THALAMIFL0K2E. 453 



used for their stimulant and diaphoretic properties, and have long been a 

 popular remedy for epilepsy in children. 



Cochlearia officinalis. Scurvy-grass This plant was long esteemed for 



its antiscorbutic properties. 



Armoracia rusticana {Cochlenria Armoracia) The root is the common 



hor.'e-radish, so mucli used as a condiment. Some lamentable cases of poison- 

 ing have occurred from the substitution of Aconite or Monk's-hood root for that 

 of Horse-radish, which it is supposed to resemble. (See Pharmaceutical 

 Journal, vol. xv. p. 419.) Fresh Horse-radish is also used in medical prac- 

 tice : externally, as an irritant, rubefacient, and vesicant ; and internally, as 

 a stimulant, diuretic, and masticatory. Its virtues depend upon the presence 

 of a small quantity of volatile oil, which is almost dissipated by drying ; hence 

 Horse-radish should always be used in a fresh state. 



Anastatica hierochuntina. Rose of Jericho This plant, which is found 



wild in I he deserts of Egypt and Syria, is remarkable for possessing hygro- 

 metric pro)aerties. Thus, when full grown, and its branches have become dry 

 and withered, it contracts and coils up, so as to assume the form of a ball, in 

 which state it is blown about hy the winds from plice to place ; but if it be then 

 exposed to moisture, it uncoils, and the branches expand' again, a.s if the life 

 of the plant was renewed. " Some superstitious tales are told of it, among 

 which, it is said to have first bloomed on Christmas Eve to salute the birth of 

 the Redeemer, and paid homage to His resurrection by remaining expanded 

 till Easter." 



Camelina sativa. Gold of Pleasure The seeds contain much fixed oil. 



Lepidmm sativum. Garden Cress. — This is well known as a pungent salad; 

 it is commonly used with the young herb of the Mustard plants. 



Isatis tinctoria, Woad. —This herb yields a dark-blue dye, which was for- 

 merly much used in this country and other parts of Europe, but it is now rarely 

 or ever employed, its use having been superseded by Indigo. In China also, 

 a blue dye is obtained from the fruits of Isatis indi'^otica 



Brassica. — Thisgenuscontains several specieswhich are commonly cultivated 

 as food lor man and cattle. T\\y\%:— Brassica liapa. is the common Turnip. 

 The Swedish Turnip is probably a hybrid between Brassica campestris and 

 B. Rnpa, or Napjts ; according to others, it is derived from B. campa^tris. 

 B. ^apus, yields Rape, Cole, or Colza-seeds, from which may be expressed a 

 large quantity of bland fixed oil, which is now much used for burning and other 

 purposes. The cake left after the expression of the oil is also used as food for 

 cattle, &c., under the name of Oil-Cake. The seeds of B. chinensis yield 

 Shanghae Oil. B. oleracea is supposed to be the orijiinal species from which 

 have been derived by cultivation, all the varieties of Cabbages. Kohl-Rabi, 

 Greens, Brocoli, and "Cauliflowers. Tiie Kohl-Rabi is produced by the stem 

 enlarging above the ground into a fleshy knob, resembling a turnip. Brocoli 

 and Cauliflowers are deforiDcd inflorescences. 



Sinapis i'he seeds of two species of this genus are in common use in medi- 

 cine and for culinary purposes, and the young herbs are also employed as 

 salads. These species are, Sinapis nigra and S. alba. The seeds of the 

 former are dark-coloured, and are known as Black Mustard seeds; those of 

 the latter are of a yellowish colour, and are termed White Mustard seeds. 

 It was formerly supposed, that flour of mustard, so extensively used as a condi- 

 ment, was prepared solely from black mustard seeds, but it is now ascertained 

 that it is derived from a mixture of commonly two parts of black and three of 

 white mustard seeds. Both the black and white mustards seeds contain a large 

 quantity of fixed oil, which is readily obtained by submittmg them to pressure; 

 this expressed oil is called fixed oil of mustard. It is remarkable that we do not 

 find in either the bl.ack or white seeds the pimgent acrid principle for which 

 mustard is distinguished. But when black mustard seeds are distilled with water, 

 they yield a very acrid and pungent volatile oil, on which their virtues depend. 

 The elements of this oil only, exist in the seed, in the forms of Myronic acid, 

 and Myrosyne. These substances, when mixed through the medium of water, 

 form the volatile oil of black mustard. The active properties of white mus. 

 lard-seeds are not due to the presence of a volatile oil, as no such oil can be 

 obtained from them by distillation with water, or otherwise; but they are 

 owing to a fixed pungent and acrid principle, which does not pre-exist in the 

 seeds, but only its elements in the form of Sinapin or Sinap'sin, and a substance 

 resembling vegetable albumen or emulsin. These, when brought together un- 

 der the influence of water, produce the fixed acridprinciple of white mustard 

 seeds. Internally, flour of mustard is used as a stimulant, diuretic, and emetic ; 

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