SEMEN LINL 97 



probably an acid of the same series richer in carbon,— perhaps arachic 



Kingzett. 



Uses— Cacao butter, which is remarkable for having bat little ten- 

 dency to rancidity, has long been used in continental pharmacy ; it was 

 introduced into England a few years ago as a convenient basis for 

 suppositories and pessaries. 



Adulteration- The description given of the drug sufficiently indi- 

 cates the means of ascertaining its purity. 



LINE^. 



SEMEN LINI. 

 Imseed, Flax Seed; F. Semence de Lin; G. Leinsamen, FlacJissamen . 



Botanical Origin—Linum usitatissimum L., Common Flax, is an 



annual plant, native of the Old World, where it has been cultivated from 



tne remotest times. It sows itself as a weed in tilled ground, and i& 



now lound m all temperate and tropical regions of the globe. Heer 



egards it as a variety evolved by cultivation from the perennial Z. • 



History— The history of flax, its textile fibre and seed, is intimately 

 conuected with that of human civilization. The whole process of con- 

 verting the plant into a fibre fit for weaving into cloth is frequently 

 d ^fl! ^^^" the wall-paintings of the Egyptian tombs.' The grave- 

 tnes of the old Egyptians were made of flax, and the use of the fibre 

 cent ^^ "^^y be traced back, according to Unger,= as far as the 23rd 

 fre '^'^.^■^' ^^^ ^^^ literature of the Hebrews^ and Greeks contains 

 actr?l ™^"c® *o tissues of flax ; and fabrics woven of flax have 

 .^ uaiiy been discovered together with fruits and seeds of the plant 



Switz^ i^^"i^/^^ ^^ t^^ ancient pile-dwellings bordering the lakes of 



tion 0/ ^^^^ in ancient times played an important part in the alimenta- 

 the hist"^^"' r,^"^^^^ *^® Greeks, Alcman in the 7th century B.C., and 

 as emnl ^^ Thucydides, and among the Romans Pliny, mention linseed 



%'ssinSns « ^'^"^^"^ ^'^^^^- '^^^ roasted seed is still eaten by the 



P''operti?^^^f^+K^ expressly alludes to the mucilaginous and oily 

 its mpfl?^ 1 ^^^^' ^^^^y ^^^ Dioscorides were acquainted with 



*eU as c 1 ^P?}'^^^^^*^ both external and internal. The latter, as 

 ^^pect T° °^®^T' exhaustively describes flax under its agricultural 

 'utm^dat'^ ^^ ^^^^^ of the Emperor Diocletian De pretiis rerum vena- 



ing A.D. 301, linseed is quoted 150 denarii, sesamd seed 200, 



'Wilt' 



m,4c."''°"'^""^"^%Z/2>^'Vo(.siii. (18.37) ^Heer in Trimen's Joitrn. of Bot. i. 



T ^.''''"xgsberirlf. 1 T... (1872)87- 



J«ni 1866 ^ '^'"' ^^ttner Ahademm, »A. de CandoUe, G^ogr. Botanlque, 835. 



. Exod. ix -31 . T .. —A. Braim, Flora, 1848. 94. 



xix. 0. • -^i ' i-ev. xui. 47, 48 ; Isaiah « See p. 65, note 1. 



Q 



