Castor leaves of the Castor-oil plant (Ricinus eommunis), applied in decoction to the breasts of women, are said to promote, and even occasion, secretion of milk. The principal value of the plant, however, lies in its seeds, from which is obtained the well-known purgative oil. (See Oils.) Cebadilla, or Cevadilla (FR., Cevadille; GER., Sabadillsamen, Ldusesamen).—The seeds of Asagrcea officinalis (Veratrum officinale, Sabadilla officinarum, Sehcenocaulon offieinale) are employed as a source of veratrine. The plant is a native of Mexico and Guatemala, and is found in grassy portions of the E. face of the Cofra de Perote range, and in Orizaba, near Teoloso, Huatusco, and Zacuapan, down to the sea, besides being cultivated near Vera Cruz, Alvarado, and Tlacatalpan. Another form of the plant is abundant near Caracas, on grassy slopes at 3500-4000 ft., and southwards on the uplands of the Tuy valley ; it largely contributes the drug. The seeds are inodorous, and possess a bitter acrid flavour ; their powder causes violent sneezing when inhaled. Freed from their cap sules, they have been of late years shipped in large quantities to Europe. From La Guayra and Porto Cabello, 2500-3000 cwt. are sent annually to Germany ; the total export from the former port, in 1876, was 690 cwt., of which 510 cwt. went to Germany. The local value is about 148. a cwt, Chamomile (FR., Camomille Romaine; GER., Romische Kamille).—An infusion or extract of the flowers of the Common, or Roman, Chamomile (Anthemis nobilis) is in general use as a stomachic and tonic. The plant is a small creeping perennial, abundant on the commons of S. England, and reaching to Ireland, but absent from Scotland, except the isles of Bute and Cumbrae ; plentiful also in Central and W. France, Portugal, Spain, Italy, and Dalmatia, and doubtfully native in Central and S. Russia. The plant is largely grown in Kieritzsch, and near Zeiz and Borna, in Saxony ; to some extent, in Belgium and France ; and about 50 acres of it are cultivated at Mitcham, in Surrey. The following details refer more especially to the last-named locality:— Sets are generally cut from the roots, each root affording 3-4 dozen, and these are placed about 18 in. apart, in rows 1 yd. apart. The beds need constant hand-weeding, the spaces are forked over at the beginning of winter, and the exposed and loose roots are covered with fresh mould. The plants are occasionally raised from seed, when introducing a fresh stock. The beat time for plant ing is March ; but it is also sometimes done in April, and even in the autumn. The crop is in perfection in July, lasting till September, and in some seasons till October. The best weather is alternate sunshine and sharp showers. The best soil is stiffish black loam; light sand causes the plants to become weak ; clay is too heavy. Change of ground, every 2-3 years, is beneficial ; manuring should be vary slight, or it will cause an excess of stem and leaf, and reduce the crop of flowers. The gathered flowers are placed on canvas trays in a drying-room, heated by a stove, where they remain for about one day. The crop ranges from 3 to 10 cwt. an acre, and averages about 4 cwt. Single flowers give greater weight than double ; but, having a lower value, they yield about the same. Gathering and drying cost about 42s. a cwt.
Tho flowers of the wild plant are never met with in commerce, only those of the cultivated form. They vary according to locality and degree of cultivation : the best are of large size, very double, and of a good white colour, the last quality depending much upon fine dry weather at the flowering period ; the inferior are only partially.double, and have a yellowish or brownish centre. They are known respectively as " double " and " single," and vary widely in price. Home-grown flowers fetch 2-3 times as much as foreign ; the ordinary value is about 21.-51. a cwt. The flowers have a powerful odour, and a very bitter flavour, and yield about f per cent. of essential oil. At Mitcham, oil is distilled from the whole plant, after gathering the best flowers. The fresh wild plant is sometimes sold for making extract ; but the latter is unfit for medicinal use. The flowers of
Matricaria Chamomile, under the name of " German chamomile," are occasionally to be seen in the London drug market. They are never double flowers, and are distinguished also by having a hollow conical disc, without scales, inside the flower heads. In Germany, they are preferred to the Roman oh amomile.
Chaulmugra.—The seeds of Gynocardia odorata yield an oil, which has been used in the East from time immemorial, for the cure of skin diseases, scrofula, Ste. Its powerfully alterative nature has recently attracted the attention of Europeans, and it is now largely prescribed in con sumption and rheumatism, and as a specific against syphilis. (See Oils.) China-root (Fn., Squire; GER., Chinaumrzel).—The fibrous roots of Smilax China here and there swell into large tubers ; these maintain a high reputation in China and India as a remedy against syphilitic and rheumatic diseases, a reputation formerly enjoyed also in England, but latterly ignored. The plant is a thorny climbing shrub, indigenous in Nepal, Sikkim, Kasia, and Assam, in China, Cochin China, Formosa, and the Loochoo islands, and generally throughout Japan. The tubers are dried, and trimmed of excrescences, entering into commerce in the form of irregular cylinders, about 4-6 in. long and 1-2 in. thick, and covered with a shining rusty bark. The export of the drug to Europe is principally from Canton, the quantity, in 1872, amounting to 51,200 lb.; since then, no separate account seems to have been taken. The trade between Chinese ports is much more significant ; the shipments from Hankow, in 1878, were 11,656 piculs (of 134 lb.), valued at over 23,0001., and from Kiu-Kiang, 6750 piculs, worth about 14,0001. The price of the drug in the English market is about 30s.-35s. a cwt. Several other species of the plant, which belong to the same family as the more popular Sarsaparilla, have at least a local reputation and use. Thus B. glabra and S. lancecefolia are common in India and S. China, and yield tubers scarcely differing from the commercial drug ; the W. hemisphere furnishes a number of species, some of whose tubers have been occasionally imported from Puntaa Arenas (Costa Rica) as " Western China root " : they are chiefly—S. Pseudo-China, and S. tamnoides, in the U.S., southwards from New Jersey; B. Balbisiana, common in all the W. Indies ; S. Japicanga, S. syringoides, and S. Brasiliensis.
Chiretta.—Ophelia Chirata is a herb, possessing a strong bitter tonic principle, much valued in India, little used in England, and ignored on the Continent. When cheap, however, it replaces gentian in cattle-foods. An inferior kind, derived from Ophelia angustifolia, with the woody portion thicker, and containing no pith, is occasionally imported. It gives a paler and weaker infusion. (See Spices.) Cinchona, or Peruvian Bark (Fa., Ecorcc de Quinguina ; GER., Chinarinde).—Tho barks of a number of plants belonging to the genus Cinchona, and the alkaloids prepared from them, consti tute the only reliable remedy against fevers, and form the most important of our vegetable drugs. The subdivision of the genus into species and varieties is a subject on which botanists are widely at variance; for the purposes of this article, moreover, it will suffice to confine attention to those species which afford a bark used in pharmacy, or employed for the manufacture of the alkaloids. The home of the genus is a district of S. America, lying on the W. side, between 10° N. and 22° S. lat., chiefly on the E. slopes of the Cordillera of the Andes, at an average altitude of 5000-8000 ft. The maximum elevation is about 11,000 ft., the minimum, 2600 ft., the decrease taking place as a higher latitude is reached ; the most valuable kinds are not found below 5000 ft. Variety of soil has less influence upon the plants than climatic conditions ; these latter, in the natural habitat of the plants, are extremely changeable as regards sunshine and moisture. While a passing tempera ture of hut little above freezing may be borne by the hardiest kinds, the majority prefer a mean of about 12D-20° (54°-68° F.). Manuring increases appreciably the proportion of alkaloids.