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GOOD’S

FAMILY FLORA

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FAMILY FLORA

AND

MATERIA IEDICA BOTANICA,

CONTAINING THE

BOTANICAL ANALYSIS, NATURAL HISTORY,

AND

€l)cmicctl anfc illcMcal properties anfr iises

PLANTS:

ILLUSTRATED BY COLORED ENGRAVINGS

OF ORIGINAL DRAWINGS, COPIED FROM NATURE.

PETER P. GOOD,

Editor of an improved edition of the “memoirs of the rate john m.

GOOD, M. D., F. R. S., F. R. S. L., MEM. AM. PHIL. SOC., AND F. L. S.

OF PHILADELPHIA, &.C., &C.

Karai/oi'/aare r a Kptva mSs ai^iuei, oi> koxiu, ov6i v>)8ci Xtyto 61 vpu>, ov6i EoXo/<aii/ if
naan T1 dol;n avrov ncpuPaXero a>s cn tovtcov. — JESUS the Christ.

VOLUME II.

A NEW EDITION, REVISED AND ENLARGED.

ELIZABETHTOWN, N. J.:

PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the Year of our Lord, 184f>, by

PETER P. GOOD,

In the Clerk’s office of the District Court of the United States, for the District of

Connecticut.

[ WELLCOME INSTITUTE
I LIBS' TV

Coll.

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COMMENDATIONS

' OF

GOOD’S FAMILY FLORA.

It is by no means the intention of the Author, in this advertisement,
merely to puff or extol his Work— but simply to call public attention to
it. He only asks that persons examine the several numbers of the
Family Flora as they come from the press; and then if they do not
acknowledge, and are not convinced, that it contains the choicest and
most valuable matter as a “ Text Book”— notwithstanding it is also a

most acceptable and appropriate “ Parlor, or Lady’s Book” and

withal the cheapest Periodical extant, not being affected by Age or
Fashion, but always new, popular and interesting — he does not ask sub-
scription or patronage ; for he maintains that all claims to public favor
or support must rest solely upon the real merits of the Work, and unless
the Work in this respect maintains itself, and commands success, he
would prefer abandoning it altogether. As evidence, however, of' the
opinions of some of our eminent Professors, who are best able to judge
on the subject, he submits the following communications (in addition to
those already presented in the first volume,) taken at random from several
correspondents, who have favored him with their kind commendations.

He avails himself also of this opportunity, to tender his most hearty-
welcome to the new subscribers who are continually coming in, and
whose letters contain such flattering notices of the FamilJ Flora.
There is room for them and their friends, and no effort shall be spared
to make the Family Flora more and more worthy of their high
encomiums.

I loin the Eclectic Medical Journal, Cincinnati, Ohio.

Good’s Family Flora and Materia Medica Botanica.—We have
carefuHy perused the Family Flora, which the author, P. P. Good A. M.
of Elizabethtown, New Jersey, has had the kindness to forward’ to our
address. This periodical is printed semi-monthly, but distributed to sub-
form^ qUaiterly 5 twelve numbers being bound together in pamphlet

It is devoted to the botanical analysis, and medical properties of both
indigenous and foreign medical plants.

Each number is embellished with one very superior drawing of some
medical plant, which tends greatly to beautify the work.

For neatness and elegance of style, we know of no pamphlet which

v XCG0C18 tills.

The drawings are colored, and true to the living plant, while the natural
mstory, botanical analysis, and chemical and medical properties, together

CONTENTS — Continued.

Helonias Dioica. Unicorn, Blazing-star, Ague-root, Sfc., . . 76

Cassia Fistula. Cassia, Purging-cassia, P adding -pip e-tree, Sfc., . 77

Panax Quinquefolium. Ginseng, Red-berry, Five fingers, fyc., . 78

Cimicifuga Racemosa. BlacJcsnalce-root, Blade cohosh, Squaw-root, 79

Ciielone Glabra. Balmony, Snake-head, Shell-flower , Sfc., . 80

Hypericum Perforatum. Common St. John’ s-wort, . . .SI

Guaiacum Officinale. Lignum vitce, Guaiacum, . . .82

Tanacetum Vulgare. Tansy , Common tansy , . . . .83

Nicotiana Tabacum. Tobacco, Virginia tobacco, . . .84

Rheum Palmatum. Rhubarb, 85

Thea Chinensis. Tea, The tea-plant, . . , . . S6

Frasera Walteri. American columbo, Indian lettuce,. . . 87

Ceanotiius Americanus. New-Jersey tea, . . . . .88

Drymis Winteri. Winter’s Bark-tree, . . - . .89

Solanum Tuberosum. Common potato, . . . . .90^

Chelidonium Majus. Co nmm celandine, Pile-wort, Tetter-wort, 9 L
Colchicum Autumnale. Meadow saffron, Naked lady, . . 92

Cissampelos Pareira. Velvet leaf, Ice vine, . . . .93

Capparis Spinosa. The Capershrub, Capers . . . .94

Coriandrum Sativum. Coriander, . . . . .95

Cocculus Palmatus. The Columba-plant, Columbo, . . . 96

S5F3 Subscription, $3 00 per annum, in advance.

The W ork is printed in large octavo form ; and each number con-
tains a beautiful colored Plant, with four pages of Letter-press and is
perfect and independent.

Twelve numbers form a PART, published Quarterly in March, June,
September and December of each year, and four of these parts make
a year.

The Title, Preface, Table of Contents, Glossary, See., form an extra
part to the first volume ; (or the Title, Table of Contents and Introduc-
tion to the study of Botany form an extra part to the second volume.)
These extra parts are each delivered at the close of the respective vol-
umes without additional charge, that the whole may be perfect for
binding.

The several PARTS are put up for the convenience of subscribers
only, and may be forwarded per mail or otherwise wherever desired.

All communications should be addressed {postage free) to

PETER P. GOOD, Elizabethtown, Essex County, N. J.

The FAMILY FLORA can only be obtained by application as above,
(post paid,) ivith remittance ; and which will secure immediate and punc-
tual attention.

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ILM N M A Ef (I1 It, A S M !I It''1 II (L'AnP'Jl © ET ,

INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF BOTANY.

GENERAL PRINCIPLES.

1. The term Botany is properly applicable to the whole of the
science, which includes the study and investigation of the vegetable
kingdom. Hence the examination of the internal structure of Plants, and

of the varibus processes concerned in their growth and reproduction,

the description of which strictly constitutes but a branch of the scienoe
of Botany, and may be designated structural and physiological Botany.
But by those who have made the study of the vegetable kingdom a
means of interesting recreation, rather than a professed object of pursuit,
and even by some who have considered themselves scientific botanists,
this branch has been entirely overlooked : and the whole attention has
been devoted to the other department of the science, which concerns the
arrangement or classification of the many thousand species of Plants
existing on the surface of the globe, into groups or divisions ; each of
which includes a number of species, that have certain characters in com-
mon, and that differ from those of other groups. The advantages of such
a plan in the saving of time and labor are obvious. If all the peculiarities
of every species of plant had to be studied and recollected by them-
selves, it would require a long acquaintance and a retentive memory,
to become master of the characters of the numerous species of flowering
plants, which our own country produces; and when this number is
multiplied by a hundred, which it probably must be to represent the
amount of species existing on the entire globe, it is obvious that no single
mind could be capacious enough to grasp the vast amount of detail thus
accumulated.

COLLECTION AND ARRANGEMENT OF PLANTS.

2. It is the business of the Botanist, therefore, in the first place, to
collect plants from all sources open to him ; and he then arranges them
according to their species. Thus, we will suppose that he has collected
all the plants of the Northern United States, and that he has obtained a

INTRODUCTION.

corresponding series of plants of the Southern United States. Upon
bringing them together, he would find that many species are common to
the two places ; but that some are peculiar to the Northern United
States, others to the Southern United States. If he obtained, in addition
a collection of South American plants, he would find that some of the
species common to the Northern and Southern United States, are con-
tained in it also ; and that some species not known in the N orthern
United States are common to the Southern United States and South
America ; but he will find many peculiar to South America. Proceeding
thus over the whole world, he would gradually increase his number
of new species; at the same time adding considerably to the number of
specimens of some which he would find very extensively diffused. He
would find a few similar species almost every where, — these being the
kinds most capable of adapting themselves to varieties in soil, climate,
&c.; whilst on the other hand, he would find many of a very limited
distribution, — being restricted to some small extent of country, in which
alone they can find the conditions necessary for their growth.'

DISTINCTION BETWEEN SPECIES AND VARIETIES.

3. The greatest difficulty in this part of the investigation consists in
the discrimination of species really distinct, — that is to say, of races which
have maintained their distinctive peculiarities, so constantly, that they
must be considered as having had originally different stocks, — from
those varieties , which may often present differences really greater in
amount than those which exist between many undoubtedly distinct
species, but which all sprung from the same original stock. Thus, for
example, a collection of plants from different parts of India, would
contain many specimens presenting such marked differences that the in-
experienced Botanist would not hesitate to set them down as distinct
species ; yet to one who has carefully examined the subject, and has made
himself acquainted with the variations produced by the differences in soil
and climate, so striking in this extensive tract, it becomes apparent that
they are all members of the same. There is, too, in many species a
remarkable tendency to run into spontaneous variations, for which no
external influences will account. Thus the seeds of the same individual
of the beautiful Fuchsia, now naturalized in our green-houses, and in
the open air of the milder parts of the Northern United States, hav©
been known to produce plants, whose flowers differ so much in shape
and in the proportional length of the calyx and corolla, that if these had
been collected and compared without the knowledge that they had been
produced from one plant, they would have been regarded as distinct
species, perhaps even (so striking is the difference) as distinct genera.
Nearly the same is the case with another South American Plant, now

INTRODUCTION.

much cultivated in the Northern United States, — the Calceolaria, or
slipper-shaped flower ; of which an immense number of varieties, differ-
ing widely in the shape, as well as the color of the flower, are now
known, almost every horticultural exhibition having a new one ; and the
beautiful South American Amaryllis has a like tendency, of which
the gardener has taken similar advantage.

4. Hence in discriminating what are real species from what are simply
varieties, the Botanist is treading on very insecure ground, until he has
ascertained, for every species, its tendency to run into varieties of form,
whether spontaneous or induced by change of external conditions. His
greatest difficulty arises from those cases, in which have arisen what are
termed permanent varieties , which reproduce themselves with the same
regularity as do real species. An instance of this in the animal kingdom
is that of the different races of men, which are respectively distinguished
by marked peculiarities, that are regularly repeated through each gener-
ation ; so that many naturalists have been inclined to regard them as
really distinct species. There is, however, good evidence (independently
of the Mosaic History,) to prove that they have all descended from a
common stock. Precisely the same is the case in regard to Plants, many
races of which even in the Northern United States, are still under discus-
sion amongst Botanists ; some maintaining that they are distinct species,
and others that they are but varieties. Thus of the Willow, seventy-
one species have been stated by one authority to exist, whilst another
reduces them to twenty-nine. The genus R.ubus or common Bramble,
has been thought to contain twenty-one species, which are probably re-
ducible to six or eight. These details are here introduced for the
purpose of putting the young Botanist on his guard against the tendency
to multiply species, which is now sadly prevalent among many superficial
writers, and which is still further encouraged by gardeners, who give
new specific names to such varieties as those just alluded to, and even to
hybrids between these.

COMBINATION OF SPECIES INTO GENERA.

5. When the Botanist has satisfied himself regarding the species which
he has collected, his next step is to combine those amongst which he finds
the greatest resemblance, into genera. Now in this process he must not
be altogether influenced by similarity in their general external aspect,
for this will often conceal great differences in their most important organs.
There are certain parts which furnish essential characters, without
similarity in which it would be wrong to associate species, however alike
in other respects, in the same genus ; and, on the other hand, there are
parts so susceptible of variation, that the differences between them must
be very striking indeed, to warrant the plants being arranged under

INTRODUCTION.

different genera, when they agree in what have been termed the essential
characters. Thus, for instance, the general outline of the leaf has been
stated to be often subject to great variety, in accordance with the degree
in which the space between the veins is filled up with fleshy paren-
chyma; and in most cases, a difference in the outline of the leaves of
two plants, the distribution of the veins remaining the same, would not
alone serve to cause two plants exhibiting it to rank even as distinct
species. But any considerable alteration of the veining would be held
sufficient for such a separation ; though the two plants, if agreeing in
the structure of their organs of fructification, would still be placed in
the same genus. On the other hand, a marked and constant difference
in the organs of fructification would be rightly held sufficient to place the
two species in different genera, even though the form and veining of
the leaves might be precisely the same. On the relative value of the
characters furnished by the different organs, more will hereafter be
stated.

FORMATION OF ORDERS AND CLASSES.

6. Even when thus grouped together into genera, however, the num-
ber of objects, which the Botanist has to study, remains by far too great
for convenience ; and he next forms his genera into orders, and combines
these orders into classes, according to their respective correspondence
and difference in certain characters of a still more general nature. Now
in this process he may follow two very different plans ; and upon these are
founded the two systems of classification which are now in vogue. One of
these is termed the Linnasan system, after its founder ; or the Artificial
system, from its character ; the other is termed the N atural system. In the
Linnaean system, a small number of characters — chiefly the number of
stamens and pistils — is taken as the standard ; and the whole vegetable
kingdom is distributed under classes and orders, according to the corres-
pondences and differences among the several genera in these respects, —
no regard whatever being had to any other characters. In the Natural
system, all the characters of the genera are studied; and those are united
into orders, which present the greatest correspondence in the characters
that are regarded as of the most importance : on the same principle, the
orders are united into classes. If the former plan be followed, genera
most widely differing in their structure and physiological characters are
often brought together, and others which are nearly allied are frequently
separated to a great extent, so that in fact, it is very common to find,
that nothing can be stated as true of all the plants included in a Linnaean
order, except that they have a similar number of stamens and pistils.
On the other hand, in the Natural system, the number of characters in
which there is a general agreement among all the plants of a particular

INTRODUCTION.

order, is so great that, to say that the plant belongs to a certain order, is
at once to give the greater part of its description. This is the case also
in the highest or most general groups. For instance, to say that a
particular species is an Exogen, is at once to make known the structure
of its stem, and the mode of its increase, — to express the important fact
that it has two cotyledons or seed-leaves, — to render it most probable
that the arrangement of the veins in its leaves is reticulated rather than
parallel, — and to intimate that the parts of its flowers are likely to be
arranged in fives or fours, rather than in threes.

CONNEXION OF STRUCTURE AND PROPERTIES.

7. There is a point of agreement among the plants brought together
in Natural orders, which is of the greatest practical importance. This is
that those which agree in structure almost invariably correspond in
•properties also. For instance, the whole of the Papaveraceae or Poppy
tribe possesses narcotic properties ; all the Rannuculacese or Crowfoot
tribe are acrid ; whilst all the Malvaceae or Mallow tribe are destitute
of unwholesome properties. Thus, when a plant is recognized as a
member of a particular Natural order, an almost certain account may be
given of its properties, — whether it is likely to be injurious or whole-
some, to furnish valuable medicines or important articles of food. It
must be remembered, however, that the peculiar properties of the plant
do not pervade every portion of it ; and that it may hence be possible to
obtain wholesome nutriment, even from members of orders most distin-
guished for their deleterious properties. Thus the Potato belongs to
the order Solaneae, which contains the Deadly nightshades, Henbane,
and other poisonous plants, but the edible part of it, which is a deposi-
tion of starch for an express purpose, is free or nearly so, from the
narcotic properties which exist in the stems and leaves. Indeed as a
general rule, such depositions of starch may supply wholesome food in
any order, more especially if care be taken to free them from any juices
they may contain : thus the Cassava which furnishes one of the most
important articles of food to the inhabitants of many tropical countries,
is obtained from a plant of the order Euphorbiacece or spurge tribe,
which is distinguished for its very acrid qualities : and these are restricted
to the juice expressed from the meal after it has been ground.

USE OF THE LINN^EAN SYSTEM.

8. The Linnsean system, however, is not without its advantages, for
particular purposes. To a person commencing by himself the study of
Systematic Botany, desirous of making himself acquainted with the names
and characters of the plants he may meet with in his walks, and not
ambitious of extending his studies to the higher parts of the science, the

INTRODUCTION.

Linnaean system, when applied with the aid of books, possesses facilities
which are (at present at least) greatly superior to those afforded by the
other, and which are well calculated to encourage a learner. To count
the number of stamens and pistils is generally a very easy process ; this
at once establishes the class and order; and nothing then remains
but to determine the genus and species, which (among the number
found in the Northern United States) a little practice in the examination
of characters will enable any intelligent person to do with the aid of books
in which these are laid down. The habit thus gained of discriminating
characters, and of applying terms, is a most valuable preparation for the
study of the Natural system, when opportunity presents itself. It must
be constantly borne in mind, however, that the utmost use which can be
made of the Linnaean system, consists in the assistance it affords in the
discovery of the name of an unknown plant, and until this has been made
out, the previous determination of its class and order gives no indication
of its general structure and properties, (not even making it apparent
whether it is an Endogen or an Exogen, a Dicotyledon or a Monocoty-
ledon,) since under the same head are grouped genera of the most
opposite character. It may be said that it serves a sort of alphabetical
index to a book, enabling the reader to turn to any part of it he wishes,
by looking out the subject in the order of its first letters, but giving no
idea whatever of the general scope of the book, nor of the mode in which
its subjects are arranged.

IMPERFECTIONS OF THE LINNiEAN SYSTEM.

9. The Linnaean system is liable to many imperfections and difficulties
in its application, even in the limited circle of the plants of the United
States ; for example, the number of pistils is liable to be altered in any
species by the more or less complete adhesion of the cai'pels ; and
that of the stamens may also vary in the different species of the same
genus, and even among the individuals of the same species, or even
(in some instances) among the different flowers of the same stem.
The adoption of characters thus liable to vary cannot, therefore, but
sometimes lead to confusion. For instance, of the genus Polygonum,
of which several species are known by the name of Bistort, Buckwheat,
Persicaria, &c., one has always, and two others have occasionally eight
stamens, whilst in the rest the number varies from five to ten. As eight
seems to be the most regular number, the genus is placed in the class
Octandria : and although its styles are sometimes only two in number,
it is placed in . the order Trigynia, because they are more commonly
triple. Now if a student meet with a specimen which has five, six, or
ten stamens, he will vainly search for its character among the genera of
the Linnaean class to which it would seem to belong : and unless he

INTRODUCTION.

happen to consult a book which makes special mention of the genus
in these several classes, he will be altogether at fault. Suppose that some
more knowing Botanist tells him that his plant is a Polygonum, he will
again turn to his book, wondering how he could have overlooked it :
but he will find the genus in the class Octandria, in spite of the different
number of stamens in the specimen before him, and he will then learn
that it is placed in the genus Polygonum on account of its strong gene-
ral resemblance to other Polygonums, although differing from them in
characters which are ordinarily considered as sufficient to establish
classes and orders. Again, the greater part of the species of the genus
Rhamnus (buckthorn) possesses both stamens and pistils in the same
flower ; but the species most generally known in this country on account
of its purgative properties is Dioecious, the staminiferous flowers being
on one plant, and the pistiliferous on another. The student who meets
with it therefore would seek for it in the class Dioecia, where he would
be disappointed as before ; since, as in most species of flowers are com-
plete, it is placed in the class and order to which the number of its sta-
mens and pistils would refer it.

10. Such exceptional cases occur much more frequently than is com-
monly supposed. It has been proved that in fourteen divisions of the
Linnaean system, there are no less than forty three exceptions, — one quar-
ter of the whole ; and that out of two hundred and seventy four genera
of the Northern United States, belonging to eighteen Linnaean sections,
there are seventy eight exceptions, — rather more than a quarter. These
facts are important, both as preparing the student to meet with such diffi-
culties, even in the study of the Linnaean system, which is generally con-
sidered so easy of application ; and also as showing the imperfection of
the system itself, which is of no importance whatever beyond the tem-
porary purpose of facilitating the early studies of the Botanical student.
In well arranged descriptions of American plants (such as Wood’s Class
book of Botany, which may be strongly recommended for this purpose)
the most perplexing of these cases are noticed, in such a manner as to
prevent the loss of time and labor, in vain attempts at discovering gen-
era in wrong classes or species in wrong genera.

PRINCIPLES OF TILE LINNiEAN SYSTEM.

11. In consequence of the advantages of the Linnaean system for a
beginner, it is desirable to give an outline of the principles upon
which its divisions are founded, which may serve as an introduction to
the regular systematic treatises upon the subject. The Phanerogamia
or flowering plants are distributed under twenty-three classes, all of
which are characterised either by the number, or particular arrange-
ment of the stamens. In the first twelve of these, number alone is re-

INTRODUCTION.

garded. Their names are formed by the combination -of the Greek
numeral expressing the required number, with the termination andria,
which has reference to the supposed male office of the stamens in the
process of fertilization.

CHARACTERS OF THE LINNiEAN CLASSES.

12. These classes, therefore, stand simply as shown in the figures repre-
sented in the two plates prefixed to these volumes, and to which reference
is here particularly made.

Class 1. Monandria. One stamen. Orders Monogynia and
Digynia.

Class II. Diandria. Two stamens. Orders Monogynia, Digynia
and Trigynia.

Class III. Triandria. Three stamens. Orders Monogynia, Digy-
nia and Trigynia.

Class IV. Tetrandria. Four stamens. Orders Monogynia, Digy-
nia and Tetragynia.

Class V. Pentandria. Five stamens. Orders Monogynia, Digy-
nia, Trigynia, Tetragynia, Pentagynia and Polygynia.

Class VI. Hexandria. Six stamens. Orders Monogynia, Digynia,
Trigynia and Polygynia.

Class VII. Heptandria. Seven stamens. Orders Monogynia, Dig-
ynia, Tetragynia and Heptagynia.

Class VIII. Octandria. Fight stamens. Orders Monogynia, Dig-
ynia, Trigynia and Tetragynia.

Class IX. Enneandria. Nine stamens. Orders Monogynia, Tri-
gynia and Hexagynia.

Class X. Decandria. Ten stamens. Orders Monogynia, Digynia,
Trigynia, Pentagynia and Decagynia.

Class XI. Dodecandria. Twelve to nineteen stamens. Orders Mon-
ogynia, Digynia, Trigynia, Tetragynia, Pentagynia, Hexagynia and
Dodecagynia.

Class XII. Icosandria. Ticenty or more stamens inserted into the
calyx. Orders Monogynia, Di-Pentagynia and Polygynia.

13. To the last mentioned Class, however, another character belongs ;
for in the next Class, Polyandria, the number of stamens is also twenty
or more. They are distinguished by the mode of insertion of the sta-
mens, these appearing to arise from the calyx in the former, and from
the disk or receptacle in the latter. This distinction which will here-
after be shown to be important in the Natural system, will be at once
understood by comparing a true Rose, Plum, Cherry, or Pear blossom,
with a Christmas rose, an Anemone, or a Paeony ; when the calyx and
carolla of the former are pulled oft", they carry the stamens with them ;

INTRODUCTION.

but they may be entirely removed from the latter, leaving the stamens at-
tached to the disk. These two classes will therefore, appear as in the plate

Class XIII. Polyandria. Twenty stamens or more inserted into the
receptacle. Orders Monogynia, Digynia, Trigynia, Tetragynia, Penta-
gynia, and Polygynia.

14. The next two classes are characterized by peculiarities in the
proportional length of the stamens, as well as in their number. Those
which are longer than the rest are said to be in poiver ; and the termina-
tion dynamia is applied to the number of these, in order to designate
their peculiarity.

Class XIV. Didynamia. Four stamens, tico longer than the others.
Orders Giymnospermia and Angiospermia.

Class XV. Tetradynamia. Six stamens, four longer than the
others. Orders Siliquosa, Siliculosa.

15. The three following classes are characterized by the more or less
complete Union of the filaments of the stamens into bundles or brother-
hoods ; on account of which the termination adelphia is applied to the
number of such bundles.

Class XYI. Monadelphia. Stamens united into a single bundle
forming a tube which surrounds the style. Orders Triandria, Pentandria,
Hexandria, Heptandria, Octandria, Decandria, Dodecandria, and
Polyandria.

Class XVII. Diadelphia. Stamens united into two bundles. Orders
Pentandria, Hexandria, Octandria, and Decandria.

Class XVIII. Polyadelphia. Stamens united into several bundles.
Orders Decandria and Polyandria.

16. In the next class, it is the anthers which form the tube ; and the
name applied to it, signifies a growth together. In the succeeding class,
the stamens and pistil grow together ; and the name gynandria refers to
this union of the male organs with the female, the latter being designated
by the first syllable, which will presently be seen to be much employed
in the description of the orders.

Class XIX. Syngenesia. Stamens united by their anthers into a
tube. Orders JEqualis, Superflua, Frustranea, and Necessaria.

Class XX. Gynandria. Stamens and pistils grown together. Orders
Monandria, Diandria, and Hexandria.

17. The three remaining classes are characterized by -the separation
of the staminiferous and pistilliferous flowers. The import of the name
Moncecia is single-housed, and of Dioecia double housed.

Class XXI. Moncecia. Stamens and pistils on separate flowers, but
both growing on the same plant. Orders Monandria, Diandria, Triandria,
Tetrandria, Pentandria, Hexandria, Octandria, Icosandria, Polyandria,
and Monadelphia.

INTRODUCTION.

Class XXII. Dicecia. Stamens and pistils not only on two flowers,
but these flowers on two different plants. Orders Monandria, Diandria,
Triandria, Tetrandia, Pentandria, Hexandria, Octandria, Enneandria,
Decandria, Dodecandria, Icosandria, Polyandria, and Monadelphia.

Class XXIII. Polygamia. Stamens and pistils separated in some
flowers, united in others, cither on the same plant or on two or three
dfferent ones. Orders Monoecia and Dicecia.

CHARACTERS OF LINNiEAN ORDERS.

18. The Orders or sub-divisions of the classes are generally founded
upon the number of the styles or (if these be not present) of the stigmas ;
or upon certain peculiarities of the seed-vessel. In the first thirteen
classes the number alone is regarded ; and the orders are designated as
before, by the Greek numerals, with the termination gynia which refers
to the supposed female character of the pistil.

Order 1. Monogynia,

2. Digynia,

3. Trigynia,

4. Tetragynia,

5. Pentagynia,

6. Hexagynia,

7. Heptagynia,

8. OcTOGYNIA,

9. Enneagynia,

10. Decagynia,

11. Dodecagynia,

12. Polygynia,

One style.

Two styles.

Three styles.

Four styles.

Five styles.

Six styles.

Seven styles.

Eight styles.

Nine styles.

Ten styles.

Twelve styles.

More than twelve styles.

19. It will be evident from the description of the structure of the
pistil, that the number of styles affords no indication of the character of
the ovarium. Thus, the ovarium may be formed of many carpels, the
divisions between which remain as distinct partitions, whilst the styles
and stigmata of all these may have coalesced into one pillar ; so that we
may have a single style with a many-celled seed-vessel. On the other
hand, the walls of the carpels may form but incomplete partitions, so
that the cavity of the ovarium is undivided ; whilst the styles and stigmata
may be numerous. The structure of the ovarium itself is however a
much less variable character than the number of styles, which is liable
to alteration in many species (like that of the stamens) through the
adhesion or the non-development of some of them. In the class Didy-
namia, the characters of the orders are drawn from the structure of the
seed-vessel. The first Gymnospermia, or naked-seeded, includes those

INTRODUCTION.

in which the ovary has four carpels, each enclosing a single seed ; and
this, when mature fills up the cavity in such a manner, that the wall of
the seed-vessel appears like an outer coat to the seeds, which thus do not
seem to have any other envelope. The only true naked-seeded plants
are the Conifer/E or Pine tribe and its allies, in which the seeds never
are enclosed in a seed-vessel. The second Order Angiospcrmia, includes
those Didynamia which have a distinct seed-capsule, usually two celled,
each cavity containing many seeds. In the next class, Tetradynamia,
there are also two orders, distinguished by the form of their pod-like seed-
vessel ; the first Siliquosce, having a long pod ; the second Siliculosce a
short one. The Orders of the classes Monadelpeia, D!aoelphia,
Polyadelphia, depend upon the number of their stamens, and they
have the same names as the first thirteen classes ; the number of stamens,
however, being never less than five. The sub-division of the class
Syngenesia (as now understood) is rather complex ; and it is nearly the
same in the Natural system. The Orders of the classes Gynandria,
Moncecia, and Dicecia, are distinguished by the number of stamens and
are consequently Monandria, Pentandria, <$i c. Those of the class

Polygamia are the Moncecia, in which the same plant bears staminiferous,
pistilline, and complete flowers, and the Dioecia in which these occur
on different individuals.

NATURAL GROUPS IN THE LINN2EAN SYSTEM.

20. There are many of these orders which form groups truly natural ;
that is, which consist of genera having a large number of points of
agreement with each other, independently of the characters in which
the sub-division is founded. For example, one portion of the class
Pentandria, order Digynia corresponds with the Natural order Um-
belliferce, (including the parsley, carrot, hemlock, parsnip, &c.;) the class
Triandria, order Digynia, very nearly corresponds with the natural
group of grasses, all these having three stamens and two styles, which
combination is not found in any other plants. The Didynamia, Gym-
nospermia, again are the same with the Natural order Labiatce, to
which belong the various kinds of mint, thyme, dead-nettle, &c.; and
the class Tetradynamia corresponds with the Natural order Crucifercc,
to which belong the mustard, cress, cabbage, turnip, stock, wall-flower,
&c. From the predominance of the number three and its multiples in
the parts of the flower of Endogens, we find most of this group in-
cluded in the classes Triandria, Hexandria, and Enneandria; whilst
the prevalence of the numbers four and five among Exogens causes
the classes Tetrandria and Pentandria, Octandria and Decandria, with
Icosandria and Polyandria, to contain a very large proportion of that
division. But the Linnsean system often brings together Exogens and

INTRODUCTION.

Endogens into close contact ; besides breaking up the natural alliances
of each, so as to scatter widely apart the members of groups nearly united-

IDEA OF NATURAL ARRANGEMENT.

21. The Natural system, on the other hand aims to present an
harmonious and consistent view of the vegetable kingdom, by associating
into orders those genera which agree in the most numerous and impor-
tant characters, and which differ from others in the same. A table of
the characters of these orders would therefore resemble the table of
contents of a well-arranged hook : giving at one glance to a person at
all acquainted with the subject, an idea of the mode in which it is
treated by the author, and of the relations which the several divisions
of it had in his mind ; and enabling a person who is entering upon the
study of it, to do so with the knowledge that he is not gleaning at
random, as if he were reading through a Dictionary, but that every acqui-
sition he makes of an individual part, is something toward an acquaint-
ance with the plan of the whole. One more illustration may set this matter
in a still clearer light. The reader may be requested to consider this
series of treatises as completed according to the original plan ; and as
consisting of a number of volumes, each devoted to some particular
science, but all having a certain degree of connexion with each other.
Each volume consists of a series of chapters, in which the sub-divisions
of these sciences are respectively treated of, and among which there is
a still closer degree of connexion. Every chapter again, is made up
of a number of paragraphs, each intended to contain one or more im-
portant facts, the knowledge of which is in itself useful, but which can
only be fully understood when read continuously with the preceding
and following paragraphs. We shall further suppose that the subject
of every paragraph could be concisely expressed by a single word.
Now we will imagine these paragraphs all printed on separate slips of
paper, with their appropriate titles to be given to a man of science,
with a request that he would arrange them for publication. His first
idea might perhaps be, to place them in alphabetical order, so as to
form a kind of Dictionary ; this being the most easy method of fulfilling
his task, and also having the advantage when complete, of admitting
very easy reference to any required subject. But what idea would the
reader of such a volume gain of the plan which the original author had
in his mind ? Or what connected and harmonious scheme of knowledge
could he frame from them, unless he digested and arranged them in his
own mind, in the manner in which we shall suppose our man of science
to proceed to do ? He might commence in two ways : — either by
separating the whole into heaps, according to the subjects to which
they respectively refer, c. g. Mechanics, Chemistry, Geology, Botany,

INTRODUCTION.

Zoology, &c., and then arranging these singly ; or by endeavoring to
join the separate paragraphs together, according to their obvious con-
nection. He will probably find a combination of these two methods
the most advantageous ; and by a careful examination of each single
paragraph in its relations to the whole, he may at last succeed in pro-
ducing a series of connected treatises, methodically arranged according
to their respective subjects, and regularly divided into chapters very
nearly or even exactly upon the plan of the original author. Now the
alphabetical arrangement would bear a close parallel with the Linnaean
system of Botanical classification; whilst the latter distribution, — the
one evidently most calculated to convey to the learner a connected
rather than a desultory knowledge of the several objects of his pursuit
may not unaptly represent the Natural system.

VALUE OF A NATURAL SYSTEM.

22. It is by seeking for the latter only, that any of those general
principles can ever be attained, which give their chief value to the facts
of science, and which lead us higher and higher in the contemplation of
that almighty Power and boundless Wisdom by which the Universe was
framed ; for the Natural system would be but a table of contents of the
vegetable Kingdom, arranged on the plan of its divine Author. In or-
der to attain it, the Botanist requires to become acquainted, not only
with all the tribes of vegetables at present existing on the surface of the
globe, but with the forms and characters of those which have once ex-
isted, since — it cannot be doubted — all these constituted parts of the one
general scheme, without the knowledge of which it would be impossible
to reconstruct it. Now it is well known to the Botanist, that a very
large number of the species of plants with which he is somewhat ac-
quainted, have been so imperfectly examined and described, that their
true place in the system cannot be determined ; and there is good rea-
son to believe that there are many more of which he is totally ignorant.
Here therefore are abundant causes for the imperfection of any natural
system which can be at present framed ; and should these ever be re-
moved by long continued labor and research, there will yet remain the
other causes resulting from the impossibility of becoming fully acquaint-
ed with the characters of the races which have existed in former periods
of the earth’s history, and which have been swept completely from its
face. Of these, some remains are occasionally discovered, sufficiently
perfect to excite the liveliest interest and curiosity, by showing that races
once flourished which fill up many of the wide gaps existing between
those with whose characters we are now familiar, and which if we knew
more of them, would explain many things that are at present most per-
plexing.

INTRODUCTION.

LINNiEAN NATURAL SYSTEM.

23. Some of the strongest upholders of the Linnaean system are influ"
enced by their veneration for its Author ; whose fame, however will rest
on a foundation much more durable than this. It is not generally known
that the advantages of the Natural method have never been more highly
appreciated than they were by Linnaeus himself. When he framed an
artificial system for the convenient arrangement of plants, it was with
the very purpose for which the temporary employment of it has been now
recommended, — namely to facilitate that acquaintance with the vegetable
Kingdom, which must be gained before a N atural method can be framed.
Linnasus himself gave a sketch of the Natural system, explaining the
principles upon which it might be expected to rest , and he pronounced
the investigation of the natural affinities to be the great object of his
studies, and the most important part of the science. He considered the
artificial system as a temporary expedient which however necessary at
that day, would inevitably give place to the system of nature, so soon as
its fundamental principles should be discovered. The elucidation of the
latter, he said is the first and ultimate aim of Botanists ; to this end the
labor of the greatest Botanists should be diligently directed ; and the
merest fragments of this system should be carefully studied. Though
not then fully discovered, he spoke of the pursuit of it as held in high
estimation by the wisest Botanists, and as being little encouraged by the
less learned. “For a long time,” he adds, “ I have labored to establish it;
I have made many discoveries, but have not been able to perfect it ; yet
while I live I shall continue to labor for its completion. In the mean
time I have published what I have been able to discover ; and whosoever
shall resolve the few plants which still remain shall be my Magnus
Apollo. Those are the greatest Botanists who are able to correct, aug-
ment, and perfect this method : which those who are unqualified should
not attempt.” Those therefore who priding themselves upon their being
disciples of Linnaeus continue to employ his temporary and artificial sys-
tem of classification, to the exclusion of one founded upon Natural prin-
ciples, imagining that they are upheld by his authority, quite mistake the
views of their great master, and sadly misrepresent his opinions.

24. The knowledge of the vegetable kingdom obtained by Linnaeus,
however, was far too small in amount, to enable him to frame a Natural
system upon sound principles. The number of species known to him
was probably not an eighth part of those with which Botanists are now
acquainted ; and no arrangement, therefore, could be formed, which
was not marked by many wide and unsightly gaps. Further, so little
was at that time known of the internal arrangement of the organs of
plants, that even the distinction between the two principal forms of struc-
ture in the stem, — evident and well marked as it now appears, — was

INTRODUCTION.

not then understood. Nevertheless, with that sagacity which so remark-
ably characterized him, Linnaeus succeeded in grouping together genera
into orders, which are even now regarded as, for the most part, very
natural assemblages ; that is, as containing plants really allied to each
other in their most important characters, and differing from those of other
order's in the same. But of the best mode of arranging these orders he
was necessarily ignorant, since the most important characters were not
then understood. The great progress which has been made since his
time, in the structural and physiological departments of Botanical science,
has done much to place classification on a more certain basis ; yet there is
still much wanting before Botanists shall be generally agreed on the prin-
ciples which shall regulate the division and subdivision of the vegetable
kingdom. In the following outline, it has been deemed advisable to
adopt the classification of De Candolle, being the one which is most in
use at the present time ; and the principles upon which it is founded
will therefore now be explained.

PRINCIPLES OF NATURAL ARRANGEMENT.

25. It may be remarked, however, in the first place, as a principle
common to all systems of classification which profess to be natural, that
the different values which are attached to the various characters
furnished by the several organs of plants should be estimated by the
degree in which they respectively indicate important similarities or
differences of general conformation. It often happens that attention to
one or two characters may afford a considerable amount of knowledge
of the whole; because those characters are found to be inseparably
connected with others. An instance of this has been already given in
regard to the primary division between Exogens and Endogens (§ 6 ;)
and it may be useful to illustrate it further by reference to the animal
kingdom. If, for example, we meet with an animal covered with
feathers, we at once know a great deal of its internal structure and
economy. It is a vertebrated animal, possessing a jointed back bone and
complete internal skeleton : it has all five senses, its blood is red, it
breathes air, its temperature is high, its young are produced from eggs,
it walks upon two legs, &c. Here we are at once informed that this
unknown animal possesses all the characters peculiar to the class of
birds ; since no other animals than birds possess a covering of feathers,
which is inseparably connected with the whole plan of their structure
and economy. In the same manner the classification of the Mammalia,
(Quadrupeds) according to their teeth, proposed by Linnaeus, proves
to be a very natural one, although founded upon a single set of
characters ; because the form and number of the teeth vary with the
nature of the food on which the animal is intended to live ; and to make

INTRODUCTION.

use of this, a certain form of digestive apparatus is adapted ; as well as
a certain kind of general structure, furnishing the instruments by which
the food is obtained : so that these may be known to a great extent
from the inspection of the teeth alone. In like manner, the Botanist,
whilst founding his arrangement upon the whole group of characters
which each plant exhibits, endeavors to select those, as marks for dis-
tinguishing the several divisions, which are at once easily recognized,
and which serve as the best key (so to speak) to those which are seated
within. Such characters are natural, then, in proportion as they indicate
general conformity or difference of structure; thus the distribution of
the veins of the leaves, — a character easily recognized, — will in general
serve to distinguish Exogens and Dicotyledons from Endogens and
Monocotyledons ; and it is therefore a very natural character, serving
as a key to all those which are indicated by these terms. On the other
hand, the number of stamens and pistils in a flower is a purely artificial
character, since it gives no further certain information of the general
structure of the plant.

26. Another general principle of Natural classification must next be
pointed out. When a number of Plants or Animals are associated, on
account of their general resemblance to each other, into a Natural group,
it will be found that the characters in which they agree, are presented by
some members of the group much more prominently than by others ; and
that in some they are occasionally so much wanting, that these can
scarcely be regarded as connected with the rest; yet they would not
seem to be more easily included in any other groups. Now, those
members of a natural group which most strikingly present a union of all
the characters by which it is distinguished, are spoken of as its types ;
and those in which these characters are less obvious are termed aberrant
members of the group. It is by these, in fact, that natural groups are
connected with one another ; for it will generally be found that in the
aberrant members of one group, its characters become (as it were)
gradually shaded off, until they almost blend with those of the next. To
revert to an illustration ; where the countries occupied by two nations
are not separated by any marked natural boundary, (as a broad river
or high chain of mountains,) the peculiar characters of these nations,
which may be regarded as most strongly exhibited in their respective
chief towns become gradually blended towards the border where they
meet, so that the transition from one to the other is by no means so
abrupt, as if the traveller were conveyed at once from the metropolis of
each to that of the other. Every natural group then, may be regarded
as a sphere, surrounded by other spheres — each representing another
group, — which touch it at certain points, the type of each will occupy
its centre, and the aberrant members will be disposed in various posi-

INTRODUCTION.

lions around it, in proportion as they lose its peculiar characters and
approach other groups. For example, the group of Lizards is inter-
mediate between that of Serpents and that of Tortoises. There are
some Lizards in which the body and tail are greatly lengthened, whilst
tho legs are shortened, so that the form of the Snake is approached ;
and in the common Slow-worm or Blind-worm, the external form is
completely that of a snake, whilst beneath the skin two pairs of small
though perfectly formed legs may be found on careful examination.
This, then, is an aberrant form, situated just on the border of both
groups, and scarcely having a certain claim to a place in either. On
the other side, the Lizards are connected with the Tortoises by a species
commonly known under the name of the Allegator-Tortoise, or Snap-
ping-Turtle, which maybe considered as a Tortoise with a long Lizard-
like neck, legs, and tail, or, as a Lizard with a Turtle-shell on its back.
The Lizards are connected, again, with Birds (to which they would not
seem to have the slightest possible relation,) by means of a very curious
animal not now existing, which had the general structure of the Lizards ;
but which had the fore-legs converted into wings like those of a bird ;
and which seems to have been covered with something: intermediate
between scales and feathers. Many similar instances will present them-
selves in the study of the vegetable kingdom.

27. Hence when it is stated that a Plant or Animal belongs to a par-
ticular group, it is by no means necessarily implied that it possesses all
the characters which are considered as marking that group. Thus, — to
reveit to an instance just now employed in illustration, — the structure of
the feathers, which are generally so characteristic of the class of Birds,
is greatly modified in some of the species which approach nearest to
other groups ; in the Emu, for example ( one of the Ostrich tribe) the
feathers are little else than stiff branching hairs; and in the Penguin,
those covering the fin-like wings resemble scales. So, again, in the first
natural group of plants, — the Ranunculus or Crow-foot tribe, — there are
some species which have the parts of the flower arranged in threes as in
Eudogens ; yet they are not really such, for their 6tems are Exogenous,
the veining of their leaves is netted, and their embryo is dicotyledonous.
Again thecommon Arummaculatum (Cuckow-pint) has reticulated leaves ;
but it is not an Exogen, because its stem is Eudogenous. and its embryo
monocotyledonous. And the pond- weed ( Potamogeton ) has the parts of
its flowers arranged in fours ; yet it does not belong to Exogens, since
its leaves are parallel-veined and its embryo is monocotyledonous.

28. In considering the several characters afforded by the varieties in
the structure of Plants, it will be convenient to follow the same order as
that which has been adopted in describing that structure. The elemen-
tary tissues do not afford any means of distinction, except in regard to

INTRODUCTION.

the primary divisions, — the presence of spiral vessels being on the whole
characteristic of flowering Plants (which have been hence termed Vas-
cular es) ; and their absence being nearly constant in Cryptogamia (which
have been hence termed Ccllularcs .) There arc some of the inferior
Phanerogamia, however, in which no spiral vessels can be detected; and
in the Ferns which stand at the head of the Cryptogamia, modifications
of them may be found. However, if on examining any portion of
the fabric of an unknown plant, spiral vessels were distinctly seen this
might be regarded as sufficiently indicating that the specimen belonged
to the higher of these two groups. The peculiarity of the woody fibre
in the Conifcrce and allied orders, together with the absence of the dot-
ted-ducts or special sap vessels, is characteristic of that portion of the
Phanerogamic division ; but excepting in this instance, no use can be
made of the varieties of the elementary tissues, in defining the subdivis-
ions of the classes of Plants.

29. The structure and mode of increase of the stem afford as already
stated, the means of establishing the soundest division of the Phaneroga-
mia : and the two groups of Exogens and Endogens are universally recog-
nized as natural classes. Between these, however, there are several
connecting links, — some Exogens exhibiting in their stem no separation
into annual layers, — and some Eudogens, presenting an approach to the
Exogenous division of the kingdom. One small order ( Calycanthece ) is
known by the presence of four incomplete centres of vegetation surround-
ing the principal one ; and the Passion-flower tribe is remarkable for hav-
ing the stem almost cut into four quarters ; whilst a square stem is uni-
versal in the Dead-nettle tribe. In some orders, such as the Cactece
(Pricldy-pear-tribe) and Eupltorbiacem (Spurge tribe), the quantity of cel-
lular tissue usually so much predominates that the stems are soft and
succulent ; but this is not always the case, some genera having stems of
the ordinary character. No very positive characters can in general
therefore, be drawn from the structure of the stem, in dividing the clas-
ses into sub-classes and orders. Nor do the roots afford any better guide ;
since the modifications of form of which they are susceptible are very
few, and they are by no means constant in particular groups. As a
general rule, however, it may be observed that neither bulb nor rhizoma
are found in Exogens, and that they are confined to a few orders among
Eudogens.

30. The leaves are subject to considerable modifications, both in posi-
tion, form and structure, which are very useful in classification. The
general differences among the leaves of Exogens, Endogens and Acro-
gens have already been adverted to. The relative position of the leaves,
as whether alternate, opposite, or verticillate, is often a very important
character, but in regard to this, as well as to other characters, it often

INTRODUCTION.

happens that it is of much greater value in some orders than it is in others.
Thus in Lamiaceee (Dead-nettles) they are uniformly opposite : so that
no plant can belong to the order, in which they are alternate or verti-
cillate. In Urticacece (the Nettle tribe,) on the other hand, they are
constantly alternate ; so that no opposite leaved plant can belong to the
order. In this manner the common Dead-Nettles and Stinging-Nettles
may be at once known from each other. But in many others, one
arrangement is prevalent, and yet the other sometimes occurs. The
degree of division of the leaves, again is subject to considerable uncer-
tainty in many orders, from causes already mentioned ; yet, in others
notwithstanding a constant form is maintained ; thus, leaves with
teeth or jagged edges are never found in the order Cinchonacccc (from
which the Peruvian bark is supplied) and they are very rare in Endogens.
The particular characters afforded by the veining of leaves are much
more constant, than those derived from their form ; and it is probable
that, as they have only been recently attended to, much assistance will
be obtained in classification from an increased knowledge of them.
A character which would not at first sight appear of much importance,
is afforded by the presence or absence of those little dots in the leaves,
which are reservoirs of oily secretions ; yet these being connected as it
would seem with some important differences in the general economy,
are extremely characteristic of certain Natural orders, such as Myrtacece
(the Myrtle tribe,) and Aurantiaceoc (the Orange tribe,) serving to dis-
tinguish all their members from those of other orders nearly allied to
them. In other orders, however, there are some genera with, and
others without these pellucid dots. The clear or milky character of
the juices of the leaves and stalks, indicating as it does, the absence or
presence of certain secretions which are characteristic of particular
orders, will often prove of much use in distinguishing their members.
At the base of the leaf-stalks are often found little leafy appendages
(which are in fact leaves, in an imperfect state of development) termed
stipules; the presence or absence of these frequently enables the
Botanist to distinguish the plants of two allied orders, of which one pos-
sesses them, whilst the other does not, and certain peculiarities in them,
are occasionally very characteristic of particular groups.

31. Passing on to the flowers, we 'first have to notice the characters
afforded by the bracts ; these are seldom of any use in distinguishing
orders, on account of their constant variation within the limits of each ;
but they are often valuable in separating genera and species. The
calyx is used in a variety of ways to distinguish orders, but the charac-
ters it affords are far from being of equal or uniform importance
throughout. The number of sepals is sometimes a very useful and
constant mark of a particular order ; thus, in Crucifer os, the Cabbage

INTRODUCTION.

at once referred to their proper groups. The position of the ovary in
respect to the calyx has been already adverted to ; this character is
generally expressed by the terms inferior or superior ovary. The
pi esence or absence of partitions in the ovaries is a very important dis-
tinction. An ovary may be one-celled, because it consists of but a single
carpel; 01 being syncarpous, it may contain an undivided cavity, from
the obliteration of the partitions, or dissepiments, originally formed by
the walls of the several adhering carpels. In this case the attachment
of the ovules, 01 placen t a , is either central , the ovules being clustered
around a central column, or parietal, where they are attached to the
outer wall. Varieties of structure of this nature are very important in
distinguishing orders. A peculiar enlargement of the receptacle which
sometimes expands between the bases of the carpels so as to separate
them more or less completely as in the Strawberry, is often very char-
acteristic of particular orders. The ripened ovary or fruit exhibits
numerous and remarkable differences in its form, substance, and mode
of dehiscence (or its manner of bursting when ripe ;) but these do not
usually receive much attention from Botanists; since although there are
a few orders which are charicterized by a particular kind of fruit, most
others present numerous varieties among their different genera.

