IITULA ELECAMPANE. 



177 



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

 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 grindeliae fluidum — fluid extract of grindelia. 

 — United States Pharmacojyoeia. 



Medical Properties and Uses. — The therapeutic effects of gi'indelia 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 respiratoi'y tract and urinary organs. Very lai-ge 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. squaiTOsa has been recommended as 

 a cure for rhus-poisoning, but the author, from j^ersonal 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- a v i\ 



nish which has no acrid prop- M^\3^;i3^^^^W' / ' 



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. 



Descr ip t i o 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. Keceptacle flat, or somewhat convex, naked. Achenia 4- 

 «ided, glabrous. Pappus simf)le, of capillary, slightly scabrous bristles. 



Fig. 134.— Inula Helenium. 



