124 PHARMACOPEIAL DRUGS 



the decoction being used for this purpose. In eaily 

 European record, an extraordinarily high price was 

 asked for this substance. It was introduced to Europe 

 in 1850 by a Frenchman, who demanded in the neigh- 

 borhood of $9 per ounce. This led to its importation 

 in quantities, when the value soon fell to a normal 

 standard. In the opinion of this writer, the decoction 

 should be employed, not an alcoholic preparation. 

 This applies also to pumpkin as well as many other 

 drugs. 



CYPRIPEDIUM (Lady's Slipper) 



Introduced into the U. S. P. in 1860, but in the Secondary 

 List, holding the same position in 1870. In the editions of 1880, 

 1890 and 1900 it was official, but was dropped in 1910. 



Lady's slipper (Cypripedium pubescens) is found in 

 several varieties throughout the United States, where 

 it is indigenous to rich woods and meadows. It has 

 been valued as a domestic remedy and was once a home 

 favorite in the form of a decoction for nervous con- 

 ditions of women and children. It was thus utilized by 

 the early settlers as a substitute for valerian, which 

 gave it the name American valerian. Creeping thus 

 into domestic therapeutic use, it naturally received 

 the care and attention of the "Indian doctors," and 

 came gradually to the attention of the medical profes- 

 sion. To give its 'American record, complete, would 

 cite all the domestic writers on American medicine of 

 the 19th century, as well as such authorities as King 

 (356), Wood and Bache (698), etc. 