35. Many valuable characters are drawn from the seed, both in its
early and mature conditions. The number of ovules — that is to say,
whether they are definite or indefinite, — is frequently an important
difference ; still in some orders, there are genera nearly allied, in one
of which the number is definite, whilst it is indefinite in the other.
The position of the ovules is more essential than their number; — the chief
distinctions are between those which, rising upright from the base
of the cavity, are termed erect ; and those, which hanging from its top,
are called 'pendulous. Between these two conditions, however, there are
other intermediate ones. Such a difference in the position of the ovules
often serves to mark a distinct line of separation between the plants of
two groups that are otherwise nearly allied. In the perfect seed, the
number of cotyledons is a character of primary importance, for distin-
guishing the two great classes of Phanerogamia, as already several times
stated. Even this, however, is subject to occasional exceptions, for
there arc Endogenous plants with two cotyledons and some Exogens
with only one or even none, whilst again, some Exogens have several.
As a means of distinguishing orders the presence or absence of a
separate albumen is a character of great value, especially when the
embryo bears a very small proportion to it in amount. Where, how-
ever the embryo and albumen are nearly equal in size, the character is
of less importance ; so that it is not uncommon to meet, in the same
genera, of which the embryo alone fills the seed, and with others in

INTRODUCTION.

which a part is occupied by albumen ; whilst in the orders especially
characterized by it, there is probably not a single genus in which
it is absent. It must be remembered that albumen exists in all
seeds at an early period of their formation ; and that the subsequent
difference will depend upon the degree in which it is absorbed by the
embryo.

36. The student who has given attention to the preceding statements,
is not unlikely to feel some perplexity, on account of the constant un-
certainty which has been stated to attend the value of the several
characters that have been enumerated. But as he proceeds further, he
will find that this uncertainty is greater in appearance than in reality ;
and that it necessarily results from the properties of a Natural group,
as already described. In dividing the vegetable kingdom in an artificial
method, it seems very easy to lay down a small number of characters as
the standard ; and to bring together, or to separate plants, according to
their conformity or variety in these. But, as has been already shown,
when we come to apply this plan, numerous difficulties are met with,
in consequence of the differences which are of constant occurrence,
among plants belonging to the same genus or even to the same species
(§ 9 ;) so that even here the Botanist must be guided by general resem-
blance. Now, although it is quite true that no single characters, when
traced throughout the vegetable scale, can be relied on, as indicating the
natural affinities of plants, yet experienced Botanists have little difficulty
in defining each order, by a certain combination of characters, which are
peculiar to it, and not unfrequently, the plants belonging to one order
may be separated from those of all other groups, by some evident and
well-marked peculiarity.

DE CANDOLLE’S CLASSIFICATION.

37. On the foregoing principles, the class of Exogens is divided by
De Candolle in the following manner : —

The first group consists of those, of which the flowers possess both
calyx and corolla, and in which the petals of the latter are distinct, and
which are therefore Polypetalous. This group is divided into two sub-
classes, according to the mode of insertion of the stamens.

Sub-class I. Thalamijloros. Polypetalous Exogens, in which the
stamens arise from the disk, — that is, are hypogynous. Sometimes the
stamens adhere slightly to the sides of the ovary, but they are never
epigynous, nor perigynous. (§ 32.)

Sue-class II. Calycijlorce. Polypetalous Exogens in which the
stamens arise from the calyx or corolla, — that is, are perigynous.

In the next sub-class, the flowers still possessing both calyx and
corolla, have the latter formed of united petals, or are Monopetalous.

INTRODUCTION.

In this division the position of the stamens is not regarded as a primary
character.

Sub-class III. Corollfloroe. Monopetalous Exogens.

In the lowest group, the corolla is always absent, making the flower
Apetalous; and the calyx is not uniformly present. This character
is regarded as sufficiently marking the group.

Sub-class IV. Monocldamydea;. Apetalous Exogens.

The object of this classification is to proceed from what are con-
sidered the most perfectly organized Exogens, to those which are least
so. Thus all the parts are present and distinct from each other in
Thalamifloroe ; other things remaining the same, the stamens adhere
to the perianth in Calyciflorce ; the petals join together in Corollifloroe ;
and in Monochlamydece first the corolla disappears, and then, among the
most imperfect orders the calyx ceases to be developed.

38. The class of Endogens is not divided by De Candolle into any
Sub-classes. It will, however, be convenient to consider their orders as
characterized by the completeness or incompleteness of their flowers.
The Complete Endogens may be again sub-divided into those with a
superior , and those with an inferior ovarium. The orders having Incom-
plete flowers, are separated into those in which a cluster of flowers is
inclosed in a single large bract, termed a Spathe, which is frequently
colored (as in the Arum tribe ;) and those in which the perianth of each
flower is replaced by scale-like bracts, as in the Grasses.

:n° 49.

P OH) ©IPBmtL HIM. PE J mM. TTM.
M':ty Apple

A FAMILY FLORA.

BERBEBIDACEJE.

The SB er be r r y Tribe

N°- 49.

POB0PHYLLUM PE1TMUM,

May applf. Wild mandrake , Wild lemon, Duck's-foot , <fcc.

kPlace — United States.

Qualify — Insipid.

Power — Cathartic, narcotic.

Use — Bilious and intermittent fevers.

BOTANICAL ANALYSIS.

Natural Order. Rhoeadese — -L. Papaveraceae — J.
Podop 1) y I lese — Lin d .

Class XIII. Polyandna. Order Monogynia.

Lin Sp. PL 722. Willd. Sp. PL ii. 1141. Bige'ow, Med Bot i. 35. Bnrlon,
Veg. Mat. Med. ii. 9. Huf. Med. Flor. ii. 59. T. & G. Fior. i. 54. Griff Med.
Bot. 115.

Genus. PODOPHYLLUM.

From the Greek pous, foot, and phullon, leaf, in allusion to the long firm peti-
oles on which the leaves are placed, resembling the webbed feet of aquatic birds.

Synonymes. — Entenfuss [Ger.), Endonpoot, [Dutch).

THE ESSENTIAL CHARACTERS.

Calyx. Sepals three — four — six, imbricate in two rows, often
reinforced by pelaloid scales.

Coralla. Hypogynous. Petals one to three times as many as
the sepals, and opposite to them.

PODOrilYLLUM TELTATUM.

Stamens. As many or twice as many as the petals, and opposite to
them. Anthers generally opening by recurved valves, extrorse.
Ovary. One-celled, solitary, simple. Style often lateral. Stig-
ma often lateral or peltate.

Fruit. Berried or capsular.

Seeds. One or few, attached to the bottom of the cell, or many,
attached to lateral placenta'.

the secondary characters.

Podophyllum. Calyx of three sepals, caducous. Corolla
six — nine-petalled. Stamens numerous, with linear anthers. Ber-
ry one-celled, crowned with the single stigma.

Calyx three-leaved, minute. Carol five-to-nine-petalled. Stigma large, crenale,
sessile. Berry one-celled, crowned with the stigma, large, many. seeded. Colu-
mella, one-sided.

THE SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Podophyllum Peltatum. Leaves peltate, lobed, Flowers
one. Stem round, sheathed at base, erect, dividing into two round
leaf stalks, between which grows the flower.

Stem terminated with two peltate polinatc leaves. Floicers single, inserted in
the fork formed by the petioles of the leaves. Sometimes the plant is three-leaved
and sometimes the flower is inserted on the side of one of the petioles.

THE ARTIFICIAL CHARACTERS.

Class Polyandria. Stamens twenty or more arising from the
receptacle (hypogynous). Order Monogynia. Ovary simple.
Calyx three-sepalled. heaves often peltate. Flower solitary.

NATURAL HISTORY.

The May apple is among our more curious and interesting
plants. It is indigenous, herbaceous, and the only species belonging
to the genus. The plant is extensively diffused throughout the
United States, and especially common in western New York. It
is however every where found in abundance, on congenial soils,
from the state of Maine to the Mexican gulf, and from the Atlantic
seacoast to the Oregon mountains. It grows luxuriantly in moist
shady woods, and in low marshy grounds. It is propagated by its
creeping root and is often found in large patches. The flowers ap-
pear about the end of May and beginning of June, and the fruit
lipens in the latter part of September, at which time the leaves
wither and fall ofl. I he fruit is edible, and though very agreeable

PODOPHYLLUM PELTATUM.

•io some persons, it is to others extremely unpleasant. The leaves
are poisonous, and its medical virtues are wholly confined to the
root, which is said to be most efficient when collected after the fall-
ing of the leaves. It resembles in taste and even appearance the
-fruit of the Passijlora ednlis of the West Indies.

The root (rhizoma) of the Podophyllum Peltatum is peren-
nial, creeping, usually several feet in length, about one quarter of
an inch thick, of a brown color externally, smooth jointed and fur-
nished with radicles at the joints. The stem is about a foot high,
•round, sheathed at base, erect, dividing into two round leaf-stalks,
between which grows the flower. Each petiole bears a large smooth
peltate palmate leaf, deeply divided into five — seven lobes, which
are each two-parted and dentate at the end. They are often peltate
but generally separate at base quite to the petiole. The flower is
stalked, drooping or nodding, white with a three-leaved, caducous
calyx, which is oval, obtuse, concave and deciduous. The corolla
is of about six petals, often more, which are obovate, concave, white,
fragrant and curiously reticulated with veins. The stamens are
•from thirteen to twenty, shorter than the petals, with oblong yellow
anthers of twice the length of the filaments. The stigma is sessile,
and rendered irregular on its surface by numerous folds or convolu-
tions. The fruit is about the size of a plum, crowned with the per-
sistent stigma, and containing a sweetish fleshy pulp, in which
about twelve ovate seeds are imbedded. It ripens early, and when
■ripe it is of a yellowish color, diversified by round brownish spots.

CHEMICAL AND MEDICAL PROPERTIES AND USES.

Podophyllum has been examined by several eminent Chemists,
with a view to determine its constituents, and it has been found to
contain resin, starch, and a peculiar vegetable substance crystalli-
zable in white silky tufts. There has also been obtained from it a
peculiar principle to which the name of Podoplcyllin has been giv-
en. It is in pale brown shining scales, unalterable in the air, very
sparingly soluble in cold water, much more soluble in boiling water,
soluble also in ether, and freely so in boiling alcohol. It has neither
acid nor alkaline properties. Nitric acid dissolves it with efferves-
cence, producing a rich, deep red color. Its taste at first is not very
decided in consequence of its sparing solubility, but becomes at length
very bitter and permanent, and its alcoholic solution is intensely
bitter. It may be obtained by boiling the root with quick-lime in
water, straining the decoction, precipitating the lime with sulphate

PODOPHYLLUM PLLTATUM.

■Off zinc, evaporating the clear solution to the consistence of an ex-
tract, treating this with cold alcohol of 0.817, filtering and evapo-
rating the alcoholic solution and treating the residue with boiling
distilled water which deposits the bitter principle on cooling.

The dried root is in pieces about two lines in thickness, with swell-
ing, broad, flattened joints at short intervals. It is much wrinkled
lengthwise, is yellowish or reddish brown externally and furnished
with fibres of a similar but somewhat paler color. The fracture is
short and irregular and the internal -color is whitish. The powder
is light yellowish-grey, resembling that of jalap. The root in its
aggregate state is nearly inodorous, but in powder has a sweetish and
not unpleasant smell. The taste is at. first sweetish, afterwards bitter,
muceous and slightly acrid. The decoction and tincture are bitter.

The Podophyllum Peltatum is always considered an active
and certain cathartic, producing copious liquid discharges without
much griping or other unpleasant effects. It has a peculiar effect
upon all the secretions and excretions, stimulating them to a healthy
action, and often answers the purpose of removing obstructions with-
out any bad effects whatever. In some cases it has given rise to
nausea and even vomiting, but the same result is occasionally ex-
perienced from every active cathartic. In its action upon the bowels
its operation resembles that of jalap, but it is rather slower and by
some it is supposed to be more drastic. It extends its influence
through every part of the system, touching every gland when given
in small doses and repeated every two or three hours, while large
doses evacuate and exhaust the system.

The cases to which May apple is particularly adapted are of an
inflammatory character, especially at the commencement where
brisk purging is required. It is very highly spoken of by many
eminent writers, who have tested its efficacy, and they recommend
its employment in bilious fever and hepatic congestions. For these
purposes it has been much used in various parts of the country and
with the most happy effects. In dropsical affections, and in rheu-
matic and scrofulous complaints the supertartrate of potassa is a
useful addition, by which the action of both is reciprocally improved.
It is employed as a vermifuge in tea spoonful doses, and repeated.

Some Physicians and Practitioners recommend the pow'dered root
as an escharotic to cleanse foul and ill-conditioned ulcers and dispose
them to heal and to promote the exfoliation or removal of carious
or rotten bones. The powder should be sprinkled on the affected
part once in from two to five days. It is also said to destroy proud
flesh without any injury to the sound parts.

♦

5 0 .

iamdse ^nazjaHBiTtvj

M ezereon .

THYMELACEjE.

M a p h n ads.

N°- 50.

BAPEME MEZEXSUM.

Mezereon. Spurge olive.

Place — Europe.

Quality — Afcrid.

Power — Stimulant, diaphoretic.

Use — Chronic cutaneous diseases, rheumatism,

BOTANICAL ANALYSIS.

Natural Order. Vepreculae — L. Thymelese — J.
Class VIII. Octandria . Order Monogynia.

Linn. Sp. PI. 509. Willd. Sp. PI. ii. 415. Griff. Flor. Med. 560. Lind, Flor.
Meet. 324.

Genus. DAPHNE.

The Greek name of the Laurel, for the nymph Daphne, who it is said was
changed into a laurel, which some species of this genus resembles.

Synonymes — Laureole genlille ( F ), Kellerkals ( Ger .), Laureola femina (/.),
Pepperbompje (Dutch), Tibast ( Swed .), Kielderhals (Dan.), YVylezo lyko (Pul.),
Mezeraoa (Span.), Mezerao (Port.)

THE ESSENTIAL CHARACTERS.

Calyx. Free, tubular, colored, limb four (rarely five)-cleft, im-
bricated in aestivation.

Stamens. Definite, inserted into the calyx and opposite to its
lobes when equal to them in number, often twice as many.
Ovary. Solitary, with one ovule. Style one. Stigma undi-
vided.

Fruit. Hard, dry, drupaceous. Albumen wanting or thin.

DAPHNE MEZEREUM.

THE SECONDARY CHARACTERS.

Daphne. Calyx four-cleft, marescent. Limb spreading. Sta-
mens eight, included ia calyx tube. Style one. Drupe one-seeded.

Calyx wanting. Corol four-cleft, withering, including the stamens. Drupe
one. seeded.

THE SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Daphne Mezereum. Leaves deciduous, lanceolate, in termi-
nal tufts, entire, sessile. Flowers sessile, about three from each
lateral bud. Calyx hypocrateriform. Segments ovate, spreading.
Stamens inserted in two rows near the top of the tube. Filament
very short. Stigma sessile.

Flowers sessile, cauline, in threes. Leaves lanceolate.

THE ARTIFICIAL CHARACTERS.

Class Octandria. Stamens eight. Order Monogynia.
Apetalous. Ovary superior. Fruit a one-seeded drupe. Shrubs
with a ver)'' tenacious bark, alternate or opposite. Leaves entire,
Floioers perfect.

NATURAL HISTORY.

Mezereon grows wild in England and in many parts of the
Norlh of Europe, but for medical use and as an ornamental shrub
it is cultivated in gardens. It is mentioned by Linneeus as a eha*
racteristic of the genus, to which the plant under consideration be-
longs, that the terminating buds of the shoots produce leaves, and
the lateral ones flowers. This affords a hint to the cultivator to be
sparing of his knife. It flowers very early in the season, before the
appearance of the leaves. It is an old inhabitant of the shrubbery,
and deservedly much admired for its precocity and fragrance. It
thrives well in loamy soil and will grow in the shade and even un-
der the drip of other trees. It is a native of all parts of Europe from
Lapland to Sicily^", but was first received from Elbing before it was
observed to be a native. The roots of Mezereon are large in pro-
portion to the branches, and have more the character of the fusiform
or ramose roots of a herbaceous than of a ligneous vegetable.

The plant is hardy, seldom exceeding four feet in height, with a
stfong, woody, branching stem covered with a smooth grey cuticle,
and a lough fibrous inner bark. The root is of a fibrous texture,
pale colored, with a smooth olive colored bark. The leaves which

DAPHNE ML.ZEREUM.

are protruded from the extremities of the branches are tender, pate
green, deciduous, lanceolate, sessile, entire and smooth. The flow-
ers are of a pale rose-color, odorous, surrounding the twigs in clus-
ters, below where the leaves are sent off, they are sessile, two, three
and four clustered, with deciduous bracts at the base of each cluster,
monopetalous, tubular, and the lip divided into four ovate spreading
segments. The stamens are alternately shorter, the four higher
ones displaying their colored anthers at the mouth of the tube. The
germen is oval, supporting a flattish stigma on a very short style.
The fruit is a led pulpy drupe, containing one round seed.

There are several varieties of this genus with different colored
flowers and fruit, pink colored in one variety, red in another, white
in a third clothing nearly the whole plant.

CHEMICAL AND MEDICAL PROPERTIES AND USES,

The inner bark of every part of this plant when fresh, is very
acrid, capable of producing inflammation, vesication, and a dis-
charge of serum when applied to the skin, and when chewed ex-
cites a considerable heat of the mouth and fauces which continues
for many hours afterwards. The fruit is equally acrid, acting as a
corrosive poison, not only to man, but to many quadrupeds, if eaten
in large quantities.

For medical purposes, the bark of the root is directed to be used.
The roots are dug up in the autumn, after the leaves are fallen.
The cuticle of the dried root is corrugated and of a brown color, the
inner bark has a white cotton-like appearance. As they are import-
ed from Germany and found in the stores, they are derived from the
stem and branches, and are long strips folded in bundles of a gray-
ish or reddish brown color externally, under which on the removal
of the epidermis it is greenish, and internally white and fibrous.
The taste is at first somewhat sweetish, but soon becomes very acrid
and unpleasant: in a fresh stale the smell is nauseous, but when
dried it is inodorous, although it retains its acrimony. The topical
action of Mezereon bark is that of an irritant, and when the bark
has been applied to the skin vesicant. It has been recommended as
a popular application for the tooth-ache.

I rom the result of the chemical analysis of the Daphne Meze-
zieum, by several eminent chemists, it appears to contain an acrid
resin and a peculiar crystalline principle discovered by Vanquelin to
which he gave the name of Daphnin. By digesting the bark in
alcohol, then evaporating the liquid to separate the resin and dila-

DAFIINE MEZEREUM!

ting the residual lluid with water, filtering and adding acetate of
lead, he obtained a copious yellow precipitate, which when freed
■ from the lead by means of sulphurated hydrogen gas he found this
vegetable principle, sui generis. It is colorless and transparent,
crystallizes in aggregated prisms, very soluble in water, alcohol or
ether, is inodorous and of an acrid taste. It is considered analogous
to asparagin, and that when pure it has very slight powers. It is
not the active principle of Mezereon.

The acrid resin is obtained by boiling the bark in alcohol: when
the solution cools some wax is deposited. The supernatant liqucr
is to be evaporated, and the residual extract washed with water.
The resin then left behind is dark green, and soluble in both alcohol
and ether. To this substance Mezereon owes' its acridity. There is
however, some reason to suspect that this resin is itself a compound
of two principles, viz., an acrid vesicating fixed oil and another
substance. The resin is rendered soluble in water by means of the
other constituents of the bark. There are in addition to those al-
ready enumerated wax, a trace of volatile oil, yellow coloring prin-
ciple, uncrystallizable but fermentable sugar, nitrogenous gummy
matter, reddish-brown extractive, woody fibre, free malic acid and
malates of potash, lime and magnesia.

Daphne Mezereum operates as a stimulating diaphoretic, in-
creasing the general arterial action and determining powerfully to
the surface, but it is apt to occasion vomiting and purging. It has
long been externally employed as a stimulus to ill-conditioned ulcers,
and the recent bark macerated in vinegar and applied to the skin is
recommended in chronic cases of a local nature ; under certain man-
agement it produces a serous discharge without blistering, and is
thus rendered useful by answering the purpose of what is called a
perpetual blister, while it occasions less pain and inconvenience. To
form the issue, the bark must be renewed every night and morning,
and afterwards once in twenty-four hours, to keep open the drain.
It has been employed successfully as a local stimulant in a case of
difficulty of swallowing occasioned by paralysis. Though the case
was of three year’s standing, the patient recovered the power of
swallowing in about a month, by very frequently chewing thin
slices of the root. For this purpose it should be sliced longitudinal-
ly, as the acrimony resides in the bark only, the woody fibre being
nearly inert. Internally a decoction of this bark has been used
against chronic rheumatism, scrofulous swellings, lepra and some
other cutaneous diseases.

The branches make a good yellow dye.

N® DJ .

IBUjTRAT ©MJIQM IPJJMffi1 AMilASDlIIM ..

TJioroue'hwort it ones et .

COMPOSITE.

The •! st e r Tribe*

N°- 51.

EUPATORIUM PEBFOLIATUM.

Boneset. Thorough wort. Fever wort, (fee.

Place — United States.

Quality — Bitter.

Power — Sudorific, tonic.

Use — Dyspepsia, catarrhal affections, fevers, (fee.
BOTANICAL ANALYSIS.

Natural Order. Composite — L. Corymbiferce — J.
Eupatorineae — Lind.

Class XIX. Syngenesia. Order Polygamia JEqualis.

Lin. Sp. PI. ] 174. Willd. Sp. PI. iii. 1761. Bigelow, Med. Bot. i. 33. Barton
\eg. Mat. Med. ii. 125. Jlaf. Med. Flor. i. 174. T. & G. Flor. ii. 88 GrifF
Med. Bot. 390.

Genus. EUPATORIUM.

iNamed in honor of Mithridates Eupator, king of Pontus, who first used it in
medicine. The properties of the Asiatic and European species were made known
by him. Pliny.

Synonymes— Eupatoirc perfoliee (F.), Durchwachsener Wasserdost ( Ger .)

THE ESSENTIAL CHARACTERS.

Calyx. Closely adherent to the ovary, the limb wanting-, or mem-
branaceous and divided into palse, bristles, hairs, (fee., called
pappus.

iCoROLLA. Superior, consisting of five united petals, either liguate
or tubular.

EUPATORIUM FERFOLIATUM.

Stamens. Five, alternate with the lobes of the corolla. Anthers
cohering into a cylinder.

Ovary. Inferior, one-celled, one-ovuled. Style two-cleft, the in-
ner margins of the branches occupied by the stigmas.

Fruit. An achenium, dry, indehiscent, one-seeded, crowned with
the pappus.

Flowers collected into a dense head ( capitum ), upon a common receptacle, sur-
rounded by an involucre of many bracts (scales).

THE SECONDARY CHARACTERS.

Eupatorium. Flowers all tubular. Involucre imbricate, ob-
long. Style much exserted, deeply cleft. Receptacle naked, flat.
Pappus simple, scabrous.

Involucre imbricated, (rarely simple,) oblong'. Style long, cloven half way
down. Egret pilose, scabrous, or rough papillose. Receptacle naked. Akenes
smooth and glandular, five-striate.

THE SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Eupatorium Perfoliatum. Leaves connate-perfoliate, pu-
bescent. Stem rough and hairy, round. Involucre about twelve-
flowered.

Leaves connate-perfoliatc, oblong.serrate, rugose, downy beneath. Stem villose.

THE ARTIFICIAL CHARACTERS.

Class Syngenesia. Stamens five, cohering by the tips of
their anthers. Order Polygamia -Egualis. Herbaceous plants.
Flowers or florets collected into dense heads (compound flowers).
Corollas monopetalous, of various forms.

NATURAL HISTORY.

The Boneset, or as it is sometimes called Thorough wort, is a
common well known plant of low grounds, meadows, the banks of
streams and other moist places, growing generally in bunches, and
abounding in almost all parts of the United States. It flowers from
the middle of summer to the latter end of October, and is always
easily distinguished by the leaves being pierced by the stem. The
root of the plant is perennial, horizontal and crooked, sending up
numerous herbaceous stems, which are erect, round, rough and
hairy, from one to three feet high, simple below and trichotomously
branched near the summit, and of a grayish-green color. The
character of the leaves is peculiar, and serves to distinguish the

EUPATORIUM PERFOLIATUM.

species at the first glance. They may be considered either as per-
forated by the stem, perfoliate, or as consisting each of two leaves
united at the base, connate. Considered in the latter point of view
they are opposite and in pairs which decussate each other at regular
distances upon the stem ; in other words, the direction of each pair
is at right angles with that of the pair immediately above or be-
neath it. They are narrow in proportion to their length, broadest
at the base where they coalesce, gradually tapering to a point, ser-
rate, much wrinkled, paler on the inside than the upper surface,
and beset with whitish hairs which give them the same color as the
stalks. The uppermost pairs are sessile, not joined at the base.
The flowers are white, numerous, supported on hairy peduncles in
dense, depressed, terminal corymbs, which form a flattened summit
to the plant. The calyx, which is cylindrical and composed of im-
bricated, lanceolate, hairy scales, encloses from twelve to fifteen
tubular florets, having their border divided into five spreading seg-
ments. The anthers are five in number, black and united into a
tube, through which the bifid filiform style projects above the flow-
er. The seeds are black, prismatic, acute at base, on a naked re-
ceptacle. The pappus has scabrous hairs.

This plant appears to have been known and held in much esti-
mation by the Aborigines of America. The first European settlers
of this continent derived their knowledge of its virtues from them,
and it became a favorite and universal remedy in domestic practice
long befoie it attiacted the attention of the profession, ft received
the name of Boneset from the fact of its having been employed in
a painful disease called break-bone fever, and in New England it
is called Joepye , from an Indian of that name who cured typhus
with it by a copious perspiration.

CHEMICAL AND MEDICAL PROPERTIES AND USES.

No accurate analysis of the Eupatorium Perfoliatum has
been made since the recent improvements in vegetable chemistry.
An examination of it some years since, by Dr. Bigelow, showed
that the leaves and flowers abound in a bitter extractive matter, and
Avhich is probably the active principle, ft is soluble in water and
alcohol, and forms copious precipitates with the metalic salts. It has
a faint agreeable odor, and a strongly bitter and somewhat peculiar
taste. Rafinesque speaks of a peculiar substance in it which he
calls Eupatorine, and says it is brown, bitter, resiniform, soluble
in water and alcohol, forming sulphates, nitrates, &c.

EUPATOhlUM PERFOLIATUM.

All parts of the plant are used, but the herb only is officinal. It
is sudorific, tonic and diaphoretic. In large doses, emetic and ape-
rient. It is generally found in the stores in packages put up by the
Shakers at Lebanon, ISf. Y. These packages contain the leaves and
flowers, and when not deteriorated by damp are a good mode of
preparing the article. Some difference of opinion has existed as to
which part of the plant is most efficient. From various experi-
ments it has been thought that the leaves were the most active, but
more extended observations have shown that the flowers and small
branches are equally useful.

The medical properties of Eupatorium Perfoliatum are va-
rious and important. It is employed to fulfil a number of indica-
tions, being given as a tonic, a diaphoretic or an emetic, as the cir-
cumstances of the case might require. Besides these, many other
properties have been attributed to it, and though it is certainly a
highly important remedy when properly administered, it cannot be
endowed with all the remarkable and numerous powers that have
been attributed to it.

As a tonic it is deserving of high commendation, and is well suit-
ed to those cases of dyspepsia, general debility and want of tone in
the system requiring the exhibition of the simple bitters. With a
view to its tonic effects it is best administered in substance or in cold
infusion, and is a mild and agreeable bitter. The dose of the pow-
der is twenty or thirty grains, that of the infusion one or two fluid
ounces frequently repeated.

As a diaphoretic, there is ample proof of its powers, particularly
in catarrhal affections and inflammatory rheumatism ; given in warm
infusion so as to produce copious perspiration or vomiting. In the
commencement of catarrh it will frequently arrest that complaint.
In various forms of fever, particularly remittent and typhoid fevers,
it is highly esteemed and proved beneficial by the testimony of ma-
ny distinguished practitioners. In yellow fever it is also said to have
been productive of very great advantage. With a view to its dia-
phoretic operation, the infusion should be administered warm, in
large draughts, and the patient remain covered in bed.

As an emetic it is also well deserving of notice. It is given in
warm decoction, and may be employed for this purpose as a substi-
tute for the infusion of camomile. It is considered valuable in the
early stage of autumnal fevers. In large doses it is said to act on
the bowels, and it has long been esteemed as an efficacious remedy
in bilious colic accompanied by obstinate constipation, in the dose of
a teacupful every half hour until a cathartic effect is produced.

W> 52

Canadft Snake rout Wild Ging'fr

ARISTOLOCIIIACEJE.

The S*n ate e*v oot Tribe*

N°- 5 2.

USAXUritt CASffADEXtfSE.

Canada Snake-root. Wild ginger , Colts-foot , Asarabacca.

Place — United States.

Quality — Slightly bitter.

Power — Aromatic, nervine.

Use — Asthma, whooping cough.

BOTANICAL ANALYSIS.

Natural Order. Sarmentacesc — L. Aristolochiae — J.
Class XX. Gymndria. Order Decandria.

Lin. Sp. PI. G33. Willd. Sp. PI ii. 838. Bigelow, Med. Bot. i. 150. Barton,
Veg. Mat. Med. ii. 85. Kaf. Med. Flor. i. 70. Griff, Med. Bui. 527.

Genus. ASAIiUM.

An ancient name, supposed to have been formed from a, private, and seira,
bandage, because it was not used in garlands, of which the ancients were so fond.

Svnonymes. — L’asaret (F.), Die haselwurz ( Get .), Mansoir {Dutch), Asaro (/.),
Asaro {Sp.), Wodolei {Russ.), Kopytriuk {Pol.)

THE ESSENTIAL CHARACTERS.

Calyx. Tttbe adherent to the ovary. Segments three, vaivate
in aestivation.

Stamens. Six — twelve, epigynous, or adhering to the base of the
short and thick styles.

Ovary. Three — six-celled. Stigmas radiate, as many as the
cells of the ovary.

ASARUM CANADENSE.

Fruit. Capsule or berry, three — six-celled, many-seeded. Em-
bryo minute in the base, of fleshy albumen.

Seeds. Numerous.

* THE SECONDARY CHARACTERS.

Asarum. Calyx campanulate. Stamens twelve, placed upon
the ovary. Anthers adnate to the middle of the filaments. Style
very short. Stigm a six-rayed. Capsule six-celled, crowned with
the calyx.

Calyx somowhat bell-form, three or four cleft, superior. Corol wanting. An-
thers proceeding from the middle of the filaments. Stigma six-cleft. Capsule
coriaceous, six-celled, crowned with the calyx.

THE SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Asarum Cana-dense. Leaves two, broad reniform. Calyx
woolly, deeply three-cleft, the segments reflected. Leaves broad,
kidney-form, in pairs.

Calyx woolly, deeply three-parted, divisions sub-lanceolate, reflected.

THE ARTIFICIAL CHARACTERS.

Class Gynandria or Dodecandria. Stamens and style con-
solidated. Order Decandria. Exogens. Herbs or shrubs.
Flowers greenish. Stamens six to twelve. • Stigmas radiate.

NATURAL HISTORY.

Canada Snake-root or Wild ginger, is an indigenous small
and acaulescent plant, inhabiting woods and shady places from
Canada to Carolina and Missouri. It is most abundant in hills,
valleys and rich alluvions. It flowers from the last of April to the
beginning of June, and is of easy propagation and culture.

The species of Asarum under consideration very closely resem-
bles the Asarum Europceum, in appearance and botanical cha-
racter. It has a long, creeping, jointed, fleshy, yellowish root or
rhizoma, furnished with radicles of a similar color. The stem is
very short, dividing, before it emerges from the ground, into two
long, round, hairy leafstalks, each of which bears a broad kidney-
shaped leaf, pubescent on both surfaces, of a rich shining light
green above, veined and pale or bluish beneath. A single flower
stands in the fork of the stem, upon a hairy pendulous peduncle.
The flower is often concealed by the loose soil or decayed vegetable

ASAUUM CANADENSE.

matter, so that the leaves with their petioles are the only parts that
appear above the surface of the ground. There is no corolla. The
calyx is very woolly, and divided into three broad concave acumi-
nate segments with the ends reflexed, of a deep brownish purple
color on the inside, and of a dull purple, inclining to greenish, ex-
ternally. The filaments, which are twelve in number and of une-
qual length, stand upon the germ and rise with a slender point
above the anthers attached to them. Near ihe divisions of the ca-
lyx are these filamentous bodies, which may be considered as necta-
ries. The pistil consists of a somewhat hexagonal germ and a
conical grooved style surmounted by six revolete stigmas. The
capsule is six-celled, coriaceous and crowned with the adhering ca-
lyx, containing many small seeds.

There are many varieties of the Asarum , with small or large
leaves rounded or mucronate, spotted or unspotted. The flowers
also vary in color from greenish purple to dark blue. The names,
Wild ginger, Snake-root, are common to all these varieties, although
very different in appearance, but similar in taste, smell and proper-
ties. They are frequently and indiscriminately introduced into the
bales containing the officinal drug and commingled with it.

CHEMICAL AND MEDICAL PROPERTIES AND USES.

A chemical investigation of the root of Asarum Canadense has
been made by Dr. Bigelow, which has been repeated by the late Mr.
Rich'd Rushton. They found it to contain gum, starch, resin, fatty
matter, chlerophylle, volatile oil, salts of lime and potassa, iron and
lignin. The volatile oil has a light greenish-yellow color, a warm,
fragrant, slightly bitterish aromatic taste, it is soluble in all pro-
portions in alcohol and ether, but less perfectly in water. From the
close botanical analogy of the plant with the European Asarum ,
it might be supposed, like that, to possess emetic and cathartic pro-
perties, but at least with the dried root or the leaves such does not
appear to be the fact. Where vomiting has been caused by the use
of this plant, it is more attributable to the quantity taken than to
the possession of any inherent emetic qualities, it may be supposed
to exhibit.

T he root alone is officinal, and is prepared by removing during
the summer and cleansing and drying in the shade ; in this process
the radicles from their delicacy are separated. When fresh it has a
yellowish color. As found in the shops it is in long more or less
contorted pieces, about the thickness of a straw or larger, the exter-

AS ARUM CANADEN3E.

nal covering is brownish and wrinkled, tlie internal substance is
white, hard and brittle, occasionally the fragments of the radicles
are attached. It comes either in mass or in square packages from
the Shakers at Lebanon, New York, when it is connected with the
leaves and is subject to mouldiness from the partially dry state ne-
cessary to packing by pressure. Its taste is agreeably aromatic and
slightly bitter, the smell is aromatic. It is by some supposed to be
intermediate between that of ginger and serpentaria, by others
thought to bear a closer resemblance to that of cardamone. The
taste of the petioles which usually accompany the root, is more bit-
ter and less aromatic.

The root is an aromatic stimulant tonic, and in a warm decoc-
tion is possessed of no inconsiderable diaphoretic properties resem-
bling the Serpentaria in its action on the system, and may be ad-
vantageously used as a substitute for it, but is rather more stimu-
lating. In diseases of the skin, attended with fever, in which the
eruption is tardy or has receded, and the grade of action is low, it
is thought to be useful by promoting the cutaneous affection. It has
also been strongly recommended in intermittent fevers, and though
itself generally inadequate to the cure of the complaint, often proves
serviceable as an adjunct to Peruvian bark. With the same reme-
dy it is frequently associated, and with considerable advantage, in
the treatment of typhus diseases.

Asarum, like all other articles of the same class, must vary its
effects on the. animal economy with the mode of exhibition ; thus its
sudorific power will be manifested by exhibition in warm infusion,
and in large quantities in this form it will frequently prove emetic;
in cold infusion or tincture, it is cordially stimulating and tonic.

The leaves, when dried and powdered, have powerful errhine
properties, and make a fine stimulating cephalic snulT, which may-
be used in all disorders of the head and eyes. They excite irrita-
tion and a discharge of mucus from the nasal membrane ; and they
are useful in certain affections of the brain, eyes, face, mouth and
throat, on the principle of counter-irritation : thus in paralytic affec-
tions of the mouth and tongue, in toothache and in ophthalmia.

The root is used by the inhabitants of many parts of the country
as a substitute for ginger, and for many purposes is fully equal to it.
M. Lemory, in his Dictionnaire Universal des Drogues Simples ,
published in 1733, alludes to its substitution for this purpose by the
Aborigines of America. It also forms the basis of a spirituous drink,
which may be made by the infusion of the whole plant in ferment-
ing wine or beer:

N° 53.

AHUM TMnPlTTILTLUT M .
wake robin.

ABACEJE.

T M e d r urn T r i & e*

N°- 5 3.

&TOSM THIFHYLIiUM.

Dragon root. Wild turnip, Wake robin ,

Place — America.

Quality — Pungent.

Power — Acrid, narcotic.

Use — Cough, chronic bronchitis, asthma, dropsy, &c.
BOTANICAL ANALYSIS.

Natural Order. Calamarite — L. Aroidete — J. Lind.
Class XXI. Monoecia. Order Polyandria.

Willd. Sp. PI. iv. 480. Bigelow, Med. Bot. i. 52. Raf. Med. Flor. i. 66. Grift".
Med. Bot. 616. Per. El. Med. Bot. v- B6.

Genus. ARUM.

Formerly Aron , supposed to be an ancient Egyptian word/by which the Arum
colocasia was known. The last mentioned name is an alteration of its Arabic do.
nominative qolqas , according to Forskahl.

Synonymes.— Le gouet (F.), Der aronswurz ( Ger Kalfsvoet (Dutch), Aro (/.),
Yaro (Sp.), Alunskesvands (Dan.)

THE ESSENTIAL CHARACTERS.

Flowers, Mostly monoecious andjachlamydeous, arranged upon
a naked or apathaceous spadi£ Perianth , when present, con-
sisting of four — six parts.

Stamens. Definite or indefinite, hypogynous, very short. An-
thers ovate, extrorse.

Ovary. Free, one — several celled. Stigma sessile.

Fruit. Berry succulent or dry.

ARUM TRIPHYLLUM.

Seeds. Solitary or several, with fleshy albumen.

THE SECONDARY CHARACTERS.

Arum. Flowers sometimes dioecious. Spathe cucullate, con-
volute at base. Perianth none. Spadix cylindric, naked above,
staminate below the middle, and pistilate at the base. Berry one-
celled, many-seeded.

Spathe Cucullate, one-leaved. Spadix not entirely covered with the fructifica-
tion, being more or less naked above, with pistillate flowers beneath, and statni-
nato in the middle (sometimes a few are staminate beneath). Berry mostly one.
seeded, generally cirrose-glandular beneath.

THE SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Arum Triphyllum. Acaulescent. Leaves trifoliate, mostly
in pairs. Leaflets oval, acuminate. Spadix clavate. Spathe
ovate, acuminate, flat and deflated above.

Sub-caulescent. Leaves ternate. Leaflets ovatc-acuminato, peduncled, with
the laminae as long as the spadix.

THE ARTIFICIAL CHARACTERS.

Class Moncecia. Stamens apart from the pistils in different
flowers, upon the* same plant. Order Polyandria. Herbs.
Endogens. Monoecious. Flowers incomplete on a spadix. Spathe
present. Stamens more than two. Root with a fleshy corm or
rhizoma.

NATURAL HISTORY.

The Dragon root or Wake robin is a native of America, both
North and South, and is common in all parts of the United States,
growing in damp woods, in swamps, along ditches* and in other
moist oshady places. There are three varieties of this species of
Arum, distinguished by the color of the spathe. One variety, vi-
xens, has a green spathe. Another, atropurpureum , has a dark
purple spathe. And the other, album , has a white spathe.

This plant has a perennial root or cormus, which early in the
spring sends up a large, ovate, acuminate, variously colored spathe,
convoluted at bottom, flattened and bent over at top like a hood,
and supported by an erect, round, green or purplish scape. The
scape is from eight to twelve inches high, embraced at the base by
the long sheaths of the petioles. Within the spathe is a club-shaped
spadix, much shorter than the spathe, green, purple, black or va-

ARUM TR1PHYLLUM.

negated, rounded at the end and contracted near the base, where
it is surrounded by the stamens or germs in the dioecious plants, and
by both in the monoecious, the female organs being below the male.
The spathe and upper portion of the spadix gradually decay while
the germs are converted into a compact bunch of shining scarlet
berries. The leaves, which are usually one or two in number and
stand on long sheathing footstalks, are composed of three ovate-
acuminate leaflets, paler on their under than their upper surface,
and becoming glaucous as the plant advances.

The flowering system of the plants of this tribe presents many
points of interest. On opening the spathe, it is found to be whitish
in its interior and closely surrounding a central column or spadix,
on which the minute flowers are crowded. On detaching these are
found at the bottom several tiers of round ovaria, which do not pos-
sess any proper style or stigma, but have a sort of puckering at
their points, which serves the purpose of the latter. Each is one-
celled and contains two erect ovules. Above there are two or three
rows of abortive or undeveloped ovaria in the form of horned pear-
shaped bodies. Above these again there is a crowd of stamens with
very short filaments, and these are surmounted by another cluster
Gf abortive ovaria. Here, accordingly, is a large cluster of pistil-
liferous and staminiferous flowers, in which the floral envelopes are
entirely wanting, and in which, therefore, the separate flowers can
scarcely be distinguished. Each ovarium, however, is the essential
part of a pistilline flower, whilst every cluster of anthers is the es-
sential part of a staminous flower, so that here are the most neces-
sary organs of fructification reduced almost to the lowest condition
in which they can exist.

CHEMICAL AND MEDICAL PROPERTIES AND USES.

All parts of the Arum Triphyllum are highly acrid, and this is
more apparent in the root, which only is officinal. In the green
state it is stimulant, expectorant, carminative and diaphoretic. The
root is roundish, flattened, an inch or two in diameter, covered with
a brown loose wrinkled epidermis, and internally white, fleshy and
solid. In the recent state it has a peculiar odor, and is violently
acrid, producing when chewed an insupportable burning and biting
sensation in the mouth and throat, which continues for a long time,
and leaves an unpleasant soreness behind. These symptoms are
alleviated by buttermilk or oily7- liquors. Its action does not readily
extend through the cuticle, as the bruised root may lie upon the

ARUM TRIPHYLLUM.

■Skin till it becomes dry without producing1 pain or even redness.
The acrid principle is extremely volatile and is entirely driven off by
heat, and by drying. It is not imparted to water, alcohol, ether or
olive oil. The root loses nearly all its acrimony by drying, and in
a short time becomes quite inert, and almost an insipid farinace-
ous substance. It may, however, be kept in its green state a con-
siderable time by burying it in moist sand in a cellar. It is found
to contain, besides the acrid principle, from ten to seventeen per
cent, of starch, albumen, gum, sugar, extractive lignin, and salts of
potassa and lime. The starch may be obtained from it as pure
white and delicate as from the potato. The fecula of the dried root
is a pure and excellent arrowroot.

In Europe the dried root of the Arum maculatum (whose medi-
cinal properties are precisely those of the plant under consideration
of this country) is sometimes employed by the common people in
times ofvgreat scarcity as a substitute for bread ; and an amylaceous
substance is prepared from it in England called Portland arrowroot
or Portland sago. This substance is a white powder, whose parti-
cles examined by the microscope are found to be exceedingly small.
They are circular, mullar-shaped or polyhedral. The angular ap-
pearance of some of them probably arises from compression. The
hilum is circular and apparently lies in a small depression. It cracks
in a linear or stellate manner. This substance is very nutricious
and demulcent, affording a light, mild and agreeable article of diet,
well adapted for the sick and convalescent, and particularly suited
from its demulcent properties to bowel complaints and diseases of the *
urinary passages.

This article must be used in substance, and in its recent state is
a powerful local irritant, possessing the property of stimulating the
secretions, particularly those of the skin and lungs. It has been
given with considerable advantage in asthma, pertussis, chronic
catarrh, chronic rheumatism, and various affections connected with
a cachactic state of the system. Immediately taken from the
ground it is too acrid for use. The recently dried root, which
retains a portion of the acrimony, but not sufficient to prevent
its convenient administration, is usually preferred. It may be given
in the dose of ten grains, mixed with gum arabic, sugar and water,
in the form of emulsion, repeated two or three times a day, and gra-
dually increased to half a drachm or more. The powder made into
a paste with honey or syrup and placed in small quantities on the
tongue so as to be gradually diffused over the mouth and throat, is
said to have proved useful in the apthous sore-mouth of children.

MIS N TTMA FH F BM1TPA

Peppermint

LABIATJE.

Labiate Plants •

N°- 54o

MENTHA PIPERITA.

Peppermint,

Place — Europe.

Quality — Penetrating, grateful.

Poiver — Stomachic, stimulant.

Use — Nausea, griping, flatulent colic, hysteria,

BOTANICAL ANALYSIS.

Natural Order. Verticil lata — L. Labiatese — J.
Class XIV. Didynamia, Order Gymosspermia .

Willd. Sp. Pl. iii. 74. Lind. Med. Dot. 487. Smith. Flor. Brit. 6l3. Griff.
Med. Dot. 502. Per. El. Med. Bot. ii. 288.

Genus. MENTHA.

Mi nth a or Minthe, in old Greek. The Poets feign that Mintha was a daughter
of Cocytus, transformed into the plant which bears her name; an allegorical de-
scription of the terrible effects ascribed to the plant by the ancients.

•

Synonymes — Menthe poivree ( F .), Pfeffsrmunze ( Ger .), Peperminte ( Dutch )r
Peparmynta (Sued.), Merita Piperita (I.), Verbal nina de saper de Pimienta (S.)
Hortelaa apimentada (Port.)

THE ESSENTIAL CHARACTERS.

Calyx. Tubular, regularly five-toothed or cleft or bilabiate, per-
sistent.

Corolla. Bilabiate, (rarely regular, five-toothed,) the upper lip bifid
or entire, overlapping in aestivation the lower three-cleft one.

Stamens. Four, didynamous, or sometimes only two, the upper
pair being abortive- or wanting, situated on the corolla tube.
Anthers mostly two-celled.

MENTHA TIPERITA.

Ovary. Free, deeply four-lobed, the single style arising from the
base of the lobes.

Fruit. One — four hard nuts or achenia.

Seeds. Erect, with little or no albumen. Embryo erect. Coty-
ledons Hat.

THE SECONDARY CHARACTERS.

Mentha. Calyx equally five-toothed. Corolla nearly regular,
four-cleft, thejoroadest segment emarginate. Stamens four, straight,
distant. Anthers cells parallel. Filaments naked.

Corol nearly equal, four-lobed, broadest division emarginate. Stamens erect,
distant.

THE SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Mentha Piperita. Leaves smooth, ovate-lanceolate, serrate,
petiolate. Bracts lanceolate.- Calyx quite smooth at base.

Spikes obtuse, interrupted below. Leaves subovate, somewhat glabrous, pe--
tioled. Stem glabrous at the base.

THE ARTIFICIAL CHARACTERS.

Class Didynamia. Stamens four, two of them longer than
the other two. Order Gymnospermia. Seeds naked. Ache-
nia four (or fewer) included in the calyx. Corolla monopetalous
and labiate.

NATURAL HISTORY.

* •

Peppermint is a native of Europe, and has become natural-
ized in many parts of the United States. It is a perennial herba-
ceous plant, and grows in wet and moist places, flowering the latter
part of the summer. It is occasionally found growing wild along
the fences and bye places of the country. In many parts of New
England, and especially in the western part of New York, in Ohio
and New Jersey, the plant is largely cultivated for the sake of its
volatile oil. All the species are raised by the same methods, by
parting the roots, by offsetting young plants, and by cuttings of the
stalks. The cultivators of the plant observe that to keep up its
quality, the roots must be transplanted every three yearsj otherwise
it degenerates into the flavor of Spearmint, Mentha viridis. If
the plant be cut in wet weather it changes to black and is little
worth.

The root of the plant is creeping. The stem quadrangular and

MENTHA PIPERITA.

channeled, nearly upright and about two feet high, branching, pur-
plish and rather hairy with the hairs bent backwards. The leaves
are of a dark green color, opposite, petiolate, ovate, rather pointed,
serrated, the upper side smoother and less pubescent than the under,
which is paler with white and purple veins. The flowers are in
terminal spikes, solitary, almost capitate, interrupted beneath with
the lower whorl more remote, and on a footstalk. The bracts are
lanceolate and ciliated. The calyx is furrowed, tender, studded
with glandular points. The base entirely naked, very smooth and
five cleft, with the teeth of a blackish purple color ciliated. The
corolla is purple, and conceals within its tube the anthers, which are
on short filaments. The germen is four cleft, with a filiform style
longer thau the corolla, and furnished with a bifid stigma. The
four-cleft germ is converted into four seeds, lodged in the calyx.

Sir J. E. Smith supposes that this plant was discovered by Dr.
Eales, and says that what is called Peppermint in the North of Eu-
rope is merely a variety of Mentha hirsuta, having a similar odor,
and is the Mentha piperita of the Linneean herbarium.

CHEMICAL AND MEDICAL PROPERTIES AND USES.

The whole plant is officinal. The odor of both the recent and
dried plant is peculiar and well known, aromatic, penetrating and
grateful, in some degree resembling camphor ; and the taste pun-
gent, warm, glowing and bitterish, followed by a sensation of cold-
ness when air is drawn in the mouth. It gives out its properties to
alcohol and partly to water. It contains volatile oil, a bitter princi-
ple, resin, tannic acid and woody fibre. The oil can be obtained
separate by distillation. It is colorless, but becomes yellowish or
even reddish by age. It has a powerful aromatic odor, and an ex-
tremely pungent taste. The camphor it contains is isomeric with
the oil.

