The butternut tree grows to the height of from thirty to one hundred feet, and bears a nut oviform in shape, near the size of a small hen's egg. The inner bark is the part that possesses the medical property, and should be gathered when the sap is going down, or in other words, in the fall of the year. It is a bark that is truly worthy of notice, from the fact that its medical properties are peculiar from those of others it is classified with. I am acquainted with a California physician, by the name of Dr. James E. Mure, who appreciated this remedy above all remedies for certain conditions of the system, and those conditions were chronic constipation of the bowels, slight bilious derangements of the stomach, or in other words, slight bilious attacks. He gave this remedy in a number of cases with good results. The tincture of butternut bark has been one of my favorites in many cases of bowel troubles of a constipted character. I should certainly be at a loss without this medicine in my assortment of remedies.

Medical properties and uses. -- In large doses the butternut is cathartic in its action; and this is a peculiar fact in reference to its cathartic action over and above any other cathartic remedy we have in the world. I will give it in plain language. When calomel, may-apple root, colocynth, jalap, senna, gamboge, and such cathartics are given, after the cathartic action constipation usually follows, and sometimes to a sad extent; but this is not the case with butternut. It is a fine laxative and cathartic, and constipation seldom, if ever, follows its cathartic effects. Where piles are produced by constipation it is almost a certain cure. I pronounce it the king of constipation. For all bilious conditions, and conditions of constipation, take the inner bark of the butternut tree and cut it in fine pieces, and fill a quart bottle full of the pieces, then add equal parts of water and 98 per cent. alcohol, and after fourteen days' standing it is ready for use. The dose of the tincture is three or four tablespoonfuls a day until the bowels become loose and regulated, then lessen the dose according to the necessity of your case or your condition.