392 
ON  CIMICIFUGA  KACEMOSA. 
sessile  stigma.  The  fruit  is  an  oval  capsule  containing  a  num- 
ber of  flat  seeds. 
The  black-snake  root  is  common  to  most  parts  of  the  United 
States,  growing  in  open  woods  and  on  hill-sides,  flowering  from 
May  to  August,  when  its  long,  white,  wand-like  racemes  are  very 
conspicuous. 
The  root  is  the  part  used  in  medicine.  This,  as  found  in 
the  shops,  consists  of  an  irregularly  contorted  or  bent  thick 
head  or  caudex,  from  one  third  of  an  inch,  to  an  inch  in  thick- 
ness, and  from  one  to  three  inches  in  length,  furnished  with 
many  slender  radicles,  and  rendered  extremely  rough  or  jagged 
in  appearance  by  the  remains  of  the  stems  of  former  years, 
"which,  to  the  extent  of  an  inch  or  more  remain  attached  to 
the  root.  The  color  is  externally  dark  brown,  almost  black, 
internally  whitish. 
The  ligneous  fibres  are  arranged  in  a  crucial  form,  giving  the 
root  a  tough  consistence,  and  rendering  it  somewhat  diflicult  of 
pulverization.  The  odor,  though  slight,  is  peculiar  ;  the  taste  is 
bitter  and  somewhat  acrid.  Boiling  water  and  dilute  alcohol  ex- 
tract its  virtues. 
3Iedicdl  Properties. 
The  medical  properties  of  black-snake  root  are  those  of  a 
mild  tonic,  and  capable  of  increasing  the  secretions  from  the 
skin,  lungs  and  kidneys. 
It  has  been  long  employed  in  domestic  practice  in  the  treat, 
ment  of  various  nervous  afl'ections  ;  in  chronic  rheumatism,  in 
those  diseases  of  the  lungs  having  a  resemblance  to  consumption, 
and  occasionally  as  an  emenagogue.  It  is  most  usually  adminis- 
tered in  decoction  made  of  the  usual  strength  ;  the  dose  of 
which  would  be  a  wineglassful,  repeated  every  two  or  three 
hours.  The  powdered  root  is  given  in  doses  ranging  from  fifteen 
grains  to  one  drachm. 
A  tincture  made  by  exhausting  two  ounces  of  the  powdered 
root  with  a  pint  of  diluted  alcohol,  is  sometimes  given  in  doses  of 
two  or  four  drachms. 
Chemical  Examination. 
Four  ounces  of  the  powdered  root  were  exhausted  with  cold 
water.    The  infusion  had  a  dark  brown  color^  a  slightly  bitter 
