachic in varying degrees. History and Habitat. — The Buck Bean is a native of the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, from Alaska throughout the northern portions of North America, south of Greenland, Iceland, Scotland, Norway, Sweden, Russia, and eastward to the confines of Siberia. In the United States it extends south- ward as far as Wisconsin in the west and Pennsylvania in the east. It habits fresh- water bogs, marshes, and ditches which retain water throughout the summer season, and blossoms in May and June. The previous uses of the dried plant in medicine were all dependent more or less upon its so-called tonic action ; while in a fresh state it was used as an ener- getic cathartic. As early as 161 3 a Swedish writer, Johannes Franckenius, states that a decoction of the herb removes all visceral obstructions, acts as an emmena- gogue and diuretic, kills intestinal worms, and is an efficacious remedy in scrofula. Besides its use in amenorrhoea, Menyanthes was considered valuable in the treat- 129-3 ment of atonic dyspepsia, and derangements of the digestive tract, as well as a useful remedy in remittent and intermittent fevers. Cullen speaks of the root as efficacious in obstinate cutaneous affections of a seemingly cancerous nature ; Boerhaave claims to have relieved gout in his own case by drinking the juice of the plant in whey. Dr. Alston remarks "that this plant has remarkable effect in the gout in keeping off the paro.xysms, though not to the patient's advantage." The general use of Menyanthes has been mosdy as a substitute for gentian and columbo. In Sweden the leaves are often used in brewing ; two ounces of which are said to equal a pound of hops, for which they are substituted. Linnaeus notes that in Lapland, in times of scarcity, the dried and powdered roots have been used, mixed with meal, in bread-making; he, however, characterizes the result as "amarus et detestabilis," which one can readily imagine, as neither dryness nor heat removes the bitterness of the roots. PART USED AND PREPARATION. — The whole fresh plant, gathered when budding to blossom, is to be chopped and pounded to a pulp, enclosed in a piece of new linen and subjected to pressure. The expressed juice is then, by brisk agitation, mingled with an equal part by weight of alcohol. This mixture should then be poured into a well-stoppered bottle, and allowed to stand eight days in a dark, cool place. The tincture, separated from the mass by filtration, should be opaque, and in thin layers present a deep olive-green color by transmitted light. It should have a strong herbaceous odor, a lasting, extremely bitter taste, and a strong acid reaction. CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS.— Menyanthin, QgHj^O,,.* This uncrystallizable glucoslde is derivable from the whole plant; when pure it exists as a white, bitter powder that is freely soluble in water and alcohol, but insoluble in ether. Meny- anthin softens at 6o°-65° (i40°~i49° F.), becomes liquid at 115° (239° F.), and carbonizes at higher temperatures. Menyanthol, CgH^O. — This body, together with a brown resin and glucose, is formed by the destruction of Menyanthin with dilute sulphuric or muriatic acid. It results as an oily liquid, possessing a burning taste and a penetrating odor, similar to that of oil of bitter almonds. Menyanthic Acid. — When Menyanthol is exposed to the air for some time it is oxidized to a white crystalline mass of unknown chemical composition, which is at present provisionally known by this name. The analysis of Trommsdorff resulted in the separation of albumen, resin, malic acid, "a peculiar matter precipitated by tannin," gum, inulin, and a bitter principle, which BrandesJ succeeded in gaining as an amorphous mass of mostly yellowish-white grains (impure Menyanthin). Tilden's analysis§ corresponds with that of Trommsdorf, but does not specify the amylose body found as inulin. * Kromayer and Froehde, P/iar. your., ser. 2, vol. iii., 579. t /Inn. de Chim., Ixxii., 191. I Phar. your., ser. I, vol. ii., 660. I your. Mat. Med., N. S., vol. ii., 90. • 129-4 PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION. — Large doses of the root of this plant cause profuse vomituig and purging, together with exhausting diaphoresis. Smaller doses cause confusion and vertigo, pressive headache, dimness of vision, contrac- tion of the pupil, twitching of the facial muscles, a sensation of coldness in the stomach and oesophagus, followed by nausea, distension and fulness of the abdo- men, with griping, constipation, frequent desire to urinate with scanty discharge, oppression of the chest with increased respiration and accelerated pulse, cramps in the legs, sleeplessness, coldness of the extremities, followed by fever without thirst, and extreme weakness of the whole body. Description of Plate 129. I. Whole plant, Appalachin, N. Y., June 2d, li 2. Flower. 3. Petal and stamen. 4. A hair of the corolla. 5. Stamen, with open anther. 6. Anther, showing under surface. 7. Pistil. 8. Stigma. 9. Fruit. 10. Seed, natural size and enlarged. (2-8 enlarged.) ^.m.adnatdel.etpinxt GELSEMIUM SEMPERVI RENS, Alton. N. ORD -LOGANIACE^. _ 130 GENUS— G E LS E M I U M ,* JUSS. SEX. SYST.— PENTANURIA DIUVNIA. GELSEMIUM. YELLOJJ' JESSAMIJVE. SYN.— GELSEMIUM SEMPERVIRENS, AIT. ; GELSEMIUM LUCIDUM, POIR. : GELSEMIUM NITIDUM, MICHX. ; GELSEMIUM SEU JASMINUM LUT. ODOR. ETC., CATESBY; BIGNONIA SEMPERVIRENS, LINN. ; ANONY- MOS SEMPERVIRENS, WALT; LISIANTHUS SEMPERVIRENS, MILL. COM. NAMES.— YELLOW JESSAMINE OR JASMINE, FALSE JASMINE, WILD JESSAMINE, WOODBINE;! (FR.) JASMIN JAUNE ; (GER.) GEL- BER JASMIN. A TINCTURE OF THE FRESH ROOT OF GELSEMIUM SEMPERVIRENS, AIT. Description. — This beautiful, evergreen, woody, twining plant, often attains great heights, its growth depending somewhat upon its chosen support. Root long, ligneous, varying from nearly two inches in diameter to a few lines ; looi- bark of a cinnamon-brown color, and about two lines in thickness ; ivood light- yellow. Stems branching, at first with a more or less smooth, light slate-colored bark, then smooth and purplish. Leaves opposite, persistent, on short petioles ; shining, lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, bright green above and pale beneath ; stipules inconspicuous. Inflorescence small a.\illary clusters ; Jlowers sweet scented, on scaly bracted pedicels. Calyx small ; lobes 5, imbricated, nearly distinct, ovate and acute. Corolla large, from 1 to i^ inches long, open funnel-form ; lobes 5, nearly equal, rounded and imbricated. Sta/uens 5, inserted on the base of the corolla-tube ; filaments equal ; anthers long, sagittate, adnate, and extrorse. Ovary elliptical, smooth, compressed, 2-celled ; ovtiles several in each cell, ascend- ing ; style long and slender ; stigjuas 2, each bifurcated, the lobes linear and equal. Fruit an ovoid oblong, beaked, pendent capsule ; pericarp papyraceous, splitting septicidally into two scaphoid valves. Seeds many, imbricated, light-brown, sur- rounded by a thin, flat, membranous border, which is prolonged at one extremity into a slightly wrinkled wing. Loganiacese. — This order is composed of herbs, shrubs, or trees, and forms a connective between the orders Geulianacecs, Apocytiacece, Scrophulai'iaccce, and Rtibiaccce. Its distinguishing characteristics are : Leaves opposite and entire ; stipules present or represented by a stipular line. Flowers regular and perfect, 4- 5-merous and androus. Ovary free from the calyx. The Loganiaceae of our Materia Medica are : Ignatia {Strychnos Ignatii, * Gelsemino, the Italian for Jessamine. f Not GelsemiHum. t The only woodbine in this country is Lonicera grata. Ail. (Caprifoliaceoe). 