Astragalus

(as-tra-gā'lus.) [L.] (Anat.) The ankle bone. (Bot.) The Milk Vetch, a gen. of herbaceous or shrubby plants, O. Fabacese. The most interesting are those which yield the gum-like substance called tragacanth, which is the produce of several dwarf spiny shrubs, e. g., A. tragacanth a, (Fig. 52,) strobili fer us, and ver us, growing in Kurdistan, Persia, Asia Minor, . The gummy matter exudes from their stems. It is brought chiefly from Turkey, in small contorted pieces resembling worms; Fig. 52.- ASTRAGALUS TRAGACANTH A. and that which is white, clear, smooth, and vermicular, is the best. [s. 55]