ASARUM CANADENSE. 
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, externally. The filaments, which are twelve in 
number and of unequal length, stand upon the germ, and 
rise with a slender point above the anthers attached to them. 
Near the divisions of the calyx are these filamentous bodies, 
which may be considered as nectaries. The pistil consists of 
a somewhat hexagonal germ, and a conical grooved style, sur- 
mounted by six revolute stigmas. The capsule is six-celled, 
coriaceous, and crowned with the adhering calyx, 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, snakeroot, are common to all these 
varieties, although very different in appearance, but similar in 
taste, smell, and properties. They are frequently and indis- 
criminately 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. Richard Rushton. They found it to contain: 
gum, starch, resin, fatty matter, chlorophyll, 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 proportions 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 properties, 
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. of 7 
The root alone is officinal, and is prepared by removing — 
during the summer, and cleansing and drying in the shades 
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 er pieces, about the thickness 
