LOGANIACE^E. 



467 



orange-yellow within. The calyx is per- Fi g< 210. 



sistent, of five long finely. serrated leaves, 

 which are reflected when the fruit is ma- 

 ture. The stamens are shorter than the 

 corolla, with oblong and narrow anthers. 

 The style is about the length of the corolla, 

 with a fusiform, acute, pubescent stigma. 

 The capsule is double, and contains many 

 angular small seeds. 



The Pink root is a native of the 

 Southern and Southwestern States, 

 but has become rare as far north as 

 Virginia. It grows in dry rich soils, 

 on the borders of woods, and flowers 

 from May to July. There are seve- 

 ral varieties, both as respects the 

 form of the leaves and the colour of 

 the flowers. It was known to the 

 natives as a vermifuge, and was in- 

 domestic use among the early colo- 

 nists in the Southern States, a long 

 time before it attracted the notice of 

 the medical public. At about the 

 same period, however, it was brought 

 forward as a remedy of much power 

 by Drs. Garden, Lining, and Chal- 

 mers, of Carolina, and from the 

 information they gave, it became 

 generally employed. The officinal 

 portion is the root; this consists of a 

 great number of slender, blackish 

 fibres, forming a dense bunch, aris- 

 ing from a short rhizome. The odour 

 is very feeble and the taste sweetish, 

 bitter and unpleasant. It has been 

 analyzed several times, and found to 

 contain an Oil, Acrid Resin, a Bitter 

 Extractive, on which the vermifuge 

 power depends, Tannin, Gallic Acid, s mari i andica . 



some salts, &c. 



Medical Properties. — Pink root is a powerful and certain anthelmintic. 

 The whole plant is possessed of this property, but the root being the most 

 active, is generally employed, and this is most striking when in a fresh 

 state, as there is no article that deteriorates more by exposure and keeping. 

 In conjunction with its anthelmintic qualities, it also sometimes displays those 

 of a purgative, and some writers have attributed all its virtues to this action; 

 but this is erroneous, as it manifests its peculiar power on the worms, without 

 exciting an increased action of the. intestines, and hence the usual practice of 

 prescribing a purge after the exhibition of Spigelia. It is far more probable 

 that its vermifuge qualities depend on the same principle that induces the nar- 

 cotic symptoms, to which it occasionally gives rise. These are dimness of 

 sight, giddiness, dilated pupil, spasmodic motions of the muscles of the eyes, 

 and even convulsions. Dr. Chalmers attributes the death of two children 

 with these symptoms, to the use of this article. {His. So. Car.) 



