84 NATURAL HISTORY OF PLANTS. 



salivation aud cougliing. lu its native country it is employed fresli 

 as a remedy for the bites of venemous serpents, being prized beyond 

 measure on this account and known under the name of Snake-root. 

 Dry, it is less active, but in large doses causes vomiting and alvine 

 evacuations. It is also an active medicament in pulmonary 

 affections, chronic bronchitis, catarrh, pleurisy with effusion, croup, 

 acute rheumatism in the joints and ophthalmia ; it is diuretic, dia- 

 phoretic, an emmenagogue, aud a hydragogue. American practi- 

 tioners have prescribed it for all maladies, " even to extravagance." 

 According to the old analysis of Gehlen, its active pungent prin- 

 ciple, the so-called séncyinc or polygalinc., when purified, is found 

 to be the poljjgalic ^ acid, causing a cough and sneezing, and 

 frothing in water like saponine. There are in America a great many 

 species possessing qualities similar to those of P. of Virginia : P. 

 caracasana^ formosa^ and monticola'^ in Cumaua, and in the United 

 States P. purpurea,^ sangidnea ^ aud paucifolia ; ' in Mexico P. 

 (jlandulosa ^ and scoporia^ in the Antilles P. paniculata^^ in Brazil 

 P. poaya^^ in Australia P. veronicea,^^ in India P. arvenis ^^ and 

 crofalarmdes,^'^' at the Cape P. serpentaria}'^ All are évacuant, more 

 or less vomitive, used as deobstruent in clu'ouic bronchial catarrh, 

 aud have most of them, rightly or wrongly, the reputation of being 

 alexipharmic. In Chili an infusion of P. thesioides ^^ is adminis- 

 tered in the treatment, of dropsy and pleurisy. P. (?) theesans ^^ 

 is so named because the Japanese and .Javanese use it as tea. The 



1 Qlev. in /««)■/(. P/iffcw/.xxii. 460. H. PI. Us. Bras. n. 71 ; Fl. Bras. Mer. ii. 2. 



2 H. B. K. Nov. Ocu. ct Spec. t. 407. — DC. Very active and, according to Mautius, as good 

 Pnidr. n. 120. — Lindl. Fl. Med. 125. as Ipecacuanha. 



^ H. B. K. lue. «f.— EosE.NTH. op. cit. 787. '- P. Muell. PI. Viet. i. 184. (Syn. Accord- 



' H. B. K. loc, cit. 405.— DC. rnrJr. n. 1 1 1. ing to Benth. Fl. Amiral, i. 139, de P. japonica 



^ NuTT. ex EosENTH. op. cit. 1ST.— P. san- Houtt. Si/st. 3, t. 62, fig. 1.— DC. Prodr. n. 34.— 



(/«i«(a MiCHX. (nee L.). P. vulgaris Thunb. Fl. Jap. 277. 



« L. Spec. 991.— Lindl. Fl. Med. 126. " W. Spec. iii. 876. 



' W. Si)ec. iii. %S(i.— Purpurea Am. Hort. Kcw. " Buchan. ex DC. Prodr. n. 65.— Lindl. Fl. 



ed. 2, iv. 244 (nee Nutt.). — Tricli-iperma grandi- Mid. 126. 



Jliira Kafin. .S>fcA. i. 117. '* Eckl. ct Zeyh. Eimm. n. 181. — Harv. et 



' H. B. K. he. cit. 404, t. ÔQ.— Viola punctata SoND. Fl. Cap. i. 93 {Kaffir Schlagen Wortel). 



W. (ex Rœm. et Sch. Sgst. y. 391). i» W. Spce. iii. 877.— C. Gay, Fl. Chil. i. 239. 



' H. B. K. loc. cit. 399.— DC. Prudr. n. 101. —Cliiulin Feuill. Obs. ii. t. 13 [Quekn-qu-ehn). 



'" L. Amœii. y. 402.— S\v. Obs. 272, t. 6, fig. 17 L. Mantiss. 260.— DC. Prodr. n. 1C3 [Lcp- 



2.— DC. Prodr. n. 100. tospcrmiwi f). — KoSENTH. op. cit. 788. — P. Thea 



11 JIaut. Mat. Med. liras, t. 2, 8, fig. 6— A. S. Blkm. Fl. Ind. 1S3. 



