202 MATER i A ME DIG A AND THERAPEUTICS. 



Characters. A long cylindrical, fleshy root, half an inch to 

 one inch in diameter, expanding at the crown into several very 

 short stems. It is internally white, and has a pungent taste 

 and smell. 



Substances resembling Horseradish : Aconite root, which is 

 short, conical, darker, and causes tingling when chewed. 



Composition. Horseradish yields, along with other con- 

 stituents, a volatile oil, C 4 H 5 Si$r, closely allied to the volatile oil 

 of black mustard, and formed, like it, by decomposition of a 

 more complex principle by means of a ferment. 



Preparation. 



Spiritus ArmoracigB Compositus. 1 in 8, with orange-peel, 

 nutmeg, and spirit. Dose, 1 to 2 fl.dr. 



ACTION AND USES. 



Horseradish has been used in domestic medicine as a 

 counter-irritant, but is most familiar as a pleasant condiment, 

 possessing much the same properties as mustard. The compound 

 spirit is a flavouring and carminative agent. 



POLYGALACE^:. 



Seoegee Radix SENEGA ROOT. The dried root 

 of Polygala Senega. From North America. 



Characters. A knobby root-stock, with a branched tap- 

 root, of about the thickness of a quill, twisted and keeled ; bark 

 yellowish-brown ; sweetish, afterwards pungent, causing saliva- 

 tion ; interior woody, tasteless, inert. 



Substances resembling Senega : Veratrum Viride, Arnica, 

 Valerian, Serpentary. All have no keel. 



Composition. The active principle of senega is saponin, a 

 colourless amorphous glucoside, C 32 H 54 18 , decomposed by 

 HC1 into a sugar, and sapogenin (C 14 H 22 2 ). Saponin is closely 

 allied to digitonin, one of the active principles of digitalis. 



Preparations. 



1. InfiiBum Senegse. 1 in 20. Dose, 1 to 2 fl.oz. 



2. Tinctura Senegse. 1 in 8. Dose, \ to 2 fl.dr. 



ACTION AND USES. 

 1. IMMEDIATE LOCAL ACTION AND USES. 



y.s ternatty. Applied to the mucous membrane of the nose 

 or throat, in the form of powder (snuff), senega is a powerful 



