ANTISEPTICS AND DISINFECTANTS. 51 
two heads. The leaves are covered with a soft downy covering 
(called in Botany pubescent); are roundish heart-shaped; 
there are generally five to seven lobes to each leaf, which is 
unequally nicked at the edge. There is but one flower, which 
rises from the foot stalk of the upper leaf; it is of a whitish 
rose colour or purple ; it falls soon after it has opened. The 
berry is a red or purple shade, and contains granules enclosing 
the seed. The berry is not unlike the rasp, but is not eatable. 
The root is the medicinal part, which is generally used in 
powder form. An ounce infused in one and a half pints of 
boiling water; dose, from a tablespoonful to a wineglassful. 
This same strength makes an excellent injection in whites and 
catarrhal discharges of the mucous membrane ; in some forms 
of dyspepsia it is best to take the powder in the crude form, 
as much as will lie on a shilling, swallowed with water; as 
an ingredient in a decoction it is best to use the crushed root. 
Simple preparations are tincture and fluid extract, the dose of 
which is from half to two teaspoonfuls of the former and from 
five to thirty drops of the latter. 
GUM MYRRH. 
This gum is known all over the civilized world for its 
antiseptic qualities ; itis also tonic and stimulant. It is the 
juice got by incising the bark of a small tree growing in Arabia, 
from whence, after hardening, itis exported in large quantities. 
There are three ways in which it is used : first little pieces of the 
gum the size of a pea may be swallowed, in this way it is good 
for fetid breath and sweetening the stomach. When it is 
used with other things in a decoction it may be used in 
the crude form. 2. Powdered, it may be swallowed in water. 
Dose: about as much as will lie on a sixpence. Sprinkled on 
sores it is an antiseptic; and with other ingredients it makes a 
good toothpowder. 8. Probably the best preparation-is the 
tincture; it being of a resinous substance, spirits disselve it 
best. For atonic medicine, a teaspoonful in water is good. In 
this form it makes an excellent gargle and mouth wash. ~ Dr. 
Dale, of Glasgow, recommends it as a consumptive food, equal 
