Memory & Alertness Tincture

Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World, 1919, was edited by U. P. Hedrick. - Gingko

aloba Ginkgo biloba Linn. Coniferae. Ginko. Maiden-Hair Tree. China and Japan. The fruit of the ginko is sold in the markets in all Chinese towns and is not unlike dried almonds, only whiter, fuller and more round. The natives seem very fond of it, although it is rarely eaten by Europeans. In Japan, the seeds furnish an oil used for eating and burning. The fruit of the maiden-hair tree is called in China pa-kwo. The Chinese consume the nuts of this tree at weddings, the shells being dyed red; they have a fishy taste. This tree is largely cultivated as an ornamental in Europe, Asia and North America.

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

Botanical Source.—Salvia officinalis, or Garden sage, is a plant with a pubescent, 4-sided stem, with erect branches, hoary with down, leafy at the base, those bearing flowers 1 foot or 1 ½ feet long, and tomentose. The leaves are opposite, entire, petioled, ovate-lanceolate, crenulate, rugose, the lowermost being white with wool beneath. The flowers are blue, in whorls, and in long, terminal, nearly simple racemes; whorls few-flowered, and distinct; floral leaves or bracts sessile, ovate, acuminate, membranous, and striated at the base. The calyx is campanulate, membranous, colored, striated, downy, and bilabiate; the upper lip 3-toothed; the lower bifid; and all the teeth subulate and acuminate. The corolla is 2 or 3 times as long as the calyx, with a large projecting tube, ringed in the inside, and bilabiate; the upper lip is arched, the lower one tri-lobed, the lateral lobes being reflexed. The stamens are affixed to short pedicels transversely about their middle (L.—W.). History, Description, and Chemical Composition.—Sage is a native of southern Europe, and has been naturalized in this country as a garden plant; the leaves and tops should be gathered and carefully dried during its flowering season, which is in June and July. As described by the U. S. P., the leaves are "about 5 Cm. (2 inches) long, petiolate, ovate-oblong, obtuse or subacute at the apex, rounded or somewhat heart-shaped at the base, finely crenulate, thickish, wrinkled, grayish-green, soft-hairy, and glandular beneath; odor aromatic; taste aromatic, bitterish, and somewhat astringent"—(U. S. P.). The odor and aromatic taste of sage are due to its volatile oil. Sage imparts its virtues to boiling water in infusion, but more readily to alcohol. The infusion becomes black on the addition of sulphate of iron, which is due to the presence of tannin. Oil of sage is obtained by distilling the leaves with water; the yield from Dalmatian leaves ranges from 1.3 to 2.5 per cent. Oil of sage is "a yellowish or greenish-yellow liquid, having the penetrating, characteristic odor of sage. Specific gravity, 0.915 to 0.925; optically dextrogyrate. The oil contains small amounts of pinene and cineol, but its chief constituent (50 per cent) is thujone (C10H16O) (formerly termed salviol), which also occurs in the oils of thuja, tansy, and wormwood" (Prof. Power, Descrip. Cat. of Essential Oils and Org. Chem. Preparations, 1894; also see Gildemeister and Hoffmann, Die Aetherischen Oele, 1899). Action, Medical Uses, and Dosage.