AmjJuOnUer,'iP904arr11'}    Formulas  for  Galenical  Preparations.  285 
solid  or  useful."    Gronovius  in  his  "Flora  Virginia,"  1772,  states  : 
My  inquiries  lead  me  to  think  more  favorably  of  this  Heritiera  as 
one  of  the  plantae  tinctoria  of  the  United  States."  Heritiera  tinc- 
toria  was  the  name  by  which  Gmelin  had  designated  this  plant. 
Lachnanthes  was  used  by  the  Indian  tribes  of  the  Southern  States 
— especially  the  Seminoles  of  Florida.  They  called  it  "  spirit  weed,'' 
and  used  to  chew  the  roots  and  tops  with  water.  Millspaugh 
("  Medicinal  Plants  ")  says  :  "  The  root  was  esteemed  as  an  invigor- 
ating tonic  by  the  aborigines,  by  whom  it  was  said  to  cause  brilliancy 
and  fearless  expression  of  the  eye  and  countenance,  a  boldness  and 
fluency  of  speech  and  other  symptoms  of  heroic  bearing,  with,  of 
course,  the  natural  opposite  after-effects." 
Porcher  ("  Resources  of  the  Southern  Fields  and  Forests  ")  states 
that  "  the  root  is  astringent  and  tonic,"  which  is  but  a  repetition  of 
the  statement  in  Griffith's    Medical  Botany." 
The  Homeopaths  have  used  the  remedy  and  Lippe  has  tested  it, 
and  described  the  symptoms  and  therapeutic  action.  (Hale's  "New 
Remedies"  and  Hugh's  "Pharmaco-Dynamics.")  Millspaugh  (Joe.  cit.) 
says :  "  A  tincture  of  the  root  has  been  recommended  in  typhus  and 
typhoid  fevers,  pneumonia,  various  severe  forms  of  brain  disease, 
rheumatic  wry-neck,  and  laryngeal  cough  !  "  Alter  describing  the 
physiological  action  of  the  remedy  he  observes  :  "  The  action  of 
this  drug  appears  as  far  as  proven  to  be  quite  similar  to  that  of 
Pulsatilla." 
Recently  the  drug  has  attracted  some  attention  in  England  as 
a  valuable  remedy  in  the  treatment  of  tuberculosis,  and  Dr.  H.  R. 
D.  Spitta  and  Dr.  A.  Latham  have  published  in  the  Lancet  a  note 
on  their  experiments  on  the  chemical  constituents  and  also  physio- 
logical experiments  on  healthy  as  well  as  tuberculous  animals.. 
Guinea-pigs  were  killed  by  small  doses  of  the  extract,  death  being 
preceded  by  paralysis  of  the  extremities.  Their  results  seem  to 
agree  with  the  statement  made  by  Homeopaths  that  the  action  of 
this  drug  is  largely  upon  the  cerebro-spinal  system, 
No  complete  chemical  investigation  of  this  plant  has  yet  been 
published.  The  late  Prof.  Henry  Trimble  intended  to  make  such  an 
examination  from  materials  supplied  by  the  writer.  His  work  on 
this  subject  was  not  published,  and  was  probably  not  completed  be- 
fore his  decease.  If  time  will  permit  the  writer  will  undertake  this 
again  when  fresh  material  is  obtained. 
