PHARMACOPCEIAL VEGETABLE DRUGS. 
America and in Europe, being conspicuously introduced by Jeffreys 
(340), a physician of Liverpool, who commended it, 1839, as a styp- 
tic and astringent. The introduction of the drug must, however, be 
considered as empirical, through the infusion of the leaves used by 
the soldier. 
MATRICARIA 
Matricaria chamomilla, German chamomile, is the cultivated 
form of Chrysanthemum parthenium, being cultivated for domestic 
use, in which it is distinguished from the Anthemis nobilis, or Roman 
chamomile. It has been in domestic use so long as to have made it 
familiar to all German housewives, and considerable demand has been 
created for it in sections of America where Germans have settled. It 
is a home remedy of antiquity. 
MEL 
Honey is a saccharine substance, generally collected by the honey 
bee, Apis mellifera, from the nectariferous glands of flowers and de- 
posited in the comb by the insect when it reaches its hive. It is fa- 
miliar to all civilized peoples as well as to the natives of many sections 
of the world. In some parts of the tropics wild honey is an article of 
importance. Crude honey comb was observed by us as one of the 
articles of export from Aden, Arabia, coming there by caravan from 
the interior of Arabia, as well as being brought from Somali Land, 
Africa. The domestic record of honey is lost in antiquity, it being 
mentioned in many early works, including the Bible, both New and 
Old Testaments, and such Oriental works as the “Arabian Nights” 
(88). In the making of confectionery and in domestic empirical 
medicine, honey has of course been a constant and a natural sweetener. 
Certain kinds of honey, such as the honey made from the opium poppy 
(“mad honey,” 388c), or from the flowers of the wild jasmine, possess 
more or less narcotic action, which quality has never yet been inten- 
tionally utilized in medicine. Such compounds as honey of rose, honey 
of borax, and the like, came from the domestic use of honey; such 
confections preceded its use by licensed or orthodox physicians. “Zar- 
dah (yellow rice) is a word still used in Turkey, and refers to a dish 
of rice dressed in honey and saffron.” Burton. 
MENTHA PIPERITA 
Peppermint is found throughout North America as well as Eng- 
land and the Continent. As described by Ray (536), the clergyman 
botanist, in his Historia Plantarum, 1704, it is called “Mentha palustris 
—Peper-Mint,’ and is recommended by him as a remedy for weak- 
ness of the stomach and for diarrhea. Its cultivation was extensive 
in some parts of England as early as 1750, the herb being carried to 
London for distillation and the making of the oil. Peppermint is a 
favorite domestic herb used in decoction as a stimulant and also as a 
flavor. Fresh mint is employed to flavor a popular Kentucky alcoholic 
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