Alder, Allspice, Aloes, Anise, Asafetida,

Balm of Gilead, Balmony, Balsam Fir, Balsam Tolu, Barberry, Beth Root, Bitter Root, Bitter Sweet, Black Cohosh, Bayberry, Blackberry, Black Root, Blood Root, Blue Cohosh, Blue Flag, Boneset, Buchu, Bugle Weed, Black Alder, Burdock, Black Hellebore, Butternut,

Camomile, Calamus, Camphor, Cascara Sagrada, Castor Bean, Cayenne Pepper, Catnip, Celandine, Centaury, Charcoal or Carbon, Cherry Bark, Chestnut Leaves, Cicuta, Colocynth, Cleavers, Cloves, Coltsfoot, Common Nettle, Copaiba, Corn Silk, Couch Grass or Triticum, Cream of Tartar,

Elder,

BITTER ROOT (botanical name apocynum) - This is a very common little plant, growing in great abundance along the roadside. It is also called dogbane, or black Indian hemp. Its long creeping root is the part used as medicine. Bitter root is a stimulating tonic, and, as its name indicates, very bitter to the taste. It acts chiefly upon the liver, securing a free discharge of bile, and causing free movement of the bowels. It is a most excellent and valuable remedy for jaundice and sluggish conditions of the liver that have become chronic, but where the stomach is in an irritable condition it should not be given. It will at as a physic by using half a teaspoonful of the powder at bedtime, and will produce a movement of the bowels in about eight hours. A concentrated preparation of bitter root, called apocynin, is the best form to employ in chronic cases. The fluid extract is also used; dose, ten drops every six hours.

BITTER SWEET (botanical name celastrus scandens) - This is a climbing shrub, native of Europe, but now naturalized in this country. It flowers in June and July, and has orange-colored, three-cornered berries. The root is long and is the part used as a medicine. It is very beneficial in combination with yellow-dock, in the treatment of scrofula and eczema. It is also excellent in liver complaints. Used internally, it is given in the form of a syrup. An ointment for external use is made of the bark, and is excellent for irritable skin diseases, scalds, burns, piles, etc. To prepare the ointment, heat for eight hours one pound of the bark in one pound of lard.

BLACK COHOSH (technical name cimcifuga racemosa) - It is also called rattle-snake root, squaw root, blacksnake root, and rich-weed. This plant grows from four to six feet high, with white flowers, succeeded by shells, which contain the seed. The root is black externally, and is the part used so extensively in the practice of medicine, although the whole plant, and even the flowers, are possessed of medicinal properties. The American species is found all over the United States, and was used by all the Indians. It is common in open woods, rich grounds, and on the sides of hills, but is not often found in swampy or moist soils. This herb is a valuable expectorant and relaxing nervine, acting in a marked degree on the nerves of the spine. For this reason it is employed with good results in spinal meningitis and St. Vitus' dance and poisoning from snake bite. It is a most soothing expectorant and very serviceable for tight coughs, but should be given only in small doses and then in connection with other agents. An infusion is made by steeping an ounce of the powdered, or ground, root in a pint of hot water; dose, a tablespoonful every three hours. The powder may be given in five-grain doses, three times a day. The tincture is valuable as a nervine liniment, either combined with some other agent or alone, and will greatly relieve rheumatism and sciatica. It makes a good poultice for any kind of inflammation. Black cohosh produces the most peculiar sensation of dreaming over a long period of time in a few moments. This has been reported by many who have taken large doses just before retiring.

BAYBERRY, whose botanical name is myrica cerifera, is a native shrub of the United States. It is also called wax myrtle. The bark of the root is the part used medicinally. It is narcotic, astringent, emetic. For scrofula in a state of ulcer it is very valuable, applied in the form of a poultice. Bayberry is considered by many one of the most useful herbs found in this or any other country, especially in the form of a poultice, which is made by bruising the bark of the root and simmering it in rain water until soft, then stirring in Indian meal or slippery elm bark until a poultice of proper consistence is formed. The bark may also be given in powder, infusion, or decoction.

BLACKBERRY The botanical name of the ordinary blackberry, or dewberry, is rubus, and it is so well known to the great majority of you that a particular description is not necessary. There is a peculiarity about the fruit which many have noted and spoken of, but could not account for, but which I will explain. The fresh, or canned, fruit has in most cases proved to be a laxative, while the juice or cordial is a decided astringent. As a remedial agent blackberries are always classed among the astringents, and are far more serviceable than many would suppose; yet, as I have said, the entire fruit seems to act as a laxative, and the reason is very simple when we come to examine into the matter more thoughtfully. The little seeds are very hard and indigestible and as they irritate the mucous membrane of the intestines, the peristaltic action is increased, and thus the content of the bowels are propelled more rapidly than usual, so that sometimes a diarrhoea results. In such cases a cold water enema is the best simple remedy that can be found. Inject a pint of water of about 75 degrees temperature and immediate relief will follow.

