28 
ON  THE  MEDICINAL  PLANTS  OF  MICHIGAN. 
the  very  mildest  chalybeates,  only  slightly  astringent,  easily 
digestible  and  assimilated,  and  for  these  reasons  has  been  and 
still  is  highly  esteemed  in  Europe,  and  is  much  employed  for  all 
diseases  which  require  a  mild  ferruginous  remedy ;  the  only  draw- 
back, if  it  may  be  considered  as  such,  and  which  from  the  nature 
of  the  preparation  cannot  be  avoided,  is  the  uncertainty  of  the 
amount  of  iron  it  contains,  as  prepared  from  different  apples  and 
from  apples  of  varying  maturation  ;  this  variableness,  however, 
is  partly  counteracted  by  the  second  dissolving  and  evaporation 
of  the  extract.  The  fact  of  its  being  a  salt  of  malic  acid,  which 
is  an  ingredient  in  many  wholesome  fruits,  might  be  an  induce- 
ment to  try  its  effects,  inasmuch  as  the  pure  acid,  and  likewise 
the  salts  prepared  from  it,  would  command  so  high  a  price  as  to 
exclude  almost  all  possibility  of  making  use  of  the  same  in  medi- 
cine. 
All  those  chemical  and  pharmaceutical  preparations  which  are 
incompatible  with  the  iron  salts  generally,  are  also  incompatible 
with  the  impure  malate  of  iron ;  acids,  especially  the  mineral 
and  stronger  organic  acids,  and  their  acid  salts,  set  the  malic 
acid  free  ;  the  salts  of  many  of  the  heavy  metals,  zinc,  lead,  mer- 
cury, silver,  form  insoluble  precipitates  ;  remedies  containing  tan- 
nic acid  are  inadmissible  on  account  of  the  precipitation  of  tan- 
nate  of  iron,  but  caustic  alkalies  and  their  carbonates  do  not  pre- 
cipitate the  oxide  of  iron,  and  are  therefore  chemically  not  in. 
compatible  with  this  preparation. 
The  dose  of  the  extract  is  from  about  5  to  10  grains  ;  of  the 
tinctures  from  30  to  60  drops  several  times  a  day  in  the  form  of 
pills  and  mixture. 
Philadelphia,  December  1858. 
EXTRACTS  FROM  A  REPORT  ON  THE  MEDICAL  PLANTS 
OF  MICHIGAN. 
By  F.  Stearns. 
Abies  balsamea.    Balsam  of  Fir. 
Abies  Canadensis.    Hemlock,  or  Hemlock  Spruce. 
Abies  nigra.    Black  Spruce. 
Trees  of  the  order  Pinaceae  abound  in  the  greatest  profusion 
throughout  both  peninsulas,  especially  in  the  north  ;  the  A.  bal- 
