CONVALLARIA. 357 



(see Ipecacuanha, page 267) ; and must also be withheld when 

 the stomach is feeble or deranged, as in phthisis. The routine 

 use of squill for all kinds of cough is to be deprecated. 



Convallaria. The entire plant of Convallaria 

 majalis, the Lily of the Valley. (Not Officinal.) 



Characters. Leaves radical, usually two, oblong, tapering 

 at both ends, 4 to 6 inches long. Flower stem leafless, radical, 

 shorter than the leaves. Flowers drooping, bell-shaped, in a 

 loose raceme. 



Composition. Lily of the valley contains two glucosides, 

 convallarin, crystalline, insoluble in water ; and convallamarin, 

 white, amorphous, bitter, and soluble in water and in spirit. 



Non-officinal Preparations. 



Extract of Convallaria. Aqueous. Dose, 2 to 8 gr. 

 Convallamarin. Dose, ^ to 2 gr. 

 An Infusion may also be used. 



ACTION AND USES. 



Convallaria has an action very similar to that of squill and 

 digitalis, the active principles of which are also glucosides. 

 In medicinal doses it slows and strengthens the heart, raises 

 the blood pressure, and is a decided diuretic. It has proved 

 remarkably useful in some cases of cardiac dropsy. At the 

 same time it is a gastro-intestinal irritant like squill, this 

 effect being due to the convallarin, whilst the convallamarin 

 acts on the circulation. Aqueous preparations, or the pure 

 convallamarin, should therefore be given. 



Aloe Barbadensis BARBADOS ALOES. The 

 inspissated juice of the leaf of Aloe vulgaris. Im- 

 ported from Earbadoes. 



Characters. In yellowish-brown or dark-brown opaque 

 masses; breaks with a dull conchoidal fracture; has a bitter 

 nauseous taste, and a strong disagreeable odour; dissolves 

 almost entirely in proof spirit, and during solution exhibits 

 microscopically numerous crystals. Usually imported in gourds. 



Substances resembling Aloes : Guaiacum, Scammony, and 

 Catechu, all destitute of bitter taste. 



Aloe Socotrina Socotrine Aloes. The in- 

 spissated juice of the leaf of one or more undetermined 



