CBUCIFEB^J. 



225 



so have Heldreichia Kotsc/iyi 1 and certain Farsetias" in Asia, Nastur- 

 tium humifusum 3 in Senegal, N. indicum 4 in India, N. terrestre' in 

 Australia, Lepidium owaihiense, piscidium, oleraceum, 6 in the Sandwich 

 Islands, and Hutchinsia ckinensis 1 in China. Strange to say, among 

 all these stimulant plants, the Hedge Mustard 8 {Velar officinal) is 

 neither acrid nor pungent, but only harsh and astringent. 



The seeds of Crucifera are also noteworthy for the quantity of fixed 

 oil they contain used in the arts as well as for household purposes and 

 food. Among the best known are the Colewort or Colza 9 (figs. 228- 

 231), the Winter and Summer Eape, and the cultivated Camelina} 

 (fig. 283). The seeds of the various Cabbages and Radishes contain 

 a good deal of oil, of which but little use is made ; so with Isatis, 

 Erucastrum, and Crambe. Special therapeutic virtues are ascribed to 

 the seeds of many Crucifers, such as Cheiranthus C/ieiri, 11 Cardamine 

 impatiens, 12 Lunaria rediv'wa and biennis™ Iberis umbellata, u Hesperis 

 matronalis and tristis, 1 '" Sisymbrium Sophia, 16 Alliaria, Capsella Bursa 

 pastoris, and several species of Brassica, Lepidium, and Bunias. 17 



1 Boiss., Fl. Or., i. 319. — Rosenth., op. cit., 

 635 ; used chiefly in scurvy of the gums. 



2 F. clypeata It. Hit. is said to be the aWvo-aav 

 of Dioscoeides (Rosenth., op. cit., 633), sup- 

 posed to cure scorbutic ulcers, skin diseases, 

 hydrophobia, &c. 



a Guill. & Peer., FL Seneg. Tent., i. 19- 



4 DC, Syst., ii. 199; Prodr., i. 139, n. 22.— 

 Rosenth., op. cit., 631. — Sisymbrium indicum 

 L., Manliss., 93. 



5 R. He., in Ait. Kort. Kern., ed. 2, iv. 110 

 (a form of N. palustre DC). Its root is also 

 edible. 



6 Forst., Prodr., n. 248. — DC, Prodr., i. 

 207, n. 38. — Rosenth., op. cit., (339. 



7 Bitter and antiscorbutic; given in dropsy 

 and pulmonary catarrh. 



8 Sisymbrium officinale Scop., Fl. Cam., ii. 

 26. —DC, Fl. Fr., iv. 672 ; Prodr., i. 191, n. 

 I.—Schk., Handb., t. 183.— Turp., Fl. Med., 

 ic. — Guib., loc. cit., 680, fig. 755. — R£v., in 

 Pot. Med. cU xix e Siecle, iii. 447, t. 48. — Moq., 

 Pot. Med., 108, t. 35. — Erysimum officinale L., 

 Spec, 922. — Chamaplium officinale Walls., 

 Sched. Crit., 377. — SpaCH, Suit, a Buffon, vi. 

 435. It is the BZerbe au chantre or Tortelle, 

 and forms the basis of a Compound Syrup of 

 Erysimum, used in the treatment of pulmonary 

 catarrh, &c. 



9 A cultivated race (Spach, Suit, a Buffon, vi. 

 370) of Brassica Napus Koch. — B. campestris 

 L., Spec, 931. — Brassica Napus oleifera DC. — 

 Guib., loc. cit., 6S5. 



VOL- III. 



10 Camelina saliva Fe., Nov. Mant., iii. 72. — 

 Guib., loc cit., 681. — Rosenth., op. cit., 637. 

 Besides the oil, the seeds themselves have been 

 used in medicine under the name of Semina 

 Sesami vulgaris. 



11 Its herbaceous parts are bitter, acrid. The 

 flowers have a strong scent, which makes thein 

 slightly excitant and diaphoretic. 



12 L., Spec, 914. Its seeds are diuretic, and 

 of use in dysentery. The same applies to the 

 P>entarias (which really belong to the genus 

 Cardamine), especially B>. bulbifera L. (Herba. 

 Dentarue minoris s. antidysentericce), digitata 

 Lame., enneaphylla L., pinnata Lame., &c. 

 These plants are sometimes used for fuod, as is 

 -D. diphylla Michx., on which horses are fed in 

 America (see Rosenth., op. cit., 632). 



13 Their seeds are stimulating, pungent, &c. 

 (See H. Bn., in Diet. Encycl. des Sc Med., ser. 

 2, iii. 187.) They were used under the name of 

 semina Violce lunaria. 



14 L., Spec, 906.— DC, Prodr., i. 179, n. 10. 

 It is a diuretic, pectoral, and anticatarrhal. 



15 Recommended as pectorals, &c. (Rosenth., 

 op. cit., 636), under the name of Viola matronalis 

 s. damascecena. 



16 See p. 224, note 9. 



V B. Erucago L. (Spec, 935 ;— DC, Prodr., 

 i. 230, n. 1 ; — Rosenth., op. cit., 646) has a 

 penetrating smell and taste. It was used under 

 the name of Herba Erucaginis in ascites and 

 other forms of dropsy. 



Q 



