ELEMENTS OF MATERIA MEDICA.

824

Polyg'onum Fagopy'rum, or Buck-wheat , is cultivated in this country on accountseeds, which are used as food for poultry and horses. In China , and some other pa ' j sAsia , they are employed as a bread-corn for the sustenance of man. P. tatar U'lalso applied to the same purposes. In Nepal P. emargina'tum is cultivated. a

An extract prepared from the bark of Coccolo'ba uvifera, or the Sea -side Gray ’native of the West Indies , has been used under the name of Jamaica Kino,

Order 32. Chenopodia'ce.f., Lindley. —The Goose-foot Trib £ '

Atriplices, Jussieu. —Chenopode.®, Ventenat .

The substance called barilla (impure carbonate of soda), described in the first P neI »this work (p. 323), is obtained by the combustion of plants belonging’ to the f, j„Salicornia, Salsola, and Chenopodium. None of the Chenopodiace® are cmpm},this country. Some few are used as pot-herbs or salads, as Spinach (Spina! da oland Beet ( Be'ta mlga'ris).

of

the

Order 33. Labia't.e, Jussieu. — The Mint Tribe.

Lamiack.k, Lindley.

Essential Character. —CWy® tubular, inferior, peristent, the odd tooth being ^axis ; regular five- or ten-toothed, or irregular bilabiate or three- to ten-toothe • r „rolla mouopetalous, hypogynous, bilabiate ; the lesser lip undivided or ., arn oU slapping the lower, which is larger and three-lobed. Stamens four, 1 ,-"„ r \if>inserted upon the corolla, alternately with the lobes of the h J ' v ■ [lC stig. 177. tlig two uppeh sometimes wanting; anthers two-celled ’ f .he cells

apparently unilocular in consequence of the confluence of e ])sIWf- at ^ le a P ex > sometimes one cell altogether obsolete, or the tw ^ ur .ifflf separated by a bifurcation of the connective. Ovary ^ eL ’l'ZiaiDillobed, seated in a fleshy hypogynous disk; the lobes each con „ftfTsf one erect ovule ; style one, proceeding from the base of the ® n(J ts,the ovary; stigma bifid, usually acute. Fruit one to four sma u oenclosed within the persistent calyx. Seeds erect, with l'R utl deT'albumen; embryo erect; cotyledons flat.— Herbaceous plants orshrubs. Stem four-cornered, with opposite ramifications. Id'Crrsite, divided or undivided, without stipules, replete with rece L,neSiBilabiate flower. of aromatic oil. Flowers in opposite, nearly sessile, axll ’ ar {ij e y).

resembling whorls ; sometimes solitary, or as if capitate (Bin j at ;leProperties. —The medicinal activity of the plants of this family depends on

oil, bitter extractive, and astringent matter. , . c0 n-

The volatile oil resides in small receptacles (by some called globular gland ) j t ,.tained in the leaves. “ These glands are placed quite superficially, or rather ^ eD ipressed points, and are commonly of a shining yellow colour. W r e may reg ar yy|,eiias oleo-resinous matter separated from glands lying on the under surface. t jjemacerated in strong spirit of wine they remain unchanged, and appear un u ] a rmicroscope as transparent, probably cellular, vesicles, filled with a yellow jlsmatter” (Nees and Ebermaier, Handb. d. Med.-Pharm. Bot. Th. i. S. 524). * j s tb e

of labiate plants, like other volatile oils, consist of eUoptene and stearoptene : *latter substance which is described by some chemists as camphor. . jt i s

The bitter extractive is found, in greater or less quantity, in all the Labial®- ^ es6this principle which communicates the bitterness to the watery infusions o

plants. wbei* a

The presence of astringent matter is shewn by the green colour producedferruginous salt is added to the infusion of some of the Labiate . .

The volatile oil gives to these plants aromatic, carminative, and slightly su . g 6 ntproperties. The bitter extractive renders them tonic and stomachic. The astmatter is usually in too small a quantity to communicate much medicinal athough it must contribute to the tonic operation. . e c ook

The perfumer uses some labiate plants on account of their fragrant odour; 1 ct i-employs others for their flavour and condimentary properties; the medical 1 oVe rtioner administers them to relieve nausea and colicky pains, to expel wind,the taste of nauseous medicines, and to prevent or relieve griping pains.