Liver – Support Powder

King's American Dispensatory By Harvey Wickes Felter and John Uri Lloyd 1898 - Turmeric

The rhizome of Curcuma longa, Linné (Curmuna rotunda, Linné; Amomu'm. Curcuma, Jacquin). Nat. OWL—Zingiberaceae. 4 Common NAMES: Tawnerz'c (long and round), Carcmna. ILLUSTRATION: Bentley and Trimen, Med. Plants, 269. Botanical Source—This is a perennial plant, with the” roots or tubers ob long, )almate, and deep-orange inside. The root-leaves are about 2 feet long, lanceo ate, long-petioled, tapering at each end, smooth, and of a uniform green color. The petioles are sheathing. The spike is erect, cen tral, oblong, and green. Its flowers are dull yellow, arranged 3 or 5 together, surrounded by bracteolze (L.). , History—'Turmeric is indigenous to sev eral parts of southern and eastern Asia, and is extensively- cultivatedvin China, Hindustan, and other countries, where it is propagated from cuttings of the root. Several varieties are found in commerce, their names being derived from the countries producing them Thus we have Ch'L-nese. Madras, Bengal, Java, and Cochin tunnerics. The latter is thought to be derived from another species than Curauma longa, Linné, and though never Fig. 90. Long turmeric. Short turmeric. 636 CURCUMA. used as turmeric in Cochin, the natives obtain from it a variety of arrow-root. The other varieties differ somewhat, though in general not enough to be noticed by inexperienced persons. The Chinese turmeric is generally preferred. Java turmeric is the least valuable, and is the product of Curcuma longa, var. minor, Hasskarl. Curcuma is chiefly used as a condiment and for dyeing; the Bengal variety, which is of a deeper color, being generally preferred for the latter purpose. While the foregoing varieties of curcuma are recognized, the drug is generally distinguished in commerce by the terms long and round turmeric. The latter is the central or primary rhizome of the plant, while the former consists of the lat eral or secondary rhizomes. Turmeric is largely used in the preparation of Tur meric Test Paper, and also for coloring table mustard and some other food products. Description—Long turmeric (curmnna. longa), when dry, is in slightly curved, subcylindrical, or oblong tubers, about 1 to 3 inches in length, and from J; to 1} inch in diameter, often pointed or tapering at one end, yellowish externall , with transverse, parallel rings, internally deep-yellow or reddish-brown, marke with shining points (due to immersion in scalding water in order to facilitate the dry ing process), dense, solid, having a short, granular fracture, and forming a lemon yellow powder. Round lurnwric (curcuma rotunda), differs in being ovate, pear shaped, or subspherical, occasionally pointed and crowned with leaf remains at the upper end. They are from 1% to 2 inches long, and from i to 1?; inches in diameter. Turmeric has a peculiar, somewhat fragrant odor, and a bitterish, slightly acrid taste, like that of ginger, exciting a moderate degree of warmth in the mouth, and communicates a yellow color to the saliva. It yields its proper ties to water or alcohol. Chemical Composition—The yellow coloring matter, curcumin,_ was first obtained (impure) by Vogel and Pelletier; more recently it was prepared in pure and crystalline form by Daube (1870), and contemporaneously by Ivanow-Gajew sky. It was further studied and some derivatives of it repared by C. Loring Jackson and A. G. Menke, in 1882—83, who determine the formula C,,H,,O,. These chemists obtained it from the root by first removing the fatty and volatile oil by means of ligroin, which removed 11 per cent of the weight of the root, then abstracting curcumin (contaminated with resins), by means of ether, and repeat edly crystallizing from alcohol until the melting point became constant, viz.: 178° C. (352.4° F.). The yield was 0.3 per cent. As thus obtained, curcumin or s tallizes in amber-yellow prisms, appearing orange-yellow in reflected light, in so u ble in water and diluted acids, sparingly soluble (1 in 2000) in benzene (Daube’s solvent, which refuses to dissolve the resins); easil soluble in ether, chloroform, and alcohol; also in diluted alkaline solutions with a striking red-brown, fluores cent color. It