FA BACK JE. 233 



It is given internally in decoction made with an ounce of the recent root 

 to a pint of boiling water ; the dose is about a tablespoonful every three or four 

 hours; if it acts on the bowels, the quantity must be diminished, or laudanum 

 be given with it. An ointment made by simmering the fresh root in lard, has 

 been found beneficial in burns and ulcers. 



Cytisus. — Linn. 



Calyx bilabiate, upper lip entire, lower three-toothed. Vexillum ovate, large ; carina 

 obtuse. Stamens monadelphous. Legume flat, many-seeded, glandless. 



This genus derives its name from the island of Cithisus, where several of 

 the species are found. The plant so designated by the ancients, and especially 

 noticed by Virgil, as augmenting the milk of goats, is considered to be a 

 species of Medicago. All the species are shrubs, generally with ternate leaves, 

 yellow flowers, and destitute of spines. 



C. scoparius, Link. — Leaves oblong, ternate, upper ones solitary. Branches angular 

 unarmed. Flowers axillary, peduncles short. Legume fringed. 



Link, Enum. ii. 241 ; Lindley, Fl. Med. 239 ; Spartium scoparium, Linn. 

 Sp. PI. 996 ; Stephenson and Churchill, ii. 67 ; Eng. Bot. 1339. 



Common Names. — Broom ; Common broom. 



Foreign Names. — Genet a balais, Fr. ; Genista, It. ; Pfriemenkraut, Ger. 



The Broom is a native of many parts of Europe, and grows on dry and 

 sandy soils, flowering in May and June. The flower buds are sometimes 

 pickled as a substitute for capers. The young branches are often mixed with 

 hops in brewing, and are still more used for brooms ; and according to Wood- 

 ville, the seeds have been used as a substitute for coffee; but from the sus- 

 picious character of the seeds of this genus, they can by no means be devoid 

 of active properties. 



Medical Properties, fyc. — The parts used in medicine are the tops of the 

 shoots or branches; these have long enjoyed a reputation as emetic, cathartic, 

 and especially as diuretic, and were at one time in very general use both in 

 regular and domestic practice. Dr. Cullen speaks of a decoction of them in 

 dropsy, in very high terms, and states that he never failed in a single instance 

 with it, in causing an increased action of the kidneys. It, however, was over- 

 looked in favour of other remedies, until its use was again revived in conse- 

 quence of its having been prescribed with much benefit to the Duke of York 

 some years since. It is said to be peculiarly useful in dropsy of the thorax, 

 combined with disease of the lungs. The mode of administration is in de- 

 coction made with an ounce of the green tops, boiled in a pint and a half of 

 water down to a pint, of which a teacupful is given every hour till it produces 

 some effect. It may also be administered in the form of a powder of the 

 seeds, the dose of which is from ten to fifteen grains, to be aided by the free 

 use of diluents. There does not appear to have been any analysis of this 

 plant, but it is probable that it contains the same active principle as the C. la- 

 burnum, viz. Cytisine, an energetic substance which has been detected in 

 plants of very different orders. 



This plant has often been confounded with the plant called Broom, the 

 Spartium junceum, as they resemble each other in many particulars, both 

 in appearance and medical properties. Another species of Cytisus has 

 attracted some attention from the poisonous nature of its seeds, this is the 

 C. laburnum, so well known as an ornamental shrub in gardens. The 

 leaves and young shoots are emetic and purgative, and the seeds emetic 

 and acro-narcotic, and have been productive of several serious accidents. 



