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VALERIAN

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Originally appearing in Volume V27, Page 859 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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VALERIAN , a genus of herbaceous perennial See also:

plants of the natural See also:order Valerianaceae. Two See also:species— V aleriana officinalis and V. dioica—areindigenousin See also:Britain, while a third, V. pyrenaica, is naturalized in some parts. The valerians have opposite leaves and small See also:flowers, usually of a See also:white or reddish tint, and arranged in terminal cymes. The See also:limb of the calyx is remarkable for being at first inrolled and afterwards expanding in the See also:form of a feathery pappus which See also:aids in the dissemination of the See also:fruit. The genus comprises about 150 species, which are widely distributed in the temperate parts of the See also:world. In See also:medicine the See also:root of V. officinalis is intended when valerian is mentioned. The plant grows throughout See also:Europe from See also:Spain to the See also:Crimea, and from See also:Iceland through See also:northern Europe and See also:Asia to. the coasts of Ma'nchuria. Several varieties of the plant are known,those growing in hilly situations being considered the most valuable for medicinal purposes. Valerian is cultivated in See also:England (in several villages near See also:Chesterfield in See also:Derbyshire), but to a much greater extent in Prussian See also:Saxony (in the neighbourhood of Colleda, See also:north of See also:Weimar), in See also:Holland and in the See also:United States (See also:Vermont, New See also:Hampshire and New See also:York). The dried root or rhizome consists of a See also:short central erect portion, about the thickness of the little See also:finger, surrounded by numerous rootlets about ; of an See also:inch in See also:diameter, the whole being of a dull See also:brown See also:colour. When first taken from the ground it has no distinctive See also:smell; but on drying it acquires a powerful odour of valerianic See also:acid. This odour, now regarded as intolerable, was in the 16th See also:century considered to be fragrant, the root being placed among clothes as a perfume (See also:Turner, Herbal, 1568, See also:part iii. p.

76), just as V. celtica and some Himalayan species of the genus are still used in the See also:

East. By the poorer classes in the north of England it was esteemed of such medicinal value that " no broth, pottage or See also:physical See also:meat " was considered of any value without it (See also:Gerard, Herball, 1633, p, 1078). The red valerian of gardens is Centranthus ruber, also belonging to the Valerianaceae; but See also:Greek valerian is Polemonium comas-See also:Zeus's, belonging to the natural order Polemoniaceae. See also:Cats are See also:Habit after See also:Curtis, See also:Flora Londinensis. nearly as fond of the smell of this plant as of the true valerian, and will frequently See also:roll on the plant and injure it. The See also:chief constituent of valerian is a volatile oil, which is See also:present in the dried root to the extent of I-2 %, plants growing on dry or stony See also:soil being said to yield the largest quantity. The oil is of complex See also:composition, containing valerianic (valeric), formic and acetic acids combined with a terpene, CieHi6; the See also:alcohol known as borneol; and pinene. The valerianic acid present in the oil is not the normal acid, but isovalerianic acid. It occurs in many plants and in See also:cod-See also:liver oil. It is strongly acid, burning to the See also:palate, and with the odour of the plant. The oil is soluble in See also:thirty parts of See also:water and readily in alcohol and See also:ether. The See also:British Pharmacopeia contains the tinctura valerianae ammoniata, containing valerian, oil of See also:nutmeg, oil of See also:lemon and See also:ammonia.

It is an extremely nauseous and offensive preparation. The valerianate of See also:

zinc is also See also:official in See also:Great Britain, but, like valerianic acid itself, it is pharmacologically inert and therapeutically useless. Valerian acts medicinally entirely in virtue of its volatile oil, which exerts the actions typical of its class. The See also:special use of this See also:drug, like that of others which contain an offensive volatile oil—such as asafoetida—is in See also:hysteria or, as it is more properly styled, neuromimesis. It is generally believed that the drug acts in virtue of its unpleasant odour and See also:taste, which cause the patient to display so much volition as shall enable him or her to See also:control the symptoms and thereby obtain the discontinuance of the drug. See also:Good results are sometimes obtained, however, when the drug is given in capsules or in some other form which puts this mode of See also:action out of the question. Binz of See also:Bonn has shown that the volatile See also:oils See also:act as sedatives of the motor cells in the anterior horns of See also:grey See also:matter in the See also:spinal See also:cord, and it is probable that this action may See also:account for the good results often obtained by the use of valerian in neuromimesis; though there is little doubt that the modus operandi above described may also come into See also:play. The valerianates of See also:iron, See also:quinine, guaiacol and See also:sodium See also:share with that of zinc the See also:disability of exerting no action attributable to their acid radicle, but have frequently been employed. Valerianic diethylamide, or valyl, has also been employed as a substitute for the preparations in See also:ordinary use.

End of Article: VALERIAN

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