Spartii _Cacumina_. L. _Summitates_. E.
_The Tops of Broom._
QUALITIES. When bruised they yield an unpleasant _odour_, and a nauseous
bitter _taste_. Solubility. Water and alcohol alike extract their active
matter. MED. USES. They certainly act as a powerful diuretic, and even
prove so to animals that browse upon them. I have frequently exhibited
them in the Westminster Hospital, with very great success in the form of
decoction. By referring to my classification of diuretics, page 93, it
will be seen that the _Broom_ is placed under the second division of the
first class; for analogy sanctions the theory, that the bitter element
is separated by the powers of digestion, and carried to the kidneys by
the medium of the circulation. (See _Form. 113_.) The ashes of this
plant were extolled by Sydenham as a powerful diuretic, but the chemist
has shewn that it is merely a fixed alkaline salt. OFFICINAL
PREPARATIONS. _Extractum Cacuminum Genistæ_. D.