is partly soluble, with crimson color, in concentrated acid solu tions. Non-alkaline solutions exhibit reen fluorescence. Chemically, curcumin is a substituted aromatic oxyacid, yiel ing vauillin with weak oxidizers, and proto calechuic acid when fused with caustic potash. Filtering paper saturated with an alcoholic solution of curcumin and dried, reacts like turmeric tincture (see below) towards acids, alkalies, and boric acid. It turns red—brown with alkalies which color becomes violet upon drying; the yellow color is restored with acids. When the paper is dipped into solution of boric acid, it turns orange-red (upon drying), and remains so even when it is afterward moist ened with free mineral acid. Paper that has been turned to orange b borio acid will assume a blue color when it ismoistened with diluted alkali. Sc lumberger (1866) obtained crystalline rosocyanin b ' heating an alcoholic solution of curcumin and boric acid with mineral acids an then allowing the blood-red solution to cool. It is insoluble in water, but soluble in alcohol, this solution.turning blue upon the addition of an alkali. A red compound of curcumin with boric acid was obtained in the form of a precipitate by the same author, by adding water to a mixture of alcoholic curcu min and boric acid; boiling water removed therefrom all the boric acid, leaving a yellow resin which he called pseudomrcumin. Strong sulphuric acid forms with curcumin a solution of crimson color, which color disappears upon dilution with water, a precipitate of yellow flakes resulting. About 1 er cent of an acrid volatile oil is present in curcuma root. one con stituent of w ich, called turmerol, was isolated, in 1883, by C. L. Jackson and cusso. 637 A. G. Menke, the boiling point being about 193° C. (379.4° F.). It has a pleasant aromatic odor, is lighter than water, and is oxidized by means of potassium per manganate to terephthalic acid (C,H,[COOH],). The presence of alkaloids in cur cuma root was indicated by Ivanow-Gajewsky and by J. Cook. Kachler, in 1870, obtained considerable amounts of acid potassium oxalate from an aqueous infu sion of the root. TURMERIC TINCTURE and TURMERIC PAPER—Turmeric is much employed as a test for alkalies, which render it reddish or brownish; white bibulous pa er or paper not sized, is brushed over with the tincture or decoction, or dippe into one of them, and dried in a neutral atmosphere (see Reagents and Test Solutions of U. S. P., No. 53%. Action, edical Uses, and Dosage—Turmeric is a mild, aromatic stimu lant, but is seldom used in this country, except to color ointments and pharma ceutical mixtures.

The Family Herbal, 1812, was written by John Hill. - Milk Thistle

Botanical name: Silybum marianum Plate 48.Carduus mariae. A very beautiful plant, common by road sides, but wanting only to have been a native of Greece, or the Indies, to be esteemed one of the most elegant vegetables in the world. The leaves rising from the root are two feet long, and more than a foot broad, of a beautiful deep green, variegated ail over with irregular lines of a milk white, dentated deeply at the edges, and prickly. They spread themselves into a round of more than a yard diameter, and when they grow out of the way of dust, make a most charming appearance. A single stalk rises in the midst of these. It is five feet high, round, thick, very firm, upright, and divided at the top into a few branches. The leaves on it are like those from the root, and variegated with white in the same manner. At the tops stand the flowers, which are of the nature of those of other thistles, but twice as big, and vastly more beautiful. The flowery part is of a deep and fine purple; the head itself is composed of beautiful scales arranged with great regularity, and each terminating in a single and very strong prickle; the root is long and thick; the seeds are winged with down. The root and seeds are used. An infusion of the fresh root removes obstructions, and works by urine; it is good against the jaundice. The seeds beaten up into an emulsion with barley-water are good in pleurisies. The young leaves with the prickles cut off, are excellent boiled in the way of cabbage; they are very wholesome, and exceed all other greens in taste.

