490 SOLIDAGO ODORA. 
ry to the remark of Willdenow, who informs us that 
the root is the fragrant part possessing the scent 
of Geum urbanum, 
As the volatile oil appears to possess all the 
medicinal yalue of this plant, I have not prosecut- 
ed its chemical investigation any farther. 
The claims of the Solidago to stand as an ar- 
ticle of the Materia Medica are of a humble, but 
not despicable kind. We import and consume 
many foreign drugs which possess no yirtue be- 
yond that of being aromatic, pleasant to the taste, 
gently stimulant, diaphoretic and carminative. 
All these properties the Golden rod seems fully to 
possess. An essence made by dissolving the es- 
sential oil in proof spirit, is used in the eastern 
states as a remedy in complaints, arising from flat- 
ulence, and as a vehicle for unpleasant medicines 
of various kinds. I have employed it to allay 
vomiting, and to relieve spasmodic pains in the 
stomach of the milder kind, with satisfactory sue- 
cess. From its pleasant flavour, it serves to cover 
the taste of laudanum, eastor oil, and other med- 
icines, whose disagreeable taste causes them to 
be rejected by delicate and irritable stomachs. 
Mr. Pursh informs us, that this plant when 
dried, is used in some parts of the United States as 
an agreeable substitute for tea. He further states, 
