158 NAT. ORDER. GERANlACEiE. 



is sometimes called Gath's Perfection. There is ai innumerable 

 number of plants comprising this order ; most of v.hich possess 

 similar properties ; and many are highly celebrated for their 

 beautiful ajipearance, as may be found in the various greenhouses 

 throughout the country. Some of the most prominent and invi- 

 ting are such as the Pelargonium echinahim, Prickly-stalked Gera- 

 nium ; Pelargonium hicolor, Two-colored Crane's-bill ; Pelargonium 

 acefosum, Sorrel Crane's-bill ; Pclargoniu7n tetragonum. Square- 

 stalked Geranium ; Pelargonium glutinosum, Clammy Crane's-bill ; 

 Pelargonium cordifolium, Birch -leaved Crane's-bill ; Pelargonium 

 betulinnm, Heart-leaved Geranium ; Pelargonium tricolor, Three- 

 colored Crane's-bill. These, with many other varieties, are very 

 generally cultivated by ladies in this and other cities, not only as 

 an ornament, but as rendering great assistance in the study of 

 Botany. 



Medical Projjerties and Uses. Most of the jilants of this 

 family are powerful astringents, and may be employed for all 

 purposes for which astringents are apijlicable. The Geranium 

 maculatum. Common Crane's-bill, is most generally preferred for 

 medicinal purposes. Wood & Baclie, in their U. S. Dispensatory, 

 say : " The absence of unpleasant taste, and all other offensive 

 qualities, renders it peculiarly serviceable in the cases of infants^ 

 or of persons with very delicate stomachs. Diarrhoea, chronic 

 dysentery, cholera infantum in the latter stages, and the various 

 haemorrhages, are the forms of disease in which it is most com- 

 monly used, and with greatest advantage ; but care should be ta- 

 ken before it is administered, that the condition of the system, 

 and of the part affected, is such as not to contraindicate the use 

 of astringents. As an application to indolent ulcers — an injection 

 in gleet and leucorrhea ; a gargle in relaxation of the ovula, and 

 apthous ulcerations of the throat, it answers the same purpose with 

 kino, catechu, and other foreign remedies of similar character." 

 The dose of the powder is twenty or thirty grains — the decoction, 

 .one to two fluid ounces. 



