GERANIUM 



257 



267. IMPATIENS PALLIDA. JEWEL WEED. Indigenous herb occasionally 

 used as an alterative and diuretic in infusion. Dose: I dr. (4 Gm.). Impa'- 

 tiens balsam'ina, the touch-me-not of the gardens, has the same properties. 



FIG. 139. Geranium maculatum Flowering branch. 



ZYGOPHYLLACE^E 



The wood of many species of this order is remarkable for its excessive hard- 

 ness. The two official drugs from the order are the wood, 75, and resin, 76, of 

 guaiacum. 



268. GUAIACI LIGNUM, N.F. LIGNUM VIT.E. The heart-wood of Gua'ia- 

 cum officina'le and G. sanctum Linne". Greenish-brown, resinous raspings or 

 chips, mixed with yellowish particles of the sap-wood; odor slight, agreeable, 

 increased by heating or rubbing; taste slightly aromatic, but irritating 

 and persistent after chewing some time. The heart-wood of guaiac is im- 

 ported in billets or logs and used for turning out various instruments and 

 utensils, the shavings from these being used in pharmacy. The sap-wood 

 is yellowish, the heart-wood dark greenish-brown, hard and heavy, re- 

 markable in that its specific gravity is such as to sink in water. Constituents: 

 The resin (soluble in alcohol and alkaline fluids) is the most important con- 

 stituent, of which it contains about 26 per cent.; it also contains 0.8 per cent, 

 of bitter, pungent extractive. The wood or chips are turned a bluish-green 

 by the action of nitric acid fumes. 

 17 