King's American Dispensatory By Harvey Wickes Felter and John Uri Lloyd 1898 - Oregon Grape

Botanical Source.—Berberis aquifolium is a shrub having stems about 6 feet high, erect, and of rapid growth. The leaves are alternate and consist of 3 or 4 pairs of leaflets, and an odd one. They are evergreen, coriaceous, bright and shining upon the upper surface, and very ornamental; hence, the shrub is frequent in cultivation, often under the improper name "holly." The leaflets are smooth, ovate, from 2 to 3 inches long, and one-half as wide. They are acute, sessile, pinnately veined, and the margin is indented with from 15 to 30 repand spiny teeth. The lower pair of leaflets is from 1 to 2 inches distant from the base of the common petiole. The flowers are numerous, small, yellowish-green, and appear in early spring, borne in fascicled, terminal racemes. The calyx has 9 distinct sepals, colored like the petals and disposed in 2 rows, the outer of which consists. of 3 sepals (bracts?). The petals are 6, distinct, orbicular, and in rows of 3 each. The stamens are also 6, and opposite the petals; they have irritable filaments, and extrorse anthers, opening, each by 2 little valves, hinged at the top. The fruit, which is known as "Oregon grape," is a cluster of purple berries, each containing an agreeably acid pulp, and from 3 to 9 seeds. History.—This is a tall shrub, native of the western section of the United States. It grows from Colorado to the Pacific Ocean, and is especially abundant in Oregon and the northern part of California. Berberis aquifolium belongs to the section Mahonia of the genus Berberis, which section is considered by some botanists a distinct genus, The following synopsis of the difference between the two sub-genera is taken from "Berberidaceae " (a pamphlet by C. G. and J. U. Lloyd, 1878): "The Berberis proper has simple leaves clustering in the axis of a simple or 3-parted spine. The petals have two glands on the inside of each, at the base. The filaments have no teeth. Berries 2 to 3-seeded. "Mahonia has oddly, pinnately, compound leaves, with no spine at the base, but with spiny-toothed leaflets. The petals are glandless. The stamens have a tooth on each side of the filament, near the top. Berries 3 to 9-seeded." The section "Mahonia" is represented in the western United States by six species, viz.: Berberis pinnata, Lag., a tall shrub with the general appearance of B. aquifolium, distinguished from it by the leaflets, which are glaucous underneath, and the lower pair approximate to the base of the petiole; Berberis repens, Lind., a small creeping plant, with leaves often ternate, and leaflets nearly orbicular, and which has been much confounded, and frequently described as Berberis aquifolium. Berberis nervosa, Pursh, a small erect shrub, with leaves often longer than the stem—it appears to be more generally distributed than the other species. The chief characteristics of this species are, the leaflets are three-veined from an oblique base, the common petiole is jointed "like a bamboo stem," and the flowers are in slender racemes. The two other species, B. Fendleri and B. Fremonti, are of rare occurrence. Berberis aquifolium and the other species long in use in domestic practice throughout the West, were brought into general notice a few years since by Parke, Davis & Co., of Detroit, who gave the remedy great conspicuity. Dr. Bundy, of Colusa, Cal., wrote many papers on its therapy; these were published in their journal, "New Preparations." From an examination of the drug, as thrown upon the market, we find the species are confounded, several of them being generally sold as B. aquifolium. The B. nervosa is more commonly met within these sophistications, but we have likewise noticed B. repens in considerable amount. The confusion is, perhaps, unimportant from a therapeutical point, as all the Mahonias are bitter, and seem to contain berberine in nearly the same proportion (see Related Species). Description.—The root of Berberis aquifolium is from ½ to 1 inch in diameter, often increasing to 2 and 3 inches at the base of the stem. It is woody, yellow throughout, very hard. The bark is deep-yellow beneath and brown upon the surface. It is without odor and very bitter. The roots of the other species of Mahonia are smaller; the B. pinnata more nearly approaching the B. aquifolium in size; the B. repens is the smallest of any of the known species. Chemical Composition.