A strong decoction of the berries with an equal amount of witch hazel makes a most excellent wash for sore mouth, and, with a little allspice added, will be found very useful in dysentery.

Blackberry cordial is a well-known household remedy for summer diarrhoea, and it may be prepared as follows: Heat the berries slowly until they swell and burst; mash them and place in a close bag and squeeze thoroughly. In every quart of juice place a small cloth bag containing the following spices, ground: Half an ounce each of cinnamon, allspice, and ginger, and a very small quantity of cloves and mace. heat slowly for two hours in a covered porcelain vessel and add two and a half pounds of granulated sugar, and, when dissolved, put into small bottles.

BLACK ROOT , or leptandra Virginica, is one of the valuable herb remedies introduced as a medicinal agent by Dr. Culver, after whom it has been called Culver's physic. It is an annual plant, and is sometimes called "tall speedwell," because it frequently attains a height of six or seven feet, bearing at the top spikes of small white flowers. The leaves are arranged in sets about the stem, several inches apart. The black root of the plant is all that is used for medicine, and it can best be secured by purchasing the concentrated extract of a reliable pharmacist. It is called leptandrin by druggists and is a positive relaxant, exerting its chief action on the liver, and is employed as a physic on account of its producing a free flow of bile. Two grains of leptandrin is a large dose, and should usually be combined with a more stimulating agent, such as apocynin. As a rule ten hours are required for it to act fully. A great majority of the "liver pills" so extensively sold as patent medicine contain leptandrin.

BLOOD ROOT, or sanguinoria, is the common plant often called red puccoon. It bears a little white blossom, and the stem and root exude an orange-colored juice when broken. The plant may be readily recognized from the illustration. Its property is that of a sharp stimulant and it is decidedly harsh in action. Its greatest value if found when used as an expectorant in old chronic coughs that are not irritable. In al such cases it should be combined with such remedies as lobelia and black cohosh. Some value its action upon the stomach and liver, in sluggish conditions, and in cases of nasal polypus it is very good, used as a snuff. One dram of powdered blood root in two ounces of bayberry and one-half ounce of borax will make a sharp snuff. As a cough remedy, one dram of the tincture in eight ounces of cough sirup is sufficient.

BLUE COHOSH, or caulophyllum is an agent used by the Indians for the cure of cramp and colic, and from them it derives the common name of papoose root. It is a valuable nervine of a stimulating character, and is much employed in the treatment of ailments peculiar to women, and in the practice of obstetrics. A strong infusion may be made by steeping an ounce of the root in a pint of boiling water. Dose, two tablespoonfuls every three hours. For spasms it may be given more freely.

BLUE FLAG, otherwise called by botanists iris veriscolor, it many times used in combination with yellow dock, and sarsaparilla on account of its power of increasing glandular action. It is also given in twenty grain doses as an active cathartic.

BONESET, eupatorium perfoliatum, is probably one of the most common and best known household remedies every used by modern civilization. It is also known by the names of thoroughwort, joepy, tearel, feverwort, sweating plant, thoroughstem, crosswort, Indian sage, ague weed, thoroughway, and vegetable antimony. It grows in all parts of the United States, and is easily recognized among all other plants, even when not in bloom on account of its conante leaves perforated by the stem. It blossoms from August to October. It can be called an emetic, cathartic, a sudorific, and a tonic, according to the dose and method in which it is administered.

Taken as a warm infusion it is a pronounced laxative, and if taken in large doses before an emetic aids the latter very much, and enables the patient to eject the contents of the stomach with more ease. It is a splendid tonic, and acts directly upon the glands, and is an excellent remedy in cases of dyspepsia. It softens the skin and induces perspiration, thus aiding nature in the elimination of waste and refuse matter. Many prefer it to Peruvian bark or cinchona in cases of intermittent fever. An infusion is made by steeping an ounce of the herb in a pint of boiling water. It is very bitter to the taste, and hence objectionable to many. It can be made into a thick sirup by adding ginger and anise, and used for coughs and colds with good results.

BUCHU The lesson on herbs begins this time with buchu, known to botanists as barosma Corenata. It comes to us from Africa. The leaves are used to make a tea or extract that has long enjoyed a good reputation for diseases of a congestive character of the mucous membranes of the urinary tract, including congestion of the bladder. An ounce of the leaves to a pint of boiling water makes a strong infusion; dose, two tablespoonfuls. The fluid extract can be purchased at the drug stores, the dose of which is ten drops every six hours.