Peppermint is employed in medicine for several purposes. It is
stomachic, stimulant, antispasmodic and carminative. It is chiefly
used to allay nausea and griping, to relieve flatulent colic, and in
hysteria ; or as a vehicle to*cover the nauseous taste of other medi-
cines. It is, however, to many palates extremely disagreeable.
The fresh herb, bruised and applied over the epigastrium, often al-
lays sick stomach, and is especially useful in the cholera of children.
The medicine may be given in infusion, but the volatile oil, either
alone or in some state of preparation, is generally and almost al-
ways preferred.

MENTHA PIPERITA.

The following are the principal preparations of this medicine with
their uses.

Aq.ua Menthte Piperitle. Take of peppermint a pound and
a half, pour over it as much water as will prevent empyreuma du-
ring the distillation. Distil a gallon.

Peppermint water has the flavor and taste of the plant in a ve-
ry considerable degree. It is sometimes used alone as a carmina-
tive and stimulant, but more generally for the purpose of covering
the taste of other medicines.

S.piritus Mentha Piperit.e. Take of oil of peppermint, by
weight, six scruples and a half ; proof spirit four pints and a
half ; water, s.uficieut to prevent empyreuma. Add the spirits to
the oil and pour on them as much water as will prevent empyreuma,
then distil with a slow fire one gallon.

The spirit of peppermint is a useful carminative in nausea and
flatulence, and as an adjunct to purgative remedies. This spirit
has no advantage over a simple solution of the oil in alcohol, and
may therefore with great propriety be substituted for it. The solu-
tion is usually kept in the shops under the name of essence of
peppermint.

Oleum Mentha: Piperita. Obtained by submiting the fresh
herb to distillation with water. Tts odor is strong and its taste very
pungent, but at the same time it impresses a sensation of coldness.
The vapor of if applied to the eye causes a feeling of coldness. Its
color is greenish-yellow or nearly colorless, but it becomes white
when exposed to the light, and reddish by age. Four pounds of the
recent plant yield from one drachm and a half to three drachms and
a half of the oil. The product is generally less than one per cent.
In a warm, dry and favorable season the produce of a given quan-
tity of the fresh herb is double that which it yields in a wet and
cold season.

Oil of peppermint is a stimulant and carminative, and is used
occasionally as an antispasmodic. It is a common domestic reme-
dy in cramp of the stomach, flatulent colic and anorexia, and as a
corrigent or adjuvant of other medicines. The dose is from one to
three drops, and is most conveniently given rubbed up with sugar
and then dissolved in water.

Besides the above there are other popular preparations of pepper-
mint extensively used. Infusum Mentha Piperit^e, Pepper-
mint tea ; Rotulve Menth/e Piperitve, Peppermint drops :
The Liqueur sold at the spirit shops as mint or peppermint, is
used as a coidial.

iT©NV©ILVHJMJ § SCAMM0NIA.
Scammony.

CONYOLYULACEiE

Bindweeds.

N°- 55.

CONVOLVULUS SCAMMONIA.

Scammony. Syrian Bindweed.

Place — Europe.

Quality — Acrid, bitter, nauseous.

Power — Purgative.

Use—' The root in costive habits.

BOTANICAL ANALYSIS.

Natural Order. Campanacese — L. Convolvulacete — J.
Class V. Pentandria. Order Monogynia.

Lin. Sp. PI. 218. Willd. Sp. PL i. 844. Griff. Med. Bot. 477. Lind. Floy.
Med. 398.

Genus. CONVOLVULUS.

Fiom the Lat. Convolvere, to entwine from the habit. A large genus of twining
or prostrate herbs.

Synonymes. — Scammonee ( F .), Scarnmonium von Aleppo ( Ger .), Het Scammo-
neurn (Dutch), Scaramonea (/.), Escamonea (S. &. P.), Sulimunja (H. & Arab.)

THE ESSENTIAL CHARACTERS.

Calyx. Sepals five, much imbricated, usually united at base,
persistent.

Corolla. Regular. Limb five-lobed or entire, plaited and twist-
ed in activation.

Stamens. Five, inserted into the base of the corolla, and alter-
nate with its lobes.

Ovary. Twq— four-celled, free. Styles united into one.

Fruit. Capsule , two — four-celled, valves with septrifragal de-
hiscence.

CONVOLVULUS SCAMMONIA.

'translucent. It is pulverulent and the powder has a light gray color.
Its specific gravity is 1.235 ( Brisson ). When it is of a dark color,
heavy and splintery, it should be rejected. When triturated with
water, nearly one fourth of it is dissolved, and the solution appears
slightly mucilaginous, opaque, and of a greenish gray color. This
solution is not affected by alcohol, solutions of superacetate and ace-
tate of lead and sulphate of iron, nor precipitated by the acids, but
with sulphuric acid it gives out the odor of vinegar. Solution of
ammonia does not alter it, but that of potassa occasions a yellowish
precipitate, which is quickly redissolved on the addition of an acid.
Ether takes up two parts in ten of Scammony, and when evapo-
rated leaves a brownish semi-transparent resin. Alcohol dissolves
two-thirds of its weight, but proof spirit is its best menstruum, ta-
king up the whole except the impurities. Aleppo Scammony con-
tains, according to Bouillon , La Grange and Vogel, 0.60 of resin,
0.20 of extractive, 0.03 of gum, and 0.35 of impurities. Smyrna
Scammony contains 0.29 of resin, 0.0S of gum, 0.05 of extractive,
and 0.58 of impurities. When these impurities consist of flour,
sand or ashes, they may be detected by dissolving the sample in
proof spirit, as they sink and remain undissolved ; but Scammony
is sometimes also adulterated with the expressed juice of Cynanchum
monsjteliacum , and a fictitious Scammony is also sold for the real,
consisting of jalap, senna, manna, gambogue and ivory black.

Scammony is a drastic cathartic, operating in general quickly
and powerfully. The purest is that which i# most active and solu-
ble. The ancients were acquainted with its purgative qualities and *
also employed it as an external application for removing hard tu-
mors, itch, scurf, and fixed pains, but for the latter purposes it is
now seldom or never used. It is a good purgative in the torpid state
of the intestines, in leucophlegmatic, hypochondriacal and mania-
cal subjects ; in worm cases and the slimy stale of the bowels to
which children are subject ; and as a hydragogue cathartic in drop-
sy. Scammony has been regarded by some as a cathartic of so
irritating a nature as to require to be corrected by exposing it to the
fumes of sulphur, defalcating it with lemon-juice and other acids,
and uniting it with demulcent mucilages ; but except in an inflam-
ed or very irritable state of the bowels, it is a safe and efficacious
purgative. It is, however, apt to gripe, on which account it is gene-
rally united with an aromatic, or a drop of some essential oil.

The dose is from five to fifteen grains, whether given in powder,
as a bolus, or in the form of mixture triturated with almonds, gum.
or extract of liquorice and water.

NV 5ti.

HMTIUMA §TMAM©^HtyMl.
Thorn apple.

SOLANACE JL

sh* l ght » Had esd

N°- 56.

DATURA STBAMONIUM.

Thorn apple. Jamestown iveech

Place — America.

Quality — Foetid, nauseous.

Power — Narcotic, acrid.

Use — Asthma, chronic pains, dec.

BOTANICAL ANALYSIS.

Natural Order. Lurid® — L. Solanacese — J.

Class V. Pentandria. Order Monogynia.

Linn. Sp. PI. 255. Bigelow, Med. Bvt. i. 17. Raf. Med. Flor. i. 146. Griff!
Med. Bot. 490. Lind. Flor. Med. 510.

Genus. DATURA.

An alteration of the Arabic name Tatorah. Forskahl. Tatula is altered from
Datula, a name given to the Datura by the Turks and Persians.

Synonymes. — Pomme epineuse, Stramonie ( F .), Der stechapfel ( Ger .), Doort
nappel (Dutch'), Stramonio (/.), Estramonio (Sp.), Estramonia (P.), Durman
(Russ.)

THE ESSENTIAL CHARACTERS.

Calyx. Sepals four — five, more or less united, mostly persistent.

Corolla. Regular. Limb four — five cleft, plaited, in aestivation,
deciduous.

Stamens. Four — five, (sometimes one abortive), inserted on the
corolla, alternate with its segments. Anthers bursting longi-
tudinally, rarely by terminal pores.

DATURA STRAMONIUM.

Ovary. Free (superior) two-celled, ( fonr-ccllcd in Datura,) with'
the placenta in the axis. Styles and Stigmas united into
one.

Fruit. A capsule or berry.

Seeds. Numerous. Embryo curved, being in fleshy albumen.

THE SECONDARY CHARACTERS.

Datura. Calyx large, tubular, ventricose, five-angled, dcci-
* duous, with a persistent, orbicular, peltate base. Corolla infundi-
buliform. Tube cylindric, long. Limb five-angled and plaited.
Stamens five. Stigma obtuse, bilamellate. Capsule two-celled,
four-valved. Cells two — three parted.

Calyx tubular, angled, caducous, with a permanent orbicular base. Coral fun.
nel-form, plaited. Capsule four-valved, two-celled, and each cell half divided,
generally thorny.

•

THE SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Datura Stramonium. Stem dichotomous. Leaves ovate,
smooth, angular-dentate. Capsule spiny, erect.

Pericarps spinose, erect, ovate. Leaves ovate, glabrous, angular, dentate.
THE ARTIFICIAL CHARACTERS.

Class Pentandria. Stamens five. Order Monogynia.

Monopetalous. Flowers inferior. Corolla regular. Herbs (rarely

shrubby); Stamens alternate with petals. Fruit capsule or berry.

Cells two, with many seeds. Mstivation plicate.

NATURAL HISTORY.

It is very uncertain’ where the Datura was originally native.
It certainly appears indigenous to America, but it was first intro-
duced into England from Constantinople in Gerard's time, and by
him “ dispersed through the laud.” Professor Martyn says, “that
in the earth brought with plants from various parts of this exten-
sive continent, they are sure to have the Thorn apple come up.” It
is an erratic and wandering plant, common to all parts of the world,
and spreading with the utmost facility. It is probably a native of
Persia or India, and has spread to Europe, Africa and America. It
has been supposed to be a native of North America, but it has ap-
peared there only since its colonization. The Indians call it the
White man’s plant. In the Western States it has sprung up only

DATURA STRAMONIUM.

since their settlement, and probably from seeds carried thither. The
plant has handsome flowers, sometimes four inches long. It has
been cultivated for its beautiful blossoms, although it has an unplea-
sant narcotic smell. Children yet use them for garlands by forming
strings of the flowers within each other.

Datura Stramonium is now become a noxious weed, infesting
fields, &c. It is commonly met with near houses, along the roads,
in commons, old fields, &c., and never in woods or mountains. It
is found in all the States, also in Canada, Mexico, and in South
America. In the Southern States it blossoms from May to Septem-
ber, and in the Northern States from July to October. It rises about
two feet in height, with a round stem, branching and dichotomous
above, spreading and leafy. The leaves are large, rising from the
forks of the stem on long round petioles, of a dark green color on
the upper surface and pale beneath, irregularly ovate-triangular in
figure, sinuated and unequal at the base. The flowers are large
axillary and solitary, on short erect peduncles. The calyx is about
two inches in length, tubular, pentangular and five-toothed. The
corolla longer, of a white color, funnel-shaped and plaited, with the
filaments which support oblong, flat anthers adhering to the tube,
and the style filiform, terminated with a thick club-shaped stigma.
"When the corolla and its included parts drop, the calyx also sepa-
rates except the base, which remains, and becoming reflex enlarges
with the receptacle as a support to the fruit. The fruit is a large,
fleshy, ovate-roundish four-cornered capsule, beset with sharp, awl-
shaped spines, four-celled at the base, two-celled at the apex, and
containing a great number of reniform compressed seeds.

CHEMICAL AND MEDICAL PROPERTIES AND USES.

Datura Stramonium has a narcotic, foetid odor, producing
headach ; a bitterish nauseous taste, and gives to the saliva a deep
green tinge when chewed. The analysis of Promnitz gives ast he
components of Thorn apple, gummy extractive 58, extractive 6,
chlorophylle 64, albumen 15, resin 12, and phosphate of lime and
magnesia 23 = 178 parts. According to Wedenberg ( Dissertatio
Medica de Stramonii usa, $*c., Upsal, 4 to.) it contains gum and
resin, a volatile matter (carbonate of ammonia), and a narcotic
principle which has lately been ascertained to be an alkaline salt.
It is obtained from the seeds, in which it is combined with malic acid,
and named Daturine. It is nearly insoluble in water and in cold
alcohol, but boiling alcohol dissolves it, and in cooling lets it fall in

DATURA STRAMONIUM.

flocculi. It is crystallized with difficulty, but has' been obtained in'
quadrangular crystals. It forms neutral salts with the acids. The
medicinal virtues of the herb are extracted both by water and alco-
hol. The watery infusion is transparent, with a very pale yellow
hue, which is dissipated by acids, but very much deepened by the
alkalies. It throw’s down whitish precipitates with acetate and su-
peracetate of lead, and a black precipitate with nitrate of silver.
Solution of sulphate of iron strikes a deep olive color, and muriate
of mercury renders it milky, but neither is precipitated till after a
very considerable time.

Thorn apple is a narcotic and stimulant. Baron Stoerck first
recommended it as an internal remedy in cases of mania and epi-
lepsy. Numerous cases have been recorded in which it has proved
a benefit in these diseases, but the general result of the practice has
not been satisfactory, and it is now considered rather as useful in
allaying the excessive mobility of the system than as tending to the
absolute cure of the complaint. Its good effects have been more
marked in asthma, especially of the spasmodic kind, used as an
inhalation by smoking or otherwise. It requires, however, much
caution in its use. Dr. Bigelow has given some very judicious re-
marks on its employment, and others may be found in Dr. Dungli-
son’s practice of medicine. Dr. Barton regards it as a remedy of
great efficacy. He found that v’hen the dose of the dried herb was
gradually increased to thirty grains, it dilated the pupil, and pro-
duced paralysis of the eyelids, effects which were removed by a blis-
ter. Dr. Marcet, who experimented largely with this remedy, ob-
serves that many kinds of painful diseases were more relieved by it
when used internally than by any other narcotic ; that its effects on
the bowels were rather relaxing than astringent, and that the great
objection to its employment was the occasional production of disa-
greeable nervous symptoms.

Cataplasms of the bruised fresh leaves have been successfully
used as an application to inflammatory tumors and for discussing
masses of indurated milk in the breasts of nursing women. An
ointment made with the powdered leaves has afforded much relief
in haemorrhoids and painful ulcers. This ointment has also been
recommended in nymphomania to lessen venereal excitement.

All parts of the plant are used, but the seeds, from containing most
Datura , are the most powerful. The dose of the powdered leaves is
one grain ; of the seeds, half a grain ; of the extract of the seeds, a
quarter of a grain ; that from the leaves, a grain ; of the tincture,
ten to twenty drops — all to be gradually increased if required.

S" 57.

COPTIS TK1FOLIA.
Gold -Thread-

RANUNCULACEjE.

Cr ow f o ots.

N°- 57.

COPTIS TRIFOUA.

Goldthread. Month root.

Place — Europe, America.

Quality — Bilter.

Power — Stomachic, tonic.

Use — Dyspepsia, debility, promoting digestion.

BOTANICAL ANALYSIS.

Natural Order. Multisiliquee — L. Ranunculacete — J.
Class XIII. Pdyandria. . Order Polygynia.

Salisbury. Linn. Trans, viii. 305. Bigelow, Med. Bot. i. CO. Barton, Veg. Mat.
Med. ii. 97. Kaf. Med. Flor. i. 127. T. & G. Flor. i. 28. Griff. Med. Bot. 87.
Per. El. Med. Bot. ii. 759.

Genus. COPTIS.

From the Greek Kopto, to cut, from the numerous divisions of the leaves, ap-
pearing as if cut.

Synonymes.

THE ESSENTIAL CHARACTERS.

Calyx. /Sepals mostly five, sometimes three, four or six, mostly
deciduous and imbricated in aestivation.

Corolla. Petals three — fifteen, hypogynous, sometimes irregular
or wanting.

Stamens. Indefinite, numerous, distinct, hypogynous. Anthers
adnateor innate.

COPTIS TRIFOLIA.

Ovary. Numerous, rarely solitary or few, distinct, seated on the
torus.

Fruit. Either dry achenia, or baccate, or follicular. Embryo
minute at the base, of horny or fleshy albumen.

THE SECONDARY CHARACTERS.

Coptis. Sepals five — six, oblong-, concave, colored, deciduous.
Petals five — six, small, cucullate, obconic. Stamens twenty —
twenty-five. Follicles five — ten, stipitate, rostrate, diverging in a
stellate manner, four — six seeded.

Scape one-flowered. Leaves ternale. Roots long, filiform, golden yellow.

THE SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Coptis Trifolia. Leaves three-foliate. Scape one-flowered.
Petals much smaller than the sepals.

Petals five or six, caducous. Nectaries small, five or six, cowled. Capsules
oblong, five — eight, stiped, stellate, beaked, many-seeded. Sometimes the nec-
taries are mistaken for corols, and the corols for calyxes.

THE ARTIFICIAL CHARACTERS.

Class Polyandria. Stamens twenty or more, arising from
the receptacle (hypogynous). Order Polygynia. Leaves never
peltate. Herbs with acrid colorless juice.

NATURAL HISTORY.

Goldthread inhabits the northern regions of this continent
and of Asia and Europe. It is found in Greenland and Iceland.
The plant is an agreeable and pretty evergreen, and bears conside-
rable resemblance to the strawberry in size and general aspect. It
delights in the dark shady swamps and cold morasses of northern
latitudes and Alpine regions, and abounds in Canada and in the
hilly districts of New England. Its most southern limits are New
England, New York, and the shores of Lake Erie. Its blossoms
appear in May, and it continues in flower during the summer. It
flourishes best in peat soil, and is increased by dividing the roots.

Coptis Trifolia has a perennial, extensively creeping root, the
slenderness and bright yellow color of which have given rise to the
name Goldthread , by which the plant is universally and common-
ly known. The caudex, from which the petioles and flower stems

COPTIS TRI-FOLIA.

proceed, is invested with ovate, acuminate, yellowish, imbricated
scales. The leaves, which stand in long slender footstalks, are ter-
nate. with firm rounded or obovate sessile leaflets having an acute
base, a lobed and acuminately crenate margin, and a smooth vein-
ed surface. The scape or flower-stem is slender, round, rather
longer than the leaves, and surmounted by one small while flower,
with a minute mucronate bract beneath it. The petals are oblong,
concave, and of a white color, the nectaries inversely conical, hol-
low and yellow at the top. The stamens have capillary filaments
and globose anthers. The germs are from five to eight, stipitate,
oblong, compressed, and surmounted by short recurved styles with
acute stigmas. The capsules, which diverge in a star-like form, are
pedicelled, compressed, beaked, and contain numerous black seeds
attached to the inner side.

Another species of Coptis has been described by Dr. Wallich,
under the name of Coptis Teeta, peculiar to India, and grows in
the mountainous regions bordering on Assam, and very much es-
teemed among the natives.

CHEMICAL AND MEDICAL PROPERTIES AND USES.

Coptis Trifolia possesses the tonic properties of the simple
bitters, and is very analogous in its action to the other plants of the
same description and belonging 10 the same natural family. Dried
goldthread, as brought into the market, is in loosely matted masses,
consisting of the long, thread-like orange-yellow roots, frequently
interlaced and mingled with the leaves and stems of the plant. It
is without smell and has a purely bitter taste, unattended with aroma
or astringency. It imparts its bitterness and yellow color to water
and alcohol, but most perfectly to the latter, with which it forms a
bright yellow color. Its virtues appear to depend on a bitter extrac-
tive matter which, is precipitated by nitrate of silver and acetate of
lead. It affords no evidence of containing either resin, gum or tannin.

Goldthread is a simple tonic bitter, bearing a close resemblance to
quassia in its mode of action, and applicable to all cases in which
that medicine is prescribed ; though not as powerful, it is far more
palatable. From its higher price, however, it is not likely to come
into general use as a substitute. It has long been popularly em-
ployed as a remedy in autumnal intermittent and remittent fevers,
and has found much favor with the medical profession in the latter
of these complaints. The state of the fever to which it is particu-
larly applicable, is that which exists in the intervals between the

COPTIS TRIFOLIA.

rparoxysms, when the remission is such as to call for the use of
tonics, but is not sufficiently decided to justify a resort to the prepa-
rations of Peruvian bark. It is also occasionally useful during the
progress of a slow convalescence by promoting appetite and invigo-
rating the digestive function, and may be employed for the same
purpose in dyspepsia and diseases of debility. From this statement
it will be seen that Coptis Trifolia possesses in a very considera-
ble degree the tonic powers which characterize the simple bitters.
Its use has a tendency to excite the appetite, invigorate the powers
of digestion, moderately increase the temperature of the body and
the force of the circulation, and act in general as a good corroborant
of the system. It may consequently be used in all cases of disease
dependent on pure debility of the digestive organs, or requiring a
general tonic impression. The condition of the stomach and of the
system generally, however, and not of the particular disease, must
be taken into consideration in prescribing it ; and let it be remem-
bered, there is scarcely a single complaint in which alone it can be
advantageously administered under all circumstances. It may be
proper too to mention that the article under consideration is not as
powerful as gentian, quassia and other pure bitters.

In the Eastern States Goldthread is considerably employed and
held in high estimation as a local application in aphthous and other
ulcerations of the mouth ; for this purpose it is frequently macerated
or chewed in the mouth ; but the principal use made of it is for a
gargle, particularly for children. Its astringent properties render it
peculiarly serviceable when used with honey and borax. It may be
substituted for golden seal or barberry. Dr. Bigelow, however, is of
opinion that its efficacy is inert, and being devoid of astringency, has
been overrated, and that probably it has no other virtues in these
complaints than such as are common to all the simple bitters ; but
notwithstanding this authority, it has the concurrent testimony of
very many respectable Physicians and Practitioners in its favor.

All parts of the plant possess more or less bitterness, but this pro
perty is more intense in the root, which is the only officinal part.
The roots ought to be collected in the summer ; they are easily dri-
ed, but not so easily reduced to powder.

It may be given internally in substance, infusion or tincture. The
dose of the powder is from ten to thirty grains ; that of the tincture
prepared by macerating an ounce-of the root in a pint of diluted
alcohol, one fluid drachm.

The other species of Coptis peculiar to India is much esteemed by
,the natives as a tonic and a stomachic.

LILIUM CAN D IDTJM
Whitt Lily-

,LILI ACEiE.

L i l p w <* r t s *

• IV • 58,

tn.nn« c> & > : 3 x ? sm .

Vv HIT1 I.-IL,

Place- Syria', Palestine.

Quality — Fragrant, inuri! g.vu .

Pwcer — Emollient, anodyne,

XJse — Epilepsy, dropsy, and maturating tar ; >i

r.OTAVi'' ••

• , ,n- ■ L. Liliace® — J-

>;t >>t ShmoyyrvL1

V !.• i f I G T. .'if.,-.

/ ■ ... - , . • .* * 1 ■ *;

• ■ \ n 1 i ' a K

t. l v v and Corolla. Confounded, olored cgv ooca moi .my
ering in a tube.

Six (rarelv four r j >se»t. • t t‘- * ui P*{

> at-rorse.

'j ]? n. iriy-ovi/ . •■yk •- '* ?lii>

1 » tiiree-lobed.

£ Run. VUJJOUIUI Ul llLiJiiJ J YY itM UU v* — — ^

Seeds. Albumen fleshy.

LIL1UM candidum:

three spoonsful, both for a preservative and a cure.” Fr. HoJfm\

The bulb of the White Lily , which consists of imbricated fleshy
scales, is without odor, but has a peculiar disagreeable somewhat
bitter and mucilaginous taste. It contains much mucilage and a
small proportion of an acrid principle, which is dissipated or destroy-
ed by roasting or boiling. In the recent state it has been employed
with advantage in dropsy. Boiled with water or milk it forms a
good emollient cataplasnij more used in domestic and popular, than
in the regular practice.

“ Gerard informs us that William Goderus, Serjeant-Surgeon to
Queen Elizabeth of England, found by experience that the root of
White Lily stamped and strained with white wine and given to
drink for three or four days successively, expelled the poison of the
pestilence and caused it to break out in blisters on the skin. That
the same learned Gentleman had cured many of the dropsy with
the juice of it, tempered with barley meal and baked in cakes,
taking care that his patients did eat of it for a month or six weeks
with their meat, and no other bread during that time.”

Vegetation, when assisted by human contrivances, is the best
possible means of improving the air and rendering a country fitter
for the abode of mankind. Cultivation removes the corruptive and
decaying vegetables, and by turning them under the earth, makes
them nourish the ground instead of poison the air. It is well known
that many places, at one time deadly, are now healthy, not so
much from the care of the new-comer in avoiding the remote causes
of disease, as from the greater number of these causes being remo-
ved by cultivation. Wherever Cerealia is capable of growing,
that country is or by human labor may be made healthy. Cultiva-
tion likewise always renders a country warmer , for a large quantity
of vegetable matter is raised on a given . space, and vegetable life
is but the conversion of certain gases, oxygen, hydrogen, azote and
carbonic acid into solid matter, and a change of form — an alteration
from a rarer to a denser state — must always be accompanied by the
extrication of heat. What is it that makes living vegetables so diffi-
cult of being frozen, compared to dead ones, but this constant forma-
tion and existence of caloric in them. As an example of the evo-
lution of heat by the process of vegetation, it may be mentioned
that on looking into a wood in spring we shall find the small plants
more advanced in size and strength than those of the plains. In*
the woods small berries are found much sooner ripe than in the-
cleared lands.

-APOCYJVUM ANDJROSjfiNTFOUlTNL

Doysbunt, Sitter-root , Milk weed ^

APOCYNACEjE.

JD o g banes.

N°* 59.

APOCYNUM ANDROSJEMIFOLIUIYI.

Dogsbane. Bitter root , Milkweed , Indian hemp ,

Place — America.

Quality — Bitter.

Power — Tonic, vermifuge.

Use — Dropsy, intermittent fever, syphilis.

BOTANICAL ANALYSIS.

Natural Order. Contorteae — L. Apocynacese — J,
Class Y. Pentandria. Order Digynia.

Lin. Sp. PL 311. Willd. Sp. PI. i. 1259. Bigelow Med. Bot. ii. 148. Raf.
Med. Flor. i. 49. Griff. Med. Bot. 449. Per. El. Med. Bot. ii. 37.9.

Genus. APOCA'NUM.

From the Greek Apo, away, and Iyunos, a dog; that is to say, a plant from
which dogs must be driven. Pliny says his Apocynum is mortal to them.

Svnonymes. — L’apocin ( F .), Der hundekohl ( Ger .), llondsdood (Dutch), Apo.
cino (/.), Apocino (S.), Hundcdod (Dan.)

THE ESSENTIAL CHARACTERS.

Calyx. Sepals five, united at base, persistent.

Corolla. Five-lobed, regular, twisted in aestivation, deciduous.
Stamens. Five, arising from the corolla and alternate with its
segments. Filaments distinct. Anthers two-celled, opening
lengthwise, sometimes slightly connected. Pollen granular,
globose or five-lobed, immediately applied to the stigma.
Ovary. Two, distinct or rarely united. Styles distinct or united
Stigmas united into one, which is common to both styles.

APOCYNIJItf ANDROSyEMIFOLTUM.

dead in that confined situation after unavailing struggles. Whence
one of the popular names of this plant, Catchjly.

The disease in which this plant has been found to be most useful
is Dropsy; in this, from the concurrent testimony of several emi-
nent Physicians and Practitioners, its remedial powers are decided,
sometimes operating as a hydragogue purgative, and at others caus-
ing the most profuse discharges of urine, and thus relieving the tis-
sues from their morbid burden. Dr. Knapp gives the details of
some cases of intermittent fever and pneumonic affections, in which
he derived much benefit from this remedy employed as a diaphoretic.

When given as an emetic, the powder is to be preferred, in doses
of fifteen to thirty grains ; where its hydragogue or diuretic effects
are desired, the best form is in decoction, made by boiling an ounce
of the root in a pint of water * the dose is about a wineglass full
two or three times a day. The watery extract will act on the bow-
els in doses of from three to five grains, but is not as efficient as
the decoction.

Professor A. Curtis, M. D., of Ohio, publishes the following as
the medical properties of the Apocynum Andros^mifolium.

“ Bitter, antispasmodic, relaxant, aperient, stimulant, — in one
word, Depurating ; hence, as it enables the system to clear itself
and recover its tone, many have called it directly tonic. When
given in large doses on a foul stomach, it vomits; in small doses,
with lobelia seed, cayenne, nervine, and rolled into pills with bone-
set, butternut, or blackroot extract, it is one of the best articles in
our practice to produce a healthy action of the liver and bowels, to
break the chills in inlermittents, and as one ingredient in spice
•bitters, woman’s friend, conserve of hollyhock, &c., to be used af-
ter a course, it has few superiors. Combined with lobelia seed and
cypripedium, rolled in boneset extract into a pill and given every
hour, it makes an admirable compound to break up congestions,
costiveness, &c., especially when aided by the bath. Used with
polemonium, catnip, or sage and pennyroyal, it is an excellent hy-
dragogue in dropsy. Even alone it has cured many cases that had
defied the skill of the mineral school. Used alone, or with a little
cayenne, it acts pretty thoroughly as a cathartic.”

For further information see Rec. vol. vi. 2G4, 205.

Besides the value of this plant as a therapeutic agent, it is enti-
• tied to notice for its use in the arts. The bark furnishes a fibre re-
sembling hemp, but of a white color and superior in strength and
durability, and a decoction of the plant affords a permanent brown
or black dye, according to the mordant used.

tf°6U.

GENTIANA LUTEA.

Y'/l ■ »

GENTIAN ACE M ..

The Gentian Tribe .

N°- 6 0.

G-ENTIANA LUTEA.

Yellow Gentian.

Place — Europe'.

Quality — Bitter.

Power — Tonic, stomachic, anthelminthic.

Use — Rheumatism, gout, jaundice, wastings, &c,

BOTANICAL ANALYSIS.

Natural Order. Stellatse— L. Gentianacete— J.
Class V. Pentandria. Order Digynia.

Linn Sp. PI. 329. Willd. Sp. PI. i. 1331. Raf. Med. Flor. ii. 206. Griff.
Med. Bot. 460. Lind. Flor. Med. 519. Per. El. Med. Bot. ii. 347. Med. Bot. 2 d
edition , 273 to 295.

Genu's. GENTIANA.

From Gentios, king of Illyria, who according to Pliny first discovered the tonio
virtues of plants of this genus.

Synonymes. — La gentians (F*.), Der enzian ( Ger .), Gentiasn ( Dutch ), La gen.
ziana (/.), La jenciana (Sp.), Goretschafka (Russ.)

THE ESSENTIAL CHARACTERS?,

Calyx. Sepals four — five — ten, united at base, persistent.
Corolla. Usually regular. Limb divided into as many lobes as
there are sepals, mostly twisted in aestivation.

Stamens. Issuing from the tube of the corolla; as many as its
lobes, and alternate with them.

GENTIANA LUTEA.

Ovary. One-celled, sometimes rendered apparently two-celled by'
the Jntrofl&xed placentae. Style united into one or wanting’.
Stigma one — two.

Fruit. Capsule, many-seeded.

Seeds. Small. Embryo straight, with fleshy albumen.

Flowers conspicuous, terminal or axillary, regular, or sometimes irregular.

THE SECONDARY CHARACTERS.

Gentiana* Calyx, five — four-parted or cleft. Corolla niares-
cent, tubular at base. Limb , four — five-parted. Segments either
spreading, erect or convergent, often furnished with intermediate,
plicate folds. Stamens five — four, inserted in the corolla tube.
Stigmas two, re volute or erect. Style short or wanting-. Capsule
two-valved, one-cel led, many-seeded.

Calyx four or five cleft. Corol with a tubular base, bell- form, without pores,
four or five cleft. Stigmas two, sub-sessile. Capsule one-celled, oblong. Colu.
mellas two, longitudinal. Stamens but four when the divisions of corol are four.

THE SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Gentiana Lutea. Stem tall, strait. Leaves oval and ovate,
margin smooth. Cymes umbellate, dense-flowered, pedunculate,
axillary and terminal. Corolla yellow, rotate. Segments oblong-
linear, acuminate, spreading without folds.

Leaves, broad-ovate, nervod. Corals, about five. cleft, wheel-form, whorlcd.

THE ARTIFICIAL CHARACTERS.

Class Pentandri a. Stamens five. Order Digynia. Mo-
nopctalons. Stamens inserted on corolla. Leaves opposite. Juice
watery. Capsule one-celled.

NxlTURAL HISTORY.

Gentian is said to owe its name and introduction into medical
use to Gentius, King of Illyria , who was vanquished by the Ro-
mans more than one hundred and fifty years before Christ. It is
therefore not noticed by either Hippocrates or Theophrastus, but is
mentioned by Dioscorides and by Pliny.

Yellow Gentian is among the most remarkable of the species
which compose this genus, both for its beauty and great compara-
tive size. It is a perennial plant found growing on the Alps of

GENTIAN A IjUTEA.

Switzerland and Austria, tile Apennines, the Pyrenees and other
mountainous or elevated regions of Europe. In Switzerland and
Germany it occupies extensive tracts of ground untouched by any
cattle. The root is thick, long and cylindrical. . The lower leaves
are petiolate, large, spear-shaped, stiff and having five large veins
on the back, plaited and of a yellowish green color ; those of the
stem are concave, smooth and egg-shaped, sessile and almost em-
bracing the stem, which rises three or four feet in height. The flow-
ers are in whorls at the upper joints, large, yellow, peduncled and
beautiful. The calyx, which is a membranous, deciduous spathe,
bursts on the side when the flower opens. The corolla is rotated,
divided into five or eight narrow spreading segments, elliptical and
speckled with many thick dots. The filaments are shorter than
the corolla, and furnished with long, erect anthers. The gerinen
is conical, crowned with two sessile, reflected stigmas, and becomes
a conical capsule, which contains numerous small seeds.

The plant is very handsome, and often cultivated both for orna-
ment and for the sake of its powerfully tonic virtues. Most of the
species succeed well in a light rich soil, but a few require peat, and
some must be grown in pots to be protected by frames in winter.
Some of them may be increased by dividing at the root, but most
of them seed freely. The seeds should be sown as soon as ripe,
they will then quickly vegetate, but if left till spring before they are
sown, they will not come up till the second year. ( Bot . Cult. 371.)

Gentian roots are imported from Germany ; they are in pieces of
various dimensions and shape, usually of considerable length, con-
sisting sometimes of longitudinal slices, sometimes of the root cut
transversely, twisted, wrinkled externally, sometimes marked with
close transverse rings of a grayish-brown color on the outside, yel-
lowish or reddish within, and of a soft spongy texture.

CHEMICAL AND MEDICAL PROPERTIES AND USES.

Gentian roots have no particular odor, and the taste is intensely
bitter without being nauseous. When cut transversely the pieces
exhibit a yellow maculated heart, with thick bark verging to brown.
The sensible qualities of Gentian root are extracted by ether, alco-
hol and water. The two former extract a resin and a bitter extrac-
tive matter, and the latter some part of these and a considerable
quantity ot mucilage also, which occasions the infusion often to be-
come ropy. Diluted alcohol is its proper menstruum. In the bitter
extractive the virtues of the plant seem to reside. According to the

GENTIAN A LUTE A':

analysis of M. M. Henry, sen., and Caventon, Gentian contains art
odorous, very fleeting principle, a yellow bitter principle, which they
named Ge?itia?iin, a substance resembling birdlime, a greenish oily
matter, a free organic acid, a saccharine principle, gum, a tawny
coloring matter and woody fibre. Journ. de Physique , vol. 84, 245.

Professor Dulk of Konigsberg gives the following process for iso-
lating the bitter principle. The alcoholic extract is macerated in
water, an'd the solution, having been subjected to the vinous fer-
mentation in order to separate the sugar, is treated first with ace-
tate of lead, and then after filtration \\dth subacetate of lead and a
very little ammonia, in order to precipitate the combination of the
vegetable principle with oxide of lead, care being taken not to use
too much ammonia, lest by its stronger basic powers it should sepa-
rate the vegetable principle from the oxide. The precipitate thus
obtained is washed with a little water, then mixed with a large pro-
portion of the same fluid and decomposed by hydro-sulphuric acid.
The liquid having been filtered, is evaporated with a gentle heat to
dryness and the residue treated with alcohol of 0.820. The alco-
holic solution being evaporated yields the bitter principle, which
ought to receive the name of Gentianin. Tt is a brownish yellow,
uncrystallizable substance, having in a high degree the very bitter
taste of the root. It is almost insoluble in absolute alcohol, bi\t so-
luble in ordinary alcohol, and very soluble in water. It reddens lit-
mus, and appears to possess acid properties.

Gentian root is tonic, stomachic, and in large doses aperient. In
very large doses it is apt to load and oppress the stomach, to irritate
the bowels, and even to occasion nausea and vomiting. Its use as a
stomachic bitter is of a very antient date and is still perhaps the most
generally employed of this class of medicines. Many of the com-
plex preparations handed down from the Greeks and Arabians con-
tain it among their ingredients, and it enters into most of the stom-
achic combinations employed in modern practice. It may be used
in all cases of disease dependent on pure debility of the digestive
organs or requiring a general tonic impression. It has been found
beneficial in dyspepsia, gout, hysteria and jaundice. It is some-
times joined with the cinchona in intermittents, and according to
the circumstances of the cases for which it is prescribed direct, it may
he combined with orange-peel, chalybeates, aromatics, squill, mine-
ral acids and neutral salts. On account of its antiseptic effects on
dead animal matter its powder has been used externally as an ap-
plication to malignant and sloughing ulcers. The forms in which
it is generally given are infusion and tincture.

RUBIACEiE.

JMa (l derworts.

N°- 6 1 .

SPIGELIA MARYLANDXCA.

Pink-root. Worm-grass.

Place — United States.

Quality — Foetid.

Power — Anthelmintic, narcotic.

Use — Worms, intermittent fevers, &c.

BOTANICAL ANALYSIS.

Natural Order. Stellatee — L. Gentians — J.

Class Y. Pentandria. Order Monogynia.

Linn. Sp. PI. 249. Willd. Sp. PI. i. 824. Bigelow Med. Bot. i. 146. Barton
Veg. Mat. Bot. ii. 75. Raf. Med. Flor. ii. 89. Griff. Med. Bot. 466. Per. El.
Med. Bot. ii. 354.

Genus. SPIGELIA.

Named after Adrian Spigelius, a celebrated Professor of Anatomy at Padua ;
author of Isagoge in rein Herbarium, who died in 1625.

Stnontmes. — Spigelie de Maryland (F.), Spigelie ( Ger .), Spigelia (/.}

THE ESSENTIAL CHARACTERS.

Calyx. Tube more or less adherent, (superior or half superior,)
Limb four — five cleft.

Corolla. Regular, inserted upon the calyx tube, and of the same
number of divisions.

Stamens. Inserted upon the tube of the corolla, equal in number
and alternate with its segments.

SPJGELIA MARYLANDICA.

pupil, spasmodic motions of the muscles of the eyes, and even con-
vulsions. These symptoms, following the administration of Spige-
lia, have been thought to depend either on the roots of some other
plant gathered with the Pink-root, or on some parasitic vine that
had attached itself to it. These suggestions, however, have both
been proved to be erroneous, and that the root itself is narcotic.

The use of Spigelia has not been confined to the expulsion of
Worms. As early as 1763, Dr. Garden, in correspondence with
Dr. Hope, states that he had given it with great success in febrile at-
tacks, apparently arising from a disordered condition of the stomach
and bowels ; this is also confirmed by Dr. Ives, and in fact almost
every practitioner must have met with proofs of its efficacy in those
febrile complaints in children, arising from irritation of the bowels
from any cause. Rafinescjue mentions that it is used among the
Osage Indians as a sudorific and sedative in acute diseases.

As an anthelmintic, however, it is more generally prescribed than
any other article in this country, and in most cases with unequivo-
cal success, and without the production of any unpleasant symp-
toms. It may be given in powder or infusion, the dose of the first
of which for children is from ten to twenty grains. The infusion is
by far the best mode of administration ; this is made with an ounce
of the root to a pint of water, the dose of which is from an ounce
to two ounces for a child. One of the best methods is to give a full
dose at bed time and an active purgative in the morning, as in this
Way any narcotic symptoms it may display do not cause uneasiness.

The most general plan is to give it in combination, especially
with Senna ; this forms a vrell known nostrum called Worm-tea ,
for which there are several recipes, differing only in the quantities of
the ingredients. It usually purges actively and does not excite nar-
cotic symptoms. The syrup is also an efficacious form of preparation.

In the ordinary dose (one or two drachms for adults) Spigelia
has very little sensible effect on the system, though it may act effi-
caciously as an anthelmintic. In larger doses it appears to operate
as an irritant to the gastro-intestinal canal and gives rise to purging
and sometimes to vomiting, though its effects in this way are very
uncertain. In 'poisonous doses it operates as a cerebro-spinant or
narcotic, giving rise to violent narcotic symptoms already noticed.
The narcotic effects are said to be less apt to occur when the medi-
cine purges, and to be altogether obviated by combining it with ca-
thartics. The danger from its employment cannot be great, as it is
in very general use both in regular and domestic practice, and seri-
ous consequences at present are unknown*

N9<62

WITIS TmilFJBJBLA.

Common Wine Grape.

VITACE^E.

€1 r ap e»r in e s,»

N°- 62.

VITIS VINIPERAb

Common Wine Grape.

Place — All the temperate parts of the World.

Quality — Acrid, rather styptic.

Power — Sub-astringent.

Use — Intermittent and putrid fevers, and as a corroborant.

BOTANICAL ANALYSIS.

Natural Order. Hederacese — L. Vitacese— -J.

Class Y. Pentandna. Order Monogynia.

Lin. Sp. PL 293. Wild. Sp. PL i. 1180. Raf. Med. Flor. ii. 121 et. seq.
Griff. Med. Dot. 221. Per. EL Med. Bo!, ii. 641.

Genus. VITIS.

Fioir. Lat. Vied, to bind, because its tendrils take bold of the neighboring plants.
Or from the Celtic Gwyd, a tree or shrub. The G being suppressed in pronuncia.
tion according to the usage of Celtic nations, the Latins have made of it vitis and
the English vine.

Synonymes. — La vigne (F.), Der weinslock ( Ger .), Wyngaard (Dutch), Vite (/.),
Vid ( S .), Anoeb (Arab.), YVinograd (Russ.), Winna macica (Pol.)

THE ESSENTIAL CHARACTERS.

Calyx. Minute, nearly entire or five-toothed.

Corolla. Petals four — five, inserted on the outside of the disk,
valvate and inflexed in aestivation, often cohering above and
caducous.

Stamens. Four — five, opposite the petals, inserted on the disk.
Ovary. Superior, two-celled. Style one, very short.

VITIS VINIFERA.

Fruit. A berry, globose, pulpy.
Seeds. Bony.

THE SECONDARY CHARACTERS.

Vitis. Petals deciduous, cohering at the top or distinct and
spreading. Ovary partly enclosed within the torus, two-celled.
Cells two-ovuled. Stigma sessile, capitate. Berry one-celled,
one — four-seeded.

Calyx five-toothed, minute. Petals cohering at the tip, hood. like, withering.
Styles wanting. Stigma obtuse, capitate. Berry five-seeded, globular, often
ditecious. Seeds ,sub-cordate.

CHE SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Vitis Vinifera. Leaves cordate, sinnately five-lobed, gla-
brous or tomentose. Flowers all perfect.

Leaves sinnate-lobed, naked or downy.

THE ARTIFICIAL CHARACTERS.

Class Pentandria. Stamens five. Order Monogynia.
Polypetalous. Flowers inferior, regular. Stamens opposite to the
petals. Shrubs. Stem climbing. Calyx sub-entire.

NATURAL HISTORY.

The Vine is a native of Armenia, Georgia, and the Levant ; but
it is now found in all the temperate regions of the earth, and is cul-
tivated with care wherever its fruit can be brought to perfection. In
France, the northern limit of the vine is stated to be 50° 20’. In
Thuringia, Saxony and Siberia it is 51°, but towards the east it is
lower, for though Hungary has much wine, yet Galicia has none,
and in the southern parts of the Russian empire it ascends no high-
er than 48°. In America the vine is cultivated in the Southern
States only, extending no farther north than 38°. The limit south-
ward in the northern hemisphere is properly 15°, but in the high
mountainous island of St. Thomas, on the coast of Guinea, in
Abyssinia and in the Deccan, it is found almost under the equator.
In the southern hemisphere, its southern limits are 37°. The
greatest altitude, in 45° latitude, is 2460 feet, in the north of Swit-
zerland, 1700 feet, on the Alpine range 2000 feet, in Bladeira

VITIS VINIFERA.

2030 feet, in Teneriffe 2500 feet, and on the Apennines and in
Sicily 3000 feet.

Its culture is supposed to have been introduced from the east,
where it was cultivated, and wine made from the fruit in the ear-
liest ages. We are told that Noah, after coming out of the ark,
planted a vineyard and drank of the wine and was drunken. Gen.
ix. 20, 21. It extended into Italy about 600 years after the founda-
tion of Rome, and thence to Burgundy in the time of the Anto-
nines. It was introduced into Madeira from the island of Cyprus
in the fifteenth century. In Great Britain the vine was cultivated
before the year 731 when Bede finished his history, and although
it was at one period brought to considerable perfection yet its culti-
vation is now chiefly confined to the garden, and as a dessert fruit.

The vine has a slender, twisted, climbing stem, covered with a
rough, peeling, fibrous bark. The leaves are lobed and sinuated,
serrated, and placed alternately on long footstalks. The flowers,
which appear in June and July, are small and produced in clusters,
attended by tendrils. The calyx is very minute. The petals are
of a greenish-while color, adherent at their apices, and soon fall
off, like a little cap, from the anthers which then spread and shed
their pollen. The fruit is a succulent, globular berry, one-celled
when ripe, naturally containing five seeds, but in general only two,
which are hard and of an irregular form. There are many varie-
ties of the vine; that which is called the Alexandrian Frontignac
yields the most delicious grapes for eating, and the Syrian the lar-
gest bunches. This is supposed to be the sort of grape which the
spies sent by Moses to examine Canaan, cut down at the brook
Eshcol “a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they bare it be-
tween two upon a staff.” Nam. xiii. 23. Strabo relates that in Mar-
giana bunches of grapes were produced two cubits or a yard long,
and in some of the Archipelago islands they weigh from thirty to
forty pounds. The Syrian grape has produced in England bunches
weighing nineteen pounds and a half. There is a grape cultivated
in Madeira as a dessert fruit, the clusters of which sometimes weigh
twenty pounds.

The Vitis Vinifera has become naturalized in most temperate
climates, but is supposed not to be indigenous to the United States.
No plant in the vegetable kingdom possesses more interesting attri-
butes, is cultivated with greater care, or has been worse perverted or
abused by mankind than the common vine. By cultivation it sports
into endless varieties, differing in the form, color, size and flavor of
the fruit, and in respect to the hardiness of its constitution. In New

VITIS VINIFERA.

England its cultivation is very confined, but there are extensive vine-
yards in the middle and western states for the production of wine.

CHEMICAL AND MEDICAL PROPERTIES AND USES.

The fruit of the vine when recent and fully ripe has an agreea-
ble, cooling, sweet sub-acid taste. It contains besides water, sugar,
mucilage and jelly, albumen, gluten, tannin, supertartrate of po-
tassa, tartrate of lime, phosphate of magnesia, muriate of soda, sul-
phate of potassa, and tartaric, citric and malic acids ; and a mucoso-
saccharine principle which Chaptal and Proust regard as the con-
stituent on which the fermentative process in bruised grapes depends.

At one time almost every part of the vine was recognized as offi-
cinal, and considered as possessed of remedial qualities, but now it is
generally disused. The leaves, tendrils and young shoots contain
malic and citric acid and some bitartrate of potash ; they are now
principally employed in wine countries to flavor vinegar. Grapes
are cooling and antiseptic, and when eaten in large quantities diu-
retic and laxative. They are very useful in febrile diseases, particu-
larly in bilious and putrid fevers, dysentery and all inflammatory
affections. In Syria the juice of ripe grapes inspissated is used in
great quantity in these diseases. Grapes have been strongly recom-
mended as an article of common diet in phthisis, and they certainly
contain much bland nutritious matter well fitted for phthisical habits.

Raisins are made from the varieties named the black raisin
grape and the white raisin grape. They are cured in two meth-
ods, either by cutting the stalk of the bunches half through, when
the grapes are nearly ripe, and leaving them suspended on the vine
till their watery part be evaporated and the sun dries and candies
them ; or by gathering the grapes when they are fully ripe, and
dipping them in a ley made of the ashes of the burnt tendrils, after
which they are exposed to the sun to dry. Those cured in the first
method are most esteemed.

Raisins differ from grapes chiefly in the quantity of saccharine
matter being more abundant. They are more laxative than the
fresh fruit, and are apt to prove flatulent when eaten in any con-
siderable quantity. They are frequently used as an adjunct to some
officinal preparations, but they add nothing to their efficacy.

