36 THE NEW ZEALAND FAMILY HERB DOCTOR. 
panied with flatulency. The dose of the powder is 5 to 10 
grains three times a day; tincture, one to two teaspoontfuls 
three or four times a day. 
SKUNK CABBAGE (Icropes Faripa). 
This is a wild plant, a native of America. It grows in 
boggy places, and flowers early in Spring. It has a resem- 
blance to the cabbage, hence its name. (It seems a curious 
fact that some of the antispasmodics should smell so bad, 
while they are so good). The root is the part used, and it 
forms a valuable ingredient in many of our mixtures. It is 
seldom taken by itself, but there can be no harm in trying it. 
Dose of the powder, half to a teaspoonful for asthma, spasms, 
cough, &c. — 
AMERICAN HELLEBORE (Veratrum VirIve). 
The green hellebore root is a medicine of much repute in 
America and Canada, where it grows in the swamps and moist 
places. It is described as a plant with a round stem, rising 
from three to six feet high, with long oval leaves which lessen 
in size as they get higher on the stem. The flowers are of a 
greenish yellow colour, and are in bloom from May to July. 
The root alone contains the medicinal principle. We can 
scarcely recommend its use in domestic practice, as it 1s very 
powerful and an overdose is dangerous; it is, however, a good 
antispasmodic, and in small doses lessens the heart’s action 
very perceptibly. Its use in fevers accompanied with a 
bounding pulse is appreciated by all schools of medicine. 
Americans mostly use it in the fluid extract; dose, 1 to 9 
drops not oftener than every hour, till its characteristic effects 
are felt in the nausea it occasions; it should then be discon- 
tinued. The tincture may be given in doses of from 3 to 6 
drops, asabove, In all cases of arterial excitement where there 
is a strong constitution this remedy will act well.* In case of 
poisoning with this agent the antidote will be found in our 
chapter on Poisons and their Antidotes. 
* The white variety of Hellebore has similar properties. 