—Berberis aquifolium contains berberine, a yellow alkaloid (see Hydrastis), berbamine, and oxyacanthine, both white alkaloids, and phytosterin, gum, and sugar. The flowers contain, in addition to the above alkaloids, volatile oil, and the berries contain malic acid. The presence of berberine renders both root and bark bitter. The white alkaloid, oxyacanthine (C19H21NO3, Rüdel), which forms soluble salts with most acids, is itself practically insoluble in water, soluble in hot alcohol and hot ether, and slightly so in cold alcohol and cold ether. It dissolves freely in fats and volatile oils, and in chloroform and benzol. It is alkaline, bitter, and in the presence of sunlight changes color, becoming yellowish. Iodic acid is reduced by it with the liberation of free iodine. With nitric acid a yellow color is produced, which, when heated, changes to purple. Cold sulphuric acid turns it brownish-red; on heating it changes to a vivid red, and finally a brown, color. With ferric chloride, in dilute solution of potassium ferricyanide, a blue color is produced with salts of oxyacanthine. Other names have been given this alkaloid to avoid confounding it with products of a species of thorn-apple, the Crataegus Oxyacantha. Thus vinetine was applied to it by Wacker, while Berzelius christened it berbine. Berbamine (C18H19NO3) is a white alkaloid the salts of which dissolve slightly in solutions of Chili saltpetre (nitrate of sodium). These salts strike a blue color with ferric chloride in a weak solution of ferricyanide of potassium. Phytosterin (C26H44O.H2O) is a neutral body (found also in Calabar bean, Physostigma venenosum, Balfour), differing from cholesterin, which it closely resembles, by its solution in chloroform not having any affect on polarized light. Action, Medical Uses, and Dosage.—This agent has justly been extolled as an alterative and tonic, and has been recommended in syphilitic affections, salt-rheum, pityriasis, psoriasis, and other cutaneous affections, as well as in maladies supposed to be due to some mal-condition of the blood. Excretion and secretion are promoted by it; digestion and assimilation improved; the lymphatic glandular system and the ductless glands are stimulated; and the renal secretions somewhat augmented. Thus it acts as a blood-maker, and is therefore a remedy to oppose depraved conditions of the body-fluids. As a tonic, it may be employed as a synonym of hydrastis, colombo, berberis, etc., possessing in addition its own peculiar virtues, in dyspeptic conditions, chronic mucous maladies, and in certain enfeebled conditions of the system, etc. Owing to its invigorating power over the gastric functions, it is a valuable remedy for atonic dyspepsia, and more particularly if associated with hepatic torpor, for which it is also an excellent remedy. A cirrhotic liver, associated with gastro-enteritis, has been benefited by it, and for chronic constipation it is a useful agent when combined with cascara sagrada. It is said to be effectual in stomatitis. The great field for berberis aquifolium is in constitutional syphilis and its manifold complications and sequelae. The disorders named above are more amenable to this drug when associated with a syphilitic taint than otherwise. If given early enough it will prevent tertiary phases, provided the patient has not been too thoroughly mercurialized. Its use must be prolonged in appreciable doses. It is especially adapted to long-standing cases of syphilis, the older the better, according to some of its advocates, and yet it is a remedy of much value all through the course of the disease. It is the remedy for that broken-down state so frequently following in the wake of that malady. The various eruptions give way to it, the gastric complications are subdued, and the mucous membranes are toned so that excessive secretions are restrained. Ɣ The bone and periosteal, as well as the muscular, pains of syphilitics, are amenable to berberis. Its action is slow but sure, as it is also in severe muscular pains, with partial paralysis, due to spinal disease. Long standing syphilitic phagadenae and herpetic and eczematous states, yield to it better than to most agents. It should not be forgotten in syphilitic anemia. Several stubborn cases of psoriasis (Ed. E. M. J., p. 148, 1896) have been cured by it, and it is a valuable drug in erysipelatous and chronic scrofulous affections. While it has failed to cure carcinoma, as its introducer, Dr. J. H. Bundy, believed it would, it has, however, shown itself of value in the dyscrasiae due to a cancerous cachexia. Berberis aquifolium commends itself for study in certain pulmonic troubles, on account of its excellent results in controlling secretions of the mucous tract. Cases of purulent bronchorrhoea, pronounced incurable, have been cured by it, and Prof. Webster asserts that he has seen cases of phthisis recover, even where