130-2 Berg.) ; Nux {Strychnos Nux-Voniica, Liim.) ; Indian pink [Spigdia Marilandica, Linn.), and Spigelia [Spigdia anthdmia, Lifin.). History and Habitat. — The yellow jessamine of the southern United States grows from Virginia southward, extending into Mexico. It flowers in March and April, and some years a second time, at least I am given to understand that such is the case in the State of Georgia. Although its support somewhat regulates the extent of the growth of this climbing vine, still it extends beyond the limits of the support in such a manner as to form beautiful trails and fringes; this occurs even above trees that are over 50 feet high. The beautiful yellow flowers, the odor of which is said to be narcotic, yield a delightful perfume, which may be ex- tracted by a process similar to that used for procuring oil of rose (Porcher). The medical history of this plant is quite modern, having been brought into notice, according to Dr. King, by a Mississippi planter, for whom in his illness the root was gathered in mistake for that of another plant ; after partaking of an in- fusion serious symptoms arose, so alarming in their character that his friends ex- pected his death ; upon his revival, however, it was apparent that the attack of bilious fever from which he had been suffering had disappeared. This accidental cure came to the knowledge of a pretender, who prepared a proprietary nostrum from the plant, called the " Electric Febrifuge." Dr. Porcher, of South Carolina, noting the use of gelsemium in the works of Elliott and Frost, brought it again into notice through the mediumship of a report on the medical botany of his state, made to the Am. Med. Ass'n, in 1849. The first provings were made by Dr. Henry (1852), whose work was followed by many provers, the principal among them being Dr. E. M. Hale, whose " Monograph on Gelsemium" has been a most efficient help to the true knowledge of this valuble American addition to our medicamentae. Gelsemium is officinal in the U. S. Ph. as Extractnni Gdsemii and Tinchwa Gelsemii, and in the Eclectic Materia Medica as Tinchira Gdsemini. PART USED AND PREPARATION. — Under this rubric it should be borne in mind that " root-gatherers " often mingle with Gelsemium root that of a similar twiner growing in like manner and localities ; this plant is known as White Jessa- mine or White Poiso7i Vine. The following comparison will suffice to distinguish them : Yelloxv yessamine. Flowers yellow. Stern-bark Smooth and uniformly gray. Tendrils wanting. Leaves ovate-lanceolate, acute at both extremities. Petioles (leaf-stalks) short. Root fibrous, in section showing a yellowish wood. Taste pleasantly bittgr. While yessamine. Flowers dirty-white. Stem-bark maculate and striate with white. Tendrils present on the lower stem. Z^ae'Movate, taper-pointed, heart-shaped at the base. Petioles (leaf-stalks) long. Root not so fibrous, in section showing white wood. Taste bitter and nauseous. PREPARATION. — .Small sections of the fresh root, cut from where the whole diameter is not greater than that of a goose-quill,* are to be chopped and weighed. * The woody portion of the root contains none of the alkaloid; this fact was determined by Eberle (1869), and corroborated by Gerrard (1883). 130-3 Then two parts by weight of alcohol are taken, the chopped root mixed thoroughly with one-sixth part of it, and the rest of the alcohol added. After having stirred the whole well, allow it to stand in a well-stoppered bottle for at least eight days in a dark, cool place. The tincture, separated from this mass by filtration, should have a clear, slightly brownish, orange color by transmitted light, an odor like that of an en- raged honey bee, a pleasantly bitter taste, and a slightly acid reaction. CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS.— Gelsemine,* Q^ H^, NO^. This alkaloid, ex- tracted from an alcoholic percolate of the powdered root, was determined by Kollock (1855). t Sonnenschein (1876) gave it the formula Qj Hjg NO^, but Ger- rard (1883)^ judges that the alkaloid used by him must have been impure, as his careful determinations result in the formula given above. Gelsemine, according to Gerrard and others, is a colorless, bitter, odorless, amorphous, brittle, trans- parent body, without definite crystals, fusing into such mass at a little below 200° C. (392° F.). It is soluble in alcohol, slightly also in boiling water, forms crystalline soluble salts with acids, and gives no color reactions with sulphuric or nitric acids. Gelsemic Acid.§ — C^^ Hg^ Oj^,. Sonnenschein (1876) claimed that this body was identical with the glucoside (ssculiii\\ but Wormley (i882),^[ after careful chemical and physiological analyses, determines that it is similar to, but not iden- tical with, that body. According to the latter observer gelsemic acid is readily crystallizable into needles, but slightly soluble in Avater, and soluble in alcohol, ether, and chloroform. Kollock** determined, beside gelsemine, a dry and a fatty resin, volatile oil, and a yellow coloring matter. PHYSIOLOGrlCAL ACTION. — Many cases of poisoning by the inadvertent use of this drug are reported, from which, together with the experiments of Worm- ley.ff we glean the following rationale of its action : The following symptoms are entailed by doses of from one drachm to an ounce of the fluid extract : Nausea, with ineffectual attempts to vomit ; dimness of vision or diplopia, especially on turning the head to one side ; congestion of the face ; spasms of the larynx and pharynx ; restlessness ; great prostration ; feeble, irregular, and intermittent pulse ; irregular and slow respiration with gasping ; loss of muscular power, with incoordination ; extremities at first hot and dry, then cold and moist; dilated pupils insensible to light; eyes fixed and protruding; inability to raise the eyelids. Death follows without previous loss of consciousness or convulsions. Post-Mortem. — Venous congestion ; collapsed lungs that are otherwise natural ; the adipose tissue is found suff'used with bile ; blood dark, grumous, and enfibrinated ; the brain and spinal cord are found pale and anaemic. By this it will be seen that there are no characteristic post-mortem appearances. * Gelsemina, gelsemia, gtUeminia. t ^'>'- Jo»r. Phar., 1855, p. 203. J A. W. Gerrard, y4/«. yo«r. /"//«>-., 1883, p. 256. \ Gelstminic acid. || See /Esculus Hippocastanuni,43. If T. G. Wormley, Ant. Jour. Phar., 1882, p. 357. ** Ibid. ft ^'"- J""''- P^'"'-, J*"-. '870. 130-4 Gelsemium then lowers the rate of the action of the heart and lungs, thus reducing the bodily temperature ; dilates the pupil by paralyzing the motor oculi (differing here from Belladonna, which also dilates the pupil, but does so by irri- tating terminal filaments from the carotid and cavernous plexuses of the sympa- thetic system). Its action on the motor oculi causes also a loss of accommodation, and paralysis of the epicylia ; this paralysis is gradually followed by a general paralytic action until the animal becomes impassive, but remains conscious until death. Gelsemium seems to act exactly opposite to Conium, the former destroy- ing all reflex action from the centre to the periphery, the latter from the periphery to the centre. The natural antidote to this drug seems to be black coffee rather than opium ; alcoholic stimulants and heat should also be plied. Description of Plate 130. I. End of flowering stem, Augusta, Ga.,* May 23d, 1883. 2. A portion of the stem. 3. Calyx and bracts (enlarged). 4. Stamens (enlarged). 5. Pistil (enlarged). 6. Section of the ovary (enlarged). 7. Fruit. * From one of a number of living specimens, kindly sent mn together with the fruit, by Miss Mary C. Cuthbert =-4-= 131. ATU.adnstiltl.ctpinxt. SPIGELIA MARILANOICA, Linn. N. ORD-LOGANIACE^. 131 GENUS— SPIGELIA,* LINN. SEX SVST.— rENTANDKIA MdXoCVMA. SPIGELIA MARILANDICA. PIJ\'K ROOT. SYN.— SPIGELIA MARILANDICA, LINN.; S. OPPOSITIFOLIA, STOKES; S. AMERICANA, MONRO; LONICBRA MARILANDICA, LINN. COM. NAMES.