19. Sabina.—Sabina. Savine.
The tops of Junip'erus sabi'na Linné. The young and tender green shoots are stripped off in the spring, coming into the market as short, thin, quadrangular branchlets, clothed with alternate pairs of minute, opposite, scale-like leaves, appressed (more pointed and divergent in older twigs); each scale has a shallow groove and a conspicuous, depressed oil-gland in the back. The berry-like cone fruit is about the size of a pea, situated on a short, recurved pedicel, and covered with a bluish bloom; it is dry, but abounds in essential oil, and contains from 1 to 4 small, bony seeds. Odor strong, balsamic; taste bitter and acrid. Adulteration: Red cedar tops (20).
Powder.—Yellowish-brown. The microscopic elements consist of: Tracheids with bordered pits; parenchyma with numerous stomata; long bast fibers and starch grains.
CONSTITUENTS.—Tannin, resin, gum, etc., and a volatile oil (19 a) (2 per cent. in tops, 10 per cent. in berries) having the same composition as oil of turpentine.
ACTION AND USES.—Savine is an irritant, acting especially as a uterine stimulant; also diuretic, emmenagogue, and vermifuge. Dose: 5 to 15 gr. (0.3 to 1 Gm.). It is used externally in ointment as a stimulant dressing for bruises.
19 a. OLEUM SABINAE.—OIL OF SAVINE. A nearly colorless, sometimes yellow, limpid, volatile oil, having a strong, terebinthinate odor, and a bitterish, intensely acrid taste. It has the same composition as oil of turpentine. Dose: 1 to 5 drops (0.065 to 0.3 mils)
