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OLEUM  CHENOPODII  ANTHELMINTIC!. 
OLEUM  CHENOPODII  ANTHELMINTIC^  OR  WORMSEED  OIL. 
By  Samuel  S.  Garrigues. 
{Being  fart  of  art  Inaugtiral  Essay  presented  to  the  University  of  Gottingen.) 
This  oil  is  obtained  from  the  seeds  of  the  Chenopodiura  An- 
thelminticum,  Linn.,  a  plant  found  in  the  middle  and  southern 
parts  of  the  United  States. 
Description  of  the  plant. 
Gen.  Chenopodium,  L.  Flowers  perfect,  all  bractless.  Calyx 
5  parted,  not  appendaged  or  becoming  succulent,  more  or  less 
enveloping  the  depressed  fruit.  Stamens  5.  Styles  2.  Seed 
horizontal  lenticular ;  embryo  coiled  into  a  ring  perfectly  en- 
circling the  mealy  albumen.  Smooth  weeds,  usually  more  or  less 
covered  with  a  white  mealiness  ;  the  leaves  petioled,  triangular 
or  rhombic,  thooted  or  entire. 
Flowers  sessile  in  small  clusters  collected  in  spiked  panicles. 
(Name  from  ^«v,  a  goose,  and  noU,  a  foot,  in  allusion  to  the 
shape  of  the  leaves.) 
C.  Anthelminticum,  L.  Plant  pale  green.  Root  perennial. 
Stem  2  to  3  or  4  feet  high,  angular,  grooved,  branched ;  leaves 
ovate-oblong,  narrowed  at  the  base  into  a  petiole,  coarsely  and 
unequally  cut-toothed  or  sinuate ;  sprinkled  with  resinous  dots 
beneath.  Flowers  in  long  slender,  interrupted,  naked  racemes  or 
spikes  ;  cluster  small.  Calyx  smoothish,  green.  Stamens  longer 
than  the  calyx.  Styles  3,  united  at  the  base.  This  species  of 
Chenopodium  is  found  in  nearly  all  parts  of  the  Southern  United 
States,  and  is  known  in  common  life  under  the  name  Wormseed. 
It  is  found  growing  around  dwellings,  roadsides  and  in  cultivated 
soils,  &c.  It  flowers  in  July,  and  the  seeds  become  ripe  towards 
autumn. 
The  entire  plant  has  a  strong  unpleasant  aromatic  odor  that 
is  not  wholly  lost  by  drying.  The  seeds  are  smooth,  rounded 
on  the  margin,  very  light,  and  of  a  dirty  yellow  or  brown  color. 
Their  taste  is  bitter  aromatic,  and  possesses  in  the  highest  de- 
gree the  peculiar  odor  of  the  plant.  On  separating  the  outer 
covering  by  rubbing,  a  thin  shining  corn  shows  itself,  which  is 
filled  with  the  volatile  oil. 
This  plant  has  been  used  for  a  long  time  by  the  Indians  as  a 
