ASCLEPIADACE^E. 455 



in July and August, and may readily be distinguished by its bright orange 

 flowers, which, contrasting with its dark-green leaves, give it a very orna- 

 mental appearance. The root is the officinal part ; this when fresh has an 

 unpleasant, subacrid taste. When dried it is brittle and readily pulverised, and 

 is bitter but not nauseous. It yields its properties to boiling water. No analysis 

 has been made of it, but it is known to contain a bitter extractive, fecula, &c. 

 Medical Properties. — This root is diaphoretic and expectorant, and also 

 acts as a mild tonic. It is valuable, as it does not appear to exercise any 

 stimulating powers. Schoepf was the first to notice its medical properties. 

 He says that it is diaphoretic, and somewhat astringent, and adds in another 

 place, that it was found a certain remedy in pleurisy. Dr. B. S. Barton was 

 the next writer that noticed it, he states (Collections) : " It is said to possess 

 a remarkable power of affecting the skin, inducing general and plentiful per- 

 spiration, without greatly increasing the heat of the body," and also, that 

 " it is much employed by practitioners of medicine in some parts of the 

 United States, particularly, I believe, in Virginia, as a remedy in certain 

 forms of fever, in pleurisy, and other affections." He esteemed it as one of 

 the most important. .of our indigenous medicines. . 



It has since been a popular remedy in a variety of diseases, and has been 

 employed with much benefit in those of the respiratory organs, and there is 

 most ample testimony of its curative powers when judiciously administered. 

 Dr. Chapman (Elem. Therap. i. 351), states that it is distinguished by great 

 certainty and permanency of operation, and is well: suited to excite perspiration 

 in the forming stages of most of the inflammatory diseases of winter; and 

 is not less useful in the same cases at a more advanced period, after the re- 

 duction of action by antiphlogistic remedies. 



It has also been advantageously employed in acute rheumatism, and in the 

 low state of typhus fever, when other diaphoretics were insufficient or contra- 

 indicated. Some evidence has likewise been adduced of its power in bowel 

 affections. Dr. Eberle found it useful in dysentery (Prac. Med. i. 216), and 

 Dr. Parker of Massachusetts, who employed it for twenty-five years, had 

 the greatest confidence in its powers. (Bigelow, Am. Med. Bot. ii. 26.) It 

 is also said to be gently tonic, and has been popularly used in indigestion 

 accompanied with flatulence and pain, whence one of its common names, 

 wind root. From all that can be gathered on the subject, it may be deemed 

 one of the most useful of our native articles, and deserves a full and un- 

 biassed trial. 



It is administered either in powder, in doses of twenty grains to a drachm 

 several times a day, or preferably in infusion or decoction, made with an 

 ounce to a quart of water, of which a teacupful is to be taken every two 

 or three hours, until the desired effect is produced. 



Two other native species, A. Syriaca, (Comuti, D. C.,) and A. incar- 

 nata, are also recognised in the Pharmacopoeia ; they are said to possess 

 analogous properties with the A. tuberosa, and to have been successfully used 

 in asthmatic, catarrhal, and rheumatic affections. Dr. Richardson of Med- 

 way employed the first in these complaints, to the amount of a drachm a 

 day, but in divided doses, with the best results. In all instances, it acted as 

 an anodyne, relieving pain and inducing sleep (Coxe, Am. Dispen.) Dr. 

 Tully, whose experience with our native remedies has been greater than that 

 of any other practitioner, states that the A. incarnata may be advantageously 

 given in catarrh, asthma, syphilis, &c. (Bigelow, Med. Bot.) 



Some other species have also been resorted to, as emetics, sudorifics, and 

 antispasmodics ; in fact, the whole genus appears to be endowed with much 

 the same properties. 



