ULMACEi:. 563 



mach, followed by vomiting and sometimes catharsis. When given in decoc- 

 tion, it acts as a sudorific and expectorant, and is considered by Bigelow to 

 be a substitute for Senega. It has also been given in the same class of cases 

 in which Mezereon has been found useful, and it is said with equal benefit. 

 It is, however, a remedy that may be discarded, except in the absence of 

 more efficient and better known articles. 



Order 90.— ULMACEI.— Mirbel. 



Flowers perfect or polygamous. Calyx membranous, campanulate, inferior, 4 — 5-clefl, 

 the lobes imbricated in aestivation. Stamens definite, as many as the lobes of the calyx 

 and opposite to them, inserted on the base of the calyx. Ovary 1 — 2-celled, with a single 

 suspended ovule in each cell; styles or stigmas 2. Fruit 1-celled and 1-seeded, either 

 drupaceous or a samara. Seed solitary, pendulous ; exalbuminous. 



Trees or shrubs, with rough, alternate, generally deciduous leaves, each 

 having a pair of deciduous bracts at base. This order will probably be 

 divided, as the TJlmece or true Elms differ in many respects from the Celtece 

 or Hack -berries ; the first having a membranous samara-like fruit, with 

 anatropal ovules, and the latter a hard fleshy berry, and amphitropal ovules. 



Many species of TJlmus have been employed in medicine, the inner bark 

 of most of them being demulcent and mucilaginous. That of XI. campestris, 

 of Europe, is a mild astringent tonic, and is also said to be diuretic; if so, it 

 is a very weak one. It was formerly much praised as an alterative in cuta- 

 neous and venereal affections, as a substitute for Sarsaparilla. The bark of 

 U. effusa has analogous properties. The most important of these barks, and 

 the only one recognised in the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, is that of the 77. fulva 

 (77. rubra), or Slippery Elm; this tree is indigenous in most parts of the 

 United States, but is most abundant to the west of the mountains. The inner 

 bark, as prepared for use, is in long pieces of a fibrous texture, tawny on the 

 outer surface, and reddish on the inner; it has a peculiar but not unpleasant 

 odour, and a very mucilaginous taste. When finely ground it affords a light, 

 grayish-yellow powder. From its abundant mucilage it is an excellent 

 demulcent in all cases requiring this class of remedies, and also forms a 

 good article of diet where it is wished to give nourishment of the blandest 

 kind, being a very good substitute for Gum Arabic. It has also been em- 

 ployed in cutaneous diseases, and from witnessing its effects in some ex- 

 tremely obstinate cases of herpetic and syphilitic symptoms, I am inclined to 

 attribute higher curative powers to it, than are usually admitted. Dr. 

 McDowell has spoken in praise of the good effects obtained from bougies, 

 tents, &c, formed of this bark. Externally, the bark has been found very 

 serviceable as an application to inflamed parts ; it is used in several ways, 

 either in decoction, as a fomentation, in a poultice made with the powder, 

 or the bark itself softened by steeping in hot water. 



It is usually administered internally in infusion, which may be made more 

 or less mucilaginous, according to circumstances. 



The berries of some species of Celtis (Hack-berry, Sugar-berry), are 

 sweetish and sub-astringent, and are said to be useful in dysentery. The C. 

 orientalis yields a gum, resembling that of the Cherry; its roots, bark and 

 leaves, are somewhat aromatic, and have been used in the East Indies as a 

 remedy in epilepsy. A decoction of the branches of C. austrcdis is also con- 

 sidered beneficial in gonorrhoea and dysentery. 