there were extensive cavities, under the use of this agent. The appetite improved, hectic subsided, expectoration became lessened, the cough milder and less frequent, and flesh and strength were augmented. The remedy should be long continued. Berberis is of some value in leucorrhoea, and particularly when a syphilitic taint exists. Owing to its remarkable power over mucous structures we would suggest its employment in gastric and intestinal catarrh. The principal uses of this drug have been developed by Dr. J. H. Bundy and Prof. Herbert T. Webster. The dose of berberis aquifolium should be relatively large. Small doses, as required of most of our important agents, do but little good. The dose of the fluid extract is from 10 to 20 drops every 3 or 4 hours; of specific berberis aquifolium 5, 10 or 15 drops, every 3 or 4 hours. Specific Indications and Uses.—Syphilitic dyscrasiae, constitutional syphilis, with periosteal or muscular pains; chronic skin affections, with blood dyscrasiae; profusely secreting, tumid mucous tissues; indigestion, with hepatic torpor; yellow skin, with marked weakness and emaciation. Related Species.—"MAHONIA, the sub-genus of the genus berberis, is a fine, showy family of evergreen shrubs. The distinction between this sub-genus and the berberis proper, although very obvious, is not considered sufficient by authorities to entitle it to the rank of a distinct genus, hence the generic name is berberis, the same as the common barberry. The two species of the berberis proper, which grow in this country, are both deciduous shrubs, although there are several evergreen species found in the Old World. All the plants of the sub-genus, mahonia, are evergreen, and on this account they are often cultivated in yards and cemeteries, frequently under the improper name holly. There are four indigenous species found in the United States, all west of the Mississippi, and there are also a few other species in Mexico. Our native species are B. nervosa, B. repens, B. pinnata, and B. aquifolium. The two former are small plants, never over 2 feet high, and often only a few inches, while the other two are large shrubs from 3 to 6 feet high; hence by their height alone B. nervosa and B. repens can be distinguished from B. pinnata and B. aquifolium. "B. nervosa, Pursh, is a little erect shrub, with leaves often longer than the stem. The leaves consist of 3 to 6 pairs of leaflets and an odd one. The main leaf stalk of each leaf is very conspicuously jointed at each pair of leaflets, as remarked by Dr. Lindley, 'like a bamboo stem.' The leaflets are ovate, lanceolate, acute or acuminate; triple veined from the oblique base, and have teeth, not repand, but serrate. The flowers are in erect racemes, which are more slender than those of any other species. The plate of B. nervosa, tab. 5, vol. I, in Pursh's work, is spurious. The leaves are correct, as intended, but the flowers are of the B. aquifolium. Since the plate is made up of two species, and hence liable to confuse, Lindley proposed to remedy the matter by changing the name to B. glumacea, but the change was not received with favor by botanists, and the name B. nervosa is still applied to the plant. "B. repens, Lindley.—A small shrub, procumbent, with short, erect branches. The leaves are often ternate, but generally of 5 or 7 leaflets. Leaflets are ovate, orbicular, acute, or the terminal leaflet obtuse; pinnately veined with repand teeth. Flowers in terminal fascicled racemes. "B. repens and B. nervosa are both employed by the western miners as blood purifiers, and as an antiperiodic, the B. repens extensively. We have several letters from physicians in widely separated portions of the great West, enclosing leaves of these varieties for us to classify and examine, all saying the root is extensively used for the above purpose. It is made into infusions and decoctions. The acid berry of the Berberis repens, under the name 'mountain grape,' is made into confections and freely eaten. It acts as an antiscorbutic, and is of great benefit to persons long deprived of fruit. "The following description was kindly furnished by Dr. C. L. Aylworth, of Montana State: 'The plant I enclose for description is called the Oregon grape. The fruit is eaten. It grows in medium or rich soil, among rocks or bushes, seldom in open ground. It is more plentiful upon the foot-hills of mountains, and along the banks of mountain streams, extending far down into the valleys. It does not grow in clusters, but I have seen it nearly cover the ground. It is common about all the small streams in this section of the Yellowstone valley, and about the headwaters of the Missouri river.'