— MARYLAND PINK ROOT, INDIAN PINK, WORM GRASS, PERENNIAL WORM GRASS, SNAKE ROOT. CAROLINA PINK ROOT, STAR BLOOM; (FR.) SPIGELIA DE MARYLAND; (GER.) NORDAMERI- KANISCHER SPIGELIE. A TINCTURE OF THE FRESH ROOT OF SPIGELIA MARILANDICA, LINN. Description. — This Southern perennial herb usually grows to a height of from I to 2 feet. Root fibrous, twisted ; stems several from the same root, simple, 4-angled and glabrous. Leaves opposite, membranaceous, ovate to ovate-lan- ceolate, acuminate, closely sessile by a rounded base, entire, one or two pairs of veins basal, the rest more or less pinnate ; stipules small, interpetiolar. Inflores- cence in a terminal, sometimes branched, unilateral, scorpioid spike ; flozoeis showy, erect ; pedicels single or geminate ; bracts minute and subulate, or wanting ; peduncle short and naked. Calyx 5-parted ; lobes very slender and narrow. Corolla scarlet without, yellow within, elongated-tubular, 15-nerved; tube some- what clavate ; lobes 5, ovate-lanceolate, about one-quarter the length of the tube. Sta7nens 5, inserted above the middle of the corolla-tube ; filaments short, slightly exserted ; anthers erect, linear-oblong, 2-celled at the base. Ovary superior, smooth, compressed ; ovules numerous ; placenta peltate, stipitate ; style long, the lower portion Battened, the upper cylindrical, the two parts articulated, and the lower persistent, farther exserted than the stamens ; stigma simply the somewhat inflated hairy end of the style. Capsnle didymous, compressed contrary to the partitions, circumcissile above the cupule-like base, the two carpels somewhat loculicidally 2-valved. Seeds few, peltate, closely packed, and angled by mutual pressure; embryo short and straight; albumen fleshy. History and Habitat. — This beautiful plant is indigenous to North America, where it extends trom Southern New Jersey to Wisconsin, and southward to Florida and the borders of Te.xas ; it is, however, rare north of central X'irginia. It grows in rich soil on the borders of woods, and blossoms from May to July, according to its station. * In honor of Adrian Spiegel, the probable originator of Herbaria. 131-2 Among the Aborigines, even before the discovery of America, this plant was valued as an anthelmintic ; the colonists of the South received their information concerning its properties from the Cherokees, who called it unstcctla, and from the Osages, who used it also as a sudorific and sedative, under the name of niikaa. It was first introduced to the notice of physicians by Dr. Garden, who wrote several letters concerning its properties in 1763-6 to Dr. Hope. Drs. Lining and Chalmers, about this period, also contributed largely to its introduction. These physicians, and many others, have lauded the effects of the root upon lumbricoids, but all agreed that its efificacy was only certain when sufificient fresh root was taken to cause purgation ; therefore, if such an effect did not take place, calomel or rhubarb were given to gain such action. This caused many others, who failed with the drug, to demean it, and search for its vaunted effects in the accessory drugs given ; Spigelia, however, rose above all protests as an eflficient vermifuge. Bergelius found it useful also in convulsions ; and Ives and Barton considered it a valuable drug in encephalic forms of fever in children. The root and Extractiini Spigclice Fluiduni are officinal in the U. S. Ph. ; and in the Eclectic Dispensatory, Extractnm Splgelice ei Sennce Fhiidu?n, and Infusum Spigelia. PART USED AND PREPARATION.— The fresh root, gathered just before the flowers expand, is treated as directed under Gelsemium (page 130-2). The resulting tincture has a clear and beautiful reddish-orange color by transmitted light; no characteristic odor ; an astringent and slightly bitter taste, and an acid reaction. CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS. — Many analyses have been made of this species — none, however, that show the characteristics of the active principle. The following constituents of importance have been determined: An uncrystal- lizable, bitter substance, having alkaloidal characters, called by some Spigeline, an acrid resin, fi.\ed and volatile oils, extractive matter, and a peculiar tannin.'"' The properties of the root seem to be much greater than those of the herb, and also appear to be well extracted by either water or alcohol. PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION.— Dr. Barton saysf Pink Root induces, occa- sionally, violent narcotic effects, such as dimness of sight, giddiness, dilated pupils, spasmodic motions of the muscles of the eye, and even convulsions. Dr. Chalmers attributes the loss of two children by convulsions to this drug. Dr. Thompson found large doses to produce, in himself, acceleration of the pulse. Hushed face, drowsiness, and stiffness of the eyelids. Bureau J found that the drug acted as an acrid narcotic poison upon rabbits and other animals. Dr. Hedge Thompson, § above referred to, found the following symptoms to be produced upon man, after the ingestion of varying doses, all considered large : * See Proc. Am. Pkar. Assoc, 1857, 132; Jour, dt P/uii:, ix, 197; Am. Jour. P/mr., 1857, 51 1 ; P/iar. Join:, i, V, 354; .4m. Chem. Jour., i, 104; and Am. Jour. P/iar., 18S4, 570. t I'eg. Mai. Med., ii, 80. \ De la famillie des I.oganiacees, 130. \ Exp. diss, on the Spigelia Marilandiea, 1802. 131-3 Acceleration of the heart's action, followed soon by a notable reduction and irregularity : nausea ; inllammation of the palpebral, followed by a sensation of stiffness therein ; languor, and drowsiness. Dr. Spalsbury-'' records the effects of three doses of an infusion as follows: A peculiar, wild, staring expression of the eyes, giving the countenance a very singular, in fact, ludicrous, appearance; strabismus of the right eye; great dilation of the pupils; face, especially about the eyes, including the lids, much swollen; tongue pointed and tremulous; pulse no and irregular; on attempting to rise a general tremor came on, which passed off in a few seconds, leaving the patient apparendy quite exhausted; and the skin hot and dry. Lining states that the only muscles ot the eye affected, according to his experience, were the adductors and abductors. These symptoms point to the drug as an irritant to the inhibitory nerves, especially the thoracic plexus, and give no farther narcotic symptoms than the natural counter- effect of such irritation. Description of Plate 131. Top of ]jlant in flower, from near Charleston, S. C, June 7th, 18S6. 2. t'alyx. 3. Opened corolla. 4. Stamen. 5. Section of lower portion of corolla-tube. 6. Style and stigma. 7. Section of ovary. 8. Fruit. 9. Seed. (2-9 enlarged.) Bost. Meil. and Sttrg. Jour., lii, 72. i ^m.jdnatdel.etpinxt APOCYNUM ANDROS/tMIFOLIUM , Linn. N. ORD -APOCYNACE/E. 132 CENLIS— APOCYNUM,* I, INN. S1-:X. SVST.— n^NTANDRIA DICYNIA. APOCYNUM ANDROS^MIFOLIUM. DOG'S BAA'E. SYN.— APOCYNUM ANDROS^MIFOLIUM, LINN. COM. NAMES.— DOG'S BANE, BITTER ROOT, INDIAN HEMP, MILK WEED, FLY-TRAP, HONEY BLOOM, "WANDERING MILK WEED, CATCH- FLY, SPREADING DOG'S BANE, AMERICAN IPECAC, BLACK IN- DIAN HEMP. TINCTURE OF THE FRESH ROOl' OF APOCYNUM ANDR0.S^:MI FOLIUM, LINN. Description. — This upright perennial shrub-Hke herb, grows from 2 to 4 feet in lieight, branching profusely, and emitting when wounded in any part a milky juice. The 7-ooi is long, more or less cylindrical, with a diameter of from one- eighth to three-quarters of an inch, sparsely branched, and covered with a quan- tity of fine fibres. It is light-brown externallv, wrinkled throughout its length, and transversely fissured ; the bark is thin, amorphous, the wood somewhat porous, white and tasteless ; the milky juice permeates its whole substance. Stern smooth, at first simple, then divergently branched, and forked. Leaves opposite, smooth and green above, paler and more or less whitish pubescent beneath; tlie)- are ovate, acute, mucronate, from 2 to 3 inches long, and about 1 inch broad. Petioles about one-quarter of an inch in length. Inflorescence upright or nodding paniculate cymes at the ends of the branches, and in the axils of the terminal leaves. Pedicels from 2 to 3 lines long, with minute subulate bracts at their bases. Calyx entirely free from the ovaries, five-parted, with ovate- lanceolate, acute lobes, much shorter than the corolla, not glandular. Corolla con- volute, and sinistrally twisted in the bud, monopetalous, bell-shaped, white tinged with red, five cleft ; limb spreading ; lobes ovate, obtuse, reflexed, each bearing at its base a triangular nectariferous scale, free only at the tip. Stamens five, inserted at the base of the corolla, alternate with the glands ; filaments distinct, very short, ligulate, pubescent inside ; anthers sagittate, with an acute hyaline tip, sometimes slightly coherent, and adhering by their faces to a zone or ring at about the middle of the stigma, 2-celled, the cells opening longitudinally. Pollen granu- lar. Ovaries 2. oblong, generally distinct, rarely united ; stigma sessile or nearly * .An ancient name of the dog's haiie compo>ed of into, from, kvuv, a dog ; as it was thought to be poisonous to this animal. 