90-2 
PART USED AND PREPARATION.—The whole fresh, flowering plant _is 
treated as recommended for the next drug.* 
The resulting tincture has a clear, beautiful, reddish- -orange color by trans- 
mitted light; a sourish odor, resembling that of claret wine ; a taste at first sourish, 
then astringent and bitter; and an acid reaction. 
CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS.—In all probability, the principal virtues of the 
plant reside in its peculiar volatile oil, though no analysis to determine other bodies 
has been made. 
Oil of Erechthites—This fluid, transparent, yellowish oil, is obtained by dis- 
tilling the plant with water. It has a strong, fetid, peculiar, slightly aromatic odor, 
and a bitterish, burning taste. Its sp. gr. is 0.927. It is soluble in both alcohol 
and ether. According to Beilstein, and Wiegand,y it consists, almost exclusively, 
of terpenes, boiling between 175° and 310° F. (79.5°-154.4°). 
PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION.—The symptoms of disturbance caused, by doses 
of from 12 to 200 drops of the tincture, at the hands of T. J. Merryman,}{ were in 
substance as follows: Uneasiness approaching nausea; griping in the bowels, fol- 
lowed by three copious, yellow, mushy, fecal stools, followed again by constipation; 
increased flow of urine, containing a large amount of mucus; stimulation of the 
genital organs, followed by erections; and pains in the extremities. 
DESCRIPTION OF PLATE go. 
1. Summit of plant, Binghamton, N. Y., Aug. 27th, 1886. 
2. A middle leaf. 
3. A floret. 
4. Stamen. 
5. Stigmas. 
6. Fruit. 
7. Akene. 
(3-7 enlarged.) 
_*® Senecio, page 91-2. 
Tt Berichte, 1882, 2354; Am. Four. Phar., 1833, a2. 
{ E. M. Hale, 7rans. Hom. Med. Soc., N. Y., 1868, 78. 
