18. Juglandaceae.—Walnut family.
A small family of trees with monoecious flowers and the fruit a nut.
101. JUGLANS, N.F.—BUTTERNUT. The root-bark of Jug'lans cine'rea Linné, collected in autumn. Off. U.S.P. 1890. Corky layer very thin, smooth, grayish, easily removed, leaving a smooth, deep-brown surface; inner surface pure white when the bark is first removed from the tree, but changes to deep brown on exposure. In the market it is found in flat or curved pieces about 4 of an inch (5 mm.) thick, the outer surface dark gray and nearly smooth, or, deprived of the soft cork, deep brown, the inner surface striate. Fracture short, whitish-and-brown checkered; medullary rays somewhat diagonal; odor feeble; taste bitter, somewhat acrid. The leaves and bark of Juglans nigra (101a) (black walnut) have been used as an alterative and deobstruent, and the bark of Carya alba (101b) (shellbark hickory) as a tonic and antiperiodic. The kernels of the nuts of all these trees yield about 25 per cent. of a pale greenish fixed oil (Oleum Juglandis, or nut oil), used as a demulcent. Constituents: Bitter oily extractive, in large proportion juglandic acid, C10H6O8, tannin (?), two other acids, one of them volatile, with potassium, sodium, and other salts. A mild cathartic, especially valuable in habitual constipation. It was much used in the army during the Revolutionary War. Dose: 1 to 2 dr. (4 to 8 Gm.).
