ACTyEA BANERERRV. (50 



observers wlio have had exjierience in the matter agi'ee that it is thera- 

 peutically much more active when fresli than when long kept. 



rreparatioiiK. — Extractum cimicifuf^ie Huidum — fluid extract of ciuii- 

 cifuga ; tinctura ciniicifugit — tincture of cimicifuga. — L'liid'd Slates riiar- 

 ■mrii-npii'ia. Of the unofficial preparations, the one most emjjloyed is an 

 impure resin termed ciniicifiigin or macrolin, obtained by precipitation 

 from an aktoholic tincture with water. The drug may also be adminis- 

 tered in substance or in decoction, though the latter form is objectionable 

 since water does not completely extract its virtues. 



Medical Properties and T'svix. — In small or moderate doses cimicifuga is 

 iitonif^ which may be usefully employed in a great variety of atlections, as 

 enfeebled condition of the digestive system due to alcoholism, fevers, 

 plithisis, bronchitis, etc. It has been employed also in acute and chronic 

 rheumatism, amenorrlujea, dj'smenorrhaia, and in cai'diac disease, wliere it 

 nets like, but less efficiently than, digitalis. It has been used as an aid to 

 parturition instead of ergot, and after delivery to relieve after-pains, in 

 puerperal mania and convulsions, and as a remedy for choi'ea, especially 

 when of rheumatic origin. In very large doses it produces a decided 

 sedative effect, causing vertigo, dilatation of the pupil, and a tendency to 

 somnolence. "To obtain curative efifects from cimicifuga, it must be ad- 

 ministered in sufficiently large doses to produce some of its cerebral ef- 

 fects," — Barlholuw. 



ACT^A. — Banebeury. 



Character of the Genu!<. — Sepals 4 to 5, falling when the flower expands. 

 J .als 4 to 10, small, flat, spatulate, on slender claws. Stamens numerous, 

 hypogynous, with slender white filaments. Ovary solitaiy, stigma sessile. 

 Fvuit a many-seeded berry ; seeds compressed, smooth, horizontal. Per- 

 ennial herbs, with bi-ternately divided leaves, and flowers in a thick termi- 

 nal raceme. 



Actsea spicata Linno, var. rubra Michaux. — lied Banebein/. 



Description. — Calyx : sepals 4, ovate, greenish. Corolla : petals often 

 8 to 10, white, oval, acute, nuich shorter than the stamens. Stamens im- 

 merous ; filaments filiform. Ovary smooth, white ; stigma oval. 2-lobcd, 

 recurved at the ends. Berries red, sliining, about l(!-seeded, on long 

 pedicels about one-fourth tlio size of the conmion peduncle. , 



Stem roundish, smooth, about 2 feet high, with bi- or ti'i-ternately di- 

 vided leaves, on long smooth petioles, partly sheathing at the liase ; leaflets 

 ovate, shai'ply cut, and toothed. Racemes ovate or hemispherical, api:)enr- 

 ing in April and May. Rhizome closely resembling that of cimicifuga, 

 which see. 



Haltitat. — Tfich woods from Hudson's B:iy to P'Muisylvania and westw-ard 

 to the Rocky Mountains. Less conunon than the following. 



