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very short s/y/es, surmounted at their apices by a large, depressed, 5-angled, fleshy 
mass, which takes the place of a s/¢gma common to the two, having five cloven 
glands upon its angles. Po//en-masses of adjacent anther-cells, extricated by the 
agency of insects, form pairs, which hang by a fine prolongation of their summits 
from the glands of the stigmatose body, ejecting copious pollen-tubes into its junc- 
tion with the styles. o//icles 2, one of them often abortive, ovate, soft, woolly, 
and covered with weak spines. Seeds anatropous, margined, flat, furnished with 
long silky hairs at the hilum; all imbricated downward over the large placenta, 
which separates from the raphe when mature. Lméryo large, the thin albumen 
containing broad leaf-like cotyledons. 
History and Habitat.—This very common herb grows in rich or sandy 
ground, along roadsides and in waste places everywhere in Canada and the United 
States, flowering during the summer months. Few genera are more beautiful or 
complex in their structure than this, still the plants of this order are so peculiar 
that even the youngest student of botany will recognize them ata glance. That 
they are so plentiful cannot appear strange after an examination of the seeds, 
whose silky coma when expanded forms them into veritable parachutes; balanced 
by the pendant seeds, they mount gracefully to immense heights, whence they are 
wafted far and wide by the lightest zephyr until, dampened by dew or rain, they fall 
to the ground. The young sprouts, just as they appear above the ground in 
spring, are highly esteemed among housewives as a pot-herb, being cooked simi- 
larly to asparagus, for which they are an excellent substitute. The juice when 
applied to the skin forms a tough, adhesive pellicle; this has led to its use by the 
laity as a covering for ulcers and recent wounds to promote cicatrization. Ina 
memoir on the cultivation of this plant, by J. A. Moller, in Tilloch’s Magazine, 
vol, viii, p. 149, may be found the following: “Its chief uses were for beds, cloth, 
‘hats, and paper. Jt was found that from eight to nine pounds of the coma of the 
“seeds occupied a space of from five to six cubic feet, and were sufficient for a bed, 
“coverlet, and pillows. The shortness of the fibre prevented it from being spun 
“and woven alone, it however was mixed with flax, wool, etc., in certain stuffs to 
“advantage. Hats made with it were very light and soft. The stalks afforded 
“paper in every respect resembling that obtained from rags. The plant is easily 
“ propagated by seeds or slips. A plantation containing thirty thousand plants 
“vielded from six to eight hundred pounds of coma.” 
This plant, together with many other excellent drugs, has been dismissed szve 
curd from the U.S. Ph. The Eclectic Dispensatory recommends its use in a fluid 
extract, dose from 10 drops to a fluidrachm ; in amenorrhcea, dropsy, retention of 
_ urine, asthma, dyspepsia, cough, dyspneea, etc. — ; 
The use of the Asclepiadez in general in pleurisy is not well proven, though 
_ their action upon the nerves might lead to empirical use in pleurodynia. | 
_ PART USED AND PREPARATION.—The fresh root, already described, is 
gathered when in full vigor, chopped and pounded to a pulp and weighed. ‘han 
= two parts by weight of alcohol are taken, and after thoroughly mixing this pulp 
with one-sixth part of it, the rest of the alcohol is added. | After having stirred the | 
