AllALIA, 1 



no 



aleoliolicu'.n — alcoholic! extract of couium ; cxtractum conii fluidum — tluid 

 extract of conium ; tiuctura coiiii — tiucture of couium. — United Slulc^i 

 Pharmacopam. 



Mcdival ProiM'.rties and Uses. — The literature of few drugs is more lui- 

 satisfactory than that of coniura, cliiellj because iueificieut or wholly inert 

 preparations have been so largely employed. The active principl(> is }iot 

 only volatile, l)ut also subject to cliemical decomi){)sition ; honest* tlie li'aves 

 and fruit rapidly deteriorate Avheu carelessly preserved, and hence, also, 

 preparations are not infrequent!}' either spoiled during the i)rocess of 

 manufacture or ruined by want of care in keeping. From these causes 

 have resulted many of tlie conflicting statements regarding the therapeutic 

 activity of the drug. Those oljservcrs who, reasoning fi'om the physiolog- 

 ical action of conium, have deduced the indicriions for its use as a remedy, 

 mainly agree in recommending it in cases of undue muscular excitement, 

 as in acute mania and chorea, where it is desirable to lessen the wear of 

 the system, and in diseases of a spasmodic character, as asthma, Avhooping- 

 cough, laryngismus strididus, and tetanus. This deduction is exceedingly 

 jjlausible, since conium exerts its most decided effects iipon the motor 

 nerves, and probably has no direct action upon the sensory lilamenls. IJut 

 those observers who have rested their ojiinions upon clinical experience 

 rather than theoretical deductions, assert quite as positively that conium 

 exerts an alterant and deobstruent influence upon a variety of glandular 

 enlargements and tumors, and that it is capable of relieving the pains 

 of cancer and those of other painful ailections. Willi gi-eater care in the 

 selection of efHcient r reparations, these differences of oinniou will proba))ly 

 grow rapidly less, and soon the true place of the drug will be found. 



ARALIACEiC. 



Character of tlw Order. — Herbs, shrubs, or trees, having the general 

 characteristics of the Umbelliferie, but differing in respect to the fruit, 

 wliich always consists of more than two carpels and is in the form of a 

 drupe. Tiie order is represented in North America by two genera, name- 

 ly, Aralia and Fat.sia, the former comprising medicinal species. 



ARALIA. 



Character of tlic Genus. — Calyx-tube adherent to the ovary, the limb 

 5-toothed, or entire and almost obsolete. Corolla : petals o, inserted on 

 tlie margin of the epigynous disk. Stamens 5, alternating with the petals, 

 jpigynous. Stylos 2- to o, mostly distinct, or, in the sterile flowers, slio?'t 

 and united. Ovary 2- to 5-celled, with a single pendulous ovide in each 

 cell. Fruit a drupe, with as many seeds as there are cells in the ovary. 



H(!rbs, shrubs, or trees, with compound or decompound leaves. Flow- 

 era more or less polygamous, white or greenish, in umbels. 



