NAT. ORDER. — AROIDE.E. 



85 



are uniformly low wet lands, and abundance wherever appearing, 

 might easily have led to the imaginary endowment of those pesti- 

 lential qualities which distinguish permanent marshes. 



The Jloircrs of the Symplocarpus augustispatha are of a purplish 

 hue. inflorescent, and profusely cover the spailix, which is simple, 

 almost spherical, and supported by a peduncle, of a light amber 

 color ; the leaves, w'hich do not present themselves till several weeks 

 after the flowers, forming large bunches, petiolate, attain from eight 

 to eighteen inches in length, and two-thirds of the same in breadth ; 

 they are strongly veined, the middle rib projecting below, and fur- 

 nished with large oblong sheathes ; the^6/t's of the root are cylind- 

 rical, whitish, with brown rings, near the fourth of an inch in diam- 

 eter, and often two feet in length. A funiculus, which for twelve or 

 eighteen months is exceedingly minute, and apparently inert, con- 

 nects the seminal tubercle, which is roundish and turbinate, solid, 

 and carneous w^ith the embryo ; the seeds are numerous, spotted, 

 and more particularly imbued with the allicaceous odor of the plant, 

 from which the flowers, as noted, are so singularly exempt. 



Medical Properties and Uses. This plant contains a volatile 

 principle, which has not been insulated beside the acrid matter 

 which is known to many of the Aracca^. Each part of it is endowed 

 with anti-spasmodic qualities, so strong as to make it eminent in 

 that class of medicines. When musk and other kindred applications 

 have failed, it has proved effectual ; as in a case of violent hysteria, 

 wiicn but two tea-spoonsful of the powdered root were given. The 

 rapidity and completeness of its effects are alike remarkable. Its 

 medicinal powers were ascertained at a very early period, when used 

 as an expectorant, and for the relief of phthisical coughs. For these 

 purposes it is still employed, whilst it is moreover an assured palli- 

 ative in the paroxysms of asthma. While the latter continue, thirty 

 or forty grains, at such times as may seem needful, may be adminis- 

 tered and continued thereafter till the patient is entirely cured. It 

 has been known to relieve the spasms which affect the abdominal 



