Off. Prep. - Of the Flowers. Infusum Anthemidis. Infusion of Chamomile. (Chamomile flowers, half an ounce; boiling distilled water, ten fluid ounces.) [Chamomile flowers, half a troy ounce, boiling water a pint. U. S.]

Of the Flowers and Oil.

Extractum Anthemidis. Extract of Chamomile. (An infusion of the flowers evaporated, and having a subsequent addition of fifteen minims of the oil for each pound of flowers employed.)

Therapeutics. Chamomile is an aromatic stomachic and tonic; in large doses, especially in the form of a warm infusion, it acts as an emetic; it is used in atonic dyspepsia, also to assist the action of emetics. It is thought to be an antiperiodic. The oil is stimulant and carminative, a useful adjunct to purgatives.

Dose. Of the infusion, 1 fl. oz to 4 fl. oz.; of the oil 1 min. to 5 min.; of the extract, 3 gr. upwards. The extract forms a useful adjunct to stomachic and other pills.

Taraxacum. Dandelion Root. The recent root of Taraxacum Dens leonis or Common Dandelion; Lin. Syst., Syngenesia aequalis, indigenous; gathered between September and February from meadows and pastures in Britain.

Description. The root is tapering and branched, yielding a bitter milky juice when cut, which becomes brown by exposure; smooth and dark; of a brown colour externally, white within; of a sweetish bitter taste; the juice should not be watery, nor the root wrinkled or pale externally, and any adherent leaves runcinate and smooth.

Prop. & Comp. The juice contains resinous matters, sugar, gum, and a hitter extractive, from which a crystalline principle named taraxacine has been obtained, bitter in taste; soluble in alcohol, ether, and hot water, sparingly so in cold. Mannite has been also extracted, but whether it is a product of the fermentation of the juice or exists in the root is as yet undecided.

Off. Prep. Decoctum Taraxaci. [Not officinal in U. S. P.] Decoction of Taraxacum. (Dried dandelion root, one ounce; distilled water, thirty fluid ounces, reduced by boiling to twenty ounces.)

Extractum Taraxaci. Extract of Taraxacum. (Prepared as the other extracts, from the expressed juice.)

Succus Taraxaci. Juice of Taraxacum. [Not officinal in U. S. P.] (The juice expressed from the dandelion root, to every three measures of which one measure of rectified spirit is added.)

[Extractum Taraxaci Fluidum. Fluid Extract of Dandelion. Three pints of tincture are obtained by percolation from sixteen troy ounces of Dandelion root, and reduced by evaporation to sixteen fluid ounces.]

Therapeutics. The value of Taraxacum as a remedy is a matter which admits of some doubt. It is supposed to have a specific action on the liver, modifying and increasing its secretion; hence its widely spread use in hepatic diseases, more particularly when attended with an habitually engorged state of the vessels of that viscus. Given for some time, it is thought to act as an alterative on that organ. In dropsies from hepatic obstruction, it is generally administered in combination with a purgative.

Dose. Of decoctum taraxaci, 1 fl. oz. to 2 fl. oz.; of extractum taraxaci, 10 gr. to 30 gr. or more; of succus taraxaci, 1/2 fl. drm. to 2 fl. drm. or more.

Lactuca.. (Not officinal.) The flowering plant of Lactuca sativa, the Garden-Lettuce; Lin. Syst., Syngenesia aequalis, indigenous.

Lactucarium. (Not officinal.) [Officinal in U. S. P.] The inspissated juice of Lactuca sativa and of Lactuca virosa, the Wild Lettuce. Description. The lettuce is too familiar to need description. Lactucarium, which is prepared by pressing out the milky juice of the flowering herbs and afterwards inspissating with a gentle heat, occurs in small masses or lumps of a brown colour, with an odour very similar to opium, and a bitter taste. It is obtained in much larger quantities from L. virosa than from L. sativa.

Prop. & Comp. Lactucarium yields to alchol a bitter extractive matter; it is also sparingly soluble in water. A crystalline substance, lactucerine (O40 H34 O5), soluble in alcohol and ether, but not in water, has been extracted from lactucarium, forming 42 per cent. of the fresh drug; and two other substances, lactucic acid and lactucine, soluble in water, the latter being crystalline and resembling mannite.

Therapeutics. The lettuce has been asserted to possess some narcotic powers, and has been occasionally eaten at bed-time to induce sleep. Extract of the fresh juice and lactucarium are generally employed by the physician, and have been prescribed, in cases in which opium disagrees with the patient, to procure sleep, allay cough, etc. Lettuce has certainly very feeble powers compared with opium, and the author has given 30 grains and more of good lactucarium without noticing any decided narcotic effect from its administration.

Dose. Of lactucarium, or extract of lettuce made from the juice, 5 gr. to 30 gr.

Arnica. The root [The flowers. U. S.] of Arnica montana; Lin. Syst., Syngenesia superflua; found in the mountainous parts of Europe.

Description. The rootstock from 1 to 3 inches long, and 2 or 3 lines thick, cylindrical, contorted, rough from the scars of the coriaceous leaves, and furnished with numerous long slender fibres. The flowers of arnica are of a dark yellow colour, calyx green; the ray florets ligulate, much longer than the calyx; the florets of the disc tubular.

Prop. & Comp. The flowers, the leaves, and root of this plant, all of which are often employed, have a peculiar odour when fresh, and are apt to excite sneezing. The active properties are taken up by water. In addition to the other constituents of plants, arnica contains a volatile oil and a bitter principle identical with cytisin: a volatile alkaloid, resembling lobelina, has also been procured from it.

Tinctura Arnicae. Tincture of Arnica. (Arnica root, in fine powder, one ounce; rectified spirit, one pint. Prepared by maceration and percolation.) [Two pints of tincture are made from six troy ounces of arnica flowers, by percolation with diluted alcohol. U.S.]

Therapeutics. Given internally, arnica acts as a stimulant and irritant: it has been supposed to influence the spinal cord; its action upon the system has not, however, been satisfactorily made out. It is chiefly employed as an external application for the discussion of tumours, and for sprains and bruises. The author has reasons for questioning the virtues of arnica as a remedy in these cases.

Dose. Externally, the tincture is employed either alone or diluted with water, or added to liniments.