(Polygala Senega.) _Radix._
QUALITIES. _Form_, the dried root is internally white; externally it is
covered with a brownish grey, corrugated, transversely cracked cuticle.
_Odour_, none. _Taste_, at first sweetish, but afterwards hot and
pungent, producing a very peculiar tingling sensation in the fauces.
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION. Its virtues reside in resin. SOLUBILITY. Alcohol
extracts the whole of its active matter; hot water only partially.
MEDICINAL USES. As a stimulant; but it is rarely used. In America it is
used against the bite of the rattlesnake.[633] OFFICINAL PREPARATIONS.
_Decoctum Senegæ_. L.E.