PHARMACOPCIAL VEGETABLE DRUGS. 
KRAMERIA 
The shrub Krameria triandra is native to the bare and sandy 
slopes of the Bolivian and Peruvian Cordilleras, growing at from 
3,000 to 8,000 feet above sea level. It is often found in great abun- 
dance, standing in solid beds scarcely a foot high, and peculiarly at- 
tractive by reason of its silver-gray foliage and starlike flowers. The 
root of commerce comes from the north and east of Lima, and the 
northern part of Peru. The Spanish botanist Hipolito Ruiz (562, 563), 
in 1784, observed the native women of Huanuco and Lima using this 
drug as a tooth preservative and an astringent. On his return to 
Europe, in 1796, he introduced the root into Spain, and from that 
country it gradually spread throughout Europe. The first that reached 
England, however, was as part of the cargo of a Spanish prize, a part 
of which came into the hands of Dr. Reece (540), who recommended 
it to the profession, 1806, in his Medicinal and Chirurgical Review, 
London. There are other species and kinds of rhatany, one being in- 
vestigated by the writer of this article some years ago, as found in 
Florida, the qualities of which could scarcely be distinguished from 
those of the astringent South American drug. This drug was also 
noticed by Dr. E. M. Hall, of Chicago, a well-known Homeeopathic 
author. Seemingly the species of rhatany are all of similar nature and 
are dependent upon a kindly, astringent, red tannate. 
LACTUCARIUM 
Several species of lactuca, native to the Old World, yield the 
juice which, when dried, is known as Lactucarium, an extract known 
also under the name Lettuce Opium. The fact that lettuce eaten 
frequently induces drowsiness, was known in ancient times, and its 
reputation in this direction led Dr. Coxe (171), of Philadelphia, to 
suggest the collecting of the juice, after the manner employed in the 
making of opium. His experiments were published in 1799 under the 
title “Lettuce Opium.” Since that date others writing on the subject 
created quite a demand for the lactucarium thus produced. It will 
be seen that the introduction of this substance to medicine came 
through usual empirical channels. 
LAPPA, (BURDOCK) 
This widely distributed plant known under several botanical names, 
such as Lappa minor (De Candolle) Lappa major (Gaertner) and 
Lappa tomentosa (Lamarck) is now official as Arctium Lappa. The 
commercial name Burdock seems, however, so expressive as to have 
become an universal appellation, and needs no interpretation. 
The root of this plant has been ever used in its native haunts, which 
cover much of Africa, Europe, and adjacent lands. Like the honey- 
bee it follows civilization, and like the English sparrow craves the 
company of man. Its burr journeys with man into all inhabited coun- 
tries, and whether or not it be a welcome guest, its broad leaves are 
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