BUGLE WEED, or lycopus Virginius, is one of the herb remedies known to some as water horehound. It is of a soothing, astringent nature, and also acts as a nervine. It is considered quite valuable in loose coughs and hemorrhages from the lungs and bladder, and also for incontinence of the urine. An ounce to a pint of boiling water is the ordinary infusion. Dose, two or three tablespoonfuls every two hours. The powder blown into or applied upon the surfaces of fistulas aids in the healing processes otherwise established.

BLACK ALDER, otherwise known as prinas verticillatus, is an alterative, anti-herpetic, etc. A tea or decoction of the bark sweetened has been highly extolled for the removal of worms from the stomach of children. The bark or root of the black alder, is an excellent remedy to use in purifying blood. The best results are obtained by combining it with other articles and making into a beer or diet drink. It is related of a clergyman who lived in Northford, Conn., that he was cured of an affection of the lungs which rendered him unable to preach. He took a wine glass of the above preparation three or four times a day. The black alder must not be confounded with the common alder, known to scientists by the name of sambucus nigra, which is an entirely different plant, having vastly different qualities.

BURDOCK (Arctium lappa L.) Other common names: Cockle button, cuckold dock, beggars' buttons, hurr-bur, stick button, hardock, and bardane.

Burdock is one of the most common weeds. It was introduced from the Old World, and is common and often very abundant in the Eastern and Central States and in some scattered localities in the West, growing along roadsides, in fields, pastures, and waste places.

This is a coarse, unsightly biennial weed of the aster family (Asteraceae), which produces during the first year of its growth only a rosette of large, thin leaves and a long, tapering root having a diameter of from one-half to 1 inch. When full grown it measures from 3 to 7 feet high. The round, fleshy stem is branched, grooved and hairy, with very large leaves, even in the early stages of the growth of the plant, the lower leaves often measuring 18 inches in length. The leaves are alternate, on long, solid, deeply furrowed leafstalks; thin, roundish or oval, but usually heartshaped; with even, wavy, or toothed margins; smooth above, and pale and wooly on the under surface. The flowers are purple, in small, clustered heads, appearing in the second year, from July to frost. These flower heads are armed with hooked tips, and the burs thus formed are a great pest, attaching themselves to clothing and to the wool and hair of animals. The seed of burdock is produced in great abundance, one plant bearing as many as 400,000 seeds.

The root alone is recognized in the United States Pharmacopoeia, but there is a limited demand for burdock seed, and the leaves also are employed. Burdock roots and seeds are used in blood and skin diseases, and the leaves externally as a cooling poultice for sweelings and ulcers, the latter being employed only in the fresh state.

Burdock has a large taproot, about 12 inches long, fleshy, the outside blackish-brown or grayish-brown, the inside light in color and spongy in the center. it is to be collected in the fall of the first year. The roots must be washed, split lengthwise, and carefully dried. Drying causes the root to lose about four-fifths of its weight, and to become scaly, and wrinkled lengthwise. Sometimes the bases of the leafstalks remain at the top of the root in the form of a small, white, silky tuft. The odor of the root is weak and unpleasant.

The seeds are oblong, curved, flattened, and angular, dark brown and sometimes spotted with black, and have no odor. These should be collected when ripe or nearly so.

BLACK HELLEBORE (otherwise known as helleborus niger) This is a peculiar plant, growing in the mountains of Vasges, Dauphine, and Provence. It is perennial in its habits and flowers about Christmas time, if the weather is moderate. The flowers consist of five large, round white petals, sometimes having purple edges upon footstalks. The root of this plant is used. The fresh roots should be first carefully cleansed and cooked in salt water with milk and lemon juice. When the water is poured off, cover the roots with grated bread, and melted butter. Prepared in this way they are by many considered a dainty luxury, as well as a valuable medicinal herb. Used in the dry or powdered form, ten or fifteen grains is considered a dose. In making an infusion use two teaspoonfuls of the powder to a pint of boiling water. About three tablespoonfuls of this decoction should be given every four hours. It is considered a very valuable remedy in the practice of obstetrics and especially in obstructions.

BUTTERNUT (Juglans Cinerea) Nearly every school boy in America, especially in the northern part, is familiar with the common butternut. There are a number of varieties, but the one which we wish to describe is known to woodsmen as the white walnut. The inner bark of this tree has a very important place in our materia medica. Its principal use is as a physic, and in that respect it is valuable on account of its mild action and the tonic impression left upon the structures of the bowels. The chief influence of the walnut is exerted upon the lower bowels, and for that reason it cannot be excelled for prolapsus and constipation due to a sluggish condition of the large bowels. It is best administered in the form of a sirup made by slowly boiling a pound of the bark in water and evaporating to one pint and adding two pounds of sugar. A tablespoonful is a dose. Senna is frequently combined with butternut to obtain a quicker carhartic action. Butternut sirup is a valuable physic for use in protracted febrile diseases.

