263 CONIFEKiE. 



PrqiaralimiK. — Of juniiicr Lorries: Olexim junipori — oil of jnnippr ; spir- 

 itus juiiiperi — spirit of juniper ; spiritus juiii[)(ri coinpositus — conipouud 

 spirit of juniper. — L^nilcd Slalcx I'luirnuH'opii'iu. 



Keil cotlar has been most commonly employed in infusion or decoc- 

 tion. Tlie berries jjossess properties similar to tliose of conniion juniper, 

 and hfive been employed in the same manner. 



3/('ilic(d PropcrUcii and 6«6\s.— Juniper borrioH are stimulant, diuretic, 

 carminative and emmenaf^of^-uo, imparting- to tlic urine the odor of violets, 

 and sometimes producing irritation of the urinary passages. They ai'e 

 chieily employed as an adjuvant to other more active medicines. 



Bed cedar resembles savine in action, but is seldom used. 



TAXUS. 



Taxus baccata Linne var. Canadensis Gray. — American Yeio, 

 Ground Hexdock. 



Description. — Flowers dioecious or monrecious ; the sterile in small 

 globular catkins ft)rmed of a few naked stamens ; fertile solitary, consisting 

 of an erect ovule with an annular disk, becoming in fruit pulpy and berry- 

 like, globular and reil, encli)sing a single nut-like seed. Leaves evergreen, 

 one-half to three-fourths inch long. Hat, mucronate, rigid, 2-ranked, much 

 resembling those of the hemlock spruce, but larger. A low, difl'usely- 

 sj)reading shrul). 



llabUut. — In dark shady places, often under other evergreens, flourish- 

 ing equally well in cedar swamps, uplands, and rock}' goi-ges ; very com- 

 mon evervwhei-e. In some sections wrcmu'lv called poison hemlock. 



This plant, a variety only of the European yew, cannot be said to have, 

 as yet, a place among medicines. It is believed, however, to possess poi- 

 sonous properties, and is perhaj^s woi'thy of investigation. Regarding the 

 poisonous properties of the berries, the author can state that he has •eaten 

 them without deleterious etfect, but whether l)ecause the quantity was in- 

 sufHcient or not, is an open question. Cases of fatal poisoning from eating 

 the berries of the European yew are oji record, and therefore our variety 

 is certainly open to suspicion. 



CLASS n.— :\rON0C0TYLEDON0US OK ENDOGENOUS PLANTS. 



Steins with no distinction of bark, wood, and pith, their fibrous and 

 cellular tissue being irregularly conuningled. When perennial, such stems 

 do not increase by the deposition of annual layers outside the wood 

 alre.idy formed, but by new material deposited wthin, whence the term 

 endogenous, that is, growing within. Leaves conuuonly parallel-veined, 

 sheathing at the base, and not articulated vrith the stem. Parts of the 



