Petrosolinum sativum, Hoffman. (Petroselinum Petroselinum, (Linne) Lyons).

The dried ripe fruit, with not more than 5 p. c. of foreign seeds, other matter.

Habitat. S. Europe, Asia Minor, Sardinia, United States, California; cultivated in gardens universally.

Syn. Petrosel., Parsley Seed, Perceley, Persel, Parsil, Parcel, Apium, Garden (Common, Rock) Parsley; Fr. Persil; Ger. Petersilie, Petersilge.

Pet-ro-se-li'num. L. fr. Gr.

rock, +

parsley - rock parsley

- i. e., its original favorite habitat.

Sa-ti'vum. L. sativus, sown, cultivated - i. e., kind used, in contradistinction to the wild-grown.

Plant. - Annual herb, .6-1.2 M. (2-4°) high, stem furrowed, jointed, branched; root biennial, conical, 15 Cm. (6') long, 12 Mm. (J') thick, annulate, yellowish; leaves - radical and cauline, 3-pinnate; flowers small, yellowish, umbels, involucre. Fruit, cremocarp, ovoid-crescent-shaped, 2-3 Mm. (1/12-1/8') long, 1 Mm. (1/25') broad, grayish-brown, brownish on aging, mericarps 2, usually separate, each with 5 filiform, prominent ribs, alternating with coarsely roughened furrows; in transverse section nearly hemispherical, commissural surface with 2 vittae, dorsal usually 1 vitta, occasionally 2 vittae in the grooves between primary ribs; endosperm large, oily, enclosing small embryo; odor and taste characteristic, aromatic, especially when bruised. Powder, grayish-brown; microscopically - mostly of large, irregular fragments, cells of endosperm with aleurone grains, each containing a rosette aggregate of calcium oxalate, fragments with vittae, cells of pericarp, tracheae, and sclerenchymatous fibres. Should be kept dark, in tightly-closed containers. Solvents: alcohol; water partially. Dose, gr. 10-30 (.6-2 Gm.).

Constituents. - Volatile oil 1.5-3 p. c, Apiol, Resin, fixed oil 12 p. c, cariol, apiin, apiolin, tannin, mucilage, ash 7 p. c.

Volatile Oil. - Obtained by distillation; thick, greenish-yellow, sp. gr. 1.050, laevorotatory; contains apiol (camphor - most important), terpene, probably pinene, C10H16.

Apiol, C12H14O4. - Obtained by freezing the volatile oil, some being so rich as to become semifluid at ordinary temperature; or by exhausting fruit with benzin, evaporating spontaneously, dissolving from residue the apiol with alcohol (leaving fat, wax), evaporating. It is in white, brittle, needle-shaped crystals, melting at 30° C. (8(3° F.) into non-volatile liquid (oleoresin), not modified by alkalies, soluble in alcohol, chloroform, ether; with potassium permanganate converted into apiolic acid, C10H10O6, boiled with alcoholic solution of potassium hydroxide changed into isoapiol, melting at 56° C. (132° F.); odor parsley-like; taste aromatic, burning. Commercial liquid apiol obtained with alcohol, reclaiming same and allowing wax to deposit, is a greenish oily liquid, sp. gr. 1.050, and should neither be called nor dispensed as apiol. Dose, gr. 3-8 (.2-.5 Gm.).

Preparations. - 1. Oleoresina Petroselini. Oleoresin of Parsley Fruit. (Syn., Oleores. Petrosel., Liquid Apiol; Fr. Oleoresine de Persil; Ger. AEtherisches Petersilieextrakt.)

Manufacture: Percolate slowly, in a covered glass percolator, 100 Gm. with ether, added in successive portions, until exhausted, reclaim most of the ether on water-bath, transfer residue to a dish, allow remaining ether to evaporate spontaneously in a warm place, stirring frequently, allow to stand without agitation 4-5 days, decant clear liquid portion from any solid residue. Should be kept in well-stoppered bottles. Dose, ev-15 (.3-1 Ml. (Cc.)).

Unoff. Preps.: Fluidextract, doseex-30 (.6-2 Ml. (Cc.)). Infusion, 5 p. c, dose, 3j-8 (4-30 Ml. (Cc.)).

Properties. - Diuretic, stimulant, emmenagogue, carminative, anti-periodic, insecticide, germicide.

Uses. - Nephritis, cystitis, dropsy, amenorrhoea, dysmenorrhoea

(beginning 3-4 days before the molimen); fresh juice in intermittents.

The dried roots (petroselini radix), similar in strength and action, also employed medicinally; fluidextract (67 p. c. alcohol). Dose,

5ss-l (2-A Ml. (Cc.)).

Allied Plants: