AmFJebu,r i87h8arm' }     Notes  on  a  few  American  Drugs.  55 
to  recognize  it  as  a  member  of  the  Ericaceae  and  the  above-mentioned 
species  of  Ledum.     Subsequently,  the  same  plant  was  received  from 
Canada,  with  the  statement  that  it  was  popularly  used  to  some  extent 
and  considered  a  valuable  medicine  ;  its  supposed  properties,  however, 
were  not  mentioned. 
The  plant  is  known  jy  the  name  of  James  Tea  and  Labrador  Tea, 
and  occurs  in  British  North  America,  and  in  the  United  States,  from 
New  England  to  Wisconsin,  and  southward  to  the  mountains  of  Penn- 
ey ' 
sylvania.  It  occurs  in  cold  bogs  and  damp  woods,  grows  to  the  height 
of  two  to  five  feet,  and  has  alternate  leaves  about  one  inch  in  length, 
somewhat  aromatic  when  bruised,  elliptical  or  oblong,  with  an  entire 
somewhat  revolute  margin,  dark-green  and  shining  above,  whitish 
beneath,  and  covered  with  a  rusty  wool.  The  small  white  flowers  have 
five  or  sometimes  six  stamens,  and  are  in  umbels  situated  at  the  end  of 
the  branches  ;  lateral  branchlets  with  a  smooth  bark,  growing  from  the 
base  of  the  umbel.  The  fruit  forms  a  five  celled  capsule,  which  splits 
from  the  base  upwards,  and  contains  many  minute  seeds. 
In  Redwood's  "  Supplement  to  the  Pharmacopoeia, "  it  is  stated  that 
the  leaves  are  used  for  tea,  and  when  infused  in  beer  render  it  unusu- 
ally heady,  producing  headache,  nausea,  and  even  delirium,  but  have, 
nevertheless,  been  used,  it  is  said,  in  tertian  agues,  dysentery  and 
diarrhoea. 
This  little  shrub  is  very  similar  to  the  Ledum  palustre,  Lin.,  which 
is  indigenous  to  Northern  Asia,  Eastern  and  Northern  and  some  parts 
of  Central  Europe,  and  likewise  to  British  America.  It  differs  from 
the  former  mainly  by  its  linear-lanceolate  leaves,  the  ten  stamens  of  its 
flowers  and  its  more  oval  capsules.  It  was  formerly  known  as  Rosma- 
rinus sylvestris,  but  the  leaves  are  readily  distinguished  from  rosemary 
leaves  by  the  dense,  rusty,  felt-like  hairs  on  the  lower  surface.  The 
young  and  fresh  leaves  have  an  agreeable  aroma  and  a  bitter  and 
astringent  taste  ;  the  old  and  dry  leaves  are  less  aromatic.  They  have 
been  employed  in  intermittent  and  other  fevers,  in  cutaneous  diseases, 
croup  and  other  complaints. 
L.  latifolium  has  been  analyzed  by  Bacon,  but  I  have  not  been  able 
to  consult  his  essay.  The  other  species  has  been  repeatedly  examined. 
The  most  complete,  though  now  not  satisfactory,  analys  is  isby  Meissner 
("  Berl.  Jahrb.,"  xiii,  p.  170),  in  which,  besides  the  more  generally 
distributed  principles,  he  found  notable  quantities  of  tannin  and  1-5  per 
