DICOTYLEDONS 6 1 



called Saponine occurs, but this is not the toxic 

 substance (not yet traced). At all events it is a 

 plant which no cultivator should allow among or 

 near his cornfields, and the grains should be care- 

 fully separated before threshing and grinding the 

 corn. 



SOAPWORT (Saponaria officinalis). — This plant 

 was used as a drug in the Middle Ages, and was 

 naturalized before the close of the sixteenth century. 

 The name is derived from the fact that if the root 

 and flowers be rubbed in water they make a lather, 

 and these were used as a substitute for soap in 

 former days. As a drug it was one of the fifty-one 

 ingredients of "save," a drink for broken bones, 

 mentioned by Chaucer. A case of ill effects of the 

 use of a decoction of the roots has been recorded. 

 The principle is called Saponine, and is found in 

 other plants of different families. It constitutes 

 thirty-four per cent, of the dried root. It has a 

 sweetish taste, but is acrid to the mouth. 



A foreign plant of this family, Gypsophila Stru- 

 thiuifty possesses the same properties, and is used 

 in Spain for scouring instead of soap. 



Lesser Stitchwort {Stellaria gramined). — 

 This is a slender herb with quadrangular stems, 

 and narrow, pointed leaves. It looks like a small 

 form of the Great Stitchwort {S. Holostea) so 

 common in our hedges, with white, star-like 

 flowers. They both have five petals, but being 