The juice of the grape consists of principles, which when left to
themselves for a short lime undergo many important reactions, and
their elements assume a new arrangement, forming two new com-
pounds, wine and acetic acid.

N"c 63

TiRi©3TiB r>a p;r mtomatiuimi ,

PercrworL, Wild Coffee, &c.

CAPRIFOLIACEJE.

Honey s tickle s*

N°* 63.

TRIOSTEUM PERFOLIATUM.

Fever-wort. Wild coffee , &c.

Place — United States.

Quality — Bitter.

Power — Cathartic, tonic. •

Use — Intermittent fevers, ague.

BOTANICAL ANALYSIS.

Natural Order. Aggregate — L. Caprifoliaceae — J.
Class V. Pentandria . Order Monogynia.

Lin. Stp. Pl. 250. Willd. Sp. PI. i. 990. Bigelow, Med. Bot. i. 90. Barton.
Veg. Mat. Bot. i. 59. Raf. Med. Flor. ii. 269. T. & G. Flora, ii. 12. Griffi,
Med. Bot. 352.

Genus. TRIOSTEUM.

From Greek Treis, three, and Osteon, bone; three bones, on account of its
three bony seeds.

Svnonymes —

THE ESSENTIAL CHARACTERS.

Calyx. Adherent to the ovary (superior). The limb five-(rarely
four) cleft or toothed.

Corolla. Tubular or rotate, regular or irregular.

Stamens. As many, or one less than as many as the lobes of the
corolla, alternate with them, and inserted on the tube.

Ovary. Three- (rarely four or five) celled. Style one. Stigma-
one — four.

TRIOSTEUM PERFOLIATUM.

Fruit. Baccate, fleshy or dry, crowned with the persistent calyx
lobes.

Seeds. Pendulous.

THE SECONDARY CHARACTERS.

Triosteum. Calyx tube ovoid. Limb five-parted. Segments
linear, nearly as long as the corolla. Corolla tubular, gibbous at
base. Limb five-lobed, sub-equal. Stamens five, included. Stig-
ma capitate, lobed. Fruit drupaceous, crowned with the calyx,
three-celled, three-seeded. Seeds ribbed, bony.

Calyx permanent, of the length of the corol, five-cleft, with linear divisions.
Corol tubular, five-lobed, sub. equal, gibbous at the base. Stigma capitate, sub.
fivo-lobed. Berry three-celled, three-seeded.

THE SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Triosteum Perfoliatum. Leaves oval-acuminate, connate.
Floivem axillary, verticillate or clustered.

Leaves oval, acuminate, connate, sub-pubescent beneath. Flowers sessile,
whorled. Berries purple or yellow..

THE ARTIFICIAL CHARACTERS.

Class Pentandria. Stamens five. Order Monogynia.
Monopetalous. Floivers superior. Corolla rotate or urn-shaped.
Seeds in a drupe or berry. Shrubs, with opposite leaves, and no
stipule^.

NATURAL HISTORY.

The Triosteum Perfoltatum is a coarse unattractive plant,
growing in rocky woods. It delights in rich limestone soil, on rocky
or stony ground, preferring the shade, though it is frequently found
in different situations. Its range is from New England to Carolina,
and probably further. It flowers in June and July, and the seeds
ripen in September.

The root is perennial, horizontal, about eighteen inches or two
feet long, three-quarters of an inch in diameter, and fleshy, nearly
of a uniform thickness from the extremity to within two or three
inches of the origin of the stems. At this place it is contorted, tu-
berculated, or gibbous, and of a brownish color. The color of the
horizontal caudex is yellow-ochre without and whitish internally,

TRIOSTEUM PERFOLIATUM.

and the fibres which proceed from it are of an ochroleucous hue.
These are sometimes so large that they may be considered rather as
branches or forks of the main root. The plant is from two to three
feet high, and bushy, several stems arising from the same root. In
favorable situations it sometimes attains four feet in height. The
stems are about three-eighths of an inch in diameter, simple, stout,
erect, cylindrical, hollow, pubescent aud of a green color inversed
with soft clammy hairs. The leaves are large, oblong oval, acumi-
nate, somewhat panduriform towards their base, where they become
suddenly narrowed. They are mostly connate until they approach
the fourth pair from the top ; these upper ones are more attenuated
at their bases and rather amplexicaule: The under surface of all

the leaves is covered with a soft dense bluish-white pubescence, con-
spicuously apparent on the middle rib and nerves. On their upper'
surface, though the pubescence cannot be observed readily by the
naked eye, it is discernible by the glass more sparse than below.
The nerves are numerous and commonly alternate as respects their
union with the costa. The two uppermost pairs of leaves are small'
and closely convoluted while the plant is in flower. After the flo-
rescence is past, they are developed to the full size of the others, or
become rather broader at their middle, and assume a brownish-pur-
ple color ; sometimes the whole plant may be of this hue, though in-
general it is confined to the upper portion. The flowers are axilla-
ry, sessile, and arranged in triplets round the stem, appearing
wThorled. The corolla is reddish-purple above, striated below with
lake blended into white, and every where covered with a dense pu-
bescence. It is tubular, curved, and widest at the top, where it is
divided into five auriculated segments or lobes, the laciniee- being cor-
date and closed on each other. The lower end of the tube termi-
nates in an abrupt gibbosity, which is articulated with' the gertm
The stamens are five in number, inclosed within the corolla and ah
ternate with the lobes or lacinise. The pistil is somewhat longer
than the stamens, and appears conspicuously above the corolla.
Stigma oblong. The calyx is composed of five linear segments ob-
scurely ciliated on their margins, of a dark purplish color and half
an inch long. The germ to which they are articulated is beneath,,
and garnished with a single green bract, longer and broader than the
calyx leaves and proceeding from its base. The berries succeed to
the flowers, generally in the number of six to each axil, sometimes
there are but three, but occasionally nine in luxuriant plants. They
are ovate, orange-colored when mature, with three divisions, and
contain three bony nuts or seeds.

V /

Poppy. Garden-poppy, White- poppy

PAP AYERACEjE.

PoppywOrts.

N°- 64.

PAP AVER SOMNIFERUM.

Poppy. Garden poppy , White poppy .

Place — Europe.

Quality — Somewhat bitter.

Poxver — Narcotic, anodyne. *

Use — Pleurisy, catarrh.

BOTANICAL ANALYSIS.

Natural Order. Rhoeadese — L. Papaveraceai — J.
Class XIII. Pdyandiia. Order Monogyma.

Linn. Sp. PI. 726. Willd. Sp. PI. ii. 1144. Raf. Med. Flor. ii. 250. T. & G.
Flora , i. 60. Griff. Med. Bot. 121. Lind. Flor. Med. 15. Per. El. Med . Bot. 688.

Genus. PAPAVER.

From the Celtic Papa, which signiges pap, or the soft food given to children, in
which the seeds were formerly boiled to mako the infants sleep.

Synonymes. — Le pavot (F.), Der mohn (Ger.), Maankop (Dutch), Papavero
{/.), Adormidera (S,), Papoila (P.), Post ( Ind .), Mak (Russ, and Pol.), Valmne
(Dan.)

THE ESSENTIAL CHARACTERS.

Calyx. Sepals two, rarely three, deciduous, imbricated in esti-
vation.

Corolla. Petals four, rarely five or six, liypogynous.

Stamens. Often wanting, but some multiple of four, rarely poly*
adelphous. Anthers innctte.

PAPAVER SOMNIFERUM.

Ovary. Solitary. Style short or wanting-. Stigmas two, or if
more, stellate upon the flat apex of ovary.

Fruit. Either pod-shaped, with two parietal placentae, or capsu-
lar with several.

Seeds. Indefinite or numerous, minute. Embryo minute at the
base of oily albumen.

THE SECONDARY CHARACTERS.

Papaver. Sepals two, caducous. Petals four. Stamens in-
definite or numerous. Capsule one-celled, opening by pores under
the broad, persistent stigma.

Calyx two.leaved, caducous. Corol four-petaled. Stigma a broad disk, with ra-
diating lines. Capsule one-celled, dehiscent by pores under the permanent stigrpa.

THE SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Papaver Somniferum. Glabrous and glaucous. Leaves
clasping, incised and dentate. Sepals glabrous. Capsule globose.

Calyx and Capsule glabrous. Leaves clasping, gashed, glauceous.

THE ARTIFICIAL CHARACTERS,

Class Polyandria. Stamens twenty or more, arising from
receptacle (hypogynous). Order Monogynia. Ovaries com-
pound. Placentae parietal. Sepals two or three. Juice colored
(except in the exotic Chryseis).

NATURAL HISTORY.

The somniferous or white poppy is a native of Asia, and has
become naturalized in Europe and in the United States. It was
well known to the ancients, and is spoken of by Homer as then
cultivated in gardens, perhaps at first, solely for the sake of its seed,
which was used as food. It is now extensively cultivated in most of
the states of Europe, not only on account of the opium for which
it is reared in Turkey, Persia and India, but also on account of the
capsules, and of the bland oil obtained from the seeds. In the Uni-
ted States it has seldom been grown except as an ornamental flow-
er, but there is every reason to believe that its cultivation would
prove a very lucrative branch of industry not only from the opium
•that might be obtained, but also from the oil to be procured from the

PAPAVER SOMNIFERUM.

seeds, wliicli is ail excellent substitute for that of the olive and is
much employed to adulterate it.

Papaver Somnifertjm is an annual plant, flowering in June
and July in Europe, and in February in India. The root is taper-
ing and white, the whole plant is generally smooth, though some-
times there are a few rigid hairs on the upper part of the stem. The
stem is glaucous, colored, smooth, erect and round, somewhat
branched, leafy, rising to the height of two, three or four feet, when
in a favorable situation. The leaves are large, simple, obtuse, lobed
and crenated, and embracing the stem on which they are alternate-
ly placed. The flowers are large, various in color and supported on
long terminal footstalks. The calyx is formed of two smooth ovate,
bifid, concave leaves, that drop on the expanding of the petals,
which are four in number, large, roundish, entire, somewhat undu-
lated and white, occasionally of a silver-grey color, and tinged with
violet at the base. The filaments are very numerous, slender, short-
er than the corolla, and support erect compressed anthers ; and the
germen, which is globular and smooth, is crowned with a many-
rayed stigma. The capsule, which stands on a short pedicel, is
globular when well grown, smooth, glaucous, from two to four inch-
es in diameter, a little flattened at the top and bottom, and crowned
with the persistent stigma, the segments of which stand erect and
have an elegant appearance. The seeds are small and indefinite,
white or grey, reniform and very numerous ; they escape when ripe
through small openings under the points of the stigma.

CHEMICAL AND MEDICAL PROPERTIES AND USES.

All parts of the Poppy except the seeds (which are alimentary
and not narcotic) contain a white opaque narcotic juice, which, how-
ever, abounds more in the capsules, and hence these are the only
officinal parts of the plant. A decoction of the poppy may be made
to answer many of the purposes of opium itself. In the diseases of
young children it is far preferable. The leaves, stalks and heads
are all possessed of the narcotic principle. Poultices made with a
decoction of this plant are excellent applications to .assuage pain and
allay anguish in cases of cancer, ulcers and chronic inflammations.
The poppy lea may be taken in hysterics, painful menstruation,
dysentery, diarrhoea, cholera morbus, nervous headache, toothache,
earache, coughs, consumption, and in general any painful disease
where there is not a high degree of inflammation and fever.

Opium is more generally used than any other remedy. It is the

PAPAVER SOMNIFERUM.

inspissated juice of the white poppy. The juice is a white milky
fluid, which oozes from the leaves, capsules and stalks when they are
slightly cut.

The juice of the poppy, exposed for a few days to the sun and
air, thickens into a stiff, tough mass, which is Opium. The best
kind of opium comes from Turkey. It has a peculiar heavy, disa-
greeable smell and a bitter, nauseous, acrid and warming taste. It
is of a dark-brown color, and when reduced to powder, yellow. It
is compact, solid, tenacious, and when broken has a shining frac-
ture. The best part of it comes in flat pieces, covered with large
leaves and reddish capsules of a species of rumex probably used in
packing it. The round masses without the capsules adhering to
them, are of an inferior quality.

The East India Opium is soft, ductile and about the consistency
of tar. It has something of a smoky smell, a darker color and a
more nauseous and bitter taste. It is supposed to be about half the
strength of the Turkey opium.

Opium is a powerful narcotic or inducer of sleep, and an astrin-
gent. No medicine has ever been discovered at all comparable to it
in moderating and relieving pain, or in promoting sleep. It is soluble
in alcohol, wine, vinegar and water, though the two last afford but
weak solutions of it. Its sedative virtue resides in a principle called
morphia or morphine.

A grain or two of opium taken into the stomach, produces a re-
markable composure of the mind, succeeded by a certain degree of
langor and drowsiness ; the pulse becomes slower, fuller and softer,
all the secretions are in the first instance diminished ; the motion of
the bowels is retarded ; the thirst increased and the mouth dried.
The heat of the body appears to be increased and the senses ren-
dered dull. In the course of three or four hours a perspiration is
produced. The narcotic effect of a dose of opium lasts about eight
hours, and in general a full dose of it cannot be given with safety
oftener than three times in twenty-four hours. In cases of great pain
and distress it can be given much oftener and in larger doses.

The medium dose of opium is one grain, given in the form of a
pill. Tt is often, however, given in doses of from one to three grains.
It operates differently upon different individuals. In almost all dis-
eases attended with pain, distress and loss of sleep, opium is more or
less used, and is found of essential service. In the commencement
of inflammatory diseases it is deemed inadmissible unless its use be-
comes unavoidable from the urgency of the pain and the entire want
of sleep. It is generally used in the form of Laudanum or Paregoric.

j - '

. M'

■

Nr 65.

JETOTEETIA PIMMTA

Allsoice Jamaica r ppp cr T,-"',‘rr'

Irr..

IIRTACEJL

Jfly r 1 1 e b l o o m s «

N°- 6 5.

EUGENIA PIIVIEISITA.

Pimento. Allspice , Jamaica pepper , Rayberry-iree.

Place — South America.

Quality — Aromatic, fragrant.

Power — Heating, stomachic.

Use — Spice, condiment in dressing food.

BOTANICAL ANALYSIS.

Natural Order. Hesperides — L. Myrtacese — J.
Class XII. Icosandria . Order Monogynia.

Linn. Sp. PI. 576. Willd. Sp. PL ii. 973. Griff. Med. Bot. 3G0. Lind. Flor.
Med. 76. Per. El. Med. Bot. ii. 529.

Genus. EUGENIA.

In honor of Prince Eugene of Savoy, who was a protector and encourager of
Botany, and possessed a botanic gardon.

Synonymes. — Pimente ( F .), Gewurzmyrte (Ger.), Pepe dell Giamaica (/.), Pi.
mienta (S.), Krydd pepper ( Swed .)

THE ESSENTIAL CHARACTERS.

Calyx. Adherent below to the compound ovary. The Limb
four — five cleft, valvate.

Corolla. Petals as many as the segments of the calyx.
Stamens. Indefinite. Anthers introrse. Style and Sligtna
simple.

Ovary. Two or tlnee-celled.

EUGENIA HMENTA.

Fruit. A berry.

Seeds. Numerous.

THE SECONDARY CHARACTERS.

Eugenia. Tube of the Calyx roundish. Limb divided, as far
as the ovary, into four segments. Petals as many as the lobes.
Stamens indefinite, free. Ovary two or three-celled. Cells con-
taining many ovules. Berry nearly globose, crowned by the calyx
when ripe, one, rarely two-celled. Seeds one or two, somewhat
rounded, large. Embryo spuriously monocotyledanous. Cotyle-
dons very thick, combined into one mass. Radicle scarcely dis-
tinct, very short.

THE SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Eugenia Pimenta. Peduncles axillary and terminal, trichoto-
mous-paniculate. Flowers four-cleft, in the forks of the peduncle,
nearly sessile, others paniculate. Leaves oblong or oval, pellucid-
dotted, somewhat opaque, smooth. Branches terete. Brahchlets
compressed, the younger ones as well as the pedicles pubescent.

THE ARTIFICIAL CHARACTERS.

Class Icosandria. Stamens twenty or more, arising from
the calyx (perigymous). Order Monogynia. Leaves opposite
not succulent. Ovary adherent (inferior). Leaves punctate.

NATURAL HISTORY.

Eugenia Pimenta is a native of South America, where it is
called Puma/ce (in the Maypure language), and of the West India
Islands and Mexico. It grows very abundantly on the hilly parts,
on the north side of the island of Jamaica, whence its fruit received
the name of Jamaica pepper. It flowers in June, July and August,
and soon afterwards ripens its fruit.

The tree is beautiful and handsome, rising in height about thirty
feet, straight, branching, and covered with a very smooth grey
bark. The leaves, which are supported on footstalks at the ends of
the twigs, are elliptical, pointed, of different sizes, but the largest
are five inches long and two broad in the middle, smooth, thin, en-
tire, shining, and of a deep green color. The foliage in general is
dense and ever-verdant and at all times gives the tree a refreshing

EUGENIA PIMENTA.

appearance. The flowers are produced in terminal bunches, or
rather trichotomous panicles. The calyx is four-cleft. The petals
four, reflected, of a pale green color, enclosing many longer spread-
ing filaments of the same color, supporting pale yellow roundish
anthers. The fruit is a spherical berry, crowned with the persistent
calyx; when ripe it is black or dark purple, smooth, shining and
bilocular, with the seeds enveloped in a moist green pungent aroma-
tic pulp. When the berries ripen they lose much of the aromatic
warmth for which they are esteemed, and acquire a taste similar to
that of juniper-berries. The tree exhales an aromatic fragrance,
especially during the summer months, when it is in flower.

Jamaica pepper, commonly called Allspice , from the taste be-
ing thought to resemble a composition of all other spices, is about
the size of, or somewhat larger than a peppercorn. It is round,
brown, dull, roughish but not wrinkled, crowned with the segments
of the calyx, and occasionally though rarely has a short pedicel. It
consists of an external somewhat hard hut brittle shell, which is
paler within and encloses two dark-brown cochleate seeds.

The plant begins to bear fruit when three years old and arrives
at maturity at seven. It grows best in a calcareous soil, covered
with a light mould. The berries are gathered before being ripe and
are carefully dried on mats or terraced floors in the shade. The
first day or two they are often turned so as to be fully exposed to the
sun. When they begin to dry they are frequently winnowed and
are removed under cover at night. In ten or twelve days or about
two weeks they become wrinkled, dry and of a dark-brown color,
and are then packed in bags or casks for sale. Some kiln-dry them
by which the same object is sooner effected. They have an aro-
matic, agreeable smell, and a strong clove-like taste. The more
fragrant and smaller they are, the better they are accounted.

CHEMICAL AND MEDICAL PROPERTIES AND USES.

Eugenia Pimenta has an aromatic, agreeable odor, resembling
that of a mixture of cinnamon, cloves and nutmegs, with the warm
pungent taste of the cloves, qualities which reside chiefly in the cor-
tical part of the dried berry. Water, alcohol and ether extract its
virtues. The watery infusion is of a brown color, and reddens lit-
mus infusion. With solution of sulphate of iron it immediately
strikes a deep black color and slowly lets fall a precipitate. Nitrate
of mercury piecipitates it of a yellowish-brown, acetate of lead of a
diity green, and nitrate of silver of a deep reddish-brown color. It

EUGENIA PIMENTA.

is also precipitated by infusion of yellow cinchona bark. The sul-
phuric and muriatic acids redden it, and throw down pale rose-colored
precipitate s. The nitric acid forms no precipitate but gives the infu-
sion a yellow hue. The alcoholic tincture is rendered milky and
slowly precipitated by water ; the ethereal, when evaporated in wa-
ter, deposits drops of a greenish-yellow volatile oil, a pellicle of a
pungent nauseous-tasted resin, and some extractive. Hence Jamai-
ca pepper or Allspice appears to contain a volatile oil, resin, ex-
tractive, tannin, and gallic acid. It is devoid of the fiery taste and
acridity which distinguish pepper and ginger, but in other respects
its effects agree with those of other spices. The volatile oil is by far
the most important of its active principles, yet the resin, extractive
and tannin must contribute very considerably to its operation.

Allspice is an energetic stimulant and tonic, which is generally
used as a condiment, partly on account of its flavor, and partly to
promote the digestion of some kinds of food, which experience has
shown are not by themselves easily or readily digested. It is fre-
quently employed with success and has proved useful united with
bitter substances in dyspepsia attended with much flatulence and in
arthritic and hysterical or old rheumatic affections. The watery
infusion, sweetened with sugar and the addition of a little milk, is
very readily taken by children and is an excellent cordial in malig-
nant measles, scarlatina, confluent small-pox and the other exan-
themata when the fever assumes the typhoid type. It is also exhi-
bited advantageously when the eruption is slow to appear, and when
it is necessary to restore the strength of the patient. Its principal
use in medicine is however to cover the disagreeable taste of other
remedies, or to give them warmth. For this purpose it may be sub-
stituted for any aromatic substance.

The dose of the berries is from five grains to forty.

The following are the principal preparations of this medicine :

Aqua Pimento. Allspice water. Take of the berries, bruised,
half a pound, water a pint. Macerate the berries in the water for
twenty-four hours, and with a sufficient quantity of water to prevent
empyreuma. Distil a gallon.

Spiritus Pimental. Sjnrit of Allspice. Take of the berries,
bruised, two ounces, proof spirit a gallon, water sufficient to prevent
empyreuma. Macerate for twenty-four hours, then distil a gallon,
by a gentle heat.

Oleum Pimentas. Oil of Allspice. Obtained by submitting
the berries, bruised, with water to distillation.

The medicinal uses of these preparations are very limited.

N e 06

FTTH- D iEA filflMTILMo
Pomegranate

IYBTACEJE.

M y rtleblooms*

N°- 66.

PUNICA GRANATUM.,

Pomegranate.

Place — Africa, South Europe.

Quality — Styptic.

Power^- Astringent, relaxing, anodyne. Flowers diuretic,
anthelmintic.

Use — Headache, prolapsus, worms.

BOTANICAL ANALYSIS.

Natural Order. Pomacete — L. Myrtacese — J.
Class XII. Icosandria. Order Monogynia.

Lin. So. PL 676. Willd. Sp. PI. ii. 981. Raf. Med. Flor. ii. 254. Griff.
Med. Bot. 294. Lind. Flcr. Med. 74. Per. El. Med. Bot. ii. 533.

Genus. PUNICA.

Lat. Punica, Carthaginian, or of Carthage, where it first grew.

Synonymes. — Le grenadier (F.), Der' granatbaum ( Ger .), Granaatboom (Dutch),
Granato (/.), Granado (S.), Romeira (Port.), Rumman (Arab.), Granatnik (Russ.)

THE ESSENTIAL CHARACTERS.

Calyx. Adherent below to the compound ovary. The Limb
four — five-cleft, valvate.

Corolla. Petals as many as the segments of the calyx.
Stamens. Indefinite. Anthers introree. Style and Stigma.
simple.

Ovary. Two or three-celled.

Fruit. A berry.

Seeds. Numerous.

PUNIC A GRANATUM.

The red succulent pulp, which is not officinal, is pleasantly acid,
resembling’ that of the orange ; it is cooling, very refreshing, useful
for quenching thirst and gently aperient. It contains much muci-
lage, united to a little tannin. It was formerly made into wine by
the ancients ; in the East it is much used for making sherbets and
is highly esteemed.

Both the rind of the fruit and the bark of the root are astringent.
They are given in the form of decoction in chronic and colliquative
diarrhoea, and the protracted stage of dysentery. They are suppos-
ed to prove beneficial also in checking the violent sweating which
accompanies hectic fever; but the chief use of the decoction is an
injection in leucorrhoea, or a gargle in sore throats after the local
inflammation is moderated.

The bark of the root has long been used by the natives of Hindos-
tan, and according to M. Deslandz by the negroes of St. Domingo,
as a specific in cases of tapeworm. In consequence of the recom-
mendations of Drs. Fleming, Buchanan and Ainslie it was exten-
sively experimented with in Europe and with almost universal suc-
cess. Its utility for this purpose has been fully confirmed by the ex-
periments of Mr. Breton, Dr. Gomes of Lisbon, and Dr. Wolff of
Bonn. The mode of administration is in decoction made with two
ounces of the freshly dried bark to two pints of water, boiled down
to a pint, of which a wineglass full is to be taken every half hour
till the whole is consumed. The action of the remedy is generally
accompanied with nausea, and sometimes vomiting, purging, and
even vertigo and syncope. The worm, however, is generally voided
alive, a few minutes after the last dose. Celsus says it was used by
the ancients for a similar purpose. M. Bourgeoise, who gave it in
a great number of cases, advises that before commencing with its
administration, the patient be kept on a strict and spare diet for
some days, and the evening before the medicine is taken to have his
bowels well opened by means of a full dose of castor oil. If the
remedy should not succeed upon the first trial, it should be repeated
every day for three or four days until the worm is discharged. Tre-
nia is comparatively rare in this country, and the pomegranate root
has been little used, possibly because the oil of turpentine in large
doses has been found perfectly effectual.

The bark and flowers are sometimes given in the form of pow-
der, in doses of a scruple increased to a drachm. A decoction may
be prepared in the proportion of an ounce of the medicine to a pint
of water, and given in the dose of a fluid ounce. The seeds are
demulcent. ' «

A m S' T © h © € 1HJ HA § E E IP IK OTA M U A
Virginia Snake-root, Snake-weed.

ARISTOLOCHIACEiE.

1$ irthw orts .

N°- 67.

ARISTOL O CHI A SERPENT ARIA.

Virginia Snaeeroot. Birthwort .■

Place — United States.

Quality — Acrid.

Power — Expelling', diuretic, diaphoretic, anthelmintic, alexi-
pharmic.

Use — Intermittents, eruptions, venomous bites.

BOTANICAL ANALYSIS.

Natural Order. Sarmentaceoe — L. Aristolochiaceae — J.
Class XX. Gunandria. Order Triandria.

Linn. Sp. PL 1363. Willd. Sp. PI. iv. 151. Bigelow Med. Bot. 482. Barton
Veg. Med. Bot. ii. 44- Raf. Med. Flor. i. 61. Griff. Med. Bot. 529. Per. El.
Med. Bot.. ii. 241. Loudon Enc. PI. 13022.

Genus. ARISTOLOCHIA.

From the Greek aristos, excellent, and l-ochieos, pertaining to parturition ; the
plant was considered formerly to possess considerable powers in aiding the expul.
sion of the placenta, and in exciting' the lochial discharge.

Synonymes. — Serpentaire de Virginie (F.), Schlangenosterluzey, Virginienoster.
luzey, Virginische Schlanjen-wurzel, (6 ?.), Slangrod, (Dan.), Ormrot, (Swed.), We-
zownik Wirginianski (Pol.)

THE ESSENTIAL CHARACTERS.

Calyx. Tube adherent to the ovary. Segments three valvate
in aestivation.

Stamens. Six — twelve, epigynous or adhering to the base of the
short and thick styles.

Ovary. Three — six-celled. Stigmas radiate, as many as the cells
of the ovary.

A RISTOLOCH I A SERPENT ARI A .

gum, fecula, woody fibre, albumen and malic and phosphoric acids,
partly combined with potash. The active principles of Serpentaria
therefore appear to reside in a bitter resin and an essential oil. “On
distillation a white pearly fluid collects in the receiver, strongly im-
pregnated with the aroma, but les3 bitter than the root. This fluid
on standing deposits round the edges of its surface small crystals of
camphor.” Bigelow.

Aristolochia Serpentaria is one of the most valuable and
well established of our native remedies. It is much used in phar-
macy and enters into the composition of many extemporaneous pre-
parations. The root is stimulating diaphoretic and tonic. It is
almost entirely destitute of smell, with, at first, a sweetish taste, but
afterwards hot and pungent, producing a very peculiar tingling sen-
sation in the fauces. It is beneficially employed in typhoid and
putrid fevers, whether idiopathic or accompanying the exanthemata,
to excite diaphoresis, and support the powers of the system, and is
found frequently to increase the efficacy of Cinchona in removing
protracted interm ittents. It is administered with success in gangre-
nous affections, chlorosis and atonic affections of the intestinal canal,
and generally in all the cases in which it becomes necessary to
stimulate powerfully the organs and to promote at the same time a
slight diaphoresis. It is also an excellent remedy in d)rspepsia, par-
ticularly when the skin is dry and parched. It must be observed
that it acts on the skin by stimulating this membrane and increas-
ing perspiration. It is also sometimes used as a gargle in putrid
sore throat. On account of its stimulant properties, it is contra-indi-
cated in the inflammatory diathesis, and previous to its exhibition
the bowels should be well evacuated. It may be given in substance,
(of the powdered root the dose is from 20 to 30 grains,) or in infu-
sion, (which is almost always preferred,) made by macerating half
an ounce of the bruised root in a pint of boiling water, in a covered
vessel for two hours and straining. This is the ordinary form in
which Serpentaria is employed. The dose is one or two fluid oun-
ces repeated every two hours in low forms of fever, but less frequent-
ly in chronic affections. Decoction is a bad form of preparation of
Serpentaria, as the boiling dissipates the essential oil in which much
of the virtues of the remedy depends.

The wide range of country over which Aristolochia Serpen-
taria is to be found will render the plate particularly useful, as it
will enable the practitioner and apothecary to detect this well char-
acterized species in almost every forest of the middle, western and
southern States.

N? 68.

I P©M A, A oIIAlLAlPAo

.Tala p

CON VOLYTJLACEiE

Bindweeds.

N°- 68.

IPOMiEA JALAP A

Jalap.

Place — South America.

Quality — Nauseous^ acrid.

Power — Purging.

Use — Cold habits, worms in children.

BOTANICAL ANALYSIS.

Natural Order. Campanacess — L. Convolvulacese — J.
Class V. Pentandria. Order Monogynia.

Willd. Sp. Pi. i. 844. Raf. Med. Flor. i. 123. Griff. Med. Bot. 474. Lind. Flor.
Med. 396- Per El. Med. Bot. ii. 343.

Genus. IPOM./EA.

Prom Greek ips, vine or twining, and omvios like, from its resemblance in ap-
pearance and habit.

Synonymes. — Jalap ( F .), Jalappenharz ( Ger .), Scialappa (/.), Jalapa (S.).

THE ESSENTIAL CHARACTERS.

Calyx. Sepals five, much imbricated, usually united at base, per-
sistent.

Corolla. Regular. Limb five-lobed or entire, plaited and twisted
in aestivation.

Stamens. Five, inserted into the base of the corolla and alternate
with its lobes.

IPOJVLEA JALAPA.

Ovary. Two — four-celled, free. Styles united into one.

Fruit. Capsule, two — four-celled, valves with septifragal dehi-
scence.

Seeds. Few, large, with mucilaginous albumen. Cotyledons fo-
liaceous or wanting.

THE SECONDARY CHARACTERS.

Ipomasa. Sepals five. Corolla campanulate. Stamens inclu-
ded. Style one. Stigma two-lobed, the lobes capitate. Ovary
two-celled. Cells two-seeded. Capsule two-celled.

Calyx five-cleft naked. Corol funnel or bell form, with five folds. Stigma globe-
headed, papillose. Capsule two or three-celled, many-seeded.

THE SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Ipom^a Jalapa. Roots tuberose, incrassated, perennial. Stems
annual, twining, branched, smooth. Leaves ovate, acuminate, cor-
date at the base, quite entire and smooth on both sides. Peduncles
one to three flowered. Sepals unequal, obtuse, smooth. Corolla
salver-shaped, with a subclavate. cylindrical tube and a subpentago-
nal, horizontally-expanded limb. Stamens exserted.

Leaves ovate, obscurely obtuse, spreading, villose underneath. Peduncles one-
flowered.

THE ARTIFICIAL CHARACTERS.

Class Pentandria. Stamens five. Order Monogynia.
Monopetalous. Flowers inferior. Corolla regular. Herbs rarely
shrubby. Stamens alternate with petals. Fruit capsule or berry.
Cells with one or two seeds. Corolla limb entire.

NATURAL HISTORY.

This species of Convolvulus is a native of South America, ta-
king its name from Palappa, a city of Mexico in Vera Cruz, in the
neighborhood of which it grows at a height of about six thousand
feet above the ocean. It might probably be cultivated in the south-
ern section of the United States. It delights in rich light soil and
young cuttings root freely in sand under a hand glass. It flowers
in August and September.

The root is perennial, of an irregular egg-shape, and a dark al-
most black color on the outside, ponderous, large and when fresh

I POM.® A JALAPA.

abounding with a milky juice. It sends up many triangular, twi-
ning, twisted stems which extend upwards of ten feet, with smooth
petiolated leaves, of a bright green color, varying in shape, some
being cordate, others angular and a few oblong and pointed. The
flowers are on short, axillary peduncles, that send off two pedicels,
each bearing a large, bell-shaped, entire, plaited flower, of a reddish
color externally, and a dark purple within, with a calyx composed
of five oval, concave pale green leaves, somewhat indented at their
points. The anthers are of a yellow color, large, on slender short
filaments, the style is shorter than the filaments, and the germen
oval. The seeds are bristled.

The dried roots found in commerce rarely exceed a pound each
in weight. They vary in size, from that of the fist to that of a nut.
When entire they are usually more or less oval and pointed at the
two opposite extremities. The larger roots are frequently incised,
apparently to facilitate dessication. They are covered with a thin
brown wrinkled cuticle. They should be heavy, hard and difficult
to powder. When broken good jalap roots should present a deep
yellowish-gray color interspersed with deep brown concentric circles.
The slices vary in their shape, color and other properties. Those of
inferior quality are light, whitish and friable. The sliced tubers are
liable to be adulterated, which is sometimes done with slices of bri-
ony root, but the fraud is easily discovered by the spongy texture
and whiter color of the latter, and its burning less readily when ap-
plied to the flame of a candle.

CHEMICAL AND MEDICAL PROPERTIES AND USES.

Good Jalap root has a sweetish, heavy odor when broken, and a
sweetish slightly pungent taste. It is heavy, compact, hard, brittle,
with a shining undulated fracture, exhibiting numerous resinous
points distinctly visible with the microscope. It is always kept in
the shops in the state of powder, which is of a yellowish gray color,
and when inhaled irritates the nostrils and throat and provokes
sneezing and coughing. It yields its active properties partly to
water, partly to alcohol and completely to diluted alcohol. M. Cadet
de Gassicourt obtained from five hundred parts of jalap, twenty-four
of water, fifty of resin, two hundred and twenty of gummy extract,
twelve and a half of fecula, twelve and a half of albumen, one hun-
dted and foity-five of lignin, sixteen and three-tenths of saline mat-
teis, two and seven-tenths of silica, with a loss of seventeen parts.
The resin of jalap consists of two portions, one of which, amounting

IPOMtEA jai.apa.

to seven parts out of ten, is hard and insoluble in ether, the other is
soft and soluble in that menstruum. The proportion of resin to the
other ingredients of the root varies in different specimens.

Ipom/ea Jalapa is a stimulant cathartic acting briskly on the
bowels, and although occasionally griping severely yet safe and effi-
cacious. It is used in the same cases as scammony, to which it is
closely allied not only by its effects, but also by botanical affinities
and chemical properties. Whenever it is required effectually to
evacuate the intestines, it is tolerably certain in its operation, more
so indeed than many other purgatives. In the proper dose it may
be given without the least hesitation to children, in any case re-
quiring an active purge. It has an advantage over some other
evacuants that it does not stimulate or heat the system, its effects
being confined principally to the alimentary canal, the peristalic
motion, secretions and exhalations of which it promotes, and consti-
pation less frequently succeeds its use than of some other purgatives.

Daily experience in fact proves the value of jalap as an active,
certain and safe purgative in various diseases both of children and
adults. Of course its irritant properties unfit it for exhibition in in-
flammatory affections of the alimentary canal, as well as after surgi-
cal operations about the abdomen and pelvis. Also it is not an ap-
propriate purgative in irritation of, or hemorrhage from the uterus, or
in piles and stricture and prolapsus of the rectum. On the other
hand its use is indicated in torpid and over loaded conditions of the
intestinal canal as well as in constipation attended with retention of
the catamenia. When the object is to relieve cerebral congestion
and dropsical affections, by a counter-irritant influence on the mu-
cous membrane, jalap is well adapted to fulfil it. “ Jalap, (says
Bremser,) is without contradiction in verminous diseases, one of the
best purgatives and which perhaps possesses at the same time
greater anthelmintic virtues than any other.”

Jalap is apt to be attacked by worms, which however are said to
devour the amylaceous or softer parts and to leave the resin, so that
the worm-eaten drug is more powerfully purgative than that which
is sound. Thus out of 397 parts M. Henry obtained 72 parts of
resin, while from an equal quantity of the latter he procured only
48 parts. Hence worm-eaten jalap should be employed for obtain-
ing the resin, but should not be pulverized, as it would afford a
powder of more than the proper strength.

The dose of jalap in powder is from fifteen to thirty grains, of the
resin or alcoholic extract from four to eight grains. The latter is
usually given rubbed up with sugar, or in emulsion.

69.

Hvd ra stis Ca n aden s is .
T' i r nitric, root, Golden seal.

RANUNCULACEJL

Cr o w foots*

N°- 69.

HYDRASTIS CANADENSIS.

Turmeric-root. Golden seal , Yellow-root , Orange-root.

Place — United States..

Quality — Bitter.

Poxoer — Tonic, stomachic.

Use — Aids digestion, removes obstructions.

BOTANICAL ANALYSIS.

Natural Order. Multisiliquse — L. Ranunciilacese — J„
Class XIII. Polyandria . Order Polygynia.

Linn. Sp. PL 784. Willd. Sp. PL ii. 1340. Barton, Veg. Med. Bot. ii. 17..
Raf. Med. Plot. i. 40. Griff. Med. Bot. 82.

Genus. HYDRASTIS.

From the Greek vdor, water, the plant grows in watery places. Or to com-
memorate “a young lady of noble birth.”

Synonvmes, — Hydraste (F.)

THE ESSENTIAL CHARACTERS.

Calyx. Sepals mostly five, sometimes three, four or six, mostly
desiduous, and imbricated in aestivation.

Corolla. Petals three — fifteen, hypogynous, sometimes irregular
or wanting.

Stamens. Indefinite or numerous, distinct, hypogynous. Anthers
adnate or innate.

Ovary. Indefinite or numerous, rarely solitary or few, distinct,
seated on the torus.

Fruit. Either dry achenia or baccate or follicular.

HYDRASTIS CANADENSIS.

used wherever such a remedy is required, it has a pleasantly bit-
ter and somewhat pungent taste, is slightly laxative and of course
alterant, aiding the system to remove obstructions and recover its
tone, and is highly esteemed and thought valuable throughout the
United States. It keeps the bowels moderately open without acting
as a purgative, or reducing the strength of the patient. It is highly
useful during recovery from fevers, for dyspeptics or those who are
troubled with indigestion, or any other complaint to remove the
heavy, disagreeable sensation often produced by indigestible food.
A teaspoonful of this root pulverized, taken in a little hot water,
sweetened, with the addition of a little cayenne, will give immedi-
ate relief from the distress caused by unhealthy food in the stomach.
When used directly after eating, it aids digestion and removes heavi-
ness from the stomach. A small particle of this powder — the size
of a pea— will remove the inquietude.

Golden Seal is an excellent corrector of the bile and may be used
for that purpose. Tt is very good in jaundice and in all derange-
ments of the digestive organs. In colic also it may be used with
exceeding good effect. Compounded with poplar bark, one part of
the former and two of the latter, four parts of good sugar and one-
eighth part cayenne, forms a compound that is valuable in every
family, where it should be always at hand.

Turmeric root is very popular and much used in some of the
western States in form of an infusion as a topical application in
chronic opthalmia and other diseases of the eye, and there is evi-
dence sufficient of its efficacy in these complaints. The Indians
are said to have employed it in the same form for old sores, and as
an external application to ulcers. It is likewise highly probable that
it may be found useful in many external complaints as a topical tonic.

A strong decoction of Hydrastis Canadensis and poplar bark, with
one-tenth as much powdered peach kernels, and one-tenth of strong
tincture of myrrh, with an equal measure of dry sugar, make an
excellent dysentery or cholera syrup.

This plant was well known to and extensively used by the In-
dians both as a dye and for medicinal purposes. The root yields a
brilliant yellow color, which appears to be permanent and might be
advantageously employed in the arts. In an account of the princi-
pal dyes used by the Indians, by Hugh Martin, in the 3d vol. of the
Trans. Amer. Phil. Soc. 17S3, he states that from experiments made
by himself and others, it was found to succeed perfectly with silk,
wool and linen, and by the addition of indigo to furnish a handsome
rich green.

1ST? 7 0 .

Humulus lupulus.

Com m on Hop. m

URTICACE JE.

JVettle worts*

N°- 7 0.

HUMULUS LUPULUS.

Common Hop,

Place — Europe
Quality — Bitter.

Power — Tonic, narcotic, anodyne.

Use — The strobiles, in nephritis, phienitis. The seeds in
constipation.

BOTANICAL ANALYSIS.

Natural Order. Scabridae — L. Urticaceae — J.
Class XXII. Dioecia. . Order Ptntandria.

Linn. Sp. PL 1457. Bigelow. Med. But. iii. 164. Raf. Med. Flor. i 246. Griff
Med. But. 574. Lind. Flor. Med. 296. Por El. Med. Bot. ii. 205.

Genus. HUMULUS.

From Lat. humus fresh earth, the hop grows only in rich soils. The English
word hop seems to be the Anglo-Saxon hoppan, to climb.

SvNONYMEs.— Houblen (F.), Der hopfcn ( Ger .), Hoppe ( D .), Lupolo (/.), Horn-
\bidian Lupul° Hymel (*«■>. Chmel (Russ.), Chmiel (Pol.), Baruce

THE ESSENTIAL CHARACTERS.

Calyx. Membranous, lobed, persistent.

Corolla. None.

Stamens. Definite, distinct, inserted into the base of the calyx and
opposite its lobes.

HUMULUS LUPULUS.

Ovary. Free, simple, one-ovuled. Style one.

Fruit. Achenium or utricle, surrounded by the membranous or
fleshy calyx.

Seeds. Not numerous.

THE SECONDARY CHARACTERS.

Humulus. Calyx fivesepaled. Stamens five. Anthers with
two pores at the summit. Bracts imbricate, large, entire, concave,
persistent, one-flowered. Calyx membranous, entire, persistent.
Styles two. Achenium invested by the thin calyx.

Staminate flowers. Cailyx five-leaved. Corol none. Anthers with two porea at
the extremity. Pistillate flowers. Calyx one-leafed, entire, oblique, spreading.
Styles two. Seed one within the leaf — like calyx. Ivjloresence strobile-form.

THE SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Humulus Lupulus. Stem long, annual, rough backwards with
reflexed prickles. Leaves very rough, generally three-lobed, deeply
cordate at base, on long stalks. Flowers of the barren plants ex-
tremely numerous, panicled, greenish. Flowers of the fertile plants
in aments with large scales.

, Stem twining with the sun. Leaves lobed.

THE ARTIFICIAL CHARACTERS.

Class Dicecia. Stamens apart from the pistils in different
flowers upon different plants. Order Pentandria. Herbs exo-
gens, dioecious. Fruit a utricle or achenia. Styles two. Leaves
rough (often with stings) stipulate. Flowers inconspicuous.

NATURAL HISTORY.

In England the hop is an indigenous plant, perennial, growing in
hedges and flowering in July. Throughout the United States it is
found wild in hedges, &c., and is extensively cultivated for the sake
of its fertile aments, which are chiefly used as a preservative in malt
liquors.

The root sends up many long, striated, angled, rough, flexible
stems, which support themselves by twining round upright bodies
in a spiral direction from left to right. The leaves are opposite, in
pairs, petiolate, heart-shaped, serrated, entire or lobed, and of a dark
green color on the upper disc. Both the leaves and petioles are sca-
brous, with miuute prickles, and at the base of each leaf stalk are

HUMULUS LUPULUS.

two interfoliaceous, entire, reflected, smooth stipules. The flowers
are axillary and furnished with bracteas, the males are yellowish
white in panicles and drooping, the females which are on distinct
plants are in solitary cones or strobiles, ovate and pendulous, com-
posed of membranous scales of a pale greenish color, tubular from
being rolled in at the base and two-flowered, each containing one
round, flattish seed, of a bay-brown color, surrounded with a sharp
rim and compressed at the tip.

At the proper season while the strobiles are yet scarcely ripe, the
plants are cut about three feet from the ground, the poles on which
they are twined pulled up, and the strobiles carefully picked off one
by one. Those that are over ripe or defective are separated from
those that are ripe enough, and both kinds are carried to the kiln as
soon as possible after they are picked. The heat of the kiln requires
to be regulated with great nicety, and in order to prevent them from
drying too fast, many kilns have two floors, on the uppermost of
which the greener hops are laid, and gradually dried before being
brought to support the heat of the lower floor. Charcoal is the fuel
usually employed, other kinds of fuel injuring the flavor of the hops.
The strobiles are considered sufficiently dried when they become
crisp, but they acquire a degree of toughness and tenacity before
they are bagged, from being laid in heaps in the storehouses. Five
pounds of moist or under-ripe hops make one pound only when ta-
ken from the kiln. The best hops are brought to market in fine
canvass sacks, called “ pockets,” each of which contains somewhat
more than one hundred weight of hops.

“CHEMICAL AND MEDICAL PROPERTIES AND USES.

Hops have a strong, peculiar, fragrant, subnarcotic odor, and a
very bitter, aromatic, astringent taste. They have a pale, greenish
yellow hue, appear like thin transparent veined leaves, and although
not tough they are difficult to pulverize.

Some late experiments by Dr. A. W. Ives, of New York, prove
that the active properties of the strobiles of the hop reside in a sub-
stance which forms one-sixth part only of their weight and which
is easily separated by merely sifting in a fine sieve. Dr. Ives has
named it Lupulin. He found in 120 grains of lupulin, five grains
of tannin, ten of extractive, eleven of bitter principle, twelve of wax,
thirty-six of resin, and forty-six of woody fibre (lignin). Hops, from
which all the lupulin is separated, yields an extract, which possess-
es none of the virtues of the hop ( Annals of Phil. p. 194). The

I1UMULUS LUPULU3.

viitues of the strobiles are extracted by boiling water, or alchohol,
01 ether. T he watery infusion has a pale straw-color, is rendered
muddy by the mineral acids; alkalies deepen its color, it strikes an
olive with sulphate of iron, is precipitated by alcohol, solution of su-
peracetate of lead, nitrate of silver and tartarized antimony, and
when rubbed with magnesia or lime, a rod dipped in muriatic acid
discovers the presence of ammonia. The etherial tincture when
evapoi ated in water leaves a pellicle of greenish intensely bitter re-
sin, and deposits some extractive. By distillation in water hops
yield a volatile aromatic oil. From these experiments they appear
to contain resin, extractive, volatile oil, tannin, an ammoniacal salt,
and what has been termed the bitter principle.

Humulus Lupulus is narcotic, tonic, diuretic, and externally ap-
plied anodyne and discutient. Hops are said to possess the power
of procuring sleep in the delirium of fever, and in mania, when used
as a pillow, and owing to this effect having been confirmed in the
case of King George the third of England, their efficacy as a gene-
ral naicotic when introduced into the stomach has been investiga-
ted. Dr. Maton observed, that besides allaying pain and producing
sleep, the preparations of hops reduce the frequency of the pulse, and
increase its firmness in a very direct manner. One drachm of the
tincture and four grains of the extract given once in six hours. He
found the extract exceedingly efficacious in allaying the pain of ar-
ticular rheumatism, but subsequent experience has not afforded suf-
ficient proof of its utility as a sedative, and Dr. Bigsby’s experiments
have lessened very much the confidence physicians were previously
disposed to give to it. An ointment compounded with the powder
of the hop and lard is recommended as an anodyne application to
cancerous sores. A fomentation of it will certainly afford much re-
lief in painful swellings and tumors.

W hen administered internally, all the good effects of hops may
be obtained by the use of Lupulin, which is best given in pills, in
doses of six to ten grains, or in tincture in those of half a drachm to
a drachm. Lupulin may be likewise substituted for the hops in
poultices, ointments, <fcc., with much advantage.

The principal consumption of hops is in the manufacture of
malt liquors, to which they eommunicate the bitter flavor and tonic
properties.

The young shoots of the Humulus Lupulus, when they have
risen three or four inches from the root, are sometimes gathered and
boiled like asparagus, to which they are very little inferior : these
shoots are usually called hop-tops.

N9 71.

(’on in mi Macula In in .
Hem h'ck .

UMBELLIFERJ!.

Umbelllfers •

N°- 71.

CONIUM MACULATUM.

Hemlock.

Place — Europe.

Quality — Nauseous.

Power — Narcotic, diuretic.

Use — Scirrhus, scrofula, ulcers, scabies, &c,

BOTANICAL ANALYSIS.

Natural Order. Umbel 1 atm — L. Umbellifera3 — J.
Class V. Pentandria , Order Digynia.

Linn. Sp. PI. 349. Willd. Sp. PL i. 1395. Bigelow, Med. Bot. i. 113. Raf.
Med. Flor. i. 148. T. & G. Flor. i. 60. Griff. Med. Bot. 339. Per. El. Med.
Bot. ii. 437. Lon. Ency. PI. 216.