132-2 so, ovoid, obtuse and obscurely 2-lobed. Follicles 2, from 2 to 4 inches long, cylin- drical, slender, and pendant ; generally remaining united by their apices until fully ripe. Seeds numerous, crowned with a long silky coma at their summit. The apocynaceae are chiefly tropical, acrid, poisonous plants, represented in the gar- dens by the Oleander and the Periwinkle, and wild in the northern United States by Amsonia, Forsteronia and Apocyvum. History and Habitat. — This rather common plant is found from Canada to Georgia, and Missouri. It grows along fences, and over old fields, flowering in June and July, the pods forming well before the blossoms have all fallen. The names catch-fly and fly-trap are derived from the fact that the flowers of both this and A. cannabinum have a power, without special utility, of imprison- ing insects. Dr. Darwin supposed this quality to be due to an irritability of the internal organs, but upon careful observation it is plainly seen that the capture is entirely accidental, the flower and plant remaining neutral. In consequence of the convergence of the anthers and their adherence to the zone of the stigma, a narrow fissure is formed, very contracted at the apex, the insect in search of honey from the nectaries at the base of the corolla, inserts its proboscis between the short filaments of the stamens, thus when about to leave its feast the proboscis is sometimes caught in this fissure ; once fast, the greater the insect struggles the more firmly is it wedged, until its self-deliverance becomes impossible. Thus mosquitoes, gnats and small flies may frequently be found dead in the flower- tubes. The only previous use of this herb is said to be that of the Indians, who em- ployed it in syphilis. Rafinesque says : " From its stem may be obtained a thread similar to hemp, which can be woven into cloth ; from its pods, cotton ; from its blossoms, sugar." The quantity of the last two articles is small, it is true, but might serve in an emergency. This drug has been dismissed from the U. S. Ph., on account of lack of knowledge of its action. With the Eclectics it is used as Decocliim Apocyni ; Extractum Apocyni Alcoholicum ; and Apocynin their so-called alka-resinoid. For obvious reasons, when desired as a tonic, diaphoretic or la.xative agent, a decoction prepared as follows is the most effectual : Take a suitably sized earthen or porcelain-lined vessel and place in it one oz. of the sliced plant, roots, stems and leaves, to which add one pint of pure cold water ; place the vessel in a pot of water and let it come to a boil, and remain so for at least an hour, replenishing as fast as it evaporates, with hot water, then strain the decoction from the inner vessel before it cools. It should be covered with a tight lid while heating, and after bottling should be always kept tightly corked ; even then it is worthless after standing a few days. Dose, a tablespoonful three times a day. PART USED AND PREPARATION. — The fresh root is chopped and pounded to a pulp and weighed. Then two parts by weight of alcohol are taken, and after thoroughly mixing the pulp with one -sixth part of it, the rest of the alcohol is added. After having stirred the whole, pour it into a well-stoppered bottle and 132-3 let it stand eight clays in a dark, cool place. The tincture is then separated by decanting', straining and filtering. Thus prepared, it has a light reddish-brown color by transmitted light, a very bitter taste, and a slight acid reaction to litmus. CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS. — Very litde is known of the constitution of this plant, it not having been very thoroughly analyzed. According to Bigelow it contains : Red coloring matter, soluble in water, slightly soluble in alcohol. A bitter principle, soluble in water and alcohol. Volatile oil, caoutchouc and fi.xed oil. PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION. — Here also investigation has been neglected. Apocynum A. is an emetic without causing nausea, a cathartic, and quite a power- ful diuretic and sudorific; it is also expectorant and considered antisyphilitic. Description of Plate 132. I. Part of plant, I'rom McLean, N. Y., June 15th, 1880, showing the mode of branching. 2. End of branch in flower. 3 Follicles. 4. Seed. 5. Flower (enlarged). (fia.adnafdeletpinxt APOCYNUM GANNABINUM Linn. N. ORD-APOCYNACE^. 133 GENUS. — APOCYNUM, TOURN. SEX. SYST.— PENT.WDRI.V UIGYNI.V. APOCYNUM CANNABINUM. caj^adiajy hemp. SYN.— APOCYNUM CANNABINUM, LINN.; APOCYNUM HYPERICIFOL- lUM, AIT.; APOCYNUM SYBERICUM, JACQ. ; APOCYNUM PUBES- CENS, R. BR. COM. NAMES.— AMERICAN INDIAN HEMP,* DOG'S BANE,t OLD-AMY ROOT, GENERAL MARION'S "WEED, SNAKES' MILK, CANADIAN HEMP, AMERICAN HEMP; J (CANADIAN) HOUATTE ; (FR.) CHANVRE DU CANADA; (GER.) CANADISCHE HANP. A TINCTURE OF THE FRESH ROOT OF APOCYNUM CANNABINUM, LINN. Description. — This species attains a height of from 2 to 4 feet. Stem erect, glabrous, or downy pubescent ; branches upright or ascending, leafy to the top. Leaves varying from nearly oval to oblong and sometimes even lanceolate ; base rounded, obscurely cordate, or acute; petioles usually present, short, but .some- times wanting. Inflorescence terminal, erect, many and densely flowered, cymes, shorter than the leaves ; flaivers smaller than those of the preceding species. Calyx: lobes lanceolate. Corolla greenish-white; tube not longer than the calyx lobes ; lobes nearly erect, not reflexed. Follicles from 3 to 5 inches long. In this description only the more distinctive and differential points are given ; the generic description is embodied in that of the preceding species. As these two plants are so often classed as one by collectors in general, and as their action is quite different, I append a differentiation : A. androsivmifolium. 1. Stem divergently branching or bifurciting. 2. Root : hark dark brown ; wood white, tenacious, fibrous ; pith of about the diameter of the thickness of the bark, sometimes greater.^ 3. Leaves ovate, distinctly petioled ; those at the bases of the branches like those -upon them — ». e., an opposite, petioled pair.|| (Plate 132, Fig. I.) Inflorescence loose, spreading cynics; y?oa/^« greenish- white, with rose-colored macuKitions or strict, or full pale rose-color ; \ corolla : tube longer than the caly.x lobes ; lobes reflexed or spreading. A cannabinum. 1. Stem assurgently branching, not bifurcating. 2. Root: bark grayish-brown; wood yellowish, soft, porous; pith minute or not evident.^ 3. Leaves ranging from ovate to nearly lanceolate, sometimes sessile or neatly so ; those at the bases of the branches single, sessile, and larger.