BOTANIC MATERIA MEDICA, 269 
Linum, Flax, Linum, Usitatissimum.—Nat- 
ural order Linacez. Native of Asia, and culti- 
vated in almost every part of the civilized world. 
This little and important annual usually grows 
toa height of 18 inches, with a simple, erect 
stem, which terminates in a corymbose panicle 
of blue flowers, and adorned with smooth, al- 
ternating leaves linear-lanceolate in shape. 
The fruit is a small, globublar capsule about 
the size of a buckshot, containing 10 seeds, 
which are held in 5 carpels, each containing 2 
seeds. The Semen Lini of commerce and of the 
stores is quite familiar to everyone, and when 
carefully examined presents the following fea- 
tures: Testa brown and polished, oval or ovate-. 
oblong in shape, and somewhat flattened on the 
sides, and, when examined under a lens of some 
power, the testa will be found indented or pitted. 
The seeds also possess an outer covering of mu- 
cilage, which is transparent, but it soon asserts 
itself when allowed to remain in water for a brief 
time. Within, the seeds are made up of 2 
plano-convex cotyledons of a creamy-yellow 
color, with the hilum at the apex. Odor, little 
or none; taste, mucilaginous, oily, and some- 
what bitter. The seed contains muctlage, wax, 
sugar, proteids, 30 per cent. of fixed oil, besides 
some /annin which exists in the testa; free from 
starch, The medical effect of the flaxseed is 
purely demulcent and protective, and officinal 
in form of an infusion and, when ground, in 
form of a poultice. In the earlier history of 
man we find the flaxseed used for diet, and it is 
still an article of food in some parts of Egypt. 
