276 MATERIA MEDIC A AND THERAPEUTICS. 



Composition. Ghamomile flowers contain the officinal 

 bluish-coloured volatile oil, a complex compound of a peculiar 

 camphor and various aethers and acids ; and a bitter extractive, 

 the active principle of which has not heen separated. 



Preparations. 



1. Extraction Anthemidis. A concentrated decoction, with the 



addition of the Oleum. Dose, 2 to 10 gr. 



2. Infusum Anthemidis. 1 in 20. Dose, 1 to 3 fl.oz. as sto- 



machic ; 5 to 10 as emetic. 



3. Oleum Anthemidis- The oil distilled in Britain from the 



flowers. Dose, 2 to 4 min. 



ACTION AND USES. 



Externally. Warm infusions or decoctions, or the flowers 

 in bags soaked in hot water, possess the general properties of 

 fomentations and poultices, the warm water being apparently 

 the active constituent. They are much used as a domestic 

 application to painful parts. 



Internally. Chamomile belongs to the class of aromatic 

 bitter stomachics. The warm Infusion, freely drunk, is a mild 

 simple emetic, which may be used in biliousness, ague, etc. 

 The Oil or the Extract is usefully combined with purgative 

 pills as a stomachic and carminative. 



Taraxaci Radix DANDELION ROOT. The 

 fresh and dried roots of Taraxacum Dens Leonis. 

 Gathered between September and February, from 

 meadows and pastures in Britain. 



Characters and tests. Tap-shaped roots, smooth and dark- 

 brown externally, white within, easily broken, and giving out 

 an inodorous bitter milky juice, which becomes pale -brown by 

 exposure. 



Substances resembling Taraxacum : Aconite, Armoracia, 

 Pellitory. Dandelion is not wrinkled or pale- coloured ex- 

 ternally; the juice not watery ; any adherent leaves runcinate 

 and quite smooth ; is not pungent when chewed. 



Composition. Taraxacum root and the fresh juice contain 

 an indifferent principle taraxacyn, amorphous or in small white 

 masses; abundance of potassium and calcium salts; sugar; 

 and resinoid bodies which give the milky appearance to the 

 juice. The relative richness of the taraxacin, salts, and sugar 

 varies with the season and situation. 