|| (Plate 133, Fig. 2.) Inflorescence close, erect cyines ; flowers greenish- white, smaller ; corolla: tube nol longer than the calyx lobes ; lobes erect. * This plant is often termed Indian hemp, a name only applicable to Cannabis Indica, as it designates that plant alone. American Indian hemp might possibly apply, if we consider the first two words a compound word, and write it American-Indian hetnp. t Dog's-bane as properly belongs to A. androscemifolium, as Canadian hemp does to this species. J American hemp and American Indian hemp (so written) refer to Cannabis Indica as cultivated in America. \ Manheimer, in Am. Jour. Phar., 1881, p. 354. II A purely distinctive point, no mention of which appears in any of the works I have examined. \ The author regrets that a misinterpretation occurred, causing the lithographer to alter his originally rose-colored flowers to green in Fig. 2, Plate 132. ^33-2 Apocynaceas. — This family of chiefly tropical plants of poisonous nature, has the following characteristics : Trees, woody shrubs, or herbs, exuding when wounded, a milky, acrid juice. Leaves entire, feather-veined, arranged alter- nately, oppositely, or in whorls ; stipules wanting. Inflorescence terminal or axil- lary cymes, or panicles; flozuers 5-merous and 5-androus, perfect and regular. Calyx free from the ovary, persistent. Corolla gamopetalous ; lobes convolute or twisted in the bud. Stamens equal in number to the corolla lobes and alter- nate with them ; anthers distinct or nearly so, encircling the stigma and sometimes adhering to it, 2-celled, introrsely and longitudinally splitting ; filavients distinct, inserted upon the tube of the corolla; pollen of loose grains, sometimes glutinous. Ovaries 2, united or distinct, biplacentiferous ; ovules numerous or few, anatro- pous or amphitropous ; style single, common to both ovaries ; stigma single, capi- tate, the receptive surface consisting of a ring encircling the under surface of the stigma. G?;'/67.y 2, distinct or united ; i'^^rt'i- numerous, comose or acomose ; albu- men sparse ; embryo straight and comparatively large. This family contains in North America 9 genera, 21 species, and 2 varieties. Beside the two under consideration, the following species have a place in the Homoeopathic Materia Medica : Dita bark [Alstonia scholaris) ; Oleander [Nerium oleander); Tanghinia [Tanghinia Madagascariensis, Pet. Th. ; T.veneni/era, Poir; Cerbera tanghina. Hook.) ; the Antillesian Ahovai-baum [1 hevetia nercifolia, Juss. ; Cerbera thevetia, Linn.) ; Toxicophlcea [Toxicophlcea Thtinbergi) ; Upas {Stryc/mos tieute) ; Periwinkle [Vinca minor, Linn.) ; and Echites {Eclutes subcrccta,]a.c(\.). History and Habitat. — The habitat of both indigenous species is generally given as the same — i. e., sandy soils and the borders of old fields and open woods. I have noticed that A. androscsmijoliiim answers well to this habitat, but that A. cannabimim is found much more abundant in marshy places and on the banks of rivers, particularly where they are subjected to submergence during high water. Their geographical range is : from the Canadas southward to Geor- gia and Florida, and westward to California, A. cannabinum extending the farther south of the two. The two species blossom together in June and July, fruiting as they flower. This species yields the better and tougher " hemp " of the two, and is more utilized. Porcher quotes* the Rural Cyc. as follows: " This plant has been proved by Prof. Thouin, of Paris, to possess a stronger fibre than that of hemp ; and is used by the American Indians for making cordage, fishing-nets, and coarse cloth." He further states: "The decoction affords a per- manent dye, brown or black, according to the mordant used." In general and domestic practice this species has been used and lauded as an excellent diuretic.f also as an hydragogue cathartic, emetic, and diaphoretic, in proper relative dosage. The root is officinal in the U. S. Ph. In the Eclectic Materia Medica the preparation is : Tinctura Apocyni. * Resources of the Southern Fields attd Forests, p. 484. f See page IJ2-2, concerning decoction. 133-3 PART USED AND PREPARATION. — The preparation is made from the root in the same manner as that of the preceding species. The resulting tincture has a deep reddish-orange color by transmitted light, a rank odor, an extremely bitter and penetrating taste, and an acid reaction. CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS. — Apocynin. This pardy crystalline, bitter principle has been isolated by both Dr. Knapp and Dr. Griscom ; its chemical nature has not yet been determined. It is not a glucoside, but for the present is supposed to hold a place in close relation to that class of bodies. It is insol- uble, or only slightly soluble, in water. Apocynein. — This amorphous glucoside greatly resembles saponin in its physical properties.* It is fully soluble in water. Its chemical nature is only slightly known. Beside the two bitter principles. Dr. Griscom (1832) found in the root, tan- nic and gallic acids, gum, resin and wax. PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION. — Apocynum cannabinum has long been noted for its hydragogue properties, the results obtaining in this direction through its peculiar action upon the mucous membranes of the intestinal canal. What its action may be upon serous membranes is still to be determined. Its action in causing diuresis and diaphoresis (the latter only present when it causes emesis), is another point in the dark, concerning which more light is greatly to be desired. When nausea and vomiting occur, the action of the heart is greatly diminished, and a sense of mental depression and oppression of the chest almost naturally result. Apocynum apparently acts simply as an evacuant, and affects the organic trouble causing the dropsical condition for which it is usually given, little, or not at all. Description of Plate 133. End of fruiting and flowering branch, Binghamton, N. Y., July zzd, li 2- Part of stem, showing mode of branching. 3. Flower (enlarged). 4. Flower after removal of the perianth (enlarged). 5. Flower after removal of the stamens (enlarged). 6. Side view of stamen (enlarged). 7. Seed. 8. Section of the root. * Am. Jour. Phar. 1883, p. 368. 134. Mm. 4 ^^ (Bin.adnat.del.etpinxt. ASCLEPIAS CORNUTl, Decaisne. N. ORD-ASCLEPIADACE^. 134 Tribe.-ASCLEPIADE/E. GENUS— ASCLEPIAS,* 1.. SEX. SYST.— rENTANDRIA DIC.VNIA. ASCLEPIAS CORNUTI. COMMOJ^ MILKWEED. SYN.— ASCLEPIAS SYRIACA.f LINN. A. CORNUTI, DEC. COM. NAMES.-COMMON MILKWEED, SILK"WEED, WILD COTTON, VIRGINIAN S'WALLOW-'WORT ; (FR.) ASCLEPIADE A LA SOIB, HERBE A LA OUATE ; (GER.) SCH"WALBENWURZEL, SEIDEN- PFLANZE. A TINCTURE OF THE FRESH ROOT OF ASCLEPIAS CORNUTI, DEC. Description. — This stout, upright, perennial herb, grows from 4-5 feet high, is leafy to the top, and bears superior lateral as well as terminal umbels of dusky red flowers. The ?'Oot extends horizontally to a length of from 1-2 feet, is externally of a grayish-brown color, somewhat branched, and from one-quarter to one inch thick, giving off a few scattered rootlets, or is marked by their scars ; it is often knotty from branches that have failed to develop. It has no specific odor, but is decidedly bitter to the taste. It breaks with a short fracture when dry, disclosing a soft, porous, yellow-tinged wood, with broad medullary rays and a thin white bark. The stem is simple, or nearly so, cylindrical, stout and smooth, emitting when wounded a copious, white, mucilaginous juice which soon congeals. The /eaves are about 4-8 inches in length, oppositely arranged upon the stem, oval-oblong, entire, slightly pointed and short petioled ; they are ot a dark rich green color above, pale and minutely downy beneath. Inflorescence, many-flowered umbels, upon long, drooping, downy peduncles, from the base of the petioles of the upper leaves. The calyx and corolla are deeply 5-parted, reflexed, and spreading, the former persistent, the latter deciduous. The croivn consists of 5 hooded, fleshy bodies (termed nectaries by Linna;us), situated upon the stamen tube, each containing an incurved horn. .Specifically these hoods are ovate, obtuse, having a tooth or lobe upon each side of the horn, which is short and claw-like. Stamens 5, inserted upon the base of the corolla ; filaments united into a tube in- closing the pistil ; anthers adherent to the stigma (forming a distinguishing feature of this large order of plants, of which Asclepias is the type) ; they are composed of two vertical cells, tipped with a membrane-like appendage, each con- taining a flattened, pear-shaped, waxy, pollen-mass. Ovaries 2, tapering into two * The Greek name of .Esculapius, to whom it is dedicated. t Syria; but as this is a purely American species, we should use the name l)y Decaisne. 