Genus. CONIUM,

From the Greek koneion, from knos, a cone or top, so called because it produced
giddiness in those who drank it. It is the Greek name for poison hemlock.

Synonymfs. — La cigue (F.), Der schierling ( Ger .), Scheerling [Dutch), Cicuta
(7 ), Ceguda ( Sp .), Boligoiow (Russ.), Swinicwcsz (Pol.), Skarntyde (Dan.)

THE ESSENTIAL CHARACTERS.

Calyx. Adhering to the ovary, entire or five-toothed.

Corolla. Petals five, usually inflected at the point, imbricate in
aestivation.

Stamens. Five, alternate with the petals and inserted with them
upon the disk.

Ovary. Inferior, two-celled, surmounted by the fleshy disk which
bears the stamens and petals. Style two, distinct, or united at
their thickened base. Stigma simple.

CONIUM MACULATUM.

Fruit. Dry, consisting of two coherent carpels, separating from
each other by their faces ( commissure ) into two halves ( mero ■
carps).

THE SECONDARY CHARACTERS.

Conium. Calyx margin obsolete. Petals obcordate with an
acute, inflected point. Fruit ovate, laterally compressed. Carpels
with five acute, equal, undulate-crenulate ribs, lateral ones margi-
nal, intervals without vittse. Seeds with a deep, narrow groove on
the face.

Seeds five-ribbed. Ribs at first crenate with flat intervals between them. Germ
ovate, gibbous. Perianth entire. Petals unequal, cordate, inflexed. General in-
volucre about three to five leaved. Partial ones mostly three leaved, unilateral.

THE SPECIFIC CHARACTERS*

Conium Maculatum. Stem spotted. Leaves tripinnate. Leaf-
lets lanceolate, pinnatifid. Fruit Smooth.

Stem very branching, spotted. Leaves very compound. Seeds striate.

THE ARTIFICIAL CHARACTERS.

Class Pentandria. Stamens five. Order Digynia* Po-
lypetalous. Seeds two. Flowers in umbels. Herbs with hollow
stems.

NATURAL HISTORY.

Conium Maculatum is usually supposed to be the koneion of
the Greek writers, the celebrated Athenian state poison , by which
Socrates and Phoc.ion died, — and the cicuta* of the Roman authors.
It is a native of Europe and parts of Asia, and is naturalized in
many places in the United States. The plant is biennial and um-
belliferous, growing under hedges, by road-sides and among rubbish,
flowering in June and July.

The root, which is fusiform, branching, whitish and fleshy, ex-
udes when cut a milky juice. The stem rises erect about four or
five feet in height, is branching and leafy, round, hollow, striated,
smooth, shining and maculated with brownish purple. The lower
leaves are very large, above a foot in length, on large sheathing
petioles, supra decompound and shining. The upper leaves are bi-

#A Latin name used by Virgil (Ec. 2d and 5th) but ol unknown application.

CONIUM MACULATUM.

pinnate, the whole stand upon channelled footstalks proceeding from
the joints of the stem,, are incised, smooth, of a deep green color on
the upper surface, but paler underneath. The rays of the umbels
are ten or twelve, those of the umbellules fifteen or sixteen. The
involucre consists of from three to seven short turned-down, lancet-
shaped Leaflets with white edges spread at the base, the involucel of
three or four leaflets on one side only and spreading.. The flowers
are very small, the petals white, the outer ones rather longer than
the inner, cordate, inflected. The stamens the length of the petals,
supporting white obicular anthers. The styles two, filiform, diverg-
ing, and crowned with round stigmas. The fruit is ovate, striated,
smooth and brownish when ripe.

Hemlock is distinguished from other umbelliferous plants with
which it may be confounded, by its large and spotted stem , the
dark and shining color of its lower leaves , and their disagreeable
smell when fresh and bruised,, resembling in some degree the urine
of a cat.

For medical use the leaves should be gathered about the end of
June or early in July when, the plant is in flower, the small leaflets
picked off, and the footstalks thrown away. The picked leaflets
are then to be properly dried, and as exposure to the air and light
destroys the fine green color of the plant, and injures its active qual-
ities, the dried leaflets must be preserved in boxes completely filled,
by gently pressing down the leaves, then covered with a closely-fit-
ted lid, wrapped in paper and sealed ; or if powdered, the powder
may be preserved good, in closely-stopped opaque phials for many
years.

As powders are generally affected by the action of the air and
light, all powders should be kept in opaque or green glass bottles.
The effect of light on a majority of powders is rendered obvious by
the labelled side of clear bottles containing them, which are always
turned to the light, becoming encrusted with the powder, changed
in its color, while the other side remains clear and transparent.

According to Linnaeus, sheep eat the leaves, but horses, cows and
goats refuse them. Ray informs us that the thrush will feed upon
the seeds, even when corn or grain is 10 be had. Curtis says Hem-
lock is eaten by few or no insects.

CHEMICAL AND MEDICAL PROPERTIES AND USES..

I he odor of properly dried Hemlock leaves is strong, heavy and
narcotic, but not so disagreeable as that of the fresh leaves; the taste

CO MUM MACULATUM.

is slightly bitter and nauseous. They are easily pulverized, and
the powder should retain the beautiful green color of the leaves.
1 he acrimony only of the fresh leaves is lost in drying, but the nar-
cotic principle remains uninjured if the operation be well performed.
^ he virtues of Conium Maculatum are extracted by alcohol and
sulphuric ether. To the ether it communicates a very deep green
color, and when the tincture is evaporated on the surface of water,
a rich dark green resin remains in which the narcotic principle of
the plant appears to reside ; it contains the odor and taste in perfec-
tion, and half a grain produces headache and slight vertigo. Dr.
A. T. Thomson discovered this principle, to which Dr. Paris pro-
poses to give the name of concin. Dr. Brandes has discovered a
particular principle of alkaline nature, which he terms cicutine , of
a green color, insoluble in water and in doses of half a grain causing
vertigo and headache.

Hemlock is a powerful narcotic, and is used as such both inter-
nally and as an external application. It has long been employed
as a medicine of great efficacy, and although we are indebted to
Baron Stoerck, of Vienna, for bringing it into general notice, yet he
rated its powers too high, and the multitude of discordant diseases
to which he enumerated it as beneficial, led many sober men to
doubt its efficacy altogether. Hemlock is nevertheless a useful nar-
cotic and is advantageously applied as a palliative in many com-
plaints not curable by any other medicine. It is found serviceable
in chronic rheumatism, in scrofulous, syphilitic and other ill-condi-
tioned ulcers and glandular tumors, in pertussic, and the protracted
cough which is very troublesome, and often remains after pneumo-
nic inflammation.

The leaves of this plant are strongly poisonous, many instances
of their fatal effects which have occurred in this and other countries
are on record. The root of Hemlock, however, does not appear to
possess any noxious power. Mr. Curtis, in the Flora Londinensis,
expiessly states that they have been eaten in the recent state and
also boiled in considerable quantities without occasioning any incon-
venience. An over dose of Hemlock produces sickness, vertigo, de-
lirium, dilatation of the pupils, great anxiety, stupor and convul-
sions. The best antidote is vinegar, after the stomach has been
evacuated and the cerebral excitement reduced by bleeding and
purging.

The best mode of exhibiting Hemlock is the dried leaves in the
form of powder: dose three grains, gradually increasing it every day
until a slight vertigo forbids its further increase.

NT0 72.

Kiinnvm ii s Atro pn rpu reus .
N p in die. tree, Wa.hoo.

CELASTB ACEA5.

St a ff- trees •

N°- 7 2 .

EUONYMUS ATROPURPUREUS.

Spindle-tree. Burning bush, Wa-hoo.

Place — United States.

Quality — Bitter.

Power — Tonic, laxative.

Use— Ague, dyspepsia, fever, debility.

BOTANICAL ANALYSIS.

Natural Order. Dumosse — L. Celastracese — J.
Class V. Pentandria. Order Monogynia.

Raf. Med. Flor. ii. 220. Griff. Med. Bot. 220. Lon, Ency. PI. 178. Howard,
Bot. Med. ii. 246. Kosls. Mat. Med. 434.

Genus. EUONYMUS.

From the Greek eu, well, and onoma, a name, well named. The application of
the name is however obscure. Euonymus was also a Heathen divinity.

Syvonvmes. — Fasain, or Bennet de Pretre ( F .), Spindelbaum (Ger.), Fusaggine

U-)

THE ESSENTIAL CHARACTERS.

Calyx. Sepals four — five, united at base, imbricated.

Corolla. Petals as many as sepals, inserted by a broad base un-
der the margin of the flat, expanded disk which surrounds the
ovary.

Stamens. As many as the petals and alternate with them, insert-
ed on the margin of the disk.

EUONYUS ATROPURPUREUS .

Ovary. Superior, immersed in and adhering to the disk.

Fruit. A capsule or berry.

Seeds. Either with or without an arillus.

THE SECONDARY CHARACTERS.

Euonymus. Calyx flat, of five (sometimes four or six) united
sepals. Corolla flat, inserted on the outer margin of a glandular
disk. Stamens five, with short filaments. Capsule colored, five-
angled, five-celled, five-valved. Seeds ariled.

Calyx five-parted or five-cleft, flat. Corol flat, inserted on the outer margin of a
glandular disk Capsule five-angled, five.celled, five-valved, colored. Cells two.
lobed. Seeds calyptred or ariled.

THE SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Euonymus Atropurpureus. Branches smooth. Leaves el-
liptic— lanceolate, acuminate, finely serrate, puberulent, beneath.
Peduncles compressed, many-flowered. Flowers usually penta-
merous.

Leaves petioled, lance-oblong, accuminate, serrate. Peduncles divaricate, many-
flowered, Flowers four-cleft. Fruit smooth, red.

THE ARTIFICIAL CHARACTERS.

Class Pentandria. Stamens five. Order Monogynia.
Polypetalous. Floivers inferior, regular. Stamens alternate with
the Petals. Shrubs.

NATURAL HISTORY.

The Spindle-tree is a smooth shrub or large bush, growing from
four to ten feet high in shady woods and thickets, in river bottoms
in the western States. It flowers in June, and its seeds ripen late
in the fall. The Indians generally called it T Va-hoo, among whom
it is said to have been a popular remedy, as well as among the
whites of certain early settlements in the Mississippi valley.

The bark is smooth, dark gray, interspersed with large white irre-
gular shaped spots, which disappear towards the termination of the
branches. The shrub is considerably branched. The branches shoot-
ing up at very acute angles, sometimes three together; the extreme
portions of the branches, constituting the growth of the preceding
year, are of a dark green color with many dark spots, whilst those
portions which appear to have been produced two years preceding

EUONYMUS ATROPURPUREUS.

are less green with stripes or lines of white. Leaves petiolate, oppo-
site on the young branches, alternate on the old, oblong, ovate, acu-
minate, serrate, deep green on the upper and light on the under-
side. Flowers, a kind of cyme, or a cluster often axillary to the
leaves, very small, dark reddish-brown inside, inclining to green
outside, producing an angular shaped rough involucre or husk,
which opens in the fall, exhibiting the beautifully bright fiery red
fruit or berries in strong contrast with decaying nature and which
has procured for it the name of burning bush, it sometimes bears.

The common name Spindle-tree is derived from the uses to
which another species of the Euonymus is applied. This species
has a wood which without being hard, is very tough ; and this was
formerly much employed in making spindles for the spinning-wheel.
Now that the jenny has superseded the distaff, this is little used ex-
cept for making toothpicks and skewers : and also by watch-makers,
for cleaning delicate machinery, for which it is very well adapted
on account of the fine point with which it may be worked without
breaking. Another of its common names, Priclc-ioood, seems to
render it not improbable, that it was formerly used in the manufac-
ture of those skewer-like pins, which were employed to hold the

dress together as late as the reign of Henry VIII., when the manu-

facture of metal pins became more general.

The Euonymus Atropurpureus, Spindle-tree, is of easy cul-
ture in common soil, and propagated by layers, ripened cuttings
planted in autumn, or seeds.

CHEMICAL AND MEDICAL PROPERTIES AND USES.

The bark of the root of Euonymus Atropurpureus is the part
employed as medicine, and should be gathered at the time that it
will peal off readily, when it should be beaten with a hammer or
mallet, carefully dried and preserved for use. The bark when dry
is of a light brown color outside, white within, rough and much
wrinkled, resembling in its appearance the dried root of sf>ignet. It
possesses a peculiar bitterness that is very permanently tonic and
somewhat anti-periodic. It exhibits also a laxative power, on ac-
count of which it is esteemed very valuable in the treatment of dys-
peptic complaints, for the stomach will bear this substance with ad-
vantage, while many other tonics produce disagreeable symptoms.
Some physicians and practitioners regard it as one of the most valu-
able articles in dyspepsia.

This medicine is also particularly useful in all cases of debility,

EUONY US ATRO PURPUREUS.

and valuable as a tonic after intermittent fever or fever and ague.
When depended on for the cure of ague, it should be preceded by
an emetic or cathartic, as the circumstances may require, and then
if freely and perse veringly applied it will generally be successful.
It may be used alone or combined with balmony, or any other tonic.
The dose is from half to a whole teaspoonful three or four times a
day.

The seeds of the Spindle-tree , as well as those of the other spe-
cies, are all nauseous, purgative and emetic, and are used in some
places to destroy vermin in the hair. The leaves are poisonous to
sheep, and other animals feeding on them.

The following are the principal preparations of this medicine :

Tinctura Euonymus. Take of the bark in coarse powder,
four ounces, alcohol two pints. Digest seven days and filter.

Tincture of Euonymus. Tonic and anti-periodic, useful in in-
termittent and remittent fever and in general debility. The dose is
from two to four fluid ounces.

Extractum Euonymus. Take Euonymus bark four pounds,
alcohol two and a half gallons, water three gallons. Digest in the
alcohol at a temperature a little below the boiling point, for four
hours, or keep in a warm place for a week, strain through calico
and distil to one pint. Boil the bark in the water for four hours
over a slow fire, strain and evaparate to one pint. Mix the liquors
and evaporate by means of a water bath to the proper consistence.

Extract of Euonymus. This article is an excellent laxative bit-
ter and is very highly esteemed in convalescence from fever, espe-
cially when of an intermittent or remittent type, and is decidedly
the best article used. The dose is five grains.

ADVERTISEMENT.

The fourth year of the Family Flora or Materia Medica Botanica will be pub.
lished in the usual form. Each part will contain the usual number of plates of
plants, colored from original drawings, taken from nature, with the Botanical
Analysis, Natural History, and Chemical and Medical Properties and Uses, as in
the preceding series. The fourth year will perfect the second volume, but the three
first years may be bound together and in that case two volumes will complete the
whole work. Subscription for each year is always $1.50 in advance, or $2.00 at
the end of the year, or for either of the past years.

All communications should bo addressed ( postage free) to

PETER P. GOOD, Elizabethtown, Essex County, New Jersey .

EFThe Family Flora can only be obtained by application as above ( post paid)
with remittance; which wilfsecure immediate and punctual attention.

N? 73 .

HTOSCMSwnirs wx os-ib m „

H enb an e . Poison tobacco &c

SOLANACEAL

JYi ght shades

N°- 73.

HYOSCYAMUS NIGER.

Henbane, Poison , Tobacco ,

P/ace — Europe.

Quality — Insipid.

Power — Narcotic, sedative.

TJse — Paralysis, convulsions, mania, epilepsy. The smoke
to relieve tooth-ache.

BOTANICAL ANALYSIS.

Natural Order. Lurid a? — L. Solanacese.

Class V. Pentandria. Order. Monogynia.

Willd. Sp. PI. i. 1010. Woodv. 2d. Ed. 204 t. 76. Smith’s Flor. Brit. 598. Eng.
Bot. 091. Loudon. Ency. PL 136. Gen. 381. Bigelow Med. Bot. i. 161. Linn.
Sp. PL 257. Stephenson and Churchill, i. 9. Raf. Med. Flor. i. 255. Lind. Med.
Flor. 508. Per. El. Med. Bot. ii. 307. Griff. Med. Bot. 484. Wood Class Book, 446.

Genus. HYOCYAMUS.

From ik, a pig, and Kva^ioi, a bean, the fruit has been thought to resemble a bean,
and is said to be not poisonous to swine.

Synonymes. — Lajusquiame (Fr.) , Das Bilsenkraut (Ger.) , Bilsenskruid. {Butch),
Bulme (Dan.), Giusquiamo (1.) , Beleno (S.) . Meimendro (Port.), Belmort (Swed.),
Bielum (Pol.), Khorassanie Ajooan (H.) Sickram (Arab.), Khorassanie on sum
(Tam.) , Buzirnlbury (Pers.) , Adas-pedas (Malay), Adas (Jav.)

THE ESSENTIAL CHARACTERS.

Calyx. Sepals four, five, more or less united mostly persistent.

Corolla. Regular, Limb four— five cleft, plaited in aestivation,
deciduous.

Stamens. Four — five (sometimes one abortive), inserted on
the corolla, alternate with its segments. Anthers bursting
longitudinally, rarely by terminal pores.

HENBANE.

Ovary. Free (superior), two-celled, (four-cellea in uaiura),
with the placenta in the axis. Styles and Stigmas united
into one.

Fruit. A capsule or berry.

Seeds. Numerous. Embryo curved, lying in fleshy albumen.

THE SECONDARY CHARACTERS.

Hyoscyamus. Calyx tubular, five-cleft. Corolla infundibu-
liform, irregular ; one of the five, obtuse lobes larger. Stamens
five, declinate. Stigma capitate. Capsule ovoid, two-celled
opening with a lid near the summit.

Calyx tabular, five cleft. Carol funnel-form, five-lobed, obtuse, irregular. Stamens
inclined. Capsule two-celled, covered with a lid.

THE SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Hyoscyamus Niger. Stem branching, erect, very leafy.
Leaves sinuate, clasping. Flowers sessile.

Leaves clasping, sinuate. Flowers veiny, sessile.

THE ARTIFICIAL CHARACTERS.

Class Pentandria. Stamens five. Order Monogynia Mono-
petalous. Flowers inferior. Corolla regular. Herbs (rarely
shrubby) Stamens alternate with petals. Fruit capsule or
berry. Cells two with many seeds. ^Estivation plicate.

NATURAL HISTORY.

Common Henbane is a native of Europe, and is naturalized
in the northern parts of the United States. It grows spon-
taneously at Detroit and Upper Canada, on waste grounds, and
at the sides of roads, particularly on a calcareous soil, flowering
in July and August. The root is long, tapering, compact, and
fibrous. The stem erect, woody, round, and branched, rising
about two feet in height. The leaves are alternate, sessile, and
embracing the stem, large, the lower ones being about a foot in
length, deeply sinuated, undulated, woolly, and of a sea-green
color. The flowers are in terminal, recurved, leafy, simple
spikes, and each is simple and erect. The calyx is permanent,
pitcher-shaped, with a regular five-cleft border, reticulated with
veins. The corolla straw-colored, and beautifully pencilled with

HENBANE.

a net- work of purple veins. The filaments are inserted into the
tube of the corolla tapering, downy at the base, and supporting
purple anthers. The style is t purplish, with a blunt, round,
stigma. The capsule is globular, invested with the body of the
calyx, bilocular, and closed with a convex smooth lid.

The whole plant is covered with soft, white hairs, feels
clammy and slightly adhesive. It emits a foetid odor ; is of a
sea-green hue, and poisonous when eaten.

A species of bug ( Cimex ) and of beetle ( Chrysomela ) take
their specific names from feeding on this plant ; but no quadru-
ped is known to eat it, unless the goat and sheep, and that very
rarely and sparingly.

The Henbane is of common culture ; it grows in loam and
peat, and cuttings root without being covered by a glass.

CHEMICAL AND MEDICAL PROPERTIES AND USES.

The virtues of Hyocyamus Niger are completely extracted by
I diluted alcohol. The watery infusion is of a very pale yellow
; color and insipid, and has the narcotic odor of the plant. It is
; not altered by the acids. The alkalies change the color to a
deep greenish yellow, which, on the addition of an acid, disap-
pears, and a brownish flocculent precipitate is produced. It is
copiously precipitated by solutions of acetate of' lead, white ; by
nitrate of silver, black ; sulphate of iron strikes with it a pale
olive color, and a dark precipitate is slowly formed. Thence
henbane appears to contain resin, mucus, extractive, a peculiar
alkaline salt, and gallic acid. M. M. Meissner and Brandes have
examined the nature of this alkaline salt, which they have
named Hyociama , and have ascertained that on it depends the
peculiar virtues and the poisonous properties of this plant. The
seeds contain a larger proportion of this alkaloid than either the
leaves or the roots ; it is in the form of a malate. It chrystal-
lizes in long prisms, and forms neutral salts with the acids
Henbane is narcotic. Its operation is very similar to that of
opium ; increasing at first the strength of the pulse, and produc-
I ing some sense of heat, effects which are followed by proportional
I diminution of excitement and sleep. In some habits it occasions
I diaphoresis or diuresis, and sometimes a pustular irruption ; at
other times it purges ; and in over doses, produces sickness,
stupor, dimness of sight, hard pulse, delirium, and coma, with

HENBANE.

dilatation of the pupils ; until the pulse gradually becoming
weak and tremulous, petechise make their appearance, and death
ensues. Dissections show the effects of inflammation in the sto-
mach, bowels, and the membranes of the brain. After an emetic
is given, and the stomach fully cleared, vinegar is the best anti-
dote.

The effects of henbane as an anodyne were known to the
ancients. But as those were ill understood, its use was almost
completely relinquished till the time of Baron Storck, who may
be regarded as having introduced it. It may be employed in all
the cases in which the use of opium is indicated, where the latter
disagrees with the habit, or where its constipating effect is wished
to be avoided. In painful and spasmodic affections, hysteria,
rheumatism and gout, much benefit has resulted from its use,
and it is particularly serviceable when it is united with colo-
cynth or other powerful cathartics, in colica pictonum. It is
used externally to lessen and allay the irritation of very sensible
< arts, thence fomentations of the leaves have been found benefi-
cial in scrofulous and cancerous ulcers, haemorrhoids and other
painful swellings. The leaves and marshmallow flowers boiled
in milk, with the addition of a few grains of acetate of lead,
are recommended as a topical application in scrofulous ophthal-
mia. Smoking the leaves, like tobacco, is said to allay the pain
of toothache. Its effects in dilating the pupil, when an infusion
of it is dropped into the eye, are similar to those of belladonna,
and thence it is also employed as a preparative to the operation
for cataract. It is used by practitioners very generally and
particularly recommended in the forms of extract and tincture
only, and on no occasion should it ever be prescribed in com-
binations with alkalies, as these destroy its narcotic powers in
twenty-four hours.

The leaves are active only in the second year of the plant ; if
scattered about buildings they are said to drive away mice and
rats. If more than a small portion of the leaves should have
been accidentally swallowed, brisk emetics ought instantly to
be taken, and after discharging the contents of the stomach, it
will be necessary to administer some mild drinks, such as large
portions of vinegar or lemon juice diluted with water, as the
stomach is able to support them. The whole plant is fatal to
poultry, whence its common name ; it intoxicates swine, but
cows, horses, dogs, and goats are able to bear a tolerable propor-
tion before they are affected.

THHEJDlEdMffA JPHrLTEvGrlilDIlDTES
Peunyroval. Sick-wieeci, Squaw-minl

LABIATJS.

It ablate Plants

N°. 74.

HEDEOMA PULEGIOIDES.

Pennyroyal, Tick-weed , Squaw-mint , 4*c.

Place — North America.

Quality — Aromatic.

Power — Stomachic, stimulating, emmanagogue.

Use — Nausea, flatulence, obstructed menstruation.

BOTANICAL ANALYSIS.

. Natural Order. Labiatse — L. J.

Class XIV. Didynamia. Order Gymnospermia.

Persoon Synop. ii. 131. Barton Veg. Mat. Med. ii. 165. Raf. i. 231. Lind Med.
Flor. 491. Griff. Med. Bot. 508. Kost. Mat. Med. 328. Wood. Class Book , 422.

Genus. HEDEOMA.

From the Greek fiSua, sweet, or agreeable, oa/m, smell, on account of the fra-
grance.

Synonymes. — Grotten-balsam, (Ger.)

THE ESSENTIAL CHARACTERS.

Calyx. Tubular, regularly five-toothed or cleft, or bilabiate,
persistent.

Corolla. Bilabiate, (rarely regular, five-toothed,) the upper lip
bifid or entire, overlapping in sestivation the lower three-
cleft one.

Stamens. Four, didynamous, or sometimes only two, the upper
pair being abortive or wanting, situated on the corolla tube.
Anthers mostly two-celled.

Ovary. Free, deeply four-lobed, the single style arising from
the base of the lobes.

HEDEOMA PULEGIOIDES.

Fruit. One — four hard nuts or achenia.

Seeds. Erect, with little or no albumen. Embryo erect. Co»
tyledons flat.

THE SECONDARY CHARACTERS.

Hedeoma. Calyx gibbous beneath at base, thirteen-ribbed,
throat hairy, upper lip of Corolla erect, flat, lower lip spreading,
three-lobed. Sla?nens two, fertile, ascending

Calyx two-lipped, gibbose at the base, upper lip with three lanceolate teeth ; lower
lip with two subulate ones. Coral ringent. Two short Stamens barren.

THE SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Hedeoma Pulegioides. Leaves oblong, few-toothed. Flowers
axillary, whorled.

Pubescent, Leaves oblong, serrate. Peduncles axillary, whorled.

THE ARTIFICIAL CHARACTERS.

Class Didynamia. Stamens four, two of them longer than
the other two. Order Gymnospermia. Seeds naked. Achenia
four (or fewer), included in the calyx. Corolla monopetalous and
labiate.

NATURAL HISTORY.

The species comprising this genus Hedeoma, which are mostly
North American plants, were included by Linnaeus and other
botanists in Cunila and Melissa, but were distinguished, sep-
arated and named by Persoon, and they constitute a small, but
well-marked group.

The Hedeoma Pulegioides notwithstanding, is yet commonly
blended, even by some medical writers, with the Mentha Pule-
gium, which belongs to a different genus, and does not grow in
America. The shape, smell and properties are somewhat similar,
whence the same vulgar name ; but the American plant appears
to be most efficient.

Hedeoma Pulegioides, the American Pennyroyal , is very
common and abundant all over the United States and in Canada
growing on dry and hilly grounds, on the road sides, in unculti
vated fields, and in open woods, and flowers throughout the
summer. The plant is of easy culture. The root is annual,

HEDEOMA PULEGIOIDES.

small, fibrous, branched and yellowish. The stem is upright,
about a foot high, with slender branches, obscurely angular,
terete and pubescent. The leaves are small, opposite, oblong,
lanceolate or suboval, on short petioles, base attenuated and sub-
acute, margin with small remote serratures, surface rough or
pubescent, nerved and pale beneath. Flowers all along the
branches in axillary whorls of six, nodding on short pedicles,
| very small. Calyx pubescent, corolla very small, hardly longer,
white, with the lips purple, base slender, then campanulate with
two small lips, the upper rounded, seldom notched, the lower
with two rounded lateral lobes, and an obcordate middle lobe.
Stamina and style filiform, anthers oblong. Stigma lateral acute.
Fruit four small oblong seeds in the persistent calyx, mouth
closed by the ciliated bristles of the lower lip.

Pennyroyal is cultivated for its use in culinary and pharma-
ceutical preparations. It grows best on a tenacious soil,
even a clay is more suitable than a light, silicious soil. It
should be moderately fertile, entirely free of stagnant moisture,
and consequently on a dry subsoil, or well-drained. A wet soil
makes the plant luxuriant in summer, but insures decay in
winter.

CHEMICAL AND MEDICAL PROPERTIES AND USES.

The medical properties of Hedeoma Pulegioides are stimu-
lant, carminative, diaphoretic and emmenagogue. The smell
and taste are very warm, pungent, strong and hardly aromatic,
but pleasant or otherwise according to different personal affec-
tions. Its active properties reside in a volatile oil, which may
be procured by distillation. One cwt. of fresh pennyroyal affords
an average produce of one lb. of essential oil. This oil is analo-
gous in properties to that of the European pennyroyal. It has
a light yellow color, with the odor and taste of the plant. Its
specific gravity is 0. 948. It is much used as a rubefacient. It
is an ingredient of most of the liniments and other preparations
that are designed to act as excitants and counter irritants on the
surface. By many it is also used internally as a stimulant,
diaphoretic and carminative. It is considered a good remedy in
flatulent colic and sick stomach, to correct the operation of nau-
seating or griping medicines, and to impart flavor to mixtures.
It may either be taken alone, dropped on sugar, or fit may be

HEDEOMA PULEGIOIDES.

worked into a mass and thus formed into pills. The dose is from
two to ten drops.

The infusion commonly called pennyroyal tea , is a very popu-
lar domestic remedy, and frequently taken freely without regard
to quantity or strength. The most popular method of making
this tea is: take of pennyroyal a handful, of boiling water a
pint. Steep it in a covered vessel, and sweeten with sugar. ,
This infusion is warming and grateful to the stomach, and is I
particularly useful in allaying nausea and vomiting. In large 1
draughts it promotes perspiration, and taken freely on going to
bed, it is an excellent remedy for a sudden cold, or slight attack
of disease. Combined with cayenne, it may be given with great
advantage in obstruction of the menses, the feet having been
previously bathed in warm water, hence it is much used as an
emmanegogue in popular practice, and frequently with considera-
ble success. It affords relief in flatulency and pains of the sto-
mach and bowels, and for this purpose may be given freely to
children. Although pennyroyal affords, a very popular graveo-
lent tea, and probably more used in domestic practice than any
other of the aromatic herbs, yet there are many other labiate
plants which are equivalent to it, and possibly more agreeable. !

This herb put into water which has become unwholesome
during a sea voyage, will give it an agreeable flavor, and render
it less injurious to the system.

This plant is also frequently used to kill the Ticks, Ixodes ,
which attach themselves to men, dogs and cattle in summer.
Hence one of its common or vulgar names. These troublesome
animals are found wherever the Hedysarums and Lespedezas
or true tickweeds grow, upon which they breed. By rubbing
the legs or boots with this plant or its oil, these insects will avoid
you, or, if they have taken hold, the oil kills them. A strong
decoction of the plant is equally convenient, and a strong decoc-
tion of tobacco is as good.

The whole plant gives out, when pressed between the fingers,
a strong, pungent and grateful scent, which is extremely reviv-
ing and pleasant. The expressed juice mixed with a little sugar-
candy has been frequently prescribed for the hooping cough, and
with remarkable success. A table-spoonful is a dose.

A conserve of the young tops acts as a diuretic and has
proved serviceable in the gravel. It is likewise good for the
jaundice and all other complaints arising from obstruction of the
viscera.

75.

ACGDITITOM mnPEIilLTirS .
"VVolfsliaJif. Monksliood &c.

Crow f o o t s.

N°- 75.

ACONITUM NAPELLUS.

Monk’s-hood, Wolf’s-bane.
Place — Europe.

Quality — Acrid, somewhat poisonous.
Power — Narcotic, diaphoretic, diuretic.
Use — Rheumatism, gout, paralysis, &c.

BOTANICAL ANALYSIS.

Natural Order. Multisiliquse — L. Ranunculaceae — J.
Class XIII. Polyandria. Order Monogynia.

Wilid. Sp PI. ii. 1235. Woodv. Med. Bot. 2d Ed. 165. Linn. Sp. PI 751 TT S
Dis- 52. Rail. Med. Flor- ii. 186. Lindley, Med. F/or. ii. Per Mat Med ii 74Q
(rnff. Med. Bot. 91. Stephenson and Churchil, Med. Bot. i. 28. Wood, Class Book,

Genus. ACONITUM.

The derivation is not clear. Some writers derive it from Acone, a town of Bithynia
others deduce it from the Greek a^iror, without dust; because the plant grows in drv

alM In' rocky places.' “ Pr°baWy COm6S fr°m a rock> ** the pCt grots

Synonymies -Aconit chaperon de Moine (Fr.) Blanerstrumhut (Ger 1 Monniks
kappen (Bclg.) Stermhut [Dan.) Stermhatt (Sued.) Napello (I.) Aconito (&)

the essential characters.

Calyx. Sepals mostly five, sometimes three, four, or six,
mostly deciduous, and imbricated in aestivation.

Corolla. Petals three— fifteen, hypogynous. Sometimes ir-
regular or wanting.

Stamens. Indefinite or numerous, distinct, hypogynous. An-
thers ad n ate or innate.

ACONITUM NAPELLUS.

Ovary. Indefinite or numerous, rarely solitary or few, distinct,
seated on the torus.

Fruit. Either dry achenia, or baccate, or follicular.

Embryo. Minute, at the base of horny or fleshy albumen.
Seeds.

THE SECONDARY CHARACTERS.

Aconitum. Sepals five, irregular, colored, upper one vaulted.
Petals five, the three lower minute, the two upper on long claws,
concealed beneath the upper sepal, recurved and nectariferous
at the apex. Styles three — five. Follicles three — five.

Calyx wanting. Petals five, upper one vaulted. Nectaries two, hooded, peduncled, .
recurved. Carpels three or five, pod-like. By some, the corol is considered as a
colored calyx.

THE SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Aconitum Napellus. Stem straight, erect. Leaves deeply
five-cleft, cut into linear segments, furrowed above. Upper
Sepal arched at the bach. Lateral ones hairy on the inside.
Ovary smooth.

Leaves shining, five-parted, the divisions three-parted by gashed incisions, sub-divi-
sions linear. Upper lip of the corol lanceolate, ascending, two-cleft. Spur straight,
obtuse.

THE ARTIFICIAL CHARACTERS.

Class XIII. Polyandria. Stamens twenty or more, arising
from the receptacle (hypogynous.) Order Monogynia. Ovary
simple. Calyx four-five sepaled. Leaves ternately divided.
Flowers racemose.

NATURAL HISTORY.

The ancient history of Aconitum is involved in great obscurity.
The Greeks make frequent reference to a most virulent poison,
which they term itxdvUov. Theophrastus is the earliest writer
who speaks of it. As Aconitum Napellus is a virulent poison,
and is a native of Greece, where it is known at the present day,
by the above appellation, it would appear probable that our
common aconite was the plant referred to by the ancients.
But the characters of it as given by Theophrastus quite preclude
this supposition, 'and the plant described by this ancient na-
turalist has never been satisfactorily identified.

ACOXITUM XAPELLUS.

This species, Aconitum Napellus , varies much in the color
and size of its flowers, espeoially in a cultivated state, and is
much prized as an ornament in the garden. It is a native of
most parts of Europe, in mountain forests and plains, flowering
in May and June. The roots are napiform and fibrous. The
stem is firm, elongated, erect, smooth, rising to the height of five
or six feet, leafy, and terminating in a long, sparse spike ot
flowers, racemose, and the peduncles branched below. The
lower leaves are few, alternate on long channelled petioles, pali-
nated, or rather pedate, being divided to the base into three or
five broad euneiform divisions, deeply cleft and toothed. The
petioles are shorter and the leaves less divided the nearer they
are to the summit of the stem. The color of the whole is a deep
green on the upper disk, and a pale green on the under ; both
sides are naked, smooth, and shining. The flowers are of a
cerulean blue, on unifloral, erect, axillary, pubescent pedicels.
They have no calyx ; but two small, erect, calycinal stipules, or
rather subulate bracteolae, are placed one on each side of the
pedicel within a few lines of the flower. The petals are five ;
the uppermost helmet-shaped and more accuminate than in some
others, covering two singular, peduncled nectanes ; the lateral
one broad and roundish, the lower oblong, elliptical and divaricat-
ing. These four are slightly pubescent. The nectanis are
cuculated, the spur of each being hooked and blunt. The lip
lanceolate, revolute and bifid. The filaments are spread, and
white at the base, where they closely cover the germens, but the
upper part is filiform, purple, spreading, and bearing whitish
anthers. The germens are three, four, or five, with simple, re-
flected stigmas, and become capsules containing many angular
seeds.

The plant is of easy culture; and for medical purposes tho
leaves should be gathered when the flowers appear.

CHEMICAL AND MEDICAL PROPERTIES AND USES

The whole of the plant is poisonous ; but the deleterious
qualities are lost in a considerable decree when it is dried,
or long kept, and much of its acrimony is dissipated. The leaves
when fresh have a faint narcotic odor, and a moderately bitter,
acrid taste, leaving a painful sensation of heat in the mouth
when they are much chewed. The activity of tho plant is

ACONITUM NA.PELLUS.

ver-y nncertain, and depends on soil and the nature of the sea-
sons. The tuber is most active immediately after the period of
flowering, next the seed, and successively the leaves, stalk and
fruit. Its narcotic principle is an alkaloid, which has been
named Aconita. This principle is soluble in cold water, scarcely
so in cold alcohol, but freely if heat be applied.

Aconite is narcotic, diaphoretic, and in some cases, diuretic.
In over doses it occasions violent nausea, vomiting, hypercathar-
sis, vertigo, cold sweats, mania and convulsions, which termi-
nate in death ; and these effects appear to depend on its action
on the nervous system, as dissections of fatal cases have not dis-
played any particular marks of organic disease.

Although, as already mentioned, this plant was known to the
ancients, it was introduced into regular medical practice by Baron
Storck of Vienna, who administered it internally in chronic rheu-
matism, gout, exostosis, paralysis, and scirrhus ; and since the pub-
lication of his experiments in 1702, it has been advantageously
employed in similar cases, and also in amaurosis, sorofula, cancer,
itch, venereal nodes and intermittents. It is now universally
ranked among the most potent of therapeutic agents. In con-
sequence, however, of its uncertain action, and its occasional
production of alarming symptoms, it is not in general use.
Much caution is required in the exhibition of it ; and it is abso-
lutely necessary to know the length of time it has been gather-
ed, as its activity varies so very considerably as to require this
to be ascertained before the dose can be apportioned. It is given
in the form of powder, extract and tincture, and may be com-
bined with calomel, antimonials, camphor and guiacum. The
dose of the powder is one or two grains, gradually increasing it
to six or eight. The extract varies much in strength ; but its
use should always be commenced in doses not exceeding half
a grain. The tincture may be administered in doses of ten to
fifteen drops.

Succus Spissatus Aconita Napelli. Inspissated Juice of
Aconite. Let the fresh leaves of aconite be bruised, enclose
them in a hempen bag, and press them strongly until they yield
their juice, which is to be evaporated in flat vessels heated with
boiling water saturated with muriate of soda, and immediately
reduced to the consistence of thick honey. After the mass is
cold, let it be put into glazed earthen vessels and moistened
with alcohol. This extract is the form under which Baron
Storck introduced wolfsbane into practice.

MEMM&S IDEEDKCA.

Unicorn . Blazin6-star, Ague-root .cc

melabtthacej:.

Melanths.

N°- 76.

HELONIAS DIOICA.

Unicorn Root.

Place — United States.

Quality — Not unpleasant.

Power — Tonic, anthelmintic.

Use — Colic, rheumatism, jaundice.

BOTANICAL ANALYSIS.

Natural Order. Coronarise — L. Melanthacese. J.
Class VI. Hexandr ia. Order Tngynia.

Willd. Sp. PI . ii .183. Lou. Ency. PI. 268. Linn. Tp. PL 456. Bigelow Med
Bot. in. 50. I S. Dis. 64. Raf. i. 37. Per. El. Mat. Med. ii. 130. Griff. 263
Wood Class Book , 559.

G-enus. HELONIAS.

From the Greek cAos, a marsh, where some species grow.

THE ESSENTIAL CHARACTERS.

Floral Envelope, or Perianth regular, in two series, each of
three segments which are distinct or united at base, gene-
rally involute in aestivation.

Stamens. Six, with extrorse anthers.

Ovary. Three-celled, nine— many ovuled. Styles distinct o,
wanting. Stigmas undivided.

Fruit. Capsule or berry, three-celled, generally with septicida
dehiscence.

Seeds. With a membranous testa, and dense fleshy albumen.

HELONIAS DIOICA.

THE SECONDARY CHARACTERS.

Helontas. Perianth six-parted, spreading, petaloid, the
segments sessile, and without glands. Styles three, distinct.
Capsule thrce-celled, three-horned. Cells many-seeded.

Calyx wanting. Coral six-parted or six-petalled, spreading, glandless. Styles dis-
tinct. Capsule three-celled, three-horned, few-seeded.

THE SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Helonias Dioica. Stem leafy. Leaves lanceolate, radical
ones oblanceolate. Raceme spiked, nodding, dioecious. Pedi-
cels short, without bracts. Stamens exserted. Segments
linear.

Scape leafy. Racemes spiked, nodding. Pedicels short, subracted. Filaments
longer than the corol. Petals linear.

Leaves lance-oblong. Generally dioecious.

THE ARTIFICIAL CHARACTERS.

Class Hexandria. Stamens six. Order Trigynia. Endogens.
Calyx and Corolla similarly developed. Flowers conspicuous,
mostly colored. Ovary many seeded.

HAMODOBACEJE.

M l o o d roots.

ALETRIS FARINOSA.

Star-Grass, Colic Root.

BOTANICAL ANALYSIS.

Natural Order. Coronarice, L. Hcemodoracece, J.
Class VI. Hexandria. Order Monogynia.
Genus. ALETRIS.

From the Greek aXtiar, meal, from the powdery dust with which the plant is
covered.

general characters.

Perianth semi-inferior, tubular, with a six-cleft spreading

ALETRIS FARINOSA.

limb, somewhat hexagonal, seabrous and plaited externally.
Stamens inserted on the base of the segments. Filaments flat.
Anthers somewhat sagittate. Ovary three-lobed, pyramidal.
Style formed of three connate bristles. Stigma simple. Cap-
sule pyramidal, opening in three directions at the apex. Seeds
very small, striated, numerous.

NATURAL HISTORY.

On account of the great irregularity and confusion with many
medical writers on the Unicorn, Unicorn-root, Star-grass, Colic-
root, See., as two American plants of different orders, genera, and
species, are simultaneously, commonly, and vulgarly called, it
has been determined to designate and describe both under one
and the same No. 76, in the Family Flora.

The Helonias Dioicia, Unicorn-root is abundant in some of
the Western States, and it is found also in Pennsylvania, New
York, and Connecticut. It grows in woodlands and meadows,
delighting in a moist situation, and blossoms in midsummer.
The root is perennial, rather smaller than the little finger, irre-
gular, from one to two inches long, of a dirty, dark color, very
hard, full of little pits, rough and wrinkled, having numerous
small darkish fibrous roots, which when deprived of their out-
side bark somewhat resemble hog’s bristles. The end of the
caudex or main root often dead or rotten ; premorse. Leaves
radical, pale, smooth, evergreen, lanceolate in a sort of whorl at
the base of the scape. Stem or scape from eight to eighteen
inches high, upright furrowed, and terminating in a spike or
tassel of white dioecious flowers. Flowers small, very numerous,
greenish white, in long, terminal, spicate racemes, which are
more slender and weak on the barren plants. Ovaries as long
as the linear petals, subtriangular. Capsule three-furrowed,
oblong, tapering at the base, opening at the top. The fertile
plants are taller, more erect, but with fewer flowers.

The Ai.etris Farinosa, Star-grass, is found in almost all parts
of the United States, growing in poor, dry soils in open situa-
tions on hills, prairies, and borders of woods, and flowers in
June and July. The root is perennial, small, branched, crooked,
blackish outside, brown within, premorse, intensely bitter. Stem
or scape round erect, from one to two feet high, naked, except a
few scattered bracts ending in a long spike of white, somewhat

ALETRiS FARINOSA.

scattered flowers, and at base surrounded with a circle of lanceo-
late, sessile leaves, which spring immediately from the foot and
spread on the ground in the form of a star. Hence have origi-
nated the popular names of star-grass, blazing star, and mealy
star-wort, by which the plant is known in different parts of the
country. The leaves are entire, pointed, very smooth, longitu-
dinally veined, and of unequal size, the largest being about four
inches in length.

CHEMICAL AND MEDICAL PROPERTIES AND USES.

The root of Helonias Dioicia is the part principally used, and
is highly celebrated as a tonic, and general strengthener of the
system. Dr. Rogers says it relieves colic, stranguary, rheuma-
tism, and jaundice. It affords an excellent female medicine,
and has a powerful tendency to prevent abortion, and they who
are liable to accidents of this nature, ought to make frequent
use of it. Half a tea-spoonful of the powdered root may be
taken three times a day, in a gill of warm water, or for ordinary
use, a portion of it may be added to the bitter tonic. It is also
highly valued in suppressed menstruation.

The Unicorn-root is also an excellent remedy for coughs, con-
sumptions, and all complaints of the lungs, promoting expecto-
ration and insensible perspiration. The constant use of it, how-
ever, sometimes makes the mouth sore, when it must be laid
aside, and some other expectorant used till the mouth gets well,
and then it may be again resumed.

The root of the Aletris Farinosa is the official portion em-
ployed as medicine. It is a very bitter and valuable tonic and
stomachic, promoting in small doses the appetite and digestion ;
but in large doses is apt to produce nausea and vomiting
Twelve grains of the powdered root is the largest dose.

The bitterness appears to reside in a resinous matter, which
is fully imparted in tincture, to alcohol, which it renders ex-
tremely bitter, whilst water is rendered much less so. The
tincture becomes turbid by the addition of water.

The star-grass may be given in tincture, decoction or sub-
stance, though the first and last forms are undoubtedly the best;
or it may be incorporated into cordials or syrups. It is useful
in all cases of debility and loss of appetite, fevers, colic, and
rheumatism.

N9 77.

(HAS § if A. IMT'UrLA .

Cassia, I’uroint* Ca ssia.TucLdino pip c live- tfc.

LEGUMINOSJE.

Leguminous Plants .

N°. 77.

CASSIA FISTULA.

Cassia, Purging cassia , Pudding pipe tree , Spc., fyc.

Place — East Indies, Egypt, Arabia.

Qualify — Sweet, somewhat nauseous.

Power — Demulcent.

Use — Obstipations of the bowels, nephritic calculi.
BOTANICAL ANALYSIS.

Natural Order. Lomentaceae — L. Leguminosae — J.
Class X. Decaudria. Order Monogynia.

"VVilld. Sp. PL ii. 513. Woodv. Med. Hot. 2d Ed. iii. 60. Loudon Ency. PI. 348.
Linn. Sp. Pi. 540. U. S. Dis. 186 Stephenson and Churchill. Lindley Flor. Med.
262. Per. EL Mat. Med. ii. 601. Griff. Med. Sot. 55S. Wood. C.B. 236.

G-enus. CASSIA.

From the Hebrew Kctzioth , rendered by naaiaq in the Septuagint, and latinized
Cassia.

Synonymes. — Casse (Fr.) Rohnkassie ( Gcr .) Pypkassie (Dutch.) Cassiever ( Dan.
Sived.) Polpa di Cassia (I.) Fistularis (Sp.) Ameltas (H.) Suvernaca (San]
Konnekai (Tam.) Khyar Sheber (Arab.) Khyar Chirber (Pers.) Drangu (Jav.)
Mentus (Malay.) Sonali (Beng.)

THE ESSENTIAL CHARACTERS.

Calyx. Sepals generally five, more or less united, often un-
equal.

Corolla. Petals five, either papilionaceous or regular, perigy-
nous.

Stamens. Diadelphous, monadelphous or distinct. Anthers
versatile.

Ovary. Superior, single, and simple. Style and Stigma simple.

CASSIA FISTULA.

Friut. A legume , either continuous (one-celled) or (a foment)
jointed into one-seeded cells.

Seeds. Solitary or several, destitute of albumen.

THE SECONDARY CHARACTERS.

Cassia. Sepals five, scarcely united at base, nearly equal.
Petals five, unequal, but not papilionaceous. Stamens ten, dis-
tinct. Three upper anthers often sterrile ; three lower ones
beaked. Legume many seeded.

Calyx five-sepalled. Corol five-petalled. Anthers three, lower ones beaked, and on
longer incurved filaments. Legume membranaceous.

THE SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Casssia Fistula. Trunk from forty to fifty feet high, about the
size of a walnut tree. Leaves large, composed of from five to
six pairs of oval and acute folicles, from three to five inches long.
Flowers large, yellow, in clusters, hanging from the axilla of the
leaves.

Leaves in six pairs. Petioles glandless. Legume reniform.

THE ARTIFICIAL CHARACTERS.

Class X. Decandria. Stamens ten. Order. Monogynia.
Fruit , a legume. Ovary single and simple.

NATURAL HISTORY.

Cassia Fistula is a native of Egypt and the East Indies, but
is now naturalized in the West Indies and South America. It
was known to the Arab and Greek physicians of the middle ages,
and is supposed to have received its name from its agreeable
odor, somewhat resembling that of the celebrated spice.

The tree rises to the height of forty or fifty feet, with a large
trunk, covered with a soft, cinoritious bark, and is much
branched at the top. The leaves are composed of six pairs ot
ovate, pointed, undulated pinnae, of a pale green color, with
many transverse nerves, and peduncled. The stipules are
scarcely apparent. The flowers which appear in June are of a
golden color, placed upon long pendent terminal spikes. The
leaves of the calyx are crenated, blunt and greenish. The
petals unequal, spreading and waved. The three undermost
filaments are long and incurved. The others exhibit large

CASSIA FISTULA.

anthers, three of which are rostrated, or like the open beak of a
bird, at the extremity. The fruit is a long woody, dark-brown
pod, about the thickness of the human thumb, and nearly two
feet in length, cylindrical, with two longitudinal furrows on one
side, and one on the other, and divided into numerous trans-
verse cells, each containing one smooth, oval, yellowish, shining
seed, with red lines dividing it longitudinally, imbedded in soft
black pulp.