CAMOMILE (Anthemis Nobilis) The garden camomile which has maintained its reputation as a valuable medicinal agent for many hundreds of years, and its usefulness is still fully recognized. In character it is a soothing nervine, and a mild stomach tonic to be used where there is weakness and poor appetite. The flowers are best used in infusion. When given warm camomile will aid perspiration and soften the skin, and is also useful to women during certain periods where the secretions are scant on account of colds or indiscreet eating. The cold infusion acts as a tonic and is more suitable to stomach troubles and as a drink during convalescence from febrile diseases. The vapor from camomile boiled in water gives relief if inhaled during an attack of quinsy. The German camomile is considered somewhat stronger than the American.

CALAMUS (Sweet Flag) Almost every country schoolboy is familiar with calamus. I remember well the little pond near uncle's home in Minnesota where I first waded into the water to get it for my mother. Many times since then I have gone to that same place to get it for myself. I passed the spot four years ago in company with my own son and both of us found pleasure in the story I told him about it. The plant is found in the edges of ponds in shallow water, where the soil is constantly moist and rich. It is a well-known household remedy and its prompt use will often prevent serious trouble. Its properties are that of a mild and agreeable stimulant, exerting its chief influence upon the stomach and bowels. For flatulent colic in children it is especially valuable. It is also frequently used for heartburn, due to distention of the stomach by gas. An infusion of the root may be used or a portion of the root may be chewed or swallowed. Calamus lozenges are kept by most druggists and are pleasant and convenient to take.

ELDER In the days of long ago the elder bush was looked upon as the stanchest of the family friends, and it had an honored place in the dooryard or garden, where it grew without culture and yielded of its various properties for the good of humanity who were willing to receive its humble though efficacious aid. Almost every part of it is valuable: leaves, blossoms, berries, bark, and roots. Elder blossom tea has for many years been used to influence the skin and kidneys in febrile diseases, and it is wise for every family to keep in the supply-room a small store of these blossoms dried. Winter is long in this country, and many cases occur in which a sudorific and dissolving remedy like this may prove very valuable indeed. Harm cannot follow its use, as is sometimes the case with drugs.

The bark in decoction is often used as a mild cathartic, and the berries are sometimes used instead of blackberries for making cordial. Elder ointment for cuts and bruises is made by slowly heating for a long time a pound of elder bark in two pounds of lard and a quarter of a pound of mutton suet. One-half or one-fourth of the above-named quantities may be used in the same way if so large a quantity is not wanted.

In cases of dropsy a decoction of tea of the elder root drives the water so powerfully out of the system that there are few if any agents that excel it. There can now be secured from the druggist what is called the "fluid extract of dwarf elders," the dose of which is a tespoonful every three or four hours, and it is one of the best known agents in kidney troubles. Many families make it a point to secure the fine, juicy, ripe elder berries for table use, making them into pies, sauces, marmalades, as well as into wine. In all of these forms they retain their valuable medicinal properties. Among such families in the Eastern states you will find many centenarians. Many of our wealthy people of today travel hundreds of miles and pay fancy prices for a course of the "grape cure," who could receive the same benefits by a course of elderberry wine made at their own home in the same manner that we make the common home-made grape juice.

If the berries are boiled down in sugar, or better still in strained honey, they will prove especially valuable to people of sedentary habits, or to elderly people who are by reason of the cold or other causes prevented from taking a proper amount of exercise. A teaspoonful of the above described preserve, stirred into a glass of water, makes a splendid cooling and refreshing drink. It increases the secretion of urine, and eliminates other waste materials from the body, and has in many ways a most excellent effect. A good friend that should be recognized by young and old is the common elder, and you should become acquainted with it at the first opportunity. The botanical name of common elder is sambucus nigre.

CAMPHOR, or laurus camphora, is well known in nearly every household in the land; it operates in a softening, alleviating and linitive manner, and is used as camphor spirits, and camphor oil. The gum is obtained from the Eastern countries. Those who are interested in the process of manufacture, etc., can obtain a better idea of it by referring to an encyclopedia that I could give here on account of the limited amount of space at my disposal. The spirits of camphor is made by dissolving two ounces of the gum in a pint of alcohol. Used externally, either by itself or in combination with essential oils, it is very good, and will give quick relief in cases of sprains, bruises, etc., and is used by many to advantage in cases of muscular rheumatism. It is not wise, however, to use too much of it, nor to use it often for rheumatism, as it has a tendencey to stiffen the joints on account of its drying influence.

Nursing mothers sometimes use it to aid in drying or stopping the secretion of milk when it is desired to wean the babe, but this is not wise, as it has a tendency to favor a permanent shrinking of the breasts. Its internal use is chiefly confined to checking looseness of the bowels, and as I have already described several other remedies for that purpose that are more valuable, I think it wise for us not to consider it in that connection.

CENTAURY or erythraea centaurium are the two best names given to a certain plant which the Germans call tausendguidenkraut, which means a herb that is worth 1,000 florins, although in England it is looked upon as a weed, hard to extirpate from the corn fields. A tea made from the dried stalks or roots is said to be a specific against gases in the stomach, heart burn, and drives away unhealthy acids. It is very bitter to the taste.

CLOVES, or caryophyllus armaticus, need no description, as they are usually kept in the house as a kitchen spice. I will say, however, that the tree is very beautiful, and grows quite tall; it is a native of the Molucca islands. The cloves are the flower-buds, which are gathered in October and November, before they are open, and dried in the sun. Their stimulating and astringent properties may at times be used to advantage medicinally.

An infusion of cloves when combined with a larger proportion of allspice, will be found useful in summer diarrhoea, taken internally. Cloths wrung out of a hot infusion of cloves and applied over the abdomen will relieve the pain of colic. The oil of cloves on cotton, placed in the hollow of an aching tooth, will usually afford relief. It operates in a similar manner as almond and salad oil, with which it is also frequently mixed. It will also prove valuable in destroying foul gases, and bad, foul juices in the stomach. Cloves cannot be used in large quantities or for any length of time, as they are too strong for the coats of the stomach.

COLTSFOOT, the botanical name of which is tussilago farfara, is a plant which is very little esteemed by man, in fact, we might say it is even despised, and that every one seems to find pleasure in treading it under foot. But those who know the actual worth of it esteem it highly, and take care of it as an excellent remedy. It is advisable to drink tea from coltsfoot to purify the chest and lungs. Asthma and coughs can in many cases be removed very easily by the remedy, especially if an inclination to consumption exists. The leaves my be applied to the chest, either in a piece of linen or without it. They extract the heat, stop feebleness, and remove fevers. They have an especially good effect on open wounds; they remove the heat, the redness, and draw out the injurious matters.

The leaves can be used very effectively in cases of sore feet - when the spots look black and blue and are highly inflamed. They remove the heat and the pains, when laid on the spots repeatedly they prove an excellent remedy. Coltsfoot is, therefore, a very superior remedy for inflamed wounds, erysipelas, and similar complaints. The leaves may also be used internally - dried in the shade, pulverized and taken two or three times per day. A small saltspoonful is a dose; may also be taken with the food if preferred.

CATNIP Nepeta Cataria This is a perennial plant, indigenous to this country, and is found growing throughout the United States along the sides of roads and old buildings. It is a diaphoretic, carminative, diluent, and refrigerant. By producing perspiration without increasing the heat of the body it is very useful in all kinds of fevers. This plant is so abundant and its use so common as a nursery remedy that its value is often overlooked. In all cases of nervous irritability it is a most soothing article and may often prove unusually acceptable as a drink to feverish patients. It is best used as an infusion, an ounce to a pint of boiling water in a closed vessel. As an injection it is invaluable for colic in children, frequently causing such relief from pain as to produce speedy sleep. In hysteria and other forms of nervous diseases of an acute character, as to manifestations, it will be found very serviceable. In the form of sirup or fluid extract it is of but little use, its action being transient.

COLOMBO, or menispermum palmatum, is a native growth of Africa, Madagascar, and the East Indies, for which reason it is known as foreign calumba. It is an intensely bitter tonic, giving strength to the stomach and intestinal canal, without stimulating. It is frequently used as an ingredient of stomach bitters. In dyspeptic complaints it exerts its greatest benefits, and is one of the best tonics that can be employed in those cases. As an appetizer, the infusion in tablespoonful doses should be taken at meal time, or the powder, in five-grain doses, may be given in capsules with a little ginger. Where the stomach is exceedingly weak, as after protracted spells of sickness, it is a most suitable agent to use, especially in debilitated conditions.

CHERRY BARK, or prunus virginicus, is indigenous to the United States, in many parts of which it is found in abundance, growing in our forests. It has gained a wide reputation for certain forms of lung trouble; but is useful in many other classes of diseases. It is a mild tonic, belonging to the soothing astringent class. It enters largely into wine bitters, given in intermittent fevers, and is excellent in many forms of dysentery, and, combined with other articles, makes a good beer for the blood. It should not be used for dry coughs, but is valuable when expectoration is too free. In the form of sirup it is excellent for children in cases of diarrhoea, and may be pleasantly combined with neutralizing cordial. Indigestion caused by a lack of of tone in the stomach will be benefited by its use. The fluid extract may be readily obtained. Dose, fifteen drops in the water. For old and protracted and enfeebled cases of coughs, the sirup of the wild cherry bark is very pleasant and may be used as a basis of cough medicines, when combined with spikenard and lippa Mexicana.