—Sage is feebly tonic, astringent, expectorant, and diaphoretic, and has properties common to aromatics. An infusion is beneficial in flatulence connected with debility, and will, when the skin is soft and relaxed, the extremities cold, and the circulation enfeebled, prove efficient in restraining exhausting sweats. Should the sweating be preceded by hectic fever, and dry harsh skin, it is less likely to prove beneficial. The infusion may be taken cold throughout the day; it may likewise be used warm, as an anthelmintic, and for the purpose of causing diaphoresis in some febrile diseases. The warm infusion will cause active diuresis by checking its diaphoretic tendency. Dr. James Anton, of Lebanon, Ohio, considered it an excellent remedy for spermatorrhoea; also a valuable anaphrodisiac to check excessive venereal desires. It may be used in connection with moral, hygienic, and other aids, if necessary. Van Swieten stated that a vinous infusion forms an excellent fomentation to the breasts, when it is desirable to cheek the flow of milk. The infusion, either alone or combined with vinegar, honey, alum, or sumach berries, is much used as a gargle for inflammation and ulceration of the throat, and relaxed uvula. The oil may be used in small doses as a carminative and stimulant; and externally, applied with friction in rheumatism. Dose of the infusion, from 2 to 4 fluid ounces, 3 or 4 times a. day; of the powdered leaves, 20 to 30 grains. A strong tincture (℥viij to alcohol, 76 per cent, Oj) may be given in from 1 to 60 drop doses. Specific Indications and Uses.—Skin soft and relaxed; extremities cold, and circulation enfeebled; colliquative sweating; urine of low specific gravity. Photo: Salvia sclarea 6.Related Species.—Numerous other species of Salvia have similar properties, as the S. sclarea, or Clarry, a native of southern Europe, which is said to be antispasmodic and balsamic. The foregoing and S. pratensis, Linné, have been official in Europe. S. Horminum, S. bengalensis of India, S. pomifera of Greece, etc., have also been used. The seeds of S. verticillata and S. verbenacea are mucilaginous. Salvia lyrata, Linné, variously named Wild or Meadow sage, Lyre-leaved sage, or Cancer-weed, is a perennial plant, growing from Canada to Florida in shady woods and meadows, and flowering in May and June. It has an erect, quadrangular, nearly leafless stem, 1 or 2 feet high, branching and covered with hairs pointing downward. Radical leaves obovate, lyre-shaped or sinuate-pinnatifid, sometimes almost entire, and petiolate; cauline leaves mostly, but 1 or 2 pairs, just below the raceme, smaller and narrower than the radical. Flowers blue, in loose and distant whorls of about 6, forming a long, interrupted raceme; bracts oblong-linear, not longer than the calyx. Upper lip of the blue-purple pubescent corolla, short, straight, not vaulted; tube much exserted (W-G.). The fresh radical leaves will, it is positively asserted, when bruised and applied to warts, generally destroy them; the application to be continued for a day or two, and renewed every 12 hours. It is also reputed to have cured cancers, hence one of its names. Salvia lanceolata, Willdenow, or Rocky Mountain sage, is reputed diaphoretic and diuretic, and is employed domestically in the eruptive, malarial, and rheumatic fevers. Photo: Salvia columbariae 1.CHIA SEEDS.—The seeds of some Mexican species are known as Chia seed. The true chia seed is yielded by Salvia polystachya, Ortega (Salvia Chian, La Llave). These seeds are used in sweetened decoction by the Mexicans for sore throat, fevers, etc., and the cold decoction is applied to inflamed eyes. The fruit of Salvia Columbarae, Bentham, is also known as Chia seed (Gray and Rothrock).

