46 JUNIPERUS COMMUNIS. 
The berries of the Juniper have long been 
employed for the purposes of a diuretic, partieu- 
larly in dropsy. Many of the older writers, whose 
names are of high authority in medicine, have 
given favorable reports of the operation of this 
medicine in hydropic cases. It has been used in 
substance, in infusion, and in various compound. 
medicines. The effects of its most popular prepara- 
tion, that of an ardent spirit, are too universally 
known to require particular elucidation. In addi- 
tion to the specific effect of the essential oil, 
some physicians have attributed virtues to the 
rob, or inspissated decoction of the berries... Hoff. 
man found it of great use in debility of the stomach 
and intestines, particularly in old people. The 
stronger preparations have been found useful in 
uterine obstructions, and in paralytic affections of 
the vesica urinaria, 
-Linnzeus informs us, in his Flora Lapponica, 
that a fermented decoction of J uniper berries is 
used in Sweden as a common drink, but he denies 
the infusion being substituted for tea and coffee, 
as some writers have stated, in Lapland. Wood- 
ville and others have misquoted him on this 
point. 
The American Juniper berries are considera- 
bly inferior to the European in strength and 