The Dispensatory of the United States of America, 1918, Edited by Joseph P. Remington, Horatio C. Wood and others. - Burdock

Lappa. N. F. IV (U. S. P. VIII). Burdock Root. Radix Bardanae. Bassies. Beggars' Buttons. Cuckoo Button. Harebur. Bardane, Fr. Cod. Glouteron, Fr. Klettenwurzel, G. Bardana, It.—" The dried root of Arctium Lappa Linné, or of other species of Arctium (Fam. Compositae), collected from plants of the first year's growth." N.F. The stem of the burdock is succulent, pubescent, branching, and three or four feet in height, bearing very large, cordate, denticulate leaves, which are green on their upper surface, whitish and downy on the under, and stand on long footstalks. The flowers are purple, with heads globose, and in terminal panicles. The involucre consists of imbricated scales, with hooked extremities, by which they adhere to the clothing of man and the coats of animals. The achemes are oblong, somewhat compressed and three-angled, ribbed, truncate. Although a native of Europe, burdock is abundant in the United States, where it grows on the roadsides, among rubbish, and in cultivated grounds. There are three recognized species of Arctium in North America—viz., A. tomentosum (Lam.) Schk. (Woolly or Cottony Burdock); A. Lappa L. (Burdock, Clotbur or Great Bur); and A. minus Schk. (Common Burdock). It is described by the N. F. as "nearly simple, fusiform, of variable length from 5 to 20 mm. in diameter near the crown; frequently split or in broken pieces; externally grayish-brown, longitudinally wrinkled, the crown somewhat annulate, sometimes surmounted by a woolly tuft of leaf remains; fracture somewhat horny; a dark cambium separating the thick brownish bark from the yellowish porous and radiate wood, centrally hollow or containing a white, pith-like tissue. Odor slight; taste mucilaginous, sweetish, and slightly bitter. The powder is light brown and, when examined under the microscope, exhibits parenchyma cells of the cortex; the medullary rays and wood containing amorphous masses or sphere-crystals of inulin; yellow resin cells occur in the cortical parenchyma of young roots; wood fibers few; no starch and no calcium oxalate. Lappa yields not more than 6 per cent. of ash." N. F. Inulin has been found in it by Guibourt, and sugar by Fee, while F. E. Hendershott believes that it contains a glucoside, besides arabin and pectin and extractives. (Proceedings of Mich. Pharm. Assoc., 1887.) Trimble also obtained from the root a bitter, crystalline glucoside. (Ph. Era, 1888, p. 133.) Thos. Donaldson (A. J. P., 1890, p. 123) found 8.6 per cent. of yellow fixed oil and about 1 per cent. of white waxy matter. A small quantity of volatile oil (0.065 per cent.) has been found in burdock root according to Haensel's Report, Oct., 1902. The inulin usually exists in parenchymatous cells in a different state, but if sections of the green root be dehydrated by soaking in 95 per cent. alcohol, the inulin will be found in spheroidal form. An interesting account of burdock and its use as an edible vegetable in Japan, by Inazo Nitobe, may be found in A. J. P., 1897, 416. Uses.—Burdock root has been employed as a diuretic and diaphoretic alterative, especially useful in the gouty, scorbutic, and syphilitic and scrofulous diatheses; also in various chronic skin diseases, especially in psoriasis, prurigo, and acne. (M. S. Rep., 1868.) The fresh leaves have been employed both externally and internally in cutaneous eruptions and ulcerations. There is no sufficient reason, however, to believe it has any medicinal virtue. This fluidextract is recognized by the N. F. (see Part III). Dose, thirty to ninety grains (2.0-5.8 Gm.).

