American Dictionary of the English Language

HYP'OCIST, noun [Gr. sub cisto, under the distus.] An inspissated juice obtained from the sessile asarum [Cytinus hypocistis, ] resembling the true Egyptian acacia. The juice is expressed from the unripe fruit and evaporated to the consistence of an extract, formed into cakes and dried in the sun. It is an astringent, useful in diarrheas and hemorrhages.