582 ORD. XXXII. Caryophyllee. saPONARIA OFFICINALIS. 
oblong, divided at the apex into five pointed teeth. Corolla com- 
posed of five petals, which are furnished with long angular claws: 
the limb is inversely heart-shaped, and at its base supplied with 
two nectarious teeth, placed in the centre. Filaments ten, tapering, 
longer than the calyx, furnished with oblong anthere. Germen 
oblong, beset with transverse ruge. Styles two, tapering, white. 
Stigmata simple. Capsule one-celled, containing numerous black 
kidney-shaped seeds. 
It is a native of England, affecting moist situations, and flowering 
in July and August. 
A double-flowered variety of this peas is not unfrequently met | 
with in gardens. 
The root has no peculiar smell; its taste is sweetish, glutinous, 
and somewhat bitter; on being chewed for some time, it is said 
to discover a degree of acrimony, which continues to affect the 
mouth a considerable time. According to Neuman, two ounces of 
the root yielded eleven drams of watery extract ; but Cartheuser, 
from a like quantity, only obtained six drams, and twenty-four 
grains. This extract manifested a sweetish taste, followed by an 
acrid quality. The spirituous extract is less in quantity, but of a 
more penetrating acrid taste. Decoctions of the root, on being 
sufficiently agitated, produce a saponaceous froth; a similar soapy 
quality is observable also in the extract, and still more manifestly 
in the leaves, insomuch that they have been used by the mendicant 
monks as a substitute for soap in washing of their clothes; and 
Bergius, who made several experiments with the Saponaria, declares 
that it has all the effects of soap itself.* 
From these peculiar qualities® of the Saponaria there can be 
little doubt of its possessing a considerable share of medical efficacy: 
which we could wish to find faithfully ascertained. 
* He observes also, that the Saponaceous quality is not injured by acids, like 
that of the common soap, 
* Perhaps we should except the kernels of the fruit of the Sapindus Saponaria, 
the root of Gypsophila Struthium, and the flowers of the Lychnis chalcedonica, 
