XANTIIORIIIZA. 



67 



Parts Used. — The rliizome and roots. Formerly official, it has been 

 cliscarded from the United States Pharmacopdiia. 



(Jo)istifueiits. — No exact analysis seems to have been made of this plant, 

 though it has been shown to contain berhcrina in small proportion, and 

 probably to this it owes, in a great measiu'e, its bitterness and tonic prop- 

 erties. 



Prcjyarations. — There are no official prepavarions of yellow-root. It 

 yields its virtues to both water and alcohol, and may he employed in tinct- 





Fia. 98.— Xanthorhiza apiifolla. 



lU'o, decoction, infusion, or even in powder, tliough in the latter fonn it 

 would bo difficult to adminioter it in efficient doses. 



Medical Properties and f'scs. — Liko hydrastis and copt"s, both of which 

 it resembles in respect to constituents, xanthorhiza possesses simple 

 bitter tonic properties. It has, liowever, a much smaller pcrcentafre )f 

 borberina than either of them, and so far ap, this alkaloid goes, should 

 tliorofore be less efficient when aduijiistered in like doses. It has been 

 employed chietly as a domestic remedy, but some comijetent observers 

 esteem it more highly than either gentian or calumba. 



