SKUNK CABBAGE, 47 
consistence and an animal odour. They contain 
fixed oil in abundance, which is easily forced out 
from them by expression. Their principal bulk 
appears to be albumen, and when reduced to 
powder they are less easily soluble in boiling 
water, than grains which are less oleaginous. 
They burn with an oily smoke, leaying behind a 
large coal. ie 
The sensible properties of the Sktodne sect 
a strong affinity with those of assafcetida and the 
other fetid gums, practitioners have been led to 
expect from ita similar antispasmodic power. 
Experience has justified these expectations in a 
variety of disorders of the spasmodic and nervous 
kind. The Rey. Dr. Cutler of Massachusetts 
was the first who recommended its use in asth- 
matie cases. In his account of indigenous Amer- 
ican vegetables, he tells us that the roots: dried 
and powdered form an excellent remedy in asthma, 
and often give relief when other means prove in- 
effectual. It may be given, he says, with safety 
to children as well as adults ; to the former in dos- 
es of four, five or six grains, and to the latter in 
doses of twenty grains and upward. In a private 
letter he states, that he made use of it in his own 
case of asthma for several years, and generally 
fonnd relief. In the winter he used the dried 
