BILBERRIES — BIRCH, BLACK. 15 



powdered Beth Root and Slippery Elm with a small 

 quantity of powdered Lobelia Seed. 



Preparations — Powdered root : Dose, 10-20 grains. 

 Fluid extract: Dose, 1-2 drachms. 



BILBERRIES. Vacclnium myrtlllus. 



Synonym — Huckleberries, Whortleberries, Hurtle- 

 berries. 



Part used — Ripe fruits. 



Action — Diuretic, refrigerant, astringent. The fruit 

 may be eaten by itself or with milk and sugar as a 

 cooling nutriment. The dried berries are used in 

 medicine and have proved of much benefit in dropsy and 

 gravel. A decoction of 1 ounce in a pint of boiling 

 water is used in tablespoonful to wineglassful doses in 

 diarrhoea, dysentery, and derangements of the bowels. 

 It has been found particularly useful during typhoid 

 epidemics in the following form : 1 pound Bilberries, 

 \ pound Cream of Tartar, 1 gallon water ; boil for twenty 

 minutes, strain and make up to 1 gallon with water. 

 Drink a teacupful several times a day. Externally 

 the decoction is used as a gargle, as a wash for 

 sores, wounds, and ulcers, and as an injection in 

 leucorrhcea. 



Preparation — Fluid extract : Dose, £-2 drachms. 



BIRCH, BLACK. Be tula lenta. 



Synonym — Cherry Birch, Sweet Birch, Mahogany 

 Birch, Mountain Mahogany. 



Part used — Bark, leaves. 



Action — Diaphoretic, stimulant, astringent. The 

 warm infusion of 1 ounce of leaves in a pint of boiling 

 water has been used in gravel and female obstructions, 

 as a stimulating diaphoretic. The decoction of the bark, 

 of similar strength, is employed in diarrhoea, dysentery, 

 infants' bowel complaints, &c. 



