SNAKE-ROOT (BLACK), BLACK Cowosw, OR BUGBANE. — A tincture of the root of Cimicifuga (Acura) racemosa is used in rheumatism, dropsy, phthisis, and bronchitis, and externally for reducing inflammation. The plant is abundant in woods in the W. hemisphere, as far S. as Florida. The drug has a blackish-brown colour, a bitter-acrid, astringent flavour, and a heavy narcotic odour. In appearance, it closely resembles black hellebore root, but is less branched, and has more marked transverse scars.
Squill (FR., Scille, Ognon marin ; GER., Meerztoiebel).—The roots of Urginea maritime (Scilla maritime, Urginea Scilla) are commonly used as a diuretic and expectorant. The plant is distributed throughout the Mediterranean basin, e. g. S. France, Portugal, S. Spain, Italy, Sicily, Dalmatia, Greece, Asia Minor, Syria, and N. Africa, as well as in the islands generally. The bulbs are distinguished as "red" and " white,' but possess no difference whatever, save in the matter of colour. The red, however, is most esteemed. They are gathered in August, when leafless, and are freed from the dry outer scales, cut across into thin slices, and sun-dried. The drug has a dull yellowish, or roseate, colour, according to the variety ; when dry, it is brittle, and easily powdered. Its value is about 1-6d. a lb. In Greece, attempts have been made to manufacture alcohol, by fermenting and distilling squill. The bulbs of several other plants occasionally usurp the place of squill, though not in European markets; they are chiefly :—(1) U. altissima (Ornithogalum altis simum), of S. Africa, equally effective ; (2) U. (Scilla) Indica, of N. India, the Coromandel Coast, Abyssinia, Nubia, and Senegambia, a poor substitute; (3) Scilla Indica (Ledebouria hyacinthina), of India and Abyssinia, a superior representative ; (4) Drimia ciliaris, of the Cape, known as " Itch bulb," and used as emetic, diuretic, and expectorant ; (5) Crinum Asiaticum (toxicarium), of India, Ceylon, Moluccas, &c., a valuable emetic. Squill is imported from Malta, packed usually in casks.
Stavesacre (Fa., Staphisaigre ; GER., Stephanskorner, Ltiu,sesamen).—The seeds of Delphinium
Staphisagria, reduced to powder, or made up in an ointment, are largely used for the destruction of pediculi on man and animals. The herb is indigenous to Italy, Greece, and Asia Minor, affecting waste and shaded spots, and is now found generally throughout the Mediterranean basin, and in the Canaries. It is cultivated in Puglia (Italy), and near Nimes and Montpellier (S. France); our imports are principally from, Trieste and S. France. The approximate value of the seed is 50s. a cwt.
balsam known as "Liquid atorax," is an old-fashioned remedial agent, now applied externally in scabies. (See Resinous Substances.) Stramonium, or (FR., Stramoine ; GER., Stechapfel).—The leaves of Datura Stramonium are smoked (like tobacco) for the relief of asthma ; the seeds are used, in the form of extract or tincture, as a sedative or narcotic. The plant is now met with as a weed in almost all temperate and subtropical regions ; in the neighbourhood of London, it is occasionly found iu rich waste land, and is cultivated at Mitcham. For medicinal application, the whole plants are uprooted ; the leaves and young shoots are stripped off, quickly dried, and broken or cut into short pieces. The odour of the dry drug is pleasant and tea-like ; its flavour is bitterish saline. The closely allied species D. Tatula, native of America, is naturalized in S.-W. Europe, and flourishes like the preceding. It has similar properties. The seeds and leaves of D. alba and D. fastuosa, natives of India, and garden-plants in S. Europe, are officinal in India. The approximate value of the leaves is 6d. a lb. ; of the seed, 9d.
Sumbul, or (FR., Sumbul ; GER., Moschus). —A tincture of the root of Ferula (Euryangium) Sumbul is prescribed as a stimulating tonic and antiapasmodio. The plant is found in the Maghian mountains, near Pianjakent in N. Bokhara, and in the coast province of the Anatir. The root occurs in commerce in slices 1-5 in. wide, and 1 in. thick. The so-called "Bombay sumbul," or Boi, is the root of Dorema Ammoniacum. (See Resinous Substancea—Ammoniacum).