^""ju'iriSr'"  }     Materia  Medica  of  the  Mexican  Pharmacopoeia.  341 
leaves  contain  a  volatile  oil  and  are  used  as  a  perfume ;  tliey  are 
astringent  and,  like  the  bark,  are  used  for  tanning. 
Arrowroot  (the  fecula  of  different  plants),  Arroz  (rice),  Artemisia 
vulgar  (mugwort),  Asafetida,  Asfalto  (asphaltum),  Azafran  (saffron), 
Azafrancillo  (saftlower),  Aziicar  de  caiia  (cane  sugar)  are  enumerated. 
Artemisia  del  pais.  Ambrosia  artemisiaefolia,  Lin.,  the  hog- weed  or 
rag-weed,  common  also  in  the  United  States,  is  used  as  a  stimulant 
and  emmenagogue,  and  is  reputed  to  be  febrifuge  and  anthelmintic. 
Dose,  in  powder,  2  gm. ;  of  the  extract,  0*5  to  I'O  gm. 
Atlanchana,  Cuphea  lanceolata,  Kunth,  nat.  ord.  Lythrace^e ;  indig- 
enous to  Mexico.  The  stem  is  herbaceous,  striate,  pubescent  and  vis- 
cous ;  the  leaves  are  opposite,  short-stalked,  lanceolate  and  somewhat 
downy.  In  Puebla  the  plant  is  used  by  mid  wives  as  a  corroborant 
after  childbirth.  The  bruised  fresh  herb  or  the  tincture  of  the  dry 
plant  is  em])loyed,  after  baths,  as  an  embrocation  of  the  back  and 
hips.  The  drug  is  considered  to  be  mildly  astringent  and  anti-dysen- 
teric. 
Azafrancillo  de  Mexico,  Escobedia  scabrifolia,  Humboldt,  nat.  ord. 
Scrophulariacese,  grows  in  the  State  of  Guerrero.  According  to  Dr. 
Altamirano  {La  Naturaleza,  III,  390),  the  root  contains  the  crystal- 
line principle  escobedin  and  the  resinous  coloring  matter  azaf renin,  the 
latter  producing  with  sulphuric  acid  a  blue  color,  changing  to  violet. 
It  is  used  for  coloring. 
Balsamo  de  copaiba,  Coj)aiba.  Brazilian  and  Maracaibo  copaiba 
are  used. 
Balsamo  de  liquidambar.  Sweet  gum,  from  Liquidambar  styraci- 
flua,  Lin.,  growing  in  the  State  of  Vera  Cruz  and  other  parts  of  Mex- 
ico. The  crude  balsam  has  the  consistence  of  turpentine,  is  of  a  gray 
color  mixed  with  darker  pieces  and  with  white  tears,  has  a  strong,  not 
unpleasant  odor  and  a  bitter  warm  and  acrid  taste,  and  contains  frag- 
ments of  bark  and  other  impurities.  It  is  purified  by  warming  and 
straining  and  is  then  more  or  less  transparent,  whitish  gray  or  yellow- 
ish and  becomes  thicker  and  darker  on  keeping.  In  regard  to  its 
composition,  the  older  investigations  by  Bonastre,  Hanbury  and 
Creecy  are  mentioned,  but  not  the  more  recent  ones  by  Harrison  and 
Fluckiger.  The  balsam  is  sometimes  adulterated  with  turpentine,  and 
an  inferior,  dark  colored  and  oj)aque  balsam  is  prepared  by  boiling  the 
branches  with  water.  It  is  used  as  a  balsamic  stimulant  in  doses  ot 
0*5  to  2-0  gm. 
