lUO EIJICACE/E. 



Of tlio tlivco spooios (lo?!cribc(I ubove, the first-i.iiinod in I lie only one 

 Avhifh is mediciually importaut. Tljo otlierH, thoiiyh Ktrildugly bouutit'ul, 

 L. cardiiiiilis ospccially ho, aro of little iutorost. 



Paris Used. — The leaves and tops of L. iuflata — United Slates .Pharma- 

 copoiia. 



Const it Heuts. — Lobelia has an acrid and iiTitatinf:^ taste, Homewhat rt • 

 Kombling that of tobacco, and a sliglitly irritatin;^' odor wiion bruised or 

 powdered. It contains an odorous volatile principle, a i^'cndiar alkaloid, 

 termed lobeline, lobelie acid, and coi'inion vegetable principles. 



J'rqjaralions. — Acetuni lobeliie — vmegarof lobelia; extractuni lobeliic 

 lluiduin — tluid extract of lobelia ; tinctura lobeliie— tincture of loljelia, 

 — United Stales rhnt'macopann. 



Aledical I'roperticsan/I Uses. — In full doses lobelia produces severe nau- 

 sea, obstinate vomiting, and great prostration. lu overdoses the pros- 

 tration becomes extreme, there is failure of voluntary motion, followed by 

 stupor, coma, and not iinfreqnently convulsions and death. Though for-, 

 mcrly much used for emetic eifect by empu'ics, dangerous eflfects were so 

 often produced that it is now soldoni employed in this manner. It is 

 chieily employed in spasmodic ail'ections of the air-passages, as spasmodic 

 laryngitis and spasmodic asthma. In the latter disease it often produces 

 the happiest efi'ects. 



ERICACE/E. 



Character of the Order. — Shrubs, rarely herbs, with opposite, alternate 

 or whorled, commonly evergreen leaves. Flowers regular or nearly so ; 

 calyx 4- to .'j-lobed, free or adherent to the ovary ; corolla 4- to S-lobed, 

 rarely with distinct jictals ; stamens as many or twice as many as the lobes 

 of the corolla, free from but inserted with it ; anthers 2-celled, commonly 

 appendaged or opening by tenninal chinks or pores ; style 1 ; ovary 3- to 

 10-cclled. Fruit various. 



A large order, comprising many plants of n^edicinal and economic im- 

 portance. Of the medicinal species, some possess valuable diuretic prop- 

 erties, others aro more or less poisonous, and their therapeutic applications 

 are not yet definitely known, so that, in the present state of science, it is 

 not possible to formidate, in general terms, the medicinal in'ojiertics of the 

 order as a whole. 



As represented in North America; the order comprises four well-marked 

 sub-orders, namely : 



VaCCINIE/E — ErICINE/K — PyROLE.E— MoNOTUOPEiB, 



the second and third alone comprising medicinal species. 



