68 A COMPENDIUM OF 
ing upon its stems many rough leaves, lanceo- 
late (lance) or oblong lanceolate (pointed at both 
ends), with sessile flowers of a rose color, having 
five sepals, five petals and a two-seed capsule, 
which ripens in July and August. The root 
which is the medicinal part of the plant should 
be gathered in the fall of the year. Senega is 
the only acrid root which is devoid of starch. 
As it occurs in the stores Senega is from 2 to 4 
inches (5 to 10 centimeters) in length, with a 
knotty head or crown and thence branching into 
numerous small rootlets of a gray or brownish 
yellow color; internally the root and rootlets are 
of a dirty white. The taste at first is sweet and 
then acrid. The bark encloses a white inert 
woody column, about the same dimensions as 
itself. Senega root when broken has a short 
brittle fracture and a peculiar rancid odor. In 
appearance it somewhat resembles the Ginseng 
and the Cypripedium (lady’s slipper), although 
the roots and rootlets of the latter are much 
larger. Seneka contains senegin or polygalic acid, 
a fixed oz/, pectin, resin, sugar coloring matter 
and malates. Senegin is closely allied to Sapo- 
nin, and like it a sternutatory. “Besides the spe- 
cies already described, there are two varieties 
found in Europe, the P. Amara and the P. Vul- 
garis, which are much lauded as remedies in 
chronic pectoral affections. The medicinal prop- 
erties of the Seneka are expectorant, emetic and 
diuretic. The officinal preparations are the ab- 
stract, fluid extract, infusion, syrup and an in- 
gredient in the compound syrup of Squills, also 
a tincture recommended by the British Phar- 
macopocia. The dose of the abstract is 1 to 3 