The fruit of the Cassia Fistula is known in commerce by the
name of Cassia pods, which are said to undergo a kind of fer-
mentation, to prepare them for keeping. For this purpose they
are collected before they are quite ripe, and carried into a close
room, in which is prepared a layer of palm leaves and straw six
inches thick, on which they are laid, the room closed, and the
next day the heap sprinkled with water, and this process re-
peated. In this way they are treated for forty days till they be-
come black. Those which are brought to this market come
principally from the West Indies, packed in casks and cases,
but a superior kind is brought from the East Indies, and is
easily distinguished by its smaller, smooth pod, and by the
greater blackness of its pulp. The heaviest pods, and those in
which the seeds do not rattle on being shaken, are the best, and
contain the greatest quantity of pulp.

The tree will thrive in loam and peat, and cuttings will root
in sand under a hand glass, in moist heat.

CHEMICAL AND MEDICAL PROPERTIES AND USES.

The pulp of Cassia Fistula is the only part employed in medi-
cine, it is of a very dark-brown color, of a very faint and sick
odor, and of a sweet mucilaginous and sub-acid taste. It is apt
to become sour if long exposed to the air, or mouldy if kept in a
damp place. It is viscid, almost entirely soluble in water, and
partially so in alcohol and sulphuric ether. The watery in-
fusion, which shows a tendency to gelatinize, has when filtered
the color of the pulp, and yields a precipitate with alcohol and
the solution of the superacetate of lead. The alcoholic and
ctherial tinctures are not affected by the addition of water,
although when they are evaporated a thin pellicle of resin re-
mains. No alteration is produced in the alcoholic and watery
infusions by infusion of galls, nitrate of silver, sulphate of iron,

CASSIA FISTULA.

nor the nitric nor sulphuric acids ; but chlorine throws down a
yellow-colored precipitate, which is insoluble in ether. Hence
there is reason for concluding with Vanquelin that this pulp
contains sugar, gelatine gluten, mucus, a small portion of resin,
extractive, and some coloring matter.

Cassia pulp is a gentle laxative, and well adapted for children
and very delicate females. In small dozes it is mild and agree-
able, and in larger ones purgative, but from the quantity required
to produce this latter effect, it is apt to occasion nausea, flatu-
lence, and griping. To assist its operation and prevent the
griping, it is usually conjoined with some neutral salt and an
aromatic. It does not appear to possess any advantage over the
pulp of prunes, and is not as agreeable. It is, however, seldom
used in this country, and as seldom in England.

The root also contains a bitter principle, and has been em-
ployed as a substitute for Peruvian bark. It contains a peculiar
principle which has been examined by Caventon, who regards it
as a powerful diuretic. It forms soluble combinations with the
mineral acids. The leaves and the flowers are also purgative.
Their employment is indicated when in the course of a phleg-
masia, it is necessary to keep the bowels open, but their ad-
ministration is contra-indicated in cases of hypochondria and in
atonic affections.

Confectio Cassle. Confection of Cassia. Take of fresh
cassia pulp half a pound, manna two ounces , tamarind pulp
an ounce , syrup of roses half a pound. Bruise the manna,
then dissolve it in the syrup by the heat of a water bath, and
having mixed in the pulp, evaporate down to a properconsistence.

Electuarium Cassie Fistula. Electuary of Cassia. Take
of cassia pulp four parts , tamarind pulp, manna, of each
one part, syrup of damask roses four parts. Bruise the manna
in a mortar, and dissolve it in the syrup by means of a gentle
heat, then add the pulps, and by a continued heat reduce the
mixture to a proper consistence.

Or another. Take of freshly extracted cassia pulp half a
pound , manna two ounces , tamarind pulp an ounce , syrup of
orange half a pound. Bruise the manna, then dissolve it in
the syrup by means of a moderate heat and add the pulp ;
lastly, evaporate slowly the mixture to a proper consistence.

This electuary is gently purgative, and is used to relieve
habitual costiveness, as a purge for children, and as a vehicle for
the exhibition of other more powerful medicines.

2ST? 78.

ip m&%- (Q)iunKf(®iLr[Brp©iiiiiinMo

Ginseng , fl ed berry. Five Fingers ac.

ARALIACEJ1.

Jlral i ads.

N°- 78.

PANAX QUINQTJEFOLIUM.

Ginseng. Red-berry , Five fingers, 8fC. , Sfc .

Place — North America.

Quality — Sweetish, aromatic.

Power — Stimulant, antispasmodic.

Use — Nervous affections, debility.

BOTANICAL ANALYSIS.

Natural Order. Hecleracese — L. Araliacete — J.
Class V. Pentandria. Order Digyma.

Willd. Sp. PL iv. 1124. Woodv. Med. Bot. 2d Ed. 149 t 58. Loudon Encu. PL
872. Bigelow Med. Bot. ii. 82. Linn. Sp. Pl. 393. U. S. Dis. 530. Raff'. Med. Bot.
ii. 53. Per El. Mat. Med. ii. 474. Griff. Med. Bot. 344. Kost. Mat. Med. 518
Tor. ar.d Gray FI. i. 646. Wood. C- B. 295.

Genus. PANAX.

From the Greek -nav all, and ukos a remedy supposed to be a panacea or universal
remedy.

Synonyiies.— Ginseng d’ Amerique (Fr.) Ginsang (It.) Kraftwurzel (Gcr.)

THE ESSENTIAL CHARACTERS.

Calyx. Superior, entire, or toothed.

Corolla. Petals five — ten deciduous, rarely wanting, valvate
in aestivation.

Stamens, Equal in number to the petals, and alternate with
them. Anthers introrse.

Ovary. Crowned with a disk, two or many celled. Ovules
solitary. Styles as many as the cells.

Fruit. FSaccate or drupacious, of several one-seeded cells.

PANAX QUINQUEFOLIUJ

THE SECONDARY CHARACTERS.

Panax. Diaeciously polygamous. Calyx adnate to the ovary.
Limb short, obsoletely five-toothed in the perfect flower. Calyx
in the staminate flower entire. Petals five. Stamens five,
alternate with the petals. Styles two — three. Fruit baccate,
two — three celled. Cells one seeded.

Polygamous, umhelled. Involucre many-leaved. Calyx five-toothed in the per-
fect flower, superior. Berry heart-form, two or three seeded. Calyx in the staminate
flower entire.

THE SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Panax Qwnquefolium. Pioot fusiform. Leaves three, ver-
ticillate, five foliate. Leaflets oval, acuminate, serrate, petiolate.
Pedicles of the umbel rather shorter than the common petioles.

Root fusifonn. Leaves ternate, quinate. Leaflets oval, acuminate, petioled, serrate.

THE ARTIFICIAL CHARACTERS.

Class V. Pentandria. ' Stamens five. Order Digynia. Calyx
superior. Flowers umbelled. Berry five-seeded.

NATURAL HISTORY.

The Ginseng is a perennial plant indigenous to North America
and Chinese Tartary. It occurs in most parts of the temperate
portions of the United States, but is most common to the west-
ward, being almost eradicated in the Atlantic States. It is
usually found at the roots of trees, in rich soil, especially in
hilly situations. It flowers in June and July. The hardy
species thrive well in light rich soil, the others grow in loam
and peat, and are increased by cuttings in sand under a hand-
glass, but from some trials that have been made when attempted
to be cultivated, they have occasionally not been found to succeed
well.

The Panax Quinquefolium is a high-sounding title, meaning
little less than that the plant which bears it is the long sought
universal elixir , a remedy for all things. In Chinese Tartary
the plant has been gathered and employed as an invaluable drug
from time immemorial. The roots which are said to bear some
resemblance to the human form, are gathered and dried and
enter into almost every medicine used by the Tartars and
Chinese.

PANAX QUINQUEFOLIUM

The Asiatic kind is found principally in that country between
39° and 47° north latitude, in the same kind of localities as in
this country. The collection of it is a monopoly enjoyed by the
Emperor, who guards the districts in which it grows with great
vigilance. Each individual who is employed to collect it, de-
livers two catties of the best roots gratuitously, and is paid its
weight in silver for all over this quantity. This insures the Em-
peror about 20,000 catties at about one-fourth of their market
price.

Notwithstanding that large quantities of this root are exported
from this country to China, and being there recognized as the
true Ginseng, and that most botanists have declared that the
plants are identical, yet, it is now admitted by some of the
best authorities, that they are distinct species, though very
closely allied. The mistake originally arose from the Jesuits,
some of whom becoming acquainted with the plant in Tartary,
thought that they recognized it in the American species ; and
in consequence, it was sent to China, where, although considered
an inferior kind, it met with a ready sale. But the market has
fluctuated very much, as from a fancied deterioration in the ar-
ticle, or from some other cause, it sometimes has not paid the
charges of exportation.

The following is a description of the American species. Root
usiform, whitish and thick, often branched, fleshy, with trans-
verse wrinkles. Stem erect, one to two feet high, round, smooth,
green below, purplish red above, divided at top into three petioles,
having a central peduncle at their base bearing a simple umbel.
Leaves on round and smooth footstalks. The petioles are long
i nd commonly furnished with five, but sometimes with three or
seven obovate leaflets. These are ovate, acuminate, doubly ser-
rate, dark green above, paler beneath, smooth on both sides, sup-
ported on partial footstalks, which, like the general ones, are
tinged with red at their insertion. The flowers are small, yel-
lowish, on short pedicels. The barren ones borne on separate
plants have larger petals and an entire calyx. The fertile ones
are succeeded by berries of a bright scarlet color. The fruit is
red, baccate reniform, with two semi-globose seeds.

CHEMICAL AND MEDICAL PROPERTIES AND USES.

Ginseng has a peculiar and rather pleasant camphorated smell ;
the taste is sweet and pungent, with a slight degree of aromatic

PANAX QUINQUEFOLIUM.

bitterness. It is a fine, gentle and agreeable stimulant, also re-
storative and antispasmodic. No analysis has been made of it ;
but Rafinesque states that the root owes its active properties to
a peculiar substance very similar to camphor, which he calls
Panacine. He says that this is white, pungent, soluble in
alcohol and water, and more fixed than camphor ; it contains
also a volatile oil, sugar, mucilage, resin, &c.

According to the Chinese authorities, the use of this plant
nourishes and strengthens the body, clears the judgment, re-
moves all nervous affections, gives a vigorous tone to the human
frame, and in short is an effectual remedy in all complaints.
Osbuk, in his Yoyage to China, (8vo. London, 1781,) says that
he never looked into the apothecaries’ shops but they were always
selling Gfinseng ; that both poor people, and those of the highest
rank made use of it, and that they boil half an ounce in their
tea or soup every morning as a remedy for consumption and
other diseases. Father Jartoux relates that the most eminent
physicians of China have written volumes on the medicinal
powers of this plant ; asserting that it gives immediate relief in
extreme fatigue, either of body or mind, that it dissolves pitui-
tous humours and renders respiration easy ; strengthens the
stomach, promotes appetite, stops vomiting, removes hysterical,
hypocondriacal and all nervous affections ; giving a vigorous tone
of body even in extreme old age. It is given by them in a
variety of forms, and the only ill result that it is capable of produc-
ing, is a tendency to hoemorrhage when it is used in very large
doses. It may be stated also that other persons who have used
the Chinese root are of opinion that many of the virtues attri-
buted to it are real, and that it is a highly valuable remedy.

On the other hand, the trials made with it, both in this country
and in Europe, show that the American species gives no proof of
such efficacy. It is merely a gentle stimulant, with some antispas-
modic powers, and is of little estimation. No fair and extended
trial of it, however, has been made ; and as regards the Chinese
kind, it is difficult to come to any just conclusion, for it can
scarcely be possible that any article so long in use and so highly
prized, can be wholly worthless ; and yet there is much reason
to believe that its beneficial effects are rather to be ascribed to
fashion and the effects of imagination, than to any intrinsic vir-
tues in the root.

The French inhabitants of Lower Canada have for many years
used this root for curing the asthma, and as a stomachic.

N° 79.

CIMJECIJFlUEcA. mM!TEMiD>SA.

I) lack' Snake root, Black Cohosh, Squaw root Aic ,

RMUNCULACEA

C ro wf o ots.

N°- 79.

CIMICIFUGA RACEMOSA.

Black Snake Root, Black Cohosh , Squaw Root , SfC.

Place — Europe and America.

Quality — Bitter, nauseous.

Power — Tonic, stimulating.

Use — Rheumatism, affections of the lungs, chorea, &c.

BOTANICAL ANALYSIS.

Natural Order. Multisilique — L. Ranunculaceae, — J.
Class XIII. Polyandria. Order Di-Pentagijnia.

Loudon, Ency. PL 476. Raf. i. 85. Per. El. Med Mat. ii. 758. Griff. Med. Bot.
92. Kost. Mat. Med. 232. T. & G. FI. i. 36. U. S. Bis. 211. Wood C. B. 147.

Genus. CIMICIFUGA.

From the Lat. cimex , a bug, and fuga, to drive away, indicating certain virtues a
species is supposed to possess, or alluding to its offensive odor.

Synonymes. — Cimicaire (F.) Das wanzenkraut (Ger.) Wantsdryver (D.) Taegeurt
(Dan.)

THE ESSENTIAL CHARACTERS.

Calyx. Sepals , mostly five, sometimes three, four or six,
mostly deciduous, and imbricated in eestivation.

Corolla. Petals , three — fifteen, hypogynous, sometimes ir-
regular or wanting.

Stamens. Indefinite, or numerous, distinct, hypogynous.
Anthers adnate or innate.

Ovary. Indefinite or numerous, rarely solitary, or few, dis-
tinct seated on the torus.

CIMICIFUGA RACEMOSA.

Fruit. Either dry achenia, or baccate or follicular. Embryo
minute, at the base of horny or fleshy albumen.

Seeds. Numerous.

THE SECONDARY CHARACTERS.

CiMiciFiTGA. Sepal s, four — five. Petals , three — eight, some-
times wanting. Stamens , indefinite or numerous. Anthers , in
trorse. Follicles , one — eight, oblong, many seeded.

Sepals , four or five- Petals , three to five, concave or unguiculate (sometimes by
abortive growth fewer or none if the genus Macrotrys is included- Carpels , one to
eight, follicle like, many seeded.

THE SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Cimictfuga Racemosa. Leaves , ternately decompound.
Leaflets , ovate oblong, incisely serrate. Racemes , very long.
Petals, two, forked slender. Style, one. Capsule, follicular
dry, dehiscent, ovate.

Leaves , decompound. Leaflets , oblong-ovate, gash-toothed. Racemes , in wand-like
spikes. Capsules , ovate.

THE ARTIFICIAL CHARACTERS.

Class Polyandria. Stamens, twenty or more, arising from
the receptacle (hypogynous). Order Di-Pentagynia. Leaves
never peltate. Herbs , with acrid, colorless juice.

NATURAL HISTORY.

The Black Snako Root is common all over the United States
from Maine to Florida, Louisiana and Missouri, growing in open
woods and hill sides. It flowers in June and July, when its
long, white racemes are very conspicuous. The plant is of easi
culture. It has a heavy, unpleasant smell when handled, and a
disagreeable, nauseous taste.

There are several varieties of this genus, but they are not
sufficiently distinct to require notice, and they continue to inter-
change their species according to the different views of botanists.
This plant was placed in the genus Act.e by Linnseus, and
removed by Pursh to Cimicifuga, also a Linnrean genus, in this
he has been followed by most modern botanists, although it
does not agree with the characters of the latter, better than with

CIMICIFUGA RACEMOSA.

those of the former. Rafinesque made it the type of his genus
Macrotrvs, and altered the specific name to Actocoides ; this
generic change was approved in part by De Candolle, who recog-
nized it as a sub-genus of Acta:a. Subsequently, however,
Rafinesque bestowed an entire new appellation on it, describing
it in his Medical Flora as Botrophis serpentaria. Much differ-
ence of opinion after all, exists among botanists with regard to
the true limits of this genus, some rejecting from it all the
monogynous species, whilst others include them, merely making
of them a separate section. The genus Botrophis of Rafinesque,
founded on the single pistil, and single dehiscent capsule would
now be adopted, were it not that the officinal species is still
recognized in the United States Pharmacopoeia, as Cimicifuga, as
well as by many of our best botanical authorities.

Root perennial, blackish, large, with numerous long fibres-
Stem simple, straight, from three to six feet high, smooth, angular,
furrowed. Leaves few and alternate, one nearly radical, is very
large, decomposed, three pinnate, the upper one is bi-pinnate
Leaflets sessile opposite, three to seven, dentate or incised.
Flowers in a terminal raceme, from one to three feet long.
Calyx, four or five leaved, white. Petals, from four to eio-ht,
thickish, sometimes wanting. Stamina numerous. Pistils, from
one to five. Capsule, oblong, many seeded. Seeds squamous.

The root, as found in the shops is composed of a rough tuber-
culated head and numerous radicals, seven inches long, of a
black color externally, white internally. The radicals are ex-
tremely brittle and liable to be separated. The odor is feeble
and earthy, the taste bitter and astringent, leaving an impression
of acrimony on the palate. The sensible properties depend upon
the time when the root is collected, and the mode of drying and
preserving it. It should be collected late in the summer or
in the autumn.

CHEMICAL AND MEDICAL PROPERTIES AND USES.

The Cimicifuga Racemosa has been frequently analysed b>
several eminent and respectable physicians and druggists,
according to whom the following substances have been detected.
Fatty matter, gum, starch, resin, tannin, wax, gallic acid, sugar,
oil, black coloring matter, green coloring matter, lignin, and
salts of lime, iron, magnesia and potassa. The experiments,
however, led to no decided conclusion as to the nature of the
active principle.

CIMICIFUGA RACEMOSA.

The first account we have of the exhibition of this root as a
remedial substance is given by the late Professor Barton who
considered it a valuable astringent.

Dr. G-arden, of Virginia, may be said however to have been
the first who particularly drew the attention of the profession to
its properties in phthisis, pulmonalis, and other affections, and he
speaks of the beneficial effects in the highest terms. He has
shown that this medicine, like digitalis, affected the brain and
operated powerfully upon the secretory organs and absorbent
system. When exhibited in large doses it prostrates to a dis-
tressing degree, producing nausea, vertigo, anxiety, great rest-
lesness, pains in the extremities, &c. These effects are, however,
only temporary.

Dr. N. Chapman states : — “ besides the astringent property of
this root which I have never been able to discover in any degree,
it is expectorant, narcotic, anti-spasmodic, diaphoretic, and in
a large dose, emetic. Given so as to effect sensibly the system,
we find first some nausea, followed by great freedom of expecto-
ration, and more or less relaxation of the surface, with slight
nervous tremors, and vertiginous affections. The pulse during
this state is considerably lowered, and is apt to remain so for
some time.” He moreover adds, “ It is alleged in consumption
to lessen the frequency of the pulse, to allay the cough, to quiet
the mobility of the system, and particularly to subdue hectic
fever. How far this is true my own experience does not enable
me to say.”

Dr. Mears, who tried the medicine upon himself, has pub-
lished a number of cases, tending to prove its great efficacy
and utility in catarrhal affections generally, rheumatism and
violent coughs, and that it is also a valuable astringent in bowel
complaints of children.

In chorea it is strongly recommended. Dr. Young, several
years ago brought Cimfcifuga Racemosa before the profession
as a good remedy in this disease, and his results have to a con-
siderable extent been verified by other physicians. Professor
Wood found that a case under his care yielded to it after the
failure of purgatives and metallic tonics. The latter author ex-
hibited it satisfactorily in a case of convulsions occurring period-
ically, and connected with uterine disorder. In these cases,
however, the precise mode of its operation is obscure.

Black Snake Root may be given in powder, in doses of half a
drachm two or three times daily.

1ST0 8 0

(CIHI IB JLMIE Erfl.^IB F A .

Ralmonr. Snalte head. Shell Flower &c.

SCHROPULARIACEJE.

Figworts.

N° . 80.

CHELONE GLABRA.

Snake Head, Salt Rheum weed , Balmony , Shell-flower.

Place — North America.

Quality — Unpleasant, sickening.

\. Power — Tonic, laxative.

Use — Fever, jaundice, debility.

BOTANICAL ANALYSIS.

Class XIV. Didynamia. Order Angiospermia.
Natural Order. Personatse. — L. Schropulariaceae, — J.

Loudon, Ency. PI. 516. Linn. Sp. PI. 748. Raf. Med. Flor. ii. 117. Per. Mat.
Med. Griff. Med. Bot. 519. Kost. Mat. Med. 456. T. Flor. 243. Wood C.
B. 400.

Genus. CHELONE.

From the Greek a tortoise, to the back of which the helmet of the present

genus has been fancifully compared.

Synonymies. — Galane or tortue (F.) Die schildblume (Ger.) Schildbloem (D.)

Skiolblomster (Dan.) Skoldblomster (Swed.)

THE ESSENTIAL CHARACTERS.

Calyx. Sepals , four or five, unequal, more or less united at

base, inferior, persistent.

Corolla. Bilabiate, personate or otherwise irregular, the lobes
imbricate in aestivation.

Stamens. Four — didynamous rarely with the rudiment of the
fifth, sometimes two only, the three others either rudimen-
tary, or wholly wanting.

CHELONE GLABRA.

Ovary. Free — two-celled, many-seeded. Style simple. Stigma
two-lobed.

Fruit. Capsule two-celled, two-valved, with central placenta?.
Seeds. Indefinite, albuminous. Embryo straight.

THE SECONDARY CHARACTERS.

Chelone. Calyx deeply five-parted, with three bracts at
base. Corolla inflated, bilabiate, the fifth filament abortive,
smooth above, shorter than the rest. Anthers woolly. Cap-
sule valves entire. Seeds broadly membranacious, winged.

Calyx five-cleft or five-sepalled, three-bracted. Cord. Ringent, inflated, the
upper lip emarginate-obtuse, under lip slightly three-cleft. The rudiment of a
smooth filament, between and shorter than the two tallest stamens. Anthers woolly.
Capsule two-celled, two-valved. Seeds with membranaceous margins.

THE SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Chelone Glabra. Smooth. Leaves opposite, oblong-lan
ceolate, acuminate, serrate. Flowers densely spiked.

Leaves , opposite, lance-oblong, acuminate, serrate. Spikes , terminal, densely-flow-
ered.

THE ARTIFICIAL CHARACTERS.

Class Didynamia. Stamens four, two of them longer than
the other two. Order Angiospermia. Seeds in a pericarp.
Calyx inferior, Herbs. Herbage green. Seeds many. Calyx
imbricate in aestivation.

NATURAL HISTORY.

Chelone is a North American genus, consisting of but few
species, all herbaceous plants with opposite leaves, and sub-
'mbricately spiked, terminal flowers having the lower lip of the
corolla bearded internally. They differ in the form and insertion
of the leaves and in the color of the flowers, which vary from pure
white to purplish. They are all handsome plants, with singular
ornamental and large blossoms, but inodorous, and shaped much
like the head of a snake, the mouth open and tongue extended.
They abound in most parts of the United States in wet situations,
near brooks and waters, and blossom from July until late in the
Autumn. They are of easy culture in loamy soil, or loam and
a little peat, and propagated by cuttings or by dividing the root.

The root of the Chelone Glabra is perennial. Stem erect
from two to four feet high, somewhat quadrangular. Leaves

CHELONE GLABRA.

opposite, of a dark and shining green above, with irregular
serratures and sessible or nearly so. Flowers terminal in a
dense short spike. Each flower sessile, and furnished with three
bracts, which are ovate, acute, and entire. Calyx with five
unequal imbricated segments, oblong and obtuse. Corolla white,
often tinged with red, inflated, contracted at the mouth, with
short gaping lips. Filaments hairy. Style long, exsert, bending
downwards.

For medical purposes, the plant should be collected in clear,
dry weather, and as soon as it is in bloom, as the leaves fre-
quently become mildewed after that time. It should bo dried
in the sun, or in a warm chamber, or loft, and carefully guarded
from a moist, or damp atmosphere, or it will acquire a dark or
black color.

CHEMICAL AND MEDICAL PROPERTIES AND USES.

The best detailed account of the properties of Cfulone G-labar
is given by Rafinesque, who appears to have been the first also
who introduced this plant into notice. He was indebted to Dr.
Lawrence of New Lebanon, and the Doctor to the Indians and
Shakers.

The whole plant may be used, but the leaves only are pre-
ferred ; these are extensively bitter, and furnish one of the most
important and strongest ingredients to the best bitters, without
any aromatic smell, and very little astringency. They are said
to be tonic, cathartic, and hepatic, but no certain information
has been afforded on the subject. No analysis has been made
of them, but they appear to contain gallic acid, a peculiar
resinous substance, similar to pierine and aloes, of a black color,
and very bitter taste, lignine, &o. They communicate their
properties to both water and alcohol. Wine is the best men-
strum, but it becomes intolerably bitter.

Snakehead is useful in many diseases, fevers, jaundice, hepa-
titis, eruptions of the skin, &c. In small doses it is laxative,
but in full doses, it purges actively, acting powerfully on the
liver, and removing the yellowness of the skin in jaundice and
liver diseases. The dose is a drachm of the powdered leaves
three times a day. The wine of it in small repeated doses has
nearly the same effect, although neither so speedily or violently.
The Indians use a strong decoction of the whole plant in a
variety of comolaints, and it is held in much esteem by them.

CHELONE GLABRA.

The leaves make a vermifuge, which is safe in common cases.
It should be administered in infusion, continued for a time, and
followed by a suitable purge. An ounce of the dried leaves is
sufficient in most cases for children.

“As I have discovered,” says Dr. Curtis of Ohio, “in the
snakehead no tendency either to open or constipate the bowels,
I call it a pure, neutral bitter. As bitterness is in its nature
stimulant, it is of course deobstruent, and finally restorative. It
should therefore be used freely as a general equalizer of the
circulation and purifier of the blood.”

The following formula is highly recommended : —

Take of pulverized poplar-bark six pounds, golden seal, cloves,
ginger, and prickly-ash bark, each a pound and a half, snake-
head a pound, cayenne three quarters of a pound, and sugar
seven pounds. Mix thoroughly and sift. If the prickly-ash is
omitted, the quantity of cayenne may be somewhat increased.
It is usual to add about one-twentieth part of cayenne to the
tonic or restorative preparation.

The above preparation is found to be one of the best medicines
in use for restoring the tone of the digestive organs. It is an
excellent remedy in jaundice, dyspepsia, worms, flatulency,
piles, headache, giddiness, pains in the stomach and bowels,
diarrhea, gravelly complaints, strangury, gonorrhaea, fluor albus,
heart-burn, rickets, mercurial salivation, consumption, and the
whole train of chronic diseases. It is a laxative, and keeps the
bowels open, unless they are obstinately costive. Its use would
be improper during the continuance of a violent febrile or in-
flammatory affection, but as soon as the disease is subdued it
may be freely and beneficially employed. In the form of a weak
tea well sweetened, it is a refreshing drink for weak patients,
and is grateful also to those in health during the hot weather of
summer. If food occasions distress, a dose of it will generally
afford relief.

The proper time to take these bitters is about a quarter of an
hour before each meal. Take a moderately heaped tea-spoonful
of the powder, and double the quantity of sugar, stir them
together, add a tea-cupful of boiling water, and drink the tea
when sufficiently cool, If the patient is obliged to be in the
open air, a tea-spoonful of the powder, with sugar to suit the
taste, should be mixed in half a wine-glass of cold, or milk-
warm water, and taken in substance. The medicine need not
bo used after the appetite is fully restored.

N° 81.

HYPERICACEAE.

St. John’s-w o r t s.

No. 81.

HYPERICUM PERFORATUM.

Common St. John’s-wort.

Place — Europe.

Quality — Balsamic.

Pov)er — Astringent, anthelminthic.

Use — Hamoptysis, hypochondriasis, phthisis, and ul-
cers, tumors, kc.

BOTANICAL ANALYSIS.

Natural Order. Rotacese. — L Hypericaceae. — J.
Class XVIII. Poljadelphia. Older Polyandria.

Linn. Sp. PI. 1 105. Wffld. Sp. PL iii. 1453. Cullen. Mat. Med. 173. Loud. Ency.
PL 658. Raf. Med. Flor. ii. 229. U. S. Disp. 1263. T. and G. Flor. i. 160. Griff.
Med. Bot. 156. Beach. Fam. P/i. 682. Lind. Flor- Med. 117. Pursh. Flor. M. A.
ii. 377. Wood, Class Book , 184.

Genus. HYPERICUM.

A name of unknown meaning. Ynnp‘Kov, Dioscorides.

Synonymes. — Le millepertuis (Fr.) Das Johannis Kraut (Ger.) St. Jans Kruid
(Butch.) Pilatro (I.) Corazoncillo (Sp.) Melfurade (Port.) Sweioboi (Russ.)

THE ESSENTIAL CHARACTERS.

Calyx. Sepals , four — five, distinct or cohering, persistent,
unequal, dotted.

Corolla. Petals four — five, hypogynous, aestivation twisted,
veins oblique, dotted.

Stamens. Hypogynous, indefinite in three or more parcels.
Anthers versatile.

Ovary. Single, superior. Style slender. Stigma simple.

HYPERICUM PERFORATUM.

Fruit. A capsule or berry, many seeded
Seeds. Indefinite, minute.

THE SECONDARY CHARACTERS.

Hypericum. Sepals five, connected at base, subequal, leaf-like.
Petals five, oblique. Stamens indefinite, or numerous (sometimes
few) united at base into three — five parcels with no glands between
them. Styles three — five, distinct or united at base, persistent.

Calyx five — parted, divisions equal, subovate. Corol five — petalled. Filaments often
united at the base in three or five sets. Styles two — five. Capsule membranaceous,
roundish, with a number of' cells equal to the number of styles. The bases of the
filaments are often in groups, when they are not united.

THE SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Hypericum Perforatum. Flowers with three styles. Stem
two-edged, branched. Leaves elliptical, with pellucid dots.
Sepals lanceolate, half as long as the petals. Segments of the
calyx lanceolate.

Erect, branching. Stem two edged. Leaves oblong, obtuse, transparently punctate.
Panicle terminal brachiate, leafy. Petals longer than the acute, lanceolate calyx.

THE ARTIFICIAL CHARACTERS.

Class Polyadelphia. Stamens united by their filaments into
more than two sets. Order Polyandria. Leaves opposite
punctate. Flowers yellow. Fruit a membranaceous capsule.

NATURAL HISTORY.

This extensive Genus Hypericum, contains herbaceous, or
shrubby species, found in all parts of the world, and of which
between thirty to forty are natives of North America. They all
possess medicinal properties in a greater or less degree, propor-
tionate to the abundance or otherwise of the oil, bearing glands
of the flowers and leaves. Certain species having a berry in-
stead of a capsular fruit, have been separated under the generic
name of Vismia. These are principally natives of tropical
climates, and furnish a yellow product very analogous to gamboge.

Hypericum Perforatum is a hardy plant, a native of Europe,
but has been introduced on this continent, prevailing almost
everywhere on pastures and dry soils both in Canada and
throughout the United States, much to the annoyance of farmers,

HYPERICUM PERFORATUM.

as it has become very abundant, and is not only very difficult to
eradicate, but extremely exhausting to the ground. It has a
peculiar balsamic odor. Its taste is bitter, resinous and somewhat
astringent. The root is perennial, fusiform and tortuous. The stem
is aneipital, about eighteen inches in height, much branched,
curved below, and erect above. The leaves are closely sessile, of
an ovate elliptical shape, of a light green color, and conspiciously
marked with numerous pellucid dots. The flowers are of a bright
yellow color, arranged in a terminal corymb. The calyx is per-
sistent, and is composed of five acute-lanceolate sepals, united at
base. The corolla is of five-ovate, obtuse, sessile petals, much
longer than the sepals, of a yellow color, with numerous dark
glandular spots at the edges. The stamens are numerous, and
divided into three sets. The anthers are small. The styles
are three with very small stigmas. The fruit is a somewhat
globose capsule, with three cells, and opening naturally by three
valves. Seeds numerous, very small.

Everlasting John’s- wort is apt to flourish Undisturbed and fill
the earth with seeds or roots, in readiness to spread and grow
whenever the earth is moved for their reception. This plant has
taxed the ingenuity of vigilant farmers in effecting its removal.
It should never be allowed to perfect its seeds, and if thev are
ever so permitted, the farmer has suffered an enemy to steal a
march upon him, which may require much time and labor to
subdue.

CHEMICAL AND MEDICAL PROPERTIES AND USES.

No complete analysis of the Hypericum Perforatum has ever
yet been made, but from the experiments of Mr. Blair (Am.
Jour. Pharm. ii. 23.) its active constituents appear to be an
acrid, resinous substance, pervading the whole plant, a red oil,
furnished by the gland on the petals, and some tannin. Hv-
pericum is not recognized as officinal by the United States Phar-
macopoeia, but is so by many of the European authorities as a
constituent of a variety of syrups, tinctures, &c.

The St. John’s- wort was, notwithstanding, held in high esti-
mation by the earlier writers on the Materia Medica, and
numerous virtues attributed to it particularly as a febrifuge and
anthelmintic. “ The leaves, flowers, and seeds stamped (says
Gerard , 1590), and put into a glass with olive oil, and set in
the warm sun for several weeks together, and then strained from

HYPERICUM PERFORATUM.

those herbs, and the like quantity now put in and sunned in like
manner, doth make an oil of the color of blood, which is a most
precious remedy for deep wounds and sores, and those that are
through the body, for sinews that are pricked, or any wound
made with a venomed weapon. I ain accustomed ( continues
Gerard ), to make a compound oil hereof, the making of which,
any one shall receive at my hands, because that I know in the
world there is not a better, no, not natural balsam itself, for I
dare undertake to cure any such wound as absolutely in each
respect, if not sooner and better, as any man whatsoever, shall
or may with natural balsam.”

The plant still enjoys much reputation in some parts of
Europe in the treatment of many diseases, hysteria, mania,
intermittent fever, dysentery, gravel, hemorrhages, pectoral com-
plaints, worms, and jaundice. It was also formerly held in
high estimation for the cure of demoniacs, and the superstition
still lingers among the vulgar in some countries. At present the
plant is scarcely used except as a domestic remedy. The. flow-
ering summits are the parts employed, though the unripe
capsules are possessed of the same virtues, in an equal degree,
and the seeds are said to be even stronger. It is difficult to
ascertain its exact value as a remedy, bilt from its sensible
properties, and from the character of the complaints in which it
has been thought useful, it may be considered independently of
its astringency, as somewhat analogous in medicinal power, to
the turpentines. Whatever may be the real value of this plant
however, as a medicinal agent, it deserves attention, and that a
fair trial should be made of it, the testimonies in its favor are so
strong that it can scarcely be as inert as is now supposed, and
as is observed by Cullen (Mat. Med., 173), “ we should not be
so audacious as to neglect it, for by the sensible qualities it
appears active, and there are many well vouched testimonies of
its virtues, particularly of its diuretic powers.”

St. John’s-wort is said to exercise an injurious effect on cattle
by inflaming the skin wherever the hair is white. Although
this belief is very general, it is by no means certain, that the
injury is owing to this plant. Is it not rather attributable to a
species of Euphorbia which in almost all cases is found growing
where the Hypericum abounds, the acrid juice of the former
plant being fully capable of causing inflammation, whilst the
oil furnished by the glands of the latter, and which is the active
principle of the plant, is celebrated for its vulnerary powers.

N? 82

Lignum vita?, Guaiacum .

RUTACE7E.

Rueworts.

N° 82.

GUAIACUM OFFICINALE.

Lignum-vit^e, Guaiacum.

Place — Jamaica, Hispaniola.

Quality — Drying, somewhat acrid.

Power — Aperient, purifying, sternutatory.

Use — The bark and resin in syphilis, leucorrhoea, gout,
scabies.

BOTANICAL ANALYSIS.

Natural Order. Gruinales — L. Butaceae, — J.

Class X. Decandria Order Monogynia.

Linn. Sp. PI. 546. Willd. Sp. PL ii. 538. Woodv. i. 43. Lind. Flor. Med. 214.
Stokes ii. 486. Stephenson and Churchill ii. 90. Loudon, Ency. Pl. 352. Raf. Med
Flor. ii. 225, U. S. Dis. 359. Griff. Med. Hot. 203. Per. El. Mat. Med. ii. 634!
Reach Fam. Pliy. 656. Kosts. Mat. Med. 528.

Genus. GUAIACUM.

From Guaiac, the name given to the tree by the natives of Guiana.

Synonymes.— Gayac, Gomme-resin de Gayac (F.) Gemeiner Franzosenholz
Guajak-gummi ( G .) Pokhout (Dutch.) Franzostrace (Dan) Franzosenhnlt3
(Swed.) Guajaco, Gommo-resina di Guajaco (I.) Guayaco (S.) Guajaco (Port.)

THE ESSENTIAL CHARACTERS.

Calyx. Sepals , four — five.

Corolla. Petals , four — five, rarely wanting, or none.
Stamens. As many, or twice or thrice as many as petals
inserted on the outside of a cup-like disk.

Ovary. Three — five lobed, three- -five celled. Styles united
or distinct only at base.

Fruit. Uusually separating into its component, few-seeded
carpels.

Seeds. Not numerous.

GUAIACUM OFFICINALE.

THE SECONDARY CHARACTERS.

Guaiacum. Calyx five — partite, obtuse. Petals, five. Sta-
mens, ten, with filaments naked or sub-appendiculated. Style and
Stigma one. Capsule substipitate, five — celled, five — angled,
or from abortion two to three — celled. Seeds solitary, fixed to the
axis pendulous. Albumen cartilaginous, rimulose. Cotyledons
thickish.

Sepals five, obtuse, unequal. Petals five, equal. Stamens ten. Filaments naked.
Style and Stigma united. Capsule angled, two — five celled. Leaves abruptly
pinnate.

THE SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Guaiacum Officinale. Leaves , opposite. Peduncles axillary
one to three together, one flowered, filiform, minutely puberu-
lous. Sepals five. Petals, five thrice the length of the sepals,
oblong, bluntish, blue, hairy. Filaments, ten. Anthers, bifid
at the base, arcuate, yellow. Fruit, a fleshy capsule.

Leaves bijugate. Leaflets sessile, more or less obovate, rounded at the apex, nerved,
glabrous. The common petioe terete, channelled above. Peduncles axillary, one to
three together, germinate.

THE ARTIFICIAL CHARACTERS.

Class Df.candria .—Stamens ten. Order Monogynia. Fruit ,
not a legume. Leaves not sensitive. Calyx five — cleft, unequal.
Petals five, inserted into the calyx. Capsule angular, three or
five celled.

NATURAL HISTORY.

The Guatacum is a native of the West India islands, growing in
Cuba, St. Domingo, Jamaica and the warmer parts of America.
It rises from forty to sixty feet high, and is four or five in cir-
cumference with crowded flexuose branches. The bark is
thick and smooth, and of a grayish color. The wood is exceed-
ingly hard. It is known as the Lignum-vitce of commerce, used
by turners in the fabrication of articles requiring density and
strength. The leaves are abruptly pinnate, consisting of two or
three pairs of smooth, shining, veined, obovate, dark green
leaflets, almost sessile. The flowers are peduncled in a kind
of umbels which spring from the divisions of the smaller branches.
The calyx consists of five concave, oblong, blunt, spreading,
unequal, deciduous leaves. The petals are five, of a blue color,
elliptical, concave, and spreading. The stamens are erect and
villous, with yellowish hooked anthers. The germen is oval,
with a short style and simple stigma. The capsule is subtur-

GUAIACUM OFFICINALE.

binate, on a short pedicel, smooth, and of a pale ferruginous
hue, pentagonous, with ribbed angles, and five — celled, but two
or three of the cells are often abortive. The seeds are solitary.

All the parts of this tree possess medicinal qualities, but the
wood and the peculiar substance afforded by it, are the only
parts used. The virtues of the wood depend altogether on the
peculiar matter it contains. This is spontaneously exuded from
the tree, and is called native gum, it concretes in tears, which
are semi-pellucid and very pure, but the greater part of it is
obtained by making incisions into the trunk, or as it is termed,
jagging the tree. This operation is performed in May, and the
juice which flows copiously is concreted by the sun. It is atso
obtained by sawing the wood into billets, and boring a hole
longitudinally through them, so that when one end of a billet is
laid on a fire, the guaiac, melting runs through the hole from the
opposite end, and is collected in a calabash. Boiling the chips
or raspings in salt and water, also separates the guaiac, which
as it rises to the surface may be collected by skimming.

The wood is brought to market either in large solid pieces
which weigh from four to five cwt. each, and are covered with
a yellowish alburnum, or it is already rasped.

The guaiac, or gum as it is improperly termed, arrives in
casks and mats, the former containing from one to four cwt.,
the latter generally less than one cwt. each.

CHEMICAL AND MEDICAL PROPERTIES AND USES.

The wood of Guaiacum is in-oderous, but when heated it emits
an aromatic odor, and the taste is bitterish, sub-acrid, and biting.
It is heavier than water, its specific gravity is 1,333, externally
yellowish and internally of a blackish brown color mixed with
green streaks. Its goodness may be ascertained by exposing it to
the fumes of nitrous acid, which give it a bluish green color, if it be
good, yet the decoction is not affected by nitrous acid. The resin
or guaiac has a fragrant odor, with scarcely any taste, but occa-
sions, when swallowed, a sensation of heat in the throat. It has a
resinous aspect, is of a greenish brown color, externally and inter-
nally presents a mixture of greenish, reddish, and brownish tints.
It is somewhat translucent, breaks with a vitreous fracture, ami
is easily reduced to a powdor which is grey at first, but becomes
green in a short time when it is exposed to the air and light, a
change which appears to depend on the absorption of oxygen.

GUAIACUM OFFICINALE.

The specific gravity of guaiac is 1,2289. It is sometimes adul-
terated with common resin and manchinal gum. The former
is detected by the turpentine emitted when the suspected guaiac
is thrown on hot coals ; and the latter by adding to the alco-
holic solution a few drops of sweet spirit of nitre, and diluting
with water the guaiac is precipitated, but the adulteration floats
in white strire.

Both the wood and the guaiac are stimulant, diaphoretic,
diuretic, and purgative. The wood was introduced into Europe
by the Spaniards, as a remedy for lues venera, in 1508, by
G-onsalvo Ferrand, and gained much celebrity from curing
Ulrich Vanllutten, but it had long before been used for the same
purpose by the natives of St. Domingo, and it is not certain that
VanHutten’s case was one of pure syphilis, as he had been suf-
fering from the disease from the age of nine years. It obtained
so much reputation, however, that the exhibition of mercury was
discontinued for a considerable time, and even in the eighteenth
century its» specific powers over this disease were maintained
by Boerhaave, but frequent disappointments, and more correct
observations have shown that it possesses no powers of eradi-
cating the venereal virus, and that it is useful only after a suc-
cessful mercurial course, for repairing the strength and vigor of
the system, “ and where a thickened state of the ligaments, or
of the periosteum, remains, or where there are foul, indolent
ulcers, or in suspending the progress of some of the secondary
symptoms for a short time, as ulcers of the tonsils, erruptions
and nodes. The decoction of the wood has been found more
useful in cutaneous diseases, scrofulous affections of the mem-
branes and ligaments, and in ozsena. The guaiao itself is an
efficacious remedy in chronic rheumatism, and arthritic affec-
tions, as well as those diseases for which the decoction of the
wood is usually given, and in every respect it may be regarded
as the active ingredient of the wood. Its sensible effects are a
grateful sense of warmth in the stomach, dryness of the mouth,
and thirst, with a copious flow of sweat, if the body be kept
externally warm, or if the guaiac be united with opium and
antimonials, but when the body is freely exposed, instead of
producing diaphoresis, it augments considerably the secretion of
urine. It may be exhibited either in substance or in tincture.
This dose is from ten grains to half a drachm, in the form of
pills, or of bolus, or made into an emulsion with water by means
of mucilage or yolk of egg. Larger doses purge.

N? 33.

TAlSmCETPIFM VHnUBAmTR .

Ta r. s y common tan t,y.

COMPOSITE.

•/Is t e r w o rt s.

N°- 83.

TANACETUM VULGARE.

Tansy, Common Tansy.

Place — Europe.

Quality — Bitter.

Power — Tonic, stomachic, anthelmintic.

Use — Dyspepsia, hysterics, intermittents, worms, gout,
&c.

BOTANICAL ANALYSIS.

Natural Order. Composite) Discoidese. — L. Corym-
biferee — J.

Class XIX. Syngenesia. Order Polygamia superjlua.

Linn. Sp. PI. 1184. Willd Sp. PI. iii. 1814. Woodv. i. 115. Stephenson &
Churchill ii. 96. Cullen Mat. Med. ii. Loudon, Ency. PI. 696. Raf. Med. Flor. ii.
266. U. S. Dis. 703. T. & G. Flor. ii. 414. Griff. Med. Bot. 407. Per. El. Med.
Bot. 407. Beach. Fam. Ph. 675. Wood. C. B. 350.

Genus. TANACETUM.

An alteration or corruption of a privative and Oavaros death, a plant which does not
perish, or possess durable flowers.

Synontmes.— Tanassie (F.) Rheinfarn (G.) Worm Kruid. (Butch.) Rhreinfan
(Ban.) Renfona (Swed.) Kiviat wrotyczowy (Pol.) Tanaceto (/.) Atanasia (S.)
Tanasia (Port.) Dikajariabina (Russ.)

THE ESSENTIAL CHARACTERS

Calyx. Closely adherent to the ovary. The limb wanting, or
membranaceous, and divided into bristles, hairs, &c.; called:
i pappus.

TANACETUM VULGARE.

Corolla. Superior, consisting of five united jpetals, either ligunate
or tubular.

Stamens. Five alternate with the lobes of the corolla. Anthers
cohering into a cylinder.

Ovary. Inferior, one-celled, one-ovuled. Style two-cleft, the
inner margins of the branches occupied by the stigmas.
Fruit. An achenia, dry, indehiscent, one-seeded, crowned with
the pappus.

Seeds. Numerous.

THE SECONDARY CHARACTERS.

Tanacetum. Involucre hemispherical, imbricate, the scales all
minute. Receptacle convex, naked. Pappus a slight mem-
braneous border. Achcnia with a large epigynous disk.

Involucre imbricate, hemispheric. Scales acuminate. Rays obsolete, three-cleft.
Egret somewhat marginal. Receptacle naked.

THE SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Tanacetum Yulgare. Leaves pinnately divided. Segments
oblong — lanceolate, pinnatifid and incisely serrate. Heads
fastigiate — corymbose.

Leaves , doubly pinnate, gash — serrate. In the variety Tanaceium Crispum, double
tansy. The leaves are crisped and dense.

THE ARTIFICIAL CHARACTERS.

Class Syngenesia. Stamens five, cohering by the tips of
their anthers. Order Polygamia Superflua. Herbaceous plants.
Flowers , or florets , collected into dense heads (compound flowers).
Corollas monopetalous of various forms.

NATURAL HISTORY

Tansy is a native of Europe, and was a favorite plant with
old King Charlemagne, who took considerable pains that it should
be cultivated in his domains. It is, however, naturalized in
many parts of the United States, and grows wild on hills, and by
the sides of roads and hedges, and in old fields. It flowers from
July to September. It is also cultivated in gardens as well for
medicinal and culinary, as oramental purposes. There are three
varieties, the common, which answers best for the first of the

TANACETUM VULGARE.

above purposes, the curled which is generally preferred for the
second, and the variegated which is chiefly used for ornament.

Tansy may be propagated in spring or autumn by rooted slips,
or by dividing the roots into several sets, plant them in any
compartment of the kitchen or physio garden, from twelve to
eighteen inches asunder. The plant continues for several years,
producing abundant tufts of leaves annually. As they run up
in strong stalks in summer, these should be cut down to encour-
age a production of young leaves low on the stem.

Tanacetum 'Vulgare is a perrenial herbaceous plant, the root
is creeping, sending up stiff, erect stems, about two feet in
height, leafy, obscurely hexagonal and striated, with altetnate
leaves, doubly pinnatifid, acutely cleft, somewhat downy on the
under side, cased at the base, and embracing the stem. The
flowers are in terminal, dense, corymbs of a bright yellow color,
and flattish. The leaflets of the calyx are obtuse, with a dry
scaly margin. The florets are numerous, those of the disc her-
maphrodite and five-cleft, those of the margin female and
trifid. The seeds are small, uniform, inversely pyramidal,
pentagonal, ribbed, of an ash color, and crowned with a narrow
marginate, membranaceous pappus.

CHEMICAL AND MEDICAL PROPERTIES AND USES.

Tansy has a strong disagreeable, peculiar, fragrant odor, and
a warm acrid bitterish taste, somewhat resembling that of cam-
phor. The leaves and flowers are used ; they yield their peculiar
qualities to water and alcohol, and in distillation with water
they afford a greenish-yellow essential oil, which has in perfec-
tion the odor and taste of the plant. This oil ( oleum tanaceti) is
yellow, sometimes green, and its specific gravity is 0.952. The
leaves and flowers contain also a peculiar acid which has been
called tanacetic , volatile-oil, bitter resin, fatty oil, wax, &c. They
have been analyzed by Fromherz, and by Peschier, and the con-
stituents are as already mentioned. Their medical properties
are owing to the oil and bitter resin. The tanacetic acid is crys.-
tailizable. It precipitates lyme, baryta, and oxide of lead. With
a solution of acetate of copper it causes a precipitate.

