Spigelia.

Spigelia marilandica is an American plant, indigenous to the temperate regions and thick woods of this country. The Indians employed a decoction of the root as a vermifuge, thus introducing it at an early date to the settlers, the physicians, and the botanists. It was described by Barton (43), Schopf (582), and other authorities, but was never extensively used by the American schools of medicine, either the Botanic or the Eclectic. As a domestic remedy it was customary, half a century ago, to use a mixture of pink root and senna, to which were added a few pieces of manna, a home decoction being given to children and others afflicted with worms. In our opinion this home treatment consumed most of the drug of commerce, which, since the discovery of santonica, has come to be of minor importance. In the days of this writer's experience as a prescription clerk in Cincinnati (1865-1880) the mixture was in continual domestic demand as "pink and senna."

The History of the Vegetable Drugs of the U.S.P., 1911, was written by John Uri Lloyd.