A Manual Materia Medica Pharmacology. Comprising All Organic And Iinorganic Drugs Which Are Or Have Been Official In The United States Pharmacopia by David M. K. Culbreth, Pn.G., M.D. 1917 - Dandelion Root

Taraxacum officinalc, JThe drjed rhizome and roots_ Habitat. Europe (naturalized in N. America); grassy places, roadsides, pastures, fields. Syn. Tarax., Dandelion, Lion's Tooth, White (Wild) Endive, Swine Snout, Cankerwort, Irish Daisy, Milk Cowan, Priest's Crown, Blow (Puff) Ball; Br. Taraxaci Radix; Fr. Pissenlit, Dent de Lion, Couronne de moine; Ger. Radix Taraxaci cum herba, Lowenzahn, Pfaffenrohrchen. Ta-rax'a-cum. L. fr. Gr. rapaaaa, ra.paK.TiKm, to move, disturbing—i. e., its medicinal properties; name assigned the plant by medieval pharmacists. Of-fi-Ci-na'le. L. see etymology of (Rheum) officinale, page 172. Dan'de-li'on. E. fr. L. dens, tooth, + leo, leunis, of the lion—i. e., leaves shape of the lion's tooth (runcinate). PLANT.—Perennial herb, acaulescent; leaves radical, direct from root-crown, 15-22.5 Cm. (6-9') long, 5-7.5 Cm. (2-3') wide, toothed (runcinate), teeth bent backward, 5-6 on a side, sessile, glabrous, bright green; flowers terminal upon hollow scapes, 15-20 Cm. (6-8') high, arising from midst of leaves, golden-yellow, 4 Cm. (If) broad, close at night; fruit achene, compressed, oblong-ovate, terminating in silky, hairy, spreading pappus, elevated on a pale greenish-white stalk, so that when mature the seed attached to this pappus is enabled to be wafted by the wind, to settle down at some distance and there propagate its kind. RHIZOME, cylindrical, somewhat flattened, gradually tapering, usually in broken pieces, 6-15 Cm. (2|-6') long, 5-15 Mm. (|-f) thick, 38 594 ORGANIC DRUGS FROM THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM brownish, longitudinally wrinkled, numerous root- and rootlet-scars, crown simple, branched, with many leaf-bases showing annulate markings, bark 2-T> Mm. (1*5—4') thick, composed of concentric layers of laticiferous vessels; odor slight, inodorous; taste bitter. POWDER, light brown; microscopically—large parenchyma cells containing masses of imilin, fragments with laticiferous vessels, reticulate tracheae, intermediate fibres non-lignified, with pores. Should be kept, after thoroughly dried, in tightly-closed containers, adding occasionally a few drops of chloroform or carbon tetrachloride to prevent insect attack. Solvents: diluted alcohol; boiling water. Dose, 5ss-2 (2-8 Gm.). ADULTERATIONS.—Chiefly chicory (Cichorium 'Intybus), which closely resembles taraxacum, but is paler and has milk vessels in radiating lines. Commercial.—Plant is universal, growing alike in dry and damp places, and was known to the Arabians as a blood-purifier. Rhizome is collected chiefly, spring, autumn, in C. Europe, and loses upon drying 75-85 p. c.; it is sweet after cold weather (early spring), owing to un- crystallizable sugar, 17 p. c., and levulin, 18.7 p. c., but these by au tumn go into or are replaced by in- ulin, in consequence of which the Fio. 410. — Taraxacum officinale: rhizome revealing at head the remnanta of flower stalks and leaf stalks. FIG. 409.—Taraxacum officinale. Fio. 411.—Taraxacum: transverse section of root. milk-juice becomes thicker and more bitter, causing some to believe it then most efficient; that collected in June, July, August may be valu able but is unreliable from lack of uniformity. Extract made from early spring collection is reliable, clear from presence of so little imilin (1.74 p. c.), and often preferred, while that from October collection is equally reliable, but opaque from excessive amount of inulin (24 p. c.), TARAXACUM—TARAXACUM 595 CICHORIACE/E and by many considered best. Dried root often is attacked by maggots, and hence should not be kept beyond a year. CONSTITUENTS.