90 FITJrARIACE.E. 



petals 4, sli.Li^liily pnlioront, llio two outer oqtmlly si-inrrod, tlio spiirs short, 

 roiiiulod, obtuse, Kli<^fhtly iiuuirved, f^iviiifjj the whole ii sojiicwhiU hoiirt- 

 Hhixped outline ; inner petulswitha iirojeeting, couHpicuouH crest. Htuniens 

 in two sets, with tiluinents united. Stigmas 2-crcsted and somewhat 2- 

 horned. Tod 10- to 2()-seeded. 



A low, sniootli, stemleKsperciinial, whose tuider<^i"ound shoots bear small 

 vellow tubers, resenil)luig pi as or kernch of Indian corn, whence the com- 

 mon names. Leaves all radical, 10 to 12 inclies high, bi-ternate, the leaf- 

 Icts d(Hply pinnatitid, the lobes linear-oblong, sub-glaucous. Scape f! to 

 10 inches high, simple, smootli. Flowers 4 to 10, nodding, fragrant, 

 greenish-white tinged with rose-color, appearing in May and June. 



Jfahilnl. — In rich woods from Canada to Pennsylvania, Kentucky and 

 westward ; most comnuju northward. 



Part C}<>'(1, — The rhizome — not oflicial. 



Conslitueiiffi. — Dicentra has a faint, peculiar odor and a characteristic 

 slightly bitter taste, Avhich is quite persistent, and for some time greatly 

 increases the flow of srdiva. It has yielded to analysis an alkaloid termed 

 cori/dali}), together with a pecidiar acid, a volatile oil, a tasteless and an 

 acrid resin, bitter extractive, and ordinary vegetable constituents. A com- 

 mercial article, improperly termed corydaUn, in considerably used by eclec- 

 tic practitioners, and is said to fairly represent the medicinal constituents 

 of the plant. It is pi-ejiared from the alcoholic tinctiire by precipitation, 

 and is an impure resinous sid)stance. 



Pirjiaratioiiti. — None are official. It may be administered in infusion, 

 tinctui'e, or extract, or in the fonn of the so-called corydalin. 



Medical ProperticH and i'si'^;. — Dicentra is said to be tonic, diuretic, and 

 alterative. As a tonic King considers its action similar to gentian and 

 colond)o, or other pure bitters ; and its alterative properties "in syphilis, 

 especially in the constitutional form, Avhen occurring in debilitated or 

 bi'oken-down constitutions . . . not equalled by any other agent." 

 Not, however, because "it exerts any real influence as an antisyphilitic, 

 properly so called," but simply in the office of an alterative tonic. Though 

 the evidence in favor of its efficacy as a remedy must necessarily be col- 

 lected chiefly from eclectic sources, there is enough of it to justify the 

 conclusion that dicentra is not inert, but, on the contrary, is worthy of 

 more cax-ef ul examination than it has hitherto received. 



FUMARI A. — FuMiTonv. 



Fumaria officinalis Linne. — Common Fmnitori/. 



DeRc.r>i)lion. — Calyx : sejDals 2, ovate-lanceolate, acute, sharply toothc(', 

 shorter than the corolla, caducous. Corolla : petals 4, the upper one of 

 the outer pair spurred at the base, the lateral pair cohei'ing at their tips 

 and forming a quadrangular mouth. Stamens 6, in two sets of three each. 



