We find that many of our writers describe this as one of our most important plants. Eclectics have held it in high favor, that is, when they knew it to be in a form in which it retained all of its medical properties. From the fact that it has been before the public for the past fifteen years in an improper form, it has been ignored by a great many of our physicians. The dust from the yellow clay bank has more virtue than the articles that have been on the market made from the dried root. There is no tincture genuine unless made from the green root.

From green roots virtues fly away,
And leave their shells like snails in May.
`Tis not the case with every root,
Twig, leaf and branch, flower and shoot.
There's Indian turnip, hard and dried,
Known by all, both far and wide.
It still in this state doth retain
The power that makes the boys refrain.

Medical properties and uses. -- Blue Flag is a stimulant to the glandular system, consequently a fine remedy for all blood diseases. It promotes excretion. I have used it in many cases of blood poisoning in the secondary stage with great satisfaction and with good results. It has a special affinity for the thyroid gland, that lays just below what is called the Adam's apple of the throat, which, when enlarged, is called goitre. It is a very valuable remedy in the treatment of scrofula, and all species of glandular and blood diseases The dose of the tincture, prepared as I have before directed, is from 5 to 15 drops four or five times a day.

Oh! Iris Versicolor, King David needed you
To heal his sores and cleanse his blood,
The Bible says it's true.
In David's psalms called thirty-eight,
You'll find it so at any rate.