calcium salts, paints, hard rubber products, and
petrochemicals.

litmus
Coloring material from lichens that turns red in acid solutions and blue
in alkaline solutions.

Liveforever (orpine, orpin, livelong, Sedum telephium)
Perennial northern temperate plant with toothed leaves and heads of
small purplish-white flowers.

lobelia
See Herb Department, page 428.

lochia
Normal uterine discharge of blood, tissue, and mucus from the vagina
after childbirth.

lupus
Systemic lupus erythematosus. Chronic skin conditions characterized by
ulcerative lesions that spread over the body. No longer in scientific
use.

lupulin
Minute yellowish-brown hairs in the strobili of the hop plant, formerly
used in medicine as a sedative.

lycopodium
Plant of the genus Lycopodium, including club mosses. The yellowish
powdery spores of certain club mosses, especially Lycopodium clavatum,
are used in fireworks and as a coating for pills.

madras
Cotton or silk cloth of fine texture, usually with a plaid, striped, or
checked pattern. Large handkerchief of madras cloth.

malines
Thin, stiff net woven in a hexagonal pattern, used in dressmaking.

mandrake (may-apple)
Southern European plant (Mandragora officinarum) having greenish-yellow
flowers and a branched root. This plant was once believed to have
magical powers because its root resembles the human body. The root
contains the poisonous alkaloid hyoscyamine. Also called mandragora. See
podophyllin.

marseille
Heavy cotton fabric with a raised pattern of stripes or figures.

meatus
Body opening or passage, such as the opening of the ear or the urethra.

menorrhagia
Unusually heavy or extended menstrual flow.

menstruum
Solvent used to extract compounds from plant and animal tissues and
preparing drugs.

messaline
Lightweight, soft, shiny silk cloth with a twilled or satin weave.

mezereon
Poisonous Eurasian ornamental shrub (Daphne mezereum) with fragrant
lilac-purple flowers and small scarlet fruit. The dried bark of this
plant was used externally as a vesicant (blistering agent) and
internally for arthritis.

miliary
Appearance of millet seeds. Small skin lesions with the appearance of
millet seeds.

mullein
Eurasian plants of the genus Verbascum, especially V. thapsus. Also
called flannel leaf, velvet plant.

muriate
Chloride; compound of chlorine with another element or ra