_Uva Ursi_, _Bear-berry_, or _Trailing Arbutus_.
_Bear’s Whortle-berry_, _Wild Cranberry_, &c.
QUALITIES. _Odour_, slight, resembling that of hyson tea; _Taste_,
bitterish and sub-astringent. CHEMICAL COMPOSITION. Tannin, mucilage,
gallic acid, extractive, resin, and traces of lime. SOLUBILITY. Both
water and alcohol extract its virtues. MED. USES. The ancients employed
it on account of its astringency, the moderns however have exhibited it
for various diseases, more especially for those affecting the bladder
and urinary organs, and, it would seem, without any theory respecting
its _modus operandi_; but it has at length fallen into disrepute, and
probably with justice: it occasionally renders the urine of a blackish
colour, a fact which is not easy to be explained. When it is
administered, the form of powder is preferred, and in doses from ℈j to
ʒj. The leaves of the _Vaccinium Vitis Idæa_ (Red Whortle-berry,) are
sometimes substituted for those of _Uvæ Ursi_; but they may be easily
distinguished; _botanically_, by the net work appearance of their veins
above, and by their dots underneath; _chemically_, by their infusion
neither precipitating the solution of isinglass, nor that of sulphate of
iron.