INULA ELECAMPANE. 



177 



be nearly if not quite as efficacious as the official species, and the two are 

 often found mixed in commerce. 



Constituents. As remarked above, the flower-heads of plants of this 

 genus are commonly coated with a glutinous or resinous varnish. The 

 same substance is more or less diffused in the stems and leaves, and con- 

 tains the active principles, namely, a peculiar volatile oil of a terebinthi- 

 nate odor, resin, and a crystalline body having an alkaline reaction. 



Preparations. Extractum grindelise fluidum fluid extract of grindelia. 

 United States Pharmacopoeia. 



Medical Properties and Uses. The therapeutic effects of grindelia ap- 

 pear, in many respects, to bear a striking resemblance to those of turpen- 

 tine. In moderate doses it stimulates the mucous membranes, and has 

 been found very beneficial in chronic catarrhal affections, especially those 

 of the respiratory tract and urinary organs. Very large doses have occa- 

 sioned renal irritation. It also acts to some extent as an antispasmodic, 

 and has proved efficacious in spasmodic asthma and in whooping-cough, 

 especially when complicated with bronchitis. 



Externally the fluid extract of G. squarrosa has been recommended as 

 a cure for rhus-poisoning, but the author, from personal experiment, has 

 become convinced that it acts here merely as a protective coating to the 

 skin by virtue of its resin, and that it possesses no directly curative prop- 

 erty. The fluid extract of the official species is quite as efficacious, as is 

 also any other resinous var- 

 iiish which has no acrid prop- 

 erties. Such applications are, 

 however, unpleasant to the 

 patient, since they discolor 

 the skin and limit the motion 

 of the parts affected. 



INULA. ELECAMPANE. 



Inula Helenium Linne. 

 Elecampane. 



Descriptio n. Heads 

 large, many-flowered, radi- 

 ate ; rays numerous, in a sin- 

 gle series, pistillate, some- 

 times sterile ; disk-flowers 

 tubular, perfect. Scales of 

 the involucre imbricate in 

 several series, the outer broadly ovate, foliaceous ; the inner obovate-spatu- 

 late, obtuse. Receptacle flat, or somewhat convex, naked. Achenia 4- 

 sided, glabrous. Pappus simple, of capillary, slightly scabrous bristles. 



FIG. 134. Inula Helenium. 