—Milk-juice (containing taraxacin, taraxacerin, 2 resins, and glutinous body), reducing sugars, levulin, inulin (yellow with iodine) 24 p. c., pectin, ash 5-10 p. c. Taraxacin.—Obtained by treating milk-juice with boiling water, evaporating; it is a crystalline bitter principle, non-volatile, acrid, soluble in hot water, alcohol, and ether. Taraxacerin, CgHisO.—Obtained by treating milk-juice with hot alcohol; it is crystallizable, insoluble in water, soluble in alcohol. Old extracts may contain calcium lactate crystals, the lactic acid being produced from inosite, which is present in the leaves and stalks, but not believed to be in the root. PREPARATIONS.—1. Extrachtm Taraxaci. Extract of Taraxa- f FIG. 412.—Cichorium Intybus. FIG. 413.—Cichorium: transverse section. cum. (Syn., Ext. Tarax., Extract of Dandelion; Fr. Extrait de Pissenlit; Ger. Lowenzahnextrakt.) Manufacture: Macerate, percolate 100 Gm. with 12.5 p. c. alcohol until exhausted, reclaim, alcohol, evaporate residue on water-bath, frequently stirring, to pilular consistence. Dose, gr. 5-30 (.3-2 Gm.). 2. Fluide.rtractum Taraxaci. Fluidextract of Taraxacum. (Syn., Fldext. Tarax., Fluid Extract of Taraxacum, Fluidextract of Dande lion, Extractum Taraxaci Liquidum; Fr. Extrait fluide de Pissenlit; Ger. Lowenzahnfluidextrakt.) Manufacture: Similar to Fluidextractum Ergotse, page 00; 1st men struum: alcohol 50 Ml. (Cc.), water 40, glycerin 10; 2nd menstruum: diluted alcohol. Dose, 3ss-2 (2-8 Ml. (Cc.)). Una/. Preps.: Decoction, 5 p. c., dose, 5j-2 (30-60 Ml. (Cc.)). Elixir Taraxaci Compositum, 3.5 p. c. (fldext.), + fldext. of wild cherry 2, fldext. of glycyrrhiza (>, +• Succus Taraxaci (Br.), expressed juice (3) and alcohol (1), dose, 3j-2 (4-8 Ml. (Cc.)). PROPERTIES.—Diuretic, tonic, stomachic, aperient, deobstruent. USES.—Congestion and inflammation of liver and spleen, dyspepsia, constipation, consumption, skin affections, dropsies, substitute for coffee. Fresh leaves sometimes used as salad,

The Eclectic Materia Medica, Pharmacology and Therapeutics Written by Harvey Wickes Felter, M.D. 1922 - Yellow Dock

Botanical name: Rumex crispus The root of Rumex crispus, Linné (Nat. Ord. Polygonaceae). A common weed introduced from Europe, and found abundantly in this country in waste places, among rubbish, and in cultivated grounds. Dose, 5 to 60 grains. Common Name: Yellow Dock. Principal Constituents.—Yellow Dock has not been satisfactorily analyzed. Preparation.—Specific Medicine Rumex. Dose, 1 to 60 drops. Specific Indications.—Vitiated blood with chronic skin disorders; low glandular and cellular deposits with tendency to indolent ulcers; feeble recuperative power; chronic sore throat, with glandular engorgement and hypersecretion; cough, with shortness of breath and praecordial fullness; dry, irritative laryngo-tracheal cough; stubborn, dry summer cough; nervous dyspepsia, with epigastric fullness and pain extending into the chest. Action and Therapy.—Rumex is decidedly alterative and might be used more extensively for that purpose. It should especially be brought into requisition in depraved states of the body fluids with tendency to chronic skin disorders, with glandular engorgement, tendency to ulceration, and slow recuperative powers. It is especially valuable in strumous patients with low deposits in the cellular and glandular tissues which break down easily but are very slow to repair. In small doses the specific medicine is also useful in nervous dyspepsia with epigastric fullness, and pectoral pain from gaseous distention of the stomach. It is also serviceable in laryngeal irritation, with cough of the types alluded to under Specific Indications.