THE ARUM TRIBE.

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consist principally of metallic oxides or subsalts and the substance calledextractive. Nitrate of silver produces a precipitate {chloride of silver),"'Inch is insoluble in nitric acid, but soluble in ammonia. The decoctionr eddens litmus.

Physiological Effects. —It is an aromatic stimulant and mild tonic.Uogt ( Lelvrb. d. Pharmakodyn. i. 454, 2" Anil.) arranges it with thee #citantia volatilia, and regards it as approaching angelica root on the°"e hand, and cascarilla and angustura barks on the other.

Uses. —It is rarely employed by medical practitioners, though it might^e frequently substituted, with good effect, for the more costly orientalaromatics. It is a useful adjunct to other stimulants and tonics. It has"een employed in continued asthenic fevers accompanied with muchProstration of strength and greatly weakened digestive power. For thecure of ague, the dried root powdered is used by the country people inNorfolk (Sir J. E. Smith, Engl. Flora, ii. 158). It is well adapted fordyspeptic cases accompanied with, or dependent on, an atonic condition

the digestive organs, and is especially serviceable in gouty subjects.P has also been used as a local agent, viz. in the formation of aromaticuuths, poultices, and gargles, as an application to foul-conditioned^cers, &c.

Administration. —In powder, the rhizome may be given in doses ofr °m a scruple to a drachm. The infusion is perhaps the most eligiblePreparation: it is made by digesting 3j. of the rhizome in Sxij. of boiling"’"ter; the dose is two or three table-spoonfuls. The decoction is anP ’Jectionable preparation, as the oil of the rhizome is dissipated by'uling. The tincture (Ph. Bor.) is procured by digesting Sij. of the•Uzonie in Sxij. of spirit (sp. gr. 0 - 900); the dose is a tea-spoonful.

Order 9. Ara'ce.e, Schott, IAndl .— The Arum Tribe.

Fig. 104. Fig. 105.

drum maculatum.

®> The spathe."> The spadix.

This order is distinguished from the pre-ceding one by itsnaked unisexual flowers,arranged upon a spadix w ithin a spathe.Its prevailing property is acridity, es-pecially remarkable in DieffenbachiaSeguina, or the Dumb Cane, a native ofthe West India Islands, two drachms ofwhose juice have been known to provefatal in two hours. Arum maculatum(Wake Robin, or Cuckow-pint, fig. 104)is the only indigenous plant of the order.Every part of it is acrid ; but, by dryingor heating, it loses this property. Fromthe underground tubers is manufactured,in the island of Portland, a feculentsubstance, called Portland Sago. ArumColocasia (fig. 105) is cultivated in Egypt for the nutritious matter got from thetubers. Arum esculentum is cultivatedin the West Indies for a similar pur-pose.

Arum Colocasia.