(_Anthemis Nobilis._) _Chamomile Flowers._
QUALITIES. The _Odour_ of the flowers is strong and fragrant; _Taste_,
bitter and aromatic, with a slight degree of warmth. CHEMICAL
COMPOSITION. The active principles are essential oil, resin, and bitter
extractive. SOLUBILITY. Both water and alcohol take up the active parts
of the flowers; hot water, by infusion, dissolves nearly one-fourth of
their weight, but boiling dissipates the essential oil, on which account
they should never form an ingredient in a decoction. USES. The flowers
given in substance are said to have cured intermittents; they are
however but rarely used; externally they are applied in fomentations.
See _Infusum Anthemidis_. OFFICINAL PREPARATIONS. _Decoctum Anthemidis
nobilis._ E.D. _Infusum Anthemidis_. L.[373] There is a great variety in
the quality and price of chamomile flowers; those which are large and
whitish are to be preferred as the freshest; by keeping they become
invalid, and are deprived of their aromatic principle and essential oil.
They are always inferior in wet seasons. The double flowered varieties
are also less powerful than the single kind, since the qualities reside
in the disc florets.