138 MEDICINAL HERBS AND POISONOUS PLANTS 



sold, in competition with the German roots, at about 40^' 

 a cwt., but two or three months of the War sufficed to 

 raise the price to llOs. a cwt. Naturally the absence of 

 German competition will keep the price high for some 



time to come. 



The root contains a crystalline bitter substance called 

 faraxacin, an acrid resin, and mann'ite, and is collected 

 in autvimn. Whilst not indispensable it is a vety valu- 

 able drug^ as it acts specifically on the liver, increasing 

 and modifying its secretion, and has also a diuretic 

 action. 



Cultivation. — It is recommended that 4 lb. of seeds 



be 



The 



roots are dug the second year in autumn. 



Collection. — The roots are transported fresh for press- 

 ing out the juice, or they may be sliced and dried. If 

 the roots are collected wild, they should be taken from 

 good rather than from poor soil, as those gi'own from 

 the former are thicker and less forked than those grown 

 from the latter. 



The yield in cultivation should be 4 or 5 tons of fresh 

 roots to the acre in the second year. A hundred parts 

 of fresh root yield twenty-two parts of dry material. 



Burdock (Arctium Lappa). — This plant may be men- 

 tioned, partly because it had a great reputation in the 

 past, and partly because herbalists still utilize its fruits, 



seeds, and roots in the exercise of their trade. The root 

 contains inuliit, mucilaye siigar, a bitter glucoside called 

 lcij)pin, a little resin, and tannic acid. It is said to 

 promote the action of the kidneys, and to increase the 

 action of the skin in promoting perspiration. 



Elecampane or Ploughman's Spikenard {Inula 



Helenixtni). — Among the plants mentioned as worth 

 collecting is Elecampane, the root of which contains 

 44 per cent of inulin, a starch-like compound which in 



