954
ELEMENTS OF MATERIA MEDICA.
tJy
ilowers yields from Siss. to 3ij. of oil. The oil of the shops is frcq ue j^j tbrought from abroad, and is probably the produce of another P (Matricaria Chamomilla ). Oil of chamomile is stimulant and a .modic. It is a frequent addition to tonic and cathartic pills;municates stimulant qualities to the former, and is believed to chec ^griping caused by the latter. It is occasionally exhibited in the f or11elseosaccharum (see p. 77). Dose, tqj. to n\v.
(Radix, L. D. —Root, E.)
History. —Dioscorides (lib. iii. cap. 86) was acquainted with rrip^P 0 ^and speaks of its use in toothache. The word pyrethrum is meuti°once only by Pliny ( Hist. Nat. lib. xxviii. cap. 42, ed. Valp.)
Botany. Gen. Char .— Head many-flowered, heterogamous. * l .of tlie ray female, sterile, ligulate or somewhat so, very rarely tu . u , ofof the disc hermaphrodite, with five callous teeth. Receptacle conicaconvex, paleaceous. Involucre in few rows, somewhat camp anui , g ,shorter than the disc. All the corollas with an obcompressed, o'winged, exappendiculate tube. Style of the disc, with exappendicp*branches. Achene flat, obcompressed, bordered with broad, entire "i 11 ^Pappus short, iiTegular, tooth-letted, somewhat continuous withwings on the inner side (D. C.) s .
Sp. Char. — Stems several, procumbent, somewhat branched, p 11 ^cent. Radical leaves, expanded, petiolated, smoothish, pinnatisect, ^segments pinnatipartite, with linear subulate lobes; the cauline \ ea ' te>sessile. Branches one-headed. Involucral scales lanceolate, acum' abrown at the margin. Receptacle convex, with oblong-obovate, ° bpaleaj (D. C.) r
Root fusiform, fleshy, very pungent, and when fresh, producing a ^sation of extreme cold, followed by heat when handled. Florets ofray white; on the upper side purplish beneath; of the disc yellow*
IIab. —Barbary, Arabia, Syria , and perhaps Candia. ^
Description.— The root ( radix pyrethri) is imported from the L e ' apacked in bales. It consists of inodorous pieces, about the length a ,thickness of the little finger, covered with a thick brown bark, stud ^with black shining points, breaking with a resinous fracture, and P ^senting internally a radiated structure. When chewed it excitespricking sensation in the lips and tongue, and a glowing heat. j,has been imported since 1836, when duty (6d. per lb.) was paid420 lbs. ^
Composition. —It was analyzed by John (Gmelin, Handb. d.ii. 1292), by Gautier ( Journ. de Pharm. iv. 49), by Parisel (Ibid-251), and, lastly, by Koene (Ann. de Chim. Phys. lix. 327). -t >arl .obtained acrid matter (pyrethrin) 3, inulin 25, yum 11, tannin 0 0 ’colouring matter 12, lignin 45, chloride of potassium 0 - 79, silica 0 ’
and iron a trace.
Acrid matter (Pyrethrin j Resin ).—In this resides the activity of the root. B e ^ v gin greater abundance in the bark than in the wood. It is brown, soft, has a buracrid taste, is insoluble in water, but soluble in ether and alcohol; still more