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ELEMENTS OF MATERIA MEDICA.

a. Pilule Veratria; Veratria Pills; Turnbull.—Veratria, gr. j.; Extr. of HyoscyamtisiLiquorice powder, aa gr. xij. Let 12 pills be made, of which one may be taken everythree hours.

j8. Tinctura Veratria; Veratria Embrocation; Turnbull.—Veratria, ^j.; RectifiedSpirit , ^ij* Dissolve. This embrocation is sometimes used as a substitute for the oint-ment. Magendie ( Formulaire ) directs a tincture of veratria to he prepared by dissolvinglour grains ol the alkali in an ounce of alcohol. Of this from 10 to 26 drops are taken>in a cup of broth, as a substitute for the tincture of colchicum.

7- Unguentum Veratria; Veratria Ointment; Turnbull.—Veratria, jss.; Olive Oil , ahPrepared Lard, ^j. M.

S. Sales Veratria .— The sulphate and tartrate of veratria (prepared by saturatingveratria with sulphuric or tartaric acid) are sometimes used instead of the uncombinedalkali. The dose and mode of administration are the same as for the latter.

Antidote.—V ide Veratrom album.

Other Medicinal Melanthucea.

The fruit and seeds of Veratrum SabadiUa , Ph . Ed. are said to be brought front tb«Antilles , under the name of LebadiUa (semina sabadiUa Caribaa), but I have never metwttb them. V. SabadiUa ts a native of Mexico and the Antilles . Its leaves are radio*!-oval-oblong obtuse, ribbed. Its stem is almost leafless. The panicle is nearly simp'*The flowers have short pedicels, and are nodding. The rhizome of Veratrum viride #used m the United States as a substitute for that of Veratrum album

Order XII. Lilia ce^e, Lindl. —The Lily Tribe.

Essential Character.— Calyx and corolla confounded, coloured, regular, occasionalcohering in a tube. Stamens six inserted into the sepals and petals ; anthers op«fing inwards Ovary superior, three-celled, many seeded ; style one ; stigma sin<or three-lobed. Fruit succulent, or dry and capsular, three-celled. Seeds pack e fone upon another in one or two rows; embryo with the same direction as the -c el1 ’in the axis of fleshy albumen, or uncertain in direction and position. Roots fd>r»"’or fasciculate. Stem none, except a bulb; or tuberous, or creeping, or erect,arborescent. Leaves with para lei veins, membranous, not articulated with the stem -either sessile or with a narrow leafy petiole. (Lindleu)

Properties.— Not uniform. y '‘

Al’oe, Linn.— Al'oe.

Sex . Syst. Hexandria, Monogynia.

(Succus proprius spissatus foliorum ex variis Aloes speciebus).

History.— Neither Aloe plants nor the inspissated juice ofleaves are mentioned by Hippocrates or Theophrastus ; butdescribed by Ilioscorides (lib. iii. cap. xxv), and Pliny {Hist - 1lib. xxvii. cap. v.) , r

Botany. Gen. Char .— Perianth tubular, six-cleft, fleshy, Qe (jriferous at the base, the sepals of the same form as the petals?closely imbricating them. Stamens hypogynous, as long as ^perianth, or even longer. Capsule membranous, scarious, wj ucorned, three-celled, tbree-valved, with a loculicidal dehiscence. * tnumerous, in two rows, roundish or angular. {Lindley .)—Succuplants.