Asclepias tuberosa. OY 
supported its reputed character in this respect. And the multitude, 
respectability, and strength of evidences in favour of this very de- 
sirable quality, leave no room to suppose that the plant has re- 
ceived, so far, any undue encomiums. Its expectorant effect in 
pheumonia and catarrha, is substantiated by a multiplicity of 
corroborative facts, the relation of which is derived from phy- 
sicians of undoubted respectability. The late Professor Barton 
esteemed the Asclepias tuberosa, as one of the most important 
of: our indigenous medicines: and he says the powdered root is 
escarotic. When taken internally, the dose is from 20 to 30 grains 
of the powder. This article may be concluded with the fol- 
lowing quotation from Thatcher’s Dispensatory. The extensive 
experience of the gentleman there alluded to, with the plant un- 
der consideration, is entitled to great attention : 
* 
The powdered root frequently acts as a mild purgative, 
but it is particularly valuable for its virtues as an expectorant, dia- 
phoretic, and febrifuge, and in this respect its efficacy is amply con- 
firmed by the testimony of Dr. Benjamin Parker, of Bradford, Mas- 
sachusetts, from his own observation during an extensive practice 
for many years in Virginia. From the successful employment of 
‘the Pleurisy-root for twenty-five years, this respectable physician 
has imbibed such confidence, that he extols it as possessing the pe- 
culiar, and almost specific quality of acting on the organs of respi- 
ration, powerfully promoting suppressed expectoration, and thereby 
