39 LINUM USTTATISSIMUM 



3,000,000 ; from India during tne same year 1,144,942 ; and 

 from Germany and Holland 144,108 ; the total quantity imported 

 being 1,514,947 quarters, representing a money value of 

 4,513,842. Some seed is also produced in Great Britain, but 

 the cultivation of the flax plant is declining in this country. 

 Several varieties of linseed are known in the markets, and of these 

 English, Calcutta, and Bombay, fetch the highest prices. 



General Characters and Composition of Linseed. Linseed, 

 Lintseed, or Flaxseed, is small, although varying in length from 

 5 g of an inch, the seed from warm countries being the largest. 

 The seeds are more or less flattened, and have a smooth shining 

 surface of a brown colour ; internally they are yellowish-white ; they 

 have a mucilaginous oily taste, but no odour. The characters of 

 the seed should be carefully noted, as linseed is very much 

 adulterated with rape, mustard, and other seeds, from which it 

 should be carefully separated. In America a variety of flaxseed 

 is met with which has a greenish-yellow instead of the ordinary 

 brown colour. In other respects it does not appear to differ 

 essentially from the common seed. 



The principal constituent of linseed is the fixed oil (see Oleum 

 Lini), which forms about one third of its weight. The other 

 important constituent is a peculiar mucilage, which appears to be 

 a product of the transformation of starch, for while starch is 

 found in unripe linseed it is altogether absent from the ripe 

 seed ; hence a decoction of linseed does not become blue by the 

 action of iodine, and hence also a means of detecting mealy seeds 

 and cereal grains when mixed with linseed. 



Medical Properties and Uses. Linseed possesses emollient and 

 demulcent properties, and is largely employed in the form of an 

 infusion which is commonly known as linseed-tea, in irritation 

 and inflammatory conditions of the mucous membranes generally, 

 as in catarrhs and urinary affections, and in diarrhoea and dysen- 

 tery. Linseed tea may be made more palatable by the addition 

 of sliced lemon and sugar-candy. 



2. LINI FAEINA. The cake left after the oil has been expressed 

 from linseed is usually called oil-cake ; this when ground to powder 



