Am'jJa°nU?SarnJ'}  Indigenous  Plants  of  Medical  Interest.  45 
remarks  falling  on  its  head,  hurled  from  local  communities  as  bugbane,  black 
cohosh,  black  snake  root,  rattle  weed,  rattle  root,  rattle  snake  root,  squaw  root, 
etc. 
In  explanation  of  those  various  scientific  terms  we  would  say  each  author 
cited  had  his  reason  for  assigning  them,  and  thus  they  have  stood  at  variance  ; 
an  instance  of  a  trifle  disagreement  among  botanical  doctors  and  also  a  strong 
plea  for  better  nomenclature.  The  National  Formulary  followed  out  the 
actsea  idea  in  its  preparation  of  Syrupus  Actczce  compositus,  which  name  is  very 
misleading  to  workers  of  the  present  day,  and  Cimicifuga  would  have  been  just 
as  agreeable  to  handle.  Dr.  Darlington  said  of  the  virtues  of  this  plant  that 
an  infusion  of  it  was  quite  a  popular  medicine  for  man  and  beast  without  much 
regard  to  the  nature  of  the  disease.  This  does  not  coincide  with  its  therapy  of 
10-day. 
Coptis  trifolia,  goldthread,  does  not  appear  in  the  present  Pharmacopoeia,  a 
very  small  mountain  plant  with  considerable  tonic  properties.  Our  only  expe- 
rience with  it  was  during  the  convention  of  the  State  Pharmaceutical  Associa. 
tion  a  few  years  ago  at  Scranton,  when  after  a  hearty  dinner  we  had  strolled 
away  for  out-door  exercise  prescribed  for  pharmacists,  and  shortly  came  upon 
this  little  stranger  in  great  quantities.  After  collecting  considerable  and 
returning  to  the  session,  Prof.  Maisch  had  just  finished  a  paper  on  some  inter- 
esting points  ;  he  forgave  us  our  truancy  when  we  gave  him  specimens  of  the 
goldthread. 
Another  plant,  more  robust  in  growth  and  general  features,  but  less 
frequent,  is  green  hellebore,  Hellebortis  viridis,  now  establishing  in  several 
places  near  the  city.  It  is  near  akin  to  H.  nig er  of  Europe.  We  have  no 
aconites  near  us,  but  those  remote  are  worthy  the  name  and  may  hereafter  become 
prominent.  The  same  could  be  applied  to  Delphinium,  coupled  with  sugges- 
tions for  its  cultivation  in  order  to  reap  a  harvest  of  silver  at  present  prices. 
Actcsa  alba  is  another  native,  frequent  in  moist,  rocky  places,  but  also  of 
limited  use  in  medicine. 
Hydrastis  canadensis,  or  golden  seal,  is  not  so  common  in  our  fields  as  in 
pharmacies,  and  our  nearest  station  is  in  Lancaster  County.  Its  value  medi- 
cinally needs  no  comment. 
The  order  Magnoliaceae  contains  the  genera  Magnolia  and  Liriodendron. 
Of  the  former  we  have  the  recognized  pharmacopceial  species,  M.  glauca,  as 
one  of  New  Jersey's  sweetest  shrubs  ;  M.  acuminata,  as  a  fine  tree  in  the  Alle- 
ghenies,  and  M.  tripetala,  or  umbrella  tree,  along  the  lower  Susquehanna. 
The  first-named  species  is  very  common  in  Southern  New  Jersey,  and  is  a 
deciduous  shrub,  but  in  the  Southern  States  it  is  evergreen  and  becomes  a  large 
tree.  The  hunt  for  the  umbrella  tree  formed  one  of  the  pleasautest  occasions 
that  will  ever  fall  again  to  our  lot  as  tramps,  politely  known  as  fern  fiends. 
Liriodendron  Tulipifera,  the  tulip  tree,  or  white  poplar,  is  interesting  from 
an  historical  point  of  view.  It  was  described  in  England  before  the  settlement 
of  this  country,  and  its  appearance  highly  commented  upon.  One  would  sup- 
pose that  a  magnificent  tree  like  this  would  have  been  known  by  various  scien* 
tific  names  ;  but  more  fortunate  than  Cimicifuga  at  its  feet,  authorities  were 
almost  unanimous  in  naming  it,  the  only  dissenter  having  been  Salisbury,  who 
regarded  the  species  as  procerum.  The  generic  name  is  derived  from  Greek, 
meaning  lily  or  tulip  tree,  and  the  specific  means  tulip-bearing.    This  species 
