14 MEDICINAL PLANTS 



rilla, in form of decoction or extract. The decoction should be given 

 in quantity of from two to four pints daily, or the inspissated juice in 

 doses of o ss. in 24 hours. The Saponine is doubtless allied to the ac- 

 tive constituent of sarsaparilla, sarsaparillin. 



Stellaria* Media, Smith, (Common Chick-weed). A useful de- 

 mulcent for poultices. 



Malvaceje, Juss. 



The Mallows Tribe furnish several good demulcents, as they all 

 abound, more or less, in mucilage. Of these the most important are 

 the Malva Sylvestris, (or common Mallows), and the Altherea f 

 Officinalis, Linn., (Marsh Mallow), both of which are usefully em- 

 ployed in catarrhal, dysenteric, and nephritic complaints, and wherever 

 mucilages are indicated ; also form good cataplasms in external inflam- 

 mation. A conserve of marsh mallows is one of the best demulcents, 

 in irritation and inflammation of the respiratory organs. 



Three species of Hibiscus, belong to this order, one of which, H. 

 Virginicus, (Sweating weed), has some valuable properties. 



Linages, De Cand. 

 The Flax Tribe embrace both the wild, Linum Virginianum, Linn., 

 and the cultivated flax, L. Usitatissimum, Linn. Useful as demulcents 

 and in the arts. 



Geraniace.«, De Cand. — (The Geranium Tribe.) 



Geranium:}: Maculatum, Linn., (Spotted Crane's bill). A pow- 

 erful astringent, equal to Kino and Rhatany ; used in secondary stages 

 of bowel complaints, and in passive hemorrhages. A decoction of it 

 in milk, a popular remedy in cholera infantum ; useful as a wash and 

 gargle in aphthous affections of the mouth, and ulcerations of fauces and 

 tonsils ; may be employed with advantage wherever pure astringents 

 are indicated ; used in powder, tincture, extract, and decoction. Con- 

 tains gallic acid, tannin, mucilage, amadin, red coloring matter, resin, 

 and a peculiar crystallizable principle. Might be substituted for foreign 

 astringents. 



Besides this species, we have the G. Carolinianum, Linn., Pusil- 

 lum, Linn., and Robertianum, Linn., all of which are more or less 

 astringent and diuretic. Griffith says they have been found useful in 

 diseases of the kidneys and bladder.|| 



* From stella, a star, in allusion to the shape of its flower. 



t From the Greek, altho, to cure. 



% From gcrnnos, a crane, the pointed fruit resembling the bill of that bird. 



!! Medical Botany, p. 211. 



