, RHUS — SUMAC. 117 



Gonslituenlii.—Tho leaves cont.aiii tannic find pfiillio ficida, tho fruit ii 

 soft acrid resiu, and the biirk a peculiar resin and tlie alkaloid berberiuo. 



/'raparutioiift. — None are oilicial. The lluid extract and tincture occur 

 as connnercial articles and allbrd eligible modes of ailinini.stration. It 

 may also be employed in infusion. 



Medical Pi'opaHie.-i and Uses, — Ptelea owes what little importance it 

 possesses to its bitter tonic properties, and these are doubtless owin<^ in a 

 tj;Teat measure to the berberine present. Moreover, as this alkaloid exists 

 in the bark of the root in but small percenta<40, the dru<4" cannot bo con- 

 sidered very active. The (jtlier constituents of the plant, though somewhat 

 aromatic, are probably of little medicinal value. 



Like nearly all bitters, ptelea has been employed with success in inter- 

 mittents, but no one at the present day would think of relying upon it in 

 sucli cases. In convalescence and in atonic dyspepsia it luay do tho same 

 service as many other fo'cble tonics, by increasing the appetite and stinui- 

 lating the digestive functions. 



ANACARDIACE/E. 



Charadcr of the Order. — Trees or shrubs, with a resinous or milky, often 

 caustic and poisonous juice, alternate, dotle.ss, exstipulate leaves, and small, 

 inconspicuous, regular, pentandrous llower.s, with a 1-celled ovary, bearing 

 a single suspended ovule, and having 3 styles or stigmas. 



An order of strongly marked characteristics, comprising aljout one 

 luuidrcd species, mostly indigenous to the tropics, llepresented in North 

 America by three genera, namely, Pistacia, Scliiuus, and Ithus, the last- 

 named aloue comprising medicinal species. 



RHUS.— Sumac. 



Character of the Genus. — Sepals 5, small, united at the base, persistent. 

 Petals 5, ovate, spreading, inserted under the margin of a flattened orbicu- 

 lar disk at the bottom of the calyx. Stamens 5, inserted in or under the 

 disk. Styles 3, distinct or united ; stigmas 3. Fruit a small dry drupe. 



Shrubs or small trees, with alternate, unequally pinnate leaves, and small 

 yellowish or greenish-whito polygamous or polygamo-diipcious Howers. 



Tlie genus may be divided into two sections, well-marked both as to 

 their structure and their properties. 



§ 1. Non-2Joi>ionnus Species — Flowers polygamous, in a terminal thyr- 

 soid panicle. Fruit clothed with a dense coating of crimson hairs ; stone 

 smooth. Leaves unequally pinnate. .__. — . ------- 



Rhus glabra Linne. — Smooth Sitmac. 



Description. — A smooth shrub, 2 to 12 feet high, tho stem having a 

 large pith and a thin, white, woody layer. Leaflets in 5 to 15 pairs, with 