CASCARA SAGRADA, or rhamnus purchiana, is a species of California buckthorn, and is also known as sacred bark. It has only recently been introduced to the medical profession, but is a very valuable article. To some the taste is not disagreeable, although it is intensely and persistently bitter. It can be highly recommended as an agent to be used in chronic constipation, though as an ordinary physic it is uncalled for as there are more pleasant and prompter cathartics An once of the fluid extract in eight ounces of yellow dock makes an excellent preparation for engorged liver and blood disorders with constipation. It is very highly prized by some as a "spring medicine." The dose of the fluid extract, as a physic, is a tablespoonful at bedtime. A very pleasant preparation is for sale known as aromatic cascara; its action is similar to the uncombined article and the dose is the same. Cascara sagrada is the principal ingredient of many of the patent medicines which have such a pronounced laxative effect on the bowels.

CAYENNE PEPPER, the botanical name of which is capsicum annuum, is a native of South America, and is raised in the West Indies. It will also ripen its fruit in the United Staes. The common names for this plant are Jamaica pepper and red pepper. It is one of the most pronounced, and at the same time one of the purest and strongest stimulants of the materia medica, and is unequaled for use when a powerful and prolonged stimulant is needed as in congestive chills, heart failure, etc. It is carminative, tonic, and dirutic. The whole circulation is affected by the agent, and it can be used externally as well as internally. Liniments for neuralgia, sciatica, paralysis, etc., should contain capscium. It is good to use in cases of flatulency arising from eating vegetable food and likewise to warm the stomach. It is used, with good results, in rheumatism and coldness of the system. In congested, ulcerated, or infectious sore throat it is most excellent, expecially combined with myrrh. It is antiseptic in character and a most suitable gargle in diphtheria.

Two tablespoonfuls of the small red pepper, or three of the common cayenne pepper, and two teaspoonfuls of fine salt, to be beaten into paste, on which half a pint of boiling water is to be poured, and strained off when cold, an equal quantity of very sharp vinegar being added to this infusion. A tablespoonful every hour is a proper dose for an adult. It may be employed in the form of a powder, in one-fourth teaspoonful doses, given in molasses, or may be taken in capsules. One grain is considered a full dose except in rare cases, as in congestive chills. Capsicum plasters are valuable for pneumonia and other conditions, but should not be allowed to remain over an hour on the parts. The West Indian or African capsicum is considered the best.

CHARCOAL, or CARBON It is well-established fact that powdered charcoal acts as a disinfectant on account of its power of absorbing gases. By placing meats in charcoal they may be preserved for a great length of time. It is also frequently employed as an arrester of putrefaction in the stomach and bowels. The kind most used is the powdered willow charcoal. A teaspoonful taken after meals will often afford relief to those suffering from heartburn and other forms of dyspepsia. Charcoal tablets may be obtained of druggists, and they are pleasant to use in dyspepsia. Old charcoal is made more effectual by heating it before using it. Sprinkled over or mixed with poultices, applied to degenerate ulcers or sores, it will be found very valuable. It is a most excellent application for gangrene.

CHESTNUT LEAVES, or castania, are becoming recognized as possessed of pronounced medicinal value - the leaves of the ordinary chestnut tree. They are soothing to mucous surfaces, and also to the nervous system, acting as an anti-spasmodic. They are by some regarded as a specific for whooping cough, when combined with lobelia and blue cohosh. They are also useful in coughs of a distressing nature. When all other agents have failed in cases of protracted cases of hiccough, they often afford prompt relief. The best form in which to use them is in infusion - an ounce to the pint of boiling water. The infusion may be strained and made into a sirup. The fluid extract is also a convenient form in which to use them; dose, ten drops. Of the infusion a dose is two tablespoonfuls for an adult, and half this quantity for children.

CICUTA, or conium maculatum, is indigenous to Europe, but now naturalizes in New England, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Ohio, etc. The common name is hemlock. It is generally found in old fields, near roads and fences, on the banks of rivers, etc. This plant is a very powerful acrid narcotic and resolvent. It is not dangerous in very small doses, often repeated, and gradually increased. It is also anodyne, sedative, and anti-spasmodic; useful to alloy pain in acute diseases. it is a very useful article in scrofulous tumors. It is, however, seldom used as an internal remedy; it enters into the discutient ointment. The extract form of cicuta, made into pills half the size of a small pea, given twice per day, is good to destroy scrofulous and cancerous tumors of the breast, and also applied expernally in the form of a poultice. A plaster made of this is also good for tumors and swellings. For scirrhous tumors take inspissated juice of hemlock, or the extract, wax, and resin, of each two parts; olive oil one part; melt and spread on leather.