134-2 very short slyics. surmounted at their apices by a large, depressed, 5-angled, fleshy mass, which takes the place of a stigma common to the two, having five cloven glands upon its angles. Po//eu-masses of adjacent anther-cells, extricated by the agency of insects, form pairs, which hang by a fine prolongation of their summits from the glands of the stigmatose body, ejecting copious pollen-tubes into its junc- tion with the styles. Follicles 2, one of them often abortive, ovate, soft, woolly, and covered with weak spines. Seeds anatropous, margined, flat, furnished with long silky hairs at the hilum ; all imbricated downward over the large placenta, which separates from the raphe when mature. Einbryo large, the thin albumen containing broad leaf-like cotyledons. History and Habitat. — This very common herb grows in rich or sandy ground, along roadsides and in waste places everywhere in Canada and the United States, flowering during the summer months. Few genera are more beautiful or complex in their structure than this, still the plants of this order are so peculiar that even the youngest student of botany will recognize them at a glance. That they are so plentiful cannot appear strange after an examination of the seeds, whose silky coma when expanded forms them into veritable parachutes ; balanced by the pendant seeds, they mount gracefully to immense heights, whence they are wafted far and wide by the lightest zephyr until, dampened by dew or rain, they fall to the ground. The young sprouts, just as they appear above the ground in spring, are highly esteemed among housewives as a pot-herb, being cooked simi- larly to asparagus, for which they are an excellent substitute. The juice when appliecf to the skin forms a tough, adhesive pellicle ; this has led to its use by the laity as a covering for ulcers and recent wounds to promote cicatrization. In a memoir on the cultivation of this plant, by J. A. Moller, in Tilloch's Magazine, vol. viii, p. 149, may be found the following: "Its chief uses were for beds, cloth, " hats, and paper. It was found that from eight to nine pounds of the coma of the " seeds occupied a space of from five to six cubic feet, and were sufficent for a bed, "coverlet, and pillows. The shortness of the fibre prevented it from being spun "and woven alone, it however was mixed with flax, wool, etc., in certain stuffs to " advantage. Hats made with it were very light and soft. The stalks afforded " paper in every respect resembling that obtained from rags. The plant is easily "propagated by seeds or slips. A plantation containing thirty thousand plants "yielded from six to eight hundred pounds of coma." This plant, together with many other excellent drugs, has been dismissed sine acn'i from the U. S. Ph. The Eclectic Dispensatory recommends its use in a fluid extract, dose from 10 drops to a fluidrachm ; in amenorrhcca, dropsy, retention of urine, asthma, dyspepsia, cough, dyspncea, etc. The use of the Asclepiadeae in general in pleurisy is not well proven, though their action upon the nerves might lead to empirical use in pleurodynia. PART USED AND PREPARATION.— The fresh root, already described, is gathered when in full vigor, chopped and pounded to a pulp and weighed. Then two parts by weight of alcohol are taken, and after thoroughly mixing this pulp with one-sixth part of it, the rest of the alcohol is added. After having stirred the 134-3 whole, pour it into a well-stoppered bottle and let it stand eight days in a dark cool place. The tincture is then separated by decanting, straining and filtering Thus prepared it has a light orange-yellow color by transmitted light, a bitter and slightly astringent taste, cjuite similar to half ripe butternuts, and a slightly acid reaction. CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS.— Asclepione,^^= C,„ H^^ O,. This resinoid prin- ciple was determined by List in the juice of the plant; also by W. L. Hinchman (Am. Jour. Phar. 1881, p. 433) in the roots ; as white, verrucose, odorless, tasteless, iridescent crystals; decomposing at 194° (219.2° F.), and volatilizing at higher temperatures. They are soluble in chloroform, ether and alcohol ; insoluble in water. The roots, according to the latter authority, contain asclepmie, caoutchouc, fixed oil, tannin, glucose, a bitter principle not isolated, g2im, starch, and volatile oil. The milky juice of the whole plant contains the same bodies found in the root. The acid of the plant seems to be in close relation with the undetermined bitter principle. PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION. — A. cornuti is diuretic (increasing the solid constituents as well as the watery portion of the urine) and diaphoretic, not by stimulating but by lowering the action of the heart. It is thought to act directly upon the vaso-motor system, often in this sphere lessening local congestions. Its minute action can best be studied in the published provings. Anodyne properties have been attributed to this drug, but this is totally unsupported at present. DEhCKU'iioN OF Plate 134. 1. Upper part of plant, from Binghams, N. Y., June 21st, 1880. 2. A cluster of follicles. 3. .\ flower (enlarged). 4. Seed (somewhat enlarged). * There seems to be a similarity between this body and L.ictiiceiin, viilt:, 96. 135. ^m.ad nat.dei.et pinxt. ASCLEPIAS TUBEROSA, Linn. N. ORD. ASCLEPIADACE^. 135 Tribe.-ASCLEPIADE/E. GENUS.— ASCLEPIAS, LINN. SEX. SYST.— rENT.\Nr)RI.\ DIGVNI.X. ASCLEPIAS TUBEROSA. PLEURISY-ROOT. SYN.— ASCLEPIAS TUBEROSA, LINN. ; ASCLEPIAS CAULE ERECT. DIVAR. VILLOS., ETC., HORT. CLIFF.; APOCYNUM NOV^ ANG. HIRSUT. ETC., HERM. LUGDR COM. NAMES.— PLEURISY-ROOT, BUTTERFLY WEED, ORANGE SWAL- LOW-WORT, ORANGE MILK-WEED, ORANGE APOCYNUM, WIND ROOT, WIND WEED, COLIC ROOT, WHITE ROOT; (FR.) ASCLEPIADB TUBEREUSE ; (GER.) KNOLLIGE SCHWALBENWURZ. A TINCTURE OF THE FRESH ROOT OF ASCLEPI.A.S TUBEROSA, LINN. Description. — This attractive plant grows to a height of from i to 2 feet. Root large, sarcous, fusiform and branching. Stems numerous, erect or oblique, roughish hairy, branching superiorly, and leafy to the top ; they form an exception to Asclepiadeae in general by being almost or entirely devoid of milky juice. Leaves numerous, scattered, some falling opposite ; they may vary from linear to linear- or oblong-lanceolate, be sessile or very short petioled, hirsute, mosdy acute or subacute, and undulately wrinkled along the margin. Inflorescence terminal cymose or corymbose clusters of short peduncled umbels ; floivers showy, greenish- or orange-chrome. Calyx much smaller than the corolla ; sepals re- flexed, subulate, hidden under the lobes of the corolla. Petals or divisions of the corolla oblong, at first extended then reflexed. Crown elevated conspicuously above the base of the corolla; hoods or cncnlli erect, narrowly oblong, sessile, somewhat broadened at the base, and about twice the length of the column ; horns subulate, slender, nearly erect. Column short. Anthers shorter than the cuculli ; taings truncate, broadest at the base. Pods lanceolate, acuminate, hoary. Asclepiadacese. — This large family differs mainly from the preceding, and all Exogens, in the arrangement of the essential organs and fecundating element. It consists of shrubs and herbs having acrid, bitter, milky (exc. Asclepias tuberosd) juice, containing caoutchouc. It answers in general to the characters of leaf, flower, and fruit exhibited in the Apocynaceae {vide ante, p. ijj-2). Leaves destitute of stipules ; their place generally supplied by hairs. In- florescence terminal, axillary or somewhat racemose clusters of cymose or umbelli- * In executing this plate with the stem and leaves natural size, it became necessary to remove two flower clusters, which greatly diminishes its value to the botanist, though the representation is still characteristic of A. tubtrosa. 