218 
Pi'operties  of  the  Geraniece. 
/Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
\     May  1,  1872. 
plant,  and  is  used  as  a  powerful  astringent  in  chronic  diarrhoea,  leu- 
corrhoea,  etc.,  and  as  a  substitute  for  kino,  catechu,  and  the  more  ex- 
pensive remedies  of  a  similar  class.  Being  devoid  of  any  unpleasant 
taste,  it  is  well  adapted  for  infants  and  delicate  persons.  The  root  is 
the  part  employed,  and  it  is  given  either  in  substance  or  in  the  form 
of  tincture,  decoction  or  extract. 
The  crane's  bill  is  described  in  Wood  and  Bache's  "  Dispensatory," 
and  is  used  throughout  the  United  States,  not  only  as  an  officinal 
medicine,  but  also  as  a  popular  domestic  remedy.  For  administering 
to  children  it  is  usually  boiled  in  milk. 
In  South  Africa,  which  is  the  headquarters  of  the  genus  Pelargonium, 
several  of  the  species  are  used  medicinally  ;  thus  P.  triste,  Ait.,  has  a 
tuberous,  slightly  astringent  root,  which,  when  dried  and  pulverized, 
is  used  in  diarrhoea  and  dysentery ;  and  it  has  also  been  recommended 
as  a  vermifuge.  These  roots,  in  a  fresh  state,  have  been  eaten  by  the 
natives  as  food.  Another  tuberous-rooted  species  is  P.  antidysenteri- 
cum,  E.  et  Z.;  these  roots  are  called  t'Namie  by  the  natives  of  Nama- 
qualand,  where  the  plants  grow  ;  they  are  often  as  large  as  a  man's 
hand,  and  are  boiled  in  milk  and  used  in  dysentery.  Amongst  other 
medicinal  Pelargonice  of  the  Cape  may  be  mentioned  P.  scutatum, 
Sweet.,  called  by  the  colonists  the  Kaffir  sorrel.  It  is  a  shrubby 
plant  common  in  many  parts  of  the  eastern  districts.  The  leaves  are 
said  to  have  astringent  and  antiseptic  properties,  and  to  be  useful  in 
cases  of  sore  throat,  etc.  From  the  petals  of  the  flowers  a  juice  of  a 
blue  color  can  be  expressed,  which  Burchell,  the  celebrated  South 
African  traveller,  suggested  might  be  found  useful  for  painting.  P. 
cucullatum,  Ait.,  is  also  a  shrubby  plant,  very  common  on  the  side  of 
Table  Mountain  :  "  It  has  been  recommended  in  the  form  of  decoction, 
or  as  an  enema  in  colic,  nephritis,  and  suppression  of  urine,  and  is 
also  an  excellent  emollient."  It  is  said  that  this  plant  was  formerly 
exported  to  Holland  as  Herba  Althcece.  P.  anceps,  Ait.,  is  an  herba- 
ceous plant,  with  small  crimson  flowers ;  it  is  called  Roode  Rabassam 
by  the  natives,  who  use  it  for  promoting  parturition  and  to  procure 
abortion. 
P.  roseum,  likewise  a  Cape  species,  is  valuable  on  account  of  its 
yielding  an  essential  oil  much  used  in  perfumery.  This  plant  is  very 
extensively  cultivated  in  the  south  of  France  and  by  the  rose  growers 
in  Turkey.  The  oil  is  obtained  from  the  leaves  of  the  plant,  one 
hundredweight  of  the  latter  yielding  by  distillation  about  two  ounces 
