AR'OMAT'ICS (Gk. iipiduarmor, aromatikos, aromatic). A class of medicines which owe their efficacy to oils obtained from them by distillation, and called volatile, distilled, or essential oils. They are characterized by emitting an agreeable, aromatic odor and usually have a warm, pun gent, spicy taste. Aromatics include also cer tain other drags and some animal substances. Among the families which yield the most im portant aromatics are the Labiatte, Umbelliferre, Lauracele, Myrtaeme, Aurantiacere, Coniferre, Seitaminere, Orchidex, etc. In some cases, the aromatic matter is diffused throughout all parts of the plant, but it is usually condensed in par ticular organs, such as the root, in the case of ginger: or the bark, in the case of cinnamon, canella, and cascarilla ; or the flowers, as in the case of cloves; or the fruit, as in the case of anise and vanilla ; or the wood, as in the case of sandal-wood and aloes-wood; or the leaves, as in the case of most of the Labiate, Umbelliferw, etc.
Aromatics may be arranged in the following sub-classes: (1) Those in which the active prin ciple is an essential oil, as the oil of thyme, lav ender, cajeput. neroli, fennel. etc. (2) Those containing camphor, or an allied body, such as artificial camphor obtained from turpentine. (3) Bitter aromatics. in which there is a mix
ture of a bitter principle and an essential oil, as chamomile, tansy. wormwood. etc. These are tonics and vermifuges. (4) Those of which musk is the type, such as civet and amber; and cer tain plants with a masklike odor, such as Malta moschata, taus mosehatus, and Hibiscus abel moschus. (5) Those containing a fragrant resin, as henzoin, myrrh, olibanum, storax, and the balsams of Peru and Tolu, which possess stimu lant properties.
As a general rule, these substances act as dif fusible stimulants of more or less power, and as antispasmodies. while those in which a bitter principle is present act as vermifuges or tonics. They are also employed internally to disguise the taste of other drugs. Locally they are used as counter-irritants, local =esthetics, and anti septics.
ARONA, /1-rilnft. A town in north Italy 42 miles northwest of Milan, near the southern end of Lake Steamers connect it in slimmer with Locarno in Switzerland. It has silk, cotton. and metal works, and is emumereially very active. A noteworthy feature of the town is a brazen statue, 70 feet high, erected in 1097 to the memory of Cardinal Carlo Bor•omeo (q.v.), who was horn here in 1538. Population, in 1881, 41142; in 1901, 4700.