135-2 form flowers; bracts minute. Corona^'- consisting of 5 parts or lobes (lioods), usually present and situated between the corolla and the stamens, adnate to the one or the other. Disk (hypogynous) wanting ; stamens mostly monadelphous, their tube forming the column; anthers introrse, 2- or incompletely 4-celled, in Asclepias flattened, opening lengthwise (c. Fig. 6), and surmounted by a small membranous appendage (d. Fig. 6). Styles 2, generally distinct as far as the stig- matic body ; stignui or stigniatose disk fleshy, consisting of a central portion or body common to both styles, from which are produced 5 corpuscles or glands, alternate with the anthers (e. Fig. 6). Pollinia (Fig. 4) waxy masses of coherent, granular, compressed hexagonal, pollen cells. Each of the masses is furnished with a fine prolongation, these meet in pairs, the point of juncture being tipped with a minute, black, coriaceous appendage, sharply cleft at its inferior edge, the sides prolonging like the barbs of an arrowhead ; this appendage is situated between the apices of two contiguous anthers, and is connected with the stigmatic glands. Thus when the pollen is withdrawn two anthers yield a cell's contents each to the mass. Friiita pair of follicles except when aborted ; seeds few or many, compressed, imbricate, generally margined, and furnished with a soft coma ; embryo straight ; cotyledons foliaceous ; albtwien thin. A general description of Asclepias is incor- porated in that of A. cornutum, 134. A word in regard to cross-fertilization in Asclepias. While drawing figure 2, plate 135, holding the flower by its peduncle, a large blue-bottle fly alighted upon the crown, as he did so one of his legs slipped down between two hoods, — which neatly curve to such a shape that the foot of an insect is guided directly into the crevice between two adjacent anther cells — and upon attempting to withdraw it he was unable to do so. Noting this, I teased him into many strong tugs and pulls, but the more he struggled the tighter his foot became wedged, until finally after about ten minutes' hard work he flew off with a little yellow spot attached to the extremity. I caught him, plucked off the leg, and examined it under a lens ; the claws were firmly wedged into the little cleft, before mentioned as existing in the coriaceous appendage of the pollen-masses. I afterward examined numerous heads of Asclepias cornuti, nearly always finding many captive insects, especially Muscce, some dead and others struggling ; and watched many more fly off with the fecun- dating element trailing after them. Others, too, arrived with pollen-masses, and by the same interesting procedure as described, left their burdens in the crown, thus executing without design the will of Nature. The plants of this order that are of particular interest to us, beside the two under consideration, are: Cundurango {Gotiolobus Cnndnratioo), the Spanish Mata- perro (the plant that — being announced and lauded as a cure for cancer — caused such a furor in medical and general circles in 1871 ; now considered worthless in cancer or any other disorder by those who were foremost in its advancement and use); and the curled-flowered Calatropis [Calatropis giganted), a native of the East Indies. The other prominent medicines in this order are : The Indian emetic Secamone emetica, and purgative S. Thimbergii. The acrid juice of Syrian Peri- * Crown, nectary, lepanthium. 135-3 ploca {Periploca Gracca) has been used as a stimulating application for ulcers, and in Greece as a wolf poison. Lindley states* that the East Indian Tylophora asth- matica is either emetic or purgative in the proper dosage, and constitutes a valu- able Indian remedy. Many species of Gonolohus act as drastic purges, and some are used by the Aborigines as arrow poisons. The Ceylon Indian or Country Sarsaparilla, Hcviidcsnuis Inc/iciis, is spoken of by Lindleyf as being quite as effi- cient in its usage as the American root, and adds : " A great deal of it is consumed in London and considered a fine sort." The genus Cynajichum affords several purgatives, one of which, the Syrian Cynanchum erectiim {Marsdenia erectd), is stated to be very poisonous, and used by the natives as a means of murder or suicide; Arghel {^Cynanchum Argel) is often used to adulterate Alexandrian Senna, and to this Lindley ascribes the griping and other unpleasant effects of the commercial Senna; while the leaves of the East Indian Cyiianchuin cxtcnsnm {Daemia extensd) are employed as an anthelmintic, and the juice in asthma. Thus throughout the order almost all species are used in the practice of their native countries ; while to the arts some yield excellent fiber for the manufacture of rope, and others (especially Cynanchum ova/i/olium), caoutchouc in good quantity and of fine quality. History and Habitat. — Asclepias tuberosa is common from Canada south- ward ; growing at first near the coast on sandy fields, but spreading Inland as the soil o-rows drier and less rich. It flowers northward during the earlier months of summer, and fruits in September. The procumbent form, more common south- ward, formerly classed with this species, is now recognized as var. decumbens, Pursh. The Western Indians boil the tubers for food ; prepare a crude sugar from the flowers, and eat the young seed-pods after boiling them with buffalo meat. Some of the Canadian tribes use the young shoots as a pot-herb after the manner of asparagus.^ The pleurisy-root has received more attention as a medicine than any other species of this genus, having been regarded, almost since the discovery of this country, as subtonic, diaphoretic, alterative, expectorant, diuretic, laxative, eschar- otic, carminative, anti-spasmodic, anti-pleuritic, stomachic, astringent, anti-rheumatic, anti-syphilitic, and what not ? It has been recommended in low typhoid states, pneumonia, catarrh, bronchitis, pleurisy, dyspepsia, indigestion, dysentery, helmin- thiasis, and obstinate eczemas, in doses of from 20 to 40 grains of the powdered root. Schoepf first brought it before the medical profession, followed by Drs. Bar- ton, Chapman, Eberle, and Parker, each of whom found it often reliable, especially in cases where an expectorant or diaphoretic seemed requisite. In colic and rheu- matic pains its exhibition met with much success. Dr. Chapman states§ that it is distinguished by great certainty and permanency of operation, and is well suited to excite perspiration, etc. Prof Barton esteemed it as one of the most important of our indigenous remedies. Dr. Benj. Parker says:|| "The powdered root fre- quently acts as a mild purgative, but it is particularly valuable for its virtues as an * Flor. med., p. 542. t /^= i3r. ^m.adnatdeletpinxt FrAXINUS AmERICANA , Linn N. ORD.-OLEACE^. 137 Tribe-FRAXINE/E. C.KNUS.— FRAXINUS," TOURN. SEX. svsT.— i)iiia:iA diandria. FRAXINUS, WHITE ASE. SYN.— FRAXINUS AMERICANA, LINN. ; F. ACUMINATA AND JUGLANDI- FOLIA, LAM. ; F. EPIPTERA, MICHX. ; F. DISCOLOR, MUHL. ; F. CANA- DENSIS, GAERTN.; F. ALBA, MARSH. COM. NAMES.— AMERICAN WHITE ASH; (FR.) LE FRENE BLANC; (GER.) WBISSE ESCHE. A TINCTURE OF THE FRESH BARK OF FR.^XINUS AMERICAN.'\, LLNN. Description. — This beautiful timber tree usually attains a growth of from 40 to 60 feet or more ; Iritnk generally naked for about half the whole growth ; hark gray, furrowed, and transversely fissured with great regularity; branchlets gray and glabrous; (5«r/.>- rust-colored, i^mt'tvf opposite, odd-pinnately compound, and over a foot in length ; leaflets 7 to 9, short-stalked, varying from ovate to oblong- lanceolate ; all acuminate, entire or sparsely denticulate, pale or whitish, and often pubescent beneath, especially upon the mid-rib ; petioles glabrous. Inflor-esccncc densely paniculate, especially in the male — all developed from special buds, from the upper axils of the previous year's growth ; Floxocrs dioecious, apetalous ; Male floivers : Calyx minute, campanulate, with 4 sharp teeth, or sometimes obsolete or wanting; stamens 2 to 4; filaments shorter than the large anthers ; anthers linear- oblong, mucronate. Female fiowers : Gz/ija' small, persistent; stamens &-ven, dhor- tive ones rarely present; style evftct; stigma 2-\ohed, lodes revolute; ovary 2-ce\\ed, ovules a pair from the summit of each cell, one usually abortive. Frnit a dry samara about an inch and a half long; body oblong, cylindraceous, terete, barely acute at the base, merely i-nerved, not margined, about one-half as long as the lanceolate or oblanceolate, slightly emarginate, apical wing. Seed oblong, filling the cell ; cotyledons elliptical ; radicle slender. History and Habitat. — The White Ash abounds in rich or moist woods from Canada southward to Florida, and westward to Louisiana, where it flowers on the appearance of the leaves. It was introduced into English gardens in 1723, but does not flourish there as here in its native climate. The wood is very tough, fine-grained and elastic, and, were it not for its weight, would make fine cabinet material. It weighs 35 lbs., 10 oz. per cubic foot, and has a sp. gr. of .570. Ash furnishes material for the most strained parts of wagons, as well as for all the heavier agricultural implements. * 't'fialii, p/iraxis, separation; as tlie wooil splits with facility. 