134 MEDICAL BOTANY. 



gent by red pepper. The seeds of many of the other Cruci ferae are also 

 used as substitutes for, or adulterations of, the mustard ; of these the wild 

 Radish is the best, as with the exception of colour, it affords a flour in every 

 respect similar to the Sinapis. In the East Indies, the seeds of several other 

 species of Sinapis, as the orientalis and chinensis are used both in domestic 

 economy and in medicine, instead of those of the nigra. 



Medical Properties, fyc. — The qualities of mustard are those of a volatile 

 acrid stimulant; in small quantities it excites the stomach and promotes diges- 

 tion, in larger doses it acts as an emetic, and in undue quantity causes all the 

 phenomena of gastro-enteritis. When applied to the skin, it acts promptly 

 and powerfully as a local excitant, producing redness, burning pain, and if 

 long continued even vesication and ulceration. 



The dose, as an emetic, is from a teaspoonful to a tablespoonful in a glass 

 of water, and it is preferable to most other evacuants of the stomach, when 

 this viscus is in an atonic condition, as it will often act when tartar-emetiG 

 or ipecacuanha wholly fail in producing emesis. In some cases it is given as 

 a diuretic ; for this purpose the best form of exhibition is mustard whey. The 

 most general use of this article is for the purpose of stimulating the sur- 

 face, in the form of a cataplasm. In making a mustard poultice, the best 

 mode is to mix it with equal parts of rye or linseed flour and moisten to the 

 proper consistence with warm but not boiling water, as the latter coagulates 

 the albuminous or gummy constituents, and prevents the extrication of the 

 volatile oil on which the irritating properties depend. Boiling vinegar has 

 been recommended, but the experiments of Trousseau and others, show that 

 the acetic or any other acid deprives the mustard of much of its activity. 



The analyses of mustard, by Pelouze, R'obiquet, Bussy, and many other 

 chemists, show that its constituents are numerous and many of them very 

 peculiar; the most important of these are myronic acid, myrosyne, and sina- 

 pisin, and it is to the mutual action of these on each other when water is added 

 to the powdered seeds, that the volatile oil is owing, this principle not existing 

 in a formed state in them ; this is shown by alcohol extracting no volatile oil 

 from the powder, but after the generation of this by a mixture of the farina 

 with water, the alcohol takes it up readily. 



2. S. alba, Linn. — Siliques hispid, not appressed to stem, shorter than the beak. Leaves 

 byrate. 



Linn. Sp. PI. 923 ; Stokes, Med. Bot. iii. 474 ; Stephenson and Churchill, 

 Med. Bot. i. 42 ; Lindley, Med. Flor. 92. 



Common name. — White Mustard. 



Foreign names. — Moutarde Blanche, Fr. ; Luchettone, It. ; Senfsamen, 

 Gr. 



Like the last-mentioned species the White Mustard is a native of Europe, 

 but is also cultivated for the sake of its seeds. These, although resembling 

 those of the Black Mustard in their qualities, are much milder, though they 

 are frequently employed in the manufacture of mustard for table use. They 

 attained great celebrity at one time in the treatment of dyspepsia and other 

 atonic conditions of the stomach and bowels, and were considered as a 

 panacea in all complaints of the digestive organs, but as with all other popu- 

 lar remedies, their injudicious use often produced a far worse train of evils 

 than those they were intended to remedy. Given in doses of a spoonful once 

 or twice a day, they sometimes prove beneficial by stimulating the digestive 

 organs to a regular performance of their functions, but on the other hand 