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

Botanical name: Panax ginsengPanax quinquefolius Fig. 189. Aralia quinquefolia.The root of Aralia quinquefolia, Decaisne and Planchon (Panax quinquefolium, Linné; Ginseng quinquefolia, Wood). Nat. Ord.—Araliaceae. COMMON NAME: Ginseng. ILLUSTRATION: Johnson, Med. Bot. of N. A., Fig. 132. Botanical Source.—Ginseng has a perennial, fusiform, whitish, thick, and fleshy root, transversely wrinkled, and terminating in fibers; its upper portion slender and marked with the scars of the former shoots. The stem is round, smooth, green, often with a tinge of red, about 1 foot high, regularly divided at top into 3 petioles, with a flower-stalk in their center. The petiole is round, smooth, and swelling at the base. Leaves 3, ternate, quinate, or septentate. Leaflets pedicellate, obovate, sharply serrate, acuminate, smooth on both sides, with scattered bristles on the veins above. Flowers small, greenish, in a simple umbel, supported by a round, slender peduncle, which rises from the top of the stem, in the center of the petioles. The involucre is composed of a multitude of short, subulate bracts, interspersed among the flower-stalks, which are so short as to give the appearance of a head rather than an umbel. Calyx with 5 small, acute teeth. Petals 6, oval, reflexed, and deciduous. Stamens 5, with oblong anthers. Styles 2, reflexed and persistent. Ovary large, inferior, ovate-cordate, and compressed. The berries are kidney-shaped, retuse at both ends, compressed, of a bright-scarlet color, crowned with a calyx and styles, and contain 2 and sometimes 3 semicircular seeds. The outermost florets ripen first, and their berries often obtain their full size before the central ones are expanded; the central florets are frequently abortive (L.—W.). History and Description.—Ginseng is a native of most of the middle and northern states, and extends on the mountains far south, growing in rich soil and in shaded situations, and flowering in July. C. S. Rafinesque (Med. Flora of the U. S., Vol. II, 1830, p. 53) states that the Jesuits, knowing the plant from their sojourns in Tartary, found it afterward, toward 1718, in Canada, and instituted the trade in this root with China. The root is somewhat fusiform, 2 or 3 inches in length, and about ½ an inch in diameter, and sends off a few delicate fibers. When dried, it consists of a soft, yellowish-white, corrugated bark, inclosing a central, woody substance. It has a faint smell, and its taste is sweetish, somewhat bitter, mucilaginous, and feebly aromatic. Water or alcohol takes up its properties. Large quantities of it are now gathered and sent to China, where it commands an enormous price, as the Chinese ascribe wonderful medicinal virtues to it. The American drug is cheapest (about $1.86 per pound), next ranks Corea ginseng ($16.50 per pound), and highest in price is the genuine Chinese ginseng. The latter is seldom found in the stores, and the finest qualities command the price of from $60 to $100 for a weight of about 580 grains. In Corea, the cultivation and trade in ginseng is a government monopoly (Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1887, p. 597; 1897, p. 551, and 1898, p. 251). Ginseng is also grown in Japan, but is considered inferior to Corea ginseng. The genuine Chinese ginseng is the root of Aralia Ginseng, A. Meyer (Panax Ginseng, Nees), an east Asia plant. Altogether, 5 commercial grades of ginseng are distinguished in China. It is often adulterated by mixing it with the root of some species of Convolvulus and other roots. (On the cultivation of ginseng in America, see Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1891, p. 411.) Ginseng is becoming very scarce and, unless a method of cultivation becomes practical, bids fair to be exterminated. The price now is from $4.00 to $7.50 per pound and advancing. Chemical Composition.—Rafinesque (loc. cit.) states that the roots have a pleasant, camphorated smell, and that they owe their active properties to a peculiar substance similar to camphor, which he calls panacine—white, pungent, soluble in alcohol and water, more fixed than camphor. The roots also contain a volatile oil, sugar, mucilage, resin, etc. S. S. Garrigues (Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1854, p. 511) obtained from an aqueous infusion a sweetish-bitter, amorphous yellow principle, which he calls panaquilon. It is soluble in ether and alcohol, insoluble in water. Concentrated sulphuric acid dissolves it with purple-red color. If the solution is poured into water, a white precipitate (panacon) results (see Davydow, Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1890, p. 338). Action, Medical Uses, and Dosage.—A mild tonic and stimulant. Useful in loss of appetite, slight nervous debility, and weak stomach. Continued for some length of time, for its temporary administration gives but little benefit, it is a very important remedy in nervous dyspepsia, and in mental exhaustion from overwork. It gives fairly good results in nervous prostration, and in cerebral anemia. By some, it is considered useful in asthma, gravel, convulsions, paralysis, to invigorate the virile powers, etc. It gives fairly good results in atonic laryngitis, bronchitis, and some relief in phthisis, being a secondary remedy for these complaints. Dose, of the powder, from 10 to 60 grains; of the infusion, from 2 to 4 fluid ounces; specific panax, 5 to 60 drops. Specific Indications and Uses.—Nervous dyspepsia; mental and other forms of nervous exhaustion from overwork.