CORTEX ULMI FULV^, 



yo/ 



r 



Chemistry — The chief sohible constituent of ehn hark is imicila-^'e 

 with a small proportion of tannic acid, thciatter, accorJiujr to JoliansMj i 

 (1875), probably agreeing with that of oak bark and bark of ^\•illo\\ -■ 

 The concentrated infusion of elm bark yields a brown precipitate with 

 perchloride of iron; the dilute assumes a green coloration with that test. 

 Starch is wanting, or only occurs in the middle cortical layer, whicli Is 

 usually rejected. 



Elms in summer-time frequently exude a gum which, by contact with 

 the air, is converted into a brown insoluble mass, called Ulmln. This 

 nanie has been extended to various deeomposition-jnoducts of organic 

 bodies, the nature and affinities of which are but little known.^ 



Uses — Elm bark is prescribed in decoction as a weak mucilaginous 

 astringent, but is almost obsolete. 



CORTEX ULMI FULVJE. 



Slippery Elm Baric. 



Botanical Origin — Ulnnis fulva Michaux, the Red or Slippery Elm, 

 a small or middle-sized tree,^ seldom more than 30 to 40 feet high, grow- 

 ing on the banks of streams in the central and northern United Htatos 

 from Western New England to Wisconsin and Kentucky, and found 

 also in Canada. 



History— The Indians of North America attributed medicinal virtues 

 to the bark of the Slippery Elm, which they used as a healing application 

 to wounds, and in decoction as a wash for skin diseases. It is the " Salve 

 Bark" or " Cortex unguentarius " of Schopf ' Bigelow, writing in 1824, 

 remarks that the mucilaginous qualities of the inner bark are well 

 known. 



Description— The Slippery Elm Bark used in medicine consists of 

 the liber only. It forms large flat pieces, often 2 to 3 feet long by 

 several inches broad, and usually J^ to ^V of an inch thick, of an ex- 

 tremely tough and fibrous texture. It has a light reddish-brown colour, 

 an odour resemblino- that of fenugreek (which is common to the leaves 

 also;, and a simply mucilaginous taste. . 



In collecting the bark the tree is destroyed, and no effort is made to 

 replace it, the wood beino- nearly valueless. Thus the supply is dimm- 

 ishmg 3^ear by year, and the collectors who formerly obtained large 

 quantities of the bark in New York and other eastern states have now 

 to go westward for supplies.* 



The transverse 'section shows a series of 



M 



undulatin 



-'"ai sections ought to be moistenea witn ucii/^ui, a.^..- / , 



great alteration. In a longitudinal section, the mucdage-ducU arc ^een 



' F.g. in Bentley-iiid Trinien's Med. * Pr<^eedmr,so/theAuKncan ^M,...u 



Plants, part U (1878). ceulical Association for lSt.i, xxi. 4.ja. 



