GERANIUM MACULATUM.
(Spotted Geranium.)
Radix.
[This plant is very common in the United States, and is usually found in the vicinity of moist, woody situations. From the analysis of Bigelow, it appears to contain a very large proportion of tannin. It is accordingly powerfully astringent, and has been used with advantage in diarrhœa, chronic, dysentery and cholera infantum. In powder the dose of the Geranium is from 20 to 30 grs.—in extract, 10 grs.—in tincture from ʒj to ʒij—and in decoction from ℥j to ℥ij.]
GLYCYRRHIZÆ RADIX. L.E.D..nf c
(Glycyrrhiza Glabra.)
Liquorice Root. Stick Liquorice.
Qualities. Taste, sweet and mucilaginous. Chemical Composition. Gum, with a peculiar modication of saccharine matter (Glycion), or sugar in its purest form, for it is not fermentable; on which account it is added to beer for the purpose of imparting a sweet taste, and at the same time enabling it to keep better. Solubility. Water extracts both its principles, but by long coction it becomes bitter; alcohol extracts only its saccharine matter. Med. Uses. It is principally employed as a demulcent in combination with other mucilaginous vegetables; the root will yield nearly half its weight of extract. Liquorice covers the taste of some unpalatable medicines more effectually than any other substance, and it has long enjoyed the reputation of assuaging thirst, whence the Greeks distinguished this root by the term Adipson; and, perhaps, the English word Liquorice may be derived from the same belief. Officinal Prep. Decoct: Sarsaparill: comp. L.D. (O) Infus: Lini, L. (B) Extract: Glycyrrhizæ. L.E.D. Confectio Sennæ[[516]] L.E. (O) Adulterations. The powdered root is generally sophisticated with flour, and sometimes with powdered guaiacum; the fraud may be detected by its colour being a fine pale, instead of a brownish yellow, and by its reduced or foreign flavour.
GRANATI CORTEX. L.E.D.
Punica Granatum. Pomorum Cortex.