1.. 



52 NAT. ORDER. LILIACEiE. 



growing in considerable quantities not only this, but many other very 

 rare and valuable medicinal plants, all of which would well repay the 

 labour of gathering and preparing for market. 



Medical Properties and Uses. The root, which is the officinal 

 portion, possesses tonic, expectorant, sudorific, narcotic, and purgative 

 properties, which renders its use in most cases objectionable, and some- 

 times hazardous. From experience I have found this to be a powerful 

 and dangerous substance, drastic even in small doses, and in larger 

 ones it causes vertigo and bloody stools. Notwithstanding the dan- 

 gerous properties of this plant, it has been introduced into medical 

 practice as a substitute for the helonias dioicia, (Unicorn,) and exten- 

 sively used throughout the United States. The root, which is in- 

 tensely bitter when tinctured in alcohol, becomes turbid upon the addi- 

 tion of water. The decoction is moderately bitter, but much less so 

 than the tincture, and affords no precipitate with the salts of iron. In 

 small doses it appears to be simply tonic, and may at times be advan- 

 tageously employed for similar purposes with other bitters of the same 

 class. When given in large doses it produces nausea and vertigo. 

 The powder is frequently administered as a tonic in the dose of eight 

 or ten grains. It also enters into the various preparations prepared 

 by some physicians in the treatment of prolapsus, general weakness, 

 and obstructions. - 



