TEREBINTHINA 335 



American "bitters" and "blood purifiers," taraxacum 

 was extensively employed. It yet enjoys a high reputa- 

 tion as a home remedy. Dandelion wine is an alcoholic 

 liquid made by fermentation of a solution of sugar 

 mixed with dandelion flowers. The province of the 

 flowers is that of a flavor. Professor L. E. Sayre has 

 given taraxacum much research. (See Proceedings of 

 the American Pharmaceutical Association.) 



TEREBINTHINA (Turpentine) 



Official in every edition of the U. S. P. from 1820, excepting 

 that of 1910, from which it is dropped. 



The sticky juice of many trees, as the pine, larch, 

 and other coniferous trees, is known by the general 

 name Turpentine, qualified by an adjective descriptive 

 of its botanical origin or the country producing it; for 

 example, Strasburg turpentine, Canada balsam, etc. 

 This resinous, balsamic exudation has been used from 

 all times as a balsam or pitch, or, when the wood of the 

 tree is subjected to the action of heat, as a product of 

 decomposition known as tar. This writer, (1906), ob- 

 served a fragrant oleaginous tar brought into Smyrna 

 in sheepskins from the interior of Asia Minor, which 

 enjoyed a domestic popularity in that part of the coun- 

 try. The Indians of North America employed Canada 

 balsam as an application to wounds, it being for such 

 purposes an excellent antiseptic dressing (see In- 

 dian Captivities, Guile's Narrative) (198). The dis- 

 tillate of the natural turpentine had once a widely 

 known domestic use in America as a remedy for worms, 

 whilst the resin (rosin) which remains after the distilla- 

 tion of the spirit, is yet much employed in domestic 

 treatment of the horse. All these forms of turpentine, 



