ELATERIUM

a substance obtained from the fruit of the squ rting or wild cucumber (#cballium agreste). The juice of the unripe fruit, when expre ed and allowed to stand, deposits elaterium as a green sediment with an acrid taste, a faint odour, and powerful cathartic properties. It isa violent purgative, and is poisonous, but its action is not constant. The active principle in # is called elaterin.