COLOCYNTH, or cucumis colocynthis, is an annual plant, a native of the Levant, and cultivated in gardens. The common name is bitter cucumber. It is one of the most powerful cathartics; when given alone it is apt to occasion severe griping. It enters largely into the "anti-dyspeptic pills."

CLEAVERS, or GALIUM, is the common trailing plant generally known as goose grass or bed straw. It is very abundant and grows wild in fields near the woods. Medicinally, the green herb may be used, as well as the dried; when combined with marsh mallows, proves a most soothing agent in the treatment of inflammatory diseases of the kidneys, bladder, and urinary passages. The fluid extract, added to neutralizing cordials, adds to the adaptability of that preparation to diarrhoea with acrid discharges. Galium may be taken frequently, and is best used in the form of a cold infusion. In the latter stages of scarlet fever, when there is a tendency to irritable conditions of the kidneys, cleavers will prove a very acceptable and beneficial drink. For those suffering from scalding urine it is invaluable.

It was my intention not to give in these lectures any information on remedies of a mineral or earthy nature, but as one very common and useful rememdy, although of an earthy nature, is in reality from the vegetable kingdom. I will depart sufficiently from ny original plan to give it a place in our home medicine chest.

CREAM OF TARTAR is so well know to all of my readers that a description of its appearance is unnecessary, but a brief history of how it was originally obtained will be of interest and value. The various names by which is is known to science, aside from the common one of cream of tartar are crystals of tartar, supertartrate of potash, or potassae supertartras. All of these long, hard names, however, do not in the least impair the value of the remedy.

The casks in which some kinds of wine are kept become gradually incrusted with a hard, saline substance, tinged with a coloring matter of the wine; this substance was for many years known by the name of tartar. When it is purified by various processes, such as reduction to a solution, then filtration, and crystallization, it becomes the common cream of tartar. It is used medicinally as a refrigerant, laxative, and diuretic. Small doses of it in solution form a very pleasing and cooling drink in febrile diseases and excite urinary secretions. Many prefer to take it in lemonade, for by so doing it becomes more pleasant to the taste, and the value of its medicinal properties in increased. Large doses of it cause profuse water discharge from the bowels, and for that reason it is very valuable in cases of dropsy. Used in connection with dwarf elder extract it becomes still more beneficial in such cases.

When added to resinous purgatives it renders them better suited to inflammatory cases, as in the case of compound powder of jalop and mandrake, of which we will learn in the future. Combined with sulphur it is a popular remedy in many forms of skin disease. Its use and value in cooking is known to almost every housewhife in the land.

COUCH GRASS, or TRITICUM, is only known to many as a very annoying weed, and is frequently spoken of a quitch grass or quack grass. It grows abundantly in nearly all localities and has a spreading root, sending up hundred of off-shoots. Medicinally it is classed as a mild, stimulating demulcent, acting chiefly upon the kidneys, bladder, and urinary passages. It will prove very soothing in cases of irritation of the kidneys, bladder, or uretha, and is especially valuable in gravel, many declaring that it will dissolve small calculi. It would be a most excellent remedy to use in a case such as was discribed to me in a letter received yesterday from a lady whose aged father was suffering intensely with a complication of such troubles. It is best used as an infusion when prepared at home. The fluid extract may be obtained from the chemists, in which form it is most convenient to secure. About ten drops of the fluid extract is a dose may be taken every four hours or the extract may, in that proportion, be combined with the regular dose of the fluid extract of dwarf elder and peach leaves and made into a sirup. In this form it is an excellent remedy and pleasant to take. There are several compounds of triticum on the market as proprietary medicines, but as nearly all of them contain poisons, it is wise to avoid them.

CELANDINE Chelidonium majus or great celandine, is a common plant which grows abundantly throughout our country and is better known to children, at least, as touch-me-not on account of the peculair action of the seed pod, for when it has reached a certain stage or degree of ripness it instantly flies to pieces after being pressed between the fingers, indeed, some pods will fly in all directions upon the slightest touch. It grows about three feet high and has many tender round, green, watery stalks, with large joints, very brittle and trasparent; leaves large and very tender. The flowers consist of four yellow leaves, after which come the long seed pods. This herb grows in low marshy places, cool, damp woods, beside the brooks and ponds, in meadows, etc. Its properties are acrid, stimulant, anti-herpetic, detergent, diuretic, and discutient. The juice is said to remove warts when rubbed on them vigorously; cures ringworm and cleanses old ulcers. It is excellent in the treatment of piles, salt rheum, or tetter, in the form of tincture or ointment. The ointment, which is most useful in the treatment of piles, is made by boiling the roots in lard. The tincture is made by digesting one ounce of the roots in one pint of spirits.

