kino
  Reddish resin from several Old World trees of the genera Eucalyptus,
  Pterocarpus, and Butea and from tropical American trees of the genera
  Coccoloba and Dipteryx.

kumiss (koumiss)
  Fermented milk of a mare or camel, used as a beverage in western and
  central Asia.

La Grippe
  Influenza.

lancinating
  Sensation of cutting, piercing, or stabbing.

lard
  White solid or semisolid rendered fat of a hog.

laudanum
  Tincture of opium, formerly used as a drug.

leukemia (leucemia, leukaemia, leucaemia)
  Disease in humans and other warm-blooded animals involving the
  blood-forming organs; causes an abnormal increase in the number of white
  blood cells in the tissues with or without a corresponding increase in
  the circulating blood.

lime (calcium oxide)
  White, caustic, lumpy powder, CaO, used as a refractory, as a flux, in
  manufacturing steel and paper, in glassmaking, in waste treatment, in
  insecticides, and as an industrial alkali.

  Slaked lime is calcium hydroxide, a soft white powder, Ca(Oh)2, used in
  making mortar, cements, calcium salts, paints, hard rubber products, and
  petrochemicals.

litmus
  Coloring material from lichens that turns red in acid solutions and blue
  in alkaline solutions.

Liveforever (orpine, orpin, livelong, Sedum telephium)
  Perennial northern temperate plant with toothed leaves and heads of
  small purplish-white flowers.

lobelia
  See Herb Department, page 428.

lochia
  Normal uterine discharge of blood, tissue, and mucus from the vagina
  after childbirth.

lupus
  Systemic lupus erythematosus.  Chronic skin conditions characterized by
  ulcerative lesions that spread over the body.  No longer in scientific
  use.

lupulin
  Minute yellowish-brown hairs in the strobili of the hop plant, formerly
  used in medicine as a sedative.

lycopodium
  Plant of the genus Lycopodium, including club mosses.  The yellowish
  powdery spores of certain club mosses, especially Lycopodium clavatum,
  are used in fireworks and as a coating for pills.

madras
  Cotton or silk cloth of fine texture, usually with a plaid, striped, or
  checked pattern.  Large handkerchief of madras cloth.

malines
  Thin, stiff net woven in a hexagonal pattern, used in dressmaking.

mandrake (may-apple)
  Southern European plant (Mandragora officinarum) having greenish-yellow
  flowers and a branched root.  This plant was once believed to have
  magical powers because its root resembles the human body.  The root
  contains the poisonous alkaloid hyoscyamine.  Also called mandragora.  See
  podophyllin.

marseille
  Heavy cotton fabric with a raised pattern of stripes or figures.