PRUNE 309 



water. Upon macerating 1 gm. of cydonium with 50 parts of water, 

 it should yield a thick, transparent jelly. 



The seeds also contain 15 per cent of a fixed oil, amygdalin, 

 emulsin, tannic acid, a coloring principle, and 13 per cent of ash, 

 nearly half of the latter being combined with phosphoric acid. 



Adulterants. Apple and pear seeds are sometimes substituted. 

 They are readily identified by being ovoid, flattened, acute and 

 pointed at the base, of a uniformly dark brown color and not whitish ; 

 and having a smooth, shiny outer surface which is not mucilaginous. 



PRUNUM. Prune. The fruit of Prunus domestica, and of the 

 var. Juliana (Fam. Rosaceae), a small tree indigenous to southern 

 Europe, and largely cultivated in southern France, Germany, Asia 

 Minor and California, but not found growing wild. The fruit is col- 

 lected when ripe and partially dried by artificial means, or com- 

 pletely dried in the sun. The fruit exported from Bordeaux is of 

 superior quality. 



Description. Drupe superior, fleshy, ellipsoidal, more or less 

 compressed, 3.5 to 4 cm. in length, about 3 cm. in breadth; externally 

 brownish-black, glabrous, wrinkled, with two faint lines indicating 

 the dorsal and ventral sutures, summit with a slight scar from the 

 remains of the style, base with a depressed stalk-scar 3 to 5 mm. in 

 diameter, sarcocarp yellowish-brown, fleshy, somewhat stringy, 

 1.5 cm. in thickness; taste sweet and acidulous; endocarp ellipsoidal, 

 flattened, about 2 mm. in thickness, externally dark brown, reticulate, 

 with a groove on one side, frequently extending nearly around the 

 edge, internally light brown, smooth, 1-locular, 1-seeded, occasionally 

 2-seeded ; seed about 2 cm. in length, 8 mm. in width, 5 mm. in thick- 

 ness, closely resembling Bitter Almond (see Amygdala Amara). 



Constituents. Sugar 25 to 44 per cent; organic acids, as malic 

 and tartaric, partly free and partly combined, chiefly with potassium, 

 about 2 per cent, and water about 30 per cent. 



TORMENTILLA. Rhizoma Tormentillae, Tormentill. The rhi- 

 zome of Potentilla silvestris (Tormentilla erecta), a common plant, 

 belonging to the Rosacese and indigenous to central and northern 

 Europe and northern Asia. In the spring the rhizome is collected 

 from wild plants and dried. 



Description. Cylindrical, somewhat fusiform, branching and 

 more or less curved; from 2.5 to 8 cm. in length and from 0.5 to 1.5 

 cm. in thickness; outer surface dark reddish- or blackish-brown, 

 longitudinally wrinkled, with numerous stem-scars and root-scars 

 and bearing at the summit of the upper portion, young buds and their 

 bud scales; fracture mealy and somewhat horny, in older pieces more 



