242 3:upii{)iir.iACE.i:. 



Part Used. — The root of both si)ecies. Fonuorly official, but dismissed 

 from the PharmacoiJUiia in 1880. 



Coiis/ilKi-iil.i. — A ijorfectly siitisfactory analysis of these plants is }ct to 

 be made. That they contain an emetic principle is very evident, but it 

 has not yet been isi)hited. 



J'n'iHini/ioiis. — Commonly adndnistered in powder. 



Mi'iliml rroportiea and fVrx.— Both species possess similar if not quite 

 identical properties, being actively emeto-(%athartic ; in small doses, diapho- 

 retic. More pleasant \o the taste than ipecacuanlia ; either of them may 

 be substituhnl for it in cases where emesis is desired, and cathartic action 

 is not objectionable. 



STILLIX(iIA. 



Stillingia sylvatioa Linnc. — SiUUngi'i, (jwcn'.'^ Ihutl. 



J>ri«-ni)tu>ii. — Flowers mon(e(ri()us, collected in a terminal spike. Cah'x 

 2- to 3-cleft or parted. Corolla absent. Stamens, 2 to 3 ; anthers adnatc, 

 e.\trorse. Style sinj^le ; stigmas !}, diverging. Pod IJdobed, iJ-celled, o- 

 seeded. Seed caruncnlate. 



An herbaceous perennial. Stems 1 to 8 feet high, erect, smooth, fnnii 

 a very large tapering root. Leaves alternate, oblong-lanceolate, senixlate, 

 nearly sessile, eonunonly with two glands at tlie base. Fertile flowers few, 

 at the base of a dense sterile spike. The flowers are produced in sunmier. 



/fiihi/if. — In sandy soil from Virginia southward. 



/'//•/ r.-^fd. — The root — (uilcd Shdfs I'lmrDxicdixria. 



('i)/is/ilii 'ulx. — stillingia has a strong disagi'eeablc odor, which is les- 

 sened l)y drying, and a bitter, acid, and i)ungent taste, which persists even 

 when tlie dried root ])as been exposed to the air for a long time. It has 

 yielded to analysis a volatile oil possessing the odor and taste of the crude 

 drug, and a resinous l)ody whi(!h also appears to possess medicinal activity. 

 The so-called oil <//' slilliin/id, occuning as a commercial article, is said to 

 be an ethereal extract, not without medicinal properties, bnt in no way 

 resend)ling the true volatile oil. 



VrrpuraHiDtx. — Extractum stillingia^ fluidum — fluid extract of stillin- 

 gia. — i'liih'd Sillies PlKtniKico^tii'ii, It is also adndnistered in decoction 

 and syrup. 



Medical rropriiics (iitd Cses. — Stillingia, in large doses, is an active 

 emeto-catharti(; ; in small doses, alterative. By that class of practitioners 

 who reject mercury in the treatnunit of syphilis, stillingia is very largely 

 emiiloycd as a substitute. In scroful.i, chronic cutaneons and hepatic dis- 

 order.s, it is also stud to act beneflcially. In general twrns, it may be said 

 to have earned its present reputation and standing ns a remedy iu those 

 cas(\s which, in former times, were considered most amenable to sarsapa- 

 rilla. Whether its rejiutation rests u]ion a moi-e secure foinidation than 

 did that of sarsaparilLi, is a question not easy to decide. One thing, how- 