Tansy produces the usual effects of the aromatic bitter tonics,
which by continued administration in debilitated and relaxed
conditions of the body, increase gradually the tenacity of th.e
whole system, and thereby render the fibres more tense and

TANACETUM VULGARE.

strong, and give better firmness and density to all the tissues and
organs.

The leaves and flowers of Tansy are tonic, stomachic, and
anthelmintic. They were formerly regarded as a powerful
remedy in intermittents, dropsy, hysteria, and obstructed men-
struation. There is a common belief that it acts specially on
the uterus, and hence the oil has frequently been resorted to for
the production of abortion, and several cases of death have en-
sued from the practice. A fatal case of poisoning with half an
ounce of oil of tansy is recorded in the Medical Magazine for Nov.
1834. Frequent and violent clonic spasms were experienced,
with much disturbance of respiration, and the action of the heart
gradually became weaker till death took place from its entire
suspension. — ( U. S. Dis. from Am. Jour, of Med. Sciences ,
XYI. 256).

In medicine, the plant is rarely employed by the regular prac-
titioner. Experience and the knowledge of better remedies have
in a great measure set aside its use. An infusion of the whole
herb in boiling water has been recommended as a preventative
of the return of gout. It is also said that if fresh meat be rubbed
with it, the flesh-fly will not injure it.

As a vermifuge the plant certainly possesses some pretensions,
rather, however, as a preventative of the generation of worms,
than as an agent for their removal when they have become a
source of annoyance. In the investigation of the pathology of
the existence of worms, various plausible abnormal conditions
of the intestines have been invoked for evidence in favor of a
theory which contemplates the cold slime or mucous accumula-
tion of the intestines as the essential elements of their existence,
and which supposes that without this nourishment the worms
could not find means of subsistence, and that by consequence
their being would be ephemeral, or at least very contingent. The
prophylactic power of Tanacetum: Vulgare against worms is
therefore chiefly to be ascribed to its power of improving the
physilogical condition of the intestines, so as to change their
secretions, and thus remove these parasites.

Tansy tea (prepared by infusing two ounces of the herb in
'one pint of boiling water), may be taken in doses of from one
-to three fluid ounces. A drop or two of the oil may be added to
•vermifuge powders and pills. The dose of the powder is from
thirty grains to a drachm, two or three times a day. The seeds
are most effectual as a vermifuge.

N9 Q4.

lOCDCDnPILflLN'A TFAIBACTlITM .
Tobacco, Virginia tobacco.

SOLANACEiE.

Nights hades.

Na 84.

NICOTIAN A TABACUM.

Tobacco, Virginia Tobacco.

Place — America.

Quality — Nauseous, poisonous.

Power — Anodyne, antispasmodic, narcotic, errhine.
Use — The leaf in wounds, scabies, tinea, cough ; the
smoke in constipation of the bowels ; the syrup in
asthma, colic, hysterics, dysentery, jaundice, dropsy.

BOTANICAL ANALYSIS.

Natural Order. Luridse. — L. Solanacese. — J.
Class V. Pentandria. Order Monogynia.

Linn. Sp. PL 258. Willd. Sp. PL i. 1014. Woodv. ii. 20S- Stokes i. 390. Ste-
phenson & Churchill i. 37. Loud. Ency. PI. 136. Bigelow Am. Med. Bot. ii. 171.
Raf. Med. Flor. ii. 245. U. S. Dis 697. Griff. Med. Bot. 493. Per. El. Med.
Bot. ii. 322. Beach. Fam. Ph. 67. Wood, Class Book , 445.

Genus. NICOTIANA.

Named from J ohn Nicot of Nismes, in Languedoc who introduced it into Europe.

Synonymes.— Le tabac (Fr.) Deztabak ( Ger .) Tebak (Dutch.) Tobacco (I.)
Tabaco (Sp.) Petume (Brazil.) Tamaka (Indian.) Tabar (Russ., Pol., fyc.)

THE ESSENTIAL CHARACTERS.

Calyx. Sepals , four — five, more or less united, mostly per-
sistent.

Corolla. Regular. Limb four — five, cleft, plaited in aestiva-
tion, deciduous.

Stamens, four — five (sometimes one abortive), inserted on the
corolla, alternate with its segments. Anthers bursting
longitudinally, rarely by terminal pores.

NICOTIANA TOBACUM.

Ovary. Free, (superior), two-celled (four-celled in Datura) with
the placenta in the axis. Styles and stigmas united.
Fruit. A capsule or berry.

Seeds. Numerous. Embryo curved, lying in fleshy albumen.

THE SECONDARY CHARACTERS.

Nicotiana. Calyx urceolate, five— cleft. Corolla infundi-

buliform, regular. Limb five — lobed. Stamens five. Stigma
emarginate. Capsule two-celled, two — four valved.

Calyx urceolate, sub-tubular, five— cleft. Coral funnel— form, five— cleft Limb
plaited Stigma notched, capitate. Stamens inclined. Capsule two-celled two to
lour-valved. 1

THE SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Nicotiana Tabacum. Viscid— pubescent. Leaves lanceolate,
sessile, decurrent. Tube of the corolla inflated at the throat.
Lobes acute.

Leaves lance-ovate, sessile, decurrent. Flowers acute.

THE ARTIFICIAL CHARACTERS.

Class Pentandria. Stamens five. Order Monogynia. Mono-
petalous. Flowers inferior. Corolla regular. Herbs (rarely
shrubby). Stamens alternate with petals. Fruit capsule or
berry. Cells with many seeds. Cells two. ^Estivation plicate.

NATURAL HISTORY.

The only plants cultivated as Tobacco are the species Nico-
tiana Tabacum and Nicotiana Rustica, the former greatly pre-
ferred. The popular narcotic which it furnishes is probably in
more extensive use than any other, and its only rival is the Betel
of the east. According to Linnaeus, Tobacco was known in
Europe from 1560. It was brought to England from Tobajo in
the West Indies, or Tobasco in Mexico (and hence the name) by
Ralph Lane, in 1586, but only the herb for smoking. After-
wards, according to Hakluyt, seeds were introduced from the
same quarter. Sir Walter Raleigh first introduced smoking,
which has consequently been common in Europe for more than
two hundred years. Tobacco as used by man, says Du Tour,
gives pleasure to the savage and the philosopher, to the inhabi-
tant of the burning desert and frozen zone. Its use either in

NICOTIANA TABACUM.

powder, to chew, or to smoke is universal, and for no other reason
than a sort of convulsive motion (sneezing), produced by the
first, and a degree of intoxication by the two last modes of
usage. A hundred volumes have been written against it, of
which a Herman has preserved the titles. Among these books
is that of James Stuart, King of England, who violently opposed
it as injurious to health, and absolutely poisonous. The royal
author styles it “ a custom loathsome to the eye, hateful to the
nose, harmfull to the brain, dangerous to the lungs, and in the
black stinking fume thereof, nearest resembling the horrible
Stygian smoke of the pit that is bottomless.” Notwithstanding,
however, such opposition, smoking together with the use of
snuff, has spread not only through civilized, but among savage
nations, and there is now probably no single product of the
vegetable kingdom which is so extensively employed. All the
sovereigns of Europe, and most of those of other parts of the
world, derive a considerable part of their revenue from tobacco.

CHEMICAL AND MEDICAL PROPERTIES AND USES.

The recent leaves of Tobacco possess very little odor or taste,
but when dried their odor is strong, narcotic, and somewhat
foetid, their taste bitter and extremely acrid. When well cured,
their color is yellowish green. They emit sparks in burning, and
give out a suffocating smoke, and when distilled, yield an essen-
tial oil of a green color, on which their medicinal properties aro
supposed to depend, and which is said to be a virulent poison.
This oil is dissipated by the long coction of tobacco with water ;
yet in distillation with ether, water or alcohol, no oil comes
over. By infusion, however, it yields its active principles to all
of these fluids. Its deflagration shows the presence of nitrate of
potassa, and muriate of potassa has been discovered in its in-
spissated juice. According to Vanquelin, tobacco appears to
contain albumen or gluten, supermalate of lime, acetic acid,
nitrate and muriate of potassa, muriate of ammonia, a red matter,
soluble in alcohol and water, a green fecula, and a peculiar
substance, on which the properties of the plant appear to depend,
and which has been therefore named nicotin. This substance is
colorless, acrid, has the odor of tobacco, and like it occasions
violent sneezing. It is volatile, poisonous, and produces color-
less solutions with alcohol and water, from which it is thrown
down by tincture of nutgalls.

NICOTIANA TABACUM.

Tobacco is narcotic, sedative, emetic, diuretic, cathartic, and
errhine, whether it be taken into the stomach, or externally
applied. The three first mentioned properties are sufficiently
obvious, even from the effects which smoking or chewing it
produces on persons unaccustomed to its use. From Mr. Brodie’s
experiments, the infusion of tobacco produces its effect in the
heart through the medium of the nerves. The symptoms are
very severe, sickness, headache, extreme debility, cold sweats,
and sometimes even convulsions. The production of such a
state of the habit, however, being useful for relieving violent
spasmodic constriction, tobacco is advantageously employed in
obstinate constipation, ileus, suppression of urine, and incar-
cerated hernia, when other remedies fail of affording relief. The
smoke is either thrown into the rectum by means of a pair of
bellows of peculiar construction, or an infusion of the leaves is
exhibited in the form of enema. From its narcotic power also,
the smoking or chewing tobacco has been found useful in allay-
ing the pain of toothache ; and smoking is sometimes found
useful in shortening and rendering more supportable the parox-
ysm of spasmodic asthma. The infusion has been used as an
emetic, but the practice cannot be recommended, and notwith-
standing the success of some practitioners, who employ it in
dropsy and dysuria, its general effects are too violent for internal
exhibition, and it is not equal as a diuretic, either to squill or
foxglove, which are more manageable remedies. In dysuria,
however, its antispasmodic properties are of advantage, and con-
sequently its use in that complaint is less objectionable. The
external application of a strong infusion of tobacco, or of a cata-
plasm of the moistened leaves themselves is sometimes employed
as a local stimulant in porrigo, scabies and some other cutaneous
eruptions, but even in this mode of using it, tobacco is apt to
induce the same effect as when internally administered.

Tobacco, as a sternutatory is the basis of all the kinds of
snuff generally used. The powdered leaves snuffed up the
nostrils, excite vehement sneezing, and promote a considerable
discharge from the nostrils, answering all the purposes for which
errhines are employed. As a luxury, snuff has been used for
more than two hundred years in Britain, in great quantities.
After the use of it has become habitual, it cannot be relinquished
without considerable risk, arising from the suspension of the
artificial discharge it produces, as Dr. Cullen observed from his
own experience.

11 ,

±NT° H5.

,R Id TG IT M PA 1L M AT ATM .

Rhubarb .

PQLIGONACE M

Buckwheats.

N°- 85

RHEUM PALMATUM.

Falmated Rhubarb, Rhubarb.

Place — Thrace, Scythia, Mongal, on the borders of China,
Quality — Styptic, bitter, nauseous.

Pouter — Purging, astringent, stomachic.

Use — 'I he root in diarrhoea, leucorrhcea, debility of the
stomach, hypochondriasis, and vermifuge.

BOTANICAL ANALYSIS.

Natural Order. Oleracese. — L. Polygonaceai. — J,
Class IX. Enneandria. Order Trigynia.

Linn. Sp. PI. 531. Willd. Sp. PL ii. 489. Woodv. Med. Pot. 662- Stephenson &
Churchill 25. Loud. Envy. PI. 334. Raf. Med. Flor. ii. 256. U. S. Bis. 587,
Griff. Med. Bot. 543, Per. El. Mat. Med. ii. 272- Beach. Earn. Ph. 671. Kost.
Mat. Med. 129. Wood, Class Book, 473. Lind. Flor. Med. 358.

Genus. RHEUM.

This name was ingeniously supposed by Linmeus to have been derived from peu,
to flow, because the root causes a discharge of bile. It nevertheless was formed from
Riia the ancient name of the Volga.

the essential characters.

Cal's x. Sepals united at base, imbricate in aestivation.

Corolla. None.

Stamens. Definite, inserted on the calyx near the base.

Ovary. Free, with a single erect ovule. Styles or stigmas
several.

RHEUM PALMATUM.

Peuit. Aclienium, , usually triangular.

Imbeds. Embryo generally on one side of farinaceous albumen,

THE SECONDARY CHARACTERS.

Rheum. Calyx colored, six— sepaled, persistent. Stamens
nine. Styles three. Stigmas multifid, reflexed. Achenia
three-angled, the angles margined.

Calyx none Carol six-cleft permanent. Nut one, three-sided.

THE SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Riieum Palmatum. Leaves roundish cordate, half palmate.

Petiole long, channelled, green, with purple ribs.

Leaves palmate, acuminate.

THE ARTlFlCrAL CHARACTERS.

Class Enneandria. Stamens nine. Order Trigynia. Herbs
with alternate leaves and stipular sheaths. Calyx colored.

NATURAL HISTORY.

This species, Rheum Palmatum, is a native of Central Asia. It
grows on the snowy mountains of Boutan and of Dauria, and
arrives at considerable perfection when cultivated either in
England or the United States. The plant is/of easy culture by
cuttings, or by seed. The soil best suited is one that is light,
rich, deep, and moderately moist.

The root is perennial, thick, oval, branched, externally brown,
and internally of a deep yellow color. The stem, which rises
eight or ten feet in height, is erect, round, hollow, jointed, very
slightly furrowed, and maculated with small oblong purple streaks,
the lower leaves stand upon long smooth petioles, are numerous,
large, divided into five segments, which are deeply sinuated,
toothed, and strongly ribbed ; the petiole being divided at its
apex into the five midribs of the segments, of a deep green color,
rough above, and pale and villous below : those of the stem
spring from the joints, are also petiolate, and gradually lessen
in size towards the top of the stem. There is a sheathing sti-
pule, or ochrea at the base of each stem leaf. The flowers spring
from the axilla of the base in numerous panicled clusters ; they

lTHtUM PALMATtJM.

Appear in May. The corolla is divided into six obtuse segments
of a greenish white color, tinted with light pinkish purple. The
filaments are nine, slender, the length of the corolla, and fur-
nished with oblong double anthers. The style is short, with three
reflected capitate stigmas. The germen is a triangular seed en-
closed in a capsule with three membranous reddish margins or alee.

Most of the information that has been collected with respect
to the cultivation, preparation, &c. of rhubarb is derived from
the Buoharians, the family of Tartars who deal in the article,
and no European has been enabled to verify it. The Russian
variety grows naturally in the mountainous districts, either on
the sides of the mountains, or on their summits in soils of dif-
ferent kind. It prefers, however, light and sandy loose earth.
The most vigorous plants are those which grow in the shade.
The Siberian Variety, on the contrary, thrives best in the sun.
The roots are collected twice annually in the spring and the
autumn. The age of the root before being removed from the
earth should be at least six years and sometimes even more.
When taken up it is immediately cleansed, deprived of its bark,
and dried under cover in the shade, but exposed to the air — this
may be done artificially. The drying process is the most diffi-
cult, and at the same time, the most important, in the prepara-
tion of rhubarb. There is a difference in the appearance of the
two articles mentioned, which is owing to the preparation. The
Russian is angulated by the removal of the exterior with a sharp
instrument — it is simply perforated for inspection. The Chinese
is in rounded masses, smooth from attrition, which is accom-
plished in a barrel and perforated to be suspended on cords to
dry.

CHEMICAL AND MEDICAL PROPERTIES AND USES.

Good Russian or Turkey rhubarb has a peculiar, somewhat
aromatic odor, and a bitter slightly astringent, subacid taste,
feels gritty between the teeth when chewed, and tinges the
saliva of a bright yellow color. It breaks with a rough,
hackly fracture, is easily pulverized, and affords a powder of a
bright buff yellow color. It should not be porous but rather
compact and heavy. Water at 212° takes up twenty-four parts
in sixty, forming an infusion of a brown color, nearly clear, and
reddening litmus paper. Alcohol extracts two seven tenths from
ten parts, and gives a tincture of a rich golden color, which

RHEUM PALMATUM.

reddens tincture of litmus, is not altered in its transparency
the addition of water, and strikes a blackish olive hue with
solution of sulphate of iron, but no immediate precipitate falls.
Sulphuric ether takes up 1.5 in 10 parts of this rhubarb. The
tincture is of a golden yellow hue,, and when evaporated in
water, leaves a thin pellicle of yellow resin and abundance of
extractive dissolved in the water, combined however with tannin.
According to the analysis of M. Henry, it contains a yellow
coloring matter, a bland oil, fecula, a small quantity of guru,
tannin, lignine, oxalate of lime, supermalate of lime, sul-
ph ate of lime, a salt of potassa, and oxide of iron. East
India or Chinese rhubarb has a strong odor, and is more nauseous
to the taste than the Turkey, breaks with a more compact and
smoother fracture, and affords a powder of a redder shade.
Water takes up thirty parts in sixty, the infusion is not so deep
colored as that of Russian rhubarb, is more turbid, and reddens
also litmus paper. Alcohol extracts four parts in ten. The
tincture is of a much deeper color, and brownish, and gives a
deeper red to litmus tincture, is rendered slightly turbid by the
addition of water, and strikes a green, not blackish olive with
sulphate of iron, which it also quickly and copiously precipitates.
Ether takes up two parts in ten, the tincture is deeper colored,
and when evaporated on water, affords the same results except
that the compound of tannin and extractive is more soluble.

Rhubarb is a mild purgative, and may be given to the
youngest infants. Its operation is quickened by the addition
of neutral salts and calomel, the purgative powers of which it
also reciprocally augments, so that a compound, formed of small
portions of rhubarb and a neutral salt or calomel, acts with more
certainty and quicker than largo doses of either separately
taken. Rhubarb is particularly adapted for the majority of
cases of diarrhoea, as it evacuates any acrid matter that may
be offending the bowels, before it acts as an astringent. Exter-
nally it has been applied by friction to produce its purgative
effects, and its powder is sometimes sprinkled over ulcers to
assist their granulation and healing. It colors the urine in the
space of twenty minutes after it is taken, and may be detected
by the aid of an alkali. It disappears after an hour or two,
but re-appoars owing to a second absorption from the colon.
Bradner Staart also affirms that it can be detected in the urine
after using a bath impregnated with it. The Chinese use it
medicinally, but chiefly to color a spirituous liquor.

5T9 fifi

TIHIEA (RMfflSnEK-SII g .

Tea, The tea plan! .

TEMSTRGElIACEiE.

Teaworts .

No. 86.

THIA CHINENSIS.

Tea, The Tea Plant.

Place — Asia.

Quality — Styptic.

Poiver — Strengthening, drying, diuretic.

Use — The leaves in drowsiness, convulsions, calculus,
obesity. Hurtful to weak stomachs.

BOTANICAL ANALYSIS.

'Natural Order. Missellanete. — L. Ternstrcemiacese. — J.
Class XIII. Polyandria Order Mondgynia.

Linn- Sp. PL 735. Woodv. Med. Bot ■ 116. Raf. Med. Flor. ii. 267. U. S.
Di«p 1269. Griff. Med. Bot. 149. Per. El. Mat. Med ii. 664. Lind Flor. Med.
120. Wood, C. B. 205.

Genus. THEA.

From the Greek Ota, originating in the Chinese Tcha or Tsja, their name for
Tea.

Synonymes Thi ( F .) Der, Thee [Get-.] The [Jf.]

THE ESSENTIAL CHARACTERS.

Calyx. Sepals, five or seven, concave, coriaceous, deciduous,
the inner often the largest.

Corolla. Petals , Five — six, or nine, not equal in number to the
sepals.

Stamens. Indefinite or numerous, hypogynous. Filaments ,
distinct or united into one or more setts.

Ovary. Superior, or with several cells. Styles three — seven
more or less combined.

Fruit. Two — seven-celled, capsular.

Seeds. Large, few attached to the axis.

THIA CHINENSIS.

THB> SECONDARY CHARACTERS.

Thea. Sepals, five-six rounded. Petals, six-nine ses-
sile. Stamens, numerous. Capsule, three-celled, seven-valved,
each cell containing one to two seeds, and opening at the upper
part.

Calyx, five or six-leaved. "Corol six or nine petalled. Capsule , three-seeded.

TIIE SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Thea Ciiinensis. Leaves, alternate, smooth, ovate-oblong.
Flowers, axillary, either single or aggregated on short glabrous
peduncles.

Corolla, larger than the Calyx. Stamens numerous. Flowers, six-pelalled. Leaves,
oblong-oval, rugose.

THE ARTIFICIAL CHARACTERS.

Class Polyandrta. Stamens twenty or more, arising from the
receptacle (hypogynous.) Order Monogynia, Calyx imbrieate
in aestivation. Trees.

NATURAL HISTORY.

This genus derives its name from its Chinese appellation,
and, in a commercial point of view, is one of the most im-
portant o 1 the vegetable kingdom. But, notwithstanding this
importance, and the numerous notices of it and its cultivation,
no little uncertainty exists whether it contains one or more
species, or in other words, whether the black and the green teas
are the product of the same or of different species : many mod-
ern botanists, however, are of opinion that all are but varieties
of one species, which is therefore named Thea Chinensis.

Notwithstanding the many different kinds of Tea exported
from China, there is good reason to believe that they are all the
produce of one species (as has already been hinted), and that the
differences of quality are the result of variations in the charac-
ter of the plant, which are induced by differences of soil, cli-
mate &c., in the extensive tract over which it is grown, — and of
variations in the age of the trees, the time of gathering the
leaves, and in the mode of preparing them. The tea districts o *

THIA CHINENSIS.

China extend from about the 27th to the 33rd degree of north
latitude, but the plant may be cultivated in regions more dis-
tant from the equator, if the climate be mild and equable. The
plant is raised Irom seed, and the first crop of leaves is gathered
in the third year. After the shrubs have attained the age of six
or seven years, their produce becomes so inferior that they are
removed to make room for a fresh succession. The leaves are
gathered from one to four times during the year, according to the
age ot the tree. Most commonly there are three periods of
gathering: the first commences about the middle of April, the
second at midsummer, and the last in August. The leaves that
are earliest gathered are of the most delicate color and most aro-
matic llavor, with the least portion of either fibre or bitterness.
Leaves ot the second gathering are of a dull green color, and
have less valuable qualities than the former, whilst those which
are last collected are of a dark green and of inferior value. The
quality is further influenced by the age of the wood on which
the leaves are borne, and by the degree of exposure to which
the)7 have been accustomed. Leaves from young wood, and
those most exposed are always the best, as is readily understood
on physiological principles. The leaves when gathered are
partly dried by the air and sun, and partly by artificial heat,
and are carefully rolled up by the hand. It is commonly be-
lie\ed that the distinctive character of green tea is imparted to
it by being dried upon sheets of copper. For this belief, how-
ever, there is no foundation in fact, since copper is not used for.
the purpose, and the most careful application of chemical tests
fails to discover any such impregnation.

Ihe history of commerce does not furnish any parallel to the
circumstances which have attended the introduction of Tea into
Great. Britain. The leaf was first imported bv the Dutch
East India Company, in the early part of the seventeenth cen-
tury, but it does not appear to have found its way to England
until about the year 1650. Ihe first historical notice of it is in
an Act of ] ailiament of the year 1660, in which it was enumer-
ated as one of the beverages sold in coffee-houses, on which a
ut) vus to be paid. That it was not then a common drink
is evident from an entry in the private journal of Mr. Pepys,
Secretary to the Admiralty, who says, 25th Sep. 1661 : “ I sent
tor a, cup of tea (a China drink) of which I had never drunk be-
foie. In 1664 the British East India Company sent two
pounds of tea as a present to the King. In 1667 the Company

THIA CHINENSIS.

imported 100 lbs. Since then the consumption has gone on re-
gularly increasing. In 1734 the quantity imported was about
632,000 lbs., in 1768 it was nearly seven million pounds. In
1800 it was twenty millions, and during the last four years of
the East India Company’s charter, the average quantity import-
ed was over thirty-one millions. Since the abolition of the mo-
nopoly, the consumption has increased more rapidly, the amount
imported having nearly reached fifty million pounds.

CHEMICAL AND MEDICAL PROPERTIES AND USES.

Volumes have been written for and against this article.
Some authors attributing to it the most pernicious qualities,
such as inducing nervous tremors, dyspepsia, dropsy, &c.,
whilst others again have been as lavish in its praise. That the
use of tea may be abused, there can be no doubt ; but it is
equally certain that a moderate employment of it, and especially
of the better kinds of black tea (which, it may be noticed, is the
only kind used by the Chinese) far from being prejudicial, has a
positive power in calming nervous irritation, and aiding the di-
gestive functions, and giving, after fatigue, a new life and tone
to the system. The green tea is very apt to affect the nervous
system of those unaccustomed to its use, but at the same
time it does not appear that its constant employment is attended
with any ill effects.

Tea is often administered warm, to aid in the production of
diaphoresis, but does not seem to have any greater power than
any other mild infusion. From several analyses made of it, it
is shown to consist of a bitter extractive, mucilage, resin, gallic
acid, and tannin, and a peculiar principle called Theine, on
which its properties depend. This substance, which is also
found in coffee and chocolate, as well as in the Mate, is a highly*
azotized principle, and has probably a much greater influence on
the system in aiding the assimilation of food than is generally
supposed ; and hence the great use made of the various plants
containing it, by almost all nations.

The properties of tea are not of so decided a character as to
render it capable of very extensive application as a medicine,
and its almost exclusive use is as a grateful beverage at the
evening and morning meals. As a medicine, however, tea may
sometimes be given advantageously in diarrhoea, and a strong
infusion will often be found to relieve nervous headache.

N<> fl7.

FIR id § IE JR A VA [R OD IL IT M IE RT S II 25 *

Amcncan Columbo Indian lethuv vr

GENTIANACEJ3.

The Gentian Tribe

No 87.

FRASERA CAROLINENSIS.

American Columbo, Indian Lettuce , SfC.

Place — United States.

Quality — Bitter.

Power — (xvhen fresh) Emetic, cathartic, ( when dry )
Tonic, antiseptic, febrifuge.

Use — Consumption, dyspepsia, jaundice, scurvy, &c.

BOTANICAL ANALYSIS.

Natural Order. Stellatae. — L. Gentianacete. — J.
Class IV. Tetrandria. Order Monogynia.

Linn. Sp. PI. 735. Woodv. Med. Bot. 116. Raf. Med Flor. i. 196. U. S. Dis.
336. Griff. Med. Bot. 462. Per. El. Mat. Med. ii. 354. Beach. Fam. Ph. 662.
Kosts. Mat. Med. 452. Barton. Veg. Mat. Med. ii. 103. Wood. C. B. 205. Lind.
Flor. Med. 120.

Genus FRASERA.

In honor of John Fraser, an American cultivator of exotics, to whose exertions the
gardens, particularly of London, are indebted for many rare American plants.

Synonymes. — Frasera Colombo, [E] Colombo Wurzel [Ger-]

THE ESSENTIAL CHARACTERS.

Calyx. Sepals, four — five — ten, united at base, persistent.
Corolla. Usually regular. Limb divided into as many lobes
as there are sepals, mostly twisted in aestivation.

Stamens. Issuing from the tube of the corolla, as many as its
lobes, and alternate with them.

Ovary. One celled, sometimes rendered apparently two-celled
by the introfiexed placentae. Style , united into one, or
wanting Stigmas one — two.

Fruit. Capsule many-seeded.

Seeds Small. Embryo straight, with fleshly albumen.

FRASERA CAROLINENSIS.

THE SECONDARY CHARACTERS.

Frasera. Flowers , mostly tetramerous. Petals united at
base, oval, spreading, deciduous, each with one or two bearded
or bicular glands in the middle. Style one. Stigmas two, dis-
tinct. Capsule compressed, one-celled. Seeds few, imbricate,
large, elliptic, margined.

Calyx deeply four-parted. Corol. four-parted, spreading. Segments with bearded
glands in the middle. Capsule compressed, sub-margined, one-celled, two-valved.
Seeds few, imbricated, oval, with a membranaceous margin.

THE SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Frasera Carolinensis. Stem tall, erect, glabrous, branched
above. Leaves verticillate, oblong-lanceolate, acutish, sessile,
feather-veined, entire or wavy. Panicle compound, pyramidal,
leafy, verticillate. Calyx segments acute, shorter than the ob-
long, obtusish petals. Gland solitary, oval orbicular.

Leaves whorled, or opposite. Flowers in clusters.

THE ARTIFICIAL CHARACTERS.

Class Tetrandria. Stamens four. Order Monogynia. Mono-
petalous. Flowers inferior. Cirolla regular. Herbs (rarely
shrubby.) Stamens alternate, with petals. Fruit capsule.
Capsule one-celled, many-seeded.

NATURAL HISTORY.

The American Columbo is found in great abundance in the
rich glades of the Western States, where it grows most luxuri-
antly, sometimes attaining the height of ten feet. It is one of
the tallest and handsomest of our native herbaceous plants, hav-
ing a large pyramid of crowded flowers, sometimes three or four
feet in length. It is a true triennial, the stalk and flowers not
shooting up till the third year. There is, however, some differ-
ence of opinion as to its duration, Rafinesque stating that it is
strictly a triennial, whilst other botanists agree in considering it
to be a biennial. It was first discovered by Win. Bartram, who
speaks of it in his travels under the name of Indian lettuce. The
habitation of this plant is variously described by different bota-
nists. Michaux has observed it in wet or swampy places, in
“ Paludosis Carolina).” Pursh says it is found “in the swamps
of Lower Carolina, and on the borders of the lakes of Pennsyl-

FRASERA CAROLINENSIS.

■vi'nia and New York.” Mr. Nutall says, “ in the dry and open
woods of Pennsylvania and New York, in certain localities, it is
abundant.” Dr. Wm. Short says, “it grows in the barrens or
prairies ot Kentucky.” The late Dr. Barton observed it growing
in great abundance on the west side of the Grenesee river in the
State of New York. It is said to be common in some parts of Upper
Canada, but the States of Kentucky and Tennessee yield it in
prolusion. From the abundance which grows in the neighbor-
hood of Marietta, in Ohio, it is sometimes called Marietta Co-
lombo. According to Walter, Michaux, Mr. Wm. Bartram, and
Mr. Elliott, it grows in Carolina anti Greorgia. The latter gen-
tleman mentions that it has been found in Fairfield district and
in Abbeville.

The root, is large, yellow, tuberose, hard, horizontal, spindle-
shaped, sometimes two feet long, with few fibres. The whole
plant is perfectly smooth. The stem from five to ten feet high,
round, erect, solid, with few branches except at the top, where
they form a pyramid of flowers. Leaves in whorls; the radical
or root leaves form a star spread upon the ground, from five to
twelve in number, from ten to eighteen inches long, and from
three to five broad, constituting the whole plant in the first two
years, or before the stem grows. The stem leaves are whorls,
from four to eight, smaller than the radical leaves. Flowers
yellowish white, numerous, forming a large pyramidal panicle,
peduncles leafy or bracteate. Calyx deeply four cleft, spreading,
segments lanceolate, acute, persistent, nearly as long as the
corolla. Corolla with four elliptic segments flat and spreading,
margin somewhat indexed, a fimbriated pit in the centre of each.
Stamens four, alternate, with the segments, filaments short,
subulate,* anthers oval, oblong. Ovary compressed, bearing a
short style with two short stigmas. Capsule yellowish, oval,
acuminate, compressed, margin thin, two-valved, one-seeded.
Seeds flat, elliptical winged. The seeds grow in pods, shaped
like a horse-bean, and are much like parsnip seeds.

CHEMICAL AND MEDICAL PROPERTIES AND USES.

The American Colombo has been thought to resemble the
icreign article, both in medical properties as well as in appear-
ance, but experience has not confirmed the high estimate which
was at one time formed of its virtues, and though perhaps it is
still much employed both in regular and domestic practice in

FRASERA CAROLINENSIS.

some parts of the country by several eminent practitioners, yet
it has failed entirely to supplant the tonic of Mozambique.

The part that is officinal are the roots, and these in a fresh
state often weigh several pounds. As found in the shops, they
are in slices, somewhat resembling those of the Colombo, having
a thick yellow bark, and a yellowish spongy meditullium. The
taste is pure bitter, without any aroma. They may be distin-
guished from Colombo by their lighter color, and by affording
a dark green precipitate with the salts of iron. A chemical
examination has been made of this root by Mr. Douglass {Am.
Jour. Pliarm. vi. 177), and it was found to contain bitter ex-
tractive gum, tannin, gallic acid, resin, a fatty matter, sugar,
&c. &c. Water and diluted alcohol extract its virtues, and the
tincture throws down a precipitate upon the addition of water,
but is not disturbed by tincture of galls, thus affording addi-
tional means of distinguishing the root from Colombo.

Colombo Root is emetic and cathartic when fresh, tonic, anti-
septic and febrifuge when dry. It has a sweetish bitter taste
like gentian. The leaves are also bitter. It yields its bitterness
to water, but proof spirits is its proper menstruum. It may
be given in powder or infusion. The dose of the former is from
thirty grains to a drachm, that of an infusion made in the pro-
portion of an ounce of the bruised roots to a pint of boiling
water, is one or two fluid ounces, to be repeated several times a
day. The root should be collected from the fall of the second
year to the spring of the third year of its growth.

The root is used with considerable success in diseases of the
stomach and debility. It avails in intermittents, like other pure
bitters, and is extensively used in the Western States in fevers,
colics, griping, nausea, relaxed stomach and bowels, indigestion,
&c. As a purgative it is substituted for rhubarb in many
cases, particularly for children and women enceinte. Cold water
is said to add to its efficacy and prevent nausea, and vomiting.
A teaspoonful of the powder in hot water and sugar will give im-
mediate relief in case of heavy loading a weak stomach. It is a
good corrector of the bile, alone or united with other bitters.

The Colombo leaves occasion sweat copiously when laid on
the forehead, and will commonly relieve headache. This will
also apply to any kind of inflammation, rheumatism, &c. Such
is the efficacy of this root, says Peter Smith, that when they
who take it recover, they are indeed well and need no other
medicine.

N? 88.

(TlEAW'OTlHnD'S AMJEMICAITUS
Jersev-tea , red-root .

PvHAMNACEJE

Buck thorns

N°- 88.

CEANOTHUS AMERICANUS.

Jersey tea, Red-root.

Place — United States.

Quality — Diuretic.

Power — Purifying, purgative.

Use — Dysentery, syphilitic complaints.

BOTANICAL analysis.

Natural Order. Dumocse. — L. Rhamnacese. — J.
Class Y. Pentandria. Order Monogynia.

Linn. Sp. PL 284. Loud. Ency. Pl. 178. Raff. Med. Flor. ii. 205. U. S . Dis. 1240.
T. & G. i. 264. Griff. Med. Bot. 218. Per. El- Mat. Med. 354. Beach. Fam. Ph.
662. Kost. Mat. Med. 485. Wood, Class Book , 217.

Genus. CEANOTHUS.

KeavcaOos is a name used by Theophratus to designate a prickly plant, from mm,
to prick, because it pricks at the extreme parts.

Synonymes.

THE ESSENTIAL CHARACTERS.

Calyx. Sepals four or five, united at base, valvate in aestiva-
tion.

Corolla. Petals four or five distinct, cucullate or convolute,
inserted into the orifioe of the calyx. Sometimes .wanting
or none.

Stamens. Opposite the petals, four or five.

Ovary. Superior, or half superior, with an erect ovale in each
cell.

Fruit. A capsule, drupe or berry.

Seeds. Not numerous.

CEANOTHUS AMERICANUS.

THE SECONDARY CHARACTERS.

Ceanothus, Ccthjx tubular, campanulate, live-cleft, sepa*
rating transversly after flowering. Petals five, saccate-arched,
with long claws. Stamens , mostly exserted. Style , mostly
three-cleft. Capsule obtusely triangular, three-celled, three
seeded, surrounded at base by the persistent tube of the calyx.

( Petals scnle-like, vaulted- Claws long' standing in the five-cleft, cup-form, calyx.
Stigmas three. Berry or capsule dry, three- grained, three-celled, three-seeded, three-
parted, opening on the inner side.

THE SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Ceanothus Americanus. Leaves oblong-ovate, serrate, three
veined. Panicles axillary, elongated,

Leaves ovrfte, acuminate, serrate, three-nerved, pubescent beneath. P article t
axillary, long-peduncled, sub-corymbed. , ,

THE ARTIFICIAL CHARACTERS.

Class Pentandria. Stamens five. Order Monogynta. Poly-
petalous. Flowers inferior, regular. Stamens opposite to the
petals. Shrubs. Stem thorny. Calyx four- five cleft.

NATURAL HISTORY.

This almost American genus consists of shrubs or shrubby
plants. The roots of the whole of them are large, reddish, and
astringent. The leaves are alternate, usually ovate or elliptical,
serrate or entire, persistent or deciduous. The flowers are white,
blue, or yellowish in umbellike fascicles, which are aggregated
at the extremity of the branches. There are several varieties,
differing principally in the form of the leaves. It is probable
that the medical properties of all the species are very much the
same, though one only has attracted attention. The New Jersey
tea is found in all parts of the United States, in copses and dry-
woods, -and very abundant on the' barrens at the west. The
plant flowers from June until September, is of very easy culture,
and of very little beauty.

The root of the Ceanothus Americanus is large and dark red.
The stem is shrubby, suffrutioose, from two to four feet hmh,
slender, with many round, smooth branches, the younger of
which are pubescent. The leaves are three-nerved, rounded, or

CEANOTHUS AMERICANUS.

a little cordate at base, ovate or oblong-ovate, somewhat
acuminate at the apex, serrate, nearly smooth above, and
whitish, tomentose beneath, the pubescence ot the veins and
petioles somewhat reddish, they are thrice as long as broad,
very downy, with soft hairs beneath. Flowers minute, in
crowded panicles from the axils of the upper leaves. The calyx
is white, five-cleft, and the upper portion separates by a trans-
verse line, leaving the tube adhering to the Iruit. The corolla
is formed of five saccate, arched petals, which are longer than
the calyx, and with filiform claws at base. The stamens are
five, enclosed in the curiously Vaulted corolla, exserted and
bearing ovate, two-celled anthers. The ovary is three-angled,
and surrounded with a ten-toothed disk. The styles are three,
united to the middle, but diverging above. The fruit is dry and
coriaceous, obtusely triangular, three-celled and three-seeded.
The seeds are convex externally, and concave within, the cavity
marked with a longitudinal line.

CHEMICAL AND MEDICAL PROPERTIES AND USES.

The Ceanothus Americanus is a well-known plant and is
considerably celebrated for having been much used during the
Revolutionary war of the United States, as a substitute for the
Chinese tea, whence its common name. The leaves when
dried have an odor very much resembling that of the black tea
of commerce, and are said to form an excellent substitute for it.

The leaves of the Jersey tea plant are slightly bitter, and
somewhat astringent. The root is much more active, and was
very highly esteemed among the Indians who used it as an
astringent and febrifuge. It was afterwards very much em-
ployed also as a remedy in gonorrhoea, and even syphilis. In
the first of these complaints, it is stated by Ferrien that a cure
is effected in two or three days, and in the latter, even inveterate
cases yield to it in fifteen. It is given in the form pf decoction
made in the proportion of two drachms of the root to a pint of
water. Adamson also observes that he has employed it in these
diseases with considerable success. These statements receive
confirmation, in part at least, from the success that has attended
this method of, cure in private and domestic practice, as well as
by several physicians and practitioners of the country.

In a communication to the Boston Medical and Surgical
Journal (Sept., 1835), Dr. Hubbard speaks in very high terms

CEANOTHUS AMERICANUS.

of a decoction of the leaves as a wash and gargle in the aphthce
of children, and in those cases of sore mouth subsequent to fever,
and states that he was successful with it even where all other
means had failed. He also found it very beneficial in those
cases of ulceration of the fauces attendant on scarlatina, in
these he used it in combination with Mayweed, Matuta cotula ,
and borax. He further adds that as an astringent in dysentery,
he found it fully as efficacious as the Hardack, spirea tomentosa ,
It may be used in diarrhoea, cholera infantum, and other com-
plaints in which astringents are indicated.

With this testimony in its favor, Ceanothus Americanus
certainly deserves a more extended trial, and should it be found
to merit, even in part, what has been said of it, it will rank as
an important article of our native Materia Medica.

It may be proper to mention that the Ceanothus caruleus is
considered as a powerful febrifuge in Mexico, and that the
Ceanothus decolor is employed in dysentery in Senegal.

Men of observation and science ought to be employed to ex-
plore the country with a view to its geology, mineralogy,
botany, zoology, and agriculture. They ought' not only to
examine with their own eyes, but to avail themselves of local
information to be derived from intelligent men in every part of
the State. By these means a mass of valuable and authentic
information may be obtained which can in most oases be ac-
quired in no other way.

The celebrated Linnaeus often expressed a wish to visit
America, in order to explore its vegetable productions. His
disciple, Kalm, travelled 4 through this country in 1743 for that
purpose. Since the revolutionary war several European princes
have sent scientific men here to make collections and observa-
tions on our natural history. In fact, several of the most
valuable and interesting observations we possess, were made by
them, who devoted themselves almost exclusively to this special
object — the unfolding the bright volume of Creation, the pages
of which are daily and hourly exhibited, “ written,” to use the
impressive words of Lord Bacon, “ in the only language which
hath gone forth to the ends of the world, unaffeoted by the con-
fusion of Babel.”

It may be safely affirmed that Botany is capable of afford-
ing more to interest and instruct, more to refresh and relax the
well-disposed mind, than any other pursuit. It is therefore im-
portant to encourage and promote this pleasure.

1ST 9 89.

IDHRLIT MIT S W H M TTIE IR H „

Wi n lev's II ark .

MAGNOLIACEiE.

M agnoliads .

No. 89.

DRIMYS WINTER!.

Winter’s Bark.

Place — South America.

Quality — Aromatic.

Power — Stimulant, tonic.

Use — Scurvy, and as a condiment.

BOTANICAL ANALYSIS.

Natural Order. Winteracese. — L. Magnoliacese. — J.
Class XIII. Polyandria Order Polygynia.

Willd- Sp. PI- ii. 1239. Wood v. Med. Bot. 647. Stephenson & Churchill, iii. 178
U. S. Dis. 744. Griff. Med. Bot. 100. Per. El. Mat. Med. ii. 742. Kost. Mat. Med.
443. Lind. Flor. Med. 26. Wood. C. B. 149.

Genus. DRIMYS.

From the Greek Ap</m, on account of its hot and pungent flavor.

Synonymes. — Cannelles de Winter (F.) , Winterana (/.), Cortiza Winterana (S.)

THE ESSENTIAL CHARACTERS.

Caly^c. Sepals , three — six, deciduous, colored like the petals.
Corolla. Petals , six — twelve, hypogynous, in several rows, im-
bricate in aestivation.

Stamens. Indefinite hypogynous, distinct, with short filaments,
and adnate anthers.

Ovary. Several, in many rows upon an elongated torus.

Fruit. Follicular or baccate, one — two seeded.

Seeds. Attached to the inner suture of the carpels, from whioh
(in Magnolia ) they are suspended by a long, delicate
funiculus.

DRIMYS WINTER!.

THE SECONDARY CHARACTERS.

Drimys. Calyx , two — three cleft. Corolla two — three pe-

tals, (sometimes more). Stamens , numerous, clavate. Anthers
two-celled. Ovaries four — eight. Carpels conjested, baccate,

many seeded.

Calyx splitting unequally. Petals numerous. Stamens club-shaped, with terminal
two-lobed anthers. Style none. Berries superior, aggregate. Seeds, several in a
double row.

THE SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Drimys Winteri. Leaves, alternate, obtuse, oblong, glau-
cous beneath. Peduncles simple, approximated or very short,
divided into elongated pedicels.

Leaves alternate, petiolate, oblong, obtuse, entire, smooth. Flowers small, solitary,
or in clusters of from three to four. Bark of the trunk gray, that of the branches gTeen.

THE ARTIFICIAL CHARACTERS.

Class Polyandria. Stamens twenty or more, arising from the
receptacle (hypogynous.) Order Polygynia. Leaves never pel-
tate. Trees with large showy flowers.

NATURAL HISTORY.

Winter’s Bark was brought before the medical profession in a
paper read to the Medical Society of London, in 1779, by the
facetious John Fothergill, M. D. In this paper is published
a history of the discovery of the tree, with a botanical account
of it, drawn up by the celebrated Dr. Solander. It appears that
the tree and the bark were unknown until the return of Captain
John Winter from a voyage to the South Seas, in 1579. Captain *
^Vinter was the commander of the ship Elizabeth, which sailed
with Sir Francis Drake in 1577, but after having passed through
the Straits of Magellan, on the 8th of Ootober of the following
year, was obliged by stress of weather to return to the Straits,
and remaining there some time, procured the bark, which Clu-
sius, in honor of him, named Cortex Winteranus.

Other navigators, upon visiting the Straits, noticed the tree,
but nothing definite was known of its botany until in 1691, Mr.

DRIMYS WINTERI

George Handasyd, upon his return, presented some specimens to
Sir Hans Sloane, who gave a description and figure in the Philo-
sophical Transactions. But it appears that the flowers and fruit
were wanting, and a systematic location was impossible, until
in 1768, Captain Wallis, of the Dolphin, brought some perfect
specimens, which came into the hands of Dr. Solander, who, from
these, and his own observations drew up his description.

“ Drimts Winteri is one of the largest forest trees upon Ter-
ra del Fuego ; it often rises to the height of fifty feet. The
branches do not spread horizontally, but bend upwards, and form
an elegant head of an oval shape. The leaves come out without
t order, of an oval, elliptic shape, quite entire, obtuse, flat, smooth,
shining, of a thick, leathery substance, evergreen ; on the upper
side, of a lively deep green color, and of a pale bluish color un-
derneath, without any nerves, and their veins scarcely visible ;
they are sometimes narrower near the footstalks, and there their
margins are bent downwards. In general the leaves are from
three to four inches long, and between one and two broad ; they
have very short footstalks, seldom half an inch long, which are
smooth, concave on the upper side, and convex underneath.
From the scars of the old footstalks, the branches are often tu-
berculated. The peduncles, or footstalks for the flowers, come
out of the axilla foliorum, near the extremity of the branches ;
they are flat, of a pale color, twice or three times shorter than
the leaves, now and then support only one flower, but are oftener
near the top divided into three short branches, each with one
flower. The bractece are oblong, pointed, concave, entire, thick
whitish, and situated at the base of each peduncle. Calyx it
has none, but in its place the flower is surrounded with a spatha-
ceous germ of a thick leathery substance, green, but reddish on
the side which has faced the sun ; before this germ bursts, it is
of a round form, and its size is that of a small pea. It bursts
commonly so that one side is higher than the other, and the seg-
ments are pointed. The corolla consists always of seven petals,
which are obtuse, oval, concave, erect, white, have small veins,
and are of an unequal size, the largest scarcely four lines long ;
they very soon fade, and drop off- almost as soon as the germ
bursts. The filaments are from fifteen to thirty, and are placed
on the flat end side of the receptacle ; they are much shorter
than the petals, and gradually decrease in length towards the
sides. The anthera are large, oval, longitudinally divided into
two, or as if each was made up of two oblong antheras. The

DRIMYS WINTERI.

germina are from three to six, placed above the receptacle, tur-
binated, or of the shape of an inverted fig, flat on the inside, and
somewhat higher than the stamina ; they have no styles, but
terminate in a stigma, divided into two or three small lobes.”

CHEMICAL AND MEDICAL PROPERTIES AND USES.

The bark of the Drimvs Winteri attracted the attention of
navigators, from its warm, spicy, aromatic properties ; and in the
treatment of scorbutic disease, which broke out in vessels going
into the Straits of Magellan, was a very valuable auxiliary. It
is rarely brought into the market as a drug, and has become
very scarce in commerce. It is sometimes confounded with Ca-
nella Alba , from which it differs in color, as it is pale yellowish,
or dull reddish-gray, with elliptical dull brown spots externally,
and brown internally. It has an aromatic odor and a warm bit-
terish taste. Winter’s Bark was found by M. Henry to contain
resin, volatile oil, coloring matter, tannic acid, several salts of
potassa, malate of lime, and oxide of iron. The presence of tan-
nic acid and oxide of iron serves to distinguish it essentially from
the Canella Alba , as these chemical evidences are present in one
case and not in the other.

Drimys ^Vinteri is stimulant, aromatic, and tonic, and may
be employed in all cases in which the Canella and Cinnamon
are indicated. It was much praised by the discoverer as an
anti-scorbutic. Ferrein states that the natives of Terra del
Fuego employ it to prevent a cutaneous disease to which they
are subject, from eating seals’ flesh.

Some confusion is apparent among the authors who have
treated upon the tree, with respect to its name ; hence the dif-
ferent appellations by which it has been described. The term
Winter ana Aromatica was bestowed by Linnaeus, in commemo-
ration of its discoverer ; in so doing, however, he mistook it for
the Canella Alba , and gave the account of the fructification of
that plant. Browne, however, had stamped that genus with the
name of Canella. Foster having obtained the parts of fructifica-
tion, gave to the plant the name of Drimys Winteri, from its
hot and pungent flavor. Murray, in his Linn. Syst. Veg. gave
the generic name Wintera, which he preferred t,o the original
Linnaean one, and finally De Candolle has adopted the name of
Foster, in imitation of Lamarck. The species which Lamarck
calls Drimys Punctata is a variety only.