CORN SILK, the botanical name of which is stigmata maidis, has been accepted as a remedy possessing great virute in irritable conditions of the urinary organs. Its stimulating and relaxing properties are very gentle, leaving behind a tonic impression, and at the same time displaying demulcent characteristics. The fluid extract is the best form to be used; dose, half a teaspoonful four times a day. The value is materially increased by combining it with dandelion and shepherd's purse. For eneuresis (bed-wetting) it is an excellent remedy when combined with agrimony. The infusion may be used very freely, though with some it may prove slightly nauseating. The fluid extract in sirup is pleasant to the taste. In neuralgic troubles, caused by irritation of the female organs, it will be found serviceable as a nervine.

COMMON NETTLE, or urtica doica, is one of the most despised among all plants. The mere mention of it will almost sting and burn many delicately nerved people. This, however, is a mistake. A noted herbalist has written a whole pamphlet on nettles and their importance. He certainly is on the right path, for nettles are, for the connoisseur, of the greatest value. For loosening phlegm in the chest and lungs, fresh nettles, just gathered, dried, and made into tea, is a very excellent remedy. It also cleanses the stomach from matters gathered there, which they expel chiefly by means of the kidneys. The roots of the nettle operate even more powerfully than the leaves whether they are used freshly dug up in summer or dried in winter. Tea made from nettle roots will cure dropsy in its first stages. For people with bad blood nothing is better than eating frequently, in summer, of nettles boiled like spinach. In Italy, the people are especially fond of herb soup; herb dumplings made with nettles are nourishing and wholesome. Let those who are suffering with rheumatism and can find no remedy for it rub or strike the suffering part with fresh nettles for a few minutes daily, when the fear of the unaccustomed rod will give way to joy at its remarkable healing efficacy.

CASTOR BEAN, ricinus communis, is a native of the East Indies and Africa. In those countries it is perennial, but in this country it is annual. It flourishes with great vigor in rich garden spots and what is now called the giant castor bean will, under favorable conditions, attain a height of ten and twelve feet and bear an abundance of the beans. I had several of the largest size growing in the center of a bed of caladiums during the past summer and they attracted a great deal of attention on account of the immensity of the beans and stalks. The castor oil of commerce, oleum ricinus, is obtained from the bean. It is an extremely valuable physic, of which fact nearly everybody is aware; but on account of its disagreeable odor and mucilaginous qualities it is, in the ordinary form, very disagreeable to take. By mixing it thoroughly with hot milk containing peppermint or cinnamon, the disagreeable properties are completely disguised and it may be administered without the knowledge of the patient by mixing it with a strong lemon soda. A good joke is told of a young lady who went into a drug store and asked the clerk for a dose of castor oil - saying that if there was any way of disguising it she would prefer to have it prepared in that way. The clerk engaged her in conversation for a few moments and then, as the day was warm, asked her to try a glass of a new soda they were making. She readily accepted and drank with gusto, pronouncing it excellent. Then she said: "Now, if you will get that castor oil for me, please." "You have already taken it in the soda," said the clerk, smilingly. A look of dismay passed over her countenance as she exclaimed: "But I wanted it for my father, who is ill."

A dose for an adult is about one large tablespoonful, and for a child one large teaspoonful. The value of castor oil as a cathartic is that it causes a complete evacuation of the bowels in about four hours without occasioning any intestinal irritation whatever. The oleaginous particles seem to coat or lubricate the inflamed mucous surface of the intestines, and thus prevent griping. It is one of the most realible of agents to be used in case of threatened appendicitis, and is also excellent in colic, and strangulated hernia. An injection of it may many times be used in cases where the lower bowels need cleansing, or where there is fecal impaction or an ulcerated condition. In such cases it is best to mix it with a mucilage of slippery elm bark.

COPAIBA Copaifera officinalis is one of the liguminous trees of South America. It is a translucent, viscid liquid of a yellow color, armatic odor, and an acrid bitter taste. It is soluble in alcohol, and is composed of a volatile oil and a resin, the greater part of which is copaibic aicd. The trees grow to a very large size, and the juice is secured by making incisions into the trunks of the trees. It is, in a medicinal way, a stimulant diuretic, diaphoretic, expectorant, and a gastro-intestinal irritant. Its taste is bitter and nauseous. It should not be used except by those who have had a great deal of experience in giving herb remedies, or under the direction of a physician. It is, perhaps, most useful in the treatment of cystitis and some venereal diseases, during the second stages, when the acute symptoms have subsided. It is also largely used in acute and chronic bronchitis, and in dropsy.

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