White Ash Bark. N. F. IV.
Related entry: Manna
White Ash Bark. N. F. IV. Fraxinus.—It is described as "the dried bark of Fraxinus americana Linné (Fam. Oleaceae) and probably of other species of Fraxinus, deprived of the corky layer. In flat pieces of varying length and width, from 3 to 6 mm. in thickness, externally yellowish or pale brown, sometimes with ridges of a warty nature and fissures of a grayish-brown color with markings of lichens; inner surface, pale brown to yellowish, longitudinally striate; fracture very uneven, fibrous. Odor faintly aromatic; taste bitter, weakly acrid. Fraxinus yields not more than 10 per cent. of ash." N. F. A large forest tree of the northern United States and Canada. It contains a volatile oil, an alkaloid and several resins. The bark has been used in dysmenorrhea by Charles P. Turner and others. A wine is official in the N. F..
Fraxinus excelsior L. Frene, Fr. Esche, G. Fresco, Sp. (Fam. Oleaceae.)—The bark of the Common European Ash occurs in quills and is of a grayish or grayish-green color. It is bitter and astringent, and at one time was employed in the treatment of intermittent fever. It contains a crystalline glucoside and a bitter principle, and a fixed oil obtained from the seeds. (Chem. Ztg., 1911, 478.) The leaves have long been used in rheumatic affections and gout. Garot has shown that they contain 16 per cent. of calcium malate. (See J. P. C., 3e ser., xxiv, 311; also 4e ser., xii, 60.) Dose, an ounce (31 Gm.), infused in half a pint (236 mils) of boiling water, three times a day. (See Am. J. M. S., N. S., xxv, 492.)