■

If 9 90 .

SODILiAWlUM TFUTIBIEIELODSIIJM .

Common Potato .

V • SOLAMCEjE.

Nightshades.

No 90.

SOLANUM TUBEROSUM.

Common Potato.

Place — South America.

Quality — Viscous.

Power — Anti-spasmodic, slightly narcotic.

Use — Chronic rheumatism, scurvy, &c.

* BOTANICAL ANALYSIS.

Natural Order. Luridse. — L. Solanacese. — J.
Class V. Pentandria. Order Monogynia.

Loud. Enc. PI. 156. Griff. Med. Bot. 482. Per. El. Mat. Med. ii. 336. Wood.
C. B. 448.

Genus SOLANUM.

Etymology uncertain. Some derive it from Lat. Sol, sun, and Greek avev, (without
having reference to the nightshade species. (Others from Lat. Solari, to comfort ;
though the application is not evident.

Synonymes.— Pomme de terre [E], Die Kartoffeln [Gcr-], Aardappelen [ Dutch ],
Tertufibianci [A.], Batatas Inglezas [Sp.], Batata de terra [Port.]

THE ESSENTIAL CHARACTERS.

Calyx. Sepals , four — five, more or less united, mostly per-
sistent.

Corolla. Regular. Limb four — five cleft, plaited in aestivation,
deciduous.

Stamens. Four — five (sometimes one abortive), inserted on th'-
corolla, alternate with its segments. Anthers bn-
longitudinally, rarely by terminal pores.

Ovary. Free (superior) two-celled, (four-celled in .
the placenta in the axis. Styles and Stig
into one.

SOLANUM TUBEROSUM.

for arrow-root, and is also so manufactured as to resemble and
be sold for sago. The tissue of potatoes is cellular, — each cell
contains from ten to twelve grains of starch. Both in the cells
and in the intercellular spaces is an albuminous liquid. By
boiling the cells are separated, the starch-grains absorb the al-
buminous liquid, swell up, and completely fill the cells, while
the albumen coagulates and forms irregular fibres, which are
placed between the starch-grains. Potatoes in which these
changes are complete, are called meally , while those in which
the liquid is only partially absorbed, and the coagulations im-
perfectly effected, are denominated doughy , or watery.

Potatoes have been repeatedly subjected to chemical examina-
tion ; their principal constituents are starch, starchy fibrin, al-
bumen, gum, acids, salts, and water. The relative proportions
vary with the season, the varieties of the potatoe, &c. Potato-
starch consists of particles of varied shapes, and sizes — the nor-
mal form is probably ovate. Their size varies from one six-
hundredth to one thirtieth of a line in diameter. They are
characterized by concentric rings, observed on their surface, and
which Fritzche regards as indications of concentric layers, of
which he asserts these grains to be composed. The hilum is
circular. The cracks observed on some of the larger grains
proceed usually from the hilum.

Sugar is sometimes manufactured from potatoes. By fer-
mentation potatoes yield a vinous liquid ( potato-wine ) of good
quality. By distillation this yields potato-spirit , from which a
volatile oil ( oil of potatoes') has been extracted. An extract
obtained from the stalks and leaves of potatoes is said to possess
narcotic properties, in doses of two or three grains, but the cases
are not perfectly satisfactory.

The tubers of potatoes when boiled are a most valuable article
of food, both for men and animals. Those of good quality are
not only perfectly innocuous but highly nutritious, and easy of
digestion. In the raw state they have been found less nutri-
tive for animals, while on man they are said to pgrove laxative
and diuretic, and to exoite slightly the nervous system. The
process of cooking is probably useful in two ways, by rendering
the starch digestible, and secondly by extracting some noxious
matter. The potato in a raw state, eaten as a salad with vin-
egar, has proved of much benefit on ship-board as a preventative
of scurvy. An extract of the leaves is recommended in chronio
rheumatism, and pains of the stomach and bowels.

■ • Vf

*»

o :n ./I : rlaiidiue, pileircHl belt t*r wort

PAPAYERACEiE.

P opp yworts.

No 91.

CHELIDONIUM MAJUS.

Celandine, Pilewort , Tetterwort, etc.

Place — Europe,

Quality — Bitter, acrid, caustic.

Power — Diuretic, diaphoretic,

Use — Jaundice, dropsy, herpes, etc.

BOTANICAL ANALYSIS.

Natural Order. Rhceadese. — L. Papaveracese. — J.
Class XIII. Polyandria. Order Monogynia.

Linn. Sp. PI. 723. Woodv. Med. Bot. I. 140. Stephenson and Churchill II. 86. Loud.
Fncy. PL 460. Raf. Med. Flor. II. 207. U. S. Dis. 1240. Griff. Med. Bot. 129. Per.
El. Mat. Med. II. 687. Beach. Fam. Ph. 650. Wood, Class Book, 156 T. and G.
Flor. I. 162. ’

Genus CHELIDONIUM.

From the Greek ^£Xk!wi<, the swallow, the plant being supposed to flower with the
arrival of that bird, and to perish with its departure. The English word Celandine
appears to be a corruption of Chelidonium.

Synonymes— La chelidoine [E.],Das scholkraut [Ger.], Schelkruid [Dutch], Celi-
donia [ft.], Celidonia, [Sp.], Svaleurt, [Dan.]

THE ESSENTIAL CHARACTERS.

Calyx. Sepals , two, rarely three, deciduous, imbricated in
aestivation.

Corolla. Petals , four, rarely five or six hypogynous.

CHELIDONIUM MAJUS.

Stamens often indefinite or numerous, but some multiple of
four, rarely polyadelphous. Anthers , innate.

Ovary, solitary. Style, short or wanting. Stigmas, two, or if
more, stellate upon the flat apex of ovary.

Fruit, either pod-shaped, with two parietal placentae, or cap-
sular with several.

Seeds, indefinite or numerous, minute. Embryo, minute at
the base of oily albumen.

the secondary characters.

Chelidonium. Sepals, two, suborbicular. Petals, four, sub-
orbicular, contracted at base. Stamens, twenty-four — thirty-
two, shorter than the petals. Stigma, one, small, sessile, bifid.
Capsule — silique — form, linear, two-valved, one-celled. Seeds
crested.

Calyx two-leaved, caducous. Corol , four-petalled, silique like. Capsule, one-
celled, two-valved, linear. Seeds crested, many.

THE SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Chelidonium Majus. Leaves pinnate. Leaflets lobed. Seg-
ments rounded. Flowers in umbels.

Umbels axillary, peduncled. Leaves alternate, pinnate, lobed.

THE ARTIFICIAL CHARACTERS.

Class, Polyandria. Stamens, twenty or more, arising from
the receptacle (hypogynous). Order, Monogynia. Ovaries ,
compound. Placentce, parietal. Sepals, two (or three). Juice.
colored.

NATURAL HISTORY.

Chelidonium is a genus of perennial herbs, furnished with a
yellowish acrid juice, and containing probably but a single
species, which is a native of Europe, but has become exten-
sively naturalized in the United States and elsewhere.

Common Celandine is a pale green, and fleshy perennial her-
baceous plant, growing in meadows and waste places, by run-
ning brooks, and on wet lands, flowering throughout the

-CHELIDONIUM MAJUS.

summer. It rises to the height of from one to two feet — has
many tender, round, green, watery stalks, with large joints,
very brittle and transparent. Leaves smooth, glaucous, spread-
ing, consisting of two — four pairs of leaflets, with an odd one.
Leaflets irregularly dentate and lobed, the partial stalks winged
at base. Umbels thin, axillary, pedunculate. Petals elliptical,
entire yellow, and very fugacious, like every other part of the
flower. The flowers are succeeded by pods, which, when fully
ripe, burst suddenly, or, if compressed by the fingers, they will
instantly fly to pieces, and scatter the seed ; hence, Celandine
is sometimes also called Touch-me-not.

The plant is of remarkable easy culture.

CHEMICAL AND MEDICAL PROPERTIES AND USES.

The whole plant, Chelidonium Majus, is very brittle, and ex-
udes, when broken, an orange colored foetid juice. Its taste is
intensely bitter and acrid, occasioning a sense of burning in the
mouth and fauces, which lasts for some time. If applied to
the skin, the juice produces inflammation, and even vesication.
The whole plant is used ; the root is more powerful than the
stem, and is the part most generally approved. The active
principle is soluble both in water and alcohol, and although not
volatile, is somewhat diminished by drying. According °to an
analysis by M. M. Chevallier and Lassaigne {Jour, de Pharm .,
III. 451), the plant afforded a bitter resinous substance of a
deep yellow color a kind of gum-resin of an orange color, and
bitter, nauceous taste, mucilage, albumen, and various saline
substances, besides free malic acid and silica. Dr. Probst, of
Heidelberg, has more recently found in it a peculiar acid, de-
nominated Cheledonic acid ; two alkaline principles, one of
which forms neutral salts with the acids, and is called Clielery-
thrin, in consequence of the intense redness of its salts ; the
other unites with, but does not neutralize the acids, and is
named Chehdonin ; and lastly, a neutral, crystallizable, bitter
principle, which, from its yellow color, is called Chilidoxanthin.
Ot these principles, chelerythrin appears to rank among the
acrid narcotic poisons {Annul, der Pharm. XXIX. 113). :

Celandine is an acrid purgative, possessed also of diuretic,
<1 iaphoretic, and expectorant properties. In overdoses it pro-
duces unpleasant effects, and is by some considered poisonous

CHELIDOIVIUM MAJUS.

By the ancients, it enjoyed a very high reputation, and was
thought to be particularly efficacious in the removal of obstruc-
tions of the liver, in promoting expectoration, and in the cure
of chronic cutaneous affections. Miller ( Compend . Herb.), says,
it is operative and cleansing, opening obstructions of the liver
and spleen, and of great use in curing the jaundice and scurvy.
Outwardly it is used for sore eyes, to dry up rheum, and to take
away specks and films, and also against tetters and ringworms,
and scurfy breakings out. It may not be as effectual in the
treatment of these various affections as is stated, but is cer-
tainly possessed of much activity, and has been unduly neg-
lected. “ There is no doubt,” says Withering, “ but a medicine
of such activity will one day be converted to more important
purposes.”

According to the observations of numerous German prac-
titioners, its beneficial results in scrofula are unequivocal.
Wendt and Kuntzmann have given cases where it proved com-
pletely successful in this disease {Jour. Hufland, 1813). As a
drastic and hydragogue purgative it appears fully equal to gam-
boge, and might replace it in all cases in which the foreign
article is used. It has also been recommended as an external
application to the feet in those cedematous swellings succeeding
fevers. Recamier is of opinion that it has a peculiar elective
action on the spleen, and hence, is very effectual in removing
engorgements of that viscus.

Externally the juice has long been known as a caustic for
the removal of warts and corns, which it destroys by stimulating
ihem beyond their vital powers. The juice is also said to be
very efficacious in stimulating and healing old and indolent
ulcers, speedily removing fungous flesh, and giving a healthy
action to the torpid and indolent granulations. Hildanus,
Ethnuller, Geoffroy, and others, attest the powers of the juice,
when diluted with some bland liquid in specks and opacities of
the cornea. A cataplasm of the bruised leaves has also been
successiully used in herpes and obstinate psora. The dose of
the dried root or herb, is from thirty grains to a drachm, that
of the fresh root one or two drachms, and the same quantity
may be given in infusion. The watery extract, and the ex-
pressed juice, have also been employed. The dose of the for-
mer is from five to ten grains— that of the latter from ten to
twenty drops. In each case the dose is to be gradually in-
creased until the effects of the remedy are experienced.

** %

:■> <j,

N't? 0 2.

■r Dli (Till I. riUM AITTITTMI^AILIF

Mead on saffron, naked lady.

MELANTHACEiE.

Mela nths.

No. 92.

COLCHICUM AUTUMN ALE.

Meadow Saffron — Naked Lady.
Place — E urope.

Quality — Strong smelling, acrid.
Power — Narcotic, diuretic, purgative.
Use — Dropsy, gout, piles, rheumatism.

BOTANICAL ANALYSIS.

Natural Order. Spathaceae. — L. Melanthaceae. — J.
Class VI. Hexandria. Order. Trigynia.

Linn. Sp. PI. 485. Willd. Sp. PL II. 272. Woodv. Med ■ Bot. 759. Stephenson
and Churchill, II. 70. Loud. Ency. PL 292. U. S. Dis. 255. Griff. Med. Bot. 644.
Per. El. Mat. Med. IL 92. Lind. Flor. Med. 589.

Genus. COLCHICUM.

From Colchis , says Dioscorides, where this plant grows in abundance

Synonymes — Colchique d’automne [F], Die zeitlose [Ger.], Wildi saffraan [£).],
Colchico [#.], Villorita [Sp.], Colchioo [Port.], Beswremennoi zwiet [ Rues.] , Roz-
siad [Pol.] J

THE ESSENTIAL CHARACTERS.

Perianth regular, in two series, each of three segments,
which are distinct or united at base, generally involute
in aestivation.

Stamens six, with extrorse anthers.

COLCHICUM AUTUMNALE.

Ovary, three-celled, nine-many-ovuled. Styles distinct, or
wanting. Stigmas undivided.

I^ruit. Capsule or Berry , three-celled, generally with septi-
cidal dehiscence.

Seeds, with a membraneous testa, and dense fleshy albu-
men.

THE SECONDARY CHARACTERS.

Colchicum. Perianth single tubular, very long, rising from
a spatlie. Limb campanulat.e, six partite petaloid. Capsule
three-celled. Cells united at the base.

Spathe. Corolla six-parted, with a rooted tube. Capsules three, connected, in-
flated.

THE SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Colchicum Autumnale. Form ovate, solid, fleshy. Leaves
dark green, smooth, obtuse, long, somewhat carinate. Flowers
several, radical, leafless, of a purple color. Capsules three, dis-
tinct. Seeds whitish, polished.

Leaves plane, broadly lanceolate, erect. Fruit oblong, elliptical. Seeds sm-all,
sperical, internally white.

THE ARTIFICIAL CHARACTERS.

Class Hexandria. Stamens six. Order Trigynia. Endo-
gens. Calyx and Corolla similarly developed. Flowers con-
spicuous, mostly colored. Ovary many-seeded.

NATURAL HISTORY.

Meadow-saffron is a native of the temperate parts of Europe,
generally found growing in moist, rich meadow-grounds, and
flowering in September. The fruit appears in the following
spring or summer.

The cormus , commonly called the bulb or root, is solid, egg-
shaped, and covered with a brown membranous coat. The
leaves which appear in spring, are radical and spear-shaped,
about five inches long and half an inch broad at the base.
They wither away entirely before the end of summer, and are

COLCHICUM AUTUMNALE.

nevertheless preceded by the flower, which appears in autumn
without any leaves ; and from this circumstance the plant is
sometimes called “ Naked Lady” It is, however, proper to
state, that the bulb from which the flowers spring, is the offset
of that from which the leaves have decayed. There is no calyx.
The corolla , which is of a pale, pinkish lilac color, springs
directly from the bulb, and consists of a tube about five inches
long, two thirds of which are sunk in the ground, and a limb
divided into six lanceolate keeled segments. The filaments are
half the length of the segments of the corolla, subulate, united
to the upper part of the tube, and supporting yellow erect
anthers. The stigmas are revolute. The fruit is a three-lobed,
three-celled capsule, on a thick short peduncle. The impreg-
nated germen remains under ground, close to the bulb, till the
following spring, when it rises in its capsular form above the
surface, accompanied by the leaves. The seeds are ripe about
the end of June.

The thick old bulb begins to decay after the flower is per-
fectly expanded ; and the new bulbs, of which there are always
two formed on each old bulb, are perfected in the following
June, from which time until the middle of August they may be
taken up for medicinal use. The bulbs, when mature, on being
cut transversely, yield a milky-looking acrid juice, which pro-
duces a beautiful cerulean blue color, if rubbed with the alco-
holic solution of guaiacum.

CHEMICAL AND MEDICAL PROPERTIES AND USES.

The recent bulb of this plant has scarcely any odor. When
it is dug up at a proper season of the year, the taste is bitter,
hot, and acrid, occasioning a warm sensation in the stomach,
even when taken in a small quantity. At other seasons, how-
ever, and in some soils and situations, it possesses very little
acrimony, and thence the contradictory opinions which authors
have given of it. Its acrimony resides in a peculiar alkali,
which can be separated from the other principles, and has been
named veratrine (veratria) by M. M. Pelletier and Caventou,
who discovered it. The veratrine is obtained in form of a
white powder ; little soluble in water, but very soluble in
alcohol ; it combines with acids, but the neutral salts are not
crystallizable. The other component parts of the bulb are the
following : a fatty matter, malic acid, a yellow coloring matter,

COLCHICUM AUTUMNALE.

gum, starch, inulin in great abundance, and liguin. Vinegar
and wine are the best menstrua for extracting the active quali-
ties of the bulb. A deposit forms in the wine, which is ex-
tremely acrid, exciting nausea and griping, and ought to be
removed, as its removal does not alter the virtues of the medi-
cine. The seeds contain veratria, and yield it up to wine,
vinegar, and alcohol.

Colchicum Autumnale possesses diuretic, purgative, and nar-
cotic properties. It is the hermodactylon of the ancients. In
Europe, where it was recommended to notice by Baron Stoerck,
it is a favorite remedy in dropsy, particularly hydrothorax, and
in humoral asthma. But as it does not differ in its mode of
action from squill, and is more uncertain in its operation, it has
not been much used' in that complaint in this country. In gout
and rheumatism, however, its efficacy has been fully ascer-
tained, and in allaying the pain it may be almost said to possess
a specific property. It operates on the bowels chiefly, stimu-
lating the orifice of the common gall duct in duodenum, so as
to produce copious bilious evacuations; and acting on the
nerves, it diminishes the action of the arterial system. The
petals of the flower and the seed, possess the same medicinal
properties as the bulb. In the seed the veratria exists in the
testa or husk, and, consequently, the seeds should not be
bruised in preparing the wine or tincture with them.

The dose, in substance, is from two to eight grains, which
may be repeated every four or six hours, till the effects of the
medicine are obtained. The medicine, however, is generally
given in the state of vinous tincture.

To effectually preserve the virtues of the plant, Meadow-saffron,
the bulb, as soon as possible after it is dug up, should be
cut into transverse slices on clean white paper, distinct from
one another, without heat, or at a very low temperature. The
test of the drug being good and properly dried, is the appear-
ance of the blue color on rubbing it with a little distilled
vinegar, and the alcoholic solution of guaiacum. The slices
also should not appear deeply notched or panduriform, as this is
the mark of the bulb having begun to empty itself for the
nourishment of the young bulbs, and, consequently, to suffer in
its medicinal powers from the chemical change which, at this
period, its contents must necessarily undergo for the nourish-
ment of the offsets. It should be preserved in slices in well-
st^'^'v.d bottles.

. r f

N ° 93.

IENISPEEIACEjE,

Jilenis per mads.

No. 93.

CISSAMPELOS PARIERA.

Parkira Brava — Velvet Leaf , Ice Vine.

Place — South America.

Quality — A sweet bitter.

Power — Diuretic, demulcent, purifying.

Use — Calculus, difficulty of passing water, arthritis, gout,
dropsy, jaundice, &c.

BOTANICAL ANALYSIS.

Natural Order. Sarmentaceae. — L. Menispermaceee. — J.

Class. XXII. Dicccia. Order Monadelphia.

Linn. Sp. PI. 1473. Woodv. Med. Bot. 82. De Candolle Prod. I. 533. Flor.
Med. V. 262. Loudon, Ency. PI. 848 Raf. Med. Flor. II. 209. U. S. Pis. 532.
Griff. Med. Bot. 106. Per. El. Mat. Med. 739. Lind. Flor. Med. 372-

Genus. CISSAMPELOS.

From Ki<rao;1 the Greek name of the Ivy, and ayneXos vine, a plant partaking of
the nature of the former in its foliage, and of the latter in its fruit.

Synonymes — Liane a coeur [F.] , Die grieswurzel [Ger.l , Touwdruif [ Dutch]
Caapeba [Pori],

THE ESSENTIAL CHARACTERS.

Calyx. Sepals, three-eight in a double series, two-four in
each, imbricated in aestivation, hypogynous, deciduous.
Corolla. Petals , one-eight, hypogynous, usually as many as

the sepals, rarely wanting or none.

CISSAMPELOS PAREIRA.

Stamens distinct or monadelphous, equal in number to the
Petals and opposite to them, or three or four times as
many. Anthers , innate and consisting of four globose
lobes.

Ovary, usually solitary, sometimes two-four.

Fruit, a drupe, globose-reniform.

Seed, solitary, uncinate.

•

THE SECONDARY CHARACTERS.

Cissampelos Dioecious. Male. Sepals , four in a double series.
Petals four, united into a cup-shaped corolla, with an entire
margin. Stamens , united into slender columns, dilated at the

apex, bearing two two-celled anthers, opening horizontally.
Cells , placed end to end, and forming a four lobed, four-celled
annulus round the top of the column. . Female. Calyx of one
lateral sepal. Corolla of one petal in front of the sepal. Ovary
solitary. Stigmas, three. Drupe, obliquely reniform, but com-
pared, wrinkled round its margin. See<%, solitary, uncinate.
Embryo long, terete, enclosed in a fleshy albumen.

Flowers, dioecious. Sterile Flowers. Sepals, four in a double series. Petals
four, united into a cup-shaped corolla. Stamens five. Anthers connate. Fertile
Flowers. Sepal one, rounded. Petal one, placed before and but half the length ol
the sepal, truncated, hypogynous. Fruit , a one-seeded berry.

THE SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Cissampelos Pareira. Leaves, peltate, subcordate, ovate,
articulate, silky-pubescent beneath. Male. Sepals four.
Nectary entire. Filament one. Crest very short. Anthers
five united in a capitate body. Female. Racemes larger than
the leaf. Sepal and Petal solitary. Ovary , ovate, villous.

Berry globose, hispidulous.

Leaves peltate, orbicular, cordate, villous. Sterile Flowers, racemose. Fertil*
Flowers, spicate longer than the leaves.

THE ARTIFICIAL CHARACTER.

Class Dicecia. Stamens apart from the pistils in different
flowers upon different plants. Order Monadelphia. Herbs.
Exogens, Dioecious Fruit, a drupe. Stamens, more than ten.
Leaves, peltate. Climbing, suffruticose plants. Racemes
axillary.

CISSAMPELOS PAREIRA.

NATURAL HISTORY.

Pareira Brava is a native of South America and the West
India Islands. It is well known in Jamaica, where it grows in
abundance in the mountainous districts, by tho name of Velvet-
leaf. It is also spoken of by Ainslie as a native of the East
Indies, but it appears that the plant to which he refers is Cis-
sampelos mauritiana , which is closely allied, both in botanical
characters and in medicinal qualities to the plant under consider-
ation. This plant was first made known by Marcgraf and Piso
in 1648, who met with it in Brazil. The name given by them
for the root is Caapeba. In 1688, it was sent to Paris by M.
Arnelot, the French Ambassador at* Portugal. Some difference
of opinion exists with regard to the species or varieties affording
Pareira root. Linnoeus made two species of the plant, founded
upon the characters of the leaf. I. Cissampelos Pareira with
petioles one to two inches long, villoas, cylindrical, with a re-
markable curveture at bottom, inserted in many individuals
into the leaves at a small distance from the base, so as to make
them appear peltate or obicular. II. Cissampelos Caapeba with
petioles inserted into the lower edge directly. Poiret by close
examination, united them. According to Merat and De Lens,
some other species, regarded as distinct, may be merged in it as
varieties. The East India species may be different. Caapeba is
the name \yhich the root bears in South America.

The Ice-vine , is a climbing shrub, attaining a great size and
covering even the tallest trees with its foliage. The root is
woody and branching. The stem is round, smooth, or with a
closely appressed * tomentum. The leaves are large, peltate,
subcordate, ovate, articulate, of a dark green, and smooth above
and silky pubescent beneath. The flowers are unisexual ; the
males, with four sepals and four petals, forming a cup-like
corolla, with an entire margin. The stamens are united, bear-
ing connate anthers opening horizontally. The female flowers
have but a single sepal and petal. The ovary is solitary, sur-
mounted with three stigmas. The fruit is a round or roniforrn
hispid scarlet berry.

CHEMICAL AND MEDICAL PROPERTIES AND USES.

Pareira was introduced into medical practice by the Portu-
guese, and at one time was much employed in diseases of the

CISSAMPELOS PAREIRA.

bladder and kidneys, and even considered as a powerful lithon-
triptic, its virtues were so highly thought of, that Helvetius
declares that calculi of a large size had completely disappeared
under its use, and that the operation of lithotomy was no longer
required.

The part used in modicine is the root which as found in com-
merce, is generally in large billets, very tortuous, of a dark color
externally, and of a yellowish hue within. The axis is not cen-
tral, and a section displays a number of concentric layers, tra-
versed by many radiating lines, between which are triangular
bundles of woody fibres and ducts. The taste is sweetish, some-
what aromatic, but leaving a bitter and unpleasant impression in
the mouth. The smell is very faint. Pareira has been ana-
lyzed by Feneulle, ( Journ . de Pharm .) It was found to contain
a soft resin, yellow bitter principle , brown coloring principle,
vegeto-animal matter, fecula, supermalate of lime, nitrate of
potash, and some ammoniacal and mineral salts. "Wiggers more
recently, in 1838, announced the discovery of a new vegetable
alkaloid, which he calls Cissampelin, but its properties have not
been described. The yellow bitter matter is supposed to be the
active principle.

The medical properties are those of a tonic and diuretic, de-
mulcent, and purifying. It has been employed with some
advantage in affections of the urino-genital organs, and respec-
table authority asserts that more good has been effected by this
root in cases of this character, than by uva ursi. In chronic
inflammation of the bladder, the testimony of Sir B. Brodie,
(who was one of the first to resume its use,) is strongly in its
favor, he says, “ I am satisfied that it has great influence, les-
sening very materially the secretion of the ropy mucus, which
is itself a very great evil, and I believe diminishing the inflam-
mation and irritability of the bladder itself.” He recommends
it to be given in decoction, to which some tincture of Hyoscya-
mus may be added. Dr. T. F. Betten, Philadelphia, has also
employed it successfully in similar cases.

It is also given in powder, in doses of from half a drachm to
a drachm, but the infusion or decoction is a far more eligible
mode of administration. An extract and a tincture have been pre-
pared from it. The tincture may be made by maserating one
part of the root in five parts of alcohol. Dose, a fluid drachm.
The aqueous extract may be given in the dose of from ten to
thirty grains.

IST9 94-.

(C/l IPFAIY S 0 IPHETOD £5 A\ .

TKf ca_ppr shrub, capes.

CAPPABIDACEjE

Capp arids ,

No. 94.

CAPPARIS SPINOSA.

The Caper shrub — Capers.

Place — Europe.

Quality — Dry, somewhat bitter.

Power — Stimulant, antiscorbutic, aperient.
Use — Hypochondriasis, paralysis.

BOTANICAL ANALYSIS.

Natural Order. Putaminege. — L. Capparidacea*. — J.

Class XIII. Polyandria . Order Monogynia.

Linn. Sp. Pl. 720. Loudon, Ency. PL 458. U. S. I) is. 1239. 1281. Griff Med.
Bot. 136. Blacken, herb, 417. Nat. syst. 2 ed. 61. Bot. Mag. 291. Lindl. Flor.
Med. 94.

Genus. CAPPARIS.

From its Arabic name Kabar, from which the Greeks made Kariraois.

Synonymes — Le caprier [E], Die Kapernstaude [Ger.], Kappers [Dutch]. Oappari
[&.], Alcaparro [Sp.], Alcapparra [Port.], Kapersowoy Kust [Rmss.]

THE ESSENTIAL CHARACTERS.

Calyx. Sepals four.

Corolla. Petals four, cruciate, unguiculate, hypogynous, more
or less unequal.

CAPPARIS SPIXOSA.

Stamens. Six — twelve, or some multiple of four, almost perigy-
nous. Torus small, often elongated, bearing a single
gland.

Ovary often stipitate, of two united carpels. Styles, united into
one. Stigma, discoid.

Fruit, either pod-shaped and dehiscent or fleshy, and indehis-
cent. Placentae, usually two.

Seeds many, reniform. Albumen wanting. Embryo curved.
Cotyledons foliaceous.

THE SECONDARY CHARACTERS.

Cafparis. Calyx. Sepals, four-parted, spreading oblong,
obtuse, concave, imbricated. Petals, four, large, white, emargi-
nate, downy at the base. Stamens numerous, hypogynous.
Ovary, oblong, one-celled. Stigma, round sessile, concave,
entire. Fruit, oblong, knotty. Seeds, reniform, smooth.

Calyx four-parted- Petals four. Torus small. Stipes of the ovary slender.
Stamens numerous. Fruit siliquose, somewhat bacoate, stipitate.

THE SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Capparis Spinosa. Peduncle, simple, one flowered, solitary.
Stipules, spiny. Leaves roundish, obtuse, smooth. Capsules
oval.

Stem trailing, smooth. Leaves ovate, quite smooth. Flowers auxiliary, with
slender peduncles much longer than the petioles.

THE ARTIFICIAL CHARACTERS.

Class Polyandria. Stamens, twenty or more arising from the
receptacle (hypogynous.) Order Monogynia. Rocks, walls and
cliffs, in the most southern parts of Europe, and in the Levant.

NATURAL HISTORY.

We are happy in having it in our power to give a representa-
tion of the Caper shrub, whose blossoms are rarely seen in this
country, though its flower buds are in very general use as a
pickle, indeed, so great is their consumption that they form a
very considerable article of commerco. It is a biennial plant
growing wild in some parts of the United States and believed to
have been introduced from Europe. It is sometimes found near

*CAP PARIS SPINOSA.

gardens and in cultivated fields, and is generally called Mole
Plant under the impression that moles avoid the ground where
it grows.

The plant grows spontaneously in the more southern parts of
Europe, especially in Italy and the Levant; in its wild state it
forms a shrub of low growth having numerous spreading spinous
branches, somewhat thickly beset with smooth roundish leaves.
The blossoms grow alternately on the branches, and when the
plant begins to flower, one opens generally every other morning,
but so delicate are its parts, that on a hot summer’s day it fades
before noon. The petals are white. The filaments which are
extremely numerous, are white below and of a rich purple color
above, in these the beauty of the flower chiefly consists, as in
the pestillum does its great singularity. At first view, it would
appear that the part so conspicuous in the center of the flower
was the style terminated by the stigma in the usual way, but if
this part of the flower is traced to a more advanced state, it will
be seen that what was supposed the style, is merely an elonga-
tion of the flower-stalk, and what was supposed the stigma, is in
reality the germen placed on it, crowned with a minute stigma,
without any intervening style. This germen swells, turns down-
ward, and ultimately becomes the seed vessel, rarely ripening
in northern or cold climates.

The plant is with difficulty preserved by cultivation, for it
delights to grow in crevices of rocks, and the joints of old walls
and ruins, and always thrives best in a horizontal position. It
flowers in May and June, and is usually raised from seeds.

A plant stood near a century against the wall of the garden
of Camden House, Kensington, (near London,) it produced many
flowers annually, though the young shoots were frequently
killed to the stump during the Winter

CHEMICAL AND MEDICAL PROPERTIES AND USES.

The dried bark of the root of Capparis Spinosa was formerly
officinal. It is in pieces partially or wholly quilled, about one
third of an inch in mean diameter, transversely wrinkled, grayish
externally, whitish within, inodorous and of a bitterish, some-
what acrid and aromatic taste. It is considered diuretic and
was formerly employed in obstructions of the liver and spleen,
amenorrhoea and chronic rheumatism.

As a pickle, the flower buds of the Caper shrue are in great

CAPPARIS SPINOSA.

esteem throughout Europe. In Italy the unripe fruit is prepared
in the same way as the flower buds ; both are highly acrid and
burning to the taste. In the isles of the Mediterranean and near
Toulon, the flower-buds of the Caper are gathered just before they
begin to expand, which forms a daily occupation during six
months, when the plants are in a flowering state. As the buds
are gathered they are thrown into a cask among as much salt
and vinegar as is sufficient to cover them, and as the supply of
Capers is increased more vinegar is added. When the Caper
season closes, the casks are emptied and the buds sorted accord-
ing to their size and color, the smallest and greenest being
reckoned the best, and put into small casks of fresh vinegar for
commerce. They will in this state keep fit for use for five or
six years. The best Capers are called Nonpareilles, and the
second best Capucines.

Cappares Spenesa contains a milky juice which is extremely
acrid, and the whole plant possesses the properties of a drastic
purge ; but the oil of the seed is the only part used in regular
practice. This oil is colorless, inodorous and when recent nearly
insipid, but it speedly becomes rancid, and acquires a dangerous
acrimony. The oil may be extracted by expression, or by the
agency of alcohol or of either. In the first case the bruised seeds
are pressed in a canvas or linen bag, and the oil which escapes
is purified by decanting it from the whitish flocculent matter
which it deposits upon standing, and by subsequent filtration.
By the latter process the bruised seeds are digested in alcohol or
macerated in ether, and the oil is obtained by filtering and
evaporating the solution.

This oil is a powerful purge, operating with much activity in
a dose varying from five to ten drops. It was, some years since,
much used by certain Italian and French Physicians who did
not find it to produce inconvenient irritation of the stomach and
bowels. Its want of taste and the smallness of the dose recom-
mended it especially in the cases of infants. It was said to be
less acrid and irritating than the Croton oil, over which it also
had the advantage of greater cheapness. Some trials which
have been made with it on this side of the Atlantic, have not
tended to confirm these favorable reports. It was found un-
certain in its cathartic effect, and very liable to vomit. (Scatter-
good, Jour, of the Phil. Col. of Pharm. IV. 124).

It may be given in pill with the crumb of bread, or in emul-
sion

IV (? 05 .

UMBELL1FERJE.

i V ml h 3 llifers.

N°- 95.

CORIANDRUM SATIVUM.

CORIANDER.

Place — Europe.

Quality — Nauseous.

Power — Carminative, driving away milk.

Use — The seeds in hysterics, tertian ague.

BOTANICAL ANALYSIS.

Natural Order. Umbellatse. — J. Umbelliferse. — J.
Class V. Pentandria. Order Digijnia.

Willd- Sp. PL 1448. Woodv. Med. Bot. 137. Smith, Flor. Brit. 320. Louden,
Ency. Pl. 208. Lindl. Flor. Med. 58. U. S. Bis. 275. Per. FI. Mat. Med. II. 508
Griff. Mat. Med. 341. Wood. C. B. 294.

Genus. CORIANDRUM.

From the Greek sopis, a bug; on account of the smell of the leaves.

Synonymes. — Coriandreti'’.) , Koriander Saamen ((?.). Koriander (Dutch, Swed. and
Dan.), Koriandor {Pol.) , Coriandro (Port.) , Coriandro (/.), Semilla de Clantro (S.) ,
Cottamillie ( Tam .), Mety (Malay) , Kezereh (Arab.) , Kitnuez (Pcrs.), D’hanya (H.) ,
D’amyaca (San.)

THE ESSENTIAL CHARACTERS.

Calyx adhering to the ovary, entire or five-toothed.

Corolla. Petals , five, usually inflected at the point, imbricate
in aestivation.

Stamens. Five, alternate with the petals and inserted with them
upon the disk.

Ovary, inferior, two-celled surmounted by the fleshy disk, which
bears the stamens and petals. Styles , two distinct, or
united at their thickened bases. Stigma, simple.

CORIANDRUM SATIVUM.

Fruit, dry, consisting of two coherent carpels, separating from
each other by their faces ( commissure ,) into two halves
( merocarps ).

Seeds. Concave, numerous.

THE SECONDARY CHARACTERS.

Cortandrum. Calyx with five conspicuous teeth. Petals ,
obcordate, inflected at the point, outer ones radiate, bifid. Fruit ,
globose. Carpels , whering with five depressed, primary ribs,
and four secondary, more prominent ones. Seeds concave on
the face.

Seeds, sub-spherical. Germ spherical. Perianth five-toothed. Petals cordate-in
flexed, outer ones largest. Involucre one-leaved or wanting.

THE SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Coriandrum Sativum. ' Leaves, bipinnate, lower ones with
broad cuneate leaflets, upper with linear ones. Carpels hemis-
pherical.

Fruit globose. Calyx and style permanent.

THE ARTIFICIAL CHARACTERS.

Class, Pentandria. Stamens, five, Order Digynia. Poly-
petalous, Seeds two. Flowers in umbels. Herbs with hollow
stems.

NATURAL HISTORY.

Coriander is mentioned by Moses (16 Ex. 31.) “ And the
house of Israel called the name thereof, Manna, and it was like
Coriander Seed, white ; and the taste of it was like wafers made
with honey.”

The plant is an annual, a native of Italy and the southern
parts of Europe. It is occasionally found wild in some parts of
the United States, but is cultivated in gardens owing to the
abundant use of it for medicinal purposes. It delights in a sandy
loam. It is raised from seeds whieh may be sown in February
or March, when the weather is mild and dry ; and the quantity
requisite for a* bed four feet wide by six in length, to be sown in
rows, is half an ounce, and when sown in drills, they may be nine
inohes apart, and the seed, buried half an inch. Where a con-

CORIANDRUM SATIVUM.

stant succession is required, small successive monthly sowings
will be necessary in Spring and Summer, as the plants in those
seasons soon run to seed. There should bo also small sowings
in the fall, to stand the Winter, under the defence of a frame.
The plants are to remain where sown.

The stern is erect, about two feet in height, branching divari-
cated, round, smooth and obscurely striated. The leaves are
compound, the lower ones pinnated, with gashed wedge-shaped,
somewhat rounding leaflets and the upper thrice-ternate, with
linear-pointed segments. Both the umbels and the umbellules are
many rayed, with an involucre of one linear leaf and involucels of
three lanceolate narrow leaves, all on one side. The flowers are
of a white or reddish color. The calyx consists of five leaves. The
Petals are five also, oblong and inflected at the tips, but those of
the flowers of the circumference have the outermost petals larger
and not. inflected. The fruit commonly termed coriander seeds
( fructus sen semina coriandri) is globular, about the size of
white pepper, of a grayish yellow color, and is finely or obscurely
ribbed. It consists of two hemispherical mericarps, adherent by
their concave surfaces. Each mericarp has five primary ridges,
which are depressed and wavy, and four secondary ridges more
prominent and carinate. The channels are without vittee, but
the commissure has two. This form of the fruit distinguishes
Coriandrum Sativum, coriander , from all the other species of
Umbel life raj.

The plant flowers in June, and ripens its seed in August.

CHEMICAL AND MEDICAL PROPERTIES AND USES.

The dried seeds of the Coriandrum Sativum have a grateful,
aromatic odor, and a moderately warm, pungent taste, qualities
which depend on an essential oil, that can be obtained separa a
by the distillation of the seeds with water. Their active
principles are completely extracted by alcohol, but only partially
by water. This oil ( Oleum Coriandri) is yellowish, smells
strongly and pretty agreeably of the Coriander, and is the source
of the odor, taste and medicinal properties of the fruit, which, like
the other carminative umbelliferous fruits are aromatic and stimu-
lant. The whole plant when green has an abominably foetid odor
if bruised, which extends even to the fruit. It is cultivated in
private gardens chiefly for the tender leaves which are used in
soups and salads. On a large scale it is cultivated for the seed.

CORIANDRUM SATIVUM.

which is extensively used by confectioners, druggists and dis-
tillers, in large quantities.

The seeds are sometimes used in flatulencies, but principally
to cover the unpleasant taste, and correct the griping quality of
some cathartics.

Dr. Cullen considered coriander as more powerfully correcting
the odor and taste of Senna than any other aromatic ; and hence
it was formerly a constituent of the compound infusion of Senna,
though now ginger is substituted for it. It is only employed in
medicine as an adjuvant or corrigent. It is a constituent of the
confectio senna;, which when properly prepared is a mild and
pleasant purgative, and well adapted for those who are afflicted
with habitual costiveness.

Coriandrum Sativum is carminative, and therefore the follow-
ing observations respecting medicines of that class are introduced
for the use of the general reader. Carminatives are those
medicines which usually dispel flatulency of the stomach and
bowels by stimulating the inner coat of these organs. They in
general produce only temporary relief, for if the diseased con-
dition of the alimentary canal be not removed by appropriate
remedies it will very speedily become again distended with
flatus. The articles generally employed as carminatives are
infusions or tinctures of the aromatic seeds and vegetables. The
principal carminatives are ginger, cardamon, anise and caraway
seeds ; several of the essential oils, as those of peppermint, anise,
coriandet, and juniper. Ardent spirits and especially aromatic
tinctures. The use of these articles is decidedly injurious in
every instance in which the stomach or intestines are in the least
degree inflamed, or when their sensibility is morbidly increased.
They are however very favorite prescriptions with nurses and
mothers, to allay the gripings with which young children are so
frequently afflicted, and under these circumstances a great deal
of mischief is caused by their indiscreet administration. Whole-
some food, cleanliness of person, protection from cold and damp,
and sufficient exercise will most generally prevent a flatulent
state of the bowels of infants ; when, however, it depends upon
the disease of these parts carminatives will seldom do much good
but will often increase the sufferings of the little patient.

N ? .0 0.

I Iip Colombo Pla_nt. Columljo .

MENISPERMACEJL

Menis p er mad s

No 96.

COCCULUS PALMATUS.

Columba Plant. Columbo.

Place — Africa.

Quality — Bitter.

Power — Antisceptic, tonic.

Use — Indigestion, diarrhoea, fevers, cholera.

BOTANICAL ANALYSIS.

Natural Order. Sarmentaceoe. — L. Menispermaceae. — J.
Class XXII. Dicecia. Order Hexandria.

Willd. Sp. Pl. S24. Woodv. Med. Bni. V. 21. Stephenson and Churchill 160. Loud.
Encij. PL 844. U. S. Dis. 261. Grift’ Med. Bot. 103. Per. El. Mat. Med. II. 733.
Beach. Earn. Pli. 662. Kost. Mat. Med. 453. Wood, Class Book , 151. Lind- Flor.
Med. 369. De Candolle. Syst. Nat. I. 515.

Genus COCCULUS.

From Coccus , the name of the well known dyers’ insect, and has been applied to this
Genus on account of the resemblance which has been found to exist between that
insect and the scarlet berries of the plant.

Synonymes. — Colombo [P.], Kolumbowurzel [G-], Columba [/.], Raizade Colombo
[S/>.], Kalumb’o [Port.], Kalumb [.Mozambique], Columbo vaye. (Tare.]

THE ESSENTIAL CHARACTERS.

Calyx. Sepals, three-eight in a double series, two-four in each,
imbricated in aestivation, hypogynous, deciduous.
Corolla. Petals, one-eight, hypogynous, usually as many as the
sepals, rarely wanting or none.

COCCULUS PALMATUS.

Stamens distinct or monadelphous, equal in number to the Petals
and opposite to them, or three or four times as many.
Anthers , innate and consisting of four globose lobes.
Ovary, usually solitary, sometimes two-four
Fruit, a drupe, globose-reniform.

Seeds, lunate and compressed

THE SECONDARY CHARACTERS.

Cocculus. Flowers unisexual, dioecious. Calyx of twelve sepals,
in four series, with two three or more close pressed bracteoles.
Males. Stamens six, or rarely three opposite to the inner sepals,
distinct. Anthers two-celled, terminal, dehising, vertically.
Filaments , either filiform or thickened at the apex. Females,
Ovaries , three, six or numerous. Drupes one to six or numerous,
one-celled, one-seeded. Peduncles axillary or rarely lateral.

Sepals and Petals ternate usually in two, rarely in three rows. Stamens, six distinct,
opposite the petals. Drupes harried, one to six, generally oblique, reniform, somewhat
compressed, one-seeded. Cotyledons distant.

THE SPECIFIC CHARACTERS.

Cocculus Palmatus Flowers small, green. Calyx of six
petals in two series with bracteoles. Petals six obovate, half-
enclosing the opposite stamens. Anthers terminal, two-celled.
Ovaries three, united at the base. Drupes hairy.

Leaves cordate, five — seven lobed. Lobes entire, acuminate somewhat hairy on
both sides. Stem and Germ with glandular hairs.

THE ARTIFICIAL CHARACTERS.

Class Dicecia. Stamens apart from the pistils in different
flowers upon different plants. Order Hexandria. Herbs ,
exogens, dioecious. Fruit a drupe. Stamens more than ten.
Leaves peltate. Climbing suffruticosc plant. Racemes axillary.

NATURAL HISTORY.

This plant is a native of the Mozambique, west of Africa.
Cibo is mentioned as a locality of it. It there grows spontane-
ously, and is not cultivated by the natives. The manner of pre-
paring the root is to remove it from the earth during the dry
season, which is in March, and after washing it to cut it into
pieces, usually horizontal, and then dry them in the shade. The

COCCULUS PALMATUS.

offsets are selected in preference. The pieces are marked by a
thick ring on the outside, corresponding to the dense vertical
substance, contrasting with the contracted interior, which is
formed of more spongy parenchyma. The surface is marked by
concentric rings.

Redi, in 1677, first mentioned the properties of the root of the
Columba. It was not however introduced into Europe for a long
time after, and then little was known of its origin. Commerson,
in 1770, procured some specimens from the garden of Mr. Poivre,
of the Isle of France, and sent them to Europe. From these
Lamarik has given his description of the plant, under the name
of Menispermum palmatum. Mr. Ferton. a resident of Madras,
obtained a living specimen of the plant in 1805, and Mr. Berry
in the Asiatic Researches figured and described it. In 1830 Sir
¥m. J. Hooker published a complete description both of the
male and female plants in the Botanic Magazine. This was
made from the drawings sent to England by Mr. Telfair of
Mauritius who obtained living roots from Captain Owen, pro-
cured by him when on the survey of the eastern coast of Africa.
From the name Colombo root it was supposed to be the product
of Ceylon, but this is not the case as has been stated by Shurr-
berg and Dr. Rajuct. The name by which it is known in India
is Kalumb. Columba is brought into the market in bales, and
sometimes in cases, and as it constitutes an article of traffic in the
East it may be bought in most of the great marts of that portion
of the world. Usually Bombay, Madras or Calcutta, are the
indirect sources of it. The pieces are frequently much perforated
evidently by worms and not as has been supposed by stringing
to facilitate its drying. Those pieces which have the fewest
worm-holes, the brightest color, and are solid and heavy, are the
best. It is said that the root of white bryony, tinged yellow
with the tincture of columba has been fradulently substituted for
this root.

CHEMICAL AND MEDICAL PROPERTIES AND USES.

Columba root has a very slight aromatic odor and a bitter taste.
It breaks with a starchy fracture and is easily pulverized.
Water at 212° takes up one-third of its weight, and the infusion
has all the sensible qualities of the root. These are also extracted
by alcohol, but proof spirit is the best menstruum. The infusion
is not altered by solutions of sulphate of iron, nitrate of silver,

COCCULUS fALMATUS.

muriate of mercury, and tartarized antimony, but a copious pre-
cipitate is produced by the infusion of galls, and yellow cinchona
bark , by asctate and superacetate of lead, oxymuriate of mercury
and lime-water. ITence Columba root was erroneously supposed
to contain cinchonia. M. Planche found it to contain a lar^e
K proportion ol a peculiar animal substance ; a yellow, bitter,
resinous matter, and one-third of its weight of starch. By re-
peated distillation, he also obtained a volatile oil, and from the
residue malate of lime, and sulphate of lime. By treating
columba root with alcohol of 0.835, then reducing the tincture
by distillation to one-third, allowing the residue to stand until
crystals form in it, and afterwards purifying these, Mr. Wit.tstock
of Berlin procured a new salt, to which he gave the name of
columbina, and which he supposes to be the active principle of
columba root. It is inodorous, extremely bitter, neither acid
nor alkaline, and scarcely soluble in water or in alcohol. The
acetic acid is its proper menstruum.

Columba root is a useful antisceptic and tonic. It is frequently
employed with much advantage in diarrhoeas arising from a
redundant secretion of bile and in bilious remittent fever, and
cholera, in which it generally checks the vomiting. It also
allays the nausea and vomiting which accompany pregnancy,
and according to f ercival, it is equally servicable in stopping the
severe diarrhoea and vomiting which sometimes attend dentition.
Denman found it more useful than cinchona in the low stage of
puerperal fever. As a tonic, unaccompanied with astringency,
and possessing little stimulus, it has been recommended in
phthisis and hectic fever, to allay irritability and strengthen the
digestive organs, and in dyspepsia. It may be given combined
with aromatics, orange-peel, opiates and alkaline or neutral salts
as circumstances may indicate or require. The powder in com-
bination wiih rhubarb and sulphate of potassa is found exceed-
ingly serviceable in mesenteric fever. An ointment made with
the powder has been used in tinea capitis, and to destroy
vermin in the hair. Rubbed up with lard in the proportion often
grains to the ounce, it usually cures tinea capitis in less than a
month

It is given in powder, or in infusion or tincture. When boiled
in water the starch is dissolved, and a turbid thick solution is
produced, a decoction is therefore objectionable. The dose of the
powdered root is from fifteen grains to half a drachm, repeated
three or four times ° day.

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Full text of "The family flora and materia medica botanica : containing the botanical analysis, natural history, and chemical and medicinal properties of plants: illustrated by colored engravings of original drawings, copied from nature"

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