140 PHAEMACOPEIAL DRUGS 



covers it, and it is earless withal. A right holy pre- 

 cinct runs round it, and a ceaseless stream that 

 falleth from the rocks on every side." Theocritus, 

 Epigram IV. 



FffiNICULUM (Fennel, Fennel Seed) 



Official in every edition of the U. S. P., excepting that of 

 New York, 1830. 



Fennel, Fceniculum vulgare, is indigenous from the 

 Caspian Sea to the Greek peninsula and other Mediter- 

 ranean countries, growing wild over a large part of 

 Southern Europe, especially hi the vicinity of the sea. 

 It is also cultivated in favorable localities, as in Saxony, 

 France and Italy. Charlemagne encouraged its culti- 

 vation. Its employment in Northern Europe has been 

 from all tune, as is indicated by the fact that Anglo- 

 Saxon domestic medical recipes dating from at least 

 the llth century give it a place. The use of the seeds 

 in domestic medication in the form of infusion, as well 

 as its employment in bread-making, is too well estab- 

 lished to need more than a mention. The various 

 varieties of fennel are fully described in all works on 

 pharmacy. To attempt to give references to its liter- 

 ature would be to cite every work on medicine and 

 botany from the earliest time to the present. 



FRANGULA (Frangula, Buckthorn) 



Introduced in 1880. Official in following editions, including 

 1910. See also Rhamnus-Purshiana. 



Buckthorn, Rhamnus Frangula, grows in wet places 

 throughout Europe, Siberian Asia, and the Northern 

 African Coast. From a very early date it has been 

 known as a cathartic as well as a coloring agent. A 

 decoction of the bark has been in domestic use both as a 



