DICENTIIA. ■ 80 



Medical Properties and Vse^. — In medicinal dosos celandine is diapho- 

 retic, diuretic, expectorant, and purgative ; in over-doses it is an acrid nai-- 

 cotic poison, producing not only excessive jnirgalion but great cerebi'al 

 disturbance. It bears, therefore, a close analogy in its action to sangui- 

 }iaria. In both, the acrid-properties are nnich more apparent than the nar- 

 cotic, so that fatal effects may bo pi'odu(!ed boforn narcotic synij)tonis bo- 

 come very e^•ident. In this rcspe(^t they are in marked contrast with tho 

 poppy, a member of the same order of plants, whose stimulating properties 

 are of secondary importance compared with its narcotic influence. 



Celandine is a remedy which has (!ome down to us from the fathers of 

 medicine, and is interesting chiefly on acc^ount c^f its historical associations, 

 for it is seldom employed at tho present day. Its action, asoiitlined above, 

 suffices to intlicato tho classes of cases to which it is ajjplicable, but a cata- 

 logue of the diseases in which it has been employed woidd be formidable. 

 As a drastic purgative it was formerly used in dropsy ; and it was espe- 

 cially esteemed in jaundice, an idea which, as Woodville remarks, probably 

 had its origin in the absurd doctrine of signatures, thf)ugh there can bo 

 little doubt that it miglit, through its stimulant properties, be of occasional 

 benefit in this condition. Tlie fresh juice has been used as a topical aj)- 

 plication to corns and warts and in the squamous stages of various skin 

 diseases. It requires to be employed with caution, for it is extremely irri- 

 tating. 



FUMARIACE/E. 



Character of I Jin Order. — Herbs with brittle stems, watery juice, alter- 

 nate, dissected, exstipulate leaves, and irregular, unsymmetrical flowers. 

 Sei^als 2, deciduous. Petals 4, cruciate, irregular, one or two of them saccate 

 or spurred, and the two inner ones often cohering at the apex so as to in- 

 clude the anthers and stigma. Stamens 6, in two sets of three each, placed 

 opposite the larger petals, hypogynous, the filaments oft(;n united ; the 

 middle anther of each set 2-celled, the outer ones 1-celled. Ovary 1 -celled ; 

 style fiUform ; stigma with 2 or more points. Fruit a 1-celled pod, either 

 1-seeded and indehiscent or several-seeded with two parietal placentse. 



An unimportant though interesting oi'der of plants, closely allied to 

 the impaiKraceiv. in general structure, but having watery instead of milky 

 juice. Tliere are but three strictly North American genera, namely, Adlu- 

 mia, Corydalis, and Dicentra. Fumaria, though fioiu'ishing here without 

 cultivation, is not indigenous, but has been introdrced from Evu'ope. 



• 



DICENTRA. 



Dicentra Canadensis De Candolle {Corydalis formosa Pursh). — 

 Squirrel Corn, Tiirkei/ Corn. • 



Description.— Coiiy}!. : sepals 2, small and scale-like, deciduous. Corolla : 



_!^E_„. 



