344 PRIMULACE. 
. Hamama is applied as a poultice to boils and scorpion stings, 
&c. Taken internally it is considered sedative and is thought 
to promote the action of the liver and spleen and to remove 
obstructions in those organs. It is also prescribed in gout and 
in uterine obstructions, both vee esa and externally. The 
dose is 2 dirhems. 
Dessisacin. —The’ following is Boissier’s deseiipiick of 
the plant (Diag. Ser. 17, p. 65) :—Densissime et late caspitosa, 
ramis ob folia vetusta dense imbricata columnaribus ; foltis 
minute hirto-glandulosis, planis, ‘sub-flabellatim rotieuliee: 
venosis, ovatis et oblongo-spathulatis, basi attenuatis obtusis- 
simis, integris vel obtuse utrinque 1—2 crenatis ; pedunculis 
subnullis, rosule foliis occultatis vel paulo longioribus, breviter 
exsertis ; 1 rarius 2—8, floris, floribus involucro 3—5 bracteato 
suffultis ; bracteis lineari-spathulatis, obtusis, integris, calycem 
gequantibus; calyces ad }-partiti, laciniis lineari-spathulatis 
obtusis, corollae lutew glanduloso-hirte, tubo calyce quadruplo 
Jongiore, limbi ampli laciniis ovatis retusis.  Coepites lati, 
3—4 pollices elati, folia 1}—2lineas longa, calyx 29 lineas, 
cians 10—12 longa. 
Pedunculis exsertis et involucro affinis D. ccespitose, sed in 
hac pedunculus longus, bractez majoras incise, calycis lacinize 
acute, corolle limbus minor, 
The seeds of Hamama are elliptic or subtriangular, concave 
on the outer side and bluntly keeled on the other; brown in 
colour, and rngulose with netted markings. The Sveter 
length yyth of an inch. 
Chemical composition. —The plant contains a light brown 
resin, which becomes covered with a glaucous film on exposure 
to the air; it is soluble in sulphuric acid and in aqueous 
alkaline solutions with an orange colour, The taste is at first 
pungent and warming, afterwards acrid, with a sialogague 
action. A crystalline body is “separated from the alcoholic 
extract, soluble in water, ; and responding to alkaloidal tests, 
~ but otherwise acting as a neutral substance, sacs | rsa fatty 
res eat 
acids are also removed by alcohol from the 2 he he seeds ds 
