NON-POISONOUS DRUGS 



173 



however, that in spite of its odor asafetida is highly valued 

 as a condiment and extensively used for that purpose in 

 Persia and other oriental countries. Nor is its use as a food- 

 adjunct confined to eastern peoples. Many of us have often 

 rehshed it in gravies and sauces, little suspecting that the 



Fig. 105, II. — Castor-oil Plunt. .1, staniinate flower, just openiug. B, suTae, 

 fully open. C, branching stamens. D, pistillate flower, entire. E, 

 same, cut vertically. F, fruit. G, seed, entire, and cut vertically. 

 H, Embryo. (Baillon.) 



flavor we were enjoying was due to a substance which is 

 ordinarily most repulsive. The volatile oil upon which the 

 odor and flavor of asafetida depend is chemically verj' .sim- 

 ilar to the oil of mu.stard, which as we know is pleasant to 

 eat only in minute quantity. Indeed it is almost always 

 true of food-adjuncts that "a little more than a little is by 



