-382 
Notes  on  Scrophulariacece. 
f  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
t     Aug.  t,  1874. 
every  three  hours,  is  said  to  be  an  efficient  purgative,  operating  with 
mildness  and  certainty,  and  peculiarly  adapted  to  typhoid  and  bilious 
fevers. 
The  Gratia  Dei,  so  called  in  olden  times  on  account  of  its  active 
medicinal  properties,  and  known  also  as  the  hedge  hyssop  by  the  her- 
balists, is  the  Gratiola  officinalis,  L.  It  is  a  perennial  herb,  common 
in  moist  places  in  the  South  of  Europe,  where  it  is  used  in  dropsy, 
jaundice,  scrofula,  chronic  hepatic  aifections,  etc.  In  large  doses,  it 
is  poisonous.  "According  to  Vauquelin,  the  purgative  property  de- 
pends upon  a  peculiar  substance  analogous  to  resin,  but  differing  from 
it  in  being  soluble  in  hot  water.  Dr.  Whiting  has  announced  the 
existence  of  veratria  in  it,  which  accounts  for  its  active  properties." 
Though  not  used  in  medicine  in  this  country,  it  is  said  to  have  formed 
the  chief  ingredient  in  a  once  famous  nostrum  for  gout,  known  as 
"  eau  medicinale."  In  some  of  the  meadows  of  Switzerland  the  plant 
is  said  to  be  so  abundant  that  it  is  dangerous  to  allow  cattle  to  graze 
in  them. 
In  a  recent  American  list  of  "  Pure  Medicinal  Preparations  pre- 
pared in  vacuo  "  at  New  Lebanon,  occurs  a  preparation  from  Ohelone 
.glabra,  L.  The  plant  is  known  as  the  snake-head,  or  balmony,  and 
grows  in  damp  soils.  Its  action  is  described  as  follows  in  the  cata- 
logue above  referred  to  :  Tonic,  cathartic  and  anthelmintic,  valuable 
in  jaundice  and  hepatic  diseases,  likewise  for  the  removal  of  worms. 
Used  as  a  tonic  in  small  doses  in  dyspepsia,  debility  of  the  digestive 
organs,  and  during  convalescence  from  febrile  and  inflammatory  dis- 
eases. Fluid  extract ;  dose,  1  drachm.  Chelonin :  dose,  1  to  2 
-grains.  Amongst  the  medicinal  plants  prepared  by  the  society  known 
as  Shakers,  the  foliage  and  twigs  of  Chelone  glabra  are  included. 
In  Kumaon  and  other  parts  of  India,  the  roots  of  Picrorrhiza  kur- 
roa,  Royle,  are  used  in  medicine  as  a  tonic  and  antiperiodic,  and  are 
sold  in  the  bazaars,  where  they  occur  in  short,  brittle  pieces,  of  a  dark 
color,  somewhat  irregular,  about  the  thickness  of  a  goose-quill,  but 
tapering  towards  the  extremities,  and  covered  at  this  part  with  nume- 
rous small  rootlets.  They  have  a  dark-brown  fracture  when  broken 
across,  and  an  intensely  bitter  taste.  This  medicine  is  placed  in  the 
Indian  Pharmacopoeia  amongst  non-officinal  articles,  with  the  remark 
that  "  it  would  be  desirable  to  have  more  information  with  regard  to 
this  root  and  its  properties."  Other  Indian  Scrophulariacece  included 
in  the  Pharmacopoeia,  but  not  officinal,  are,  Ilerpestis  Monniera, 