137-2 An infusion of White Ash bark has been much used in cases where an astrin- gent tonic was deemed necessary ; it also proves cathartic, and has been found useful in constipation, especially of dropsical subjects. It has received much praise in mastitis, and enlargement of the spleen, as well as in some forms of eczema, and in gouty affections. There is a belief extant in the South that the seeds prevent accumulation of fat. Dr. Porcher quotes some unmentioned author as follows: The leaves of this plant "are said to be so highly offensive to the ratdesnake, that that formidable reptile is never found on land where it grows ; and it is the practice of hunters and others, having occasion to traverse the woods in the summer months, to stuff their boots or shoes with White Ash leaves, as a preventive of the bite of the rattle- snake." My father relates that, among the settlers of Orange Co., N. Y., it was always asserted that the Aborigines used to defend themselves from this snake by carrying White Ash leaves about their persons. How much dependence might be placed in this prophylactic, it is hard to tell. PART USED AND PREPARATION. — The fresh bark of the young twigs, as well as that of the root, is treated in the same manner as that of the previous species.* The tincture has a clear, beautiful, reddish-orange color by transmitted light; an odor resembling that of arnica tincture ; an astringent, then very bitter, taste ; and an acid reaction. CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS. — There is, as yet, considerable doubt concern- ing the principles constituting this bark, yet the experiments of H. M. Edwards,-)- J. M. Bradford,! Jos. C. Roberts,§ and especially Edward Kremers,|| point to, at least, a great similarity between this species and Fraxiniis excelsior and nigra, which, in part, yield the following : Fraxin, C^.jHg^O,,,,. — This glucoside is found also in the bark of .Esctiliis. Fraxin forms in tufts of white, lustrous, acicular forms, slightly bitter and acrid, losing water at iio° (230° F.), fusing at 320° (608° F.) and decomposing. It is sparingly soluble in cold water and alcohol, the aqueous solution giving a beau- tiful blue fluorescence. Dilute acids resolve the body as follows: c.H,AnT(Hp), = (QhIa), + (cJha). Maiiiiite*'^- C,.Hg(OH),,. — This saccharose body, found in many plants, as noted on page 136-2, was identified in this species by Kremers and others. It may be extracted from manna by boiling that substance in alcohol, from which it crystallizes in tufts of long, rhombic needles, possessing a pleasant, sweetish taste. The crystals from our species were found by Kremers to fuse at i62°-i63° (323.6°-325.4° F.), and decompose at higher temperature, taking fire and leaving * Page 136-2. g //,/,/., 18S5. t -Am. your. Pilar., 1882, pp. 99, 283. || Cctilrih. Pharm. Univ. Wis., No. 2, 1S66, p. 19. X Ibid., p. 2S2. •[ A crystalline body, as yet uninvestigatefl, having a slightly acerb taste. ** The Fra.xinin of Keller. 137-3 a black residue, whicli finally volatilized. Maniiite from F. onius crystallizes as above, loses no weight at 120° (248° F.), fuses at i65°-i66° (329°-330.8° F.), boils at 200° (392° F.), a portion volatilizing ; another losing two atoms of the compound radical OH, and becoming a syrupy mass of inaiinitau (C|,H,0(OH)^), which, if left to itself, reverts to mannite by its hygroscopic power; the rest remaining unchanged; if, however, the temperature is raised to 250° (482° F.), the mass swells up and is destroyed. This body, as isolated from our species, is soluble in cold water and boiling alcohol, and insoluble in ether, which is also true of the old-world product. Oil of Fraxiims. — A small quantity of this volatile body has been isolated or noted by all experimenters upon the bark. It is described by Roberts as some- what aromatic, bland, and having a yellow color.* Fraxilaniiic .Icid, Cj,H,,.0.. — This body, extracted by Gintl and Reinitzer.f from the leaves of F. excelsior, has not been proven in the bark ot our species, but the analyses made, except that of Edwards, seem to point to its existence. It is described as an amorphous, yellow-brown, brittle body, soluble in alcohol and water, and precipitable, like other tannins on saturation with common salt, but not by tartar emetic. [An alkaloid is suspected by Edwards, Roberts, and Kremers, but remains to be proven a separate principle from Fraxin.] An acrid and a neutral resin, starch, gum, etc., have also been determined by the above experimenters. PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION. — The experiments of Dr. Wright;!: gave the following effects from four ounces and a half of the tincture taken in three days: Vertigo and headache, followed by fever; fever sores upon the lips ; constipation; scanty urine: pedal cramps; and wakefulness. Description of Plate 137. I. .\ female flowering spray, Binghamton, N. V., May ist, 1S86. 2. Female flower. 3. Section of ovary. 4. Fruit. ( 2 and 3 enlarged.) * That from the leaves of F. excelsior has the odnr of syringia flowers, boils at 175° (237° F.), and has the com- position CioH.jgO,.— .l/u«/rti//. Chem., iii, 745-762, from Am. Jour. Phar., 1883, 371. t Ibid'. X L- S. Me,l. Inveslig., 1875, 326. ^lU.adnatdeletpinxt ARISTOLOCHIA SERPENTARIA.Linn N. ORD.-ARISTOLOCHIACE^. 138 GENUS.— A Rl ST O LOG HI A,* TOURN. SEX. SV.ST.— C.VN'.'WDRI.^ HEX.VNDKI.^. SERPENTARIA. riR GIA'IAJV SA'JKE-R O T. SYN.— ARISTOLOCHIA SERPENTARIA, LINN.; A. SERPENTARIA, VAR. BARTONII, DUCH. ; A. OFFICINALIS, NEBS. ; A. SAGITTATA, MUHL. ; A. HASTATA, NUTT.; ENDODECA SERPENTARIA & BARTONII, KLOT. COM. NAMES.-SNAKB-ROOT,T OR WEED; SBRPENTARY ROOT, BIRTHWORT, SNAGREL; (FR.i SERPENTAIRE OU COULBUVRBE DE VIRJINIE; (GBR.) SCHLANGENWURZEL. A TINCTURE OF THE DRIED ROOT OF ARISTOLOCHIA SERPENTARL\. L. Description. — This small, aromatic perennial herb, grows to a height of from 8 to 1 5 inches. Root somewhat horizontal, more or less knotty, giving off — princi- pally from its under surface — a multitude of long, fibrous, branching rootlets, its dorsum showing the scars of previous stems. Sfcuis tew or single, erect, flexuous, pubescent, branching at the naked or nodular and bracteolate base. Leaves petioled, thin, ovate, ovate-lanceolate, or nearly halbred-shaped, entire, acuminate; base cordate, or auriculate. Stipules none. Inflorescence single, terminal, upon bracted, flexuous peduncles, arising from the base of the stem ; floivcrs apetalous, irregular. Calyx tubular, sigmoid, pubescent, and adherent to the ovary ; tube somewhat dumb-bell shaped, /. e., dilated at the apex, gibbous at the base above the ovary, and narrowly constricted in the throat ; limb flat, more or less obtusely 3-lobed, the opening looking obliquely upward. Stamens 6 ; anthers i 2 (contigu- ous in pairs, appearing but 6), sessile, adnate to the back of the stigma. Style very short and thick ; stigma short and sarcous, divided into 3 to 6 flattened lobes, with a thickened apical margin. Fruit a naked, somewhat cylindrical, slightly 6-angled, 6-valved, septicidal capsule ; pericarp smooth, dark brown, and papyra- ceous ; seeds several in each cell, somewhat flattened-pear-shaped, carunculate about the fundus, and channelled upon the upper surface, where the rap/ie — a white, thick, fleshy body — runs along its centre. Aristolochiacese. — A small family of twining shrubs, or low herbs, principally natives of South America, but having a few scattering species in the warmer parts * Api$'o,-, aris'os, excellent; ^ox^s, lochos, a parturient female; from the medical (|ualilies of A. CUmalitis, which is sai