AN AROMATIC STIMULANT 585 



mealy, short, somewhat fibrous fracture, having a strong 

 agreeable, aromatic odour, a warm, pungent taste, and dis- 

 solving in water and alcohol. 



Ginger owes its taste to a pungent resin, its aroma to a 

 volatile oil, and its medicinal and flavouring properties to 

 both constituents, which are chiefly found in the delicate 

 felted layer of skin lying between the starchy, mealy 

 parenchyma and the brown, horny, external covering. 

 As a condiment and medicine Great Britain annually im- 

 ports about 300 tons of ginger. 



ACTIONS AND USES. Ginger is an aromatic stimulant, and 

 is used as a stomachic and carminative for all patients, 

 notably for cattle and sheep. 



Blown into the nostrils it increases nasal discharge ; 

 chewed, it reflexly augments the flow of saliva ; administered 

 internally, it promotes gastric secretion, digestion, and 

 appetite. It is prescribed in atonic dyspepsia, often with 

 antacids and laxatives. Conjoined with purgatives, it 

 diminishes their tendency to nauseate and gripe, and also 

 somewhat hastens their effects. 



DOSES, etc. For the horse, ^iv. to i. ; for cattle, i. to 

 ij. ; for sheep, %i. to 3ij- ; for pigs, 3ss. to 3i. ; for dogs, 

 grs. x. to grs. xxx. A bolus is made with any suitable 

 excipient ; an infusion is used sometimes sweetened with 

 treacle or sugar ; the B.P. tincture is prepared with two 

 ounces powdered ginger to a pint of rectified spirit by 

 maceration and subsequent percolation. A syrup of ginger, 

 made with a strong tincture and the B.P. simple syrup, is 

 occasionally prescribed. An oleo-resin, obtained from 

 ginger, and known as gingerin may be substituted for ginger 

 in dispensing purgatives. 



CINNAMON 



CINNAMOMI CORTEX. Cinnamon Bark. The dried inner 

 bark of shoots from the truncated stocks of Cinna- 

 momum zeylanicum. Imported from Ceylon, and dis- 

 tinguished in commerce as Ceylon cinnamon (B.P.) 

 Nat. Ord. Laurineae. 



