——— 
COLCHICACEA. 723 
sessing emetic, purgative, diuretic, acrid, and narcotic proper- 
ties. . 
Schenocaulon officinale (Asagrexa officinalis)—This plant, a native of 
Mexico, is the source of the official Cevadilla or Sabadilla, of the British 
Pharmacopeia. Cevadilla is principally employed as a source of the alka- 
loid veratrine, which appears to be contained only in the seeds ; these are 
therefore alone official for its preparation. The alkaloid is also official, but 
as obtained by the Pharmacopeeia process it is not quite pure, but is prob- 
ably a mixture of alkaloids. Veratrine has been'used externally, as a rube- 
facient, in rheumatism, gout, and neuralgic affections, and also internally 
in similar affections in doses of one-twelfth to one-sixth of a grain. It isa 
most powerful poison. Cevadilla seeds have been employed internally as an 
anthelmintic. They are sometimes called lice seeds, because when powdered 
and applied externally they destroy vermin. 
Colchicum.—C. autumnale, Colchicum or Meadow Saffron.—Both the 
seeds and corms of this plant are official in the British, Indian, and United 
Fic. 1092. Fia. 1093. 
Fie. 1094. Fie. 1095. 
Fig. 1092. Flowering plant of the Colchicum or Meadow Saffron( Colchicum 
autumnale).— Fig. 1093. Diagram of the flower of the same, with six 
divisions to the perianth arranged in two whorls, six stamens, and a 
3-celled ovary.— Fig. 1094. Transverse section of the capsule. Fig. 
1095. Vertical section of the seed. 
States Pharmacopeeias. They are employed medicinally in gout and rheu 
matism ; but in improper doses they act as a narcotico-acrid poison. They 
owe their properties essentially to a peculiar alkaloid, called colchicine, 
which has been also used medicinally in similar diseases to colchicum. In 
chronic rheumatism and in neuralgic affections of the joints, hypodermic 
injections of colchicine have also been found useful. The once celebrated 
French nostrum for gout, called Kau médicinale d’ Husson, owed its proper- 
ties to Colchicum. The flowers and leaves, more especially the latter, are 
poisonous to cattle, and hence this plant, which, moreover, occupies a con- 
siderable space, as it has large leaves, should be eradicated as far as possible 
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