is turning
out to be the dried scraped stem of an aroid (or arum) called
Raphidophora Vitiensis, belonging to the Fiji Islands. Acting on
the knowledge of which fact some recent experimenters have tried
the fresh juice expressed from our common Arum Maculatum in a
severe case of neuralgia which could be relieved previously only
by Tonga: and it was found that this juice in doses of a teaspoonful
gave similar relief. The British Domestic Herbal, of Sydenham's
time, describes a case of alarming dropsy, with great constitutional
exhaustion treated most successfully with a medicine composed of
Arum and Angelica, which cured in about three weeks. The
"English Passion Flower" and "Portland Sago" are other names
given to the Arum Maculatum.

ASPARAGUS.

The Asparagus, belonging to the Lily order of plants, occurs wild
on the coasts of Essex, Suffolk, and Cornwall. It is there a more
prickly plant than the cultivated vegetable which we grow for the
sake of the tender, [36] edible shoots. The Greeks and Romans
valued it for their tables, and boiled it so quickly that _velocius
quam asparagi coquuntur_--"faster than asparagus is cooked"--was
a proverb with them, to which our "done in a jiffy" closely
corresponds. The shoots, whether wild or cultivated, are succulent,
and contain wax, albumen, acetate of potash, phosphate of potash,
mannite, a green resin, and a fixed principle named "asparagin."
This asparagin stimulates the kidneys, and imparts a peculiar,
strong smell to the urine after taking the shoots; at the same time,
the green resin with which the asparagin is combined, exercises
gently sedative effects on the heart, calming palpitation, or
nervous excitement of that organ. Though not producing actual
sugar in the urine, asparagus forms and excretes a substance
therein which answers to the reactions used by physicians for
detecting sugar, except the fermentation test. It may fairly be given
in diabetes with a promise of useful results. In Russia it is a
domestic medicine for the arrest of flooding.

Asparagin also bears the chemical name of "althein," and occurs
in crystals, which may be reduced to powder, and which may
likewise be got from the roots of marsh mallow, and liquorice.
One grain of this given three times a day is of service for relieving
dropsy from disease of the heart. Likewise, a medicinal tincture is
made (H.) from the whole plant, of which eight or ten drops given
with a tablespoonful of water