254 
bites of serpents, especially Eupatorium Ayapana, the leaves of which also 
form, in infusion* excellent diet drink : when fresh bruised, they are said to be 
a most useful application for cleaning the face of a foul ulcer. Ainslie, 2. 35. 
An infusion of another species is used by the Javanese in fevers. Ibid. A 
valuable antidote against the bite of serpents, Vijuco del guaco, much es- 
teemed in Spanish America, is produced by Mikania guaco. Humboldt Cinch. 
Forests, p. 21. Eng. ed. But the power of this Mikania is denied in the most 
positive terms by Hancock {Quarterly Journ. July 1830, p. 334.), who sus- 
pects that the real Guaco antidote is some kind of Aristolochia. The peculiar 
and agreeable flavour of Tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus) is well known. A 
vinegar, not distinguishable in flavour from it, is prepared in the Alps from Achil- 
lea nana, as well as from several dwarf species of Artemisia. The seeds usually 
abound in a flxed oil, which, in some cases, has the reputation of being an- 
thelmintic : it is extracted in abundance from Madia sativa, Verbesina sativa, 
and even Hehanthus, the grains of which are made into cakes by the North 
American Indians. The genus Helianthus contains a species remarkable for 
its eatable, wholesome tubers (H. tuberosus, or Jerusalem Artichoke), while the 
roots of the Dahlia are extremely disagreeable. It is stated by Payen, that 
benzoic acid exists in the Dahlia. Brewster, 1.376. A principle called Inulin 
is obtained from the roots of Inula Helenium. Turner, 700. The pith of the 
Sunflower has been stated by John to be a peculiar chemical principle, which 
he calls Medulhn. 
Cynarace^. 
Characterised by intense bitterness, which depends upon the mixtm-e of 
extractive with a gum which is sometimes yielded in great abundance. On 
this account some have been accounted stomachics, as Carduus marianus, 
Centaurea calcitrapa : the Artichoke and others sudorific and diaphoretic, as 
Carduus benedictus and Arctium Bardana. The modern Arabians consider the 
root of the Artichoke (Cynara scolymus) an aperient : they call the gum of it 
Kunkirzeed, and place it among their emetics. Ainslie, 1.22. This bitter- 
ness is not, however, found in the unexpanded leaves or receptacles, on which 
account they are, in many cases, used as wholesome articles of food ; as the 
leaves of the Cardoon, and the receptacle of the unexpanded flower of the Ar- 
tichoke, the Carlina acanthifoha, and others. The flower of Echinops strigo- 
sus is used in Spain for tinder ; the coroUas of the Artichoke, the Cardoon, 
and of several thistles, are employed in the South of Europe for curdling milk ; 
and those of Carthamus tinctorius yield a deep yellow dye, resembling Saffron. 
Their seeds are all oily and slightly bitter ; some are purgative, as those of 
Carthamus ; others diaphoretic, as Carduus benedictus ; and, finally, some par- 
take of all these qualities, as Arctium Bardana, whose seeds pass for diuretic, 
diaphoretic, and slightly purgative. 
ClCHORACE^. 
Tliese are very like Campanulacese in their medical and chemical proper- 
ties, as might have been expected from the close affinity they bear that order 
botanicaUy. Their juice is usually milky, bitter, astringent, and narcotic, as 
is well known to be the case in Succory, Endive, and even the common Let- 
tuce, but more especially in Lactuca virosa and sylvestris, both of which yield 
an extract resembling Opium in its qualities, but less likely to produce the in- 
convenient consequences that often attend upon the use of that drug. Before 
this narcotic bitter secretion is formed, many of the species are useful articles 
of food : the Succory and Endive, for instance, when blanched,, and the roots 
of Scorzonera and Tragopogon, or Salsafr. 
