140-2 
The only other proven plant in this order is the European Stinking Goosefoot 
(Chenopodium vulvaria, Linn.), which in general practice is considered antispas- 
modic and emmenagogue, General medical practice notices the following: The 
Egyptian Chenopodium baryosmon, Rom., a fetid emmenagogue; the European 
and Asiatic Jerusalem Oak (C. Sotrys, Linn.), a French expectorant; and the 
American Mexican Tea (C. amérosioides, Linn.), which is considered nervine, 
anthelmintic, and emmenagogue, and used in chorea. The seeds of the European 
Atriplex angustifolia, Smith, are emetic, as are also those of the Tartarian Garden 
Orache (A. ortenszs, Linn.). The European and Asiatic Sa/sola Kali, Linn.; the 
Spanish S. sativa, Lift.; the Mediterranean S. Soda, Linn.; and the Mediterranean 
and Caspian S. ¢vagus, Linn., yield the finest Alicant Soda. The European Salt- 
wort (Salcoruza annua, Smith) is another source of salsoda. 
Among the esculent plants of this order the most prominent are: The com- 
mon Garden Spinach of the Levant (Sprvacia oleracea, Linn.) and the Beet (Bela 
vulgaris, Linn.). The young and tender plants of the Lamb’s Quarter (Chenofo- 
dium album, Linn.) “are collected by the Navajoes, the Pueblo Indians of New 
Mexico, all the tribes of Arizona, the Diggers of California, and the Utahs, and 
boiled as herbs alone, or with other food. Large quantities also are eaten in the 
raw state. The seeds of this plant are gathered by many tribes, ground into flour 
after drying, and made into bread or mush. They are very small, of a gray color, 
and not unpleasant when eaten raw. The peculiar color of the four imparts to 
the bread a very dirty look, and when baked in ashes it is not improved in 
appearance. It resembles buckwheat in color and taste, and is regarded as 
equally nutritious. The plant abounds in the Navajo country.”* 
History and Habitat—American Wormseed is indigenous to Mexico and 
South America, but has become quite thoroughly naturalized as far north as 
Missouri and New England, where it grows in waste places about dwellings and 
in manured soils, and blossoms from July to September. It was introduced into 
England in 1732. The American Aborigines used the whole herb in decoction in 
painful menstruation, especially of the older women, but its principal use has been 
the leaves and seeds as a vermifuge; as such it was noticed by Kalm, Clayton, 
and Schoepf, and is to-day considered one of the best expellants of lumbricoids 
known. The principal method of administration is doses of from three to ten 
drops of the oil on sugar, three times a day for several days, the last dose being 
followed by a cathartic. The plant is also considered antispasmodic, antihysteric, 
-€mmenagogue, and a useful remedy in chorea. ; 
The fruit and Oleum chenopodti are officinal in the U. S. Phar., and in the 
Eclectic Materia Medica, where it is also a compound of A/istura Chenopodit Com- 
positat and Mistura Olet Composita.t 
PART USED AND PREPARATION.—The fresh seeds are ground to a pulp 
and weighed. Then two parts by weight of alcohol are taken, the pulp mixed with 
* J. R. Dodge, in UY S. Agric. Rep., 1870, 419. 
+ Castor Ou, Wormseed Oil, Anise Oil, and Tincture of Myrrh, 
} In this preparation Oil of Turpentine is used in place of the Myrrh. 
