THE 
AMERICAN JOURNAL 
OP 
PHARMACY. 
OCTOBER, 1838. 
ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS. 
ART. XXIX. — ON ASARUM CANADENSE. By Richard Rushton. 
This plant has been placed in the secondary list of the 
United States Pharmacopoeia, and has, for a long time, been 
ranked among those contributing to the Materia Medica of 
our country. It appears to have been one of the first known 
American productions, as Willdenovv, in his description of 
it, refers to Gronovius and Morrison, while Pursh refers 
to Walter. On account of its medical properties, it has been 
noticed by all the writers who have directed attention to the 
subject of native medicines. 
Asarum canadense belongs to the class Gynandria; order 
Dodecandria, L., to which it was referred upon a revision of 
the Linnsean system; it had previously been ranged in the 
class Dodecandria, which has been dispensed with. The 
natural family to which it is united is the Aristolochiae. 
Generic characters. — Calyx campanulate, three or four- 
cleft ; corolla none ; anthers adnate to the middle of the 
filaments ; capsule inferior, six-celled, crowned with the 
calyx. — Nuttall. 
Specific description. — The root of the Jisarum cana- 
dense is creeping, fleshy, and somewhat jointed; leaves 
kidney-shaped, pubescent on both sides, with long, round, 
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